John 15:1-3 “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 bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean (pruned) because of the word which I have spoken to you. Here, we see the Father as the person who prunes the grape vine. When you see the word clean in verse 3, it should really be translated pruned because that is how the Greek word was translated in the previous verse. There are several things you see here. First, the Father wants to prune us so that we will bear more fruit. In verse 3, we see that the way that the Father prunes us is BY USING THE SPOKEN WORD OF GOD. We know that the Word of God is a sword from Hebrews 4:12, Revelation 19, and other places. He uses the SWORD to cut the things from us that KEEP THE FRUIT from growing as it should. This is one of Jesus last conversations with His disciples during His earthly ministry. The disciples have been with Jesus for three and one half years. Jesus has been SPEAKING to them during this time, and now Jesus is declaring them PRUNED (or cleaned) The Father has been PRUNING them the whole time they have sat under Jesus teaching. John and James, by this time, are no longer arguing about who is the greatest. That type of thinking HAS BEEN PRUNED or CUT AWAY from their minds. John, we see by now, refers to Himself as the DISCIPLE THAT JESUS LOVED. He sees things as Jesus sees them. When Jesus looks at John, He loves him. John now sees Himself as Jesus sees him. His thinking is now transformed to think like Jesus thinks. So by this time, when we look at the disciples, we are looking at a group of TRANSFORMED PEOPLE, just like Paul talks about in Romans 12:1, 2. They have been TRANSFORMED by the RENEWING OF THEIR MIND (their thoughts) by listening to the words that Jesus SPOKE to them. These men are now a transformed group of people, they have been SET ASIDE as VESSELS fit for the Masters use, just as Paul wrote below: 2 Tim 2:20,21 But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. 21 Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work Notice the phrase Paul uses in verse 21: Cleanses himself Its the same type of word that Jesus uses in John 15:3. But now, Paul is speaking of the person who CLEANSES himself. What does this mean? Paul is saying, JUST LIKE THE ORIGINAL TWELVE were now CLEAN (pruned) and ready for the Masters use, you too can CLEANSE yourself. How? By SPEAKING GODS WORD so that you HEAR IT, just like the original twelve disciples did. You see, when you SPEAK, you engage your heart AND your mind. We know that the heart reacts to what it hears, for we read elsewhere, that FAITH comes by HEARING, and HEARING by the Word of God. And what we hear also has the greatest effect on our minds as well. By SPEAKING GODS WORD, we engage both our hearts AND our minds, and we begin to both BELIEVE and THINK in a new way, like Jesus thinks and believes. How did Jesus now see His disciples, now that they have been transformed? John 17:16,17 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. Jesus saw them AS NOT OF THIS WORLD any longer, due to the cleaning, pruning process performed by the WORDS He SPOKE to them. Then He prays that they be SANCTIFIED. How? By GODS WORD. So SPEAKING Gods Word will not only TRANSFORM YOU, it will help you STAY TRANSFORMED, STAY SET ASIDE for the Masters use. It is Gods Word which sanctifies. We just have to STAY in IT, and MAKE SURE IT REMAINS in our mouths. He will continue to use His Word to cause us to continue to be set aside and ready to be used at any time. This is Gods explanation of sanctification. Now, what can God do with such a person? Well, shortly after this conversation, Jesus was crucified and then rose from the dead, and ascend into Heaven. So we see these transformed disciples praying as one in Acts 2. The Father fills them with His Spirit, and then USES THEM in a VERY POWERFUL WAY. - Peter preaches a sermon where around 3000 people are saved - Peter and John command a lame person to walk in Jesus Name, causing a city wide revival - Peter preaches another sermon where 2000 people are saved. - Peter prays and a dead person comes back to life - The Lord shared the HUGE revelation with Peter that He wanted to also save Gentiles, which opened the door for PAULs ministry. and on and on. So you can see how God used this one SET ASIDE VESSEL, Peter, in a VERY POWERFUL WAY. And we are not even considering how He used the OTHER ones in the beginning days of the Church. The Lord would say to you: If you consider Peters ministry successful, and would like to see that SAME success in your own ministry, do what Peter did. Spend time with Me daily, like Peter did, and HEAR the Words I say, by SPEAKING My Word into your heart. For I am NO respecter of persons, and I will use you to shake the world, just like I used Peter, if you will do the SAME THINGS PETER DID.
Posted on: Fri, 02 Jan 2015 18:16:06 +0000
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