8. I AM THE WAY, AND THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE.

(Concluded-which was put by error to the previous article, p. 74.)

I am the true Vine, and My Father is the Husbandman. … I am the Vine, ye are the branches." The Father purges the branches that they may bear more fruit; the Vine itself does not require this care and discipline. The vine is the plain type of fruitfulness; and while it always bears fruit,-for Christ would never be fruitless,-yet the branches, which we are, require the purging work that more fruit may be borne by them He is the root-stem from which all springs forth. In Him is the sap of life, which He presses into each branch, that it may bear fruit; as the vine-root, by what is called the "root-pressure," permeates the branches with the sap of life, which is in itself. The branch in Christ which is fruitless is without the life. Thus while outwardly in connection with the Vine, inwardly it has refused what would make it fruitful. Having no vital connection, it is in due time taken away; and finally all such are gathered and cast into the fire. To abide in Christ is the receptive condition of this life, and then, as a result, He abides in the branch. This is the only possible way to bring forth fruit. Apart from the Vine, the branch is dead; but if it abide in the Vine, it will bear much fruit.

The thought of Christ as "the true Vine" is that He alone-not Israel-has borne fruit for God. He
is the true Vine in contrast with Israel, who had so signally failed in a like character (Isa. 5:1-7). Man at his best had utterly failed as to the question of fruit-bearing. In the place of barrenness on which the curse abode, and from which no fruitful root had ever sprung, Christ grows up "as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground " (Isa. 53:2). He struck down deep into man's ruined condition in all its barrenness, and where the curse rested on every-thing. Thus we have suggested the depth of humiliation into which the Son of God came to bring forth fruit for God. It is the root planted in this way that shoots up into the light of heaven, making its branches spread out and bear fruit. So Christ entered into the darkness of death and judgment, suggested by the vine-root buried in the earth; and out of this He comes forth, raised up into the glory and light of heaven itself, with His many branches His saved people.

Thus we are identified with Him in resurrection, having first "become identified with Him in the like-ness of His death." And here the word '' identified " is literally "grown up with," even as the branches with the vine grow up together, and so are thoroughly one. He has linked Himself with us and endured the consequences in death and judgment; but having come out of this into the light, He has brought us, the branches, into the same light with Himself. We who were dead in sins God hath "quickened together with Christ, and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Eph. 2:5, 6). Thus, out of death, fruit for eternity has been produced to God's praise and glory.

It is the divine perfection of Christian attainment which is presented to us in Christ as the Vine. A fitting climax to these titles which show His relation to the eternal life communicated and dependent in His people. A true seven, because manifestly we have reached the full height of Christian relation to Christ. Here it is, in plain language, we in Him and He in us Beyond this we cannot possibly go.

From what we have been considering, we see plainly that the two great thoughts connected with this figure of the vine is the depth of His humiliation, and the height of His glory in resurrection. The vine-root, first sunk into the earth, shoots up for fruit-bearing into the heavenly sunlight. Thus we have the complete setting aside of the natural man as worthless; and it is the Second Man, the Lord out of heaven, who is the Fruit-bearer. "He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that He might fill all things." We see this Vine spreading forth with its glorious fruit, to the praise and satisfaction of God. It is this which makes glad the heart of God; it is His joy, as it will, in a day to come, make the whole creation a temple of praise.

The lesson in this for us is an intensely practical one. In it lies the secret of how we can bear fruit for God. The life in Him is divine, eternal; and this life is also in us, since it is His life which He has communicated to us. Life, of course, must manifest itself. That, therefore, which should be manifested in us, is nothing less than the life of Christ. Let the question be turned in upon our hearts as to how far this is true of us. To what extent do we show forth that we are living branches of '' the True Vine ?" "He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit:for apart from Me ye can do nothing." May God in His grace grant deep searching of heart in His presence, where the purging work of the Husbandman will bring forth more fruit. We cannot fail to see how far short we come in this respect. But the way of victory is in allowing Christ, the life-sap, to fill the branch with Himself. The result is the precious fruit-Christ manifest in us. In view of failure in this respect, how blessed to look forward to that coming eternity in which Christ, the True Vine, shall be displayed with all His branches displaying its precious fruit! Then will the Vine, we may say, be full grown, giving forth all the luxuriance of perfect fruit, to the praise and glory of God-to the joy and gladness of the whole creation. It is Christ and His members, the Vine and its branches, which will form the blessed center of blessing in eternity. But while we are left down here, it is to bear this same relation to a perishing world that we will then bear to a redeemed world. Christ is the divine depository of all blessing; we, as the branches in Him, are to be the means of blessing to others. All fulness is in Christ, and we therefore, the branch-pipes which lead from this glorious Vessel, should certainly overflow in blessing to all around. May it be so with us, to the praise and glory of His precious name! J. B. Jr.