 All right, a very good morning to all of you. If we can have one person open in prayer and then we'll get started. Sally, would you be able to, you know, open with prayer? Yes, Pastor, let's pray. Father God, we come before Your presence in the mighty name of Jesus, as we begin our session on the Book of John. I pray that, Lord, You bless our pastor, the Pika. Thank You for restoring her health. Thank You, Lord God, as she teaches the Word of God. Lord, I pray for a fresh revelation and input also. Give her the grace to teach this morning also. And also, Lord, bless each one of us who are in the class. I pray that You open the eyes of her understanding so that we can learn from You, Holy Spirit. Thank You, Lord, You continue to guide us to the end, Lord. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Thank you so much. Yes, we will get started. If you remember, last time we had stopped at John chapter 13, verse 30, because John chapter 13, verse 31 onwards is where you have the teachings of Jesus starting. So, chapter 14, 15, 16, all of these chapters, they contain the final teachings of Jesus. Now, John the writer just summarizes all of these teachings, you know, in one place over three chapters. But I assume that Jesus probably would have, you know, taught these things over a period of maybe three or four weeks. I mean, from the time that he starts revealing to them that he is not going to be there with them much longer. So, from that time on, he starts preparing them for what's ahead. So, I'm assuming that, you know, these different things that he's talking to them, these final instructions that he's giving them, are kind of spaced out over a period of at least maybe two or three weeks. But of course, we have John summarizing the whole thing over here in chapters 14, 15, and 16. So, if you look at the very last portion of John chapter 13, you know, verse 31 onwards, that conversation actually runs into chapter 14 as well. So, it's actually one chunk, you know, all the way from 1331, right into chapter 14, where Jesus is saying, I'm going to be going away and I have a new commandment to give you even, you know, before I leave. And then you have the conversation with Peter. Peter says, Lord, where are you going? And then, you know, Jesus assures the disciples that even though he's going away, he is going to come back and take them and all of that. So, it's basically one conversation. So, it's somewhere many hundreds of years later that, you know, these gospels were divided into chapters. So, this is a modern division into chapters. When John had originally written, he would have just written the entire thing as one single write-up without any divisions. So, we observe that the chapter division over here is a little abrupt. So, it kind of breaks the conversation. So, when we are looking at it now, let's look at it as one single conversation extending all the way from 1331 right into chapter 14. So, if we could have a few people read out verses for us, so far, you know, a lot of you have been volunteering to read and that's really helpful. So, thanks for that. So, now, if we can have someone read out John chapter 13 verses 33 to 35. Let's look at what Jesus says over here. John 13, 33 to 35. John chapter 13 verses 33 to 35. Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer. You will seek me and as I said to the Jews, where I am going, you cannot come, so now I say to you, a new commandment I give to you that you love one another as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this, all will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another. Yeah. So, this is probably not the first time that Jesus is saying this because over the last two or three weeks, he has been telling them that there are, you know, that he is going to be crucified and they have not really understood what he means when he says that. So, we get this impression even as we look at all the four Gospels, that Jesus starts talking about his upcoming crucifixion and the disciples are getting concerned about what he is saying. So, here, he is again bringing up this topic and he says to them, I will be with you only a little longer and the word that is used over here, you know, the translation which Rosalind read out now, that's actually very correct. It says little children, that's the word that is used. It's not just talking about, you know, grown-ups, it's little children. So, he's speaking with great love and he's telling them, you see, I'm not going to be here much longer and there's something very important that I need to tell you and he says, a new command I give you, love one another. Now, in what way is this a new commandment? Isn't this something that has been spoken about all the way from Old Testament times, you know, especially when the 10 commandments were given? Yahweh tells his people that they must, you know, love their neighbor as themselves. So, this is not really a new command. So, what's the word that is being used over here in the original Greek? It's supposed to be the word... Well, okay, I don't have the word over here in my notes, but it's supposed to indicate a newness, a freshness. So, it's not new in the sense it's been being spoken for the first time. Rather, it is new in the sense it's being now given to these disciples in a fresh way, in a way that it has not been presented before. So, the command to love one another has always been there with us, with the people of God. But now, the Lord is saying, I'm now giving you this command in a new way, love one another. How in what way are you supposed to love one another? As I have loved you, so you must love one another. Up to that time, I'm not sure what concept they had in their minds about what love should be like when it's enacted. There were times when Jesus speaks about it. He talks about the parable of the Samaritan. So, yes, they do have an idea of what loving one another involves. But now here, Jesus says, the fresh thing that I'm now imparting to you is that, as I have loved you, so in that manner, you must love one another. And if you do that, then people will know that you are my disciples. That will prove to them that you are very different set apart from the rest of humankind. You are people who love in the way that I have loved you. Now, when we think of this verse, immediately the thing that comes to our mind is the sacrificial love of Christ. You know, when he did not think about his own interests, but he placed us before him, he considered our interests and he chose to sacrifice himself on the cross for us. So, we generally think about Jesus Christ's love in that sense. But now, when he spoke these words to them, to these disciples, you know, on that day, the crucifixion had not yet happened. And in fact, the disciples had not yet understood the whole concept of crucifixion. So, when he said those words to them, as I have loved you, so you must love one another, what do you think came to their minds? They were not thinking of the cross because the cross had not yet taken place. So, when he said, as I have loved you, so you must love, what would have come to their minds? They probably would have thought about a hundred different instances or the previous three years, you know, when they were living with Jesus, walking with him, interacting with him, moving from place to place along with him. And they would have remembered all those many, many, many instances of how he expressed love to them, you know. Maybe at times of discouragement, he would have been there to encourage them. At times when they were rejoicing, he would have laughed with them and rejoiced along with them. At times when they were going through pain, he would have sat with them, probably even wept with them. So, this was not just a theoretical love that Jesus is talking about. This is something that he literally showed them in action, in practice. For the last three years, they have literally been experiencing this love firsthand, you know, even as they interacted with him on a daily basis. I mean, they were such a privileged, you know, group of people. Today, of course, we are very much aware of the Lord's love and we do experience it. But then they literally walked with him, you know, on a daily basis. And so they experienced firsthand his love, you know, in very, very practical ways. So, when he said to them, as I have loved you so you must love, they clearly understood what that meant. It would involve sacrifice. It would involve putting the other person's interests before your own, you know, especially when they are traveling from place to place and they are tired and they are hungry and when they are worn out, at that time, if when Jesus would get up and, you know, serve them, help them, minister to them, they understood that that is love. So, now they are being asked to express love to others in that same way because then the world will recognize that, oh my, these people must be followers of Jesus. They are living the way he lived. They speak the way he speaks when they encounter people who are irritating or people who are sinful, people who are downtrodden. They speak the way Jesus speaks. So, you know, people would see the similarity between Jesus and them and they would realize, oh my, this must be one of his followers. And so that commandment has come down to us today. So, when we say Jesus, there may be a lot of people who don't really know what that means. They think of it more as a religious term. But when we show Jesus love in action, then they begin to understand through us, oh, their Lord and Master must be somebody like that, someone who cares in this particular way. So, it kind of reveals to them, who our Lord is, what kind of a character he has and that compassion and concern that he carries in his heart. So, it's very important, this command is being given to us in a new and fresh way. Jesus is saying, in the way that you have seen me expressing love, in the way that you see my love being described in the Gospels, I want you to show that same kind of love in when you encounter people in your own situations, because then they will realize that these people must be very different from the others around us because they are followers of this Jesus. So, it becomes like a witnessing, a testimony. So, all of us may not be, you know, have the gifting of evangelism. We all, of course, share the Gospel in our own way. We witness about the Lord with people whom we know, but this is one powerful way to testify and witness, you know, because this is us acting out love and compassion in times of need when people really need us to be there and then when they see that they realize, oh, their Lord and Master must be something like this. So, it becomes a very powerful way to witness and testify about our Lord. So, coming from there to the next portion of this conversation, Peter says to the Lord, Lord, where are you going? And Jesus says, where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later. So, from that wording, you know, Peter understands that Jesus is talking about death. So, you know, he says, Lord, why can't I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you. You know, in other words, he's saying, Lord, if anything dangerous is about to happen, if your life is a threat, I am willing to even fight for you and lay down my life for you. And Jesus replies and says, will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly, I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times. Jesus is not questioning Peter's love. Jesus is just pointing out how weak Peter is in his humanness. On our own, in our own strength, we can never really serve the Lord or honor the Lord. This is something that takes place just through the empowering of the Holy Spirit. This is something that he does inside of us. There are days, you know, when our emotions are running high, we are, you know, full of enthusiasm and we want to do great things for the Lord. And then there are days when life has been so bad, prayers have been left unanswered for so long, and everything seems so dark. And at that time, you know, we may not really have that passion and that enthusiasm. So, emotions are good, but we can't live out this Christian walk on emotion alone, because there are days when we are up, there are days when we are down. We really need the empowering of the Holy Spirit, because he is the one who helps us to walk in the Christian way, like Christ, imitating him. It is only possible through the power of the Holy Spirit. So, I think it is vital, you know, every morning when we get up and we spend time in the Lord's presence to just humble ourselves and admit our dependence on him and say, Lord, this is not something I can do on my own. I mean, I do not know what challenges are going to come my way today, but Lord, I need you to be there. I need you to empower me. I need your enabling or Lord. It's only by your grace, your enabling grace that I am going to be able to live up to your expectations today, you know. So, emotion is good. It's good for us to feel enthusiastic and want to do great things for the Lord, but emotion alone is not enough, because feelings come and feelings go, but the empowering of the Holy Spirit is there with us. So, when we express our dependence on him and depend on him, when we have that attitude, he comes, you know, he's our paracletos. We'll be looking at that, you know, in one of the passages today. So, he comes alongside us. That word paracletos, it talks about someone who comes alongside you, stands next to you and helps you to do the things that you're supposed to be doing. You can't do it on your own, but he will enable us to do it. So, over here, Peter has that love for the Lord. He wants to do something for the Lord, but he fails, because at that time, the Holy Spirit had not yet been, you know, released into the inner man of the disciples. So, that's something that would only happen once the work of the cross was finished, because then the disciples would be washed by the blood of Jesus, and then they will be able to become carriers of the Holy Spirit. So, that is not yet taken place. So, at this point of time, Peter is trying to operate out of his own strength and his own emotions, and he fails because of that. So, we do not have to, you know, have that disadvantage, because we do have the Holy Spirit within us, and if we choose to continue renewing our minds every day, if we continue to maintain that close relationship and intimacy with the Lord, he will come alongside us, be our paracletos, and help us to, you know, live up to his expectations. And so, after saying this rather negative thing to Peter, you know, you think that you're going to stand up for me, but you know what? You're actually going to be betraying me very soon. After that, Jesus immediately says, do not let your hearts be troubled. You know, all these things that I have been saying to you about how I'm going to be here only for a little while longer, and that I am going to be lifted up, these are all very troubling things that I am saying to you, and you know, these disciples had sacrificed everything to become followers of Jesus. They traveled from town to town with him. I mean, of course, they all had, you know, jobs, means of livelihood with which they supported themselves, but they could not do much because they spent a lot of time traveling with him. They had become full-time ministers. So, on many occasions, probably they were just, you know, living on the charity of others, people would contribute to them, and so their needs would be met for a few weeks. They were living in that way, and now Jesus is going on talking to them about leaving, and so they are very troubled, and so he says to them, do not let your hearts be troubled, and he says, you believe in God. Believe also in me in the same way. Why? Because he goes on to talk about verses 2 and 3. If we could have someone read out for us, John chapter 14, verses 2 and 3, please. John 14, 2 and 3. Yes, and I'm assuming that you read out from the NKJV where it talks about mansions, but then in most of our, you know, NKJV Bibles now, we will have that small, what do you call that, citation, put note, put note indicator over there, and down at the bottom, you know, at the bottom of the page, it tries to explain that it's not really talking about a mansion, but that word over there, the Greek word mone, is actually talking about a dwelling place. Alright, so there's this wrong concept that has come down the years, where this idea that, you know, each person is going to have one golden mansion or something out there in heaven, and it's a rather isolated way to live, and when you're living in your own house and, you know, your brother and sister living in their own separate mansions, so that's just because of the translation, you know, that this kind of a misconception has come in, that word mone, the Greek word over there, it's just talking about that word literally means dwelling place, which is why NIV, what it does is it tries to, you know, use a different word, it tries to use the word room, so if you're taking that NIV version, it would read as, my father's house has many rooms, and it, and he says, I'm going there to prepare a place for you, and he says, I will come back and take you to be with me, okay, so this would have made much sense to the disciples because of the culture that they were living in, so in verse 2, when it says my father's house, the Greek word used over there is eukos, okay, so an eukos is literally a house, it's like this, you know, construction made of brick and mud and all of that, so that's basically an eukos, and an eukos would obviously have many, many rooms, and so if a man has got, let us say, 10 sons, you know, each of the sons is going to get married, and so when they bring in their bride, they'll add extra rooms, and if it's not possible to go on extending the eukos, then maybe, you know, somewhere very close nearby, they would build another extension, so you don't really have independent houses, you have a large family unit all living together with many, many, many rooms, so Jesus is actually conveying that kind of a picture here, and he's saying, don't worry, my father's house has many rooms, there's going to be enough place for all of you, I'm going to go over there, prepare a place for each one of you specifically, and I'm going to come back and take you there to be with me, so you're not going to be separated from me, because you see, there's a bond that has developed between Jesus and these disciples over the three years, they've struggled together, gone through so many victories and triumphs together, they've experienced miracles together, there's so much that has gone on, and so for them it's so painful to think that they're going to be separated from Jesus, and so he says, I'm going to take you with me, so that you also may be where I am, okay, so it is in that sense that Jesus is speaking, so now this is not to shatter anyone's hopes of having a large mansion, it's just that, you know, I mean, would you prefer to be in a separate mansion by yourself or literally be under God the Father's roof, I mean literally be in His eye-cause, not in your own separate eye-cause, but in His eye-cause, because you see this spiritual amazing truth that Jesus is bringing out over here, outsiders are not placed inside your eye-cause, they don't build a room for you if you know, if you're an outsider, if you're literally a son or a daughter, then those rooms are built for you, that place is prepared for you because you're part of the family, they'll not make you go and live somewhere else in a separate house, I mean today in our modern, you know, world that we live in, we have these nuclear family units, so people, you know, they go their separate ways and they live in, you know, one person lives in one neighborhood and another person maybe lives in another neighborhood, but in those days, in their culture, you know, the families would stay together, it's like large joint families, so the honor that is being given over here, you're not going to be sent to some other eye-cause, you know, like as if you're a stepchild, you're part of the family, you're a son or a daughter, and so a place is going to be prepared for you right there in that home, in that household, so the Lord is saying over here, you are my brothers, so don't worry, I'm going to come back, I'm going to prepare a place for you, I'm going to come back, I'm going to take you there, and you're going to be with me, you're not going to be separated from me, you'll literally be with me, and that's going to be the most beautiful thing about heaven, where we're literally going to be with Him, the way the disciples got to be with Him, you know, back then, we will have that same wonderful experience, we will not be in some separate place, you know, placed over there like some temporary guests, but we're going to be part of God's royal family, I mean it's such an amazing privilege that is being granted to us, completely free, I mean we don't do anything to earn it, we just place our faith in the Lord Jesus and the work that He has done on the cross, and He really imparts this privilege to us, so moving on from there, let's look at maybe some scriptures that talk about the Holy Spirit that Jesus is going to send, so the first word of comfort that He gives them is that He's going away, but He will prepare a place for them, and come back to take them so that they can be with Him, but while they are still over here, they're not going to be left alone, they're not going to be orphans, you know, that's the, that's what He actually says in verse 18, John 14 verse 18, He says, I will not leave you as orphans, so He says, I will come to you, but He will come to them in a different form in the sense through the person of the Holy Spirit, so maybe we can have someone read out for us, John chapter 14 verses 15 to 18, John 14 15 to 18 please. If you love me, keep my commandments, and I will pray the Father, and He will give you another helper that He may abide with you forever, the spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him, but you know Him for He dwells with you, and will be in you, I will not leave you orphans, I will come to you. So again, this is another word of comfort that Jesus is giving to them, He's saying, you know, this advocate that I'm going to be sending, He's already living with you, that's what He says in verse 17, so the Holy Spirit was with them, but He was not in them, so the Lord is comforting them and saying, He will literally be in you, a part of you, so you will never really be separated from me, so in that sense, He's giving them this assurance, and you guys are in the third year, yeah, so you would have done this in detail, you know what those Greek terms are, which are used over there for another advocate, that's the Greek word allos, so if I were to say, give me another, I can use two words, I can say give me allos, or I can say give me heteros, if I'm saying give me allos, I'm saying give me another one of the same type, on the other hand, if I'm saying give me heteros, I'm saying give me another one of a different type, it's like, you know, if we are talking fruits, I have an apple with me, and I say to you, give me allos, I'm basically saying to you, you know, I'm holding an apple in my hand, I want you to give me allos, another one, similar kind, so you would hand over another apple to me, the two apples are apples, both of them have the same character, so Jesus is saying, in no way are you going to be losing me, this advocate that I'm sending to you is going to be exactly like me, allos, the same as me, the same loving, guiding, you know, wise, helpful person that you have known all this time, so that is the promise that he is making over here, you know, just to give you a scripture, Matthew 624 is basically where Jesus talks about, you know, how no one can serve two masters, so over there, that word another when it is used over there in that scripture it says, either you will hate the one, or love the heteros, so allos is something of the same kind, heteros on the other hand is something of a different kind, and over here, the advocate who is being promised to us is going to be someone exactly like Jesus, so he will uphold the truth just the way Jesus did, you know, that's why he's called the spirit of truth, and he will be righteous, he will promote justice, he will be an encouragement to us and a strength to us, he will be all the things that Jesus was back then for those disciples, and so Jesus goes on to say, yeah, maybe we can read out verses 25 to 27 please, 14, 25 to 27. These things I have spoken to you while being present with you, but the helper, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you, peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you, not as the world gives, do I give to you, let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid, for you have heard me say to you, I'm going away and coming back to you, if you loved me you would rejoice because I said I'm going to the Father, for my Father is greater than I. All right, yeah, so here Jesus is giving them the assurance that I'm leaving peace with you, verse 27 he says, peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you, so this Holy Spirit who's going to be coming to live inside them, he's with them now, but he's going to be in them, and wow, so he will help us to walk in peace in spite of all the troubles and the trials that are going to come our way, so on our own we cannot really have peace when we're in the middle of struggles, but because of the Holy Spirit, because he enables us, he reminds us of the scriptures, what were those scriptures have to say about how he will be there for us, how he will uphold us, how he will deliver us, so he will bring scriptures to our mind that can comfort us, the Holy Spirit will also just impart a kind of divine enabling where we will be able to withstand even the hardest trials, so this peace that we will be able to enjoy, it will come to us through the Holy Spirit, so if you're going through a time of severe trial and you're struggling, and there are days when you feel like, how am I going to go on, how am I going to manage, and if you're at that point, you can always claim this scripture and say, Lord, this is the promise you made, you said that when the Advocate, the Holy Spirit comes, he will remind us of everything that has been taught and he will impart peace to us, so oh Lord, could you through your Holy Spirit strengthen me, comfort me, give me the deep peace and assurance that I need of your presence, so we can ask the Lord for this, because there's disciples back then, they would just open their mouths and ask Jesus when they needed help, they would just ask him, now we are able to do the same thing, we can ask the Holy Spirit and say Lord, what Jesus used to physically do for the disciples back then, you do that for us because you are in us now, so in the same way that Jesus was representing the Father, the Holy Spirit also represents him, and now in the same way, so let's move quickly into John chapter 15, maybe we can read out, maybe the first three verses, John 15, 1 to 3. John 15, 1 to 3, I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine-bracer, every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away, and every branch that bears fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruits, you are also clean because of the word which I have spoken to you, amen. Amen, so now this is a new teaching that you know John the writer is now starting off with, the previous one was words of comfort, so now there's a new teaching that now he's going to be dwelling upon, so here John the writer starts telling us about what Jesus said about the grape wine, so Jesus starts off by saying, I am the true wine, and my Father is the vine-bracer, so if Jesus is the true wine, what was the fake wine, what was the false wine, you see there's a contrast over here, he's saying I'm the true wine, what was there before, that was a false fake grape wine, and here actually Jesus is referring to what Israel actually should have been, because God planted Israel to be like a fruitful grape wine, which would spread out and be very fruitful, and make a difference for the entire world, that's basically what God wanted for Israel first of all, in the beginning, maybe we can have someone read out, Psalm 80 verses 8 to 9, Psalm 80, 8 to 9, Psalms 80, 8 and 9, you have brought a wine out of Egypt, you have cast out the nations and planted it, you prepared room for it and caused it to take deep root and it filled the land, so the imagery of a grape wine is used over here, that grape wine was suffering and shriveled up in a very bad condition, almost dying out in Egypt, and then God takes this grape wine and he brings it to a new land and he plant, he drives out the nations and he plants it over there, so that it can take deep root and fill that entire land and flourish, and so now this grape wine of the Lord was supposed to start yielding much fruit, it was supposed to become a blessing to all the nations, but what happens, this is what we see, Isaiah chapter 5 verse 7, so if someone could read out for us please, Isaiah chapter 5 verse 7, for the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the fount of Israel and the men of Judah are his pleasant plant, he looked for justice but behold oppression for righteousness but behold a cry for help. Yeah, so it says, the people of Judah are the wines he delighted in, so this was a grape wine that he planted with great love and he expected much from it, but what was the kind of fruit that this grape wine began to bring out, bloodshed and oppression and you know all kinds of injustice and that's not the kind of fruit that God looked for, it says he looked for justice, he looked for righteousness, that was the kind of fruit that he wanted this wine to bear but it did not do that and so now Jesus says, I am not like this wine, I am the true wine, out of me will come much fruit, the branches that I am going to bear, you know all of us believers who become a part of him, this wine is going to bear much fruit, we are going to be disciples who you know we are going to be the hands and feet of the Lord even as we are doing his work over here on the earth and we will bear fruit which will truly be a blessing to the nations, so in the past Israel was supposed to be that kind of a wine, it failed to perform its role but now Jesus has become the true wine and if we the branches who have chosen to abide in him, if we stay true to him then we will indeed bear much fruit, what Israel was helpless and failed to do, we will be able to accomplish, we will be a great blessing to all the nations, so this is the kind of promise that is being made to us because now we are part of the true wine, a wine which is able to help us to bear fruit, so the Lord will do this for us, all we need to do is abide in him, stay in him and so it says in verse 2, every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away. All right, so back then the Israelite nation, it backslid to such an extent that the 10 northern tribes after they were taken away into slavery by the Assyrians, they just got mingled with all the other people groups, we don't even know what happened to those 10 groups, to those 10 tribes, it's only later on when Judah faces its judgment and the Babylonians come and capture them, they come back, they come back to Jerusalem, they maintain their identity, so in fact we don't even know what happened to those other 10 tribes, they just got mingled up with all the other nations and they became pagan just like them, so the Lord is making it very clear, he is not going to put up with branches that are not going to bear fruit, they are going to be removed away, they are going to be taken away, just the way those 10 tribes of Israel got taken away, so he is very clearly saying that every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away, he repeats that once again in verse 6 in case the message has not been made very clear, he says that again in verse 6, if anyone does not abide in me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered and they gather them and throw them into the fire and they are burned, because we have a wrong teaching that's going around regarding John chapter 15 verse 2 where it says they give a different interpretation for that verse, every branch that does not bear fruit he takes away, so they say no, no, no that word which is used over there, the Greek word Iroh, it doesn't really mean taking away, it means just lifting up, so he is just going to lift up that branch, give it more sunlight, give it extra care, he is going to make it well, so yes the Lord does that for His people, but it's talking about branches that have chosen to separate themselves altogether from the Lord, because you know we see that in verse 6 where it says, if anyone does not abide in me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered, so this branch is no longer even connected to the wine anymore, so it starts withering, because there is no life giving sap flowing through it any longer, so it's detached itself, it has chosen to detach itself from the wine, so Jesus is talking about such believers who have chosen to go back into the world, chosen to go back to Satan who do not wish to have anything more to do with the Lord and so it's not talking about them being lifted up and giving, being given more sunlight and more care, it's clearly talking about judgment, it says that those who do not bear any fruit will be taken away, why are they not bearing any fruit, that's because they are no longer attached to the wine, as long as the branch is attached to the wine it will at least be able to bear some fruit, now we have Christians who are at different levels in their spiritual growth, we have some very fruitful Christians who are bearing much fruit, being such a blessing to so many and bringing so many into the kingdom and then there are those who are still growing, developing, but there's some kind of fruit as long as you're attached to the wine, as long as you're attached to Jesus and you're abiding in him, there will be at least some daily evidence of fruit in the way that you interact with your family, in the values that you have, the priorities that you choose to prioritize when you're making your choices, at least there's some fruit which shows up in the lifestyle that you live on a daily basis because you are attached to the wine and his life is flowing into you, so you are being cleansed by his word, you are learning from him and so there is always some fruit, but if someone is not bearing any fruit, they should maybe ask themselves this question, did I ever really become a true believer? Did I just say a salvation prayer when that sermon was being preached, did I get all emotional and shed some tears and say a salvation prayer and just, was it just words or was there a commitment inside my heart where I said I'm going to turn my back on sin and from now on I'm going to follow this Lord and Master Jesus Christ, did I make that commitment, was it a true commitment? Because if you are a believer you will bear at least some fruit, but if you look at your life and you see absolutely no fruit, if you don't see any righteousness or holiness, if you see only a deep love and longing for the things of the world and no desire at all for the things of God, if you are in that state maybe you should ask yourself did I ever really become a true believer and if that is the case, you know no harm done, you can quickly get down on your knees and say Lord I understand what a wretched condition I am in, please Lord I want to come into your family, I want to be joined to the wine, so you know you can always repent and come to him, so the branches which are bearing fruit, what does he do with them, he prunes them, that word that is used over there, the Greek word over there, it can either mean pruning in the sense of something being cut, it can also mean cleansing, okay, so he prunes us in two ways, things which need to be removed from our lives, he may cut it off even though we want to hold on to those things or he may choose to cleanse us, which is why the very next sentence it says you are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you, so even as we live according to his word, even as we choose to submit to his word and follow it, we get cleansed, we are separated from the things of the world, so in that sense we get cleaned on a daily basis and there are sometimes when it's an actual pruning in the other sense where something gets chopped off, aspects of our life that the Lord thinks will interfere with our spiritual growth, he may actually cut those things off and it may be very painful and we say Lord why have you taken away these things from me, but somewhere down the line a few years later you will realize that even though the Lord deprived you of that thing, it was good because you were able to grow, you were able to draw closer to him, something good came out of it, so pruning is always good, it is always done not to destroy the branch, not to harm the branch, it is just done to make that branch more fruitful, so that we will not be like those 10 tribes of Israel, so that we will instead be like Judah which came back, repented, rebuilt the temple and they had a future, so the Lord only wants to do good for us and with that intent he prunes us, so verse 4 the Lord says, abide in me and I in you as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the wine neither can you unless you abide in me, so the Lord makes it very clear this is something that has to be done on a continuous basis, abiding is not a one-time thing, it's not just something that you do once in a while on when you go to church, abiding is a continuous process, you know when you basically look at a grape wine, a creeper, you don't see the branches running around all over the place, right, I mean they stay attached to the main wine continuously, it's a continuous process, continually they stay attached, continually the life-giving sap keeps flowing from the main, you know, stem into the into the various branches, so abiding is a continuous process, we can't be people who are, you know, go to church on Sunday and confess and repent and then the rest of the week we backslide and we go back into the world, that is not abiding at all, I mean if we are in that state we will really not bear fruit, so fruit bearing is something that happens even as you stay in him, deepen that relationship with him, get to know him more and more, even as you grow in him and your faith level in him increases because now you know him even more as that happens, as the process goes on, fruit starts developing, you start changing, people can see the difference in you, on the other hand if you're a Sunday Christian and you know the rest of the week you keep going away from the Lord, that is not abiding at all, so if you abide in him on a continual basis, he says, I too will be abiding in you, so he will continue imparting his divine enabling grace to us if we choose to abide in him, then we start becoming Christ-like, so it's talking about a continuous process of abiding, so yeah we'll take, we'll go for a break and then when we come back we'll continue, thank you.