I have entitled this message,
The Chain of Love. The Chain of Love. And here it is, look in verse
nine. As the Father hath loved me,
so have I loved you. But then in verse 12, this is
my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you. Now, there we have the chain
of love. As the Father hath loved me,
so have I loved you. And as I have loved you, that's
how you are to love. one another, the chain of love. Now, there are countless errors
regarding the gospel. You know that and I know that. But I have never heard anyone,
no matter how far they've been from the truth, I've never heard
anybody who believes in the Trinity deny that the father loves the
son. And that's something we're sure
of, aren't we? The father loves the son. It's an obvious truth. It recommends itself as true. We do not need to have it proved
to us. The father loves the son. Turn with me for a moment to
John chapter three. The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into
His hand. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the Son shall
not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. Can you even imagine how God
the Father feels toward that one who does not love His blessed,
glorious Son? The Father loveth the Son. When God spake audibly from heaven,
do you remember what He said? You remember at the baptism of
the Lord Jesus, a voice came from heaven and said, this is
my beloved son, the son of my love. Hear ye him. Do you remember the man of transfiguration
when Peter made that foolish request? Let's make three tabernacles,
one for thee, one for Moses and one for Elijah. And a voice came
down from heaven and said, this is my beloved son. Hear him. Oh, how I love that passage of
Scripture in Ephesians, chapter one, verse six, where it says
he hath made us accepted in the beloved, in the well beloved. There's only one, only begotten
and well beloved son. That is the Lord Jesus Christ. And we do not doubt the Father's
love to him. Now, the Lord is saying to every
one of his people, you do not doubt the Father's love to me.
Do not doubt my love to you. As the Father has loved me, so
have I loved you. Now, we wouldn't believe that
if it wasn't in the Bible, would we? As the Father has loved me,
you think of the Father's love to the Son. We don't doubt it.
We don't question it. We see it. As the Father has
loved me, so have I loved you. Now, this is true with regard
to every single one of his people. Now, this is not a reference
to God loving all men like this, is it? Why, if it was, it would
be meaningless. If God, if Christ said to somebody
who went to hell, as the father loved me, so have I loved you. What good would that do him?
Absolutely nothing. This is not a reference to all
men. This is talking about his elect. This is talking about
his people. This is talking about those who
believe, the ones of whom he said, behold, I have loved thee
with an everlasting love. Therefore, with loving kindness
have I drawn. Now, how does the father love
the son? Let's think about that for a few moments. It's a wonderful
thing to think about, because however the father loves the
son, however that is, that's how the Lord Jesus Christ loves
every single one of his people, every believer. He loves us with
this love. Now, how does the father love
the son? Well, I tried to think about
this when God loves his son. He loves him because he loves
himself. You see, when God loves the Lord
Jesus Christ, he's loving himself, isn't he? Christ Jesus, he said, he that
has seen me has seen the Father. You see, the Lord Jesus Christ
is altogether lovely. He is worthy Of the father's
love, there's something in the Lord Jesus Christ that draws
out his father's love. He calls him my well beloved
son. Now you think of the father's love to his son. That's the kind
of love that Jesus Christ has to me. Now, as I said, if the
Bible didn't say this, I wouldn't believe it. I I know a little
bit about myself and to think that the Lord Jesus Christ sees
in me that which is lovely. That which draws out his love. God loves his son because he's
altogether lovely. It's a love of delight and complacency. You think of the loving esteem
and respect that God has for his son. Our Lord Jesus says
that's the kind of love I have for you. Don't doubt my love
for you, how the father loves me. That is how I love you. God's love for his son never
had a beginning. He never began to love his son,
did he? He's always loved his son. And Christ's love for every
single one of his people never had a beginning. He says to every
single believer, behold, I have loved thee with an everlasting
love. Therefore, with loving kindness
have I drawn thee." God's love to his Son will never end. It
will never cease. When time is no more, it will
still be said, the Father loveth the Son, and believer, Christ's
love to you will never cease. The Father's love to the Son
is without measure. Think of this. It can't be more.
He can't love him any more than he does, can he? And he can't
love him any less. You know, I've heard people say,
for instance, regarding that passage of Scripture in Romans
9, 13, when it's talking about Jacob and Esau, he says, Jacob
have I loved and Esau have I hated. And I've heard people say, well,
that means he loved Esau less. God loved less. By the very thought
of that, it's ridiculous. He can't love his son more. He
can't love his son less. His love cannot be measured. It never becomes more hot and
passionate. It never grows cool. The father's
love to his son is immutable, immeasurable and intimate. Believer, that is how Christ
loves you. The Father loves the Son. It
pleased the Father, Colossians 119 says. It pleased the Father
that in Him should all fullness dwell. I don't even know what
all that means. It's glorious. Of course I don't
know what it means. I just know it's glorious. It pleased the
Father. This is what pleased God the Father. That in the Lord
Jesus Christ all fullness, all the fullness of the Godhead dwells
in Him in a body. It pleased the Father that in
Him should all fullness dwell. Well, John 1 16 says of his fullness. Have all we received. It pleased
the father that in him should all fullness dwell, and it pleased
the Lord Jesus Christ that in every believer all fullness should
dwell. Oh, the satisfaction. The father has in his love to
his son. There's nothing there not to
love. Now, quite often when we think of God's view of us, we
think, well, He tolerates us for Christ's sake. That's the
way we think. But is that the way it is? No. In the Lord Jesus Christ,
I am altogether lovely and I draw out His love. That's how real
this is. Turn to 1 John chapter 4. 1 John chapter 4. Familiar passage
of Scripture. Verse 17. Herein is our love
made perfect, that we may have bold in the day of judgment. Now before we go on reading,
I want you to think of that concept. Boldness. Confidence. I'm going to stand before God
and He's going to look me over. And I'm going to have boldness?
Confidence? How is that? How is it that a
man like me can stand before God in judgment and have boldness?
Let's go on reading. He says, that we may have boldness in
the day of judgment, because as he is. So are we. In this world right now, however,
Christ is. That's how I am. Is he lovely
to the father? I'm lovely to the father. Verse
18, there's no fear and love, not his love does, but perfect
love. Cast out fear. Fear has torment. You see, if
you're scared, Heavens, you think he sees me as I am. He sees me
in my sin. He sees me in my unbelief. He
sees me. No, I know better than that. Now, that kind of fear,
that has torment. That's tormenting to think of
standing before God in your sins. But here's our boldness as he
is. So are we right now, present
tense in this world. However Christ is, beautiful,
holy, perfect. That's how every believer is
in Him. Now let's go back to our text
in John chapter 15. My dear friends, believe this. Believe this. You can't understand
it, I realize that, but believe it. As the Father has loved Christ,
So has he loved you? Isn't that amazing? That's just. Beyond. Anything better than that, is
there? There isn't anything. Now, look what he says next.
As the father had loved me, so have I loved you, verse nine,
continue ye. in my love. That means stay right
there and don't leave. Just as we abide in Christ, we
abide in His love. Now, what does it mean to abide
in Christ? Well, that means you stay there
in Him. I don't want to go outside. I
don't want to go outside of Him. I don't want to be viewed outside
of Him. I don't want to be seen outside
of Him. When He says abide in me, I'm going to do just that.
I'm going to stay right there in Him. The only way I want God
to see me is in the Lord Jesus Christ. I abide in His love.
How? By believing. By believing, continue
ye in my love. You don't doubt the Father's
love to him. Don't doubt his love to you. Abide in it. Isn't
it wonderful to abide in the love of the Lord Jesus Christ?
Now look what he says in verse 10. How do I go about abiding
in his love? Well, if you keep my commandments. You shall abide in my love, even
as I've kept my father's commandments and abide in his love. Here's
how we abide in his love by keeping his commandments. Look in chapter
14, verse 15. If you love me. Keep my commandments,
not just know what they are, not just have a high estimation
of them, but actually keep my commandments. Look in verse 21. He that hath my commandments,
and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me, and he that loveth
me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will
manifest myself to him. Judas saith unto him, Not ascariot,
Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and
not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto
him, If a man love me, he will keep my words. And my Father
will love him, and we will come unto him and make our abode with
him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings, my words. And
the word which you hear is not mine, but the Father's which
is sent me." Now, how do I abide in the love of the Lord Jesus
Christ? By keeping his commandments. Which? Everything he says. Everything he says. Here's a
summary. Turn to 1 John chapter 3. I'm
thankful for this now. First, John, Chapter three. Beginning in verse twenty two. And whatsoever we ask, we receive
of him because we keep his commandments and do those things that are
pleasing in his sight. And this is His commandment,
that we should believe on the name of His Son, Jesus Christ,
and love one another as He gave us commandment. Now, here's the
commandments I must keep. First, I must believe on the
name of His Son. What's that mean? That means
I am relying. I'm relying. I'm trusting. The
Lord Jesus Christ, salvation for His namesake, I'm relying
on Him to make me perfectly accepted before the Father. I really believe
that His name, the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, is my name.
That's the name written on my forehead, you know, that the
Scripture speaks of. Jehovah Sikhenu, the Lord our
righteousness. I have a name. And it's His name.
We've got the same name. Members of the same family. He's
my Savior, He's my God, He's my elder brother, He's my Redeemer,
He's my Lord. He's all those things. I have
His name. And I am relying on His name to bring me into glory. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. Aren't you thankful for that
verse? Whosoever. I'm a whosoever. I love that. Whosoever. I'm one of them. Whosoever,
listen to me, whosoever you are, if you call upon the name of
the Lord, His name is your name. Anybody who calls on the name
of the Lord should be saved. Now, we believe on His name. And the next commandment is,
and you love one another. As I did, you commanded. And
you know, I can say, I do love His people. I do. You know, anybody that's connected
to Christ... Now, I realize I'm to love all men. Commanded to. I'm to love all men. But he's
talking about the special bond, the special relationship between
him and his people. Somebody that belongs to the
Lord, oh, they're precious to me. They're precious to me. I love them. Now, the only thing
that will prove that is by how I treat them. I realize that.
It's one thing to say I love somebody, and it's another thing
to really love them. I realize that that is only seen
in my works and actions, but I do love anybody who loves Christ. Man, I'm all for them. Anybody
that Christ loves, oh my, I love them. I love them. Now, I keep
those commandments. I'm a keeper of God's commandments.
I do believe on His name. I do love His people. Now, back to our text in John
chapter 15. Now, if you're a believer, when
you think of this thing of keeping commandments, you'll think of
all the commandments you've broken. And true, true, you've broken. Every one of God's commandments,
you've broken. But you know, in Christ Jesus,
you take the Ten Commandments. In Christ Jesus, I've kept them.
I don't try to keep the law. I've kept the law. I've kept
it perfectly in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why I love God's
law. And I've kept his commandments.
I've honored the law through the Lord Jesus Christ. I've kept
his commandments. And I keep this commandment of
believing the gospel and loving his people. Now, back to our
text, verse 11. These things Have I spoken unto you these
things that he had been talking about? Just stay within the context
of John chapter 15. He talked about us being in the
Lord Jesus Christ as the vine and the branches, union with
the Lord Jesus Christ. He talked about abiding in Christ,
and he talked about bearing fruit, and he talked about the reason
behind all that is his love for us. That's the cause behind all
of that. Now, he says, these things have
I spoken unto you. How come? Verse 11. These things have I
spoken to you that my joy might remain in you and that
your joy might be full. Now, think of the Joy of the
Lord Jesus Christ. His joy. He talked about my joy. Remaining in you. What is the
joy of the Lord Jesus Christ? Well, it's the joy of being loved
by the Father. It's the joy of complete acceptance. You think
of how completely God the Father accepts and embraces Jesus Christ. It's the joy of the father being
pleased with him. Oh, what pleasure he derives
from knowing that his father is infinitely pleased with him
and everything he does, his father smiles upon. It's the joy of
having nothing to worry about. No worries, everything's great. It's the joy of having finished
the work the father gave him to do. I love that scripture
in Hebrews chapter 12, verse 2, where it says, looking unto
Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy
that was set before him endured the cross and despised the shame,
the joy of doing his father's will, the joy of saving his people. His joy is our joy. Now, he says, I told you these
things that my joy might remain in you and that your joy might
be Now, you listen to me real carefully. It is the will of
the Lord Jesus Christ for every one of His people to have joy. Joy. He said that your joy might
be full. That your joy might be full.
If my joy is your joy, then your joy is full. If it's full, there's no room
for any more, and there's no room for any sorrow. In Christ,
I have fullness of joy. Now, is that just words to me
or do I? Now, in Christ, I have fullness
of joy. Now, joy is not happiness. Sometimes I'm
not happy. Sometimes I'm real sad. Happiness
is based upon circumstances. And circumstances can be awful
rough. I'm not talking about being happy all the time. I ought
to be happy all the time. If I had perfect faith, I would
be. But I don't have perfect faith. I've still got the flesh
to contend with. I don't have happiness all the
time, but I do have joy. The kingdom of God is not meat
and drink. It's righteousness and peace. and joy in the Holy Ghost. I love the sequence of those
words. The kingdom of God is righteousness. Perfect righteousness. Is Jesus
Christ righteous? And I am too. I have righteousness
before God when God sees me because of what my Lord did for me. My
sin became His. He died under the wrath of God
as a sin-bearing substitute, because what I am in and of myself,
he became. And God killed him, and his perfect
righteousness is mine, and I stand before God as righteous. The
kingdom of God is righteousness and peace. What peace there is
in having him as my righteousness before God. However righteous
he is, that's how righteous I am. And this is, understand this
regarding Christ's righteousness being imputed to the believer. This is not just a piece of paper
that says I'm righteous when we all know really that underneath
I'm not. No, it means I'm righteous through and through. No fault
in me. And what peace, what peace there
is. In that I don't have any peace.
If you take away what I just said. I never will forget. Hearing a preacher one time and
he was describing the life of the Christian, he said it's like
walking on a tightrope and you have to have a proper balance
between your own righteousness and Christ righteousness or you'll
fall off the precipice. And I remember I thought, man,
That guy, for one thing, he didn't know the Lord, saying something
like that. He didn't understand what it means to trust Christ.
But where would there be any peace in that? But what peace
I have in knowing that He is my righteousness before God.
And what comes next? Joy. The joy of the Holy Ghost. The God of hope fill you with
all joy and peace in believing. Now, this joy, if I have this
joy, You can't give me anything that will make me more joyful.
And there's nothing to be sad about, is there? That my joy
might remain in you and that your joy might be full, complete. Verse 12. Now, this is my commandment. That you love one another as
I have loved you. Now, remember the part about
keeping his commandments? Love one another as I love you. Now, would to God that you and
I can enter into this. How does the Lord, you regard
any believer, how does the Lord see that person? He sees that person as without
sin. Perfect. Holy. Beloved. That's how the Lord
views every single one of His people, without sin. Now, when I look at you, how
am I to look at you if I obey this commandment? Well, what about all their faults? Plenty of them, no doubt. But
is that the way I'm to look at you? I'm to look at you as someone
Beloved to God. Lovely. Beautiful. Somebody that you draw out my
love. And there's no other way to look
at you. Any other way is the wrong way. Well, what about all
the sin? Well, who am I in the Lord Jesus Christ? I'm lovely. Is that real? Oh, it's most real. It's most
real. And that's how I am to view every
single one of his people as they are in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Easy to love somebody like that, isn't it? It's easy. Now, some
folks are easier to love than others. I realize that, but that's
only when we look at it in a fleshly way. You know, some people are
just more pleasing to us. We don't have to fear it. But
no, that's not the way to do it. A believer's love is loving
somebody as they are in Christ. And this is his commandment.
This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved
you." Now there's the chain of love. As the fathers loved me,
so have I loved you. And you are to love one another
as I have loved you. Now he says in verse 13, greater
love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his
friends. Now here is how He loved us. And this love excels all other
deeds, it comprehends all other actions. After a man has actually
died for another man, no questions can be raised about his love.
Now, he tells every one of his disciples, every one of his people,
every believer, this is not just to the twelve, this is to every
believer, greater love hath no man than this. that a man lay
down his life for his friends. Now, this was a voluntary laying
down of his life. Look in John chapter 10, verse
14. And know my sheep, and am known
of thine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father. And I lay down my life for the
sheep." Who are the sheep? Well, he identifies them in verse
24. Then came the Jews round about
and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou
be the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered them, I told you,
if you believe not. The works that I do in my Father's
name, they bear witness of me. But you believe not, because
you are not of my sheep. As I said unto you, Remember,
He laid down His life for the sheep. My sheep hear My voice. I know them, and they follow
Me, and I give unto them eternal life. And they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out of My Father's hand. Out
of my hand, my Father which gave them me is greater than all,
and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. Now
there's the sheep. Now look what our Lord said, back to verse
15, As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father, John
10. And I lay down my life for the sheep, and other sheep I
have which are not of this fold. Them also I must bring, and they
shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd.
Therefore does my Father love me, because I lay down my life.
But I may take it again. No man takes it from me. This
was completely voluntary. No man takes it from me, but
I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down and
I have power to take it up. This commandment that I received
of my father. Now, here's what the Lord did for his people,
his friends. We're going to get to that in
a moment. Isn't it amazing that the Lord calls every one of his
people my friend? My friends. But he laid down his life voluntarily
for his people. Now, what did he accomplish by
that? I love thinking about the accomplishments of the Lord Jesus
Christ. There isn't anything that I enjoy thinking about more
than this. When our Lord laid down His life,
He said, it is what? Finished. Everybody He died for
was saved. He accomplished their salvation. Now, He says regarding every
one of His people, greater love. Has no man than this. He's already
proved it. You think he died for you? Is there any way that
you can question his love? Or doubt his love? Greater love
hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Now, Abraham was called the friend
of God. Moses spoke to God face to face. As a man speaketh with his friend,
and all of God's people are his friend. His friend. Not the relationship of a servant
master, although he is the master and we are his servants, but
a friend. Now, what is a friend? What is
a friend? If somebody is your friend, you
want to be their friend. There's something about them
that makes you want to be their friend. You desire their friendship. You desire a relationship with
them. You desire to be intimate with
them. You want to know what they're
thinking and you want to disclose to them what you're thinking.
There's a true mutual coming together in a true friend. Now, I want you to think about
this. The Lord Jesus Christ. He says regarding Todd Nybert,
and I say this fearfully, but I say it believingly because
of this passage of Scripture, he says regarding Todd Nybert,
and that's the representative of every believer. He says, that's
my friend. That's one whom I desire his
friendship. You see, there's a likeness in
France. They share the same thoughts. There's a when there's a true
friendship, it's mutual, it's never one sided. There's no such
thing as a one sided friendship. Friends confide in one another.
They're loyal to one another. They stay friends forever. They
don't quit being friends, true friends. They show themselves
friendly to one another. Oh, the love of Christ to his
friends. If you're a believer, Jesus Christ calls you his friend. Is there anything more glorious
than that? Let's go on reading. Back to our text in John 15. Verse 14. You are my friends, if you do
whatsoever I command you. Friendship to him is obedience
to whatever he commands. There's no friendship without
this. Disobedience is the hostility of an enemy. You are my friends if you do
whatsoever I command, if you believe the gospel. You know,
if you believe the gospel, you're his friend. If you love his people,
you're his friend. If you do his commandments, you're his
friend. He says in verse 15, henceforth, I call you not servants. For the servant knoweth not what
the Lord doeth. But I call you friends for all
things I've heard of my father. I've made known to you. Now,
the Lord is saying you're more than my servants. You're my friends.
A master usually keeps himself distant from his servants. He
commands them to do his bidding without explanation. He rewards
them or punishes them according to their productivity. But with
a friend, it's different. A friend is loved and taken into
one's confidence and plans and counsels. That's what a friend
is. Now, do you believe the gospel?
I'm going to ask you a very simple question. Do you rely on the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ as your entrance into heaven? Do you believe the gospel? Do
you? Now, if you do, Jesus Christ
has confided in you. He's made known to you that which
is most precious to Himself. He hadn't held you off at arm's
length. He's brought you into His own inner circle, and He
views you as His best friend. That is how the Lord Jesus views
every single one of His people. The Lord's confided in me. Isn't
it? He's entrusted to me that which
is most precious to Himself. And that is true of every single
believer. He has entrusted to you that
which is most precious to himself. He's brought you into his own
inner circle and confided with you. Oh, you're not held off. You're embraced by the Lord Jesus
Christ, his best friend. What a friend. What a friend. If you have faith. If you believe
the gospel, this is evidence that you're God's friend, and
let's close with verse 16. I'm going to bring another message,
Lord willing, next week just on this verse, but let me. Let's
let's look what it says, verse 16, you've not chosen me. But
I have chosen you. Though we are friends with Christ
and He with us, that friendship and love did not begin with us,
but with Him. You see, this friendship is one-sided
in its origin. He said, You did not choose me,
but I chose you to be my friend. We didn't choose Him. He chose
us. We love Him because He first
loved us. We seek Him because He first
sought us. We call upon Him because He made
us willing to do so. Now, I love this verse of Scripture,
and I find it so true. I know that if the Lord left
me to myself, I would reject Him. And I don't have to convince
any believer of that. Every believer knows that so
if the Lord left you to yourself, you know what direction you'd
go. Thank God for election. You did not choose me. But I
chose you elections, not the sinner's enemy. It's the sinner's
friend. You did not choose me. But I
chose you. And I ordained you that you should
go and bring forth fruit. If he ordained me to go and bring
forth fruit, you know what? I'm going to go and bring forth
fruit. And that your fruit should remain. It shouldn't be temporary. That whatsoever you ask the Father
in my name, he'll give it to you. You did not choose me, but
I chose you. I'm a friend of the Lord Jesus
Christ because he is the friend of sinners and he chose to be
my friend and he chose to save me. And by his work, he makes this
sinner fit to be his friend. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved
a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I'm
found. Was blind, but now I see. amazing grace that makes me the
friend of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's pray together.