This document provides an overview and analysis of John 15-16 from a sermon given at First Baptist Church in Jackson, Mississippi. It begins by summarizing the context in John 12-14. It then explains that Jesus and the disciples left Jerusalem and walked to the Garden of Gethsemane, passing through vineyards. The summary then analyzes the key points of John 15-16, focusing on Jesus describing himself as the "true vine" and his disciples as branches who must remain in him to bear fruit. It emphasizes the role of God the Father as the divine gardener or vinedresser who prunes branches to increase their fruitfulness.

1. John 15-16
January 5, 2014
First Baptist Church
Jackson, Mississippi
USA

2. John 12 – 13
• John 12: Jesus’ Last Public Sermon
– V. 50 “…So whatever I say is just what the Father has
told me to say.”
• John 13 – 14: Upper Room Discourse
– Jesus washes His disciples’ feet
– Jesus predicts His betrayal
– Jesus predicts Peter’s denial
– Jesus comforts His disciples
– Jesus the way to the Father
– Jesus promises the Holy Spirit

3. Jesus & Disciples Go For A Walk
John 15-16
• Finished the Passover Meal (Last Supper)
• Leave Jerusalem and go down to the Kidron
Valley and up the slope of the Mount of Olives
• Heading to Garden of Gethsemane
• Pass through the vineyards that surround the city

4. Map of Jerusalem

5. Kidron Valley

6. John 15-16
• John 15:1-17 The Vine and the Branches
• John 15:18-16:4 The World Hates the Disciples
• John 16:5 – 16 The Work of the Holy Spirit
• John 16:17 – 33 The Disciples’ Grief Will Turn to
Joy

7. Jesus’ “I AM” sayings in John
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
“the bread of life” John 6:35
“the light of the world” John 8:12; 9:5
“the door of the sheep” John 10:7,9
“the good shepherd” John 10:11, 14
“the resurrection and the life” John 11:25
“the way, the truth, and the life” John 14:6
“the true vine” John 15:1 (Today’s Lesson)

8. Illustration of Tending a Vineyard

9. Pruning a Vineyard

10. Reasons for Pruning Vines
• 1. All dead wood must be removed
– Harbors insects and disease and causes vine to rot
– Unproductive and unsightly
• 2. The live wood must be cut back drastically
– Trimmed back to allow growth to go into fruit

11. Unpruned Vineyard

12. Pruned Vineyard

13. Fruit of Vineyard

14. Scripture Focus
John 15:1-17
1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the
gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that
bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear
fruit he prunes so that it will be even more
fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the
word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain (Abide) in
me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear
fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither
can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

15. 5 “I
am the vine; you are the branches. If you
remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit;
apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not
remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown
away and withers; such branches are picked up,
thrown into the fire and 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 This is to my
Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing
yourselves to be my disciples. 9 “As the Father has
loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my
love.

16. 10 If
you keep my commands, you will remain in my
love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and
remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my
joy may be in you and that your joy may be
complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other
as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than
this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You
are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no
longer call you servants, because a servant does
not know his master’s business. Instead, I have
called you friends, for everything that I learned
from my Father I have made known to you.

17. 16
You did not choose me, but I chose you and
appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit
—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask
in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my
command: Love each other.
John 15:1-17

18. John 15:1
1 “I am the true vine…”
• Old Testament imagery – the nation of Israel was
God’s vine
• God planted and tended it (Israel the vine).
• God expected Israel (His vine) to bear fruit to all
nations. Be an example.
• Jesus was saying, “I am the true Israel (vine) of
God.”

19. Vine Border on Temple

20. Israel as God’s Vine
Isaiah 5:7
7 The vineyard of the LORD Almighty is the nation of
Israel, and the people of Judah are the vines he
delighted in. And he looked for justice, but saw
bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard cries of
distress.

21. Israel as God’s Vine
Jeremiah 2:21
21 I had planted you like a choice vine of sound and
reliable stock. How then did you turn against me
into a corrupt, wild vine?

22. Israel as God’s Transplanted Vine
Psalms 80:8 -11
8 You transplanted a vine from Egypt; you drove
out the nations and planted it. 9 You cleared the
ground for it, and it took root and filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered with its shade, the
mighty cedars with its branches. 11 Its branches
reached as far as the Sea, its shoots as far as the
River.

23. Prophecy of Jesus as God’s Vine
Psalms 80: 14 -17
14 Return to us, God Almighty! Look down from
heaven and see! Watch over this vine, 15 the root
your right hand has planted, the son you have
raised up for yourself. 16 Your vine is cut down, it is
burned with fire; at your rebuke your people
perish. 17 Let your hand rest on the man at your
right hand, the son of man you have raised up for
yourself.

24. John 15:1
1
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the
gardener”
• The Father owns the vineyard and is responsible
for its care, its nurture and ultimately its
productivity.
• Other translations = husbandman, vinedresser
• Christ was the vine because He was the
fulfillment of Israel.
• Jesus distinguishes between His role and the role
of His Father.

25. Saved to Be Fruitful
John 15:2
2 “He cuts off every branch in me that bears no
fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he
prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.”
• The purpose of the vine is to bear fruit from the
branches (us):
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Fruit of The Spirit
Praise
Serving Others
Righteous Living
Converts

26. Fruit of The Spirit
Romans 7:4
4 So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the
law through the body of Christ, that you might
belong to another, to him who was raised from the
dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.
Galatians 5:22-23a
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23a gentleness and self-control.

27. Fruit of PRAISE
Hebrews 13:15-16
15 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer
to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that
openly profess his name. 16 And do not forget to do
good and to share with others, for with such
sacrifices God is pleased.
Psalms 71:14
14 As for me, I will always have hope; I will praise
you more and more.

28. Fruit of SERVING OTHERS
Galatians 5:13-14
13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free.
But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh;
rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14 For the
entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command:
“Love your neighbor as yourself.
Colossians 3:23-24
23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as
working for the Lord, not for human masters, 24 since
you know that you will receive an inheritance from the
Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

29. Fruit of RIGHTEOUS LIVING
Galatians 5:24-25
24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified
the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we
live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
1 John 2:5-6
5 But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly
made complete in them. This is how we know we
are in him: 6 Whoever claims to live in him must
live as Jesus did.

30. Fruit of CONVERTS
Matthew 28:18-20
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All
authority in heaven and on earth has been given
to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and
teaching them to obey everything I have
commanded you. And surely I am with you always,
to the very end of the age.”

31. God The Father Is The Gardener
John 15:2
2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit,
while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes
so that it will be even more fruitful.
• Branches with no fruit – cut off
• Branches with fruit – pruned to produce more
• Why?

32. God Prunes Us
• Our Heavenly Father must cleanse (prune) us so
we will bear more fruit.
• God will do whatever is necessary to produce His
kind of fruit.
• With precision He cuts out the resentments,
bitterness, anger, selfishness, arrogance, etc.
• If it is not Christ-likeness, He will snip it out.
• This is the process of “Sanctification”.

33. How Does The Father Prune Us?
• Circumstances and situations in our lives
– Adversity
– Suffering
• Scriptures
• Holy Spirit
– Conviction
– Guidance
• Fellow Christians

34. Divine Discipline
Hebrews 12:5b-11
5b “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, 6 because
the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens
everyone he accepts as his son.”
7 Endure
hardship as discipline; God is treating you as
his children. For what children are not disciplined by
their father? 8 If you are not disciplined—and everyone
undergoes discipline —then you are not legitimate,
not true sons and daughters at all.

35. 9 Moreover,
we have all had human fathers who
disciplined us and we respected them for it. How
much more should we submit to the Father of
spirits and live! 10 They disciplined us for a little
while as they thought best; but God disciplines us
for our good, in order that we may share in his
holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the
time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a
harvest of righteousness and peace for those who
have been trained by it.
Hebrews 12:5b-11

36. The Issue Is Christ-likeness, Not
Salvation
John 15:3-4
3 You are already clean because of the word I have
spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in
you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must
remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit
unless you remain in me.
• The emphasis is on bearing fruit, not salvation.
• Jesus is speaking of our position in Him as a
component of the vine – branches bearing fruit

37. REMAIN (ABIDE) IN ME
John 15:5
5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you
remain (abide) in me and I in you, you will bear
much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
• Abide = ‘to remain in union, maintaining a living
communion, to maintain unbroken fellowship
with another.’
• John uses ‘abide’(remain) 11 times in John 15

38. How Do We Abide (Remain) in Jesus?
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Worship
Prayer
Scripture
Sacrifice – time and money
Service
Loving others
Obedience

39. Importance of Scripture in ‘Abiding’
John 15:7
7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you,
ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
• Memorization of scripture
– Jesus speaks to us through scripture
– The Word is at home in you
– Satan will tempt and you can rebuff
• Satan tempted Jesus by quoting scripture

40. Why Is Scripture So Effective?
1. The words of Jesus are the words of God.
John 3:34
34 For the one whom God has sent speaks the
words of God, for God gives the Spirit without
limit.

41. Why Is Scripture So Effective?
2. The words of Jesus are life-giving.
John 6:63
63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing.
The words I have spoken to you—they are full of
the Spirit and life.

42. Why Is Scripture So Effective?
3. It Conquerors the Devil
Psalms 119:9-11
9 How can a young person stay on the path of
purity? By living according to your word. 10 I seek
you with all my heart; do not let me stray from
your commands. 11 I have hidden your word in my
heart that I might not sin against you.

43. Scripture Memorization
• 100 BIBLE VERSES EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW by
Robert J. Morgan
• Don’t get hung up on the translation.
• Take your time to meditate on the verse.
• Write it down.
• It will be the verse you needed for that day!
• It gets easier every time you start the book over.
• You will forget, but it is stored.

44. Reading Through The Bible Yearly
• THE DAILY BIBLE in Chronological Order, 365
Daily Readings by F. LaGard Smith
• Harvest House Publishers, 1984
• Devotional and interpretive insights for the daily
reading
• NIV Translation
• Chronological

45. Richness of Life by Abiding in Christ
John 15
•
•
•
•
•
•
Bear fruit that will last
Your joy may be complete
You are my friend
Willing to sacrifice for others
Answered prayer
You will love others