John 15:8 "Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples."
I will say from the beginning that we will bounce around in this 15th Chapter
this morning. Our text is concerning the manner in which you and I are to
glorify our Heavenly Father. As we glorify our Heavenly Father, we are showing
and living our discipleship unto the Lord Jesus Christ. A disciple is one who
follows. To be a disciple of Jesus Christ, we must follow His example. His
ultimate goal and purpose in life was to glorify His Father in heaven;
therefore, in order to be a disciple (follower) of Jesus Christ, our lives are
to glorify our Lord.
How are we qualified and enabled to be a disciple? I will use the words
of Jesus to answer that question. "Ye have not chosen me, but I have
chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that
your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my
name, he may give it you. (17) These things I command you, that ye
love one another." (John 15:16-17) You and I were "hand
picked" of God to be His representatives, ambassadors, disciples. He
chose us. He qualified us. He enables us to do that which we have been called
to do.
What is our ultimate calling? We are to be fruit bearers. What kind of
fruit are we to have in our lives that could possibly glorify our Heavenly
Father? Again, let us use Scripture to answer our question. "But
the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness,
goodness, faith, (23) Meekness, temperance: against such there is
no law." (Galatians 5:22-23) Remember what Jesus said about the way
all men would know we are His disciples? "By this shall all men know
that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." (John 13:35)
Notice the first thing on this list which makes up the fruit of the
Spirit. Is it not love? Our lives are to show these attributes in order
for others to know we are the disciples of Jesus Christ.
(John 15:1-2) "I am the true vine, and my Father is the
husbandman. (2) 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." This calling to be a disciple is an ongoing
process. Our Heavenly Father is constantly "working on us". He
is constantly trimming our lives because we are prone to allow other things to
begin to take away from the true fruit. I'm not a farmer, but I do understand
part of the process of growing plants and trees is that of removing the
"suckers" from the plant. This thing called a sucker does
exactly what its name implies. It sucks the nutrients away from the fruit that
is intended to be harvested. It takes away from the health of the fruit.
We are all prone to allow things of life to creep into our lives that suck the
nutrients from our spiritual being. We all go through dry times in our lives.
Sometimes events that occur will place a freeze on us and the fruit does not
come forth. But sometimes, we spend more time in worldly matters than we do the
spiritual matters of God. When that happens, God begins to cut away, to trim away,
to use the Scriptural term, He purges us from those things that have taken the
place of what truly matters. He cuts it away in order for us to experience the
true joy that comes from living a life of discipleship unto the Lord. Go
back to the passage from Galatians and do a checklist on self. Am I producing
the true fruit in my life that glorifies my heavenly Father? Do I show
love? Do I have the joy of Christ that keeps me even in the times of struggle?
Do I have the peace of Jesus in my heart? Am I patient with others, gentle,
show goodness? How is my level of faith? Would Jesus look at me and say,
"O ye, of little faith"? Do I think I have to be overbearing in
order to accomplish things? Or am I willing to wait on the Lord for His
timing? Do I allow my temper to override and ruin the fruit that is
growing in my life? These are truly things to think about especially in
the day we are living.