Lisa Barry: I?ve known people who claim to be Christians but they don?t want to devote any time to that relationship. But Jesus made it very clear that apart from the vine, the branch can do nothing. Have you ever tried to get a stubborn plant out of a pot in order to plant it? And in doing do, did you accidentally rip off one of the leaves? Wouldn?t it be silly if a person just laid that leaf on the kitchen table and expected it to bloom? It?s impossible, because once it?s separated from the parent plant, it?s doomed. Elisabeth Elliot explains today that in the same way, a true believer must be steadfastly connected to the vine in order to bear fruit. Let?s find out more today on this Wednesday edition of Gateway To Joy.

Elisabeth Elliot: "You are loved with an everlasting love." That?s what the Bible says. "And underneath are the everlasting arms." This is your friend Elisabeth Elliot, continuing my talk today about the life of the vine. Yesterday I read to you from a poem by a man named Ugo Bassi, talking about the painful pruning process of the vine when it has to be cut back so far in order that lovely grapes can eventually be produced.

Well, this painful pruning process takes different forms in you and me, in each of us. Once we've committed ourselves to Christ, are we willing to do or to be exactly what the Gardener chooses? No matter how surprising, or painful? Or devastating? Andrew Murray, who was a missionary in South Africa, wrote this, "It was in connection with the parable of the vine (that's in John 15) that our Lord first used the expression 'Abide in Me.' That parable, so simple and yet rich in its teaching, gives us the best and most complete illustration of the meaning of our Lord's command and the union to which He invites us.

"The parable teaches us the nature of that union. The connection between the vine and the branch is a living one--no external, temporary union will suffice. No work of man can effect it. The branch, whether an original or an engrafted one, is such only by the Creator's own work, in virtue of which the life, the sap, the fatness and the fruitfulness of the vine communicate themselves to the branch. And it's like that with the believer too. His union with the Lord is no work of human wisdom or human will, but an act of God by which the closest and most complete life union is effected between the Son of God and the sinner.

"God hath sent forth His Spirit, His Son into your hearts. The same Spirit which dwelt and still dwells in the Son. (Jesus, of course, is the one he's speaking of). Jesus makes it very clear that without the vine the branch can do nothing--absolutely nothing. To the vine it owes its right of place in the vineyard, it's life and its fruitfulness. And so the Lord says, 'Without Me you can do nothing.'

"The believer can each day be pleasing to God only in that which he does through the power of Christ dwelling in him. And then Jesus said, 'Without the branch, the vine can do nothing.' A vine without branches can bear no fruit. No less indispensable than the vine to the branch is the branch to the vine. Such is the wonderful condescension of the grace of Jesus. That just as His people are dependent on Him, He has made Himself dependent on us."

That struck me, I just meditated about that. That Jesus makes Himself dependent upon us. Without His disciples He cannot dispense His blessing to the world. I want to be one of His disciples, don't you?

"He can't offer sinners the grace of the heavenly Canaan, marvel not, it's His own appointment and this is the high honor to which He has called us. That as indispensable as He is to us, that from Him their fruit may be found. So indispensable are they to Him on earth, that through them His fruit may be found.

"There's more; as neither vine nor branch is anything without the other, so is neither anything except for the other. All the vine possesses belongs to the branches. The vine doesn't gather from the soil its fatness and its sweetness for itself. All it has is at the disposal of the branches. As it is the parent so is the servant of the branches. And Jesus, to Whom we owe our life, how completely He gives Himself for us and to us. He said, 'The glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them.'

"All His fullness and all His riches are for us. For the vine does not live for itself and keeps nothing for itself, but exists only for the branches. All that Jesus is in heaven He is for us." I'll read that again. "All that Jesus is in heaven He is for us. That means that He has no interest there which is separate from ours. As our representative He stands before the Father. And all the branch possesses belongs to the vine.

"This story--this parable--that Jesus speaks in John 15 teaches us the object of union. The branches are for fruit and fruit alone. The fruit itself bears to give away to those around. And as the believer enters into his calling as a branch, he sees that he has to forget himself and to live entirely for others.

"And that's what it means to bear fruit, don't you think? If we are to live entirely for other people, we are to give fruit--to bear fruit. Not to expect to receive it so much, as to give it. As Jesus said elsewhere, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.' And in John 14:19-20 Jesus said, 'Because I live you will live also. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father and you are in Me and I am in you.'"

Now let me put into parenthesis for you little children. Think of how wonderful it is that somebody loves you. You want to be with her or with him. And you can't even imagine how much he or she wants to be with you. More than that, in you they find warmth and love and happiness. Did you ever think about that, that your dad finds warmth and love and happiness in you? Or your mother. And how do you feel about your daddy and your mother? Well, I hope you find warmth and love and happiness in them. But it's even more warm and wonderful and loving to know that the Lord Jesus loves you. Did you know that? I hope you haven't forgotten that? "Jesus loves me this I know." How do I know that? You know the answer, don't you? "For the Bible tells me so." "Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Little ones to Him belong. They are weak, but" What? Sing it. "He is strong."

1 John 4:13 says, "We know that we live in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit." Colossians 1:27 speaks of Christ in you. You see, all these passages refer to the same metaphor that Ugo Bassi is writing about--the branch and the vine.

I think we can meditate for the rest of our lives on this wonder, this marvel that Christ lives in me. It is the hope of glory. It is my only hope. I want to ask you today, have you that hope? Truly? Intimately? Deeply? And some of you are scratching your heads and saying, "I don't understand it. How can Christ be in me?

Well, let's not worry over the "how", let's just accept the "that". Christ lives in you. That is, if you're a Christian of course. If you have received Him. He's not going to barge in. He stands at the door and knocks. If anybody opens the door then He wants to come in. But otherwise, He's not going to come in. But if you want Him, He's there.

He's in You, He's the hope of glory. Have you got that hope? Truly and intimately and deeply? I have to keep going over it myself. I had a tough day when I was preparing these talks. Nothing made sense. I felt useless, helpless, quite disgusted with myself, far from capable of being a fruitful vine--to be a blessing to other people. And you know what? I forgot the hope of glory. Christ in you, the hope of glory. That's from Colossians 1:27.

I'd forgotten about that while I was feeling so useless and helpless and so disgusted with myself. And Galatians 2:20, here's another one. "I am crucified with Christ." As the vine is cut back so another metaphor tells me that I am crucified with Christ. "Nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me." Christ lives in me. "And the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me." He loved me and gave Himself for me. And one more verse, 2 Corinthians 13:5, "Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you." Ponder that.

Lisa Barry: This has been a great series so far and I know many of you will want to get this tape. So let me tell you how to do that. You really have three options for purchasing it . The first is to send $5.00 along with a note that includes the title of this series which is The Life of the Vine. Our address is:

Gateway To Joy, Box 82500, Lincoln, NE 68501. That?s Gateway To Joy, Box 82500, Lincoln, NE 68501. Another way is to phone us at 1-800-759-4JOY. That?s 1-800-759-4569. Or you can order it over our Web site at gatewaytojoy.org.

Gateway To Joy has been a production of Back to the Bible and is supported by the generous gifts of people like you. Tomorrow Elisabeth tells us how to abide in Christ, so make it a point to join us then for another Gateway To Joy.