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00:22Let us pray
00:26Praise, honour and glory be to you, O Christ
00:29Who, when your disciples and friends deserted and left you
00:33Remained alone in the hands of sinful men
00:36Like a most gentle lamb
00:38Within the jaws of a ravenous wolf
00:43Strengthen my excessive weakness
00:45And confirm my too great unstableness
00:47By the support of your grace
00:49And join me to yourself with the bonds of love
00:53That I may neither have no wish nor the power
00:56Ever to depart or separate myself from you
01:01Praise, honour and glory be to you, O Christ
01:04Who allowed yourself to be led around bound
01:07By an armed band and taken to Annas
01:12Allowing yourself to be stood before him
01:14As though you were a common criminal or robber
01:19O unspeakable gentleness of my Redeemer
01:22Look, while they take and drag and thrust you forward
01:27You uttered not a single word of complaint
01:30Or murmur or word of resistance
01:33But in silence you followed them wherever they led you
01:37Obeying their commands
01:39And permitted their wanton injuries to you
01:44Grant, O Lord, that these your virtues may shine in me
01:47To the everlasting glory of your name
01:51Praise, honour and glory be to you, O Christ
01:54King of heaven and earth
01:55Who in great humility
01:57As poor and needy and of no account
02:00Was stood before the proud High Priest
02:03And most sweetly endured the dreadful blow
02:07Which his impious servant put upon you
02:12Restrain, I beg you
02:13In me all outbreak of anger and passion
02:17Suppress all acts of indignation
02:20And quench within me all desire of revenge
02:24That when I am provoked by injury
02:27I may not be disturbed
02:28I may offer no resistance
02:31May suffer no disquiet
02:34But endure everything with a quiet mind
02:36May I even repay evil with good
02:41Praise, honour and glory be to you, O Christ
02:43Who permitted himself to be lead-boned
02:46In a shameful manner to Caiaphas
02:48That you might deliver us from the penalty
02:51Of eternal death
02:52Restoring to us true liberty
02:56Make me most ready
02:58To endure every reproach
02:59And all contempt for your name's sake
03:03Grant that in the very middle
03:05Full of ridicule and outrage
03:06I may give you thanks with a perfect heart
03:09And by means of these trials
03:11May grow and increase more and more
03:14In your love
03:18Praise, honour and glory be to you, O Christ
03:20Who, when three times denied by your Apostle Peter
03:26Mercifully turned and looked upon him with kindness
03:29And brought him to repentance and holy sorrow for his sin
03:32In like manner
03:34May you turn upon me also
03:37Your eye of mercy and love
03:39That I may weep over my past sins
03:42With the tears of true penitence
03:44And may never again commit them
03:47May I never be found sinning against your goodness
03:50In word or deed
03:54Praise, honour and glory be to you, O Christ
03:56Who stood before the elders and the people of the Jews
03:59With a calm countenance and humble look
04:02Who did not refuse to be falsely accused
04:05And to suffer many injuries
04:09Give me grace never to say an untrue word
04:11Or to falsely accuse my neighbour
04:14But that I may bear with all quietness of heart
04:17The calumniers that are heaped upon me
04:21Casting all my troubles upon you
04:23May I always in silence
04:25Look for the grave and consolation
04:28At your hands
04:31Praise, honour and glory be to you, O Christ
04:35Who when Caiaphas the High Priest
04:38Adjured you by the name of God
04:41Declared the truth
04:42And proclaimed yourself the Son of God
04:44And did not refuse to be counted by him
04:47And the rest who stood by as a blasphemer
04:50May I fully abhor this contempt and defence against you
04:54May I in every place
04:57Reverence the presence of your divinity and majesty
05:03May I think of you
05:04Adore, praise and love you
05:07Above all things
05:08Forever and for ever
05:11Amen
05:15O Lord open our lips
05:17And our mouths shall sing your praise
05:26O be joyful in the Lord
05:31Glory man
05:33Serve the Lord with gladness
05:37And come in all his prayers and drill at all
05:43He is sure that the Lord
05:47He is God
05:49He is he that he has made us and lost me ourselves
05:55We are his people and the sheep of his pasture
06:01O do your way to his days with fast streaming
06:08And in joy in his paths with praise
06:13Be thankful unto him and speak full of his name
06:21For the Lord is gracious
06:25His mercy is everlasting
06:31And his truth endures from generation to generation
06:45Glory be to the Father
06:49And to the Father
06:52And to the Holy Ghost
06:56As it was in the beginning
07:00Is now and ever shall be
07:05World without end
07:13Amen
07:14Amen
07:23Sing with heavenly arms to God of strength
07:29Make a cheerful voice unto the God of Jacob
07:36Take the song
07:39Bring me thy first trumpet
07:41The merry half with thy youth
07:46The hope that's young birds in the new home
07:53Even in the time appointed
07:56And upon our sudden feast day
08:02For this was made as statues of Israel
08:09And the law of the God of Jacob
08:16His people take in Joseph
08:20For our testimony
08:23When he came out of the land of Egypt
08:28And I found a spirit and rich
08:36And he is destroyed
08:42And he is destroyed
08:43And his hands were delivered
08:46And his hands were delivered
08:46From making the box
08:49Thou callest upon me
08:53Troubles of thy delivery
08:57And his hands were delivered
08:59And he was destroyed
09:00And he was destroyed
09:01And the storm fell upon me
09:04And the storm fell upon me
09:05I proved thee also
09:08As the waters of strife
09:11Hear, O my people, and I will not show you
09:19For these heavens now is dark and as to me
09:28Let the most strange God be in thee
09:34I will shout, thou worship, any other God
09:42I am the Lord thy God
09:45Who rose the house of the land of Egypt
09:53Open thy mouth, wide, and I shall fill it
10:00Hearts like people would not hear my voice
10:05And Israel would not obey me
10:11So I gave them up unto their heart's loss
10:19And let them follow their own igniting nations
10:29All that my people would have thought and done to me
10:35For it is rare that war walked in my ways
10:44I should store my voice from their enemies
10:50And start my hand against their adversaries
10:58For the heavens of the Lord should have me found lies
11:06But their joy should have led you forever
11:13He should have fed them also with the joyless treatment
11:22And with all the arms of the storm
11:33Glory be to the Lord, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost
11:44Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost
11:54Glory be to the Father, and to the Holy Ghost
12:11The Gospel according to Saint John
12:13Chapter 15
12:17I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.
12:22He takes away every branch that does not bear fruit in me.
12:27He prunes every branch that bears fruit, that it will bear more fruit.
12:34You are clean already because of the word I have spoken to you.
12:39Remain in me, and I will remain in you.
12:43Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it remains in the vine,
12:49so neither can you unless you remain in me.
12:54I am the vine, you are the branches.
12:57The one who remains in me, and I in him, bears much fruit,
13:03because apart from me you could accomplish nothing.
13:07If anyone does not remain in me, he is thrown out like a branch and dries up.
13:14Such branches are gathered up and thrown into the fire and burnt.
13:19If you remain in me and my word remain in you,
13:23ask whatever you want and it will be done for you.
13:27My Father is honoured by this, that you bear much fruit and show that you are my disciples.
13:35Just as the Father has loved me, I also have loved you.
13:41Remain in my love.
13:43If you obey my commandments, you will remain in my love,
13:47just as I have obeyed my Father's commandments and remain in his love.
13:53I have told you these things so that my joy may be in you,
13:58and your joy may be complete.
14:01My commandment is this,
14:04to love one another just as I have loved you.
14:09No one has greater love than this,
14:11that one lays down his life for his friends.
14:15You are my friends if you do what I command you.
14:20I no longer call you slaves,
14:22because the slave does not understand what his master is doing.
14:27But I have called you friends,
14:30because I have revealed to you everything I heard from my Father.
14:36You did not choose me,
14:38but I chose you,
14:40and appointed you to go and bear fruit,
14:43fruit that remains,
14:45so that whatever you ask the Father in my name,
14:48he will give to you.
14:51This I command you,
14:53to love one another.
14:57If the world hates you,
14:59be aware that it hated me first.
15:02If you belong to the world,
15:04the world would love you as its own.
15:07However,
15:08because you do not belong to the world,
15:10but I chose you out of the world.
15:13For this reason,
15:14the world hates you.
15:17Remember what I told you,
15:19a slave is not greater than his master.
15:22If they persecuted me,
15:24they will also persecute you.
15:28If they obeyed my world,
15:30they would obey yours too.
15:33But they will do all these things to you on account of my name,
15:36because they do not know the one who sent me.
15:40If I had not come and spoken to them,
15:43they would not be guilty of sin.
15:45But they no longer have any excuse for their sin.
15:49The one who hates me hates my father too.
15:54If I had not performed among them the miraculous deeds that no one else did,
15:59they would not be guilty of sin.
16:02But now they have seen the deeds and have hated both me and my father.
16:08Now this happened to fulfill the word that is written in their law.
16:13They hated me without reason.
16:17When the advocate comes,
16:19whom I will send you from the father,
16:22the spirit of truth who goes out from the father,
16:25he will testify about me,
16:28and you also will testify,
16:30because you have been with me from the beginning.
16:35This is the word of the Lord.
16:38Thanks be to God.
16:45Like a friend who cannot tear himself away,
16:48and has many more last words after he has bid us goodbye.
16:54Jesus continued to speak to the disciples
16:56while they are selecting and putting on their sandals,
17:00and girding themselves to face the chill night air.
17:06He had to all appearances said what he had meant to say.
17:12He had indeed closed the conversation
17:15with those melancholy words.
17:20Henceforth I will not talk much with you.
17:24He had given the signal for breaking up the feast
17:27and leaving the house,
17:27rising from the table himself
17:30and summoning the rest to do the same.
17:35But as he saw their reluctance to move
17:37and the alarmed and bewildered expressions
17:40that hung upon their faces,
17:42he could but not renew his efforts
17:45to banish their foreboding
17:47and impart them to intelligent courage
17:50to face separation from him.
17:54All he had said about his spiritual presence with them
17:57had fallen short.
17:59They had failed to understand it.
18:02They were possessed with the dread of losing him
18:05whose future was their future,
18:08and with the success of whose plans
18:11all their hopes were bound up.
18:15The prospect of losing him was too dreadful.
18:19And though he had assured them
18:21he would still be with them,
18:23there was some appearance of mystery
18:25and unreality about that presence
18:28which prevented them from completely trusting it.
18:33He knew that they could do nothing
18:35if he left them.
18:37Their work was done.
18:38Their hopes blighted.
18:43As Jesus then rises from the table
18:45and they all fondly gather around him,
18:48as he recognises once more
18:51how much he is to these men,
18:54there occurs to his mind
18:55an allegory which may help the disciples
18:58to understand better
19:00the connection they have with him
19:02and how it might still be maintained.
19:06It has been supposed that this allegory
19:08was suggested to him
19:10by some vine trailing around the doorway
19:13or by some other visible object.
19:16But such a suggestion is needless.
19:21Recognising their fears and difficulties
19:23and their dependence on him
19:24as they hang upon him for the last time,
19:27what more natural
19:29than he should meet their dependence
19:31and remove their fears of real separation,
19:33saying,
19:35I am the vine and you are the branches.
19:38What more natural
19:39when he wished to set vividly before them
19:41the importance of the work
19:43he was giving to them
19:45and to stimulate them faithfully
19:47to carry on what he had begun
19:50than to say,
19:51I am the vine
19:52and you are the fruit-bearing branches.
19:55Abide in me
19:57and I in you.
20:05Doubtless our Lord's introduction
20:08of the word true
20:09or real,
20:10I am the true vine
20:11suggests a comparison
20:14with other vines
20:15but not necessarily
20:16with any vines
20:18then outwardly visible.
20:20Much more likely
20:21is that
20:22as he saw the dependence
20:24of his disciples
20:25upon him,
20:26he saw new meaning
20:27in the old
20:28and familiar
20:29idea
20:30that Israel
20:31was the vine
20:33planted
20:33by God.
20:36He saw that
20:37in himself
20:37and his disciples
20:38all that had been suggested
20:40by this figure
20:41was in reality
20:43accomplished.
20:45God's intention
20:46in creating man
20:47had been fulfilled.
20:49It was secured
20:51by the life of Christ
20:52and by the attachment
20:53of men to him
20:54that the purpose
20:56of God in creation
20:57would bear fruit.
20:59That which amply
21:01satisfied God
21:02was now in actual existence
21:04in the person
21:05of Christ.
21:07Seizing upon the figure
21:09of the vine
21:10as fully expressing this,
21:12Christ fixes it forever
21:13in the mind
21:14of his disciples
21:15as the symbol
21:16of his connection
21:17with them.
21:19And with a few
21:20decisive strokes
21:21he gives prominence
21:22to the chief characteristics
21:24of this connection.
21:28The first idea
21:29then which our Lord
21:30wished to present
21:31by means of this allegory
21:32is that he
21:34and his disciples
21:35together form one whole,
21:37neither being complete
21:38without the other.
21:41The vine can bear
21:42no fruit
21:43if it has no branches.
21:45The branches
21:46cannot live apart
21:47from the vine.
21:49Without the branches
21:50the stem
21:51is a fruitless pole.
21:53Without the stem
21:54the branches
21:55wither and die.
21:57Stem and branches
21:58together
21:59constitute
22:00one fruit-bearing tree.
22:04I, for my part,
22:05says Christ,
22:06am the vine.
22:07You are the branches,
22:09neither perfect
22:10without the other.
22:11the two together
22:12forming one complete
22:13tree,
22:14essential to one
22:16and another
22:17as stem
22:18and branches.
22:21The significance
22:23underlying this figure
22:23is obvious
22:24and no more
22:26welcoming
22:26or animating
22:28thought
22:28could have reached
22:29the heart
22:30of his disciples
22:31as they felt
22:32the first tremors
22:33of separation
22:34from their Lord.
22:37Christ,
22:38in his own
22:38visible person
22:39and by his own
22:40hands and words,
22:41was no longer
22:42to extend his kingdom
22:43on earth.
22:46He was to continue
22:47to fulfil God's purpose
22:48among men,
22:49no longer,
22:50however,
22:51in his own person
22:52but through his disciples.
22:54They were now
22:55to be his branches,
22:57the medium
22:57through which
22:58he could express
22:59all the life
23:00that was in him,
23:02his love for man,
23:03his purpose
23:04to lift
23:05and to save
23:06the world.
23:08Not with his own lips
23:10was he any longer
23:11to tell men
23:12of the holiness
23:12and of God.
23:16Not with his own hand
23:18was he to dispense
23:19blessing
23:20to the needy ones
23:21on earth.
23:22But his disciples
23:23were now
23:24to be the sympathetic
23:25interpreters
23:26of his goodness
23:27and the unobstructive
23:29channels
23:30through which
23:31he might still
23:31pour out upon men
23:33his loving purpose.
23:37As God the Father
23:38is a spirit
23:39and needs human hands
23:40to do actual deeds
23:41of mercy for him,
23:43as he does not himself
23:44in his own
23:45separate personality
23:46make the bed
23:47of the poor
23:48but it does only
23:50through the intervention
23:51of human charity.
23:54In the same way,
23:55Christ can speak
23:56no more audible word
23:58in the ear
23:59of the sinner
23:59nor do the actual
24:01work required
24:02for the help
24:03and advancement
24:04of mankind.
24:06This he leaves
24:07to his disciples,
24:08his human agents.
24:10His part
24:11is to give them
24:12love and perseverance
24:13for it,
24:15to supply them
24:16with all they need
24:17as his branches.
24:21this then
24:21is the last word
24:23of encouragement
24:23and of quickening
24:25that our Lord
24:26leaves with these men
24:27and also with us.
24:30I leave you
24:31to do all for me.
24:32I entrust you
24:33with this gravest
24:34of tasks
24:35in accomplishing
24:36in the world
24:37all I have prepared
24:38for
24:38by my life
24:40and death.
24:41This great end
24:42to attend
24:43which I thought
24:44fit to leave
24:45the glory
24:46I had with my Father
24:47and for which
24:49I have spent it all.
24:50This I leave
24:51in your hands.
24:53It is in this world
24:55of men
24:55the whole results
24:56of the incarnation
24:57are to be found.
24:59It is upon you
25:00the burden
25:01is laid
25:02of applying
25:03to the world
25:04the work
25:04I have done.
25:06You live
25:06for me
25:07but on the other hand
25:09I also live
25:10for you
25:11because I live
25:12you also
25:13shall live.
25:15I do not really
25:16leave you
25:16if I say
25:18abide in me
25:19I nonetheless
25:20say
25:20and I
25:21in you.
25:23It is in you
25:24that I spend
25:25all the divine energy
25:26you have witnessed
25:27in my life.
25:28It is through you
25:29that I live.
25:29I am the vine
25:30the life-giving
25:31stem
25:33sustaining
25:33and quickening
25:34you.
25:35You are the branches
25:37giving effect
25:38to my intentions
25:39bearing the fruit
25:40for the sake
25:41of which
25:41I have been planted
25:42in the world
25:43by my father
25:44the gardener.
25:50The second idea
25:51is that this unity
25:53of the tree
25:53is formed
25:54by the unity
25:55of life.
25:56It is a unity
25:57brought about
25:58not by mechanical
25:59juxtaposition
26:00but by organic
26:02relationship
26:03as the branch
26:05cannot bear fruit
26:05of itself
26:06but must abide
26:07in the vine
26:08so neither
26:09can you accept
26:10or abide
26:11in me.
26:13A ball of twine
26:15or a bag of shot
26:15cannot be called
26:17a hole.
26:18If you cut off
26:19a yard of the twine
26:20the part
26:21cut off
26:22has the qualities
26:23and properties
26:24of the remainder
26:25and it is perhaps
26:26more serviceable
26:27apart from the rest
26:29in connection
26:30with it.
26:32A handful of shot
26:33is more serviceable
26:35for any purpose
26:36than a bagful
26:37and the quantity
26:38you take out
26:39of the bag
26:40retains the properties
26:41it had while
26:42in the bag
26:43because there is
26:44no common life
26:45in the twine
26:46or in the shot
26:47making the particles
26:49one whole.
26:51But take anything
26:51which is the true
26:52unity or whole
26:53your body
26:54for example
26:56different results
26:57follow here
26:58from separation.
26:59Your eye
27:00is useless
27:01when taken
27:02from its place
27:02in the body.
27:04You can lend
27:05a friend
27:05your knife
27:06for your purse
27:07and it may be
27:08more serviceable
27:09in your hands
27:10than in yours
27:11but you cannot
27:12lend him
27:13your arm
27:14or your leg
27:15for apart from yourself
27:16the members
27:17of your body
27:18are useless
27:19because here
27:21there is one
27:21common life
27:22forming one
27:23organic whole.
27:26And so it is
27:27in the relation
27:28between Christ
27:29and his followers.
27:31He and they
27:32together
27:32form one whole
27:34because one
27:35common life
27:36unites them
27:38as the branch
27:39cannot bear
27:39fruit of itself
27:40so neither
27:41can you.
27:44Why then
27:45can the branch
27:46bear no fruit
27:47except
27:47that it
27:48lives
27:49in the vile
27:50because it is
27:52a unity
27:52that makes
27:53the tree
27:54one.
27:56And what is
27:56a vital unity
27:57between persons?
27:58it can be
28:00nothing else
28:01than a spiritual
28:01unity
28:02a unity
28:03not of a bodily
28:04kind
28:05but an inward
28:06and
28:07but is inward
28:08and of the spirit.
28:10In other words
28:11it is a unity
28:11of purpose
28:12and of resources
28:13for attaining
28:14that purpose.
28:16The branch
28:17is one with the tree
28:18because it draws
28:19its life from the tree
28:20and bears the fruit
28:21appropriate
28:22to the tree.
28:24We are one
28:25with Christ
28:25when we adopt
28:26his purpose
28:27in the world
28:27as the real
28:28governing aim
28:29of our life
28:30when we renew
28:32our strength
28:32for the fulfilment
28:33of that purpose
28:34by fellowship
28:35with his love
28:36for mankind
28:37and his eternal
28:38purpose
28:39to bless men.
28:41We must be content
28:43then to be branches.
28:44We must be content
28:46not to stand isolated
28:47and grow
28:48from a private root
28:49of our own.
28:51We must utterly
28:52renounce
28:53selfishness
28:54successful selfishness
28:56is absolutely
28:57impossible.
28:59The greater
29:00the apparent
29:01success of selfishness
29:02is
29:03the more gigantic
29:04will be the failure
29:05one day.
29:07An arm
29:08severed
29:09from the body
29:09a branch
29:10cut from the tree
29:12is the true symbol
29:13of a selfish man.
29:15He will be left
29:16behind
29:16as the true progress
29:18of mankind
29:18proceeds further
29:20with no part
29:21in the common joy
29:22stranded
29:23and dying
29:24on the ground
29:25in cold isolation.
29:28We must learn
29:29that our true life
29:30can only be lived
29:31when we recognise
29:32that we are part
29:33of a great whole
29:35that we are here
29:36not to prosecute
29:37any private interest
29:39of our own
29:39and win a private good
29:41for ourselves
29:43but to go forward
29:44the good
29:45that others share in
29:47and the cause
29:49that is in common.
29:53How this unity
29:54is formed
29:55received no explanation
29:57of this occasion.
29:59The manner
29:59in which men
30:00became branches
30:01of the true vine
30:03was not touched upon
30:04in the allegory.
30:06Already
30:07the disciples
30:08were branches
30:08and no explanation
30:10was called for.
30:11It may however
30:13be appropriate
30:14to gather a hint
30:15from the allegory
30:16itself
30:17regarding the formation
30:19of a living bond
30:20between Christ
30:20and his people.
30:22However ignorant
30:24we may be
30:25of the propagation
30:26of fruit trees
30:27and of the process
30:28of grafting
30:29we can at any rate
30:31understand
30:31that no mere
30:32tying of a branch
30:34to a tree
30:34bark to bark
30:36would affect anything
30:37except the death
30:39of the branch.
30:41The branch
30:42if it is to be fruitful
30:43must form a solid
30:44part of the tree
30:45and must therefore
30:47be grafted
30:48so as to become
30:50of one structure
30:51and life
30:52with the stem.
30:53It must be cut
30:54through
30:55so as to lay bare
30:56the whole interior
30:57structure of it
30:59and so as to leave
31:00open all the vessels
31:01that carry the sap
31:03and a similar incision
31:05should be made
31:06in the stock
31:06upon which the branch
31:08is to be grafted
31:09so that the cut sap
31:11vessels of the branch
31:13may be in contact
31:14with the cup sap
31:16vessels of the stock.
31:19Such must be
31:21our grafting
31:21into Christ.
31:23It must be
31:24the laying bare
31:24of our inmost nature
31:26to his inmost nature
31:27so that a common
31:29and essential connection
31:30may be formed
31:32between the two.
31:33What we expect
31:35to receive
31:35by being connected
31:36with Christ
31:37is the very spirit
31:38which made him
31:39what he was.
31:41We expect
31:42to receive
31:43into the source
31:44of conduct
31:46in us
31:46all that was
31:48the source
31:48of conduct
31:49in him.
31:50We wish to be
31:52in such a connection
31:53with him
31:53that his principles
31:55sentiments
31:56and aims
31:57shall become
31:58ours.
32:01On his side
32:02Christ has laid
32:04bare his deepest
32:04feelings
32:05and spirit.
32:07In his life
32:07and in his death
32:08he submitted
32:09to that severest
32:10operation
32:11which seemed
32:12to be a maiming
32:13of him
32:14but which
32:15in point of fact
32:16was the necessary
32:17preparation
32:18for his receiving
32:19fruitful branches.
32:21He did not
32:22hide the true
32:23springs of his life
32:25under a hard
32:26and rough bark
32:27but submitted himself
32:28to the gardener's knife.
32:31He suffered
32:32for us
32:33through his wounds
32:34to see the real
32:35motives
32:36and vital spirits
32:37of his nature
32:37truth
32:38justice
32:39holiness
32:40fidelity
32:41and love.
32:44Whatever in this life
32:46cut our Lord
32:46to the quick
32:47whatever tested
32:48most thoroughly
32:49the true spring
32:50of his conduct
32:51only more clearly
32:53showed that
32:54deepest within him
32:55and strongest
32:56within him
32:57lay holy love.
33:00He was not shy
33:02of telling men
33:02his love for them.
33:04In the public death
33:05he died loudly
33:07declaring it
33:08opening his nature
33:09to the gaze
33:10of all.
33:12To this open heart
33:13he declined
33:14to receive none
33:16as many as the
33:17Father gave him
33:18were welcome.
33:21He had none
33:22of that aversion
33:23we often admit
33:24to
33:24and sundry
33:26into close
33:27relations
33:28with us.
33:30He at once
33:32gives his heart
33:33and keeps back
33:34nothing to himself.
33:35He invites us
33:37into the closest
33:38possible connection
33:39with him
33:39with the intention
33:40that we should
33:41grow to him
33:42and be forever
33:43loved by him.
33:45Whatever real
33:47lasting
33:47and influential
33:48connection
33:49can be established
33:50between two persons.
33:51this he wishes
33:53to have
33:54with us.
33:56If it is possible
33:57for two persons
33:58so to grow together
34:00that separation
34:01in spirit
34:01is forever
34:02impossible.
34:04It is nothing
34:05short of this
34:06that Christ
34:06seeks.
34:10But
34:10when we return
34:12to the cutting
34:12of the branch
34:13we see reluctance
34:15and vacillation
34:16and much
34:17to remind us
34:18that
34:18in the graft
34:19we now speak
34:20of
34:20the gardener
34:21has to deal
34:22not with
34:22passage branches
34:23which cannot
34:24shrink from
34:25his knife
34:26but with
34:27free and
34:27sensitive
34:28human beings.
34:30The hand
34:31of the father
34:31is on us
34:32to sever us
34:33from the old
34:34stock
34:34and give us
34:35a place
34:36in Christ
34:37but we find
34:38it hard
34:39to be severed
34:39from the root
34:40that we have
34:41grown up
34:41from
34:42and to which
34:43we are now
34:43so firmly
34:44attached.
34:46We refuse
34:47to see
34:47that the
34:47old tree
34:48is doomed
34:49to the axe
34:50or that
34:51we have
34:51been inserted
34:52into Christ
34:53and we loosen
34:54ourselves
34:55again and
34:55again
34:55so that
34:56morning by
34:57morning
34:57as the father
34:58visits his tree
34:59he finds us
35:00dangling
35:00further and
35:01further
35:01useless
35:02with signs
35:03of withering
35:04already upon
35:05us.
35:06But in the
35:07end
35:08the vinedresser's
35:09patient skill
35:10prevails.
35:12We submit
35:13ourselves
35:13to those
35:14incisive
35:15operations
35:15of God's
35:16providence
35:17or of his
35:18gentler
35:18but effective
35:19word
35:20which finally
35:21sever us
35:22from that
35:23which we so
35:23desperately
35:24clung to.
35:25We are
35:26impelled
35:27to lay
35:27our heart
35:28to Christ
35:29and seek
35:30the deepest
35:30truest
35:31and most
35:32influential
35:33union.
35:37Even
35:38after the
35:39graft has
35:39been achieved
35:40the husbandman's
35:41care is needed
35:42for the branch
35:43to abide
35:44in the vine
35:45that it
35:46may bring
35:46forth more
35:47fruit.
35:48There are
35:49risks.
35:52The branch
35:53may be
35:54loosened
35:54or it may
35:56just run
35:56to wood
35:57and leaves.
35:58Care is
35:59taken when
36:00the graft
36:00is made
36:01to ensure
36:02its permanent
36:02participation
36:03in the life
36:04of the tree
36:05to be secured.
36:08The graft
36:09is not only
36:10tied to the
36:11tree
36:11but the
36:12point of
36:13puncture
36:13the joint
36:14is cased
36:15in clay
36:15pitch
36:16or wax
36:17so to
36:18exclude
36:18air
36:19water
36:19or any
36:20other
36:21disturbing
36:21influence.
36:24A similar
36:25spiritual
36:25treatment
36:26is certainly
36:27necessary
36:27if the
36:28attachment
36:28of the
36:29soul
36:29to Christ
36:29is to
36:30become
36:30solid
36:32firm
36:32and
36:33permanent.
36:34If the
36:35soul
36:35and Christ
36:36are really
36:37to be one
36:37nothing must
36:38be allowed
36:39to tamper
36:40with the
36:40attachment.
36:41It must be
36:42sheltered from
36:43all that might
36:44rudely impinge
36:45upon it
36:46displacing the
36:47disciple from
36:48the attitude
36:49toward Christ
36:50that he has
36:51assumed and
36:52which is so
36:52necessary.
36:54When the
36:55graft and
36:55the stock
36:56have grown
36:56together into
36:57one then
36:58the point of
36:59attachment will
36:59resist any
37:00shock but
37:02while the
37:03attachment is
37:04recent care
37:05is needed
37:06that the
37:06juncture be
37:07hermetically
37:08secluded and
37:09sealed from
37:11adverse
37:11influences.
37:15The
37:16gardener's
37:16care is also
37:17needed so
37:18that after the
37:19branch is
37:20grafted it
37:21may bring
37:21forth fruit
37:22abundantly.
37:26Stagnation is
37:27not to be
37:28tolerated.
37:29As for
37:29fruitlessness
37:30that is out
37:31of the
37:31question.
37:32More fruit
37:33each season
37:34is earnestly
37:35looked for
37:36and arranged
37:37for by the
37:38vigorous pruning
37:39of the
37:40husbandman.
37:41The branch
37:42is not left
37:42to nature
37:43neither is it
37:44allowed to
37:45run out in
37:46every direction
37:47to waste its
37:48life in
37:48attaining
37:49size.
37:50Where it
37:51seems to be
37:52doing
37:52grandly and
37:53promising
37:53success
37:54the knife
37:55of the
37:56vinedresser
37:56ruthlessly
37:57cuts down
37:58the flourish
37:59and the
37:59fine appearance
38:00lies withering
38:01on the
38:02ground.
38:03But the
38:04vintage
38:04justifies
38:05the
38:05husbandman.
38:08This brings
38:09us to the
38:10third idea
38:11of the
38:12allegory
38:12that the
38:13result aimed
38:14for in our
38:15connection with
38:15Christ is
38:16bearing fruit.
38:18The
38:19allegory bids
38:20us think
38:20of God
38:21as engaged
38:22in the
38:24painstakingly
38:25meticulous
38:26nurturing and
38:27culturing of
38:29men with the
38:30watchful fond
38:31interest with
38:32which the
38:32vinedresser
38:33tends his
38:34plants through
38:35every stage of
38:36growth and
38:37every season of
38:38the year.
38:39Even when there
38:40is nothing done
38:40he gazes upon
38:42them admiringly
38:43and still finds
38:44some little
38:44attention he
38:46can pay them.
38:47but all in
38:49the hope of
38:49fruit.
38:51All this
38:51interest collapses
38:52at once.
38:53All this
38:54care becomes a
38:55foolish waste of
38:56time and
38:56material and
38:58reflects discredit
38:59and ridicule on
39:01the vinedresser
39:01if there is no
39:03fruit.
39:04God has
39:05prepared for us
39:06in this life a
39:07soil in
39:10which nothing
39:11can be better
39:12for the
39:12production of
39:13the fruit he
39:14desires us to
39:15yield.
39:16He has made
39:17it possible for
39:18every man to
39:18serve a good
39:19purpose.
39:20He does his
39:21part not with
39:22reluctance but
39:23if we might say
39:24so as his
39:25chief interest
39:26but all in the
39:28expectation of
39:29fruit.
39:31We do not
39:32spend days of
39:32labour and
39:33nights of
39:33anxious thought.
39:34We do not
39:35lay out all
39:36that we have
39:37at his command
39:38on that which
39:40is to effect
39:41nothing and
39:42give no
39:42satisfaction to
39:43ourselves or
39:44anyone else.
39:45and neither
39:46does God.
39:47He does not
39:48make this world
39:49full of men
39:49for the want
39:50of something
39:50better to do
39:51as a mere
39:52idle pastime.
39:54He made it
39:55so that the
39:56earth might
39:56yield her
39:57increase that
39:58each of us
39:59might bring
39:59forth fruit.
40:01Fruit alone
40:02can justify the
40:03expense and
40:05effort put into
40:06this world.
40:07The wisdom,
40:08the patience,
40:08the love that
40:09we have guided
40:10all things
40:11through the
40:12slow-moving
40:12ages will be
40:14justified in
40:15the final
40:15product.
40:17What this
40:18product is we
40:18already know.
40:19It is the
40:20attainment of
40:21moral perfection
40:22by created
40:23beings.
40:25To this all
40:26that has been
40:27made and done
40:28in the past
40:28leads.
40:30The whole
40:30creation groans
40:31and works.
40:32But for what?
40:34For the
40:35manifestation of
40:36the sons of
40:36God, the life
40:38and acts of
40:39good men are
40:40the adequate
40:40return for
40:41all that
40:42capital outlay.
40:44The satisfying
40:45fruit.
40:49The production
40:50of this fruit
40:51became a
40:53certainty when
40:54Christ was
40:55planted in the
40:55world as the
40:56new moral
40:57stem.
40:58He was
40:58sent into the
40:59world not to
41:00make some
41:00magnificent
41:01outward display
41:03of divine
41:03power, to
41:04carry us to
41:05some other
41:06planet or to
41:07alter the
41:07conditions of
41:08life here.
41:10God might
41:11have departed
41:11from his
41:12purpose of
41:12filling this
41:13earth with
41:14holy men and
41:15might have
41:15used it for
41:16some easier
41:17display for
41:18which the
41:18moment might
41:19have seemed
41:19more striking.
41:21But he did
41:22not choose to
41:22do so.
41:23It was human
41:24obedience, the
41:26fruit of genuine
41:27human righteousness,
41:28of the love and
41:29goodness of men
41:30and women, that
41:31he was resolved
41:32to reap from
41:33the earth.
41:34He was resolved
41:35to train men to
41:36such a pitch of
41:37goodness, that
41:38in a world
41:39contrived to
41:40tempt, there
41:41should be found
41:42nothing so
41:43alluring, nothing
41:44so terrifying as
41:45to turn men from
41:46the straight
41:47path.
41:48He was to
41:49produce a race
41:50of men who,
41:51while still in
41:52the body, urged
41:53by appetite,
41:55assaulted by
41:56passions and
41:57cravings, with
41:58death-threatening
41:59and life-inviting,
42:01should prefer all
42:02suffering rather
42:04than flinch from
42:05duty, should
42:06prove themselves
42:06actually superior
42:08to every assault
42:09that could be
42:09made on virtue,
42:11should prove that
42:12spirit is greater
42:13than matter.
42:14And God sent
42:15Christ in the
42:16world to be the
42:17living type of
42:18human perfection,
42:20to attract men
42:21by their love for
42:22him and his kind
42:23of life, to
42:25furnish them with
42:26all needed aid in
42:27becoming like him,
42:28that as Christ had
42:29kept the Father's
42:30commandments, his
42:31disciples also
42:32should keep his
42:33commandments, that
42:35thus a common
42:36understanding, an
42:37identity of interest
42:39and moral life, should
42:40be established between
42:42God and man.
42:46Perhaps it is not
42:47pressing the figure
42:48too hard to remark
42:49that the fruit
42:50differs from timber
42:52in this respect, that
42:54it enters into and
42:55nourishes the life
42:56of man.
42:57No doubt in this
42:59allegory, fruit
43:00bearing primarily
43:01and chiefly indicates
43:02God's purpose in
43:03creating man, being
43:04satisfied.
43:06The tree he has
43:07planted is not
43:08barren but fruitful.
43:10But certainly a
43:11great distinction
43:12between the selfish
43:13and the unselfish,
43:14between the man who
43:15has private ambition
43:16and the man who
43:18labours for the
43:18good of the public,
43:20lies in this, that
43:22the selfish man seeks
43:23to erect a monument
43:24of some kind for
43:25himself, while the
43:26unselfish man spends
43:28himself in labours
43:29that are not
43:30conspicuous, but assist
43:32the life of his
43:33fellows.
43:34An oak carving or a
43:37structure of hard
43:38wood will last a
43:39thousand years and
43:40keep in memory the
43:41skill of the designer.
43:44Fruit is eaten and
43:45disappears, but it
43:47passes and becomes
43:49human life.
43:50It becomes part of the
43:52stream that flows on
43:53forever.
43:55The ambitious man longs
43:57to execute a monumental
43:58work, and does not
44:00much regard whether it
44:02will be for the good
44:03of men or not.
44:05A great war will
44:07serve his turn, a
44:08great book, anything
44:10conspicuous.
44:12But he who is content
44:14to be a branch of the
44:15true vine will not
44:17seek the admiration
44:18of man, but will
44:20strive to introduce a
44:21healthy spiritual life
44:23into those he can
44:24reach, or even
44:26though, in order to
44:28do so, he must
44:29remain obscure and
44:31see his labours
44:32absorbed without
44:33notice of the least
44:34recognition.
44:39Does the teaching of
44:41this allegory, then,
44:42accord with the facts
44:43of life as we might
44:45know them?
44:45Is it a truth, a
44:47truth we must act
44:48upon, that apart from
44:50Christ, we can do
44:50nothing?
44:52In what sense, and to
44:53what extent, is
44:54association with
44:55Christ really
44:56necessary for us?
45:00Something may, of
45:01course, be made for
45:02life apart from
45:04Christ.
45:04A man might have
45:06much enjoyment, and
45:07a man might do much
45:08good apart from
45:09Christ.
45:10He may be an
45:11inventor who makes
45:12human life easier,
45:16safer, or safer, or
45:18more full of
45:18interest.
45:20He may be a
45:21literary man, who
45:22by his writings
45:23enlightens,
45:24accelerates, and
45:25elevates mankind.
45:27He might, with an
45:29entire ignorance or
45:30disregard of Christ,
45:31toil for his
45:32country, or for his
45:33class, or for his
45:34cause.
45:36But the best uses
45:37and ends of human
45:38life cannot be
45:39attained apart from
45:41Christ.
45:42Only in him does
45:44the reunion of
45:45man with God seem
45:46attainable, and
45:48only in him do
45:49God and God's aim
45:50and work in the
45:51world become
45:52intelligible.
45:53He is as
45:55necessary for the
45:56spiritual life of
45:57men, as the sun is
45:59for this physical
46:00life.
46:01We may affect
46:02something by
46:03candlelight, we
46:04may be quite proud
46:05of electric light,
46:07and think we are
46:07getting far towards
46:09independence.
46:10But what man
46:11in his senses will
46:12be betrayed by
46:13these attainments,
46:14into thinking we
46:15might dispense with
46:16the sun.
46:18Christ holds the
46:19key to all that
46:21is most permanent
46:22in human endeavour,
46:23to all that is
46:24deepest and best in
46:26human character.
46:27Only in him can we
46:29take our place as
46:30partners with God,
46:32in what he is
46:33really doing with
46:34this world.
46:35Only from him can we
46:37draw courage, hope,
46:38love, sufficient to
46:40prosecute this work.
46:43In him God does
46:44reveal himself, and
46:46in him the fullness
46:47of God is found by
46:48us.
46:49He is in point of
46:50fact the one moral
46:51stem, apart from
46:53whom we are neither
46:54bearing nor cannot
46:56bear, the fruit
46:58God desires we bear.
47:04if then we are not
47:06bringing forth fruit, it
47:08is because there is a
47:09flaw in our
47:10connection with
47:11Christ.
47:15If we are conscious
47:17that the results of
47:18our life and
47:19activity are not
47:20such results as he
47:23might design, and
47:24are in no sense
47:25traceable to him,
47:27this is because there
47:28is something about
47:29our adherence to
47:31him that is loose
47:33and needs repair.
47:36Christ calls us to
47:38him and makes us
47:39sharers in his
47:40work.
47:42He who listens to
47:43this call and counts
47:44it enough to be a
47:45branch of the vine, and
47:47to do his will is
47:48upheld by Christ's
47:49spirit, is sweetened
47:51by his meekness and
47:52love, is purified by
47:54his holy and fearless
47:56rectitude.
47:59Transformed by the
48:00dominant will of
48:01this person whom he
48:03has received deepest
48:04into his soul, and
48:06therefore brings forth
48:07in whatever place in
48:09life he holds the
48:10same fruit as Christ
48:11himself had brought
48:13forth before.
48:15It is indeed Christ
48:16who brings forth
48:18these fruits.
48:19Christ has a few
48:21steps removed, for
48:23every Christian learns
48:24as well as Paul to
48:26say, not I, but
48:28Christ within me.
48:30If then the will of
48:32Christ is not
48:32fulfilled through us,
48:34if there is good
48:35that it belongs to
48:36do, to us to do,
48:39but which remains
48:40undone, then that
48:42point of juncture with
48:43Christ is the point
48:44that needs repair.
48:46It is not some
48:48unaccountable blight that
48:50makes us useless.
48:50It is not that we
48:52have got the wrong
48:53piece of the wall, a
48:55situation in which
48:56Christ himself could
48:58bear no precious
48:59fruit.
49:00The husbandman knows
49:03his own meaning when
49:04he trained us along
49:05that restricted line
49:07and nailed us down.
49:09He chose the place
49:11for us, knowing the
49:12quality of fruit he
49:13wants to yield.
49:15The reason for our
49:17fruitlessness is simple,
49:18that we are not
49:19closely enough
49:20attached to the
49:22root.
49:24How then is it
49:26with ourselves?
49:27By examining the
49:28results of our lives,
49:30would anyone be
49:30prompted to exclaim,
49:32these are trees of
49:34righteousness, the
49:35planting of the Lord
49:36that he may be
49:36glorified?
49:42This examination is
49:44made, and not made
49:45by one who
49:46chances to pass,
49:47and who being a
49:49novice in horticulture
49:50might be deceived by a
49:51show of leaves,
49:53or whose examination
49:54might wonder at the
49:57slothfulness or
49:58mismanagement of the
49:59owner who allowed
50:00such trees to
50:01cumber his ground.
50:04But the examination
50:05is made by the
50:06one who has come
50:08for the express
50:08purpose of
50:09collecting his
50:10fruit.
50:11He knows exactly
50:13what has been
50:13spent on us,
50:15and what might
50:16have been made
50:17of our
50:18opportunities.
50:19Who has in
50:21his own mind
50:21a definite idea
50:22of the fruit
50:23that should be
50:24found.
50:25Who can tell
50:26by a glance
50:27whether such
50:28fruit exists
50:29or not.
50:31to this
50:32infallible judge
50:33of produce,
50:34what have I
50:35to offer?
50:37From all
50:38my busy
50:39engagement in
50:40my many
50:40different affairs,
50:42from all
50:42my thought,
50:44what has
50:46resulted that
50:46I might offer
50:48as a
50:48satisfactory
50:49return for
50:51all that
50:51has been
50:52spent upon
50:53me?
50:57It is
50:58deeds of
50:59profitable
50:59service,
51:00as men
51:02of large
51:02and loving
51:03nature
51:03would do
51:05that God
51:05seeks from
51:06us.
51:07He recognises
51:08without fail
51:09what is love,
51:10and what only
51:11seems to be
51:12love.
51:12He infallibly
51:14detects the
51:14corroding pot
51:15of selfishness
51:16that rots
51:17the whole
51:18fair-seeming
51:19cluster.
51:21He cannot
51:22be deceived
51:22before us,
51:23and pretakes
51:24our lives
51:25precisely for
51:27what they
51:27are worth.
51:32It is
51:32necessary for
51:33us to
51:33make such
51:34inquiries,
51:35for fruitless
51:36branches cannot
51:37be tolerated.
51:39The purpose
51:40of the tree
51:40is fruit.
51:41If then
51:42we would
51:43escape all
51:43suspicion of
51:44our own
51:44state,
51:45of all
51:46reproach
51:46of fruitlessness,
51:48what we have
51:49to do is
51:50not so much
51:51find out new
51:51rules for
51:52our conduct,
51:53as to
51:54strive to
51:55renew our
51:55hold upon
51:56Christ and
51:58intelligently
51:58enter into
51:59his purpose.
52:01Abide in
52:01him.
52:02This is the
52:03secret of
52:03fruitfulness.
52:04All that the
52:05branch needs
52:06is in the
52:07vine.
52:07It does not
52:08need to go
52:09beyond the
52:09vine for
52:10anything.
52:11when we
52:12feel the
52:12life of
52:13Christ
52:13ebbing away
52:14from our
52:15soul,
52:15when we
52:16see our
52:16leaf fading,
52:18when we
52:18feel sapless
52:19and dry,
52:21heartless for
52:22Christian duty,
52:23reluctant to
52:24work for
52:24others,
52:25reluctant to
52:26take anything
52:26to do with
52:27the relief of
52:28misery and
52:29the repression
52:29of vice,
52:31there is a
52:32remedy for
52:33this state.
52:34It is to
52:35renew our
52:36fellowship with
52:37Christ, to
52:38allow the
52:38mind once
52:39more to
52:39concede
52:40clearly the
52:41worthiness of
52:42his aims, to
52:43yield the
52:44heart once
52:44again to
52:45the vitalising
52:46influence of
52:48his love, to
52:49turn from the
52:50vanities and
52:51futilities with
52:52which men strive
52:53to make life
52:55seem important,
52:56to the
52:57reality and
52:58substance of
52:59the life of
52:59Christ.
53:02To abide in
53:03Christ,
53:04is to abide
53:05by our
53:05adoption of
53:07his view of
53:07the true
53:08purpose of
53:09human life,
53:09after testing
53:11it by actual
53:12experience.
53:14It is to
53:15abide in our
53:15trust in
53:16him as the
53:17true Lord of
53:18men and as
53:20able to
53:21supply us
53:22with all that
53:23we need to
53:24keep his
53:24commandments.
53:26And so
53:27abiding in
53:28Christ, we
53:29are always
53:29sustained by
53:30him, for
53:31he abides in
53:32us in
53:33parts to
53:34us, his
53:35branch is
53:36now on
53:36earth, the
53:38force which
53:39is needful to
53:40accomplish his
53:41purpose.
53:47let us pray.
53:50Keep, we
53:51beseech you, O
53:52Lord, your
53:53church with
53:54your perpetual
53:55mercy, because
53:57the frailty of
53:58man without you
53:59cannot but
54:00fail.
54:01Keep us
54:02ever by your
54:03help from all
54:04things hurtful,
54:06and lead us to
54:07all things
54:07profitable to
54:09our salvation.
54:10Through Jesus
54:11Christ our
54:13Lord.
54:13Amen.
54:19May the
54:20Lord bless us
54:21and keep us
54:22from all
54:23evil, bringing
54:24us to
54:25everlasting
54:25life.
54:27Amen.
54:28Amen.
54:29Amen.
54:29Amen.
54:30Amen.
54:31Amen.
54:31Amen.
54:31Amen.
54:31Amen.
54:32Amen.
54:32Amen.
54:32Amen.
54:33Amen.
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