Before we begin today’s message I need to correct something that I said last Sunday. On John 15:2, I said:
There are many different interpretations for verse 2.
2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
John Calvin and Arthur Pink say that among true believers there will be hypocrites. While it is true that there are “tares growing among the wheat,” that is not the best interpretation of verse 2.
After I preached this a brother corrected me in that Mr. Pink held to the same view that Mr. Boice does. Or, rather, Mr. Boice agrees with Mr. Pink, that “He takes away” is better translated “He lifts up”.
The only excuse I can offer is that I studied Mr. Pink on John’s Gospel so much in years past and that I had taught that “He takes away” as the interpretation, that in my aging memory I thought it was Pink’s interpretation that I was teaching.
While I was correct about John Calvin, I was wrong about Mr. Pink.
I appreciate it when anyone takes the time and interest to tell me when I am wrong. I owe Mr. Pink an apology but he long ago went to be with the Lord and is where there are no tears or regrets.
We will read from verse 1 in order to have the context of our message today that I have given the title of: “God Glorified?”
John 15:1-11
1 "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.
2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.
4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
5 "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.
7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
9 "As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.
10 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.
11 "These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.
The purpose of a grapevine is to produce grapes, i.e., be fruitful. Ezekiel 15 gives the description of a fruitless branch. Its wood is not useful for lumber or furniture and it is not even good for firewood.
A fruitless branch is worthless to the grapevine.
A fruitless Christian is not much good to the Church.
It is very important that we keep the theme of chapter 15:1-11 in mind. The theme is abiding in Christ or the true believer’s relation to Christ. So in this context, Jesus is referring to true believers who are branches in Christ, The True Vine.
In verse 2, it is not “He takes away”, but “He lifts up”. The Vinedresser [The Father] lifts up believers who do not bear fruit. And He “prunes” them by showing them in the Word of God the things in their life that must be changed because they are in Christ.
When we come to verse 6, the context demands that to be “cast out as a branch” can not mean that a true believer who loses his or her salvation. John Chapter 10 and Romans Chapter 8 destroy any idea that someone who is a sheep of Christ, someone chosen before the foundation of the world, predestined, called, and then justified, can ever be finally lost. The chosen of God hear the Gospel and they will come to Christ in faith and they will abide in Christ.
Then something other than the loss of one’s salvation must be what Jesus means in verse 6. If it does not mean a true believer who becomes lost it must mean what Paul describes 1 Corinthians 3, where Paul supports the view that burning does not always mean hell.
1 Corinthians 3:9-15
9 For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, you are God's building.
10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it.
11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw,
13 each one's work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is.
14 If anyone's work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward.
15 If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
So we have the matter of unfruitful Christians and their dead works being burned, they are the worse for it, but they will be finally saved.
In an attempt to redeem myself for misrepresenting Mr. Pink, I will relate what he said about Lot as an example of a true believer’s dead works being burned.
“He [Lot] was out of fellowship with the Lord, he ceased to bear fruit to His glory, and his dead works were all burned up in Sodom; yet he himself was saved!”
A believer, may be unfruitful, but it is shameful that a Christian could be satisfied to remain unfruitful.
Remaining in Christ, or abiding in Christ, has to do with the life choices we make. When we are faced with a moral decision our first question should be, “What does the Word of God say about this?”
There are not too many moral decisions that we are faced with that we do not already know what the Word of God has to say about the matter.
Besides, everyone has the moral law of God written on their heart. [Romans 2:14-15]. We all instinctively know that some things are wrong.
It is to mock God to ask whether or not we should commit adultery or to lie or to steal. But when we are faced with a question do we even care what the Bible has to say?
There is first, remaining in Christ and there is the second thing of His Words abiding in us.
It is popular in some so-called Christian groups to ignore or even to despise doctrine. Doctrine simply means teaching and if a person thinks that they can ignore the teaching of Christ they surely cannot abide in Christ nor can His words abide in them.
A careful study of 1 Timothy will teach you the importance of sound doctrine.
7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
These words of our Lord here repeat the promise in 14:14,
“If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.”
In the same way that 14:14 has conditions attached, one condition being, keeping His commandments, so does 15:7 attach the condition of abiding in Christ with His words abiding in us. If those conditions are met, “you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.”
Now be honest and admit that we all probably think first about something that we want and cannot afford. That is the genius of the frauds preaching the “Prosperity Gospel”. They have learned that a great number of people want “stuff” and they offer them an easy way to get “stuff.” Of course, getting your “stuff” always involves sending money to the “Prosperity Preacher” so he can get more of his “stuff.”
Are we so sinful and carnally minded that we cannot think of anything other than material desires such as money or status? Should we not think of ways to glorify Christ?
Jesus told us in Matthew 6:33 about the desire for material things and what our priorities must be:
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,
and all these things shall be added to you.
How difficult it is for us to desire that which pleases God ahead of everything that we may want that pleases the flesh.
It is an old cliché but you can ask God for anything you want when He changes your “wanter.” So verse 7 is not like the “fine print” you find on some legal document that voids the contract.
Neither is the promise unattainable otherwise our Lord would be disingenuous which is not possible.
8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
9 "As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.
10 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.
11 "These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.
I have given this message the title of: “God Glorified?”
There is a question mark after “God Glorified?” to raise the question: Why does God need to be glorified? There is nothing that God “needs” in the sense that God is not sufficient in Himself. Doesn’t Paul say?
Acts 17:22-25
22 Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, "Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious;
23 for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription:
TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.
Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you:
24 God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands.
25 Nor is He worshiped with men's hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things.
And yet there are many things that the Bible instructs us to do that seem to some people to be unnecessary.
For example, we are instructed by the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 6 how to pray, but just before the Lord gives us the Model Prayer, He says,
“For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.”
If God already knows what we need, why then should we ask or pray?
Because the purpose of prayer is not to inform God of anything, but honest prayer is good for the one who prays.
It is good for us to confess our sins to God.
It is good for us to offer the sacrifice of our lips as we praise God.
“Therefore by Him let us continually offer sacrifices of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.” [Hebrews 13:15]
And the Bible does encourage us to pray.
According to Jonathan Edwards, “Hypocrites Deficient in Prayer”, it is the absence of a prayer life that is a sure sign of a hypocrite.
We could multiply examples but my point is that while God is pure Glory, He commands us to glorify Him for our own good.
John 15:8-11, while similar to 14:13-14, puts the emphasis on the glory of God instead of prayer.
There are four elements mentioned in verses 8-11 that involve God being glorified by true disciples of Jesus Christ.
1. There is “much fruit”.
2. There is God’s kind of love.
3. There is this troublesome matter of obedience that Jesus keeps bringing up.
4. And there is mutual fullness of joy: Jesus’ joy and our joy.
1. In the first place there is “much fruit”.
Last week we acknowledged that personal evangelism was a requirement for disciples because our Lord commanded us:
Matthew 28:18-20
18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.
But where many efforts at evangelism go astray and even become harmful is when someone [preacher or soul-winner] is convinced that getting results is the measure of success.
In order to have results, Southern Baptists, love to count “decisions” and baptisms, and then after the “decider” is added to the church roll, we cannot find over half them on a given Sunday morning unless we go to the lake or ball park, or they are still in bed because, “Sunday is the only day I can rest.”
So the truth is that many genuine Christians rarely bring someone to Christ, probably because they don’t try. Therefore, “soul-winning” is not the “much fruit” demanded of believers in our text.
The element of fruitfulness that is at the heart of this passage, and the bringing of glory to God, is the “fruit of the Spirit.”
If you think for an instant that this is the easy way out you have not yet grasped what the Holy Spirit gives to us concerning this necessary “fruit.”
Galatians 5:16-26
16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.
18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,
20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,
21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
24 And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
The Greek text does not contain punctuation marks and every English translation adds the commas and parentheses and other such marks according to the translator.
It is my view that the fruit [singular] of the Spirit is love. Then there are parentheses around (joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.) With that punctuation the words that follow “love” define love as the fruit of the Spirit.
Christian love is seen by others in the degree to which we mature in each of these qualities of love. “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” [John 13:35]
As with the beatitudes, we are not permitted to ignore or refuse to grow in any of these qualities of love. Every Christian must bear the fruit of the Spirit or they will only bear dead works and they will not glorify God
2. In the second place, the Father is glorified by God’s kind of love.
"As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.
When did the Father love the Son? John will tell us in chapter 17.
John 17:1-5
1 Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: "Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You,
2 as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him.
3 And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
4 I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.
5 And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.
If you are a believer in Christ when did God love you?
Ephesians 1:3-6
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,
5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,
6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.
We have the definition of love as the fruit of the Spirit.
Then we have the kind of love required of us described as the same love that the Father has for the Son and that the Son has for His disciples.
Then we have the simple [not easy] command to abide [remain] in that love.
Is it not a great comfort to know that Jesus loves you in a saving relationship?
George Morrison points out some significant things about the love of the Father for the Son.
The Father’s love sent the Son into the world to die for sinners.
This side of heaven we may never grasp the depth of love that moved the Son of God to die on the cross to atone for the sins of His people.
The death of Christ on the cruel cross puts the lie to all claims that there are other ways to God apart from believing in Jesus Christ. If there are other ways to God then the obedience, humiliation, and sacrificial death of Jesus Christ have no meaning at all.
Morrison also says the Father’s love for the Son did not exempt the Son from suffering any more than God’s love for Job kept Job from suffering.
And it is a poor and false theology that says that believers only need more faith in order to escape suffering and financial loss.
3. The third requirement to bring glory to God is this troublesome matter of obedience that Jesus keeps bringing up.
10 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.
I say “troublesome” because John tells us in the First Letter that His commandments are not burdensome. So if we are a little stressed by Jesus’ continued demand for obedience the problem is with us and not with Jesus.
John 14:15 
If you love Me, keep My commandments.
John 14:21 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me.
John 14:23 If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word;
John 15:10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love,
John 15:14 You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.
Mr. Boice points out that Jesus asks no more of us than what He did.
Just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love.
4. Finally, God is glorified in the mutual fullness of joy:
Jesus’ joy and our joy.
11 "These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.
Jesus lived a life of obedience and yet He suffered the shame of enduring the contradiction of sinners against Himself. Yet, at all times, even on the cross, Jesus was full of joy because He knew that He was loved of the Father.
Was not Jesus in agony of soul? Where is the joy in that?
The joy was in the full knowledge that He was loved by the Father.
Being full of joy and feeling good is not the same thing. A Christian, someone said, is the most miserable and joyful person on earth.
Miserable in health and family circumstances and yet full of joy because you know that God loves you.
So forget all the “How To Get Happy” books that are a glut on the market and learn how to have fullness of joy. It is “these things” [1-10] that Jesus said that bring real joy. This joy is not superficial and temporary. This joy is full and it remains. This joy remains even in suffering and pain.
Instead of obedience being troublesome or burdensome, obedience leads to joy. Jesus said in 13:17, “If you know these things, happy are you if you do them.”
Let’s resolve to be fruitful branches on the True Vine and thus glorify God with “much fruit.”
Let us love one another.
Amen
