Apart From Me You Can Do Nothing

Directive #38- September 29, 2014

SCRIPTURE: John 15:5

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

INTERPRETATION:

I rediscovered something recently: I can’t do anything. That’s what Jesus said in John 15. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

This statement of Jesus (John 15) is right in the middle of chapters fourteen and sixteen.   In John 14 Jesus gives us the Promise of the Holy Spirit and in John 16 the Power of the Holy Spirit.

I can’t reveal truth, I can’t illuminate truth, I can’t even convict of truth. The Holy Spirit must do that. I can’t do anything good unless the Spirit of God is at work.

Paul says in Romans 7:18, “Nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh.”

But according to John 15:5, God intends for me to do something good (namely, bear fruit). Jesus who said “I have called you friends” (John 15:15) promises to do for me what I can’t do for myself.

“The Holy Spirit is the living God, not some inert concept. The church community has to trust the Holy Spirit in every decision and believe strongly that the Spirit continues to be present in the community and at work in it. The Spirit will not permit our community to grope about to darkness, if only we are willing to take the Holy Spirit seriously.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“If you have the Spirit of God in you, you can do remarkable, unexplainable things that can only be explained by the Spirit of God working in you and changing you.” Jeff Vanderstelt

OTHER SCRIPTURES:

• Acts 1:4-5,8Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

• Acts 2:3All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
• Ephesians 5:18Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.
• Luke 11:13If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!

PRAYER POINTS:

1. PRAY to grow in our understanding of God and His Word (1 Corinthians 2:14-15).
2. PRAY for opportunities to glorify Christ with our life (John 16:14).
3. PRAY to live a life holy and pleasing to God (Galatians 5:16–23).
4. PRAY for a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18-21).
5. PRAY that the Holy Spirit would enable us to pray with passion (Acts 12:5).
6. PRAY for the fruit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22, 1 Corinthians 12:1-11).
7. PRAY that we would bear much fruit (John 15:5).

Mike Ainsworth

Assistant Superintendent, Ministry Assistant & Evangelism Director

Cornerstone Conference (Western North Carolina)