Jesus Christ is the True Vine & His Disciples Are the Branches. Bible Study. John Ch 15

Here is a teaching on chapter 15 of the book of John. If you want to check out previous Bible studies and chapters going forward, join our group here. Once you get added into that Facebook group, you can go to the "units" tab and you'll see all of the chapters and their study guides as they are being taught.

First I want to say a quick prayer... Lord I pray that you lift up every single person reading this right now. I pray that you give us knowledge and understanding to know exactly what it is that we're reading and how to implement it in our daily life. I pray that you use us as a vessel for your work and work through us to make an impact and other people's lives. I pray that you open up our eyes to see the truth of your words and that we spread that truth, love, and light to others. I love you with my whole heart. In Jesus' name, Amen.

John Chapter 15:

1 "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be given you. 8 This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples."

I'm going to stop right there and discuss these verses with you guys here. So these verses here are an illustration of how Jesus is in God the Father and how we are in Jesus, so we're all connected. Jesus is the vine, we are the branches, and God the Father is the gardener. In verse 2 it says that every branch that bears fruit he prunes (which means he cleans them) and he cuts off the wicked people that don't believe in him and that have hatred in their hearts.

Also I just wanted to mention before I go any further into this episode that I did do an episode about what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. It was episode number 41. I actually went over these verses in there so if it sounds familiar of me talking about these verses before it's because I talked about these verses in that episode.

Alright, so then in verses 3-4 Jesus tells his disciples that they're already clean because the words that he's spoken to them and that branches can't bear fruit by themselves, they have to remain in the vine. We, as disciples of Jesus Christ, have to remain in Jesus Christ and we cannot do anything without Jesus Christ. Without him we are nothing, but with him we can bear much fruit, have eternal life, and have a full and abundant life. We can do nothing without Jesus and if we remain in him, his words remain in us, we're disciples of Jesus Christ, and we follow him, then whatever we ask it will be given to us. But here's the thing...Whenever we remain in Jesus, his words remain in us, we follow him, and we're disciples of Jesus Christ, then the things that we ask aren't going to be worldly or materialistic things. They will be things that are pleasing to the Father and when we ask of those things, those things will be given to us.

9 "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit-- fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 17 This is my command: Love each other."

Alright so I'm going to stop right there and discuss these verses with you guys here. If we are fully submitted to the will and the commands of Jesus then we will remain in his love just as Jesus is fully submitted to the will of God the Father and remains in God the Father's love. In verse 11 Jesus says that he told his disciples this so that his joy may be in them and their joy may be complete. Whenever we have complete joy, that is spiritual abundance: knowing that no matter what happens in this world we have Jesus Christ by our side, we remain in Jesus Christ, we have the love from him and the Father, and we have the Holy spirit within us guiding us, showing us truth, and we have the fruit of the spirit.

Then in verse 12 Jesus commands his disciples to love each other as he has loved them. Jesus lays down his life for his disciples. He dies on the cross to forgive us of our sins. He shows that pure and sacrificial love, and there's no greater love than that. We, as his disciples, have to love each other with the same love that he has shown to us. Jesus also tells them that they're no longer his servants but they're his friends, because he's told them all of these things and a servant wouldn't know his master's business. And everything that Jesus has learned from the Father he's made known to his disciples. Then in verse 16, we as disciples of Jesus Christ are chosen by him. We didn't choose Jesus, he chose us and he appointed us to go and bear fruit, to spread the gospel, love, light, have a full and abundant life, and have eternal life through him.

18 "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20 Remember the words I spoke to you: 'No servant is greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. 21 They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin. 23 He who hates me hates my Father as well. 24 If I had not done among them what no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen these miracles, and yet they hated both me and my Father. 25 But this is to fulfill what is written in their law: 'They hated me without reason.' 26 When the counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. 27 And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning."

So that's all the verses of chapter 15 of the book of John, but I'm going to discuss these verses with you guys here. In verses 18-20 Jesus is telling his disciples that if the world hates them just know that the world hated him first. The people crucified Jesus and his disciples didn't know this at the time that Jesus was going to be crucified. The evil and corrupt people had hatred in their hearts and they didn't want to believe what Jesus Christ was saying, so they crucified him. If his disciples belonged to the world, then the world will love them. But we, as Jesus's disciples, we don't belong to this world. We're not of this world because Jesus has chosen us out of the world and that's why the world hates us. The world lives in darkness and the darkness hates the light. Just like in John 3:20 it says, "Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed." So the people that are out of this world hate the light because they don't want their evil deeds to be exposed, but the ones that Jesus has chosen to be his disciples will listen and believe. The wicked people that have hate in their heart will seek to kill and destroy us as Jesus' disciples.

In verse 22 Jesus says that if he hadn't come and spoke to the people then they wouldn't be guilty of sin, because that would be spiritual blindness. Just like we've read in our Bible studies before about spiritual blindness, but their eyes have been opened and they still didn't believe. They refuse to come into the light, so their sins won't go on punished. In verse 25 where it says that "this is to fulfill what was written in their law: 'They hated me without reason,'" the scripture that it's pertaining to here is Psalms 35:19 and then also Psalm 69:4. Then in verses 26-27 of chapter 15 of the book of John Jesus says that when the counselor comes (which the counselor is the Holy spirit) that he will testify about Jesus and his disciples must also testify about him. So the Holy spirit will show us truth and when we let him guide us, he will testify about Jesus. We must also testify, spread the gospel, and the truth of God's words, which we learn from the Holy spirit and reading and studying our Bible.

John Ch 15 Study Guide

1. What does the word “prunes” mean in verse 2?

2. What can we do without Jesus?

3. What happens when your joy is complete?

4. How should we, as disciples of Christ, love one another?

5. As disciples of Jesus Christ, why does the world hate us?

6. What is your biggest takeaway from this Bible study?

So that concludes our Bible study for chapter 15 of the book of John. Next week we will go over chapter 16 so stay tuned for that.

I love you guys so much.

Never forget to choose faith over fear.

-Lorena Camille (Faith Fuels My Fire)

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