"Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Jn 15:4.
"Abide in me, and I in you." These words point to a dependence of the disciples on their Lord under two forms, which by help of the analogy of a tree and its branches it is easy to distinguish. The branch abide in the vine structurally; and the vine abides in the branch through its sap, vitally. Both of these abidings are necessary to fruit-bearing. Unless the branch be organically connected to the stem, the sap which goes to make fruit cannot pass into it. On the other hand, although the branch be organically connected to the stem, yet of the sap of the stem do not ascend into it (a case which is possible and common in the natural world), it must remain as fruitless as if it were broken off and lying on the ground. The Training of the Twelve, A. B. Bruce, pg. 414.
The first part of this illustration Bruce writes is the common call to all His disciples to go and share the gospel as His witnesses. It the call for us to be those who are active in sharing our faith with those who have not heard and to make the message known to all. This is the call and the structure of the gospel.
The second part of this challenge is the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit within each of us. This Spirit of God which is given to us is the continued "sap" which allows the new life to continue to flow in each of us. This is the vitality. Without it, we would fail to thrive and eventually wither and die; or the same branch would grow moss or be covered with infection, even when it is still connected to the vine. Sometimes it is as if the vine would even try to grow by itself without the life-giving force which allows it to even remain. This constitutes a great departure from the faith, yet many Christians try today to do this very thing.
Furthermore Bruce writes; "The conception of a dead branch, applied to individuals as distinct from churches or the religious world viewed collectively, is not without difficulty. A dead branch on a tree was not always dead: it was produced by the vital force of the tree, and had some of the tree's life in it. Does the analogy between natural and spiritual branches hold at this point? Not in any sense, as we believe, that would compromise the doctrine of perseverance in grace, nowhere taught more clearly than in the words of our Lord. At the same time, to cannot be denied that there is such a thing as abortive religious experience." Bruce, pg. 416.
This statement by Bruce is somewhat startling, but yet truth revealing about those around us who have thrown in the towel of their faith. The towel they used to serve others with has now become one which is folded and placed on the shelf. The power that the towel had to serve others (as Jesus washed the feet of the disciples) has now lost its ability to do what it was created to do. Much like the sap from the branch, the towel loses its ability to absorb and dry that which was needed to be dried.
So what happens when the sap is flowing continuously? I take you back to the story of my little poinsettia plant from last week. On last Sunday morning's service, I recalled how God prunes each one of us throughout our lives so that we might bring forth "much fruit," as I began to pull off some of the old leaves on the little plant. As I noted (while pulling the leaves off) the sap from the plant began to rise (like a creamy whitish fluid) into the area where the plant used to have a small leaf branch. Within the next few days, another chute came forward revealing another leaf. Without the power of the sap rising to the trimmed branch, it would have withered and died. This is the power of the Holy Spirit within each of us... He can and will rise up within our trimmed branches to fill them with a new sense of purpose and life. Something that was better than before; all for the glory of the Savior!
So the question for today is this; are you ready to be pruned? It might hurt. It might leave you bleeding. It might take away the thing you depended upon...
God is in the process of bringing forth "much fruit" if we will let Him. Will you?
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