MAY RADIO MESSAGE VICTORIOUS LIFE I sn ’ t it wonderful to realize that our blessed Saviour is the same “yesterday, today and forever?” He wants for our lives, above all else, that we may each enter into a rela tionship which will bring spiritual victory and maturity. True Christian ity is simply the unchanging Christ being allowed to do in our lives all that He ever has promised to do. The Lord limits Himself to bring ing forth fru it through branches such as we are. The degree to which He is allowed to reproduce Himself determines the degree of our spiritual growth. Today, there is so little evi dence of the Lord Jesus Christ at work in churches, as well as individ uals. The reason is that the branches are not functioning as branches. No wonder the Saviour declared, “With out me ye can do nothing.” As a re sult, this is precisely what many of the Lord’s children are accomplish ing : nothing. The fault comes from an effort to do all kinds of things with out taking Jesus Christ into consid eration. On the other hand, we can go about Christ’s way, for as He has promised, “He that abides in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit.” F ruit is the outworking of the life on the inside. For instance, one can always recognize an orange tree in Southern California. The reason is simply that oranges grow on it. You never see tomatoes or pineapples on it; nature is extremely careful and precise about reproduction. The Lord Jesus said that much fru it would be an evidence of His indwelling the life of the believer. Each of us has a choice to make right now. It is whether our Christianity is going to be totally in effective or to be earnest, sincere and fruitful. Will we let Jesus Christ loose in your lives? Christ said, “If ye abide in me and you allow me to abide in you, then I
by D. Stuart Briscoe
will promise much fruit.” Perhaps to some of us it would have been quite sufficient if He had said “fru it” only. Yet since the Lord isn’t satisfied with just fruit, how can we be? Christian ity can always be the superlative ex perience. We are not to stagger through life, making the best of things. We are to have a real purpose. How much of this type of Christian ity do we see these days ? Is there any evidence of the risen Lord Jesus Christ reproducing His life in ordi nary people (in you), to a superlative degree? We need not generalize, but rather be personal and specific. The secret is a relationship to all that He is. The Saviour has given us two con ditions we must fulfill. Whenever there is a promise there are also con ditions attached. The promise here is much fruit, while the conditions are for us to abide in Him, and to have Him abide in us. The victorious life, you see, is a two-way street. Many people fulfill the conditions but never claim the promise. There are others who claim the promise, however, they are not willing to fulfill the condi tions. If you go about your Christianity in the manner Jesus Christ desired, much fru it is the inevitable conse quence. What does it mean to abide? There are two kinds of people in the world today, according to the Bible. There are those who are in Adam, and those who are in Jesus Christ. God says that the unregenerate indi vidual, the one who has never placed his faith in Christ, is in Adam. He doesn’t have to lift his little finger for this, for all men have been born in sin. Because of his sin, Adam was banished from the presence of God. To be in Adam means that the Lord reckons to your account all that He reckoned to Adam’s. The good news is that God has 15
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