When we come to John chapter
13, we're at the very end of our Savior's earthly pilgrimage. He's on His way to Calvary where
He must suffer all the horror of God's wrath as our substitute,
bearing our sins in His own body on the tree. His face is set like a flint
to endure the wrath of God at Jerusalem in our stead. While he is on his way to that
place, he's fully aware that in just a few hours he will pass
through Gethsemane's dark garden. anticipating the shock of being made sin for
us. His heart will break. He will
sweat great drops of blood fall into the ground. In less than
24 hours after what takes place here in John chapter 13, the
Lamb of God will be nailed to the curse tree. Those very hands
that here washed his disciples' feet will be nailed to the cross. What's on his mind? What are his thoughts? What is it that possesses his
soul at this time? Someone long ago wrote, the ruling
passion is strong in death. The ruling passion of a man's
life is strong when he comes to die. Be that passion hypocrisy
or sincerity. Be it a passion of selfishness
or a passion that is magnanimous. The ruling passion is strong
in death. When a man knows he's about to
leave this world, if he's conscious, if he's aware of what's going
on around him, what that man reveals, reveals the man. What he reveals about the passion
of his heart reveals the man himself. That certainly was the
case with our blessed Savior. He was almost now at the end
of his earthly life. He's now come to a time of great
trouble, of agony. He said in chapter 12, now is
my soul exceeding sorrowful, even unto death. You know, troubled,
troubled. There are many things, many things
that were on his mind. Many things that he knew were
about to transpire that gave him great trouble. He is about
to be made sin. The Holy One of God, the Holy
Lamb of God is about to be made sin for us. He's about to suffer
all the horror of his father's wrath in our room instead, laying
down his life in our place that he dying the just for the unjust
might bring us to God. But in between, Between that
time when he at last cries, it is finished, and this opening
verse here in John chapter 13, our Lord must be forsaken by
his disciples, all of them. He must be denied by Peter three
times. openly, vehemently, angrily denied. He must be abandoned by his father. Three hours of darkness overwhelming
his soul. He's about to be betrayed right
now by one who is his own familiar friend, one of his own disciples,
about to sell him for 30 pieces of silver. What was on his mind? What thoughts
consumed him with all these other things about him? What was it
that just was the ruling passion of his heart? Let's read my text
this morning in verse one, and you'll see the answers to these
questions. Now before the feast of Passover, when Jesus knew
that his hour was come, that he should depart out of this
world unto the Father, having loved his own, which were in
the world, he loved them unto the end. Oh, my soul. Right up to the end, right up
to the end, over all other concerns, this was the passion of his heart. He loved his own. He loved his
own. Nothing selfish here. Nothing
self-centered here. No self-concern here. No self-pity
here. Having loved his own, he loved
them unto the end. Now, the title of my message
this morning may seem a little strange until I get to my last
point. Then you'll understand it perfectly.
The title of my message is Loved to Perfection. Loved to Perfection. Now, before the feast of the
Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come, when he should
depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his
own, he loved them unto the end. Oh, Spirit of God, make us today
to know in the experience of it something of the love of Christ
that passes knowledge as it's set before us here in your word.
Now, I want you to just keep your Bibles open right here to
John 13.1. I'm not going to ask you to even
turn to another text. I want us to look at this one
verse line by line and word by word, and I don't want us to
miss a thing. First, John connects the Savior's
love for his own with the Passover feast. Now, before the feast
of Passover, that is, it's just about time now for the feast
of Passover to take place. The Lord is keeping this last
supper with his disciples, all of them, Judas included. His
love for his disciples is so great that he will not disturb
them by here exposing Judas. He only gives words sufficient
to make Judas aware of whom he is speaking when it's done and
to make his disciples aware when it's done. But he keeps the last
supper with his disciples. And in this moment is when he
establishes the ordinance of the Lord's Supper that we keep
every Lord's Day evening in remembrance of him. But it all began back
in the book of Exodus. You remember when the children
of Israel had been in Egypt for 400 years, they'd go down there
for a time of bondage that was ordained of God. There they suffered
affliction for 400 years. And at the appointed time, the
Lord God said He would bring them up out of Egypt. And now
the appointed time had come. And the Passover night came.
And God brought Israel out. He brought Israel out by price
and by power. by the shed blood of the Paschal
Lamb, representing Christ, our Passover, who has sacrificed
for us. And he brought them out by the
power of his outstretched arm as he delivers his people in
regeneration, making Christ to be created in us in the new birth. And then he established the ordinance
of the Passover. The ordinance of the Passover
came to the came to its culmination, came to its just highest point,
its crescendo, when the Jews celebrated their highest holy
day by divine decree. God established in his law the
day of atonement. On that day, they brought a lamb
that had been shut up for 14 days to the high priest. And the priest slit the throat
of the lamb before them all. And he caught the blood in a
basin and he carried the blood into the Holy of Holies and sprinkled
the mercy seat where God said, there will I meet with you and
commune with you. There, I will make myself known
to you. And that all portrayed the sacrifice
of our Lord Jesus, the Lamb of God, who with his own blood entered
in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption
for us. So our Lord is here connecting
by his spirit his death with the observance of this Passover
supper that the Jews kept. Now, second, we're told that
the Lord Jesus knew he was about to depart out of this world. This is the setting. Now, before
the Feast of Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come,
his hour, the hour ordained from eternity, the hour for which
he had come into this world, the hour of his manifestation,
the hour of his revelation, his hour was come, that he should
depart out of this world unto the Father. Oh, what changes
were coming over our dear Redeemer. Though it's here stated in the
most tender terms possible, God the Spirit here tells us that
the Lord Jesus must die. He had come here to die. That
was the reason for his incarnation. Lo, I come to do thy will, O
my God, by which will we are sanctified by the offering of
the body of Jesus Christ once for all. He knew that he must
die. There's no other way to fulfill
his mission as the Son of God, as the servant of Jehovah in
this world. No other way to fulfill his mission
as our covenant surety and mediator. No other way by which justice
could be satisfied and his people redeemed and saved. He knew that
he was about to die and he knew all that he must suffer in dying
as our substitute. Yet such as the fullness of his
love even now, as he anticipates the wormwood and the gall, that
we read, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved
them unto the end. And he set his face like a flint
to go up to Jerusalem. But there was no flint in his
heart. He was about to depart out of this world. The Lord understood
the work of our redemption as a covenant surety which he had
undertaken before the worlds were made. He assumed all responsibility
for us as our covenant surety. Because of his love for us, he
volunteered to be our surety, volunteered to enter into the
world for us in our humanity, volunteered to obey the law of
God for us, volunteered to lay down his life for us, volunteered
to bring us back to glory one with himself. all because his
love is strong as death. Solomon said, many waters cannot
quench love, neither can the floods drown it. If a man would
give all the substance of his house for love, he would be utterly
contemned. In our Lord's case, love was
stronger than the death of death. The death of death that he deigned
to succeed in accomplishing as our substitute. And now the great
hour of his trial was come. But he is true to his own. Even
in this hour, having loved his own, he loved them still. That's
not all. Our savior was about to depart
out of this world and go away from his disciples. so that they
would no longer see his face. They would no longer hear his
voice. They would no longer feel the touch of his hand. They would
no longer draw near to his body and be caressed by him. They
would no longer see him or hear him or touch him or be touched
by him in any physical way. It is said that absence makes
the heart grow fonder. But that's a deceit. That's a
deceit. Ask anybody who's ever set sail
with a bunch of fellas across the water. Once they get across
the water, they soon forget the folks they profess to love. Very
quickly, very quickly, rarely is that not the case. It takes
sight to have our love active. Our love depends on it most of
the time. Not so with our savior. He's
about to depart from his disciples and go out of this world. And having loved his own from
eternity, he loved them still and he loves them still. No changes can attend his love.
More than that, he's going to the father. Now, none of us have
the slightest idea what that involved. I won't attempt to
describe the splendors of His throne, the glories, His redeemed
delight to lay at His feet, the songs the redeemed sing with
the heavenly angels before the throne of His glory. We love
to sing, now though He reigns exalted high, His love is still
as great. Well, He remembers Calvary, nor
lets His saints forget. But we have no idea the rich
glory that he possesses. We simply rejoice to know that
he loves his own still. All right, now look at this third
thing. Having loved his own. Having loved his own. Oh, what a word. And who were his
own? He found them among fishermen. I have read a good many who tried
to make it appear that fishermen in his day were really an upper
class group in society. No, they were just exactly what
they are today. They were fishermen. They were
looked upon by most folks as people you don't want to be around
a lot of time. They were just fishermen. They
had the smell of fish on them all the time. They were around
fish all the time. Who were his own? He found them
among publicans. Who were his own? He found them
standing on the street corner selling their bodies as common
prostitutes. Who were his own? There his own
then were much like his own now, the offscouring of the earth. The poorest of the poor, both
spiritually and materially, the most useless of society, the
most despised in society, his own. He loved his own. He loved me out of the pit. That's a pretty good description
of what salvation is. The love of God loves us up out
of the pit and loves us up to Christ. Having loved them, he
taught them, these disciples of his. He taught them. He taught them the most wondrous
things. As Brother Frank told us just a little bit ago, apart
from the revelation of Christ, there'd be no knowledge of who
God is. No knowledge of the triune God. No knowledge of redemption
by his blood. No knowledge of these things.
But he taught his disciples. And the disciples were a lot
like us. They learned real slow and forgot
real quick. But he loved them still. He loved
them still. If I had been the teacher, some
of you know this, I would have gotten a little upset most of
the time. Don't you pay any attention? Didn't you listen to what I preached
yesterday? Didn't you hear what I've been telling you for the
last 31 years? Don't you hear anything? Not
him. Never a hint of anger. Never a hint of wrath. Never the slightest hint of hatred. Never the slightest hint of frustration. Not even the slightest. He taught
them that he must go to Jerusalem, suffer and die, and thereby enter
into his glory. And all the way they kept trying
to force a crown on his head. And even after he died and rose
again and walked with them along the Emmaus road until he made
those disciples know who he was as he talked to them about all
the scriptures being fulfilled in his death. They didn't have
a clue, Merle, what he was talking about. Their hearts burned within
them, but they didn't know what he was talking about. They couldn't
grasp it. These disciples, the Lord taught. I suspect he was
a better teacher than me, don't you? I suspect he was a better
teacher than you, a better teacher than any whom I've heard teach.
The Lord taught these disciples, and when they were in the tempest
on the sea, these disciples who were loved of Christ and loved
to the end, woke him up and said, Don't you love us anymore? I
said, Master, don't you care what happens to us? Carest thou
not that we perish? These disciples whom he loved,
Philip, one of the most eminent, Philip, one of the most zealous,
Philip, one about whom we hear very, very little that's not
commending and good. The Lord said to him, have I
been so long a time with you and yet hast thou not known me,
Philip? He that has seen me has seen
the Father. Don't you know who I am? Don't you know yet who
I am? Thomas, I won't believe until
I put my finger in the nail hole in his hand and shove my hand
in his eye. Okay, Thomas. Come here. Put your finger right here. Let
me have your hand. Put it right here. Oh, having loved his home, he
loved them to the end. You see, you and I are just like
these faltering, sinful, fickle, shifting,
falling and falling and falling and falling and falling. No sooner
do we get up and make a step, but what we fall. And it just doesn't get any better.
Peter, Before the night's over, you're going to deny me three
times. Not me, Lord. Not me. Maybe John, maybe James. Not me. And Peter denies him. But he loves him still. No change. No change. Having begun by loving
them, he continued to love them. Having begun with us in love,
he continues in love. And that is indeed how he begins
with us, is it not? In spite of all their wickedness
and sins and failures, in spite of all their rebellions, inconsistencies
and ignorance, the Lord loved them. He loved them enough so
that now at the end of his sojourn, he takes a bowl of water, takes
a bowl and fills it with water. I can almost picture this. We
can hardly even picture these things in our modern day with
so many conveniences. He had to go get a bowl and pitcher
of water and he pours the water in the bowl and puts a towel
around himself and he stoops down to perform the most menial
of services for these whom he loved. All the infirmities. the imperfections, the carnality,
the dullness, the unbelief, the hardness which he saw in them
didn't cause his love to cool or diminish in the least. And so it is now. So it is now. All right. Here's the fourth
thing, John identifies the objects of his love as his own. His own. The whole character
of his life is summed up in these words, having loved his own,
he loved them unto the end. His own. That's a very brief
description of God's people. In John chapter one, you remember
he came unto his own and his own received him not. The words
are very similar, but they're slightly different than the word
here, having loved his own. He came into his own things and
his own things received him not. Referring to the Jewish nation,
particularly his own physical flesh and the word would be most
properly translated just that way. He came into his own things
and his own things received him not. That's no great loss. We fret about things, but which
of you would not gladly give up any and all things to save
the object of your love, your own wife, your own husband, your
own son, your own daughter? Things, I can do without things. I can live fine without things.
You can too. You might have to. We can get
along without things. Oh, but to lose his own, that's
not going to happen. That's not going to happen. You
see, other people are his own things. The reprobate of this
world are his own things. All who live and die without
the knowledge of him are his own things. But there is a people
who are his own. And the word here speaks of his
own people. It's a masculine word. It's the
word that speaks of those who are specifically his own. How
so? They're his own because he chose
them before the worlds were made. His own by special election. Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest, the scripture says. We're bound to give thanks always
to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath
from the beginning chosen you to salvation. God hath not appointed
us to wrath, but to salvation, to the obtaining of eternal life
by Jesus Christ our Lord. Oh, he chose us as his own. Not only that, having chosen
us as his own, he espoused us to himself to be his holy bride. He engaged us to himself and
engaged himself to us before the world began. He said, they
shall be mine and I shall be theirs. I'll be married to them. I will be bone of their bone
and flesh of their flesh and they shall be bone of my bone
and flesh of my flesh. I will be one with them and they
one with me forever. We were a spouse to him as his
own. They are his own because his
father gave them to him. We are his by divine gift. The picture here is of the good
shepherd. The father gives the sheep into the hands of the good
shepherd and trust the shepherd with the sheep. And those sheep
he becomes responsible for. He promises that he will bring
those sheep up to the heavenly fold by his own almighty arm. And the father will ask of him
the tally of the sheep. And he says, I will cause you
to pass under the rod and will bring you into the bond of the
covenant. That is, I will bring all of
my sheep into this covenant and I will bring all of my sheep
into the heavenly fold and not one shall be missing. And all
those whom the Lord God here calls his own. Are his by a purchase. that no
tongue can describe, you're bought with a price. Purchased his own because he
purchased us. He purchased us out from under
the hands of divine justice. He purchased us out from among
the peoples of the world. He purchased us with his own
precious blood. He purchased us when he suffered
all the wrath of God in our stead, paying our debt, satisfying the
justice of God on our behalf. You're not your own children
of God. You're bought with a price. Oh,
what a price he paid. He loved us more than he loved
himself. He paid the purchase price for
us that was demanded by the law and justice of God. The triune
Jehovah required the price of His own life that we might be
made the righteousness of God in Him. And we become His own by the conquest of His love. His love, Larry Brown, is irresistible
love. Irresistible love. When he comes
to make himself known to the chosen redeemed sinner, giving
him before the foundation of the world, you cannot and will
not resist his love. You'll be conquered by his love.
Conquered by his love. I said, well, I don't like the
idea of irresistible love, irresistible grace. Oh, you would if you ever
experienced it. I only have one daughter, just
one. Do you know how a father dotes
over his only daughter? You know, don't you, Bobby? Do you know what I always wanted
for that one daughter? For that one daughter, I always wanted
for some man to come and take her heart. I wanted for some man to come
and so overpower her with his love for her that he takes my
place in her life. That's what I wanted. I can't
be happier. I can't be happier. Well, that's
a good thing for a man to want for his daughter, isn't it? That's what the Son of God has
done for His people. We are His own by the conquest
of His irresistible love. One sight of Christ in your heart
and you're conquered. One revelation of Christ in you
and you submit. One touch of his loving embrace
in your soul and you just turn to water in his hand. Irresistible love. We're conquered
by his love. Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest and causest by the force of irresistible love to approach
unto thee. Oh, happy day that fixed my choice
on thee, my savior and my God. Where may this glowing heart
rejoice until its raptures all abroad tis done? The great transaction's
done. I am my Lord's and he is mine.
He drew me and I followed on, charmed to confess his voice
divine. Oh, we are his own because of
his love. What a title for such things
as we are. His own. His own. Allen Kibbe, you're
his own. His own. Todd Fortner, you are
his own. His own. Because he made you
his own. Oh, thank God for the wondrous
sovereignty of his love. All right, now here's the fifth
thing. Look at this. The spirit of God reminds us where his own people are whom
he loved to the end. Having loved his own which were
in the world. What a declaration. Rex, you know a whole lot more
about what that means than I do. Because of your charity as your
pastor, I'm allowed to live a very secluded life. I seldom ever
have to deal with the people you rub shoulders with every
day. I seldom ever have to deal with
folks you work with in the shop, in the factory, in the store,
in the clinic every day. But God's church is a tent, a tabernacle, a dwelling
place for God in this world. And the Savior said, Father,
I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world. He
could. Like that. But he loved his own
which were in the world and proves his love for his own in the world
by sustaining them in the midst of this world, in the world. The sooner we realize what this
world is and acknowledge it, the better. It is a pit of corruption. That's all it is. Don't expect
more from it. Most of us here would be considered
politically conservative, and that's being real polite. Most
of us would be considered politically conservative. And we just hate
liberal philosophy and all that stuff. I do too. But don't expect
anything better from the most conservative of the politicians
of this world. than from the most liberal. Expect
nothing better. You won't get it. You won't get
it. Expect nothing better from this
world than what you've seen already. It won't get any better. This
world is a place of unrestrained idolatry. I don't understand people around
me. They won't hear anything I say. They worship idols. Now
quit trying to pretend they're all Christians. They're not.
Quit trying to pretend, well, I really believe he loves the
Lord. He hates God, but he loves the
Lord. Hates everything you say about
God. Hates every character of God. Hates every attribute of
God. Hates all that God is. Oh, he's a fine Christian. No,
he's not. He's an idolater. He's an idolater. This world is full of idolatry. This world is a place of abounding
wickedness, wickedness on every hand. I don't know whether things
are much more vile and wicked today than they were 50 years
ago. Maybe they're just more openly
exposed, but I don't think that's quite the case. I see wickedness
today promoted. Promoted not tolerated
promoted our educational political system everything designed to
promote homosexuality and vileness and and fornication and Everything
except what we would look at this book and recognizes is that
which God teaches in his word The world is the direct opposite
of it. Don't expect better It's not
going to get better This world is a place of relentless blasphemy. Oh, taking God's name off the
money. Well, I wish they wouldn't for
the reasons they take it off, but I don't expect any better. Taking the commandments down
from the courthouse, I wish they wouldn't for the reasons they
do it, but hanging them there didn't do any good. This world
is a place of relentless blasphemy. Being in the world, these disciples
soon began to be persecuted. They were stoned, imprisoned,
dragged to the amphitheater, torn to pieces by lions. And
yet the book says, having loved his own, which were in the world,
he loved them to the end. All these things could not and
did not separate them and cannot and will not separate us from
the love of God that's in Christ Jesus, our Lord. We're in this
world. Tempted and afflicted. And it won't get any better. We're in this world. To suffer. And feel pain. We're in this
world where We have a constant warfare with sin in our own hearts. I wish they'd shut down the porno
shops. I wish they'd quit showing the
X-rated and R-rated movies on television and in the movie theaters.
I wish you couldn't go anywhere and see all the trash that you
see, but I don't spend five seconds trying to shut those things down.
That's the world. My problem's here. and it will be here as long as
I'm in this world, this heart of mine, sin. In the world, we
get sick. In the world, we're bereaved. Have to bury folks we love. Bereaved and bury some we love
who we know died under the wrath of God and bereaved and must
bury some we love whom we know are loved of God and loved God. In the world, we soon must die. Having loved his own which were
in the world, he loved them to the end. God's curse is still
on this world. It brings nothing but thorns
and briars. It won't bring forth anything
else. Just thorns and briars. That's part of the curse. Now,
it doesn't matter which piece of ground you work. Doesn't matter
which piece of ground you work. Doesn't matter which piece of
ground you live on. Wherever it is, Doesn't matter what you
look at in this world. Doesn't matter where your association
is. Don't expect anything in this world but the curse of God
on this world. Thorns and briars, things that
hurt, Merle. That's all the world can give.
That's all it can give. Here's the last thing. He loved
them to the end. What does that mean? He loved them to the termination
of his obedience as their substitute. He loved them to the termination
of God's wrath when he died in their stead. He loved them to
the termination of their obligation to the law. He loved them to
the termination of sin. He loved them to the full satisfaction
of divine justice. He loved them to the end of their
transgressions. But the text specifically speaks
of his love as being constant, immutable, unending. The Hebrew phrase, his mercy
endeareth forever, It might be rendered His mercy endureth to
the end. So it is with our Savior's love. He loved us with an everlasting
love. And through all the ages of time
and the experiences of life, He loves us to the end. The words of our text might be
rendered, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved
them to the uttermost. To the uttermost stretch of love. To the utmost length of need. Loves us without measure. And the word might be translated
having loved his own, he loved them to perfection. Now, I promised you wouldn't
have to turn there, and you don't have to. Just listen as I read.
You can turn if you want to. Ephesians chapter 5. Our Lord Jesus loves us perfectly,
and the knowledge of his perfect love for us cast out all fear. Because the assurance, the knowledge
of his perfect love for us is the attesting in our souls that
when his love has accomplished all its designs for us, we shall
stand before him in the perfection that he himself possesses as
the God-man, our mediator. Listen to this. Husbands, love
your wives. Christ also loved the church
and gave himself for it To this end that is this is the end of
his love. This is this is the purpose of
his love This is how he loves his wife his bride that he might
sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of the water by the
word that he might present it to himself a glorious church
what a word a glorious church Not having spot no spot of sin,
or wrinkle, no wrinkle of infirmity, or anything that looks like a
weakness or sin, or any such thing, but that it should be
holy and without blemish. Without
blemish. Listen to this. Now unto him
that is able to keep you from falling and present you faultless
before the presence of his glory, with exceeding joy. To the only
wise God, our Savior, be glory and majesty and dominion and
power both now and ever. Amen. So I say to you, children of
God, keep yourselves in the love of God. Did I dream it possible that
even God could be such a lover as Jesus Christ is to my soul? Jesus, lover of my soul, let
me to thy bosom fly. Adam, will you lead us in that
hymn? You stand as we sing this hymn and this will be our benediction.