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We Bear Fruit Only as We Abide in Christ, October 10
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.
John 15:4
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The reason that we carelessly indulge in sin is that we do not see Jesus.
We would not lightly regard sin, did we appreciate the fact that sin wounds
our Lord.... A right estimate of the character of God would enable us
rightly to represent Him to the world. Harshness, roughness in words
or manner, evil-speaking, passionate words, cannot exist in the soul that
is looking unto Jesus. He who abides in Christ is in an atmosphere that
forbids evil, and gives not the slightest excuse for anything of this kind.
Spiritual life is not nourished from within, but draws its nutrition from
Christ, as the branch does from the vine. We are dependent upon Christ
every moment; He is our source of supply. All our outside forms, prayers,
fastings, and alms-giving cannot take the place of the inward work of the
Spirit of God on the human heart
When one is fully emptied of self, when every false God is cast out of
the soul, the vacuum is filled by the inflowing of the Spirit of Christ. Such
a one has the faith that purifies the soul from defilement.... He is a branch
of the True Vine, and bears rich clusters of fruit to the glory of God. What
is the character of the fruit borne?—The fruit of the Spirit is “love,” not
hatred; “joy,” not discontent and mourning; “peace,” not irritation, anxiety,
and manufactured trials. It is “long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
meekness, temperance.
One branch is not to borrow its sustenance from another. Our life must
come from the parent vine. It is only by personal union with Christ, by
communion with Him daily, hourly, that we can bear the fruits of the Holy
Spirit.... Our growth in grace, our joy, our usefulness, all depend on our
union with Christ and the degree of faith we exercise in Him
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23
The Youth’s Instructor, February 10, 1898
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24
Gospel Workers, 287, 288
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25
Testimonies for the Church 5:47, 48
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