Love Among Brethren
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What has Jesus done for you, and what is He continually doing
for us individually? What have you that you have not received? Said
Christ: “I am the Vine, ye are the branches.” “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.” The branches do
not sustain the vine, but the vine supports and nourishes the branches.
The church does not support Christ, but Christ, by His vital power,
supports the church. It is not enough to be a branch; we are to be
fruitful branches. “He that abideth in Me,” said Jesus, “and I in him,
the same bringeth forth much fruit.” But if the fruit produced be that of
the thornbush, it is evident that we are not branches of the living Vine.
Life is disciplinary. While in the world, the Christian will meet
with adverse influences. There will be provocations to test the temper;
and it is by meeting these in a right spirit that the Christian graces
are developed. If injuries and insults are meekly borne, if insulting
words are responded to by gentle answers, and oppressive acts by
kindness, this is evidence that the Spirit of Christ dwells in the heart,
that sap from the living Vine is flowing to the branches. We are in
the school of Christ in this life, where we are to learn to be meek and
lowly of heart; and in the day of final accounts we shall see that all
the obstacles we meet, all the hardships and annoyances that we are
called to bear, are practical lessons in the application of principles
of Christian life. If well endured, they develop the Christlike in the
character and distinguish the Christian from the worldling.
There is a high standard to which we are to attain if we would
be children of God, noble, pure, holy, and undefiled; and a pruning
process is necessary if we would reach this standard. How would
this pruning be accomplished if there were no difficulties to meet, no
obstacles to surmount, nothing to call out patience and endurance?
These trials are not the smallest blessings in our experience. They are
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designed to nerve us to determination to succeed. We are to use them
as God’s means to gain decided victories over self instead of allowing
them to hinder, oppress, and destroy us.
Character will be tested. Christ will be revealed in us if we are
indeed branches of the living Vine. We shall be patient, kind, and
forbearing, cheerful amid frets and irritations. Day by day and year by
year we shall conquer self and grow into a noble heroism. This is our
allotted task; but it cannot be accomplished without continual help from