Our Lord does not say, "Apart from my doctrine ye can do nothing;" important though it is that Christian people should apprehend and receive his truth. Nor does he say, "Apart from my Church ye can do nothing;" though, if we understand the term "Church" aright, this would be manifestly true. But he says, "Apart from me." Christ is, then, himself everything to his people. He is the Power, the Wisdom, the Salvation, of God, and consequently, could we be sundered from him, we should be rendered poor and powerless.

I. TO BEAR FRUIT, IS THE END OF TRUE RELIGION, AND THE RESULT AND PROOF OF SPIRITUAL LIFE. When substituted for faith, "doing" is bad; but when it is the effect of faith, it is good and precious. Where do we look for evidence of the goodness of the tree? Is it not sought in fruit, good fruit, much fruit? The doing, or fruit-bearing, here commended by the Lord Jesus, is the performance of the will of God, is the imitation of the Master's own example, is the fulfillment of the behests of an enlightened conscience. It comprises personal holiness and active usefulness.

II. SEVERANCE FROM CHRIST RENDERS MEN POWERLESS FOR GOOD WORKS. The conduct and service which are distinctively Christian are only possible through personal union with the Savior.

1. This assertion places in a clear light the unequalled dignity of the Lord Jesus. This is a declaration which none but he could make. Yet, being the Son of God and the Source of spiritual life to men, he could justly advance a claim so vast. The disciple is nothing without his master, the servant nothing without his lord, the soldier nothing without his commander, the hand nothing without the head, the Christian nothing without Christ.

2. This assertion brings out into clear light the absolute dependence of Christians. Without our Lord's teaching and example, we, should have no conception of the highest moral excellence. Without his love, we should not feel the mightiest motive that can influence the soul to consecration and service. Without his mediation, we should not enjoy the favor of God, our Ruler and Judge. Without his Spirit, we should be strangers to the spiritual power which alone can enable feeble man to do the will of God. Without his promises, we should lack the encouragement and inspiration we need to cheer us amidst the difficulties, perplexities, and trials from which no earthly life is ever exempt. Without him, there would be no deliverance from the bondage of sin, and no prospect of what is truly the eternal life. "Neither," says Peter, "is there salvation in any other."

III. UNION WITH CHRIST IS THEREFORE UNSPEAKABLY PRECIOUS, AND FOR THE CHRISTIAN ABSOLUTELY NEEDFUL. As to the nature of this connection, there should be no misunderstanding. External privileges and professions are all insufficient. A spiritual and vital union is necessary, such as in the vegetable kingdom joins the branch to the vine-stock, such as in architecture unites the temple to its foundation. This union is effected on the human side by a believing reception of the gospel of Christ; on the Divine side by the impartation of the quickening Spirit of God. Such union is capable of increase in degree; a closer spiritual fellowship with the Divine Redeemer is the means of increased fitness for holy and acceptable service. The experience of the Apostle Paul was an illustration of this principle. He could say, "I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me." He who would work more diligently, and wait more patiently, must come nearer to Christ, and so obtain the spiritual power he needs.

PRACTICAL LESSONS.

1. If this union with the living Vine be not formed, let it be formed at once.

2. If it be suspended or enfeebled, let it be renewed.

3. If it be existing and vitally active and energetic, let it be prized and cultivated. - T.

The great majority of Christ's illustrations were drawn from the world of nature, which teaches us that there is a profound connection between the natural and spiritual worlds. For Christ did not introduce His teaching into nature, but showed men the lessons concerning God and the spiritual which it had been silently teaching for ages, but which they had been too blind to see. For years had the vines of Palestine been uttering glorious things about the union of man to God: prophets had seen something of the mystery; but it was reserved for the greatest of the prophets to gather all their finest teachings into one beautiful discourse. And because the principle on which Christ taught is ever true, we may learn most solemn lessons from the beauty of God's world. The great teaching of the text is this: Man's greatest power for glorifying God is a life of Christ-like action, and in order to illustrate its full force we must trace it back to its first principles.

I. THE INWARD LIFE IN UNION WITH CHRIST MUST SHOW ITSELF OUTWARDLY IS CHRIST-LIKE ACTION.

1. All profound emotions must display themselves in action. Whenever a deep love or a strong conviction enters a man's heart, it impels him to utter it. If it be unspoken in word, it will change his whole being., and burning itself into speech in his deeds, give its meaning a tongue, and manifest its secret fire; or if it cannot express itself it will perish in its own concealment. So the ruling emotion of love to Christ must utter itself to men in the language of Christ-like words and life, or it will pine and perish in its secrecy. And not only so, but all deep love must transform the soul into the image of the beloved, and thus reveal its energy.

2. The inner Christian life has a power to overcome the hindrances to its manifestation. It has been said that "circumstances make the man"; but do circumstances hinder the man who is resolved to be rich? On the contrary, he turns them to his own end. Did circumstances make Napoleon? He made them steps to his throne. Circumstances make weak men, but strong men make circumstances. There we have the answer to the timid assertion that it is impossible in such a world as this to manifest the power of a living Christianity. As the vine, by the inward force of life, draws from the sun and air and soil those elements that give it beauty and vigour, so the Christian life causes all outward states to minister to its growing power. The sight of sin is an opposing circumstance to the real Christian it is transformed into a mighty lesson. The slanders of men are an opposing circumstance — they form the noblest school for Christian patience. The sufferings and sacrifices of life may seem to be hindrances — in reality they make the soul strong in faith and prayer. If the life of love be in a man he will live Christ everywhere, and, like the oak, grow stronger in storms. Hence the conclusion arises unanswerably, that the inner life in union with Christ must reveal itself in Christ-like deeds.

II. THE LIFE OF CHRIST-LIKE ACTION IS MAN'S GREATEST POWER OF GLORIFYING GOD.

1. A Christ-like life is the strongest manifestation of God to the world. The men of this world do not perceive the signs of a present God. They may have an indistinct belief in an awful Power existing somewhere in the universe. They read the Bible as an old book, not as a testimony to a living Lord: they find a beauty in nature, but that beauty is not to them the evidence of its invisible King. But a Christ-like man brings the Divine so directly into the sphere of his own daily life, that they cannot help perceiving it there and then. That man's life becomes a Bible, which in the clearest tones proclaims the presence of his Lord.

2. A Christ-like life is the greatest human influence to bring men near God. When Christ said to His disciples, "Go and bear fruit, go and reproduce My life in your life," He laid hold of the two great forces that mould all human society — influence and example. For the power of social influence is constant and irresistible, while all direct efforts for God are of necessity limited, and awaken opposition. Men hear the appeals of the preacher, and apply them only to their neighbours. But the ceaseless, silent influence of a Christ-like life enters with its resistless majesty into hearts that are barred and bolted in self-complacency against the preacher's voice, and, like the light, makes their darkness visible.

(E. L. Hull, B. A.)

A vine would never be so stupid as to examine itself thus, but suppose it should, and should call out, "Roots, do you enjoy being down there in the soil?" "Yes, we enjoy being here in the soil." "Stem, do you like to be out there in summer?" "Yes, I like to be out here in summer." "Leaves, are you fond of waving in the sun and air?" "Yes, we are fond of the sun and air;" and, satisfied, it says, "I am an excellent vine." The gardener, standing near, exclaims, "The useless thing! I paid ten dollars for the cutting, and I have pruned and cultivated it, and for years looked for the black Hamburg grapes it was to bear, but it has yielded only leaves." He does not care that the roots love the soil, and the stem the summer. It makes no difference to him though every leaf spread itself broad as Sahara in its barrenness. It is fruit that he wants.

(H. W. Beecher.)

They say that at Mentone the citron harvest lasts from the 1st of January to the 31st of December. Women may be seen almost every morning of the year stepping down the rocky mountain paths with large baskets upon their heads filled with the fruit. Pastors may well wish that their Churches were always in such bearing order, and Sabbath school teachers may sigh for such perpetual fruit. To come nearer home, may not each one of us long for like perpetuity of fertility in our own souls? It would be a grand thing, to be evermore working and at the same time planning new effort, and preparing material for new enterprises. Mentone owes its lemons to its warm sun, and to its sheltered position close under the great rocks. Here is a secret for us all. To dwell in communion with Jesus is to abide in the sunshine, and to rest in His great love and atoning sacrifice is to nestle under the Rock of Ages, and to be shielded from every withering blast. "Nearer to God" is the way to greater fruitfulness.

(C. H. Spurgeon.)

I. ITS NATURE.

1. It consists in a visible exhibition of Christian feeling and principle. I say visible; for though your heart was as tender as that of a child, and warm as that of a seraph, you bring forth no fruit unto God unless your internal feelings are manifested in appropriate acts of obedience. Those who in ancient times retired from all connection with the world may have been persons of piety, but they were prevented by the very circumstances of their condition from bringing forth fruit unto God. To be a fruitful Christian it must be seen that you are a living, active Christian.

2. It demands that we discharge with fidelity the appropriate duties of our respective stations. If we neglect these and attempt to perform others that do not belong to us or for which we are not qualified, we dishonour rather than glorify God — just as the planets would if they should quit their proper orbits and rush into spheres in which they were not appointed to move. Christians are all the servants of Jesus Christ, and each one has his proper work assigned him; they are all soldiers of Jesus Christ, and each one has his post allotted him. Some are ordained to serve as ministers, some as magistrates, some as heads of families, some as masters, some as servants. Some are rich, and are appointed to be the Lord's stewards, to honour Him with their substance; some in an inferior station are called to serve Him like Dorcas by making coats and garments for the poor.

3. Christian fruitfulness, in order to glorify God, must be abundant. The glory of the husbandman does not arise from his fields or vines bearing fruit but much fruit. A few ears of corn in the one nearly choked with weeds, or here and there a branch or berry on the other, much blighted and shrivelled, rather dishonours than honours him. Thus a little religion often dishonours God more than none. An indecisive halting between God and the world causes His name to be evil spoken of much more than the excesses of the openly wicked. The husbandman is not dishonoured by the unfruitfuiness of a wild tree upon which he has bestowed no culture, but the barrenness of what is planted in his garden or in his enclosed field reflects on himself, and he will therefore cut it down and cast it out as an incumbrance.

II. ITS MEANS. Very analogous are the means of Christian fruitfulness to those of common husbandry.

1. A good soil, i.e., a good heart. This is indispensable. You do not expect a harvest from seed sown upon a rock or in sand. And what but such is the heart unsanctified by grace? Never till it is softened and warmed into spiritual life by an influence from above will it yield any fruit that is pleasing to God. Hence vital union to Christ is asserted to be indispensable to Christian fruitfulness. "Abide in Me, and I in you," etc. Union with Christ is the animating principle of all holy obedience, infusing spiritual life and vigour into the soul, and quickening all its powers into activity for the glory of God. No culture will make us fruitful till we are brought into vital union with Christ.

2. Good seed, i.e., the truths of God's Word lodged in the mind by a just apprehension and cordial faith of them. As well might you expect a harvest of wheat from a field sowed with tares, as the fruits of righteousness from a mind vacant of religious truth or filled with error. Doctrinal, experimental, and practical religion are all necessarily connected; they cannot exist apart or separate from each other.

3. Careful cultivation. Fruitfulness unto God is not a growth of chance. It does not spring from indolence, unwatchfulness, or carelessness, much less from sinful conformity to the world or deadening absorption in its cares and pursuits. No; it is the result of a tender, conscientious keeping of the heart in the love of God; it is the growth of diligence and care in the use of such means as God has appointed for our advancement in the Divine life. Whatever be the state of your heart at any given time, or however excellent the seed sown in it, if you allow the cares, the riches, and pleasures of the world to enter in and choke the Word, no fruit will be brought forth to perfection.

4. Rain and sunshine, i.e., the influences of the Holy Spirit. The most careful labours of the husbandman cannot avail to produce a single ear of corn or blade of grass. So in things spiritual. Means of themselves have no efficacy to produce spiritual life or Christian fruitfulness. "Paul may plant," etc. Here comes in the necessity of prayer; and a beautiful arrangement it is which connects our endeavours to grow in Christian fruitfulness with dependence on help from God.

III. ITS MOTIVES. By bearing much fruit you —

1. Glorify your Heavenly Father. As the works of creation show forth the glory of the Lord, because they illustrate His perfections exerted in their formation; so His rational creatures glorify Him when some resemblance of His moral excellence is discerned upon their hearts and manifested in their lives. In this sense every Christian, however humble his station, or circumscribed his sphere of action, may attain to the high privilege and honour of glorifying God his Maker. Professed disciples of Jesus, if you take a just view of your character and obligations, you will regard yourselves in a most important sense as representatives of the Divine Majesty among your fellow men. Their eyes are upon you, and they will form their opinion of the religion you profess and of the God you adore very much from the conduct you exhibit from day to day.

2. Prove to yourselves and to others the reality of your professed discipleship. The question is often asked, How may I know that I am a Christian? The answer is by bearing fruit to the glory of God. In the absence of such fruitfulness all other evidence is worthless. You see a tree in the season of winter stripped of its leaves and fruit, and you find it difficult to decide what tree it is. But look at it when it is covered with foliage and loaded with fruit, and you are at no loss for a moment on the subject. Just so in judging of your own character.

(J. Hawes, D. D.)

Our only possibility of bearing any fruit worthy of our natures and of God's purpose concerning us is by vital union with Jesus Christ. If we have not that, there may be plenty of activity and mountains of work in our lives, but there will be no fruit. Only that is fruit which pleases God and is conformed to His purpose concerning us, and all the rest of your busy doings is no more the fruit that a man should bear than cankers are roses, or than oak galls are acorns. They are but the work of a creeping grub, and diseased excrescences that suck into themselves the juices that should swell the fruit. Open your hearts to Christ and let His life and His Spirit come into you, and then you will "have fruit is the purpose for which the vine was planted and the branches grown. No husbandman plants vines for wood or shade or beauty, but for fruit. Christ's disciples are of value according to their fruitfulness.

II. THE FRUITFULNESS OF THE DISCIPLE CONSISTS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE DISTINCTIVELY CHRISTIAN QUALITIES. It is not first or mainly in its usefulness or fruitfulness of service, though this is the sense in which probably the text is most often read and expounded. It is not usefulness, but character, which is the first and great end of the Husbandman. We are called, not to be missionaries first, but to be saints; not to be apostles, but first to be disciples — learners first, and afterwards men sent to teach and preach. It is not by discipling others so much as becoming more and more disciples ourselves that we bear fruit and glorify our Father. We have compared fruitfulness with usefulness as an aim. But we must not forget that the very fruitfulness of the branch is its usefulness. It had never thought of anything but growing, developing what was in it, coming to its perfection and maturity. That was all its aim to throw its life into the fruitage. But so it found its usefulness. So it did its work for God and men. For the fruit contains both food and seed. The starving eats and is refreshed. The invalid with failing appetite tastes and is revived. It graces the tables of the rich and inexpensively supplies the needs of the poor. The owner stands by well pleased, and invites all to feast themselves. It only tried to grow, but growing found its means and opportunity of service. It is so with the Christian. His best usefulness is that which comes out of his simple obedience to the laws of the vineyard, out of his simple purpose to grow into that to which His Lord has called him. He may exhort, but his life speaks louder than his lips. He may set out with intent to serve, and his best service may have been before his setting out. He may be reproaching himself with his unfaithfulness even while his faithfulness is winning men to Christ. To grow is more important than to go. Suppose the branch, just started from the vine, begins to feel the burden of its mission to do good more than the compulsion to bear fruit. In sees yonder a porch which it might shade and so be a blessing to a household, and its stretches away to reach and cover it. It strains away over the intervening space, and twines itself over the vacant trellis. It has succeeded, but, alas! where is the shade? It has grown so fast, the stem has almost run away from the leaves — a foot apart they stretch along the spindling vine; small and but half-grown, they have neither shade nor beauty, and not a bunch of grapes. If it had simply grown and sought to fill the fruit which it had set, a season later and the fragrant clusters would have hung within reach of those resting under its shade and delighting in its beauty. Have you never seen something like that among the disciples? "Grow in grace" is the first law of the Christian life. All else comes under that law and out of it. The fruit, too, has in it the seed: that by which it is perpetuated; the more fruit, the more seed. The branch might think that if it could, by some process of layering, multiply plants, it would be doing good service. But so it can never accomplish as much as by the natural way: filling its fruit, so making seed. Nothing so tends to the perpetuation of the Christian faith as the fidelity to the Christian standard of those who bear the name of Christ. The Divine order is first, fruitfulness; and, second, usefulness. It is fruitfulness only which ever come to the hundredfold of useful service.

III. THE FRUITFULNESS OF THE DISCIPLE DEPENDS UPON HIS RELATION TO HIS DIVINE TEACHER AND LORD. The branch gets its life through the vine from which it grows. It has no life in itself: cut it off, it dies. Does this Scripture tell us plainly in what this abiding in Christ consists? It does.

1. It is abiding in His words, in His commandments, and having them abide in us. It is in keeping His commandments, not simply obeying them — that, but not only that; it is in guarding them as a sacred treasure, and protecting them from violation not only, but from the slightest disrespect.

2. It is abiding in His love: and that is not living so that He shall continue to love us, but abiding in the love of Him, proving that love by lovingly keeping His commandments; abiding also in a love like His to others, and proving that by a spirit of self-sacrifice whose measure is a willingness to lay down our lives if so we can serve or save them.

3. It is abiding in that fellowship with Him which finds its natural expression in prayer; that is, communion with Him. Thus the channels of communication are kept open between the vine and the branches, and the lifeblood flows freely from the one to and through the other.

(George M. Boynton.)

I remember going over the garden of a friend who had taken up with immense enthusiasm some new system of growing dwarf trees. He exhibited his garden to me with great pride as a model of what a garden ought to be. "I presume," said I, "that you get a large quantity of fruit." "Fruit?" was the reply — "fruit? Why, I scarcely think about that;" and I found that my friend had so delighted himself with his new scheme, and with the beauty of the small trees all standing in rows, and the delightfulness of their leaves, so bewildered himself in his enthusiasm for his new method of gardening, that he had deceived his own self and was satisfied with leaves, and forgot that which seemed to me, as a looker-on, to be the only proof of success.

(Bp. Harvey Goodwin.)

The analogies existing between Nature and Grace are striking and beautiful. Nor is it at all surprising that so they should be. He who formed the one kingdom formed also the other. Nature is designed as the type, the symbol of Grace. It was ever thus the Saviour looked at it. To Him, Nature was always illustrative, typical of higher truths, sublimer realities than appeared on its surface. He never rested in anything short of the spiritual. On few subjects is this analogy more frequently indicated than on that of "fruit" — fruit in Nature betokening fruit in grace. "First fruits;" "the fruits of the Spirit;" "the fruits of righteousness;" "fruit in its season;" "His fruit;" "fruits of the valley," etc. Note —

I. THAT FRUIT BEARING IS THE GREAT END OF ALL GOD'S DISPENSATIONS. Fruit is the great object sought in all agricultural arrangements. It is not otherwise with the Great Husbandman, the "Lord of the Vineyard." His arrangements who can conceive! They span eternity, embrace worlds, include the gift of His Son, the Mission of His Spirit, the revolutions of Providence, the breathing of inspiration. His purpose is our fruitfulness. This too was the Saviour's object. For this He was born, lived, died; for this He endured sorrow; for this He still lives, pleads, gives His Spirit, conducts His entire moral government. The Holy Spirit too works for this, and uses all the appliances He has created and sustains. Means and opportunities, Bibles and ordinances, sanctuaries and Sabbaths, all exist for this.

II. THE ONLY FRUIT WE CAN BEAR, THAT IS ACCEPTABLE TO GOD, COMES FROM A SOURCE EXTERNAL TO OURSELVES. Much instruction is conveyed in the figure here employed — "fruit." What is it! It is result, sequence, an effect, not a cause. It must be thus with ourselves. What we are in spirit, life, character, must come from a hidden source, an inner nature; from something "back of itself." And what is the source of this life? There are beautiful fruits borne by unsanctified humanity. Generosity, amiability, benevolence, honour, kindness. Unregenerate nature cannot produce such fruit as is acceptable to a holy God. It follows, that in order to acceptable fruit, there must be renovation of nature — a new principle of life. Regeneration is spiritual grafting, the introduction of a new life, the modification of the old tree to such an extent that, though it does not alter its physical qualities, its natural capacities, it altogether renovates its moral nature, and makes it a new creation, capable henceforth of bearing acceptable fruit. This Divine and blessed influence, this grace of the Holy Spirit, comes alone from Christ. Had sin not entered our world and tainted our nature, it had come direct from our Father. As it was in paradise, so it would have been since, God's nature would have flowed into man's with an unimpeded current. Sin checked this, and now the sacred influence, the Holy Spirit's energy and grace flows through another, even Christ. The whole spiritual being with all its new capacities and instincts unfolding to Christ. "Abiding" — not a state expressed by fits and starts, spiritual and worldly by turns; but continuing; in all conditions of sorrow and joy, like the branch in the tree — "abiding." Is this all? No. The branch thus abiding cannot be without the reception of influence. It does not give, it receives; and assuredly the great Saviour, the Celestial Vine, will not allow any of His branches thus to abide in Him for nothing. Are you thus abiding? Then you know there comes from Him sap, nurishment, energy, spiritual power, which, flowing into you, makes you at once to adhere more closely, and also to "bear fruit." "He that abideth in Me, and I in him." The latter is more than the former, though the first is indispensable to the second. It it important to observe here, too, the point of contact. What is this? On our part it is faith crystallizing into prayer. On His the Word, the medium of His Spirit. Such is the philosophy of Christian fruit bearing. As the pomegranate, the peach, the grape, the fig, are the results of elements, drawn from sources external to themselves, so all the fruits borne by the Christian are the result of a true life first given, then sustained by Him who said, I am the Vine, ye are the branches.

III. THE RESULTS OF SUCH FRUIT BEARING ARE MOST VALUABLE. How great the value even of material fruits! "As the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself," what a mint of wealth does she annually yield to ungrateful and sinful man. Fields of golden corn, orchards of russet apples, mountains of purple grapes, what an immense money value they express; sufficient to tell upon the national exchequer, to regulate the markets of the world. The "fruits of righteousness" which are by Jesus Christ, how great their value! They glorify God. "Herein is My Father glorified that ye bear much fruit." God is "glorified" variously. All His works praise Him, His saints bless Him. Their praise is voluntary, conscious, intelligent, therefore higher in its nature, more acceptable, and worthy. They render it according to their fruitfulness. It vindicates and honours Christianity. This is often aspersed, vilified, scorned. While, thus, the gospel has brought forth fruits fully adequate to vindicate its claims as a system, it is only as its friends do this personally that those claims will be adequately recognized. Oh, the value of a fruitful, practical course of Christian life in this respect. It vindicates the gospel. It may be silent, but it is not dumb. A tree laden with fruit, whether a sapling or giant stem, is an object which speaks for itself. More than this, it speaks for the soil in which it grows, the garden in which it is, the husbandman by whom it is trained. These clusters of themselves show what needs to be known, so that "we need not to speak anything." Fruit bearing ministers to joy. Christ would have His disciples joyful. It is most experienced when the soul is most fruitful. Consciousness of improvement in anything, most of all in self-culture and moral excellence, ministers to satisfaction. Fruitfulness is of inestimable value for the joy it secures. It gives efficacy to prayer. The Saviour recognizes this intercourse when He says, "If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." Abiding in Me, My Spirit through My Word flowing into you, the branch and the Vine will become one. My grace will be the source of your fruitfulness, My Spirit the inspirer of your prayers. The purport of all that has been said is simple and practical. It says to each and all, be fruitful, and see the way in which you may become so. If hitherto unfruitful, it says to you, You are defeating the great end of your being, of God's purpose in reference to you, of Christ's coming into this world. Let me entreat you to do this at once, lest you lost the capacity for it. The unfruitful tree becomes less and less likely to improve, till at last it withers and dies.

(J. Viney.)

How many of the professed disciples of our blessed Lord and Master are there, who, while they possess and manifest certain indubitable excellencies, and clearly exhibit certain Christian graces, do, nevertheless, appear to much and serious disadvantage by reason of the total, or almost total, absence of other essential Christian virtues. Their moral defects cause so many gaps in the cluster, that, like a ragged, ill-shapen, and sparsely furnished bunch of grapes, they fail effectively to manifest the fruit aright which they actually do produce; and if they do not bring their religious honesty and sincerity into serious doubt, do unquestionably fall far short of what they ought to be, and what they might be, and what they must try to be, if they are to be really well-written epistles, setting forth the true character of the Master, known and read of all men. In these defective fruit bearers there is no proportion, no symmetry, no sign or promise of that ultimate holiness which will make them meet for the inheritance of the saints in light. Whatever of good there is in them is largely discounted in moral value as the representations of the Christly character, and as influences for good on those who dwell within their circle. They are the subject of sore anxiety and discomfort to their godly comrades, and unfavourably impress "them that are without the knowledge of God," and whom it is their sacred duty to win to Christ. One exhibits the fruit of benevolence, but his temper is fitful, uncertain, and at times is altogether unrestrained. Another bears the fruit of fidelity; nobody can question his integrity or the purity of his motives; but he is cold, hard, morose, ungentle. A third is full of energy, courage, action, but these excellent fruits are spoiled by lack of patience, and his longsuffering is conspicuous by its absence. A fourth, again, is genial, gentle, sunny and kindly almost to a fault, but he is altogether deficient in firmness, strength of principle, stability of character, and is easily led away: and so on through all the defective combinations possible to an ill-formed Christian character. It is to be feared that, too often, the absence of certain fruits of the Spirit not only becomes chronic, bat has a very noxious and destructive influence on such as do exist, and imperils the whole religious life. In full consciousness of this the apostolic teachers ever urge the followers of the Perfect Man to strive after moral completeness. They are to "perfect that which is lacking;" they are to grow into the "full stature of a man in Christ Jesus;" they are to seek to be "sanctified wholly;" and to be "perfect and entire, lacking nothing."

(J. J. Wray.)

I. HOW IS GOD GLORIFIED? It cannot be that we can add anything to His intrinsic excellence. We can glorify a man by office, by honours, in various ways; but nobody can add anything to God. We can glorify Him only by revealing in some degree what His excellencies are. No man can glorify the sun; but when the day has hung drooping, and by and by the clouds begin to fold and spread, and here and there sun bursts come in, and at last the every-increasing light sweeps out of the whole heaven every cloud, we do not create the sun, and we do not burnish it; but the wind reveals it. And we cannot in any way increase the glory of God; but in our lives and dispositions we can make known to men the quality of Divine attributes. One drop of water is enough to teach us what liquid is, but one drop of water would not be enough to teach us what the Atlantic ocean is if we had not seen it; and so one single development of love reveals the glory of the God of love, although the ocean, the tides, the infinities that belong to the Divine Nature we shall not know until we behold them from a higher point of vision, even if we do then.

II. IF WE BEAR MUCH FRUIT WE GLORIFY GOD. What the fruit is we know already. "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace," etc. These are very precious fruits, and the more we bring forth the more we reveal the nature of God. A diamond is nothing in itself; and yet, having the power of refraction and reflection, it in every facet gives brilliance and colour from light. So it is with those who are really God's gems and jewels. The light that flashes from their lives from day to day reflects Him, and makes men easily to know Him. Call back the example of Christ. He was perpetually endeavouring to teach that the development of a beautiful life was the power that He sought to establish. It was not an order of the priesthood or philosophy, new institutions or methods that He was seeking to build up; it was to take man by man, and develop in him the kingdom of God. That is the lever, and the sight of the highest form of manhood is the instrument by which the world is to be converted — has been, is, will be.

III. INFERENCES. If this be, then, the substance of Christ's teaching — bear much fruit; so shall ye glorify your Father — then I remark —

1. That the growth of the Church is not by the numbers that are in it, but by the graces, the beauty, variety and ripeness of Christian character. Whatever tends to make men, looking upon you, revere you, love you, whatever lifts their conception of your spiritual excellence, gives strength to the Church.

2. The courses which glorify God and make the Church rich are within the reach of everybody. There is an impression that the men who have great gifts, great knowledge, are the glory of the Church. No; it is the man who has the most fruit of the Spirit of God; and the qualities that constitute fruit are those that are open — to the child, to the ungifted, to the ignorant. Everybody knows, or may know, how to be gentle. Everybody knows how to use his tongue, not as a sword, but as an instrument of pleasure, profit, and instruction to other men. There be Christians that say, "I never speak in meeting; I can't." Very well, that is all right. To be dumb when you ought not to speak is a very good Christian grace. "But I am of very little account. I only wish I could pray as I hear brethren pray. I should be glad to rise in the meetings sometimes; but I know nobody wants to hear me." You are not fit to exhort; and nobody wants to hear you explain Scripture; but if God has brought you out of sorrow, and you have a word of testimony as to how in some gracious hour the heavens cleared, and your soul was lifted on high, then you will be listened to with interest. No eloquence is like that of a fact of soul experience. The power of the Church lies not in its ordinances, not in its creed, but in the life of its members. It is not a declaration that creeds or organizations are valueless. A fence is a very good thing on a farm for the sake of the crops that grow inside of it; but there are any number of Christian farms that have high fences, and that have not a thing growing in them but weeds.

3. God saves by few rather than by many. One single electric light in a hall is better than five hundred candles. So one glowing and eminent Christian life is better than a whole church full of tolerable Christians; and usually I think it will be found that in the activities of the Church it is the few and not the many that give it quality, influence, power. I do not think there is anything on earth more beautiful than a vine. But some Christian vines have not a solitary grape on them. They are empty vines. But there are some that have two or three clusters, here and there. There are one or two things which they do that are conspicuous and excellent; how many Christians are there whose branches are loaded with the choicest fruit, that fills the air with its aroma, and delights the eye, and much more the tongue, if one be privileged to pluck and eat? "Herein is My Father glorified that ye bear much fruit."

4. Faith in Christ is like faith in any master. If one, conscious of ignorance in music, goes to some celebrated pianist to take lessons, he has faith in him, showing it by the fact that he accepts him as a teacher, and then puts forth all his exertions to do the thing he is taught to do. If a man goes to some great master to study art, he has faith in him. Knowing what his reputation is he betakes himself to his instruction, and attempts to develop form, grouping, colour, sentiment. Now faith in Christ consists in putting yourself into His hands, that you may be what He was — you according to the measure of your nature what He was according to the measure of His nature. "Put on the Lord Jesus Christ." Put on the graces that made Jesus Christ preeminently the Man of all time — the God-man; and whoever accepts Christ, and every one of all the attributes then eventuated in His life, has faith in Him.

5. The tendency to judge of revivals is, I am afraid, becoming more materialized. Men glorify God that a great outpouring of His Spirit has filled the Churches. With what? Some rivers, when they come down in freshets in spring, bring sand, and destroy the meadows over which they spread themselves; while some bring loam, and refresh all the meadows where the detrius settles down, increasing the soil. And a revival is beneficial not by the number of persons supposed to be converted, but by the quality of the conversion they have gone through. The boy preacher, Harrison, informed me that there were twenty-six hundred persons converted in one city where he was. Twenty-six hundred gardens of the Lord! Well, I would like to see those gardens. I would like to see what they bring forth. If they simply say they are in the Church, and have a through ticket paid up to heaven, and go back and live just as they always have lived, I do not very much esteem that; but if there could be twenty-six hundred persons that break out with the blossom and fruit of the Lord's garden in their hearts, and they could all be brought into the Church in one company, the millennium would be the next step, right outside the door. Communities could not stand such a cloudburst as that.

(H. W. Beecher.)

Jesus, DisciplesJerusalemTRUE, Bear, Bearing, Disciples, Father's, Fruit, Glorified, Glory, Herein, Prove, Showing, Thus, Yourselves1. 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.

John 15:8

     3254   Holy Spirit, fruit of
     5173   outward appearance
     5472   proof, evidence
     7953   mission, of church
     8256   fruitfulness
     8348   spiritual growth, nature of
     8440   glorifying God

John 15:1-8

     4534   vine
     6755   union with Christ, nature of

John 15:4-10

     8459   perseverance

John 15:5-8

     1613   Scripture, purpose
     7027   church, purpose
     8164   spirituality
     8618   prayerfulness

John 15:7-8

     8604   prayer, response to God

John 15:7-11

     8289   joy, of church

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 Sermons

April 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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