I
THE KING’S BUSINESS
448 just look ever to Christ Jesus for His life, and let it flow in unhindered by distrust or disobedience on our part, or by an attempt on our part to do anything or to be any thing as of ourselves, then our thoughts and desires and purposes and acts are sim ply manifestations, not of our own life, but of the Christ life in us. To put it in another way, we should cease to think our own thoughts and let Christ think His thoughts in us; we should cease to culti vate or heed our desires, but let Jesus Christ desire His desires in us; we should cease to form purposes of our own, and look to Christ to form His purposes in u s; we should cease to pursue any imaginations or fancies of our own, but look to the Lord Jesus Christ to form His aspirations and anticipations of the future in us. v. 5. “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth (beareth) much frmt: for without (apart from) me ye can do nothing.” We must always keep it dis tinctly in mind that we are not the vine, that we are the branches which the vine bears. So many go astray by trying to be the vine, but what an honor to be a branch of the true vine, and what a privilege to have the Divine life in its fullness flowing into us, instead of trying to lead any paltry life of our own. Just in so far as we maintain this relation to Christ, described in the comments under verse 4, we shall “bear much fruit.” The whole secret, not only of no fruitage, but of small fruitage, is not abiding in Christ. The whole secret of much fruitage is abiding in Him. It is not the one who is greatly gifted natur ally, or who has unusual educational, opportunities, who bears much fruit, but the one who simply abides in Christ. The one who has small natural gifts and little or no education, who abides in Christ, will bear more fruit than the one who has great natural gifts and rare educational oppor tunities who does not abide in Christ “Apart -from” Christ, severed from Him we can do nothing at all. How many gifted people there are in this world, who really
are doing nothing that will count, or that will abide, nothing that is real, simply because they are not abiding in Christ. v. 6 . “I f a man abide hot in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered, (;) and men (they) gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.” The utter failure to maintain this rela tionship to Christ of abiding in Him, and the consequent attempt to be anything of ourselves, means fruitlessness, casting forth, withering, and burning. Each one of us ought very solemnly and prayerfully to put the question to ourselves, Am I abiding in Him, and is He abiding in me? v. 7. “I f ye abide in me, and -my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will (ask whatsoever ye will), and it shall be done unto you.” Some one has said that he regards this as “the most solemn verse in the Bible.” We do not think that it is the most solemn verse in the Bible, but it is certainly very solemn. We see here that abiding in Christ is not merely the secret of fruitfulness, and abundant fruitfulness, it is also the one all-inclusive secret of pre vailing praydr. Because it is the secret of prevailing prayer is also the reason why it is the secret of abundant fruitfulness (cf. ch. 14:12, in connection with ch. 14:13, 14). If one does abide in Christ, and Christ’s words do abide in him, there is no limit to what he may obtain by prayer. He can a s k " w h a t s o e v e r h e w il l ” and it shall be done unto him. Some one may say, “But suppose he asks something that is contrary to the will of God?” The one who is abiding in Christ and in whom Christ’s words are abiding, will not ask anything that is contrary to the will of God, for his prayers, just as his thoughts and his desires and his choices, will be the out come of the life of Christ in him, and his prayers will be really Jesus Christ’s prayers, Jesus Christ praying through him, and the Father always heareth Him (ch. 11:42). It is to be carefully noted that there is something else mentioned in this verse beside our abiding in Him, as the condition of prevailing prayer, and that is
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