06-01-08
Sorry, you must have Windows Media Player 9 or higher. This is a large file which may take a few seconds to start Windows Media Real Audio MP3 Click here, or scroll down to view today's diagram (John 15:1-5) I am the true vine [a vine (as coiling about a support)], and my Father is the husbandman [landworker, farmer]. 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. Now ye are clean [pure] through the word [logos] 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. 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. 1. purgeth = Gk: to cleanse, i.e. (spec.) to prune /// clean, clear, purify. 2. (Heb 12:5-11) And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth [to flog] every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. a. chastening = Gk: tutorage; i.e. education or training; by impl. disciplinary correction:--chastening, chastisement, instruction, nurture /// to train up a child, i.e. educate, or (by impl.) discipline (by punishment):--chasten (-ise), instruct, learn, teach. 3. abide = Gk: to stay (in a given place, state, relation or expectancy):--abide, continue, dwell, endure, be present, remain, stand, tarry (for), X thine own. 4. Commentary: An interesting observation about the entire gospel of John is that it does not contain the most important parable in the Bible (Mark 4:13), the parable of “The sower soweth the word” (Mark 4:14) which is found in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, but the gospel of John does contain the strikingly similar parable of “the true vine” (John 1:1-15). a. (Mark 4:13) And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables? (Mark 4:14) The sower soweth the word. 5. Commentary: We may note that the three categories of fruit bearing in the gospel of John are “fruit,” “more fruit,” and “much fruit,” which compare favorably with the terms “thirtyfold,” “sixtyfold,” and “an hundredfold” found in the gospels of Matthew and Mark, whereas the gospel of Luke is not numerically specific, perhaps indicating that the primary importance of fruit bearing is not so much the amount, but the very act itself. If “God is love” (1 John 4:8,16), then what kind of fruit does He bear? Do you bear (bring forth) fruit for the Lord, the Word of God, do you bear love for the Lord? a. (Mat 13:23) But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. b. (Mark 4:8) And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred. c. (Luke 8:15) But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience. MANY MEN AND WOMEN REFUSE TO ABIDE IN THE VINE, i.e. THEY HAVE NO AGAPE LOVE (John 15:6) If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered [to desiccate; by impl. to shrivel:--dried up]; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. 1. abide = Gk: to stay (in a given place, state, relation or expectancy):--abide, continue, dwell, endure, be present, remain, stand, tarry (for), X thine own. 2. Commentary: Men who “abide not” in Christ are the unsaved men who abide “by the way side” (Mat 3:19; Mark 4:15; Luke 8:12), and the unsaved men abiding in “stony places” (Mat 13:20), “on stony ground” (Mark 4:16), “on the rock” (Luke 8:13) who believe for a while but the sown seed takes “no root” (Mat 13:6; Mark, Luke) in themselves and they “fall away” (Luke 8:13), i.e. they no longer abide in the vine. a. fall away = Gk: to remove, i.e. (act.) instigate to revolt; usually to desist, desert, etc.:--depart, draw (fall) away, refrain, withdraw self. 3. (Mat 13:40-42) As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth [i.e. there shall be the absence of love]. ABIDE = ANSWERED PRAYERS (John 15:7) If ye abide in me, and my words [rhema; revelations, Holy Spirit, good angels (good thoughts – God’s thoughts)] abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. 1. Commentary: Abide has the connotation of “to live, living, alive.” 2. (Heb 4:12) For the word of God is quick [to live: living, alive], and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. ABIDE = LOVE (John 15:8-10) Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit [i.e. an hundredfold in our comparison]; so shall ye be my disciples. As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue [abide] 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. ABIDE = JOY (John 15:11) These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy [cheerfulness, i.e. calm delight:--gladness] might remain [abide] in you, and that your joy might be full. THE COMMANDMENT = ABIDE LOVING JOYFULLY IN THE TRUE VINE (John 15:12-16) This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved [agapao; sacrificial love] you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained [appointed] you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit [a non-specific amount of love, i.e. any love (fruit)], and that your fruit should remain [abide (for it is alive)]: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. 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(John 15:1-5) I am the true vine [a vine (as coiling about a support)], and my Father is the husbandman [landworker, farmer]. 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. Now ye are clean [pure] through the word [logos] 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. 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.
1. purgeth = Gk: to cleanse, i.e. (spec.) to prune /// clean, clear, purify.
2. (Heb 12:5-11) And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth [to flog] every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
a. chastening = Gk: tutorage; i.e. education or training; by impl. disciplinary correction:--chastening, chastisement, instruction, nurture /// to train up a child, i.e. educate, or (by impl.) discipline (by punishment):--chasten (-ise), instruct, learn, teach.
3. abide = Gk: to stay (in a given place, state, relation or expectancy):--abide, continue, dwell, endure, be present, remain, stand, tarry (for), X thine own.
4. Commentary: An interesting observation about the entire gospel of John is that it does not contain the most important parable in the Bible (Mark 4:13), the parable of “The sower soweth the word” (Mark 4:14) which is found in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, but the gospel of John does contain the strikingly similar parable of “the true vine” (John 1:1-15).
a. (Mark 4:13) And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables? (Mark 4:14) The sower soweth the word.
5. Commentary: We may note that the three categories of fruit bearing in the gospel of John are “fruit,” “more fruit,” and “much fruit,” which compare favorably with the terms “thirtyfold,” “sixtyfold,” and “an hundredfold” found in the gospels of Matthew and Mark, whereas the gospel of Luke is not numerically specific, perhaps indicating that the primary importance of fruit bearing is not so much the amount, but the very act itself. If “God is love” (1 John 4:8,16), then what kind of fruit does He bear? Do you bear (bring forth) fruit for the Lord, the Word of God, do you bear love for the Lord?
a. (Mat 13:23) But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
b. (Mark 4:8) And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred.
c. (Luke 8:15) But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
MANY MEN AND WOMEN REFUSE TO ABIDE IN THE VINE, i.e. THEY HAVE NO AGAPE LOVE
(John 15:6) If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered [to desiccate; by impl. to shrivel:--dried up]; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
1. abide = Gk: to stay (in a given place, state, relation or expectancy):--abide, continue, dwell, endure, be present, remain, stand, tarry (for), X thine own.
2. Commentary: Men who “abide not” in Christ are the unsaved men who abide “by the way side” (Mat 3:19; Mark 4:15; Luke 8:12), and the unsaved men abiding in “stony places” (Mat 13:20), “on stony ground” (Mark 4:16), “on the rock” (Luke 8:13) who believe for a while but the sown seed takes “no root” (Mat 13:6; Mark, Luke) in themselves and they “fall away” (Luke 8:13), i.e. they no longer abide in the vine.
a. fall away = Gk: to remove, i.e. (act.) instigate to revolt; usually to desist, desert, etc.:--depart, draw (fall) away, refrain, withdraw self.
3. (Mat 13:40-42) As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth [i.e. there shall be the absence of love].
ABIDE = ANSWERED PRAYERS
(John 15:7) If ye abide in me, and my words [rhema; revelations, Holy Spirit, good angels (good thoughts – God’s thoughts)] abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
1. Commentary: Abide has the connotation of “to live, living, alive.”
2. (Heb 4:12) For the word of God is quick [to live: living, alive], and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
ABIDE = LOVE
(John 15:8-10) Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit [i.e. an hundredfold in our comparison]; so shall ye be my disciples. As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue [abide] 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.
ABIDE = JOY
(John 15:11) These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy [cheerfulness, i.e. calm delight:--gladness] might remain [abide] in you, and that your joy might be full.
THE COMMANDMENT = ABIDE LOVING JOYFULLY IN THE TRUE VINE
(John 15:12-16) This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved [agapao; sacrificial love] you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained [appointed] you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit [a non-specific amount of love, i.e. any love (fruit)], and that your fruit should remain [abide (for it is alive)]: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
Amen
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