CHAPTER XV. THE TRUE VINE (John 15:1-16) The solemnity of the moment, when the Redeemer rose to leave the Upper Room where he had eaten the Passover, must have produced. powerful effect upon the hearts of his disciples. Up to this period they had been. united and. peaceful band, and the beloved Mas... [ Continue Reading ]
EVERY BRANCH IN ME THAT BEARETH NOT FRUIT HE TAKETH AWAY. As the husbandman cuts off the unfruitful branches of the vine, so the Father severs the unfruitful branches from his Son. Judas, an unfruitful branch which did not have in it the life of the Vine, had just been severed and had gone forth. S... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW YE ARE CLEAN THROUGH THE WORD WHICH. HAVE SPOKEN UNTO YOU. The spoken word is the instrument appointed by God for the cleansing of the soul. He who hears the word, believes it, receives it into his soul, obeys it and makes it the rule of his life, is "cleansed," or freed from sin. The "Word" te... [ Continue Reading ]
ABIDE IN ME, AND. IN YOU. The idea is, Abide in me that. may abide in you. Christ abiding in us is dependent on our abiding in him. We abide in him by keeping his words, or having his "word abide in us" (verse 7), and all who "keep his sayings" (chap. 14:23) will have Christ abide in their souls. W... [ Continue Reading ]
AM THE VINE; YE ARE THE BRANCHES. He has already declared (verse 1) that he is the True Vine, but he had not yet declared that every disciple is. branch of the Vine. Had he not declared, "Ye are the branches," they might have concluded when,. little later, separate congregations were organized in v... [ Continue Reading ]
IF. MAN ABIDE NOT IN ME, HE IS CAST FORTH AS. BRANCH, AND IS WITHERED. The lifeless, fruitless branches in the vineyard are lopped off and carried out, and wither and are burned. So, too, any one who does not abide in Christ, is severed from the Vine, and _they_ (the angels at the great day, not me... [ Continue Reading ]
ASK WHAT YE WILL, AND IT SHALL BE DONE UNTO YOU. The condition of this blessed promise is that we abide in the Vine, by having Christ's words abide in us. If we maintain thus the life union so that we are alive with the Christ life, from his presence in us, then whatsoever we ask will be granted. D... [ Continue Reading ]
AS THE FATHER HATH LOVED ME, SO. HAVE LOVED YOU. The Father loved the Son and dwelt in him as the Son in the Father, because of their mutual love. Love opens the heart of the disciple to Christ that he may abide there (chap. 14:23) and hence the union of the disciple with Christ may be as close as... [ Continue Reading ]
IF YE KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS, YE SHALL ABIDE IN MY LOVE. He abode in the love of the Father by. life of perfect obedience. So we must abide in his love. The wilful, disobedient disciple cannot dwell there. Only he in whose heart Christ is enthroned as King and who has an absolute empire over the soul... [ Continue Reading ]
THESE THINGS HAVE. SPOKEN... THAT MY JOY MIGHT REMAIN IN YOU. Strange words, that one about to be crucified should speak of his joy! His joy was union with and the presence of the Father. He had "anointed him with the oil of gladness above his fellows." He desired his disciples to have that joy, th... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT YE LOVE ONE ANOTHER, AS. HAVE LOVED YOU. The greatness of his love for the disciples has been shown. Thus they must love one another. The thought developed is, 1. Love the bond that unites Father and Son. 2. Such love the bond that unites the Son and the disciples. 3. How much love must also e... [ Continue Reading ]
GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN THIS, THAT. MAN LAY DOWN HIS LIFE FOR HIS FRIENDS. The highest human exhibition of love that earth has ever seen was this. Damon had been ready to die for Pythias; fathers had died for their families; mothers for their children. Christ was about to exhibit this highest... [ Continue Reading ]
CALL YOU NOT SERVANTS... I HAVE CALLED YOU FRIENDS. Christ's disciples serve him, but their service is not bondage, but that of love. Hence, they are friends instead of servants. They have his presence abiding in them and the will of the Father is made known to them.... [ Continue Reading ]
YE HAVE NOT CHOSEN ME, BUT. HAVE CHOSEN YOU, AND ORDAINED YOU. Each one of the eleven apostles present had been chosen, called, by the Lord, from among his disciples. They did not choose him, but he them, in order that they might bring forth abundant fruit in the conversion of the world. The same is... [ Continue Reading ]
THE CHURCH AND THE WORLD (JOHN 15:17-27) 17. These things. command you that ye love one another. "These things" are all the precepts the Lord had spoken since the interview began with chapter XIII. It is remarkable how frequently and with what emphasis he enforces this duty. Indeed, to fill the hea... [ Continue Reading ]
IF THE WORLD HATES YOU, YE KNOW THAT IT HATED ME. The world, as used by the Savior, means the unconverted, unspiritual, sensual, selfish and worldly portion of mankind, nearly all of our race at the time that he spoke. Of that world the spirit of evil was the prince, and the kings and rulers of the... [ Continue Reading ]
IF YE WERE OF THE WORLD, THE WORLD WOULD LOVE HIS OWN. It is the nature of all intelligent persons to love best what is in sympathy with themselves. Christ loves most tenderly the disciples who obey his commandments and seek to be like him. The world loves those best that are in harmony with its amb... [ Continue Reading ]
REMEMBER THE WORD,... THE SERVANT IS NOT GREATER THAN HIS LORD. For this admonition to which the Lord refers see John 13:16; Matthew 10:24; Luke 6:40. The servants who represent the Master, show his spirit, obey his commands and do his work, must expect similar treatment to that which the world woul... [ Continue Reading ]
ALL THESE THINGS WILL THEY DO UNTO YOU FOR MY NAME'S SAKE. The name of Christ, so sweet to his followers, is an object of hatred to his enemies. Not many months passed after these words were uttered until those that now heard Christ were under arrest by the Sanhedrim and were asked by the high pries... [ Continue Reading ]
IF. HAD NOT COME AND SPOKEN... THEY WOULD NOT HAVE HAD SIN. There are three principles involved in this declaration. 1. The degree of sin is determined by the measure of our opportunities. Those in total darkness cannot be blamed for not seeing unless they are responsible for being in the darkness.... [ Continue Reading ]
HE THAT HATETH ME HATETH MY FATHER ALSO. This follows from the fact that Christ is Immanuel, God with us, the manifestation of the Father. As Christ is revealed to us, so is the Father. Every one who hates God in Christ, hates the Father who sent him. The Jews thought they did not, but they did. Th... [ Continue Reading ]
IF. HAD NOT DONE... THEY HAD NOT HAD SIN. The attestation of his divine mission was such that they were without excuse. His whole life work, including his sinlessness, his beneficence, his divine teaching and his superhuman signs, were such as no man had ever shown. They therefore demonstrated that... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY HATED ME WITHOUT. CAUSE. He had just stated that "they hated both him and his Father." This hatred was without any justifiable cause, and therefore fulfilled of Psalms 35:19. "These words (Christ's words from verse 21 to 26) are perhaps the most terrible words in the Old or New Testament. No de... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN THE COMFORTER IS COME. For discussion of the Comforter, his nature and work, see notes on the preceding chapter. In chapter 14:26, he says that the Father will send the Comforter in his name, while here he says that he will send him from the Father. These passages are in harmony and merely sho... [ Continue Reading ]
YE ALSO SHALL BEAR WITNESS. The apostles were double witnesses. They had been with Christ "from the beginning" and knew all the facts. If he had been. deceiver they would have known it. If he was true they knew it. When he was risen they were witnesses of the fact. If they had never received the Com... [ Continue Reading ]