John 15:6

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. IF A MAN ABIDE NOT IN ME, HE IS CAST FORTH AS A BRANCH, AND IS WITHERED. This withering, it will be observed, comes before the burning, just as the withering is preceded by the taking away (). The thing intended seems to be the decay and disappearance of all that in religion (and in many cases this is not little) which even an external connection with Christ imparts to those who are destitute of vital religion. AND [MEN] GATHER THEM. Compare what is said in the parable of the Tares: "The Son of Man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity" ...

6._If any one abide not in me. _He again lays before them the punishment of ingratitude, and, by doing so, excites and urges them to perseverance. It is indeed the gift of God, but the exhortation to fear is not uncalled for, lest our flesh, through too great indulgence, should root us out. _He is cast out, and withered, like a branch. _Those who are cut off from Christ are said to _wither _like a dead branch; because, as the commencement of strength is from him, so also is its uninterrupted continuance. Not that it ever happens that any one of the elect is dried up, but because there are many hypocrites who, in outward appearance, flourish and are green for a time, but who afterwards, when they ought to yield fruit, show the very opposite of that which the Lord expects and demands from his people. (81)...

1-8 Jesus Christ is the Vine, the true Vine. The union of the human and Divine natures, and the fulness of the Spirit that is in him, resemble the root of the vine made fruitful by the moisture from a rich soil. Believers are branches of this Vine. The root is unseen, and our life is hid with Christ; the root bears the tree, diffuses sap to it, and in Christ are all supports and supplies. The branches of the vine are many, yet, meeting in the root, are all but one vine; thus all true Christians, though in place and opinion distant from each other, meet in Christ. Believers, like the branches of the vine, are weak, and unable to stand but as they are borne up. The Father is the Husbandman. Never was any husbandman so wise, so watchful, about his vineyard, as God is about his church, which therefore must prosper. We must be fruitful. From a vine we look for grapes, and from a Christian we...

Verse John 15:6. _IF A MAN ABIDE NOT IN ME_] Our Lord in the plainest manner intimates that a person may as truly be united to him as the branch is to the tree that produces it, and yet be afterwards cut off and cast into the fire; _because he has not brought forth_ _fruit to the glory of his God_. No man can cut off a branch from a tree to which that branch was _never united_: it is absurd, and contrary to the letter and spirit of the metaphor, to talk of being _seemingly_ in Christ-because this means nothing. If there was only a _seeming_ union, there could be only a seeming _excision_: so the matter is just where it began; nothing is done on either side, and nothing said to any purpose. _HE IS CAST FORTH_] Observe, that person who abides not in Christ, in a believing loving, obedient spirit, is - 1. _Cut off_ from Jesu

IF A MAN, ABIDE NOT IN ME - See John 15:4. If a man is not truly united to him by faith, and does not live with a continual sense of his dependence on him. This doubtless refers to those who are professors of religion, but who have never known anything of true and real connection with him. IS CAST FORTH - See the notes at John 15:2. Also Matthew 8:12; Matthew 22:13. IS WITHERED - Is dried up. A branch cut off withers. So of a soul unconnected with Christ, however fair it may have appeared. and however flourishing when a profession of r

EXPOSITION JOHN 15:1 (7) _The parable of the vine and its branches_._ Incorporation of the disciples into one personality with himself_._ _The image of the vine may have been suggested by some visible object. Either of the hypotheses of place would furnish a reminder of the nature and culture of the vine. Thus around the windows of the guest-chamber the vine may have thrown its tendrils, or on the slopes of Olivet the vineyards may have been prominent objects, or the burning heaps of vine-prunings may have suggested the idea. Again, if they were pausing in some apartments of the temple-court, the golden vine, the image of Israel, upon the gates may have supplied the point of departure. But our Lord needed no such help to his imagination, and it is by no means necessary to find an occasion for his imagery. The fact that

IF A MAN ABIDE NOT IN ME,.... Christ does not say, "if ye abide not in me"; he would not suppose this of his true disciples; Judas now being removed, to whom he may have some respect in this verse; though it may be applied to anyone who has made a profession of Christ, and denies the truths of the Gospel, neglects the ordinances of it, or walks unworthy of his profession: of whom the following things may be truly said, HE IS CAST FORTH AS A BRANCH; that is unfruitful, and is therefore taken away from the vine, and cast forth out of the vineyard. This signifies the ejection of worthless and fruitless professors out of the churches; for such who are either unsound in their principles, or are remiss and negligent in their attendance on the worship of God, with the church, or are loose and vain in their lives and conversations, are to be removed from communion with the people of God. AND I...

John 15:1. _I am the true vine,_ Now we know where to find the true Church. It is to be found only in Christ and in those who are joined to him in mystical but real union: «I am the true vine,» John 15:1. _And my Father is the husbandman._ Now we know who is the true Guardian of the Church. Not the so-called «holy father» at Rome, but that Father above, who is the true Guardian, Ruler, Keeper, Preserver, Purifier, Husbandman of the one Church, the vine. John 15:2. _Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away:_ There are many such branches, in Christ's visible Church, which are not fruit-bearing branches, and consequently are not partakers of the sap of life a

JOHN 15:6 avuta, The plural auvta,, attested by A B G Q L _al,_ appears to have been altered by copyists to the singular auvto, (a D L X D P 0141 ¦1 ¦13 33 565 1071 _al_) in order to agree grammatically with to. klh/ma....

CHAPTER 15 1. The Vine and the Branch. (John 15:1 .) 2. Communion with Him and its Conditions.(John 15:9 .) 3. Love One Another! and the Hatred of the World. (John 15:17 .) Israel is called a vine in the Old Testament (Psalms 80:8; Isaiah 5:1; Jeremiah 2:21; Hosea 10:1) and Christ here in this parable takes the place of Israel and is the true vine. His disciples are the branches. Is