The work of God in the world, so far as it is spiritual, is effected by human agency. Upon man's heart the Author of life and salvation works by means of truth and love, embodied in human language and human actions. The Word, in acting as "the faithful and true Witness," "became flesh." And in this dispensation, whilst Christ is the Savior and the Lord of men, Christ is revealed by the Spirit to human hearts, and it is through human agency, thus called into action, that the kingdom of God is advanced, and the gracious purposes of God fulfilled.
I. THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT OF GOD TO CHRIST.
1. This is a Witness Divine in origin and nature. He proceedeth from the Father, and all his acts and operations are Divine.
2. This is a Witness possessing the very highest qualifications. This appears even from the appellations by which he is here mentioned: "The Spirit of truth," whose special office it is to make the Word of God, the gospel of salvation, real, living, and powerful over the nature of man; "the Comforter," or Advocate, who comes to the feeble and helpless disciple of Christ, and pours into him celestial strength and wisdom.
3. This is a Witness commissioned by Christ to testify of himself. What authority does the Lord Jesus claim, when he says, "Whom I will send unto you;" and how distinct is the declaration of the purpose of his mission in the promise, "He shall testify of me"!
II. THE WITNESS TO CHRIST BORNE BY HIS OWN DISCIPLES.
1. Their qualifications.
(1) They were competent witnesses to Christ, for they had for years been in his society - were, in fact, his closest companions.
(2) They were effective witnesses, for they were in sympathy with him to whom they bore testimony. His spirit had entered into them; they were penetrated with his ardent compassion for sinners; they partook his disposition of unselfishness and consecration.
(3) They were copious witnesses; for, on account of their opportunities of beholding their Master's works, and listening to his discourses and conversations, they had much to tell of what their eyes had seen, their ears heard, their hands handled, of the Word of Life.
2. The method of their testimony. The apostles and other disciples of Jesus bore witness to him:
(1) By the unconscious, unuttered language of character, principles, and life. By reason of their participation in their Master's spirit, men "took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus."
(2) By their preaching and teaching. Their witness was by the living voice, to Jew and Gentile. Christianity was a religion, as it still remains, marked by this peculiarity; it is promulgated by the utterance of those who themselves are convinced of its Divine authority and its adaptation to the needs of men.
(3) By written record. It was in fulfillment of this promise, which was also a command, that the evangelists and apostles wrote those treatises which remain to this day the memorials of our Savior's humiliation and glory, and the inspired application of Christian facts and doctrines to the necessities of human life. In fact, the whole of the New Testament is an act of obedience to this authoritative direction of the Master, "Ye shall bear witness."
3. The matter of their testimony. Chiefly, if not exclusively, their witness was to relate to Christ himself.. This was an appointment of Divine wisdom; for the Lord Jesus was incarnate Wisdom, Truth, Pity, and Benevolence. It has ever been found in human experience that those who have received the inspired witness to Immanuel, have received with him all the spiritual and immortal blessings which God made him the Medium of carrying to human souls.
APPLICATION. The Holy Spirit is still witnessing in the Church to him who is its Savior and Lord; and it is the part of all who receive this witness in the power of the same Spirit to repeat and extend the testimony. - T.
And ye also shall bear witness.
(text in conjunction with
John 16:1-4): — In this we see —
I. THE SPIRIT OF GODLY HUMILITY. It comes only from the Lord, and serves the Lord only (ver. 26). Do not trust your own talents and power, but implore heaven's blessing. Otherwise you will be in the case of Gehazi with the prophet's stick. The witnessing must be concerning Him, not concerning us, our zeal, wisdom, or success.
II. SINCERE TRUTH. It comes from the heart and goes to the heart (ver. 27).
III. FEARLESS COURAGE (John 16:2). Stephen and the martyrs of every age had this. If an unfriendly world has persecuted the Master, His followers must not expect to escape, although it may only take the form of a smile or a sneer.
IV. HOLY LOVE — a love for men that says, "They do not know the Lord" (ver. 3). He prayed for His enemies because they knew not what they did. It is not all malignity which meets us in the shape of evil at the hands of our fellow creatures — much of it is folly, blindness, and infirmity.
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I. ITS NATURE. To witness is to give testimony: and testimony is a statement of facts within the knowledge of the witness.
1. The facts. Christ risen; alive; living in the witness; saving the witness now. The facts relate to a present experience, and not to what may have been realized years ago.
2. A knowledge of the facts. No court will admit a desire, hope, belief, as evidence. So the Christian witness must know that Christ is able to save.
3. A statement of the facts known. A holy life is necessary not only to salvation, but to give credibility to testimony; but it cannot of itself bear testimony. We must declare Christ as the source of our excellencies and joys, and confirm our statement by a consistent life.
II. ITS OBLIGATIONS. The text is imperative. It is not a matter of option whether we bear witness or not.
1. It is demanded by the constitution of things. Science, art, and enterprize, etc., are largely dependent on testimony for success. And so the gospel is spread by the testimony of those who enjoy it as a living power in the soul.
2. It is one of the ordained weapons for the conquest of the world. Our Lord did not burden His soldiers. One coat, a pair of shoes, and two weapons — the Word and the testimony — made up their outfit. They preached Christ from the prophecies and then charged upon the enemy by their testimony. "They testified and preached." Paul was made "a minister and a witness." The secret of many failures is a want of true and deep experience which enables the preacher to join clear and definite testimony to the Word.
3. Its power to stir and overcome the wicked one. Witness the success of evangelists of very limited ability.
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It is in truth one of the most serious things in life to be called upon solemnly to bear witness before our fellow men and with the invocation of the presence and help of God, even to one's own observation, experience, conviction. To speak out simply and fully, without regard to consequences, the whole truth and nothing but the truth of those matters on which our testimony may be required, involves a simplicity of mind, a straightforwardness, and a courage which are probably less common than we are apt to suppose. How much more awful the duty of bearing witness for God, of representing to the world His thoughts, His words, His life! And yet this is the duty of all who know Him. It was the work to which He called that ancient people whom He separated from the idolatrous nations of the earth, and recorded His incommunicable Name among them. But even He, the Holy Ghost, is not alone in the work of testifying of Jesus; for He adds, "And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with Me from the beginning." The members of His mystical body are to be fellow workers with God, and organs of the Divine Spirit. And what is the nature of the witness which they were to carry to the world.
1. They were to testify to His Person. "Bear witness — not merely of My doctrine, not merely of My works but — of Me." It is the one most marked peculiarity of our blessed Lord's teaching. Other teachers and leaders had been contented to have followers who would receive and disseminate their doctrines. And the true witness must also direct men to Him, as the God man, the Redeemer, the Prophet, Priest, and King of humanity.
2. They were to testify to His work. They had been with Him from the beginning, and had heard His words and seen His deeds of truth and love and power. The testimony to His work is the completion of the witness to His Person. What He has done for us must explain what He is to us.
3. But they were also to testify to His life. It was in His life that the nature of His person and the character of His work were most fully disclosed. His Divine greatness, His moral sublimity, His redeeming power all shone out in the unequalled, unapproachable grandeur of His life. It declared itself to be unearthly, superhuman, from God. This, then, is the very core of our witness for Christ — not merely a better life than the life of the world: it will of course be in all respects a better life, but that is not all: it must be another life, drawing its origin from a higher source, animated by a higher principle, directed towards a higher end. It is not difficult to account for the profound impression produced upon men of all ages and lands, and of the most various culture, by the grandeur and sublimity of the character of Jesus Christ. Men could not help being struck with the absolute self-renunciation, the entire spirit of self-sacrifice which pervaded, like an atmosphere, His every thought, and word, and deed. It was a thing, a thought so absolutely new to the world. Obedience more or less ready and willing to the command of a superior they were not unacquainted with. But the complete, voluntary, and a cheerful surrender of a will to God, so complete and entire that there was no hesitancy, no momentary effort at self-assertion, was a phenomenon unexpected and startling, which revealed a kind of spiritual force which they had never seen in operation. Can we wonder that, when men have seen the disciples of Jesus fond of worldly display, greedy of honour, ambitious of place and of power, craving for earthly distinction, they should have found us false witnesses for God, and laughed us to scorn? Can we wonder that some, not caring to mark the startling contrast between the Master and the scholar, should have blasphemed the Holy Name by which we are called? Mark another element in the superhuman life of Christ: His ardent and unquenchable love of souls. They who would be witnesses for our Lord must first be deeply convinced of the unworldliness of the life of Christ, they must have heard and received His testimony to Himself and to them: "Ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world." "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world." And yet again, we do not learn from the example of our Lord that ours need not be, ought not to be, an unsympathetic unworldliness? The light of Christ was not the clear cold, hard moonlight of a winter's night; but the bright, soft, warm sunshine of a summer's day. The unworldliness of the Son of God was not that of a stern asceticism which refused to own relationship with those who could not rise to its level. It was on the contrary gentle, tolerant, winning. The life of unworldliness of which we have spoken, as the true witness for" Christ, is beset with great and peculiar difficulties in our own day.
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JerusalemTopics
Addition, Bear, Beginning, Testify, Testimony, Witness, WitnessesOutline
1. The union of Jesus and his members shown under the parable of a vine.18. The hatred of the world.26. The office of the Holy Spirit.Dictionary of Bible Themes
John 15:27 2422 gospel, confirmation
John 15:26-27
2427 gospel, transmission
3035 Holy Spirit, presence of
3130 Holy Spirit, Counsellor
3275 Holy Spirit, in the church
3296 Holy Spirit, in the world
5624 witnesses, to Christ
7726 evangelists, ministry
8426 evangelism, motivation
Library
The Comforter
Eversley. Sunday after Ascension Day. 1868. St John xv. 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." Some writers, especially when they are writing hymns, have fallen now-a- days into a habit of writing of the Holy Spirit of God, in a tone of which I dare not say that it is wrong or untrue; but of which I must say, that it is one-sided. And if there are two sides to a matter, …
Charles Kingsley—All Saints' Day and Other SermonsApril 1 Morning
The fruit of the Spirit is joy.--GAL. 5:22. Joy in the Holy Ghost.--Unspeakable and full of glory. Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; . . . exceeding joyful in all our tribulation.--We glory in tribulations. Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; . . . for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame.--These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be fuIl.--As the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path
February 8 Morning
Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends.--JOHN 15:15. The Lord said, shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?--It is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.--God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.--Even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory. Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path
December 16 Evening
The deep things of God.--I COR. 2:10. 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.--It is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. We have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path
January 21 Morning
Every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it.--JOHN 15:2. He is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap: and he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. We glory in tribulations: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope: and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path
June 13 Morning
Abide in me, and I in you.--JOHN 15:4. I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path
February 3 Morning
Be strong, and work; for I am with you, saith the Lord of hosts.--HAG. 2:4. I am the vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.--I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.--Strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.--The joy of the Lord is your strength. Thus said the Lord of hosts; Let your hands be strong, ye that hear in these days these words by the mouth of the prophets.--Strengthen …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path
July 22 Evening
Keep yourselves in the love of God.--JUDE 21. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. The fruit of the Spirit is love. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path
January 28. "That My Joy Might Remain in You, and that Your Joy Might be Full" (John xv. 11).
"That my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full" (John xv. 11). There is a joy that springs spontaneously in the heart without external or even rational cause. It is an artesian fountain. It rejoices because it cannot help it. It is the glory of God; it is the heart of Christ, it is the joy divine of which He says, "These things have I spoken unto you that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full." And your joy no man taketh from you. He who possesses this fountain …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth
May 19. "He Purgeth it that it May Bring Forth More Fruit" (John xv. 2).
"He purgeth it that it may bring forth more fruit" (John xv. 2). Recently we passed a garden. The gardener had just finished his pruning, and the wounds of the knife and saw were just beginning to heal, while the warm April sun was gently nourishing the stricken plant into fresh life and energy. We thought as we looked at that plant how cruel it would be to begin next week and cut it down. Now, the gardener's business is to revive and nourish it into life. Its business is not to die, but to live. …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth
November 26. "He Purgeth it that it May Bring Forth More Fruit" (John xv. 2).
"He purgeth it that it may bring forth more fruit" (John xv. 2). One day we passed a garden. The gardener had finished his pruning, and the wounds of the knife and saw were beginning to heal, while the warm April sun was gently nourishing the stricken plant into fresh life and energy. We thought as we looked at that plant how cruel it would be to begin next week and cut it down again. It would bleed to death. Now, the gardener's business is to revive and nourish into life. Its business is not to …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth
May 13. "Abide in Me" (John xv. 4).
"Abide in Me" (John xv. 4). Christianity may mean nothing more than a religious system. Christian life may mean nothing more than an earnest and honest attempt to follow and imitate Christ. Christ life is more than these, and expresses our actual union with the Lord Jesus Christ, and He is undoubtedly in us as the life and source of all our experience and work. This conception of the highest Christian life is at once simpler and sublimer than any other. We do not teach in these pages, that the purpose …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth
February 25. "I am the vine, Ye are the Branches" (John xv. 5).
"I am the vine, ye are the branches" (John xv. 5). How can I take Christ as my Sanctifier, or Healer? is a question that we are constantly asked. It is necessary first of all that we get into the posture of faith. This has to be done by a definite and voluntary act, and then maintained by a uniform habit. It is just the same as the planting of a tree. You must put it in the soil by a definite act, and then you must let it stay put and remain settled in the ground until the little roots have time …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth
November 28. "Without Me Ye Can do Nothing" (John xv. 5).
"Without Me ye can do nothing" (John xv. 5). How much can I do for Christ? We are accustomed to say.--As much as I can. Have we ever thought we can do more than we can? This thought was lately suggested by the remarks of a Christian friend, who told how God had laid it upon her heart to do something for His cause which was beyond her power, and when she dared to obey Him, He gave her the assurance of His power and resources, and so marvelously met her faith that she was enabled to do more than she …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth
December 13. "He that Abideth in Me and I in Him the Same Bringeth Forth Much Fruit for Apart from Me Ye Can do Nothing" (John xv. 5).
"He that abideth in Me and I in him the same bringeth forth much fruit for apart from Me ye can do nothing" (John xv. 5). So familiar are the vine and the branches, it is not necessary to explain; only the branches and the vine are one. The vine does not say, I am the central trunk running up and you are the little branches; but I am the whole thing, and you are the whole thing. He counts us partakers of His nature. "Apart from Me ye can do nothing." The husband and the wife, and many more figures …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth
August 20. "Herein is My Father Glorified" (John xv. 8).
"Herein is My Father glorified" (John xv. 8). The true way to glorify God is, for God to show His glory through us, to shine through us as empty vessels reflecting His fulness of grace and power. The sun is glorified when he has a chance to show his light through the crystal window, or reflect it from the spotless mirror or the glassy sea. There is nothing that glorifies God so much as for a weak and helpless man or woman to be able to triumph, through His strength, in places where the highest human …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth
March 15. "Continue Ye in My Love" (John xv. 9).
"Continue ye in My love" (John xv. 9). Many atmospheres there are in which we may live. Some people live in an atmosphere of thought. Their faces are thoughtful, minds intellectual. They live in their ideas, their conceptions of truth, their tastes, and esthetic nature. Some people, again, live in their animal nature, in the lusts of the flesh and eye, the coarse, low atmosphere of a sensuous life, or something worse. Some, again, live in a world of duty. The predominating feature of their life is …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth
The True vine
'I am the true vine, and My Father is the husbandman. 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. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in Me.'--JOHN xv. 14. WHAT suggested this lovely parable of the vine and the branches is equally unimportant …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI
The Oneness of the Branches
'This is My commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.'--JOHN xv. 12, 13. The union between Christ and His disciples has been tenderly set forth in the parable of the Vine and the branches. We now turn to the union between the disciples, which is the consequence of their common union to the Lord. The branches are parts of one whole, and necessarily bear a relation to each other. We may modify for our …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI
Christ's Friends
'Ye are My friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. 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. 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; that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in My name, He may give it you. These things I command you, that ye love …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI
Sheep among Wolves
'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. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his Lord. If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept My saying, they will keep yours also.'--JOHN xv. 18-20. These words strike a discord in the midst of the sweet …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI
The World's Hatred, as Christ Saw It
'But all these things will they do unto you for My name's sake, because they know not Him that sent Me. If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin. He that hateth Me, hateth My Father also. If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both Me and My Father. But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated Me without …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI
Our Ally
'But 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: And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with Me from the beginning.'--JOHN xv. 26, 27. Our Lord has been speaking of a world hostile to His followers and to Him. He proceeds, in the words which immediately follow our text, to paint that hostility as aggravated even to the pitch of religious murder. But here He lets a beam of light …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI
The True Branches of the True vine
'I am the vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in Me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be My disciples.'--JOHN xv. 5-8. No wise …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI
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