Abide and Produce Fruit - John 15:1-4 - The Greatest Commandment

Amen.

Man, you can't help but get fired up about all that God is doing in our church. And so, man, I love what he's doing. Hey, right now we're going to start passing out these books, okay? This is really a gift to you, but it's also a guide, all right?

So this is very important. We are going to be working together over the next four weeks. This is sermon notes, this is group guide, this is prayer prompts, this is vision, all right? We are really hoping that you guys will spend a good amount of time with this book and bring it with you, man.

This needs to be one of those things that's kind of ripped up and a little bit, you know, dirty and wrinkled and all that by the time this thing is over because you've been carrying it around with you. So we really want you to grab onto this book, and we're excited about what God is doing and what he's going to do throughout the next few weeks in this series together. The other thing that I want to draw your attention to just quickly here, and then we're going to dive into the sermon, is that in that book, in every one of those books, there is one of these cards. And this book, this card is a commitment card. Now I want to get, I know they're passing out books, this is important though, all right?

If I can get everybody's attention. Listen, this card looks like it don't weigh much, man, it weighs a ton. It's heavy. And here's why, because commitments shape us many times. And when we have an opportunity to come before the Lord and to wrestle with him about what he would have us do, man, it's a real moment of growth for us. Here's the question.

This is what I mean by this card being heavy. Man, a lot of where we are in a year spiritually, man, how fervent is our heart's worship? Man, how excited are we and invested are we with the church planning and the things that are going on? Man, where do we want the temperature of our home spiritually to be? How do we want our marriage to be?

How do we want our personal disciplines to be? A lot of that is when, not just this, but a lot of that comes when we open our hands, whether it's time, whether it's talent, whether it's saying yes to a mission trip, whether it's saying yes to take off work so that we'll be present at kids week next year. I mean, whenever we are saying yes to God and we're taking these small steps, man, it changes individually spiritually, man, how hot our heart is for the Lord. I mean, this is just the way that it works. That as we continue to say yes, he takes us to a deeper place. This is the beauty of the economy of God's kingdom. What takes us to a deeper place with him also then takes the mission the farthest and the widest.

So why do I say this card is heavy? It's not only about when we say yes, we go to a deeper place, but it's also about what he's going to do in our midst. Man, do we want to see the things that we're praying that God will do? In 10 years from now, I talk about the next two years for the next 10, all right, and we're one year into that. So, I mean, really a year, a year and some change for the next 10. Guys, think about what we have thrown out for the church. 5,000 people baptized, 500 people sent out on mission. In the next 10 years, think about the adoptions that we would see, the families that are built through adoption, the families in our community that are restored through foster care. Man, let's think about those marriages that are going to be mended, the addictions that are going to be broken. Think about how many of you or your kids or that city project that lives in your home or that college student that you have right now may participate with our South Asia team in terms of going on a short-term trip, or maybe God would grab their heart and he would send them there for two years or more. Man, we are talking about seeing God do some radical things in our midst, and I'm going to tell you, I think about it like Psalm 27, 13. I think about it like David. Man, God's going to do whatever he's going to do, but our prayer ought to be, God, we pray that you will let us see it in the land of the living.

We want to see it here now. We are certain that we will see your goodness, and so what I'm saying is this. Man, what we do with this card is heavy and it's weighty, and part of that is because the mission is going to go about as far as the generosity of God's people takes it. All right, and so for the next few weeks, we're going to kind of center in on this concept of heart fervent for God and how that pushes us to mission.

It pushes us to commitments in time, talent, and certainly financial commitments in terms of giving to the church and seeing the mission go forward. All right, so let's dive into the sermon, okay? John 15 is where we're going to be today, so I want you to turn with me to John 15, but I'm going to do something a little weird. As you're turning to John 15, I'm actually going to read from Mark chapter 12, okay?

Because here's the deal, we're going to be attacking some of the same themes, but we're going to do it launch pad different place. So Psalm 1, roots go deep, fruit goes wide. You know another way to say that, right? Mark chapter 12. There's another way to say that. Love God with all your heart, then love your neighbor as yourself.

You know, this is kind of another way to get at that same idea. So you got to turn to John 15. Let me read Mark chapter 12 to you. Which commandment is the most important of all? Jesus answered, the most important is, hear, O Israel, the Lord our God. The Lord is one, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Sounds a little bit like roots deep, fruit wide, doesn't it? I mean, there's a theme throughout all of scripture. We were created to glorify God by saying, God, you are the deepest desire of my heart. You know another way to say that? Man, I love you with everything I am because you, the Lord your God is one. What that means is he is the one. He is the one.

He is the only one. He is the one of which our affections, our adoration, man, our praise is poured out to him. And when our heart ends up in that posture, we can't help but begin to think about other people in this world. And we begin to see fruit go wide in our life. Guys, Mark chapter 12, much like Psalm 1, it's a pretty good little CliffsNotes version of the whole Bible. It's a pretty good little summary. I don't know about you, I love summaries. We are in a summary generation. I don't want the whole email, give me the bullet points, okay? I don't want the whole book, give me the CliffsNotes.

I don't need the four-year degree in mechanics because I watched some guy named Daryl fix trucks on YouTube. Okay, I don't need the whole thing. I need you to boil it down for me, right?

This is where we live, work, and play. Okay, let me boil it down for you. What's the Christian life about? Man, love God with everything in your life and watch that spill out into a life of radical mission where we are living intentionally, where our time and our talent and our treasure, open hand. God, it's yours. I am a tool in your hand. You are the potter. I am the clay. I want my life to make the biggest impact that it can.

How does that happen? It happens when we love God and the overflow is that we begin to love others. I'm going to tell you something, y'all. Man, if you go to this church and you're like, yeah, you guys talk about stuff, you get fired up, man, UUPGs in India, thousands of kids at Kids Week, and I'm just not all that, you know, fired up about all those things, I'm going to tell you, the goal for you then is not to try to go get fired up about all this stuff we're doing. The goal for you would be, man, do you love God with everything in your life?

Because that's where it starts. The loving others, man, the sending missionaries, the jumping out, you know, the building, the stuff that's going to happen, the baptisms, the 5,000, the 500, that's in the love your neighbor camp. This flows out of a heart that is white hot for God. And we're going to talk about that from John chapter 15.

Here's the big idea for this weekend, okay? Bearing fruit, and this is very churchy, so if you're new, I almost just apologize, okay? But this is just right from the Scripture, and I'm going to talk about it, but if you're new, you're like, man, what does this mean?

Okay. Bearing fruit comes from abiding in the vine. Now that is inherently a metaphor, okay? So it's like, what does that mean? I'm going to explain it, all right?

And we're going to talk about that. But this is what we're going to get into today, is our works and what we're being called to do, whether it's giving, whether it's jumping into ministry, y'all, you know this through the deeper initiative. It was probably the single biggest needle mover in our church in terms of financial, yes, but guess what else happens? More people go on mission trips than we've ever seen, more people in groups, you know, the biggest kids week we've ever had, most people serving.

Why is that? They go together, because when we're opening our hands, these things begin to go together. If you're struggling at all with, okay, then we're talking about giving, we're talking about moving, we're talking about investing in the church, what we're going to see is that the desire level, because it's got to change at the desire level, not the behavior level. The desire level changes when we begin to love God with everything that we have, when He is our deepest desire.

And so here's another way to say that. The fruit that we're talking about starts to pop out in your life when the abiding in the life-giving vine, when clinging to the vine is what we think about and what we are focused on. You know, there's a big difference between lifeless religion and a life-giving gospel, and we're going to talk about that today, because I bet you across all of our campuses, five different campuses in terms of ones that are meeting in English, okay, and our husband, Joel campus in addition, I think about that, and I think, man, you know, we have, we have a lot of people that I bet you right now are doing all the stuff, but it's lifeless religion. Well, what's the difference in religion? Religion is I'm doing a bunch of stuff so that I can be accepted by God. I'm trying to bear fruit so God will let me in the vine, not how it works.

And we're going to talk about that today. Man, we want to go to that place where we're clinging to the vine. Then the fruit will pop out in our life in all these different areas, right?

So let's dive in. John 15 4 says this, abide in me and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am a vine and you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. Now, I know we haven't been studying the book of John, and so, you know, I don't have time to go into all this, but there are a few different I am statements in John of this is one of those, and we're, and in those statements, Jesus is simply trying to give us pictures so that we can understand who He is. I know, I've heard people say like, man, I don't, you know, I like preachers that don't, I've heard people say, why do preachers use a ton of illustrations? Why do we at Mercy Hill use a ton of illustrations? Well, it's simple because Jesus did, okay?

Jesus did a bunch. It's like, man, well, you know, I don't want to hear a bunch of illustrations. Well, the Bible's filled with them, and here's why. Because sometimes we need someone to explain something that we don't understand by talking about something that we do understand.

Talking about who Jesus is and how I find myself in Him and how I can get away from the pornography addiction and the anxiety and the problems I have in my life and begin to bear fruit in a good way, that's a heavy thing. That's a complex thing. So Jesus says, all right, think about a vine. Think about this.

Think about it this way. We all understand gardening. We understand vine. Okay, so he says this, hey, think about a vine and how the fruit comes out. Is the branch focused on bear fruit, bear fruit, bear fruit?

No. The branch is focused on abide in the vine, cling to the vine, be all wrapped up in the vine. Because the vine is where life is. And if I'm in the vine, the fruit will pop out in my life.

And that's what he says. There are three different things that I want us to see from this passage, and we'll keep reading it and keep making sure we understand the metaphor. But the three things are basically this, okay? We're going to talk about fruit, we're going to talk about abiding, and we're going to talk about the order in which this stuff comes matters. Okay? So the fruit, abiding, and the order.

All right? So first, the fruit. We are all called to bear fruit. If you're taking notes, that's kind of the first, you know, usually I have one big point.

I got three today, okay? So, but we are called to bear fruit. This is the first thing that I want us to see. There is a purpose to our life. This really dovetails with Pastor Bobby's sermon from last week, okay? There is a purpose to our life.

And here's how we end up missing the purpose, man. Some of us are right there, okay? Man, you're getting up, you're going to class, you're trying to work your part-time job, you're trying to have friendships, you're coming to church, you're doing the thing, but you know what? The last few weeks, the last month have been a blur. It's just stuff, stuff, stuff, stuff, stuff, stuff, stuff. Same thing's happening with some of us.

They have kids right now, okay? It's like, man, they just feel, man, I wake up, we're running them around, trying to get to work, trying to do this, now it's practice, now we're going to church, now, and we're just, it's just, you know, blur all the time. And sometimes we can end up forgetting and missing, wait a minute, there is a purpose for everything that we do. We're not doing this stuff on autopilot. Any of the things that we are doing ought to be an intentional choice that we have made to help fulfill the purpose for which we were created.

You know what that is? To bear fruit. That's the purpose. Wait a minute, I thought I was just driving the kids to their practice.

Oh, no, no, no, no. The purpose is we're using the sports and the practice and the time in the car as an opportunity to bear fruit in their life, to disciple them and see them grow in their maturity. And you could talk about this in a thousand different examples, right? But this is the idea.

Let me just stop for a minute. Man, what is the purpose of your life? Do you understand that if you are a believer, you have a call, a purpose, a gifting, a destiny. There are things that are on this earth that you are the only one that will do.

God has got them for you. Ephesians 2 10, there are works for you to walk in, that He has prepared for you beforehand. Have you found your greatest contribution? Have you found that thing that moves the needle?

Are you making that type of impact? Man, or is it just life is just a blur of ball games and riding in the car and working in television and I'm not really... Or are we realizing, wait a minute, every single piece of our life that we have... You're not a passive participant in all this stuff. We have set our life up the way that it is, okay? We made choices. Are those choices that we have made intentional choices in order to get us all the way to the purpose for which we were created, which is to bear fruit?

Why do we want to bear fruit? Because we were put here for God's glory. Sometimes we think, and this is what... Sometimes we have this kind of whole thing going as if God revolves around us. It ain't our world. It's God's world. He is not here for us. We are here for Him. He is not there to bear fruit in our life. We are here to bear fruit for His kingdom by His Spirit. This is what it is.

It's not one way, it is the other. I've talked about this before. Some of us need, to that moment, I hope this might be it when I read Isaiah in just a second, we need what is called the Copernican revolution of the soul. And you guys remember Copernicus? Of course you don't because that was like a million years ago in eighth grade, okay? But maybe some of you remember, all right?

What's the whole point? Hey, the sun don't revolve around the earth, right? What we thought was at the center ain't at the center. And for some of us, what we need right now is that revolution to come again. Mature Christians know this. We need the Copernican revolution of the soul like a lot.

It's not like a one and done, right? We need to have that moment where we remember, oh yeah, I'm here for God. I revolve around Him.

He's not there revolving around me. Now, why do I say that? Well, here's what the Bible says. We're called to bear fruit and we see that, but that is connected to why we are created.

Look at Isaiah 43 7. Everyone who is called by my name, listen, you can't get more plain than this, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made. You did not make God for your glory, right? He made us for His.

So this is the point that I'm trying to get at right here at the beginning. There is a point to your life. There's a purpose to your life. There's a destiny in your life, all right? You were made for more. You were made for more than possessions and promotions and your kids sure enough were made for more than straight A's and soccer. We were made for more.

More what? We were made to bear fruit because in bearing fruit, we bring glory to God. You can say it like this.

We bring glory to God when we bear fruit for His kingdom. And that's what we are talking about in this series. Okay.

And we're talking about it today. All right. We bear fruit. Now, what is it? All right.

This is kind of the churchy part if you're trying to catch up. All right. What is fruit?

Well, there's a lot of ways you could think about this, but here's one quick definition that I would say. Fruit is life change in us and it's life change in others, maybe because of us. It's because God is working in us. All right. So it's life change in us and it's life change in others.

If you're taking notes, you can just jot these down. I don't know how I'm on the screen, but Galatians 5 is a good place to go. For when we're talking about God bearing fruit in us, right?

This is internal stuff. This is spiritual work that He's doing in our life. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. These are things that He is doing in us that we want to see pop out in our life. And if we are in the Spirit, if we're in Christ and we have access to the Spirit, which we do, the Spirit resides in us, then we have access to these things. We can jump into them when we need them. They are who we are, okay? So this is the fruit of the Spirit. It's these things growing in us. But it's not only that.

And let me give you another example, all right? In John chapter 4, Jesus, and many of you guys would know this if you've been around church for very long, you're gonna know this phrase, right? The fields are white unto harvest. Some of us have heard preaching on that. But you know, the rest of that verse says this, and the reaper is gathering fruit for eternal life. So fruit is not only what God is doing in us, but fruit is when the lost are saved because of us. Because we're sharing the gospel. Because we're diving in and entering into them. Listen, it's both.

It's our growth, and it's their growth, and this is what fruit is. Now here's the moment. You've been around Christianity a long time. You've been around churches a long time. Okay, I'm gonna tell you something. I think this is a pretty good point.

Even somebody like me who's been around for a long time. I just said that it's both. It's growth in you, and it's growth in others. But here's the question. Is that really two things, or is it actually one?

Think about it. Is it two things, or is it one? Because when we grow in these things, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, when God is forming our character, it can't help but spill over into others. It is our growth that ends up being the mechanism that God is using for life change and fruit in other people.

So is it two, or is it one? It's God growing us so that other people will grow because of what he's doing in us. Guys have heard me say this before. When you heard the gospel, it was because it hit you on the way to somebody else. Right? I mean, the fruit that is being born in your life, it is all for God's glory, but it spills over into fruit in other people's life. Let me give you an example of this. One of my favorite preachers, I got him Juan Sanchez, High Point Baptist Church in Austin, Texas.

Okay? And he was actually a camp preacher when I heard him, and then he's now, you know, the president of everything, and gospel coalition, all this stuff. But man, awesome preacher. And I got a chance to hear his story, and this is how he got saved. He grew up in Puerto Rico until he was, you know, like maybe like third or fourth grade or something like that. And when he moved here, he didn't know any English, and it really set him on, and he was Roman Catholic, and it set him on a trajectory where he said, man, I have full rights of a citizen, but none of the experiences. And so it was like, man, I'm just desperately trying to fit into majority culture and try, you know, and all this stuff as a third or fourth grader.

I can't even speak the language and all this. And so it really gave him this kind of thing about being accepted and all that. And so here's what happens.

Fast forward a few years. He's really into the Roman Catholic thing, like he's the one dragging his parents. I mean, he's a very spiritual person, right? He's going, and he's dragging his parents to mass and all this kind of stuff. But he ends up going to this youth camp in Florida, and he was the lifeguard, okay? His friend invited him to go to be the lifeguard.

He didn't know this at the time, but really it was because he knew he would hear the preaching at night. And so he's inviting him to go, and he's 14 years old. I mean, his kids have a massive impact, right? And he's bringing them. And so here's what happens. Man, he's hearing the gospel, and actually as a very devout Catholic, it made him a little angry sometimes because he's like, man, they talk about Jesus too much, right? They're not talking about the Father enough and some of this stuff. But here's what happened. Those kids at that youth camp, this is by his own admission, they didn't care that he was Puerto Rican. They didn't care any of that stuff. They didn't care that he was a Roman Catholic.

They probably didn't even know. They were just like, hey man, we want you to jump in and be involved, and they loved him. And that spoke deeply to a person who had come from that background. That set him on a trajectory to say, why are they different? Which set him on a trajectory to get saved, which set him on a trajectory to start writing, you know, letters to his parents after he got saved, and he was in the military, and then they all got saved after they thought he was in a cult for a while. But they actually, they think, you know, he's just talking about Jesus so much, they get saved, and now he's a...I mean, it's an awesome...okay, here's my question. That love that was given in this situation, is that two things or one thing? I mean, is God growing these kids and their character and their relationship with him that spilled over into acceptance? They say, hey man, why don't you come, why don't you sit with me at chapel tonight? Why don't you be a part of the group, you know? And it radically changed this guy's life.

And this is my point. We are called to bear fruit. God is bearing fruit in you, and we're called...through his Spirit, this stuff is going internal, but then it overflows into being external. So here's my question for you guys, okay?

And then we're gonna move on. We are called to bear fruit. What fruit is God bearing in you that's showing up in others? It's a good question, isn't it? Man, we want to be the type of people that have our fruit growing in