The reading this afternoon is
from the Gospel according to John chapter 15 and we're reading
the first 16 verses. John chapter 15 and the first
16 verses again if you have a sheet the reading is on the back. I
am the true vine, 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. 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. 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. If ye abide
in Me, and My words abide in you, ye 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. As 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. This is my commandment, that
ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath
no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever
I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants,
for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth. But I have called
you friends, for all things that I have heard of my father I have
made known unto you. Ye have not chosen Me, but I
have chosen you, and ordained you that ye should go and bring
forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatsoever
ye shall ask of the Father in My name, He may give it you. Thus far, the reading of God's
holy word. Now the word that I desire to
bring before you is in verse 4. 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. And it is the importance of bringing
forth fruit, and the Lord has ordained a way whereby his people
can know whether they really are in Christ. Now many might think, well, If
we live good lives and love one another, and if we are able to
do those things that please God, surely that is enough. But we know that our own works,
our own righteousnesses, are as filthy rags. And the Lord
has said, without Me you can do nothing. And so He's given
His people this way whereby they may know how close they are to
the Lord, because if they don't live close to the Lord, if they
are not united to Him, they cannot bring forth fruit. Now, the Lord
uses parables to illustrate this. We think of the parable of the
sower. five types of ground wherein that seed is sown, only one into
that good ground brings forth fruit. The first, they didn't
understand the Word. The one that brought forth fruit,
they did understand it. But again, the emphasis is that
where there is a work of grace, where God's work is, where His
people are in Christ, they will bring forth fruit. And so here
we have again a parable of the vine. The Lord Jesus Christ is
the vine. Ye are the branches. Then the
Father is the husbandman. And so we have again the illustration
that is showing the need of fruitfulness. Now you might think, well, as
in a home and not able to do service in the church that maybe
you've done for many years, how can there be that fruitfulness? Well, there's a beautiful word
they shall still bring forth fruit in old age. And from me is thy fruit found,
and is that real encouragement, those fruits are still there,
of course they will be still there. So I want to look at the
source and reason for fruitfulness and three points. Firstly, the
fruit of the Spirit. What are we talking about when
we're speaking of fruits? What are we looking for? And then secondly, the source
of fruit, which is Christ. and then lastly the reason for
continued fruitfulness because there is purging or chastening
so that those in Christ do still remain fruitful. So firstly the
fruit of the Spirit and we're not left in any doubt on this
we are told very clearly In Paul's epistle to the Galatians, in
Galatians chapter 5 and verse 22, we have, But the fruit of
the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness,
faith. Now all of those things, you
dear friends, in the pilgrim home, those fruits, you're able
to show one to another in the home there. But there is a contrast. Those what we've just mentioned,
you would say, are positive fruits. But then, previous to that, in
Galatian, we are told the works of the flesh. Our old fallen
nature, what those are, and the implication is, not only are
there the positive fruits, but there are the fruits that we
don't still love and walk in. Those fruits of the old nature. That old nature is mortified. Re-repentance is turning from
and turning unto. And so, when the Apostle speaks
of the works of the flesh, adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
he's saying that those things, they are mortified, they're a
grief to us, they still will be there, but we're sorry for
them and they grieve us. Envyings, murders, drunkenness,
revelings and such like, And he speaks of those things that
come from the old nature. The Lord Jesus Christ makes a
difference. And so when we're talking of
fruit, this is what we're thinking of when he writes to the Ephesians. And in Ephesians chapter 5 and
verse 9, again, there's a contrast. He says that sometimes ye were
darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord. Walk as children
of light, for the fruit of the Spirit is all goodness and righteousness
and truth, proving what is acceptable unto the Lord, and have no fellowship
with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove
them." So there's a contrast, the unfruitful works of darkness
and the fruitful works of light, and that which flows as an evidence
of union with Christ and of grace. So the fruit of the Spirit, that
is what the Lord looks for. That is what he'll have respect
to, the work of his own hands in his people. So where is that
source from? Where does that fruit come from?
Does it just come from our own hearts? Does it just come from
learning? Or from our endeavours and our
efforts to imitate these fruits? It's a sad thing if we're left
to just being able to imitate the people of God and not actually
be the people of God. Well the source here in John
15 is the Lord Jesus Christ. 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. and that's a
constant abiding. If we had a vine planted outside
and we thought well it'd be nice to bring it inside, let's just
leave the root outside, just cut it off and just bring the
vine inside just for a few hours each day just to liven up the
room and then afterwards we'll hold it onto its stump again
and that'll get enough sap so that it'll keep alive. We know naturally speaking It
wouldn't do that. It's got to abide in it. It can't
be... cut off, it can't be separated,
and this is what the Lord is saying to His people, they need
to be united to Him, otherwise they can't bring forth fruit,
they have nothing in themselves, they have no root in themselves,
they have no life in themselves, and sometimes we painfully feel
it, sometimes the Lord allows us, allows us to wander from
Him, leave His Word, neglect the Word, neglect the conversation
one to another, or the means of grace like we are this afternoon,
and then we find ourselves worldly and hard and carnal And then
we start to complain and murmur like the children of Israel did.
Or then envy one another and rise up in pride against one
another. And those fruits come and they
are not from the Lord. Remember the Lord said, take
my yoke upon you and learn of me. For I am meek and lowly in
heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls." When the disciples
were with the Lord, when they acted wrongly, immediately He
corrected them and they had to learn what He was like. When they said to this about
the Samaritans that wouldn't receive Him, Shall we command
fire to come down from heaven and consume them? And the Lord
says, You know not what spirit ye are of. The Son of Man came
not to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And so they had
to learn that spirit, calling down fire upon men, that was
not the fruit of the Spirit at all. No. But in being with the Lord, they
had to learn His Spirit. And this is what the Lord is
teaching in this parable of the vine. It is a fruit that's coming
from the Lord Jesus Christ. We need a living union with Him. His Word to dwell in us, we to
dwell in Him, His Word to dwell richly in Him. So that is the
Source, our Lord Jesus Christ. And for those of you who may
be neglecting the Word, neglecting gathering together, or conversation,
speaking one to another the things of God, may you put that right. Join with the people of God,
join with the Lord and His Word, and be strengthened and bring
forth fruit as that Word dwells richly in you. Well then thirdly,
there's a reason for continued fruitfulness. In this passage,
the Lord says that in verse 2, 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 we read
in Hebrews, Hebrews 12, that the Lord chastens every son whom
he receiveth, that there is none that he receives that he does
not chasten. Then he says, Now no chasting,
for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous, nevertheless
afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit. of righteousness to them
that are exercised thereby. And we see the reason for chastening,
for correction, the Lord laying on His rod. And whenever the
Lord chastens His people, He will already have spoken to them
through the Word, their conscience already born witness, or even
if it hasn't been that, it'll make them search and try their
ways whether they are far from the Word and need the Lord again. And so the Lord has means of
chastening, affliction, those turning against us like Solomon
had, those that rose against David, the chastening of affliction,
of sickness, of things going wrong, troubles, troubles in
the family. May be very clear though, not
all trouble, not all tribulation is chastening. We must, through
much tribulation, enter the Kingdom And it is chasting where the
Lord has already spoken to us, and it brings us to be exercised,
brings us to search and try our ways, to think on His Word, to
examine ourselves. Why did we speak like that? Why
did we act like that to a fellow resident? Why did we respond
like that to a member of staff? Why are we so backward in reading
the Word? Why didn't we bring the Word
to that soul that was in need? And the answer may well be, because
you're living so far from the Lord, so much in the world, Your
mind is not on spiritual things, to be spiritually minded is life
and peace, to be calmly minded is death, and to have it realize
the Lord in great mercy is coming and laying His gentle hand, one
of the hymns says, the lash is steeped, He only lays, yet softened
in His blood. It is the Lord Jesus Christ who
has suffered, bled and died for His dear people. And it is His
will that they bear fruit that flows forth from His sufferings. Greater love, He says in the
passage we read, hath no man than this, that a man lay down
his life for his friends. And our dear Lord Jesus has done
that for His dear people. Lord, help us each to lay down
our lives for our friends, our brethren, to have the same Spirit
of Christ, to have those fruits that show forth His praise, whose
we are and whom we serve. Well, the Lord bless this word
to you, give you some further meditation upon it today. Think of this chapter, John 15,
also the first verses or 20 or so verses in Matthew 13, that
is the parable of the sower. Again, it's speaking on fruitfulness,
He is a subject for further meditation upon and to examine ourselves. Are we really in Christ and united
to Him?