PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels — St. John — Volume 3
Ryle, J. C. (John Charles), 1816–1900 · 220,804 words · 484 reading sections
58 EXPOSITORY THOUGHTS.
the crucifixion and resurrection compared to what they might have known, and little compared to what they afterwards knew after the day of Pentecost. About our Lord's purpose in coming into the world, about His sa- crificial death and substitution for us on the cross, their ignorance was glaring and great. It might wel…
314 wordsSECTION 62JOHN, CHAP. XIV. 59
"I am the way, the trutli, and the life." The fulness of these precious words can probably never be taken in by man. He that attempts to unfold them does little more than scratch tlie surface of a rich soil. Christ is " the way," — the way to heaven and peace with God. He is not only the guide, and teacher, and lawgiv…
329 wordsSECTION 63QQ EXPOSITOEY THOCJGIITS.
pressly the Lord Jesus shuts out all ways of salvation hut Himself. " No man," He declares, " No man cometh unto the Father but by Me." It avails nothing that a man is clever, learned, highly- gifted, amiable, charitable, kind-hearted, and zealous about some sort of religion. All this will not save his soul if he does…
786 wordsSECTION 64^2 EXPOSITOKY THOUGHTS.
again, tliat though she goes, she will come again, and then It shall go with her, and she will part from it no more. The child is yet impatient ; she endeavoreth to still it, telling it that it knoweth whitlier she goeth, and it knows the way by which, if need be, it may come to her." Let us note that disciples often …
490 wordsSECTION 65JOHN, CHAP. XIV. 63
Boot and Fountain of all life in religion, ttie Eedeemer from death and the Giver of everlasting life. He that knows and believes in Me, however weak and ignorant he may feel, has spiritual life now, and will have a glorious life in my Father's house hereafter." Some think that the three great words in this sentence s…
492 wordsSECTION 6664 EXPOSITOEY THOUGHTS.
[Jnd from lienceforth... known.. ..seen Ilim.] The meaninr^ of these words seems to be, " Understand from this time for- ward, that in knowing Me you know the Father, and in seeing Me see the Father, so far as the Father can be seen and known by man." Although the Son and the Father are two distinct persona in the Trin…
514 wordsSECTION 67JOHN, CHAP. XIV. (55
[7/f ..seen me...seen the Father^ This deep sentence cl^n only mean "He that hath thoroughly seen me with the eye of faith, and realized that I am the eternal Son, the Divine Messiah, hath seen as much of my Father, whose express image I- am, as mortal man can comprehend." There is so close and intimate a union between…
482 wordsSECTION 68QQ EXPOSITOEY THOUGHTS.
11. — [Belie'De Me. ..in the Father. ..in ife.] Direct instruction fol- lows the rebuke of the preceding verse. Our Lord repeats for the benefit not of Pliilip only, but of all the eleven, the great doctrine He had so often taught them. " Once more, I say, Believe, all of you, my words, when I say that I and the Fa- th…
233 wordsSECTION 69JOHN XIV. 12—17.
12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that belicvcth on me, the works tluit I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he o ; because I go unto iny Father. 13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If ye shall ask anything in my name, I …
559 wordsSECTION 7068 EXPOSITOEY THOUGHTS.
Lord says, " Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do. ... If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it." These words are a direct encouragement to the sim- ple, yet great duty of praying. Every one who kneels daily before God, and from his heart " says his prayers," has a right to take comfort in these…
659 wordsSECTION 7170 EXPOSITOKY THOUGHTS.
" to abide with them " until Christ comes the second time. He is meant to supply all the needs of believers, and to -fill up all that is wanting while Christ's visible presence is removed. He is sent to abide with and help them until Christ returns. These are truths of vast importance. Let us take care that we grasp t…
864 wordsSECTION 7272 EXPOSITOKY THOUGHTS.
that it is not said " If ye ask in my name, the Father will do it : " but " I will do it." 15. — [If ye love. ..keep. ..commandments.'] Here we have a direct practical exhortation. " If ye real]y love Me, prove your love not by weeping and lamenting at my departure, but by striving to do my will when 1 am gone. Doing,…
477 wordsSECTION 73JOHN, CHAP. XIV. ^3
When we read of the " Spirit abiding forever " witli disci- ples, it means that He will not, like Christ after His resurrec- tion, return to the Father, but will always be with God's peo- ple until Christ comes again. The word "Comforter" is the same that is translated " Advo- cate," and applied to Christ Himself in 1…
466 wordsSECTION 74EXPOSITOEY THOUGHTS.
ing- here must be that the eleven knew something" experiment- ally of the Spirit's work. They might not be fully acquainted with Him ; but He was actually in them, making them what they were, and He would remain in them, and carry on the work He had begun to a glorious end. " "VS'hether you know it thoroughly and right…
156 wordsSECTION 75JOHN XIV. 18—20.
18 I will not leave you comfort- less : I will come to you. 19 Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more ; but ye see me ; because I live, ye shall live also. 20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. The short passage before us is singularly rich in "precious promise…
555 wordsSECTION 7676 EXPOSITORY THOUGHTS.
life destroyed. But this, since Christ is very God, is totally impossible ! " Christ being raised from the dead, dieth no more : death hath no more dominion over Him." (Rom. vi. 9.) That which is divine, in the very nature of things, cannot die. Christ's life secures the continuance of spiritual life to His people. Th…
644 wordsSECTION 7778 EXPOSITOEY THOUGHTS.
marginal reading of the English version. It beautifully de- Bcribes the helpless, solitary, friendless state, by comparison, in which the disciples of Christ were left, when He died and was withdrawn from their bodily eyes. " In that condition," says Jesus, " I will not leave you. You shall not always be orphans." It a…
479 wordsSECTION 78JOHN, CHAP. XIV.
79 [Because 1 live, ye shall live also.'] Tins great deep saying of Christ seems to admit of a very wide aud full signification " Your spiritual life now, and your eternal life hereafter, are both secured by my life. The life of the Head guarantees the life of the members. I live, have life in myself, can never die, c…
284 wordsSECTION 79JOHN XIV. 21—26.
21 He that hatli my command- ments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me : aud he that loveth me shall be loved of my father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. 22 Judas saith unto him, not Is- cariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world ? 23 Jesus a…
203 wordsSECTION 8080 EXPOSITOEY THOUGHTS.
needs continually pressing on the attention of Chris- tians. It is not talking about religion, and talking fluently and well too, but steadily doing Christ's will and walking in Christ's ways, that is the proof of our being true believers. Good feelings and desires are use- less if they are not accompanied by action. T…
664 wordsSECTION 8182 EXPOSITOEY THOUGHTS.
To confine this promise to the eleven Apostles, as some do, seems a narrow and unsatisfactory mode of in- terpreting Scripture. It appears to reach far beyond the day of Pentecost, and the gift of writing inspired books of God's Holy Word. It is safer, wiser, and more consistent with the whole tone of our Lord's last d…
339 wordsSECTION 82JOHN, CHAP. XIV. 33
ence is the true test of real love to Christ, and not knowledge and talk only. Many have, but do not keep Christ's will. Burgon observes, " This amounts to a declaration that the Bad hearts and weeping eyes of the Apostles would not be ac- cepted by their Lord as any proof of their love. Obedience was the test He chos…
485 wordsSECTION 8334 EXPOSITORY THOUGHTS.
Thomas, Philip, and Jude, ignorant and slow as they were drew out of our Lord's mouth rich and precious sayings. [^How is U...mauifest...us...not...ioorld.] This question is the simple inquiry of one guessing after the truth, and not able to see clearly what our Lord's words meant, — whether a visible or an invisible …
472 wordsSECTION 84JOHN, CHAP. XIV. 35
sentence is to remind the disciples of the authority and dignity of our Lord's sayings and commandments. They are not His words only, but His Father's. He that despises them despises the Father, and He that honors them by obedience honors the Father. 25. — [These things. ..spoken.. .present with you.'] Our Lord seems …
478 wordsSECTION 85EXPOSITOKY THOUGHTS.
the time thev heard and saw them, it is almost needless to point out. (Johnii. 22;.xii. 16.) Some apply these words especially to the gift of inspiration by which the Xew Testament Scriptures were written. I can- not see this. The promise was to the whole eleven, of whom only five were allowed to write ! This is stron…
188 wordsSECTION 86JOHN XIV. 27-31.
27 Peace I leave with you, my peace 1 give unto you ; not as tiie world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. 23 Ye have heard how I said unto yon, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye' loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father; for my Father is …
222 wordsSECTION 87JOHN, CHAP. XIV. 87
deep subject. Perhaps the less we speculate and dog- matize about it the better. Our Lord was one who never spoke a word without a meaning, and we need not doubt there was a meaning here. Yet may we not reverently suppose that He desired to leave on the minds of His disciples a strong impression of his entire unity wit…
327 wordsSECTION 8888 EXPOSITOEY THOUGHTS.
The peace that Christ gives is not given as the world gives. What He gives the world cannot give at all, and what He gives is given neither unwillingly, nor sparingly, nor for a little time. Christ is far more will- ing to give than the world is to receive. AVhat He gives He gives to all eternity, and never takes away.…
337 wordsSECTION 89JOHN, CHAP. XIV. 39
my charge. He cannot condemn Me. I shall come forth from the trial more than conqueror." Let us mark the difference between Christ and all others who have been born of woman. He is the only one in whom Satan has found " nothing." He came to Adam and Eve, and found weakness. He came to Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, and …
349 wordsSECTION 9090 EXPOSITOEY THOUGHTS.
I My peace give 1 unto you.] The expression " my peace," Beems to indicate something peculiar in the gift here promisee Does it not mean " a sense of that peace with God which I am^ purchasing with my blood, — that inward calm and rest of soul which faith in Me procures for believers, — that peace which it is my specia…
1,048 wordsSECTION 9192 EXPOSITOKY THOUGHTS.
do die and go, you may continue believing, and not have your faitli shaken." 30. — [Hereafter. ..not talk much with you.] This must mean that our Lord would not talk much more before His crucifixion. The time was short, and the betrayal and suffering drew nigh. It does not refer to the time after our Lord's resurrect…
478 wordsSECTION 92JOHN, CHAP. XV.
93 [Arise, let us go hence.'] These words seem to indicate a change of position, and probably mean tliat oui Lord at tliis point rose from tlie table where He had been speaking, and walked out towards the garden of Getbsemane. The rest of His discourse He seems to have delivered in the act of walking, without a single…
281 wordsSECTION 93JOHN XV. 1—6.
1 I am the true vine, and my Fa- ther is the husbandman. 2 Every branch in me tliat bear- eth not fruit he taketh away : and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. 3 Now ye are clean through the word which 1 have spoken unto you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch…
179 wordsSECTION 9494 EXPOSITOKY THOUGHTS.
general lesson of each parable is the main thing to be noticed. The minor details must not be tortured and pressed to an excess, in order to extract a meaning from them. The mistakes into which Christians have fallen by neglecting this rule, are neither few nor small. We are meant to learn first, from these verses, th…
342 wordsSECTION 95JOHN, CHAP. XV. 95
nance and perseverance of believers. Weak as they are in themselves, their Root is in heaven, and never dies. " When I am weak," said Paul, " then am I strong." (2 Cor. xii. 10.) We are meant to learn, secondly, from these verses, that there are false Christians as well as true ones. There are " branches in the vine "…
641 wordsSECTION 96JOHN, CHAP. XV. 9-7
more fruitful, so does God purify and sanctify believers by the circumstances of life in which He places them. Trial, to speak plainly, is the instrument by which our Father in heaven makes Christians more holy. By trial He calls out their passive graces, and proves whether they can suffer His will as well as do it. B…
361 wordsSECTION 9798 EXPOSITOEY THOUGHTS.
careful not to press each, sentence in it too far ; and, in all parables, we must look at the great lesson which it contains, rather than at each clause. — The old saying is most true, that no parable stands on four legs ;" and in all parables there are parts which are only the drapery of the figure, and not the figure…
517 wordsSECTION 98JOHN, CHAP. XV. 99
Liglitfoot says, "Hitherto Israel had been the vine, into which every one that would worship the true God must be grafted. But from henceforward they were to be planted into the profession of Christ." The meaning of the verse seems to be this : — " The relation between you and Me is that of a vine and its branches. I …
527 wordsSECTION 99100 EXPOSITORY THOUGHTS.
a man joined to the company of my people, but not joined to me." The true meaning of the verse I believe to be this : " My Father deals with my mystical body just as the vine-dresser deals with the vine and its branches. He will no more allow any of my members to be fruitless and graceless, than a vine- dresser will a…
973 wordsSECTION 100102 EXPOSITOEY THOUGHTS.
leading idea of the parable, in order to impress tlie lesson He is teacliing on the disciples' minds : — " I repeat the assertion I made. The relation between you and Me must be as close and intimate as that between a vine and its branches." [He that abideth...much fruity Here our Lord gives encour- agement to the dis…
507 wordsSECTION 101JOHN, CHAP. XV. IQ^
Tt is notewortliy that tlie Greek would be more literally ren- dered, " He lias been cast out," and " Has been withered," in the past tense. Alford thinks that this is because the whole is spoken as if the great day of judgment were come. — Also the word " men " is supplied in our translation. Literally it would be, " …
134 wordsSECTION 102JOHN XV. 7—11.
10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love ; even as I have kept my Father's command- ments, and abide in his love. 11 These things have I spoken ny joy might id that yoi unto you, that my joy might re- main in you, might be full. 7 If yt abide in me, and ray words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye wi…
264 wordsSECTION 103104: EXPOSITOEY THOUGHTS.
will, and it shall be done unto you." This is a distinct promise of power and success in prayer. And what does it turn upon ? We must " abide in Christ," and Christ's " words must abide in us." To abide in Christ means to keep up a habit of con- stant close communion with Him, — to be always leaning on Him, resting on…
329 wordsSECTION 104JOHN, CHAP. XV.
105 tioiis. We must keep up intimate friendship with the great Advocate in heaven, if our petitions are to prosper. In the second place, our Lord declares, "Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit ; so shall ye be my disciples." The meaning of this promise seems to be, tha.t fruitfulness in Christian p…
336 wordsSECTION 105IQQ EXPOSITORY THOUGHTS.
piness ; and what God has joined together we must not think to put asunder. In the third place, our Lord declares, "If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love." The mean- ing of this promise is near akin to that of the preceding one. The man who makes conscience of diligently/ ob- serving Chrisfs precepts, …
772 wordsSECTION 106108 EXPOSITOEY THOUGHTS.
8. — {Herein.. .Father glorified...disciples.] In this verse our Lord supplies two more reasons wliy His disciples should abide in Him, and strive to bring forth much fruit of holiness. One reason is, that it will glorify His Father in heaven. Their good works will recommend their religion, and make the world honor the…
483 wordsSECTION 107JOHN, CHAP. XV.
109 [Even as I.. .Ms love.] The statement of this sentence ig one of those which man can never fully grasp. That Christ kept the Father's commandments perfectly, while we can only keep His imperfectly, and that He abides in the Father's love con- tinually and without defect, while our abiding in His love is at least f…
321 wordsSECTION 108JOHN XV. 12—16.
12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. 13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. 14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. 15 Henceforth I call you not ser- vants ; for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth: but I have…
154 wordsSECTION 109110 EXPOSITOEY THOUGHTS.
We should observe first, how our Lord speaks of the grace of brotherly love. He returns to it a second time, though He has already spoken of it in the former part of His discourse. He would have us know that we can never think too highly of love, attach too much weight to it, labor too much to practice it. Truths whic…
645 wordsSECTION 110112 EXPOSITORY THOUGHTS.
bring forth fruit." The choosing here mentioned is evi- dently twofold. It includes not only the election to the Apostolic office, which was peculiar to the eleven, but the election to eternal life, which is the privilege of all believers. To this last " choosing," as it specially con- cerns ourselves, we may profitabl…
339 wordsSECTION 111JOHN, CHAP. XV. ■[]^3
tide of the Church of England truly says, it is a doc- trine '*full of sweet, pleasant, and unspeakable com- fort." Notes. John xv. 12 — 16. 12. — [This. ..commandment...iove... loved you.] In this verse our Lord returns to the old lesson which He has taught before : the great duty of love towards other Christians. H…
445 wordsSECTION 112114: EXPOSITORY THOUGHTS.
15. — [Henceforth 1 call you not servants, c&c] Having used tlie word " friends," our Lord tells His disciples that He has used that word purposely to cheer and encourage them. " Observe that I call you friends. I do so intentionally. I no longer call you servants ; because the servant from his position knows not all h…
507 wordsSECTION 113JOHN, CHAP. XV. 1^5
John vi. 70.) This also is the view of Chrysostom and Cyril, — But most of the Latin fathers apply the " choice " to eternal election. So also does Lampe. My own impression is, that, for once, the expression includes both official and eternal election. The Greek word rendered " ordained " means simply, " I have placed…
391 wordsSECTION 114JOHN XV. 17-21.
17 These things I command you, that ye love one another. 18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. 19 If ye were of the world, the ■vrorld would love his own : but be- cause ye are not of the world, but 1 have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. 20 Eemembei the …
125 wordsSECTION 115116 EXPOSITOKY THOUGHTS.
The passage before us opens with a renewed exhor- tation to brotherly love. For the third time in this dis- course our Lord thinks it needful to press this precious grace on the attention of His disciples. Rare, indeed, must genuine charity be, when such repeated mention of it is made ! In the present instance the conn…
323 wordsSECTION 116JOHN, CHAP. XV. XI 7
nothing. But real vital Christianity will always bring with it a cross. To know and understand these things is of the ut- most importance to our comfort. Nothing is so mis- chievous as the habit of indulging false expectations. Let us realize that human nature never changes, that "the carnal mind is enmity against God…
1,113 wordsSECTION 117120 EXPOSITOEY THOUGHTS.
The expression " his own," means literally " its own thing," its own spirit, tone, character, faith, and life. The whole verse contains rich experimental comfort for true Christians. There are fe\v things that we are so slow to re- alize as the enmity of natural man against God, and all that have anything of God's ima…
487 wordsSECTION 118JOHN, CHAP. XV.
121 " filling up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ." (Coloss, i. 24.) He is " bearing the reproach of Christ." (Heb. xi. 26.) {^Because they know not. ..sent Me.] This sentence is ellipti- cat. It means that dark ignorance was the great cause of the conduct of the unbelieving Jews. They did not rightl…
266 wordsSECTION 119JOHN XV. 22—27.
22 If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin. 23 He that hateth me hateth my Father also. 24 If 1 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. 25 B jt this C…
178 wordsSECTION 120122 EXPOSITOEY THOUGHTS.
We should observe, for one thing, how our Lord speaks of the misuse of religious privileges. It intensifies man's guilt, and will increase his condemnation. He tells His disciples that if He had not " spoken " and " done " among the Jews things which none ever spoke or did before, "they had not had sin." By this, we mu…
316 wordsSource & rights
Public-domain historical edition (1857). Text from OCR of an original Internet Archive scan; OCR may contain recognition errors.
Project Gutenberg source record →
Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.