Episode 14
We are Called to Bear Fruits
Text: John 15: 1-8
© Dani Banggo 02/22/2024
From the beautiful island of Maui, I want to greet you with a warm Aloha! I welcome you to “Gospel in the Air,” a short devotional lesson that will inspire and encourage your daily walk with Jesus. May you be enlightened with new insights for living as the Spirit of God reveals His passion for humankind to be saved, that is, that no one should perish but that all will come to repentance. But before we begin our devotion let’s have a word of prayer. Let us pray:
Most precious God Heavenly Father, I praise your holy name. Thank you for this wonderful opportunity of sharing the Gospel message. May your grace abound and bring people to faith in your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. In his name I pray, amen.
Our devotional lesson is found in John 15:1-8. I will read to you the following verses:
15 “I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. 3 You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.
5 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. 6 Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. 7 But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! 8 When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.
Our devotional lesson is entitled “We are Called to Bear Fruits.”
In the Old Testament, the Israelites are repeatedly portrayed as the vine (Ps. 80:8-18; Jer. 2:21; Hos.10:1-2). It is significant that whenever Israel is referred to as the vine or sometimes as vineyard it is also being judged for its barrenness (see Jer. 2:21; cf. Isa. 5:1-7). But in this instance Jesus portrays himself as the true vine in contrast with Israel. According to him all the branches get their support from him, and he sustains them (v5). On the other hand, he tells his disciples that he has his heaven Father who takes care of the garden. He tends and cares for the vine. He prunes every branch to produce more fruits and cuts those that bear no fruit and throws them into the fire (vv. 2, 6).
For today’s devotional lesson we will learn how to bear fruit for the kingdom and to discover our potentials which the Holy Spirit gives to us to further his kingdom.
First: we need to remain in Christ (v4)
In verse 4 it says,4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.
Accordingly, the word “remain” means to abide or to endure (3306).[1] In other words, to remain in Jesus is the only way to bear fruits (v.5). Without him we can’t do anything. It is unfortunate for some churches to equate success with church attendance and the number of their baptisms. Please don’t misunderstand me. I don’t mean to disregard the importance of this. In fact, they are very noble, and we value them so dearly. And I congratulate Christian churches for their untiring work. However, the yardstick of measurement must be based under this principle of abiding in Christ or faithfulness not on success-oriented mentality or man’s centeredness or pastor’s centeredness or cult leader’s centeredness. Otherwise, it will not endure but ultimately fall in the end. Jesus uses this analogy to emphasize the significance of our relationship with him. Otherwise, we are cut off as branches, withered, becomes useless, and thrown into the fire (6)
Our faithfulness to Jesus is the only possible way to bear significant fruit. No amount of ethics and good works, though they are noble, will merit God’s favor if the same is not established and grounded on this relationship with His Son. This is what he said to his disciples,
19 So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. 20 Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions. 21 “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. (Mat. 7:19-21)
In other words, it is fear of God that matters most. It is taking God at His word by doing His will through Christ.
There was once an avid fan of the late Elvis Presley who lived in Florida. He collects and posts almost everything of Presley’s albums and photos in his drawers and on the walls of his room. This man worships him like a god and even mimics his looks to the point that he even had a reconstructive surgery to give him the face of Presley. But unfortunately, he never had a chance to get close to him. He never saw Presley at all or even knew him personally. How sad for him despite being a fanatic of the late icon of rock and roll.[2]
In the same manner, these are the kinds of people claiming to know Jesus, but they do not obey the will of his Father. They pride themselves of their great and wonderful accomplishments as ministers of the gospel by prophesying in his name, casting out devils, establishing churches and cathedrals with great followers, and yet Jesus never knew them. How sad and unfortunate it will be when the Lord tells them, “I never knew you: Get away from me, you who break God’s laws” (v.23) In other words, only a deeply rooted relationship with Jesus causes one to hate sin and becomes responsible for his actions. In I John 3:9 it says, 9 Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life[a] is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning, because they are children of God.
In context, this verse means that although we are able to sin but as the word of Christ remains in us, we can avoid sin by not practicing it. Let us then be honest and true to God by taking Him at His words. We cannot take Him for granted and disobey Him for not obeying His will. Otherwise, a harrowing and dreadful judgment awaits us when we stand before Him (2 Cor. 5:10). Like the fanatic on the Day of Judgment we confess: “I represented you, but I never got close to you. I never knew you deeply. I was busy about the work of Christianity, without getting to know the Father of it all.”[3]
Producing fruit is a process. As the Father prunes the branch, there is progression of fruit bearing (v2). But it is not an easy process. It includes pain and bleeding. It is true with the saying, “No pain, no gain!” Pruning is the acid test of survival for the branch to bear much fruit. We should not be wondering if we experience suffering or persecution because that is part of our pruning. Expect suffering and persecution if we live a godly life in Christ (2 Tim. 3:12). Yet it is assured that we can withstand because we abide with Christ. In other words, a life without God is characterized by constant fear, devoid of peace and stability, and without a promised future. (cf. Deut. 28:66). Because we are in Christ and continues to remain in him, we can therefore bear the pain and suffering of being pruned for our own good (v.16). Even more that we should never complain when life seems so unbearable because at that very moment God is pruning us for our own good to produce results for His glory (1 Pet. 3:9).
Second: we must be humble enough to know our limitations (v 5)
In verse 5 Jesus said, “…Apart from me you can do nothing.” It was John Donne who said, “No man is an island we need each other.” In other words, we need to harness our energy and work as a team. We need the help of our brethren in proclaiming the gospel of salvation. Once we light our lamps and together burn our torch in this darkened world you can just imagine how bright the world would be. But expect all kinds of bugs to come flying around your life. And you cannot choose which one you like. Do you honestly say that you are ready to make a difference for the Lord now? Time is the essence and tomorrow might be too late already. This is now the time to let that light shine before men so that they will glorify the Father who is in heaven. This reminds me of the story of the first sandals.
Once upon a time there lived a king and a queen in a palace overlaid with the finest and the most beautiful skins of animals. The carpets are knitted together covering the entire area leaving no space uncovered lest their soles might be injured. They’re all barefooted.
They are overly protective of their child, the only heir to the throne. When the child grows up and begins to explore the kingdom, that means more animals are to be slaughtered to protect the soles of his feet. And finally, he found the lover of his soul in another kingdom. But he needs to travel through seven mountains to reach the place. It worries the king and the queen, and they summon their sages to settle this issue. “Where do we get such enormous number of animals to skin them?” asked the king. They tried to counsel his majesty but to no avail until finally one suggested this idea, “Why don’t we measure the boy’s feet and then trace and cut them to his size, and then attach them to his feet?” The bewildered king replied, “Why didn’t we think of that long before? We could have saved a lot of animals and even made our life much easier!” That’s when the first sandals were introduced.
The moral of the lesson is that a little change from the inside will have a great impact on the outside. Let us not therefore become weary in doing good but to continue to bear fruit by bringing others to Jesus Christ by faith for the glory of God the Father. We are called to go and bring forth fruit. If we remain with Jesus, there is always hope that we can bear fruit because the Father will help us.
Third: to remain in Christ is to maintain a prayerful relationship (v7)
In verse 7 it says, “7 But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted!”
The promise of the Lord is to ask whatever we wish, and it will be given to us. We are asked to pray always and not to give up (Lk.18:1). The basic reason for prayer is to help us stand against temptation since we are weak. In Matt. 26:41 it says, “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
In his letter to the Thessalonians Paul exhorted them by saying, “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thes. 5: 17, KJV). Ceasing means uninterruptedly, that is, without omission.[4] Cross reference it to Luke 18:1, which says in part “…that men ought always to pray, and not to faint.” Faint means “be weary.”[5] In other words, the meaning of the word “without ceasing” is never tired but to persist, or be bold, or being courageous in prayer. Lk. 18:2-8 is a classic example of persistence in prayer. Here is an unjust judge who does not fear God and who does not care about people. But despite his rudeness, this did not discourage the widow, but she persisted by relentlessly coming back until the judge could not bear her anymore. He said to himself, “5… this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’”
If that is what happened to the unjust judge, then how much more to God to his faithful children who ask him? Would he not grant their request? Jesus said, “Learn a lesson from this unjust judge…So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you; he will grant justice to them quickly!” (Lk. 18:6-8).
Persistence is the requirement to meet the standard set by the Lord for prayer. Hence, we should never give up and be discouraged easily when we do not see results of our prayer. There should never be any let up until we get the answer to our prayers. The Lord wants us to persist in prayer and to wait patiently for Him. We need professing Christians that persist in prayer to overcome their challenges. We cannot rely on our diligence and intelligence. We cannot rely on human wisdom and strength. A Christian community is not to depend upon her own toil nor her own planning but to ask God.[6] Prayer without ceasing is God’s way for our church and for everyone to remain in Him.
What are your pains? What sufferings do you experience today? Perhaps God is pruning you right now. Remember you are not alone. You relate to Christ. If you remain with him, you don’t have to fear anything. You will have peace and stability and will have a promised future. Jesus told Nicodemus “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again” (Jn. 3:3). The kingdom of Jesus Christ is righteous. It can only be entered by people whose lives have been renewed. Jesus paid it all at Calvary. He paid a very costly price by giving his life as a sacrifice to atone for our sins. The Holy Spirit testifies to this truth. He is inviting you today to surrender your life to Him by faith.
Our life here on earth is not a guarantee. We are not in control of our destiny. Why don’t you accept his offer of grace of forgiveness? This is your moment and tomorrow may be too late. Act now because time is the essence. You don’t know what lies ahead of your life. I invite you to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior and surrender your life to Him by faith.
It is my prayer that you have been blessed today. Listen to this podcast, Gospel in the Air, and be encouraged in your daily walk with Jesus. Gospel in the Air is a podcast ministry of Cornerstone Christian Church. We are located in Maui, Hawaii, USA. Our number is (808) 463-8859. You can also visit our website at www.cornerstonemaui.org or you can send your email to danibanggo@gmail.com. This is your host, Brother Dani Marantan Banggo saying, keep punching the good fight of faith. Mahalo.
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[1] James Strong, The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (Thomas Nelson Publishers: Nashville, TN, 1996), Greek Appendix, 56 (3306).
[2] I cannot remember the source of this illustration since I was not able to annotate the same.
[3] Dennis and Barbara Rainey, Moments Together for Couples (Regal Books: Ventura, CA, 1995), July 26th Devotional Study: “Three Dollars’ Worth of God.”
[4] James Strong, The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (Thomas Nelson Publishers: Nashville, TN, 1996), Greek Appendix, 2 (#89)
[5] Ibid., 28 (#1573)
[6] John R. Rice, Prayer: Asking and Receiving (Sword of the Lord Publishers: Wheaton, IL, 1942), 28.
