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Introduction
Tonight, I am looking to conclude our series on the “I AM” Sayings of Christ in John’s Gospel.
The AWANA Award Ceremony is next week.
For that reason, I will not be in here.
Instead, I will be with the AWANA clubbers and their families.
However, we will have our regular prayer meeting next week as usual.
I have asked Jerry to go ahead with leading in here.
He will be preaching and teaching next week as well as throughout the month of May.
I will be back for June and my plan is to start a new series on the Name of God.
In fact, I have already begun my preparation for that series.
I will be giving each of you a chart that will list all the Names of God of which you can fill in as we progress through the study.
The chart looks like this.
Show them the chart and explain how it works.
I am looking forward to that series.
I hope you will be as well.
For now, we turn our attention to John 15 once again.
Last week, we spent time considering the last part of verse 1 as well as verse 2.
Tonight, we will look at the remaining verses which are verses 4-6.
Take your Bibles and let’s read the text once again.
If you recall, we focused on the fact that God the Father is the “husbandman.”
It is He who faithfully watches over and protects the Vine as well as Its’ branches.
We then considered the Fruitless Branch mentioned in verse.
Fruitless Branches are Still Branches
John 15:2 (KJV 1900)
2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
Fruitless Branches are LIFTED UP by the Husbandman
John 15:2 (KJV 1900)
2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
Fruitless and Fruitful Branches Require DAILY CLEANSING
John 15:2 (KJV 1900)
2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
I am not sure if I finished this point.
Now for us to fully understand all that Christ is saying we must look to the rest of the verse.
What does he say?
“Every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring more fruit.”
Many often relate the word “purging” to “pruning.”
However, the actual meaning of the word “purgeth” is to cleanse.
In fact, look at verse 3 for a second.
Do you see the word “clean?”
In Greek, both words are the same.
Thus, in verse 2, when Christ speaks of purging, He talking about cleansing.
Christ use of this word goes right along with the customs of His day.
Many husbandmen (caretakers) of vineyards in Palestine often washed the vines with water.
In doing so, they washed off the deposits of insects, moss, and other parasites infesting the vine.
Here is the point!
God, who is the Husbandman, uses His Word (water) to cleanse the branches as noted in verse 3. What is the goal of our daily cleansing in His Word?
The goal is to make us bear more fruit.
Remember it the Word (the Lord Jesus Christ) by which every believer is born.
We are made clean.
However, after our spiritual birth and cleansing, we are constantly exposed to defilement from without and within.
Thus, we are in need of being “cleansed” daily.
This is where God’s Word comes into play for us as believers.
Our daily cleansing through His Word in conjunction with God’s lifting us up becomes the means by which remain fruitful for Him.
Yes, God uses trials to help us along.
He also uses His Word to point out our flaws and encourage complete obedience to Him in all situations even the tough ones.
We have the responsibility to hear and humbly obey Him.
Thus, the “taketh away” and the “purgeth” are His means of helping us not be fruitless, but fruitful for Him.
This is something that God teaches us throughout the New Testament.
Most of you have been with me in our study of James.
Remember the words of James 1:2-4
These verses work in perfect coordination with the words of our text.
It is God’s process making us fruitful for Him.
Now let’s consider the next three verses.
The RIGHT CONDITIONS for Fruit Bearing
Notice the fundamental principle given for spiritual FRUIT BEARING.
Christ says, “Abide in me, and I in you.”
It is important to understand that there is difference between the thought “to be” in Christ verse “to abide” in Christ.
The two must never be confused or confounded.
A person must FIRST be “in Christ” before they can “abide in Him.”
To be “in Christ” is something that comes only through Divine spiritual resurrection.
This is spiritual birth or spiritual resurrection.
It what we know as being “born again.”
However, once a person is made spiritually alive IN Christ Jesus, they are encouraged to “abide” in Him.
The word “abide” has the idea “to continue, to dwell, to remain” in Christ.
We are to maintain each day our fellowship with God in Christ.
The word “abide” call us to vigilance.
We must intentionally seek to walk with Him each day and, at the same time, carefully watch out for anything that would derail our fellowship with Him.
It is the essence of a daily active faith that is completely dependent upon the Vine for life and growth.
Christ gave a similar analogy in John 6:56
Here again we have an understanding of continued faith that is exercised in Christ as the crucified and living Savior.
It is from Him that we derive life and daily sustenance.
Perhaps you remember the words of Christ in John 6:35
Now go back to the beginning of verse 4 again.
John 15:4 (KJV 1900)
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.
Just as there is a difference between being “in Christ” and “abiding” in Christ, so there is difference between Christ “being in us” and His abiding in us.
One is a matter of grace and the other is a matter of responsibility.
One is perpetual and the other may be interrupted.
“Abiding in Him” is that happy conscious fellowship that we enjoy with Him.
In a similar fashion, His abiding in us means the happy recognition of His presence, His goodness, His grace, and His power.
Thus, the proper conditions for fruit bearing is to having daily fellowship with Him.
A fellowship that can only come by first accepting in faith all that He has already done for us (His death, burial, and resurrection).
Doing so places us “in Him” or in the “vine” according to our text.
However, fruit bearing comes also by daily maintaining our fellowship with Him as we pursue a daily walk with Him realizing each day how much we need His presence and His power.
Now, look again at verse 4.
John 15:4 (KJV 1900)
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.
Christ reiterates the necessary condition for spiritual fruit bearing.
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