John 15:14

Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. YE ARE MY FRIENDS, IF YE DO WHATSOEVER I COMMAND YOU - `if ye hold yourselves in absolute subjection to Me.'...

14._You are my friends. _He does not mean that we obtain so great an honor by our own merit, but only reminds them of the condition on which he receives us into favor, and deigns to reckon us among his friends; as he said a little before, If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, (John 15:10.) For the grace of God our Savior hath appeared, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly desires, we should live soberly, and righteously, and piously, in this world, (Titus 2:11.) But ungodly men, who, through wicked contempt of the Gospel, want only oppose Christ, renounce his friendship....

9-17 Those whom God loves as a Father, may despise the hatred of all the world. As the Father loved Christ, who was most worthy, so he loved his disciples, who were unworthy. All that love the Saviour should continue in their love to him, and take all occasions to show it. The joy of the hypocrite is but for a moment, but the joy of those who abide in Christ's love is a continual feast. They are to show their love to him by keeping his commandments. If the same power that first shed abroad the love of Christ's in our hearts, did not keep us in that love, we should not long abide in it. Christ's love to us should direct us to love each other. He speaks as about to give many things in charge, yet names this only; it includes many duties....

EXPOSITION JOHN 15:1 (7) _The parable of the vine and its branches_._ Incorporation of the disciples into one personality with himself_._ _The image of the vine may have been suggested by some visible object. Either of the hypotheses of place would furnish a reminder of the nature and culture of the vine. Thus around the windows of the guest-chamber the vine may have thrown its tendrils, or on the slopes of Olivet the vineyards may have been prominent objects, or the burning heaps of vine-prunings may have suggested the idea. Again, if they were pausing in some apartments of the temple-court, the golden vine, the image of Israel, upon the gates may have supplied the point of departure. But our Lord needed no such help to his imagination, and it is by no means necessary to find an occasion for his imagery. The fact that

YE ARE MY FRIENDS,.... This is an application of the foregoing passage, and more, clearly explains it. The character of "friends", is applied to the disciples of Christ; and belongs, not only to his apostles, but to all that love him, believe in him, and obey him; to whom he has showed himself friendly, by laying down his life for them: for this clearly shows, that Christ had respect in the former words, to his own laying down his life for his people, in consequence of his great love to them; whereby he has made them friends, and who appear to be so by their cheerful obedience to him: IF YE DO WHATSOEVER I COMMAND YOU; not that their doing of the commandments of Christ interested them in his favour; or made them his friends; or was the reason and motive of his laying down his life for them, and showing himself in such a friendly manner to them: but the sense is, that by observing his co...

Thus speaks the Lord Jesus: John 15:1. _I am the true vine,_ Many questions have been raised about which is the true Church; the Saviour answers them, «I am the true vine.» All who are united, really united, to the ever-living Saviour are members of the true Church. Find ye them where ye may, if they are one with Christ, they are his they are parts of the divine vine; they are belonging to his Church. John 15:1. _And my Father is the husbandman._ It is the Father's province, by the Holy Spirit and by the works of Providence, to see to the prosperity of the Church. «My Father is the husbandman.» All preachers, all teachers, are but, so to speak, the pruning tool in the hand of the great vine-dresser. «My Father is the husbandman.»...

CHAPTER 15 1. The Vine and the Branch. (John 15:1 .) 2. Communion with Him and its Conditions.(John 15:9 .) 3. Love One Another! and the Hatred of the World. (John 15:17 .) Israel is called a vine in the Old Testament (Psalms 80:8; Isaiah 5:1; Jeremiah 2:21; Hosea 10:1) and Christ here in this parable takes the place of Israel and is the true vine. His disciples are the branches. Is

JOHN 15. THE VINE. The relation of the following Chapter s to 14 has been discussed. The Parœ mia, or parable-like discourse, reminds us of the parable or metaphor of the Good Shepherd in ch. 10. Two thoughts are prominent here, the pruning needed to get rid of useless branches and to ensure the fruitfulness of the rest, and the intimate union between Christ and His disciples, symbolised by the relation of the branches to the vine. We must compare the OT teaching which represents Israel as the Vine. Christ is in the spiritual sphere what the vine stands for in nature, in respect of human necessity. He is the source of spiritual strength which satisfies men's needs. As always, He is subordinate to the Father. The vinedresser cuts out useless branches, pruning the rest to make them bear more fruit. So the Father has glorified the Son by cutting out the traitor. Christ's teaching, which is...

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 human type of love by dying for his friends. He did even more, as Paul shows us, Romans 5:6. he died for enemies, something that man had never done. The Lord here, however, points his disciples to his love for them. They are his friends, if they obey him. That is the condition. One may "lay down his life for another" without dying. If he lives to consecrate his life to his welfare, he gives, if possible,. higher proof of love....

THE VINE AND THE BRANCHES (John 15:1-10)...