For as long as it takes we are going to study the gospel of
John chapters fourteen to seventeen. Some of it will be what I have already
written and some will be new. Therefore it may sometimes appear that I leave
off in the middle of a topic to be continued, since I have reached my daily
word count limit. We will also return to placing a blog posting daily for the
time being.
In order to follow this you ought to have read from the first
posting in the series – John 14 (One).
“I
am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 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. You are already clean because of the word I have
spoken to you,” (John 15:1-3).
Jesus uses an illustration of a vine, but the truth is
much deeper than what the surface reveals. He said He is the vine. He is that
person around whom everything revolves - the whole vine. He is not part of a
system or an organisation - He is the system. He is the source and
controls everything. Father God is the gardener and sees to it that this vine
is healthy and functions well. The Holy Spirit keeps on giving me the picture
of a Christmas tree where Jesus is the tree, the believers are the decorations
and lights and Father God is the decorator. This tree must project something
beautiful to those who see it. It must be a beacon that can be distinguished
from afar. If some of the lights are not burning or some of the decorations are
broken, Father God sees to it that something is done about it. If a light,
however, continuously refuses to work, he must remove it to make place for
another.
The vine however, unlike the Christmas tree, is alive
and able to bear fruit. Please note that Father God is not the vine and therefore not
the body or the church. He just cares for the vine. In the same Jesus is not
the caretaker of the church – Father God is. Jesus is the church and we are His members (1 Corinthians 12:12-14,
Colossians 1:18)).
The question immediately on our lips now is why God
would cut off people from the church when they do not bear fruit? What about
the eternal security in salvation? This is a tough one to answer, but one must
look at the whole context of our relationship with Jesus. Right through these
chapters of the gospel of John Jesus repeatedly emphasized the conditions to
His love for his children - the more we obey, the more He loves us.
Lack of obedience as well as fruitlessness from our
side does not affect our salvation because evidence in Scripture is conclusive
that once we are born again we will inherit eternal life. What does cutting off
of the fruitless branches then mean? This context is one of bearing fruit,
being obedient and making a difference in life for the sake of the Kingdom of
God. In this context therefore it seems to mean that those branches that do not
bear fruit, in other words that do not make a difference in the lives of people
to the glory of the Kingdom, will not be used any more. If they are truly born
again (John 3:3, 5) or truly believe (Mark 16:16, Romans 10:8-10), they will
still go to heaven because salvation is eternal, but will be considered not of
much use for the Kingdom and will not have any rewards or treasure in heaven.
It is, however, unlikely that true believers will be uncaring about the Lord’s
commands and therefore we need to keep in mind Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:21-23:
“21Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the
kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” Are those
who are careless about obedience really born again or are they just pretending
to serve the Lord with a selfish attitude? Some of us should maybe search our
hearts.
Jesus then continued by saying that the fruit-bearing
branches will be pruned so that they can bear more fruit. What is the reality
of pruning? Have you ever got the message from the Bible and from prophets that
God has got a special plan with your life and that you will do great exploits
for the Kingdom, but then the incomprehensible happened – you mostly experienced
hardships, spiritual attacks and negative circumstantial evidence? You hardly
see the success and greatness that the Lord was talking about. Everything seems
to go wrong. What is the problem? An onlooker once approached a sculptor at
work asking him what exactly he was making. The sculptor said he was making a
horse. The onlooker then asked how he was doing it. The sculptor looked at his
hammer and chisel and replied; I am chopping off everything that does not look
like a horse.
Whatever Father God wants you to be, He is chopping off
everything of you that does not look like that which He wants you to be.
Usually chopping and pruning hurts – it surely is not comfortable. God uses
other people, discouragement, hardship, even sometimes illness and death and
many more to accomplish certain things in our lives. If we do not listen to Him
or His messengers or are not faithful in what we are called for, He must find
some way to get our attention. Sometimes we are serious about the Lord,
searching for His will, but still experience hardship. This often is a
preparation process for something greater – more fruit! Sometimes we think we
are unable to let go of the sinful nature’s demands, trying to serve both the
Lord and the sinful nature. Father God, however, wants to be served alone and
will continue turning up the heat until we realise we have to let go of the
flesh and its desires. Ask me, I have been there. Lord, I want to be as
obedient as Jesus. (To be continued)
Lord, please prune me.
Thank you Lord that your Word went out from your mouth,
via your servant’s pen, and it will not return to you empty, but will
accomplish what you desire and achieve the purpose for which you sent it.
Please pass this on if you
think others may benefit by it.
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