Listen:  139.4

I think you are referring to John 15:7where the Lord Jesus said, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”  What a wonderful promise to those who abide in Him.

We read in John 15:1, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.”  In the Old Testament, the nation of Israel was called a vine.  Psalms 80:8 says, “Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it.”  Israel failed the Lord greatly and did not bear fruit as a vine should as we read in Isaiah 5:4, “What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?”  It is in this chapter, then that the Lord refers to Himself as the true vine the One to truly bear fruit to His Father. 

In John 15:1-7, the Lord speaks in an allegory concerning Himself as a vine and the true believers on Him as branches.  The purpose of this parable is to teach us about bearing fruit for Him.  The word ‘fruit’ is used six times in this portion.  In John 15:2the Lord says, “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.”  He then says in verse 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.”  Who are these people, these who bear no fruit and are eventually cast into the fire and burned?  These are not true believers at all, but those who merely profess to be saved.  Notice in verse 6 that the Lord is not speaking of His true disciples, but He speaks of ‘a man’.  Perhaps they have joined their local church, are active in their church’s events, give money to the poor, or possibly even serve in some official capacity in their local church.  Yet, without faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, they have no life and that will be manifested one day.  To abide is the mark of a true believer.  To abide means the continued exercise of faith in the Lord.   The Apostle John would later write of those who merely professed faith in the Lord in 1 John 2:19where he states, “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.” 

To those who are true believers on the Lord, the true branches, the Lord assures us in John 15:2that, “…every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.”  The Lord will work in us to remove, or prune, those things in our lives that do not belong; things that only hinder our fruit bearing.  Sometimes this pruning process may not be very enjoyable, but the Lord, in His grace, will work to cause us to ‘bring forth more fruitto Him.  Now let’s consider John 15:7which says, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”  In this verse, the Lord IS speaking to true disciples.  To those who abide in Him; those who truly know Him as Lord and savior and walk according to His words, He promises the ability to ask of Him what we will, and He will do it.  We read in Psalms 37:4-5, “Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.” What a remarkable and blessed truth!  When we delight ourselves in the Lord, our desires change.  When we delight ourselves in the Lord, we will want our lives to honor and please Him.  Our desires will be for His glory, not our own selfish gain.  Let’s take advantage of this great provision of the Lord.  As believers who abide in Him, may we delight ourselves in Him, and receive the desires of our hearts.  (139.4)