³ You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. ⁴ Remain in Me, and I in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself but must remain in the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me. ⁵ I am the vine, you are the branches; the one who remains in Me, and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. (John 15:3-5)

“MENO” = REMAIN

“ABIDE/CONTINUE ON/DWELL”

John 15:6-8

Till the End: Judgement, Promise and Purpose

John 15:6-8

 ⁶ If anyone does not remain in Me, he is thrown away like a branch and dries up; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. ⁷ If you remain in Me, and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. (John 15:6-8)

 ⁶ If anyone does not remain in Me, he is thrown away like a branch and dries up; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. ⁷ If you remain in Me, and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. (John 15:6-8)

John 15:5

⁵ I am the vine, you are the branches; the one who remains in Me, and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.

John 15:6, NLT

⁶ Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned.

1.) Judgment – �The Consequence of Not Abiding

John 15:6

Backyard Clean-Up

Ezekiel 15:4-6

⁴ If it has been put into the fire for fuel, and the fire has consumed both of its ends and its middle part has been charred, is it then good for anything? ⁵ Behold, while it is intact, it is not made into anything. How much less, when the fire has consumed it and it is charred, can it still be made into anything! ⁶ Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: ‘As the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so have I given up the inhabitants of Jerusalem;

John 15:2

 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.

Jesus and Judgement

John 3:18; 8:21, 24; 12:25, 48; 17:12

Matthew 13:40-42

⁴⁰ So just as the weeds are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age. ⁴¹ The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, ⁴² and they will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

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- Leslie Schmucker, The Gospel Coalition

“He says it is a place of eternal torment (Luke 16:23), of unquenchable fire (Mark 9:43), where the worm does not die (Mark 9:48), where people will gnash their teeth in anguish and regret (Matt. 13:42), and from which there is no return, even to warn loved ones (Luke 16:19–31). He calls hell a place of “outer darkness” (Matt. 25:30), comparing it to “Gehenna” (Matt. 10:28), which was a trash dump outside the walls of Jerusalem where rubbish was burned and maggots abounded. Jesus talks about hell more than he talks about heaven, and describes it more vividly. There’s no denying that Jesus knew, believed, and warned about the absolute reality of hell.”

2Timothy 4:7

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith;”

Application #1

To remain in Christ is to persevere in the faith until the very end.

Application #2

We should not want anyone to be thrown away and burned in the fire.

2Peter 3:7-9

⁷ But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly people.

⁸ But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. ⁹ The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not willing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance.

 ⁶ If anyone does not remain in Me, he is thrown away like a branch and dries up; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. ⁷ If you remain in Me, and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. (John 15:6-8)

2.) Promise – Abiding in Christ Leads to Answered Prayers

John 15:7

 ⁶ If anyone does not remain in Me, he is thrown away like a branch and dries up; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. ⁷ If you remain in Me, and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. (John 15:6-8)

A Repeated Highlight

 ⁶ If anyone does not remain in Me, he is thrown away like a branch and dries up; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. ⁷ If you remain in Me, and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. (John 15:6-8)

“THELO” = YOU WISH

“will/would have/desire.”

Psalm 37:4

“Delight yourself in the Lord;

And He will give you the desires of your heart.”

Matthew 6:9-11

⁹ “Pray, then, in this way:

‘Our Father, who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.

¹⁰ Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.

¹¹ Give us this day our daily bread.”

 ⁶ If anyone does not remain in Me, he is thrown away like a branch and dries up; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. ⁷ If you remain in Me, and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. (John 15:6-8)

“GINOMAI” = IT WILL BE DONE

“to cause to be ("gen"-erate), i.e. (reflexively) to become (come into being), arise, be assembled, be(-come, -fall, -have self), be brought (to pass), (be) come (to pass), continue, be divided, draw, be ended, fall, be finished, follow, be found, be fulfilled.

Application

 ⁶ If anyone does not remain in Me, he is thrown away like a branch and dries up; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. ⁷ If you remain in Me, and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. (John 15:6-8)

3.) Purpose – Prove to Be His Disciple�

John 15:8

 ⁶ If anyone does not remain in Me, he is thrown away like a branch and dries up; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. ⁷ If you remain in Me, and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. (John 15:6-8)

The Many Lenses of the Proof

• ¹⁶ Your light must shine before people in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. �(Matthew 5:16)
• ¹⁰ for indeed you practice it toward all the brothers and sisters who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers and sisters, to excel even more, 11 and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we instructed you, ¹² so that you will behave properly toward outsiders and not be in any need. (1Timothy 4:10-12)

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The Many Lenses of the Proof

• ¹⁵ And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. ¹⁶ The one who has believed and has been baptized will be saved; but the one who has not believed will be condemned. ¹⁷ These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; (Mark 16:15-17)
• “²⁸ Now, little children, remain in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not draw back from Him in shame at His coming. 29 If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness also has been born of Him.” (1John 2:28-29)

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A Three-Fold Proof

It is first unto Him

Romans 5:8

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

It is second unto the World.

1John 2:6

“the one who says that he remains in Him ought, himself also, to walk just as He walked.”

It is third unto your brothers and sisters in Christ.

Prove It to One Another

1Cor. 5:12

For what business of mine is it to judge outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church?

Reflect:

Recap

Let’s Discuss