Kindling for the Fire

Text:

John 15:4-9:

4   Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except

      ye abide in me.

5   I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without    

     me ye can do nothing.

6   If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into

     the fire, and they are burned.

7   If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

8   Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.

9   As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.

Theme:

Kindling for the Fire

Introduction:

• The Gospel of John, which houses our text, serves as a special closing to the set of Gospels that tell the good news of Jesus Christ.
  • Matthew gives a detailed depiction of the history of Jesus’ life
  • Mark gives Jesus’ life as depicted by Peter’s accounts
  • Luke gives the perspective of Jesus’ life as God’s Son who was a man – the humanity of Jesus
  • However, John gives the perspective of Jesus’ life as the man who was God’s Son – the Divinity of Jesus
    • John sums up his intent in writing the Gospel in John 20:31 when he says, “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.”
• In John 15, Jesus relays a parable concerning a grape vine and the husbandman.
• The parable is put forth to show the relationships that Christ embodies:
  • Toward the Father à Husbandman and Vine
  • Toward man à Vine and branches
  • Toward good works à Vine, branches, and fruit.
  • No relationship, or the negative condition à the Vine, the dissevered branches, and the fire.
• Our theme focuses on the last of the four “relationships” OR what happens when you do not abide in Him

“If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.”

• In summary, the man that does not abide in Christ is basically “Kindling For The Fire”

Body:

• Let’s look at that 6^th verse:
• “If a man abide not in me”
• What does it mean to abide spiritually?
• To wait for à We are waiting for the Second Coming of Jesus!
  • Isaiah 40:31, “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”
• to endure without yielding à We must hang on in there!!
  • 2Timothy 2:3, “Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.”
  • 2Corinthians 4:8-10, “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.”
• to accept without objection à We need to be totally submitted!
  • James 4:7, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
  • As Samuel said in 1Samuel 12:14, “If ye will fear the LORD, and serve him, and obey his voice, and not rebel against the commandment of the LORD….”
• to remain stable or fixed in a state or place
  • Jeremiah 17:7-8, “Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.
• What does it mean to not abide in Christ?
  • In general, it means to NOT BE SAVED à Romans 10:1-3, “Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.”
• “he is cast forth as a branch”
• Separated as a branch is from a tree
• Loses life-blood
  • Does not get the nutrients and support of the base and roots
  • Proverbs 3:7-8, “Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.”
• SIN is what SEPARATES one from GOD!!!!
  • Isaiah 59:1-2, “Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.”
• Loses strength
  • No nutrients or support from base and roots causes the branch to get weak
  • Verse 5 of the text warns, “for without me ye can do nothing.”
• Ceases to produce
  • Does not produce the fruit that it was created to produce
  • Verse 4 of the text explains, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.”
• Loses value in original purpose
  • It is then not able to fulfill its original purpose
  • Matthew 5:13 explains, “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.”
• “is withered”
• Once disconnected, the branch gradually but surely “withers”.
• When living in SIN and, therefore, SEPARATED the person “WITHERS”
  • Psalms 37:1-2, “Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.”
  • They slowly die from being separated
• • A “dieing” person looks different
    • SIN drains you
    • SIN steals your joy
    • SIN takes your peace away
    • SIN cause your body to deteriorate and sickness creeps in
      • 2Chronicles 7:14, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
• • “men gather them”
    • The literal translation did not say “men” but merely said “they”. Therefore, the focus is taken off of “who gathers them” but instead focuses on the fact that “They are gathered”

  • Yields two interpretations to maintain:
  • Day of Judgment
    • In this perspective, the angels are the ones who would be doing the gathering.
      • Matthew 13:41-42, “The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”
    • The gathering is the proverbial separating of the wheat from the tares.
      • Matthew 13:30, “Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.”
  • Today
    • In this perspective, the world preys upon the disconnected child.
      • The prodigal son is a biblical example
        • Luke 15:14-16, “And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.”
      • Jesus explained the position of the disconnected child also – a servant of the enemy
        • Matthew 12:30, “He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.”
      • The disconnected child is exploited by the world for the abilities and gifts that actually belong to God.
        • God’s Word explains clearly in Mark 12:30, “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.”
• “cast them into the fire”
  • Ezekiel 15:6-7 explains clearly:
  • “Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; As the vine tree among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And I will set my face against them; they shall go out from one fire, and another fire shall devour them; and ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I set my face against them.”
• When we are disobedient, when we are given to sin, when we are disconnected, God casts us into the fire
• Day of Judgment
• Those who will not repent and believe will be condemned to Hell
• • Revelations 20:15, “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”
• Today
• When we will not submit to God’s call to Eternal Life, God allows us to “go through some things”!
  • Jonah would not obey the call of God to go to Nineveh, so he had to endure being in the belly of a great fish before changing his ways.
  • Paul persecuted and killed the people of God and had to be stricken with blindness by the light of God before being converted.
• The intention is for us to turn to God because of the experiences!
  • Romans 5:3-5, “And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”Conclusion:

• “they are burned”
• Burned = totally consumed
• It’s not a partial burning but a all-consuming burning
• We need to have God consume our lives so that we are not consumed by the “fire”
• The flesh cannot withstand the “fire”
• God will not be consumed in “fire”
• Moses witnessed this on the mountain when his attention was seized by the sight of a bush that was burning but was not being consumed.
• When being tried by the fire, if we are living in the flesh then we are living in what will be consumed!
• We must ABIDE in Christ so that He is our resurrection and LIFE that cannot be consumed.
• Without abiding in Christ, we are merely KINDLING FOR THE FIRE!
• Kindling for the fire of AN enemy’s destiny
  • Pawns, toys, “kindling” for another’s game or plot
• Kindling for the fire of THE enemy’s condemnation
  • Condemned to be cast into the devil’s jail cell.
• • Kindling was known in the country to be what was USED to start a fire.
    • It was only a remnant of the larger wood for the fire
    • It caught fast and burned up fast
    • It held little heat
    • It was used to get the wood of substance and value started … then withered away in the greater fire
      • Unknown, unappreciated, unsubstantiated!!!

• As believers, we don’t have to worry about the fire. We don’t have to worry about being used and then burned!
  • Zechariah 13:9 explains, “And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.”
  • Then Job exclaimed in Job 23:10, “But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.”