The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1905-05-06

the upper room. There Jesus lnstl- |
tuted the Lords supper which has
been perpetual memorial OF him
throughout all the history of the
church. Then Jesus spoke to them
his farewell words. Rising from the
table, at the end of John IA, he con-
tiEued his discourse as they stood
ready to depart, or on the way to
Gethsemane, during which walk late
in the evening they may well have
stopped in some quiet place to rest
and converse.
|. The Vine.-1. 81 am the true
vine" The genuine, the ideal, the
perfect vine; the one who can fulfil
in spiritual things the relation be-
tween a vine and its branches; lin
contrast to Israel, the stock which
God had planted to bring forth fruit
ito him. See Psa. 80; lsa. 5; Jer. 2;
21."-Exp. Greek Test.
. my Father is the nusbandman."
The owner of the vineyard, the one
who planted and cared for the vine.
The teaching, the redemption, the re-
ligion of Jesus had its source in God,
and he would protect it.
II. The Branches.-Vs. 2-7. First
Branch.-v. 2. Who are the branches?
His disciples ". 81, all who follow
him, who are filled with his spirit.
The source of whose life is from him,
branch growing ON the Tree of Life.
~ am crucifed with Christ: never
theless, l live; yet not |, but Christ
| livetn in me: and the life which |
now live in the flesh | live by the
faith of the Son of God. who loved
me, and gave himself for me. Paul
CGal. 2:2O).
Second Branch. The Fruitless.-
VS.. 2, G.-2. Every branch in me
that beareth not fruit" The fruits
Of the spirit, the fruits that naturally
come from the spirit of Christ. They
are the external professors,-li the
Pharisees, who were externally chill
dren of Abraham, but not real chill
dren, because they had not the spirit
Of Abraham (John S:3T40). 1t in
cludes those who may attend church,
but have none of its life, who go un-
der the name of Christians, but are
without Christ, who have intellectual
convictions, but do not live up to
them. For instance, Judas, Ananias,
and Sapphira. Simon Magus. He
taketh away" Because their pres
ence injuries the other branches; and
their remaining is of no benefit to
themselves. AS long as there Is hope
of their bearing fruit they are per
mitted to remain, and are pruned and
cared for. (See Luke 19;6-9) If this
is of no avail, they are taken away.
G. "And they are burned" Because
mo better use can be made of the
vine-wood; it is absolutely worthless
(Ezek. 15). The branches cut off are
first withered and then burned
"Thorns will generally burn imme-
diately,s but the vine branch must
first wither and grow dry before it is
gathered into faggots and cast into
the fire.
uli4 Inc 0llAAA- uAN
More Fruit. Much Fruit-Vs. 2, 8, 5
Fruit 2. "Beareth fruit" The same
kind of fruit which Christ bore, the
fruits of the Spirit (Gal 5:22, 23), the
Beatitudes, the Ten Commandments
the Sermon on the Mount, which are
the natural outcome of the character
and spirit and motives Of Christ, the
: fruits which will flourish in the City
Of God, in the Golden Age, in HEAVIER
itself.
More fruit "He purgeth it." Bet
ter as R. v, "he cleanseth it," for th'
verb has the same root as clean il
the next verse, the result Of this
| cleansing.
8. Now We are clean The resul
of the purging (cleaning) of V.
Through because Of the wore
! which | have spoken unto YOU" AL
! Jesus teaching and traiuing for thre
years had been cleansing and prun
ing the disciples Imperfect as the.
we're, they were bearing good frui
and were prepared to bring forth
great deal more and a great deal BET
ter fruit, as we see in the Acts.
: Much Fruit 5. "The same bring
eth forth much fruit Grapes o
Eshcol in heavy clusters Much no
: only in quantity, but in quality, il
flavor. in beauty. in health-giving
People may be Christians and b
e saved so as by FIRE. while bearing fey
; clusters and poor. But this is no
d what Jesus desires for them.
S Pruning. Thinning fruit aids pei
i. fection of fruit. Men sometimes tr
r to bear more kinds Of fruit than the
q are able to bear, and are tempted t
e prop the tree with tonics. They tr
; to do too many things, and do nothin
S well.
! Often many things we desire mus
be cut off, as wealth, leisure, quie
even health for a time. in order tina
ve bear the most and the best frui
5 Fourth Branch. The Abiding.-V:
A.. A. abide in me-" Meyer pre-
l poses that we use instead of abide
: a word more closely allied in meanin
L /