“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 without me ye can do nothing.”
John 15:4,5 (KJV)
A branch of a tree cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the tree; therefore, I cannot bear fruit
of myself, unless I abide in Christ! How does a branch abide in the tree or in the vine? The abiding
factor is in the nodal point of the tree; which is the point at which the branch is stemmed from or
attached to the tree. The removal of the nodal point is the severance of the life of the branch and the
severance of the life from the branch. No matter how big a branch may be, its life is in the tree! The
power to fruit is not in the branch but in the tree. Once the branch is severed from the tree, then the
power to live and fruit is consequently taken away from the branch.
I must know that once I am severed from Christ, I immediately lose the power to live, the power to life
and the power to fruit! There is no shortcut to this. Jesus used the most appropriate and simple
illustration to pass this pertinent understanding across to me – there is nothing I can do without Him!
However, I also need to identify my own ‘nodal point’, which makes and presents me a true branch of
the True Vine, through which I draw His life to produce His life – the fruit of Christ. The ‘nodal point’
that connects me with Christ is the Yoke – the Cross! Growing a true branch out of a man is only
possible by the instrumentality of the yoke. In fact, two yoked animals portray a kind of branch-ing.
So when Jesus said “abide in me…”, He meant (and still means) I should be yoked continually with
Him! To abide is to live or dwell. It means that Jesus is not looking for a casual and momentary contact
with me; He looks for a situation in which I will live and dwell in Him – being permanently connected to
Him. It also implies that to live, for me, is Him and in Him! “Abide in me,” means “live in Me” or
“die outside Me”. I must understand, therefore, that for me to live is Christ and in Christ.
He said: “Abide in me, and I in you.” Jn. 15:4a. The “…and I in you” implies that as I abide in
Him, He also abides in me. The question is, how can He abide in me? And why should He abide in me?
Is there any life or anything that He can draw from me? Is there anything good that He can tap into in
me? Truly, there is nothing in me that Jesus could want or tap into. But herein is the sincerity of my
Lord, when He said:
“… for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your
souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:29,30
(KJV)
It shows that He does not raise a life in the absence of the person whose life it is. In other words,
Christ does not produce Himself in a man without recognising the peculiarity of such a person – He
abides in the person also! How lowly and meek! There is no one who can know me like the Person, who
abides in me! Who else should I follow save the One who will take cognisance of my weaknesses and
take it into consideration as He flows His life into me, in exchange for my weak and unprofitable life?
A BRANCH CANNOT BEAR FRUIT OF ITSELF
“…As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine;
no more can ye, except ye abide in me.” John 15:4 (KJV)
Again, I see the Lord showing me that it is not possible for me to bear fruit of myself. First, that means
I cannot bear fruit by myself or on my own because no branch is designed to fruit on its own and by
itself and for itself.
Every correct branch that wants to bear correct fruit abides in or depends on the tree. A branch bears
fruit by the tree; that is, by the power, the strength and even by the grace of the tree! No branch has
power to bear fruit by itself! It is altogether wrong for me to think of bearing fruit of the Spirit or
producing eternal life, without Christ and it is not possible for me to produce after Christ by myself.
This is a truth I must settle quickly in my heart. It tells me, and frankly too, that the issue of being
connected with Christ is without any alternative; it is indispensable. I need Christ to fruit. I need Christ
to be like Him. I need Christ to be godly.
The second issue is that a branch is not designed to bear fruit by itself, that is, of its kind but of the
kind of the tree. Take for instance, a branch of Mango that is grafted into an Orange tree. If a branch
has the capacity to bear fruit of itself, then it will be possible for this Mango branch to bear Mango,
regardless of the fact that an Orange plays host to it. But the design of the Almighty about this is not
ambiguous at all. Once a branch lives and lives by abiding in the tree, then it takes its life from the
tree and not from itself and in the same vein, takes its fruit from the tree and not from within itself!
Once a Mango branch is grafted into an Orange tree, the Mango branch ceases from the moment of its
grafting to produce Mangoes; it takes the life of the Orange and bears Oranges!
Let no man deceive me that I can be in Christ and yet be myself. Being myself here is not about Christ
discountenancing my personality; no! What I see the Holy Spirit showing me here is that it is not
possible for me to live a different life (produce different fruit from Christ’s) and yet claim to be the
branch of Christ. This is because God did not create any branch, even in the natural tree, to bear fruit
according to itself. Once a Mango branch is grafted into Orange tree, it ceases from that moment to
produce Mangoes; it takes the life of the Orange and bears Oranges! If truly I live in the True Vine,
then I must take from Him and produce fruit after Him. I can, therefore, infer that any man, who
claims to be in Christ and does not produce fruit after Christ, is not in Christ!
Once I am in Christ, then I take of His life and produce after His kind! It does not matter how many
years I have spent as a wild olive branch in the forest, once grafted into Christ, then I produce His life!
The Bible says:
“And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive
tree, wert grafted in among them, and with them partakest of the root
and fatness of the olive tree.” Romans 11:17 (KJV)
It is against the law of divine nature to be grafted into Christ and yet produce after the kind of the wild
olive tree. The branch changes at the point of grafting. God does not labour to change the branch into
the true Olive; no! All He needs is to graft the wild olive into the correct Olive and once that is done,
then the change has taken place. The outside of the branch may yet wear the looks of the wild olive
but the inside is of the true Olive – liquid content only!
Understanding this truth makes me find rest in Him! This is a great rest for my soul! That I do not
need to change my physical look or do something to the way I am physically. When He crops or
harvests me is a great rest I have found for my soul. Just as I am, without a plea, without a stress; He
takes me and once grafted into Him, I become Him, not just like Him! Hallelujah!
I need to also understand that a branch meant for grafting is cropped alive. In other words, it is not
possible to graft a dead branch into a living tree. It means that my yoking or grafting (discipleship) can
only be done when I am well and alive. It is not possible to disciple the dead. This, I think, suggests
that there is time also for a man to be discipled. It means that I must bear this yoke when I am yet
young (Lamentation 3:27). It means that I must remember my Creator in the days of my youth, when
the evil days come not (Ecclesiastes 12:1).
No more can I bear fruit of myself except I abide in the Vine – Christ. Again, this confirms, to me, the
indispensability of the yoke, except I want to be a fruitless Christian. Fruitless Christians are fruitless
branches that shall be taken away (Jn. 15:2) and the branches that do not abide in the Vine are cast
forth to wither and men gather and cast them into the fire (Jn. 15:6). A yokeless Cow is such that men
buy, kill and use to make merriment! It again shows that yokeless ‘Christians’ are meant for the lake
of fire!
DOING NOTHING WITHOUT HIM
Jesus finally declares:
“I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him,
the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”
John 15:5 (KJV)
I can only be one of the branches of the True Vine and it is in this, is my capacity to bring forth much
fruit, if I abide in Him and He abides in me. Without Him (outside Him, in His absence, behind and
outside His scope), I can do nothing!
Again, I should see that the word ‘nothing’ goes beyond fruiting. First, I need to understand the tone of
finality that accompanied this statement from my Lord: “for without me ye can do nothing”. I
should not think that this is a casual statement or a mere threat. I must understand that the Lord is
bringing a reality to bear, just for me to know that, not having the yoke on my neck makes me a
useless human being!
It means that what actually drives my life is Christ. There is nothing, I mean anything, outside Him.
There is nothing I can do without Him. My life is totally dependent on Him and empty without Him. This
truth cannot be reversed, it cannot be modified and it cannot be reviewed. This is how God made it
and only those who are favoured know that that is how it works.
The joyful thing in this is that if I accept the reality of not being able to do anything without Christ,
then it means I will be able to do all things if I abide in Him! This, without doubt, is mind-blowing. It
means that, with Him, nothing will be restricted or restrained from me and nothing will be impossible
for me. If I abide in Christ and He abides in me, then there will be nothing I would not be able to do. It
means, I will be able to say along with Paul that I can do all things in and through Christ who
strengthens me (Phil. 4:13)!
There is no Bible School that can produce fruit in me. There is no knowledge that can make me bear
much fruit. The only available means to bring forth much fruit is to abide, that is, be yoked with Christ
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