The Madison journal. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1888-current, 1917-05-12
LESSON FOR NAV Is
JESUS THE TRUE VINE.

that Of last Suuluy. Chris. had risen
with his disciples fr.'a ia" upper ia .upERlN
hl" i4."l'' ana '"' '''"...'''r Oh his knsEs
diSc"urS" may h"I' '''"r..' N an up WORK
hous,. h,.for, they le', tho city. or -
the WAY 20 the garden %. G,fh~cmane
/. THE ABIDING LIFE uyy. IA AXE
Under the ti-ur" IF The vine Jesus
teaches spiritual truth 10y natural
analogy. The vine Is ''ni"N Of Ids Idea
roots, stem. branches. '''r'S' and the Ro;
fruit. Their. is no ~"parut. life: the IA Pr
branch are one WIZ, ,' '.,,y I". ,s r'sem
church ~ its l-ust member. The life
lived Ly the Christian Is Chr~t'S lie
x .,u'','' -, 6,Sci,lina Is in ords, IEducati
., ,u,,t,e,,l,,.. I'll. NV Father N. has re-
-, outs, or.,v am, branch a, Soto pa
,,., T.. 49,, h.or,,,, fru,t srt Ipart in
cleans every branch which does bear ten VI
fruit. to make It bear richer fruit
(Moffat's translation. Paul tells Us rs 'iI"'
w., e. ,I,a.,..ri,c for IA. present c scho'
seemeth To bee joyous hut grievous pnen'
-. ,.e.,,-,,.,rd u viaIIcth The have b
,.,,t.,,, rr,,i, ~ righteousness unto tases tn
! them which are eA'T'lN'l lII'I'pl
Th, WI - rho cleansing agent az. khitects
~, worse four suggests a double a With
ah,,,r,, ,ro In him and ne in us lengt
| the branch depending upon the vine wen
snr ,,fa and The vine depending upon hployed
.to hro,cb for fruIt. Jesus had lust No the
bon taIlinr about his approaching kngurat
doo,h md his disciples were full Of lis bein
-. no tolls them not TO be trou On Of q
,haa nd ~, his figure assures them, Laws tn
that Though ne would leave them, he one
r,n,,,d stuI he Joined TO them. Al. kkh 81
! though they had been made clean, Zen 10
,ho,. GRO taught that the only way to tsnd thi
| raan clean IS by abiding" which Is thcols
90 no continued through the eternal N child
s,,r,t after his dcceasc and ascent to tret az
,bo Father eft IS given 10 us to hold Aandst
fellowship with both the root that kigh SCI
,u.inos itself about the cross and the Twenty
tendriIs which stretch upward to Be tow
glory."-A. j. Gordon. so long as We kted
think of ourselves, and not of Christ tIty
rs the source Of power, We shall miss
the secret Of fruitfulnesS. good
N. The Fruitful Life wv. 5S Ihe
If we abide in him we will bring form Eno ID
much fruit Note the progression been
"fruit "Inore fruit" "muCh fruit" II for u
the branch does not bear fruit II Is NJ
only for fuel Elsa. 81 I'D. "lf We abide lays !
in mo and nv words abide In you, ye j ava
shall ask what We WILL and II shall tng
done unto YOU ". y. Our first fruit p, lei
Is 70 plorify God ". 81. The vine does tsrytf
not consume the fruit which 1t pro ke OF
duces though II does exist for Its pro The !
duction, thus clarifying God through tscho'
ITS fruit-bearing function. The Blble b ee
uses many figures To illustrate the In y to
timate relationship between root ana Isgnil
fruit without me-" emphasizes nate
Christ. Eve can do nothing" The ther
sword" OF verse three Is equivalent 10 and
the word az" of verse four. Now ye y ha
are clean through the word which kast
have spoken unto you w. -. Our Dol "a
fruit herring is for Iods glory be hor
. cause II is an expression OF his grace kty
= and power, and 1t is made possible have
through our Identification with MS
dear son. Our fruitfuness attests our Iror
; Christian character. We have not yer ~.
attained perfection in our conduct, ouI
u we are making progress. Progressive
deliverance from the power or SIN
counterbalanced by corresponding VI
fruitfulness.
I'll. Inc permanent IHc NNN' VAo, IL
= Fruit" more fruit" "much fruil
=" Even as the life of Christ has increas 4"
ingly manifested itself through hs
ages so our Individual lives are We
increase in the fruitfulness which aS fn
Stimulates them TO his character anu !
expresses his graces. As the fatnei pen
vi has loved him. so has he loved u.s. anu b
es this love he communicates TO those as
IL who abide In him. The evidence III p !
hs our abiding Is manifested by our j"
III in keeping his commandments just Six
he delighted in keeping his fathers Ire
commandments Obedience and JOY ~
ore correlated terms. The fuller tne her
in obedience the greater the JOY. BUSH he,
)v- nell said Heaven is nothing but inc he
OF iov of n perfectly harmOnlzed being IL
Of N,led with God and his love" Instead
ur Of minute detailed instructions re-
qarding their conduct. the disciples
are bere presented with love, the gor
erninp principle. Love was to he tn
a, one sufficient impulse for both divlns
ar. and human relationships. Our Lo'
60 would have the world know his ser'
on onts by the fruit they bear. which
- IN no n sufficient badge 10 identu!
them in the midst Of It's wickednes
and perversity. The great fact OF ~,
love toward US is 10 he the source anu
az measure of our love toward others
l,"s Only love can fulfil the royal Jaw
"thou shalt love thy neighbor as my
art self (Jamcs 2:s). "If We love me- "
r. will keep my commandments saiu
"' Jesus U4:15 Il. W. The eyidenee
that We have this love is In having
heart for his commandments. l ue
light 10 do thy will, o my God" tPsa.
ignt 4O.s) IS the language of love-nlieu
{ g heart Greater love hath no man
" than this p" said Christ facing tne
tragedy Of the cross. He wanted MS
,t-.t,I., 20 understand something OF