This afternoon, I'd like us to camp out
in the Gospel of John, Chapter 15, for
it is rich with treasure just waiting to
be dug up.
I have preached out of this chapter numerous
times and have called this chapter various names
such as the Abiding Chapter, the Pruning Chapter,
and the Fruit-Bearing Chapter, for one can
see those applications throughout the 15th chapter of
John.
The abiding element of staying in a close
walk with God, and apart from Him, you
can do nothing.
We can do much in the name of
religion, with money and manpower.
That seems to be the way most Baptists
like to operate.
But listen, friends, nothing can be accomplished for
God of any eternal worth unless we are
so connected and yielded to the divine that
Jesus can work through us in remarkable ways
that impact eternity.
And this chapter can also be viewed as
the pruning chapter, where God strips us, prunes
us of things which hinder the work of
God through our lives, where the master pruner
takes out his pruning knife on me and
strips away everything and anything displeasing to Him,
useless to Him, so I can be a
more abundant fruit-bearing vessel.
So this chapter can also be called the
Fruit-Bearing Chapter.
And every time I have preached through John
15 in the past, I have approached it
from the viewpoint of me and my relationship
with God, how I need to dwell and
abide with Him more in a close walk
with Him.
The very word abide in the Greek is
the word meno, which means to continue to
dwell in a certain place, to endure, to
remain, to stand, to tarry.
So I have always, in past times, preached
out of John chapter 15 and how it
relates to me and how I can be
a more productive Christian for God.
But I believe the message I'm going to
bring you this afternoon is much more than
that, much more deeper than that, because what
I am to glean from John chapter 15
is not about me, nor about you, but
about God and His glory.
You see, friends, John chapter 15, when properly
viewed, is a God-honoring, God-glorifying portion
of Scripture.
It is God who gets the glory from
our lives of fruitful service.
Jesus declares in verse 8, Herein is my
Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit, so
shall ye be my disciples.
And that is the approach I want us
to pursue this afternoon as we study John
chapter 15.
I want us to see how God is
the great object of this chapter, God and
His glory.
The title of my message today is A
Life Lived for His Glory.
I want to begin by reading you this
important passage of Scripture, so please turn in
your Bibles to the Gospel of John chapter
15.
We're going to be in verses 1 through
8.
I would like you to focus on this
passage and the rich truth it contains, for
I know it's easy to have your thoughts
drift away and wonder when a familiar passage
of Scripture is being read, because you feel
you already know its contents, and therefore you
don't have to pay attention as closely.
But friends, you will only cheat yourself by
your lack of concentration.
Let us begin.
Here now is the word of God, 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
shall ask, and 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 I
have 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.
We will stop there, and now examine this
striking passage of the word of God.
This scene of this narrative has been the
subject of much debate by scholars.
Now where this discourse by Jesus occurred is
a matter of conjecture.
Some suppose that after the words arise, let
us go hence, that the disciples still lingered
at the table in the upper room, for
it was at this mealtime hour that Jesus
had begun to prepare his disciples for his
departure.
John is the narrator, and it was he
who rested his head on his master's bosom
as they reclined at the table, so he
was privy to hearing every word that fell
from the lips of Jesus.
Jesus was the master illustrator.
Often he would use common everyday objects to
illustrate his message.
In this case it is the vine.
Now those scholars who believe the discourse was
given while the men were still in the
upper room state that the vine was suggested
by some external object like the cup of
wine which they had recently partaken, or a
vine whose tendrils had crept into the room
through the open window, or perhaps the reference
was to the view of the vineyards outside
below in the light of the moon.
Other Bible commentators take the words arise, let
us go hence to mean that they had
all left the upper room and were making
their way to Gethsemane, so the discourse about
the vine and the branches was spoken, as
Jesus often would do, walking and talking, and
teaching them along the way as they went,
in this case as they made their way
to the Garden of Gethsemane.
Those Bible scholars who believe that the discourse
took place on the way to the Mount
of Olives and Gethsemane visualize the walk down
to the Kidron for we find in John
chapter 18 and verse 1 these words, when
Jesus had spoken these words he went forth
with his disciples over the brook Kidron where
there was a garden into the which he
entered and his disciples.
So some scholars suppose that along the way
to the brook Kidron they encountered vineyards which
they walked through and Jesus drew the figure
from the vineyards and the fires burning along
the sides of the Kidron Valley in order
to consume the vine cuttings.
That is striking imagery isn't it?
Whatever the circumstances or surroundings were we see
a vivid picture of the vine and the
branches.
Now the wording in the Greek of verse
1 reads something like this, I in contradistinction
to anyone else am the genuine vine and
my father is the tiller of the soil.
This in itself speaks of the uniqueness of
Jesus Christ and the sovereignty of God.
There is no one like Jesus and God
is the creator of all things and he
takes an active interest in what he has
created by being the tiller of the soil,
the keeper of all things.
So with these things in mind let us
approach John chapter 15 from the viewpoint that
it is about God and his glory.
God is the tiller of the soil.
A vineyard called for harder and more regular
work than any other form of agriculture.
Constant pruning of the vine is necessary for
the grapes to grow to full maturity.
God's purpose and activity in our lives is
played out through our own lives as we
serve him.
His plans are carried out through our surrendered
lives.
When we yield to his divine pruning knife
upon us we do so to be less
like ourselves and more like Jesus.
When God takes out his pruning knife on
a backslider it's to bring him back into
sweet fellowship with him, more usefulness for him.
And when we suffer for Christ it brings
God glory.
Listen friends, the focus of John chapter 15
is not ourselves but God himself, our chief
end in life is the glory of God.
We today with our brand of Christianity which
is man-centered takes all the focus off
of God and puts it on ourselves.
We selfishly read our Bibles to find an
encouraging word.
We selfishly serve God to bring attention and
acknowledgement to ourselves for our achievements.
We do so and so so we can
be in charge and tell others what to
do.
But here we err miserably for the whole
purpose of being a Christian is to bring
glory to God.
There is no other matter on earth of
any importance rather than a life lived for
his glory.
Even our soul winning activities are not so
we can brag about how many people we've
led to the Lord but to be humbled
in that God would even deem to use
such a worm as myself to be a
witness for him, a life lived for his
glory.
That should be our theme and constant object.
So this passage from John chapter 15 in
verses 1-8 is about our being part
of God's redemptive plan for mankind and that
God demands that we obey him and be
fruitful for him and that is how he
receives glory from us.
Herein is my Father glorified that ye bear
much fruit so shall ye be my disciples.
That little word be is a mistranslation it
should read become so shall ye become my
disciples.
The life of discipleship is an ongoing process
that never ceases until we get to glory.
In the meantime we must abide in Christ
through a life of surrender and obedience.
We must keep his commandments for he orders
us to do so.
We are objects of God's mercy and salvation
for Christ says in verse 16 ye have
not chosen me but I have chosen you
that ye should go and bring forth fruit
and that your fruit should remain.
Our life of yieldedness to God will result
in a life of usefulness to him and
keep this in mind friends we do not
produce the fruit spoken of here in chapter
15 it is God who brings forth fruit
through us for anything of any eternal worth
is from him and not from us.
Listen friends I had to learn this very
hard lesson in my Christian life.
My Christian life is not about serving God
and doing all I can for him and
wearing myself out for him and his service.
Rather it is staying connected to Jesus my
vine in such a life of utter surrender
that the result is a close walk with
God and a life God can use to
bring him glory by working through me.
The more God uses me the more glory
he receives from me.
A life lived for his glory is the
only life to live.
It is not the amount of our activity
in the name of God but our obedience
to him in keeping his commands and being
doers of the word for when God moves
through our faithfulness and obedience to him he
receives glory.
The fruitful Christian is the one who has
met the conditions of abiding me and the
essence of abiding in the vine is a
life of fellowship with Jesus and usefulness to
God.
The great object of John chapter 15 is
verse 1 I am the true vine and
my father is the husbandman.
The ongoing activity of the life of the
believer found in John chapter 15 is our
yielded life to Christ by honoring him with
our lives and the purpose of John chapter
15 is to bring God glory through a
surrendered life in Christ.
Do you see that my friends?
Do you believe that?
I hope you do.
Let us pray.
Lord Jesus you are the genuine vine for
there is no one like you.
You are altogether different from any other.
You are the source of our life for
apart from thee we can do nothing absolutely
nothing nothing of any eternal worth.
Take out your pruning knife Lord God and
have mercy upon us.
Strip us of anything and everything that is
offensive to thee.
Make us more useful to thee.
Grant us the grace to be more faithful
to thee.
Lord if there was someone here who was
out of fellowship with thee I pray right
now that you will extend a grace of
repentance to them so their joy can once
again be full.
Use each one of us Lord Jesus in
a greater capacity for thee.
Work through us great God and produce your
fruit through us to bring you glory.
May we never forget that a life lived
for your glory is the greatest privilege on
earth.
Give us great grace to bring you glory.
Amen.