Welcome to Reign of Grace. This
program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries,
an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany,
Georgia. It is our pleasure and privilege
to present to you the gospel message of the sovereign grace
and glory of God in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that today's program
will be a blessing to you. Thank you for listening. And
now for today's program. Welcome today to our program.
I'm glad you could join us. Today I'm going to continue preaching
out of the Book of John, the Gospel of John, chapter 15, on
this subject, keeping Christ's commandments. This is part two. And we're looking here in John
chapter 15 and verse 10, where the Lord Jesus Christ, after
having spoken of himself as the true vine and his people as the
branches, bearing the fruit of God's grace and mercy from the
life of Christ, And he says in verse 10, if you keep my commandments,
you shall abide in my love, even as I have kept my father's commandments
and abide in his love. I dealt with that last week,
talking about the unconditional love of Christ for his people. And I dealt with this, this is
a very important issue here, these if passages, if you do
this, if you do that, if you continue, under the covenant
of grace, the gospel covenant, the covenant of redemption, the
covenant of salvation, which is a unilateral covenant where
all the conditions of the salvation of God's people are placed upon
one person, the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ, second person
of the Trinity who became incarnate, walked this earth as God-man
without sin, and kept all of the conditions, all of the stipulations,
all the requirements, that God required, the Father required,
to save His people from their sins. And these if passages under
that covenant for the people of God, for those whom Christ
saves by His grace, are evidences, evidential ifs. They're not conditional
ifs like under the old covenant, which covenant they failed. You
can notice in passages like Jeremiah 31 and Ezekiel 36, where God
spoke of that covenant to come, which came with the first coming
of Christ, the new covenant. And he said, the nature of that
covenant is this, I will, and you shall. The nature of that
covenant was not, I will, if you will. Like it was under the
old covenant, which covenant they broke. And they failed.
And I mentioned that last week. But the covenant, the new covenant,
which is the accomplishment in time of the everlasting covenant
of grace made before time is God will and you shall. And that's the case here. And
that's a joy for sinners saved by grace who know their frame. I know what I am. I want people
to understand That I try to be a good person, and you should
too. I wanna be a good pastor, I wanna be a good brother in
Christ. I wanna be a good father, a good husband to my wife, a
good father, a good grandfather. I wanna be a good person. But
my efforts to be good will not save me. Do you understand that? I wanna be sincere. I don't wanna
be a hypocrite, do you? but my efforts to be so will
not save me. You see, my salvation is wrapped
up in the glorious person and the finished work of Christ.
I want to love God. I want to love my Savior. I want
to do it perfectly, but I always fall short. I want to love my
neighbor, even my worst enemy as myself, but I certainly fall
short there. And it's because of the remaining
corruption of the sinful flesh. Paul spoke of it in Romans 7.
A lot of people who don't understand that, they go about saying that
Paul was a lost man when he was talking about that struggle.
Oh no, friend. He's talking about a struggle
in Romans 7, 14 through 25. You read it. Paul's describing
a struggle. that can only be within a sinner
saved by grace, who's been born again by the Spirit. The struggle
he describes there is not the natural man's struggle. The natural
man may have struggles of natural conscience, but the warfare of
the Spirit against the flesh, that's only in believers. And
so I wanna be good, I wanna love Christ, I wanna love God personally,
I wanna love my neighbors like myself, but my attempts to do
that, my struggle to do that will not save me from my sins,
will not make me righteous in God's sight. But my efforts to
do so under the truth, as motivated by God's love for me, See, that's
what he said. If you keep my commandments,
you shall abide in my love. You see, it's God's love for
his people that saves them. It's Christ's love, not our love
for him, but our efforts as sinners saved by grace to love him. Now
listen, as motivated by his love, unconditional love, his grace,
and our gratitude, Grace, love, and gratitude. That evidences
a true child of God. And over in the book of 1 John
3, in verse 13, he says this. Look at verse 13 of 1 John, the
little letter of 1 John 3. And he says, marvel not, my brethren,
if the world hate you. Now Christ spoke of that to his
disciples. He said, if the world hates you,
know that it hated me before it hated you. The world hates
God's people because of their message. John 3, 19, this is
the condemnation that light is coming to the world and men love
darkness and hate the light because the light of truth exposes all
their deeds, which they highly esteem as being evil. evil because
they're the issue or the result of unbelief. They dishonor God. They exalt sinners. See, when
God saves us, He humbles us. And He shows us that our best
efforts to save ourselves, our best efforts to be good, will
not save us. We have to say, Lord, if thou,
Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, who would stand? I say that even
today. But it goes on to say there is
forgiveness, and that forgiveness is in Christ. So he says marvel
not, don't be amazed at the world hates you. Look at verse 14.
We know, this is 1 John 3, we know that we have passed from
death unto life, that's we've been born again, saved by grace,
because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother
abideth in death. The love that God's people have
for one another in the gospel, in the truth, is an evidence
that they've been born again. It's not the cause. I know it
says because, but the because there is not conditional. It's evidential. This is evidence. Now your efforts, my efforts
to love our neighbor and a believer's efforts to love his brother or
sister in Christ will not save them, will not make them righteous.
but as motivated by grace, love, and gratitude, they evidence
that we've been born again. So he says in verse 15 of 1 John
3, whosoever hated his brother is a murderer. And you know that
no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. To hate and despise
and reject a brother or sister in Christ is murder. If you claim
to be a believer, And yet you hate a brother or a sister in
Christ? That's murder. And that hatred
there is talking about that you won't associate with them, you
despise them, you count them lost. And there's no bond of truth.
And so he says in verse 16, hereby perceive we the love of God because
he laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our
lives for the brethren. I've often thought about believers
in the past, in the early days of the New Testament church,
who were martyred for the faith. And he says in verse seven, and
they had dying grace. God gave them the grace to do
so. In verse 17, but whoso hath this
world's good and seeth his brother have need and shutteth up his
bowels of compassion, that's the empathy within us, from him,
how dwelleth the love of God in him? Now that's talking about
brothers or sisters in Christ. That's not talking about setting
up a welfare system. Even though if we see somebody,
even an unbeliever, who's in need and we have the wherewithal
to help them, then we should help them. That doesn't mean
that we're to help them be lazy or anything like that. If they
can work, they should work. But especially brethren in Christ
who suffer for the gospel. That's what he's talking about
here. Back then when people, men or women, professed belief
in Jesus Christ, many times they lost their jobs, had no means
of income, and the church was to take them in and help them,
help them find another job, help them with food and things and
clothing. And that's what he says here in verse 17, but whoso
hath this world's good, and shut him off, you know. And so he
says in verse 18, my little children, let us not love in word, neither
in tongue, but in deed and in truth. In other words, let your
love be in action. Now go back to John 15. Keeping
Christ's commandments has to do with believing in him, trusting
him, resting him, believe on the Lord Jesus. It has to do
with repenting of everything, of turning away. There's no salvation
except in Christ as he is identified and distinguished in this book.
There are false Christ. And if you're holding on or believing
in a false Christ, a counterfeit, you need to repent of that. You
need to turn away from that false Christ. If you're trusting in
a false profession of faith, or experience of religion, you
need to repent of it, turn away from it, turn to Christ in God-given
faith. When somebody says, well, how
do I know if I'm trusting in a counterfeit? Read the Bible.
What does the Bible say of Christ? It says that he is God, manifest
in the flesh, without sin. He is the surety, the substitute,
the redeemer of a specific people, not everybody without exception,
a specific people whom God gave to Him before the foundation
of the world. We don't know who they are, so
we preach the gospel to everyone, and God brings His sheep into
the fold. He sends His Spirit to give them
a new heart, new life, to bring them to faith in Christ. Don't
look back on something that you did, walking in an aisle, and
as you say, give your heart to Jesus and all of that, and got
baptized. That's not salvation. Salvation
is knowing God, whom to know is life eternal. Christ said
that in John 17, I believe it's verse three. He said, this is
life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God and
Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. This is the gospel. The gospel
is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believe it,
to the Jew first and to the Greek or the Gentile also. For therein
is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith. For as it
is written, the just shall live by faith. Do you know the righteousness
of God? What is the righteousness of
God? Paul spoke of his brethren in the flesh, the Jews. And he said in Romans 10, my
heart's desire and prayer for Israel is that they might know
God, that they might be saved. He said, I bear them record,
they have a zeal of God, which means they're religious, but
they don't know God. They being ignorant of God's
righteousness are going about to establish a righteousness
of their own. They're trying to be saved by their works, by
conditions they meet. And he said, for all who do that
are ignorant of God's righteousness. For Christ is the end of the
law for righteousness to everyone that believe it. That's Christ's
righteousness, the merits of his work, his obedience unto
death, imputed, charged, accounted to his people. And that's why
Paul wrote, quoting David in Romans chapter four, in verse
six, said, even as David describeth the man to whom the Lord imputeth
righteousness without works. When he said, blessed are they
whose iniquities, blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth
not iniquity, whose iniquities are forgiven, and in whom there's
no guile, no deception, no hypocrisy. I know what I am. I know my only
hope is built upon Jesus' blood and righteousness, and I dare
not trust the sweetest frank. I don't look back on something
that happened in my youth under a false gospel of salvation conditioned
on sinners. And I understand that. And that's
what it is to keep His commandments, is to believe His truth, is to
walk in His truth, is to seek to be like Him, not in order
to be saved, but because we already are. keeping his commandments,
whatever he says. And as I mentioned last week,
that's not talking about the Old Testament code of law, which
the Jews were under, that's been abolished. All those moral principles
that were held therein were in effect before Moses received
that law on Mount Sinai. And they're still in effect today.
But God saves sinners. And he says in verse 12 here,
this is my commandment. Or verse 11, he said, these things
have I spoken in you that my joy might remain in you and that
your joy might be full. If you know you're a sinner who
cannot save him or herself, you'll look to Christ and he's your
joy. Rejoice in the Lord and boast in the Lord. God forbid
that I should glory, boast, save in the cross. This is my commandment
that you love one another, verse 12, as I have loved you. And
verse 13, greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay
down his life for his friends. Look at verse 14. He says, you
are my friends, if you do whatsoever I command you. Now again, that's
not a conditional if. It's an evidential if. In other words, we're not going
to try to keep His commandments in order to be His friend. He
is the friend of sinners, the scripture says. A friend loveth
at all times, that's Christ. And He brings us into His kingdom,
and He calls us His church, His sheep, His servants, His brethren,
and His friends. And how do I know I'm His friend?
If you do whatsoever He commands. Believe on Him, rest in Him,
serve Him, not to be saved, not to be righteous, but because
you already are. Try to be the best you can be.
And that won't save you. But if you're motivated by His
grace, His love, His gratitude, you'll do so. And you'll fail. And you'll wallow a little bit.
You'll stray, but he won't let you go. And so he says in verse
15, henceforth, from this time forth, I call you not servants. Now he's talking about forced
slavery there. He says, for the servant knoweth
not what his Lord doeth. He says, but I have called you
friends. For all things that I have heard of my father, I
have made known unto you. Now the children of God are truly
his servants. We are his servants, but we're
more than servants. We're his friends. And he tells
us in his word what the father of his father and what his father
is doing. Now there are things that are
kept from us. But He lets us know all that we need to know
in order to have a right relationship with the Father. Over in the
book of 1 John, chapter 2, John speaks of false professors of
Christianity. And it was known that they were
false professors because they apostatized from the faith. They left. And he says in verse
18 of 1 John 2, listen to this. Little children, it is the last
time, and as you have heard, that Antichrist shall come. There's
the Antichrist. Even now are there many Antichrists,
many, not just one person now, many, whereby we know that it
is the last time. Well, who are these Antichrists?
Look at verse 19. They went out from us. They left. They left the fellowship, they
left the gospel, they turned against Christ. That's what apostasy
is. They called the Christ whom they
one time professed to believe in, now they call him accursed.
That's what he's talking about. And he says, but they were not
of us. They never were of us. They weren't
saved and then lost their salvation. He says, for if they had been
of us, if they'd been truly saved, truly born again, they would
no doubt have continued with us. You see that? But they went
out that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
They're going out just manifested what had been true all along.
That their profession of faith in Christ was a false profession.
And they never really knew Christ. But now look at verse 20. He
says, but you have an unction, an anointing from the Holy One,
from Christ, and you know all things. Well, now we know there's
things we don't know. There's things I don't know.
I know the Lord's coming back, but I don't know the day or the
hour. There's a lot of things I don't know. There are things
in the scripture that I'm still learning. But I do know by revelation
from God, in the Bible, through the gospel, by the power of the
Spirit, everything I need to know to have a right relationship
with God, to be saved by His grace. That's what he's talking
about. And that's what he's saying here,
back in verse 15. The servant doesn't know what
his Lord does. A forced slave is not let in
on his master's affairs. But he said, but I've called
you friends. In verse 15, for all things that I've heard of
my father, I've made known unto you. Look at verse 16. He says,
you've not chosen me, but I've chosen you. Now most people today
believe they're saved because they chose him. And he says,
you've not chosen me. And I know people say, well,
that's just talking about the disciples. No, he's talking about the vine
and the branches still. He's the vine and we're the branches.
Are the disciples the only branches? No. Every true child of God is
one of those branches. And salvation is not based upon
or brought about because of or as a result of our choosing Him. Now, don't get me wrong, we who
are saved by grace do choose Him. But we only choose Him because
He first chose us. If you look back over in John
chapter one, it talks about receiving Christ. And it says in John 1
11 that He came unto His own and His own received Him not. Now some say that's the Jewish
nation because he came to them and the Jews on the whole didn't
receive him, they didn't believe in him, they didn't choose him.
But no person by nature, not even his elect will choose him
until he gives them a new heart, a new knowledge, a new spirit,
and then they choose him. And he says in verse 12 of John
1, but as many as received him. Now there are some who did receive
him, What was the difference between those who received him
not and those who received him? Well, those who received him,
were they better people than those who received him not? No. Were they better, good enough
to exercise their free will to make the right choice, whereas
the others made the wrong choice? No, no. What happened? We'll look back at verse 12.
But as many as received him, to them gave he power, to become
the sons of God. Now, the word power there doesn't
mean ability. It means the right, the right. Well, what gives me the right
to say that I'm a child of God? And that's what he means here.
To them, he gave them the right to become or to be called sons
of God, even to them that believe on his name. They believed on
his name. His name identifies him and distinguishes
him from all counterfeits. and they believed on his name,
why did they believe and the others didn't? Well, look at
verse 13. Those who believed on his name
were born not of blood, not of natural birth, nor of the will
of the flesh, that's the works of the flesh, nor of the will
of man. It wasn't because they willed
to do so or just chose him, but they were born of God. Which tells us What Christ said
in John three of the new birth, you must be born again or you
cannot enter the kingdom of God. You cannot see the kingdom of
God. God has to give us eyes to see and ears to hear. Now
go back to John 15, verse 16. You have not chosen me, but I've
chosen you and ordained you that you should go and bring forth
fruit. That's what, that's an, as an instrument, we can't save
people. And He says, and that your fruit
should remain, that those who are truly saved, that whatsoever
you shall ask of the Father in my name, He may give it to you.
Talking about salvation there. And we pray as we go out to preach
and to evangelize and to witness, Lord, call your people into your
fold, and He's gonna do it. We may not see it on one given
day. We may go out and preach or evangelize or witness and
nobody listened. Everybody turned away. Think
about Stephen when he preached the history of Israel. He preached
the wrath of God and they all turned thumbs down on him and
they stoned him. Think about Noah who preached the gospel
of the righteousness of God in Christ for 120 years. And only
eight people were saved and got into the ark. Look at verse 17,
he says, these things I commanded you that you love one another.
And then he begins to make the separation between the church
and the world. And he says in verse 18, if the
world hate you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. Now, why does the world, that's
the unbelieving world, The natural man. Why does he hate Christ? Well, think about it. And I quoted
a little bit of John 3, 19, where it says, this is the condemnation,
that light is coming to the world and men love darkness and hate
the light because their deeds were evil. Here's a person who's
been going all through their life trying to establish their
own righteousness, and we come along and preach the gospel that
says that everything you've been doing is dead works, evil deeds,
and fruit unto death. There's only one way, Christ,
by the grace of God and his righteousness imputed alone. Turn from your
works, turn from your self-righteousness, and turn to Christ. That's why
they hated Him, and that's why they hate His people. Hope you'll
join us next week for another message from God's Word. We are glad you could join us
for another edition of Reign of Grace. This program is brought
to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry
of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. To receive
a copy of today's program or to learn more about Reign of
Grace Media Ministries or Eager Avenue Grace Church, Write us
at 1-1-0-2 Eager Drive, Albany, Georgia 3-1-7-0-7. Contact us
by phone at 229-432-6969 or email us through our website at www.TheLetterRofGrace.com. Thank you again for listening
today and may the Lord be with you.