Sometimes holiday weekends are kind of hard to pull all the ends together. And tonight was an example of that, and I had a personal example of it this morning. I don't know if you noticed the name of my sermon this morning or not, but it was entitled Some Things to Remember, right? Well, I walked out of the house without my sermon notes.
And so about 20 minutes after 9, I'm sitting back here getting myself ready to come out here, and I open my Bible and it's empty, where I keep my notes at least. And so that's the reason if you were in the first service, that Mark walked out about 10 minutes into the service and handed me something. It was my sermon for this morning. So holiday weekends are just sort of that nature, aren't they? Would you open your Bible with me please this evening to Romans chapter 7?
We're going to read verses 4, 5, and 6, and then depart to another text. We want to speak this evening regarding the fact that we are free, free from the law, but free to be fruitful. Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the law through the body of Christ, that you might be joined to another, to him who was raised from the dead, that we might bear fruit for God.
For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death. But now we have been released from the law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit, not in oldness of the letter. When I was living in Chicago as a student, there was a period of several months when one of my Christian work assignments was to go to the Cook County Jail each week.
On the afternoon that was appointed, I would go to a particular office at the Institute and would pick up a film, would travel for about 30 minutes on the bus to get to the Cook County Jail. And there I would go to a room, get the projector and other equipment together, and would go to one of the cell blocks in order to show the prisoners a film. I was always treated well by the prisoners because for them this was a little bit of break in their somewhat dull routine.
It was a great opportunity to get to know a few of them very casually. And as we talked, a strange thing occurred to me over the period of time, and that was that in all the prisoners that I got to know there, there was not one who was in there for a crime he had committed. Everyone was there unjustly, you see. He had been framed or the system had failed, but none was willing to admit the fact that he was there in Cook County Jail because he had broken the law.
Well, it may be in fact that there were some of them who were failed by the system or who were framed unjustly, but the fact is also that most of them were there because they were guilty of a crime that a jury had convicted them of. They had to be there for a period of time and then they would be released, whether it be months or years. The point is that they had broken the law and they had to pay the price for breaking the law.
I always went away from there grateful that I could walk away, that I was free to do that, it was not incarcerated. If you've ever been in a prison or a jail, it is a bit of an eerie feeling to hear the doors slam shut behind you as you enter in. You feel just a little bit caged at that point, although you may not be worried about staying there.
There is something that is confining about that sound of the metal doors clanging shut behind you and something that is very warm and inviting about those doors opening up. And you inevitably smile at the guards as you walk out because you appreciate the fact that actually you're free. The Bible tells us that as sinners we have broken the law of God. And as lawbreakers we must pay the price, which the Bible clearly defines, and that is the price of death.
Not just physical death, but spiritual death, which is separation from God. We are all born into the world with a nature that is sinful. And as soon as we are able to express our own nature, that sin is very clearly in evidence. From our earliest childhood we are under the law. And the law's penalty for breaking it is death. And if one dies as a lawbreaker, dies physically I mean, then that spiritual death becomes a permanent state. That separation from God then is a state that exists forever.
And it is carried out in the prison, which the Bible calls hell. How glad we can be that as we who have come to faith in Jesus Christ that we are no longer under the law. Because those who are under the law are condemned by it. But we, through our union with Jesus Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection, have been freed from the law, the sphere of the law. We have been now identified with Jesus Christ in grace.
Though we were sinners, we have been forgiven and no longer stand guilty before God. No longer does the law demand our death, our condemnation, because Jesus Christ took upon Himself the full penalty for our offense. The law has been satisfied with regards to us who have trusted Christ. And all of the penalty and all of the condemnation which the law spoke toward us in our sinfulness was taken out upon the Savior at the cross.
Now that we have trusted Him, we are free from its penalty, no longer under the law. Before we bore fruit, the apostle says in verse 5, it was fruit for death. It was the fruit of sin. But now we have been freed from the law and we bear a different kind of fruit. Now being under grace, being united with Jesus Christ, we have a new fruit that we bear. It is called in verse 4, fruit for God. Fruit for God. God desires, God has planned indeed for our lives to bear fruit which honors Him.
There is probably no more chapter in all of the Bible that teaches about the fruit than John 15. And I'd like for you to turn there with me this evening as we think about this fact that we are free to be fruitful. John chapter 15. Let's think for a moment about the background of this chapter on fruit bearing. Viticulture or the raising of grapes is quite common in Palestine. The climate there in that part of the world is particularly adapted to the growing of grapes.
There is an abundance of sunshine with heavy dew, dews that are present in the late summer. The vineyards that Israel enjoyed in that day were already established when Israel conquered Canaan. Even at that time back under the leadership of Joshua, viticulture was very common in that part of the world. And it continued of course with ancient Israel and until the days of Jesus and still today. Grapes are often grown on the gently sloping hillsides as well as in the valleys of Palestine.
It is because of the commonness of the raising of grapes, of vineyards, that a vineyard is used in the Bible in a number of cases symbolically. I can only mention it in passing, but for example in Isaiah chapter 5, Isaiah compares ancient Israel to a vineyard which God had planted. What the tragedy was, says Isaiah, that the fruit that was brought forth by this vineyard was not good fruit. And therefore God allowed the vineyard to be torn up.
Isaiah was speaking that in a parable as it were warning Israel about what judgment was coming upon them because of the fact that as God's vineyard they were producing not righteousness, but wickedness and idolatry. And then again the similar figures used in Psalm 80. Jesus then built some of his teaching upon this familiar imagery. For example in Matthew 21 he spoke a couple of parables based upon the vineyard.
This discourse in John chapter 15 was delivered by our Lord to the 11 disciples, who remember Judas had already departed by this time to work with the Pharisees and Sadducees for the betrayal of Jesus. As our Lord walked with the 11 disciples from the upper room out to the Garden of Gethsemane where they prayed, they perhaps passed through a vineyard. And as they did so, our Lord used that vineyard as an illustration of what he wanted to tell them.
It may have been too that they went through the temple area as they passed from one place to the other. Josephus tells us that part of the ornamentation on the outer gates of the temple involved vines with gold grape clusters hanging from them, which were as tall as a man. These gates were left open during the Passover season, which is the time when this occurred in John 15.
And so it may have been that our Lord passed by those gates into the temple and pointed toward the ornamentation on those gates. Whatever, Jesus said to them as he passed by and pointed to this imagery, I am the vine, the true one, in contrast to the people of Israel who had proved to be a false vine for Jehovah. He says, I am the vine, the true one. He, the true vine, was in contrast to all that had passed before this. And it goes on to say, My Father is the vine dresser, verse 1.
Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that bears fruit he prunes it that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine. So 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, he bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
What is the point in Jesus' teaching here in this illustration or parable? Well, the purpose of a branch is to extend the life of the vine. Jesus is saying, I am the vine, but you are the branches. He, the vine, is no longer visible. He has already expressed to them in chapters 13 and 14 that he is going away so that the vine itself would not be visible to the world. But he says, you are the branches and you will bear fruit. The implication, of course, being you will bear fruit in the world.
In chapters 13 and 14 he expresses to them what he will do while away from them. He tells them that he will keep them in communion with himself through a continual cleansing process, a washing, as the washing of feet. He says to them that he will prepare a place for them so that he can come and take them to that place. He tells them that he will be, by the Holy Spirit, supplying the needs of his own. And then in chapter 15 he tells the disciples and us what we are to be doing while he is away.
And that is, we are to be bearing fruit. The purpose of branches is to bear fruit, to bear fruit for the vine, to express the life of the vine. Please keep in mind that in John chapter 15 we are not studying in context of salvation. We are talking about fellowship. There are those who misread this chapter, thinking that it speaks about salvation and they come to certain verses. And the only way that they can understand that verse is to say, well it must mean then that one loses salvation.
But the context is not salvation, it is fellowship. It is not relationship, it is the supernatural life that the Lord produces through those who are in fellowship with him. Now I'd like to look at this chapter this evening for the remaining minutes and discover with you the kinds of fruit that our Lord says should be characterized by us, the branches, who are abiding in the vine.
We see the first example in verse 7 where he says, if you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish and it shall be done for you. Again in verse 16 he says, you did not choose me but I chose you and appointed you. That you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he may give it to you. It seems to me that the first fruit that our Lord suggests in this teaching is the fruit of prayer that is answered.
As we talk about being free to be fruitful, the first fruit that our Lord suggests is the fruit of prayer that is answered. Jesus is building upon some things he's already said to his disciples. For example, back in chapter 14 and verse 14 it's recorded that he said to them, if you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. So he has already talked to them about the prayer privilege that they will enjoy while he is away.
He has given to them the privilege of acting as it were with the power of attorney. He gives to them the privilege, indeed the responsibility to use his name in prayer. He says, you may ask the Father and then apply my name to this as though I myself were asking it. And God will hear and will answer that prayer. G. Campbell Morgan takes this so strongly that he makes the statement, demand as you do whatever you are inclined to.
Now on the day in which we live I have to be careful with a statement like that because there are those who have pressed this all out of shape in a name it and claim it kind of theology. Saying that all you have to do is name it and claim it and God must give it to you. That of course is a part of the prosperity theology which we believe is heretical, it is not biblical and has led a good many people astray.
Jesus is not saying here that every whim that we have will be granted if we simply pray it in his name. What he is saying is that as we pray we are to be so conscious of what we are asking of the Father that we can in good conscience say I know this is what Jesus would want. This is what Jesus would ask for. And it is with that understanding and that discernment of our prayer life that he says we can come to God and pray in his name and God will answer that prayer.
Now of course we know that prayer has some other conditions involved with it. We can ask amiss or selfishly and consequently God is not obligated to answer. We can ask with iniquity in our hearts, with sin in our lives that is unconfessed, God is not obligated to answer. So there are some other conditions involved that our Lord here wants to encourage us. He says understand the privilege that you have in prayer now. He says as I go away you may come directly to the Father and use my name.
Use my authority in praying and say Father this is what I believe Jesus would ask for and the Father will hear you and will answer your prayer. One fruit that Jesus tells us that we can anticipate as we abide in the vine is the fruit of prayer that is answered. Secondly he says that fruit is joy that is full. Verse 11, these things I have spoken to you, our Lord says, that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be made full. Notice my and your.
Jesus is suggesting to us here that his joy becomes our joy. He says that my joy may be in you and as his joy is in us it becomes our joy. And he says that your joy then may be made full. That there may be a wholeness, a well-roundedness about it, a completeness, a fullness in the joy that you have as you abide in me, joy that is fulfilled. We have to ask the question what was the joy of Jesus? He says that my joy may be in you.
Well one aspect of his joy certainly and he suggests it here in the previous verse was his obedience. It was his joy to obey the Father. And he says as he does in verse 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. Obedience and joy, my friend, go together. Where there is not obedience to the Lord there cannot be joy.
Where there is obedience to the Lord there will be his joy which becomes our joy and which will be fulfilled, well-rounded. Meryl Tenney said Jesus intended that the disciples' lives should be both spontaneous and happy rather than burdensome and boring. What is your joy tonight? What is it that becomes the delight of your inner person? O may it be obeying the Lord and abiding in fellowship with him. Joy that is full is another fruit that we are free to bear.
And then in verses 12 and 13 and again in verse 17, Jesus tells us that the fruit that we are free to bear is love that is sacrificial. This is my commandment that you love one another just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. Then in verse 17, this I command you that you love one another. Love that is sacrificial is a fruit that the child of God who is abiding in Christ will manifest.
Oh, sometimes we say, oh yes, I would gladly lay down my life for another. I would do that. But we know that the likelihood of that actually happening is rather remote, at least right now, the way we're living. So let's back off from that extreme expression of love and talk about whether we're willing to give up some luxury. If we're willing to lay aside some comfort in order to meet the needs of another. If we're willing to spend time listening to a hurting person.
If we're willing to reach out our hand, roll up our sleeves, and get involved in helping, doing something practical to help another. That's love that's sacrificial. It is laying down a piece of your life, if not the whole of it. Our Lord says, this is my commandment, that you love each other just as I have loved you. I think it's good for us to stop and ask ourselves, what have we sacrificed lately for the good of another?
When was the last time we spent that time or extended that practical help? Well, we actually gave up that luxury or that comfort or that thing that we wanted in order to participate in meeting another's needs. When do we really pay a cost to love another person? Jesus says that we are free to be fruitful, and part of that fruit is a love that is sacrificial. Folks, let's ask God this week to bring across our path someone to whom we can show this kind of love.
Someone who can't even pay us back, who won't be able in some way to show a return kindness to us, but to whom, for Jesus' sake, we can reach out sacrificially. And meet their need. We are free to be fruitful in another sense, verses 14 and 15. Part of the fruit that we can enjoy is the fruit of understanding that is intimate. That is understanding what our Lord is doing. Look at these verses. You are my friends if you do what I command you.
No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing. But I have called you friends for all things that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. One who is an employee is not obligated to be told what's going on in the company. All he has to know is what his job is and what he needs to do to do it well.
Now it may be that the supervisor or the president of the company or the board of directors will choose to inform all of the employees of what's going on. But there's no obligation there at all. The obligation simply is to do the job. But Jesus says I'm taking you as my associates beyond that. He says I don't want you to consider yourselves to be just servants. He says I want you to see yourselves in the role of friends. And I want you to know that that is an intimate relationship with me.
And because of that I have told you everything that I have heard from my Father. I have made that known to you. I don't want you simply to know what you're supposed to do, but I want you to know what I am doing. And I want you to know why I am doing it. I want you to have the whole picture. And so we have that beloved in the Word.
God has given to us in the Word insight into the events around us, insight into people, into our age, so that we have some understanding not only of events, but of what's going on behind the scenes. The average person in the world may be able to read the events in the newspaper, but he doesn't understand the background. He doesn't understand what's happening that produces that in a spiritual sense.
We who are in the vine have that kind of intimate understanding, what wonderful fruit that is, that we can know what our Lord is doing. Then let's move ahead to verses 18 to 25, where we have perhaps a less popular fruit that we are free to bear. This is the fruit of persecution that is unjustified. Jesus says, If the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own.
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 slave is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do to you for my name's sake, because they do not know the one who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, that is awareness of it.
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 sin, that is not knowledge of it. But now they have both seen and hated me and my father as well. But they have done this in order that the word may be fulfilled that is written in their law. They hated me without a cause. Jesus is saying here that his pressure of suffering and persecution is coming to him unjustified.
There is a hatred that existed between Jesus and the world system, which included the religious system of that day. Now why was that hatred there? Because Jesus by his teaching and by his life, his works, exposed sin in the world. And the world does not like sin exposed. Call it anything else, call it a disease, call it a weakness, call it a propensity, call it a lifestyle, but don't call it sin. But Jesus called it what it was. Because of that there was hatred from the world toward himself.
And it was culminated in his death on the cross. And what he says here is that you and I can expect the same thing. You and I can expect that if we choose to live godly in Christ Jesus, we will suffer persecution. And we can avoid that, we can avoid it by not living godly in Christ Jesus. But then we lose all of the blessings that he's talking about in this chapter to higher price. If we want the blessings, we get the blessings by abiding in the vine in obedience.
A part of the blessing that comes to us is suffering with Christ. Experiencing the fellowship of his sufferings. Persecution that is unjustified. Jesus said, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. Is that a fruit that you're willing to experience in your life? Now let's face it, there are times that you and I go through suffering or tribulation or affliction because we deserve it. It's justified. I mean we have done something to create it.
The point here is that when you and I live righteously, when we have done what is right before God, when we have been sincere and honest and blameless before God in our motives and our deeds, and then we are persecuted and we experience suffering, then we enter into the fruit, this special fruit that the branches will bear because the branches abide in the vine, the true one. And then finally let me point you to verses 26 and 27 where he says that another fruit we are free to bear is witness.
Witness that is Spirit-empowered. When the helper comes, that's the Holy Spirit, he says, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness of me. And you will bear witness also because you have been with me from the beginning. Here is fruit for God that we bear. Jesus said the Spirit will come and he will bear witness. How will the Spirit do that in you?
You and I have the joy of bearing fruit in a witness that is Spirit-empowered. The Spirit of God enables us even in the face of hatred, in the face of suffering, in the face of rejection to bear fruit of a witness that may not be appreciated, at the moment at least, may even be rejected or scorned or as we said this morning mocked. But you and I have the joy of bearing witness to the vine as the Spirit of God empowers us.
We have died to the law, no longer are we under that system. Praise God for that. That's why I can go on to say as he does in Romans 8-1, there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, because we are not under the law with condemnation. No longer do we have relationship to it. We've died to that with Christ and we've been raised with Christ. We are united to him now that we might bear fruit for God.
In this marvelous chapter, Jesus explains to us what kind of fruit that is. Are you a fruit-bearing branch? Is there evidence of the supernatural in your life? Now that doesn't mean that we're going to go around doing miracles every day. That's not what I mean by the supernatural. What I mean is just the fruit that we've talked about. Answered prayer. Hey, that's pretty supernatural. Joy that is fulfilled. That's supernatural. Love that is sacrificial.
Only the supernatural Spirit of God can motivate us to sacrifice for another person. In ourselves, we are tremendously selfish people, but the Spirit of God enables us to bear fruit of sacrificial love. Understanding that is intimate. The Spirit of the Lord gives us insight and discernment. Persecution that is unjustified. Oh, the Spirit will enable us and strengthen us through that. Witness that will be effective. It's the Spirit who does that. This is supernatural fruit.
May God help us as his people, as his branches, to bear fruit this week. That we are abiding in the vine. They can't see the vine. He's in heaven. But those branches come out of heaven all the way down here to the earth. We are those branches and the world sees us. And may the fruit prove that we are abiding in him. Let's pray. Lord, thank you for this joyous privilege of abiding in the true vine and bearing fruit that is supernatural.
I pray that we as branches will not only bear fruit, but that we might bear much fruit that would remain. That's why you've chosen us. Grant that this week, as we go about the routine of life, our course of responsibilities, that this fruit of the Spirit will be evident in our lives and Jesus, the true vine, will thus be glorified. We pray in his name, amen.