Search
Scripture Reading: John 1:1, 4, 14; 15:1, 4-5, 7, 26; 6:63; 14:17-20
Although as individual human beings we seem small and insignificant, we are actually quite meaningful. Our physical body is merely the outward aspect of our being. Within our body is something altogether abstract and mysterious. By looking at a person’s face, especially at his eyes, we can see that there is something within the person, yet we cannot fully explain what it is. We cannot see what is within us, but we know that there surely is something within us. We may have learned from the Bible that we have a spirit, a soul, a heart, a conscience, a mind, an emotion, and a will, but these inward, invisible organs are quite mysterious. Although we cannot explain them, we know that they are real. If we had only a physical body and lacked these inward organs, we would be empty and meaningless. Human beings are meaningful not in the outward things but in the inward things.
The universe, which contains the heavens, the earth, and millions of created things, may be likened to our physical body. All the solar systems and galaxies are merely the outward structure of the universe, just as the body is the physical structure of a human being. There is something within the physical structure of the universe. If there were nothing within the universe, it would be meaningless. The meaning of the universe is not in all the visible things but in something that is invisible and physically intangible.
The history of humankind also has an outward aspect and an inward aspect. Within the outward structure of human history there is a history of something inward.
The church is another major item that has an outward structure and also something within. The outward aspect is seen; the inward is unseen. We can see the church outwardly, but within the church is Christ, who is a mystery (Col. 2:2). No one can fully explain Christ. Although I have been a Christian for over half a century, I have never seen Christ. Some may say that I am crazy to believe in Christ despite having never seen Him. I would answer, “Yes, I have been crazy for over fifty years, I am still crazy, and I hope to be more crazy.” Although the disciples saw Christ physically, they did not see Him inwardly. Paul said, “We have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him so no longer” (2 Cor. 5:16b). Now we know Christ according to the Spirit, but the Spirit also is quite mysterious and intangible in a physical sense. Thus, the church is another item having an outward aspect and an inward aspect.
A fifth item that has both an outward aspect and an inward aspect is the Bible. All other printed materials in human history have only an outward aspect. No other writing has an inward aspect. It is not that the outward aspect is the cover and the inward aspect is the words inside. We may know, according to John 6:63, that the inward aspect of the word of the Bible is spirit and life, but spirit and life are still quite mysterious.
The Gospel of John, which is a representative book of the sixty-six books in the Bible, is a book of mysteries, containing mysteries upon mysteries and mysteries within mysteries. Regardless of how intelligent or educated we are, we will have difficulty explaining certain terms and expressions in John. For instance, John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” It is difficult to define who or what the Word and God are in this verse. Verse 4 goes on to say, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” Life and light also are terms that are difficult to define. Then verse 14 says, “The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us...full of grace and reality.” Because we are familiar with the Bible, we may take these words for granted, thinking that we understand them, but we may have difficulty explaining what it means for the Word to become flesh or what the words grace and reality mean. In the first fourteen verses of chapter 1 alone we have found seven mysterious terms and expressions.
In John 15:1 the Lord said to His disciples, “I am the true vine, and My Father is the husbandman.” Husbandman in Greek means “cultivator of the soil, land-worker, farmer.” It is quite easy to understand what a vine is and what a farmer is. It seems that chapter 15 is not as mysterious as chapter 1. However, we need to see that these simple items are quite profound.
The fact that Christ is the true vine and the Father is the husbandman is the meaning of every human being, of the universe, of all human history, of the church, and of the entire Bible. The story of human beings, the universe, human history, the church, and the Bible is simply the story of this vine and this husbandman. If we do not see the vine and the husbandman, we cannot understand the meaning of the universe. A history professor may have an extensive knowledge of history, but this knowledge means nothing if he does not know the vine and the husbandman, for the true meaning of human history is the vine and the husbandman. If we do not know the vine and the husbandman, we surely do not know the church. Regardless of what else we know of the Bible, if we do not know the vine and the husbandman, we do not know the Bible. The meaning of the Bible is embodied in the vine and the husbandman. If we do not know the vine and the husbandman, we do not know ourselves; we do not know what we are or what the meaning of our human life is. Most people do not know the meaning of their life. They know only that they need to eat, sleep, drink, breathe, have a home, find a spouse, beget children, and work to make a living. We may think that because we are a Christian, we know the meaning of our life. However, even though we may have been a Christian for many years, we do not know what it means to be a Christian if we do not know the vine and the husbandman in John 15.
Christ is the true vine, and God the Father as the husbandman cultivates this vine. In other words, God grows the vine. If we could ask God what He is doing every day in the universe, He would say that He is growing the vine. The Pentecostals may expect God to say that He is healing people. The Bible scholars and seminarians may think that God is teaching people the Bible. The missionaries may believe that God’s burden is to mercifully save fallen sinners. However, we know that today God is growing the vine. Christ is the true vine; therefore, God is growing Christ. Growing Christ may be an unfamiliar expression not only to unbelievers but even to most Christians, including many pastors. Nevertheless, just as certain farmers grow cotton, God grows Christ; He farms Christ. I once met some cotton farmers in Texas. There was nothing but cotton on their mind, in their talk, and even in their dreams. Cotton was their lifeline, their economy. In like manner, Christ is God’s economy. God is doing nothing in the universe other than growing Christ. God grows Christ all the time. Furthermore, God does not grow Christ alone. We are branches of Christ, and as His branches, we also grow Christ. We help the husbandman to grow Christ.
The vine is God’s economy. We need to see a vision of what God is doing today. Briefly, God is growing Christ. Christ is God’s economy. This is a great vision. Since the day I saw that Christ is God’s economy, this vision has rendered much help to me. Christ, who is God’s economy, is the Word, and the Word is God Himself (1:1). Thus, God’s economy is God Himself. Although we have already seen that God the Father is the husbandman and that Christ as the vine is His economy, now we see that this economy is also God Himself. God the Father has an economy, and this economy is the Word and is God. Moreover, this economy is altogether a matter of life, light, grace, and reality (vv. 4, 14). God’s economy is full of the Word, God, life, light, grace, and reality.
Life is simple. We should not complicate matters of life. Although medical doctors have studied the physical life for centuries, their knowledge of life is still very limited. To fully understand life may be impossible, but to experience life is simple. We do not need to study in medical school to know how to experience life. Even a newborn baby experiences life. Life itself is complex, but in our experience life is simple.
Christianity and even some local churches are full of works and activities. However, we need to see that God’s economy is not a work or a movement, such as evangelization. God’s economy is simply the Word, God, life, light, grace, and reality. The Gospel of John reveals God’s economy in this light by showing that God the Father as the husbandman grows Christ as the vine and that Christ is the Word, God, life, light, grace, and reality. If we see only a glimpse of this picture, we will have a marvelous view of what God is doing today. God is growing Christ as the vine.
Unlike a pine tree, which is tall and has relatively short branches, a vine does not shoot up but spreads outward through its branches. Christ today is spreading through us as His branches. God as the husbandman grows Christ, and we as the branches also grow Christ. However, the Father’s growing of Christ is different from our growing of Christ.
The Father grows Christ by cultivating, supplying, and being the source of the vine. God the Father supplies the vine by being the soil, the sunshine, the air, and the water that the vine needs. Because God the Father is the source of supply for Christ as the vine, Christ is the very embodiment of God (Col. 2:9). Thus, the vine and the husbandman are one. The husbandman cannot be separated from the vine, nor can the vine be separated from the husbandman. The Gospel of John says the Father and the Son are one (10:30; 17:21). The Father as the husbandman with the supply is fully embodied in the Son as the vine.
The Father grows the vine by supplying the vine and by being embodied in the vine. The believers grow the vine in a different way. We do not supply the vine, nor are we embodied in the vine. Rather, the vine is embodied in us, the branches. Moreover, the branches do not supply the vine, but the vine supplies the branches. The Father as the source grows the vine by growing into the vine, and we as the branches grow the vine by expressing the vine. The Father is embodied in the vine, and the vine is embodied in us. The vine is the embodiment of the Father, and we the branches are the embodiment of the vine. The branches do nothing but branch out the vine. The branching out of the vine is the growth of the vine. The vine grows through the branches, and the branches grow the vine by spreading the vine.
The picture of the vine and the husbandman shows us what God is doing in this universe and what we need to do. As branches in the vine, we simply need to grow Christ by expressing Him. In a sense, the branches of a vine do nothing; they have no work or activities. The branches simply live the vine. The branches do not merely live out the vine or live by the vine; they actually live the vine. Paul says, “To me, to live is Christ” (Phil. 1:21a). Day by day we need to live Christ. When we are enlightened to see that our unique obligation on the earth today is to live Christ, we will be immediately exposed. If we consider our actual situation in this light, we will confess that we are not truly living Christ. Although we are busy doing many things, we may not be living Christ. As branches in the vine, our main responsibility is to live the vine, to live Christ. In order to see who we are and what we should be doing on the earth today, we do not need to study doctrines. We need only to look at the picture of the vine to see that we are branches in Christ and that we should simply live Christ.
We do not need to wonder how to live Christ. Matters of life are not mainly matters of method. A baby enjoys life, but he does not ask how. A baby breathes, sleeps, and cries without ever asking his parents how to do these things. In matters related to life there is no method; there is simply living. If we are alive, we simply live, though we may not have been taught how. Knowledge may actually frustrate life. If a baby simply lives for some time, he will inevitably breathe, sleep, and cry. No one was ever taught how to shed tears or how to stop shedding tears, because these are matters of life. If we feel the need to ask how to live Christ, this may indicate that we are not living Christ. If we are truly living Christ, we will not ask how — we will simply live Christ. Life is very practical yet very mysterious; it is simple, yet no one can explain it. Life simply lives.
As believers, we are not only the disciples of Christ; we also are the branches of Christ. Since we are branches, our main need is not to learn many things. We simply need to live Christ, grow Christ, and produce Christ. When I was young, my family lived near a vineyard. I saw that the vine grows through the branches and that the branches live the vine, grow the vine, and eventually produce the vine. Their producing of the vine is fruit-bearing. The burden in this chapter is our living Christ, growing Christ, and producing Christ.
Although the words in this chapter are simple, through them we need to see a vision. In my youth in Christianity I heard that the Lord is the vine and that we are His branches. However, for many years I did not see the vision. I saw a little, but not as much as I have seen recently. We need a vision in order to see that in the entire universe God is doing only one thing — He is growing Christ. God grows Christ by being the source of supply that is embodied in Christ. Christ as the embodiment of God is the economy of God. Furthermore, we are the branches of this economy, branching out God’s economy by living, growing, and producing Christ. Seeing this vision will change our life. We will realize that God predestinated us to be branching factors of His economy. The Christian life is simply to live, grow, and produce Christ.
What we have seen of the vine thus far may be somewhat abstract, but two further items mentioned in John 15 make this matter practical and experiential. The first item is the Lord’s word. In verse 4 the Lord said, “Abide in Me and I in you.” Then in verse 7 He said, “If you abide in Me and My words abide in you...” It seems that the Lord was saying, “In order for Me to abide in you, you must have My word. When My word abides in you, I am abiding in you. I am mysterious, but My word is tangible. I am abstract, but My word is concrete. I am untouchable, but My word is receivable. You can touch My word and receive My word. When you receive My word, you receive Me, for My word is My embodiment.” Then in John 15:26 the Lord said, “When the Comforter comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of reality, who proceeds from the Father, He will testify concerning Me.” Here it seems that the Lord was saying, “The Spirit will transmit what I am into you.”
The way for us to abide in the Lord as branches in the vine is to receive the Lord’s word and touch the Spirit. All Christians have two great inheritances from God — the word in the Bible and the Spirit. We all have the Bible without and the Spirit within. These are the two means by which we abide in the vine. The proper receiving of the word and the proper touching of the Spirit are the abiding in the vine. First, we all need to see a vision of the vine. Second, we all need to receive the word and touch the Spirit.
Many believers do not touch and receive the word regularly. We need to daily read and pray-read the Bible. We need to daily touch and receive a portion of the Bible regularly and even legally. Something that is regular may not be binding, but whatever is legal is binding. Some believers may claim that we should not be legal in anything. They may quote Romans 6:14b, which says, “You are not under the law but under grace.” Yes, we are not under the old law, but we need to realize that we are under a new law. In John 13:34 the Lord said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another.” The New Testament has far more than ten commandments. First Thessalonians 5:17 says, “Unceasingly pray.” This is a commandment. Philippians 4:4 says, “Rejoice in the Lord always.” This is another commandment. Romans 12:2 says, “Do not be fashioned according to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind.” Here are two more commandments. In 1 Corinthians 9:21 Paul says, “I am not without law to God but within law to Christ.” Moreover, Hebrews 8:10b says, “I will impart My laws into their mind, and on their hearts I will inscribe them.” Those who say that they are under grace alone and have no law may be misusing grace.
We need to be legal in coming to the Word daily. Some may ask where a law is in the New Testament that we must read the Bible legally. This law is found in Matthew 4:4, where the Lord Jesus said, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out through the mouth of God.” The law in this verse is that just as we eat physical food every day, so we must receive the word of God every day.
Some saints may think that we do not need to be legal in our Bible reading and that we can read the Bible only when the Spirit inspires us. Thinking this way is equivalent to thinking that we do not need to be legal in eating physical food every day and that we can eat only when we are inspired. No healthy person eats only when he is inspired. Reading the Bible is no different from eating physical food, for both are life necessities.
Reading the Word is our spiritual eating, praying is our spiritual drinking, and praying unceasingly is our spiritual breathing. These are all life necessities, for spiritually we live by them, just as physically we live by eating, drinking, and breathing. We do not depend on inspiration to take care of our life necessities. Just as we do not wait for inspiration to eat physically, neither should we wait for inspiration to read the Bible. Because eating the word, drinking the Spirit, and breathing the Spirit are necessities of our spiritual life, we should do each one legally.
Those who have only coffee and a doughnut for breakfast will be unhealthy. However, if we are legal to eat a nutritious breakfast every day, we will be strong and healthy. We need to legalize our breakfast. My wife is very strict with me — every day she serves me the same kind of nutritious breakfast. My health, my strength, and my energy come mainly from eating such a breakfast each day. We need to eat the word every morning to have a healthy breakfast for our spiritual life.
Some saints may find it difficult to spend time in the Word each morning because they must go to school or work very early. I sympathize with these saints, but I do not want to see them die spiritually. Regardless of how early we go to school or work, if we set our will, we will all be able to spend at least ten minutes to read the Word and five minutes to pray each morning in order to spiritually eat and drink. Eating requires more time than drinking. Practicing this faithfully will cause us to be spiritually healthy. It is possible for everyone to do this. To reduce our sleep by fifteen minutes will not hurt us.
Some saints claim that because they were born with a weak disposition, they should not be bound by any legalities. They support this claim by quoting Romans 7:18, which says, “To will is present with me, but to work out the good is not.” However, verses 15 through 17 show that this word was written about overcoming indwelling sin, not about taking care of daily life necessities. No caring parent would excuse a child from eating breakfast simply because the child was born with a weak disposition. Nor would any employee tell his boss that he cannot come to work early in the morning because he was born with a weak disposition or that he will wait for inspiration to come to work. Life forces us all to find a way to do what we need to do. If we can find time to eat breakfast, and if we can arrive at our workplace on time, we should not despise the Lord by saying that we cannot rise early to spend time in the Word and in prayer every morning. If we see that spending time in the Word is truly a life necessity, we will not excuse ourselves from it.
If we set our will to spend time in the Word every morning, we can do it. Where there is a will, there is a way. Every part of our fallen being is condemned by God, but one part is still useful to God, that is, our will. In Mark 1:15 the Lord said, “Repent and believe in the gospel.” Repenting and believing are two New Testament commandments. We can fulfill these commandments by using our will. To repent is related not only to the conscience but also to the will. To believe in the Lord Jesus also is a matter of being willing. When we decide to believe, we immediately believe. In Acts 2:40 Peter said, “Be saved.” To be saved also is a commandment. It is God who saves us, but we first must be willing to be saved. God is merciful, but He waits for our willingness. No one is too weak in his will to be saved. We should not think that we are weak and dying. We need to see that God has given us a strong and living will (2 Tim. 1:7). Therefore, we need to set our will and pray, “Lord, have mercy on me. From tomorrow I will spend ten minutes to eat Your word and five minutes to drink the Spirit every morning.”
If we spend only ten minutes to read and pray over a few verses and five minutes to pray each morning, we will have a nourishing and satisfying spiritual breakfast. We can pray-read the Word to eat the riches of the Lord, and we can even mingle our pray-reading and our prayer together to have a good breakfast. If we practice this, within one month we will see a difference in our life. Many saints have testified that this small practice changed their life. If possible, at lunchtime or in the evening we can spend some time to read a few chapters of the Bible. If we read three chapters of the Old Testament and one chapter of the New Testament each day, we will finish reading the whole Bible in less than a year. If we continue doing this for several years, we will experience much growth in life.
In both our pray-reading in the morning and our reading of the Bible later in the day, we need to read consecutively. We should not read the Bible according to our preference or randomly. In reading the Old Testament, we should begin from Genesis 1 and continue until we finish Malachi. Likewise, we should read the New Testament from Matthew to Revelation. For our morning time of reading and pray-reading, we need to look to the Lord, praying, “Lord, which book do You intend for me to enter into at the present time?” We should pray-read from the first verse to the last verse of whichever book the Lord chooses, taking a few verses each morning. In this way we will receive much nourishment. We need to make a vow to the Lord that we will spend time in the Word every morning. If we keep this vow, the Lord will bless us.
