John 15:2 Good Works I. All that Christ did on the earth and said and suffered, and all that He now is in heaven, and all that He says in heaven, and all for which He has appointed and instituted His Church, is to establish and manifest truth. Truth is communicated to us that it may beget faith, a... [ Continue Reading ]
John 15:4 I. If there is any lesson which experience forces on the heart, which lays a deeper hold on the soul, as the soul gets a better knowledge of itself, which sinks into us in proportion to our endeavour to rise above ourselves, it is that the source of all spiritual life and health is in the... [ Continue Reading ]
John 15:5 Jesus, the Source of Spiritual Blessing to men I. When men speak, as they do now, so much of Jesus Christ as only one amongst the many great teachers and benefactors of our race, does it not occur to them as strange and unaccountable that He alone He alone of all those whose names have co... [ Continue Reading ]
John 15:8 Note: I. The relation between doctrine and practice. Our text sets this before us shortly, but most admirably. We have in it Christian precept springing out of Christian doctrine. "Herein is My Father glorified, if ye are influenced and dwelt in henceforth by the Holy Spirit, the life-giv... [ Continue Reading ]
John 15:11 I. It is written "Rejoice in the Lord." And what is joy in the Lord? Is it merely the joy of the child, a flash of meteoric light, without permanence, without a fixed source within, or an abiding effect without? No, indeed. Joy in the Lord has for its ground, knowledge of the Lord. In ord... [ Continue Reading ]
John 15:13 The Death of Christ, our only Stay. If the thoughts of sin, death, and judgment be so terrible, as in truth they are to every soul of man, on what shall we stay ourselves when our time is at hand? I. First, upon the love of God, in giving His Son to die for us. This is our first foundati... [ Continue Reading ]
John 15:13 Friendship with Christ Observe: I. That the overtures of this friendship came first from Christ Himself, had their spring in considerations which could have originated with the Divine mind alone, whilst the proof of His own earnest desire to bring about such friendship is the very stron... [ Continue Reading ]
John 15:17 _(with 1 Peter 2:17; Hebrews 13:1)_ I. Look at the words in which the message is delivered: "That ye love one another," that ye "love the brotherhood," that this "brotherly love continue." It is clear that in the first instance it is Christians, as such, who are spoken to and spoken of.... [ Continue Reading ]
John 15:18 The World we have Renounced Perhaps there is no word more commonly in our mouths than "the world," and yet hardly any to which we attach less clear and certain meaning indeed, the sense intended by it varies according to the character of the person that uses it. Let us therefore endeavo... [ Continue Reading ]
John 15:19 I. Note the peculiar characteristic of God's people; they are not of the world, but are chosen out of the world. Our Lord resolves the distinction into the positive purpose of God. Our text says not only "Ye are not of the world," but explains why: "because ye are chosen out of the world... [ Continue Reading ]
John 15:20 _(with Matthew 10:24; Luke 6:40; John 13:19)_ I. "The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord," etc. This saying is used for the purpose of preparing Christ's followers for the world's enmity. In this application it has a double aspect. You may not, or you may,... [ Continue Reading ]
John 15:26 The Promise of the Spirit witnessing of Christ in the world I. There is to be a testifying of the Spirit in the world, corresponding to our testifying to the world. His testifying is an internal subjective influence or operation in the world, to which your testifying is an external objec... [ Continue Reading ]