Sun,
Aug 10
1. FRAGILE AND DEPENDENT
a. To what did Jesus compare Himself, and why? John 15:1 (first part).
“Instead of choosing the graceful palm, the lofty cedar, or the strong oak, Jesus takes the vine with its clinging tendrils to represent Himself. The palm tree, the cedar, and the oak stand alone. They require no support. But the vine entwines about the trellis, and thus climbs heavenward. So Christ in His humanity was dependent upon divine power. ‘I can of Mine own self do nothing,’ He declared. John 5:30.”—The Desire of Ages, pp. 674, 675.
b. What other lesson did Jesus seek to illustrate through the vine? John 15:1–3.
“The Jews had always regarded the vine as the most noble of plants, and a type of all that was powerful, excellent, and fruitful. Israel had been represented as a vine which God had planted in the Promised Land. The Jews based their hope of salvation on the fact of their connection with Israel. But Jesus says, I am the real Vine. Think not that through a connection with Israel you may become partakers of the life of God, and inheritors of His promise. Through Me alone is spiritual life received.”—Ibid., p. 675.
Mon,
Aug 11
2. THE CONDITION FOR FRUITFULNESS
a. What condition is essential to a fruitful Christian life? John 15:4.
“The connection of the branch with the vine, He said, represents the relation you are to sustain to Me. The scion is engrafted into the living vine, and fiber by fiber, vein by vein, it grows into the vine stock. The life of the vine becomes the life of the branch. So the soul dead in trespasses and sins receives life through connection with Christ. By faith in Him as a personal Saviour the union is formed. The sinner unites his weakness to Christ’s strength, his emptiness to Christ’s fullness, his frailty to Christ’s enduring might. Then he has the mind of Christ. The humanity of Christ has touched our humanity, and our humanity has touched divinity. Thus through the agency of the Holy Spirit man becomes a partaker of the divine nature. He is accepted in the Beloved.”—The Desire of Ages, p. 675.
b. What happens to a person that is separated from Christ? John 15:6.
“This union with Christ, once formed, must be maintained. . . . This is no casual touch, no off-and-on connection. The branch becomes a part of the living vine. The communication of life, strength, and fruitfulness from the root to the branches is unobstructed and constant. Separated from the vine, the branch cannot live. No more, said Jesus, can you live apart from Me. The life you have received from Me can be preserved only by continual communion. Without Me you cannot overcome one sin, or resist one temptation.”—Ibid., p. 676.
c. How is true discipleship revealed? John 15:4; 8:31; 13:35.
“When men are bound together, not by force or self-interest, but by love, they show the working of an influence that is above every human influence. Where this oneness exists, it is evidence that the image of God is being restored in humanity, that a new principle of life has been implanted. It shows that there is power in the divine nature to withstand the supernatural agencies of evil, and that the grace of God subdues the selfishness inherent in the natural heart.”—Ibid., p. 678.
Tue,
Aug 12
3. ABIDING IN CHRIST
a. What will be the sure result of our constant connection with Christ? John 15:5, 8.
“The root sends its nourishment through the branch to the outermost twig. So Christ communicates the current of spiritual strength to every believer. So long as the soul is united to Christ, there is no danger that it will wither or decay. . . .
“When we live by faith on the Son of God, the fruits of the Spirit will be seen in our lives; not one will be missing.”—The Desire of Ages, p. 676.
“It is Jesus that we need; His light, His life, His spirit, must be ours continually. We need Him every hour. And we should pray in the morning that as the sun illuminates the landscape, and fills the world with light, so the Sun of Righteousness may shine into the chambers of mind and heart, and make us all light in the Lord. We cannot do without His presence one moment. The enemy knows when we undertake to do without our Lord, and he is there, ready to fill our minds with his evil suggestions that we may fall from our steadfastness; but it is the desire of the Lord that from moment to moment we should abide in Him, and thus be complete in Him.”—My Life Today, p. 15.
“All who receive Christ as a personal Saviour are to demonstrate the truth of the gospel and its saving power upon the life. God makes no requirement without making provision for its fulfillment. Through the grace of Christ we may accomplish everything that God requires. All the riches of heaven are to be revealed through God’s people.”—Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 301.
b. On what condition can we abide in Christ’s love? John 15:9, 10; 1 John 2:5.
“God desires to manifest through you the holiness, the benevolence, the compassion, of His own character. Yet the Saviour does not bid the disciples labor to bear fruit. He tells them to abide in Him.”—The Desire of Ages, p. 677.
“God’s great object in the working out of His providences is to try men, to give them opportunity to develop character. Thus He proves whether they are obedient or disobedient to His commands. Good works do not purchase the love of God, but they reveal that we possess that love.”—Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 283.
Wed,
Aug 13
4. PIERCING TO RESTORE
a. What does Jesus say abut His word as the connecting link between Himself and the believers? John 15:3, 7; 6:63.
“It is through the word that Christ abides in His followers. This is the same vital union that is represented by eating His flesh and drinking His blood. The words of Christ are spirit and life. Receiving them, you receive the life of the Vine. You live ‘by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.’ Matthew 4:4. The life of Christ in you produces the same fruits as in Him. Living in Christ, adhering to Christ, supported by Christ, drawing nourishment from Christ, you bear fruit after the similitude of Christ.”—The Desire of Ages, p. 677.
b. Describe how a spiritual type of surgery transforms our inner motives and attitudes as we submit to God’s word. Hebrews 4:12; Psalm 51:10.
“God’s servants must bear a pointed testimony, which will cut the natural heart and develop character.”—Testimonies for the Church, vol.1, p. 249.
“The Bible . . . is the voice of God speaking every day to the soul. . . . The work of the Holy Spirit is to enlighten the darkened understanding, to melt the selfish, stony heart, to subdue the rebellious transgressor, and save him from the corrupting influences of the world. The prayer of Christ for His disciples was: ‘Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth.’ The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, pierces the heart of the sinner and cuts it in pieces.”—Ibid., vol. 4, p. 441.
“In all who will submit themselves to the Holy Spirit a new principle of life is to be implanted; the lost image of God is to be restored in humanity.”—Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 96.
“As [God’s hungering and thirsting people] feed upon His word, they find that it is spirit and life. The word destroys the natural, earthly nature, and imparts a new life in Christ Jesus. The Holy Spirit comes to the soul as a Comforter. By the transforming agency of His grace, the image of God is reproduced in the disciple; he becomes a new creature. Love takes the place of hatred, and the heart receives the divine similitude. This is what it means to live ‘by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.’ ”—The Desire of Ages, p. 391.
Thu,
Aug 14
5. TO BE BURNED OR PRUNED?
a. What will Christ do with the believer who claims to be in Christ but does not bear fruit? John 15:2 (first part).
“While the graft is outwardly united with the vine, there may be no vital connection. Then there will be no growth or fruitfulness. So there may be an apparent connection with Christ without a real union with Him by faith. A profession of religion places men in the church, but the character and conduct show whether they are in connection with Christ. If they bear no fruit, they are false branches. Their separation from Christ involves a ruin as complete as that represented by the dead branch.”—The Desire of Ages, p. 676.
b. What does Jesus do with the branches that abide in Him? John 15:2 (last part).
“Jesus with solemn tenderness explained the purpose of the husbandman. The pruning will cause pain, but it is the Father who applies the knife. He works with no wanton hand or indifferent heart. There are branches trailing upon the ground; these must be cut loose from the earthly supports to which their tendrils are fastening. They are to reach heavenward, and find their support in God. The excessive foliage that draws away the life current from the fruit must be pruned off. The overgrowth must be cut out, to give room for the healing beams of the Sun of Righteousness. The husbandman prunes away the harmful growth, that the fruit may be richer and more abundant.”—Ibid., p. 677.
Fri,
Aug 15
PERSONAL REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. How am I to abide in Christ?
2. How can I be more receptive to the benefits of His “pruning shears”?
3. What will be the result of this “pruning” in my life?
4. Why does Christ use the vine to illustrate this connection?
5. What is the basis for a fruitful Christian life?