What is a Christian?

Thanks very much, Alice, and good morning, everyone.

What a wonderful passage, isn't it, that we're looking at today.

We're only going to be able to scratch the surface of it in the next half hour,

but I hope as we do that we'll be thrilled by what Jesus has to say to us,

but also very deeply challenged by it.

And the two really go together.

There's much in this passage that we should rejoice in.

There is also a lot that should help us to examine ourselves

and our relationship with Jesus.

Let me begin with a very basic question.

What is a Christian?

Or to put it another way,

what difference is there between a Christian and someone who's not a Christian?

Now, Peter's given us one answer to that already.

A Christian is someone who follows Jesus.

It's not directly on my list.

It is certainly true.

But if we're thinking of what is a Christian,

then very simply,

a Christian believes in Jesus.

We've been going for some time now,

with a little gap just in the last few weeks,

we've been going for some time through John's Gospel.

And we've come back quite often

to a verse right at the end of chapter 20 of the Gospel,

where John gives the purpose for writing.

And he says,

So John says,

if you want to have life,

if you want to have a relationship with God,

you need to believe in Jesus.

And if we read through the rest of the New Testament,

that's what others say.

Paul, when he was in a Philippian jail,

and the jailer in desperation asked him,

what must I do to be saved?

Paul said,

believe in the Lord Jesus Christ,

and you will be saved.

So fundamentally,

a Christian believes in Jesus.

We believe that Jesus is the Son of God,

who came into the world and lived among us,

who died on the cross at Calvary

to take the punishment for sin,

who rose again,

who is now with God,

and who is coming back.

And we believe that Jesus is the only way to God.

If we want to have forgiveness

for all the wrong we've done,

if we want to have a relationship

with the God of heaven,

the only way is through Jesus.

A Christian believes in Jesus.

Let me suggest something else.

A Christian behaves like Jesus.

I think I need to give two caveats to that.

The first of these is,

none of us in this world

will ever be exactly like Jesus.

We all remain sinners,

those who go our own way,

who disobey God's way,

and that will be the case,

to some extent at least,

for as long as we live.

And so we know

that we can't by ourselves

win God's favour.

We need Jesus.

We need to believe in Jesus

as the only way to God.

The second caveat is,

it's not just Christians

necessarily live upright,

moral lives.

There are people of other religions

and of no religion

who try to live well

and to do good to others.

But if we are a Christian,

then we want to be like Jesus.

We want to live the way that he lived.

We want to live good,

moral lives.

We want to be self-controlled.

We want to have a real concern

for others.

We want to spread the good news

about Jesus to others.

All things that Jesus did

that we should do as well.

The last few weeks,

as I'll mention,

we've been going through

the book of Titus,

a great letter of Paul,

and that is very much

a focus of Titus.

How we should live as Christians.

For example,

in chapter 2,

Paul says,

the grace of God

teaches us to say no

to ungodliness

and worldly passions

and to live self-controlled,

upright,

and godly lives

in this present age.

Because of God's grace to us,

because of what God has done for us

through the Lord Jesus,

we should want to live like Jesus

and to follow his example.

A Christian behaves like Jesus.

But I think there's something else,

and this is where we're going

to come to John chapter 15.

John 15 · chapter mention

I would suggest

that a Christian belongs with Jesus.

Now, I've not said belongs to Jesus,

although that is true.

A Christian belongs with Jesus.

You see, being a Christian

is not just a matter

of believing the right things,

of having good doctrine.

It's not just a matter

of doing good things,

of having good ethics.

fundamentally,

it's about a relationship

that we have with the Lord Jesus.

We belong with Jesus.

And the passage we're looking at in John 15,

the Lord gives us two lovely pictures

of what that means.

He says that if we are Christians,

if we belong with him,

then we are branches in a vine,

where he is the vine.

And then he says later on,

if we obey him,

then we are his friends.

Now, the picture of the vine

in some ways is quite mystical,

supernatural,

and maybe quite difficult to grasp,

but very important.

Picture of friendship,

perhaps we can grasp more easily.

We understand,

we all understand

what friendship is,

although we'll see

the friendship we have with Jesus

is a little different

from our other friendships.

But perhaps we could say

that the Christian belonging with Jesus,

we share in his life,

that's the picture of the vine

and the branches,

and we share in his love,

that is the friendship

we enjoy with him.

These are the two sections,

two subsections,

of what we're going to be looking at

in a minute.

Maybe it's worth, though,

just taking a minute

to position ourselves

in John's Gospel,

because it has been a few weeks

since we've looked at it together.

So John's Gospel divides

quite naturally into two sections.

The first 12 chapters

are about Jesus going around,

interacting with people,

teaching, discussing,

performing signs, miracles,

to demonstrate that he is God.

And it seeks to answer the question,

who is Jesus?

From chapter 13

to the end of John's Gospel,

it changes a bit,

and it is very much concerned

with the events around

Jesus' crucifixion

and resurrection.

What happened before

and what happened after.

And chapters 13 to 16,

which we're in just now,

are sometimes called

the upper room ministry

of Jesus.

It's Jesus,

the night before he died,

spending real quality time

with his disciples,

teaching them the things

that he believes

they need to know

as he is about

to leave them.

Within that,

there's a bit of a break

at the end of chapter 14.

So as we pick up

in chapter 15,

it's after the end

of a bit of a break point.

If you've got your Bible

in front of you,

you'll see that right

at the end of chapter 14,

Jesus says,

come now,

let us leave.

So actually,

what we're reading

in chapter 15

may not have happened

in the upper room.

It may have been

if Jesus' disciples

were walking.

It may even be

when they were standing

in the temple precinct

where there was

a huge golden vine

that would have been

very visible.

We don't know,

but I think there is

a change of thought.

So I think the end

of chapter 14

is a break point

in that the focus

is slightly different.

In chapters 13 and 14,

Jesus is preparing

his disciples

for what is to follow

immediately.

He's giving them

comfort that they

can hold on to

as they witness

his crucifixion

and then later on

after he rises

from the dead

as he goes to be

with his father.

Broadly speaking,

the focus of chapters

13 and 14

takes us up

to Pentecost

when the Holy Spirit

comes on the believers.

I think chapters 15 and 16

are looking further ahead.

Jesus is saying

to his disciples,

here is how you should live

as the church.

As my representatives

on earth

when I'm no longer there,

here's what you should do

and here's what you can expect.

What you can expect

from the world around you,

large rejection,

we'll see that next week,

and what you can expect

from God

through the power

of the Spirit.

And so what we're looking

at this morning

is really the introductory

part of that

as Jesus tells us

two things

that are pivotal

in our relationship

with him

that are part of us

belonging to Jesus.

You've probably already

worked out that I quite

like alliteration,

so we're going to use

a bit of alliteration again.

We're going to talk about

lasting fruit

and about loving friendship.

And these will be

the two sections

we'll be thinking about.

Broadly speaking,

lasting fruit

goes up to about verse 8

and from verse 9 onwards

it is loving friendship.

So lasting fruit.

The analogy of the vine

and the vineyard

would have been very familiar

to Jesus' disciples.

In the Old Testament,

many times it talks about

God as the vineyard keeper

and the nation of Israel

as the vineyard.

And what characterizes that

in many, many of these occasions

is that the vineyard

is failing.

That it is not meeting

the expectations

of the vineyard owner.

Classic example of that

in Isaiah chapter 5

Isaiah 5 · chapter mention

where God says,

what more could I have done

for my vineyard

than I have done for it?

He then says

he will allow it

to be destroyed

and he says

he looked for justice

but saw bloodshed,

for righteousness

but heard cries

of distress.

And there are other passages

similar to that

in the Old Testament.

Israel was designed

to be God's vineyard

but it was a vineyard

that didn't produce fruit

because people's lives

hadn't really been changed

because the leaders

weren't leading them

in a way

that was in accordance

with God's will.

And so in chapter 1

of verse 1

of chapter 15

Jesus says,

I am the true vine.

The old vineyard

is not the thing

that we should be looking at now.

We should be looking at one vine

and that vine is Jesus.

And many of you know

this is the last of seven

I am sayings

of the Lord Jesus

in John's Gospel

where he reveals

truths about himself

but also truths about us

and our relationship

with them.

And that's very much

going to be the case

in this one.

Now I'm no gardener.

If you ever come

to our house

and admire anything

in the garden

all the credit

goes to Bridget.

And that includes

two trees

that we've got.

Two fruit trees.

We've got a plum tree

and an apple tree.

And we've only had them

a relatively short time

a few years

but they are very fruitful.

We had a good crop

from them last year.

But I look at them

just now in the winter

there are no leaves

there is no fruit

and I think we need

to think about

cutting these back a bit

in the new year.

They've got nice

long branches

but actually growing

nice long branches

is not what fruit trees

are all about.

What you want

from fruit trees

is good fruit.

And how do you get

good fruit?

Well the fruit comes

from the life

of the tree

which comes up

through the trunk

of the tree

and the sap

that goes out

and you want

that sap

to be producing

fruit

rather than

producing extended

branches.

So you need

if you've got a tree

occasionally

to prune it.

And that's the picture

that the Lord Jesus

is presenting

to us here.

Much more skilled

than I would ever do

in terms of pruning

but God

he says

is pruning

his vine.

And there are

two things

that he does

says Jesus.

He takes

the dead wood

the wood

that has no fruit

growing in it

and he cuts

that off

and he throws

that away.

Not entirely

clear what Jesus

is talking about

there

but it may well

be people

who appear

to be Christians

who come to church

who present

as being followers

of Jesus

but actually

they're not

really Christians

and not displaying

the fruit

that a real

Christian should

and maybe

their trust

is not really

in Jesus.

That might be

what the Lord

is describing.

You might be thinking

particularly of Judas

who had been one of his disciples

for three years

and now had betrayed him.

But let's focus more

on the second action

that the gardener takes

because the branches

that are bearing

good fruit

he prunes.

He cuts a bit

of them

in the expectation

that they will

produce

even better

fruit.

Now at first sight

that might seem

a rather strange

thing to do.

Why do you cut back

the thing

that is fruitful?

You're going to

reduce the fruit

are you not

in the short term?

Well maybe you are

but what you will get

in the long term

is both more fruit

and better fruit.

Fruit says Jesus

that will

last.

And vineyard keepers

whether in Israel

or whether in southern Europe

they are very skilled

at knowing

when and how

to prune

the branches

to produce

the best

crops.

What does that mean

for us?

If we take

ourselves

how does God

prune us?

How does he

help us

to be

more

fruitful?

Well I think it

could come in a number

of ways

and they tend

to be

painful

for us.

Sometimes

perhaps when we have

done something

we know is wrong

or when we're

reading God's word

and we recognise

that we're not

meeting the standards

as Christians

we may feel

a bit of a sense

of shame.

We may recognise

all that Jesus

has done for us

all that we owe him

how we should live

and we say

I'm just not

meeting that

standard.

I'm not

good enough.

And then perhaps

the Lord Jesus

comes to us

and through the

Spirit he reminds

us that yes

we're not

good enough

but Jesus

has taken

the penalty

for our sins

and there is

forgiveness

for us

even as we

continually

fail him.

So by

helping us

to understand

our own

inadequacy

by bringing

that sense

of failure

on us

God can

help us

to grow

as Christians

and to

become more

like Jesus

as we realise

again

just how much

we owe him.

Then there's

a second example

which we sometimes

call the trials

we experience

in life.

We suffer

illness

or someone

close to us

suffers illness.

We suffer

bereavement

perhaps we

get made

redundant

from our

job

or there's

something else

that is

causing us

great stress

in our

lives.

And we

might be

tempted to

say to

God

well why

is this

and it's

not wrong

to ask

that question

why is

this

happening?

Well one

of the

reasons

why these

things

happen

is to

draw us

closer

to the

Lord Jesus

to help

us to realise

that there

are things

which we

can't

control

in our

own

strength

but to

know we

have a

God

who is

in

control

of

everything

and our

Christian

trials

the

difficulties

we

face

they

build

our

Christian

character

they

help us

to become

more

dependent

on the

Lord

Jesus

they

increase

the bond

if you

like

between

the

branches

and the

vine

and they

help us

to be

better

disciples

of the

Lord

Jesus

that

pruning

process

that God

uses

for us

it is

painful

but it

is so

important

that we

never

suffer

we

never

develop

character

and we

need to

develop

fruit

by being

pruned

by our

heavenly

father

but that's

the role

of the

father

what about

the Lord

Jesus

the Lord

Jesus

who is

the vine

well the

key word

that comes

again and

again in

these verses

is

remain

we are

to remain

in him

Jesus

says

if we

remain

in him

we will

have his

life

we will

bear

fruit

we will

become

like

him

so what

does it

mean then

if we

want to

think about

remaining

in

Jesus

well we

have to

recognize

first again

that without

Christ we

have no

spiritual

life

without him

we would

be dead

in our

sins

and we

need to

repent

and trust

him

but we

need to

do more

than that

we need

to cultivate

our

relationship

with him

he wants

us to

have a

living

active

vital

relationship

where he

is part

of our

everyday

lives

he is a

key part

of our

everyday

lives

and we

seek to

follow him

and live

for him

we maintain

the relationship

when we

read and

meditate

on the

bible

when we

come to

him

in prayer

when we

prioritize

serving

Jesus

and living

for him

above

everything

else

when as

we're

looking later

on

when we

obey him

when we

love

others

that is

what

remaining

in Jesus

means

it is

he is

at the

center

of our

lives

and we

recognize

that any

life we

have

any

spiritual

life we

have

is only

because he

is the

vine

and we

are attached

to him

as the

branches

his life

is flowing

through us

and making

us fruitful

and what

then is

the fruit

the good

fruit that

is going

to last

as I

expect for

many of

us when

we talk

about fruit

our minds

go automatically

to the book

of Galatians

where Paul

lists the

fruit of the

spirit

love

joy

peace

patience

kindness

goodness

faithfulness

gentleness

self-control

these are the

things which

characterize the

Lord Jesus

and they're the

things that should

characterize us

as Christians

and as we read

through that list

I'm sure all of us

see there are

things there

that perhaps I'm

not doing too

badly on

but there are

things there

where I really

need to

improve

where I need

to be

bearing

more

fruit

and a

fruitful

Christian is

not primarily

about what

we do

it's about

who we are

it's about

our character

it's about

how we live

our daily

lives

but I think

when we think

about fruit

we need to go

a little bit

beyond that

because there

is fruit

that is

displayed

through other

people

as well

so for example

if we have

the privilege

of being able

to lead someone

to trust

in the Lord

Jesus

that is fruit

for the work

that we have

done

not that we

would take

credit for

it is from

the Spirit

but it is

fruit of what

we've done

that we can

rejoice in

what we've been

thinking about

the last couple

of weeks

we are a church

together many

of us

old and young

and we have

the opportunity

to interact

with one another

to encourage

each other

in our faith

and in our

relationship

with the Lord

Jesus

and when we

can see that

character of Christ

developing in

others

to an extent

that is

our fruit

as well

we are being

fruitful

by setting

a good example

and by

encouraging others

in their faith

and you can

probably think

of other

examples of

fruit

as well

but as we

remain in

Jesus

as we

bear fruit

in our

lives

what wonderful

things he

promises

to us

so in verse

10

the Lord

Jesus

says

if you keep

my command

you will remain

in my love

just say I kept

my father's

commands

and remain

in his

love

so we will

enjoy

Christ's

presence

with us

and the

knowledge

that he

loves us

more than

we could

ever

understand

and that

he has

the best

in store

for us

the Lord

Jesus

also says

that if

we remain

in him

this is

verse 7

if we remain

in him

ask whatever

you wish

and it will

be done

for you

what a

marvellous

promise

that we can

come to our

heavenly father

in Jesus

name

as those

remaining

in Jesus

and we can

present the

requests

of our

heart

knowing that

God listens

and that

God will

answer

now it has

to be said

with that

that this

is for people

who remain

in Jesus

and if we're

remaining in

Jesus

our desire

should be

not for

our own

comfort

or our

own wealth

or whatever

it should

be for

his glory

but that

doesn't take

away from

the greatness

of the

promise

that those

who remain

in Jesus

can come

to God

the father

and can

see

answers

to prayer

and then

finally

and there's

lots more

we could

talk about

Jesus

talks about

joy

verse 11

I've told

you this

so that

my joy

may be

in you

and that

your joy

may be

complete

joy

whatever

our

circumstances

joy

through the

difficult

times

as well

as easy

times

if we

remain

in Jesus

if we

are enjoying

his life

and his

presence

we can

take comfort

and strength

from that

and we can

rejoice in his

goodness

whatever

circumstances

we face

what a great

privilege it is

to be part

of the vine

that is

the Lord

Jesus

and to

produce

lasting

fruit

let's move

on though

and look at

the second

part

of the

passage

which I've

called

loving

friendship

I'm going

to focus

particularly

on verses

12 to

14

but we

will

cover

the other

verses

as we

go along

one of

the first

sermons

I ever

preached

was on

these

three

verses

and the

reason

was that

I was

really

intrigued

by the

structure

of them

and it

is tremendous

look in

the way

I've tried

to illustrate

in the

slide

to look

at how

the verses

fit together

you can

start with

any of

them

and read

round and

round in

a circle

going back

from verse

14 to

verse 12

every time

and it

follows on

it flows

very naturally

my command

is this

love each

other as

I have

loved you

greater

love has

no one

than this

to lay

down

one's

life

for one

friend

you are

my

friends

if you

do

what I

command

my

command

is this

love

each

other

and we

go round

and round

and just

marvel

at what

God

what the

Lord

Jesus

is saying

to us

and what

it means

for us

we'll start

at the end

today

and work

our way

round to

the middle

so verse

14

says

you are

my

friends

if you

do

what

I

command

now that

should

immediately

say to

us

our

friendship

with the

Lord

Jesus

that he

offers

to us

is a

different

kind

of

friendship

you

you

probably

wouldn't

be

very

impressed

if I

came up

to you

and said

you can

be my

friend

but only

if you

do

everything

I

tell

you

to

that's

not

the way

a

normal

friendship

works

friendship

is

normally

a

relationship

between

those

who

treat

each

other

broadly

as

equals

our

friendship

with

Jesus

is

different

we

are

in

no

way

Jesus

equals

the

best

analogy

perhaps

would

be a

king

or in

those

days

an

emperor

the

king

would

have

a

court

and

there

would

be

courtiers

who

might

regard

as

his

friends

they

would

be

his

confidants

people

who

might

give

him

advice

people

who

he

would

tell

what

he

was

thinking

but

they

would

still

be

his

subjects

they

would

still

be

under

him

and

need

to

obey

his

commands

and

that's

the

kind

of

friendship

that

Jesus

is

talking

about

here

and

the

contrast

he

makes

in

the

friendship

is

not

between

friends

and

enemies

it's

between

friends

and

servants

he

says

I'm

no

longer

going

to

call

you

servants

I'm

going

to

call

you

my

friends

and

he

says

the

distinction

there

is

a

servant

just

has

to

do

what

they're

told

and

not

ask

any

questions

master

says

do

this

and

they

go

and

do

it

a

friend

is

privileged

to

understand

why

they're

being

told

and

to

know

a

little

bit

more

about

the

background

so

Jesus

says

up

till

now

you've

treated

yourself

as

my

servants

you've

been

my

disciples

and

you

have

taken

it

as

your

role

to

serve

me

I

now

want

to

call

you

my

friends

because

I've

told you

everything

you need

to know

and so

the

relationship

is much

more

one of

friendship

than

of

serving

servants

servants

to

serve

to

serve

to

serve

to

serve

to

serve

the

will

of

the

one

who

is

talking

with

them

what a

privilege

it is

for us

to

understand

the

mind

of

Jesus

and

to

understand

God

now

in

the

context

Jesus

obviously

was

talking

to

his

disciples

who

spent

a

long

time

with

him

that

we

haven't

physically

but

yet

in

the

Bible

we

can

see

God's

mind

and

God's

will

and

something

about

our

God

and

who

he

is

and

so

Jesus

says

you're

my

friends

you

understand

then he

repeats

the promises

he's

made

earlier

the

promise

of

fruitfulness

the

promise

of

answered

prayer

but

it's

all

dependent

on

obeying

Jesus

commands

you

are

my

friends

he

says

if

you

do

what

I

command

so

then

we

need

to

go

back

to

verse

12

what

does

Jesus

command

Jesus

says

my

command

is

this

love

each

other

as

I

have

loved

you

if

we

were to

go a bit

further

back

to

verse

9

we

can

see

the

love

that

Jesus

has

for

us

and

he

has

us

to

have

for

each

other

is

also

the

love

that

God

the

Father

had

for

Jesus

this

is

an

enormous

standard

that

he's

setting

for

us

the

love

in the

most

intimate

relationship

in the

universe

between

God

the

Father

and

God

the

love

sacrificial

and

wholly

undeserved

that the

Lord

Jesus

has

shown

to

us

that

is

the

kind

of

love

that

we

should

be

showing

to

each

other

it

might

seem

impossible

in a

sense

maybe

it

is

impossible

but

as

we

develop

the

character

of

Jesus

as

we

come

to

understand

more

of

the

love

that

Jesus

had

for

us

that

should

be

reflected

in

the

love

that

we

have

for

one

another

we

are

to

love

each

other

as

Jesus

has

loved

us

and

how

has

Jesus

loved

us

well

we're

on to

verse

13

aren't

we

greater

love

has

no

one

than

this

to

lay

down

one's

life

for

one's

friends

Jesus

saying

I'm