John 15:7-8

September 28, 2014

If were going to understand John 15:7 its important that we keep what weve learned so
far in the forefront of our minds. Jesus says, If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you,
ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. So, here we have a blank check from
Christ to do with as we wish. Ask what you want, and it shall be done unto you. And
millions of people question their faith every year when they ask and dont receive.
Maybe its their own faults for not believing enough or maybe theyve got the wrong
intentions and need to work on that until they get it right. Theyll know theyve finally
got it right, of course, when they finally get what theyve asked God to do. Or maybe for
some people the fault lies with God. Perhaps hes not as powerful as we thought, or
worse, maybe hes not even there.

How do we answer such criticisms, and how are we to protect ourselves? Well, the
answer, as always, is found in seeing that all of Scripture is a revelation of Jesus Christ,
and its found by keeping the verse within the context first intended by the author.

First, I want you to notice that this verse forms a bookend with 14:13: And whatsoever ye
shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. We
discussed this verse some weeks back, and the point is still the same. The disciples are
with Jesus in the private room just before his crucifixion. Judas has already left, and Jesus
prepares the rest for life after his departure. Its a source of comfort for them to know
that Gods work on earth will continue despite the fact that Jesus wont be here bodily.

He is leaving, and theres nothing they can do to stop it, but they shouldnt want to stop
it because this is the plan from the beginning. Christ has come to obey the Father in
spilling his own blood, and that blood will be the redemption of all Gods people.
Moreover, when he leaves, he wont leave them comfortless: the Holy Spirit that was
promised by Joel (2:26; Acts 2:17) will soon be on the scene, and the time of the New
Covenant will begin.

But this is going to be a tough transition for them because he wont be seen by the world.
Even the disciples wont literally be able to lay eyes on him, but If a man love me, he will
keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode
with him (Jn. 14:23). The disciples will see him when the rest of the world cant
because he lives within them and they live in him!

So, you see, this is a passage about comfort. Christ wont be on earth bodily, but his
ministry continues, and thats made evident by the disciples obedience: If a man love
me, he will keep my words. This is the evidence of the Kings kingdom on earth: his
subjects obey him.

And even here we see the revelation of Jesus Christ rather than the works of men.
Believers will live simply because Christ himself lives, and they will keep the
commandments because they love Christ, and because they are loved by the Father (v.
19-21). The Holy Spirit will come to teach and remind them about everything Jesus said,
and hell empower them to walk in a worthy manner and to obey whats required.

Their ability to keep his commandments is Gods power and their motivation is love: he
first loved us while we were sinners, and died for us, so now we love him because of what
hes done in our hearts. Its an issue of fruit, and that brings us to chapter 15:

I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
2
Every branch in me that beareth not
fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring
forth more fruit.
3
Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
4
Abide in
me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more
can ye, except ye abide in me.
5
I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I
in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
6
If a man abide
not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them
into the fire, and they are burned (Jn. 15:1-6).

The illustration he chooses is that of a vine and its branches. Weve already covered these
verses, and we talked last week about the vine imagery in the Old Testament. Spiritual
fruit is the evidence of his presence. He proves his rule through the righteous conduct of
those who are his; they produce whatever their vine produces because of union:

7
If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be
done unto you.

You see, its not a verse about getting whatever you want; the disciples desire is to
please God and to do what branches do. It makes me think of what James says in his little
letter: If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and
upbraideth not; and it shall be given him (Jas. 1:5). These people were showing favoritism
and cursing men and thinking they could have faith without works. They were thinking
exactly the opposite of what Jesus was teaching in John 14 and 15. So James tells them to
ask for wisdom:

Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both
yield salt water and fresh.
13
Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let
him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.
14
But if ye have
bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.
15
This wisdom
descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.
16
For where envying and strife is,
there is confusion and every evil work.
17
But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then
peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality,
and without hypocrisy.
18
And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make
peace (Jas. 3:12-18).

James got it! He understood that fruit is necessary if youre connected to the vine, and he
understood what Jesus meant when he said ask and receive. Its not, Ask for a
Lamborghini and its guaranteed or ask for a cure and Im obligated to give it. Its Ive
left but Im not gone. Im still at work on Gods kingdom, and my disciples will receive
everything they need for their spiritual life. They are clean, and they are pruned. When
they speak, I listen. When they request, I grant.

Now, that makes me think of Pauls request in Corinthians for the thorn to be removed
from his flesh (2 Cor. 12:7). Someone might point to this to show that Christs disciples
dont always get what they request, and Ill agree thats true, but note what did happen
in the rest of the conversation:

But He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness. Therefore, I
will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may reside in me
(v. 9).

Paul said, I dont like whats happening! Please take it away! And the Lord responded, I
am the vine, and you are a branch. Your weakness makes way for my power. Rest in my
grace and be content with what I give you. And did Paul not receive wisdom in this? Did
he not receive what he desired? Therefore I will most gladly boast!

We can look at another place in the New Testament that shows the same thing:

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
8
For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it
shall be opened.
9
Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a
stone?
10
Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?
11
If ye then, being evil, know how to give
good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good
things to them that ask him? (Mt. 7:7-11).

Here again we find a verse thats so often misused to teach people that God has to give
them whatever they want. And we see these entire ministries centered around
demanding from God, but whats the context? That whole chapter is about true salvation
in comparison to the dead religion of the Pharisees: dont give dogs what is sacred, ask,
seek, and knock, enter the narrow gate, watch out for false prophets and false disciples,
and build your hope on the rock. These arent independent stories that bounce randomly
from one theme to the other; theyre all connected and stress the same point. The
Pharisees were a hindrance to those who would enter the kingdom of God. They laid a
yoke across their necks and put them in bondage, but Jesus says its for the asking for his
disciples! He is the vine; why would he not give whats needed to his branches? He is
enough, and his disciples bear fruit through him.

In Luke 11 theres a very similar passage:

And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight,
and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves;
6
For a friend of mine in his journey is come to
me, and I have nothing to set before him?
7
And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble
me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee.
8
I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of
his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.
9
And I say unto you, Ask, and
it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
10
For every
one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be
opened.
11
If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if
he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?
12
Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a
scorpion?
13
If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much
more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? (Lk. 11:5-13).

This passage follows the Lords Prayer which asks for daily bread and deliverance from
evil. You see, its not carte blanche for all our desires; its not excess and luxury; God
gives his children everything they need to walk in a manner worthy of our calling. The
only way for a branch to stay out of the fire is to bear fruit, but he hasnt left us to it by
ourselves. We will ask, and he will give what is necessary.

8
Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.

Here is the reason they can ask and receive: the Father is glorified when he takes these
dead branches and gives them ability to bear fruit.

Theres this idea that sort of goes in the opposite direction of the faith teachings. They
might say that God gives you all the necessary resources to be holy, but really its up to
you to see it through. You are, in essence, responsible for your own sanctification, and its
really just another form of Arminianism. The idea itself puts the branches before the vine
and men before God. But God does it all, and theres nothing he left out. This is how its
all for his glory and never for our own.

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9
Not
of works, lest any man should boast.
10
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus
unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
11
Wherefore
remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by
that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;
12
That at that time ye were
without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the
covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
13
But now in Christ
Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
14
For he is our
peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between
us;
15
Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in
ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
16
And that he
might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:
17
And
came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.
18
For
through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
19
Now therefore ye are no
more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
20
And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being
the chief corner stone;
21
In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy
temple in the Lord:
22
In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through
the Spirit (Eph. 2:8-22).

You see, Paul didnt just teach the Ephesians that they were saved by grace through faith;
he went on to show that theyre at peace by faith and included in the household of God
by it. They are a part of the habitation of God through the Spirit! Thats a very important
part of understanding what it means to be a branch in the vine. This is spiritual fruit
gained by spiritual means.

Paul asks, O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth,
before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?
2
This only
would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
3
Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? (Gal.
3:1-3).

One of the verses thats sometimes brought up to make men work in the flesh is
Philippians 2:12, but usually verse 13 is left off:
Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much
more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
13
For it is God
which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
14
Do all things without
murmurings and disputings:
15
That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God,
without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights
in the world (Phil. 2:12-15).

Think of this within the context of the vine imagery from John 15. Bear fruit because the
vine is bearing fruit through you. The command is there, but so is the power and
motivation. They shine like stars, but its not because theyve come so far in the flesh; its
purely because God works in them the desire and the ability to do the things that please
him.

How about we go over to Hebrews?
Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd
of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
21
Make you perfect in every good
work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus
Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. (Heb. 13:20-21).

You see, here it is again: God does the work because, Herein is my Father glorified.

We could go on, but I hope Ive made the point clear by now. Lets close with one last
verse from the Old Testament:

Therefore thus saith the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob, Jacob
shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale.
23
But when he seeth his
children, the work of mine hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name, and
sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel.
24
They also that erred in spirit
shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine (Is. 29:22-24).

May we ask and receive the spiritual fruit that gives us understanding to the glory of the
Father!

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