Without Me Ye Can Do Nothing John 15 1-5 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
Jesus said that without me ye can do nothing. Simply put, it’s not what we do for him that counts but rather what he does through us. We spend lots of time and effort trying to do something for God and we end up accomplishing nothing. We need to yield to him and let him get done through us what he wants to do.
How does he do this?
He purges you – Jn 15:2 – he gets everything out of the way that inhibits a smooth flow of “sap” from his vine through our branches to the fruit. Have you ever seen a purged vine? It is stripped so bare that there aren’t even any leaves left. It looks empty until the fruit begins to appear. We have to yield ourselves to this purging process to get the distractions, distresses and obstacles out of the way.
He cleans you – Jn 15:3 – while the Lord possesses our vessels, we must remember that sin still runs through these veins, too. And so the Lord has to clean us up to use us. A radio listener who had been called to preach called and asked this question. “When you are getting ready to preach, do you find that the Lord spends more time with you preparing the message or the messenger?” That’s a profound question. A well honed message from an unprepared messenger is not nearly as effectual as a mediocre message from a well prepared messenger!
He abides in you – Jn 15:4-5 – he needs not merely reside in us through salvation. He needs to be in charge of us and we need to be submitted, surrendered and yielded to him. The work we do is his work not ours. We need to be in continual fellowship with him and not just on “visitation.”
Notice that our time with him is spent in the word [Jn 15:7], in prayer [Jn 15:7] and in obedience to him [Jn 15:10].
Now watch what happens!
His Father is glorified – Jn 15:8 – we are not glorified, he is. And when God is glorified, fruit is going to come forth.
His joy comes forth – Jn 15:11 – the world is filled with complainers and whiners. When they see us going through trials and afflictions with his supernatural joy they are going to know that we have something they don’t have. More fruit!
His love comes forth – Jn 15:12, 9 – this world talks of love but has nothing compared to the love of the Lord Jesus Christ that abides in us. When they can see his love, he can bring forth fruit through us. Much fruit!
His fruit comes forth – Jn 15:16 – he is in us and so we can reproduce Christians. My wife and I have four children. They came forth because they were “in” us. Fruit is born in the lives of Christians when the work of the Lord Jesus Christ is done through us. But be careful not to become proud or discouraged by comparing the fruit on your branch with the fruit on someone else’s branch. They may have just come through a purging!! Or they may be used by the Lord in an exceptional way! There are no big-shots in the work, just a big Saviour.
His witness comes forth – Jn 15:26-27 – this is when the Holy Spirit enjoys the greatest liberty to testify of the Lord Jesus Christ through our testimony and witness. We must be yielded to his leadership in testifying of the Lord.
Conclusion: The fruit of a life like this is much and, because it is the Lord’s fruit and not ours, it remains [Jn 15:16].