John 15:4: " As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye except ye abide in me.”
In this passage from John we find some very significant words. We have the vine; the vine dresser; the branch; and then we come to the fruit. What does our Lord have to say about the fruit? He simply says that fruit is the one purpose of the branch. Fruit is the one reason for the existence of a branch. Fruit is the one mark of being a true branch of the heavenly Vine. It is the one condition of being allowed by the divine Husbandman to share the life of the Vine. Fruit is what the divine Husbandman expects.
What is fruit?
Many have confused the production of branches with the production of fruit ( fruit-bearing ) by believing them to be the same. Fruit is something that the branch bears , not for itself, but for its owner.
Strange things have been said about the term “fruit” (Gr.karpos) such as making the branches themselves the “fruit” of the Vine. They reason that the fruit of the branches must be similar. By this they mean other branches or souls joined to Christ by us. Such thoughts only confuse and spoil the point that Christ is presenting. No branch ever grafts another branch into the Vine. The production of branches is wholly the business of Christ, the Vine.The fruit of the branches is grapes, not another branch.
The identity of this fruit is plainly revealed in the Scriptures: “ ...the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance...” (Galatians 5:22)
Hebrews 12:11 states: “...the peaceable fruit of righteousness>”
Philippians 1:9-11: And this I pray that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; that ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ; bring filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.”
A branch may have a little of such fruit. But as long as it draws life from the Vine, some fruit will always be found.
We are utterly dependent upon Him. He holds us up. He supplies us life. He reproduces His own particular kind of fruit in us.
There is a great difference between leaves and fruit. One looks good. The other tastes good. One provides shade for the birds. The other supplies joy to the Vine Dresser. The accomplishment of modern may produce only leaves. Man’s training and academic excellence may produce only leaves. His charm, his grace, popularity, and fame may produce only leaves. A Christian is of use to Christ only as he is crucified to self and Christ lives and works through Him.
The flowers of a Vine are unimpressive. The wood of the vine is useless for even making a good fire. The wood flares up suddenly and is burned out in no time. How strange that the Lord Jesus should choose the branches of a vine to represent our relation to Him. This is true in every respect. There is no beauty in us . There is nothing in us that could possibly make us attractive to God.
The Bible uses one special word to describe all that a man is without Christ. That word is flesh. All the glory of natural Man is summed up in that word flesh. All of man’s potential and all his abilities are contained in that one word flesh.
Romans 8:8: “ So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.”
There is absolutely nothing in the natural, fallen man to make him useful or acceptable to God.
So by using the figure of the branches and the Vine the Lord Jesus taught the one basic lesson about fruitfulness which so many of us as Christians miss completely. In all His references to fruit-bearing the Lord Jesus taught that it isn’t the activity of the branches that brings the luscious branches of grapes. It is the Vine that produces the fruit.
Many have served God for years believing that activity was fruitfulness.So they thought that the more enthusiasm they put into their efforts the more success they would see. It seemed so simple and logical. The harder you worked the more you produced. The more you produced the more fruitful you were. There have been many sincere pastors, deacons, Sunday School teachers, music directors, and many other Christian workers whose lives are geared to this same conception - that activity is fruitfulness. They have believed that enthusiasm ensured success. But it is not so.
This passage provides us exactly what Jesus said. The branches hold up (bear up, support) the fruit. But the branches do not produce the fruit that Jesus is speaking of in this passage. Herein is the reason so many sincere Christians reach the point of exhaustion. They work so hard but never see the “fruit” in there life they desire. There comes a sense of spiritual frustration which leads on to spiritual fear and guilt. They ask themselves if they have worked hard enough or if they are keeping anything back that is stopping the blessing. Consequently, they struggle and strive even more to produce the “fruit” for which they yearn. Soon their life becomes a case of desperate determination which sometimes ends in disaster. The tragedy of a nervous breakdown is often he result of trying with repeated sincerity to produce “fruit.”
Just suppose for a moment that he branches did produce “the fruit.” How different things would be. The branches would have to struggle and writhe and jerk and thresh until there came that blessed moment when they squeezed he grapes out of their branch ends. They would then flop exhausted by the struggles they had endured. Soon one branch would look at another and say, “ Ha! I have more grapes than you. Then the other would reply, “ Maybe so, but mine are bigger than yours.”
The whole idea is silly and senseless from a vine’s point of view. But this is the way many Christians operate in the field of fruitfulness. Producing leads to comparison and comparison leads to contempt.
So it is possible for a Christian who thinks like this and who is ambitious to produce branches only to reproduce himself. This is extremely dangerous. It is possible for a person to be great natural leader and by his own efforts and dynamis personality to reproduce himself in the lives of others. This can be true of a pastor or Christian worker. The “fruit” they produce is the reproduction of their own personality. The branch will br trying to reproduce branches. This is the task of the Vine.
Remember, branches are useless except they abide in the Vine.
To conclude let’s see what actually happens in fruit-bearing. In God’s good time the branches begin to show a blossom or bloom. Then in God’s good time the blossoms are fertilized and wither. Soon the withered blossoms reveal tiny things which in God’s good time become fruit. All the branch has to do is to abide and eventually will manifest the fruit that God will develop by His own mighty power.
John 15:4: “As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself. Except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.”
The purpose of fruit-bearing is not to beautify or glorify the branch. There is one main thrust behind all “fruit-bearing.” The one main purpose is the reproduction of the Vine. In this church we are seeing this. We are seeing fruit increasing and we are seeing much fruit. We are seeing branches being grafted into the living Vine. All praise be to God.
Sermon by Dr. Harold L. White
Email Dr. White at hleewhite@ol.com