No plant other than the vine tree can illustrate adequately the living relationship between us and the Lord. We are the branches of the vine. What kind of relationship does this suggest to you? The branches are good for nothing except to express the vine. All that the vine is and has is expressed through the branches. Individually, the branches are the regenerated ones. Corporately, they are the church, the Body of Christ (Eph. 1:22-23). The branches, the believers in the Son, are for the expression of the Son with the Father through the fruit-bearing.
What is fruit-bearing? It is the overflow of the riches of the inner life. Do not try to bring people to Christ by your own effort. Do not use schemes to win souls. Bearing fruit is a matter of the overflow of your inner life. We need continuously to enjoy Christ as everything to us. Then we shall have an abundance of inner life. Out of this abundance of inner life there will be a flow that will reach others, penetrating into their lives. This flow will bear much fruit. It is not just preaching or soul-winning; it must be fruit-bearing by the overflow of the riches of the inner life.
This kind of fruit-bearing is the manifestation of the inner life. The inner life of the vine is the riches of all that the Father is and has. This is to be manifested by the fruit-bearing of the vine. Hence, the vine’s fruit-bearing is to express the Father in the Son.
Fruit-bearing also satisfies man’s thirst. The vine tree bears fruit—grapes. Out of these grapes either wine or grape juice is made to quench people’s thirst. Today we must be so filled with the riches of Christ’s life that we may be able to bear clusters of grapes that will produce either juice or wine to quench man’s thirst. We all need to pray, “Lord, may Your life flow out of me to quench others’ thirst.”
The fruit-bearing comes about as the branches abide in the vine and let the vine abide in the branches. In John 15 abiding is a crucial matter. Everything in this chapter depends upon the abiding. The real abiding depends upon a clear vision, a clear seeing, that you are a branch. Once you see that you are a branch, it will be difficult for you to stay away from the vine. You will want to remain in the vine. This remaining is the abiding. Do not try to abide, for the more you try, the more you will fall away. We need to pray, “Lord, show me clearly that I am one of the branches.” I believe that one day the Lord will show you. You will see that you are one of the branches and you will say, “Praise the Lord, I am one of the branches.” Then you will abide in Him.
As long as you abide in Him, He will abide in you. His abiding in us depends upon our abiding in Him. Our abiding is the condition of His abiding, but His abiding in us is not a condition of our abiding in Him. Nothing is conditional with Him, but with us, because we are so fluctuating, there is the need of a condition. If we do not abide in Him, there is no way for Him to abide in us. Although He does not change, we have many changes. We may abide in Him today and run away from Him tomorrow. Therefore, His abiding in us depends upon our abiding in Him. Our abiding in Him is the condition of His abiding in us. So the Lord says, “Abide in Me and I in you.” If we abide in Him, He will certainly abide in us. If we do not abide in Him, we fail to meet the condition of His abiding in us. His abiding depends upon our abiding. This mutual abiding will bring forth fruit.
All the branches that bear the fruit are related one to another. By their abiding in the vine, none of them bears fruit in the way of being separate from the tree. All of them bear fruit by the same life that circulates in them. Apparently, each one of them bears fruit separately; actually, all of them bear fruit corporately in one tree and with one life. Today our fruit-bearing must be like this, in one Body and with one life.