Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.—John 15:14 
HE words are a part of Christ’s discourse after the supper He 
had instituted. The chapter begins with a parable, wherein 
Christ likens Himself to a vine and the disciples (and conse-
quently all believers) to branches. The use of this parable was occa-
sioned, as some think, by Christ’s passing by some vineyards, whence 
He raises a discourse1 to spiritualize their meditations upon the view 
of creation. Whether this were so or not, yet the discourse is excellent, 
both to show the near union and relation of Christ and believers and 
the way and means of a spiritual growth in sanctification and holi-
ness. Christ was sent into the world to publish a new religion—not a 
lazy, but a fruitful one. God the Father is the husbandman, Who both 
dresseth the vine and purgeth the branches to render them fruitful. 
Several arguments He useth to engage them to abide in Him and con-
sequently to be fruitful:

Christ's Friends Obey Him By- Stephen Charnock

Every Creature Radio