House of Hope Online

June 22, 2025

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Today’s word of the Lord is from John, Chapter 15, where Jesus spoke some very important words of advice to His disciples.  Chapter 15 is the midpoint of five chapters containing His teaching during the 24 hours preceding His arrest, crucifixion, and death.  Life was about to change for the disciples and Jesus wanted them to be prepared and edified by His words.

John 15 is comprised exclusively of Jesus’ words.  The Lord teaches us about our relationship with Him, our relationship with other believers, and our relationship with the world.  Finally, Jesus concludes the chapter with the promise of the Holy Spirit.

As we approach the Rapture, the Lord is urging us to review the key points of this teaching.

1. Abide in Him to Bear Fruit

John 15 begins with Jesus’ teaching about the vine, the branches, and the vinedresser.

John 15:

 1 ¶ “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.

 2 “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every [branch] that bears fruit, He prunes it, that it may bear more fruit.

 3 “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.

 4 “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither [can] you, unless you abide in Me.

 5 “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing. (NASB)

Verses 1-5 emphasize the centrality of our relationship with Jesus.  Our pathway to the Father is through Jesus.  He is the vine, and we are the branches.  A branch cannot bear fruit (be productive in any aspect) by itself.  It must abide in the vine.  Any branch not bearing fruit will be taken away and burned.  And branches that abide in the vine will be pruned (trimmed, ouch!) so they will bear more fruit.  Abiding in Jesus is all about becoming more fruitful for Him.

The Greek word for “abide” in verse 4 is “meno,” which means to stay in a given place, state, relation, or expectancy; to continue, dwell, endure, be present, remain, stand, tarry for.  Note the emphasis of the definition is on timing and waiting.  We are to stay in Jesus, stay in relationship with Him, stay in a state of expectancy in Him.  We are to continue in Him, to endure, to stand with Him and to tarry as long as He does.  That is what we are doing today – we are enduring in Him, expecting Him to come for us and to lift us from this very present danger.

Jesus was clearly teaching His disciples that trials were ahead, and they needed to endure them and rely on Jesus to bear fruit and be productive.  This is the message for us today as well.  We are entering the days when many will fall from the faith and oppose us.  We are going to need to rely on Jesus to bear fruit.  We will need to dwell in Him and to endure trials until He comes for us at the Rapture.  Apart from Him we can do nothing.

• Abide in Him to Glorify God

Jesus makes an interesting point in verses 6-8.  We are to bear fruit not to glorify ourselves, but instead to glorify the Father.  Your Abba Daddy is glorified when you abide in Jesus and therefore bear fruit.  That was always His plan.

John 15:

 6 “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch, and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.

 7 “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you.

 8 “By this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and [so] prove to be My disciples.

In verse 6, Jesus makes clear that abiding in Him is not optional.  Our existence as a branch depends on dwelling in Him, enduring with Him.  Otherwise, we will dry up and be cast into the fire to be burned.  On the other hand, if we abide in Jesus, we can ask for whatever we wish, and it shall be done for us.  The resulting fruitfulness in our life will glorify the Father.

• Keep Commandments to Abide in Love & Joy

Next, Jesus moves into the importance of love and how we must abide in Him to walk in love and joy.  This was a lesson I learned soon after asking Jesus into my heart.  I had resisted doing so because the devil convinced me that following Jesus would be no fun.  I now know that Jesus leads me to joy, and without Him, there is no love, no joy.

John 15:

 9 ¶ “Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love.

 10 “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments, and abide in His love.

 11 “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you, and [that] your joy may be made full.

 12 “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.

 13 “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.

 14 “You are My friends, if you do what I command you.

Note the relationship between keeping His commandments and abiding in His love.  In verse 10, Jesus says our ability to abide in love depends on our keeping His commandments.  We see this principle clearly today as some in the world advocate for an end to hatred, yet they reject Jesus and His vine.  The world rejects the commands of the Father and wonders why there is such hate.  The answer is: to abide in love, we must keep His commandments.

Notice also in verse 11 that Jesus connects our joy to His word.  He speaks to us, not to make our life difficult, but instead He speaks so that His joy may be in us, and our joy may be complete.  The converse of that statement is that we cannot have full joy unless His word is in us.

In verses 12-14, He commands us to love each other, and if we keep His commands, we are His friends, and His life is offered as a sacrifice for us.

• You Are Chosen & Appointed

Jesus teaches in John 15 that we have been chosen as friends of His and appointed to bear much fruit.

John 15:

 15 “No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.

 16 “You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and [that] your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask of the Father in My name, He may give to you.

 17 “This I command you, that you love one another.

In verse 16, Jesus says that our fruit shall remain, so that whatever we ask of the Father in His name will be granted.  In the natural, fruit does not last long.  It must be eaten soon, or it begins to rot.  But the fruit that we bear from Jesus’ vine remains.  It is eternal.  It remains even after the accomplishments of this world no longer exist.  But pay attention to the caveat in verse 17: we must love one another.

• The World Hates You

It is not fun to confront this reality, but Jesus says the world will hate us.  It is the earliest form of antisemitism.

John 15:

 18 ¶ “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before [it hated] you.

 19 “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

 20 “Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also.

If we abide in the vine, we cannot abide in the world, meaning we cannot accept the world’s view on most matters.  If we try to abide in the wisdom of this world concerning right and wrong, we will compromise the word of God.  Jesus said in verse 7 that His word must abide in us.  Verse 19 says Jesus chose us out of the world, and therefore, the world hates us.

I am not suggesting you pick a fight with the world.  In fact, I am saying quite the opposite.  Some of us are hated because we are trying to judge sinners and prove our own righteousness instead of acknowledging that we are saved by grace.  Instead, we should abide in the vine and proceed in peace and love as we point others to Jesus.  The world will still hate us, but it will be because it hates Jesus, not because we have provoked it. 

As I said earlier, it is not easy to confront the reality that we are hated by the world.  Do not despair, though, because this is a prophecy of our Lord and Savior, which means our redemption is drawing nigh.

• The World Hates Jesus & the Father

Jesus goes onto to explain the reason the world hates us.

John 15:

 21 “But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me.

 22 “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.

 23 “He who hates Me hates My Father also.

 24 “If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well.

 25 “But [they have done this] in order that the word may be fulfilled that is written in their Law, ‘THEY HATED ME WITHOUT A CAUSE.’

The world hates Jesus because they do not know the Father (verse 21), and when Jesus came, He made their sin obvious and inexcusable (verses 22-24).  Note in verse 25, Jesus said this hatred is the fulfillment of prophecy.  Whenever prophecy is fulfilled, we are closer to the Rapture and should glorify God!

• Bear Witness to Him by the Holy Spirit

John 15 closes on a high note with the promise of the Holy Spirit.

John 15:

 26 ¶ “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, [that is] the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness of Me,

 27 and you [will] bear witness also, because you have been with Me from the beginning.

Jesus calls the Holy Spirit the Helper and the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father.  The important point to remember is that the Holy Spirit always bears witness of Jesus.  In other words, when the Holy Spirit is present, all the glory goes to Jesus, and not to man.  This is where some fall away, they begin to glorify the pastor or prophet, or healing minister, etc. and they no longer abide in the vine. 

Verse 27 requires us to bear witness to Jesus as well.  This means we do not point to our righteousness, which is like filthy rags compared to Jesus.  All glory should go to the Vinedresser, Father God, to the Vine, Jesus, and to the Helper, the Holy Spirit of Truth.

Let us pray.

Father God, thank You for these words of preparation from Jesus as we prepare our hearts and minds for the Rapture of the Church.  Help us to abide in the Vine and to bear much fruit that You may be glorified in Heaven.  Thank You for choosing us and appointing us to walk in love and allow the words of Jesus to make our joy complete.  Strengthen our spirits to know the world hates us because it hates Jesus and does not know You.  Lead us by the Spirit of Truth to witness to unbelievers in these last days.  And teach us by Your Spirit to extend Your love to others.  In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.