Let's take our Bibles once again
and turn with me to the book of John, chapter 15. John 15. You know this I know. There are no words to describe
the wonder of God's mercy and compassion to his people. We are undeserving creatures. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
speaking to his disciples and to us, his people, today. All that know him in electing grace. You know, we make much of election
here, don't we? You know why? Well, two reasons
that I can think of bound up into one. It's only one reason,
because it was God's will. But number one, we make much
of it because God Almighty declares it so. It's so. And the Apostle Paul, under the
inspiration of God's Spirit in Romans 9, said, If the Lord had
not left us a remnant. If the Lord had not left us an elect, a chosen, we would
have all been like Sodom and Gomorrah. I thank God that He chose to
show mercy. But our Lord sets forth His immeasurable No way to measure
it. I'm about to read something to
you that we'll read, and there's no way that we can plumb the
depth of what he's about to say. Verse 9, John 15, 9. As the Father hath loved me,
so have I loved you. continue ye in my love." Now let me ask you something.
Who could possibly? We don't even want to try to
start thinking about. I would not waste the precious
time because if I tried to plumb the depth and explain the measure of God the Father's
love for the Son, when I got through, I would have wasted
time because what I said was so totally inaccurate. We believe it. We know this,
God the Father has loved the Son. That's a given. And I'll tell
you this, I'll bet you there's not one person that's got any
kind of a sane mind. I'm talking about believers or
unbelievers. No one would ever doubt. You ask an unbeliever,
do you think God the Father loves the Son? Yeah, I believe that.
I don't doubt for one second that they'd agree with you. I
mean, we'll at least give a verbal assent to that. But that next part is the part
that is just so amazingly wonderful. As the Father hath loved me. So have I loved you. Who is going to try to delve
into the mystery of that love? But though our hearts are left
to wonder at that thought, to just muse upon it, it's truth. As the Father hath loved me in
the same measure, in the way as the Father hath loved me,
so, even so, have I loved you. I was thinking back. Turn with
me to Song of Solomon. Psalms and Proverbs and Ecclesiastes,
you're going to be right there at it. Look at Song of Solomon
4.9. I've quoted this so many times,
but I want you to look at it. Look at the Scripture. Song of
Solomon 4.9. Here is the precious Savior speaking
to His bride, His sister. has ravished, if you have a margin,
mine says, taken away. Thou has taken away my heart,
my sister, my spouse. Thou has ravished my heart with
one of thine eyes, with one chain of thy neck. How fair is thy love, my sister,
my spouse. How much better is thy love than
wine and the smell of thine ointments and all spices?" I think that he would say that. That
he would say that, and I'll tell you who he's talking to. You
know this. He's talking to those that the
Father has given him in electing grace. That's who he's talking
to. Those that He's everlastingly
loved, as the Father has loved Him. He says, that's the way
I love you. The Father has delighted in Him. I'll just read this. I've read
it before. I'll read it again. This is the way the Father has
looked upon Him, thought upon Him. Proverbs 8. Then I was by
Him as one brought up with Him. I was daily His delight, rejoicing
always before Him, rejoicing in the habitable part of the
earth. And my delights were with the sons of men because my people
were always with me. They were always in me. And as I was before the Father,
and the Father rejoiced in me, and I in Him, I rejoiced in you,
the elect. You were gifts from my Father. I've ever stood as your surety.
I've always loved you. Never a time that I didn't love
you. That's what Jeremiah 31.3 says. I've loved you with an
everlasting love. Listen to David, Psalm 36.10. Praying. Praying and asking the
Lord to do what the Lord has said He will always do. Listen to David. Oh, continue. That is, draw out at length.
Oh, continue thy lovingkindness unto them that know thee, and
thy righteousness to the upright in heart. You know, our little
fickle minds can somewhat perceive. Somewhat. And I mean that. Believers, they're the first
to admit, I know in part, I prophesy in part, I don't know. That which
the Lord has taught me, that's what I know. And there's so many
things that I don't know. There's so many things that the
Lord not been pleased to reveal to me or to you. But what we
know is ours. That's ours. God's given it to
us. And I know something, I know
something of His mercy. Something of His love. And though
I can't plumb the depth of the immeasurable love of God for
His people, I've got His Word. He's promised. You mean to tell me that He loves
creatures such as we? That's right. Wavering, faltering, frail. Yes, but let me tell you what
those faltering, frail creatures do. They do just like old David
said a while ago, I hunger and thirst. A believer, he's got one thing
on his mind. He's got one thing that he desires. That I might know Him. That I
might be found in Him. And that is, I'm telling you,
that overrides everything he goes through his daily life.
And I'm telling you, he is constantly, it's always on his mind, that
I might know him, be found in him. Oh, blessed be His holy
name. Thanks be unto Him that His love
is not affected by our frailty. Seeing us in our blessed Savior
and surety in Lord and Master, God Almighty is well pleased. I wrote a little article in the
paper the other day, Accepted in the Beloved. Whenever our Savior died at Calvary,
and He died, He died and was buried. Do you know how I know that God
accepted what He did? God raised him from the dead.
He came out of that grave. Death had no hold on him. The
second thing I know is that he ascended into heaven as our forerunner
to go there as the rightful owner of all the promises of God. All the promises of God, all
that is due Him for His obedience, and His honor, and His glory. The accomplishment of what He
did. He entered into Heaven itself. The recipient of all that God
Almighty had eternally promised to Him, and everybody in Him. And we're heirs of God, joint
heirs with Christ. And the Father said unto him,
this third thing I know that he was accepted, he said, you
sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool. And as the Father has accepted
him as the man, Christ Jesus, a man
obeyed God. A man pleased God. A man. The God-man. Not just mere man. The God-man. But truly man. And there is a man sitting on
the throne of God. Because he is God. God Almighty. And as God has accepted him,
he has accepted his people. In him. In Christ. As the Father hath loved me,
so have I loved you. Continue ye in my love. You know, he said there, stay
there. Stay there. Let me ask you this. Do you want to? Do you want to? Then it's because he's kept you.
That's why you want to. He has made you willing in the
day of His power. But I am telling you, you are
willing. You want to continue. I want to be faithful. I desire to walk before Him.
Continue resting your souls upon the fact that my love for you
does not change. Does the Father's love for the
Son change? As the Father who loved me, I
say, I love you. Is there anything that could cause his love to
cease? No. Continue. Cling to me. Cling to that promise that I've
given you. You're mine. I love you. All the circumstances
ordered according to My will for you in the weaning of you
from this world. It's because I love you. Whom the Lord loveth, He chastened. I'm your fortress. I'm your way,
your life. By Me you're kept. You're going to be saved. I'm
going to save you. I've saved you, I'm saving you, and I'm
going to save you. Why? I love you. I love you. I was talking to
one of my kids yesterday. I was telling him we were discussing
a matter. And I told him, I said, you know,
our Lord does all things well for His people. Paul the Apostle says these light
afflictions, which are but for a moment. The trials of this
life that are heavy to our hearts. These moments of chastisement.
Paul says these light afflictions, which are but for a moment. They're
not long. Mark, they're not long. They're
just light afflictions. I love it because I remember
old Brother Scott saying, who's running this show anyway? I mean,
in that comfort, who's running this show? I hear people say,
you know, God and Satan is in a battle. His counsel is going to stand.
He said, I'm going to do all my will. These light afflictions,
which are but for a moment, I told my daughter, I said, let me ask
you this. I said, do you think there's
anything I'd do to you just to hurt you? Just to hurt you? Do you think I'd do that? He
said, no, sir. I said, do you think our loving
Father is going to do anything to His people just to hurt them? Just to show that He can? Oh, He's so kind. He is so merciful,
gentle, loving. All that He does for His people,
He does. I love you. I love you. I love you. Continue ye in My
love. How do you do that? How do you
do that? Listen to this. Verse 10, if
you keep My commandments, you shall abide in My love. He just
told us to continue in His love in verse 9. Now, 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. Now, from
the words of our Lord, let me tell you this. Now, it's something
that we surely know. He's not teaching that our abiding
in Him is based upon our ability to keep perfectly His commandments. Now, if that's the case, then
nobody has any hope. You know that. If my being kept by the Lord
and having Him continue to love me is based on my ability to
be able to perfectly keep in myself His commandments, then
I don't have any hope. But He's revealing something
here that we need to be reminded of. I know I do. Here He reveals
that in the in the way, in the spirit, that He perfectly keeps
the Father's commandments. He keeps them willfully. He keeps them perfectly. He has
always done that. Here is absolute holiness. Christ Jesus the Lord with no
wavering in thought or word or deed, and he perfectly obeyed
the Father and did it as our federal head. Now that spirit, that spirit
of obedience, that desire for obedience, though it is always
found mixed with sin, You know that. You've got two natures, believer.
Remember, you have two natures. One that does not sin. That which is born of God does
not sin. And it believes God. And it loves God. And being found in Christ Jesus,
created in righteousness, It serves God in Him. But that old nature, boy, there's
that battle, that war, you know. But that desire is there. You
want to be obedient. You desire to be obedient. And
you grieve over your disobedience. But you are obedient. struggle that constantly goes
on. He says, if you keep my commandments. The Lord said in John 17, we'll
look at it soon, His high priestly prayer. He said, I've given them
thy word and they've kept it. They've kept it. They've been
faithful. There's a continuance in faithfulness
in His regenerated sheep. I'm getting to it. I'm going
to show you how. Hang on. I'm just establishing a fact
that God's people are Faithful. They are faithful. Even in the
midst of their strugglings, they are faithful. They don't excuse
their frailty. And they say, well, I'm just
a sinner. It doesn't matter. That's not the attitude of a
believer. It does matter. They strive to enter in, Scripture
says, that straight gate, that narrow gate. They possess a heart
that yields their members to righteousness and to holiness. That's what Romans 6.19 says. They desire to keep that body,
keep this what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9, keep their body and bring
it unto subjection, lest that after he said, I preach to others,
I myself You'd be a castaway. You say, well Marvin, I don't
see why you'd have any doubt because you're a preacher. Are you kidding? If Almighty God doesn't keep
me, I won't be back. And I'll excuse it. And I'll
have a good reason in my mind. And I'll be justified in my mind
for not coming back. It'll be your fault. I can tell
you this, it would be your fault, because I found some frailty
in you, and you disappointed me. And I didn't like the way
you looked. I didn't like the way you talked.
I'll find fault with you, but I'll justify it in my mind. And
but for the grace of God, Almighty God will lead me to that fault. Believers are not legalists.
trying to establish their own righteousness, their sinners,
and they know it, redeemed and regenerated by God's grace. And
they long after Him for obedience. Now, what is it to keep His commandments? 1 John 3.22. 1 John 3.22. Look
at this. 1 John 3.22. In 1 John 3.22, and whatsoever
you ask, we receive of Him, now look here,
because we keep His commandments and do those things that are
pleasing in His sight. And you're thinking, you know,
I know that that's talking about strong, I mean, that's got to
be some strong believers there. Because I'm telling you, I see myself falling short of
this. Look at verse 23, 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, and
he that dwelleth No, I'm sorry, He that keepeth His commandments
dwelleth in Him, and He in Him. And hereby we know that He abideth
in us by the Spirit which He hath given us. Now, I want to
tell you what verse 23 said. And this is His commandment,
that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ
and love one another, someone might say, well, I know
I'm a believer then. Because I believe that there
is Jesus Christ. I believe that Jesus Christ came
into this world. I believe that God the Father
sent the Son, and I believe He came into the world. Let me tell
you what He said that we should believe on the name of His Son,
Jesus Christ. Here's what He said. It is to
believe that by Him, and when it says in His name, it's talking
about in His character. To believe on the name of His
Son, Jesus Christ, is to believe that in Him, chosen in Him, As
God's salvation, as God's Lamb, as God's surety, it is to believe
that being chosen in Him, you try to separate what I'm about
to say from the title, the name of the Lord. Whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord. This is what it says. Devils
believe that there is a historical figure known as Jesus the Christ. They believe that. but to trust
Him, but to believe on the name, to trust Him, to cast your soul
by a new heart, to believe on Him, that by Him, being chosen
in Him, being redeemed by Him who died for His sheep, to be
regenerated by God's Spirit for God's elect, and to be accepted
before God Almighty based totally upon His merit, apart from anything
that you yourself could do. Now, you add your free will,
or you add your walking down this aisle, or you add your baptism,
or you add speaking in tongues, or you add anything else to it,
you do not believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. This
is his commandment, that you believe on the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ, that salvation is all of grace, that there are
no works involved on your part. Whosoever shall believe on the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved. He that believeth
not shall be damned. You say, are you saying that
every person that doesn't believe this gospel is set forth this
way is going to hell unless God calls them out of darkness? They
are. I'm telling you, this is His commandment, that you believe
on the name of the Son of God. Believe on the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And love one another. God's people love God's people.
They love God's people. I'm not going to say I may not
disappoint you. I'll disappoint you. I'll make
a decision. I'll say something that's going
to disappoint you. But I'm going to tell you something.
Because He lives in His people, God's people forgive one another. And they love one another. And
they guard one another. I'm always picking at Chuck,
telling him, I got your back. You know, we're picking at each
other. I got your back. But I'm going
to tell you something. Chuck is a brother. I got your
back. Old Scott told me that one time.
He said, I got your back. That meant a lot to me, you know.
God's people love one another. If you keep my commandments,
what are those commandments? Believe on the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ and love one another. If you keep my commandment, you
shall abide in my love, even as I have kept my Father's commandments.
Abide in His love. And then verse 11, in closing,
These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain
in you, in that your joy might be full. These words were spoken, I know
truly, to our Lord's disciples, but they are alive to us. God's
Word is quick, powerful. These words, His joy, His peace,
His comfort, might remain in them After he was taken up into
heaven, they had been with him for three years, he was about
to go. I need right now the same assurance
of his presence as they needed. I need it. We need to be reminded
daily that the Spirit of God is going to teach us all things. That's what he said, I'll send
the comforter. He's going to teach you. He's going to bring
back to your memory all the things that I've told you. Back in John 10, John 6, when
he said, All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and
him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. I need the
Spirit of God to teach me that again. I need to be told that
one more time. I need to hear John 10, 15, he
laid down his life for the sheep. You know what that says to me?
He didn't fail. I give unto them eternal life.
They're never going to perish. This body is going to go to the
grave. I know it is. I know it is. I look around,
I see people dying. I'm not exempt. And you're not
either. But I'm telling you, he says
this, These things I have spoken unto
you, that my joy might remain in you. And what a possession,
his joy, the knowledge of him, the rest in him, that our joy
might remain. Lord, these comforting words
that you have given us, Seal these things in my heart, that
I might hide Your Word in my heart and not sin against You
by not believing You. Bless the Lord, O my soul. Amen.