GOD’S WORD FOR APRIL 19 ~ ~ John 14:12~ ~ “He that believes in Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do, because I go to the Father”

We’re continuing in chapter 4 of Andrew Murray’s classic writing, “Abide in Christ”

There is more;  as neither vine nor branch is anything without the other, so its neither anything EXCEPT FOR the other.

All the vine possesses belongs to the branches.  The vine does not gather from the soil its fatness and its sweetness for itself –all it has is at the disposal of the branches.  As it is the parent, so it is the servant of the branches.  

Jesus, to whom we owe our lives, completely gives Himself for us and to us.  “The glory which You gave Me, I have given them.” (John 17:22).

All His fullness and all His riches are for you, believer, for the vine does not live for itself, keeps nothing for itself, but exists only for the branches.  All that Jesus is in heaven, He is for us.  He has no interest there separate from ours; He stands as our representatives before the Father.

And all the branch possesses belongs to the vine.  The branch does not exist for itself, but to bear fruit that can proclaim the excellence of the vine.  It has no reason for existence except to be of service to the vine.

This is a glorious image of the calling of the believer and the entireness of his consecration to the service of his Lord.  As Jesus gives Himself so wholly over to him, he feels himself urged to be wholly his Lord’s.  Every power of his being, every moment of his life, and every thought and feeling belong to Jesus, that from Him and for Him he may bring forth fruit.  As he realizes what the vine is to the branch, and what the branch is meant to be to the vine, he feels that he has but one thing to think of and to live for, and that is the will, the glory, the work, and the kingdom of his blessed Lord – the bringing forth of fruit to the glory of His name.

The parable teaches us the object of the union.  The branches are for fruit and fruit alone. 

“Every branch …that bears not fruit He takes away” (John 15:2)

The branch needs leaves for the maintenance of its own life and the perfection of its fruit; it bears the fruit itself to give away to those around.

  As the believer enters into his calling as a branch, he sees that HE HAS TO FORGET HIMSELF and to live entirely for his fellowmen.  To love them, to seek for them, and to save them, Jesus came.

For this, every branch on the Vine has to live as much as the Vine itself.  It is for fruit, much fruit, that the Father has made us one with Jesus.

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