28. Much Fruit—

John 15:5 (NRSV)  I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, 

because apart from me you can do nothing. …

Our Holy Vine reveals the law of sure and abundant fruitfulness: "He that abides in Me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit." The gardener cares for one thing—the strength and healthy life of his tree—the fruit follows of itself. If you would bear fruit, see that the inner life is perfectly right, that your relationship to Christ Jesus is clear and close. Each day take time to grow in the Truth that you are abiding in Him and He in you. Christ tells us that nothing less will do. It is not your willing and running, it is not by your might or strength, but—"by my Spirit, says the Lord." Meet each new engagement, undertake every new work, with an ear and heart open to the Master's voice: "He that abides in Me, bears much fruit." When you seek the abiding—He will see to the fruit because He will give it in you and through you.

It is Christ Who does it all! The Vine provides the sap, and the life, and the strength—the branch waits, rests, receives, and bears the fruit.

Take time and ask God’s Holy Spirit to give you understanding of the unspeakably solemn place you occupy in the Mind of God. He has planted you INTO His Son with the calling and the power to bear much fruit. Accept that place. Look only to God, and to Christ, and expect joyfully to be what God has planned to make you—a fruitful branch—bearing much fruit, out of the abundance of His Grace.

27. Much Fruit—

John 15:5 (NRSV) — 5 I am the vine, you are the branches. 

Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, 

because apart from me you can do nothing. …

Our Lord had spoken of fruit, more fruit. He now adds the thought: much fruit. There is in the Vine such fullness, the care of the Divine Husbandman is so sure of success, that the much fruit is not a demand, but the simple promise of what must come to the branch that lives in the double abiding—he in Christ, and Christ in him. "The same brings forth much fruit." It is certain.

Q: Have you ever noticed the difference in the Christian life between work and fruit?

… A machine can do work: only life can bear fruit. A law can compel work: only love can spontaneously bring forth fruit. Work implies effort and labor: the essential idea of fruit is that it is the silent natural restful produce of our inner life. The gardener may labor to give his apple tree the digging and manuring, the watering and the pruning it needs—he can do nothing to produce the apple: "The fruit of the Spirit is love, peace, joy." The healthy life bears much fruit. The connection between work and fruit is perhaps best seen in the expression, "fruitful in every good work." …

Colossians 1:10 (NRSV)  so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord, 

fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work 

and as you grow in the knowledge of God.

26. You are the Branches—

John 15:5 (NRSV) — 5a I am the vine, you are the branches. …

You are the branch—you need be nothing more. You need not for one single moment of the day take upon you the responsibility of the Vine. You need never to leave that place of entire dependence and unbounded confidence IN Him. You need not be anxious as to how you are to understand the mystery, or fulfill its conditions, or work out its blessed aim because the True Vine will give all and work all. The Father, the Vine-grower watches over your union with and growth in the Vine. You need be nothing more than a branch. Only a branch! Let that be your watchword—it will lead in the path of continual surrender to Christ's Working, of true obedience to His every Command, of joyful expectancy of all His Grace.

The character of a branch, its strength and the fruit it bears, depends entirely upon the vine. Your life as a branch depends entirely upon your comprehension of Who our Lord Jesus is. Therefore never separate the two words: "I the Vine—you the branch." Your life and strength and fruit depend upon Who and What our Lord Jesus is! Therefore worship and trust Him. Let Him be your one desire and the one occupation of your heart. And should you feel that you do not and cannot know Him aright simply remember that it is part of His Responsibility as Vine to make Himself known to you! He does this not in thoughts and conceptions but in a hidden growth within the life that is humbly, restfully and entirely given up to wait on Him.

The vine reveals itself within the branch from thence comes the growth and fruit. Christ dwells and works within His branch so you need only be a branch, waiting on Him to do ALL. He will be to you the True Vine. The Father Himself, the Divine Vine-grower, is able to make you a branch worthy of the heavenly Vine. 

You shall not be disappointed! 

It is ALL of Him!

25. You are the Branches—

John 15:5 (NRSV) — 5a I am the vine, you are the branches. …

Christ had already said much of the branch and here He gives His Words to us personal application … You are the branches of whom I have been speaking. As I am the Vine, engaged to be and do all the branch needs, so I now ask you, in the new dispensation of God’s Holy Spirit Whom I have been promising you, to accept the place I give you, and to be My branches on earth.

The relationship He seeks to establish is an intensely personal one—it all hinges on the two little words I and You. It is as intensely personal for us as it was for the first disciples. Let us present ourselves before our Lord, until He speaks to each of us in Power, and our entire soul feels it: I am the Vine; you are the branch.

Hear His Voice saying this to you—whether you hear it softly or loudly—hear His Voice saying to you … You are the branch. You must be nothing less. Let nothing keep you back from saying:

"I will be a branch, with all that may mean—a feeble branch but yet as like the Vine as can be, for I am of the same nature, and receive of the same Spirit. A branch, utterly helpless, and yet just as manifestly set apart before God and men, as wholly given up to the work of bearing fruit, as the Vine itself. A branch, nothing in myself, and yet resting and rejoicing in the faith that knows that He will provide for all. Yes, by His Grace, I will be nothing less than a branch, and all He means it to be, that through me, He may bring forth His Fruit to the Glory of God."

24. The Vine

John 15:5 (NRSV) — 5a I am the vine, you are the branches. … …

"I am the Vine." Christ did not keep this mystery hidden from His disciples. He revealed it, first in His Words here and then in Power when God’s Holy Spirit came down. He will reveal it to us too, first in our thoughts, confessions and desires these words awaken in our hearts and then in Power by God’s Holy Spirit. Let us wait on Him to show us all the Heavenly Meaning of the Mystery. Let each day, in our quiet time, in the inner chamber with Him and His Word, our chief thought and aim be to get the heart fixed on Him, in the assurance that all that a vine ever can do for its branches, my Lord Jesus will do, is doing, will continue to do for me. Give Him time, give Him your ear that He may whisper and explain the Divine Secret: "I am the Vine."

Remember, Christ is the Vine of God's planting, and you are a branch of God's grafting. Wait before God, in Christ. Wait for all grace from God in Christ. Yield yourself to bear the more fruit the Vine-grower asks, in Christ. And pray much for the revelation of the Mystery that all the love and power of God that rested on Christ 

is working in you too. 

I am God's Vine, Jesus says—all I am I have from Him; 

all I am is for you—God will work it in you.

23. The Vine

John 15:5 (NRSV) — 5a I am the vine, you are the branches. … …

AM asks: Why is it that so much weary labor there has been in striving to understand what abiding is, how much fruitless effort in trying to attain it?

… Because the attention was turned to the abiding as a work we have to do, instead of the Living Christ, in Whom we were to be kept abiding. It is Jesus Himself Who holds and keeps us. We thought of abiding as a continual strain and effort—we forgot that it means rest from effort. Notice how Christ said, "Abide in Me; I am the Vine that brings forth, and holds, and strengthens, and makes fruitful the branches. Abide in Me, rest in Me, and let Me do My Work. I am the True Vine, all I am, and speak, and do is Divine Truth, giving the actual reality of what is said. I am the Vine, simply consent and yield your ALL to Me and I will do ALL in you."

He invites us to: Come out of every other place, and every other trust and occupation, come out of self with its reasonings and efforts, 

come and rest in what I shall do. Live out of yourself; abide in Me. 

Know that you are IN Me therefore you need no more—

remain there IN Me.

23. The Vine

John 15:5 (NRSV) I am the vine, you are the branches. … …

In the previous verse Christ had just said: "Abide in Me." He had then announced the great unalterable law of all branch-life, on earth or in Heaven: not of itself / except it abide. In the opening words of the parable He had already spoken: "I am the Vine." He now repeats the words. He would have us understand the simplicity of the lesson—the key to the abiding life—is to have eye and heart fixed upon Him.

"Abide in Me ... I am the True Vine."

I have been challenged to study this holy mystery until I see that Christ as the True Vine, Who bears, strengthens, supplies and inspires all His branches, being and doing IN each branch ALL it needs, and the abiding will come of itself. I have invited you to join me on this quest and I pray you are being equally challenged to see yourself as a fully empowered and equipped branch serving Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour with a fresh fervor!

Gaze upon Him as the True Vine, until you feel what a Heavenly Mystery it is, and are compelled to ask Papa God to reveal this deeper understanding to you by His Holy Spirit. He to whom God reveals the glory of the True Vine, he who sees Who Jesus is and waits to do His Will every moment cannot help but to abide IN Him. The vision of Christ is an irresistible attraction. It draws and holds us like a magnet. Listen to the Living Christ still speaking to you, and waiting to show you the meaning and power of His Word:

 "I am the Vine."

22. Unless You Abide—

John 15:4 (NRSV) Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit 

by itself unless it abides in the vine, 

neither can you unless you abide in Me.

Our blessed Lord Jesus desires to call us out of ourselves and our own strength, to Himself and His Strength. Let us accept the warning to distrust one’s own self and turn to Him in love and willingness to allow Him to do His Work in us. How else can our life be hidden with Christ IN God?

That life is a heavenly mystery, hidden from the wise even among Christians, and revealed unto babes—the childlike spirit that learns that life is given from Heaven every day and every moment to the soul that accepts the teaching of not of itself, except it abide, and seeks its ALL in the Vine.

Abiding in the Vine then comes to be nothing more nor less than the restful surrender of the soul to let Christ have ALL and work ALL, as completely as in nature the branch knows and seeks nothing but the vine.

Therein lies our challenge … not in our own strength but IN His alone.

21. Unless You Abide—

John 15:4 (NRSV) — 4 Abide in me as I abide in you. 

Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself 

unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in Me.

AM poses this question … Must this abiding be taken literally? Must I, as exclusively, and manifestly, and unceasingly, and absolutely, as the branch abides in the vine, be equally given up to find my whole life in Christ alone?

He answers … Indeed I must.

If I am to be a true branch, if I am to bear fruit, if I am to be what Christ as True Vine wants me to be, my whole existence must be as exclusively devoted to abiding IN Him, as that of the natural branch is to abiding in its vine.

There is a lesson to be learned here … Abiding is to be an act of the will and the whole heart. Just as there are degrees in seeking and serving God, "not with a perfect heart," or "with the whole heart," so there may be degrees in abiding. In our regeneration the Divine Life enters us, but does not all at once master and fill our whole being. This comes as matter of command and obedience.

There is unspeakable danger of our not giving ourselves with our whole heart to abide. There is unspeakable danger of our giving ourselves to work for God, and to bear fruit, with but little true abiding. And what is true abiding? It is the wholehearted losing of ourselves IN Christ and IN His life.

There is unspeakable danger of much work with but little fruit, for lack of this one needful thing. We must allow the words not of itself and except it abide, to do their work of searching and exposing, of pruning and cleansing, all that there is of self-will and self-confidence in our life. This is what will deliver us from this great evil, and so prepare us for His further Teaching, giving the full meaning of the word in us—

"Abide in Me, and I in you."

20. Unless You Abide—

John 15:4 (NRSV) — 4 Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in Me.

We know the meaning of the word unless—it expresses an indispensable condition, an inevitable law. "The branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abide in the vine. No more can you, unless you abide in Me."

There is but one way for the branch to bear fruit—it must abide in unbroken communion with the vine. Not of itself, but only of the vine, does the fruit come. In nature the branch teaches us the lesson so clearly and now for us it is such a wonderful privilege to be called and allowed to abide in the Heavenly Vine. But Christ knows so well what a renunciation of self is implied in this "Abide in Me". He knows how strong and universal the tendency is to seek to bear fruit by our own efforts. He knows how difficult it is to get us to believe that actual, continuous abiding in Him is an absolute necessity! He insists upon the Truth: Not of itself can the branch bear fruit; except it abide, it cannot bear fruit. "No more can you, unless you abide in Me."

19. Abide—

John 15:4 (NRSV)  Abide in Me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, 

neither can you unless you abide in Me.

IN—

The two parts of Christ’s injunction have their unity in that central deep-meaning word IN. There is no deeper word in Scripture. God is IN all. God dwells IN Christ. Christ lives IN God. We are IN Christ. Christ is IN us: our life taken up INto His; His life received Into ours; in a divine reality that words cannot express, we are IN Him and He IN us. The words, "Abide IN me and I IN you," simply tell us to believe this this Divine Mystery counting upon our God the Vine-grower and Christ the Vine to make it Divinely true.

No thinking or teaching or praying can grasp it—it is a Divine Mystery of Love.

AM states: As little as we can effect the union can we understand it! Let us just look upon this Infinite, Divine, Omnipotent Vine loving us, holding us and working in us. Let us in the faith of His Working abide and rest IN Him, ever turning our hearts and hope to Him alone. Let us count upon Him to fulfill in us the mystery: "You in me, and I in You."

18. Abide—

John 15:4 (NRSV) — 4 Abide in Me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in Me.

When a new graft is placed in a vine and it abides there and there is a twofold process that takes place …

(i) the first is in the wood: the graft shoots its little roots and fibers down into the stem, and the stem grows up into the graft, and what has been called the structural union is effected. The graft abides and becomes one with the vine, and even though the vine were to die it would still be one wood with it.

(ii) the second process occurs when the sap of the vine enters the new structure: it uses the vine as a passage or channel through which sap can flow to nourish the young shoots, leaves and fruit. This is called the vital union.

When our Lord says: "Abide in Me, and I in you," He points to something similar to this process. "Abide in Me" refers more to that which we have to do. We have to trust and obey, to detach ourselves from all else, to reach out after Him and cling to Him sinking ourselves into Him. As we do this, through the Grace He gives, our character is formed, and our hearts prepared for the fuller experience: "I in you," God strengthens us with might by His Spirit in the inner man, and Christ dwells in our heart by faith.

17. The Pruning Knife—

John 15:3 (NRSV) You have already been cleansed by the word 

that I have spoken to you.

Q: What is the pruning knife of our Heavenly Vine-grower?

The knife is the Word of God—sharper than any two-edged sword, that pierces even to the dividing asunder of the soul and spirit. It is quick to discern the thoughts and intentions of one’s heart.

Many believers think that affliction is the pruning knife of God however, it is only when affliction leads to the discipline of the Word that it can be a blessing—the lack of heart-cleansing through the Word is the reason why affliction is so often unsanctified. Not even Paul's thorn in the flesh could become a blessing until Christ's Word—My strength is made perfect in weakness—had made him see the danger of self-exaltation, and made him willing to rejoice in infirmities.

2 Corinthians 12:10 (The Message) — 10 Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.

From the opening of His Ministry in the Sermon on the Mount to His Words of warning in the last night, His Word had tried and cleansed His Disciples. He had discovered and condemned all there was of self and they were now emptied and cleansed—ready for the incoming of the Holy Spirit.

It is as we give up our own thoughts and yield heartily, humbly and patiently, to the teaching of the Word by Holy Spirit that Father God will do His blessed work of pruning and cleansing away all of nature and self that mixes with our work and hinders His Holy Spirit. Along with our surrender and yieldedness may we in our study of the Word, receive it as a hammer that breaks and opens up—as a fire that melts and refines—as a sword that lays bare and slays all that is of the flesh. The Word of conviction will prepare us for the Word of comfort and of hope, and the Father cleanses us through His Word.

John 15:3 (The Message) You are already pruned back by the message I have spoken.

16. The Cleansing—

John 15:2 (NRSV) — 2b … Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit.

Q: Why is this so?

Because it would consume too much of the sap to fill all the long shoots of last year's growth. The sap must be saved up and used for fruit alone. The branches are cut down close to the stem, and nothing is left but just one or two inches of wood—just enough to bear the grapes. It is when everything that is not needful for fruit-bearing has been relentlessly cut down, and just as little of the branches as possible has been left, that full, rich fruit can be expected.

What a solemn, precious lesson! It is not to sin only that the cleansing of the Vine-grower refers to here. It refers to our own religious or spiritual activity, as it is developed in the very act of bearing fruit. It is this that must be cut down and cleansed away. We have to use our natural gifts of wisdom, or eloquence, or influence, or zeal in working for God and yet they are ever in danger of being unduly developed, and then being trusted in. And so, after each season of work, God has to bring us to the end of ourselves, to the consciousness of the helplessness and the danger of all that is of man—to have us feel that we are nothing without Him.

All that is to be left of us is just enough to receive the Power of the life-giving sap of God’s Holy Spirit. What is of man must be reduced to its very lowest measure. All that is inconsistent with the most entire devotion to Christ's service must be removed.

The more perfect the cleansing and cutting away of all that is of self, the less surface over which God’s Holy Spirit needs to be spread therefore more intense can be the concentration of our whole being, to be entirely at the disposal of His Spirit. This is the true circumcision of the heart. This is the true crucifixion with Christ, bearing the dying of our Lord Jesus in one’s body for God’s Purpose of bearing more fruit.

15. The Cleansing—

John 15:2 (NRSV) — 2b … Every branch that bears fruit he prunes 

to make it bear more fruit.

There are two remarkable things about the vine …

(i) There is not a comparable plant of which the fruit has so much spirit in it that can be so abundantly distilled as the vine;

(ii) and there is no comparable plant which so quickly develops into wild wood, thus hindering its fruit, and therefore requiring the most merciless pruning.

Some trees need occasional pruning; others bear perfect fruit without any pruning at all. But the vine must be pruned. Our Lord tells us at the very outset of the parable, that the one work the Father does to the branch that bears fruit is: He cleanses it so that it may bear more fruit.

Consider a moment what this pruning or cleansing is. It is not the removal of weeds or thorns, or anything from without that may hinder the growth. No—it is the cutting off of the long shoots of the previous year, the removal of something that comes from within that has been produced by the life of the vine itself. It is the removal of something that is a proof of the vigor of its life. The more vigorous the growth has been, the greater the need for the pruning. It is the honest, healthy wood of the vine that has to be cut away. 

14. More Fruit—

John 15:2 (NRSV) — 2b … Every branch that bears fruit he prunes 

to make it bear more fruit.

This word comes with Divine Authority to search and test our life. The true disciple will heartily surrender himself to its Holy Light, and will earnestly ask that God Himself reveals what may be lacking in the measure or the character of the fruit he or she bears. Let us believe that the Word is meant to lead us on to a fuller experience of the Father's Purpose of Love, of Christ's Fullness, and of the wonderful privilege of bearing much fruit in the salvation of men.

The words more fruit are encouraging ones. Let us listen to it. It is just to the branch that is bearing fruit that the message comes: more fruit. God does not demand this as Pharaoh the task-master, or as Moses the lawgiver, without providing the means. He comes as a Father, Who gives what He asks, and works what He commands. He comes to us—the living branches of the living Vine—and offers to work the more fruit in us when we simply yield ourselves into His Hands.

That it may bear more fruit—let us believe that just as the owner of a vine does everything to make the fruitage as rich and large as possible, the Divine Vine-grower will do all that is needed to make us bear more fruit. All He asks is that we set our heart's desire on it, entrust ourselves to His Working and Care, and joyfully look to Him to do His Perfect Work in us.

God has set His Heart on more fruit—Christ waits to work it in us. Let us joyfully look up to our Divine Vine-grower and our heavenly Vine to ensure that we are bearing more fruit according to His Will and Purpose.

13. More Fruit—

John 15:2 (NRSV) … Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit.

The thought of fruit is so prominent in the eye of Him Who sees things as they are. Fruit is so truly the one thing God has set His Heart upon, that our Lord, after having said that the branch that bears no fruit is taken away, at once adds ‘and where there is fruit, the one desire of the Vine-grower is more fruit.’ As the gift of His Grace is the token of spiritual vigor, as the showing forth of the glory of God and Christ is the only way for satisfying the need of the world—so God longs and equips us for, more fruit.

More Fruit—

Two very searching words. As churches and individuals we are in danger of nothing so much as self-contentment. Let us not rest content with the thought that we are taking an equal share with others in the work that is being done, or that men are satisfied with our efforts in Christ's service, or even point to us as examples. Let our only desire be to know whether we are bearing all the fruit Christ is willing to give through us as living branches, in close and living union with Himself. Let us only rest assured that we are satisfying the Loving Heart of the Great Vine-grower, our Father in Heaven, in His desire for more fruit.

12. The Fruit—

John 15:2 (NRSV) — 2b … Every branch that bears fruit he prunes 

to make it bear more fruit.

Let us specially beware of one great mistake. Many Christians think their own salvation is the first thing; their temporal life and prosperity, with the care of their family, the second; and what of time and interest is left may be devoted to fruit-bearing, to soul-saving. No wonder that in most cases very little time or interest can be found for presenting Jesus Christ to others. The one object with which you have been made a member of Christ's Body is that the Head may have you to carry out His saving work. The one object God had in making you a branch is that Christ may through you to bring life to men. Your personal salvation, your business and care for your family, are entirely subordinate to this. Your first aim in life, your first aim every day, should be to know how Christ desires to carry out His Purpose in you.

Let us begin to think as God thinks. Let us accept Christ's teaching and respond to it. The one object of my being a branch, the one mark of my being a true branch, the one condition of my abiding and growing strong, is that I bear the fruit of the Heavenly Vine for dying people to eat and live. And the one thing of which I can have the most perfect assurance is that, with Christ as my Vine, and the Father as my Vine-grower, I can indeed be a fruitful branch.

11. The Fruit

John 15:2 (NRSV) — 2b … Every branch that bears fruit he prunes 

to make it bear more fruit.

Fruit is the one thing the branch is for, and that if it bear not fruit, the Vine-grower takes it away. The vine is the glory of the Vine-grower; the branch is the glory of the vine; the fruit is the glory of the branch. If the branch does not bring forth fruit, there is no glory or worth in it—it is an offense and a hindrance and the Vine-grower takes it away. The one reason for the existence of a branch—the one mark of being a true branch of the heavenly Vine—the one condition of being allowed by the Divine Vine-grower to share the life the Vine is—bearing fruit.

Q: What is fruit?

Something that the branch bears, not for itself, but for its owner. The branch does indeed receive sap for its own life from the vine by which it grows thicker and stronger but this supply for its own maintenance is entirely subordinate to its fulfillment of the purpose of its existence—bearing fruit. Many Christians do not understand or accept of this truth and thus fail in their efforts and prayers to live the branch life. Their desire may be genuine and they read, meditate and pray, and yet fail and they wonder why.

AM states that the reason is very simple—they do not know that fruit-bearing is the one thing they have been saved for. Just as entirely as Christ became the true Vine with the one object of receiving from and serving His Father, we too have been made a branch with the one object of bearing fruit for the salvation of men. The Vine and the branch are equally under the unchangeable law of fruit-bearing as the one reason of their being. Christ and the believer, the heavenly Vine and the branch, have equally their place in the world exclusively for one purpose, to carry God's saving love to men. Hence the solemn word: Every branch that bears not fruit, He takes it away.

10. The Branch—

John 15:2 (NRSV) — 2a He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. …

How many lessons does this parable hold for us?

            The lesson of entire consecration

     The lesson of perfect conformity

    The lesson of absolute dependence

And …

(iv) the lesson of undoubting confidence. The branch has nothing to offer—the vine provides all. Its role is to yield itself and receive. It is the sight of this truth that leads to the blessed rest of faith, the true secret of growth and strength …

Philippians 4:13 (NRSV) — 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

If we only consented to be branches, what a life would be ours! Let us undertake to learn the lessons. We have but one thing only to do … be a branch—nothing more, nothing less! Just be a branch. Christ the True Vine gives us ALL. The Vine-grower—our Mighty God, Who made the Vine what it is—will as surely make the branch what it ought to be.

9. The Branch—

John 15:2 (NRSV) — 2a He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. …

(ii) the lesson of perfect conformity. The branch is exactly like the vine in every aspect—the same nature, the same life, the same place, the same work. In all this they are inseparably one. And so we need to realise that we are partakers of the Divine Nature, and have the very nature and spirit of Christ in us, and that our one calling is to yield ourselves to a perfect conformity to Christ. The branch is a perfect likeness of the vine—the only difference is that the one is Great and Strong and the Source of Strength, the other small and feeble, ever needing and receiving strength. That is how the believer is and is to be—the perfect likeness of Christ.

Is this challenging enough for you?! Let us continue …

(iii) the lesson of absolute dependence. The vine has its stores of life, sap and strength, not for itself, but for the branches. The branches are and have nothing except that which the vine provides and imparts. The believer is called to, and it is his highest blessedness to enter upon, a life of entire and unceasing dependence upon Christ. Day and night, every moment, Christ is to work in us all we need.

AM writes with such profound simplicity that we cannot help but stop and think about his words and his intentions for his readers—in this case—us!

8. The Branch—

John 15:2 (NRSV) — 2a He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. …

Here we meet one of the keywords of the parable—branch. A vine needs branches. Without branches it can do nothing for it can bear no fruit. As important as it is to know about the Vine and the Vine-grower, we need to realize what the branch is.

A branch is simply a bit of wood, brought forth by the vine for the one purpose of serving it in bearing its fruit. It is of the very same nature as the vine, and has one life and one spirit with it. Just think for a moment of the lessons this suggests …

(i) the lesson of entire consecration. The branch has but one object for which it exists, one purpose to which it is entirely given up and that is to bear the fruit the vine wishes to bring forth. And so the believer has but one reason for his being a branch—but one reason for his existence on earth—that the heavenly Vine may through him bring forth His Fruit. Happy the soul that knows this, that has consented to it, and that says, I have been redeemed and I live for one thing—as exclusively as the natural branch exists only to bring forth fruit, I too—as exclusively as the heavenly Vine exists to bring forth fruit, I too. As I have been planted by God INTO Christ, I have wholly given myself to bear the fruit the Vine desires to bring forth in me.

Acts 17:28 (NRSV) — 28 For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; … …

My apologies for missing yesterday's daily ... I was unexpectedly away all day! 

7. My Father is the Vine-grower—

John 15:1 (NRSV) — 1b … My Father is the vine-grower.

Christ is about to teach His disciples about their being branches but before He ever uses the word, or speaks at all of abiding in Him or bearing fruit, He turns their eyes heavenward to the Father Who watches over them, and works ALL in them.

At the very root of all Christian life lies the thought that God is to do ALL—that our work is to give and leave ourselves in His Hands, in the confession of utter helplessness and dependence, in the assured confidence that He gives all we need. How we balk at the words ‘utter helplessness and dependence’ being applied to us. Most of us have struggled to make it through the school of hard knocks and have developed a strong streak of self-help and independence … the exact antithesis of in Him I live and move and have my being!

AM comments that:

The great lack of the Christian life is that, even where we trust Christ, we leave God out of the count.

Christ came to bring us to God. Christ lived the life of a man exactly as we have to live it. Christ the Vine points to God the Vine-grower. As He trusted God, we are to trust God. Everything we ought to be and have, as those who belong to the Vine, will be given us from above.

James 1:17 (NRSV) — 17 Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

Before we begin to think of fruit or branches, may our hearts be filled with the faith that as glorious as is the Vine so is the Vine-grower. As high and holy as is our calling, so mighty and loving is the God Who works it ALL. As surely as the Vine-grower made the Vine what it was to be and do, He will make each branch what it is to be and do. Our Father is our Wine-grower. He is the Surety for our growth and fruit.

Our work is to give and leave ourselves in His Hands, in the confession of utter helplessness and dependence, in the assured confidence that He gives all we need. 

6. My Father is the Vine-grower—

John 15:1 (NRSV) — 1b … My Father is the vine-grower.

Christ ever lived in the spirit of what He once said …

John 5:19 (NRSV) — 19 Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise.

Just as a vine is totally dependent upon a vine-grower for the place where it is to grow, for its fencing in, watering, pruning and harvesting so Christ felt Himself entirely dependent on the Father every day for the Wisdom and Strength to do the Father's Will. As Jesus said in the previous chapter …

John 14:10 "The words that I say unto you, I speak not from Myself; but the Father abiding in Me does his works."

This absolute dependence had as its blessed counterpart the most blessed confidence that He had nothing to fear—the Father could not disappoint Him. With such a Vine-grower as His Father, He could enter Death and the Grave—confident that God would raise Him up. All that Christ is and has, He has, not in Himself, but from the Father.

As we deepen our understanding of our emerging Christ-likeness we can see that all we are and have is not of ourselves but of Him.

Acts 17:28 (NRSV) — 28 For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; … …

5. My Father is the Vine-Grower

John 15:1 (NRSV) — 1b … My Father is the vine-grower.

A vine must have a husbandman to plant and watch over it, to receive and rejoice in its fruit. Jesus says: "My Father is the husbandman."

Jesus was "the Vine of God's planting." All He was and did He owed to the Father. In all of His Life He sought only the Father's Will and Glory. Jesus came to earth as a man to show us what a creature ought to be to its Creator. He took our place, and the Spirit of His Life before the Father was ever what He yearns to make our own. He became the True Vine so that we might be true branches.

Both in regard to Christ and ourselves the words teach us the two lessons of absolute dependence and perfect confidence. In this day and age both of these lessons are challenging for us. We are challenged to unlearn our absolute independence and our lack of confidence that God will come through for us.

We have much to learn from the parable of the Vine. May we set aside the time each day to ponder a snippet of the parable and allow it to enter fully into our hearts.

Psalm 19:14 (NRSV) Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart 

be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

4. I am the true Vine—

John 15:1 (NRSV) — 1a “I am the true vine, …

We have read this parable many times and heard numerous sermons preached on the theme but has the mystery, in all its Heavenly beauty and blessing been truly opened up to you? Take time and allow this Divine Word to enter your heart afresh. Feel His Holy Presence with you and in you. Allow the overshadowing of His Holy Love to give you the perfect calm and rest of knowing that it is the True Vine Himself Who will reveal ALL to you just as He will do ALL in you.

He Who speaks is God, and in His Infinite Power He is able to enter into us. He is man, one with us. He is the crucified One, Who won a perfect righteousness and a Divine Life for us through His Death. He is the glorified One, Who from the throne gives His Spirit to make His Presence real and true.

When He speaks—listen—not only to His Words, but to Himself, as He whispers secretly day by day—

"I am the true Vine! All that the Vine can ever be to its branch, I will be to you."

Let us ask Jesus to reveal Yourself to us MORE this day as the True Vine. Amen.

Ephesians 1:17 (NRSV) I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him,

3. I am the true Vine—

John 15:1 (NRSV) — 1a “I am the true vine, …

AM calls this ‘a heavenly mystery.’ He states that:

the earthly vine can teach you much about this Vine of Heaven. Many interesting and beautiful points of comparison suggest themselves, and help us to get conceptions of what Christ meant. But such thoughts do not teach us to know what the Heavenly Vine really is, in its cooling shade, and its life-giving fruit. The experience of this is part of the hidden mystery, which none but Jesus Himself, by His Holy Spirit, can unfold and impart.

The Vine is the Living Lord, Who Himself speaks, and gives, and works all that He has for us. In seeking a deeper understanding of this verse it will not come simply by thought or study. Our desire must be awakened to experience the revelation of Jesus through the Power of God’s Holy Spirit. Jesus gives His Holy Spirit to open our eyes to gaze upon Himself, to open our hearts to receive Himself because He Himself must speak the Word to you and me.

I am the True Vine …

2. I am the True Vine—

John 15:1 (NRSV) — 1a “I am the true vine, …

When Jesus says: "I am the true Vine," He tells us that all the vines of earth are images and symbols of Himself. He is the Divine Reality, of which they are the created expression. They all point to Him, and preach Him, and reveal Him. If you would know Jesus, study the vine.

All earthly things are the figures and shadows of heavenly realities—heavenly Truths. These are indeed expressions of the invisible glory of God. We have all gazed in admiration at fruitful vines of many varieties—wisteria, pumpkins, clematis, passionfruit … the list is endless.

Today I invite you to come and gaze on the Heavenly Vine until your eye turns away from all else to admire Him. Come and be still under the shadow of the true Vine, and rest under it from the heat of the day. Come, take and eat of the heavenly fruit of the true Vine, and let your soul say: "I sat under His Shadow with great delight, and His Fruit was sweet to my taste."

Psalm 34:8 (NRSV) O taste and see that the Lord is good; 

happy are those who take refuge in him.