What are we to understand by the Lord's words, "Abide in Me"? Do they not imply a walk in such nearness to Christ that the soul delights in all His loveliness and moral excellences, and thus finds in Him its object and perfect pattern?

Again, does not abiding in Christ suppose a heart in communion with Christ, that delights to confide in Him and learn of Him?

Above all does not abiding in Christ imply a life lived under the influence of His presence, realised by faith? If a saintly and Christlike man of God visited our home, would not his presence have a restraining influence upon everyone in the home? We should probably be a little more careful than usual of our words and ways. If this would be the effect of the presence of a man of like passions with ourselves, what would be the effect of the realised presence of Christ, Himself? At times sad scenes have taken place, even among the Lord's people, in which we may have had our humbling part, when envy and strife prevailed, and believers have thoughtlessly, or even maliciously, wounded one another with bitter and offensive words. We may try to excuse our strong words. But should we not do well to ask ourselves, "What would have happened if the Lord had silently, but visibly, walked into our midst?" Should we not have to confess that under the influence of His presence many a bitter and offensive word would never have been uttered?
How good, then, it would be if we could ever remember that though the Lord is not visible to sight, yet He hears, He sees, He knows. Well indeed does the Psalmist ask, "He that planted the ear, shall He not hear? He that formed the eye, shall He not see? . . . He that teacheth man knowledge, shall not he know?" (Psalm 94:9, 10).

To walk, then, in the consciousness that He listens to our words; that He sees our every act; that He reads our thoughts, is to walk under the blessed influence of His presence and thus abide in Him.

Furthermore, these Scriptures, that exhort us to abide in Christ, tell us also the blessedness we shall enjoy if we do abide in Him.
We learn that abiding in Christ we shall bring forth fruit. The importance of this is pressed upon us by being stated both negatively and positively. We are told that unless we abide in Christ we cannot bring forth fruit. Then we are told that if we abide in Christ, and He in us, we shall bring forth much fruit. From another Scripture we learn that the fruit of the Spirit is "love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, fidelity, meekness, self-control" (Gal. 5:22, 23). What are these lovely qualities but a description of the beautiful character of Christ? So we may surely say that the fruit of which the Lord speaks is the reproduction of His own character in the lives of believers.
The fruit, in this passage, is not service or the exercise of gift, however important in its place. Of necessity gifts are confined to the few: but it is open to all, young and old alike, to express something of the loveliness of Christ in their lives. Any little setting forth of the graces of Christ goes up as fruit to the Father, and goes out as testimony to the world. This, then, is the great object for which we are left in this dark world, to shine as lights by exhibiting something of the beautiful character of Christ. This will only be possible as we abide in Christ. We shall never exhibit the character of Christ by simply trying to be like Christ. If, however, we seek His Company, and come under His influence, by abiding in Him, we shall be changed into His image from glory to glory.