God can use the least likely situations to accomplish fruit in the disciple, John 15:8Title: God can use the least likely situations to accomplish fruit in the disciple, John 15:8.
John 15:1 I am the true vine [dependable vine means that He rests on the tress work of the Father], and My Father is the vinedresser.
John 15:2"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.
John 15:3"You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.
John 15:4"Abide in Me, and I in you [ECS]. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
John 15:5"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.
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.
John 15:7"If you abide in Me, and My words [all this doctrine] abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you.
If you desire to ask [which will be according to the will of the Father because you abide in the vine] it will come to pass for you.
Corrected: /John 15:7If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, if you desire to ask it will come to pass for you. \
John 15:8"By this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.
Clearly stated here is that the Father is glorified when we bear much fruit.
“fruit” – divine good production.
The Father is the vinedresser. The vinedresser is the one who cultivates the land, prunes the branches, makes healthy soil, protects the vine from parasites, etc.
The soil is the grace PPOG which the Father authored in eternity past. Living in the plan produces fruit and so the plan’s Author is glorified.
/Matt 13:23 And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit, and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty." \
/Divine good – application of metabolized doctrine under the power of the Spirit, motivated by love for God, and directed by the word of God.\
/Human good: a thought, word or action motivated by love for self, guided by human viewpoint, and empowered by the sin nature.\
What seems to be good is not always good. Wrong motivation can take what is well meaning sincerity to do good and turn it into evil.
/1 Cor 4:5 Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men's hearts; and then each man's praise will come to him from God. \
Therefore, spiritual growth is the key to producing divine good and so it is the plan, the doctrine, and the power of the Spirit that gets glorified and not so much the deed itself.
John 15:8"By this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.
/ “proves” – future middle indicative of ginomai [ginomai] = to become, to come into existence, to begin to be. “and become My disciples.”\
You do not prove to others that you are a disciple. There are no fruit inspectors in the CWL. In fact the disciple may not be known to others since part of the uniqueness of the CA is that we become invisible heroes.
/Future tense – at the point of momentum for fruit bearing which occurs at spiritual adulthood. \
/Middle voice – the believer benefits greatly by being a disciple in terms of escrow blessings. \
The middle voice also tells us that you cannot become a disciple on your own. You need help. Help comes from God the Holy Spirit as He makes the doctrine understandable to you.
/Indicative mood – Dogmatic fact; when the believer is producing much fruit he is a disciple.\
/ “disciple” – mathetes [mathetes] = disciple, pupil, adherent, a disciplined student of doctrine.\
It is interesting that this word does not occur in the Greek translation of the OT called the Septuagint or LXX. There is no Hebrew equivalent to this word since God commissioned the entire nation to learn His will.
In your NAS you will find the word disciple and disciples used by Isaiah three times, but not in the context that Christ is describing here, where there is a Master and a student whose life is dedicated to the instruction from the Master. This is a NT concept.
Often we see similarities of Israel and the Church, but God directs His affection to the nation of Israel as a whole while the target of His affection in the Church is always the individual.
We see this in many instances:
/Election, betrothal, learner, blessing come to the nation of Israel while in the Church these are all individual.\
Isa 45:4 For the sake of Jacob My servant, And Israel My chosen one, I have also called you by your name; I have given you a title of honor Though you have not known Me.
Isa 54:5 "For your husband is your Maker, Whose name is the Lord of hosts; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel, Who is called the God of all the earth.
Isa 46:3 Listen to Me, O house of Jacob [the learner is the nation], And all the remnant of the house of Israel, You who have been borne by Me from birth, And have been carried from the womb;
/Gen 12:2 And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; \
/Hag 2:19 'Is the seed still in the barn? Even including the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree, it has not borne fruit. Yet from this day on I will bless you.'" \
Almost every nation that ruled them from this time onward was pro-Semitic. And, for the next 400+ years Judea was being set up for the Advent of her Messiah. Would Jesus have come to a destroyed Jerusalem? Would He have come to a Jerusalem that wasn’t filled with Jews? How could He offer the Kingdom to them if they weren’t there to receive it?
[Quick history]
The prophets of the OT did not have disciples. Elisha was an assistant to Elijah and when the mantle was placed on him he had the power of the prophet. Joshua succeeded Moses and all power was divinely endowed to him at that time.
But in the NT Church we have the relation of the Master and disciple. No PT is a master, but he is a teacher of the Master’s mind and as such is honored, but in no way does anyone else besides the King of kings become your Master and you His student.
Therefore the Church is unique to the OT in this way as well as many other ways. No one lays hands on you or puts a mantle on you and suddenly you are filled up with all the fullness of Christ. In the Church the fullness of Christ must be learned and metabolized over time through dedication to the word of God as a disciplined student. Years are involved in fulfilling our personal destiny and those years are spent as a student. It is not like Elisha or Joshua who were ordained to power in a moment.
/1 Cor 13:13 But now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love. “hope” – elpis [elpis] = confident expectation of future blessing, i.e. “enjoy the ride!” \
The believer or disciple who remains positive has great joy as he looks into the future while still living in the present.
One can see how this part of the OT has infiltrated the Church along with other distractions. People want the quick fix so false preachers and fake healers do their thing by laying on of hands and then the person leaps up and shouts in tongues or says he’s got the second anointing or some other crap. And that’s just what it is. These distractions have stolen the real significance of the word of God as the living mind of Christ to which the disciplined student or mathetes submits to in humility and teachability.
Tell a common person that we have church 5 times a week. They think we’re insane. But a student, a disciple is someone who submits to the teaching of the Master every day.
A form of discipleship that was not ordained by God was put into practice in the generations immediately preceding the first Advent of Christ.
It is only after the influence of Greek culture around 220 BC that schools of philosophy are developed where Rabbi’s teach in a master disciple type environment. Hillel and Shammai became popular schools of Jewish philosophy concerning the Mosaic Law.
The return of the exiles from Babylonian captivity by Cyrus the Persian king, who was pro-Semitic, reestablished Judea, but one that was governed by the Persians from afar though the Jews enjoyed a great measure of sovereignty.
You must bolster your faith in the word of God for this was prophesized by the prophet Isaiah.
Isa 45:1 Thus says the Lord to Cyrus His anointed, Whom I have taken by the right hand, To subdue nations before him, And to loose the loins of kings; To open doors before him so that gates will not be shut:
/Cyrus was a believer in the false gods of the Phallic Cult. He was anointed to do the will of God though an unbeliever. God the Father is the Master of the divine decree. \
Isa 45:2"I will go before you and make the rough places smooth; I will shatter the doors of bronze, and cut through their iron bars.
Isa 45:3"And I will give you the treasures of darkness, And hidden wealth of secret places, In order that you may know that it is I, The Lord, the God of Israel, who calls you by your name.
Isa 45:4"For the sake of Jacob My servant, And Israel My chosen one, I have also called you by your name; I have given you a title of honor Though you have not known Me.
Isa 45:5 "I am the Lord, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God. I will gird you, though you have not known Me;
Isa 45:6That men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun That there is no one besides Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other,
Isa 45:7The One forming light and creating darkness, Causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the Lord who does all these.
Isa 45:8"Drip down, O heavens, from above, And let the clouds pour down righteousness; Let the earth open up and salvation bear fruit, And righteousness spring up with it. I, the Lord, have created it.
Still in view is the return of the exiles. The temple is rebuilt. The walls are rebuilt. Soon enough the idols are removed from Judea and the city is ripe for the coming of her Messiah. It is unfortunate that another evil brewed after the idols were removed and that was Mosaic Law arrogance. However, in view of God’s faithfulness in His election of the nation an unbeliever, Cyrus, is used by God to set the stage for the coming of the Son of Man.
And just so you don’t think I’m getting to liberal with my interpretation of verse 8, I will read for you the commentary by Albert Barnes’ in 1851.
That is, as a result of the benefits that shall follow from the rescue of the people from their captivity and exile. The mind of the prophet is carried forward to future times, and he sees effects from that interposition, as striking as if the heavens should distil righteousness; and sees the prevalence of piety and happiness as if they should spring out of the earth. It may be designed primarily to denote the happy results of their return to their own land, and the peace and prosperity which would ensue.
/But there is a beauty and elevation in the language which is better applicable to the remote and distant consequences of their return-the coming and reign of the Messiah. (Albert Barnes) \
/God can use anyone or anything to establish your election. Your responsibility is to simply remain positive towards His word and the ministry of God the Holy Spirit.\
The return of the exiles is the time of Nehemiah who was granted governor by Cyrus and Ezra who was granted head of state and charged with the temple function. The key issue is that no Jewish king was allowed to establish sovereignty over Judea ever again and the nation state was more or less governed by the temple priests and specifically the high priest. |