remain in you, and that your joy might be full.'--JOHN xv. 9-11.

The last of these verses shows that they are to be taken as a kind of
conclusion of the great parable of the Vine and the branches, for it
looks back and declares Christ's purpose in His preceding utterances.
The parable proper is ended, but the thoughts of it still linger in
our Lord's mind, and echo through His words, as the vibration of some
great bell after the stroke has ceased. The main thoughts of the
parable were these two, that participation in Christ's life was the
source of all good, and that abiding in Him was the means of
participation in His life. And these same thoughts, though modified
in their form, and free from the parabolical element, appear in the
words that we have to consider on this occasion. The parable spoke
about abiding in Christ; our text defines that abiding, and makes it
still more tender and gracious by substituting for it, 'abiding in
His love.' The parable spoke of conduct as 'fruit,' the effortless
result of communion with Jesus. Our text speaks of it with more
emphasis laid on the human side, as 'keeping the commandments.' The
parable told us that abiding in Christ was the condition of bearing
fruit. Our text tells us the converse, which is also true, that
bearing fruit, or keeping the commandments, is the condition of
abiding in Christ. So our Lord takes His thought, as it were, and
turns it round before us, letting us see both sides of it, and then
tells us that He does all this for one purpose, which in itself is a
token of His love, namely, that our hearts may be filled with perfect
and perennial joy, a drop from the fountain of His own.

These three verses have three words which may be taken as their key-
notes--love, obedience, joy. We shall look at them in that order.