October 2, 2005 am      The Harvest -- How to Bear Fruit         John 15:1-8

By Ronald E. George Jr. at the Fayetteville Baptist Church

 

What Kind of a harvest have you had?  What kind of a harvest would you like to have? 

What is it going to take to be able to have a harvest in the church? 

 

Scripture Text:   John 15:1 (NIV) "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8 This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

 

1.   The Dream is the desire for fruit: What would you like to see?    What would the Lord like to see? What is the vision?   Why do we take the time and effort to raise a Garden?  We want to have the fruit.  Not just for ourselves but for our neighbors and family too.  The fruit is good and healthy, and we like it.  The Lord wants to see more fruit. Is he?   He likes it.  It makes him happy and He is blessed by the fruitful plants in his garden. He is the gardener and we are his plants.  

 

2.  The Dirt.   The climate is the SonShine,  the rain, and the water.  " In me"  the fruit grows.  The Prayer that maintains the relationship..  Daily maintenance must be done to continue to be fruitful.  The cleansing of the word is like the rain that cleans the dirt off and gives water to the plants. 

  1. God is the source of all.  Nothing can grow in the Lord's garden unless it remains in him.  He is the source of all of our nutrition and fruit. 
  2. He gives the climate that causes the plants to grow. He gives all growth and all fruit.  Let's pray for the climate, the rain, and the nutrients.
  3. Love is the Son Shining in us.
  1. Prayer is the rain that causes us to grow and give the increase.
  2.  Faithfulness of the saints is the dirt that gives the plants room to plant roots.  Abide or remain in the fellowship of the Lord and His people to be productive. 

 

3.  The Deeds. It is work which reveals that God is at work in our lives , church, and community.  It is the pruning of the branches. The cultivation.  The waiting. The working.    The obedience to the Lord and his word in our lives .  continues to allow us to grow and to bear fruit.  God is the gardener. He is Waiting, Working , and Watching for the garden to produce the fruit that he desires.  He is patient for the fruit that he desires to find in our lives . He continues to work and to prune so that one day he will find the harvest.  He is watching. The church is the garden. 

 

4.  The Delivery is the harvest.  When Meri, my daughter, asked here were the beans from the garden that we had worked on during the year.?  Where are the result?  What have we reaped from our labors.?  What has the Lord reaped from his garden?   v.5 bring forth much fruit.     What does the garderner see in our life?

 

The harvest will come when God gives the increase.  It is a combination of events that have been brought together by the Lord. 

 

Gal. 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

 

God Grows his garden.  Stay connected to him by prayer.  What is the fruit that he is finding in his garden?  Does he need to clean out some of the weeds?  Will we let him clean us out so that we can become fruitful? 

 

Let us dream, work, and pray

That God may give the increase or the harvest!