Well, we're continuing this morning,
God willing, in John's Gospel, Chapter 15, and I've called the
message, Brotherly Love in a Hostile World. That is what I think our
Lord Jesus Christ was teaching his apostles that were with him
then, in the second half of John, Chapter 15, and all others, all
other disciples of Christ down the ages to our day, including
us. Remember what these chapters
are in John. If you start in chapter 13 and
verse 31, in verse 30, Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him, went. And from then on, it's Jesus
with the 11, the 11 apostles as there were then. Of course,
the 12th apostle was the apostle Paul. Ah, you say, no, you're
forgetting Matthias in Acts chapter 1. No, that was a great big mistake
that they made, but they were only human, weren't they? It
was God's intention that Paul would be the 12th apostle. We
read of Matthias being elected by the casting of lots and then
you never hear another word about Matthias in the New Testament.
So these are the 11 apostles that were with him at the time.
And these chapters, the end of chapter 13, then 14, 15, 16,
17, this is the last couple of hours that Jesus spent with his disciples
before he went to the cross. In a few hours, he was before
Pontius Pilate. In a few hours, he was before
Caiaphas, the high priest. In a few hours, he was being
led away to the cross and crucified. These are very intimate chapters. This is very intimate teaching. And Jesus, in these chapters,
is preparing these apostles for his bodily departure. He'd been
with them for three and a half years. And he's now said, I must
go away. I must go away. But the Comforter
will come. We'll send a Comforter to you. The Father and the Son will send
the Comforter. And look at verse 7 of chapter
16. He says, nevertheless, he said, well, verse six, because
I have said these things unto you, that I'm going away, sorrow
has filled your heart. Nevertheless, I tell you the
truth. It is expedient for you. It's good for you. It's for your
benefit that I go away. For if I go not away, the comforter,
the Holy Spirit, will not come to you. But if I depart, I will
send him unto you. Do you know how much better it
is to have the comforter This is what Christ himself said.
Yes, how wonderful it would have been to be in the physical presence
of Jesus, and leaned on his breast as John, the beloved disciple,
did, and have heard his words, and have eaten a meal that was
shared with him, and all of these things. But do you know, Jesus
says, it's better for you that he goes away, Because he's sending
the Comforter, the Holy Spirit. You see, you could only be with
Jesus in one place on this earth at one time. You could only be
with him at one time, in the flow of time. But the Holy Spirit,
the Comforter, is with God's people always and everywhere.
It's expedient for them. And he's impressed upon them.
in chapter 15 in the first half, the necessity of ongoing union
with him. He is the true vine. He says,
abide in me, continue in me, stay in me. I am the vine, the
rootstock that supplies the sap that gives life to you branches,
and it's only by that that you will bear the fruit of the kingdom
of God, the fruit of his righteousness, the fruit which As Galatians
5, 21 and 22 says, that fruit of love, joy, peace, patience,
long-suffering and so on, that fruit against which there is
no law. There is no law. That fruit is
entirely in accord with the righteousness and justice of God. We need to
continue in Him. He said that. It's something
that we must encourage ourselves daily to do, to exercise that
fellowship with Him. But you know, this union is not
any cold union. You know, things can be coupled
together in a very cold way. A person could be coupled to
the company that he or she works for, but there's no love lost
between them. It's just an arrangement of convenience. One railway carriage might be
coupled to another, but there's no love involved in that coupling.
This union with Christ, between Christ and his people, is based
on love. It's not a cold union, it's based
on love. It's driven by love. It's driven
by everlasting love. For God says to his people, I
have loved you with an everlasting love. Says that in Jeremiah.
God himself the unseeable, unknowable spirit outside of Christ, you
cannot know him. But when you know him, you know
that he is love. God is love, says John in his
epistle, 1st epistle. And so we're encouraged to abide
in him, to continue in him, to keep going in him. This is what
we're encouraged to do. It is perfect love, the perfect
love of God, which, as John says again in 1 John 4 verse 18, it
is that perfect love which casteth out fear. It casts out fear,
for the threat of punishment, the threat of condemnation, the
fear of judgment, causes fear. It is a fearful thing to fall
as a sinner, uncleansed from your sin, into the hands of the
living God. But this love of God casts out
fear. For in this love of God for his
people, in it, he casts out fear. Yes, the people of God fear him,
in the sense of the deepest reverence, the deepest respect for God.
You know, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. It's
the beginning of knowledge. The fear of the Lord. Only the
fool does not fear God. fear of the Lord, but it's a
deep reverence. It isn't a fear of judgment and
of punishment and of condemnation. It's deep reverence. It's deep
respect. It's honor for the living God.
It's a desire to flee from any prospect of offending the living
God. But you see, the relationship
is changed because of what Christ has done. Look in verse 13 of
chapter 15. Jesus says this to them, and
remember how intimate was the situation. Just him and the eleven
apostles. Greater love hath no man than
this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are
my friends. You know, here is God speaking.
In him dwelt the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and he's
saying to sinful men, ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever
I command you. What does he command? That we
believe him, that we trust him, that we seek to follow him. He
says, 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 know, isn't that not the
key? You know those who are truly your friends. You have lots of
acquaintances, but there are some who are your friends. And
you know the key mark of friendship is a sharing of secrets. is a
sharing of mutual secrets. He says, I've shown you the secrets
of eternity. I've shown you the secrets of
my father's kingdom. You are my friends. I've shown
you these things. What a blessed position to be
in. He says, you haven't chosen me, but I've chosen you to this.
I've ordained you to this. as Abraham was the friend of
God. You know, Abraham, chosen out
of that heathen people in the Middle East, Abraham was the
friend of God, for God spoke with him. God spoke with him.
He spoke with Moses as a man speaks with his friend face-to-face.
There is a people. That people always seems, wherever
you are, as a little flock. Jesus referred to his people
as little flock. Fear not, little flock. The little
flock of God. When he comes again, will he
find faith in the earth? Meaning that it will be a very
rare thing. A little flock. It's always,
wherever you are, a little flock. Don't think that the truth of
God is known where the biggest churches are. The very opposite.
The truth of God is known where the little flocks gather. Two
or three gathered in his name. but those all added together
make an innumerable multitude. When John, in Revelation 19 and
verse one, was lifted up into heaven, he looked and he saw
much people in heaven. There were all the 144,000s of
people on earth at any one time. In Revelation, where is it? Is
it chapter seven or is it chapter nine? I can't remember off the
top of my head. There they are, and then all of a sudden there
was an innumerable multitude that cannot be numbered. This is the people of God in
the world. A little flock, but all part
of an innumerable multitude. Disciples of Christ, whom Jesus
himself calls his friends. This, above all else, separates
these people, this people of God, this people of his choice,
I have chosen you, you haven't chosen me, the people of God's
choice, it separates them from the world's people in general.
who know nothing of the true God, who know nothing of the
God of this book, who know nothing of the God who is made known
by the Comforter coming and giving life and giving sight. Why is
the world so hostile to Christ? And I'm talking about the true
Christ, the true Christ of Scripture, the true Christ of true religion.
I'm not talking about the Christ that the world of religion talks
about all the time. Oh, they're all serving Christ.
They're not serving the Christ of Scripture. They may use that
name. Didn't Jesus warn? They'll say, look, here is Christ
and there is Christ. He said, don't believe them.
He said, don't believe them. Try the spirits, whether they
be of God. Religion all around. People down the road from here
in their churches will be talking about Christ and about serving.
It's not the Christ of Scripture. It's not the Christ that says
the things that this Christ says, who preaches the gospel that
this Christ preaches. It's not the Christ of John chapter
6, where they couldn't stand him and they all left him. Not
that one, no. So what is at the base of the
world's hatred for Christ and his people? Look in verse 18.
If the world hate you, you who believe Christ, you who follow
Christ, what? The world's going to hate me?
Hold on. If the world hate you, you know that it hated me before
it hated you. It did. The world of the days
of Jesus of Nazareth hated Jesus of Nazareth when they heard his
words. If you were of the world, if you were like them, the world
would love his own. all have a good time together.
But because ye are not of the world, but ye are the people
of God, and I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the
world hates you. Remember the word that I said
unto you, the servant is not greater than his Lord. Whatever
the Lord suffers, the servant will suffer the same. If they
have persecuted me, They will also persecute you. If they have
kept My saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things
will they do unto you for My name's sake, because they know
not Him that sent Me." Why should people hate Christ and His followers? Christ and his followers exhibit
love to others, not just to fellow believers, but to others? Do
they not seek the good of all without distinction? Do they
not seek to live peaceably in this world and not cause fights
and arguments? Do they not deny self? What on
earth should the world hate about that? You see Psalm 69 says it's
always the case. Psalm 69 verse 4. And John 15
verse 25. Look down in verse 25. This cometh
to pass that the word might be fulfilled that is written in
their law. Psalm 69 verse 4. It's also in Psalm 35 verse 19
more or less. They hated me. Why? Without a
cause. They hated me without a cause.
How could they hate him for exhibiting love, for doing good, for curing
disease, for seeking to live peaceably, to deny self and all
of these things? No, there is a reason. Look in
verse 19 and the second half of it. I have chosen you out
of the world, therefore the world hateth you. The reason is the
sovereign election of God, the sovereign grace of God. That
God has chosen some out of humanity for no other reason than God
has chosen them. Not for anything that they are,
or do, or have done, or will do, not for any tendency of leaning
towards God, not for anything like that, but for purely the
sovereign choice of God. I'll have this one, I'll have
this one. Out of all humanity, God chose a multitude, his elect
multitude, to be fitted for God's kingdom, to be qualified for
God's kingdom, to be taken to populate God's kingdom, to be
intimate, unending, intimate relationship with the living
God and him with them. And he's left the rest to themselves. And people say, that's grossly
unfair. How can that be? Look at what
Jesus said in Luke chapter four. Turn back to Luke chapter four.
He comes to Nazareth, you know, he grew up at Nazareth and now
he's in his ministry. And he comes back to the village
where he grew up and where he served his apprenticeship as
a carpenter with his father according to the flesh, with Joseph. And
they knew him, and he knew them. And he went into the synagogue,
and they gave him the scroll of Isaiah. And he found the place
where it was written, Isaiah 61, verses 1 and 2, in verse
18. He read this, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because
he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He hath
sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the
captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty
them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
He stood up and said that. You know what he said later about
those Old Testament scriptures? He said, these are they which
speak of me, John 5, 39. He said, this is speaking of
me. He closed the book, he gave it
to the minister and sat down and he began to say to them in
verse 21, this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. Oh wow,
here's the Messiah. Here's the Messiah who's come
proclaiming salvation and liberty from the curse of the law. And
all bear him witness and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded
out of his mouth. And they said, don't we know
him? He's Joseph's son. He's Mary's son. And they said
to him, and he said unto them, you will surely say unto me this
proverb, physician, heal thyself. Whatsoever we have heard done
in Capernaum, just down the road, do also here. We heard you did
some miracles down in Capernaum. Well, do us a few miracles here.
you know, you're our village's boy, come on, we know you, we
know your family, you've done some good things elsewhere, do
some good things here. And he said, verily I say to
you, no prophet is accepted in his own country. You won't accept
what I say, but I tell you a truth. And then what he goes on to say
is this, what he goes on to say is that In the Old Testament, we read
about the days of Elias, Elijah, when heaven was shut up for three
years and six months. And the famine was throughout
all the land and people were starving in Israel. But to none of them was Elijah
sent, save unto a foreign woman, to Serapta, the city of Sidon,
unto a woman that was a widow. What? He went there and God was
gracious to her. and saved her and her son from
starvation. And then he says, that's the
sovereign grace of God. Why? Because God chose it that
way. And in verse 27, he says, you Israelites thinking you're
such here in Nazareth, thinking that you're entitled, he says,
in the days of Elisha, in the days of Elisha, there were many,
many lepers throughout the land. But not one of them was cleansed
at the sovereign will of God, other than Naaman the Syrian,
the enemy of Israel. Naaman the Syrian was cleansed
of his leprosy. It's the sovereign grace of God.
And look, when they're in the synagogue, when they heard it,
they were filled with wrath. What made them mad? The sovereign
grace of God made them furious. And they rose up and they sought
to kill him. They were going to throw him down the cliff headlong,
but he passed away from their midst. You would say, well, you
know, in a way I can sympathize with those people for those words,
that God should, you know, what if there was my son or my friend
or my close relative that was in a bad case, and God chose
to go and be gracious to somebody else? That's because God is sovereign. It is the Lord. Let him do as
seemeth him fit. Let him do what his sovereign
will determines to be done. He said, I will be gracious to
whom I will be gracious, and have compassion on whom I will
have compassion. And you cannot do anything about
it. Is there not cause for reasonable
hatred of a God like that? But tell me. where anyone desiring
peace with God and coming to Christ for payment of the sin
debt, tell me where anyone was denied. You can't say that the
election of God denied it to anybody that desired peace with
God and salvation from sin. Show me where God's Word denies
salvation to any seeking it. Tell me who other than the unbelieving
sinner who calls God a liar, because that's what unbelief
means, tell me who other than the unbelieving sinner who calls
God a liar and consciously, deliberately refuses his grace, tell me, you
know, they say we will not have this man to rule over us, tell
me, tell me, who other than that is outside of the saving grace
of God. It's entirely of the sinner who
will not believe God, it's entirely of their own volition, of their
own choice. The world's peoples, in general,
hate the holy God. They hate his sovereign grace.
As he said, it's because I've chosen you. That's the reason
the world hates you. They hate his righteousness,
because it shines light unto their sin. They hate that light
of God, his sin-restraining law, and his people who uphold his
truth and precepts. But you object. Well, hold on
a minute. I seek to follow Christ, and I get on well with lots of
people who do not believe. Just be clear. Christians are
not to provoke the world's hostility. As Paul writes to the Romans
in Romans 12 verse 18, he says, if it be possible, as much as
lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Christians should
be courteous, sociable with neighbors, giving no offense as far as possible,
except the offense the world will take at the cross. And what
is the offense of the cross? The offense of the cross is not
as gory as it is, that it was a cruel method of punishment,
many, many, many, many, many people in the days of the Romans
were crucified, died a horrible death on a wooden cross. No,
that isn't the offence of the cross. The offence of the cross
is that the Lord Jesus Christ, when he died on the cross, did
not die for everybody that ever lived. but that he died for the
people that God gave him. He lays down his life for the
sheep, the sheep that God gave him, the innumerable multitude,
the people that he elected in grace, that he loved with an
everlasting love. It's particular redemption that
is the offense of the cross. If your cross is not one of particular
redemption, people will not be offended. The offense of the
cross is the offense of God saving a people that he has limited
to himself. When the world sees and hears
that doctrine from Christ's people, this is the message of Christ
to his people, they will hate you. Plain hatred. They will
ostracize you. They won't want anything to do
with you. They will even persecute you. In ages gone by and in places
in the world even today, people are put to death for that belief,
for maintaining that belief. Believers in this world are like,
imagine, I've used this analogy before, but imagine France in
1942, that was under Nazi occupation. And imagine British agents working
undercover there, their objective being the undermining of the
Nazi rule, the defeat of Nazism. And there they are, agents of
this country in hostile enemy territory, in danger at all times. If their true characteristics
as agents of Britain were to be revealed, they would undoubtedly
be put to death by the Nazi regime. Well, in a way, it's like that.
for the people of God, for the citizens of the kingdom of God
in the kingdom of this world. It's the reality for those who
follow Christ, united to Him, living by His precepts in this
hostile world. You know, in Revelation 13 we
read of this kingdom of Satan, and how those who do not have
the mark of the beast, those who do not sign up to allegiance
to the devil and his world and his way of doing things are restricted
in their ability to interact, to trade, to exchange ideas.
You know, and it's a warning to us to be alert in this alien
environment of this world, to live as one of the epistles says,
one of the apostles writes, live circumspectly, looking around
alert, be sociable and live peaceably as far as you can. But never
forget what James said, the friendship of the world is enmity with God. Yes, the unbelieving world hates
the Christ of electing grace and those who are its objects,
the people that are the objects of God's electing grace. But
the objects of God's grace, His people, are exhorted and commanded
to love one another. Christ's people's love for one
another. Look at verse 17. In the midst
of this, yes, the world will hate you for the doctrine of
the gospel of grace. But he says, right in the midst
of this, here you are, agents in enemy territory. These things
I command you, that ye love one another. Jesus commands it. He commands it. And His commandments,
you know, are not grievous. He doesn't put heavy burdens
on people's back. His commandments are not grievous.
He says, He commands His disciples to love one another. Don't wait
for the feelings of love to arise. That depends on things that happen.
Which is why, in Ephesians chapter 5, speaking of marriage, which
is a picture of the church, Christ and his body, Christ and his
bride, he says, husbands, love your wives. Here's a command
to you, husbands, love your wives. Well, won't I just feel love
for my wife when everything's all hunky-dory? No. Make effort. Go out of your way. The more
you do, the more you will find it's a mutual relationship of
benefit. And that's what he says. Love
one another. Go out of your way to love one
another. Positively hear Christ's command. And heed it. Take note
of it. Hear what he says. He's said
to us, as he said to these eleven, This is my command, that you
love one another. Make an effort against the flow
of the feelings of the flesh to obey it. Look at John 13. Just a page back, John 13, verse
34. A new commandment. Jesus says,
a new commandment I give unto you. Remember, Judas is gone.
They're just the 11 there. A new commandment I give unto
you. What's the commandment? That you love one another. How? What sort of love are you talking
about? As I have loved you. That's a self-sacrificing love.
That's an agape love. That's not just a fellow feeling,
that's a, I'm prepared to lay down my life for you, love. As I have loved you, that ye
also love one another. Why? Why love like that? Because,
verse 35, By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples,
if ye have love one to another. It's the distinguishing mark
of God's kingdom, that God's people love one another. We're
destined to spend eternity together. We must love one another. And
the flesh gets in the way in this life. and things rub contrary
to one another in this life. But we're to spend eternity together.
It's the distinguishing mark of God's kingdom. What are we
talking about? Are we talking about worldly
mutual backscratching? In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus
is talking about if your enemy You know, they say, love your
friends and hate your enemies, but I say unto you, love your
enemies. And if someone wants a coat, give him two. And if
somebody wants you to go one mile, go an extra mile. All of
these things, contrary. You know, one of the apostles,
says somewhere else, quoting the Proverbs, that in so doing,
in so doing that which goes against what feels in your flesh like
the good thing to do, you will be heaping coals of fire on their
heads. In other words, you'll be going,
wow, You'll be making them say, wow, this is amazing, that despite
the animosity that there's been, this person's trying to be kind
and generous to one another. It isn't mutual back scratching.
Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, so what if you, you know,
you repay, somebody gives you a meal and you repay a meal?
Well, he says, isn't that what the publicans and sinners do?
No, it's way beyond that. It's the love that we read about
right at the start in 1 Corinthians 14, verse 4. Charity suffers
long. Love suffers long. It's long-suffering. It's kind. It doesn't envy. It
doesn't vaunt itself. It's not puffed up. It doesn't
behave unseemly. It doesn't seek its own benefit.
It's not easily provoked. but is long-suffering, thinks
no evil, rejoices not in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth, puts
up with all things, believes all things, hopes all things,
endures all things, is generous-spirited towards others. It's self-sacrificing
love, not with an eye to what you might get back in reward. The eleven apostles I'm sure
at this time only sketchily understood, but later, With the Comforter,
following Pentecost, with Holy Spirit inspiration, they repeated
the precept of brotherly love. For example, let me read you
some from the New Testament. And yes, I know, Paul wasn't
amongst them at this time, but never mind, the same principle
applies. It's the Holy Spirit that inspired
this. Romans 12, verse 10. Be kindly affectioned one to
another with brotherly love, in honor, preferring one another. clear, isn't it? Ephesians 4,
2 and 3, forebearing What does forbearing mean? Forbearing
one another in love. Endeavouring to keep the unity
of the spirit in the bond of peace. Forbearing, patient and
restrained. Loving toleration of brothers
and sisters who may have differences. While we're in this flesh we
will have differences. For the sake of the unity of
the body in its testimony to the unbelieving world. By this
shall all men know that you are my disciples. Ephesians 4.32,
Be ye kind one to another. Do you see, if it came naturally,
if it just grew out of the ground like weeds, there wouldn't need
to be an exhortation. But there is an exhortation.
Be ye kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as
God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Colossians 3 verse 13, forgive
as Christ forgave you. Have you been forgiven much?
If you know that you're saved and you're saved from your sins,
what a debt of sin has been lifted off you for eternity, for the
glory of God, for the honor of his kingdom. Well, if you've
been forgiven so much, forgive as Christ forgave you. 1 Peter
1 verse 22, He was there. See that ye love one another
with a pure heart fervently. 1 Peter 4 verse 8, Above all
things have fervent charity among yourselves, for charity, love,
shall cover a multitude of sins. Christ has commanded it. He has
shown the supreme example of it to us who believe, but we
live in sinful flesh until the day we leave these bodies. The
spirit might want to obey, but the flesh wars against it, as
Galatians 5 says, the flesh wars against the spirit, and the spirit
against the flesh, and the two are contrary. How do we foster
the triumph of the spirit over the flesh? How to do this thing? John 15 verse 5, What we looked
at last week. I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me and I in
him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without me ye
can do nothing. How do we do it? Abiding in Christ,
abiding in him. Make effort to fellowship with
him daily, as we were thinking last week. Feed on his word daily,
as we were thinking last week. Pray for his precepts to bear
fruit in you. Verse 16, whatsoever you shall
ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. He's promised
it. Cause me to love my brethren,
my believing brethren, even when we have differences. Cause me
to do that. That's the prayer of the child
of God to our heavenly father. And thereby bear much fruit. What is the fruit? Love, joy,
peace, patience. And verse 18, following his footsteps. If the world hates you, You know
it hated me before you. You're just following in the
same footsteps. You're leading where the Good
Shepherd leads. John 10 verse 4, When he putteth
forth his own sheep, he goeth before them. And the sheep follow
him, for they know his voice. The kingdom of this world is
hostile territory to the citizens of God's heavenly kingdom. The
prince of this world, Satan, seeks in vain to destroy God's
people, who need to be aware, who need to be alert, who need
to be prepared. How can we be prepared? Ephesians
6. Spiritual armor. Put on the whole
armor of God. That's the preparation that God's
word gives us. But in it all, God's people must
strive to love one another, esteeming one another as better than themselves,
irrespective of differences. This, I believe, is what Jesus
is teaching those eleven then, and all his followers down all
the ages, to us and those who will come after us, that this
is how we should live. And these should be the signs
of the kingdom of God and the people of God.