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“Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled”
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forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast
them into the fire, and they are burned.”
“And every branch that beareth fruit, He purgeth [pruneth] it, that
it may bring forth more fruit.” From the Twelve who had followed
Jesus, one as a withered branch was about to be taken away; the rest
were to pass under the pruning knife of bitter trial. The pruning will
cause pain, but it is the Father who applies the knife. He works with
no wanton hand. Excessive foliage that draws away the life current
from the fruit must be pruned off. 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
more abundant.
“Herein is My Father glorified,” said Jesus, “that ye bear much
fruit.” God desires to manifest through you the holiness, benevo-
lence, and compassion of His own character. Yet the Saviour does
not bid the disciples labor to bear fruit. He tells them to abide in
Him. Through the Word Christ abides in His followers. 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.
Jesus’ very first injunction when alone with His disciples 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.”
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To the disciples this commandment was new, for they had not loved
one another as Christ had loved them. But through His life and death
they were to receive a new conception of love. The command to love
one another had a new meaning in the light of His self-sacrifice.
When men are bound together, not by force or self-interest, but
by love, they show the working of an influence that is above every
human influence. It is evidence that the image of God is being
restored in humanity. This love, manifested in the church, will
surely stir the wrath of Satan. “If the world hate you,” He said, “ye
know that it hated Me before it hated you. If ye were of the world,
the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world,
but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth
you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not
greater than his lord. If they have persecuted Me, they will also
persecute you; if they have kept My saying, they will yours keep