DISCOURSE: 1690 CHRISTIANS BRANCHES OF THE TRUE VINE John 15:1. _I am the vine, and my Father is the husband-man. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit_. THE union which subsists between Chri... [ Continue Reading ]
DISCOURSE: 1691 OUR IMPOTENCY WITHOUT CHRIST John 15:5. _Without me ye can do nothing_. THE various systems of heathen philosophers were all calculated to confirm the pride of man: the tendency of the Gospel, on the contrary, is to humble and abase the soul. Its sublimest doctrines are by far the... [ Continue Reading ]
DISCOURSE: 1692 FRUITFULNESS IN GOOD WORKS John 15:8. _Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my Disciples_. IT is not uncommon to hear those who preach or profess the Gospel spoken of as depreciating and disregarding good works. But this is nothing more than what th... [ Continue Reading ]
DISCOURSE: 1693 THE FATHER’S LOVE TO CHRIST, AND CHRIST’S TO US John 15:9. _As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love_. REASON could never suggest motives sufficient to counteract the passions: the law of God itself, with all its sanctions, could not change the heart... [ Continue Reading ]
DISCOURSE: 1694 CHRISTIANITY INTENDED TO PROMOTE OUR HAPPINESS John 15:11. _These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full_. THOUGH every possible perfection was exhibited in its brightest colours in the person of our Lord, yet the most striki... [ Continue Reading ]
DISCOURSE: 1695 LOVE TO THE BRETHREN John 15:12. _This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you_. THE law and the Gospel are in perfect unison with each other: the law, _as a covenant_, sends us to the Gospel, that we may obtain mercy with God; and the Gospel sends us back a... [ Continue Reading ]
DISCOURSE: 1696 CHRIST’S FOLLOWERS HIS FRIENDS John 15:15. _Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you_ [Note: See another Discourse on this text, made t... [ Continue Reading ]
DISCOURSE: 1697 THE DOCTRINE OF ELECTION EXPLAINED John 15:16. _Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain_. IT is of great importance to have a just view of the doctrines contained in Scripture. There a... [ Continue Reading ]
DISCOURSE: 1698 CONSOLATION TO THE PERSECUTED John 15:18. _If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remembe... [ Continue Reading ]
DISCOURSE: 1699 THE GREAT SIN OF REJECTING CHRIST John 15:22. _If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin_. EVERY sin is committed against an infinitely good and gracious God: yet the stoical doctrine of the equality of sins is not theref... [ Continue Reading ]
DISCOURSE: 1700 HATRED OF CHRIST IS HATRED OF THE FATHER John 15:23. _He that hateth me hateth my Father also_. MEN are ever disposed to palliate their sins, and, by representing them under some specious name, to conceal their real enormity; but God calls every sin by its proper name, and speaks of... [ Continue Reading ]
DISCOURSE: 1701 THE PERSONALITY AND OFFICE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT John 15:26. _When the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me_. THE characters of the most holy men may suffer from envy and malevol... [ Continue Reading ]