John 15:4-17

Recap:

Last week we saw that Jesus was not only going to give the disciples the Holy Spirit but true and lasting peace as well. Jesus reminded them that Satan was not about to overwhelm Jesus. He would be dying on His own terms in a way He chose and that Satan had no real power over Jesus. Then we hit the first couple verses in Chapter 15. The important thing to note going into our passage tonight is that:

Israel is not the vine Jesus is the true vine. And that we can either be bearing fruit or not. Lets get into our study this evening.

vv 4-5) The relationship between the branch and the vine

[1] What does it mean to abide?

It means to stay where you are. The Christian has been placed in Christ; that is his position. Also in our daily walk, called to stay in intimate fellowship with the Lord.

Jesus emphasized a mutual relationship. It isn’t only for the disciples to abide in the Mater, it also means that the Master abides in the disciple.

Song of Solomon 6:3 ESV

3 I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine; he grazes among the lilies.

A branch abides in a vine bydrawing all its life and nourishment from the vine. We abiding in Christ by spending time in prayer, reading/studying and obeying His Word, fellowshipping with His people, and being continually conscious of our union with Him.

If we maintain consistent connection with Him, we will be aware of Him abiding in us and supplying us with spiritual strength and resources.

In using this picture Jesus is giving His disciples the choice to abide in Him or not.

“Abide in me” Jesus is talking about the will, about choices, the decisions we make. We must decide to do things which expose ourselves to Him and keep ourselves in contact with Him.

The branch can only bear fruit as it abides in the vine. The only way believers can bear the fruit is by living in touch with Christ moment by moment.

[5] We must clearly understand that Christ Himself is the vine; we are vine branches. It is not a question of the branch living its life for the Vine, but simply of letting the life of the Vine flow out through the branches.

We can pray at times, “Lord, help me to live my life for you.” I believe a better pray would be, “Lord Jesus, live out Your life through me.”

Without Christ, we can do absolutely nothing. A vine branch has one great purpose- to bear fruit. It is useless for making a table or chairs or building homes with. It doesn’t even make for good firewood. But it is good for fruit-bearing- as long as it abides in the vine.

“The “I Am” comes out in the personal word ‘me,’ and the claim of all power unveils the Omnipotent. These words mean Godhead or nothing.” -Spurgeon

“Without me you can do nothing; if this be true of apostles, much more of opposers! If his friends can do nothing without Him, I am sure His foes can do nothing against Him.” - Spurgeon

What is the fruit we are to produce?

If we are abiding it is inevitable for us to bear fruit. The quality and quantity of the fruit will differ of course. Yet the presence of fruit will be, again, inevitable.

Galatians 5:22–23 ESV

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

The fruit of the Spirit is foreign to the soil of the human heart. But because:

2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

God has cultivated lively soil. Notices that fruit is singular and not plural. The Holy Spirit produces only one kind of fruit, that is, Christlikeness.

The beautiful aspect of abiding is not only we abiding in Jesus, it also includes His abiding in us. There is this mutual dynamic that expects our life to be spiritually and practically in vital connection with Jesus, and that expects Him to indwell us in an active and real way. Because in no way is the responsibility for abiding only upon the believer.

vv 6-8) The consequence of not abiding and the promise of abiding

[6] These verbs described a progression for the one who doesn’t abide: cast out, withered, gathered, thrown, and burned. It is important to note, like other parables, the picture Jesus used here was not meant to describe a whole theological system. yet the progression described is a sober and significant warning of the danger of not abiding.

Please take note the phrasing Jesus uses here too. He didn’t say, if anyone doesn’t bear fruit he is cast out. He said, if anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out.

What is the important aspect here?

Abiding. He knows who abides and who doesn’t, and this can’t be perfectly discerned by our outward estimation of fruit.

Revelation 2:2–4 ESV

2 “ ‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. 3 I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary. 4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.

Verse 6 has caused much difference of opinion. Some believe that the person described is a believer who falls into sin and is subsequently lost.

Now that interpretation is in direct contradiction to the many verses of Scripture which teaches us that no true child of God will ever perish.

Now others believe that this is a professor- one who pretends to be a Christian but who was never born again. They use Judas as an example.

I believe that this branch is a true believer because it is with other branches. The subject isn’t salvation but abiding and fruitbearing. And what happens through carelessness and prayerlessness this believer gets out of touch with the Lord. As a result, he commits some sin, and his testimony is ruined.

[[example]] gaining a 1/2 lb a month, 6 lb a year, 30 lb over 5 years, 60 lb over 10 years. You are a different person then.

Through failure to abide in Christ, they are thrown out- not by Christ, but by other people. The branches are gathered and thrown into the fire, and they are burned. It isn’t God who does it, but people. What does that mean? People scoff at the backslidden Christian.

They drag their name in the mud. They throw his testimony as a Christian into the fire. This is well illustrated in the life of David. He was a true believer, but he became careless toward the Lord and committed the sins of adultery and murder. He cause the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme.

Righteous Lot is a good example also of a person who lived a wasted life that are in effect burnt up.

Even today, atheists ridicule the name of David and his God. They cast him, as it were into the fire.

[7] Jesus connected the principle of abiding to two ideas perviously mentioned in the upper room.

John 14:23–24 ESV

23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.

Abiding, in faithfulness to His words.

John 14:13–14 ESV

13 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.

Abiding, in answered prayer.

“prayer comes spontaneously from those who abide in Jesus… Prayer is the natural outgushing of a soul in communion with Jesus.

How does abiding effect our lives?

Abiding is the secret of a successful prayer life. The closer we get to the Lord, the more we will learn to think His thoughts after Him. The more we get to know Him through His Word, The more we will understand His will. The more our will agrees with His, the more we can be sure of having our prayers answered.

[8] As the children of God exhibit the likeness of Christ to the world, the Father is glorified. People are forced to confess that He must be great God when He can transform such wicked sinners into such godly saints.

Notice the progression in this chapter: fruit in verse 2 then more fruit in verse 2, and here in verse 8 much more fruit.

“To be my disciples” This means that we prove to be His disciples when we abide in Him. Others can then see that we are true disciples, that we resemble our Lord. Genuine conversion is not measured by the hasty decision but by long-range fruitfulness.

vv 9-11) The link between love and obedience

[9] How do we know that Jesus loved His disciples?

He loved them by teaching them, protecting them, guiding them, sacrificially serving them, and using His power and authority to do these things. In some way, the Father also did all those things for Jesus and Jesus did them for the disciples after that pattern.

The Father loved the Son with a love:

That has no beginning

That has no end

That is close and personal

That is without measure

That is unchanging

The love which the Savior has for us is the same as the love of the Father for the Son. What is being said here should bow our hearts in worship to Jesus Christ. It is the same in quality and degree, It is a vast, wide, deep, unmeasurable love, that passes knowledge, and can never be fully comprehended by man.

Jesus tells his disciples to, “Abide in My love.” this means we should continue to realize His love and to enjoy it in our lives.

[10] The first part of this verse tells us how we can abide in His love; it is by keeping His commandments. There is no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey.

The second half of this verse sets before us our Perfect Example. Jesus kept His Father’s commandments.

Everything He did was in obedience to the will of God. He remained in the constant enjoyment of the Father’s love. Nothing ever came in to mar that sweet sense of loving fellowship.

[11] What does it mean, “that your joy may be full?”

Jesus found His own deep joy in communion with God His Father. He wanted His disciple to have that joy that comes from dependence upon Him.

He wanted His joy to be theirs. Our idea of joy is to be as happy as we can be by leaving God out of our lives usually. The Bible teaches that real lasting joy comes by taking God into one’s life as much as possible.

The disciples joy would be fulfilled in abiding in Christ and in keeping His commandments. It isn’t just fullness it is more likely fulfilled.

vv 12-15) Imitating Jesus’ love

[12] Again remember that Jesus would soon leave His disciples. They would be left in a hostile world. As tensions increased, there would be the danger of the disciples’ contending with one another. And so the Lord leaves this standing order to love one another as Jesus loved them.

[13] What makes this love special?

Their love should be of such a nature that they should be willing to die for one another. People who are willing to do this do not fight with each other. The greatest example of human self-sacrifice was for a man to die for his friends.

The disciples of Christ are called to this type of devotion. Some lay down their lives in a literal sense; others spend their whole lives in untiring service for the people of God.

Jesus is the best example. He laid down His life for His friends. Of course, they were enemies when He died for them, but when they are saved, they become His friends. So it is correct to say that He died for His friends as well as for His enemies.

Romans 5:8 ESV

8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

[14] We show that we are His friends by doing whatever He commands us. This is not the way we become His friends, but rather the way we exhibit it to the world.

[15] Jesus here emphasized the difference between servants and friends. Servants are simple expected to do the work marked out for them, but friends are taken into one’s confidence. To the friend we reveal our plans for the future. Confidential information is shared with him.

In one sense the disciple would always continue to be servants of the Lord, but they would be more than this- they would be friends.

The Lord was even now revealing to them the things which He had heard from His Father. He was telling them of His own departure, the coming of the Holy Spirit, His own coming again, and their responsibility to Him in the meantime.

Check this out… As branches, we receive; as disciples we receive; and as friends, we commune.

vv 16-17) Chosen to bear fruit and to love one another

[16] There would be a tendency for these men to become discouraged and give up. Jesus reminded them that he was the One who chose them. This probably means for eternal salvation, to discipleship, and to fruitfulness.

He had appointed the disciple to the work which lay before them. We should go and bear fruit.

What does that mean though?

The graces of the Christian life, such as found in Gal 5. Or it may mean souls won for Jesus Christ. There is a close link between the two. It is only as we are manifesting the first kind of fruit that we will ever be able to bring forth the second.

God also chose the disciple so they would bear fruit that would remain, to the glory of God the Father.

Again Jesus connected fruit bearing with answered prayer. When He departed from them their experience of asking and receiving would not end but would change, and Jesus prepared His disciples for this.

[17] The Lord was about to warn the disciples about the enmity of the world. He began by telling them to love one another, to stick together, and to stand unitedly against the foe.

We too need to have each other’s backs. No lone wolf-ing

Numbers 6:24–26 ESV

24 The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.