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1. I am the true vine - So the true bread, chap. vi, 32; that is, the most
excellent.
2. Every one that beareth fruit, he purifieth - by obeying the truth, 1 Pet. i,
22; and by inward or outward sufferings, Heb. xii, 10, 11. So purity and
fruitfulness help each other. That it may bear more fruit - For this is one of
the noblest rewards God can bestow on former acts of obedience, to make us yet
more holy, and fit for farther and more eminent service.
3. Ye are clean - All of you, to whom I now speak, are purged from the guilt and
power of sin; by the word - Which, applied by the Spirit, is the grand
instrument of purifying the soul.
4. Abide in me - Ye who are now pure by living faith, producing all holiness; by
which alone ye can be in me.
5. I am the vine, ye are the branches - Our Lord in this whole passage speaks of
no branches but such as are, or at least were once, united to him by living
faith.
6. If any one abide not in me - By living faith; not by Church communion only.
He may thus abide in Christ, and be withered all the time, and cast into the
fire at last. He is cast out - Of the vineyard, the invisible Church. Therefore
he was in it once.
7. If ye abide in me, ye shall ask - Prayers themselves are a fruit of faith,
and they produce more fruit.
8. So shall ye be my disciples - Worthy of the name. To be a disciple of Christ
is both the foundation and height of Christianity.
9. Abide ye in my love - Keep your place in my affection. See that ye do not
forfeit that invaluable blessing. How needless a caution, if it were impossible
for them not to abide therein?
10. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love - On these terms, and
no other, ye shall remain the objects of my special affection.
11. That my joy might remain in you - The same joy which I feel in loving the
Father, and keeping his commandments.
12. Your joy will be full, if ye so love one another.
13. Greater love - To his friends. He here speaks of them only.
14. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you - On this condition,
not otherwise. A thunderbolt for Antinomianism! Who then dares assert that God's
love does not at all depend on man's works?
15. All things - Which might be of service to you.
16. Ye - My apostles, have not chosen me, but I have chosen you - As clearly
appears from the sacred history: and appointed you, that ye may go and bear
fruit - I have chosen and appointed you for this end, that ye may go and convert
sinners: and that your fruit may remain - That the fruit of your labours may
remain to the end of the world; yea, to eternity; that whatsoever ye shall ask -
The consequence of your going and bearing fruit will be, that all your prayers
will be heard.
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