Exciting moment in the life of any parent when their children are old enough to leave at home. Now, this is not the debacle of the Home Alone movies, but that time when they can be safely left to fend for themselves. And when that happens, before it happens, something happens that you could call ‘The talk’.

(0:31 – 0:46)

Now, those of you who are parents, or children who are old enough, know what ‘The talk’ is. ‘The talk’ is the set of instructions that you must follow in our absence. Remember to lock the front door.

(0:48 – 1:02)

Remember to turn off the hob. Please don’t fight and kill each other, et cetera, et cetera. Now, what’s interesting is that those children live at home all the time.

(1:03 – 1:16)

But when their parents are absent, it’s a whole new world. It’s a different environment completely. And so reminders and instructions are needed.

(1:17 – 1:49)

And as we return to John’s gospel this morning, I hope you can see a parallel, because we’ve reached a point in the story when Jesus is leaving. Jesus is leaving his disciples, who intriguingly, he actually calls his children in chapter 13. You see, during his earthly ministry, Jesus has acted like a spiritual father to these men.

(1:49 – 2:12)

But now Jesus is leaving for an unknown period of time, and his disciples are disorientated. And so in chapter 14 to 16, Jesus gives his own version of ‘The talk’. It’s full of reminders.

(2:13 – 2:29)

It’s rife with reassurances. And it’s packed full of instructions for what they are to do in his absence. Now, I think chapter 14 really majors on some reassurances.

(2:30 – 2:51)

But now as we come into chapter 15, Jesus really digs into some practical instructions. He gets into the nitty gritty of how these disciples are to live in his absence. And he gives them, essentially, a picture of the Christian life.

(2:51 – 3:24)

He shows them what it looks like, and he tells them how it is possible. So whether you’re a long-term follower of Jesus, or a new disciple, or whether you’re a curious explorer, this will show you the pattern of Christian living, but it will also show you the secret to how the Christian life is possible. The pattern, but also the power, the secret of what makes it possible.

(3:25 – 3:38)

So I’ve got three points this morning, if you’ve got your Bible still open. The first of them is that connection to Jesus is the key. Connection to Jesus is the key.

(3:39 – 4:03)

If you are a visual learner, you will probably like John 15, because while it contains instructions, it begins with, and it’s dominated by, an illustration, a picture for you to look at. It’s a simple illustration, but a really profound one. It’s an illustration of a vine.

(4:04 – 4:29)

A single vine which has branches, and next to the vine is the gardener who cultivates it. But what does the picture mean? And what do these different images represent? Well, Jesus, very helpfully, and I’m thankful for this, explains it to us. So let’s just get a sense of what the picture means.

(4:29 – 5:02)

First of all, Jesus in this picture is the vine. In fact, not only the vine, He is, you’ll notice verse one, the true vine, which I guess implies that somewhere or other, there must be a fake vine, an inauthentic vine if He is the true vine. And sure enough, when we look back into the Old Testament, we don’t have to search very far for this vine.

(5:02 – 5:30)

In the first part of the Bible, God’s chosen people, Israel, are frequently depicted as the vine. Israel were meant to be a fruit-bearing people, a nation who would showcase God’s character to the world, a people who would bear the good fruit of love and obedience to God. That was the idea.

(5:31 – 5:57)

But it was a far cry from the reality. And so in passages like Isaiah two, Isaiah five, rather, and Jeremiah two, you’ll see that Israel is described in those passage as a vine that is corrupt and which bears bad fruits. So all of that’s in the background here.

(5:57 – 6:25)

By wonderful contrast, Jesus arrives in history as God’s true and flourishing vine. As the sinless Son of God, He bears the good fruit of the Spirit. Jesus shows God’s character perfectly to the world, and He glorifies the Father in the world as Israel were meant to do.

(6:27 – 6:43)

And notice that it is the Father who is also involved in this passage. It’s very easy, isn’t it, to see Jesus in this text, but actually the Father is everywhere in this passage. Notice secondly that the Father is the gardener.

(6:44 – 6:58)

Six times in 17 verses, the Father is mentioned. The Father is the gardener, verse one. He is the one who cultivates the fruit on the vine.

(6:59 – 7:24)

When it comes to the Christian life, the Father is overseeing the whole fruit-bearing enterprise. The Father is tending to the branches and cultivating them. And what are these branches? What do the branches in the imagery represent? Well, take a look at verse five.

(7:25 – 7:50)

I am the vine, and Jesus says to His disciples, you are the branches. So Jesus is the life-giving source, but like the branches, His disciples are connected to Him and they receive life from Him. That’s what a Christian is.

(7:51 – 8:19)

A Christian is someone who is connected to Jesus in a life-giving way. Though Jesus is presently in heaven, a Christian is spiritually connected to Jesus by faith and through the Holy Spirit. In Christian doctrine, this is often called the doctrine of our union with Christ.

(8:20 – 9:14)

It’s the idea of our spiritual connection or a union with Jesus through which all the blessings of His person and work flow into my life and become mine. And it’s a great thing to be reminded of if you’re a disciple of Jesus. That even on my worst days, even when my circumstances are dismal and my own performance as a Christian is disappointing, it seems. Regardless of my sense of God’s presence or not, I have a promise of unbroken connection to Jesus, which means I am spiritually alive, eternally secure, and presently equipped.

(9:17 – 9:35)

It’s a connection which if I didn’t have, if you broke the connection, it would be devastating. I would be like the sawn-off branch of a tree that is dead and fruitless. Jesus warns of that possible alternative.

(9:36 – 10:02)

Notice that in verse five, if someone is not connected to Christ, their future is death, destruction, being withered, and burned. Even though this passage has fundamentally a positive picture, it also includes a stark warning. Because if you’re connected to Jesus, it’s eternal life.

(10:02 – 10:22)

But if you’re not connected to Jesus, it’s spiritual death. That’s why being a Christian and being sure you are a Christian is such a big deal. It’s not just a preference or a lifestyle choice.

(10:22 – 10:51)

It’s the difference is, Jesus, between spiritual life and spiritual death. And therefore, the utterly important question is, how does someone hook into Jesus? How do they connect with Christ? And Jesus gives us the answer, doesn’t he? Look at verse three. It might seem like a surprising answer to many of us.

(10:53 – 11:17)

Jesus says, you are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Think of what Jesus doesn’t say here. He doesn’t say, you’re already spiritually clean because you come to church, or because you’re connected to a Christian family, or because you’ve done some religious stuff.

(11:20 – 11:57)

He says, you’re already clean from your mucky, unclean soul because of the words I have spoken to you. It might sound an odd thing to say, but people become Christians by a certain kind of listening. Not by doing, not by hearing and rejecting, but by listening to Jesus’ words about who he is and why he came and saying, yes, that sounds about right to me.

(11:59 – 12:10)

Jesus is the Son of God. And I am in need of God’s cleansing and forgiveness. I believe Jesus died on the cross for my sins.

(12:11 – 12:28)

I believe these things I’m hearing. And the wonderful result of that is that Jesus cleansed me and he connects me to himself. What makes you a Christian is a certain kind of believing listening.

(12:32 – 13:11)

And that begs the question, if you’re sitting in church this morning or you’re watching this online, have you listened? Have you listened in a way that has cleansed you and connected you to Jesus? If you’re in any way unsure about that, but you’re interested in doing that, then speak to someone that you came with today, with a Christian friend or family member, and ask them how you can connect with Jesus through faith. And they’ll try and help you with that. It begins here.

(13:13 – 13:29)

And everything else flows from this and grows from this. And that brings us to our second point today. So the second point is that if we’re connected to the vine, fruit bearing is inevitable.

(13:29 – 13:50)

If we’re connected to the vine, fruit bearing is inevitable. Notice this in verse two, that there isn’t such a thing as a branch connected to Jesus that is fruitless. If there were such a branch, the gardener would cut it off.

(13:51 – 14:13)

In other words, what he’s saying is, there is no Christian disciple who is fruitless. Now, in some, the fruit will be more, and in others, the fruit may be less. But in all, the fruit will be abundant and noticeable.

(14:15 – 14:38)

And whatever the level of fruitfulness, the gardener is invested in seeing the fruit increase. Verse two, see that the branches are pruned by the gardener to make them even more fruitful. God does a sort of Alan Titchmarch, clipping and pruning the vine.

(14:40 – 15:10)

Now that looks and that feels really painful, but it bears more fruit in the long run. We’ll be coming fairly soon to the end of another year. And it’s been my, I would say experience without exception, that the years in my life that have been the most easy, the most pleasant, the most joyful, have also been the years that I’ve grown the least spiritually.

(15:12 – 15:48)

The best years, materially, relationally, and all of that stuff, has always been the worst years of growth spiritually. And the inverse has also been true as well, because it is through God’s painful pruning that we grow in faith and increase in obedience. It’s in those painful times of clipping that our idols are cut off the branch, and we’re left clinging to Christ all the more.

(15:50 – 16:08)

We live in a culture that avoids discomfort as if discomfort is a plague. The moment you feel uncomfortable, you need to get away from whatever that discomfort is. And yet one of the keys to Christian growth is actually discomfort.

(16:10 – 16:31)

This flies completely in the face of that. The worst stuff in your life is often the best stuff in your life for seeing you grow if you respond to it in the right way, which is also key. Now incidentally, there’s a lot of discussion here about what this fruit represents.

(16:32 – 16:59)

And maybe that’s been a mistake not to mention that so far. What is the fruit? What does that stand for? Jesus doesn’t give us a definition of the fruit as he does with the other things. And so people have wondered, is it the fruit of godly Christ-like character? Or others have said in the context of John, I think it’s the fruit of witness and evangelism and disciples seeing people coming to faith.

(17:00 – 17:32)

Well, Jesus says in verse five that the one who remains in him will bear much fruit. And so if it’s much fruit, I take it that we don’t need to narrow it or limit it to one particular area. There will be lots and lots of ways that a disciple will glorify the Father and show themself to be Jesus’ disciple.

(17:34 – 18:04)

And isn’t this massively encouraging? Not only do we have life in the vine, but we have the guarantee of much fruit because of that connection to Jesus. It’s not that there are some Christians over here who are a spiritually elite group who alone bear fruit for Jesus. No, Jesus says even the lowest disciple inevitably bears fruit.

(18:07 – 18:46)

I hear as I chat to fellow Christians, when we talk about how their life of faith is going, I hear all the time believers speaking about how rubbish they are and how garbage they are as a Christian. And I’m sure there’s lots of our lives that is a bit rubbish and garbage and failing as a believer. But what I hear very, very little of is people speaking of the fact that they are connected to Christ and therefore that there is good fruit in their life as well.

(18:47 – 19:03)

We’re so good at seeing the bad fruit. We’re absolutely rubbish at seeing the good fruit. That moment this week, when we did against the odds keep our self-control when we would often lose it.

(19:05 – 19:25)

That grace that we did show someone and it was hard to do it, it was difficult at first, it was a battle, but in the end we were gracious and we forgave them. I wonder if we notice that good fruit as well. It’s really encouraging stuff.

(19:25 – 19:45)

Fruit bearing is inevitable and yet that doesn’t mean we should be complacent because here’s our third and final point this morning. The fruit bearing is inevitable, but it is not automatic. It’s not automatic.

(19:47 – 20:14)

Did you know that it is just over four weeks till Christmas? And when you think about it, there is nothing more inevitable than Christmas. Whether you love it or you loathe it, it doesn’t really matter, it always comes. And yet there is no other periodic event that involves as much input, participation, and preparation as Christmas.

(20:15 – 20:38)

We buy presents, we put up decorations, we invite people over because while the event is inevitable, it is not automatic. And Jesus is clear that in the Christian life it is the same with fruit bearing. It absolutely will happen because you are connected to Christ.

(20:39 – 21:04)

But the speed at which it happens and the smoothness with which it happens depends on our participation. So this passage that is dominated with the picture of the vine and branches also has a number of instructions, things that we are to do to participate in the inevitable growth. So let’s look at these fairly briefly.

(21:04 – 21:19)

In verse four, we are to remain in Jesus. Other translations say abide in Jesus. It’s the idea of staying in the same place.

(21:20 – 21:36)

In this case, it’s remaining in the vine. And of course, that’s where the metaphor breaks down. An ordinary vine has no mind and no thinking and it doesn’t choose to stay connected to the vine, does it? But it’s a metaphor, of course.

(21:36 – 22:01)

Jesus is saying in our case, we have to choose every day to stick with Jesus and remain in Him. And this does not deny the complementary truth at all that God also keeps us connected to Him. But the Bible is also clear that from our side, we must actively stay connected to Jesus.

(22:02 – 22:21)

We are to keep trusting in Him. We are to, author of Hebrews says, fix our eyes on Him, the author at the beginning and the perfecter of our faith. Wherever you are between the beginning and the completion, you’re to keep your eyes fixed on Jesus.

(22:23 – 22:37)

We’re to keep doing this. Notice in the passage, if you count them up, that 10 times Jesus keeps saying, remain, remain, remain, remain, remain. Keep plugged in to Jesus.

(22:39 – 22:53)

Let me say it somewhat provocatively. What you did yesterday as a Christian doesn’t matter today. How faithful you were 10 years ago is irrelevant.

(22:54 – 23:23)

In your life today, in your home today, in your priorities and in your heart today, are you remaining in Jesus? Because it’s inevitable, yet not automatic. And so we need to remain and we also need verse seven to listen as well. Jesus’ word connected us to Him in the first place, but Jesus says, that was yesterday.

(23:24 – 23:46)

This is today. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, the Christian life is the privilege of listening to Jesus day by day. It’s the privilege of letting Jesus be the loudest voice in a world where everyone is talking.

(23:49 – 24:07)

When you open your Bible or study a passage or listen to a sermon, it’s actually a privilege. It’s not a heavy burden. It’s a privilege of listening to the one who is wise and good and who always knows what is best for us.

(24:08 – 24:28)

What a privilege to listen to that voice. It is the disciple who listens to Jesus the most, above their desires, above the voices of other people, that will bear the most fruit. And it’s also those who pray, verse seven.

(24:29 – 24:44)

And verse 16. And again, it’s striking how Jesus describes this, because again, this all seems very mundane to us if we’re Christians, Bible, listening to Jesus and prayer. But look at verse seven.

(24:45 – 24:55)

Prayer is actually the outcome of remaining in Jesus. It’s a privilege you get because you’re connected to Christ. And it’s also the result of having His word in our lives.

(24:55 – 25:12)

We get to speak back to the one who has spoken to us. And because of that, we ask the Father whatever we wish, and it will be done for us. And in verse 17, He says the same kind of extravagant thing.

(25:12 – 25:35)

So that whatever you ask in my name, the Father will give you. Of course, we want to immediately qualify that with the context of God’s word and the Father’s glory. And there’s truth in that, isn’t there? This is not authorising our most selfish requests in life.

(25:35 – 25:48)

It’s not doing that. And yet while the qualifier is true, let’s not dumb down what Jesus is actually saying. He’s talking up the privilege of prayer.

(25:48 – 26:17)

And He’s saying, you have the privilege of making requests to the one who runs the entire universe. I mean, if you had, I saw, did some of you see, I think it was Cristiano Ronaldo, he was meeting with Donald Trump, and there were these very bizarre, they almost looked like AI photos, but I think they were genuine of him in the Oval Office. Now, maybe you think that’s ridiculous, and you wouldn’t meet such a person.

(26:18 – 27:00)

But if you got the opportunity this week to meet the world’s most powerful man, whoever that person is, a person with extraordinary resources to actually change the world and do things, and if, in fact, you knew that you would have at least one request that they would answer and put into operation, would you miss the meeting? Would you turn up? I think you would be there. We often don’t see the privilege that prayer is. We talk about the problems of prayer and wrestling in prayer, and these are realities.

(27:00 – 27:10)

The Bible speaks of these things. These are legitimate things as well. But in talking about the challenges of prayer, let’s never talk prayer down.

(27:13 – 27:28)

Precisely the reason it’s so difficult is because it’s so important and so powerful and such a privilege. Of course the devil doesn’t want us to get to our times of prayer. It’s the most powerful thing that any of us are engaged in every day.

(27:28 – 27:48)

Prayer is the most underused opportunity in the life of every Christian. And so fruit-bearing is inevitable, but it is not automatic. We remain, we listen, we pray, and finally we obey.

(27:51 – 28:09)

And immediately that sounds like a really down note to finish on, except we obey by loving. See that in verse 12. Jesus’ command is to love each other as I have loved you.

(28:11 – 28:30)

Jesus in this passage is linking together the idea of obeying Him and loving Him. Verse 10, if you keep my commands, you will remain in my love. And Jesus has done the same Himself, just as I kept my Father’s commands and remain in His love.

(28:31 – 28:54)

Jesus is speaking of a relationship of love, but also a relationship that involves obedience to demonstrate that love. See, we can’t come to church and say, I really love Jesus. And then go into this week and see some command of Jesus and say, I really don’t like that bit of what you said, Jesus.

(28:56 – 29:22)

I don’t really like your ethical commands. I love you, but I just don’t like what you said over here about moral ethics, or something I would really like to do, or something that is gonna make my life a little more difficult because I believe it. I love you, but, no, if we love Jesus, we will not ignore what He says.

(29:24 – 29:41)

And while I guess that’s applied to lots of commands, it’s especially focused here on love. I guess in one sense, because love is so foundational to everything else. It was the church Father Augustine who said, love God and then do whatever you like.

(29:43 – 30:06)

Now, you can go home and think about that. What does that mean? If you love God, you can then do whatever you like, because that will actually set some guidelines to the way you love and live your life. So this is absolutely foundational, but notice this, that Jesus wants us to express our love for Him by loving each other.

(30:08 – 30:23)

And actually, that’s pretty surprising. He doesn’t say, remain in my love by loving me, although we should love Him. He says, the proof that you’re remaining in my love is that you will love one another.

(30:23 – 30:43)

Well, that’s not the easiest thing, is it? It’d be much easier if He just said, love me, because Jesus is perfectly lovable. Us, not so much, not consistently. But Jesus says, love me by loving each other.

(30:45 – 31:10)

And He knows this is hard, which is why to motivate us to do it, He takes us to the cross. Verse 13, greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. Jesus speaks of His dying love that is costly and sacrificial for the disciples, whom He calls His friends.

(31:11 – 31:31)

This was a love that hurt Jesus, but He loved them anyway. Again, we live in a world that’s all about avoiding any kind of cost in our love. Apparently, our love is not meant to cost us anything or hurt us at any point or in any way.

(31:32 – 32:04)

I’m so glad Jesus didn’t take that attitude to us. Jesus laid His life down for us, sacrificially, so that we could be His friends, so that we could be included in His business, and so that we could be included in His confidence. Some of us might struggle to make friends and keep friends, but Jesus says in His amazing grace that we can be His friends.

(32:05 – 32:37)

How amazing is this? All Christians bear fruits because a fruitful Christian life is inevitable, but it’s not automatic. And therefore, it is those who love each other in the most sacrificial ways who bear the most fruit. And notice also that this fruit-bearing of obedient love leads to great joy, something we often don’t connect together, obedience and joy.

(32:37 – 32:51)

Look at verse 11. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. When Jesus asks us to do anything, it is always for our joy.

(32:52 – 33:27)

It’s always to make you happy, maybe not in the short run or immediately, but always in the long run. If we remain and listen and pray and obey, deep joy will be ours, completely flying in the face of the myth about the Christian life, which is that it’s joyless. Jesus says if we’re joyless, we’re not really living a committed Christian life because that joy will come through obedience.

(33:29 – 33:46)

But this life can’t even start unless we are first connected to Jesus. If it is, if we are, then the fruit will come. Let’s pray together.

(33:48 – 34:29)

And let’s take a moment to reflect on what God is saying to us. Do you need to connect with Jesus for the first time? Do you need to see more of the privilege you have to live the Christian life? Do you need to rededicate yourself to remain, to listen, to pray, to obey? Father, in these moments, speak clearly into our hearts. Connect us into the vine.

(34:30 – 34:42)

Fill our lives with fruit. Lord Jesus, only you can fill my deepest longing. Only you can breathe in me new life.

(34:43 – 35:00)

Only you can fill my heart with laughter. Only you can answer my heart’s cry. And so we come to you in faith this morning and it’s in your name we pray, amen.

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