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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadSpurgeon Verse Expositions - John 15:1 - 15:11
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
Joh_15:1. I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
All other vines were but types and shadows; Christ is the substance; God’s ideal vine; “the true vine.” Israel was a vine; — the figure is a common one throughout the Old Testament; — but it was a false vine, and it bore bitter grapes.
Joh_15:2. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away:
The true description of a real saint is that he is in Christ, that he abides in Christ, and that he bears fruit unto Christ. Where there are not these three things, there is no real saintship, and so the man is taken away. Whatever he seemeth to be, and seemeth to have, he is taken away. Oh, the sad loss of many professors in being taken away! What a terrible doom, to have had a name to live, and then to be taken away!
Joh_15:2. And every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
The vine is very apt to become unclean and unhealthy; there are all sorts of creatures that love to suck its juices, so that even the most fruitful bough needs to be cleansed. Besides, the vine has a great tendency to run to wood, so the pruning-knife must be used very sharply. It will be used upon all who are really in Christ, and who are abiding in Christ.
Joh_15:3. Now ye are clean —
Those to whom the Saviour spoke: “Now ye are clean” —
Joh_15:3. Through the word which I have spoken unto you.
That is the great purger. Affliction is used, but it is rather the handle of the knife than the knife itself.
Joh_15:4. Abide in me, —
“Now that ye are clean, do not imagine that you can do without me: Abide in me,” —
Joh_15:4. 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.
It is not a transient faith, it is not saying, “I was converted so many years ago;” but it is a living faith, an abiding faith, a constant vital union with Christ that marks the true heir of heaven.
Joh_15:5. 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.
“Severed from me, ye can bear no fruit whatever. Not only can ye not do much, but ye can do nothing apart from me.”
Joh_15:6. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered;
As I have already reminded you, it is only an abiding faith that is a real faith, the faith that remains fixed in Christ the vital union with Christ maintained day by day.
Joh_15:6-11. And men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciple. As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
If you are Christ’s disciples now, you are to keep on being his disciples,
and to grow more and more so as the years advance.
Joh_15:1. I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
If you want to know where the true Church is, Christ here tells you: “I am the true vine.” All who are in Christ are in the true Church. If you want to know who is the Father of the Church, its Keeper and Guardian, Christ here tells you: “My Father is the husbandman.” Hence, I feel persuaded that the true vine, the Church, will never die, for it is Christ; and I am also persuaded that it will never be uprooted, for Jesus says, “My Father is the husbandman;” and that fact is a guarantee that he will take care of it.
Joh_15:2. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away:
In some sense, men and women may be in Christ by a mete outward profession; but if they have no evidence of a real union to Christ, if they produce no fruit, they will be taken away, some by death, and others by apostasy; but they will be taken away.
Joh_15:2. And every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit!.
From these words, it is clear that, many of the afflictions which we have to endure are not brought upon us because we are unfruitful, but because we are bearing fruit.
Joh_15:3-4. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. 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.
Dear friends, beware of a Christless Christianity. Beware of trying to be Christians without living daily upon Christ. The branch may just as well try to bear fruit apart from the vine as for you to hope to maintain the reality of Christian life without continual fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Joh_15:5-6. 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. 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.
The vine must either bear fruit or be good for nothing; and you, believer, must be vitally united to Christ, and bear fruit in consequence of that union or else you will be like those fruitless vine-branches, of which our Lord said that “men gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned,”
Joh_15:7. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will and it shall be done unto you.
Do not take that verse as a promise of unlimited answers to prayer, for it is nothing of the kind. Remember the “if” that qualifies it: “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you,” for a man who is truly in Christ, as the branch is in the vine, and who is feeding upon Christ’s words, will be so influenced by the Holy Spirit that he will not ask anything which is contrary to the mind of God. Consequently, his prayers, though in one sense unrestricted, are really restricted by the tenderness of his conscience, and the sensitiveness of his spirit to the influence of the mind of God. There are some Christians who do not get their prayers answered, and who never will as long as they do not comply with this condition, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you.” If you do not take notice of Christ’s words, he will not take notice of your words. He is not going to open his door to every stranger who chooses to give a runaway knock at it, but he will pay attention to his own children who pay attention to him.
Joh_15:8. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
“Ye shall be known to be my disciples.” Everybody will perceive that you must be branches of that fruitful vine, Christ Jesus, if ye bear much fruit.
Joh_15:9. As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
How wondrously Jesus loves those who are truly, his! As the Father loved him, so does he love us: that is, without beginning, without measure, without variation, without end. “Continue ye in my love;” that is, live in it, enjoy it, drink it in, be influenced by it.
Joh_15:10. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love;
“You shall live in the realization of my love if you live in obedience to me.”
Joh_15:10-11. Even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
For, when Christ is not pleased with us, we are not likely to have joy in ourselves, Oh, that we may so live as to please Christ!