Joy Made Full | Ep29

Transcript

“These things I have spoken to you, so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.”

On one occasion, Jesus said, I am the true vine, and my father is the vine dresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away, and every branch that bears fruit, he prunes it so that he may bear more fruit. Jesus said, I am the true vine.

You see, the vine, the grapevine, was the symbol of Israel. In the Old Testament, in Isaiah 5 and Jeremiah 2 and Psalm 80, it speaks of Israel being that vine, but they did not produce what God intended for them to produce. They weren’t the true vine that he really wanted, and so Jesus said, I am that true vine.

I am the true vine, and my father is the vine dresser. So we’re going to note some individuals here. Jesus is the true vine, and the father is the vine dresser.

Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away, and every branch that bears fruit, he prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. When they grew grapes, every year you would trim back. You would prune it.

You’d cut it back. It makes bigger and better grapes. And so he says, every branch in me that does not bear fruit, you cut it off.

But if it’s bearing fruit, you cut it back, and it’ll bear more fruit. It prunes it. In fact, that word prune there really is the Greek word for cleanses it.

And so that’s the picture he’s going to use. And he said, you are already clean because of the word which I’ve spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in me.

I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from me, you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me, he is thrown away as a branch and dried up, and they gather them and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.

If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples. Just as the father has loved me, I have also 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. These things I have spoken to you, so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full. Let’s notice a progression here in bearing fruit.

He speaks about those folks who have no fruit, those folks who have fruit, those who have more fruit, and those who have much fruit. God expects his people to bear fruit. Now, in this context, he does not tell us what kind of fruit we are to bear.

Actually, he’s giving principles that would enable us to bear all kinds of fruit. The Bible speaks of numerous kinds of fruit, the fruit of the Spirit, of course, the fruit of knowledge, the fruit of understanding. The giving of our means is called the fruit.

Now, he’s not saying any particular kind of fruit, but he’s simply saying, here are some principles that must be abided by for you to bear fruit. Now, a lot of times when we read this passage, we think, well, he’s talking about Christians going out and converting other Greek people. No, that can’t be it, because he said, you are the branches.

He didn’t say bear more branches. He said, bear more fruit. So he’s simply giving some principles as to how a person can be more fruitful to God.

Every person in this world falls in one of those four categories, either no fruit, fruit, some fruit, or more fruit. And if we abide by his principles here, we can become one who bears more fruit. And let’s stop and look at what he said as to how this is to happen.

The key word here is going to be abide. Let’s notice something. Abide in me and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in me.

If you have your Bible, take it sometimes and simply count the number of times the word abide is found in this context. Ten times in 11 verses. Ten times in 11 verses.

I think a key thought here is we must abide. We must abide in Christ if we’re going to bear fruit for God, whether that fruit is self-discipline, whether that fruit is winning souls, whether that fruit is growing in our giving, whether that fruit is knowledge. We must abide in Christ if we’re going to have that great fruit bearing.

And notice also, he says, what happens if we don’t bear fruit, he cuts it off. He takes it away and every branch that bears fruit, he prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. He prunes it.

Literally, when they dress the vines, they literally cut back and cut off some of the vine. If that vine had feelings, I’m sure it would have hurt. That is discipline in our life.

We need to understand that God disciplines us that we can be better people. There can be more productive in our Christian life. If we had time, you could look at Hebrews 12.

In Hebrews 12, he talks about being disciplined by God. God disciplines, it says, those whom he loves. He disciplines those who are his children.

Things come into our life, hardships, difficulties, and those can be disciplines. They may be sent by God, or they may just be something that’s happening in our life that it’s a hard time. If we will accept that pruning, if we’ll accept that discipline, we’ll begin to bear more fruit.

It seems hard, it seems long, but there’s good effect in the end. And so he says, I want you to accept this pruning, this discipline that I’m going to bring into your life. And he said, you’re already clean because of the word which I’ve spoken to you.

Abide in me and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from me, you can do nothing.

Notice he goes from no fruit to fruit, and now that he mentions much fruit. If anyone does not abide in me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up, and they gather them and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. Notice the idea that this is a branch that is attached to the vine.

Jesus is the branch. Christians are attached to him. We are saved, and therefore we become a branch.

You know, there are people who say, well, once you’re saved, you can’t be lost. But what happened here? What was described here? He said a branch that’s attached to the vine, if it doesn’t bear any fruit, God is going to cut it away. He is the vine dresser.

It is possible to depart from saved condition if we’re not living in accordance with God’s will. And then he goes on to talk about the importance of that. He says, if you abide in me and my words abide in you, notice another condition.

Not only must we abide in Christ, but his word must abide in us. The word of God is the means for us to bear fruit. The word of God can assure us we are his child, tell us what fruits to bear, and how to bear them.

And so we must be people of the book. We must fill ourselves with the word of God if we want to bear the kind of fruit that God wishes. And he also promises, though, he says, if you abide in my word and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you.

When we ask God according to his will, God’s going to answer our prayers. He’s going to give the answer that will help us to continue to bear great fruit. And then my father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit.

And so prove to be my disciples. And then he gives himself as an illustration. Just as the father has loved me, I also have loved you, abide in my love.

He said that he was in the father’s love and he wants us to abide in his love. And he tells us how to do that when he says, if you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love. We cannot claim to be in Christ and not keep his commandments.

We must be living the very best of our ability, abiding in the word of God, following the word of God, in order to be and remain in the love of Christ. Just as I have kept my father’s commandments and abide in his love, these things I have spoken to you so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be made full. Think about what he says there as he closes this out.

I’d like for us to think about the last phrase, that your joy may be made full. He says, if you do these things, my joy will be in you and that your joy can be made full. The desire for joy and happiness and peace in our lives is probably the most motivating, most sought after position in this world.

People want to have peace and happiness and joy. Notice what he says, you can have that. You can have all the peace.

You can have the joy of life. Let me read it again. These things I have spoken to you so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be made full.

When we obey the commands of God, he does not take joy out of our life, he gives us joy. It is so unfortunate that many people think that when you become a Christian, you walk away from joy. No, in reality, when you become a Christian and you end to bear that fruit, you learn to have, you really develop the real joy that God can offer.

It is also interesting that Jesus uses the word joy. In our society, we kind of use interchangeably the word happy and the word joy. Technically speaking, there’s a difference in those two.

Happiness depends upon our circumstances. Basically, it comes from the word of the idea of happenstance. When circumstances are good, I’m happy.

When circumstances are bad, I’m not happy. Joy does not depend upon the circumstances around us. Joy is something that is deep within us because we’re deeply involved in Christ.

Joy is not something that comes and goes. Joy is something that is steadfast. It’s there all the time.

Happiness comes and goes depending upon circumstances. But the one who’s a child of God, the one who’s striving to bear that fruit will always have that deep joy, no matter what the tragedy is, no matter what the circumstances are, no matter who’s around or whether one is alone. And Jesus said, I said all this, that your joy may be full.

May you pursue true joy by remaining in Christ and bearing the fruit that He wants you to bear. This is the formula for how to bear more fruit. Whatever kind of fruit it may be, or several different kinds of fruit in your life, He said abide in me, keep my commandments, and these things will come unto you.

May your life be full of joy.

Thanks for joining us this week and spending time in God’s Word. Special thanks to Mac Graham, John Kachelman, and LightWay Media for recording, producing, and making this podcast possible. If you’re ever in the Littleton, New Hampshire area, we’d love to have you join us for worship and Bible study on Sunday afternoons at 4 at the Senior Center. You’re always welcome. For more information about this podcast, visit lightweightmedia.com/meditating-on-the-word and find the link there to email me to subscribe to my free weekly newsletter with more information you can use in your personal Bible study.

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