462 CHRIST is the true Vine, and his Difciples the Branches.

Sect. 175.
John XV.

I.

SECT. CLXXV.

CHRIST reprefents himself under the Emblem of a Vine, and exhorts his Difciples to Faith and perfevering Obedience. John XV. 1,------11.

SOM

JOHN XV. I.

JOHN XV. I.

AM the true Vine, and

my Father is the Hufbandman.

OME Accident occafioning a little Delay, I
before they left the Gueft-Chamber, in which
they had eaten the Paffover, our Lord improved
the precious Moments, in addreffing his Difciples
to the following Purpose (a): 1 am, said he, the
true and most excellent Vine (b), by its Union
with whom my Church is nourished; and my
Father is the Hufbandman, who has planted this
Vine, and by whom it is cultivated, that it may
2 produce delightful Clufters for his Service. And
every Branch that is in me by an external Profeffion,
which is found to be a barren Branch, and bears
yet
no Fruit, he taketh quite away; that is, he cuts
it off in his righteous Judgment, and entirely
separates it from me But every [Branch]
which brings forth Fruit, he purgeth; that is,
he prunes and dreffes it, and on the whole,

exer

2 Every Branch in me that beareth not Fruit, he taketh away and every Branch that beareth Fruit,

he

(a) Some Accident occafioning a little Delay, &c.] This may be gathered from the Conclufion of the foregoing Chapter, where our Lord had faid, Arife, let us go bence: For it seems very unreasonable to imagine, that our Lord would addrefs fo important a Difcourfe as this, to Eleven Perfons, as they were walking, especially in the Streets of Jerufalem, at this publick Time; much lefs would he pour out fo folemn a Prayer, as that in Chap. xvii. in fuch a Circumftance: Yet John xviii, 1. (Sect. 181.) ftrongly implies, that all that follows between this and that, happened before he went forth from Jerufalem. I conclude therefore, that all this paffed, before they quitted the House where the Passover was eaten, tho' they probably rofe from the Table, as foon as thofe Words, Arife, let us go hence, were spoken. A fhort Delay might leave Room for this; for any one who will make the Trial will find, that these Three Chapters may be deliberately read over in a Quarter of an Hour, and therefore might be fpoken in that fmall Interval of Time.

(b) The true and moft excellent Vine.] So the true Light, (John i. 9.) and the true Bread, (chap. vi. 32.) evidently fignifies. (See Raphel. Annot. ex Xen. pag. 141.)— His having lately drank with his Difciples of the Fruit of the Vine, and having afterwards declared, that he would drink no more of it, till he drank it new in the Kingdom of GOD, (Mark xiv. 25. pag. 446.) might poffibly occafion Chrift's alluding to it: (See Grotius, in loc.) Or perhaps they might now be ftanding near a Window, or in fome Court by the Side of the Houfe, where the Sight of a Vine might fuggeft this beautiful Simile. (Compare Pfal. cxxviii. 3.) That Circumftance was, no doubt, common in Judea, which abounded with the finest Grapes. See Gen. xlix. 11, 12. Numb. xiii. 23. and Deut. viii. 8.

(c) That

He that abides in him, will bear much Fruit:

he purgeth it, that it may

bring forth more Fruit.

3 Now ye are clean,

have spoken unto you.

4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the Branch cannot bear Fruit of itself, except more can ye, except ye

it abide in the Vine; no

2.

463

exercifes fuch wife and kind Difcipline towards Sect. 175.
it, (tho' that Difcipline may fometimes feem fe-
vere,) as may best answer the great End of its John XV.
Production, that it may bring forth yet more
Fruit, than which there can be nothing more
defirable (c).

3

And thus it is with you; for now the Traitor thro' the Word which I is gone out, I may affirm without the Exception that I made before, (compare John xiii. 10, 11. pag. 426.) that you are all thus purged, in fuch a Manner as to be clean, by Means of the Word which I have spoken to you, whofe fanctifying Influence has operated on your Hearts. Continue 4 therefore in me, by the renewed Exercife of humble Faith and Love: and let it be your conftant Care fo to conduct yourselves, that I may be engaged to remain in you: For as, in the natural World, the Branch cannot bear Fruit of itself, but must presently wither, unless it continue in a State of Union with the Vine, and be nourished by Sap from thence; fo neither can you be able to produce the Fruits of genuine and acceptable Obedience, unless you continue in me, and have the Life of Grace maintained within you by a vital Union with me.

abide in me.

5 I am the Vine, ye are the Branches: He that abidfame bringeth forth much Fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

eth in me, and I in him, the

6 If a Man abide not in

me,

I repeat it again, as a Matter of the utmost 5
Moment, that I am the Vine, and ye [are] the
Branches, in the Senfe I have already explained.
He therefore that abides in me by fuch an intimate
and vital Union, and in whom also I abide by
the Operations of my Holy Spirit in him, he, and
he only, bringeth forth much Fruit, to the Honour
of his Profeffion, and the Comfort of his own
Soul: But the Glory of it is ftill to be referred
to me; for Jeparate from me you can do nothing,
tho' you ftand in the foremost Rank of my Fol-
lowers, and have already made fome confiderable
Attainments. And if any one, that calls him- 6
felf my Difciple, does not maintain fuch a Re-

gard

(c) That it may bring forth more Fruit.] This ftrongly fuggefts a very fublime and important Thought, viz. that one of the nobleft Rewards GOD can beftow on former Acts of Obedience, is to make the Soul yet more holy, and fit for farther and more eminent Service, tho' it should be by fuch painful Afflictions, as resemble the pruning of a Vine.

464

John XV. 6.

But the fruitless Branch shall be burnt in the Fire.

Branch, and is withered; caft them into the Fire; and they are burned,

and Men gather them, and

Sect. 175. gard to to me, as that he may be faid to abide in me, he is caft forth as a me (d), he is rejected and caft out with Difdain and Abhorrence, as a fruitless Branch lopped off from the Vine, and by Confequence is prefently withered; and as [Men] gather up fuch dry Sticks, and throw them into the Fire, and there they are burnt, as a worthless Kind of Wood, fit for nothing but Fewel; (fee Ezek. xv. 2,-4.) fo in like Manner fuch will be the End of those unhappy Creatures; they fhall be gathered as fit Fewel for Divine Wrath, and their external Relation to me will not preferve them from Everlafting Burnings.

7

But as for you, my faithful Servants, I affure you for your Encouragement, that if you ftedfaftly abide in me, and take Care that in Confequence of it my Words abide in you, so that you maintain a fuitable Regard to all my Inftructions, Promises, and Commands, this bleffed Union will entitle you to fuch fignal Degrees of the Divine Favour, that you shall afk in Prayer whatsoever you will, and if it be, upon the whole, fubfervient to your own Happiness, and that of the Publick, 8 it shall be done for you. And let it therefore be your Care, to make the fuitable Returns of Gratitude and Obedience; for in this is my Father most eminently glorified, that you, my Apostles, bring forth much Fruit, by exerting yourselves to the utmost for the Propagation of my Gospel in the World, and endeavouring to inforce your Inftructions by the Holiness of your Lives: And in this likewife you shall appear to all, to be my true Difciples, and to act worthy of your Character and Relation to me.

7 If ye abide in me, and my Words abide in you, ye fhall afk what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much Difciples. Fruit, fo fhall ye be my

9 As the Father hath

loved me, fo have I loved
Love.
you continue ye in my

(d) If any one does not abide in me.] It is ftrange, that any fhould think this Text a conclufive Argument against the Doctrine of Perfeverance; when to be in Chrift, (ver. 2.) so plainly fignifies making an external Profeffion of Christianity, whether vain, or fincere.

Reflections on abiding in CHRIST as the true Vine.

H

John XV.

465 on your Part, maintain the Friendship inviolate. Sect. 175. And if you diligently and constantly keep my Commandments, then you will affuredly continue in my Love; even as I have always kept my Father's Commandments, and so continue in his Love; for this is the moft folid Evidence of it, which I give to my Father, and require from you.

you

10.

Thefe Things I have spoken to you, not to II
grieve you by any Intimation that I fufpect the
Sincerity of your Regards to me; but that
may be fo fortified and animated against the
Temptations of Life, that my Joy and Compla-
cency in you, as my faithful Friends, might fill
still
continue; and [that] your Joy in me may be main-
tained in its full Height, and may greatly in-
crease; as it certainly will, in Proportion to the
Advancement of your Refolution and Zeal in
my Service.

IMPROVEMENT.

W defirable is it, that we may learn from this Difcourfe to regard John xv. 1. Christ, at all Times, as the Spiritual Head, from whom Life and Vigour are to be derived to all his People! Let us by the Exercife of an unfeigned Faith abide in him, as the true Vine; as being always fenfible, Ver. 4, 5. that without him we can do nothing; and that, if we are in him only by an external Profeffion, we are not only in Danger of being cut off, Ver. 6. and taken away, but fhall in the End be caft into the Fire. May we rather be purged and pruned, tho' it fhould be with the most painful Dif- Ver. 2. penfations of Providence; if by this Means our Fruitfulness may be pro- Ver. 8. moted, to the Glory of GOD, and to the Benefit of the World! May his Word operate daily upon us, to cleanfe us from remaining Pollutions! Ver. 3. and if we thus defire to be clean, let us take heed to our Way, according to the Tenour of that Word. (Pfal. cxix. 9.)

We see our Encouragement to pray; let us take it from Chrift, and Ver. 7. not be difmayed, nor yield to unbelieving Sufpicions. As the Father has Ver. g. loved Chrift, fo does he also love his People. Let us preferve and cultivate this facred Friendship; and, whatever it may coft us, let us endeavour to continue in his Love, and to avoid whatever would forfeit it; making it above all Things our Care to keep his Commandments. Chrift always ob- Ver. 10. ferving those of his Heavenly Father, cannot but always and invariably continue the Object of his Love and Delight: May our Conduct be fuch, Ver. II. as that he may fee Reafon to rejoice in us; and then, we fhall alfo have the fureft Foundation for a fublime and folid Joy!

VOL. II.

Nnn

SECT.

466

CHRIST again commands bis Difciples to love one another.

1.

SECT. CLXXVI.

CHRIST renews his Exhortation to mutual Love, and declares the Jews inexcufable in their Unbelief. John XV. 12, to the End.

Sect. 176.0

12.

13

JOHN XV. 12.

JOHN XV. 12, THIS is my Commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you

UR Lord, in order to imprefs the Principles of mutual Friendship and Benevolence on John XV. the Minds of his Difciples in the most powerful Manner, recommended it to them at large on this tender Occafion, and proceeded in his Difcourfe to the following Purpose: This is in a peculiar Manner my Command to you, which by all the Obligations you are under to me, I charge and conjure you to obferve, that ye all do moft cordially and conftantly love one another; even if it be poffible, with as great an Ardor, as that with which I have loved you; fo as to be ready to facrifice your Lives for each other, as I expofe and refign mine for you. (Compare John xiii. 34. and 1 John iii. 16.) And furely I can give no more folid and important Evidence of my Affection to you; for no Man has ever manifefted, or can imagine greater and more difinterefted Love than this, that a Man fhould be willing, not only on fome fudden Alarm to hazard, but on the coolest Deliberation to fubmit to lay down his Life for the Prefervation and Happinefs of his Friends. Now as I am about to give you this grand Demonftration of my Love, if ye do whatsoever I comfo I affure you, that you are, and shall be acknowledged as my Friends, and fhall fhare in the Bleffings of my Death and Life, if you practically acknowledge my Authority, and are fo influenced by my Love, as to do whatfoever I command you.. I do not any longer call you Servants, tho' I 15' Henceforth I call you have fometimes ufed the Phrafe, and formerly not Servants; for the Serhave feen it neceffary in fome Points to treat you

14

15

with

13 Greater Love hath n Man than this, that a Man lay down his Life for his Friends.

14 Ye are my Friends,

mand

you.

vant

TO 13