582
The Desire of Ages
“And every branch that beareth fruit, He purgeth [pruneth] it, that it
may bring forth more fruit.” From the chosen twelve who had followed
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Jesus, one as a withered branch was about to be taken away; the rest
were to pass under the pruning knife of bitter trial. Jesus with solemn
tenderness explained the purpose of the husbandman. The pruning will
cause pain, but it is the Father who applies the knife. He works with
no wanton hand or indifferent heart. There are branches trailing upon
the ground; these must be cut loose from the earthly supports to which
their tendrils are fastening. They are to reach heavenward, and find
their support in God. The excessive foliage that draws away the life
current from the fruit must be pruned off. The overgrowth must be cut
out, to give room for the healing beams of the Sun of Righteousness.
The husbandman prunes away the harmful growth, that the fruit may
be richer and more abundant.
“Herein is My Father glorified,” said Jesus, “that ye bear much
fruit.” God desires to manifest through you the holiness, the benev-
olence, the compassion, of His own character. Yet the Saviour does
not bid the disciples labor to bear fruit. He tells them to abide in Him.
“If ye abide in Me,” He says, “and My words abide in you, ye shall
ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” It is through the word
that Christ abides in His followers. This is the same vital union that
is represented by eating His flesh and drinking His blood. The words
of Christ are spirit and life. Receiving them, you receive the life of
the Vine. You live “by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of
God.”
Matthew 4:4
. The life of Christ in you produces the same fruits
as in Him. Living in Christ, adhering to Christ, supported by Christ,
drawing nourishment from Christ, you bear fruit after the similitude
of Christ.
In this last meeting with His disciples, the great desire which
Christ expressed for them was that they might love one another as He
had loved them. Again and again He spoke of this. “These things I
command you,” He said repeatedly, “that ye love one another.” His
very first injunction when alone with them in the upper chamber was,
“A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as
I have loved you, that ye also love one another.” To the disciples this
commandment was new; for they had not loved one another as Christ
had loved them. He saw that new ideas and impulses must control
them; that new principles must be practiced by them; through His