John 15:8

Joh_15:8

Herein is My Father glorified, that ye hear much fruit

God glorified in His people

The great majority of Christs 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 Gods world. The great teaching of the text is this: Mans 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 mans 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 MANS 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 mans 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 preachers voice, and, like the light, makes their darkness visible. (E. L. Hull, B. A.)

God requires that His vines be fruitful

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.)

Much fruit

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.)

Christian fruitfulness

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 Lords 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 Gods 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.)

Union with Christ the sole condition of fruitfulness

Our only possibility of bearing any fruit worthy of our natures and of Gods 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. Christs 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.)

Fruitfulness the true proof of the trees excellence and the gardeners skill

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.)

Christian fruitfulness

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 GODS 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 Saviours 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, Gods nature would have flowed into mans with an unimpeded current. Sin checked this, and now the sacred influence, the Holy Spirits 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 Gods purpose in reference to you, of Christs 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.)

Defective fruitfulness

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, illshapen, 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.)

Fruit bearing the test of discipleship

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 Gods 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 Christs 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 cant. 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 Lords 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.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh 15:8. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit — “As the end for which my Father has given the gospel dispensation to men, is to make them fruitful in holiness, you, my apostles, by spreading the true knowledge thereof through the world, and by reforming yourselves and others, will do honour unto God’s wisdom and goodness in bestowing this dispensation upon you.” But as the holiness of the apostles, and the diligent discharge of their duty in preaching the gospel, would be to the glory of God, in effecting, through his grace, the conversion and salvation of mankind; so, the fruitfulness of all Christians, in a lower and narrower sphere, tends greatly to promote the glory of God; for many, by seeing their good works, are brought to imitate the same, and glorify their Father who is in heaven, Mat 5:16. So shall ye be my disciples — Thus shall you appear to all really to be what you call yourselves, my true disciples, and to act in a way worthy of your character and relation to me. Hereby shall you both evidence your discipleship and adorn it; and shall be owned by me as my disciples in the great day of final accounts, and have the reward of disciples, a share in the joy of your Lord. Observe, reader, to be a disciple of Christ, is both the foundation and height of Christianity.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

much fruit

Three degrees in fruit-bearing: "Fruit," Joh 15:2, "more fruit," Joh 15:2, "much fruit," Joh 15:5; Joh 15:8. As we bear "much fruit" the Father is glorified in us. The minor moralities and graces of Christianity are often imitated, but never the ninefold "fruit" of Gal 5:22; Gal 5:23. Where such fruit is the Father glorified. The Pharisees were moral and intensely "religious," but not one of them could say with Christ, "I have glorified thee on the earth" Joh 17:4.

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

15:8 True disciples will experience a transformed, fruit-bearing life because they live in a relationship of love with both Jesus and the Father (15:9-10).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Joh 15:8. Ἐδοξάσθη, has been (is) glorified) and hath appointed that He should be glorified.—ἵνα, that) This depends on τούτῳ, in this.—πολὺν, much) The multitude of the grapes reflects honour on the vine-dresser.—γενήσεσθε) Others have written it γενήσησθε or γένησθε, on account of the ἵνα. The Vulgate has efficiamini. What the Latin translator (Jerome) read in the Greek, is not quite clear. The same decision may be come to as regards the other versions.[358] The construction would not be amiss, ἽΝΑ ΦΈΡΗΤΕ ΚΑῚ ΓΕΝΉΣΕΣΘΕ: comp. the note on Mar 3:27.[359] But we rather thus explain the construction, In this (namely, that ye bear much fruit), both My FATHER is glorified, and I shall have disciples who reflect honour on Me.—ἐμοὶ) to or for Me (comp. Mat 27:57, Joseph, who also himself ἐμαθήτευσεν τῷ Ἰησοῦ, was a disciple for Jesus, not merely of Jesus, but one who was both a disciple himself, and strove to win others also to Him), or else of Me, My.—μαθηταὶ) This is to be taken in a pregnant sense, “ye shall be disciples, i.e. worthy of Me:” ch. Joh 13:35, “By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another.” The foundation of Christianity in a man is for him to become a disciple of Christ: its complete superstructure is to be a disciple of Christ.

[358] BDLX read γένησθε, and so Lachm. AΔ and Rec. Text have γενήσεσθε. bc and Vulg. ‘efficiamini;’ a ‘sitis.’ Three MSS. γενήσησθε.—E. and T.

[359] ἐὰν μὴ δήσῃ, καὶ τότε διαρπάσει, the Indic. future coming after ἐὰν μή with the Subjunctive, the idea of contingency being more prominent in the former than in the latter clause, which indeed is a kind of positive Apodosis to the former. So LXX. Deu 20:5.—E. and T.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh_15:8. A further carrying out of this incitement to abiding on Him, and that by bringing out the great importance, rich in its results, of this granting of prayer, which is attached to the abiding required.

ἐν τούτῳ] Herein, to this a forward reference is generally given, so that ἵνα, κ.τ.λ. is the contents of τοῦτο. But thus understood, since ἵνα is not equivalent to ὅτι, this ἵνα would express, that in the obligation (you ought, Joh_15:12, comp. on Joh_6:29), or in the destination to bear much fruit, the δόξα of the Father is given. This is not appropriate, as it is rather in the actual fruit-bearing itself that that δόξα must lie, and hence ὅτι must have been employed. To distinguish ἵνα, however, merely by supplying as I hope (Lücke) from ὅτι, does not satisfy the telic nature of the word.[164] Hence (and not otherwise in 1Jn_4:17) ἐν τούτῳ, as in Joh_4:37, Joh_16:30, is to be taken as a retrospective reference (so also Lange), and that not to the μένειν in itself, but to the immediately preceding Ὃ ἘᾺΝ ΘΈΛΗΤΕ ΑἸΤΉΣΑΣΘΕ Κ. ΓΕΝΉΣ. ὙΜῖΝ, so far, namely, as it takes place in him who abides in Christ. In this granting of prayer allotted to the μένειν ἐν ἐμοί, says Jesus, a twofold resultand this a high incentive to that ΜΈΝΕΙΝis given, namely, (1) when what you ask falls to your lot, then in this result my Father has been glorified (ἔλλαχε τιμήν, Nonnus), that youfor that is Gods design in this His δοξάζεσθαιmay bear much fruit (which is just to be the actual further course of that granting of prayer, comp. Joh_15:16); and (2) you will, in virtue of the fulfilment of all your prayers, become, in a truly proper and specific sense, my disciples, who belong to no other (note the emphatic possessive ἐμοί, as in Joh_13:35), since this hearing of prayer is the holy characteristic simply and solely of my disciples (Joh_14:13-14).

The future γενήσεσθε may depend on ἵνα (comp. on ἸΆΣΟΜΑΙ, Joh_12:40, see also on 1Co_9:18; Eph_6:3), as Ewald connects it; independently, however, of ἽΝΑ, and therefore connected with ἘΝ ΤΟΎΤῼ, the words convey more weight in the independence appropriate to their distinctive contents. The Lord, however, does not say ἜΣΕΣΘΕ, but He sees the full development of His discipledom beginning with the ἐν τούτῳ.

[164] Cyril already rightly recognised that ἵνα cannot be an explanation of ἐν τούτῳ, but only a statement of the purpose of ἐδοξ. ὁ πατ. μ. But quite irrelevantly he referred ἐδοξ. ὁ πατ. μ. to the mission of the Son.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh 15:8 . Further assurance of an answer is given in the fact that the γεωργός is glorified in the fruit-bearing branches: ἐν τούτῳ , “in this pre-eminently,” i.e. , in your bearing much fruit, cf. Joh 6:29-30 ; Joh 6:40 . So, rightly, Weiss and Holtzmann. For construction with ἵνα see Burton on Subject, Predicate and Appositive clauses introduced by ἵνα . ἐδοξάσθη ὁ πατήρ μου , ἵνα , etc. ἐδοξάσθη , proleptic; cf. Joh 13:31 . The Father is glorified in everything which demonstrates that through Christ His grace reaches and governs men. καὶ γενήσεσθε ἐμοὶ μαθηταί , “and ye shall become my disciples”. The ἐμοὶ μαθηταί seems to mean: This is the relation you will hold to me, viz. , that of discipleship. “A Christian never ‘is,’ but always ‘is becoming’ a Christian. And it is by his fruitfulness that he indicates his claim to the name.” Westcott.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

As who would say, Herein shall my Father be glorified, and herein also shall you be my disciples, if you bring forth much fruit.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

glorified that ye bear much fruit--not only from His delight in it for its own sake, but as from "the juices of the Living Vine."

so shall ye be my disciples--evidence your discipleship.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 8. Herein is my Father glorified] Or, honoured. It is the honour of the husbandman to have good, strong, vigorous vines, plentifully laden with fruit: so it is the honour of God to have strong, vigorous, holy children, entirely freed from sin, and perfectly filled with his love.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

8. In this my Father is glorified This is a confirmation of the former statement; for he shows that we ought not to doubt that God will listen to the prayers of his people, when they desire to be rendered fruitful; for this contributes very greatly to his glory. But by this end or effect he likewise kindles in them the desire of doing good; for there is nothing which we ought to value more highly than that the name of God may be glorified by us. To the same effect is the latter clause, that you may become my disciples; for he declares that he has no one in his flock who does not bear fruit to the glory of God.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(8) Herein is my Father glorified.—This clause is generally understood of the words which follow as it is taken in our English version, but the rendering is liable to the objection that it gives a forced meaning to the word “that” (Ἱυα), which is properly used to express purpose. We may here (as in Joh_4:37; Joh_16:30) take “herein” to refer to the words which have gone before. By so doing we give a natural meaning to the words, and get a satisfactory sense for the sentence. The thought then will be, “In this doing whatever ye ask, my Father is glorified, in order that ye may bear much fruit, and that ye may become my disciples.”

So shall ye be my disciples.—Better, and may become My disciples. The pronoun is strongly emphatic. The living union with Christ, which made all their prayers, prayers in His name, and prayers which He would answer, and made them abound with fruit to the glory of God, was the characteristic which marked them as His true disciples.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

8. Herein is my Father glorified] As in Joh_15:6, the verb is the aorist passive; not ‘is being glorified’ but ‘is glorified,’ i.e. whenever the occasion arises. The aorist is used of an act regarded in itself as accomplished at any conceivable moment: comp. Joh_17:26. ‘When ye pray and obtain your prayers through abiding in Me, My Father is glorified already.’ It is best to understand ‘herein’ as referring to what precedes (comp. Joh_4:37 and Joh_16:30), in order to give the proper meaning to ‘that.’

that ye bear] Literally, in order that ye may bear: it is S. John’s favourite particle once more, expressing the Divine purpose (comp. Joh_8:56, Joh_9:2-3, Joh_11:15; Joh_11:50, Joh_12:23, Joh_13:1-2, &c.). ‘Herein’ cannot refer to ‘in order that’ without awkwardness.

so shall ye be my disciples] Rather, and may become My disciples. The construction introduced by ‘in order that’ continues to the end of the verse; moreover the difference between ‘to be’ and ‘to become’ should be preserved (see on Joh_10:19, Joh_1:6). The sense of the whole will therefore be; ‘In granting your prayers My Father is glorified, in order that ye may be fruitful and become My disciples.’

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

As the Father hath loved me,.... As his own Son, and as Mediator, from everlasting; and in time, in his state of humiliation, throughout the course of his obedience, and under all his sufferings; which he testified more than once by a voice from heaven; which he showed by concealing nothing from him as Mediator, by giving all things into his hands, by showing him all that he himself did, by appointing him the Saviour of the body, and making him the head of the church, by exalting him at his right hand, and ordaining him to be judge of quick and dead.

So have I loved you: Christ loves his as his spouse and bride, as his dear children, as members of his body, as branches in him the vine, as believers in him, and followers of him; which he has shown by espousing both their persons and cause, by assuming their nature, by suffering and dying in their room and stead, and making all suitable provision for them, both for time and eternity. And there is a likeness between the Father's love to him, and his love to his disciples and followers: as his Father loved him from everlasting, so did he love them; as his Father loved him with a love of complacency and delight, so did he, and so does he love them; and as his Father loved him with a special and peculiar affection, with an unchangeable, invariable, constant love, which will last for ever, in like manner does Christ love his people; and with this he enforces the following exhortation.

Continue ye in my love: meaning either in his love to them, which, as he always continues in it without any variableness or shadow of turning, so he would have them continue in believing their interest in it, prizing and valuing it, in imitating and remembering it; or else in their love to him, to his person, to his people, to his Gospel, to his ordinances, ways, and worship, which he knew was liable to wax cold, though it could not be lost.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.

Ver. 8. Herein is my Father glorified, &c.] There is not (saith one) so much of the glory of God in all his works of creation and providence as in one gracious action that a Christian performs; how much more in a life full of good fruits! This makes others say, Surely God is in them. Vere magnus est Deus Christianorum, said one Calocenius a heathen. God also accounts that he receives a new being, as it were, by those inward conceptions of his glory, and by those outward honours that we do to him, especially when we study God’s ends more than our own, and drown all self-respects in his glory. Surely, they that do thus may have what they will (saith one), and God even think himself beholden to them.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Herein - In this - to wit, in your bearing much fruit.

Glorified - Honored.

Bear much fruit - Are fruitful in good works; are faithful, zealous, humble, devoted, always abounding in the work of the Lord. This honors God.

Because it shows the excellence of his law which requires it. Because it shows the power of his gospel, and of that grace which can overcome the evil propensities of the heart and produce it. Because the Christian is restored to the divine image, and it shows how excellent is the character after which they are formed. They imitate God, and the world sees that the whole tendency of the divine administration and character is to make man holy; to produce in us that which is lovely, and true, and honest, and of good report. Compare Mat 7:20; Phi 4:8.

So - That is, in doing this.

Shall ye be my disciples - This is a true test of character. It is not by profession, but it is by a holy life, that the character is tried. This is a test which it is easy to apply, and one which decides the case. It is worthy of remark that the Saviour says that those who bear much fruit are they who are his disciples. The design and tendency of his religion is to excite men to do much good, and to call forth all their strength, and time, and talents in the work for which the Saviour laid down his life. Nor should anyone take comfort in the belief that he is a Christian who does not aim to do much good, and who does not devote to God all that he has in an honest effort to glorify his name, and to benefit a dying world. The apostles obeyed this command of the Saviour, and went forth preaching the gospel everywhere, and aiming to bring all men to the knowledge of the truth; and it is this spirit only, manifested in a proper manner, which can constitute any certain evidence of piety.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

It is the glory of the husbandman, to see his vine well cultivated, and laden with fruit. And it is the glory of God, my Father, to see you filled with faith, charity, and good works, and to behold you usefully employed, in the conversion of others. Then will men, seeing your heavenly Father, as the author of all these blessings. (St. Matthew v. 16.) (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Here are two arguments to press his disciples’ abiding in him, that so they might bring forth much fruit.

Herein (saith our Saviour) is my Father glorified. The glorifying of God is the great end of our lives, 1Co 10:31. God is glorified by men and women’s bringing forth much fruit, Mat 5:16, the fruit unto holiness, Rom 6:22; fruit is the product of the plant, from the natural moisture that is in it, nourished and augmented by the fatness of the earth in which it stands, and by the warmth of the sun drawn out to the producing of such effects, according to the nature of the plant. According to the different nature of plants they bring forth various fruits, Mat 7:16-18. Hence we read of the fruit of sin unto death, and the fruit of righteousness unto life. The first is every man’s natural fruit, until he be ingrafted into Christ: being ingrafted into him, the soul having a new nature given to it, being regenerated and renewed by the Holy Ghost, it no longer bringeth forth fruit from its old principle, and according to its old nature, but from its new principle, and according to its new nature. As the cultivated earth, that is ploughed and harrowed, doth not bring forth weeds and ordinary grass, according to its nature, but bringeth forth fruit according to the seed that is cast into it, yet not without the influence of heaven, both with respect to the dew of it, and the warmth which it hath from the sun; so the soul, being regenerated, the fallow ground of it being ploughed up, and the seed of righteousness being sown in it, no more brings forth the weeds of lusts and corruptions, or only ordinary acts of human nature, but it brings forth fruits according to its new nature, and the new seed of the word now sown in it, and dwelling in it. And look, as it tendeth to the honour of the husbandman, when the ground by him ploughed and manured brings forth much fruit; so it tendeth to the honour and glory of God, when the souls renewed, manured, and influenced by him, bring forth much of the fruit of righteousness and holiness. And though men must be Christ’s disciples before they bring forth any fruit, yet their bringing forth much fruit is that which alone can evidence and make them appear to be the disciples of Christ. And often in Scripture being signifieth appearing, as Joh 8:31; Rom 3:4.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

8. My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit—The second stage of advancement is, that our very advancement contributes to the honour and glory of God among men. Herein is the disciple’s great honour, that God accepts his advancement as honour to himself.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Here the Lord shows what he knows will be and must be the dominant desire of the man who abides in himself, in whom his own word abides. Such a man will seek, yearn, ask, that he should bear much fruit. This prayer will be heard, and in this sublime synthesis between Christ and his disciples, says Christ, was my Father glorified. "In the fruitfulness of the vine is the glory of the husbandman," and in the answer of your prayers, and the regulation of all your desires, so ye shall become my disciples. "Discipleship" is a very large word, never altogether realized. Just as faith leads to faith, and love to love, and light to light, so does discipleship to discipleship. As Bengel says, discipleship is the fundamentum et fastigium of Christianity. On earth the vine reveals itself in the branches, and thus conceals itself behind them. "This explains why the diffusion of spiritual life makes such slow progress in the world the Vine effects nothing but by means of the branches, and these so often paralyze instead of promoting the action of the Vine" (Godet). If the other text be maintained, Herein was my Father glorified, so that ye might bear much fruit, and that ye may become my disciples, the "herein" points back to the previous verse, and then the contemplated result of the arrangement, rather than the purpose of the glory, is the matter referred to.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

So shall ye be my disciples - Worthy of the name. To be a disciple of Christ is both the foundation and height of Christianity.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Our Lord here exhorts his followers to an holy fruitfulness in good works, by a double argument.

One drawn from the glory of God: Herein is my Father glorified.

The other from their own advantage: So shall ye be my disciples; that is, hereby ye shall evidence and prove yourselves to be my disciples.

Learn hence, That a Christian’s abounding fruitfulness in good works will abundantly conduce to the honour and glory of God, and also to his own peace and comfort, by being the best evidence of his discipleship.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

My Father is glorified in this

You can translate this in an active form. AT: "It causes people to honor my Father" (See: Active or Passive)

My Father

This is an important title for God. (See: Translating Son and Father)

that you bear much fruit

Here "fruit" is a metaphor for living to please God. AT: "when you live in a way that pleases him" (See: Metaphor)

are my disciples

"show you are my disciples" or "demonstrate you are my disciples"

As the Father has loved me, I have also loved you

Jesus shares the love that God the Father has for him with those who trust in him. Here "Father" is an important title for God. (See: Translating Son and Father)

Remain in my love

"Continue to accept my love"

translationWords

God the Father

glory

disciple

love

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

8. ἐν τούτῳ. Looks back to Joh 15:5; Joh 15:7 or perhaps forward to ἵνα; comp. Joh 4:37, Joh 16:30; 1Jn 4:17. The aorist ἐδοξάσθη is similar to those in Joh 15:6. The Father is already glorified in the union between Christ and His disciples. He is glorified whenever the occasion arises. For ἵνα see on Joh 1:8: that ye may bear much fruit and become My disciples, or disciples to Me. Even Apostles may become still more truly disciples to Christ. A well-supported reading (γενήσεσθε) gives ye shall become.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

8.] ἐν τούτῳ belongs to the following, not the preceding: ἐν τούτῳ, ἵνα.… as in E. V., see reff.

ἐδοξάσθη again is proleptic, representing that in the spiritual dispensation the fact is habitually so. See on this sense of the aorist, Winer, edn. 6, § 40. 5. b. 2.

The πολὺς καρπός is not merely ‘large success in the apostolic mission,’ but ‘individual advance in bringing forth the fruits of the Spirit.’

καὶ γένησθε] and that ye may become My (true) disciples, ἀπαρτισθήσεσθε, Euthym. (reading the future, see below.) “Fundamentum Christianismi, fieri discipulum Christi: fastigium, esse discipulum Christi.” Bengel. According to the reading γενήσεσθε, the actual result of what precedes is stated: and so ye shall become …

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

8. ἐν τούτῳ, sc. in the fact that His followers abide in Christ (v. 7), the reference being retrospective: “in this is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit.” The γεωργός (v. 1) is always glorified if the trees of his planting are fruitful; and so in Isa 61:3 the purpose of the mission of Yahweh’s servant was “that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified.” The perfection of human character is the glory of God: all good works are ad maiorem Dei gloriam (cf. Mat 5:16). So Jesus spoke of His signs as exhibiting the glory of God (11:40).

The aor. ἐδοξάσθη is used proleptically. The issue is so sure that it is spoken of as already a fact. See, for a similar usage, v. 6 and 12:23, 13:1, 31.

For the phrase ὁ πατήρ μου, see on 2:16.

γενήσεσθε. So אA: γένησθε is read by BDLΘ. If γένησθε is read, the rendering is “that ye bear much fruit and become my disciples.” But γενήσεσθε is better: “that ye bear much fruit: so shall you become my disciples,” or literally “disciples to me,” ἐμοί (cf. 13:35.) expressing the relationship more affectionately than μου (which is read by D*). Cf. 8:31, “if ye abide in my word, ye are truly my disciples.”

It is to have gone a long way in the Christian course to be able to appropriate the promise of v. 7; but the final cause of such progress is that “fruit” may appear, not in service only but in the development of character, to the glory of God. And the highest aspiration of all is to become “a disciple.” “True discipleship is hardly begun until the earthly life is near its end and the fruit hangs thick and ripe upon the branches of the Vine”1 Cf. the saying of Ignatius, when on his way to martyrdom, νῦν ἅρχομαι μαθητὴς εἶναι (Rom_5).

The Love of Jesus for His Disciples (vv. 9-11)

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Herein [εν τουτω] . Commonly referred to what follows. My Father is glorified in this, namely, that ye bear much fruit. It is better to refer it back to ver. 7. In the perfect unity of will between the Son and the disciple, which results in the disciple 's obtaining whatever he asks, the Father is glorified. To this effect is Joh 14:13, "Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son." The design of this glorification is that [ινα] you may bear much fruit. This retrospective reference of ejn toutw, in this, or herein, occurs in Joh 4:37; Joh 16:30; 1Jo 4:17.

Is glorified [εδοξασθη] . The aorist tense; was glorified. As in ver. 6, marking the point when the Father 's glory was realized in the perfect union of the believer 's will with Christ 's.

So shall ye be [και γενησεσθε] . Literally, and ye shall become. Some editors, however, read genhsqe, and connect, in the same construction with the preceding clause, rendering, "Herein is (was) my Father glorified, that ye might bear much fruit and become my disciples." Note that the word is become, not be. Christian discipleship implies progress and growth.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.