article which will never stand the test. A definite, absolute
consecration to the loss of all things will never fail to procure the
genuine article of true Bible holiness, which will stand the wear of
every trial of life and the test of the judgment.
CHAPTER X
The Vine and the Branches
"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: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not
in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather
them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in
me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall
be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much
fruit; so shall ye be my disciples."--John 15:1-8.
* * * * *
This beautiful analogy teaches us an important lesson. The standard of
sanctification is clearly exemplified in the relation between the vine
and the branches. Christ is the vine, and every individual Christian is
an individual branch; every branch is an individual member of the vine,
and every Christian is an individual member of Christ.
* * * * *
What a clear view of the church, and how plainly we can see that there
is but one. Every regenerate soul is by one Spirit baptized into this
one body. This vine is cared for and kept by God himself, who is the
husbandman. Every branch must be a living, fruit-bearing one. It is
placed into the vine by the hand which will care for it, and give it
every necessary treatment to cause it to bring forth much fruit. If it
bears fruit it will be kept in the vine; if it does not bear fruit it
will be taken away. The same life which flows through the vine also
flows into the branches. It is the branches that bear the fruit. It is
the part of the vine to sustain the branches, and the part of the
branches to bear fruit. The fruit is the production of the vine-life in
the branches. The word of God teaches us that Christ is pure and holy,
and in Rom. 11:16 we are taught that if the root be holy, so are the
branches. The manner of the induction of the branches into the vine is
illustrated by the process of grafting. We are not grown into Christ,
but grafted into him. The natural branches of a vine grow out of the
vine, and accordingly bear the vine-fruit, but by grace we are grafted
into Christ, the vine, and bear the vine-fruit.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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