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Transcript 035A — How Does the Lord "Prune the Branches"? [John 15:2]
HC: Good evening. Welcome to Open Forum.
CALLER: Yes. Could you help me with John 15:2?
HC: John 15:2. There we read: "Every branch of mine that bears no fruit He takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit."
CALLER: What I want to know is, how does He prune it?
HC: We read in Hebrews 12 that every son that He receives, He chastises. He brings testing programs into our life. He brings reverses into our life. And in this way He calls attention to our sins. Of course, He also prunes through the Word of God directly, as we read the Word. We are exercised by the Word, as it is used of the Holy Spirit as His sword, to cut away the dross from our lives.
CALLER: Could it be through a weakness that we may have that He does this?
HC: Not through a weakness, that is, if you're talking about a sin weakness. He may bring testing programs to expose our sin weakness, so that as we fall we realize that we have something in our life that ought to be pruned, that ought to be cut away. It's dead wood that has to go. It is never God's program that we sin. But He will help us to get victory over sin.
CALLER: I'm not sure what this is from, but I got where I couldn't go out of the house. I wasn't a Christian, but I guess I was searching. I got sick, and then I lost my confidence. I couldn't go out, and for 4 years I just was not able to go down the street. I had such terror or anxiety, and I didn't know where to turn. And I kept searching the scriptures and listening to K.E.A.R. And I just wondered. I did become a Christian through this thing, whatever it is, this phobia. But I just wondered. Did the Lord let this come on me for this purpose? Or is it just a weakness of my own? Now it's not so bad. I still have it. I'm a little better, but . . .
HC: Every person has got special sin weaknesses of one kind or another. We're born with these. We inherit them from our forebears. One person's sin weakness may be that he has an extraordinary desire for sexual lust. Another one has an extraordinary desire to gossip. Another one has a tremendous sin weakness of exaggeration, so that really he's telling lies all the time, because exaggerations are lies. And this may be a function of a deeper sin weakness of pride, where he wants to be recognized and wants to be the one who has the most spectacular story to tell. Another one may have a sin weakness of outright deceit, or of vanity, of wanting to be beautiful, and so on.
Now each one of us is different, and there's always the sin that is most pronounced in our life. Another one may have a sin weakness of anxiety, deep-rooted anxiety. But this is what sin is.
Now this is why Christ came. He didn't come because we were righteous. He came because we were sinners. Now very frequently, if God is going to deal with us, He may allow sin. But remember, sin is never God's will. Sin is never God's will. But sometimes God will allow that sin to magnify in our life. God simply takes His hand of restraint off of us. The sin is our sin, not God's sin in any way. And He does this so that this sin will be very pronounced. But we can see it as sin, and begin to reckon with it.
Now the first thing we must remember is that when we have sin, and the Bible says, "Don't be anxious." So when we are anxious, that's sin. And so the first thing we have to recognize is that it is sin. The moment we know that it's sin, then victory is assured. As long as we think that it's just a phobia, or we think it's just a weakness of some kind, or a habit, then we are not facing the reality of life, and we will not get victory over it.
But when we look upon it as a sin, we are not trusting the Lord the way we ought to. We're not living the way we ought to. When we cry out to Him for mercy, when we cry out to Him for a hatred for this sin, then we can start getting on a path of victory.
Now in your own case, this is a very deep-rooted problem. It's one that makes you just think, "Oh, how can I ever get victory over this?" And in yourself you cannot. You can't do it in yourself. But beginning with the fact that you will confess to the Lord, "Oh, Lord, I've had this sin in my life of not trusting you," because ultimately this is what it is. You really are saying, "If I go out in the street, God is not sufficient to care for me. Something dreadful is going to happen to me." And that's nothing more than sin.
Now what has brought it on, I have no idea. Why God has allowed you to be designed this way, whereas someone else has a sin weakness of some other kind, I don't know. But I do know that that's why Christ came, to deal with sin. And so you start out by confessing this sin. "Oh, Lord, I have this deep and terrible sin of anxiety in my life, where I don't trust You. And oh, Lord, forgive me. Oh, Father, strengthen me that I may realize that I'm secure in You, and there is nothing for me to fear. And forgive this sin, and strengthen me." And really pray to the Lord about it, that you might get victory over this.
Now when this anxiety strikes you, and right in the middle of the night it grips your heart, begin to cry out to the Lord: "Oh, Lord, have mercy on me. This sin has got to go. Help me to realize that my strength is in You. You will never leave me nor forsake me. You are the Good Shepherd, and You've laid down Your life for me. And You have promised that You would lead me beside the still waters and help me to lie down in safety. And oh, Father, give me that security in my life."
CALLER: I have another problem. If I have a sinful thought or if I do something sinful, I'm always afraid that God will keep me this way, because of my sin. I guess all my life I've thought that that's why I have this, because I've sinned in many ways, and God is punishing me.
HC: You see, very frequently, one of the biggest reasons for a deep-rooted anxiety such as you have is a deeper-rooted sense of guilt, where you somehow feel that God is going to abandon you and strike you down. Now this gets right back to trusting. When Christ says that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness, when God declares this in First John 1:9, does He mean what He says? And so you look back on your life now. And you don't have to tell me what it is, but you think back on the worst sin you've ever committed. And you just reflect on that. What is the worst sin I've every committed? And then ask yourself: Can Christ forgive that sin? Can He forgive that sin? Do I really trust Him, that if I would go to the Lord tonight and tell Him all about it and earnestly resolve in my heart that I'll turn my back on ever doing that sin again, as Christ strengthens me, do I really believe that He can forgive me?
CALLER: I still do these sins every so often. I still get a lustful thought or I . . .
HC: Well, I'm not even thinking about that. You go way back in your life. Is there something that you even hate to face? Is there a sin that you have almost forgotten? In other words, when you look back on your life, are you completely convinced, as you look at yourself very honestly (not kidding yourself, but looking at yourself very honestly), are you completely convinced that Christ will forgive every one of those sins?
CALLER: I guess I feel He just will always remember them and not look very favorably. I guess that's my problem.
HC: Well, that's a function of guilt. See, that's really saying that God hasn't really forgiven me. Now in Jeremiah 31:34, it says: "For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." Now that's a verse that you ought to commit to memory. "I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." Or Micah 7:19, where God declares: "He will again have compassion on us. He will tread our iniquities underfoot. Thou wilt cast all our sins in to the depths of the sea." This again is language to indicate that they are gone forever.
CALLER: But when He says that He prunes or chastens us, if I sin tomorrow, I hope He doesn't make me feel fearful. If He chastens me again, I wonder how I will do it. That's what I'm afraid of. You know, if I'm growing in the Lord, you said that He chastens us again, or He prunes us. I hope it's not in this way, because it takes me a long time to get over it.
HC: He will not chasten you through sin. He may chasten you in some other way. But He does not chasten you through sin. The fear itself is sin, you see. And so when you have this fear in your heart, you have to ask yourself: "Now why am I sinning this way? Why am I not trusting the Lord that all my sins are forgiven? Why am I doing this?
And then you pray. "Oh, Father, I have this fear." And that's the wonderful thing about going to Him. You can level with Him. There's nothing you have to hold back. He knows all about what's going on in your thought life. He knows what you're thinking before you even think it. And so you can't surprise Him. It isn't as if you're going to unburden some things that are going to catch God off guard. That can't happen.
And so you can very confidently go to Him and talk to Him as candidly and as confidently as you could to the most cherished friend, whom you trusted entirely.
And you can say to Him: "Oh, Lord, not I have this fear again tonight. And I know that this fear is sinful, because it means that I'm not trusting You. If I was really trusting You, then I wouldn't have this kind of fear. And oh, Father, forgive this. Forgive this and give me the strength and the belief, the trust, the faith, that I'll take You at Your Word that all my sins are forgiven and that I am in Your hands and that You cherish me and hold me fast and will never let me go. And may this become real in my life."
CALLER: That's what I need. Could you give me a couple examples of how He might chasten a person, from your own life perhaps?
HC: Yes. Frequently, if we are struggling with a sin, the next thing we know, God may send us some bad news about a loved one, which will just bring us down. Or maybe we might lose our job. Or we might break a leg.
CALLER: It's frightening.
HC: Well, it's nothing to be frightened about. Chastening, you know, at the time it is happening is very difficult. But later on, the Bible says, it brings, well, let me read that passage, because then I'll say it exactly the way the Bible does. In Hebrews 12:11 we read: "For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant. Later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Therefore lift up your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.
Now that's what you need, you see. You need to lift up your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees. And if God chastens you, praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! I can remember in my own life, there have been times when God has been really giving me assistance with sin problems in my life. And so He clobbers me in one way or another. And I remember, finally you get to the point where you say, "Say, isn't that great? God is really beginning to deal with me." And how that supports you in your desire to get victory over that sin.