Welcome to 2026!
Everyone longs to live an effective, meaningful and fruitful life. That is the reason why we like making new years resolutions. Nobody wants to waste their life. Everyone wants to create a fruitful legacy and fond memories. And that is good. It is wonderful to remember those whose fruitful lives have enriched us and who have left rich memories for us to cherish. We owe much to people who have lived fruitfully, and whose legacy we now enjoy.
We randomly
think of people like Johannes Gutenberg (1400-1468) who invented the
movable-type printing press, the father of modern printing. Michael Faraday
(1791-1867) was the father of the electric motor. Louis Pasteur (b. 27th Dec.1822
d. Sept. 1895) gave us the first laboratory-produced vaccine and is perhaps best known for pasteurized
milk. Alexander Bell (1847-1922)
gave us the telephone. Marie Curie
(1867-1934) laid the foundation for modern nuclear physics, cancer treatments,
and radiography. Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen (1845-1923) a German physicist
discovered X-rays in 1895. All of these
were ‘fruitful people’. Some of these were
professing Christians.
Whilst
acknowledging that these people have made physical life so much easier for all
of us, we must still ask that huge question raised by Jesus in Matthew 16:26,
“What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits
his soul? It is very good to live
good lives and to make life changing contributions that benefit all of humanity
in this life, but what matters ultimately?
JOHN
15:1-17
Our
text directs us to the subject of godly fruitfulness. What is the
essence of true fruitfulness? What matters ultimately? To answer that we must begin by looking at the
greater context. I remind you that the most fruitful human being that ever
lived is Jesus. He gave His life that we might live... and that our joy may be full (15:11)
CONTEXT
John
13-17 contains Jesus’ upper room discourses - things
that Jesus did and said to His disciples on the night that He was betrayed. Last
words are generally weighty words. Here
we find ...
·
Jesus’ foot-washing and
teaching on the nature of servanthood (13:1-20)
·
The great commandment to love one another (13:31-35)
·
Jesus’ personal promise to
prepare a place in heaven for His people, and of His return, and of the
necessity of believing in Him (13:36 - 14:11)
·
Jesus’ promise that if He left, He would not
leave His people as orphans, but that He would send the Holy Spirit to be with
them and to empower them (14:16-31)
And
now in 15:1-17 we find His vital teaching on being fruitful
ourselves (15:1-17). Nothing tells the truth about us as much as this. Here
we need to be aware that this fruitfulness cannot measured by mere appearance. Jesus’
own life demonstrates this. His own life and words were appreciated by
comparatively few in His day, and yet who can deny His supreme fruitfulness? Some of the most fruitful people in God’s
economy are not those who occupy public office and pulpits, but faithful women
and men that display the fruit of the Spirit in quiet and unassuming ways.
It is very fitting that our key illustration for fruitfulness is a vine - something found in great abundance in the Breede River valley.
1. THE SOURCE OF FRUITFULNESS
The
source of the fruitfulness is our Tri-une God. I am the true Vine (15:1a); I
am the Vine (15:5). Jesus is the Vine stem. God the Father is
the vinedresser (15:1b). The
work of the vinedresser is to prune the branches of the vine regularly so that
it may produce fruit. Please note that the Son and the Father are
both involved in making the branches fruitful. What about the Holy Spirit?
Well, He is found to the left (14:15ff)
and to the right (16:7-15) of our passage. In fact, the fruit that we
are called to bear, eventually are called
the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Gal.5:22).
We draw the strength of fruitfulness by abiding in Christ (15:4) - the true Vine, pruned and made even more fruitful by God the Father. More about that in a moment...
2. THE SUBJECTS OF FRUITFULNESS
15:3
Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. One of the most essential works that our
Heavenly Vinedresser does is to cleanse us from all sin. Those that are rooted in Christ are called
“clean” (cf. 13:10,11). If you
are a Christian, if you trust in Christ, born again (Jn 3:7) then you
are clean. The blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin (1 Jn
1:7).
The
work of the heavenly vinedresser continues as He prunes us from time to time SO
THAT we may be more fruitful.
The subjects of fruitfulness are those that are clean, who abide in Christ i.e. who are born again of the Spirit of God (John 3:1-8)
3. THE PURPOSE: BRANCHES ARE DESIGNED FOR SPIRITUAL FRUIT-BEARING
Here we want to make a few observations:
(i) Branches derive their fruitfulness from abiding in Christ. It comes from nowhere else. It does not come from our own efforts. If we are not abiding 'in Christ', then there is not just no spiritual life within us, but there can also be no spiritual fruit. We must get this clear. We may be good people; we may be decent and moral people; we may be good citizens and parents in the eyes of our society, but we may not necessarily be fruitful according to God’s Word. The goodness of our fruit-bearing is rooted in Christ.
(ii) Branches must be pruned from time to time in order to be more fruitful. 15:2 "He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit, He prunes, so that it will be even more fruitful.” 15:4 "No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” 15:5. "I am the vine, you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
There are two types of branches: those that bear fruit (15:2b,5,8); those that do not (15:2a,6). Fruitful branches are pruned – trimmed to make them even more fruitful – this happens to every true Christian. These can be painful times, but the outcome is always good. Unfruitful branches (who do not abide in Christ – 15:6) are cut off altogether and thrown into the fire. Does this mean that dead, unfruitful branches are Christians that have lost their salvation? No, it doesn’t. That would bring us into conflict with the nature and the power of Christ’s salvation. But it does illustrate something that we will easily overlook. There is such a person as the “Almost Christian”[1]. There are at all times people like Judas, of whom Jesus speaks in John 13:2,11,21. This man has walked with Christ for a while, but he had no spiritual life in him to continue. He has finally proven to be a dead, fruitless branch, while the 11 disciples (unpromising as they look at times) will ultimately display proofs of fruitfulness.
(iii) Branches display the glory of the Vine 15:8: "This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit showing yourselves to be my disciples". The ultimate end to which we bear fruit ( the end to which we live) is to give glory to God!
We
must assert the importance of fruitfulness. Absence of fruit is a bad sign. The
value of the vine depends on the fruit.
If any branches of the vine do not bear fruit that branch is actually
useless. It is in danger of being thrown away into the fire (images of eternal
hell) See how often the metaphor of an unproductive tree is used in the gospels
by Jesus (Matt 3:10; 7:15-20; 12:33; Lk 3:9; 6:43-44)
Applying this to our Christian profession we learn by way of application that this is a “do or die” thing. Fruit is the ultimate proof of the authenticity/value of a tree. Spiritual fruit-bearing of Christian authenticity. The absence thereof proves that we are not (Gal. 5:19-25).
4. WHAT KIND OF FRUIT MUST WE BEAR TO SHOW OURSELVES TO BE CHRIST’S DISCIPLES?
(ii)
Of that fruit in John 15: 9
-17, Jesus mentions joy (15:11) but He focuses mainly on that greatest
of fruit which will last into eternity - LOVE (cf. 1 Cor. 13:13). We will merely summarise what Jesus says here
·
15:9,10
Love is the basis of the relationship between the Father and the Son
·
15:10
Christians are called to imitate that love among one another. To that end they
must draw from the strength that they receive not from their own willpower or
ability but by drawing on the resources
that God supplies. PLEASE NOTE the promise given
if we pray for such strength to love in 15:7
·
15:12-17
This love is not an option for Christians. It is commanded, and if commanded it
is possible (because of 15:7). The supreme act of love is laying down our lives
/ preferences for one another. The manifestation of the fruit of love is the acid
test of being a Christian. It is the greatest mark of the church. The love of believers for one another is not just
a nice thought; it is the very essence of discipleship and the most potent tool
for convincing a sceptical world of Christ's reality (Francis Schaeffer). This
love isn't just a feeling but must be visibly demonstrated in actions like
apologizing, forgiving, and serving one another, even when this is difficult. Again,
it is possible, because the source of such love is drawn not from ourselves but
from God.
BEARING
FRUIT IN 2026
·
You want to live a meaningful,
fruitful life. Let God define it for you. Not your new years resolutions.
·
If you are powerless, ask: Have
I been grafted into Him - the vine, so that there is this spiritual sap in my
life? Am I ‘in Christ’- abiding in Him? (15:4). Have I been born again?
(3:3-8). If you are a Christian, and you still feel powerless to love - pray
(15:7)
·
Understand that you may need
pruning from time to time in order to be more fruitful. The experience may be
bitter but the fruit will be sweet.
·
Let your love for God
translate into a real, genuine love for that which God loves – Love for
Jesus, His people (your church 15:12), His Word; His glory and
kingdom; Your holiness of life; His Coming. (all summarised in the Lord’s prayer)
No comments:
Post a Comment