By This My Father is Glorified That You Bear Much Fruit 1984

From Luke chapter 19, verse 12. Jesus said, therefore, A nobleman went into a far country to receive kingly power, and then returned. Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten pounds, and said to them, Trade with these till I come.

But his citizens hated him, and set an embassy after him, saying, We do not want this man to reign over us. When he returned, having received the kingly power, he commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know what they had gained by trading. The first came before him, saying, Lord, your pound has gained ten pounds more.

And he said to him, Well done, good servant. Because you have been faithful in a very little, you have gained authority over ten cities. And the second came, saying, Lord, your pound has made five pounds.

He said to him, And you are to be over five cities. Then another came, saying, Lord, here is your pound, which I kept laid away in a napkin. For I was afraid of you, because you are a severe man.

You take up what you did not lay down, and reap what you did not sow. He said to him, I will condemn you out of your own mouth, you wicked servant. You knew that I was a severe man, taking up what I did not lay down, reaping what I did not sow.

Why then did you not put my money into the bank? And at my coming I should have collected it with interest. And he said to those who stood by, Take the pound from him, and give it to him who has the ten pounds. And they said, Lord, he has ten pounds.

I tell you that to everyone who has will more be given, but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. But as for these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here, and slay them before me. The one certainty that stays with us night and day, waking and sleeping, is that the life that we now are living will very soon end.

Whether it ends with the return of the Messiah, or whether it ends with death, in either case, the one question which will then be asked is, What have you done with your life? What have you accomplished? And many of the questions that are perhaps, or the answers that are on the tip of our tongue, will at that time, if we give them, sound very hollow. Well, I left $70,000 to my kids. I raised a family.

I wrote a book. I started a business. I built a church.

I thought up a new idea. Yes, but what do you have now that you've been able to bring across this barrier of death? What do you have that will survive the test of fire? Where's your fruit? The truth is that most of us at this moment are already uneasy about the answer that we would be able to give, or could give at this moment. Not many of us at the moment feel that we could walk up in front of the throne with great joy and say, Lord, here it is.

Your pound has gained 10 pounds more. We're not talking about the things that we've accomplished that may impress other people. We're talking about the things that we've accomplished that will satisfy God.

What have I done with my life all these years, and what do I have to show for them? And if you say, well, all humble Christians feel that way, the answer is that it's true that every follower of Jesus, in response to what he's taught us, will have to say, we are unworthy servants, and we have only done what is our duty. But, having said that, we know that if we've done what is our duty, what we did counts. It amounts to something.

It bears fruit. And about this, there should be absolutely no uncertainty if we've done the things that count. Now, here's the Apostle Paul, who, looking back, we see as a man of God of fantastic stature.

But in his own day, the Apostle Paul was really hardly a celebrity. He would not have made it in American Christendom. Nobody would even pay much attention to him today.

And in his own day, there were many, many people who not only looked down upon him and thought of him as a rather strange little fellow, but who despised him. Christians, who didn't like him. And he was aware of that.

It didn't feel very good. And we pick this up as we read his epistles, particularly the epistles to the Corinthians. But of one thing, Paul was absolutely clear and sure.

Never mind what they thought about him. He knew that he was on the track. He wasn't arrogant.

He wasn't smug. But he was certain about the fact that he was on the track. I have finished the race.

I've fought the good fight. I've kept the faith. Henceforth, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me in that day.

Clear. See, and we ought to be able not only to be conscious, confident that Jesus is with us now, we also ought to have, with that confidence, the confidence that what we are doing now counts. We ought to know what we've been called to do, and we ought to know that we're doing it and that it's getting somewhere.

We ought to be clear that we're fighting the good fight and winning. And that what we are doing is producing something of value. Again, we're not talking about being smug or self-righteous, but we're talking about having the confidence that where I am at any given moment and that I'm doing what he told me to do and I'm getting somewhere.

That ought to be the daily portion of every believer. And it's in that area that most of us are having a terrible time. Perhaps the best, most helpful passage in all Scripture would be the 15th chapter of John.

And in this 15th chapter of John, Jesus gives teaching three basic things we need to do in order to bear fruit and know we're bearing fruit. That tells us that if we will do these three things he talks about in John 15, all our self-esteem neuroses ought to be cured. And we ought to be at least settled about who we are and what we're doing.

Three things. First, we need to stay in a living, personal union with Jesus. Second, we need to stay in a loving union with each other.

And third, we need to become accustomed to the fact that just as surely as the world rejected Jesus and still rejects him, it will reject us. First, we need to stay in a living, personal union with Jesus. And so the first, the 11 verses concern themselves with this.

I'm going to read from John 15, verse 1. I am the true vine, and my father is the vinedresser. Every branch of vine that bears no fruit, he takes away. And every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes that it may bear more fruit.

Now you are already pruned by the word which I have spoken to you. 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 the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him, her, he it is who bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If a man does not abide in me, he is cast forth as a branch and withers, and the branches are gathered and thrown into the fire and burn.

If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it will be done for you. By this my father is glorified that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples. As the father has loved me, so I have loved you.

Abide in my love. 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. These things I have spoken to you that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be full.

To stay in a living, personal union with Jesus. He's the vine, we're the branches, which means obviously that we draw our life from him. We don't have any life in ourselves the life that's enabling us to bear fruit must come from him.

And so, you know, we draw near to him to listen to him, to get something from him, a word from him. And we worship him. And we talk to him.

We walk with him. And we take the words that he speaks to us and we translate them into action. And as we do this, miracles begin to occur.

In the lives that we touch. Notice, I don't think it's a wild thing to say that the Apostle Paul was without a doubt the most fruitful follower of Jesus that we know about. And you notice in his epistles, he's never concerned about whether he's bearing enough fruit, whether he's accomplishing anything.

But the one thing you see in all his epistles and everything he says is his concern to be in union with Jesus. The passage that was read this morning by James. For me to live is Christ, to die is gain.

The one thing that matters is that I'm in him. If I am in him, everything else will be right. I've counted all things, I count all things as loss for the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.

For whom I've suffered the loss of all things and count them as refuse in order that I might gain Christ and be found in him. Here's this man who's been already starting congregations of believers all over the world. And he's not saying my main concern is that I can get more churches going or get more people into the kingdom.

His primary concern is that I might win Christ and be found in him because when I'm there all the life I need to bring people to life will be there. I'm crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me.

The life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. It's transparent. We see this in Paul and the results are awesome.

Whatever work we do in the kingdom of God must grow out of that relationship. If it doesn't grow out of that relationship with Jesus no matter how impressive it may be at the moment the people will eventually be burned up in the fire. It'll be wood, hay, stubble.

The only work we do in the kingdom of God that will last is that which grows out of union with Jesus, personal living union with him. And so it's necessary for every one of us daily to seek his face and say I see you some way. I'm done.

If you don't speak to me I'm done. Speak to me. Be not silent to me lest if I'll be silent to me I become like them that go down into the pit.

I must have a word from you Lord. And then we talk with him all through the day on our jobs, in our daily rounds, whatever we're doing personal to the Lord, personal to us and we translate that into action. And if somebody says, gee, I don't know, he's not been telling me to do anything particular, I think I'm okay.

The suggestion would then be to read the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5, 6 and 7. And as you go through again this passage which is so clear and so simple and so brief and so demanding before you get to the judge or judge not that you be not judged or stop trying to serve God and man. Something will become a clear word from the Lord. Keep your eyes single and I say thank you.

And we work on that. We translate and every moment during the day we find ourselves drifting from this back to it. And as we do this, life flows out.

Now for that life to continue to flow we have to add to the first step, step number two, step number two which we are barely learning yet as a congregation of believers, to live in loving union with each other. To stay in loving union with each other. So we read on now in chapter 15 verse 12 of John.

This is my commandment, my commandment, that you love one another for I have loved you. Greater love has no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.

No longer do I call you servants for the servant does not know what his master is doing but I have called you friends for all that I have heard from my father I have made known to you. You did not choose me. I chose you I have made known to you.

This I command you that you love one another. Love one another, love one another, love one another. He's over and over again.

He commands, this is not an option, it's a command from him. We have no choice. The Lord who called us together and who has chosen us to go and bear fruit promised that as we keep up our end of this and our end of it is to love one another.

Now how are we going to bear fruit? And how are we going to ask and receive if we aren't taking care of our end of it which is to love one another and we say well I just don't feel any love for those people. Assuming, see I mean and this implies that that love is something we feel or it's some kind of emotion that we generate but that's not what this love is that he's calling for. Love is not a matter of our feelings or our emotions.

Love is a matter of the will. The emotions and the feelings will come and go but it's the will. When a man and woman commit themselves to each other to be married you know they do this with a commitment of the will Love one another.

His command to us. And there are many many people in the Detroit area who would be far easier to love than these for any of us. Why did you stick me with this crowd? The Lord.

We all say to the Lord. But these are the ones we're stuck with whether we like it or not. Just as surely as we didn't choose our parents we didn't choose the ones that we're to be fit into in the body of Christ.

And if this is the place where we've been put then this is the place where we love one another. Specifically to love one another means first of all that we accept each other. He's my brother.

He's my sister. No matter what he does. You know if your son or your daughter is in trouble and ends up in prison if my brother or my sister is in trouble or off the track that doesn't make that person any less my brother or my sister.

I'm to accept them. That doesn't mean we go along with the program. That doesn't mean we don't lay down some laws and some rules.

You know and it doesn't mean we don't exhort each other or even rebuke each other. But underneath we accept. We accept each other.

And then we start to care about each other. Care about each other. And here's this lady I've seen in this place for 10 years I still don't know her name.

How can this be? You know if we care about each other we're finding out somehow. Whatever gimmick will do it. Find out.

Find out what the problem is. Find out why she was weeping after the service was over. You know or why she walked right by you in farmer jacket and didn't say hello.

Maybe it had nothing to do with you at all. Maybe it was a problem she was having. Then love means that we honor each other.

Again if a man and woman come together in marriage and they aren't committed to honoring each other it won't work. You know if they are sniping at each other and belittling each other even with their jokes all the time it won't work. If they'll talk about each other in a derogatory manner all the time it won't work.

Some years ago back in the 60s over on Warren and the very unusual and wonderful thing about that storefront church was that everybody who joined that church immediately was given the title doctor. You know so it was Good evening Dr. Smith. Hello Dr. Jones.

You know it may seem funny but it was gorgeous. What they were doing was giving to each other honor. You know maybe they treat me like dirt all day long you know and they were treating each other with respect.

It was more than just a title doctor they really did treat each other with high honor. And I'm to do the same for my brothers and sisters. These are people over whom holy blood rests and within whom a holy spirit burns.

How can I belittle them even my thoughts and humor? I am to pay them honor. And then to love each other as we used to. We strip down, put on the towel get down with the basin and start washing their feet.

Service means a couple miles out of my way to pick somebody up or to take them home or a little errand maybe to the doctor or the hospital. Something that's going to inconvenience us. You know if it's all every time we only do anything for my brother or sister when it fits into my convenience I go away but I'm not washing feet.

And then finally to love one another means to pray for each other by name. These are my brothers and sisters I am to lift them up before the throne pray for them, pray for them. Whether we like it or not the effectiveness of our fruit bearing is directly connected to whether or not we practice love for each other.

God gave us a wonderful place to learn because he threw us together with people who are different from ourselves. It's easy to find people in this block who will represent the worst prejudice we have. And that's exactly what God wants us to deal with.

But to really deal with it not just the missionary smile it's got to be the heart smile. And then the final and the most neglected of all these teachings that are concerned with bearing fruit. Get used to the idea that just as surely as the world rejected Jesus it will reject us.

Get used to it. Don't be upset when somebody at work or in the neighborhood or among your relatives puts you down for your stupidity at taking Jesus seriously. Verse 18 of chapter 15 If the world hates you know that it has hated me because I chose you.

If you were of the world the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world but I chose you out of the world therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you a servant is not greater than his master.

If they persecuted me they will persecute you. If they kept my word they will keep yours also. But all this they will do on my account because they do not know him who sent me.

If I had not spoken to them they would not have sinned. But now they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates me hates my father also.

If I had not done among them the works which no one else did they would not have sinned. But now they have seen and hated both me and my father. It is to fulfill the word which is written in their law they hated me without cause.

If they persecuted me they will persecute you. If they kept my word they will keep yours too. To get accustomed to the idea that in order to get to that little remnant of people who will keep that word that we bring out there we have to cover multitudes of people who will spit in our face and say get out of here with that junk.

In order for the little chute to come up out of the stump of the oak tree that was cut down in judgment you have to cover the whole oak tree. You preach the gospel to all the leaves of the oak tree they reject it, it gets cut down it looks like it's dead and up comes the little chute but you won't get that precious remnant until you cover the whole thing and accept rejection. Once we get clear that we're going to be rejected by the world we will have the power that Jesus is Lord such power that the ones who reject what we say become the fruit of judgment and those who accept and repent become the fruit of grace.

But it's true either way and no one then will be able to say of the ones who heard what we said but Lord, nobody ever told me. Get used to it. You're not going to win a popularity contest in this world by following Jesus.

Not in this world. And so when the Lord raised up Isaiah to be a prophet to the nation he never promised Isaiah that people would fall on their faces and repent. He promised Isaiah that he would go forth with that word but that the people would in the name pardon their hearts.

But that would be fruit too. And so from Isaiah chapter 6 verse 8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying Whom shall I send? Who will go for us? Then I said Here am I. Send me. And he said Go and say to this people Hear and hear but do not understand See and see but do not perceive Make the heart of this people fat and their ears heavy and shut their eyes lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their hearts and turn and be healed.

Then I said How long, O Lord? And he said Until cities lie waste without inhabitants and houses without men and the land is utterly desolate and the Lord removes men far away and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land and though a tenth remain in it it will be burned again like a terebinth or an oak whose stump remains standing when it is felled. The holy seed is in the stump. And so Isaiah goes out and proclaims the word and bears fruit.

Most of the people reject what he says and as they reject his message their hearts become like stone their ears become dead their eyes become blind but they are the fruit of judgment and those who bend and repent and yield become the fruit of grace but he bears much fruit. Now there's no reason at all for any of us to waste one more day of our lives walking around scratching our heads wondering whether we'll ever do anything that's worth anything but the Lord who gathered us together and calls us and ordains us to go and bear fruit that will remain promises that that's exactly how it will be if we abide in him if we love one another and if we accept the fact that this world will reject us just as surely as it rejected them you did not choose me I chose you and ordained you that you should go and bring forth fruit and that your fruit should remain by this my father is glorified that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples let's take some time in silence and let the spirit deal with our minds and hearts and get specific with us perhaps it would be easier for us to pray and worship God if we stood let's stand up and wait upon the spirit and pray father we're just expecting from you today help in each of our lives to walk away from this gnawing despair and this uncertainty about our worth and the indefiniteness about what we're called to do we're called to and enable us to see exactly what lies right in front of us if there are things a year from now in another place that you'd have us to do it we know that we'll be there and we'll be doing it if we're faithful now but we also know Lord God that unless we're faithful now we'll probably miss it anyway help us Lord God today to be confident that you will show us and empower us as we abide in you and for this we give you thanks and praise in Jesus name Lord God