In Chapters 13 and 14 what we saw was predominantly Jesus’ ministry to His disciples and to us.  We saw Him wash His disciples’ feet and as He finished He comforted them by telling them how He is going to prepare a place for them, that where He is, there they may also be.  He encouraged them and excited them as He said to them in Chapter 14, “you see these works?  My works?  Most assuredly I say to you, He who believes in Me, the works I do He will do also and greater works than these he will do because I go the My Father.” 

He made promises to them as He said there in Chapter 14 that The Holy Spirit would come.  He charged them to be courageous telling them no matter what, remember, “Because I live, you will live also.” 

But then He started to switch gears a bit there in the latter parts of Chapter 14 and He begain to talk about what it is we as His disciples are to do.  And the centrality of His command is found in Chapter 14 Verses 23 and 24, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word…He who does not love Me does not keep My words.”

Now as we enter in Chapter 15, the intimate conversation between Jesus and His 11 disciples continues…the conversation that is to comfort them and to prepare them for what they are about to see…their Lord, their Messiah, their Hope nailed to a criminal’s cross. 

But also I want you to note, this part of the conversation, this very somber and very sweet time between Jesus and His disciples, His children…these 11…is also a time of great comfort to Jesus Himself…because these are the very words of everlasting life and just as we desire to bless and protect and love and provide for our children, do you want to know oh Christian, how much more your Father in heaven desires the same?

Jesus just spoke to His disciples of peace…peace that is outside of this world…unknown to the natural man and unknown to the one who is walking in the passions of their own emotions.  In the Greek, there back in verse 27 of Chapter 14, the word for peace is an extraordinary word to be sure.  It is eirene (a-ra-na) and literally translated it means “peace between individuals; exemption from wrath, rage, havoc and war…security, safety and prosperity.”  Such a wonderful word and promise and yet so immediately foreign to those not solely dependent on the Lord.

Peace not found in people, peace not found in advice or counsel, peace not found in friends or finances…peace that is given by Jesus Himself.  Peace that is not taught but rather caught. 

And understand, the joy of the Father, the pleasure of the Son, the delight of the Holy Spirit is not that affliction and discomfort and even pain would be absent from a disciples life, but that prior to and throughout the crushing circumstance, the child of God would be found completely at peace.  That type of peace cannot be instructed…cannot be obtained through counsel or biblical teaching…that kind of peace is only to be found once one has resolved that Jesus is their Way, their Truth and their Life.

And so Jesus, as He dines ones last time with His hard core followers, the ones that have left everything, the ones that are utterly dependent upon Him, His children…He looks upon them and He blesses them, He loves on them, He prepares them…and now as we get into Chapter 15 we’ll see He instructs them.  Here is what you are to do…here is your responsibility disciple…because I cannot push My peace into your heart, I cannot shove My joy into your circumstance, I cannot force My freedom into your life…but I will surely and swiftly give this and more if I remain your focus and My word, your absolute imperative!

Chapter 15 Verse 1

• Jesus begins this portion of the conversation with a statement that He is the “true vine.”  Your Bible may say “vine” but understand there in the Greek it is indeed “true vine” or “alethinos ampelos.”  Jesus is the true vine, the only vine and He will go on in a moment to tell us that we are His branches and that we are to abide in Him.
• Why would He say the “true” vine?  The last statement of Jesus that we read in Chapter 14 was, “Arise, let us go from here.” And so understand they have left the upper room and they are now traveling by way of the Kidron Valley to the Garden of Gethsemane.  And its night in the Passover season so no doubt they were under a full moon.  And very possibly they may have seen the magnificent temple structure with its massive vine-engraved doors…and as they walked Jesus would say to them, “that is not the true vine…I am the true vine.”  (8^th “I Am” statement)
• There are many vines out there vying for your tenancy.  Tempting and persuading you to abide in them.  The most popular and the most tempting of those…is self.  Abide in the vine of self and you as the branch will dry up, grow hard, and eventually decay and fail.  More on that to come.
• And Jesus says here that “My Father is the vinedresser.”  What does that mean?  That God the Father is the one who is constantly and consistently and fervently caring for us.  You ever have something work out for you?  Something that is just wonderful and brings joy and makes you say, “man today is a really good day.”  Well have you ever later come to find out that it was because someone else was working behind the scenes as it were to bring about that blessing?
• Something great comes about and you are like, “yes, I am so blessed” and then 2 days or 2 weeks or 2 months or 2 years later you find out that someone was quietly caring for you…subtly supplying for you which ultimately was the reason for the whole thing?  I do.  That happens to me and what a blessing to know that happens.  And you know that should be absolute common place in the family of God.  It is with our Father.  He is our caregiver.  The one who without fail is always protecting, always watching, always crafting our days and times and circumstances in His hands.

Chapter 15 Verse 2

• Jesus says two things here, both entirely applicable and important to us.  First He says, “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away.”  Now folks argue regarding the most correct interpretation of this verse but really it is clear, that is in the Greek.  Jesus says, “every branch in Me” so first of all we are indeed talking about believers here.  Then He says, “that does not bear fruit.”  Understand there in the Greek, the word for “bear” is in the present active tense which means it is more appropriately translated “bearing” and so Jesus actually says here, or more literally says here, “every branch in Me that is not bearing fruit,” and He goes on to say, “He (as in God the Father, the vinedresser) takes away.”
• Now first there is no indication here that Jesus is saying that Christians that are unfruitful have their salvation taken from them.  That is a preposterous and incorrect conclusion because that would openly contradict several other very clear passages in scripture. 
• And so what then is He saying?  Again, we need to look at the Greek.  The phrase there “He takes away” in the Greek is “airo.”  It’s used 110 times in 98 verses within the New Testament and it literally means “to raise up, to elevate, to lift up.”  A more understandable definition of the word “airo” for our current application is “to take up out of its place, upon one’s self.”  This is the word from where we get our word aerate.
• It’s used in other verses such as John 11:41 where Jesus lifts up His eyes towards the heavens and again in Luke 17 when the people lifted their voices…thus the idea here is not “take away” but rather “lift up.”
• And so if we look literally at the Greek for this statement of Jesus we read, “Every branch in Me that is not bearing fruit, He lifts up, out of its place, unto Himself.”
• You see if you today are a believer, a Christian yet you indeed are not bearing fruit…well what do you mean by fruit Matt?  Fruit that is found in Galatians 5:22-23, “LOVE, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.”  If you are the temple of the Holy Spirit yet not honoring God then you see the Father, the vinedresser, He’s about to pick you up. 
• Now there are a few main reasons why I pick Lincoln up.  First and foremost, it’s to give him a good spanking.  To bring the pain so that whatever he is doing which is hurtful and horrible will stop abruptly.  Hebrews 12:6 says, “for whom the Lord loves, He chastens.”   I also pick Lincoln up sometimes to constrain him.  To not allow him to run around like a fool and end up getting that spanking.  Other times I pick him up to take him somewhere and still other times I pick him up, well this is actually mostly the case, to just hold him…especially when he has hurt himself.  
• Our Father in heaven, our vinedresser does the same for us.  If we are not bearing fruit then often times we need a good dose of pain…a dealing of discipline and oh it’s painful for a time but the lasting effect of discipline is reason for rejoicing.  Sometimes God has to close doors that we wish were open so that we can learn faithfulness and self-control.  Sometimes He carries us into circumstances so that we can learn love, not fake love, but man hard love…unconditional love…love without complaint and self awareness…and sometimes, most often, He just takes us up and holds us…reminds us that He alone can satisfy our longings and our hungers and our needs…and then returns us to the vine so that we may bear fruit.
• And the second thing Jesus says here is that “every branch that bears fruit He prunes that it may bear more fruit.”  Fairly straight forward…that even the most graceful and mature and fruitful of Christians are still in need of correction and teaching and should be quite open to receiving.

Chapter 15 Verses 3 and 4

• The word of God has such a cleansing effect upon our hearts and minds!  Jesus here says “you are clean” and that word man is so interesting in the Greek.  Its “katharos” which actually means “physically purified by fire!”  In other places in the New Testament it is translated “pure.”  Clean and pure, that is what keeping the word of God will do to your minds, hearts and lives.  But it will be, as it were, by fire!  Keeping the word is difficult, it hurts, it requires humility and self-denial and deferment to God’s ways above your own…but oh believer, if you would but believe it is the very word of God then is there any other alternative?  If indeed this contains the word of the Everlasting King of Kings, His directions and commandments all wrapped in the promise of everlasting life and full/abundant life then is there any other choice?  NO!
• And so understand that fiery trial that has come upon you to test you is upon you to see if you will indeed hold to the word of God and be clean, catch freedom man…or if in fact you…maybe not entirely, maybe not completely…maybe you don’t trust in the Author Himself…But Jesus says here to the eleven, “you are already clean because you have resolved to keep My word.”  And so He continues…

Chapter 15 Verse 4

• He says abide, abide, abide here…three times.  Not camp out, not simply agree with the word, not fool yourself in the company of logic, reason or philosophy of man into thinking that you are serving God > all that does is serve self!  Paul calls the understanding of our earthly minds empty deceit in Colossians 2!  What is not empty deceit?  The life lived according to the Word!  That’s what Paul says in Colossians 2…that’s what Jesus says here…abide!  Cling to Me…not the popular programs of the public…not the reasonable advice of your friends or family…Cling to ME!  That is the essence of “abide.”

Chapter 15 Verse 5

• “What is God’s will for me?”  I often hear.  Did you know that the answer is actually quite simple and universal.  That you would be with Him.  Abiding in Him and in doing so…bear much fruit.  Fruit is vital to spiritual life presently and will affect you eternally. 
• Well what is fruit?  Galatians 5 yes but did you know that Romans 1:13 and John Chapter 4 both identify fruit as winning lost souls?  What’s more, Romans 6:22 defines fruit as holiness.  Romans 15:28 names financial giving as fruit.  Colossians 1 describes fruit as applying the wisdom of God to fully please God in carrying out good works.  Hebrews 13 tells us that giving praise to God is the fruit of our lips and then yes also Galatians 5 clearly tells us what the fruit of the Spirit is…love. 
• And so when your life is filled with love, when you’re cheerfully giving, when you’re praising the Lord verbally, when you’re doing good things practically, when you’re witnessing to the lost boldly…when you’re joyful, peaceful, patient…all of these constitute fruit and Jesus says here that if you are abiding in Him, these things abound.
• They aren’t just present…they are prescriptive.  They define you.  They equate to your days.  They comprise your circumstances.  They abound…naturally.
• Why naturally?  Well have you ever seen an apple tree grunting and sweating to produce an apple?  Just like that the fruit that comes forth as a result of a real deal relationship with God is a very natural thing…and so as a branch in the vine of Christ…abiding in His word and knowing Him not only in word but also in deed, your nature will be simply to bear much fruit. 
• But without Christ, edging Him out, keeping Him at arms length, selecting self and emotion and human perspective as your decision authority, will leave you in a state of nothingness eventually and great loss eternally…as Jesus says here…without Me you can do nothing.
• No sufficiency.  No peace.  No patience.  No giving.  No bold witnessing.  No serving others cheerfully.  No real worship.  No joy.  No life…
• That is not God’s desire for you.  And look, that’s not your desire for you either is it?  So what are you to do?  What am I to do?
• Jesus has washed us clean by His blood.  He has prepared a place for us with Him presently and perpetually.  He has restored us unto the Father.  He has supplied us with unfailing and immeasurable power and ability through His Holy Spirit.  He has done all that is, was and ever will be necessary for us to be free and alive fruitfully…but one thing He cannot do for us…He cannot force us to abide in Him.  He cannot force us to love Him and keep His word.  That would violate His very character. 
• And so we have a choice. 

Chapter 15 Verses 6 – 8

• He cannot force us to glorify Him.  He cannot force us to be His disciple.  But if we choose Him…in our present circumstance just as much as in our perpetual salvation, we will indeed bear much fruit.  No question.  Patience will abound.  Self control will abound.  Joy will abound.  Love will abound!
• We’ll come up in conversation when we’re not around and they’ll say, oh she is so loving…she is so patient…he has such self control…man her life just glorifies GOD!
• And we will indeed glorify Him who is not only the One, the only One who is to be glorified…but our Father!  Our Creator, the One to whom we owe each breath and every ounce of our essence.  Who soon will return to put an end to all of this loss and gratuitous greed that we call humanity! 
• So get after it!  Get after glorifying God!  Jesus lays all of this out to His disciples and to you and to me and our requirement is quite clear…abide.