"_Christ_ was the _true_
Vine." Here, then, is the ultimate source of Joy. Through whatever
media it reaches us, all true Joy and Gladness find their source in
Christ.
By this, of course, is not meant that the actual Joy experienced is
transferred from Christ's nature, or is something passed on from Him
to us. What is passed on is His method of getting it. There is,
indeed, a sense in which we can share another's joy or another's
sorrow. But that is another matter. Christ is the source of Joy to men
in the sense in which He is the source of Rest. His people share His
life, and therefore share its consequences, and one of these is Joy.
His method of living is one that in the nature of things produces Joy.
When He spoke of His Joy remaining with us He meant in part that the
causes which produced it should continue to act. His followers, (that
is to say), by _repeating_ His life would experience its
accompaniments. His Joy, His kind of Joy, would remain with them.
The medium through which this Joy comes is next explained: "He that
abideth in Me, the same bringeth forth much fruit.
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