Purging Is Necessary

John 15:5 "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."

God has ordained each believer to be fruitful. But some things need to take place in our lives for us to produce fruit.

There needs to be a cleansing. We need to get cleansing from our sins. We also need to abide in Him...and we need to obey Him. Those who are not fruitful are either not clean...close to the Lord...or obedient. Fruitfulness is an outward manifestation of our heart's condition. That includes our attitudes toward others.

God brings forth this truth of bringing forth fruit by using a vineyard to get His point across. And He says that God the Father is the caretaker of the vineyard. (vs. 1) "I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman."

(vs. 2) "Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit." God is speaking to the saved about this truth. (vs. 5) "I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him," We know He is speaking of saved people here simply because the lost or unsaved are not "in him". He will take those branches away that don't bear fruit. The dead branches will hinder the other branches from producing fruit like they should. The same is true of the saved person who isn't bearing fruit. That person will affect other saved people from producing fruit like they should.

The branch that does bear fruit will be purged. It gets purged in order to bring forth more fruit. When the gardener purges his bushes...flowers and trees...the branches are still alive but they are purged so they will come back fuller and healthier the following spring. God removes all those things that hinder us from producing more fruit. He purges us through trials and tribulations.

I mentioned that in order to produce fruit that we must be clean. (vs. 3) "Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you." We stay clean through the Word of God. It acts as a detergent in our lives. If we don't stay in the Word of God we will become dirty and are more likely to get involved in things that will make us dirty spiritually speaking.

(vs. 6) "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 burned." The branches have to be connected to the vine. The vine is Jesus Christ. I think we all know this. The branches cannot survive without the vine. They cannot produce fruit without the vine. We must abide in Christ and let His Word abide in us.

(vs. 10) "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." We also have to obey God's Word. His Word is law!! God expects us to obey it even when we don't understand or agree. God's Word is our final authority.

My husband preached this message yesterday morning and God convicted me about where I was with Him. I pray this has spoken to your heart and shown you whether you are producing fruit or not and if not then why you aren't. I also pray for those of you who are producing fruit....that it is vital that we produce more fruit.