I wrote some notes from the CD’s that I am giving to you about “Abiding” in the Lord. Hope this will be helpful for you as it was for me as I studied this section of Scripture from John 15: “1 ¶ "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. 3 "You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. 5 "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. 6 "If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. 7 "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 "My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.” (NASB)
Verse-five “Jesus is the Vine. Thos who abide in Him are the branches. Those who do not are “Judas branches). (See verse 2) Remember this happened right after Judas betrayed the Lord Jesus, and also remember that Judas was with the Lord for three years traveling and learning from Him, and now he has just betrayed Him. After this Jesus took the eleven disciples for a walk and began to teach them how they should abide (remain) in Him. Judas was surely not a true believer and part of this lesson is to show that there will be those who some may think are true believers but are like Judas, thus the “Judas branches.” These branches will be burned up (see verse six). Here is the deification of the word “abide.” “a root word; TDNT-4:574,581; v
AV-abide 61, remain 16, dwell 15, continue 11, tarry 9, endure 3, misc 5; 120
1) to remain, abide
1a) in reference to place
1a1) to sojourn, tarry
1a2) not to depart
1a2a) to continue to be present
1a2b) to be held, kept, continually
1b) in reference to time
1b1) to continue to be, not to perish, to last, endure
1b1a) of persons, to survive, live
1c) in reference to state or condition
1c1) to remain as one, not to become another or different
2) to wait for, await one
This is from the Greek/English Dictionary from the Online Bible that I use.
The Father is the vinedresser (Verse one). This word simply means one who cares for the soil and one who cares for the vines. He is the One in this passage that will care for the true branches. The pruning is at times very painful, but necessary in order to produce fruit which is what the pruning is all about.
Let’s focus in on the fruit, for this is the main lesson from this passage, that is to produce fruit. AV-fruit 66; 66
1) fruit
1a) the fruit of the trees, vines, of the fields
1b) the fruit of one’s loins, i.e. his progeny, his posterity
2) that which originates or comes from something, an effect, result
2a) work, act, deed
2b) advantage, profit, utility
2c) praises, which are presented to God as a thank offering
2d) to gather fruit (i.e. a reaped harvest) into life eternal (as into a granary), is used in fig. discourse of those who by their labours have fitted souls to obtain eternal life.”
All believers who are true believers will produce fruit and in the case of some believers it is hard to find but it is there. In the case of the Judas branches there is no fruit, for we will find out that the fruit in a believer’s life must be produced by the Holy Spirit and an unbeliever does not have the Holy Spirit in them. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. (Romans 8:9b) Now let’s look at Ephesians 2:10, (many believers can quote Ephesians 2:8-9, but verse 10 is not as familiar). “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” Here is what I think that this verse means: In eternity past God the Father prepared a list of works that each believer would do, and these works are the fruit that the believer will produce. For example your missionary work was assigned to you in eternity past for you to complete, and the way that you will produce this fruit, we will see later in this letter.
Okay it’s later on in this letter so I will let you know how all believers produce fruit. I have mentioned that only believers can produce fruit and this happens by abiding (remaining) in the Vine. The Vine produces the energy to produce the fruit and it is the believers abiding in the Vine that causes this to happen therefore a believer should not try to produce fruit on his own(the flesh) or worry about it but simply abide in the Vine.
Let’s look at the list of fruit that we as believers can produce through abiding in the Vine:
1. Galatians 5:22-23: “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.”
2. Confession…in praise: Hebrews 13:15 “Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.
3. Contribution to those in need: Philippians 4:17 “Not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek for the profit which increases to your account.” You probably remember that Paul was in prison and while there the Philippian church sent him an offering. Paul appreciated the offering, but he was happier that those who sent the gift would have this fruit credited to their account. Romans 15:28: “Therefore, when I have finished this, and have put my seal on this fruit of theirs, I will go on by way of you to Spain.” In this section of Romans Paul is telling the Roman believers that he wants to give them fruit when he gets there and also wants them to give fruit to him. This contribution was more of things he has learned that he will pass on to them and they to him. (Explained further on the CD)
4. Communication that blesses others. (Teaching is fruit) 1Cor. 14:14: “For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful.” In this case the opposite is fruitful.
5. This one is kind of a catch all (Conduct is fruit). Col. 1:10 “so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.”
6. I suppose that this one is my favorite and that is Soul Winning. Take a look at John chapter 4 for a picture of this. (Again listen to the CD) I have a great friend who loves to go into prisons to minister and he has been in hundreds of prisons around the world. He knows some pretty famous people who have gone into prisons with him to tell others about the saving grace of the Lord. He calls these prison visits “Divine Appointments.” I have had a few of these as I suppose you have too. There is nothing better to do on this earth than to lead someone to the Lord for it changes where they will spend eternity.
Here is a little something just for you. I realize that we have not known each other a long time, but that is not as important when it comes to believers for we have the same Lord and are heading to the same eternal place when our work on this earth is done. In my opinion you are abiding in the Vine and I believe you will allow the Lord to produce fruit through you as you step out in faith and go to Japan where you will minister to those poor people who have had their world turned upside down and are now in a position to have the Lord use you to show them what they really need, and that is the Lord. I will pray that you have many “divine appointments” when you get there.
When we abide in the Vine and He produces fruit through us He will receive the honor and the glory for what we accomplish through Him and one day we will cast our crowns at the feet of Jesus for it is He who has produced the fruit in us.
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