Latest / Clifford Baptist / The Me Centered Life Wed Night - The Life of Fruitfulness
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker A: John chapter number 15. And just that little bit will probably give you, give it away of what we're going to be talking about tonight as we have been talking about the me centered life and what that entails. And really it's not about me, it's not about us. It's where Jesus is inviting us to come to Me and to follow Me and to believe in Me. And tonight we the simple command to abide in me. Abide in me. What in the world does it mean to abide in Christ? And tonight we're gonna look at that through Scripture, through John chapter number 15. I want you to know that when we think of abiding in Christ, what does that look like? What does that mean? It is a dependence, an active, living, longing relationship that leans on the Lord and draws from the Lord. We understand that and we're going to get a great picture of that tonight through Scripture. But the idea of remaining or staying or resting in the Lord when that happens, amazing things. God can do amazing things when we abide, when we stay in Him. And so that's the challenge, that's the command tonight that we live our lives committed to staying in Jesus Christ, to abiding in Him. And so when we think of that, I've titled the lesson tonight. A life of faithfulness. A life of faithfulness. And when we look A life of faithfulness and fruitfulness. Tonight there are really three points we're going to look at. But I want to set the scene in Luke chapter 15 before I dive into God's word. This is part of the upper room discourse. That discourse is from John chapter number 13 to John chapter number 17, the upper room discourse. That's Jesus last words to his disciples. And as he is teaching them, he is in the midst of Jerusalem. It is Passover, and it is the night before his arrest, before his trial, and ultimately before his death. So in this moment, he is giving the last bit of information to his disciples. So as you read John chapter 13 through 17, you will see that. But as we think about the physical presence of Jesus leaving, he's trying to prepare his disciples for life without the physical Jesus there. He's not necessarily leaving them forever because he promises them a comforter, right? His presence, the Holy Spirit will guide them. He promises them that. But the physical Jesus as they have known it thus far is going to be gone. And that gift of the Holy Spirit will be there to guide them. This is one of the familiar teachings of God's Word, but it's also a great word picture that the disciples can understand. How many of you are visual learners? I am. I've got to put my hands on it. I've got to tinker with it. I've got to see it. And I understand. I'm a visual learner. And some of those disciples will get this word picture. When you think tonight of a vine or a vineyard, we think of a grape vineyard. Some of you may be more familiar with a grape vineyard than others, but in scripture, Israel was often referred to as the vineyard. It was looked at as the vine in Old Testament scriptures. Write this down. I'm not really going to go in depth in it right now, but write down Isaiah, chapter number five, verses one through seven. In Isaiah, Isaiah depicts Israel as the vineyard. And as that, Israel is the vineyard. They are a vineyard that never produced for the Lord. And so they're getting a condemnation there. They're looking down on there. And as you read Isaiah, chapter five, the first seven verses, you're going to see that God will take that vineyard and he will remove the protection from around it, and it will be trodden down and trampled, and briers and thorns would take it over and. And there would be no rain sent for this vineyard. And Isaiah is clearly telling Israel, because you have not produced for the Lord, there's a price to pay. As we look at Old Testament scripture, Israel has always been the vine. But this upper room discourse changes the trajectory of that thinking altogether with when Jesus says this, I am the true vine. No longer is the vine a nation, or no longer is the vine connected. Because you can trace your roots back to Abraham. That doesn't mean anything. Jesus is saying, you must be connected to me. And so with that, there is a simple reminder. As Jesus is going off the scene, he desires his disciples to remain connected and to abide in that vine. Not. Can you identify the vine? He's not asking, have you heard about the vine? But are you abiding? Are you drawing from the source of life? Tonight, in your mind, I want you to see a vineyard. I drove by one today. If you come down the bypass, if you travel the bypass coming into Amherst county and you look to your left, Sweet Briar College has a vineyard sitting right there on the hillside. As I drove by it, I thought about this message, right? We've got a beautiful, beautiful picture there. But tonight, as we think about this, there's only one question that we want to ask ourselves, and that is this. Are you connected to the vine? Are you connected to Jesus? Every one of our points is going to look to that question, are you connected to Jesus? Let's read John chapter 15. Let's look at the first four verses. These are Jesus words. If you have a red letter Bible, they're all in red. He says this. I am the true vine, and. And my father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away. And every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except ye, abide in me. The first point tonight of a life of faithfulness or fruitfulness is, you must be connected to the vine. You must be connected to the vine. Jesus declares to his closest followers, those disciples indeed, that he is the true vine. With that declaration, he is rewriting what faith looks like for those who have followed God with their lives. As I alluded to earlier, it's no longer centered on a nation. It's no longer centered on ancestry. It's centered on being connected to Jesus Christ. And they need to understand that this commitment to Jesus needs to lead their life. It will matter for the rest of their lives if they stay connected to the vine. And so Jesus says in verse number one, I am the vine. My father is the husbandman. What does it mean by the husbandman? Some of your versions may say a vinedresser. He is the one that takes care of the vineyard. So you need to see this picture, this word picture you have in front of you. The grapevine itself is Jesus. And the one who takes care of the vine and takes care of the vineyard is God the Father. And so those are spelled out right here by Jesus. And I understand we could probably go on and on with that one verse of what that truly means, how much control God really has over our life, over your life and what he wants to do with your life. We're going to look a little bit into that. But the disciples hear this, and they also hear that they are the branches. So you've got a vine, you've got a stem, you've got branches coming off of that. That represents the disciples. And you've got God the Father who is there to dress or to take care of the vine and of the vineyard. And as the branches, we are called to remain or stay connected to the vine. Look at verse number four. Here's what that call looks like. Jesus says, abide in me, and I In you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except ye, abide in me. Can I ask you one question as we start out tonight? What is the branch's job from that one verse? What is the branch's job? The branch's job is to produce fruit. Produce fruit. Produce fruit. That's your job, and that's my job. As disciples, as believers in Jesus Christ, we are to be producing fruit. And that is what Jesus is saying to his disciples. Your life is to be devoted to producing fruit. But in order to produce fruit, you must stay connected to the vine or you must abide in me. And I will abide in you. That call to abide in me means this. The branch cannot produce on its own and the branch cannot produce connected to something else. The branch must be connected to the vine. And when that branch is connected, Jesus says, your life will produce fruit for me as you abide in me. Look at verse number five. I am the vine, Ye are the branches. He that abideth in me and I in him the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without me, ye can do nothing. The important part of staying connected to the vine, connected to Jesus, is that if we're not, we, you and I, the Bible says, can do nothing in our own strength. What's the Bible's word for us? Nothing. Look, I'm looking at some strong men and women out here. But you can't do it on your own as you are facing life. Life is filled with problems. Problems have solutions, and God has those solutions. Listen, you cannot do it on your own. Apart from the Lord Jesus Christ, you and I are nothing. And as verse five spells that out very plainly, we cannot neglect our relationship with Jesus and be fruitful and be faithful to him. How do you stay connected to Jesus? That's the question. What are you doing to stay connected to Jesus? Now listen, everybody. Look at me. Coming to church doesn't satisfy that. That's only a part. If you say, if you stand before the Lord, not. Jeffrey. If you stand before the Lord right now and say, lord, I'm staying connected to you because I'm in church for one hour a week, God might say, so what? I don't know what God will say. How do we stay connected if we are called to produce fruit and Jesus says, abide in me. Stay connected, rest in me. How are you truly doing that? How am I doing that as a believer? I'm gonna tell you how I do it in just a minute. But first I'M gonna tell you maybe some examples of how you stay connected to Jesus. Number one, you can stay connected to Jesus by faith. That is the only way to connect yourself to the vine. Just showing up, just being around good people, just being around church. That doesn't connect you to the vine. Being connected to the vine is having faith in Jesus Christ, saving faith in Jesus Christ. So tonight, if you're here and you say, I'm a believer, I believe Jesus Christ died for my sin. He went to a cross and he rose on the third day, and he came out of the grave to give me life. I believe in Jesus Christ as my Savior. That's step one. You're connecting. You connect. You abide in Jesus by faith. The second way you abide in Jesus is through his Word. I'm thankful for verse number three. It says this, now ye are clean through the Word which I have spoken to you. That word does something in our lives. God's Word does something. It connects us. It cleans us. His Word molds our lives and our thoughts. And the truth of God's Word is what it means to stay connected to the vine. So you have to have faith. You must stay connected through the Word of God. That's the second point. The third point is through through prayer. That connection with the Lord, seeking his will for your life and situations, the fellowship with the Lord that that brings. Prayer is a vital tool to stay connected to the vine. The fourth thing is being obedient to the Lord. And we're going to get to that in just a second. But it's one thing to know the Word. It's a whole different thing to let your life follow that Word. And so obedience to God's Word is how you stay connected. Constant connection for Jeffrey throughout my day starts in the morning. Now I'm gonna tell you a tale on Jeffrey. When my alarm goes off, usually I wake up before my alarm goes off. I don't immediately go to God's Word. I go to the shower. Okay? I get ready for my day and I come to church. I come to work. And in that office when nobody is there, that's Jeffrey and God time. So that's where I read, that's where I study. That's where I do my personal devotions as well as get started for my day. But for me, the constant connection to Jesus involves Bible reading, it involves prayer, it involves music in my car. It involves fellowship. When I visit with other believers and encourage them and they encourage me. It involves serving. It involves witnessing all of these things together. Show me that I am connected to the one that gives me life. Does that make sense? And the only way that we can produce fruit is if we are connected to the vine. So our one question of the night is simply this. As we think about being connected to Jesus and connected to the vine, are you connected to the true vine? Are you connected to Jesus? Because without him, we are nothing. A life of faithfulness and fruitfulness involves. Point number two involves clipping, pruning, probably the hardest part of this lesson tonight. Look at verse number two of chapter 15. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit. Fruit, he taketh away. And every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. The way that I read my Bible, every branch gets clipped in some way. Every branch. And so when we understand that you and I, as disciples, are the branches that are connected to the vine, pruning is not fun, but it is necessary. Every branch will be clipped. But let's start with the branches that bear fruit first. The branches that bear fruit. Verse 2 says, Even those that bear fruit, guess what? He purges them or he prunes them that they may bring forth more fruit. Now remember, you and I are not the ones that are doing the pruning. You're just a branch. I'm just a branch. Sometimes you want to clip me, and I may want to clip you. That's not our job, right? It's easy to look at another branch and say, hey, look how much fruit's on that branch. What's wrong with me? Or maybe you can look at yourself and say, I'm producing this much fruit. What's wrong with y'? All? You just a branch. Your job is to produce fruit. You're not the vinedresser. God is. And here's what I want to tell you tonight. If you're connected to the vine, God will clip you in some way. It hurts. And as God clips and prunes, his only desire in the clipping is not to cut you down, is that your life will produce more fruit for him and that he will get the glory from your life. So the fruit that is producing the branch that is producing fruit, his desire is that it produces more fruit. Jump down to verse number eight real quick. He says, this herein is my Father glorified. Now look, this is the Jeffreys trans. Here's how you glorify my Father. That's what Jesus says. Here's how my Father is glorified. Look at verse number eight. That you bear much fruit, so shall ye be my Disciples. So the branch has to be clipped to bear more fruit. And if you bear more fruit, then you are showing God Almighty that you belong to him, that you are his disciple. So tonight, as we gather, we understand that we, our lives are under constant observation, not by other people, but by God Almighty seeing and looking for those areas where he can prune or where he can clip. God is in the business of pruning us in order for fruit to reproduce. What does that look like? Well, I'm going to tell you something. I'll give you an example from my own life. When I was 18, 19, 20 years old, I was eat up with baseball. And I mean eat up with it. So much so that I couldn't coach enough and I couldn't be around it enough, and I couldn't umpire enough, and I couldn't be at least six days a week at the ball field. I was able to coach my boys as they grew up through baseball, really enjoyed that. But one of the areas that God pruned in my life was something that I love so dearly. And God took that love for umpiring away. I think he used a lot of bad parents to do that. Okay, you can never make the right call. I just want you to know that that's pruning. I couldn't see it then, but boy can I see it now. God took something that I dearly loved, maybe, maybe more than him, and God took it out of my life. You read about pruning in your Bible. You can read in the Old Testament about Gideon and his army. You remember that story. God took an army of 32,000 down to 300. Why? Because he wanted to show Gideon that he was the one fighting the battle and would win it anyway. Sometimes God has to remove things in order to produce fruit. In order to get our eyes on him, we look at the lives of Job and Joseph and Paul. God wants to prune things in our lives that our lives will reflect and produce godly fruit. Here's what God needs to prune tonight as the branches. God wants to take sin out of your life. Maybe right now something's popping in your mind. God needs to prune that out of your life. As we think about sin, as we think about the things that make you comfortable, maybe it's a habit, maybe it's an attitude. Maybe it's the things that influence you that are not godly. God wants to take those things and out that he gets the glory. So if there's a job that stands in the way or there's Something that you really enjoy and you really love. Be careful telling God what you really love. Because if you love it more than him, he may just need to prune it. Tonight. Pruning hurts. Pruning is uncomfortable. Pruning even seems like loss. But pruning leads us to trust God deeper and makes us stronger and produces fruit for his glory. Verse 2 comes with a lot of controversy because some people look at this verse and say someone can lose their salvation. Look at verse number two again of chapter number 15. We've talked about the branches that produce fruit. What about the ones that are not producing fruit? He says this. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away. Does that mean someone can really lose their salvation? I really don't think that's what it's saying. I believe that the branches that are not producing fruit were never connected to the vine to begin with. I have a dogwood tree. I know it's not a vine. Okay. I know it's not a grapevine. I have a dogwood tree in my yard. If you drive by my yard, you'll see it. And it's got this little vine growing up. And in the midst of this dogwood tree, I just let it grow. But right now, look, in the middle of winter, everything has lost. That dogwood tree looks like it's green as grass. But guess what? That vine that's there is not connected to the tree. It looks like it, but it's not a dogwood tree. And I believe that's what the picture is here. Jesus says there are some branches that are not connected to the vine. They too must be clipped, and they too must be taken away. These branches that appear to be connected to the vine, they must go. And what happens to those branches that are? The Bible says in verse number two are taken away. Where do they go? I'm glad you asked. Look at verse number six. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch and is withered. And men gather them and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. These branches that have never been connected to the vine, Jesus says they're cut off, they're cast forth. They wither, they dry up, they're dead. There no longer appear to be life in them. They're gathered together. They're cast into the fire, and they're burned. I wrote in my notes here, the fruitless become fuel for the fire. That may seem insensitive every most of the time. I'm not gonna say every most of the time. In your Bible, this is a reference to hell. Fire is a reference to hell. And that's the reference here. These branches that do not produce have a destination. And so tonight, have you been clipped? My prayer is, yes, in some ways you feel that, but that doesn't mean it's the end. God has clipped me in a lot of ways in four years standing here. And there's a lot more that needs to be cut out tonight. Here's the question as we think about being pruned, that we can produce fruit, more fruit, that God would get the glory from our lives. The question is simply this, are you connected to Jesus? If you're connected, then you're going to be clipped. There's one more point tonight. Look at verses 7 through 11 in chapter number 15. If ye abide in Me and my words abide in you, you shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father, glorified that ye bear much fruit. So shall ye be my disciples. The Father hath loved me, so have I loved you. Continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love, even as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you that my joy might remain in you and that your joy might be full. Point number three. A life of fruitfulness and faithfulness yields a crop, Yields a crop. Verse number four says, abide in me, and I in you. As the Holy Spirit lives in you when you are connected to the vine, to Jesus, he is telling as you are connecting him, the life in me flows through you. You have life through me. And so as we understand what the benefits of being connected to the vine and the benefits of being a faithful and fruitful life, number one is Jesus lives in us tonight. If you are a branch, if you're connected to the vine, God's word says this. Jesus is in you. The Lord lives in you. The Holy Spirit lives in you. We have life not of ourselves, but of the supernatural. And he's alive in you. The second thing is that if we abide in him. In verse number seven, he says this. My words abide in you. Not only do you have life, not only has Jesus given you life as a branch, he's also given you his words, his teachings. If you are connected to the vine, God's word will be evident in your life. People will be able to identify you. They will know that something different is about you because you are connected to to the vine. Jesus says if you're connected. If you abide in him, his words will abide in you. God's word should be central to who we are. If we are connected to Jesus. That crop starts with the life that comes from Jesus and God's word in our heart, in our lives, leading us. And then it begins to branch out. Verse number seven, at the end of it, it says this. You shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you. Now, that's not a free reign of prayer, okay? I just want you to know that. But what that means is if you are truly connected to the vine, Jesus is saying this when you pray. You're not gonna ask for something so off the wall that he will not grant it for you. You're gonna be seeking his will. You're gonna be praying for his will. You're gonna be desiring his will. He will give it to you. People who are connected to the vine have their prayers answered. That's a crop. That's a blessing. That's a fruit. How many of you know prayer warriors, when something is going on, you call these people to pray because you know they're connected to the vine. You're not calling them because they can do something, but you know they're connected to the vine. The one who can do something. Tonight, get you some people in your life that are connected to divine and be one of those people for others. Prayer matters. Prayer is a dependence upon God, dependence upon the vine. The fourth thing is that God is glorified. So if you're writing down these crops, Jesus is in us. His Word is in us. He answers our prayers. The fourth thing is God is glorified. As disciples, we want to bear fruit. And we not only want to bear a little bit of fruit, we want to bear much fruit, as the Bible says. And as we think about glorifying God, we bear fruit. Not to brag about, not to boast about, not to look at ourselves about, but that God will get the glory from our lives. When someone looks at you, they should see your Savior. When someone looks at the fruit of your life, they should see Jesus. God needs to get the glory from your life. The fifth one is love. Look at verse number nine. As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you. Continue ye in my love. The fifth crop that is yielded is love. Your fruit will consist of God's love that has passed from through the vine to the branches. And it is rewarded through the fruit that you produce. Jesus reminds the disciples they must continue in his love. Guess what? Jesus is going off scene tomorrow. He's gone. And here's what Jesus says. Continue in my love. Continue to be an example. Continue to spread it and share it. Be an example of who I am. Love should lead your life as a fruit. The sixth one is obedience. Look at verse number 10. If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love, even as I've kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. The keeping of the commandments is key there. The keeping of God's word is proof that you are connected to the vine, but also that God's love pours through you and over your life. Faithfulness to the Lord is the ministry that we long for with our lives, but also that can be seen by others. We are to be imitators of Jesus. We are to follow his commands. We are to abide in our Father's love. So he desires that love should be a fruit that shows others that you are connected to the vine. And the last one is joy. Look at verse number 11. These things I've spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you and that your joy might be full. As Jesus says, abide in me. Stay connected to me. My joy is going to remain in you, and your joy will be full. How many of you remember that song as young ones? I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart. Let me ask you this honest question. When's the last time you truly felt that? When's the last time you truly felt I truly have the joy down in my heart? When we think about being or when we think about having joy. Remember, joy is not happiness necessarily. It is a contentment in Jesus Christ. And when the vine has passed along everything it has to the branches, the branches are full of joy. Can I tell you something? Christians should be the most joyful people in all the world. I say should be. What's stopping you from being full of joy tonight? Listen to me. If you're busy, worn down, devoted to many other things, you're gonna lose your joy. If you're not fully connected to Jesus, you're not gonna be joyful. If you're devoting time and energy and effort to other things other than Jesus, you're gonna lose your joy. But Jesus says this. If you abide in me, if you keep my commandments, if you live for me, stay connected to me. Abide in me. I've told you all of this stuff. I've spoken these things that you may have joy, but not only that you can have it, that you can Be full of joy tonight. Our world needs more of Jesus. And how are they going to get it? Maybe through the fruit from the branch that's connected to the vine. That's you and me. Maybe tonight you're sitting here and say, jeffrey, I get the word picture, but I'm like that. I'm like that vine in your. That vine in your dogwood tree. I look like I'm connected, but I'm really not. Tonight, it all starts with recognizing that you are a sinner in need of a savior. And that Savior's name is Jesus. And through faith, you become connected to the vine tonight. Don't leave here without knowing Jesus. I'll be here till most of you leave. If you need to talk about that, you come talk to me tonight. We need to be faithful, fruitful people that understand that we need to be connected to Jesus, that understand that the Lord is going to clip us and he's going to cut us back sometimes not to harm us or to hurt us or to kill us or to make us mad, but to produce more fruit. And as that fruit is produced, it's amazing what others will see in our lives. Let's pray, Father. God, tonight, Lord, as we bow before you, Lord, tonight I pray all over this sanctuary, Lord, you will teach us the truth of what it means to abide in you, to rest, to stay, to depend on, Lord, tonight, if there's someone in this room that's truly not connected to you, abiding in you, God, tonight I pray, Lord, that you will rearrange their life, Lord. Maybe even clip in areas, Lord. Thank you, Lord, that you can work in our lives, Lord, in such a way that you can produce fruit that glorifies your name, Lord. You can use people like us to glorify your name. And so, Lord, tonight I pray that you just work through your people, that you continue, Lord, to clip and to mold and make us to be more like you, Lord. Lord, tonight, if there's one that needs you as savior, Lord, I pray they don't leave this sanctuary without recognizing they need you. God, thank you for what you're going to do. Lord, we pray that you move in only the way that you can. In Jesus name, Amen.
- 40:05Speaker B: Amen.