It seems at first sight singular that our Lord's conversation, just at this solemn and pathetic crisis of his ministry, should be of joy. It seems as if consolation and peace were timely and appropriate themes, but as if the contrast between Christ's approaching sufferings and the joy which he claims to possess and to impart were too marked. This, however, is a glorious paradox.

I. THE ELEMENTS OF OUR SAVIOR'S JOY. His was:

1. The joy of self-sacrifice, which is unknown to the world, but of which Jesus has given us the one sublime example.

2. The joy of benevolence. He lost himself in those for whom he lived and died; their salvation was the inspiration of his endurance and the joy of his anticipation.

3. The joy of harmony with the Father's purpose and of securing the Father's approval.

II. THE IMPARTATION OF OUR SAVIOR'S JOY.

1. It comes through the identification of the disciples, through faith, with the Master.

2. It consists in living sympathy with his mind and purposes.

3. It increases and is fulfilled through their active employment in his service. The joy of the Lord is commenced in fellowship of labor, and consummated in the vision and recompense of heaven.

III. THE SUPERIORITY OF OUR SAVIOR'S JOY. If it is contrasted with the joy of the worldly and sinful, such a comparison will bring out its immeasurable superiority.

1. For it is joy dignified and worthy of a moral and spiritual nature, whilst worldly joy is largely that of the inferior part of our being.

2. It is satisfying, whilst he that drinketh of the springs of earth thirsts again.

3. It is eternal, being not only progressive upon earth, but consummated in heaven. "Earth's joys grow dim, its glories fade away." But Christ's joy is the joy which is immortal. - T.

A revelation of —

I. HEAVEN (John 14:1-5) as —

1. A Father's house.

2. Capacious.

3. Prepared.

4. Taken to by Himself.

II. THE FATHER.

1. Christ tells them that they have a Father. That was the great want of their souls.

2. He tells them that those who have seen Him have seen the Father. All the love, faithfulness, tenderness, wisdom of the Father was in Him. Therefore they might trust Him.

III. The SPIRIT (John 14:12-31). He tells them that He would not leave them comfortless. The Spirit would —

1. Give them power to do wonderful works.

2. Qualify them to pray successfully.

3. Abide with them forever.

IV. UNION WITH HIMSELF (vers. 1-11). He showed that this union was —

1. Vital.

2. Fruitful.

3. Necessary.

(R. V. Pryce, LL. B.)

The greatest of sufferers was the happiest of men. He exulted in the prospect of Gethsemane and the Cross.

I. HIS OWN JOY. It was the joy —

1. Of uninterrupted communion with the Father (John 4:31, 32).

2. Of accomplishing His Father's will (Hebrews 10:7; Psalm 40:6; Luke 22:41).

3. Of anticipating the result of His great work (Isaiah 13:11; Hebrews 12:2).

II. THE BELIEVER'S PARTICIPATION IN THE JOY.

1. It is the Saviour's joy. Is it possible to have this? Yes; we may partake of the joys of fellowship, obedience, hope. Present service is ours, and future victory will be.

2. It is a joy that may be full, or fulfilled. A man has joy as soon as he becomes a believer, but it is not filled up. Jesus wishes it to be, and puts into his hand a cup of joy which overflows. It is a paradox; but the Christian, though sorrowful, is always rejoicing (2 Corinthians 1:3-6; 2 Corinthians 6:9, 10; Philippians 2:17; Philippians 4:4).

3. It is a joy which none can take away (John 16:22). It is not in the power of the world to rob a Christian of his joy.

(T. Stephenson.)

I. THE BEAUTY AND PERFECTION OF HIS OWN CHARACTER.

1. As an innocent child.

2. As a righteous man.

II. HIS EXQUISITE SENSE OF THE MEANING AND BEAUTY OF NATURE. No artist, or poet, or psalmist so revelled in the glories of creation. He might well do so; for He knew it with the knowledge not of a spectator or student, but of a Maker.

III. HIS TESTIMONY OF HIS FATHER, DECLARING HIS NAME AND WONDROUS LOVE. If a Newton cannot tell his discoveries without being overjoyed; if a reformer cannot but be enthusiastic about his mission, what must Christ have felt, whose work was to reveal the Father?

IV. HIS LIFE OF SERVICE AND SELF-SACRIFICE (Hebrews 12:3).

(J. T. Stannard.)

I. ITS SOURCES.

1. The consciousness of the abiding presence of the Father. Harmony of Spirit with heaven.

2. The obedience and attachment of the disciples. Great is the joy of a tutor or parent when the scholar or child manifests proficiency and perseverence.

3. The beneficent effects of His working. It was His joy to take this up, and his meat to finish it.

4. The foresight of the working of His truth in the world, and its ultimate results. "He shall not fail nor be discouraged." "He shall see of the travail of His soul."

II. ITS CHARACTERISTICS.

1. It was not like the joy of the world, which is often mere levity, never lasts, and is quenched by death.

2. It was —(1) A steady joy. All through His life, from His infancy to His Cross, we see calm joy and obedience.(2) A joy in the prospect of death (Hebrews 12:3).(3) A lasting joy, not variable, like that of many of us — grasping at the clouds one day, and the next in the depths of despair.(4) A shared joy. He lived not for Himself, but for others. Those who seek to bless others are always the most happy.

III. ITS INFLUENCE. Strength-inspiring, health-giving. Sterne said every smile tends to lengthen out the fragment of our lives. No wonder, with this inspiration, the apostles became what they did. What manner of men ought we to be?

(Homiletic Magazine.)

This saying is strange, because our idea of Christ is that of the man of sorrows. Only on one occasion are we told that He rejoiced. But the saying seems stranger still when we look at the circumstances under which it was uttered — in sight of the agony and the Cross. Then remember to whom it was spoken: to men for whom He had predicted martyrdom.

I. WHAT WAS THE BLESSEDNESS OF CHRIST? Note —

1. That the blessedness of the infinite God is essentially in. comprehensible. The thought of God is necessarily the thought of One infinite and eternal, without limit or change. But we can only conceive of blessedness as a change from the less to the more blessed. We know the light by knowing the darkness, and joy only by its changes. We are obliged, therefore, to think of God as rejoicing in His world, and as rising to a higher gladness when He had peopled His universe with creatures. In these two contradictory thoughts, both of which we must think and yet cannot reconcile, lies the mystery of the ever blessed God.

2. In God revealed in Christ, the mystery is yet deeper. How, if one with the Infinite, could His joy ever fail? Why, if foreseeing the results of His mission, could He sorrow? But observing Christ on His human side, His blessedness as the God-Man must be in some measure comprehensible. He humanity was as perfect as His divinity, and the emotions of the human Christ we can partly understand; and this will lead us to a comprehension in part of His Divine joy.

3. The elements of His joy were two fold. It came, He tells us —(1) By keeping the Father's commandments. It was the feeling that He did not live for Himself — that He existed as Man to reveal the full glory of eternal love, that every toil and sorrow were helping on the Divine plan for man's redemption — that formed His joy.(2) By abiding in the Father's love. Men might desert Him — this never did. His human nature might tremble, but His eye pierced beyond the sorrow into the sunshine of the Divine law behind it, and that was a mighty joy. Hence His frequent hours of prayer.(3) Combining these two elements, we may understand how it was that He spoke of it so soon after His Spirit was troubled. For His blessedness and suffering arose from one source: the doing of the Father's will. The consciousness of complete self-surrender gave Him gladness; yet the surrender produced the sorrow.

II. CAN THAT JOY RE COMMUNICATED? We find the answer in the preceding verse. Like their Master, the disciples were to surrender life to be the organ of God's will, and then the consciousness of His love would dawn. In a sense, joy and sorrow are incommunicable. "The heart knoweth its own bitterness," etc. But they are communicable just as we are one in sympathy and purpose with a friend. I know nothing of the joy of a stranger; but I do know the joy of a man with whom I am bound by the deep sympathies of love. So to enter into Christ's joy we must become Christ-like. Amid anxiety and sorrow, a man first gives up his all to God; and amid His suffering there flashes the conviction, "God loves me," and there steals over his heart a blessedness which is the joy of the Lord.

III. THE FELLOWSHIP OF CHRIST'S BLESSEDNESS IS THE ONLY SOURCE OF PERFECT JOY. Perfect joy has two conditions.

1. In its source it must be self-surrender to the highest love. All inward discord destroys joy, and that discord only ceases when a man loses the thought of self in devotion to something he regards as greater. The man who toils for wealth is never satisfied, because in the pursuit he is trying to lose the sense of self. The pleasure seeker plunges into every excitement that will drown reflection. The ambitious man loses the thought of self in the intense yearning for future achievement. In fine, man pants for the Infinite — for a boundless something to which he may yield his heart and be conscious of himself no more. This explains the idea of final absorption into the Deity, and the belief in the eternal sleep of death. But fellowship with the eternal joy of Christ furnishes the only anodyne to the unresting sense of self.

2. Real enjoyment must be independent of outward changes. The longing to attain a state of life superior to the accidents of time and change shows this. The wisest men have spoken of following the right, in the face of all consequences, as the source of the highest joy. The fellowship of Christ's joy gives this. It gave it to Paul, who was enabled there by to glory in infirmity. Even death, which damps the joy of all other men, consummates the blessedness of those who, through fellowship of life, are partakers of the joy of Christ.

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

I. ITS SOURCE. "These things have I spoken unto you." He referred them especially to what He had just said. Union with Christ. "I am the Vine," etc.

1. To be one with Christ is to enjoy the peace of God.

2. To be one with Christ is to walk in the right path — the path of truth, virtue, and honour. He is the Way.

3. To be one with Christ has its prospects. The crown is beyond the Cross. "Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you."

II. ITS CONTINUANCE. "That My joy may remain in you." The promise implies a state of heart which is never without sources of joy. Christians are subject to natural and moral grief; but when the clouds obscure the light and make the atmosphere cold, the sun is, nevertheless, in the heavens. Christian joy is perpetual, because —(1) Jesus is the same, yesterday, today, and forever, without change. The streams never dry while the fountain is full.(2) Intercommunion never fails. He has ordained means which are infallible. This is a bold saying; but as the sun cannot fail to give life, the promise cannot fail to give comfort, prayer cannot fail to bring the blessing, and the communion of saints cannot fail to generate love.

III. ITS EXPANSIVENESS — "That your joy might be full." The growth of the child, or the increased light of the sun until the perfect day, or the journey of the pilgrims Zion-ward, represents the advancing state of grace.(1) Full in respect of its object. We have only touched the hem of His garment as yet. As faith is turned into sight, our joy increases.(2) Full in respect of the subject. It is possible only when all fear of sin and death is removed. "Rejoice evermore"; that is, rejoice on to rejoicing, for sources of anxiety are left behind, and you and Christ are one.

(Weekly Pulpit.)

1. Jesus spoke these words to those who were about to be His representatives in the world. It was no easy mission on which He was sending them; but it was His will that they should go, not as soldiers on a forlorn hope, with the courage of despair, but in that holy joyous tone of spirit which means the courage of confident victory. And what He means for one set of disciples He means for all.

2. Note three elements of Christ's joy.

I. HIS FILAL JOY. We are brought into the presence of it in chap. John 17. Now it is His will that we should share the joy of sonship. We may do this by faith in His name and the possession of the Spirit of Adoption which He gives. What joy can equal that of even the greatest sufferer who trusts and delights in his Father in heaven?

II. THE JOY OF SERVICE. "I delight to do Thy will." Even beyond results, beyond the luxury of doing good, there is a joy in the very serving itself. To gather the wanderers, to win the young, to alleviate suffering, drives away a thousand black thoughts, and fills the individual heart and the Church with joy. What a joyful ring there is in "Neither count I My life dear unto Myself, that I might finish My course with joy." The self-same joy is open to us. Instead of being self-seekers, let us simply ask, "What is the will of God for me?" The narrow, dissatisfied, unhappy, will find their cure here.

III. THE SAVIOUR JOY. There are many passages in which this comes into view — e.g., when Jesus saw the poor and lowly gathering around Him, He "rejoiced in spirit"; and then, when the publican and sinner drew near, He likened Himself to the shepherd, who in rescuing the lost sheep, called his friends together, saying, "rejoice with me." This is the joy for which He endured the Cross and despised the shame. Now He will have all Christians share in that very joy, and be glad in the fruits of the travail of His soul.

(J. Culross, D. D.)

This Divine joy is planted in the soul by the Holy Spirit. It is therefore an inward and spiritual joy; it is deep-rooted in the heart; it is solid and well founded; it is abiding and lasting; it is a satisfying joy, and purifying in its effects. It is a joy that flourishes most in adversity. It is a communicative joy. A man has not tasted what religion is if he does not seek to impart this joy to others. It is the joy of communion with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. It is a humble joy; but it causes a man "to triumph in Christ."

(R. Cecil, M. A.)

Christ enters the world bringing joy: "Good tidings of great joy." So now He leaves it, bestowing His gospel as a gift of joy. This testament of His joy He also renews in His parting prayer: "These things I speak in the world, that they might have My joy fulfilled in themselves." "Man of sorrows" though we call Him, still He counts Himself the Man of joy. It is an impression that the Christian life is one of hardship and suffering: Christ, you perceive, has no such conception of it, and no such conception is true.

I. To clear this truth, it is necessary, first of all, to exhibit THE MISTAKE OF NOT DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN HAPPINESS AND JOY.

1. There is a distinction represented in the words themselves.(1) Happiness is that which happens or comes by an outward befalling. It is what money yields, or will buy — settlement in life or rank, political standing, victory, power. All these stir a delight in the soul, which is not of the soul, but from without. Hence they are looked upon as happening to the soul, and, in that sense, create happiness. The Latin word "fortune" very nearly corresponds with the Saxon. For whatever came to the soul, bringing it pleasure, was considered to be its good chance, and was called fortunate.(2) But joy differs from this, as being of the soul itself. And this appears in the original form of the word, which, instead of suggesting a "hap," literally denotes a "leap" or "spring." Here again, also, the Latin bad "exult" — a "leaping forth." The radical idea, then, of joy is that the soul has such springs of life opened in its own blessed virtues, that it pours forth a sovereign joy from within. It is not the bliss of condition, but of character.

2. And we have many symbols of joy about us from which we might take the hint of a felicity higher than the mere pleasures of fortune or condition: the sportive children, too full of life to be able to restrain their activity; the birds pouring out their music, simply because it is in them. Precisely, too, history shows us the saints of God singing out their joy together in caves and dens of the earth, and the souls of martyrs issuing, with a shout, from the fires that crisp their bodies.

II. It is necessary, in order to a right conception of Christian joy, as now defined, that we discover HOW TO DISPOSE OF CERTAIN FACTS, WHICH COMMONLY PRODUCE A CONTRARY IMPRESSION.

1. Thus, when the Saviour bequeaths His joy to us, He lives a persecuted life, and passes through an agony to His death. Where, then, is the joy of which He speaks? To this I answer that He was a Man of sorrows in the matter of happiness; that is, in the outward condition of His earthly state; still He had ever within a joy, a spring of good, which was perfectly sufficient. Indeed, He reveals the victorious power of joy in the Divine nature itself; for God, in the contradictions of sinners, suffers a degree of abhorence and pain that may properly be called unhappiness; and He would be an unhappy Being were it not that the love He pours into their bosom is to Him a welling up eternally of conscious joy. And exactly so He represents Himself in the incarnate person of Christ. In His parable of the shepherd calling in his neighbours to rejoice with him over the sheep he has found, He opens the joy He feels as being that Shepherd. And then, how much does it signify when, coming to the close of His career, He says, glancing backward in thought over all He has experienced, "My joy," bequeathing it to His disciples as His dearest legacy. What, then, does it signify of real privation or loss to become His follower!

2. But it requires, you will say, painful thought to begin such a life — sorrow, repentance, self-renunciation, and to pass through life under a cross. How can the Christian life be called a life of joy? It is not, I answer, in these things, taken simply by themselves. But consider what labours, cares, self-denials, all men have to suffer in the way of what is called success — in scholarships, e.g., and in war. Are these made unhappy because of the losses they are obliged to make? Are they not rather raised in feeling on this very account? But how is this? The solution is easy, viz., that the sacrifice made is a sacrifice of happiness, a sacrifice of comfort of condition; and the gain made is a gain of something more ennobling, a gain that partakes of the nature of joy. The man of industry and enterprise says within himself, These are not gifts of fortune; they are my conquests, tokens of my patience, economy, application, fortitude, integrity. In them his soul is elevated from within. And it will be found that even worldly men despise mere happiness. None but the tamest will sit down to be nursed by fortune. In such a truth you may see how it is possible for the repentances, sacrifices, self-denials, and labours of the Christian life to issue in joy.

III. THE POSITIVE REALITY ITSELF. We notice —

1. The fact that, in a life of selfishness and sin, there is a wellspring of misery which is now taken away. No matter how fortunate the external condition of an unbelieving, evil mind, there is yet a disturbance, a sorrow within, too strong to be mastered by any outward felicity. The whole internal nature is in a state of discord. And this discord is the misery, the hell of sin. How much, then, does it signify that Christ takes away this? For Christ is the embodied harmony of God, and he that receives Him settles into harmony with Him. Just to exterminate the evil of the mind, and clear the sovereign hell which sin creates in it, would suffice to make a seeming paradise.

2. Besides, there is a fact more positive: the soul is no sooner set in peace with itself than it becomes an instrument in tune, discoursing heavenly music; and now no fires of calamity, no pains of outward torment, can for one moment break the sovereign spell of its joy.

3. But we must ascend to a plane that is higher. Little conception have we of the soul's joy, or capacities of joy, till we see it established in God. It dares to call Him Father without any sense of daring. It is strong with His strength. It turns adversity into peace, for it sees a friendly hand ministering only good in what it suffers. In dark times it is never anxious, for God is its trust, and God will suffer no harm to befall it. To a mind thus tempered, for. tune can add little, and as little take away.

4. The Christian type of character is a character rooted in the Divine love, and in that view has a sovereign bliss welling up from within. No power is strong enough to forbid love, none therefore strong enough to conquer the joy of love; for whoever is loved must be enjoyed. Besides, it is a peculiarity of love that it takes possession of its neighbour's riches and successes, and makes them its own. Loving him, it loves all that he has for his sake. It understands the declaration well, "For all things are yours." Having such resources of joy in its own nature, the word that signifies love, in the original of the New Testament, is radically one with that which signifies joy. According to the family registers of that language, they are twins of the same birth. Love is joy, and all true joy is love. And Christ is an exhibition to us of this fact in His own Person, a revelation of God's eternal joy, as being a revelation of God's eternal love, coming down thus to utter in our ears this glorious call, "Enter ye into the joy of your Lord." He finds us hunting after condition. He says, "Behold My poverty, watch with Me in My agony, follow Me to My Cross. Coming up into love, you clear all dependence of condition, you ascend into the very joy of God; and this is My joy. This I have taught you; this I now bequeath to your race."

IV. SOME OF THE INSPIRING AND QUICKENING THOUGHTS THAT CROWD UPON US IN THE SUBJECT REVIEWED.

1. Joy is for all men. It does not depend on circumstance or condition; if it did, it could only be for the few.

2. The reason why men have it not is that they do not seek it where it is — in the receiving of Christ and the spirit of His life. They go after it in things without, not in character within.

3. It is important that we hold some rational and worthy conception of the heavenly felicity. How easy it is for the Christian, who has tasted the true joy of Christ, to let go the idea of joy and slide into the pursuit only of happiness or the good of condition. No getting into heaven as a place will compass it. You must carry it with you, else it is not there. Consider only whether heaven be in you now. For heaven is nothing but the joy of a perfectly harmonized being filled with God and His love.

(H. Bushnell, D. D.)

Mirth comes from external things which tickle the senses and please the appetite; but joy comes from the happy spirit within us. If this be so, a poor sickly man may not be full of mirth, but he may be full of joy; while a rich man may be sinful and mirthful, and yet have no joy. Mirth comes from outward things, and it therefore lasts only for a short time; but joy springs from an inward eternal force of blessedness. The other day, in London, a kind friend called at my hotel and left me a bouquet of beautiful flowers. I had them put in water, and I said, "I will take these flowers home with me"; but they faded, and the sweet perfume was gone; they were beautiful and fragrant only for a time. So mirth is pleasant while it lasts, but very soon it is gone like a dream; but the joy that comes from trusting God and doing His will has no end; it is an increasing eternal delight. What is more beautiful than a balloon rising in the sky? but what is more unsightly than the beautiful thing emptied and lying, an unshapely mass, upon the ground? Mirth may well be compared to fireworks. How grand they are! why, they put out the light of the stars! but, then, you know, when the fireworks have finished their explosive din, the stars keep on shining forever. Equally enduring shall be the joy of the believer and doer of God's will; he shall be like a light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. Let me remind you of the martyr, John Bradford. When the morning dawned on which he was to be put to death, he had such peace within him that he swung upon the rail of the bedstead in his dungeon, and while he swung he cried, "Oh, I am so happy! We shall light a fire today that will never be put out!" Then he went forth, Smiling and joyful, to the stake in Smithfield, glorifying God; and so he died. Can you find anything in sinful pleasure to give a joy like that? Will you find it in the intoxicating cup? In gambling? In any of the sinful indulgencies of life? No, no; they are not solid; they let you down at the critical moment when they ought to sustain you. You find that they give no help, and you are left alone like a boy on the ice when it gives way, and he cries for a friend and deliverer, and there is none.

(W. Birch.)

Jesus, DisciplesJerusalemComplete, Full, Joy, Order, Perfect, Spoken1. 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 15:11

     1070   God, joy of
     2039   Christ, joy of
     4915   completion
     5013   heart, divine
     8322   perfection, human
     9414   heaven, community of redeemed

John 15:7-11

     8289   joy, of church

John 15:9-14

     8115   discipleship, nature of

John 15:10-11

     8117   discipleship, benefits

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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