Let Love Abide

Amen. You may be seated.

Kiddos, you are excused to your King's kids' classes.

And as they are on their way, would you open up your Bibles to John chapter 15.

John 15 · chapter mention

! We're going to be looking at verses 1 through 17 this morning.

It's on page 1071 of your pew Bible.

Earlier this summer, Jenny, Mary, our youngest daughter,

and I, we visited some dear friends in the state of Washington.

The Tullys, many of you know the Tullys.

They're doing well.

Well, one particular day, we decided to go berry picking.

So we went to this berry farm.

And they had a variety of berries.

They had blueberries.

They had blackberries.

And not only did they have raspberries,

they had a variety of different kinds of raspberries.

It was amazing, the options that they had.

But what was most remarkable was how heavy laden the raspberry vines were.

I mean, they were just wanting to give of their fruit.

They, it was, you just felt this heaviness of fruit

as you're walking through aisle after aisle of raspberry vine.

You'd pick two, put in your bucket,

and then you'd pick two, and you would eat them.

They should weigh you going in and going out

because you eat a lot on the way.

It was, there was much fruit,

much abundant fruit.

Brothers and sisters in Christ,

we are to bear much fruit in Christ.

We are to be fruitful

with a different kind of fruit than raspberry fruit

because we abide in a different kind of vine

than a raspberry vine.

We've come to a passage that is familiar to many people in the room.

Jesus says, I am the vine.

For some of you in the room, this may be new.

So I'm going to ask and answer two questions from this passage.

How do we as Christians bear fruit?

And what fruit are we to bear?

Is there a particular fruit

that the Lord Jesus is eager for us to bear?

So how do we bear fruit?

Well, you're going to see it's by abiding in Christ.

And what particular fruit are we to bear above all else?

To love one another.

We love one another by abiding in Jesus.

So let's dig in.

Let's look at this first question.

It's going to be answered from verses one through eight.

So how do we bear fruit?

Let me just read that for you.

Jesus says in 15.1,

I am the true vine.

And my Father is the vine dresser.

Every branch in me that does not bear fruit,

He takes away.

And every branch that does bear fruit,

He prunes that it may bear more fruit.

Already you are clean because of the word

that I have spoken to you.

Abide in me and I in you,

as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself

unless it abides in the vine.

Neither can you unless you abide in me.

I am the vine.

You are the branches.

Whoever abides in me and I in him,

he it is that bears much fruit.

For apart from me, you can do nothing.

If anyone does not abide in me,

he's thrown away like a branch and withers.

And the branches are gathered,

thrown into the fire and burned.

If you abide in me and my words abide in you,

ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you.

By this, my Father is glorified

that you bear much fruit

and prove to be my disciples.

Notice there's an emphasis.

There's something repeated throughout this passage.

It's bear fruit.

Verse 2,

And he prunes that it does not bear fruit.

He prunes those who do bear fruit

so that they bear more fruit.

Verse 4,

Cannot bear fruit,

but implied you bear fruit if you abide in him,

Jesus.

Verse 5,

He it is that bears much fruit.

For apart from me,

you can do nothing.

You can't bear fruit.

Look down at verse 8,

By this my Father is glorified

that you bear much fruit

and so prove to be my disciples.

This passage is about bearing fruit.

And what we have here

is what's called an extended imagery.

It's almost like a parable.

But unlike a parable,

where parables tend to tell stories,

this is just an extended image.

And we have four characters in this image,

four kind of like pieces of this image.

We have the vine,

and we have the branches,

and we have fruit,

and we have a vine dresser.

And so I just want to be clear,

make sure we're all on the same page

in terms of what this fruit bearing

that Jesus is talking about really is.

What he's talking about is Christian growth.

He's talking about change.

He's talking about producing things

that pleases him.

It's about transformation.

It's about sanctification,

if you're familiar with that term.

It's the process of becoming more and more like Jesus.

Now, just to be clear,

you don't become more fruitful

in order to be saved.

It doesn't work that way.

First, you are cleaned.

You're cleansed.

You're made right through the blood of Jesus.

You're saved in order to bear fruit.

It's very important to get that sequence right.

But in order for us to answer the question,

how do we bear fruit,

not only do we have to know

what these parts are in this extended imagery,

we need to know how they relate to one another.

So, let's start with the vine.

Jesus says in verse 1,

I am the true vine.

Jesus says in verse 5,

I am the vine.

Now, you may be thinking,

man, Jesus is an awesome teacher,

so culturally relevant.

He knows his audience.

He knows he's an agricultural society

that uses a lot of grapes of the vine

for drinking wine

and loving on grapes.

And one could say,

well, he's just a very effective communicator,

and you would be right.

But there's actually more going on here.

When Jesus says,

I'm the true vine,

this is what he's saying.

Anybody seen a Western?

Cha-ching, cha-ching, cha-ching.

There's a new sheriff in town.

Ever seen anything like that?

When Jesus says, I'm the true vine,

it's kind of like,

everybody, there's a new vine in town.

But the old vine is gone.

The new vine is here.

Because if you read Isaiah chapter 5

Isaiah 5 · chapter mention

and Psalm chapter 80,

Psalms 80 · chapter mention

you're going to start realizing

one of the themes throughout the Old Testament

is that God's old people, Israel,

he called them the vine.

But the thing about Israel

that brought about God's judgment

again and again and again

is that they were a fruitless vine.

They didn't trust God.

They didn't become the people

he wanted them to be.

And so God judged them.

And so now here Jesus is walking in

and he's like,

there's a new vine in town.

So what we're talking about here

is this are hints of the new covenant

of Jesus coming and establishing a new way

in which God will relate with his people,

a new people who are in Christ

and who will now abide in that vine

and produce fruit.

So there is a little bit more going on here

than just very kind of savvy teaching.

Jesus is making a claim.

The fulfillment has come.

The true vine is here.

And this vine is no other than

the great I am incarnate.

The new vine is on the scene

and he's the source of life.

The vine is the basic source of life

for a grape vine.

For grapes to grow,

a branch needs to be attached to the vine.

And so what Jesus is doing here,

among other things,

he's setting up a relationship.

So we move from Jesus is the vine

to now talking about the branches.

In verse 15, 5,

Jesus looks at his disciples

and he's very clear.

He's like,

let's just get these straight guys.

I'm the vine,

you're the branches.

And that applies to every Christian in the room.

You are not the vine.

You're a branch.

I'm not the vine.

I'm a branch.

And what this means is

there is a dependent relationship

that Jesus is getting,

establishing through this extended metaphor.

He wants us to realize that we need him.

The branch

is dependent on the vine,

not the other way around.

What Jesus is getting at here

with this particular image

is a picture of dependency.

Look what he says in verse 4.

Abide in me and I in you,

as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself.

Look at verse 5.

I am the vine,

you are the branches.

Whoever abides in me and I in him,

he it is that bears much fruit.

For apart from me,

you can do nothing.

You can do nothing.

And the context is,

you cannot bear fruit

apart from me.

Does anybody else have the same

default position I do

when I wake up in the morning?

I wake up in self-dependent mode.

Self-abiding mode.

I wake up,

my systems come on,

beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep.

And I'm like,

what do I need to get done?

What's next?

Let's get it done.

And I wake up in a posture

of thinking that

I am the source

of the life

and of the power

I need for that day.

And it couldn't be further

from the truth.

And what Jesus is saying here

is it's like,

let's be clear.

Every morning you wake up,

you wake up dependent on me.

I'm the vine,

you're the branch.

It's this vitally

dependent relationship.

Here's where I'm going to want

to land you later in the sermon.

We can just,

we can wrap it up right here.

And you can start

every day this week

with a confessional prayer

that goes something like this.

Jesus, today I confess you

as the vine.

You're the great I am.

I'm a branch.

Today I need you.

That's how it starts.

Every day.

You're recognizing

the reality of things.

I define humility

as living in reality.

You're just living

in the reality

of the way things really are.

And what Jesus is saying,

if his word is abiding in us

from this passage,

it's he's the vine,

we're the branches.

We're going to live

in that reality.

And reality is our friend.

That's good

to recognize

that.

He is the source

of the life

power

we need

to bear

the kind of fruit

that pleases

him.

I just want to say

it one more time.

Brothers and sisters,

you cannot produce

the fruit

that Jesus is calling

you to here

without abiding

in Jesus.

You can't do it

on your own.

This is humility.

humility.

This is at the heart

of a dependent

relationship

with the living God.

It's in order

for us to connect

and abide

in Jesus.

We must

humbly

come in

to him.

We need

him.

You know,

anybody see

any mums on sale?

A lot of mums.

If I came up

to your door

and I had mums

in a pot

on my left hand

and a bouquet

of roses

in the right,

which would I

be giving you

that is alive?

The mums.

Because the roses,

they're as good

as dead.

They've been cut

off from the vine.

It just

doesn't matter

before they wither.

Not the mums.

They're connected

to life.

They produce

beautiful,

multicolored

blossoms.

Which brings me

to the fruit.

So,

Jesus is the vine.

We're the branches.

There's a vital

dependent relationship

of us on him

that's marked

by humility,

dependence,

and now

the fruit.

Bear fruit.

Bear more fruit.

Bear a lot of fruit.

Bear fruit

that glorifies

my Father in Heaven.

Be fruitful.

What kind of fruit?

Well,

in verses 9

through 17,

Jesus is going

to narrow in

on a particular fruit.

But not exclusively.

There's all sorts

of fruit

that the Lord Jesus

wants us to bear.

fruit.

And we can

generally categorize

them in two ways.

There's

personal fruit.

Think of

the fruit

of the Spirit.

Galatians 5,

22

through 23.

The fruit

of the Spirit

is love,

joy,

peace,

patience,

kindness,

goodness,

gentleness,

faithfulness,

and self-control.

These are

Spirit-produced

fruit

in us

that pleases

God.

And they all

have this

relational aspect

to them.

When you are

bearing the fruit

of the Spirit,

you are doing

good to a church.

but there's

also

another kind

of fruit

in its

ministry

fruitfulness

where we

are ministering

to one another

and it

is

fruitful.

People

are

experiencing

change

because of it.

They're being

built up.

They're being

saved.

They're being

sanctified.

They're given

hope.

They're helping

to endure

hard things.

So we have

the vine,

Jesus,

and I'm about

to talk to you

about the

vinedresser

who's God

the Father.

Do you know

who is the

power,

the pulsating

power of God

that is present

in you

in order to

produce

this fruit?

It's the Holy

Spirit.

It's what Jesus

says.

He was just

talking about

him in

chapter 14

and he's

going to

talk about

him more

in chapter

16.

He's

personal.

The Holy

Spirit's not

an it.

He's a who

and he's

present and

he empowers.

He brings

peace.

And he's

the one that

is going to

be bearing

fruit in us.

He

was given

in large

part so that

we would

obey Jesus'

commands.

God's

So we

have the

vine,

Jesus,

the source

of life.

We have

the branches,

us,

who need

his life.

The fruit,

that fruit's

not your

fruit.

If you

begin bearing

fruit by the

Holy Spirit

and you're

like,

look at me,

look how

self-controlled

I am.

You're making

a terrible

mistake

because you

should have

an asterisk

on that.

You should

have a

footnote

on that

that says

something like

this.

I was

really lacking

self-control

and then God

by his Spirit

produced this

self-control

in me

as I was

abiding

in Christ's

word.

Changed

me.

And that's

the kind of

fruit that

brings glory

to God

the Father

because there's

no question

who brought

about this

change in

you.

So we

have the

vine,

the branches,

the fruit,

and now the

vine dresser.

Look at

verse 1.

Jesus says,

I'm the true

vine.

Cha-ching,

cha-ching,

there's a new

vine in town.

And my

Father is the

vine dresser.

What is a

vine dresser?

It sounds

fashion-related.

It's like a

vine farmer.

A vine dresser

is a person

who tends

vines.

And look

what this

vine dresser

does in

verse 2.

Every branch

in me that

does not

bear fruit,

I think

Jesus right

there is

speaking of

people who

profess him

but aren't

necessarily

truly Christians.

Every branch

in me that

does not

bear fruit,

he takes

away.

The vine

dresser

takes away.

And every

branch that

does bear

fruit,

dun,

dun,

dun,

he prudes.

that it

may

bear

more fruit.

Look down

at verse

6.

If anyone

does not

abide in

me,

he is

thrown away

like a

branch

and withers.

And the

branches are

gathered

by who?

the vine

dresser.

Thrown

into the

fire and

burned.

That's a

sober

warning.

It's the

kind of

thing that

goes something

like this.

If you're a

professing

Christian and

you're like,

I agree with

everything you

say,

Pastor Mike.

I agree.

I need to

be fruitful.

That's right.

It's possible

you can leave

here and

think that

was an

okay sermon.

And I

agree with

what he

said,

but you

do not

bear

fruit.

You don't

abide in

Jesus.

There's

warning

here.

If you're

not being

fruitful,

you're

in danger.

You need

to ask

some hard

questions.

Am I

genuinely

saved?

Have I

been born

again?

it's

this

really

healthy

step

just to

be

able

to

make

sure

that

you

belong

to

Jesus,

that you're

in the

faith.

But what

the vine

dresser also

does,

it not only

addresses

fruitlessness,

he prunes

the fruitful.

He makes

the fruitful

more fruitful

because he is

glorified by

those who

bear much

fruit.

fruit.

He wants

us to

bear fruit.

So our

father loves

us with

the pruning

shears,

that we

be more

fruitful for

his glory,

that we

can give

him the

credit for

what he's

doing in

our lives.

So now the

question we

have is,

well,

how do you

bear fruit?

We know

the different

pieces of

this extended

metaphor,

how do you

bear fruit?

Well,

it's the

word abide.

You abide

in the

vine.

The fruit

that is

born in

you is

not your

fruit,

it's the

fruit of

God,

the Spirit.

So how

do you

abide in

the vine?

Well,

it's here

in the

text,

it's in

verse 7.

We see,

if you

abide in

me and

my words

abide in

you,

those just

aren't like

Bible

memorization

abiding in

you,

what those

are,

you're actually

doing the

words of

Jesus.

You're

acting on

them.

You're

obeying his

commands,

chapter 14.

They're

abiding in

you.

They're

making a

difference.

And again,

you don't

abide in

his words in

order to be

saved.

No,

you've been

saved to

abide in

him.

It's this

really interesting

relationship that

our obedience to

Jesus actually

helps us

stay

abiding in

Jesus,

trusting him,

loving him.

And so,

his words

abiding in

us is not

just a pile

up of

memorized

scripture.

It's you

being a doer

of the word,

not just a hearer

of the word.

And then we

pray.

If you

abide in

me and

my words

and you

ask whatever

you wish

and it will

be done

for you.

And that

whatever you

wish is

qualified by

his words

abiding in

you.

You're

going to

want what

he wants.

Of course

he's God

the Father.

I'm like,

yeah,

you got it.

You want

to bring

glory to

my name?

Sure.

Let's do

it.

So we

abide by

faith,

by obeying

his words,

and by

asking God

frequently

to do

things

for his

glory.

That's what

it means to

abide.

And now,

let's ask

the second

question.

What fruit

are we to

bear?

We've

answered the

first question.

How do we

bear fruit?

Will we

abide in

Christ?

Now,

what fruit

are we to

bear?

Verses 9

through 17.

Let me read

them.

As the

Father has

loved me,

so have

I loved

you.

Abide in

my love.

If you

keep my

commandments,

you will

abide in

my love,

just as I

have kept

my Father's

commandments,

and abide

in his

love.

These

things I

have spoken

to you,

that my

joy may

be in

you,

and that

your joy

may be

full.

This is

my

commandment,

that you

love one

another as

I have

loved you.

Greater

love has

no one

than this,

that someone

lay down

his life

for his

friends.

You are

my friends

if you

do what

I command

you.

No longer

do I

call you

servants,

for the

servant

does not

know what

his master

is doing,

but I

have called

you

friends.

For all

that I

have heard

from my

Father,

I have

made

known

to

you.

You

did not

choose

me,

but I

chose

you and

appointed

you that

you should

go and

bear fruit

and that

your fruit

should abide

so that

whatever you

ask the

Father in

my name,

he may

give it

to you.

These

things I

command

you so

that you

will love

one another.

What's

interesting

about verses

9-17 is

Jesus uses

a lot of

the same

language as

he does

in verses

1-8,

but he

narrows

the focus.

In

verses

1-8,

he starts

generally.

In

verses

9-17,

he gets

more

focused.

So for

example,

in

verse 9,

he talks

about

abiding

in me,

and then,

or earlier,

abiding

in me,

and in

verse 9,

he's now

talking about

abiding

in my

love.

That's a

movement

from general

to specific.

And then,

where he's

been talking

about bearing

fruit,

in 16,

he starts

talking about

bearing a

particular kind

of fruit,

to love

one another.

Now,

notice how

Jesus talks

about this

love.

In verse

9,

he says,

as the

Father has

loved me,

so I

have loved

you,

abide

in my

love,

dwell in

my love,

reside in

my love,

do my

love.

love,

it's like

a chain

reaction

that we're

seeing happen

here.

It's God

loves the

son,

and then

the son

loves his

disciples.

And so

there's a

chain reaction

of love

going on

from father,

son,

to disciple.

Another way

that you can

talk about

it is,

it's like

a multi-leveled

waterfall,

waterfall,

where you

have this

life-giving

water flowing

over the

top of a

waterfall.

Jenny,

Mary,

and I,

a few

years ago

went to

this

wonderful

state park,

Yosemite.

And they

had this

massive

waterfall

that had

multi-levels

on it.

And so

water would

rush over

the top

of these

boulders,

and then

it would

pool,

and then

there was

not enough

volume to

be held,

and so

it overflowed

down on

another

waterfall

into another

pool,

and then

that overflowed

because there's

so much

water coming

over,

and that

overflowed

into another

pool,

and it just

kept on

going because

there was no

end to the

flow.

No end.

And so

what we

have here

is

is a

love

cataracts,

a love

flow,

a love

fall

from God

the Father

to God

the Son,

and from

God the Son

to His

disciples.

Do you

see it?

It's a

chain reaction.

It's a

multi-segmented

love fall,

and the

way

that we

abide

under the

love fall

of Jesus

is by

abiding

in His

word.

We

position

ourselves

under

His

love fall.

It

doesn't

earn

His

love.

It

positions

us

to

experience

the

goodness,

the joy

of it,

the joy

of obedience,

the joy

of being

filled up,

the joy

of doing

what we

know is

to be

pleasing to

God.

God,

and He

uses His

own

example

in verse

10.

If you

keep my

commandments,

you will

abide in

my love,

just as I

have kept

my Father's

commandments

and abide

in His

love.

He knows.

He knows

the goodness,

which makes

verse 11

really

interesting.

These

things I've

spoken to

you,

that my

joy may

be in

you.

What joy?

The joy

of abiding

in His

Father's love

by obeying

Him.

That my

joy may

be in

you.

I want

you,

disciple,

to experience

the joy

of obeying

me

underneath

my love

fall.

I want

to fill

you up.

I want

you to

experience

that joy

to the

full.

I want

you to

experience

all of

my goodness

and that

requires

you to

be trusting

me by

obeying

my word.

The love

of Jesus

for us

is like

Niagara.

So the

love fall

falls from

the Father

to the Son

and from

the Son

to us.

It fills

us to

the full

even to

overflowing.

And so

now we

read verse

12.

This is

my

commandment.

That you

love one

another as

I have

loved you.

You see

what's

going on?

Father to

Son,

love.

Son to

the

disciple,

love.

Disciple to

disciple,

love.

It's a

love fall

vertically,

horizontally.

God loves

us,

Father,

Son,

and then

we are

like

His love

is amazing.

I want

to obey

Him and

I want

you to

experience

the same

brother,

sister in

Christ.

I want

you to

experience

His

goodness.

He

commands us

to bear

this fruit.

It sounds

strange.

This is

my

commandment

that you

love one

another as

I have

loved you.

We've

heard this

before in

13,

34,

through

35.

A new

commandment

I give

to you

that you

love one

another just

as I have

loved you,

you love

one another.

And by

this,

this love,

all people

will know

that you're

my disciples.

This is,

this is the

high,

high,

high fruit

of the

Spirit,

the first

one,

love.

And it's a

certain kind

of love.

It's not

loving like the

world loves.

Look at

verse 13.

13.

It's a

gospel love.

Verse 13,

greater love

is no one

than this,

that someone

lay down

his life

for his

friends.

Jesus spoke

that just

hours before

he would be

hanged on a

cross.

He knows

what he's

talking about.

And we are

to love one

another with

this kind

of gospel

love which

is sacrificial

in its

nature.

it's a

love

empowered by

the Spirit

that wants

others to

experience the

fullness of

their joy in

the waterfall

of Jesus.

Let me try

to put it

this way.

The kind

of love

that we're

talking about

that distinguishes

Christians from

everybody else

is sacrificial.

It means

giving yourself

for the good

of someone

else.

It means

that you

suffer like

Christ,

you suffer

loss like

Jesus in

order that

someone else

would experience

Christ's

exalting

gain.

It's that

kind of

love.

And when

you have a

church,

a bunch

of regular

people who've

been filled

by the Holy

Spirit,

who are

abiding in

Jesus,

who are

loving people

one another

this way,

that gets

noticed.

And we get

to say things

like, yeah,

that's not

me.

I would not

love people

like that.

That's

because of

what God

is doing

in us.

this is

the command.

This is

the high

premium

fruit that

we are to

be bearing.

It requires

cost.

It requires

discomfort.

It means

inconvenience.

It means

doing things

that you

normally

wouldn't do,

moving towards

people you

normally

wouldn't move

towards.

But that's

just Jesus

in a nutshell.

Jesus.

Jesus.

Jesus.

Jesus.

Jesus.

In verses

14 and

15,

you may

have

noticed

this

language

where

you are

my friends

if you

do what

I command.

No longer

do I call

you servants

for the

servant does

not know

what his

master is

doing,

but I

have called

you friends

for all

that I

have heard

from my

father I

have made

known to

you.

What is

this servant

to friend

kind of

shift going

on here?

It's a

similar shift

that we saw

in verses

1 through

8 where

Jesus is

like

the new

vines in

town,

new covenant

is rocking.

This is

a new

way in

which God

himself is

relating to

his new

people in

Christ.

No longer

servants,

friends.

That's

incredible.

This

gospel love

that we see

in verse

13,

it's a

love that

makes friends.

God,

through

Christ,

made you

an enemy

into his

friend.

He wants

to be with

you.

He wants

you to be

with him.

He wants

you to

bear all

to him,

to give

everything you

got,

to trust

him fully,

to bear

your soul

to him.

he loves

you as

a friend.

It's a

different way

in which

God relates

with us.

It's a

new covenant

way of

relating with

God's

people.

But,

look at

verse 16,

you did not

choose me,

but I

choose you,

and pointed

you that

you should

go and

bear fruit.

He's like,

just be

clear,

I'm still

calling the

shots.

He is our

master and

friend.

We didn't

choose him,

he chose us,

and he chose

us to bear

much fruit.

The high

premium fruit

of loving

one another.

there's

this

aspect of

prayer,

so that

whatever you

ask,

the Father

in my

name,

he may

give it

to you.

This is

just kind of

reiterating

what he

said in

verse 7,

it's how

we abide,

it's how

we trust

him,

we obey

him,

and we

pray,

God,

would you

help me

to love?

Help me

to love

others as

you have

loved me.

I'm going

to give

you some

practical steps

in a second,

but what I

just want you

to see is

that in

this section

here,

we can

answer the

question,

what kind

of love,

what kind

of fruit

does God

want us

to bear?

Is it

particular?

Yes,

it's love,

love for

one another.

It separates

us from

everybody else.

But I'll

tell you

what,

if you're

not loving

others,

you've

actually got

an abiding

problem.

Do you

see how

that works?

If you're

not bearing

the fruit

of love,

it raises

the question,

are you

abiding

in Christ?

So if

you're having

a hard time

loving others,

maybe you

need to ask

a more basic

question.

Are you

abiding

in Jesus?

Are you

obeying

him?

Are you

praying to

him?

There's two

questions.

How do we

bear fruit?

We abide

in Christ.

What fruit

are we to

be bearing?

Love for

one another.

We've seen

how this

has moved

from general

in 1A to

specific in

9 through

17.

And here's

Jesus,

just hours

away from

laying his

life down

for his

friends,

for us,

and of all

the things

that he could

have said

at this

moment,

he exhorts

us to

a vital

dependence

in him

so that

we would

bear the

fruit of

loving one

another.

That's how

much that

means to

him.

That's how

much it

means to

him that

we'd be

loving one

another.

It's the

high premium

fruit.

So the

question that

I want to

close out

with is

how do we

apply this

to our

lives?

I have