John 15

15:1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
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.
3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
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.
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.
7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
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.
11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
17 These things I command you, that ye love one another.
18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
21 But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me.
22 If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin.
23 He that hateth me hateth my Father also.
24 If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father.
25 But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.
26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:
27 And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.


KJV

John 15

1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
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.
3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
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.
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.

Notice how Jesus emphasis the fact He is the True Vine? If you are in Him, you will bear fruit, you will be out doing the Lord's work, not just rehashing the date of when He is going to come and carry you, the fruit, away. One cannot just assume one is "fruit" because one claims to be part of the Vine.

Notice also, that if Jesus is the True Vine, then the Natural Olive Branch is a part of Him and that the Wild Olive Branch (the Gentiles) is grafted into the True Vine. As has been said before, the horticulture people of Israel will tell you that mixing the two, the wild and the natural Olive Branches make for a stronger Olive Tree.

The very first verse tells us something very important, '"My Father is the husbandman." Doesn't that tell us something? This grafting and purging of the undesirable branches will bear more fruit. Look at verse 2, "Who is it that is taken away?" It is not those that are of the True Vine. This is God's design. He uses these points to make His Point. This is consistent with the scripture that speaks of those taken and those left. It is not the good fruit that is taken out and burned. It is the rotten, useless ones that are not a part of the True Vine.

Because the Jews were cut off for a time does not mean they were taken out and burned. In fact there is a history that took place before the New Testament began which includes the separating of the Israelites of the Northern Kingdom from the Jews of the Southern Kingdom. I've quoted this scripture many times to show the Wild Branches something that they seem to intentionally over-look. "But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel" Matthew 15:24

The Gentiles weren't lost, they hadn't even been Chosen for this purpose of bringing God's Word to the world. It was those Lost 10 Tribes of Israel who were no longer, as a whole, in the Land when Jesus came. You've all read the scripture where Jesus would not walk in Jewry. What does that tell you?

This tree represents the collective vines of the Husbandman's Vineyard. The “wild branches” grafted in are Gentile believers; the “natural branches” that are cut off are the Israelites in unbelief. These ones that chose to separate themselves from the True Vine were not forgotten but primary in the Lord's plan to evangelize the Gentiles. The two make up the strong Olive Tree that represents "Spiritual Israel". Those that remain cut off at this point still are the Jews of the Southern Kingdom.

The ecclesia should be growing stronger and stronger but what do we see happening at an alarming rate? Apostasy within the Body of Believers.

These Gentiles that have Evangelical Christians believing they will be taken in a Rapture are the same ones that believe they are the true church. They advocate supersessionism or replacement theology, don't they? Let's be honest....don't they?

In fact, the Evangelical Believers are weakened by the pre-7 year Tribulation Trash that has them looking up instead of growing in the Word of God which produces more fruit so that when Great Tribulation comes upon the earth, they would be strong spiritually and continue to run the race until each one finishes their course. Then the Resurrection of the Dead and the Catching up of the Living. In that order.

The Gentile Church actually believes itself to be separate and out of here before God can deal with the Jews. That is one lie and here is another lie; there is the Vatican and their cohorts who hold the belief that they have replaced ethnic Israel because they have forever been excluded from the promises—the Jews will not literally inherit the Promised Land. What about the Old Testament prophecies that Israel as a nation would repent and be re-gathered to the land in the last days as a permanent possession (Deuteronomy 30:1–10)?

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.

Verse 10 tells us to abide in the commandments even as Yahusha Himself did. He kept all 10 of God's complete commandments. What He did not do is abide in the 613 Laws that were so rigid so that a lamb that is lost from the Sheep-fold, could not be looked for and found on a Sabbath because it was the Day of Rest. Of those, 365 were negative and 248 were positives. That is what Jesus did away with by His Coming. He fulfilled all that these Laws pointed toward.

16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

I'm going to end this here by reminding those that believe they are some separate group that has chosen Him...It is He, the Husbandman, that did the Choosing. He chose the natural and the wild vines to make up His Vineyard.
Who did the Great I Am call out to be a Chosen people? His name was Abraham and through Abraham the line continues down through Isaac and Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel. The Comforter came to help the ecclesia to grow strong and bear fruit.

Thanks again for posting the scriptures Steven. I really appreciate them. So many would never get the Word of God if it weren't posted here.

Gerlinda