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The Practical Personal Satisfaction of Living for Christ (John 15) B y W. F. J . S h e l l e y
Word and became a castaway, and used his great ability and influence to aid the things loved by the enemies of the cross. At last, he came to himself, renounced all of his wrongdoing, and after he had been forgiven by his breth ren and received back into the church, God took him. While he was out of fellowship with God and with his brethren, he did untold harm to the cause of souls, and the Lord only can undo it. On the other hand, I knew a .young Christian, with a heart on fire with a love for his Saviour, who greatly desired to become a preacher of the Lord Jesus Christ and went in for divine things heart and soul. I left that State and did not return for about eight years, but a few weeks after my return had the privilege of listening to this same young man, who had now become a minister. It was very easy to see what had taken place in that young man’s life. First he had borne fruit unto God; then the Lord had “PURGED” him, and now he was doing mighty service, and the power of God could be felt in the message he gave. I could but marvel. Verse 2: “Every branch which beareth not fruit HE TAK E TH I T A W A Y .” In connection with this Scripture, please read also, 1 Cor. 11:30-32: “FOR TH IS CAUSE many are W EAK and S ICK L Y among you, and M A N Y SLEEP : For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are CHASTENED OF THE LORD, that we should not be condemned with the world.” “M A N Y A R E W EAK AND S ICK L Y AND M A N Y SLEEP .” Ponder these words, and may God make the application. ■ S a t is f a c t io n C o m e s T h r o u g h D a il y W a l k W i t h H im The Lord Jesus, in John 10, speaks of two charac teristics of His sheep: (1) “TH E Y H E AR H IS VOICE | (Fellowship); (2) “TH E Y FOLLOW H IM ” (Service). And, He says, “I know them.” Do you and I, dear friend, listen quietly to Him until we hear His voice? Do we seek to maintain that daily walk, that soul attitude which reverently and lovingly makes Him, not only Jesus, but “Lord of all” so far as your and my life is concerned ? “Unless we crown Him Lord of all, We do not crown Him Lord at all.” After we have “HEARD H IS VOICE” then we can go forth and “FOLLOW HIM .” If we read this Scripture as in the presence of God, we shall find it very heart-searching. After the solemn exhortation as to our personal responsibility, the Lord Jesus, who is speaking, unfolds some of the unspeakable privileges and joys which are ours. As we “follow Him” He imparts to us the DEEPS of His JO Y ; the Fellow ship of His FR IEND SH IP ; the satisfaction that God is glorified in our bearing MUCH FRUIT. He says: “M Y IO Y shall remain IN YOU, and YOUR JO Y SH A LL BE A FULL IO Y .” Have you
H ILE the Gospel of John in a very mar velous manner sets forth the Gospel of the Lord Jesus, it also most wonderfully reveals God’s mind concerning the life which is to actuate every one who is born of Him. In all the Word of God, there ,is no more
important Scripture than is to be found in the 15th chap ter, and every Christian man and woman should not only know, but by personal action be familiar with, and believe in, all that is here written. This is in order that we, Chris tians, “should not henceforth live unto ourselves, but unto Him who died and rose again.” By reference, you see at once that this chapter vitally concerns YOU, and YOUR everyday life. It is most per sonal. “I,” and “YE,” our Lord says. I am quite sure, dear fellow believer, that you and I, as those who have been made alive from the dead; to whom God has made known the riches of His grace in His kindness towards us, have an intense desire that we may please Him. This is one of the marks of the operation of His Holy Spirit upon us. Therefore, I say that John 15 is the portion of God’s Word which the Lord Jesus uses in order to express to us what is His W ILL FOR YOU, and FOR ME. The words are beautiful beyond expression; most clear and certain for our direction; but most solemn in empha sizing the responsibility we have, you and I, to follow in the path thus prepared, the road built for us to travel over, by our Lord, in order that we may accomplish the goal— “the prize of the high calling of God in Christ” —and thus become a FRIEND OF HIS, for He says—'7 CALL YOU FR IENDS .” This chapter is a real, PERSONAL LETTER from JESUS CHRIST TO YOU, and to me. It sets forth just what HE WANTS YOU, and ME, TO DO. Let us look at it in the fear of the Lord, and see just what is HIS WILL. He loves illustrations, and in this message of His, he uses A VINE. The Vine is for the purpose of yielding fruit. The Master insists that it shall be profitable, other wise He will remove it. So our Lord reminds us that He is the TRUE Vine, His Father is the Husbandman, and YE are the branches. This shows the deep indissoluble union of the believer with the Lord. What a relationship we now sustain! F r u it f u l a n d U n f r u it f u l B r a n c h e s Our Lord does TWO THINGS for each of us who belong to H im : (1) “Every branch in me that beareth NO T FRU IT , He TAK E TH I T AW A Y .” (2) “Every branch that beareth fruit, HE PURG- E TH IT , that it may bring forth MORE FRU IT .” I once knew a minister who possessed great gifts and was apparently a great man; but withal there seemed to be something lacking, which I could not then understand. Later on, God made it manifest, because he was not in fel lowship with God, for he turned his back on God’s Holy
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