Jesus bestows comfort upon you. God will not cut us off the Vine because of our natural corruption and many sins. Jesus offered each of us a radical cleansing initially, loading us with this when we believed. Do not say, "We shall in future be cleansed by our rites and forms of prayer." He cleansed us in the part; he is the one who forgave us once for all, and sanctified us on the cross. The Gospel exudes power for cleansing. So it is not our efforts, nor our suffering or our maturity that cleanse us but God’s word alone. Just as the Creator fashioned the world in the beginning by a word, so also Christ creates purity in us, if we open up to his word. It is not the sacrament of baptism or the Lord’s supper alone that cleanse us, but faith in Jesus’ word and our deepening meditation on it. Read at least some portion of the Bible daily, preferably at a regular time, otherwise, without spiritual nourishment, you will fall.
Jesus concentrated on one term on which our growth and fruitfulness depend. That is ABIDING. This word appears ten times in Chapter 15. Many meanings can be inferred from this term – we abide in him and he in us; we are made holy in abiding; his power and sap flow through us. All proceeds from him, so we must abide in him. If we part from him, then the flow of his loving power ceases in us. If a branch is broken off, even for a moment, it will wither. What an ugly picture of a withered and dead church. A most vital prayer for believers is to ask that we abide in him. That thereby the Lord may work in us constantly for growth, fruit and action, and keep us in his name night and day. Abiding is not of us it is grace from the Holy Spirit. No one can abide on his own in Christ, but we can thank him for this gift, and ask him to preserve in abiding and that others might also abide.