INTRODUCTION
• SLIDE #1
• Intimacy. The dictionary defines is as follows: a close personal relationship, a detailed knowledge resulting from a close or long association or study.
• Casual. The dictionary defines this word as follows: known only slightly or involving only slight knowledge of somebody or something, superficial- not involving emotional commitment or loyalty, or lacking in seriousness.
• If you were to choose what kind of relationship you would receive from someone important to you, which would you rather have?
• What kind of relationship do you think Jesus wants to have with you?
• What do we long for in life? Do we want to have empty relationships with people?
• Do you really want to go through life without having close relationships with people?
• Jesus does not want us to live our lives experiencing only a casual relationship with Him!
God doesn’t want that for any of us. He desires an intimate relationship with each of us that will give meaning and hope to our lives.
Does intimacy just happen on its’ own or does it take effort? Developing a truly intimate relationship with God takes a lot of effort and it is well worth it.
Today we are going to examine the nuts and bolts of intimacy with God.
Turn with me to John 15, we will begin with verses 1-4.
SLIDE #2
John 15:1-4 ( ESV ) “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch of mine that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that 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.
SLIDE #3
Let begin by seeing:
SERMON
I. THE PRODUCT OF INTIMACY WITH GOD IS FRUITFULNESS
• One of the ways we can tell if we are in an intimate relationship with God is by examining the fruit of our life.
• SLIDE #4
A. The mark of intimacy is the fruit we produce.
Verse one reminds us of an important fact!
One of the reasons producing fruit is a product of intimacy with God is if we belong to Jesus, we are a branch on the vine. Since we are a branch on the vine, we receive our nourishment from the vine.
If we are truly a part of the vine, then our fruit will reflect it.
In verse 4 we see that a branch cannot bear fruit if it is not a part of the vine.
Conversely one would think that because they are a part of the vine, they would just produce fruit, but that is not true.
According to verse two there will be some branches that do not produce fruit. We will look at those branches in a moment.
Many people feel they can produce fruit outside of a relationship with Jesus, but this is not true. Remember in verse 4 we are told of you are not a part the vine, you cannot produce fruit.
What kind of Fruit are we to produce?
Fruit of the Spirit?
SLIDE #5
Galatians 5:22-23 ( ESV ) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Another fruit we will see is a changes life.
A changed life that results from belonging to Jesus?
SLIDE #6
2 Corinthians 5:17 ( ESV ) Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
Another fruit is Winning people to Jesus! The fruit God expects is all of the above!
Who determines if I am fruitful or not?
SLIDE #7
B. God judges if we are fruitful or not
I am good enough to go to heaven! I give to the poor, I help people, I would not hurt anyone, and I am a good father, husband. I am a good person!
This where many people are in their thinking concerning self.
Who judges whether or not we are producing fruit? It is God!
I do not get to decide how good I am or how fruitful I am. God does that. Verse 2 tells us this.
It took a lot of care from the vinedresser to get a good crop of grapes from the vine. The vinedresser had to constantly be watching the vine to make sure that no disease was overtaking it.
If he had a vine on the ground, he had to make sure that the ground was clear of obstruction.
One of the things that the vinedresser did was to examine the production of each branch.
If a branch was found not to produce fruit or bad fruit it was cut off and burned.
Since the wood from the grapevine is soft, it is useless. The vinedresser would gather up the bad branches and burn them.
This passage truly underscores the reason we serve the Lord and try to live for Him.
It is because of the intimate relationship we have with Him. It is not an issue of “being good enough” to get into heaven. It is an issue of being so close to Jesus and loving Him so much we want to please Him.
We are saved through our relationship with Jesus. None of us are “good” enough. God sees us as “good” through the blood of Jesus!
WE also must realize that:
SLIDE #8
C. God is the one who trims and prunes the branches.
We are told every branch that does not produce fruit is removed and every branch that produces fruit is pruned so it will produce more!
If a branch has too many leaves on it, the leaves will take away from the nourishment the fruit would receive.
God will help us cut out the stuff that keeps us from growing. BUSY STUFF
The fruitful branches are pruned. The Word is one way to prune the branches (3)
COL 3:16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you,… The Word is the thing that we need in our lives so that we can maintain a growing relationship with Jesus. We are being transformed into His image, as we grow closer to Him.
We can become fruitless just by neglecting the study of the Word in our lives.
As we let the Word dwell within us, we start to change, we start to be more and more transformed into the image of God. People will see Jesus in us.
SLIDE #9
John 15:5 ( ESV ) 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.
In verses 5-9 we see that:
SLIDE #10
II. THE PRACTICE OF INTIMACY WITH GOD IS ESSENTIAL (5-9)
• The practice of intimacy is important because:
• SLIDE #11
A. We MUST work at bearing fruit (5)
Back in verse 2, Jesus tells us there will be some branches “in Him” that will not produce fruit? How can that be? Have you ever seen branches on a fruit tree or a grapevine that did not produce fruit?
Why would some who are in Christ produce fruit and others would not? Doesn’t God just make you grow? NO!
It takes effort and practice. Think about your earthy relationships. How many of them work out with no effort put forth by both parties. In too many marriages, the effort is only one way and that is one of the reasons many crash and burn.
The implication here is God has a part and we have ours. We must work at abiding in Christ.
The word “abide” means- to remain, dwell, to not depart, to continue to be present’
God will never leave us, but we can chose not to abide in Him.
What Jesus is speaking of is FAITHFULNESS! Our part in the process is to be faithful until death or His return.
Revelation 2:10 tell us we are to be Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.
We cannot treat God like insurance to be cashed in someday, we are called to be faithful.
Let’s turn to verses 6-9
SLIDE #12
John 15:6-9 ( ESV ) 6If 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. 7If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. 9As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.
This part of the passages shows us:
SLIDE #13
B. Why the practice of intimacy is important!
Fruitless branches are tossed into the fire (6) It does not matter how pretty the branch looks, if t is not producing fruit, it is removed so that nourishment is not wasted.
Being fruitful is one of the keys to answered prayer (7)
God is glorified! (8)
Our intimate relationship with God proves we belong to Him (8)
We abide in God’s love when we are in an intimate relationship with Him! (9)
In verses 10-14 we see…
SLIDE #14
III. THE PROOF OF OUR INTIMACY WITH GOD IS OBEDIENCE
Why is obedience proof of an intimate relationship with God? Let’s look at four quick reasons for this statement.
SLIDE 15
John 15:10 ( ESV ) 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.
SLIDE #16
A. Keeping God’s commands show we love Him and are His (10)
There are many passages that make this point.
God’s love always comes first, then ours follows. 1 John 4:19 We love, because He first loved us.
A second reason comes from verse 11
SLIDE #17
John 15:11 ( ESV ) These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
SLIDE #18
B. Our obedience leads to Joy! (11)
It gives God joy when we are obedient and it gives us joy to be pleasing to God.
Serving Jesus is a great thing to do. How many things can you do for a person that will affect their eternal destiny? There is nothing more exciting than being a part of a person giving their life to Jesus.
Do you remember how good it felt to please your parents when you were young? Obedience leads to joy. Joy is a deeper thing than happiness. We can have joy no matter what the circumstances are.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 tells us God will be there to bring comfort in difficult times!
Verse 12 gives us a third reason
SLIDE #19
John 15:12 ( ESV ) “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
SLIDE #20
C. We are commanded to love one another (12)
Jesus loves us and He wants us to love others also. It is not an option and love is more than just an emotion, it is action.
My actions should show you I love you. I never want my family to doubt my love for them, so I try to show it.
Verses 13-15 give us the last reason
SLIDE #21
John 15:13-15 ( ESV ) Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays 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.
SLIDE #22
D. Our obedience shows we want to receive the benefits of Jesus sacrifice
Jesus’ great love lead Him to lay His life down for His friends (13)
You are a friend of Jesus IF you are obedient to Him (14)
The ones who are obedient receive the benefits of His sacrificial death (15)
CONCLUSION
An intimate or close relationship with Jesus will benefit each of us greatly. Our relationship with Jesus will give our lives meaning and purpose. Have you ever wondered if there is more to life than just getting stuff and dying?
In Christ you find a purpose for your life.
Your relationship with Jesus will bring excitement to your life. We can sell things to people or buy them things. All of us are either buying or selling. What greater gift can you give to a person than Jesus, through whom we receive eternal life!
Your relationship will bring joy to your life also. There are too many people who go through marriage without joy. There are too many people who are sitting in church each week with no joy in their lives. There are too many people who have a life without joy.
Joy in life will be found in Jesus.
Having an intimate relationship with Jesus takes more than just coming to church. It takes spending time with God in the word, meditation and prayer.
As I think of our lives, how many of us are cheating ourselves out of a great thing with God by not fostering the intimate relationship God desires to have with each of us.
Do you want to start on your relationship with Jesus, how about starting today!
Next week we will look at how we can please God!
