1 ¶ I am the true vine, and my Father is the
husbandman. 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. 3 Now ye are clean through the word which I
have spoken unto you. 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. 5
I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him,
the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. 6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as
a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire,
and they are burned. 7 If ye abide in
me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done
unto you. 8 Herein is my Father
glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
Jesus continues to teach as they walk. He uses a figure of
speech discussed previously to liken Himself to a vine with God the Father
being the type of ‘farmer’ who cares for the vine. Notice the Spirit uses the
word purgeth not the word you would
expect, as found in Leviticus 25:3, 4 and in Isaiah 5:6, prune. God promises to purge Israel and Judah from its idolatry in
2Chronicles 34:3. Pay notice to these Psalms.
Psalm 51:1 ¶ « To the chief Musician, A Psalm of
David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to
Bathsheba. » Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness:
according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me throughly from mine iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I
acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. 4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and
done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou
speakest, and be clear when thou judgest. 5
Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the
inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
7 ¶ Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be
clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 8 Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the
bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. 9
Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew
a right spirit within me. 11 Cast me not
away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. 12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and
uphold me with thy free spirit. 13 Then
will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.
14 ¶
Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my
tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. 15 O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall
shew forth thy praise. 16 For thou
desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt
offering. 17 The sacrifices of God are a
broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
18 Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion:
build thou the walls of Jerusalem. 19
Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with
burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon
thine altar.
…and David and Bathsheba’s baby died.
Psalm 65:3 Iniquities prevail against me: as for our
transgressions, thou shalt purge
them away.
Psalm 79:9 Help us, O God of our salvation, for the
glory of thy name: and deliver us, and purge
away our sins, for thy name’s sake.
This purging is a much more painful process to us than
merely being pruned. There is often a degree of pain involved. Your trials and
suffering have a purpose and your sanctification, being set apart by God for
His purpose, while difficult often to enjoy, is absolutely necessary. So,
embrace your suffering and your trials. They are part of God’s purging process.
What is the fruit you are to bear, like a pleasant fruit
tree? Notice it does not say gather, but bear. It is listed as plainly in the
New Testament as the nose on our faces.
Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,
peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is
no law. 24 And they that are Christ’s
have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
We are cleansed, purged from impurity, by the words that
Christ spoke. We abide in Him and He abides in us. We are branches, growing
from the vine, planted and cared for by the husbandman. Without the vine we can
do nothing. Without Christ and His words in us we cannot bear this fruit. Those
who will not bear fruit are likened to dead branches to be cast into the fire.
It is odd but I don’t see paranoia, fear, hatred, and controlling others on
that list of fruit.
Read Isaiah 27 as the Lord Himself promises to take action
for Israel.
Isaiah 27:9 By this therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob
be purged; and this is all the fruit to take away his sin; when he
maketh all the stones of the altar as chalkstones that are beaten in sunder,
the groves and images shall not stand up.
What did God really want from the Old Testament Jew?
Micah 6:8 He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and
what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to
walk humbly with thy God?
Jesus summed up the Old Testament when talking to a
Pharisee, who was a lawyer;
Matthew 22:35 Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked
him a question, tempting him, and saying, 36
Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord
thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great
commandment. 39 And the second is like
unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law
and the prophets.
We have only to look at the ‘Sermon on the Mount’ in Matthew
5 and the ‘Sermon on the Plain’ in Luke 6 and in Paul’s letters such as Romans,
chapter 12, 1Corinthians 13, and 1Thessalonians 5 to see what is required of us.
Listed in the letter to the Hebrews, chapter 6, the first in
the list of the doctrines of Christ is, “repentance from dead works.” That is,
the very first thing you must do to come to Christ is to change your mind and
reject what you were depending on to justify you, to get you to Heaven. That is
your own righteousness, your own works, which are dead. We are to depend on
Christ’s righteousness, not our own for eternal life. Remember that He is
speaking to Jews still under the Law who can lose their salvation, not the
Jewish and Gentile Christians after the resurrection. These Jews live under the
same threat as in Ezekiel 33:13.
Ezekiel 33:13 When I shall say to the righteous, that he
shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity,
all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he
hath committed, he shall die for it.
John the Baptist demanded of the Pharisees and Sadducees;
Matthew 3:7 ¶ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and
Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who
hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bring forth therefore fruits meet [worthy,
see Luke 3:8 for worthy substituted for meet] for repentance: 9 And think not
to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you,
that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. 10 And now also the axe is laid unto the root of
the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn
down, and cast into the fire.
The person who depends on his own righteousness gets one
chance.
James 2:10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and
yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
Those of us who trust in Christ are being purged of their
sin and are being made to be useful to Christ. The fruit of the Spirit is the
proof of that working in us. We will produce fruit and we will be purged to
produce even more. The more you submit to Christ through His words in His Book
the less painful this purging may be. If only I had been taught this lesson
long ago.
Do Christ’s words abide in you?
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