Faithfully Fruitful

Please turn in your Bibles to John 15.

Who’s ever tried their hand at gardening?

They say April showers bring May flowers. Personally, I prefer that quote attributed to Justin Timberlake: “Roses are red. April is gray. And in a few days, it’s gonna be May.”

That song might rattle around your head for awhile. You’re welcome.

But yes, gardening. Why do so many of us enjoy gardening?

For me, it’s not about visiting to the garden center, or planting, or watering, or weeding. None of that. It’s about looking forward to the fruit it produces. When the seeds emerge, the flowers bloom and it’s time to harvest.

I often wonder if there was a reason God placed His offspring in a garden called Eden. He created us to bear fruit, did He not? It was the first instruction he gave us: “Be fruitful…”

Now before we read the text, let’s set the scene.

It is just before the Passover. Jesus and His disciples are in the upper room,

The scene began in John 13. He had washed their feet.

He foretold His betrayal, and Judas had left. He commanded them to love one another,

and said “by this, all will know you are my disciples.”

Then in John 14, He explains that

He alone is the Way, the Truth and the Life. And He promises the Holy Spirit will come

soon after He leaves them.

And here we come to John 15,

where Jesus describes Himself again:

John 15:1-17

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 does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 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.

5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.

7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.

9 As the Father has loved me, so have I 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 be in you, and that your joy may be full.

12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 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.

16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17 These things I command you, so that you will love one another.

In this passage, He calls Himself the vine. The true vine.

And He calls us the branches. Spiritually speaking.

He mentions these branches will bear fruit, he says, 8 times in this passage. What kind of fruit? Spiritual fruit.

Point 1: Jesus is the root that produces the fruit through us.

v.2 describes how the Father dresses the vine. He prunes it. He prunes every branch that bears fruit, and removes branches that don’t. Why dress the vine this way? So the vine can produce more fruit.

I’m reading up on growing tomatoes. Did you know that if you don’t prune the stems of a tomato plant, you will get mostly leaves instead of fruit? It’s true.

So like a vinedresser, the Father prunes us. May this be our constant prayer: Lord prune me so that I will produce more fruit.

But how do we bear fruit? Do we produce fruit through determination and sheer force of will? No! Not at all.

Remember, in the upper room Jesus already washed the disciples feet. He reassures them in v.3, “Already you are clean…”

Jesus says, if we want to bear fruit, all we must do is just abide in Him. Abide in Him. To be present. To continue. To remain. To endure. To wait. To dwell… in Jesus.

Jesus is the root that bears fruit through us. You want to bear fruit? Be with Him. Come into His presence regularly. Through prayer. Through His Word. Draw near to Him. Connect with Him. Commune with Him. Abide in Him.

Has your faith withered like a broken branch? Come back to Jesus. Abide in Him. Because, look at v.4, we can’t bear fruit without Him. None of us. Look in v.5, without Jesus, we’re useless. We can do nothing. But when we abide in Him, we bear much fruit naturally.

This is an organic process. For those abiding in Him, the fruit is effortless.

Matthew 12:33

…the tree is known by its fruit.

Matthew 7:16-20

16 You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.

Luke 6:43-44

43 “For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, 44 for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush.

If you want a faith that’s fruitful, as God has designed, spend time with Jesus.

We can’t be spiritually fruitful without Him. Conversely, when we abide in Him, good fruit is produced naturally.

So what is good fruit? What does good fruit look like?

Well Paul describes 9 characteristics of good fruit in Galatians 5. I don’t suppose this is an exhaustive list. But I bet it covers most of the bases.

Galatians 5:22-23

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Paul calls this the fruit of the Spirit. It’s not the fruit of our own efforts.

It is the fruit the Holy Spirit produces through us when we abide in Jesus.

Let’s look at them.

Love. Jesus loved me so I can produce love.

Joy. Jesus gives me reason to rejoice so I can exhibit joy.

Peace. Jesus brings peace to me so I can show peace toward others.

Patience. Jesus is patient with me so I can be patient with others.

Kindness. You see a pattern? Is Jesus kind to me? To you? To us?

Goodness. Is Jesus good to us?

Faithfulness. Is Jesus faithful toward us?

Gentleness. Is Jesus gentle toward us?

Self-control. Has Jesus exercised restraint toward us?

Why? Why did Jesus do all this for me? For you? For us?

So we can bear fruit, and show it toward others.

Discussion

1. Abide. Be present. Continue. Remain. Endure. Wait. Dwell. Which of those is missing from how you are with Jesus?
2. “Lord prune me so that I will produce more fruit.” Is that a prayer you would actually pray? Why not?
3. “Has your faith withered like a broken branch?” What would coming back look like this week?

Point 2: The fruit of the Spirit is organic evidence of Jesus in us.

James 3:17-18

But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. 18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

This comes from above. Not from ourselves. It is evidence, not of a dead faith, but of the living Christ Himself.

Ephesians 5:8b-10

Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10 and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.

The Spirit Himself helps us discern what pleases the Lord so we can walk in the light, and not in darkness.

Psalms 1:1-3

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 2 but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.

If we delight in God’s Word, and meditate on it… we are abiding in His vine, his stem and that spiritual root system. He is nourishing these branches. He is producing spiritual fruit. And you can be sure, the fruit of the Spirit will come in due course. And the Lord Himself will bless the things we do with it.

Proverbs 11:30a

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life…

Think of the mighty tree of life that our faith, the mere size of a seed, can produce.

Psalms 92:14

[The righteous] still bear fruit in old age; These branches may get old and frail. But they will never stop bearing fruit.

Review

Point 1: Jesus is the root that produces the fruit through us.

Point 2: The fruit of the Spirit is organic evidence of Jesus in us.

Proverbs 11:30

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and whoever captures souls is wise.

Discussion

1. Nine fruits, and each one traced back to something Jesus did first. Which one have you received most, and which do you extend least?
2. “It is evidence, not of a dead faith, but of the living Christ Himself.” What is your fruit currently evidence of?
3. A tree planted by streams of water yields fruit in its season. What season are you in?

Point 3: God wants us to bear fruit in order to multiply

Genesis 1:28

And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply…

That is the purpose of fruit, isn’t it? To multiply. To reproduce in kind.

That is the great commission, isn’t it? To multiply. To make disciples.

Where are the seeds of a plant produced? In its fruit.

If a plant will ever multiply, that plant must first bear fruit.

So God instructed us to be fruitful for the very purpose of multiplying.

If you abide in Jesus, He will produce fruit through you.

That fruit will be evidence of Jesus in you. And that fruit will reproduce.

But it’s got to flow. If Christ has shown grace to you, you can’t just hoard it. If you do, everything will spoil.

In Ezekiel Ch 47, the prophet had a vision of God’s temple in the future New Jerusalem.

Ezekiel 47:1-12

1 Then he brought me back to the door of the temple, and behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar. 2 Then he brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around on the outside to the outer gate that faces toward the east; and behold, the water was trickling out on the south side.

3 Going on eastward with a measuring line in his hand, the man measured a thousand cubits, and then led me through the water, and it was ankle-deep. 4 Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was knee-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was waist-deep. 5 Again he measured a thousand, and it was a river that I could not pass through, for the water had risen. It was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be passed through. 6 And he said to me, “Son of man, have you seen this?”

Then he led me back to the bank of the river. 7 As I went back, I saw on the bank of the river very many trees on the one side and on the other. 8 And he said to me,

“This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, and enters the sea; when the water flows into the sea, the water will become fresh. 9 And wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish. For this water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes. 10 Fishermen will stand beside the sea. From Engedi to Eneglaim it will be a place for the spreading of nets. Its fish will be of very many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea.

11 But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they are to be left for salt.

12 And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.”

Everywhere the river flowed through was teaming with life; with abundant fish, fruit trees and leaves for healing. But there are swamps and marshes where the water stagnates; where everything dies and is left for salt.

Don’t be a swamp where God’s grace toward you dies. Be a river where the grace of God thrives.

God wants to produce fruit of the Spirit through us to feed, to heal, to multiply

And with this, let’s turn to Revelation 22. The last chapter of the Bible.

Here is another account, describing the same river from Ezekiel 47.

Revelation 22:1-5

1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

3 No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

Same river as Ezekiel’s vision. But in the eyewitness testimony of Apostle John, that tree of life has reproduced, and is on both sides of this river.

Remember the tree of life that was in the midst of the Garden of Eden in Genesis 2 and 3? In the beginning, mankind was driven from it. But now in the last chapter, we are able to partake of this tree and bless others with it.

The curse is lifted. Gazing upon Jesus’ face. The night is no more. He reigns.

Discussion

1. Seeds are inside the fruit. What does that say about a faith that never reproduces?
2. “Don’t be a swamp where God’s grace toward you dies.” Where is grace pooling in you instead of flowing?
3. Eden to Revelation, driven from the tree to partaking of it. What changed in between?

Something to Sit With

Do you want to bear Spiritual fruit? The fruit of the Spirit? Then remember this:

• Point 1: Jesus is the root that produces the fruit through us.
• Point 2: The fruit of the Spirit is organic evidence of Jesus in us.
• Point 3: God wants us to bear fruit in order to multiply (disciples)

Frequently Asked Questions

What does it mean to abide in Christ?

To abide in Christ means to remain connected to him. To dwell in his presence through prayer, Scripture, and communion with him. It is not a one-time decision but an ongoing posture of drawing near and staying near.

What is the fruit of the Spirit in the Bible?

Galatians 5:22-23 lists nine characteristics: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These are produced by the Holy Spirit in those who abide in Jesus, not through human effort alone.

How are bearing fruit and making disciples connected?

Seeds are produced inside fruit. If a plant will multiply, it must first bear fruit.

In the same way, spiritual fruitfulness leads to multiplication. The Great Commission begins with “be fruitful” and culminates in “make disciples.”

What is the river in Ezekiel 47 and Revelation 22?

Both passages describe a river flowing from God’s presence that brings life wherever it goes. Ezekiel 47 shows abundant fish, fruit trees, and healing leaves. Revelation 22 describes the same river flowing from the throne of God, with the tree of life on both sides.

Everywhere the water flows, life thrives. Where it stagnates, everything dies.

Scripture quotations are from the ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version), copyright 2001 by Crossway.