Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1925-01-29
IMPROVED UNIFORM INTERNATIONAL
SinrldaySchool
Y Lesson '
tBy REV. P. b. FITzwATER, DID. Dean
stitute Of ChicagoD
20. 1925. Western Newspaper Union.)
Lesson for February 1
THE VINE AND THE BRANCHES

LESSON TEXT-Joh 15:1-17
GOLDEN TExT-"He that abideth in
me, and in him, the same bringeth
forth much fruit."--John ISIS.
PRIMARY TOPIc-Being Friends of
Jesus.
JUNIOR ToPIc-The vine and the
Branches.
INTERMEDIATE AND SENIOR TOP
IC-Fruit- Bearing Lives
YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULT TOP
IC-Union With Christ
Under the beautiful allegory of the
vine and the branches Jesus set forth
the spiritual oneness of Himself and
His disciples.
I. The Relationship of Jesus and the
Father to the Disciple wv. 1-3).
/. Jesus the Source Of the Disciples
Life ". y. lie is the true vine.
Through the incarnation Jesus identi-
fed Himself with humanity, and by
virtue Of His atoning death and resur-
rection it is possible for the believer
to be a partaker Of His life SO that be-
tween the disciple and his Lord there
is community Of life. As the vine
pours It's life into the branch, so Christ
pours His life into the believer. Our
salvation is eternal life because it Is
the life of the eternal Son in us.
2. The Father Has in His Hands tile
Discipline of the Disciple w. u. The
Father is the husbandman." Just as
the culture of the vine is in the hands
of husbandman so the discipline of
the believers life is in the hands Of
the Father. In this disciplinary proc
ess he
(a) Removes the unfruitful branch
". y. He does not take the trouble
to prune the fruitless branch. The
nominal church member, the mere pro-
fessor, He removes.
(b) Purges the fruitful branch that
1t may produce more fruit ". y. He
restraints our natural tendencies and
desires in order that the virtues Of the
Lord, the fruits of the Spirit, may
shine forth.
5. The instrument by which the
pruning Is accomplished is Jesus
words ". 81. The disciples already
were cleansed by Christ's words, for
udOO thC t1u1LOA ii0U OCCu CAST OuL.
If the believers life is 60 be fruitful in
character and service the pruning
knife, Christ's words, must be intelli-
gently and regularly applied
II. The Conditions of Fruit Bearing
wv. 40.
The supreme object in pruning the
culture of the vine, is fruit.
/. Abiding in Christ wv. 400. As
the branches draw sap and life from
the vine, so believers must abide in
Christ from whom they derive their
purity, strength and wisdom Indeed,
it is a mutual abiding, the disciple in
Christ and Christ in the disciple 1t
is Christ's life expressing itself
through the believer. The one thus in
dwelt by Christ will bear much fruit
So great is the displeasure Of the Lord
with lifeless, unfruitful branches that
they are to be "cast forth, "withered,"
even burned ". 81.
@ Christ's Words Abide in Us w.
y. So mighty is the power Of the
one who abides in Christ and in whom
His words abide that Heaven can with
hold no gift from him.
Ill. The Blessed Issue of Fruitful
Life wv. SID.
l. The Glorifcation of the Father w.
81. Through much fruit-bearing, the
Father will be glorifed (Matt 5:16).
2, Credentials of Discipleship w. 81
The only way to prove that one is a
child of God is to manifest the charac-
teristics of God In ones acts and serv-
ice
g. Abiding in Christ's. Love and
Keeping His Commandments wv. 8,
10Y. The way to abide in Christ's love
is to keep His commandments. The
one who neglects the words of Christ
is. destitute of His love. 1t is folly to
talk of being in the love OF Christ
while disobeying His teachings.
4. Fulness of Joy ". 1D. The way
to have fulness of joy is to have
Christ's joy in us.
5. Loving one another wv. u, 13).
The one who abides in Christ and has
the life Of Christ flowing into him will
live life of love, will love his fellow
man, especially his brother in Christ
6. Friends of Christ wv. IA, 15)
Christ's friends do whatsoever He
commands. Being thus obedient He
takes us into His confidence and
makes known unto us the Heavenly
Fathers win.
Z. Perpetual Fruit-Bearing in Love,
With Power in PRAYER ivy. 16, ~.