




iA> i v4 











? 



& 



<:4P^x 



^ 




JfilBllls?^ 





L 



THE VINE. 




PUBLISHED BY THE 
AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY, 

150 NASSAU-STREET, NEW YORK. 



THE VINE. 

Mr. Johnson removed to a cot- 
tage, a short distance from town, just 
before his son William came home 
from school to spend the vacation with 
his parents. William had never seen 
much of the country, so that almost 
every thing he now saw was quite 
new to him. The situation of his fa- 
ther's cottage was very pleasant; he 
was much delighted with it, but par- 
ticularly with the garden. The wea- 
ther was fine, and the spring was 
early ; many flowers already showed 
themselves, green leaves began to 
appear, and the fruit trees were most- 
ly in blossom. 

One day when Mr. Johnson came 
into the garden, William ran up to 
him, and said, "Do, Father, come 
and look here." So saying, he led 



4 THE VINE. 

him to an arbor at the bottom of the 
garden. It was covered with a vine, 
the leaves had not yet begun to ap- 
pear, and William was quite un- 
easy about it. " Do, father," said he, 
"look at this worthless vine: the 
branches are quite dead, and only fit 
to light fires— had not I better pull 
them all down directly, and you can 
have another vine planted here in- 
stead?" So saying, he laid hold of 
some of the branches, and was about 
to tear them away, but his father 
prevented him, and desired he would 
suffer them to remain, and assured 
him they would be of use before long. 
William could hardly believe this, 
but he knew that his father never 
said any thing but what was true : 
he had also been taught always to do 
as he was told. I hope my little read- 
ers have been taught the same. We 
read in the Bible — " Children, obey 



THE VINE. 5 

your parents in all things, for this is 
well-pleasing unto the Lord." Col. 
3 : 20. And I dare say you recollect 
what the Fifth Commandment teach- 
es. William and his sister had been 
taught this early ; and I can assure 
you that hardly a day passed but 
they found the advantage of having 
learned it. 

As his father had told William to 
let the vine alone, he did so ; but he 
did not find it very easy to feel quite 
sure that his father was right. The 
Bible tells us to u do all things with- 
out murmurings and disputings," and 
this is another lesson which it will be 
well for us to bear in mind. 

Only three days remained before 
William must return to school, and 
on each of these days he talked again 
and again to his father about the 
vine : he said he could not help 
thinking the branches were dead, for 



O THE VINE. 

all the other trees were showing 
blossoms and leaves, and he was 
sure the arbor would be too hot in 
the summer if there were no green 
leaves to cover it. 

William returned to school. Mid- 
summer drew near, and he thought 
a good deal about coming home ; but 
he was taken very ill; so that he 
could not be removed, and all his 
school-fellows went away, and he 
was left behind. 

Perhaps my little readers may 
have expected some new pleasure, 
on a particular day, but before that 
day came something has happened 
which has prevented their enjoying 
what they looked for, and thought 
they were quite sure of. Do you re- 
collect it is written in the Book of 
Proverbs, " Boast not thyself of to- 
morrow, for thou knowest not what 
a day may bring forth ;" and the 



THE VINE. 7 

apostle James tells us, "Ye know 
not what shall be on the morrow." 
But although you cannot tell what 
will happen to you to-morrow, or 
even during the next hour, yet if you 
love the Savior you need not be 
afraid; it is written, "All things 
work together for good to them that 
love God." Rom. 8 : 28. And we are 
told, that as Christ suffered upon the 
cross for our sins, we may be sure 
that he will give us all that is for our 
good, see verse 32. "We also read, 
that "Like as a father pitieth his 
children, so the Lord pitieth them 
that fear him." Psalm 103 : 13. And 
that " he doth not afflict willingly, 
nor grieve the children of men." 
Lam. 3 : 33. And in the Epistle to 
the Hebrews, chap. 12 : 11, we are 
told, that no chastening, for the pre- 
sent, seemeth to be joyous, but griev- 
ous: nevertheless, afterward it yield- 



8 



THE VINE, 



eth the peaceable fruit of righteous- 
ness unto them that are exercised 
thereby, 9 ' I hope my readers will 
think of these and other similar pas- 
sages of Scripture when they are in 
trouble, and pray that they may be led 
to look more earnestly to the Saviour 
for pardon and salvation. 




THE VINE. 9 

As William could not go home, 
his sister Ann often wrote to him. In 
one letter she told him about a very 
pleasant afternoon she had spent with 
a friend in the arbor. William was 
glad to hear this, as he was always 
pleased when those he loved were 
happy; but he thought to himself 
that the arbor must be very different 
from what it was when he saw it in 
the spring. 

Well, time passed on, and the 
month of October came at last, and 
William went home for a fortnight. 
He did not arrive till late in the even- 
ing, and was too tired to make many 
inquiries, but I can assure you all at 
home were very glad to see him a- 
gain. I need hardly say that he was 
kind to his sisters, and dutiful to his 
parents, or else they would not have 
been so happy at his return. 

The next morning William has- 



10 THE VINE. 

tened into the garden; the flowers 
were mostly gone, and the fruit was 
nearly all gathered; but when he 
came to the arbor he saw it quite 
covered over with green leaves, and 
beautiful bunches of purple grapes 
hanging from the branches. He was 
much pleased at the sight, and stood 
looking at it for some time. Turning 
round, he saw his father standing in 
the arbor. 

William. O, father, I am so glad 
3^ou had that dry withered vine taken 
away, and this beautiful one planted 
instead. 

Father. This is the same vine, 
and the grapes hang from the very 
same branches that you tried to pull 
down. 

TV. O, father, is that possible ? 

F. Yes ; very soon after you had 
returned to school the leaves began 
to appear, and afterwards the fruit — 



THE VINE. 



11 







you may gather a bunch, and tell me 
if you like them. 

W. O, yes, very much indeed — I 
am very glad you did not have the 
vine pulled up. 

F. Then do not be in such haste 
again to judge by first appearances. 
But it may also teach you something 



12 THE VINE. 

of more importance, and I will talk 
to you about it in the evening. 

The evening came ; William re- 
minded his father of his promise. 
Mr. Johnson told him to bring the 
Bible and read the 5th verse of the 
15th chapter of John. 

W. " 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." 

F. Now, William, you recollect 
the vine branches round the arbor, 
as they were in the spring, how dry 
and withered they appeared, but they 
remained on the vine, and as the 
sap rose they became fruitful, and, 
as you see, have brought forth much 

fruit. 

Ann. I recollect hearing a sermon 
once from that text: the minister 
said, that it was only by the power 



THE VINE. 13 

of Christ we were enabled to do what 
is right and pleasing to him. 

F. My dear children, this is the 
truth, and when we see a vine we 
should remember it. By nature our 
hearts are inclined to evil ; we are not 
disposed to do what is right of our- 
selves any more than the dry branch- 
es you saw could have brought forth 
fruit if they had been cut from the 
vine. This is our state by nature ; 
and, if left to ourselves, we should 
be as Christ speaks in the 6th verse, 
"If a man abide not in me, he is 
cast forth as a branch, and is with- 
ered, and men gather them, and cast 
them into the fire, and they are 
burned." In this passage Christ 
shows the danger of those who are 
not united to him, by that faith which 
is the work of the Holy Ghost. For by 
nature we are born in sin, and have 
such sinful hearts that we are in- 



14 



THE VINE. 



clined to evil till we are brought, by 
the Spirit of God, to rely on the Sa- 
vior who was crucified for our sins. 
This, my dear children, will soften 
your hearts, so that you will be sorry 
for your sins which caused your Sa- 
vior to suffer. And when you feel 
this, you will repent and trust in 
Christ for the pardon of your sins ; 
and then you will love him; and, 
his grace, by the Holy Spirit, will 
enable you not only to forsake your 
sins, but to do your duty, and prac- 
tice all works of kindness and love ; 
as the rising of the sap, from the root 
of the vine, enabled the branches to 

briDgforth that beautifulfruityou see. 
W. Then this is the meaning of 
what Christ said, " without me ye 
can do nothing." 

A. I recollect in the Scripture 
Alphabet, we learned a long while 
ago, 



THE VINE. 15 

V is the vine, 
And Christ the root, 
Supplies each branch 
With life and fruit. 
F. My dear children, it is Christ, 
and Christ alone, that can save you. 
In the 110th Psalm it is written, that 
"his people shall be willing in the 
day of his power." He has said— 
" Those that come unto me I will in 
no wise cast out ;" and in Rev. 3 : 20 
he describes himself as standing at 
the door and knocking for admittance ; 
ready to come in and abide with 
those that open to him. Pray, then, 
that you may be made willing. Re- 
member the greatness of his "love— 
" Greater love hath no man than this, 
that a man lay down his life for his 
friends." John, 15 : 13. Christ, who 
is Almighty God, the Son of the Fa- 
ther, and one with Him, took upon 
him our nature, and endured the 



16 THE VINE. 

wrath of God against sin, that those 
who believe in Him might have eter- 
nal life. Think often of the death of 
our Savior, and how he loved such 
sinners when he died for them ; and 
pray to him to give you a heart to 
receive Him. Flee to Him, my 
child, for your soul is in danger of 
being lost for ever! Christ Jesus 
alone can save it. Remember what 
you read in this chapter of John, 
that those who do not love Him, 
even every branch that is not found 
in Him, shall be "cast into the fire 
and burned." If you are a partaker 
of Christ, you will love and praise 
Him for ever! and His grace will 
be sufficient to "work in you that 
which is well-pleasing in His sight," 
you will be like the fruitful vine, 
and will abide for ever in His love. 

THE END. 


















*2' 






■PPMHH ' <*r 



IIHHDHHHHDHU 



THE 



AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY 



PUBLISH 



A 






OF 



OOKS FOR CHILDREN, 



OF DIFFERENT AGES 



Illustrated with 



A 



TRACTS AND VOLUMES 

ADAPT 

ALL CLASSES OF READERS 

AND IN 



ELEVEN L 



