02.14.07 thequest UPdate
thequest family,
In my studies last week, I came across a relatively short and extremely helpful explanation around our theme this year--Branching Out from John 15. One of the perplexing questions for me in the whole metaphor of the Father being a Gardener, Jesus the Vine and the followers of Jesus as the branches is this one--"what is the fruit?"
John Piper preached the following excerpt at an ordination service that speaks precisely and articulately to this question. So, I'll let him take it from here :
"First, what is fruit-bearing? What is the fruit you are called to bear -- indeed must bear? I think fruit in this chapter is a broad term and embraces two things: love for people and the conversion of sinners. If you bear fruit you love people and win people to Christ.
Let's take love first. The picture in verses 1 and 2 is that Christ is like a vine and you, his minister, are like a branch shooting off this vine. And God the Father is like the vinedresser who prunes back the branches so they bear the most fruit.
Since the fruit is simply the out-forming of what has passed through the branch from the vine, we should ask, What is it that we receive from the vine? Jesus' answer is love. Abiding in Jesus means abiding in his love according to verse 9 -- "As the Father has loved me so have I loved you. Abide in my love." "Abide in me" is replaced by "Abide in my love," and this shows more specifically what we receive when we are united to the vine, namely the sap of divine love. And it stands to reason then that what we receive from the vine flows through the branch and crops out in the fruit of love, for the nourishment and refreshment of other people.
There is another way to see the same thing. Verse 2 says that if you don't bear fruit you don't abide in the vine; you get snapped off and thrown in the fire (v. 6). So in order to abide in the vine or to abide in Christ's love, we must bear fruit.
There is an exact parallel to that thought in verse 10: "If you keep my commandments you will abide in my love." So "If you keep my commandments" and "if you bear fruit" mean the same thing. Or at least we can say that fruit-bearing includes keeping the commandments of Jesus.
And if we ask, what is it in this context that Jesus means by "commandments" the answer again is love. Verse 12: "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you." And verse 17: "these things I command you, that you love one another." Therefore, love is fulfilling the commands of Jesus. And fulfilling the commands of Jesus is at least part of what it means to bear fruit. Therefore, bearing fruit means loving other people. It means letting the love which we constantly receive from Christ as we abide in him flow through us and out to others for their benefit.
But I think the term "fruit" in this gospel is very broad and also includes the making of new disciples. In John 4:35,36 Jesus says, "Do not say, 'There are yet four months and then comes the harvest. I tell you lift up your eyes and see how the fields are already white for harvest. He who reaps receives wages and gathers fruit for eternal life so that sower and reaper may rejoice together." "Fruit for eternal life" in John 4:36 probably corresponds to fruit that abides in John 15:16 which says, "I appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide. This would refer then to the fruitfulness of winning others to Christ who are then guarded by God's power for salvation.
But probably in the mind of Christ these two meanings of the fruit-bearing merged into one. If the fruit is the out-cropping of the love of Christ in our lives for the nourishment and refreshment of others, then surely among the benefits received from that fruit would be conversion. John 13:34,35 gives one example of how this happens: "A new commandment I give you that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." The most winning and powerful witness we can give is the reality of love. So the fruitfulness of obedient love and the fruitfulness of winning people to Christ are really not two different things. They are one. And that is the aim of all your ministry.
The second question that Jesus answers here about fruit-bearing is how it can be accomplished. The answer he gives (and the word is repeated 10 times) is: "Abide in me and I in you" (v. 4). Keep yourself attached, closely attached to the vine. "I am the vine, you are the branches. He abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing" (v. 5). Everything that you try to do will come to nothing unless you do it through a conscious, abiding dependence on the enablement of Christ. Make it your aim for the rest of your life to discover in ever deeper experience what it means to abide in Christ. It is the secret of all fruitfulness.
There are several pointers in the text that help us discover what this means in practice. One is in verse 7: "If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will and it shall be done for you." Abiding in Christ involves letting his words abide in us. Notice how these two things come together: the word abiding in you and effectual prayer. Here is the first and decisive line of battle in your ministry. You must, you must resist everything that would pull you away from rigorous study of God's Word and daily hours of prayerful meditation to let that word sink in and abide. The inwardly abiding word is a truth of Scripture believed, cherished, and rolled back and forth in the imagination until its implications spill over into daily life as love and joy and peace and righteousness.
The word will not abide within us if we are in a hurry. We pastors deceive ourselves when we are so busy doing good things that we snatch a text and a prayer on the run and think that we will be mighty men of God and bear spiritual fruit. Holy, powerful, life-changing spiritual men of God are not made on the run. There are so few people who believe that the expectations laid on you in the service will probably be a constant threat to your spiritual power and fruitfulness. But Christ has appointed you to go and bear fruit. So resist those expectations with boldness.
One other pointer toward the practical meaning of abiding in Christ is the parallel phrase in verse 9: "As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Abide in my love." Christ's present love for me is his commitment to give me, right now and forever, everything that is good for me. Therefore, abiding in his love means constantly receiving as from his loving hand all things as good for me. It means never doubting that he is doing me good, but always resting in his kindness. Believing that and acting on it is what it means to abide in the love of Christ. And if you do these things, you will bear much fruit.
Finally and briefly, the end for which you seek to bear fruit is not just your own joy (v. 11) or the benefit of your people: it is that God the Father might be glorified. Verse 8: "In this is my Father glorified: that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples." The chief end of man and the chief end of ministry is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. God is committed by the very nature of his divine righteousness to always act on behalf of his glory. He wills to display it and magnify it. And that brings us back to where we began. "You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you." The honor of Christ is at stake in whether you, whom he chose, bear fruit. But not only that, his father is glorified when you bear much fruit. And therefore his glory is at stake in the fruitfulness of your ministry.
I Chose You To Bear Fruit- John Piper from the following site:
http://www.soundofgrace.com/piper81/101181e.htm
(bold added for emphasis and minor editing by Mike Jentes)
Press on,
Mike
to read the rest of thequest weekly UPdate click HERE
In my studies last week, I came across a relatively short and extremely helpful explanation around our theme this year--Branching Out from John 15. One of the perplexing questions for me in the whole metaphor of the Father being a Gardener, Jesus the Vine and the followers of Jesus as the branches is this one--"what is the fruit?"
John Piper preached the following excerpt at an ordination service that speaks precisely and articulately to this question. So, I'll let him take it from here :
"First, what is fruit-bearing? What is the fruit you are called to bear -- indeed must bear? I think fruit in this chapter is a broad term and embraces two things: love for people and the conversion of sinners. If you bear fruit you love people and win people to Christ.
Let's take love first. The picture in verses 1 and 2 is that Christ is like a vine and you, his minister, are like a branch shooting off this vine. And God the Father is like the vinedresser who prunes back the branches so they bear the most fruit.
Since the fruit is simply the out-forming of what has passed through the branch from the vine, we should ask, What is it that we receive from the vine? Jesus' answer is love. Abiding in Jesus means abiding in his love according to verse 9 -- "As the Father has loved me so have I loved you. Abide in my love." "Abide in me" is replaced by "Abide in my love," and this shows more specifically what we receive when we are united to the vine, namely the sap of divine love. And it stands to reason then that what we receive from the vine flows through the branch and crops out in the fruit of love, for the nourishment and refreshment of other people.
There is another way to see the same thing. Verse 2 says that if you don't bear fruit you don't abide in the vine; you get snapped off and thrown in the fire (v. 6). So in order to abide in the vine or to abide in Christ's love, we must bear fruit.
There is an exact parallel to that thought in verse 10: "If you keep my commandments you will abide in my love." So "If you keep my commandments" and "if you bear fruit" mean the same thing. Or at least we can say that fruit-bearing includes keeping the commandments of Jesus.
And if we ask, what is it in this context that Jesus means by "commandments" the answer again is love. Verse 12: "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you." And verse 17: "these things I command you, that you love one another." Therefore, love is fulfilling the commands of Jesus. And fulfilling the commands of Jesus is at least part of what it means to bear fruit. Therefore, bearing fruit means loving other people. It means letting the love which we constantly receive from Christ as we abide in him flow through us and out to others for their benefit.
But I think the term "fruit" in this gospel is very broad and also includes the making of new disciples. In John 4:35,36 Jesus says, "Do not say, 'There are yet four months and then comes the harvest. I tell you lift up your eyes and see how the fields are already white for harvest. He who reaps receives wages and gathers fruit for eternal life so that sower and reaper may rejoice together." "Fruit for eternal life" in John 4:36 probably corresponds to fruit that abides in John 15:16 which says, "I appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide. This would refer then to the fruitfulness of winning others to Christ who are then guarded by God's power for salvation.
But probably in the mind of Christ these two meanings of the fruit-bearing merged into one. If the fruit is the out-cropping of the love of Christ in our lives for the nourishment and refreshment of others, then surely among the benefits received from that fruit would be conversion. John 13:34,35 gives one example of how this happens: "A new commandment I give you that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." The most winning and powerful witness we can give is the reality of love. So the fruitfulness of obedient love and the fruitfulness of winning people to Christ are really not two different things. They are one. And that is the aim of all your ministry.
The second question that Jesus answers here about fruit-bearing is how it can be accomplished. The answer he gives (and the word is repeated 10 times) is: "Abide in me and I in you" (v. 4). Keep yourself attached, closely attached to the vine. "I am the vine, you are the branches. He abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing" (v. 5). Everything that you try to do will come to nothing unless you do it through a conscious, abiding dependence on the enablement of Christ. Make it your aim for the rest of your life to discover in ever deeper experience what it means to abide in Christ. It is the secret of all fruitfulness.
There are several pointers in the text that help us discover what this means in practice. One is in verse 7: "If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will and it shall be done for you." Abiding in Christ involves letting his words abide in us. Notice how these two things come together: the word abiding in you and effectual prayer. Here is the first and decisive line of battle in your ministry. You must, you must resist everything that would pull you away from rigorous study of God's Word and daily hours of prayerful meditation to let that word sink in and abide. The inwardly abiding word is a truth of Scripture believed, cherished, and rolled back and forth in the imagination until its implications spill over into daily life as love and joy and peace and righteousness.
The word will not abide within us if we are in a hurry. We pastors deceive ourselves when we are so busy doing good things that we snatch a text and a prayer on the run and think that we will be mighty men of God and bear spiritual fruit. Holy, powerful, life-changing spiritual men of God are not made on the run. There are so few people who believe that the expectations laid on you in the service will probably be a constant threat to your spiritual power and fruitfulness. But Christ has appointed you to go and bear fruit. So resist those expectations with boldness.
One other pointer toward the practical meaning of abiding in Christ is the parallel phrase in verse 9: "As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Abide in my love." Christ's present love for me is his commitment to give me, right now and forever, everything that is good for me. Therefore, abiding in his love means constantly receiving as from his loving hand all things as good for me. It means never doubting that he is doing me good, but always resting in his kindness. Believing that and acting on it is what it means to abide in the love of Christ. And if you do these things, you will bear much fruit.
Finally and briefly, the end for which you seek to bear fruit is not just your own joy (v. 11) or the benefit of your people: it is that God the Father might be glorified. Verse 8: "In this is my Father glorified: that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples." The chief end of man and the chief end of ministry is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. God is committed by the very nature of his divine righteousness to always act on behalf of his glory. He wills to display it and magnify it. And that brings us back to where we began. "You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you." The honor of Christ is at stake in whether you, whom he chose, bear fruit. But not only that, his father is glorified when you bear much fruit. And therefore his glory is at stake in the fruitfulness of your ministry.
I Chose You To Bear Fruit- John Piper from the following site:
http://www.soundofgrace.com/piper81/101181e.htm
(bold added for emphasis and minor editing by Mike Jentes)
Press on,
Mike
to read the rest of thequest weekly UPdate click HERE
posted by Mike at 2/14/2007 04:22:00 PM
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