Shalom dear brothers and sisters. We are studying in the book of John, the Gospel of John. We are in this ministry meeting dealing with John chapter 15 and verses 1 to 17. Once again, to remind us all that in the Gospel of John, and through the Gospel of John, Yohanan, God, by His Spirit, seeking to emphasize the fact that the Lord Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah, is a divine person. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Verse 14 of John 1: "The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." This wonderful, wonderful, wonderful passage, teaching us that when God would come down to this world to provide redemption, He will enter through the virgin birth, and He will come to be born of a woman, the Immanuel, who would come to this world as the perfect, sinless man, who will pay for the sin of this world." And so, as we have studied in the last 14th chapter of the Gospel of Yohanan, that is John, we have learned once and again that Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah, called Himself the "I Am." "I am the bread of life," in John 6.

"I am the light of the world," John 8. "I am the door," John 10. "I am the good shepherd," John 10. "I am the resurrection and the life," John 11. "I am the way, the truth, and the life," John 14. And now, beloved brothers and sisters, we have arrived to this 15th chapter, in which Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah, calls Himself "Divine." "I am the true vine." And so, this is so precious. The sevenfold "I am," found in this Gospel, which presents before us the truth that Yeshua HaMashiach, Jesus the Messiah, is indeed the great I am, the eternal Son of God, of whom we read at the end of the Gospel of John, in John chapter 20, and verse 30 and 31, "Many other signs truly did Yeshua in the presence of His disciples," which are not written in this book.

This is the book, the Gospel of Yohanan, John. But these are written, these are the eight miracles that Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah, made and recorded in the Gospel of John. These are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, that Yeshua is the Mashiach, the Son of God, Ben HaElohim, and that believing ye might have life through His name. Here we are, beginning in chapter 15, and the first 17 verses of John chapter 15, we are taught by the Spirit of God, that the disciples, the followers of the Lord Jesus the Messiah, are looked upon and are seen, on the one hand, as branches, that need to abide in the vine in order to bring fruit, and on the other hand, as friends, in Hebrew, which are exhorted to obey their Lord.

These are the two thoughts that we have here, in the first 17 verses of John chapter 15. Let me read, to read together with you all, dear brothers and sisters and dear friends, 17 verses of John chapter 15. We read in verse 1, I am the true vine, and my father is the husband man. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit is taken away, and every branch that beareth fruit, he purchased it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean, through the word which I have spoken unto you, abide in me, and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abides in the vine, no more can ye except ye abide in me.

I am the vine. 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. 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 burnt. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my father glorified, that ye bear much fruit. So shall ye be my disciples. If the father has loved me, as I loved you, continue ye in my love.

If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love, even as I have kept my father's commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, that your joy might be full. This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. The Hebrew word is Chavirim. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants, for the servant knoweth not, what his law doeth, but I have called you friends.

For all things that I have heard of my father, I have made known unto you. Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordain you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain. And whatsoever ye shall ask of the father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I commend you, that ye love one another. And so beloved brothers and sisters and dear friends, this chapter, present before us these two-fold pictures, of those that belong to the Lord Yeshua HaMashiach. God's people, in this present day, of the church age, now that they have followed him and accepted him, and the Lord Jesus the Messiah is sitting in the upper room in the city of Yerushalayim, anticipating soon to go to the shameful altar, to the cross, to become the one that will pay for the sin of this world.

Knowing ahead of time, what is ahead of him, he knew very well, already in chapter 13, as he asked to keep the Passover, with his disciples, in the upper room in the city of Yerushalayim, and he knew very well, that in the midst of the Pesach, that he will fulfill the Pesach, he will become the Passover lamb, he knew that one of them, by the name of Judas, Yehuda Ishkroyot, will betray him. He knew that Satan will enter unto him, and Satan indeed enter unto him. And then he told him to Judas, he said to him, you do, do quickly. John 13 verse 27. Judas, Yehuda Ishkroyot, went out, it was night, and while Yehuda went to sell him, to betray him, Yeshua is preparing his own disciple, whom he has chosen, to begin to prepare the time, in which he will die, will be buried, and rise again, and return to the Father.

Return to heaven. He already taught them in chapter 14, that he will leave them, but he will not leave them comfortless. I will pray the Father, and he will give you another comforter, that he may abide with you forever, chapter 14 and verse 16. He also told his disciples, that were chosen by him, as we have read, in John 15 verse 16, ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and I have ordained you, that ye should go, and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain, he is encouraging his own disciples, to understand, that they will be strengthened, and helped by the Spirit of God, that's why he said to them in John 14 verse 27, Shalom I leave with you, my Shalom I leave unto you, not as the world giveth, he says, the world does not give the same peace, the same Shalom that I give, he said, let not your heart be troubled.

Now when we arrive to chapter 15, in the first 17 verses, Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah, is instructing, his disciples to realize, that they are as branches, that are linked to the vine, and he is the true vine, and that they are friends, and that they are friends, that he called them friends, and that they are to stay close to him, if they will be able to be sustained here, in this world, while he is preparing himself to depart, going back to heaven from where he came, but it is through the shameful Roman cross, where he will pay for their sins, and the sins of this world. And so, it is important portion here, in John chapter 15, and sadly, many mistaken, here, in the first few verses of this chapter, by not recognizing the truth, that the Lord Jesus here, does not so much deal, of the way of salvation, because he already has said to the disciples, that they are all clean.

Every whit. He has already said this to them earlier, in chapter 13. So they are all forgiven. But they all need to stay close to him, in order to be fruitful for God, as you and I need to do so, today in our lives, as believers in Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah, during this church age. And so you notice, in the first 11 verses, he is dealing with the fact, that God's people are branches, that are part of the vine, and in order to bring fruit, they must abide in the vine. Then from verse 12 to 17, God's people are, as looked upon as friends, Chavirim, the friends of the Lord.

And they need to keep, close to him, and not only to abide, but also to obey, their Lord. This is an area, that you and I need so much grace, because many times, we do not abide, close to the Lord. No wonder, there is no fruit in our life. And many times, we do not obey the Lord, and that's why, we are often unhappy, and are not enjoying fellowship, with our Lord Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah, in the power of the Holy Spirit of God, the Comforter, which have already come, when the assembly, the church was born, in the Feast of Shavuot, the Feast of Week, some 2000 years ago.

And so notice this, in chapter 15, in verse 1, Jesus the Messiah, make a declaration, "I am the vine, my father is the husbandman." In other words, "I am the true vine, and my father is the husbandman." In Hebrew it says, "Anochi gefen haemet." The vine always spoke of the nation of Israel, as a nation. As we read it in the Psalms, Psalm 80, in Isaiah chapter 5, Israel was to be the vine, in order to bring fruit for God, in the history of the nation of Israel. But as we know, Israel had failed to bring the fruit, that God had demanded, from the nation of Israel. And let us not forget, that when we look at ourselves today, as part of the church, we can say also, that the fruit that we, that the church should have brought, we failed to bring it, as God wanted it from his own people.

So when it comes to the responsibility, of the nation of Israel, or the church, failure is upon man, because of, oftentimes, lack of fellowship with the Lord, lack of abiding close to the Lord, and lack of obedience to the Lord. There is a verse that we read in Psalm 80, which is a very interesting verse, that is found there, concerning the nation of Israel. In Psalm 80, we read, concerning the Lord himself. Psalm 80, verse 8, we read, "Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt, thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it, thou hast prepared room before it, and it caused it to take deep root, and it filled the land.

The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the bows thereof were like the goodly cedars." Continue to read in verse 11, "She sent out her bows unto the sea, and her branches unto the rivers." But you know, as we read, and continue on, we find out that vine, that came out of Egypt, did not necessarily submitted to the Lord. We read in verse 12, "Why hast thou then broken down her hedges, so that all they that pass by the way do pluck her? The bore out of the wood doth waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it. Return, we beseech thee, O God of hosts, look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine, and the vineyard which thy right hand hath planted, and the branches that thou madest strong for thyself.

It is burnt with fire. It is cut down. They perish at the rebuke of thy countenance. Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the son of man whom thou madest strong for thyself. So will not we go back from thee. Quicken us, and we will call upon thy name. Turn us again, O Lord God of hosts. Cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved." But you see, in the second part of this, Psalm 80 verses 8 to 19, we can see that the reason that the bows thereof, the hedges thereof, are broken down, and so on, is because Israel disobeyed, and violated the word of God.

God has sought to bless the nation of Israel, but Israel as a nation failed. And that's why the Mashiach, Messiah Yeshua said, now he is the true really, the one who representing the nation of Israel. I am the true vine. And my father, he is the husband man. He is the vine dresser. And now notice what we read here, in these next verses, while Yeshua is really presenting himself as the true vine, the true Israel, while Israel, the nation failed, Israel, the man, the son of man, the Messiah himself, the prince of God, did not fail. And here he is presenting himself as the true vine.

I am the true vine. He continued now speaking to the disciples in the upper room, and perhaps even was speaking with them as they have left the upper room on the way to the garden of Gats Shmanim. And why we say it? Because at the last verse of chapter 14, Yeshua, Jesus, the Messiah, said to the disciples that remained with him in the upper room, the 11 and him, he said, Arise, and let us go hence, going towards the garden of Gethsemane, Gats Shmanim, the place where the oil is being pressed. The olive is pressed and the oil is created there for the blessing of the nation.

And here we can see that while he's asking everyone to rise up, he began to teach the truth of the vine and the branches and the necessity to abide close to the vine, close to him. The disciples will have to understand it. And you and I need to understand it today. If we will ever be able to bring fruit for God, one must abide, stay close to the Lord. And you notice what he said in verse 2. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away. And every branch that beareth fruit, he purges it, that it may bring forth more fruit. So the branches are all that belong to the Lord.

Every branch in me, not this expression in me. Now I know that the apostle Shaul Paul used the expression in Christ, in Christ, in Christ for believers. And there he's speaking about the positional truth that all believers that are in Christ Jesus, in the Messiah Yeshua, new creation. Second Corinthians 5:17. All become new. Now here the Lord using this expression in me, not so much in a sense of teaching the truth of eternal security while it is true. Here is teaching the truth of the necessity of those who are already eternally secure and belong to him, to have fellowship, to stay close to him in order to bring fruit in their life.

That's why beloved brothers and sisters and dear friends, many times we as believers are lacking bearing fruit because we are not staying close to the vine. So every branch in me that bears not fruit, he taketh away. The thought he is not so much taking away in just cutting it and so on, but lifting it up and dealing with it in discipline. It's dealing with the branches that need to be corrected. In anyone who work in a farm know very well if there are sometimes there is a need for pruning in order to bring more fruit. And that is what the thought here that we have here in John chapter 15 and verse 2.

The father is that vine dresser, the husband man. He works in pruning and cultivating the branches. And it is so important to understand, beloved brothers and sisters, that you and I are linked to God, linked to the Lord Jesus the Messiah in two types of relationship. The link of union and the link of communion. The link of union is once and for all the moment that we are in Christ, in the Messiah, we belong to him. You have already said in John chapter 10, "My sheep hear my voice and I know them and I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish." You remember this?

In John 10 and verse 27. And I give unto them, in verse 28, "I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish and neither shall any man pluck them out of my hands. My father which gave them to me is greater than all and no man is able to pluck them out of my father's hands. I and my father are one." So it is not an issue here in John 15. An issue of salvation is an issue of cultivating and pruning in order to bear fruit for God. And that is why when Yeshua said in John 15:1, "I am divine man, my father is the husband man, every branch in me that bears not fruit he is taking away." The thought here is cultivating.

He is pruning. He is dealing with the branches that don't bear fruit. And every branch that bears fruit he purges it and that it will bring even more fruit. And then he continues and he says, beloved brothers and sisters in verse 3, "Now ye are clean." "Through the word which I have spoken unto you." So it is important to understand, my dear friend, that the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, does not teach the disciples the possibility of one to lose his or her salvation. He is not speaking here about salvation. He is dealing here with believers whom God will deal with in order that the people of God, the redeemed individuals will bring fruit and more fruit.

You notice in verse 2, the first part, he is speaking about bearing fruit. In verse 2b at the end, he is speaking about more fruit. So when he is speaking about taking away and later on, a little bit later on, casting it to the fire. He doesn't mean that a believer will be lost. He is speaking about the fire of challenges and difficulties at which the Lord will bring upon his people in discipline. And not the subject of salvation in John chapter 15. And so as we continue on, notice that we have these two relationships that every true believer has with the Lord Yeshua the Messiah. The union is once and for all the moment we have accepted him.

The communion has to do with our fellowship and our enjoyment in our relationship with the Lord day by day. So the Lord assured the disciples there that they are positionally clean. Yeah, clean. How they became clean, saved, forgiven? Through the word which I have spoken unto you. In other words, the Lord already spoken to them. And he said to them in John chapter 13 and verse 10. He have already said, Jesus said unto him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit. And ye are clean. But then he said, but not all because he was speaking of Judah's Ishkroyot, who have now left the upper room to go to sell the Lord and to betray Yeshua the Messiah.

So this is important. Now notice from here on in verse 4, the Lord is using the word abide in the Greek is meno. In the Hebrew, it is heiud vekim, be like glue. And he using some more than 10 times the word abide in the next verses here in John chapter 15. And how important it is to abide, to stay glued, to be close, to remain close to the Lord, to continue with him. In a time in which he is despised and rejected. And there are many disappointments in the life of God's people. How important it is for every believer in the Lord, Yeshua the Messiah, to seek the help of the Lord, to stay close to him.

To be a help to others who need encouragement to stay close to Yeshua the Messiah in their life. In their life when there are so many difficulties and opposition and discouragement and divisions among God's people. How important it is for us to encourage one another to abide, to stay close, to be glued to the Lord, Yeshua the Messiah in our day by day living. Satan attacks God's people. Satan attacks God's people. The world is tempting God's people. The flesh is hindering God's people. And we as believers in the Lord, Yeshua the Messiah, need the grace of God and the help of the Spirit of God to abide close to him and to abide in Yeshua, in him.

So notice in the next verses, beloved brothers and sisters, we find out the Lord is telling and instructing the disciples. On the upper room and on the way out from there towards the garden of Gat Shmanim. He says in verse 4, abide in me. And I knew, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abides in the vine, no more can ye except ye abide in me. You and I cannot. He's saying to the disciples, you and I cannot. You can never bear fruit unless you abide in me. And you and I today, beloved brothers and sisters, unless we abide close to Yeshua the Messiah, we cannot bear fruit for God.

And he's very clearly teaching this to the disciples the importance of continuing and remaining close to him and having fellowship with him. You notice in verse 5, here's once again, the Lord Yeshua is saying, I am the vine. Remember in verse 1, verse 1, he already said, I am the true vine. And now he's continuing in verse 5 and he says, I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me and I in him the same bringeth forth much fruit. And he used this expression at the end of verse 5, for without me, ye can do nothing. Without me, ye can do nothing. You see, beloved brothers and sisters, it is not possible for God's people to do anything for God unless God's people are staying close to our Lord Yeshua the Messiah.

But you notice how amazing it is. Because in verse 5, Yeshua repeats once again the fact that he is, I am the vine. To remind you, Yeshua presenting himself here once again as the eternal son of God, as the great I am. He has already mentioned in the earlier presentation when he was teaching his disciples and the people in the land of Israel, I am the bread of life. I am the light of the world. I am the door. I am the good shepherd. I am the resurrection and the life. I am the way, the truth and the life. I am the vine. I am the vine.

John 15, verse 5, the seven I am that we are presented with once and again as we continue on in the study of this gospel that present the Lord Jesus, the Messiah is the eternal son of God. And so, I am the vine, ye are the branches. You see the link? There is a link that every true believer, the disciples here, and every one of us who is born of the Holy Spirit of God, we have entered into this union with the Lord. We became part, the parcel that belonged to him, and he wants from those that belong to him, who are called here by him branches, that the branches will abide in him.

He that abides in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. You notice, in verse 2, the people of God are called to bear fruit. In verse 2, at the end, the people of God are called to bear much fruit. And here, once again, he that abides in me and I in him, the same beareth much fruit. There is a verse in Philippians, chapter 1 and verse 11, where the apostle Shaul Paul challenged the Philippians by saying to them, "...being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, by Yeshua HaMashiach unto the glory and the praise of God." And that is what God desired from his own people, to bring fruit for him.

And then you notice what Yeshua is saying in verse 5 at the end, "Because without me ye can do nothing." It is not possible to do anything without the Lord. Shaul Paul later on, when he preached the gospel and taught believers in Philippi, he said to the Philippians concerning himself. And applying this to them and to you and I today in Philippians 4, verse 13, he says, "...I can do all things, but through the Mashiach Christ, which strengthened me." And here the Lord said earlier, long before Shaul became a believer in the Lord Yeshua the Messiah, he said to the disciples in the upper room, he said, "Really, without me you can do nothing." There is nothing that you and I can do without the Lord Jesus the Messiah who will strengthen us and help us in our walk here in this world.

Because on our own, the sin nature of ours is so wayward. And as we have already read, in this Gospel of John, in John 3 and verse 19, that men love darkness rather than light. This is the old nature that we all still have. We do have this new nature, the divine nature, which loves to please God, but the old nature loves to please self. And when we are on our own seeking to do anything for God, without me ye can do nothing. The Lord Yeshua the Messiah said to the disciples on the way out of the upper room towards the garden of Gatshmanim, Gatshemenim. And so, beloved brothers and sisters, notice what we read now as he is teaching the disciples the importance of understanding that he is the true vine.

He is the vine. They are the branches, that they are the one that must bring fruit for God in order to do so. They and you and I and every believer must abide in him, must be glued to him. The Greek word meno, staying closer to the Lord Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah, in order to bring fruit for God in this world that is blind. Blind to the things of the Lord. And the fruit for God can be in so many ways. Leading others to come to know the Lord Yeshua the Messiah as we preach the message of the Gospel. It is fruit for God. Shepherding the sheep and encouraging the people of God.

It is a fruit for God. Teaching God's word and ministering the word of God in sincerity and truth. This is fruit for God. Being helpful and assisting in many ways. This is bringing fruit for God. Being forgiving and kind to one another. This is bringing fruit for God. There are so many ways in which each and every one of us are called to bring fruit for God in our lives as believers. But without me, Yeshua said, ye can do nothing. Now notice what we read in verse 6. And this is where often time some take from this verse that there is the possibility for a child of God to lose his or her salvation.

Misunderstanding that the Lord is here. Do not speak about justification or salvation. He is speaking about people who are already saved and are clean. But he is teaching the truth of the importance of abiding in him. Otherwise, they will be disciplined by the Father who is the one that is called the husbandman or divine dresser. So in verse 6 we read, 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 burnt. Now here, beloved brothers and sisters, this verse seems to trouble many to assume that he is now, you see, if we are the branches and then if there is no fruit, if we don't abide in the Lord and there is no fruit, therefore the branch will be cast into the fire and being burnt.

But again, beloved friend, beloved brothers and sisters and dear friend, the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah, do not contradict himself. He has already said in John chapter 10 and verse 27, My sheep hear my voice and I know them and I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish. Perish. And then he continued to say and neither shall any man pluck them out of my hands. My father which gave them to me is greater than all and no man is able to pluck them out of my father's hands. You see, in John chapter 3 and verse 16, we have already read that this testimony for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth on him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.

Well, if a person believes on him and have already everlasting life, how can this everlasting life be taken away from him or from her who have already believed in Yeshua, the Messiah? You see, this is important to understand. In John chapter 6, we read in verse 35, Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never hunger and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. But I said unto you that ye also have seen me and believe not. He continued, he said, all that the father giveth me shall come to me and him that comes to me I will in no wise cast out.

For I came down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me. You see, he continued in verse 39 and 40 of John chapter 6. And this is the father's will which has sent me that of all which he has given me I should lose nothing but should raise it up in the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me that everyone which sears the son and believeth on him may have everlasting life and I will raise him up at the last day. You see, beloved brothers and sisters, it is important to understand it because many times in the life of God's people because of our weakness and failure and disobedience and lack of abiding close to him, believers do not bring fruit at all.

Obviously he is not speaking about unbelievers because unbelievers first of all need to believe in the Lord Yeshua the Messiah in order to be saved. To confess their sins and trust in him and become children of God as many as receive him to them he gave the authority to be called sons and daughters or children of God. So John chapter 1, which were born, not of the will of the flesh, not of the will of men, but of the will of God to be born again. Except a man be born again he shall not see the kingdom of God, John chapter 3. So John 15, Yeshua teaching his redeemed disciples, his saved disciples as anyone who already believe in him, he is teaching the truth of fruit bearing and not the truth of salvation in John chapter 15.

And therefore he is saying, if a man abide not in me, he is cast forth, as it says here, as a branch and is withered and men gather them and cast them into fire and they are burned. And here is God judging, the father judging his people and discipline his own people. And the fire oftentimes in scripture has an application to the discipline that God disciplining his own people. There is a verse in 1st Peter chapter 4 and verse 17, which we read. For the time is come, the judgment must begin at the house of God. The house of God applies to God's people. He judges on people.

And if it first began with us, the house of God, us, the believer, what shall be the end of them that obey not the gospel of God? The unbelievers will be cast into the judgment of eternal punishment, but the believers will be disciplined by the Lord. The Lord, as we read, if any man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch and is withered and men gather them and cast them into fire and they are burned. And so the thought here, beloved, brothers and sisters, has to do with the discipline of God. So we must understand the truth of the eternal security of the people of God, of whom we have already read that the word of the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah, that to them he gave everlasting life.

They are already clean, that's why we have mentioned earlier that you and I, the believers, are linked with the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah, in two ways. In two-fold relationship. Number one, the link of union. This has happened once and for all the moment we have accepted him. But also the link of communion. And that has to do with abiding in him, fellowship with him, submissiveness to him, obedience to him, praying and having fellowship, reading the word and living for the Lord in this world. Abiding in him will bring fruit for God in the believer. The unbeliever cannot abide in the Lord. He or she must first repent of their sins and turn to the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah for salvation.

First of all, become born again, receive the Holy Spirit of God and then they need, as we are all called to abide in him, in the Messiah, in Yeshua. So, as we continue on, in verse 7, Yeshua continued to teach his disciples, "If ye abide in me and my word abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." In other words, he is encouraging the believers, the disciples, to abide and to pray, to fellowship with God. Remember, we have already read in John chapter 14, and verse 13, "And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it." Once again, in verse 7 of chapter 15, Yeshua said, "Ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." And so, the Lord desired to have the people of God as the branches that belong to the vine, to have fellowship with him by prayer, and by praise, and by a communion with the Lord Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah. How wonderful it is, what an exhortation and an encouragement it is for us who belong to him. And so, in the next verses, in verse 8, 9, 10, and 11, the Lord Yeshua continued to tell the disciples in the upper room, "Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit, so shall ye be my disciples." You see, a disciple, a Talmid, is one that is following their Lord, their Master.

To remind you that in the days when Yeshua was there with the disciples in the land of Israel, as a rabbi, as a teacher, there were many who have followed after him. And any rabbi in those days had their followers. But here is the rabbi of rabbis, the teacher of teachers. Here is the true vine, the eternal Son of God becoming the Son of Man, Ben HaAdam, the Mashiach himself. Here he is telling the disciples that the Father is glorified when the disciples of the Lord bring much fruit for God. And again, to remind you that the fruits that God desires from his own people, it is the fruit that will honor him, that will bring blessing to people around.

We read in Scripture concerning the fruit of the Spirit of God in Galatians chapter 5. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. And on and on and on, that is what is the fruit of the Holy Spirit of God as the believer abides close to the Lord Yeshua the Messiah." Here is the progression. In verse 2, fruit. In verse 2b, more fruit. Then later on in verse 5 and verse 8, much fruit. Fruit. More fruit. Much fruit. What God desires in the life. And the fruit for the believer today is that which will honor the Lord and bring blessing to others.

And that God will be glorified in God's people. And Yeshua continuing now in verse 9 and 10, he desires that the believers will continue in his love. As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Continue in my love. Notice the progression. God the Father loved his beloved Son. God the Son. Amazing. I love this expression in John 5 and verse 20 where Yeshua have already said, "For the Father loveth the Son and shows him all things that he himself doeth, and he will show him greater works than these that ye may marvel." The Father loveth the Son. How wonderful. Remind us, of course, of the love of Abraham who loved Yitzchak.

And when God said to Abraham, "Take now thy son, thine only Son, whom thou lovest." Asher Ahavta. Abraham loved Yitzchak. God the Father loved God the Son. There's a love relationship between the Father and the Son. You remember in John chapter 10, the verses concerning, "Therefore does my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again." Notice this is such a beautiful passage in John 10:17. "Therefore does my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again. No man taketh it away from me. I lay it down of myself, that I have a power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.

This commandment have I received of my Father." And here Yeshua is teaching the disciples about the love of the Father who loved him. And so, "I have loved you." Can you imagine of the love of the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah, towards his disciples? Oh, how he loved them! We read in John chapter 11, when Eliezer was raised and Yeshua wept. And you remember the Jewish people that were surrounding the family there by the graveside said, "Behold how he loved him." You know, the Lord loved us all. He loved the whole world. He loved humanity. He loved people. He loved you and I. But there is a specific relationship between the true believers in him.

"So, as the Father loved me, so have I loved you." And then he said, "Continue in my love." Well, the fruit of the Spirit is love. Galatians chapter 5. Love, joy, peace. And the Lord wants the people of God to love one another. To love one another and to continue in his love. To remind you that the love of the Messiah constrains us. Shaul Paul said in the book of Corinthians. The love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. We are to continue in the same love that the Father loved the Son. And the Son loved the people of God. And the believers are to continue.

That is an evidence of the fruit, of bearing fruit for the Lord here in this world. And so, verses 10 and 11. Yeshua continues. "If ye keep my commandment, ye shall abide in my love, even as I have kept my Father's commandment, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy may remain in you, and that your joy might be full." Amazing. Amazing. Let me re-read these two verses. "If ye keep my commandment, ye shall abide in my love, even as I have kept my Father's commandment, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full." Wonderful.

Wonderful. Wonderful. Wonderful encouragement the disciples receive from the Lord. "Continue in my love, and to obey to his commandments." Notice what Yeshua is saying to them in verse 10. "I have kept my Father's commandments. Therefore, as he began in verse 10, if ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love." In other words, we learn from this that abiding in the vine is submitting to his word and to his commandments in the life of God's people. So, beloved brothers and sisters, in verses 1 to 11, God's people are as branches that belong to the vine, and God's people need to abide in the vine. There is privileges and there is responsibility.

The privileges, we belong to him. The responsibility, we are to stay close to the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah, who is indeed the true vine. Ha-gefen ha-amiti, or gefen ha-emet in the Hebrew. And now as we move along into the last verses in this portion of us for this ministry meeting, verses 12 to 17, we see that the Lord is presenting the disciples now not so much only as branches that need to stay close to the vine, but as friends, as haverim in Hebrew, who need to stay close to their Lord and they need to obey their Master and Lord. Notice what we read in verse 12 on. Yeshua continues.

This is my commandment, that ye love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no man than this. Notice that, that a man lay down his life for his friends. You see, Yeshua is moving along from the last portion of the first 11 verses and linking it now from the vine and the branches to the friends that belong to their Master, to their Lord. And so, greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Can you imagine the love that the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, has shown? That's why in verse 12 he says, "This is my commandment that ye love one another as I have loved you." And then he linked that with his love towards us.

And he is saying that the greater love, no man than this, that one will lay down his life for a friend. Now, this is interesting because really, beloved brothers and sisters, we were the Lord's enemies actually. We were at enmity with God. We actually were not necessarily friends. We were enemies. In fact, the apostle Shaul Paul reminded the Roman believers in chapter five, three times in which the apostle Paul mentioned the thought of what we are by nature and how much God did for us by sending the Messiah. Notice that in Romans five, six, we read for when we were without strength. In due time, Mashiach Christ Christ died for the ungodly.

In verse eight, he continued, but God commanded his love towards us that while we were yet sinners, the Messiah died for us. But he continued in verse 10 and he said, "For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son." How much more being reconciled, we shall be reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. Notice the three expressions. In Romans five, verse six, we were without strength. In Romans five, verse eight, we were yet sinners. In Romans five and verse 10, we were enemies. And Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God, as man died for those that had no strength, those that were sinners and those that were his own enemies.

Notice the three times that he's mentioned in Romans five, verse six, Christ died for the ungodly. The Messiah died for the ungodly. Verse eight, Christ died for us who were sinners. The Messiah died for us who were sinners. Verse 10, the death of his sons for his enemies. Of course, he died as man. And so this is amazing. But here, in chapter 15, Yeshua said in verses 12 and 13, This is my commandment, that ye love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no man than this, that he will lay down his life for his friends. Not for his enemies. Not for sinners. Not for one without strength, but for friends.

And then he said in verse 14, ye are my friends. If ye do whatsoever I command you. He calls the disciples his friends. Now remember that this does not mean that we carelessly calling Yeshua my body or my friend. We have to be very careful because he calls us friends. We call him Lord. Adoni, Adonai. But he calls us his friends and he's sharing with us things that he will never share with others. Which you and I will share with the most important person in our lives. Some things that are very important. And that's why Yeshua continues. He said in verse 14, Yeshua said, ye are my friends.

If ye do whatsoever, I command you. So friendship with him is obedience to him. But friendship with the world is enmity against God. That's why he is calling us friends and he doesn't want us to be friends with a world that rejected and despised him. In James chapter 4, James says, ye adulteress, verse 4. And adulteress says, know ye know that friendship with the world is enmity against God. Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is an enemy of God. 1 John 2 tells us, love not the world, nor the things which are in the world. For all that is in the world is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life.

And this is not of the father. James, Yaakov says, the friendship of the world is an enmity with God. That if you will be friend of the world, you will be enemy with God. And it's not that we should not love the world and share the gospel. But to be a friend with the world that reject the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, reject the Messiah, Yeshua himself, reject the word of God and becoming an enemy of God. This is against God. And that's why Yeshua said, you are my friend. If you do whatsoever, I commend you, verse 14. To be friend with the Lord, the Lord calling us friend, that means fellowship with him, submissiveness to his authority.

Then notice the last verses here, verse 15, 16 and 17, where we read, beloved brothers and sisters. Therefore, I call you not servants. For the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth, but I have called you friends, chaverim in Hebrew. Collectively, he's calling to all his own people, friends. Notice that the word friends here is plural, because it's applied to all those that belong to him. He continues and he says, for all things that I have heard of my father, I made known unto you. You know, we have so much information about what the plan and the program and the sovereign God of ours teaches us that the world do not know it.

We have it in the canon of scripture. We have the past history. We have the present history. We have the future history. We have all spread before us in the word of God, in relationship to the church, in relationship to Israel, in relationship to the whole world. All is given to us in the word of God, by the spirit of God. And as we are in fellowship with the Lord, we learn more and more about the plan and the program of God. And here now at the end of these verses 16 and 17, Yeshua is stating this statement. And he said, you know what? Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you.

And ordain you that ye should go and bring forth fruit. And that your fruit should remain. That whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. These things I commend you that ye love one another. Now, my dear friends, listen to this. This truth is important to understand that ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you. The truth of being elected by the Lord and chosen by the Lord is clearly found in the word of God. Yeshua himself said, ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you. We have been chosen by the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah.

Paul said it in this way. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessings in the heavenlies, in Christ, in the Messiah, according as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world. Ephesians chapter 1 and verses 3 and 4. This is very important to understand that the believers in the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah are elected by the Lord. I know we're not always understand it and grasp it, but this is so true as the word of God teaches us. Peter said it this way. When he wrote, elect, 1 Peter 1 verse 2, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, of Yeshua the Messiah.

Peter mentioned that in his letter when he wrote to the believers to whom he was called to serve. So the truth of being elected and chosen by God is taught by the scripture through and through. And this is important to understand. Notice what we read in Acts chapter 9 and verse 15. But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way, for he is a chosen vessel unto me, namely calling Shaul Paul for the ministry. He chose him to be saved and he chose him to be with a servant of the Lord in ministry. This is very important to understand that. In fact, even the people of Israel as a nation are called the chosen people.

In Deuteronomy chapter 7 and verse 6 we read, For thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God. The Lord thy God has chosen thee to be a special people unto himself above all the people that are upon the face of this earth. The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor chose you, because ye were more in number than any people. For ye were fewest of all people. But because the Lord loved you, and because he would keep the oath which ye had sworn unto your fathers, has the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you out of the house of bondage from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

God had to remind Israel in verse 6 of Deuteronomy 7. For thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God. The Lord thy God has chosen thee to be a special people unto himself above all people that are upon the face of the earth. Israel as a nation was chosen by God, not that Israel chose God. And you and I, as part of the church, the ecclesia, we have been chosen by God. We did not choose him. And Yeshua clearly explained this in John 15 and verse 16. Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and I ordain you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatsoever ye ask the Father in my name, he may give it you.

These things I commend you, that ye love one another. And so, my beloved brothers and sisters, praise God for the fact that you and I have been chosen by God before the foundation of the world to be part of the redeemed people, to believe that Yeshua, that Jesus is our Lord and our Mashiach and our Savior. And you and I do not know whom God have chosen. So that therefore we are to go out and share the gospel, and tell others, and leave the things in his hand he knows his own. He wants us to bear fruit for him by sharing the gospel, encouraging the believers, and teaching God's word, loving the brethren, loving the people in the world, and being a blessing to people around us.

May the Lord help us to bear fruit, more fruit, and much fruit, as we abide in the one who called himself, I am the true vine. I am the vine, the one who is our beloved Savior, the Lord Jesus, our Messiah. God bless you, my dear friend. Shalom, shalom.