“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.” (John 15:4)
Jesus speaks metaphorically of Himself and the believer. He refers to Himself as the vine. The only true vine which means all other vines with promises of giving you life are false. Anything we may depend on for our good that is not Jesus is a false vine which will not be good for us, will not help us and will bring death because it will not provide life for us. The true vine is the only one which gives life.
Jesus refers to believers as branches, attached, fastened and joined to Him, the only true vine. And He commands us to stay in His Presence if we want to continue to receive of His life. When we stay in His Presence, He will stay in our presence. Most of us live life as if He is not present. We go about our lives, doing our daily chores and going about our business on auto pilot, doing and saying things sometimes that if Jesus were manifest in the flesh, we would be ashamed of ourselves. Because we cannot see Jesus and the Holy Spirit with our natural eyes, we forget and live our daily lives not actually attached to the vine, not receiving of His life and wither on the vine, fruitless, dried up and eventually dead. Paul wrote: “And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled In the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in His sight: If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;” (Colossians 1:21-23) When we are slack in doing those things that bring us closer to the Lord, our words get sloppy and unscriptural. We start giving in to the flesh more than the Spirit. John said it clearly, “He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked.” (1John 2:6)
We can only walk as Jesus walked when we are joined to Him. It is that Holy Spirit unction to function supernaturally by the power of the Holy Spirit. I say that because in the natural, our flesh cannot walk like Jesus walked. We cannot bear that fruit that we should. It is only as we are joined to Jesus that the fruit is manifested. Jesus said, “He that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, dwelleth in Me, and I in him.” (John 6:56) This is how we will abide in Him and He in us. In the preceding verse (verse 55) Jesus said, “For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.” (John 6:55) Meat and drink are essential to keep us alive. The same is true in our spiritual life. We need to have Jesus, His flesh crucified and sacrificed for us and His blood shed for us giving life to us continually. This Truth must be at the center of our living, our walking and talking. Do those things that keep the Gospel alive and living in us in our walking and talking.
Then Jesus continued by saying, “As the living Father hath sent Me, and I live by the Father: so He that eateth me, even He shall live by Me.” (John 6:57) Jesus explains that He was obedient to the Father. The Father sent Him and He came. He only did and said what the Father wanted. “For I have not spoken of Myself; but the Father which sent Me, He gave Me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.” (John 12:49) and in another place, Jesus said, “I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent Me.” (John 5:30) Jesus had the Father living in Him and He lived in the Father, saying those things which the Father wanted and doing those things which the Father willed. The Truth of the sacrifice of Jesus and the Gospel alive in us will keep us joined to Him, receiving His life and bearing much fruit saying and doing what Jesus tells us as we walk even as Jesus walked.
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