Good morning, everybody. Go ahead
and turn with me to John chapter 15, if you would. Resume our
study in the gospel of John this morning. Last time we looked
at this, hard to believe, March 15th. And we looked then at verses
nine and 10. I want to review those two verses
and then move on a little in this chapter. Look at verse nine. The Lord uttered these most comforting
words. Matter of fact, the most comforting
words I believe a sinner could ever hear. He said, as the Father
hath loved me, so have I loved you. Isn't that an amazing thought? Continue ye in my love. To think
that Christ loves me as the Father has loved him, that's just profound. What a marvelous thought to a
wretch like me. How is that possible? Only by
God's sovereign mercy and grace in the Lord Jesus Christ. Our union is such with Christ
our Lord that when God looks at me, when God sees me, the
sinner that I am, he sees his beloved son. You can't take our
union with Christ too far, you really can't. And brothers and
sisters, we continue in Christ's love because it's God who preserves
us and keeps us by his mighty power. Then in verse 10, the
Lord says this, look at it. He says, 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. There was no better way for me
to show my father, my earthly father, that I loved him than
by being obedient to his will, being respectful of his wishes
and his will and his desires. was a sure way to keep me in
his favor. It just was. And it's the same
with my children. Kind, loving, complimentary words
didn't mean much without obedience to what he wished and what he
wanted. To tell him that I loved him,
to only go my own way and do my own thing would be nothing
short, really, of an emotional slap in his face. After all,
my father deserved my obedience. He'd taken care of me all my
life. He provided for me everything
that I needed and very often provided me pretty much everything
I wanted. How much more is this true with
our heavenly father? Well, our next breath, Chris,
comes from him. The next heartbeat is at his
sovereign disposal. Christ confirms this by letting
us know that obedience is better than sacrifice. And he reminds
us that keeping his will, his word and his commandments assures
our continued and continual dwelling in his love. This was certain
just as he had kept the father's commandments and abided in his
love. That's what he said there in verse 10. And certainly Christ
doesn't ask us to do anything short of what he himself as our
substitute did. Turn back a page, you may not
have to, but John chapter 14, look at verse 15. The Lord said,
if you love me, keep my commandments. Look down at verse 21. He said,
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'll love him and will manifest myself to him. I wonder sometimes
if we've become so bent on grace abounding that we desire to continue
in sin. Do men look for every opportunity
to explain away being obedient to our heavenly father because
we want grace to abound? With some who profess faith,
that seems to be the case. And here's what I mean by that.
I know a man, a man who professes to know Christ constantly excuses
his sin and his disobedience by saying, well, I'm just a sinner. God forbid that we should be
so flippant over our lack of obedience and sin against God. We don't show love to God our
father by mere words and expressions of love only. And we certainly
don't show our love to God at all by keeping some ceremonial
ritual either. That's not what he's talking
about here. We show our love by our desire to fulfill God's
will and God's purpose and his whole counsel by yielding obedience
to him. What's the believer's prayer?
Lord, not my will, but thy will be done. It's to have a bent
toward what God wants. It's to love what God loves,
to hate what God hates, to want what God wants. That's what he's
talking about here. Look at verse 11. These things
have I spoken unto you that my joy might remain in you and that
your joy might be full. True joy comes from knowing that
my union and my relationship with God has been restored. True joy, full joy comes from
the desire to be pleasing to our heavenly Father and knowing
that in Christ, He is pleased with us. Man, that's a joy, isn't
it? To know that everything with
me and God is all right. He's not holding my sin against
me because my sin's been put away. Christ put it away for
me. Obedience to our father's will
is what makes our joy remain. And this all goes back to our
relationship with Christ as the vine. There's no better illustration
in all the scripture of our union with Christ than the one of the
vine and the branches found right here in this chapter, John 15.
Look at verse one. Our Lord tells us that he's the
true vine and his father is the husbandman. His father is the
one that takes care of the vineyard. In verse four, he tells us that
the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide, where? In the vine. And that we, his
people, cannot bear fruit except we abide in him. Isn't that so? We can't be obedient without
Christ. He is our obedience. Apart from his love, apart from
his mercy, apart from his grace, there's no hope of even being
obedient to God's will, work, and purpose. Look at verse five. He said, I am the vine, you are
the branches. He that abideth in me or dwelleth
in me is what the word means, abideth. And I in him, the same
bringeth forth much fruit. For without me, you can do nothing. There it is right there. We can't
bring forth any fruit without him. You can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, verse
six, he's cast forth as a branch and is withered and men gather
them and cast them into the fire and they are burned. And again,
being obedient, keeping God's commandments, bringing forth
fruit is accomplished only by abiding in Christ who is the
true God. We can do nothing apart from
dwelling in the Lord Jesus Christ. Keeping God's commandments is
evidenced by our love to God. We're not obedient to God's word
because we want to be saved. We're obedient to God's word
because we are saved. And those who love and desire
God's will away, God shows mercy and kindness, acts of grace,
blessings of goodness. He's so good to us. We experience
joy, full joy, the Lord said, complete joy. And that includes
peace and assurance and rest. And it's from a principle of
love that his people observe his precepts. We are owing to
God's grace and God's mercy and kindness to us. And that's the
only reason that we love him. And because of that love, we
obey him and desire his will and everything. Lord, not my
way. I don't know what's best for
me, I really don't. Most of the time that I thought
I did know, I found out real quick that I didn't. We don't
know what's best for us, but He does. And the amazing thing
is God, He works all things together for that very purpose, our good
and His glory. And He gives all the glory and
the credit, but I'm the one that's profited. In Deuteronomy chapter
five, verse 10, God says, and showing mercy unto thousands.
Who are those thousands? You ever thought about it? He
tells us right there. They are them that love me and
keep my commandments. One day a lawyer, and a lawyer
in our Lord's day was not like a lawyer in our day. Well, in
some instances similar, but a lawyer in the day of our Lord was one
skilled in the law of God. Matter of fact, I think if you
look the word up in a dictionary, Vine's dictionary or one of the
others, it'll say a scribe in the city of Jerusalem. These
were the ones who transcribed the word of God and they were,
quote, experts, lawyers. And this one came to the Lord
Jesus, the scripture says, tempting him and testing him. He wasn't
really interested in his question. He came tempting and testing
the Lord, hoping to catch him in a mistake. Can you imagine?
You're not gonna catch God in a mistake. This is God that's
fixing to answer his question. And his question was, master,
what is the great commandment in the law? And the Lord said,
thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with
all thy soul and with all thy mind. This is the first and great
commandment. And the second is like unto it,
thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. And then he said
this, on these two, on these two laws or commandments, hang
all the law and all the prophets. You know, when you look at the
10 commandments, it's really plain to see. It's plain to see
that on those two commandments that the Lord told that man,
hang all the law, especially all the 10 commandments. If you
truly love God with all your heart, with all your mind, you'll
have no other God, which is the first commandment. You'll worship
no other God, not if you love God. Secondly, you won't worship
any graven image. You won't make an idol. You won't
have an idol in your life. God is your life. If you love
God with your heart, mind, and soul, you won't worship a graven
image. You won't take the Lord's name
in vain. You won't. And listen, that means a whole
lot more than just using the name of God in a cuss or curse
word. You won't speak vainly is what
that means. You won't speak evil. You won't
evilly speak concerning God. You just won't, not if you love
Him. You won't speak falsely. That's what that word means.
You'll tell the truth about God. You know Him and you love Him
with all your heart. Fourthly, you'll remember the
Sabbath and keep it holy. You'll rest in Christ. That's
what that means, really. because he is our Sabbath. He's
our rest. He's the Lord of the Sabbath. You'll observe him as holy and
just and righteous in all things. Fifthly, you'll honor your father
and mother just as you honor your God. This is right. Children, obey your parents and
the Lord. This is right. It's a righteous thing to do.
And Secondly, if you love your neighbor as yourself, the Sixth
Commandment says you won't commit murder against him, and you won't
commit adultery with his wife, and you won't steal from him,
and you won't bear false witness or lie against him, number eight
in the Ten Commandments. You won't bear false witness,
number nine, excuse me, and you won't covet what he's got. So
in those two things hangs the whole law, not just the Ten Commandments,
but everything in the law. Loving God and loving your neighbor
as yourself. Now you may not do so perfectly
and you may not do so continually, but I know this much, you'll
certainly want to. God changes our want to. We'll
want to do that more than anything else, but know this, in Christ,
you do so perfectly. And we come back to that substitution. And our continual prayer is Lord,
not my will. but thine be done." The commandment
of God is to do what pleases Him. Look at John 14, look at
verse 31, you're right there. But that the world may know that
I love the Father and as the Father gave me commandment, even
so I do. Our Lord said in John chapter
17, verse four, he said, I've glorified thee on earth. How
did he do that? He said, I finished the work
that you gave me to do. Oh, how I pray that when my time
on earth is done, that I can say the same thing. But I know
that it's only in Christ that I'll be able to say that. Turn
with me to Hebrews chapter 10. Keep your place here in John
15, but turn with me to Hebrews 10. I want you to see this. But look at verse five in Hebrews
10 with me. It says in verse five, wherefore,
when he cometh into the world, he saith, sacrifice and offering
thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me. and burnt
offerings and sacrifices for sin, thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, lo, I come in the
volume of the book it's written to me." Who's that talking? Well,
that's the Lord Jesus. He said, I come to do thy will,
O God. Above when he said sacrifice
and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin, thou wouldest
not, neither has pleasure therein, which are offered by the law,
Then said he, lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away
the first, that he may establish the second. And by the witch
will, we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ once for all." How are we sanctified? How are we set
apart? How are we made holy? By the
sacrifice that he made. Not any sacrifice we made. We
don't make any sacrifices. Oh, we think we do, but we don't.
God took away the first, the covenant of works, that he may
establish the second, the covenant of grace. God has abolished the
keeping of the law as a way to be saved so that he might establish
the gospel. He'd done away with the priesthood
of Aaron, that he might establish the priesthood of Christ. And
it's in Christ, I'm perfect. And our only hope of ever keeping
God's law is found in Christ keeping the law for us. But I
do desire to keep God's law. I never wanted, you know, it
used to kill me when I would be disappointing to my father.
It really, really did. How much more so should it be
when we disappoint our heavenly father? I want to be pleasing
to him, don't you? After all, he loved me and gave
himself for me. Back in John chapter 15, hope
you had kept your place. Look at verse 12. The Lord says,
this is my commandment, that you love one another as I've
loved you. First John, John said this in
his first epistle, chapter two, verse nine, he said, he that
saith he is in the light and hateth his brother is in darkness
even until now. And he that loveth his brother
abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling
in him. But he that hateth his brother
is in darkness, and he walketh in darkness, and he knoweth not
whether he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes."
In 1 John 4, verse 21, he wrote, and this commandment have we
from him, that he who loveth God loveth his brother also.
Now it's in verse 13 here in John chapter 15 that the Lord
teaches us something about true love, something about great love. I'm interested in that. He said,
greater love hath no man than this, than what? That a man lay
down his life for his friends. There's no greater love than
Christ's love for his people. How do I know? because He laid
down His life for them. The Lord Jesus not only came
down from heaven, not only left His throne on high, not only
took on flesh and blood, yet without sin, but He laid aside
His glory, and He laid aside His royal majesty, and He laid
down His life for us. And if that's not enough, to
boggle your mind, nothing is, this ought to float your boat,
as we say. It's who he did it for, for the
ungodly, those who hated him without a cause. And nothing
is dearer to a man than his life, isn't that so? Well, that's his
all. If he gives his life, he gives
everything. So first I'd have you to notice
that true love Great love, greater love, greater love. Greatest
love is first a voluntary sacrifice. Our Lord's life was not taken
from Him. Yes, I know that men with wicked
hands took and crucified the Lord of glory, but it was by
what? The determinant counsel and foreknowledge of God. God
was behind it. Jesus Christ is God. Christ laid
down His life. He said, no man taketh it from
me, I lay it down. I can take it up again. And he
did, didn't he? He died in his people's room
instead. He paid the ransom for them.
Why? Because he loved them. The Lord of glory laid down his
life for us who were his enemies. Because he had from eternity
called us and determined us to be his friends. And he was determined
to make us such. He willingly and shamefully died
on the cross, the just for the unjust, why? That he might bring
us to God. Being our surety, our substitute,
our mediator, standing in our place, he took our sin to be
his own, and he was made sin for us. He knew no sin, he did
no sin, he thought no sin, never had a bad thought go through
his mind. He laid down his life for his
enemies and he determined to make us his friends. He willingly
and shamefully died on the cross. Being our surety and substitute
standing in our place, as I said, he took our sin to be his own.
And our Lord Jesus bore the curse of the law. He sustained his
father's wrath and all the punishment that was due to you and I for
our sin. God did that for you, child of God. And secondly, we
see in this single verse, we see that Christ's love is greater
love. It was without any selfish motive. This is love that's far greater
than what man is capable of. Pretty much everything we do
has a motive. Christ laid down his life for
his enemies. As I said, he freely and voluntarily laid it down.
for those who hated him without a cause. Now there've been men
who died for other men, but in most cases, it was because either
they couldn't avoid it, or the one they died for, they thought
to be worthy of their sacrifice. Or in some cases, because they
desired the praise and the applause of others. But our Lord's obedience
unto death, even the death of the cross, the scripture says,
was free for those that he loved freely. For when we were yet without
strength and due time, Christ died for who? The ungodly. For
scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet perventure
for a good man, some would even dare to die. But God commended
his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us. Well, that's the gospel. That's
the best news this sinner ever heard. And nothing in all the
universe is more wonderful and magnificent in the eyes of God
than the death of his dear son. Our Lord himself said, therefore
doth my father love me because I lay down my life. We're not
just making this up as we go along. This is what God's word
says. The angels in heaven look in amazement and wonder at the
redemption by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Redeemed sinners
on earth cherish nothing more, delight in nothing more, marvel
at nothing more than the death of Christ for ungodly and wretched
and unworthy sinners. It's amazing. the redeemed and
ransomed saints of God, already in glory, constantly sing in
a loud voice, the scripture says, worthy is the lamb that was slain. Yet to some, it means nothing.
Is it nothing to you, all you that pass by, behold and see,
if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto
me, wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fearsome. That fierce anger, Sharon, was
to be against me. Christ took it in my place. Again, let me say that the Lord
Jesus laid down his life voluntarily and he did so as an act of obedience
to his father. John chapter 10, verses 17 and
18 confirms just that. Therefore does my father love
me because I laid down my life, I quoted that a moment ago, that
I might take it again. And no man taketh it from me,
but I lay it down on myself. I've got power to lay it down
and I've got power to take it again. And this commandment have
I received of my father." God was behind all this. Oh,
what obedience Christ had to his father. And when I think
and consider and meditate on what Christ has done for me,
I want to be obedient to him, don't you? It's not that I might
attain salvation. It's because the Lord, by His
mercy and grace, saved me. I want to be pleasing to Him. We abide in His love only one
way, and that's by trusting in Him alone for our salvation.
Our Lord said, abide in me, and I'll abide in you. How do we
abide in Him? By trusting in Him, relying on Him, depending
on Him for everything. God honors those who honor His
Son, and the only way that we can honor Him is to trust Him. Christ is our only access to
God. He said, I'm the way and the
truth and the life, and no man cometh to the Father but by me.
If you're gonna get to heaven, if you're gonna get into God's
presence, it's gonna be through Christ the door, no other way. He's our only access. And the amazing thing is the
glory that God gave to Him, He gives to us. I in them and thou in me, that
they may be what? Made perfect in one. How are
we made perfect? By being in Christ. And that the world may know that
thou has sent me and has loved them as thou has loved me. And if our Savior so loved us,
how we ought to love one another. I leave you with the words of
the Holy Spirit through John the Beloved found in 1 John chapter
three. If you want to turn there, you
can, but I'll read it to you. He said this, 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. And verse 18 says this, my little
children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue. Let's just don't say these things. He says, but in deed, obedience. That's what the word means. But
in obedience and in truth. Oh, may God be pleased to make
it so.