The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1902-09-19
Their is the Husbandman." He has


man cuts out and casts away the I'M
fruitful branches, SO will God do with
you, o soul! if you fail to bear fruit
to His honor and glory. No matter
how beautiful a leaf and foliage you
are growing in your life, if the fruit
is lacking you have missed the SUI
preme purpose of God in you, and are
cast out to be burned as a useless and
dry branch. With what impatience
would you go year after year to the
fruit tree in your orchard that failed
to bear the fruit which you have a
right to expect, and for which the
tree was given room in your gardeni
At last the exclamation would burst
from your lips: Cut it down, for
why cumbereth it the ground?" And
can you, o soul! knowing that this
is so, be Indifferent to your barrenless
life? Can you rightfully demand more
of your fruit tree than God has right
to demand of you? Can your belly be
satisfied with the good things which
Nature gives in eloquent testimony of
the necessity of Fruit Bearing, and
your soul not recognize its obligation
to God to bear fruit in its turn?
Conditions of Fruit Bearing.-You
are to bear fruit, but not the fruit
which is grown apart from the Vine
in the life of the unregenerate man.
Gas the branch cannot bear fruit of
itself, except it abide in the vine; no
more can We, except We abide in Me"
Here is the secret of Fruit Bearing:
the kind of Fruit Bearing which is able
to satisfy God. Apart from the True
Nine.you may be able to grow fruits
of character and life which will de-
ceive the world, but you cannot deceive
God, and the false fruit will be cast
out with the severed branch which
gave it birth and both will be burned.
If you would bear fruit you must
abide in the Vine.
But how to become part of the Vine
is of first Importance. No one by Ma
ture is part of the True Vine, but we
may be grated therein. This process
is realized at conversion. Faith in
Jesus Christ as the only begotten Son
of God and the Saviour of the world
brings us into the vital relationship
to the True Vine which enables us
to bear fruit to the satisfying, or, as
our text puts it, to the clarifying, of
God. The figure of the vine and the
branch shows how close and vital is
the relationship which is sustained be-
tween Christ and those who have been
.leansed in His precious blood and
have been born new creatures in Him.
In fact, as Mr.. Moody used to say:
"God has made no provision in the
Bible for isolation. Scripture express
siOns all show a contrary state of
things: We are branches in the vine,
members in the body, stones in the
temple, brothers and sisters in the
family, bearing a close rela ton to each
other. We have first to look up and
realize our relation to God; and then
to learn the various relationships we
have to our neighbors. All are in their
different inches, filling the place God
has given them; and we must desire,
not only to serve God, but by love to
serve one another"
The condition of vital Importance to
Fruit Bearing is abiding in the Vine
The bearing of fruit follows Is a most
inevitable result. If the life of Christ,
the Vine, is flowing through us, the
branches, it will be as natural for us to
bear fruit as for the rain to fall from
the overshadowing cloud upon the
earth. AS the sap responds to the
wOOing of springtime, and comes
coursing through the channels and
ducts of the parent trunk and sends
the throb of awakening life to the
outermost branches, so the life of
Christ, the True Vine. flows to the
branches which abide in Him. and they
fn al hn frin hri1 l,Nff ho% 3 L,
is unending. The sap in the natural
vine serves three-fold purpose, even
as does the life of Jesus Christ as il
flows through the believer: First, it
keeps the branch in healthy condi-
ton; second, it helps it to grow, and
third, it compels FrIiit Bearing.
a healthy branch must be fed by
the life of the vine. If anything oc-
ours to disturb the normal condition
of the vine, and restrict the flow of
sap to the branch, an enfeebled con-
dition ensues, growth is stopped,
and Fruit Bearing made impossible.
Make q Hgature around the branch
of vine, cutting off a part of the
life-giving, growth-feeding sap, and
see how long your branch will re-
main healthy. The fresh green of
the foliage. will disappear, the bark
will dry and shrivel, and it will take
but glance to see that the branch
is in an unhealthy and dying condi-
ton. Is there something pressing
upon your life which is cutting off
from you the flow of the vital life of
Christ? Are the ''cares of this world
and the deceitfulness of riches" the
desire for selfish pleasure, the yield
ing to The fieshly appetites and lusts,
the cherishing of some hidden sin,
choking the channel of your life, and
the Christ life reaching
you? Each succeeding day which
passes while such a condition exists
brings more deafness to the branch, |
and makes it harder to recover a
healthy state again. The branch to |
be healthy must have unrestricted |
flow OF sap from the vine; and you,
dear Christian friend, must have no |
structures in your life which would |
cut off the life-giving presence OF |
Jesus Christ if you desire to remain |
n a healthy spiritual condition.
But mere healthy condition of the |
branch is not the ultimate aim of |
the vine in sending to it the life-giv-
ing sap. Every pulsation of the flow
ng sap sings a song of growth, which
enlarges the branch's possibilities for
Fruit Bearing. How beautiful it is
year by year to note the charging
md farther reaching branch of the |
zine. It carries its silent message of |
purpose and progress. The husband
i
wise, and marks the undeveloping
br,,eh