Seeking once again the help of
Almighty God, I would like to draw your attention to the chapter
that we have read together, the Gospel according to John, chapter
15, and the text you'll find from verse 12 to verse 14. This is my commandment, that
you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no
man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Ye are my friends, if you do whatsoever I command you. We often hear in the Old Testament,
as we looked at a bit this morning, the demands of the law, that
the law of God reveals itself has been revealed to us as the
holy law and that Christ the Lord Jesus Christ came into the
world to fulfill the law of God and we know that sin is transgression
of the law. Sin is somebody stepping over
the line the boundary that God has set and sin is falling short of the glory
of God, that God has set his law and we are unable to fulfil
that law. As we looked at this morning
with the works of righteousness, there is none righteous, no,
not one. and that we need a righteousness
of somebody else and that somebody else is the Lord Jesus Christ
who came to fulfil all righteousness and he came to fulfil the law,
every line and every dot and he came to provide a righteousness
to be given to his people that those who seek him, they will
find him if they search for him with all of their hearts. if
they see their need of the Lord Jesus Christ, they see themselves
as a sinner and they are drawn to the Lord Jesus Christ that
he may forgive them of their sins and he's able to, as we've
seen before, to remove their sin, to bring their accounts
to zero but then to credit them with his own righteousness, with
his own obedience to the law of God. And so they are removed
then from under the demands of the law and they are brought
into grace. They are brought into a condition
of being accepted in the sight of God by the Lord Jesus Christ. By grace are you saved. But in that condition as children
of the living God there are still demands laid upon those who believe. This is my commandment the Lord
Jesus Christ said. It is a command of the Lord Jesus
Christ for those who he has died for, for those who are his friends
that they love one another. It is a command of the Lord Jesus. This is my commandment. In verse 12. This is my commandment then in
verse 17. These things I command you, that
you love one another. And so Christ has set a command
upon those who he has loved and drawn unto himself that they
are to love each other as he has loved them, as I have loved
you. This is my commandment. that
ye love one another as I have loved you. In John chapter 13
and verse 34. A new commandment I give unto
you that ye love one another as I have loved you that ye also
love one another by this shall all men know that ye are my disciples
if ye have love one to another. We know that the whole of the
law of God Jesus tells us is summed up to is this to love
God with all of our heart soul and mind and to love our neighbour
as ourself. And so the characteristic of
the nature of the Christian, of the nature of the Lord Jesus
Christ is to love God and to love other people. Christ's love
was a love that he chose to do. It was a choice of the Lord Jesus. He says, I have not, ye have
not chosen me. but I have chosen you Christ
chose. to love a people they did not
deserve his love we are saved by grace he didn't look down
from heaven as it were before the foundation of the world and
think oh yes this one is going to be born and they're going
to have a good standard of life and they are worthy of my love
they are worthy of my favor they are going to be a nice boy they
are going to be a nice girl and so I'm going to choose them.
No. The scripture tells us that we did not deserve the grace
of God. It would not be grace if we deserved
it. It would not be mercy if we deserved it. And so God in
Christ chose a people. It was a choice of God to choose
a people for himself. In Romans it tells us. Romans chapter 13. says here
about the love that we should have to God. Oh no man verse
8, oh no man anything but love one another for he that love
is another has fulfilled the law. Remember that to love, love
God, love our neighbor is the fulfillment of the whole law
of God. The whole law is summed up in
this. For this, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not
kill, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness,
thou shalt not covet. And if there be any other commandment,
it is briefly comprehended unto this saying, namely, thou shalt
love thy neighbor as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfillment
of the law. and that during the time and
now it is high time to wake out of sleep for now our salvation
is nearer than when we believed. And so the summary of the law
of God as we looked at the demands of the law then we're brought
over into grace we respond in love we love God we love our
neighbour as ourselves and as Christ loved the church he did
not love them because they deserve to be loved but he chose them
before the foundation of the world to shed his love upon them. It was a choice, they were undeserving
of that love. We do not reap the reward of
our good works to receive the love of the Lord Jesus Christ.
In Luke the Lord Jesus tells us there that there are some who show
love to receive a recompense for that love. they show love so that they may
receive something in return. But the Lord Jesus Christ tells
us that we are to love one another as Christ loved the church and
so as Christ chose to love a people he says that we are also to choose
to love a people not that those people deserve to have our love
and not that they are able to give us anything in return. It
is a sacrificial love. By our nature we want to do something
and then we want to receive something in return. If we buy somebody
something and they don't say thank you we feel hurt. We feel
that they have done us wrong. But Christ says this is not how
we should show our love. This is not how we should expect
people to respond. He says show love not expecting
to receive anything in return in John 14 and from verse 12. Then said he also to him that
bade him or invited him when thou makest a dinner or a supper
Call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kingsmen,
nor thy family, nor thy rich neighbours, lest they also bid
thee again, and recompense be made thee. But when thou makest
a feast, call the poor, and the maimed, and the lame, and the
blind, and thou shalt be blessed. For they cannot recompense thee,
for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just. And so Jesus is saying that as
I have commanded you that you love
one another as I have loved you as I have chosen to love you
not because of anything good in you not because you are righteous
amongst all more righteous than all of the other people but I
chose to love you because I have that sovereign choice to choose
a people for myself and so you are to continue in that love
that same lifestyle that same love which I bestowed upon you
you are not to show love to others and expect them to respond the
same way back. He says when you make a feast
Don't make a feast inviting the rich people. Inviting those who
have the ability to give back what you have given. But invite
the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind. Those who
are, we could say, undeserving of your love and unable to repay
that love back. Sometimes we write birthday cards
And we send them off and the next year we're waiting for one
to come to us. And we think to ourselves, well
I wrote them a birthday card and they haven't responded and
given me a birthday card. And we're offended. We think
that we have showed them love, we have showed them thought,
therefore they should also respond in like manner. But Jesus says
that is not the way his people should be. They are to give,
not to expect to have a return again. They are to outlay that
love as Christ has outlaid that love and not to expect that love
to be repaid. Call the lame and the blind and
the maimed. And so the standard of Christ's
love is the pinnacle of love But he says you are to love one
another as I have loved you Although I upset the standard so high
yet you are to seek to obtain to that standard This is my commandment It's easy
for us to forget, isn't it, that Christ has the laid demands upon
those who follow him. It is easy for us to say, well,
I don't feel like doing that. I don't feel persuaded to do
that. But it's not about our feelings.
It's about the command of the Lord Jesus Christ. feelings come and feelings go
sometimes you feel happy sometimes you feel sad sometimes you feel
loving sometimes you feel angry but Christ has said my commandment
is this that you love one another as I have loved you that you're
to choose to love each other because I have commanded you
to love each other not because your neighbor is worthy of your
love or to love them because I have commanded that you should
love them as I have loved you. You have received my love, you
didn't deserve it. You have received my salvation,
you didn't deserve it. You have received the forgiveness
of sin, you didn't deserve it and therefore your life should
manifest the love that you have received from me as I have loved
you. And so the standard which Christ
has set for his church, for his people, is extremely high. He says greater love has no man
than this. I think I've said to you before,
you know the runner Usain Bolt, fastest, whether he is at the
moment, I don't know, the fastest man in the world. You would think
because he's the fastest man in the world, nobody would want
to race him. would run by himself but there are always people who
want to race him because they think they might be able to beat
him or they think that they might be able to come level with him
or get a little bit behind him and so just because the standard
is set so high doesn't mean that we don't have to obtain to that
standard. If people try to race Usain Bolt
then if Christ has demanded that his people are to love one another
as he has loved them then that is to be the standard by which
we are to wake up every day and say well this is what I have
to do. This is the law that Christ has given to me as he has loved
me, as he bears with me, as he deals with me so I am also to
deal with others. Greater love. has no man than
this. As Mount Everest rises above
all of the mountains in the world so Christ's love rises above
all other love in the world. It is the greatest demonstration
of love that could ever be known. On the side of Victoria Baptist
Church in Eastbourne there is a big cross. and written on the
cross is this is love. The world have a standard of
love that is very wishy-washy and changes. It is a standard
of love which they believe that people are worthy of. But the
true standard, the pinnacle, the Mount Everest of love that
is displayed in this world is the Lord Jesus Christ dying upon
a cross for a people who did not love him, who could not love
him and would not love him until he made them love him. greater love has no man than
this and a man lay down his life for his friends. And so Christ
died for a people who didn't even love him. He said to the
soldier there, Father forgive them for they don't know what
they are doing. The very one who was crucifying him, the very
one who was dividing his garments between them, who was completely
unworthy of the love of Christ. Yet Jesus says, Father forgive
him for he doesn't know what he is doing. And no person is
worthy of the love of Christ. but he chooses a people. He died, the scripture says,
for while we were yet in our sin, Christ died for us. In Romans 5. And from verse six it says, for when we were
yet without strength, in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. for scarcely for a righteous
man will one die, yet peradventure for a good man some would dare
to die. But God commended his love towards
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified
by his blood, we shall be saved from the wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies,
we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more
being reconciled shall we be saved by his life.' And so Christ's
death, he came into this world to die for a people who didn't
even love him, that while they were yet in their sins, Christ
died for us. Two thousand years ago Christ
died for his people. Those people were in their sin,
they didn't love him, they had no concern for him, they had
no thought of him, they were still in the darkness, they were
still enemies with God. But God, Christ, chose to love
a people for himself and he died for them while they were yet
in their sins. They couldn't love him. They
couldn't love him because they were blind to the fact that they
needed a saviour. They couldn't love him because
sin had so horrendously affected their hearts that they saw no
beauty in the beloved son of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the
only reason that they come to love him is because he puts his
spirit in them and draws them to himself. No man comes to the Father Except
through the Lord Jesus Christ. Except he draws her. And this
is true love. The love of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Greater love has no man than this and a man laid down his
life for his friends. He laid down his life ultimately
for his friends but before they were his friends they were his
enemies. But his enemies he changes and he makes them into his friends. He goes forth and he collects
the lost sheep and brings it to himself. He lays it upon his
shoulders. Those who were his enemies he
changes them and brings them to himself. Have you and I experienced
this love? Have you and I been changed?
Do you know anything of this choosing of the Lord Jesus Christ?
Do you know anything of this love that the Bible declares
is the pinnacle of all love? This is love. Not that we love him, but that he loved
us and gave himself for us. Greater love has no man than
this. There are many types of love
aren't they displayed in this world of ours at this time but
the love of Christ supersedes them all because it is a choice
of him to descend from heaven and to live a perfect life and
to die upon the cross for them. He laid down his life for his
friends. You are my friends. If you do
whatsoever I command you. You see this love of the Lord
Jesus Christ it is an everlasting love. It is a love that will
never let you go. a love that will never let you
go. The scripture tells us loved with
an everlasting love and this love that loved you before the
foundation of this world, this love that loved you while you
were yet in your sins, this love that loved you when he put his
spirit in you and drew you to himself, this love will also
never let you go. It is an eternal love. And there
is no greater demonstration of love than the love of the Lord
Jesus Christ laying his life down upon the cross for his friends. What is the effect then of this
love? The effect is you are my friends. If you do whatsoever I command
you. And so these friends of the Lord
Jesus Christ, these friends that he laid down his life for, respond
to that love that he has shown. as a plant responds to the sun
and to the rain. So those who experience the indwelling
spirit of God and the love of Christ also respond as a flower. They reach forth to the sun.
They look up to the Lord Jesus Christ. They desire to follow
and to obey him. A desire to follow and obey that
specific command to love their neighbour as their selves, to
love God with all their heart, soul and mind and to love each
other as Christ has loved them. He chose them before the foundation
of the earth. He reveals himself to them and
they choose him in return. Jesus Christ, the friend of sinners,
not the righteous Jesus came to call. God be merciful to me,
a sinner. And so these whom the Lord Jesus
Christ died for, he reveals himself as their friend and they respond
also in friendship to him. They have that desire to be the
friend, friends with the friend of sinners, the Lord Jesus Christ. We love him because he first
loved us. Do we love the Lord Jesus? Do we have a desire to walk in
obedience to the Lord Jesus? Do we want to live in a way that
doesn't upset your friend the Lord Jesus? as he has chosen
you before the foundation of the world as he has demonstrated
the pinnacle of love towards you how are you going to demonstrate
and respond to that love? Jesus says you are my friends
if you do whatsoever I command you and so there is the link,
the if My sheep hear my voice and I
know them and they follow me. You are my friends if you do
whatsoever I command you. I lay down my life for my friends
and you are my friends if you do what I command you. There
it is. The friendship. The link that binds them together. Christ's love. And the response
is love. and obedience and so we obey
him. In 1 John it gives us some characteristics
of someone who is truly born of God, born again of the Spirit
and one of those is verse 14 and we know that we
have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren
he that love is not his brother still abideth in death And so
as Christ says, this is my commandment that you love one another as
I have loved you. Greater love has no man than
this and a man laid down his life for his friends. Ye are
my friends if you do whatsoever I command you. We know that we
have passed from death to life because we love the brethren. And so as the heart is opened
up and made sensitive to to love the Lord Jesus Christ. Not only
does it love and focus upon the Lord Jesus Christ but it also
has a general love to all people. Not only to all people but specifically
to the brothers and sisters, the brethren of the Lord Jesus
Christ, the believers. As Jesus says, you love one another. John 13 what we read, a new commandment
I give unto you that you love one another as I have loved you
that ye also love one another by this shall all men know that
ye are my disciples if you love one another. When people look the disciples
of the Lord Jesus Christ, those who sit at the feet of the Lord
Jesus Christ, as they look at the church they are to see a
group of people who are in love with one another, who are willing to submit to
one another, who are willing to as Christ chose to love his
people so they are willing to choose to love each other not
that those individuals are worthy of their love but that Christ
has commanded that they love each other and some people are hard to love some people are hard to love But that does not mean you shouldn't
love them. If you think of yourself, if
I think of myself, how hard do you think it is for
Christ to love you and to love me? Do you think it is easy? the
one who has flaming eyes that cannot behold evil, the one who
is able to see into our thoughts and the intents of our hearts,
how easy do you think it is for him to love us? Do you not think
that he has to make a choice every single day to show us grace
and to show us mercy? And so if he as our saviour is
willing to choose to love a people that hated him, to love a people
who could not love him, to love a people who he had to make love
him by putting his spirit into them to enable them to see any
beauty in him, surely we should be able to love one
another and to overlook each other's sins and to not exalt
ourselves and to deem ourselves better than the other. Christ's
command is that we love one another as he has loved us as he chooses
to love vile sinners so we are to make that specific choice Not to love just the people that
we like to love, but the people that are hard to love. The people that remind us of
ourselves in the eyes of Christ. This is my commandment, that
you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has 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. And to there is
the command, love one another. The command of Christ is that
his people would be obedient to him, that they would love
one another as he loved his church. You know that you have passed
from death unto life because you love the brethren. Do we
love the brethren? Do we love the brethren as Christ
loves the brethren? Do we love the brethren as Christ
loves us? And so Christ's love is the standard
by which we are able or we should be aiming at to love one another. It's a high standard. extremely
high standard and it's a standard by which we fall short daily. How often it is we meet somebody
and we immediately just by viewing the person we begin to think
well I could never love them or they're quite unusual I could
never be friends with them. We begin immediately to form
opinions in our minds instead of thinking well Christ has loved
me. He knows the thoughts of my mind
the intents of my heart and I should be shining forth as this light
in this world loving people as he. has loved me. But immediately
we become prejudiced and like the disciples arguing amongst
each other as to who is going to be the best rather than who
is going to be the least. You are my friends if you do
whatsoever I command you. Are you a friend of the Lord
Jesus Christ? Are you a friend of the Lord
Jesus, the friend of sinners? Jesus Christ came into the world
to save sinners, ye are my friends if you do whatsoever I have commanded. These things I command you, that
you love one another. And may the Lord add his blessing
and help us to love one another. Amen. We sing our final hymn which
is 758 from Gadsby's to the June 991. 758. Sons of God in tribulation,
let your eyes to the Saviour view. He's a rock of our salvation. He was tried and tempted too.
All to succor, all to succor every tempted burdened son. 758. Let the earth the fullness of
song, Tis expressed in words of song. ? To the pleasure, yeah ? O to the angels, O to the angels,
sing of self and full glory. Dear Lord and Almighty God, we
thank Thee for the demonstration of the love of the Lord Jesus
Christ, that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us,
and we pray that we may be enabled to shed forth that love, to live
in the light of that love, and to demonstrate that love in all
of the places and the people that we meet. We pray, Lord,
that thou dismiss us then with thy blessing and do meet with
those who will sit around thy table. Do, Lord, forgive us,
we pray, of our many sins and do make up where we fail. And
now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of
God the Father, the fellowship and the communion of the Holy
Spirit, do rest and abide with us each now and forevermore. Amen. Amen.