Minneapolis spokesman. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1934-10-05

through them his life was to be
manifested to the world and his
purposes accomplished,
|. -, relationship of the Discl.
nles 10 Jesus and the Father (vv.
~,
/. .'~s is the source of the dis,
ciples nfe ". -. He is the true
vine. Through the incarnation
Jesus identified himself with hui
mainly, and by virtue of his atom
ing death and resurrection it is pos
sible for the believer to be par
taker of his life, so that between
the disciple and his Lord there is
community of life. AS the vine
pOurs its life into the branch, so
Christ pourS his life into the be-
lever. The life of the believer
is a derived life. Whatever is worth
while in him is derived from Christ.
2. The discipline of the disciple
is in the hands of the Father ".
u. The "Father is the husband
man." Just as the culture of the
vine is in the hands of a husband
man, so the discipline of the be-
levers life is in the hands of the
Father. He knows exactly how
deep to cut with his pruning knife,
and can be absolutely trusted to cut
no deeper than necessary, for he is
our affectionate Father. In this
disciplinary process he
a. Removes the unfruitful branch
". p. He does not take the trou-
BILE to prune the .fruitless branch
the nominal church member; the
mere professor he removes.
b. Purges the fruitful branch that
it may produce more fruit ". y.
He restraints our natural tendencies
and desires in order that the vir-
tues of the Lord, the fruit of the
Spirit, may shine forth.
3. The instrument by which the
discipline is accomplished is Jesus
words ". 81. If the believers life
is to be fruitful in character and
service, the pruning knife, Christ's
words, must be intelligently and
regularly applied.
IL. The Conditions of Fruit-bear-
ing ". 40.
The supreme and grand object in
pruning the vine is fruit. Gods
whole design in producing the vine
aud making men branches thereof
was to obtain fruit, more fruit
much FRUIT.
l. Abiding in Christ (vv. 4-6).
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 mu-
tual abiding-the disciple in Christ,
and Christ in the disciple. 1t is
really Christ's life expressing itself
through the believer.
2. Christ's words abiding in us
". y. So mighty is the power of
the one who abides in Christ and in
whom the words Of Christ abide,
that Heaven can withhold no gift
from him. In fact, the one who is
united in Christ by faith and pray
erfully meditates upon his words
will be so led by the Spirit to pray
as to, have success without limit
(Col. 3:16).
III. The Blessed Issue of Fruit.
full life wv. 8-16).
l. The glorification of the Fa-
Their ". s.. The Father will be
glorified through much fruit-bearing
Matt. 5:16).
2. Credentials Of discipleship ".
81. The way to prove that one is
a child of God is to manifest the
characteristics of God in his acts
and service.
3. Abiding in Christ's love and
keeping his commandments wv. 8,
10y. The way to abide in Christ's
love Is to keep his commands. The
one who neglects the words of Christ
is destitute of divine love.
4. Fullness Of Joy ". ~. The
way to have fullnes of joy is to
have Christ's Joy in US.
5. Loving one another wv. II, 13).
The one who abides in Christ and
has the life of Christ flowing into
him will love his fellow-man, es-
pecially his brother In Christ.
9. Friends of Christ wv. IA, Isis
Christ's friends do whatsoever he
commands. Being thus obedient to
him, we are taken iHto his conf
dence and have made known unto
us the heavenly Fathers will.
z. Perpetual fruit-bearing in love
with power in prayer ". 49,. This
enriched life becomes possible
through the sovereign choice and or
dination of Christ.