5 I, myself, am the vine, you the branches. Clearly so. (Verses 16-22) The world might rejoice in having got rid of Him; but He would give His own joy, which would not be taken from them. The Word was made flesh. But it isn't something I can do in my own struggle or effort; it is something that is the natural result of just abiding in Jesus. Could you clarify your conclusion? And they become irrational. John 15:5. nothing that is spiritually good; no, not anything at all, be it little or great, easy or difficult to be performed; cannot think a good thought, speak a good word, or do a good action; can neither begin one, nor, when it is begun, perfect it. Apostates are twice dead (Jude 1:12), and when it is said, They are cast into the fire and are burned, it speaks as if they were twice damned. The analogy in the metaphor is that the branch is in fact the vine, being in it, and part of it; but when that union is destroyed by the branchs being cut off, it dies. To Peter, the Lord, thoroughly restoring his soul after proving him to the core, commits His sheep and lambs (His Jewish flock, as we know from elsewhere). And this woman was guilty of disrupting more classes. And in this case, the fullness of joy is related to your prayer life. No matter how really a man may be a child of God, he is miserable; the more real, the more miserable. Salvation is of the Lord. to the fathers and the children of Israel; but it was His Father, as such, to whose care He commends them now. 17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin." "Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more." They lose themselves thus. He has shared his mind with us, and opened his heart to us. The idea of being the friend of God has also a background. Just like our wives want the verbal assurance, but then also, they want the deeds. There is a saying in Theophilus very similar to one of those above: , . The only way he can be saved is to be saved as CHRIST. The pax Romana, the Roman peace, stretched over all the world. It is not what God is in grace towards those that are outside Him and lost, but the appraisal of the ways of those associated with Christ, the dealings of God, or more strictly of His Father, with those who professed to belong to the Lord. Their faith was not based upon an emotional appeal or an emotional moment, but was based upon facts of God's Word, and the faith was established in the fact of God's Word. There can be no witness without personal experience. The apostles also had heard Jesus words and seen his works, but they had believed. What did Jesus mean when He said, "I am the True Vine" (John 15:1)? Note, Union with Christ is a noble principle, productive of all good. We cannot pray for things of which we know that Jesus would disapprove. Now, many times I get frustrated with God because He doesn't follow my directions. It makes the Lord a mere petitioner, lowering the glory of His person, and obscuring, if not denying, the intimacy of His relationship with the Father. If the world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you ( John 15:18 ). But no man can know life in this world or in the world to come if he disregards the Lord of all good life. Union with Jesus, however, will bring some suffering, because disciples, like their master, will be hated by the world. He is the vine from which all power flows for the life of his people, the branches. That is what the Jews had done. And that we might bring forth much fruit, and that the fruit should remain.And Jesus then said something quite interesting. But the fact is clear, that the Holy Ghost is sent down; as it is also clear, that the Holy Ghost, being here, convicts the world i.e., what is outside where He is. Again, we have our Lord's calm rebuke to Peter, who had cut off the ear of Malchus. I'm opening the door that God may do for me the things that He is desiring to do. The basic demand on the Christian is the demand that he should have the courage to be different. Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you." One of the problems in the church today is this endeavor of forced fruit. And the daddy there gulping, saying, "Yes, son, you'll see me in heaven." There is no real difficulty, if men did not pervert Scripture into a means of self-exaltation, or cast away truth, on the other side, revolting from the frightful misuse known in popery. It is here that Jesus makes another of his great claims. Who ever heard even of an earthly father, worthy of the name, so sternly repelling his children? And as soon as I did, He said to me, "You didn't choose Me, I chose you,". The consequence is, that it will see Christ no more till He comes in judgment, and this will be to put down its pride for ever. Does the world see a branch producing much fruit or just a little bit of fruit? The Father, looking upon the Son as man walking here below, never found the slightest deflection; but, on the contrary, the perfect image of His own will in Him who, being the Son, made known and glorified the Father as He never was nor could be by any other. The doctrine invented by the Papists is, that we can do nothing without Christ, but that, aided by him, we have something of ourselves in addition to his grace. And I have no intention of doing anything else.Jesus said. flesh is capable of imitating faith; it can go a long way in religiousness, and in renunciation of the profane world. If they kept my word, they will keep yours. Therefore, as all saints from the beginning had faith, and were regenerate, so also there were spiritual ways in accordance with it. John 15:5 ESV - I am the vine; you are the | Biblia Further, the wood of the vine has the curious characteristic that it is good for nothing. The next fruit will come in the making of new disciples: Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. Christianity did bring not peace but a sword ( Matthew 10:34). He dealt with their relationships to Himself, one another, and the world around them in chapter 15. Often children became Christians and parents did not. The branches that bear fruit are pruned so that they can bear even more fruit. Abide in Me, and I in you. On the contrary, prayers that suppose a person to be an object of divine displeasure, anxious, and doubtful whether he is to be saved or not such an experience supposes one incapable of speaking to the Father in Christ's name. It produces the best fruit. There can be no effective Christian witness without this inner conviction which comes from personal intimacy with Christ. The Empire was vast; it stretched from the Euphrates to Britain, from Germany to North Africa. The process of growing from spiritual barrenness, to spiritual productivity, to spiritual abundance, is possible only through Christ. 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. What Does John 15:8 Mean? - Bible Verse of the Day It was not difficult to spread abroad the report that the Love Feast was an orgy of sexual indulgence, of which the kiss of peace was the symbol and the sign. And I would suggest that you spend a lot of time this week meditating on the Lord's prayer in the seventeenth chapter here in John's gospel. Wow! He promises joy. The persons thought of all through this allegory are true and false Christians, and nothing is said of the influence on men of the wider teaching of God, the Light of the Logos ever in the world. Not "He shall." Matthew and Mark both give our Lord saying, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Note: As it is said, "He will teach you all things" what they never knew, besides bringing to remembrance things that they had known. On the other hand, He says, "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." He just didn't follow my directions. Nothing is to be done "without Christ"; without his Spirit, grace, strength, and presence; or as "separate from" him. Chances are youre connected to Satan and not to Jesus at all. But He does not permit her to touch Him. For we know that we receive whatsoever we ask of Him if we keep His commandments. Don't I provide for the house? walking by the Spirit (Galatians 4:16 and 25). Don't be surprised at the reaction of the worldly person, if they hate you because of your love for Jesus Christ, because of your relationship to Him. Ask the class to follow along, looking for what the elements of this metaphor represent. I do not mean that we have no allusion to His ascent or presence there; for we have seen that there is here some such allusion, especially when the Holy Ghost replaces Him here, and we shall have it repeatedly in what follows. The only blessing for a soul now was found in Christ Himself; and so He opens the discourse (or, as we saw, closes what went before) with "Rise up: let us go hence." Or if even men (not to speak of the Spirit's power) would forget such a thing, did the rest think it too slight for their mention? You know, there are ten speed bikes, there are cruisers, and there are all kinds of bikes." 4 Abide in me, and I in you. or is there no radical change which accompanies the work of Christ when accomplished and known? This is precisely what Christ here urges. He chose us to go out to bear fruit, and to bear fruit which will stand the test of time. To leave out either is to strip Christianity of half its value. "If I had not done among them" not now His words only, but works "if I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father." The Jews whispered their slanders to the government, slanders which they must have well known to be untrue, and four slanderous reports were spread about the Christians. And for you to try to manufacture this fruit, this love, is an impossibility, and you just can't do it. A poor widow in a one-room hut can bear as much fruit as a televangelist leading giant crusades if she is surrendered to God in everything and using all He has given her for His glory. Just know that they hated Him before they ever hated you. And this is my plan by which I intend to fulfill this goal." He will cherish every expression of God's mind; he will find guidance in the law, the prophets, the psalms everywhere; and so much the more where there is the fullest revelation of Christ Himself. So God, knowing those who would respond to His love and grace, chose them on the basis of His foreknowledge, that they should be in Christ. As the branch cannot bear fruit in its own strength, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in me. It is he, and he only, who brings forth fruit, for the man who is separate from Christ can bear no fruit. But all these things will they do to you for my name's sake, because they do not know him that sent me ( John 15:21 ). What can be a weightier consideration for us, after receiving Christ! S'kinda complicated. What is His commandment? The Holy Ghost, "when he is come," (not "whom the Father will send," but) "whom I will send from the Father." When Kingsley was asked the secret of his life, referring to F. D. Maurice he said: "I had a friend." You know, I've watched this with the grandchildren. In John 20:1-31 is the resurrection, and this in a remarkable light. To abide in Jesus is a very active lifestyle! That is why the branch can bear the pain of pruning, just as Jesus could bear the pain of the cross: who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross Hebrews 12:2. (Verses 18, 19) The Jews knew no such experience. The best have that in them which is peccant, aliquid amputandum--something which should be taken away; some notions, passions, or humours, that want to be purged away, which Christ has promised to do by his word, and Spirit, and providence; and these shall be taken off by degrees in the proper season. Are you part of a small group? Never was any husbandman so wise, so watchful, about his vineyard, as God is about his church, which therefore must needs prosper. The nation Israel failed. It is a picture of the assembly that was about to be formed at Pentecost and this is the assembly's function. (Ver. (Verse 8) "Disciples," be it noted; for we must carefully bear in mind that we have not the Church as such here, and, indeed, we have never the Church, strictly speaking, in John. By this the Father is glorified, and by this definition Jesus has said: so you will be My disciples.. Each day we post the scripture reading along with links to read it online. They had not chosen Him, but He them, and set them to go and bear fruit, abiding fruit, that He might give them whatsoever they asked the Father in His name. Note, Those that abide in Christ as their heart's delight shall have, through Christ, their heart's desire. No one expects the same kind of conduct from a savage as from a civilized man. As the branches, if separated from the parent stock, could produce no fruit, but would immediately wither and die, so Christians, if separate from Christ, could do nothing. For nearly a year, talks between the planet's two biggest polluters, China and the United States, have been suspended as the impacts of global warming have only . And as He could not but perfectly keep His Father's commandments, He abode in His love. No it does not mean the fruit of the Spirit as found in Galatians. And though, you say, "Well, what is the difference? I hate to tell you this, but you're good for only one purpose, and that's to bear fruit to God. It is a curious fact that the symbol of the vine is never used in the Old Testament apart from the idea of degeneration. If our emotions really get to working, and I'm really getting emotional and laughing hard, it's just a little tilt and you can be crying. The Master thereon warns them of that hour, even then come in spirit, when His rejection should prove their dispersion deserted, yet not alone, "because the Father is with me." The Lord would not have them surprised. Apply it to all believers. Do you suppose Matthew let it slip? It was in Asia Minor that men began to think of Caesar, the Emperor, as the god who embodied Rome, and they did so in sheer gratitude for the blessings Rome had brought. The disciples are his witnesses because they have been with him from the beginning. The Godly man was considered a metaphorical tree and God's vitality considered the water of life. Could such sentiments as these ever come from any other source than Divine revelation? Because they have broken the law? And the gift of that divine person to dwell in us is this, too, a secondary matter? (Compare also Philippians 4:6-13) It is only so that there is the certainty of the answer, at least, of what we ask being done. It is producing the "seed" of new believers which glorifies the Father: By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. It's not the variable. The Vine and the Branches. Paul does not list truth as one of the fruits of the Spirit in Galatians. The Vine and the Fruit | John 15:1-11 | RayStedman.org Somehow they want it verbalized. When we pray, we must ask, not only: "Is this for my good?" Are you spending time in prayer? Not only will the Spirit's fruit be evident in character development in the areas of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, but it will also be evident in good deeds. Well, very little of the fruit was lasting fruit. Witnessing as the disciples did of what they had known of Christ here, witnessing of what the Spirit taught them of Christ on high, the consequence would be, "They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service." [2.] He led the world to cast out the truth, and God Himself, in the person of Christ. Again, the great test now is Christ's words abiding in us. he that abideth in me, and I in him; which is the case of all that are once in Christ, and he in them: the same bringeth forth much fruit; in the exercise of grace, and performance of good works; and continues to do so as long as he lives, not by virtue of his own free will, power, and strength, but by grace continually received from Christ: for without me ye can do nothing; nothing that is spiritually good; no, not anything at all, be it little or great, easy or difficult to be performed; cannot think a good thought, speak a good word, or do a good action; can neither begin one, nor, when it is begun, perfect it. that whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you ( John 15:16 ). The Vine and the Branches 1 "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. The result in God's sight is bad fruit. Now we, too, are placed upon the true ground as the disciples, strictly speaking, who were then there; but, of course, the same principle applies to all. Conviction of sin is wrought in all who are born of God. "Yet I planted you a choice vine" is God's message to Israel through Jeremiah ( Jeremiah 2:21). 5.Without me you can do nothing. Those who bear no fruit are like the dead branches of a vine. This alone explains our chapter, without forcing it. @RevelationLad If you are suggesting that the "fruit" Jesus was speaking of was only "people", then I think you are constraining his words. NLT Remain in me, and I will remain in you. I can do all things through Christ, but apart from Him I can do nothing. You see, don't find fault with God yet. The way to bring others into the Christian faith is to show them the fruit of the Christian life. In either case, it is either the Holy Spirit or something that is derived from the Holy Spirit. John 15:5 in all English translations. American Standard Version I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit: for apart from me ye can . Should the term be understood the same in these passages, or differently? "After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst." 38 Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.. The true explanation is, that the gospels are written with divine design, and that here, as everywhere, John records a fact which falls in with the Spirit's object in his gospel. John 15:5 in all English translations. Then the bearing of fruitthe fruit of the Spirit, the fruit of obeying Jesus wordswill come forth quite naturally. Here again we are face to face with one of those great sayings about prayer which we must understand aright. And I just need to hang in there, just to abide in Christ, and the natural result of abiding in Christ is my life is going to bring forth fruit. He did not choose us to live a life retired from the world, but to represent him in the world. You are the ones who are to bear fruit now for God. The fruit is evidence of 'Christ-likeness'. They do not like to hear, save of eternal love of the elect; and certainly, if this were weakened or denied, they might have reason to resent it. There is that pruning process that goes on within the church, as the Father cuts off the unfruitful branches. He was called Aristides the Just; and yet he was banished. Tonight let's turn now to John's gospel chapter 15, as we follow Jesus in His last hours prior to the cross.Jesus had been at the last supper with His disciples there in the upper room somewhere in Jerusalem. were the exclusive preserve of Christians, as though people outside of Christ cannot behave in such ways, but rather, that the contentious spirit that had arisen in the church was typical of the first set, and not of the second. The disciples accordingly, having received this grace in Christ, were called into a like path with Him, the epistle here below of Christ who is above. In this series of blogs, we breakdown why people in ministry need to practice self care. No amount of self-effort will bear spiritual fruit. For Christianity is the revelation, not of a dogma, but of a person who has wrought redemption; doubtless, also, of a person in whom is life, and who gives it. If they persecuted Him, they're going to persecute you. Any service towards God not directed by the Spirit is worthless. The man who abides in me, and in whom I abide, bears much fruit, because without me you can do nothing. Peter "saw, and believed. This is enough for the world, which hates them as Him, because they are not of it, but are loved and chosen of Christ. That we love one another. It's a constant.You see, you might come to me and say, "Oh, Chuck, I'm really desperate; I need ten thousand dollars right away to pay off these bills, because they're going to foreclose on me." KJV Abide in me, and I in you. Many a man tells men to love each other, when his whole life is a demonstration that that is the last thing he does himself. Now God is giving out the vineyard to others. They became heated, they become violent. "Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. The sea is continually used in contrast to the land in prophetic Scripture. Luke gives us, "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit," because there the perfect man never abandons His perfect reliance on God. But, besides, we have His direct immediate action among the disciples. It was not only that the government persecuted the Christians; the mob hated them. But the disciples had known that the Father sent the Son, as the Son knew the Father. He that loves Christ will enjoy all truth, because Christ is the truth. The Father is the vinedresser, and He does the pruning. Some of them are lovely fruit-bearing branches of himself; others are useless because they bear no fruit. And she went walking away saying, "Thank you, Lord, for the persecution." You're not greater than the Lord; if they hated Him, they're going to hate you. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He [ a]takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bearmore fruit. What is the fruit that Jesus has in view here? Thus, if the central portion gave us the disciples on the earth in relation with the Father on the one hand, and in total separation from the world on the other, with subsequent believers brought into one, both in testimony and in glory by-and-by before the world, the closing verses take up Christians, as it were, with the Father in an unearthly, heavenly glory, and His desire that they should be with Him there. This explanation requires a different image, drawing no longer on nature but on the quality of the relationship between a father and son. He it was that first gathered the disciples. Who was Jesus thinking of when he spoke of the fruitless branches? We have already thought about this, but we may well think about it again. It is natural, though not inevitable, that a branch that has vital connection with the vine bear some fruit. Christ offers an intimacy with God which not even the greatest men knew before he came into the world. Not that I just bring forth fruit, but that I bring forth lasting fruit. Therefore, the fruit is the manifestation of divine life. Jesus here speaks of His joy, but it is interesting that He speaks of His joy just before He's coming to the cross. "This is my commandment, that ye love one another." A man is not held responsible for that which he does not know. 54 and 80. And. Because that is an experience of the spirit, deeper than the level of the emotions.