John 15 - If/Then Statements
from Doug Perry - (www.FellowshipoftheMartyrs.com) - download printable PDF file here
God does not change. What irritated Him then, still irritates Him now. What pleased and honored Him then, still pleases and honors Him now. These If/Then statements are guarantees! IF you do these things, then He WILL do what He said He would do – sooner or later, one way or the other. He reserves the right to manifest it in whatever way He wants, but He WILL do it.
It's equational. Like math. Just insert the quantity.
IF you do Behavior X THEN Consequence Y will result. Quantity N is the only variable.BX(N) = CY(N)
Positive Behavior = Positive Consequence OR Negative Behavior = Negative Consequence
Get it? Doesn't even require faith. It's just a guarantee from God. Now, it may not manifest like you expect or when you expect, but it WILL happen because God's promises are good. He is faithful and just.
So here we go. Let's look at the guarantees. (Scripture quoted from the Amplified Version.)
John 15
1 I AM the True Vine, and My Father is the Vinedresser. Just so we're clear who is who. God is the one doing the pruning, with whatever tools He wants to use.
2 Any branch in Me that does not bear fruit [that stops bearing] He cuts away (trims off, takes away); and He cleanses and repeatedly prunes every branch that continues to bear fruit, to make it bear more and richer and more excellent fruit.
If you are stagnant He will spew you out. He repeatedly prunes EVERY branch. Don't think you're exempt and don't think the pruning you just went through is the last of it! And know that the ONLY reason He is doing it is so the you and the Vine will bear more fruit.
3 You are cleansed and pruned already, because of the word which I have given you [the teachings I have discussed with you]. The disciples to whom Jesus is speaking are currently in pretty good shape. That isn't always the case. Peter, in particular, requires additional pruning later on.
4 Dwell in Me, and I will dwell in you. [Live in Me, and I will live in you.] Just as no branch can bear fruit of itself without abiding in (being vitally united to) the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you abide in Me. Here we begin the setup for the recipe book of conditional statements that follow. It's very important to not that “abiding” is not at all the same as “believing in”. It's not a one time acceptance of a truth, it's a constant relationship. Abiding infers constant and deep symbiotic relationship, not just an acknowledgement.
IF you remain in ME, THEN I will remain in you.
5 I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in Me and I in him bears much (abundant) fruit. However, apart from Me [cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing. Just so we're clear on who is who. I'm the Source. You're the twig. You're the fruit bearers, but you CANNOT do it without a constant relationship with Me. If ANYTHING interupts the flow or nourishment from me, you will NOT be able to bear good fruit. Just so we're clear.
IF a man remains in Me AND I in him, THEN he will bear much fruit.
IF you are cut off from Me, THEN you can do nothing.
6 If a person does not dwell in Me, he is thrown out like a [broken-off] branch, and withers; such branches are gathered up and thrown into the fire, and they are burned. It's possible to be a fruit-bearing branch, stop bearing fruit and be thrown into the fire. This ought to scare the pants of off all of us!! Why else do we need to work out our salvation with fear and trembling?! If our acceptance of Jesus resulted in permanent, unchangeable salvation, how is this possible? These aren't branches that stay attached to the Vine and are refined by fire and then made useful again. The clear implication is that these are trimmed off, hauled off and burned. There is nothing here that indicates that it is for medicinal value and they eventually return to the Vine. I know this disrupts a lot of people's theology. I'd sure like somebody to tell me how else to interpret this! Not these are not some other kind of branch that is pruned off. These are not non-Christians. These are people that WERE connected to the Vine and stopped bearing fruit.
IF you stop dwelling in Me, THEN you will be cut off, hauled off and burned in the fire.
7 If you live in Me [abide vitally united to Me] and My words remain in you and continue to live in your hearts, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you. As long as we're in relationship and you are producing good fruit, I'll listen to you and answer you.
IF you abide in Me AND My words in you AND they continue to live in your heart (active and operating, not passive), THEN ask whatever you like and I'll do it for you.
8 When you bear (produce) much fruit, My Father is honored and glorified, and you show and prove yourselves to be true followers of Mine. The Vinedresser is pleased with you when you effectively accomplish that for which you were designed. You are like the Vine when you take what the Vine feeds you and produce that which defines the Vine. If you produce nothing OR make olives on a grape vine, you're not pleasing to the Vinedresser. You must do as you were designed as as the Vine and the Vinedresser desire. You must obey THEIR design for you, not your own plans and goals.
9 I have loved you, [just] as the Father has loved Me; abide in My love [continue in His love with Me]. The Vinedresser lovingly cares for Me and I will lovingly care for You. Please don't do anything to screw it up. Please make good fruit so nothing bad will happen.
10 If you keep My commandments [if you continue to obey My instructions], you will abide in My love and live on in it, just as I have obeyed My Father's commandments and live on in His love. The Vinedresser is pleased with Me, so He will be pleased with you if you are like Me and do as I instruct. Make the fruit in the time and in the way and in the proportions that I tell you to, or else.
IF you keep My commandments, THEN you will abide in My love and live on.
11 I have told you these things, that My joy and delight may be in you, and that your joy and gladness may be of full measure and complete and overflowing. I want everybody clear on the expectations and requirements. I don't want you to have to guess about what I'm expecting of you. This should be pretty clear. If you mangle it all up later, don't say I didn't warn you. You will not have joy and gladness in full measure, complete and overflowing, unless you operate within My guidelines. You and I both have to do it the way the Vinedresser designed it.
12 This is My commandment: that you love one another [just] as I have loved you. Just so we're clear. If you don't keep My commandments, I'm not going to abide in you and you're in danger of being pruned, cast out and burned. So please obey Me on this. Love one another, just as I love you. What the Vine feeds you should flow THROUGH you and on to all the other members without interruption. Don't clog up the flow and don't add your own spin or flavor or virus to it. Just let what I do for you flow on through you to others. If not, then you're a wart and a cancer and you're keeping others from bearing fruit and the Vinedresser is NOT going to be happy. Nothing personal. I love you. I'm just saying so you're clear and there won't be any surprises. If you try to prune parts off yourself, you're going to be in big trouble. That's not your job. You need to love and feed all your members and let the Vinedresser take care of the rest.
13 No one has greater love [no one has shown stronger affection] than to lay down (give up) his own life for his friends. This is what I'm doing for you. I'm serving and upholding and feeding and sacrificing so that YOU can bear fruit. For a little while I was the Vine AND the Branches, but it was only a one-man show for a tiny sliver of time as it was growing. Now I'm the support mechanism so that you can grow and prosper. And I love doing it! It would sure be great if you would be willing to do it too. Lay down your own desires and just feed and love your members as they grow. And if they produce more fruit than you, that's OK, that was the plan. What you don't get is that even though I'm the Vine, when a branch gets pruned, that's part of Me too – and I willing to let that part of Me die for the sake of the whole. Be willing to lay down whatever is necessary for the sake of Me or for those around you. If you do, the Vinedresser will be REALLY happy with you.
14 You are My friends if you keep on doing the things which I command you to do. A reminder of verse 10. Not just producers, not just branches, but FRIENDS if you KEEP ON doing what you are commanded. This is active and ongoing. Constant acknowledgement, listening and obedience results in friendship.
IF you want to be My friends, THEN keep constantly doing what I command you to do.
15 I do not call you servants (slaves) any longer, for the servant does not know what his master is doing (working out). But I have called you My friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from My Father. [I have revealed to you everything that I have learned from Him.] You're not flying blind here, I've given you plenty of information about what the plan is. You are partners and team members, so long as you don't deny Me by going your own way.
16 You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you and I have appointed you [I have planted you], that you might go and bear fruit and keep on bearing, and that your fruit may be lasting [that it may remain, abide], so that whatever you ask the Father in My Name [as presenting all that I AM], He may give it to you. I picked you, I grafted you, I grew you, I feed you, I instruct you, all with one goal – that you will constantly bear good fruit that is lasting AND so that whatever you ask the Vinedresser, He will give you. We have an open heaven over us when we don't make it about us, we abide, we obey and we bear much lasting fruit.
17 This is what I command you: that you love one another. Remember verse 12? I wasn't kidding. Do this or else. You CANNOT abide in me without this. You will surely be pruned sooner or later if you don't do this. And I'm not defining who “one another” is, but it's a lot wider sphere than you think. For sure it includes EVERYONE connected to the Vine. I'm talking to the whole lot of you. If ANY of you are not loving ALL the others, you're going to be in big trouble and you need to wonder if I'm abiding in you.
18 If the world hates you, know that it hated Me before it hated you. You're not alone. The more you get to be like me, the more you need to expect this stuff.
IF the world hates you, THEN be comforted in knowing that it hated me first.
19 If you belonged to the world, the world would treat you with affection and would love you as its own. But because you are not of the world [no longer one with it], but I have chosen (selected) you out of the world, the world hates (detests) you. This is pretty clear, isn't it? If the world is in love with you, you need to wonder how much you are like me. If you fit right in with them, you are a lot more like them than you are like Me. The world cannot produce the fruit My vine bears, so you might be in danger of pruning at any moment. Better turn.
IF you belonged to the world, THEN the world would love you as its own.
IF you are no longer of the world because I have chosen you, THEN the world hates you.
20 Remember that I told you, A servant is not greater than his master [is not superior to him]. If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word and obeyed My teachings, they will also keep and obey yours. You will endure what I endured if you seek to be like me. You will not surpass me, but you should expect the same treatment. I find that last phrase to be one of the most depressing sentences in the Bible. Since they DIDN'T keep His word and obey Him, we really shouldn't expect anybody will listen to us either! Ouch.
IF they persecuted Me, THEN they will also persecute you (assuming you're like me).
IF they obeyed Me, THEN they will also obey you.
21 But they will do all this to you [inflict all this suffering on you] because of [your bearing] My name and on My account, for they do not know or understand the One Who sent Me. Don't be ashamed, they're doing it because you are like Me! That's great. They would love you if you looked like them. The don't understand the Vinedresser and how He works – or they do and they hate the whole idea – it's not your fault they're mad at you.
22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin [would be blameless]; but now they have no excuse for their sin. Without my voice and my commands, they could really be expected to produce fruit at all or produce the correct kind. But now they have no excuse. If they expect to abide, then they need to obey.
IF I hadn't explained sin to them, THEN they would not be guilty.
23 Whoever hates Me also hates My Father.
IF you hate me, THEN you hate My Father as well.
24 If I had not done (accomplished) among them the works which no one else ever did, they would not be guilty of sin. But [the fact is] now they have both seen [these works] and have hated both Me and My Father. They saw miracles. They saw undeniable proof that I am who I say I am. They have no more excuse to deny that they need to obey me. I am greater than you and that's just all there is to it. But instead they saw and hated both the Vine and the Vinedresser.
IF I had not done miracles, THEN they would have an excuse to disobey – but they do anyway – and by it show their hatred of Me and the Father.
25 But [this is so] that the word written in their Law might be fulfilled, They hated Me without a cause.I saw it coming. They saw it coming. There's no avoiding it. Had to happen.
26 But when the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Advocate, Intercessor, Strengthener, Standby) comes, Whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth Who comes (proceeds) from the Father, He [Himself] will testify regarding Me. The Holy Spirit will explain it all later and help you hear My voice so you can produce good, abundant, lasting fruit forever. Hang loose, it's on the way. He will be your teacher, not Man.
27 But you also will testify and be My witnesses, because you have been with Me from the beginning.You will tell the world. You will be witnesses (martureo from martus – meaning martyrs) because you can hear Me, are abiding in Me and are obeying Me. Big fruit comes when you are witnesses, no matter how much persecution comes, no matter how much the world hates you, even unto death.
SUMMARY
Below is a list of the If/Then's in this amazing chapter. These are straight from the mouth of Jesus. These are conditional statements and promises. It is a recipe for success and fruit bearing and a road map to know what to expect. The thing you need to see is the equational nature of these. They aren't just On/Off switches, they are Dials. It should be obvious that some people bear more fruit than others? Why? Because they did these to a greater degree, they poured out more of themselves, they dialed it up higher. They've learned how to let Jesus flow through them without getting in the way. They have a bigger cup of Jesus. However you want to think about it. It's all math, just plug in the quantities.
IF you remain in ME, THEN I will remain in you.
IF you remain in 20%, THEN I will remain in you 20%.
IF you remain in me ALL, THEN I will remain in you ALL.
IF a man remains in Me AND I in him, THEN he will bear much fruit.
IF you are cut off from Me, THEN you can do nothing.
IF you stop receiving from Me, THEN you WILL stop growing.
IF you turn the valve down to 50% of capacity, THEN you will grow 50% of capacity.
IF you try to grow on your own power, THEN nothing that looks like MY fruit will result.
IF you stop dwelling in Me, THEN you will be cut off, hauled off and burned in the fire.
IF you shut the valve all the way off and walk away, THEN you are in big trouble.
IF you abide in Me AND My words in you AND they continue to live in your heart (active and operating, not passive), THEN ask whatever you like and I'll do it for you.
IF you do this stuff a little bit, THEN you can ask for help with your headache.
IF you do this stuff all the way, THEN you can ask to raise the dead.
IF you keep My commandments, THEN you will abide in My love and live on.
If you keep some of my commandments, THEN you are abiding SOME.
IF you want to be My friends, THEN keep constantly doing what I command you to do.
IF you don't want to be my friends, THEN just do some of them sometimes.
IF the world hates you, THEN be comforted in knowing that it hated me first.
IF the world hates you once in a while, THEN you're probably like me a little bit.
IF the world boils you in oil and kills you, THEN you're probably like me all the time.
IF you belonged to the world, THEN the world would love you as is own.
IF the world loves you 40%, THEN there's probably 40% of you that's not obeying Me.
IF the world can't tell you apart from it's own people, THEN you're probably not much like Me.
IF you are no longer of the world because I have chosen you, THEN the world hates you.
IF I chose you AND you choose to let me, THEN I will make you someone the world despises.
IF they persecuted Me, THEN they will also persecute you (assuming you're like me).
IF they obeyed Me, THEN they will also obey you.
IF the vast majority ignored me, THEN don't expect any different.
IF I hadn't explained sin to them, THEN they would not be guilty.
IF you understand the equational nature of this chapter, THEN you need to give ALL.
IF you abide and obey 50%, THEN the other 50% is sin and you are guilty.
IF you hate me, THEN you hate My Father as well.
IF the world hates me and won't receive from me, THEN they won't receive from the Father either.
IF you abide in me 70%, THEN you hate me 30% - and the Father too.
IF I had not done miracles, THEN they would have an excuse to disobey – but they do anyway – and by it show their hatred of Me and the Father.
IF you have EVER seen Me work, ever heal or transform or redeem, THEN you have no excuse – and any disobedience is hatred toward Me and the Father.
Sing it like you mean it this time.
I Surrender All
by Judson W. Van DeVenter, 1896:
ALL to Jesus, I surrender; ALL to Him I freely give; I will EVER love and trust Him, In His presence DAILY live.
I surrender ALL, I surrender ALL, ALL to Thee, my blessed Savior, I surrender ALL.
ALL to Jesus I surrender; Humbly at His feet I bow, Worldly pleasures ALL forsaken; Take me, Jesus, take me now.
I surrender ALL, I surrender ALL, ALL to Thee, my blessed Savior, I surrender ALL.
ALL to Jesus, I surrender; Make me, Savior, WHOLLY Thine; Let me feel the Holy Spirit, Truly know that Thou art mine.
I surrender ALL, I surrender ALL, ALL to Thee, my blessed Savior, I surrender ALL.
ALL to Jesus, I surrender; Lord, I give myself to Thee; FILL me with Thy love and power; Let Thy blessing fall on me.
I surrender ALL, I surrender ALL, ALL to Thee, my blessed Savior, I surrender ALL.
ALL to Jesus I surrender; NOW I feel the sacred flame. O the joy of FULL salvation! Glory, glory, to His Name!
I surrender ALL, I surrender ALL, ALL to Thee, my blessed Savior, I surrender ALL.
So what's it gonna be? How far are you willing to go? What still needs to be laid down?
Could you do it now?
Maybe pray this prayer, if you have the guts for it - (See warning first!)
Lord, I really WANT to surrender ALL. I really do, but I don't know how. I know I'm not there and I'm sorry I ever held anything back. Please help me. Please? If there is anything that stands between me and You, anything that I love more than You, whether I realize it or not, whether I like it or not, no matter where it came from or how long it's been there, would You just rip it, tear it, shred it, burn it, crush it, kill it, tear it out of my hands, even if I like it. Whatever You do, DO NOT stop breaking me until You are finished, no matter how much I whine. YOU have your way with me. Right now in as big as measure as I can handle. I trust You. Please don't leave me like this, I stink. I'm sorry I didn't pray this sooner. I love You, Jesus. Do it now! Amen.