Close Menu X
Navigate

Life in the Vine Part 3

January 21, 2018 Speaker: Brian Wilbur Series: A Vision for Spiritual Vitality

Topic: Christian Life Basics Passage: John 15:1–17

LIFE IN THE VINE: A VISION FOR SPIRITUAL VITALITY IN 2018

A Three-Part Exposition of John 15:1-17

Part 3: The Fruit of Abiding in Jesus

By Pastor Brian Wilbur

Date: January 21, 2018

Series: Vision 2018

Note:   Scripture quotations are from The ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version), copyright 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

 

INTRODUCTION

This morning we come to the third installment of our journey through John 15:1-17. Our short sermon series is titled “Life in the Vine: A Vision for Spiritual Vitality in 2018.” We don’t want to be dull churchgoers who are ignorant of God’s saving power or who have drifted from the wonderful things that God taught us ten or twenty years ago. We want to be alive today – alive by the power of God, living for the purpose of God.

In the first sermon of this three-part series we reflected on “The Foundation of Abiding in Jesus.” Our Lord Jesus is the True Vine – the source of all nourishment and strength. If we fragile little branches are to have His life and power at work in us, it will only be because we have first been grafted into the Vine, forgiven and cleansed by His Word, and made alive by His Spirit. After we have become partakers of the Vine, our most basic responsibility is to abide there and stay close to Jesus.

In the second sermon we reflected on “The Form of Abiding in Jesus.” Here we considered our role and responsibility in a healthy spiritual life. Abiding means entrusting ourselves to Jesus in a deep mutual relation of self-giving love: we abide in Him, and He abides in us. Abiding also means cherishing and keeping His life-giving words: the Lord’s words delight our soul, filling us with His joy and peace; and His words also direct our lives, leading us along the path of obedience, which is especially characterized by mutual love among His disciples. The Vine’s branches ought to be fond of one another and supportive of one another.

In all this, Jesus the faithful Son is the supreme example. Jesus abided in His Father’s love by faithfully carrying out all of the Father’s instructions. For Jesus, the path of obedience was the path of sacrificial love. “By this we know love,” writes the apostle John in another passage, “that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.” (1 John 3:16) Which is exactly what Jesus is saying here in John 15:

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” (v. 12)

This clarion call to love one another makes the key point that abiding in Jesus is something that we do together as a community of disciples. Full-orbed abiding is not something we can do as an individually isolated branch. If we are not loving one another – if we are not loving these fragile little branches sitting beside us or across the aisle or behind us – then we will not abide in the Lord’s love. And if we do not abide in the Lord’s love, then the whole thing breaks down and we might as well pack up our bags and go home, for tomorrow we wither and die.

Now as we move forward in this third sermon, we will give attention to “The Fruit of Abiding in Jesus.” Jesus is the Vine, we are the branches, and fruit is the goal. But what is this fruit? When you move from the vineyard metaphor of grapes on the vine into the relationships and responsibilities of our everyday life, what is the fruit in literal terms? What should our lives be producing?

THE SCRIPTURAL TEXT

Fruit is very much on the Lord’s mind as He speaks to us in John 15. As I read the passage, take special note that all of the abiding activity taking place within the branches is meant to result in an abundance of fruit on the branches. Holy Scripture says:

1 "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I 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 full.

12 "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all 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 abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17 These things I command you, so that you will love one another." (John 15:1-17)

DISCOVERING THE IDENTITY OF THE FRUIT

We see clearly that the will of Jesus and His Father is that we bear fruit and more fruit and much fruit and fruit that lasts. My question is: what is this fruit? How would you answer this question? What reason or reasons would you give to defend your answer?

Well, I would like you to join me on a journey of discovery. As we embark on this journey, we remember that all Scripture has been breathed out by God for our good, and each and every word matters! Our job is to pay attention to what is written, understand it with our minds, delight in it with our hearts, and then put it into practice in our everyday lives. 

So then, let me make a number of observations about our passage as we seek to discover the identity of the fruit.

Observation #1: The Fruit Is Not Identified in Verses 1-5

First, the fruit is not identified in verses 1-5. The word “fruit” appears five times in these five verses, but it is kept at the metaphorical and general level. Because this promise of fruit is only stated in general terms, someone might conclude that it is capable of encompassing every good thing that results from our relationship with the Lord. So, the argument goes, it might include things like growing in character, walking in obedience, and loving one another. When some Christians hear the word “fruit” in John 15 their mind will immediately travel to Galatians 5: “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23) Who wants to argue that the fruit of John 15 is different from the fruit of Galatians 5? However, we must realize that simply because the word “fruit” appears in both passages does not necessarily mean that the same fruit is being envisioned. It might be the same, or it might be different.

Observation #2: A Clear Distinction Between “Abide” and “Bear Fruit”

Second, even though the concept of fruit is kept metaphorical and general in verses 1-5, a clear distinction is made between abiding and fruit-bearing, and as it turns out this distinction is an important key to the discovery process. According to verses 4-8, abiding in the Lord is what leads to fruit-bearing. As Jesus says in verse 5, “Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit…” So fruitfulness is dependent on abiding; abiding leads to fruit-bearing.

The reason this distinction proves so helpful is because Jesus proceeds to identify obedience as part of the abiding. In verse 10 Jesus says: “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love…” Then in verse 12 Jesus highlights one of these commandments which we must obey: “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” When we love one another we are obeying Jesus’ command, and when we obey Jesus’ command we are abiding. Do you understand the significance of this?

What this means is that obeying Jesus’ words and loving one another, along with all of the character transformation that must take place in order to make this obedience and love possible – all of this is part of the abiding, and therefore shouldn’t be confused with the fruit.

Now I don’t want anyone to misunderstand what I’m saying here. The Bible clearly teaches us that things such as inward transformation, character development, heartfelt obedience, and mutual love among us are the result of God’s work in our lives. We don’t produce these things on our own, but rather the Holy Spirit renews us from the inside out. Everything that happens as part of the abiding is the Lord’s work in us. All the activity that takes place in the branches – the growth, the obedience, the love – all of this activity is enabled and energized by the strength of the Vine. However, Jesus wants us to think of all these wonderful things that are happening within the branches as part of the abiding, and not as part of the fruit.

So if character transformation, obedience, and love aren’t the fruit, what is? What is ‘the something else’ that God wants to produce through us?

Observation #3: Knowing and Participating in the Lord’s Work

This brings me to my next observation, namely, that the nature of the fruit starts coming into focus in and through verses 15-16:

“No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.” (v. 15-16)

Remarkably, the Lord Jesus calls His disciples friends rather than servants. The difference between servants and friends is that servants do not know what their master is doing, but friends do. As the Lord’s friends, we are in a position to know what our Lord is doing, because He has revealed it to us. All that Jesus has heard from His Father He has made known to us.

Then verse 16 takes it a step further: not only has the Lord told us what He is doing, but He has called us to participate in His work. “I chose you,” Jesus says, “and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit.” Jesus did not merely say that He appointed us that we should bear fruit; He said that He appointed us “that [we] should go and bear fruit.” (italics mine) Go is the language of mission: we are sent on a mission, there is work to accomplish.

This missional work is, of course, the Lord’s work. We the branches get to participate in the productivity of the Vine; we who are called friends get to share in the Lord’s mission. Therefore, if we understand what our Lord is doing (v. 15), then we will also know what we are supposed to be doing (v. 16), since He appoints us to go and participate fruitfully in His work. The big question, then, is this: what is our Lord doing? What is the intended fruit of His work?

To answer this question, we must take the narrow lens that is focused on John 15:1-17 and turn on the wide-angle lens and zoom out to all of John’s Gospel. Anytime you are looking at a small passage like John 15:1-17, zooming out to the larger context helps us understand what is going on in the smaller passage. John 15:1-17 wasn’t spoken into a vacuum but was spoken as part of the overall storyline of John’s Gospel. Therefore let’s pay attention to the mission of Jesus as it unfolds in this book.

Jesus’ Mission is a Mission to the World

First, Jesus’ mission is a mission to the world. Jesus came in order to reveal the Father to a lost world:

“The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.” (John 1:9)

Jesus said: “I am the light of the world.” (John 8:12)

Further, Jesus came in order to rescue this lost world from sin:

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” (John 3:16-17)

Jesus said: “For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world…. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” (John 6:33, 51)

Jesus brought life to the world by sacrificing His life.

Jesus’ Mission Involves Personal Ministry to Individuals and Groups

Second, Jesus’ mission to the world gets worked out in ministry to specific individuals and groups. Jesus’ mission is not abstract and aloof, but very personal. In John 3, Jesus warns the respected religious teacher Nicodemus that he must be born again by the Spirit of God, otherwise he will never enter into God’s kingdom. In John 4, Jesus offers the Samaritan woman the living water of eternal life and reveals Himself to her as the promised Messiah. Later in John 4, Jesus heals an official’s son who was “at the point of death” (John 4:47) – and the whole family comes to faith. In John 5, He heals a man who had been paralyzed for thirty-eight years. In John 6, He miraculously turns five barley loaves and two fish into a meal for thousands, though later He has to warn these same people that they were seeking Him for the wrong reason: they were interested in Him because of the food He provided for their empty bellies, and not because of the greater food that He offered for their famished souls. In John 9, Jesus opens the eyes of a man who had been blind from birth, and the formerly blind man becomes an eyes-wide-open worshiper of Jesus the Messiah. In John 11, Jesus brings back to life a man who had been dead for four days – and in this miracle of resurrection, those with eyes to see it saw the glory of God. 

Let the one who has ears to hear, understand what the Lord’s mission is: new birth for dead hearts, living bread for famished souls, spiritual sight for blinded minds, strength to get up and walk in the light for those stuck in the paralysis of darkness, and eternal life – resurrection life – for those who are perishing. Our Lord’s missional work is about salvation for a dying world, and bringing that salvation to specific people and places.

Jesus Carried Out His Mission in Partnership with His Father

Third, the Lord did not conduct His mission on His own. Instead, the Lord carried out His mission in deep mutual relationship with His Father. To begin with, the Father sent the Son on mission: “For I have come down from heaven,” Jesus said, “not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.” (John 6:38) As the faithful Son, Jesus was totally committed to carrying out the commission He received from His Father. Further, when the Father sent the Son on mission, He didn’t leave the Son to figure things out on His own. The Father and Son have been in deep mutual relationship for all eternity (see John 1:1, 17:5), and their fellowship and partnership continued in the Son’s ministry on earth. Jesus said astounding things such as:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing…” (John 5:19-20; see also John 5:30, 8:28)

Now at this point lights should be blinking in your head! Did you hear the echoes of what we already heard in John 15? Think about it: “the Son can do nothing of his own accord” (John 5) anticipates “apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15); and “the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing” (John 5) anticipates “No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you” (John 15).

The Son is intimately connected to the Father and participates in the Father’s work. And this intimate relationship is conveyed in a statement that Jesus makes at least three times. Jesus says, “… the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” (John 10:38, 14:10, 14:11). The Father in the Son, the Son in the Father. Does that sound familiar? Jesus says to His people in John 15, “Abide in me, and I in you.” So we see in the first place that the work of Jesus flows out of His deep mutual relationship with the Father, and then secondly that Jesus invites us into a deep mutual relationship with Him, so that we will be fruitful participants with Him in the Father’s work. Do you see?

Jesus brings all of this together in John 17 when He prays for His people “that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (John 17:21) As it turns out, this deep mutual relationship is deeper than we thought: the Father in Jesus, Jesus in the Father; disciples in Jesus, Jesus in His disciples; and all disciples together in deep mutual relationship with both the Father and the Lord Jesus. And this deep mutual relationship is continually moving outward in mission.

Jesus established the missional nature of discipleship by gathering around Himself a core group of twelve disciples whom He prepared for mission. One of the key missional lessons for the disciples happened after Jesus brought the Good News to the Samaritan woman. The disciples were traveling with Jesus, but they left Him temporarily in order to go into town to get some food. When they returned they saw Jesus speaking with the Samaritan woman, and they were blown away because He was speaking to a woman (a social taboo in that time and place). After the woman departed with much excitement to tell others about this remarkable encounter she had just had with Jesus, the disciples encouraged Jesus to eat. Jesus, not about to miss a perfect teaching moment, replied: “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” (John 4:32) The disciples wondered if someone else had brought food to Jesus. Then Jesus explained:

“My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.” (John 4:34)

Jesus was a true man who ate food such as bread and fish. But do you know what really energized Him? Not physical food, but spiritual food. Jesus derived nourishment, strength, and joy by participating in the Father’s work. And what is this work? Well, the John 4 passage continues:

“Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.” (John 4:35-38)

The Father’s work is the harvesting of the fields, the reaping and gathering of fruit, which of course in John 4 is an unmistakable reference to the conversion of souls – the winning of people to the Lord. For this reference to “gathering fruit for eternal life” comes right in the midst of Jesus reaching out to the Samaritan woman and then reaching out to the whole village, after which many believe and confess that Jesus is indeed “the Savior of the world.” (John 4:42) 

THE FRUIT IS OTHER PEOPLE BROUGHT INTO FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD

The cumulative impact of all these lines of thought that I have been pursuing leads me to this conclusion: the fruit envisioned by Jesus in John 15 is other people brought into fellowship with God. In other words, the fruit is lost people converted and grafted into the Vine, then established into the abiding fellowship of the Vine and branches, and finally equipped to participate in the mission of the Vine, so that they in turn continue the cycle of making new disciples all over again. At one time, we were someone else’s fruit – we were fruit that was gathered in for eternal life. Now it is our privilege to take our place as branches in the Vine and be used of the Lord to produce additional fruit, to reach other people for the Lord and help those other people live the abundant missional sacrificial life that is found in Jesus. And believe me, this abundant missional life is sacrificial through and through.

This Fruit Cost Jesus His Life

Brothers and sisters, this fruit cost Jesus His life:

Jesus said: “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.” (John 10:14-16)

The high priest Caiaphas unwittingly “prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.” (John 11:51-52)

Jesus said: “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” (John 12:23-24)

These passages anticipate “much fruit” – many people brought into the flock, many people gathered into the family – because Jesus laid down His life as an atonement for sin. And in that last passage about the grain that dies bearing much fruit, Jesus immediately calls His followers to share in His suffering:

“Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.” (John 12:23-26)

Of course, Jesus alone is the Redeemer – the one and only Savior who delivers us from our sin. Nevertheless, He calls us to follow Him in a life of sacrificial service, sharing His mission, sharing in the discomfort of opposition and persecution, sharing in the costly sacrifice of bringing the light of the Gospel to a world lost in darkness. Why shouldn’t it be costly to give life to a dying world? Later in John 15 Jesus tells us, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.... Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.” (John 15:18, 20)

As we carry out this mission in a hostile world, it is vitally important that we love one another, helping one another to stay true to the Vine, encouraging one another to “go” where He sends us, rejoicing with one another when we see new fruit on the Vine, and weeping with one another for all the heartache along the way. And get this: our love for one another has a significant missional purpose! Did you know that? Our love for one another is supposed to be so profound that it marks us out as disciples and gains the attention of other people: “… all people will know that [we] are [Jesus’] disciples,” by our “love for one another” (John 13:35).

In John 17 Jesus prays that our deep mutual relationship with one another would be instrumental in convincing the world that Jesus is the true Savior whom the Father sent:

“The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.” (John 17:22-23)

Do you understand what Jesus is saying here? Our loving unity is a beautiful thing, but be careful: we can get so comfortable with the relational warmth we enjoy with one another that we bottle up Jesus’ love inside our little church community, and it never gets out. But what about those who still need to be gathered in? Our love for one another is meant to reveal spiritual truth about Jesus to the world out there.

Spiritual vitality cannot be sustained without participation in Jesus’ mission. It can be no other way. Think about it: the Father and Son are in deep mutual relationship for all eternity, and they decide to open up their fellowship of love to other people. This is the impulse of mission: the Father and the Son practicing hospitality, opening up their supremely rich life to us poor souls. By grace we are gathered into this divine fellowship and begin to enjoy the love of Christ and His Church, but we must never forget that the fellowship we are drawn into is a missional fellowship – if it wasn’t missional, the Father wouldn’t have sent the Son in the first place, and we’d still be alienated from God! So here we are, brothers and sisters, in fellowship with the Father and Son, and this fellowship is always going forth to draw others in. So now the Father and the Son and us who have already been gathered in, all of us together open up this supremely rich life to the poor souls who are still on the outside, that they too might be brought in. Though many will remain in the darkness and refuse to come, some will come! Some will be given the grace of the new birth – like Lazarus they will be raised from the dead, like the blind man they will have their eyes opened to beauty of God’s kingdom, like the lame man they will get up and walk with us in the abundant missional sacrificial life that is found in Jesus.

We, the disciples of the Lord Jesus, live under His great commission that “[we] should go and bear fruit.” On the eve of His crucifixion in John 17, Jesus prayed to the Father: “As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.” (John 17:18) Then after His resurrection in John 20, Jesus commissioned His disciples.

““Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”” (John 20:21-22)

The Holy Spirit empowers us for mission, gives us the ability to declare the Gospel with clarity and courage, convicts the world of sin, and awakens dead sinners to new life in Jesus. And while our mission is multi-faceted and includes much in the way of hospitality, mercy, and service to our neighbors all around us, we must be clear that the central task of our mission is to present Jesus to a lost world and proclaim the saving message of His glorious Gospel.

A FINAL APPEAL: PRAY ABOUT THE MISSION!

This missional life, empowered by the Spirit, must be inundated with prayer.

Jesus said: “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.” (John 14:12-14)

Jesus said: “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.” (John 15:16)

Our missional work must be underwritten with fervent prayer!

We pray for the Father’s name to be known and revered on earth as it is in heaven. We pray for the true light to shine into the darkness of human hearts. We pray for the Church to be a holy unified community so that we can effectively present Jesus to this perishing world. We pray for one another to abide in the Vine so that there will be new fruit on the Vine. We pray for each one to humbly receive the Father’s pruning work so that each of us will be more effective in making disciples. We pray for courage to proclaim the Word in the face of opposition and persecution. We pray for Christian parents to patiently bring up their children in the ways of the Lord. We pray for every disciple to have a godly influence in his or her neighborhood, workplace, and wider community.  All of this is missional praying, and I urge us to enter into it. We ought to pray that God would visit the Oxford Hills with a widespread spiritual awakening in which many who are now scattered about would be gathered into God’s forever family.

What would happen if not a few of us but a hundred of us so abided in the Vine that we asked God to bring many people to saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, if we yielded ourselves more and more to the missional sacrificial impulses of the Vine to draw more people in, if we invited people to “Come and see” (see John 1:46) the great things that the Lord has done? What would happen if we took the gracious generosity of God that we enjoy in here, and uncorked it and poured it out for the life of the people out there? 

Let us pray.

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

NOTE: My inclusion of a bibliography reflects my interaction with other teachers in the preparation of my sermon. While the main part of my preparation involves my direct interaction with the biblical text, I find it helpful to invite other “discussion partners” into my preparation process. My mention of these teachers (writers, speakers, etc.) does not imply any particular level of agreement with them, nor does it constitute an endorsement of their work. That said, I am appreciative of those – past and present – who are seeking to faithfully teach God’s Word, and I am happy to benefit from their labor.

Calvin, John. Calvin’s Commentaries. Accessed online at Bible Hub: http://biblehub.com/commentaries/calvin/john/15.htm. Read some of his comments on John 15.

Carson, D. A. The Gospel according to John (Pillar New Testament Commentary). Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1991: especially p. 510-524.

Gorman, Michael J. “John 15 and Mission: Preview 1 of my new Book on Missional Hermeneutics.” October 8, 2015 blog post. Accessed online: http://www.michaeljgorman.net/2015/10/08/john-15-and-mission-preview-1-of-my-new-book-on-missional-hermeneutics/.

Gorman, Michael J. “Missional Theosis in the Gospel of John”: The 2016 Didsbury Lectures, October 24-27, 2016, Nazarene Theological College (Didsbury, UK). Accessed online: https://nazarene.ac.uk/community/didsbury-lectures/. I watched the first three lectures (out of a total of four lectures.

Lenski, R. C. H. The Interpretation of St. John’s Gospel 11-21 (Commentary on the New Testament series). Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2008, 1942: p. 1031-1032. Accessed online at Google Books. Read a brief portion as part of my study of John 15:3.

Morris, Leon. The Gospel According to John (New International Commentary on the New Testament). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1971: comments on John 15:1-16.

Pink, Arthur W. The Gospel of John (Faithful Classic). Prisbrary Publishing. iBooks Version: p. 1502-1554.

Ryle, J. C. The Gospel of John (Faithful Classic). Prisbrary Publishing. iBooks Version: p. 495-513.

Witherington, III, Ben. John’s Wisdom: A Commentary on the Fourth Gospel. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1995: especially p. 254-260.

More in A Vision for Spiritual Vitality

January 14, 2018

Life in the Vine Part 2

January 7, 2018

Life in the Vine Part 1