Well, good morning, my friends, and welcome to the Heritage Hour. I’m Mark Gonzales, your pastoral encourager here in Southwest Florida, and I’m so delighted to be with you on air, online, and in media ministry for about 35 years now.

So thank you for sitting with me at the feet of the Lord to listen for his heart to touch our hearts. Well, if you’ve been with us, you know that we are in the middle of a series. Actually, not in the middle. We’re kind of at the beginning of a series that’s been expanded to the entire spring instead of two broadcasts because I’m covering a series that I’m calling Passion Week Portraits of God. we’re celebrating Easter all spring long as we look at these incredible portraits that the Lord put on display as we hear about his story from Palm Sunday all the way to Easter Sunday.

And so we started that about two or three weeks ago. And man, I just sense the Lord saying, let’s go slowly. Let’s really savor these portraits.

And so that’s what we’re doing, my friend, today. we’re coming to one that I call He is our fruitful vine. We’re going to be in John chapter 15 and actually that is where our series has taken us. We started over in John chapter 12 looking at Palm Sunday when we had the triumphal entry and so we’ve come to call it Palm Sunday because you know the story of how he was entering Jerusalem riding a donkey and had adoring followers and some miracle watchers and messiah waiters and but he also had some outraged pharisees and fearful rulers and scheming killers and all this and jerusalem hordes i mean here we saw four portraits of the lord he is our humble king our celebrated king our rejected king and our anguish king depending on what lenses you’re viewing him from so we had a marvelous journey there also talked about how our anguishing king that was the spirit in which he had the temple cleansing not angry he was our anguished savior so we talked about that first broadcast second one we talked a little bit about how he is our thorough teacher because in between palm sunday and easter sunday we had what i call teachers tuesday because he was sharing parables and insights woes and blessings prophecies and promises of course woeful wednesday was when judas iscariot started making a deal with the religious leaders to portray the Lord He is our portrayed Messiah in that particular portrait And then we began covering Maundy Thursday, the traditional way that we express Thursday of Passion Week. We saw how he is our Lord’s Supper.

We know all about that powerful time we had talking about that. And then he is our foot washing Messiah because that’s what he did during the Lord’s Supper. Stunning act. Humble service.

A God style leadership thing. And of course, that’s the night when Judas went out to betray him. He was our betrayed lover. He loved the disciples.

And yet he was being betrayed. And then last time we went to John chapter 14 and saw this marvelously in-depth portrait of the Lord as our comforting betrothed. When he told him, let not your heart be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me or trust God, trust me in my father’s house or many dwelling places or abiding places.

And I go to prepare a place for you. And we discovered that was very well known and commonly used language when a young man would become betrothed, one step beyond engagement, betrothed to a young lady. And as they would then have the next several months or years, he goes to prepare a place to receive her as his bride. Marvelous thing.

Check it out. Markpg.org is where all of these things are archived. these 27-minute messages, and you can go back and catch the ones you’ve missed or re-listen to the ones that you really enjoyed or share them with others. It’s markpg.org. Just click on the broadcast box when you get there, click on Portraits of God, and you’ll see them listed.

So I hope you’ll check that out.

But today, as I mentioned earlier, we’re going to be in John 15 as we continue our journey through John’s Gospel on this Passion Week Portraits of God series.

And so as we get started, as is our custom, and as you’re making your way to over John chapter 15, let’s just go before the Lord and ask him to speak, shall we? Well, Lord, as we just had this wonderful brief review of the journey through Passion Week, and now we’re getting into some real deep portraits about how you love us, how you want to relate to us and want us to relate to you, how you are giving us a portrait of your heart your character of your ways And so I pray and I be able to do it justice Lord So yeah we are so ready to hear as we sit at your feet together so thank you for this privilege oh we pray this in the powerful name of the lord jesus christ and by his precious cleansing and healing transforming empowering and forgiving blood amen amen and amen all right as we get ready to look at uh john 15 hey just full disclosure, I have to tell you, usually when I’m recording these broadcasts, it’s one take. You know, I just love the scriptures. I love the Lord.

I love sharing with you. And it just flows. This is my fourth attempt to try to record this broadcast today, this week, actually, because we’ve been having a tough week. And I mentioned it last week to you at the end of the broadcast.

My wife has had some difficult health issues that have come up a week in the hospital.

Now we’re in an in-between period, getting her ready for some surgery.

But man, it’s been going, it’s been rough. She’s been having some rough nights of pain and trying to deal with that and all those things.

So it’s been an exhausting week. And you know, when we hit these times, it’s all the more reason to dive into this particular portrait, how he is our abiding vine. He is our fruitful vine that we get to abide in. And the last time he’s our comforting patrol.

I also made the connection there. Oh, my friends, we all have struggles. Jesus said, you will have tribulation in this world.

But take heart, for I have overcome this world.

But I have to tell you that one of the things that we are being freshly reminded of here in our family is that, man, when you’re going through incredibly difficult times, abiding in him feels differently than semi-normal times. Do any of us have normal times? I don’t think so.

But so this is really a poignant time for us. And I can’t wait to unpack it. And I just wanted to share that, you know, this is a very real thing in all of our lives. And, you know, we can teach the ways and principles and the heart of God and didactic ways, teaching ways, educational ways, preaching ways and all as just an intellectual exercise.

But we can also talk about them from the heart as you’re going through them, when you’re right in the midst of it. And that’s where we are. That’s why it took me four times. I was just messing up and had to start over again and then start over again And then I just took a big rest for a few hours and I trying again And but I just thought I share that with you as I was talking to the Lord and saying Lord how can I do this about abiding in you when I struggling right now and stuff He says because that is part of why I’ve created this among many metaphors and portraits of abiding in me.

It’s about me and it is. It’s not about the circumstances. In the midst of any circumstance, We can abide in him because he is our fruitful vine and we can bear much fruit even in the midst of difficult times.

So let’s take a peek at it. John chapter 15, beginning of verse 1, Jesus said, I am the vine and my father is the vineyard keeper. every branch in me that does not produce fruit he removes now i actually talked about this several weeks ago and referencing that this word is a greek word called arrow it can be rendered remove or takes away or cuts off but it can also be rendered lifts up and i believe here it’s lifting up because in context he goes on to say he prunes every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit in other words the context here is what what does the vineyard keeper what does the vine keeper do with these branches that are green and leafy and he wants them to bear fruit now this is a green leafy branch that he first refers to they got mired perhaps down in the ground and he needs to lift it up so that it can have more exposure to the sun and all those things and bear fruit. It’s too valuable just to whack off and throw away.

Now that’s different than a branch we’re going to see a little later in the passage. It’s brown and it’s dry and it’s dead because it didn’t connect. It didn’t abide.

And so that’s the one he snaps off and throws away because it never really connected.

But those that did connect and start growing and get leaves, but they get muddled in the mud, you know, no, he’s going to lift up. That’s why I think arrow should be rendered. And a few translations to it, lifting up here. He lifts up some of these branches so they can bear fruit.

Then he also says, or this scripture also says that he prunes every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit.

So there it is. I love that cultivation thing. It is so cool.

Now verse 3.

Now, you are already clean because of the word I’ve spoken to you. That’s a metaphor for being totally saved. You’re in. You’re part of me.

When we talked about the foot washing versus bathing, when Peter said, no, no, don’t, don’t. Just wash all of me then. If you’re going to wash my feet, wash all of me. You don’t need to be totally bathed.

You just need your feet washed.

Because as you walk in this world, you get dusty feet.

But you’re already part of me.

So we’ll just deal with the feet. so this is another metaphor for the connection that we have when we are green branch leafy maybe sometimes not so much fruit so he needs to lift us up sometimes with some fruit but he prunes us so we can bear more fruit i love that all right but it’s all about abiding in him now here he expands on it in verse 4. Love this. Abide in me and I in you. I love the two-way street there.

He abides in us. We abide in him. Oneness, fruitful oneness. Hang on to that.

Remain in me and I in you just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine. Think stalk or trunk here.

So neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, the vine stalk. You are the branches, little vine, little twirling things. The one who abides in me and I in him produces much fruit because apart from me, you can do nothing.

By the way, in my personal journey as a pastor. This for 23 years was the theme verse for the church plant I did back in 1990 and was there until 2014. And we would have this as our focal point, abiding in him to bear much fruit for apart from him, we can do nothing. This is the crux of the Christian life. it’s the secret abide in him that simple focal point yes we need to do things like pray and evangelize and disciple and go on missions and serve all of those things but those should be the fruit of abiding in him watch it as it continues to unfold if anyone does not abide in me he is thrown aside like a branch and withers and they gather them throw them into the fire and they are burned all right we got to stop right there for a few minutes now this is what i told you earlier if a branch doesn’t abide or get fully deeply connected to the vine trunk if a branch doesn’t get into the trunk of something, it will turn brown, dry up, not have any leaf, not have any life, not have any fruit.

And that’s the one that’s broken off and thrown out. It’s really a simple thing, but it’s not the branch that was earlier in verse two, that was just limp and leafy, but it needed to be lifted so it would bear much fruit. All right.

So let’s get that straight. Hey, just a quick story about that. I was at an apple orchard many years ago doing a Bible conference in Missouri. And one of the participants came to me after the service and said, you know, I have an apple orchard.

Would you like to see an apple orchard? I said, sure.

And so he took me out the next day and he explained that this is a wild apple tree orchard in the beginning. And those apples were not any good.

So actually what we did was we cut off all those branches, kept the trunks and their root system in the ground for sure.

But we shipped in from Washington State some red delicious apple branches. And we engrafted them onto the trunks. And that’s what you’re seeing out there. All of those are red delicious apples because of the branches we shipped in and engrafted on the wild apple tree trunks.

I said, that’s amazing. okay now i’m a city guy so i know you didn’t nail it or screw it in how do you attach them oh that’s a great question we put a big slit in the trunk then we cut off the ends of the branch so there’ll be some potential for connectivity there we stick it in there and then we put some organic material in that gash and we wrap the branch with some tape uh special tape around the trunk and we just do that with several branches going up a trunk. And then I asked, wow, that’s fascinating.

But I have to ask, how do you know if it works? And I’ll never forget what he said. Well, son, if you get fruit, it works. If you don’t get fruit, it didn’t work.

I went, okay.

Okay. I got you.

So sometimes some of those branches on those trunks don’t bear fruit. Oh yeah. Yeah. Two, three of them.

For some reason they don connect deeply even though the setup was exactly the same It just doesn connect And if it doesn connect it turns brown it gets stiff it gets dry we just snap it off throw it away But those that do connect hey they bear fruit. And we prune it, and it bears much fruit.

Now, does that just simplify this passage? Does that just simplify this Christian life? You and I have ebbs and flows in our walk with the Lord Jesus Christ, my friends. We have all kinds of things that come up in our lives.

There are some days, some weeks, some seasons that are, boy, filled with mostly blessings with a few challenges. Other seasons where we have challenges, but they’re not that severe. Other times, no, they’re very severe, very heartbreaking, very difficult, grievous circumstances. and the older you get the more you start recognizing you know what all those things are concurrent if you ask me how’s it going what’s going on well you want to talk about the fruitful side of my life or the struggling side of my life the circumstantial stuff because they’re both concurrent but here’s the thing getting to the place where we can abide, which means to hang around, which means to get deeply connected, to stay connected, to remain connected deeply and keep that ongoing communion with the Lord going.

Now, we’ll always be, if we’re really saved and connected and we’re that leafy branch that doesn’t have fruit, well, we’re connected, we’re saved, you’re clean, you don’t have to worry about it, But you’re not bearing fruit. And the Christian life is so much better than what you’re experiencing. And the Lord says, I want you to connect even deeper. And I want you to let me to deal with these muddy sin issues that you’re dealing with, muddy bitterness that you’re wrestling with, or whatever.

There’s all kinds of things in our lives, wounds that we’ve had that mire us in the dirt, as it were. and he wants to lift us up and help us abide in him and receive his sunshine, his insight, his love. In fact, that’s where he takes us to. This is where we know we’re deeply getting into Christ.

Now, after we have verse 6 that describes a branch that is just dried up, brown, and broken off and thrown out. By the way, John says this again in 1 John, when he specifically says this about people who are no longer in the faith he said you know what they went out from us for they were not of us for if they were of us or connected with us and the lord they would have remained with us but they went out from us in order to show they never were really with us to begin with you cannot lose your salvation once you’re genuinely saved my friend once you’re deeply connected to him he keeps you and he tends you and he grows you and he lets you bear fruit but those who go through the same motions pray the same prayer walk the same mile get in the same baptismal waters as you did but there was never fruit never lie from it they never were really connected to begin with even though they went through the ceremony and that’s the difference in the two types of branches and those who do go deeper in him well they discover it’s not just about the merciful Savior who saved us, that’s level one. We’ve got to go deeper. He’s also the gentle teacher, rabbi.

He wants us to learn about him, to grow in him, grow in the grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

But it’s just not about knowledge and sitting and soaking. It’s also about serving, but not like a slave serves a harsh master because we have a gracious master, a gentle master. One that we get to serve, not have to serve.

But you can stay in a serving and learning save mode and not go to the two deeper depths. I’m going to give you the five, our deeper dive. He’s our merciful Savior, point of entry. Gentle teacher, growing as children.

You know, children we learn in the Lord. Bring the children unto me for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as me, but he also wants us to serve in his courts, not because we have to, because we get to.

But listen, he is also our comforting shepherd, our loving shepherd, our loving father, our loving patrolled, our loving spouse, our loving husband. We talked about that last time. When you start experiencing the love of the Lord, That’s getting to the deeper levels of abiding in Him. And the deepest of all is how He is.

Our fruitful oneness. We become one in Him. And this is a metaphor. And one of many places that the scripture talks about salvation is about being totally entwined.

Totally one. Totally integrated with Jesus Christ. And that takes a lifetime to continue to cultivate. Connecting deep in the vineyard. or letting your roots grow deep into him, as another scripture talks about.

But this is where he talks about that in more specificity.

Now watch this. Watch this transition. I love this. Verse 7.

If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you want, and it will be done for you.

Okay, now stop. Why?

Because your words and your wants and your thoughts are going to be so aligned with him in oneness that whatever you’re asking, wanting, well, it aligns with what he wants and what he intends, and you’ll get it.

Now, it’s when you’re not abiding very deeply, and you’re getting more fleshly, getting more selfish, and you’re asking for stuff. I need a big boat so I can sail around the world, and then I’ll have more peace.

Okay, well, wait a minute. Let’s talk about this. It’s not that. It’s our wants become his wants because we’re becoming one.

His wants become our ones. They’re all interchangeable. He goes on, verse 8, my father is glorified by this, that you produce much fruit and prove to be my disciples or followers. Fruit like love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and goodness and faithfulness and gentleness and self my friends That the fruit of the Spirit we know It the fruit of new believers because you sharing with them and a winsomeness and you drawing them unto the Lord because of your lifestyle It the fruit of fruitful relationships and ministries and stuff because you’re abiding in Him and the byproduct is all this fruit.

You know, you can go and get your own apple orchard and cut off the branches of those trunks. And then you can get wax and you can, with artistic flair, create apples that look real, real enough that people can bite into them thinking they’re real. And, oh boy, once you take a bite, it is not juicy at all. It’s not real.

You can make those wax apples and with string, tie them to the branches and say, there it is. Well, from the outside and from a distance, it looks good. It looks real.

But when you take a taste, you can tell it’s not real. when you really abide in him you will bear fruit we don’t make fruit you bear fruit you bear the fruit of the spirit you don’t make the fruit of the spirit entry level yeah we try to be imitators of christ be good be nice be kind be gracious be humble but he wants us to go deeper no just abide in me hang with me go deeper in me receive my love here how he said it verse 9 as the Father has loved me I also loved you Abide in my love What’s the greatest commandment? Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. What’s the second one? Love your neighbors as of yourself.

First Peter puts it this way. Above all else, check that beginning. Above all else, be fervent in your love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sin. hello it’s about this love look at this remain in my love abide in my love if you keep my commands you will abide in my love it’s that’s the evidence commands obedience that’s an evidence of being in his love just as i have kept my father’s commands and abide in his love now i have spoken these things to you in verse 11 that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete this is my I command, love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this.

And someone would lay down his life for his friends. And you are my friends. You do what I command you, but I do not call you slaves anymore.

Because the slave doesn’t know what his master is doing. That a clear thing Obedience is not out of fear Because you have to or else He break me off and throw me away no no no no a thousand times no obedience is out of love i want to do this i want to please him verse 13 no one has greater love than this and someone would lay down his life for his friends You are my friends and you do what I command you to do. And I do not call you slaves anymore because the slave doesn’t know what his master is doing. I’ve called you friends because I’ve made known to you everything I have heard from my father.

And you did not choose me. I chose you and I appointed you that you should go out and produce fruit and your fruit should remain. Wow. That’s it, my friends.

You were chosen in the mystery of God’s ways. to bear fruit and to abide in Him and Him in you. Wow. Lord, we receive that. Thank you for that.

We want to walk in it. In your name. Amen. Well, I’m Mark Gonzales, and I hope you check out my website at markpg.org for more.

Until next time, falling in love with Jesus, our fruitful vine.