PRAYER (continued) no matter what you say, you are not abiding in Christ.” Surely abiding in Christ embodies our absolute surrender of our minds, our souls, our wills, our bodies to the Holy Spirit who is Him self the indwelling life of the vine, so that the very life of God might have unlimited and unobstructed control. Our text speaks of pruning by the husbandman or the vine dresser. Prun ing is for the singular purpose of caus ing the branch to bear more fruit, and it is always done by the husbandman "The Hour of Trial" And the trial severe? He tempers each wind That upon me doth blow. And tenderly whispers, "Thy Father doth know!" His power is sufficient, Then why should I quail, Though the storm clouds hang low, His grace is sufficient. Then why need I fear. Though the testing be hard,
things will happen. In verse 8 we are told that there will be a new assur ance that we are honoring and glorify ing the Father, a sensing of His appro bation and approval. In verse 9 we are told that we will have a new sense of the love of God, not simply knowing that we are loved, but feeling and ex periencing that love in a vital way. In verse 11 we are told that new, vibrant, constantly flowing joy will become a part of our Christian experience. Now then, let us look again at the promise contained in verse 7. .“If ye abide in Me and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will and it will be done unto you.” Four times during His great upper room and gar den discourse with His disciples, Jesus expounded to them the new prayer re lationship they would obtain after His departure and the advent of the Holy Spirit. The promise contained here in the seventh verse of chapter 15 is the SUM of this exposition. In verses 1 through 7 we have presented what is tantamount to a fusion of the will of God with the will of man. Jesus says, when this truly takes place, that is when you are abiding in me through the power of the indwelling Holy Spir it, and I am abiding in you, My will and your will shall become one and the same, so that ye shall ask what YE will and it shall be done unto you. My heart hungers to experience this, to know this as the norm for every day of my life. What about you, my fellow believer, do you want to experi ence what it means to “abide in” Christ, and have Him so abide in you, that the promise of verse 7 of our text will become a daily reality in your life? Then you must begin with a vital union with Christ. You must know, as a believer, continuous confession and cleansing from the Father, a sensitive ness to the pruning and disciplining of God the Father; and a constant, yielded, passive abiding in Christ. Why not begin this moment, wherever you are, with a new measure of surrender to Jesus Christ so that this might be come a vital experience with you? 18
And though wild is the gale? His strength w ill not falter, Whatever betide, And safe in His bosom He bids me to hide. His love is sufficient. Yea, boundless and free; As high as the mountains, As deep as the sea. Ah, there 1 w ill rest T ill the darkness is o'er, And wake in His likeness . . . His forevermore!
— Avis B. Christiansen who is God Himself. It is tragic that there are some Christians who feel that they have been commissioned to “prune” other Christians and by their censoriousness and critical spirit they go about to weed out everything that they consider wrong in another Chris tian’s life. But Jesus said, “My Father is the husbandman,” and in the Fath er’s infinite wisdom and love, He prunes and cuts and disciplines our lives so that we might bring forth fruit for His Glory. Now as a result of the abiding, fruit bearing life, Jesus says that many
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