LS-22-Abiding In Christ
Abiding In Christ
Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in Me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for apart from Me ye can do nothing.--John 15:4-5. This is a simple and beautiful statement of the relation between the Lord Jesus and His disciples. In the spiritual life we are entirely dependent upon Him. We cannot live unless we maintain our union with Him. We dwell in Him, and He dwells in us, and the possibilities of the Christian life are not determined by our own natural resources, but by the power of Christ Himself. The wonder of this fact may become clearer to us if we consider for a moment our relation to the world about us, and the manner in which we draw upon its resources. Every moment of our lives we are dependent upon the system of forces of which the universe is composed. We appropriate those forces by means of the food we eat, the air we breathe, and the sunlight we absorb. Thus we store up supplies of the energy of nature for subsequent use. In every deed we perform, in every word we speak, yea, in every thought we think, we are expending some of this force which we have received from the universal energy of nature.
Man has been able to tap the resources of nature in another sense. The growth of our civilisation has been due, as we say, to our control of the forces which surround us. There is strength of wind and tide which man can utilise. There is latent energy in oil and in coal which he transforms into living power. He subdues the mighty and often destructive forces of electricity, and uses them in his service. He makes the vibrations of the mysterious ether the servant of his will. Thus his own power is mightily extended, because he links himself with the powers that lie, ready to help him, in the universe of which he is a part.
None the less do we depend upon our Lord for all our attainment in the Christian life. Without Him we can do nothing. We are strong in the grace which is in Christ Jesus. In our victory over sin it is His overcoming power which is manifested. We fail If we seek to develop and maintain the spiritual life apart from Him. The fruits of the Spirit can be perfected only in Him, for the branch cannot bear fruit of itself. Let us then abide in Him, that He may abide in us.