Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of John chapter 15. John chapter 15. We're going through this precious
book as we do the other books word by word. Here we are today. John 15. I'd
like to read verses 12 to 16. John chapter 15. Our Lord is getting ready to
go to the cross, and He's talking to His disciples.
He's giving them some commandments, some comfort. And here our Lord
says, John 15, verse 12, this is my commandment, that you love
one another as I've loved you. Greater love hath no man than
this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are
my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call
you not servants, for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth.
But I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard
of my Father I have made known unto you. You've not chosen me,
but I've chosen you and ordained you, that you should go and bring
forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatsoever
you shall ask of the Father in my name, He may give it you." Our Lord, the God-man, is one that was revealed to be,
in the book of Isaiah, despised and rejected, a man of sorrows,
and one that was acquainted with grief. Scripture says, and we
hid as it were our faces from him, and he was despised, and
we esteemed him not. He was hated because of one reason. Sin. Sin. All men in Adam fell in the garden. But out of this mass of humanity,
Almighty God for the reason known only in
Himself and revealed to us to be for this reason, because it
pleased me. It pleased Him out of every nation,
kindred, tribe and tongue to have mercy on a people. And according to His everlasting
covenant of grace, that he established with himself to set apart a people,
sanctify a people. He was going to show mercy to
them. And he called them his friends. Some here, some there, and I'm
convinced some here. Psalm that God was going to show
mercy, compassion to. That was the seal on the friends
of God. The last couple of days ago I
made a trip over to Lexington, spent a little time with Todd.
We were talking. about preaching. And he said,
you know, whenever we preach, he said, we want to be very careful,
very cautious. And he said, ask ourselves this
question. If someone comes in here for
the first time and hears this message, Did I set forth the
gospel of God's grace concerning God's mercy and compassion
to sinners, and would that person who heard me for the first time
walk away and say, I know how God justifies sinners according
to these scriptures? He may not believe me, but at
least he'd heard it. That made a real impression on
me. I want to set forth the clarity of the gospel of God's grace,
how God Almighty shows mercy and compassion to sinners. Our Lord is setting forth in
this scripture that He has shown mercy. And he set forth that mercy in
declaring some to be his friends. Now, I know this. Every man,
every woman born in Adam is born the same way. They're born in
trespasses and sins. I know that. And that God Almighty, the just
God, would refer to them as friends? Friends. and absolutely declare
himself to be their friend at no expense of his justice. He's a just God. Listen to this blessed scripture.
Isaiah 41, 8, But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob, whom I
have chosen, the seed of Abraham, my friend. I listen to that title and I
think, my friend, my friend. James 2.23 says, Abraham was
called the friend of God. You go back now and you read
about Abraham's lineage. Where did he come from? He was
an idolater. He was an idolater. You know
where God Almighty found him? Found him just worshipping these
little idols. And God Almighty, not because
of anything Abraham did, but God Almighty was pleased to set
His affection on that man, called him His friend. Well, knowing that the Lord has
some that He calls friends. I wanted to look for just a minute. Now, here again, I'm thinking
about when the Lord's talking to these disciples. I know He's
getting ready to leave. I mean, these 13, 14, 15, 16,
those chapters in the book of John, I'm telling you, those
four chapters, they took place all in just a few hours. And
here's the Lord instructing his disciples and telling them, I
want to hear what he's got to say. Here's the characteristics of
this passage that we just read of the friends of the Lord. I
know first of all that his friends love one another. Verse 12, this
is my commandment. that you love one another as
I have loved you. John 13, 35 says, by this, here's
the characteristic, by this shall all men know that you're my disciples
if you have love one to another. I know this, love to each other
is the mark. It's the mark of sonship. It's the mark of friendship.
1 John 4 says, He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God
is love. And I know that love is the fruit
of God's Spirit and it's the evidence of regeneration found
in every believer. Why? Because God is love. His nature is to love, and he
sets his love according to his good pleasure. To show mercy, to forgive, is
according to God's good pleasure. Jacob have I loved, Esau have
I hated, Does God have a right to do that? Yes, sir. Yes, sir. God Almighty is love. And the scripture says that the
Lord commanded His disciples in verse 12, this is my commandment,
it's my word to you, that you love one another as I have loved
you. Now, I know and you know. No believer is ever going to
lay claim to love one another with the same infinite, immovable, unerring love that
the Lord Jesus Christ loves His people with. I know that. You know that. But our Lord reveals
that there is a love that is exhibited in His people that
was perfectly set forth by Him. And this brings us to our second
characteristic. I know this, He said, this is
my commandment, that you love one another as I've loved you. Now, what He did perfectly We're
going to see in every believer an evidence of it. An evidence
that is truly, and we'll be the first to admit it, found with
the presence of sin. And it grieves us, but this evidence
is going to be there. Here's the second characteristic.
The first characteristic is that believers love each other. The
second characteristic is the friends of the Lord are sacrificial
toward Look at verse 13. Greater love hath no man than
this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. His love for his people. Now listen to this. And here's
where I want to be very, very plain. Whenever the Lord went
to Calvary, What was he doing? He was setting forth, he was
demonstrating God's love for his people. Why did he go to
Calvary? To finish the work that thou
has given me to do. What was the work? To redeem,
to pay for, to pay the debt of everyone that the Father had
given him. Why? Because they were all ruined
in the fall. There's not one ounce of goodness
found in any man, any woman born in Adam. None. There's none that
doeth good. No, not one. What do they all
deserve in themselves? Death. Condemnation. That's what they deserve. But here our Lord is setting
forth that there is mercy with God, and the mercy and love of
God is set forth in this, in the laying down of His life for
His friends. No greater love, greater love
hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. 1 John 3.16 says, 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. According to our Lord's words,
there is no greater exhibition of love than that a man would lay down
his life for his friends. Our Lord perfectly, perfectly
laid down His life for His friends, for those He loved, for those
He loved eternally. Ruined in the fall, He redeemed
them by His blood. Laid down His life for the sheep. I like war movies. I love war
movies. I'm probably the only one in
my family right here at the house that really likes them, you know.
But I like them. I like them. And it always just
when I see in a war movie and especially in
my mind right now is maybe a group of soldiers and they're in a
firefight and a grenade comes in either the foxhole or the
building or room and one of those soldiers jumps on it. I remember in my, I was watching
one, it just showed it was a Marine fell down, face down on this
and it just, that grenade just lifted him up about that high
off the ground. Nobody else died. But that one
Marine. And in my mind, I thought to
myself, he gave the ultimate sacrifice. Gave himself. And I thought to myself, in doing
that, he did. That was a movie, I know that. But I know it was real. I know
it's happened. And I thought to myself, would
I take a grenade? Would I do that? You know what? I can't really answer that because
I'm not there. But I know this. It has happened. And our Lord
has declared, greater love hath no man than this. This is the
ultimate exhibition of love. A man would lay down his life
for his friends. to give sacrificially of everything,
lay down his life. I mean right now for myself,
I'm going to talk to me. You listen in, I'm going to talk
to me. For me to give sacrificially for my friends, of my time, of my finances, of my sympathy,
of my kindness, No greater love is exhibited
than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Is
my time and everything else worth my friend's well-being? By the grace of God, it is. True
love, if need be, will sacrifice all. It will give everything. forgetting self and seek the
good and welfare of others. Philippians 2. Philippians chapter
2. Philippians 2, 3 to 8. Scripture says, Let nothing be
done through strife or vain glory, but in lowliness of mind let
each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man
on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who,
being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with
God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of
a servant, and was made in the likeness of men, and being found
in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross." No greater love,
no greater exhibition. No greater manifestation back
in John 15 of love than this, that a man lay down his life
for his friends. Apostle Paul said in Romans 12
verse 10, Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly
love in honor, preferring one another. But remember this, we're
talking back in our passage concerning The Lord's love for His people. A denial of Himself. And concerning Him who was saying
it, who is the Lord? Him or me? This is the Lord speaking. Look at Luke 14. Luke 14, 26.
Luke 14, 26. Luke 14, 26, "...if any man come
to me, and hate not his father, his mother, his wife, his children,
his brethren, his sisters, yea, his own life also, he cannot
be my disciple. And whosoever does not bear his
cross and come after me cannot be my disciple." The friends
of Christ put nothing ahead of Him. God
Almighty sees to that. And you think about this. Nothing
was more important to our Lord, not even His own life, was more
important than doing the will of His Father. He says, this
is my commandment that you love one another as I've loved you. How did He love? Sacrificially. He gave it all, gave everything.
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his
life for his friends. Thirdly, characteristic of the
friends of the Lord is that His friends are obedient to Him. This is the friends of the Lord.
Look at verse 14. You are my friends if you do
whatsoever I command you. Thanks being to God, it is not
my ability or the degree of my obedience to Him that is the
foundation of my friendship with Him. I am so thankful for that
because I am so embarrassed with myself because of my obedience. I desire to be. I want to be. But I find myself, I'm so frail,
I'm so fickle, I'm so wavering, and I admit it. I was telling you about me talking
to Todd a while ago, and if he listens to this, that's okay.
He just shouldn't have told me. He was telling me about somebody
that said something about him. He said, I told him, I said,
look, listen, next time you say that, he said, just say it in
the worst way you can. And he said, you'll be a whole
lot closer to the truth. And I thought, that's me. The friends of the Lord are obedient
and they see the degree of the frailty of their own heart in
their obedience. They desire to be. But that desire to be obedient
to Him is a mark of friendship. As we sit this morning under
the preaching of the gospel, we know what we are. Every believer
knows what he is. In Adam he knows what he is,
but in Christ, He's been given a heart that longs after the
Lord. And as we're instructed, and
as we hear, our heart, we have a new heart that obeys. And that old heart that strives
against that new heart, we struggle, even in our obedience. A believer hears the Word of
God and he says, that's what I want. I want to. You're my
friends if you do whatsoever I command you. Thanks be unto
God. Here is the obedience of a believer.
They believe God. Here's the obedience. We walk,
but oh how we hobble, like old Jacob. Remember when Jacob, he
wrestled with a man. And you know that man is the
Lord Jesus Christ. And here Jacob, he struggled
and he wrestled and fought. And the man, the Lord Himself,
God-man, said to Jacob, let me go. And Jacob said, I can't let you go.
No, unless you bless me. You bless me. And you know this. You know why Jacob held on as
tightly as he did. Because the Lord held him. You
think the Lord couldn't have released himself from Jacob? Let me go, not unless you bless
me. What's your name? The Lord said
to him, he said, My name's Jacob, trickster, supplanter, conniver,
deceiver. And that's what he did to his
brother Esau, Jacob. But this was one that God loved. What's your name, Jacob? Not
anymore. Your name's Israel. A prince
with God. You've prevailed with God. How? How? Because God Almighty had
set His affection on Jacob, not because of anything that Jacob
had done. And the Scripture says that the
Lord, the man, touched the hollow of Jacob's hip. and sunk that
sinew. And for the rest of his life,
Jacob hobbled. And he remembered, he never forgot
the mercy of Almighty God. He walked after God by God's
good pleasure, because God kept him, not because of Jacob. He said, you're my friends if
you do whatsoever I command you. And God's people do. They believe
God. That's the commandment of God.
This is my Father's commandment that you believe on Him whom
He has sent. God's people desire to be faithful. Psalm 27 8, the psalmist says,
when thou saidest, Seek my face. My heart set unto thee. Now listen to the words of David.
When you said, Lord, seek my face, my heart, my new heart,
my heart set unto thee, thy face, Lord, will I seek. And knowing
that I've got to go through the rest of this life with the presence
of sin is a grieving thing to me. But thanks be unto God that
He would give me a heart that would long after Him. Look at
Luke 6. Luke 6, 45-46. A good man, out of the good treasure
of his heart, bringeth forth that which is good. What is that? He believes God. The evil man
out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which
is evil. What is that? He doesn't believe
God. For the abundance of the heart
is mouth speakest. And why call ye me Lord, Lord,
and do not the things of which I say? Let me ask you this. Why? You that know Him, you know
why you believe Him. You know why? Because He's given
you a new heart to do so. It's all of grace, all of God's
mercy, all of God's compassion. That's the reason you believe
Him. You that know Him not, you have no excuse to not believe
Him. You have no excuse. I was listening to a message
the other day by Brother Henry, and he said something that when
he first said it, it kind of took me back. But then I got
to thinking about what he said, and I thought, you know what,
that's right. He said, men say that an unbeliever's
heart is as dead as his pulpit. He said, morally, yeah, that's
right. He's dead. He's dead. But he
said, I'll tell you something. He said, this pulpit right here
doesn't have any excuse. I mean, it has an excuse. It
has an excuse. It can't hear. It can't hear. He says, but you can hear. He
said, this pulpit right here, it can't read, but you can read. He says, pulpit right here, it
cannot behold the handiwork of God outside, but you can. And the Lord says, so therefore
they're without excuse. That's right. You, my friends, if you do whatsoever,
I command you. And the only reason that a man
will do what God Almighty commands, to believe Him, is by the grace
of God. You know why he doesn't believe
him? Because he doesn't want to. That's the reason. He doesn't want to. A man does not believe because
he doesn't want to believe. Oh, Lord God of heaven, have
mercy on me. And then fourthly and lastly,
the friends of Christ, and this is a precious thing, the friends
of Christ are taught of God. They're taught of God. Look at
verse 15-16. Henceforth I called you not servants,
for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth. But I've called
you friends, for all things that I've heard of my Father I have
made known unto you. And listen to what he's made
known unto us. You've not chosen me. But I've
chosen you, and ordained you, that you should go and bring
forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatsoever
you shall ask of the Father in My name, He may give it you." The friends of Christ. This isn't intimate. intimate relationship. I mean,
just look back in John 15. Look at verse 5. I am the vine,
you're the branches. He that abideth in me and I in
him, the same bringeth forth much fruit, for without me you
can do nothing. This friendship is a vital union
with the Lord Jesus Christ This friendship is a lie. This is
not theory. When I was in Louisiana years
ago, I was asked to leave a church because of what I was preaching.
And they said, you know what? These theories of grace that
you're proclaiming, this is not a theory. This is based on truth. This is the Word of God. This
is God's Word. This is God's message. This is
God's truth. The friendship of Almighty God
in His precious Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and His people,
it's a living friendship. It's alive. I am the vine, you're
the branches. bound in Him eternally. And this friendship is one that
has intimate knowledge given. Look at Exodus 33.11. Exodus
33.11. Here is the evidence. You know, Scripture says that
Exodus 33.11, The Lord said, you're my friends.
You're my friends. Abraham, the friend of God. Friendship. And then our Lord continued to
reveal the evidences of that friendship. Listen to this, Exodus
33, verse 11. And the Lord spake unto Moses,
face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. God spoke to Moses as a man speaks
to his friend. You know, a friend is one that
you just, you share some things with. You can just, you just
bare your heart to him or to her. You know why? You trust them. You trust them. My friend. With that thought,
the scripture says the Lord, capital L, capital O, capital
R, capital D, the Lord, the Father, Son, and Spirit, Jehovah, the
triune God, spake unto Moses face to face as a man speaketh
unto his friend. Now look at Psalm 103. That thought
is where I'm going to go, that same thought. Now what did he
say to him? He spoke to him, the Scripture
says, 1 O 3 7. 1 O 3 7. Here's what he said to him. Here's
what he told him. Here's what he shared with him.
He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of
Israel. What did Almighty God say in
providence to the children of Israel? In providence, this is what He
showed them or told them what He was doing. That's what He
was doing. You look around, anybody can
look around Chuck and see what's going on in the world. I see
what's going on in the world. Okay? It's a mess, wars, rumors
of wars, just ungodliness, you know. I mean, I can see what's going
on. But only a believer knows why. Only a believer knows why. Let me tell you what. the friends
of the Lord God of heaven. Let me tell you what you know.
You know what He's taught you. That all things, Jared, work
together for good to them that love God. To them who are called
according to His purpose. Everybody can look around and
see what's going on, but why is it going on? Only the friends
of God know that. Back to John 15, I'll close. Our Lord said concerning His
friends, the latter part of 15, all things that I have heard
of my Father. Now He's speaking there as the
mediator, as the God-man, as God Almighty. He knows all things. He's God. He's equal. One with
the Father, but he humbled himself, made himself of no reputation
and was taught. I can't even explain that, Mike. How do I explain that? He says,
the things that I've heard of my Father, I've made known unto
you. Why? Because you're my friend.
My friend. He's entrusted us with some knowledge. Entrusted His friends. Friends who Paul the Apostle
said, our Lord says, I'm not, He said, I call you not servants.
I call you not servants. But I tell you what God's people
call themselves. They call themselves the servants
of God. a servant of Jesus Christ, called
to be an apostle, separated under the gospel of God, but willing
servants that the Lord calls friends. I'm glad he called me
his friend. I'd never have a right to call
him, you're my friend. Nobody but the Lord has the right
to make that distinction. Now, if he calls me his friend,
I can thank him and bless him and praise him. an intimate friend,
a beloved friend, friends that He shares things
with. All that I've heard of my Father
I've made known unto you. When the Lord came and met Abraham
before those two angels went into Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham was talking to the Lord
about what was getting ready to happen in Sodom and Gomorrah.
And this is what the Lord said, asked this question, shall I
hide from Abraham that thing which I do? I'm not going to
hide this from you. And you know the story. Abraham
said, if you find 50, 40, 30, 20, 10, if you find any righteous,
would you spare the place? The Lord said, yeah. But there
was none there. He took Lot out of it. There was none righteous in themselves. Lot found grace in the eyes of
the Lord, just like Noah. Our Lord reveals that he takes
his friends into his confidence. This is a friend. He bears his thoughts concerning
his everlasting love Covenant mercy. You talk about the ultimate expression
of His love to His people is that He's told them this. And
here it is. You've not chosen me. You talk
about some intimate information, intimate knowledge. You know
why that information is so precious? Because nobody else believes
it but a believer. Nobody believes that. You have
not chosen me. Why? Because you're unable. You're
unwilling in yourself. But I've chosen you. He's setting
forth His sovereignty, His sovereign right to do whatsoever He's pleased. Now a believer, after a new heart
is given, they do choose the Lord. They do come to the Lord. Why? Because He came to them
first. They love Him because He loved them first. They call
on Him because He called first. You've not chosen me, I've chosen
you. I've ordained you. Here's some information that's
precious. I've ordained you that you should
go forth and bring forth fruit I'm going to manifest my love
to you, my friends. And you're going to bring forth
fruit of God's Spirit. Love, joy, peace, long-suffering,
gentleness, meekness, kindness. And that your fruit should remain.
Why? Because I'm going to keep you.
I'm going to keep you. and that whatsoever you shall
ask of the Father in my name, according to my character, according
to the Father's good pleasure, and for your good, He may give
it you." You know, there's sometimes, and we foolishly ask for things,
and we should always be very careful. We ask, but we ask,
Lord, not my will, but Yours be done. It may not be best for me to
have what I think I want, but as my friend, made so eternally
by the grace of God, our Lord says that He's going to supply
all of our need according to His riches in glory. the friends of Christ, intimate,
precious, eternally loved, those that lay down their life for
His people, one with them in Him. Lord, for Christ's sake,
teach us according to Your mercy. Amen.