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 ]