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John Chapter 15 Study Notes

Main themes of Jesus as the Vine, Bearing Spiritual Fruit, the Joy of the Lord, and Being Hated without a Cause.
 

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. John 15: 1-6

v1 Jesus’ 7th I AM statement, Jesus is the source of life, God is the vinedresser/farmer
v2 There are pruning techniques that maximize fruit production, the general theme is 1-yr branches have maximum fruit production
 
Vine
 
v3 Clean = Pruned, the Word acts to prune us and help bear more fruit
v4-5 As a believer/branch we abide in Him, and bear His fruit via the Holy Spirit, we cannot bear fruit on our own
v6 Jesus is the Life, all men have a measure of Life flowing through them, without Jesus though they become withered, and cast off as a branch, only fit to be gathered and fir for the fire
 
Good parallel passages are:

https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Matthew-13-24_13-30/ (Parable of the Wheat and Tares)

 
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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. John 15:7-8

This reminds us of Gen 1:28  “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”   Gen 1: 28 speaks of being fruitful and multiplying in a PHYSICAL sense.  The old man Adam, has physical children and multiplies himself physically on the earth.  John 15:8 speaks of being fruitful and multiplying in a SPIRITUAL sense.  The new man Christ, has spiritual children, who produce His fruit, spiritually on the earth

Spirit man
https://heartofworshipchurch.wordpress.com/2018/01/29/be-fruitful-and-multiply/ (the Physical vs Spiritual Sense of being Fruitful and Multiplying)
 
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9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
10 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. John 15: 9-10

Ten C tablets
 
As discussed in Chapter 14, Loving God = Loving your Neighbour = Loving God.  I brought up Matthew last time but this time I want to discuss the parallel passage in Mark (The Scriptures version): 
 
28And one of the scribes coming near, hearing them reasoning together, knowing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “Which is the first command of all?” 29And יהושע answered him, “The first of all the commands is, ‘Hear, O Yisra’ĕl, יהוה our Elohim, יהוה is one. 30‘And you shall love יהוה your Elohim with all your heart, and with all your being, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first command. 31And the second, like it, is this, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no other command greater than these.
 
YHWH (God, Hebrew is read R to L) is One.  Jesus says in John 10:30, “I and my Father are One“.  As we abide in Jesus, we are meant to join that Oneness, and encourage, others to do so as well.  This is why loving your Neighbour is so critical, because they are also meant to become part of that Oneness.  Any form of judgement is Division and separates (ie. makes not One) rather than unifies (ie. make One).  I’ve seen many people over the years hurt from religion, either being judged and cast out of the church (eg. cohabitating outside of marriage, having a child out of wedlock, disagreeing on theology), or simply put off by an overly religious and judgmental attitude (calling them a sinner, threatening them with hellfire), These behaviours drive people away from God.  The important thing here is to Love Others first, as yourself.  As Jesus says, “Blessed be the Peacemakers” 
 
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11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. John 15: 11
 
Neh 8.10
 
The Joy of YHWH is our strength.  Ezra and Nehemiah are speaking to Israelites that have returned to Jerusalem after their 70yr exile in Babylon.  They hear the Law of Moses being read again, and are grieved and depressed (seeing their sin), but they are told doing the things that God desires will give them strength.  Having Joy, and bringing Joy to others is what God wants for us, and doing so gives us strength, but He is also the source of that strength.  Obedience brings Joy to the Lord, and makes us stronger.
 
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12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
15 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.
16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
17 These things I command you, that ye love one another. John 15: 12-17

 
Servants – serve without knowing what the master is doing (eg. prophets)

Friends – still serve, but do know what the master is doing (eg. disciples)

As Jesus teaches the will of the Father, which is to love, we know what the Father’s intent is, and go about doing it ourselves.  
There are some who would say they are serving the Father, even doing works in His name, but don’t know the Father’s love.  The works they do are self-serving, and not necessarily for God.  The Pharisees are a good example, but also other false teachers: https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Matthew-7-15_7-23/ (Depart from me, I never knew you)
 
I’d highly recommend this book/video from a Baptist minister, Howard Pittman, called Placebo, where he dies, and is taken through the 2nd and 3rd heaven after his death to meet with God and plead for an extension of his life.  He points to God his works, and God humbles him by revealing the self-serving nature of his so-called works.  This is one of the first books I read as a born-again Christian, and his description of what happens in the 2nd heaven is eye-opening. 
 
https://www.divinerevelations.info/dreams_and_visions/placebo_howard_pittman.htm (Key selected chapters, in Audio/Video format, 1hr long)
https://www.onethingministries.net/wp/wp-content/Placebo_Howard-Pittman.pdf (The entire book, quick and easy read, only 51 pages and well worth it)
 
The word Placebo refers to Religion as a drug, but in place of the real thing, Relationship.
 
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18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
21 But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me.
22 If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin.
23 He that hateth me hateth my Father also.
24 If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father.
25 But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause. John 15: 18-25

 
This last line is in reference to Psalm 69:4. 
 
Psalms 69.4
 

26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:
27 And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning. John 15: 26-27

 

He’s speaking about the Holy Spirit.  I’ve sent this video out before from Derek Prince, and Receiving the Holy Spirit (Born-again = Initial receiving (Resurrection Sunday), Praying in tongues = Overflow (Pentecost Sunday)), but my favourite part of the video (20:37-21:01) is when he speaks about the evidence of the Baptism…  

 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rK8KVyZu0dQ&t=1237s (Derek Prince, Receive the Holy Spirit)
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Related Links to the study:
https://rumble.com/v1coa1j-foc-show-information-worth-dying-for-dr-brian-ardis-and-dr-rashid-buttar-fl.html (Amazing video behind what’s in the shots, Highly Recommended, so many Divine appointments, and God “working things out” so this information becomes public)