John 15

Verse 1-5 – The Vine and the Branches
 
Jesus is the “true” vine which means that He alone is the One whom we should cling to. In John 14:6, Jesus said: “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me”. His Father is the vinedresser. A vinedresser is “a person who prunes, trains, and cultivates vines.” All true believers will abide in the vine and bear fruit. Those who are not true believers will not bear fruit and will prove that they were not true believers because “by their fruits ye shall know them” (Matt. 7:20).

What is the tool that the Father will use to make the branch grow? It is the Word of God. The Word of God is the tool by which God will sanctify us and make us grow. The Bible says:
 
“Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you” (John 15:30).
 
“Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth” (John 17:17).
 
“As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby” (1 Peter 2:2).
 
Do you want to be fruitful? You need to abide in the Vine, the Lord Jesus. Without Him we can do nothing (John 15:5). But we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Phil. 4:13).
 
Verse 6 – The False Branches
 
The false branches will not abide in the Vine and they will wither and will be cast into everlasting fire in hell. 
 
Verse 7 & 16 – Promise of Answered Prayer
 
If we abide in Christ and His words abide in us; we will then have the “mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2:16) and will ask those things which are in accordance to His will (1 John 5:14) and God will give us the desires of our hearts (Psalm 37:4).
 
Verse – 8 & 16 – Fruitfulness
 
God is most glorified when we bear both inward fruit and outward fruit. Inward fruit is the fruits of the Spirit which is “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance” (Gal. 5:22-23). Outward fruit is seeing souls being saved. God choose us so we can be fruitful and bear fruit for His glory.
 
Verse – 9 to 17 – Love One Another
 
One fruit of abiding in the Vine, the Lord Jesus, is “love.” We are commanded to love God will all our hearts, soul and mind and our neighbor as ourselves (Matt. 22:36-40).
 
Verse 18 – 27 – Expect Persecution and the Promise of the Holy Spirit
 
When you become a Christian, persecution is inevitable. If the world hated Christ, you would need to expect to be hated as well. Christ will not leave us as orphans, but He has promised to give us His Holy Spirit – to strengthen us; comfort us; guide us; teach us; and empower us.