January 29, 2018

I AM PERSUADED THAT HE IS ABLE:

TO MAKE ME FRUITFUL (part 3)

John 15:5 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.

As we take a final look at verse five, there are a couple of questions that we need to ask ourselves. Questions that really dictate our philosophy and our motivation about the entire process. Questions that require total and complete honesty with and from ourselves.

Question 1: “As a Christian, do I really want to bear fruit?”
It is a fair question. Do we really want to bear fruit? There are a number of Christians that are content to live fruitless lives. They have grown comfortable with the process. While they are eternally secure, they have become eternally sterile. “No shirt, no shoes, no fruit, no problem.” They often come to church as they are, and leave as they were. They are positioned in a pew, and content to be comfortable. So be honest, do you want to bear fruit? If, deep down, you really don’t, then there is no motivating factor to get closer to Christ.

Question 2: “If I want to bear fruit, how much fruit do I want to bear?”
Verse five uses the words “much fruit”. It is a wonderful step when a believer decides that they want to bear fruit. It is a life changing step when they decide that they want to bring forth much fruit. Since the vine is the only thing that can give growth, the branch that bears much fruit must simply draw more from the vine. The closer to Christ we get, the more fruit we bear.

Question 3: “Why do I want to bear fruit?”
This is an interesting question. Does it really matter why? Yes it does. You and I should desire to bear much fruit for one simple reason. To make the vineyard fruitful for Christ. The vineyard is not there for us, and neither is the fruit. It is all about the vineyard because it is all about Christ. This whole illustration in John 15 is teaching us principles about the Kingdom of God. It is all about Him. I know Christians that desire to be fruitful so that they can get the glory. That is why some preachers constantly brag about how many they had in church, how many have been saved through “their” ministry, how many have been baptized, etc. As if they had anything to do with that. They create self glory and then at the very end they throw in one little statement, “I am telling you this to give God the glory”. No they are not. Their fruit was for them, not for Christ. It is as if Christ knows us as He makes one last statement in this verse.

“WITHOUT ME YE CAN DO NOTHING.”