THE TRUE VINE

     Meditations for a Month
     on John 15:1-16.....
     By
     Rev. Andrew Murray

     “The mystery which hath been hid from ages, but now is made manifest to His saints: to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery...which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”—Colossians 1.26,27

     MOODY PRESS
     CHICAGO

     ONLY A BRANCH
     “I am the vine, ye are the branches.”—John 15.5

     “Tis only a little Branch,
     A thing so fragile and weak,
     But that little Branch hath a message true
     To give, could it only speak.
     “I’m only a little Branch,
     I live by a life not mine,
     For the sap that flows through my tendrils small
     Is the life-blood of the Vine.
     “No power indeed have I
     The fruit of myself to bear,
     But since I’m part of the living Vine,
     Its fruitfulness I share.
     “Dost thou ask how I abide?
     How this life I can maintain?—
     I am bound to the Vine by life’s strong band,
     And I only need remain.
     “Where first my life was given,
     In the spot where I am set,
     Upborne and upheld as the days go by,
     By the stem which bears me yet.
     “I fear not the days to come,
     I dwell not upon the past,
     As moment by moment I draw a life,
     Which for evermore shall last.
     “I bask in the sun’s bright beams,
     Which with sweetness fills my fruit,
     Yet I own not the clusters hanging there,
     For they all come from the root.”
     A life which is not my own,
     But another’s life in me:
     This, this is the message the Branch would speak,
     A message to thee and me.
     Oh, struggle not to “abide,”
     Nor labor to “bring forth fruit,”
     But let Jesus unite thee to Himself,
     As the Vine Branch to the root.
     So simple, so deep, so strong
     That union with Him shall be:
     His life shall forever replace thine own,
     And His love shall flow through thee.
     For His Spirit’s fruit is love,
     And love shall thy life become,
     And for evermore on His heart of love
     Thy spirit shall have her home.
     Freda Hanbury

PREFACE

     I have felt drawn to try to write what young Christians might easily apprehend, as a help to them to take up that position in which the Christian life must be a success. It is as if there is not one of the principal temptations and failures of the Christian life that is not met here. The nearness, the all-sufficiency, the faithfulness of the Lord Jesus, the naturalness, the fruitfulness of a life of faith, are so revealed, that it is as if one could with confidence say, Let the parable enter into the heart, and all will be right.

     May the blessed Lord give the blessing. May He teach us to study the mystery of the Vine in the spirit of worship, waiting for God’s own teaching.

THE VINE

     I am the True Vine—John 15.1

     All earthly things are the shadows of heavenly realities—the expression, in created, visible forms, of the invisible glory of God. The Life and the Truth are in Heaven; on earth we have figures and shadows of the heavenly truths. When Jesus says: “I am the true Vine,” He tells us that all the vines of earth are pictures and emblems of Himself. He is the divine reality, of which they are the created expression. They all point to Him, and preach Him, and reveal Him. If you would know Jesus, study the vine.

     How many eyes have gazed on and admired a great vine with its beautiful fruit. Come and gaze on the heavenly Vine till your eye turns from all else to admire Him. How many, in a sunny clime, sit and rest under the shadow of a vine. Come and be still under the shadow of the true Vine, and rest under it from the heat of the day. What countless numbers rejoice in the fruit of the vine! Come, and take, and eat of the heavenly fruit of the true Vine, and let your soul say: “I sat under His shadow with great delight, and His fruit was sweet to my taste.”

     I am the true Vine.—This is a heavenly mystery. The earthly vine can teach you much about this Vine of Heaven. Many interesting and beautiful points of comparison suggest themselves, and help us to get conceptions of what Christ meant. But such thoughts do not teach us to know what the heavenly Vine really is, in its cooling shade, and its life-giving fruit. The experience of this is part of the hidden mystery, which none but Jesus Himself, by His Holy Spirit, can unfold and impart.

     I am the true Vine.—The vine is the living Lord, who Himself speaks, and gives, and works all that He has for us. If you would know the meaning and power of that word, do not think to find it by thought or study; these may help to show you what you must get from Him to awaken desire and hope and prayer, but they cannot show you the Vine. Jesus alone can reveal Himself. He gives His Holy Spirit to open the eyes to gaze upon Himself, to open the heart to receive Himself. He must Himself speak the word to you and me.

     I am the true Vine.—And what am I to do, if I want the mystery, in all its heavenly beauty and blessing, opened up to me? With what you already know of the parable, bow down and be still, worship and wait, until the divine Word enters your heart, and you feel His holy presence with you, and in you. The overshadowing of His holy love will give you the perfect calm and rest of knowing that the Vine will do all.

     I am the true Vine.—He who speaks is God, in His infinite power able to enter into us. He is man, one with us. He is the crucified One, who won a perfect righteousness and a divine life for us through His death. He is the glorified One, who from the throne gives His Spirit to make His presence real and true. He speaks—oh, listen, not to His words only, but to Himself, as He whispers secretly day by day:“I am the true Vine! All that the Vine can ever be to its branch, “I will be to you.”

     Holy Lord Jesus, the heavenly Vine of God’s own planting, I beseech Thee, reveal Thyself to my soul. Let the Holy Spirit, not only in thought, but in experience, give me to know all that Thou, the Son of God, art to me as the true Vine.