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Thursday, October 20, 2016

Lessons from the vineyard (Pt.2)

(Part 2)

“By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.”-John 15:8

Jesus declares, here in John 15, that God is glorified when His disciples bear fruit. If that is the case, then what is the fruit that Jesus is looking for? Grapes on a branch are an outward evidence that the life of the vine is coursing through the branches. The grapes are the ultimate expression of the vine and serve as an indication that the branches are healthy and strong. Fruit indicates that there is life within. The healthier the branch, the better the results. I guess you could say that fruit is synonymous with results! So, what does being fruitful look like?

Fulfilling the commands of Jesus is a big part of the fruit bearing process:

“As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.”-John 15:9-10

Obedience to God’s Word is an outward expression of our love for Him. It is visible evidence of our connection to Jesus Christ. Another visible evidence is our love for one another: 

“This is My commandment that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”-John 15:12-13

Two visible fruit of our connection with Christ then are: love for God and love for one another. Does that sound familiar?

“Jesus said to him, “You shall love the Lord our God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ “-Matthew 22: 37-39. 

What other type of evidences should emerge from our relationships with Christ? 

“That you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.”-Colossians 1:10

What does that look like in our everyday life? What good works demonstrate my connection to Christ?

“For I was hunger and you give Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me during; I was a stranger and you too Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me. Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord when did we see You hunger and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see you a stranger and take You in or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ “And the King will answered say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.”-Matthew 25:35-40

We bear fruit when we love God. We bear more fruit when we love each other. We bear much fruit when we add making disciples. Reproduction is another indication of fruitfulness:

“And Jesus came and spoke to them saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and earth. God therefore and make disciples of all the nation, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”-Matthew 28:18-19

It is through these efforts (loving God, loving one another, serving one another, and making disciples) that our fruitfulness is recognized. Jesus said that a tree is known by its fruit. Because of this, we need be make certain that we stay connected to the vine. 


Pastor Scott Burr
Dayspring Community Church

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