John 15:1-14
"I am the true vine, and My Father is the husbandman. Every branch in Me that beareth not fruit He taketh away, and every branch that beareth fruit He purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in Me. I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit."
The Passover supper had been eaten. Jesus had performed the last loving act of humble service for His disciples, the closing hymn had been sung, and now they were on their way to the garden that was to be the scene of the Saviour's greatest struggle with the powers of darkness. Nothing is more common than a vine forming an arbour; and Jesus, who was always ready to impress a lesson by the things that were before Him, took advantage of the sight of a vine that they passed to teach His disciples an important lesson on the reality of things. He would have them know that the things that are seen are temporal, but the things that are unseen are real and eternal (2 Cor. 4:18), so that they might endure "as seeing Him who is invisible."
Jesus is the true vine. All vines that we see growing out of the earth, and bearing fruit, are but visible proofs of the presence of the invisible vine--the reality. The seed of everything that grows is the Word of God. (Luke 8:11) In the beginning, when the earth was first created, and there was nothing in it, God said, "Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind. (Gen. 1:11) "And it was so." God's word was the seed whence every plant of every kind sprung. Just as He sent His word out into darkness, and light shone forth, so He sent His word into the vacant earth, and vegetation appeared. But Jesus is "the Word of God." "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ... All things were made by Him." (John 1:13) Hence Christ is the Seed. This is true in the most comprehensive sense. Our confidence in Him as the righteous seed that shall beget righteousness in us, is made perfect by seeing the efficient working of that seed in all creation. "The Word was made flesh" dwelling among us "full of grace and truth;" and the possibility of this is shown to us, even before we experience it, by the fact, seen everywhere, that the word was made grass, herbs, and trees. The life that is able to bring the vegetable creation to perfection, is also able to make our way perfect, when it is given free course.
Evidence of the truth of the statement that Christ is the true vine was given at the very beginning of His ministry. At the wedding in Cana Jesus turned the water into wine. Water was put into the jars, and wine was drawn out. The same miracle is wrought every year. Water falls from heaven upon the ground, and is drawn up into the vine, and comes out wine. The miracle wrought in Cana was for the purpose of letting us know that every particle of water that is turned to wine in all the vines on earth, is changed only by the presence and power of Christ, the true vine.
The water that makes the earth fruitful is the water of life from the river of God. (Ps. 65:9-11) The water comes from the slain Lamb in the midst of the throne (Rev. 5:6; 7:17), just as the water which the Israelites drank in the desert came from Christ. (1 Cor. 10:4) The Spirit of God is the water of life (John 7:37-39), and the Spirit and the water and the blood agree in one. (1 John 5:8) This is shown by the water and the blood that flowed from the pierced side of Christ as He hung on the cross. (John 19:34, 35) The blood is the life. Thus we see that when Jesus gave "the fruit of the vine" to His disciples at the last supper, He stated the literal truth when He said, "This is My blood." The fruit of the vine, which refreshes man, imparting to him life, is the blood of Christ, the true vine!
But this is not all. We can never exhaust the wonder that Christ is the real vine; but more wonderful still to our comprehension is the fact that we are the branches, and as such are to bear fruit. It is the branches that bear the fruit. This is no cause for boasting, for it is the vine that bears the branches, and the branches produce nothing, but are wholly dependent on the parent stock; but when they are joined to the vine by a vital connection they bear the fruit. "Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain." (John 15:16) From this we see that Christ expects us to do the work that is done on this earth, or, rather, that He expects the work to be done through us. He Himself said, "I can of Mine own self do nothing." (John 5:30) "The Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works." (John 14:10) So the "miracles and wonders and signs" were what "God did by Him." (Acts. 2:22) So we can do nothing apart from Him. He is the motive power, and we are the ones in whom the results are to be seen, and the fruit that is seen is counted to us as ours. God has placed us here in this world instead of Christ, who is with the Father. The Father is the keeper of the vineyard whose root and stock are in heaven, and the branches on the earth.
"Herein is My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit." The fruit borne is "the fruit of the light." (Eph. 5:9, R.Y.) Therefore we are exhorted, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." (Matt. 5:16) The last message that goes forth,--the last proclamation of the Gospel, which announces the hour of God's Judgment already come,--is a message exhorting to fruit-bearing, in these words: "Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His Judgment is come; and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters." (Rev. 14:6, 7) God is glorified by us only as we bring forth fruit; and it is by His power that is manifest in all creation, that we are to do this.
Thus it is that the last message to mankind calls special attention to God as Creator. When the Lord comes His glory is to cover the heavens, uniting with the glory that fills the earth. The glory of the Lord is to be revealed so that all flesh can see it together before the Lord comes. (Isa. 40:3-5) The cry, "Behold your God!" will be sounded in the ears of all, and they will be directed to the things that He has made in order to see it. (Rom. 1:18-20) When they see Him working in the rest of creation, those who wish to bring forth fruit to the glory of God will be convinced that He is able to work as mightily in them, to cause them to bring forth the fruit for which He created them.
But in spite of the fact that that which may be known of God is manifest in all men, and that the invisible things of Him, even His everlasting power and Divinity, are clearly revealed in the things that He has made, people are apt to get so absorbed in themselves that they will walk in the midst of the revelations of God's life and power as though they were blind. Therefore God has given us a memorial of Himself, that His wonderful works, and so He Himself, may be remembered. Ps. 111:2-4. He says, "I gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them." (Eze. 20:12) This memorial endures to all generations. Week by week the Sabbath calls our attention anew to the fact that God is the Creator of all things, and that He creates all things very good. Thus we are continually reminded to put our trust in Him for salvation. He is the husbandman, and He keeps His vineyard day and night, watering it every moment. (Isa. 27:2, 3) Friends of the Lord
"Ye are My friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you." And what does He command us?--To bear fruit. Strange that immediately after reading the first part of this chapter, in which the conditions of fruit-bearing are so clearly set forth, and it is shown that we ourselves do nothing of ourselves, but simply bear the fruit which the life of the parent stock begets in us, men will read this fourteenth verse, and imagine that they must by their own power to do something to recommend them to the Lord, and gain His friendship! "This is the work of God, that ye believe in Him whom He hath sent." (John 6:29) His commandment to us is fulfilled by our trust in Him; "even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." (Gal. 3:6)
Without faith it is impossible to please God. Abraham our father was justified by works when he had offered up Isaac his son upon the altar, because "faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect. And the Scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness; and he was called the Friend of God." (James. 2:21-23) God was Abraham's friend before this, but Abraham thus became God's friend. God is the Friend of all men, the Friend of sinners; but the sad fact is that very few will consent to be friendly with God. They have no confidence in Him.
"The friendship of the Lord is with them that fear Him; and He will show them His covenant." (Ps. 25:14, R.V., margin) As other versions have it, God's confidential association is with them that fear Him. To such He makes known secrets about Himself, that only those can know who come close enough to Him for Him to whisper in their ears.
Friendship must be mutual. Friends exchange confidences. Jesus says: "I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of My Father I have made known unto you." Whoever has friends must show himself friendly. If we wish to retain the friendship of God, and have a share in His secrets, we must not withhold from Him anything concerning ourselves. We must not have any secrets from Him. We must tell Him all, confessing all our sins. Not that He does not already know them, but this is the proof of our friendship. Then He reveals to us the secret of His salvation. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9) He will not betray our confidence. No; not only will He conceal our sins from public gaze at the last day, casting them into the depths of the sea, so that although they are sought for by our adversary the devil, the accuser, they cannot be found (Jer. 50:20), but even He Himself will forget them. (Heb. 8:12) What a wonderful inducement to make friends with God! Delay not; for now is the accepted time; now is the day of salvation.
--April 27, 1899