Now we've been studying in John
chapter 11 for, oh, a few Wednesday nights. This evening I want to talk to
you about this subject, the love of Jesus. The love of Jesus. There lived in a little village,
the village of Bethany, A very happy family. Evidently, mom and dad were deceased,
but they lived in this one house, a brother and two
sisters. They were physically related,
a brother and two sisters. And they were spiritually related. A brother and two sisters. The
one relationship would end at death. The physical relationship,
that ends at death, doesn't it? But not the spiritual relationship. And when we think about and talk
about Mary and Martha and Lazarus, they're still brothers and sisters
in the Lord Jesus even tonight. They've been in glory with the
Savior. They joined Him in everlasting
paradise about 2,000 years ago. Never have left His side. And
they love Him. They love Him with all their
hearts now. They love Him because He first
loved them. Our Lord honored and favored
these three by often visiting with them. Theirs was a blessed
house. Blessed of the Lord. If you ever
look up the word Bethany, it actually means a house of misery. But it wasn't miserable for them.
There was nothing miserable about it. Because the Lord Jesus often
visited with them. They enjoyed His fellowship. They loved His teaching. They
benefited from His words. And whenever the Lord came to
Bethany, they opened their doors to the Savior and to His disciples. And I'm sure that they would
say, oh precious Savior, would you teach us today? What portion of Scripture, Lord,
would you open up to us? And you know that He did. You
know that He did. And I'll tell you, our Lord,
as He took the Old Testament Scriptures, don't you know the
Word of God just came alive? It just came alive. Here's the
written Word which speaks about the everlasting Word, the Word
that was with God and the Word that was God. And that Word was
now with them. And He broke open the Word of
God to them. It's like an alabaster box full
of sweet ointment that filled the house. They rejoiced in His
teaching. What would it have been like
to have sat there, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, and the disciples,
and the Lord Jesus took Psalm 23 and expounded on it? Wouldn't
that be wonderful? And He would have said, listen,
when David said, the Lord is my shepherd, He's talking about
me. I'm the good shepherd and I'm
going to lay down my life for the sheep. I'm the great shepherd
and that blood that I'm going to shed on the cross of Calvary
is the blood of the everlasting covenant. And I'm the chief shepherd. I'm coming again. And I'm the seeking shepherd.
Mary, Martha, Lazarus, I sought you. I sought you. And I found you. And I'm sure
tears just ran down their cheeks. They said, yes, Lord, you did.
And we're so thankful. Yes, Lord, you did. Oh, how thrilling
it would have been when he said, I'm going to teach today from
Isaiah chapter 9. Of course, they didn't have chapters
then. Chapter divisions and verses,
that came later. And it's very beneficial to us.
But I'm sure when he went to Isaiah, he said, do you remember
reading unto us, a child is born? That's me. Under us a son is
given. That's me. And the government
is upon my shoulders. And here's my name. Learn my
name well. Wonderful. Counselor. The mighty God. The everlasting Father. The Prince
of Peace. They would have said, yes Lord,
that's who You are and we worship You. He would have said that passage
and all of the Old Testament, all of these verses, they speak
of Me. They speak of Me. And like He said there in Luke
chapter 4, Do you remember when our Lord had been preaching?
He had been preaching in Judea about a year. Then He goes into
Galilee and He goes to Nazareth and He goes into the synagogue.
And the scriptures given to Him to read from the book of Isaiah
chapter 61. And just like all the rest of
the Old Testament which speaks of our Lord Jesus, He would have said to them as
He said there in Luke chapter 4, this day is the Scripture
fulfilled in your ears. This day. And unlike those rebels of Luke
chapter 4, who after He brought a message on sovereignty, on
distinguishing grace, They were ready to murder Him. I'm just
sure that Mary and Martha and Lazarus would have said, Lord,
don't stop. Keep teaching. Keep teaching. We worship You. You see, people
who love the Lord Jesus Christ love His Word. And we say as we study the Savior
and as we study His Gospel, as we study His Word, we say never
a man speak like this man. This man speaks like no other
man does. This man speaks with authority. He doesn't go back like the Jews did, the Pharisees. They quoted the old rabbis. They quoted the traditions of
the Father. But they said, this man, he speaks
with authority. He knows the Word of God. And
yes, he does know the Word of God, because that's His Word.
That's His Spirit who inspired those men to write that. So He blessed these three with
His with His presence. He was always welcome there.
You know what He did? He created within their hearts
a welcome for Himself. And that's what He has to do.
They were glad to see Him. Oh Lord, it's so good to see
You again. Well, I'll tell you, those folks
at the end of John chapter 10, That wasn't their attitude. When He said, I and my Father
are one, they took up stones to stone Him. And even toward
the end of the chapter, they sought again to take Him. But Mary and Martha and Lazarus,
they said, Lord, You're always welcome in our house. Oh, how blessed is that house.
where Christ Jesus has made a welcome for Himself. That's a blessed
house. And we say, Lord, come to our
house. Lord, come to our house. Visit
with us. It's like those two disciples
on the road to Emmaus after our Lord's resurrection. poor souls in their unbelief. He said, oh, fools and slow of
heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Ought not
these things have happened to Christ to suffer and bleed and
die and be raised again? And then their eyes were opened. They said, don't leave. Don't
leave. They said, abide with us. Abide with us. And isn't that
what every time we come together to meet and the Spirit of God
takes the things of the Lord Jesus and shows them to us, we
say, Lord, abide with us. Without His presence, we're nothing. Nothing is accomplished. But
if He's here, oh, if He's here, If He's here when we meet, if
He's with us in our individual devotions, oh, how favored we
are. And I'll tell you, like I said,
He makes a welcome for Himself because by nature, we don't welcome
Him. He's the sovereign Christ. He's
the Lord of glory. He doesn't find a welcome within
our innermost being, within our souls, within our hearts. We say, no, not you. We have
no use for this. We want that Jesus we can manipulate,
that Jesus we can move around, that Jesus we can either say
yes to or no to, but it's all up to us. That's the way we used
to be, but not anymore. What has happened to us, He has
done a work of grace within us. He has given us a new heart,
a heart of faith to believe Him and worship Him and honor Him. And we say, Lord, abide with
us. Lord, stay with us. And Lord, don't ever let us meet
without You being here. I know that He has set forth
in His Word that where two or three are gathered Together,
he said, I'll be in the midst. But I don't take his presence
for granted, do you? I said, Lord, be with us. Lord, honor us with your presence. I'm so thankful you're here tonight,
but I'll tell you, there is one whose presence we just can't
do without. We just can't do without. Everything
will be vain and empty and useless unless the sovereign Christ is
here. And I'll tell you, wherever He
is honored, wherever He is exalted, wherever His work of redemption
is held forth, His work of reconciliation, His righteousness, not our unrighteousness. Wherever He is magnified, that's
where He's going to be. That's where He's going to be.
Oh, He blessed them with His presence. Now, regarding these three, Mary
and Martha and Lazarus, there is something that is stated about
the Lord's attitude toward them That's absolutely marvelous.
It's found here, look at verse 3. John 11 verse 3, Therefore his
sisters, you know Lazarus was sick, so they sent word by a
messenger to the Lord Jesus. He's over there where John had
been baptized. I've already said between chapter
10 and verse 42 and chapter 11 verse 1, about three months has
gone by. And now it says, and let me just
read verse 1 now. A certain man was sick, named
Lazarus of Bethany, a house of misery. That's the time of Mary and her
sister Martha. It was that Mary which anointed
the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose
brother Lazarus was sick. Therefore his sisters sent unto
him, saying, Lord..." Boy, that's the right way to address Him. Lord, if you want something from
Him, better come with the right attitude, and using this, He's
the Lord of glory. He's not a doormat. He's the
Lord. He didn't want to be Lord. He
is the Lord. He didn't say, please make me
your Lord. God made him Lord, both Lord
and Christ, because he successfully did the work of redemption God
assigned to him in the covenant of grace. He finished the work
of redemption. We call Him Lord and we love
His Lordship. We mean it. We mean it. And I tell you, Martha and Mary,
they meant this. Lord, behold, He whom thou lovest
is sick. I don't know what the sickness
was, but it was a very serious illness. Therefore, we have the
word, behold. It's almost like in amazement. They're sort of shocked that
one whom the Lord loves would be so sick. But he was sick and many other
people that the Lord has loved have got sick as well. Sickness is just part of being
a sinful human being. It is owing to the corruption
of our nature, not some specific sin, but just the fact we're
sinful people. We get sick. But they seem to
be shocked. Behold! This is shocking. Lord, You've been with us so
many times. You've stayed in our house. You've
eaten our food. You've slept in our bed that
we've provided for you. And now behold! Lord, we're amazed. We're shocked. One whom you love is sick. Now,
they did approach Him the right way. They called Him Lord. And
it didn't say one who loves you is sick. It said one whom you
love. Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest
is sick. Drop down to verse 5. Now, Jesus loved. There's no
question about this now. If you had any question before,
Jesus loved Martha and her sister, who was Mary, and Lazarus. One other verse, go over to verse
35 and then 36. Shortest verse in the Bible,
John 11, 35, Jesus wept. We'll be talking about that later.
Then said the Jews, Behold, how he loved him. Let me tell you something. They
didn't have any idea how he loved them. They didn't have any comprehension
of the love of the Lord Jesus for Lazarus. They just saw rolling
down his face these tears. And they said, oh, He must have
loved him a lot. He loved and did love and will
always love Lazarus far more than those folks knew anything
about. Because He loved him with an
everlasting love. But here's the point. Our Lord
Jesus loved them. Oh, how blessed is that is that
dwelling place where those who live there are loved by the Lord. I wish tonight that the Lord
would just bathe us in His love. That we could just bask in His
everlasting love for His covenant people. Oh, how wonderful. Oh, how marvelous. is the Lord's love for His people. And I want to point out this.
Though it isn't definitely stated, but I think it's certainly implied,
we can safely say that since they delighted in His presence, since they believed Him, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, they
loved Christ Jesus. They loved Him too. You see,
those who rest in Christ for acceptance with God, who fully
rely upon His blood, His substitutionary death, His offering for sin,
those who believe the Lord Jesus for their soul's salvation, who
look to Him as their only righteousness, we may safely conclude they love
Christ. If you believe Christ, you love
Christ. You see, we can be certain of this. The
love of God, once it's made known to a sinner, like you, and like
me, That love, once it's made known
to the sinner, always results in a return of that love to the Lord. It always works that way. When
He sheds His love abroad in our hearts, He causes us to love
Him. To love Him as He's revealed
in the Word of God. And you know, it's written, the
Apostle said, if any man love not the Lord Jesus, let him be
anathema maranatha. Let him be damned when Christ
comes back. Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou
me? Do you love me? Lord, thou knowest all things. Boy, he sure does. Thou knowest all things, you
know. And I ain't act like, Lord, I
ain't talk like somebody who loved you. But Lord, you're the
one who, you created love within my heart for you. You know, you
know I love you. Oh, His love, the love of Christ
Jesus, once it is revealed to a sinner, will always result
in that sinner then loving Christ Jesus. Mary, Martha, and Lazarus,
they loved Him. They loved His attributes. They loved His work. They believed
Him. We recall what John who wrote
this passage of Scripture by inspiration. We recall what he
said in 1 John chapter 4. We love Him! Why? Why do we love Him? For this
reason. He first loved us. Our love to the Lord flows out
of and is a result of His love for us. It isn't something we
produce. If I ask you tonight, do you
love the Lord Jesus as He's revealed in the book of God now? And you
say yes. Well, you know. You know if you
really love Him, it's only because He loved you first. He shed His
love abroad in your heart. He wooed you and He drew you
and He showed you His glories and His perfections and His beauty
and His redemptive work, His work of reconciliation, His righteousness,
the forgiveness of your sins. He drew you unto Himself and
you just fell in love with Him. You said, this is the Savior
for me. This is the one I need. And you
fell in love with Him. And through the years, you've
said, oh, the height and the depth and the breadth of the
love of Christ Jesus for me. And so often you've said something
like this, Lord, how could you love somebody like me? I'm so unlovable, but let me
tell you something, everybody he loves is unlovable. We're unlovely. You see, this
is where sovereign grace differs from the religion of man. See,
we start talking about love. We love people who are attractive. Why don't you think, the first
thing that caught my eye about Nancy Wright Well, she was attractive. I was standing in the canteen
working at camp, and she'd come walking down by the horseshoe
pits. Yeah. And her preacher said, see that
young lady right there? Red top, blue Bermuda shorts. I still remember what she was
wearing the first time I laid eyes on her. He said, boy, she'd
be a good catch. There was an attractiveness about
her. And then I found out not only
was there outward beauty, but inward beauty. And I fell in
love with her, but with us, there wasn't anything lovely about
us in the eyes of Christ Jesus. We fell in that. We became unlovely. Why did God love us? Because
He would. He said, I will love them freely. That's what He said. You know
what that means? Without a cause in us. I don't
know why the Lord loved me. Well, I don't either. He just loved you because He
would. And that love, you see, it never had a beginning. He's
always loved you. You know how long He's loved
you? As long as He's been the Son of God. That's how long He's
loved you. That's forever. And you know
how long He will love you out in the future? As long as He's
on His throne. You know how long that is? Forever. So from everlasting to everlasting,
He's God. That's how long His love is for
His people. Isn't that wonderful? And you
can't fall out of His love. His love never wavers. It can't
be altered. It's absolutely changeless. He has always loved us fervently. To the very highest degree. He loved us so much that He came
into this world to lay down His life to save us. Husbands, listen up husbands,
love your wife. To what degree how should I love
my wife? As Christ Jesus loved the church. And you see, he wasn't just willing,
he wasn't just willing to give himself for the bride. He gave himself. He laid down
his life. And the love of the Son of God
is no different than the love of the Father. Oh, how utterly amazing! As the
Father loves the eternal Son, that's how He loves all of His
sons and daughters. Could I say it this way? You
know, we often say, I love you with all my heart. All my heart. Well, could I say this about
the love of the Lord Jesus? He loves us with all of His heart. That's right, Alvin. He loves
us with all of His heart. Isn't that wonderful? How utterly
amazing. 1 John 4, 9 says, And this was
manifested, or revealed, or made known, the love of God toward
us that He gave His Son to be the
propitiation for our sins. Has God manifested His love? Yes. Has the Son of God manifested
His love? Yes. Somebody says, I know the
Lord loves me because He provides for me all the necessities of
life. That's not an evidence of the
love of God. That's an evidence of the mercy
of God. But that's not any proof that
He loves you. Because He sends His reign on
the unjust as well as the just. People who curse His name, people
who despise God, who despise the Lord Jesus Christ, He still
sends daily mercies to them. Daily mercies are no evidence,
no demonstration, no manifestation of the love of God. In this was
the love of God manifested. He gave his Son to be propitiation
for our sin. That's where love is manifested.
Go to the cross of Calvary and see the Son of God hanging there,
our substitute, God's sin offering. And God puts him to death. There is love right there. And by that death, He killed
our sins. They were drowned in Jesus' blood! And He rose again! That's the
Father's way of saying, I'm well satisfied with everything that
He did. Went back to Heaven, the Father
said, sit right here on my own right hand. Tell them, make the
enemies your footstool. Daily mercies are no evidence
of the love of God. You say, well, I have good health
and I enjoy the comforts of life. Aren't those evidences of the
love of God? Well, if that's the evidence
of the love of God, another Lazarus that we read about over in the
book of Luke, And he didn't fare so well because
he had sores. The dogs came and licked him,
give him some kind of relief. And he was hungry. But he knew something about the
love of God. God loved him. You say, well, the reason he
went to heaven, to Abraham's bosom, is because he is a poor
beggar. That's not why he went to glory.
He went to glory because he's an object of God's sovereign
mercy. He's an object of God's saving
grace. People don't go to heaven because
they're poor any more than people go to hell because they're rich. The rich man up there in his
big fine house, he fared sumptuously every day. And if he got a toothache
or he had a headache, bring the doctors in. But God didn't love
him. Christ Jesus didn't love him.
The daily mercies he received from the hands of God were not
manifestations of divine love. They were manifestations of divine
mercy. And the mercy of God is over
all of his creatures, but not his grace. No sir, he doesn't
give grace to everybody and he doesn't love everybody. That's
reserved. That's reserved. for a chosen people. The Savior and the Father have
manifested their love to us in that Christ Jesus gave His life
that we'd live forever. I never get weary of hearing
about and reading about the love of Christ Jesus or His covenant
people. makes for a soft pillow at night. That's the reason, you know,
John said, herein is love. Not that we love God. If you
want to talk about love, if we want to discuss love, our love for the Lord, that's
not worth talking about, is it? Well, no, because our love Some
of us, and all of us sometimes are like the Ephesians. I have
somewhat against you, the Lord said. You've left your first love.
Our love is up and down. Right? We run hot, we run cold. You know that's true. That's
the way we are. So herein is love, not that we
love God, not that, oh, how I love Jesus. I just can't sing that. I do love Him. But not as much as I want to
and not as much as I'm going to. But I do love Him more than
I used to because I didn't love Him at all. Hearing His love,
not that we love God, He loved us. He loved us. Oh, I never get weary of reading
about, hearing about the love of the Lord for His covenant
people. His love passes knowledge. It passes knowledge. And it constrains
us. The law of love. There's nothing great. There's
no law any stronger than the law of love. Love will cause
you to do what nothing else will bring you to do. Just love. See, the love of the Lord Jesus,
love toward the Lord Jesus, that constrains us to come and worship. There's no law that said you
had to be here tonight. You know, when you joined this
church, you didn't sign a church covenant that said, I promise
I'm going to be there every time the doors are open. You didn't
do anything like that. Well, I promise I'll give my
offering. I promise I'll do this. I promise. And then if you don't do it,
somebody says, well, why'd you sign that then? The law of love, that's powerful. That's powerful. You moms and
dads, you didn't sign any kind of covenant, I'll take care of
my kids. You take care of them because
you love them. And no matter how old they get, you love them. And they may fall down, they
may disappoint, they may sin, they may embarrass the family,
but you know what? You still love them. You still
love them. Because love, real love, you
can't destroy or kill real love. Let me give you this. Concerning the love of the Lord
Jesus, behold Him in the covenant of grace, the surety of the elect,
here is representative love. Way back yonder, He said, Father, all that you
give me, I'll stand good for them. I'm the surety. That's
representative love right there. See him in a manger. God manifest
in the flesh to save his people from their sins. Here is incarnate
love right there. View the bridegroom giving his
life for the bride. Here is spousal love. Observe the good shepherd laying
down his life for the sheep and then rising again. Here is justifying
love. See him drawing us unto himself
in effectual life-giving power like he did to Jeremiah. He said,
Jeremiah, I've loved thee with an everlasting love. Therefore,
in loving kindness, I've drawn you. Here's everlasting love. Envision him seated at the right
hand of the majesty on high, the advocate for sinners. Here
is interceding love. Consider him governing and directing
all things to their appointed end. to fulfill His eternal purpose
and see Him making all things work together for the good of
His elect. Here's family love. And rejoice that by His Spirit
He dwells with us and He'll never forsake us. Here is abiding love. And know that He is coming again
to receive us unto Himself. Here is unending love. Can you rejoice? Can you rejoice
in Christ Jesus? Oh, what a blessed Savior He
is. Blessed indeed. The love of Jesus. Well, let's sing a closing song. I belong. I belong to Him. I belong to the King. 275. I belong to Him by covenant
grace. I belong to Him by purchase price. I belong to Him by the effectual
call of grace. I belong to the King. 275. Let's
stand together and then we'll be dismissed.