Now, we're turning to John 15
one more time. I'm taking the title from a statement
that seems to leap off the page and grasp my heart, found in
verse 9. We'll read verse 9. As the Father
hath loved me, this is the Lord speaking to His apostles. As
the Father hath loved me so, have I loved you. So have I loved
you. Now continue in that. Don't be
separated from that. Continue thinking about how I
love you. Don't think so much about how
you love me, but how rather I love you. So the title of this message
will be found on the CD next week out on the table. So have
I loved you. So have, so, so have I loved
you. Now, what can you say about that? I mean, that just, that just
leaves me almost speechless. But I've got to say something.
But what a marvelous statement. What an amazing truth, amazing
grace, to consider how God loves us in Christ. How the Lord Jesus
Christ, having loved His own, you remember back in chapter
13, turn over there, chapter 13 verse 1, considering how the
Lord Jesus Christ loves us, John 13 verse 1, Now before the feast
of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour was come, that
He should depart out of the world unto the Father, having loved
His own, which are in the world, He loved His own people, His
own church, His own bride, He loved them completely. That word there, unto the end,
the same word we read in John 19 verse 30, when the Lord said,
It is finished. He loves us completely, finally,
totally, forever. Nothing can separate us from
the love of God, which is in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is
sovereign love. This is saving love. This is
that love that Paul describes where it says, Jacob have I loved,
Esau have I hated. That's sovereign, electing, saving
love. We sang a moment ago, Amazing
love! How can it be that Thou, my God,
should die for me?" For me! That He would die and come and
die for me! Amazing love! How can it be? Grace! Grace! Considering what
we are by nature, sinners, And Adam all died, we read that in
Romans 5, 12. Sinners, dead in sin, alien from
the commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the covenant, having no
hope and without God. Considering what we are by nature,
by birth, born in sin, shaping in iniquity. Considering what
we are by practice, what we are by choice. Sinners through and
through, yet, in spite of all that we are, In spite of all
that we have done, in spite of all the fact that we stand guilty
before God, yet Christ loves His own perfectly. He loves us in Christ. Christ loves His own with an
everlasting love from which we cannot be separated. We talked
about that union between the true vine and the branches. The
true vine and the true branches cannot be separated. This love
of God cannot be dissolved or terminated. He'll never fall
out of love with us. And you know what? We'll never
fall out of love with Him. We do love Him. Not like we ought
to, not like we should, not like we will one day, but by His grace,
we do love the Lord. But I enjoy talking about His
love for me because my love for Him is so frail, so weak, so
pitiful. Now we continue in our study
today considering the last words of the Lord Jesus Christ giving
His Apostles the final instructions before He freely gives His life,
before He freely lays down His life to put away their sin. These words are spoken just on
the eve of Him dying for His people. He's about to lay down
His life for Peter and John, for Philip, for Bartholomew,
and for these apostles, Andrew and others. But for us also. Thank God we can say with Peter
and John and the apostles, thank God we can say with them, we
have an atonement. We have a Redeemer. We have a
Savior. in the Lord Jesus Christ, putting
away our sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And we can say with
the Apostle Paul, we have no other hope, we know no other
plea, but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. We're determined to
preach nothing else but the Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified. We have an atonement. We have a Redeemer who redeems. We have a Savior that really
saves us from our sin. That's the Savior that I need
because my case is so desperate being a dead dog, filthy, vile,
wretched, sinner, dead in my sin. I just don't need a little
bit of shove or a little bit of light. I need life from the dead. And this life comes from Christ
alone. Now, let's look at verse 9 and
following. And I trust that we can get down
to verse 14 or 15 anyway. That's my aim or that's my goal. We'll see how far we can get.
If not, you can come back next week and get the rest of the
message. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now continue in my love. In my love. Now let's take a
good look at this gospel statement that the Lord Jesus Christ declares
unto His apostles. And right now, He's saying this
to you. Right now. I want you to take
this personal. Personal. How does God the Father
then love the Son? Does He? Oh yeah. Turn back to
John chapter 3. How does the Father love the
Son? He certainly does. John the Baptist
declares in John 3 verse 34, For he whom God hath sent speaketh
the words of God. For God giveth not the Spirit
by measure unto him." John 3.35, you see it? The Father loveth
the Son. That's a pretty definite statement,
isn't it? The Father loveth the Son and
because He loveth the Son, He's given all things, all things
concerning salvation, all things concerning redemption are in
His, not your hand, they're in whose hands there? They're in
His hand. The do as He sees fit. They're in His hand. The Father
does love the Son. The Lord Jesus also declares
this in John chapter 5. Look at verse 20. John chapter
5 verse 20. For the Father loveth the Son,
and showeth Him all things that Himself doeth. And He will show
Him greater works than these that you may marvel. For as the
Father raises up the dead and quickeneth them, even so the
Son quickeneth whom He will. The Father loves the Son. Our Lord prayed in John 17, Father,
You've given me power over all flesh, that I should give eternal
life to as many as Thou hast given Me. Now turn back to John
15. There has never been a time or
an occasion when God the Father has not loved God the Son. This love is eternal. This love is unchangeable. This
love is complete. This love God the Father has
to God the Son is a perfect, unending, eternal, blessed love
relationship they have. Because of this love, The Father
gave all things into the hand of the Lord Jesus Christ to accomplish
our salvation as our Mediator, as our Great High Priest, as
our Advocate, as our Intercessor, as our Savior. You see, there's
one God and one Mediator between God and men, that is the God-Man,
the Lord Jesus Christ. When the Lord Jesus Christ was
manifest in the flesh, In the fullness of time, God sent forth
His Son, made of a woman, made under the law. God the Father
speaks from heaven and declares, not once but twice, at His baptism
and again on the Mount of Transfiguration, God Almighty audibly speaks from
heaven. The apostles heard God the Father
say, this is my beloved Son, beloved of God. Hear Him. Hear Him. No doubt then, We can
come to the right conclusion that the Father loves the Son,
right? That's what this Word teaches. And then the Lord Jesus
Christ said, So have I loved you. Wow! Wow! That's saying something. In like
precious manner, the Lord Jesus Christ loves His own. He loves His church, His elect,
His people, His bride. He doesn't love all men everywhere without exception. He loves His
own. He loves His church. He loves
His bride. Now let's see if we can make
good on that. Turn to Ephesians chapter 3. Ephesians chapter
3, first of all. So have I loved you. Ephesians chapter 3. That, he says in verse 17, that
Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, that you, being rooted
and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the
saints what is the breadth, the length, and depth, and height,
and to know this love of God, this love of God that is shed
abroad in our heart by the Holy Spirit, which passeth knowledge,
that you might be filled with all the fullness of God. Now
unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all we ask or
think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto Him
be glory. In the church by Jesus Christ
throughout all ages, world without end, He does love us without
measure. Turn over to Ephesians chapter
4 verse 32. Ephesians 4 verse 32. Be you
kind one toward another, Tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as
God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. Ephesians 5 verse
1, Be ye therefore followers of God as dear children, and
walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given
himself for an offering and sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour. It's sacrificial love, isn't
it? Look at Ephesians chapter 5, Verse 25, Husbands, love your
wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself
for it. He loved the church and gave
himself for it. God bought us with his own blood,
that he might sanctify and cleanse it by the washing of water, by
the word, that is the gospel, faith comes by hearing, and hearing
by the word of God. that he might present it to himself
a glorious shirt, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing,
but that it should be holy and without blame." Without blemish. Does the Lord Jesus Christ love
His elect? Love His bride? Absolutely. So have I loved you. Christ loves His own with an
everlasting love. It says in Jeremiah that He said,
I've loved you with an everlasting love, therefore with loving kindness
do I draw you to myself. Because the Lord Jesus loves
His own, He gave Himself for us, He laid down His life for
us, here in His love. Not that we love God, but that
He loved us. He sent His Son to be the sacrifice
for our sin. Because Christ loves His church,
His own, His elect, His bride, He has given her, the Father
loved the Son, given all things into His hand. Because the Lord
Jesus Christ loves us, and accomplished our salvation for us, and has
brought in everlasting righteousness for us, and accomplished all
things for us, He has given unto us all things. Freely given. He who spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him freely
also give us most everything I need? Maybe something I have
to bring? No. How shall he not with him
also freely give us all things? See, as the Father loves the
Son, even so the Lord Jesus Christ loves us with an everlasting,
unchanging, sacrificial love from which nothing can separate
us from the love of God which is in the Lord Jesus Christ.
It's eternal love. It's unchanging love. It's complete
love. It's perfect love. And then he
says in 1 Corinthians 13, 8, the love of Christ. You know
what? It's like Himself, it never fails. It never fails. I like that kind of love, don't
you? That cannot fail. Now the Lord says unto His people,
in verse 9, the last part of verse 9, He said, now continue
in that love. Continue thinking about how I
love my own. How I sacrificed and gave myself
for you. Now continue in that. Continue
thinking upon that. Continue thinking and meditating
and rejoicing upon how I love you. Now it's no burden for a believer,
is it? To think about how he loves us
and to rejoice in that love. But rather, let us grow Let not
this love diminish or be weakened, but rather let this sweetheart
love for Christ, let it not be stale. Let our love toward Him grow
and mature and be established. That is, let it be fruitful.
This is the fruit of the Spirit, which is love, joy, peace, long-suffering,
and gentleness, being rooted and grounded in that love we
read a moment ago. Now continue, continue in that
love. Continue looking unto the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now look at verse 10. John 15,
verse 10. Now, if you keep my commandments, He's not talking here about keeping
the law. He's talking here about believing
the gospel. He's talking here about believing
and receiving the words. Look at John 14, 23. If a man love me, he will keep
my words, and my Father will love him, and we'll come unto
him and make our abode. Then back up to John 14 verse
21, "...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 will love him, and will manifest myself
unto him." Now this goes back to a principle of the gospel
the Lord has already given unto us. Faith and love cannot be
separated. Where you find faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ, you also find love to the Lord Jesus Christ. Just
as faith and love cannot be separated, just like faith and conduct cannot
be separated. Faith worketh by love. Love. We love Him because He
first loved us. This love of Christ constrains
us, motivates us, compels us, inspires us, encourages us to
continue in the gospel. This love of God that's shed
abroad in our heart. by the Spirit of God. Since you
love me and since you believe me, now abide in this love. Abide in this love. Now watch
this, look at verse 10. Even as I have kept my Father's
commandments and abide in His love. Even as I've kept my Father's
commandment and abide in His love. Now, let's see if we can
help ourselves here. The Lord Jesus Christ came as
our substitute and Savior and obeyed the holy law of God perfectly,
completely, in word, deed, thought, and motive. Right? Everything
He performed was perfect. Every thought He had was absolutely
holy. Everything he did was completely
righteous. Every miracle he did only for
the glory of God, not for any personal gain. Everything he
did was glorifying unto the Father. We read in Hebrews 7, such a
high priest became us who was holy, harmless, undefiled, and
separate from sin. He loved God perfectly. The Lord Jesus Christ became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. It says in
Hebrews 12 that Christ resisted sin. He resisted so much so that
He, striving against sin, actually gave blood when He was tempted
with sin. The Lord Jesus Christ did indeed
obey every commandment of God. Look back in John chapter 10
verse 17. even as I have kept my Father's
commandment." Now stay with me here. John 10 verse 17, Therefore
doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might
take it again. No man taketh it from me, but
I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down.
I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received
of my Father. Now turn back to John 14, look
at verse 31. John 14, 31. But that the world
may know that I love the Father, even as the Father gave me commandment,
even so I do it. Arise and let us go. Now, what
I'm driving at is this. His obedience is ours. by faith in Him. As he loved
God perfectly, as he obeyed Christ, as he obeyed the Father perfectly,
as he obeyed every command of the Law of God, what he did,
that's what I did. being in Him. Blessed is a man
whom the Lord imputeth righteousness without works." Now listen to
me. Let us not diminish the importance
of our obedience unto the Lord Jesus Christ and our faithfulness
unto Him, our love to Him, and our love to His people. But that
is not the basis of our salvation. You with me? It's His faithfulness. It's His obedience. Thank God
that our salvation does not depend upon our love, our faithfulness,
our obedience. Our salvation does not depend
upon us, but rather it depends upon His obedience, His love,
His faithfulness. Our best obedience is what? What's your best obedience? Filthy
rags. Are you going to trust yourself?
No. I'm going to look to the Lord
Jesus Christ who did honor the law of God in my stead. Our best
deeds are sinful, filthy rags in God's sight. I quoted a part
of this verse a moment ago. By one man's disobedience many
were made sinners. So by the obedience of another
shall many be made righteous in Christ Jesus." You see, my
salvation doesn't depend upon my love, my faith, or my faithfulness. It does depend upon His. He loved God perfectly. He honored
God perfectly. Upon His faithfulness. Now let
me show you that in Scripture. We've turned and read this many
times, but maybe Maybe God will give us eyes to see it. In Galatians
chapter 2, Galatians chapter 2, Blessed is the man whom the
Lord imputeth righteousness without works, without works, without
works. Galatians 2.16, knowing, look
at it, knowing that a man, a sinner, is not justified by the works
of the law, but by the faith of, the faith of, now get a hold
of that, you see that? It doesn't say, by faith in Christ,
does it? It doesn't say that, does it?
Now, if you get a new translation of the old book, they'll change
that word and put in, as to make it depend upon you. But it's
of Christ. Even by knowing that a man, a
sinner, is not justified by the works of the law, but by the
faith of Christ. Even we have believed in him,
that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, not by the
works of the law. For by the works of the law shall
no flesh be justified in his sight." I'm going to show you
another scripture. It says the same thing, Philippians
chapter 3. Philippians chapter 3, verse
9, And being found in him, that is, counting all things that
lost it, we may win Christ and be found in Him." Philippians
3 verse 9, "...not having my own righteousness which is of
the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ." You got
it? The righteousness which is of
God by faith in Him. By faith in Him. The old hymn
writer put it this way, "...upon a life I did not live, Upon a
death I did not die, another's life, another's death, I rest
my hope eternally in Christ Jesus." We have a good hope through the
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, abiding in Him. By abiding
in Him, we abide in His love. We abide in His salvation. We
keep His commandment by looking unto Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ. Even as I've kept my Father's
commandment and abiding in His love. Now look at verse 11. These things, John 15, 11. These things have I spoken unto
you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might
be full. Full, full. Every believer experiences
this joy of receiving salvation as the gift of God's free grace. Free and sovereign grace. We
always add that, don't we? We don't really need to, but
we have to in this day. It's the free and sovereign grace
of God. We joy in God through our Lord
Jesus Christ. Joy through believing and hearing
the gospel. We always have much reason to
rejoice in Christ, for He actually accomplished all our salvation. Not a part of it. There's no
part of my salvation that is dependent upon this sinner. Not my faith. Not my repentance.
Not my love. Not my doing. Not my giving.
Nothing. It all depends upon Him. Is that
right? Exactly. Exactly. That's exactly
right. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
author of our joy. He's the author of our joy. We
look unto Him who is the author and finisher of our faith, who
for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising
the shame, sat down on the right hand of the throne of God. He's
the author of our joy. He's the foundation of our joy.
You remember Philippians 3? We are the true Israel which
worship God in the Spirit. We rejoice in Christ Jesus and
we have no confidence in the flesh. Christ is the foundation
of our joy. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
cause of our joy. He's the first cause. He's the
last end of our joy. And my friend, He is certainly
the object of our joy. Now, you know what this joy,
this rejoicing we have in the Lord Jesus Christ? At times we
may experience a greater sense of it, a greater awareness of
it, but this joy we have in Christ is never taken away from us. I can make good on that. Turn
to one page, John 16, 22. John 16, 22. Now, and ye now
therefore have sorrow, but I'll see you again, and your heart
shall rejoice, and your joy Your joy no man taketh away from you. No one's going to take this joy
away from you. There's a scripture that just
popped into my mind here and I don't even know if I can find
it but I'm going to give it a try. Okay, yeah, look at this. He
mentions sorrow and joy in one verse. Turn over here to 1 Thessalonians
chapter 1. 1 Thessalonians chapter 1, look
at verse 6. He said, You became followers
of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction,
but with joy. Yeah, in this world you shall
have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I've overcome. I've overcome. With joy of, and it comes from
the source of God the Holy Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is what?
Love, joy, and peace with God. through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, you can take away all the material things I have, like
Job experienced. He lost all of his children,
had seven children. They all were killed in a tornado.
He lost all of his substance, his camel, all of his livestock. He lost his health. His wife
turned against him. And yet Job said, The Lord gives,
and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord. He kept
rejoicing in the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, we don't find joy and
satisfaction in earthly things. These things are soap bubbles.
I mean, the fashion of this world is passing away. Our everlasting
real joy is in Him we joy. We rejoice in Christ Jesus. Therefore
I say, you can take everything away from me, but you cannot
take my joy, because you cannot take Christ out of my heart,
my mind, my soul. Philippians 4 says, Rejoice in
the Lord always, and again I say, Rejoice! Rejoice in Him, and
have no confidence in the flesh. Now look back at the text again.
John 15 verse 12. Now this is my commandment, he
says again, that you love one another as I have loved you. He says again in verse 17, these
things I command you that you love one another. And remember
we first saw this statement back in John chapter 13. Look back
at John chapter 13 verse 34. John 13 verse 34. A new commandment I give unto
you, that ye love one another, as I have loved you." There it
is. "...that ye also love one another.
By this shall only know that ye are my disciples, if ye love
one another." Now, this is my commandment. Look at verse 12
again of John 15. This is my commandment. Now this is not a suggestion.
Right? God doesn't suggest things. He
commands things. The king doesn't suggest that
his servants follow him. He demands it. And our God is
not a beggar. He commands us to love Him. Right? He commands us to love Him. Now
stay with me. I'm going to help us here. The
Lord God Almighty commands and rules over His people in love. He commands us to love Him and
to love one another. That's His command. Impossible in the flesh. Impossible. Because by nature,
we love what? John 3, 19. By nature, we love
darkness, not light. We love self and hate others. including God. By nature now,
we're God-haters. That's what the scriptures teach.
The carnal mind is enmity against God. It is only as the spirit
of regenerating grace overrules our heart, our mind, and conquers
us, and dominates us, and controls our emotion, can we love God
and then love His people. The one flows out from the other.
When we love God, we can't help it, but to love His people. Now,
I'm going to show you that. Turn to 1 John chapter 4. 1 John
chapter 4. You see, He commands us to love
Him. He commands us to repent. He
commands us to believe. And it is impossible unless God
gives us grace to love Him and to believe Him. And this love
of God flows out And it is the fruit of the new birth. Turn to 1 John chapter 4. Look
at verse 21. 1 John 4.21. This is 1 John now. 4.21. Verse 19 says, We love
him because he first loved us. If a man say, I love God and
hate his brother, well, he's a liar. For he that loveth not
his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath
not seen? And this commandment we have
from him that he who loveth God, he who loves God, love his brother
also." Now, read on. Whosoever believeth that Jesus
is the Christ, he is born of God. And everyone that loveth
him that beget, loveth him also that is begotten of him. You
see, we only believe the gospel because we've been born of the
Spirit of God. Now this religious world has
turned it upside down. They've made the new birth the
product of faith. The new birth is not the product
of faith. John chapter 3 says what? Our
Lord said, "...except a man be born again, he cannot see, understand,
perceive, believe the gospel." You see, which comes first? Life
has to come first, and the fruit of life is believing God, loving
God. And then the fruit of loving
God, you know what else comes with loving God? Loving those
who are begotten of God. You see, it flows out from that. You see, turn back to the text. Look back at John 15 verse 5,
the last line, Without me you can do nothing. We can't love Him. We can't believe
Him. Without Him. Without Him. Now, get a hold
of this. I thought about this. The Lord Jesus Christ commands
sovereignly as He will. Does He have the right? Does
He have the right? He commands sovereignly as He will. That's
why He says, I command you to love Me and to love one another.
He commands sovereignly as He will. He works all things after
the counsel of His own will, eternal purpose. Thank God He
doesn't leave us there. Then He gives what He commands. Got that? Christ commands what
He wills, and then He gives us what He commands. He commands
us to repent. He gives us repentance. He commands
us to believe Him, and then He gives us faith. He commands us
to love Him and to love one another, and then He gives us that in
the new birth. through the Spirit. He commands
us to believe and then He gives us faith. He commands us to repent. Scripture says He's exalted to
give us repentance. He commands us to love. What
He commands, He gives. He gives unto us. It would be
despair, right? If He commanded this and He didn't
give this unto us? It's the gift of His grace that
He gives these things. the fruit of the Spirit. He commands
these things and then He gives us grace to obey Him in the Gospel. Now, look at verse 13. John 15, 13. Greater love, greater
love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his
friends, and He said, you are my friends. Now watch it. If you do, whatsoever I command
you. Now, stay with me here. Stay
with me. I'm going to shock you here. We see examples of love
all around us, don't we? A husband may lay down his life
for his wife. We've seen people run into burning
houses to save their family and perish. That happened here in
Platt County. We've seen, that's an example of love, isn't it?
We've seen a mother giving her life to save her child, her infant. She put herself in harm's way
with no question, wouldn't even think about it. And we've seen
other examples of love, a soldier laying down his life to defend
his nation. We've seen this recently in the
news many times, a school teacher giving his life to defend a student
from someone who came in to shoot up the place. And those things
are commendable, aren't they? They're examples of love. But
they all pale in comparison to consider the lovely, eternal
Son of God, God our Savior, giving His life for His enemies. Remember what we read? Don't
turn, let me just read it to you again. God commendeth His
love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us. Much more than being now justified
by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if
when we were enemies, enemies in our mind by wicked works,
yet now has He reconciled in the body of His flesh to present
you before God. I'm getting ahead of myself,
that's from Colossians chapter 1. "...and you that were sometimes
alienated enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath
He reconciled." He did it all. He did the reconciliation. We
didn't have a part in it. He did it all. "...in the body
of His flesh to death, to present you holy, unblameable, unreprovable
in His sight." Now He said, continue in the faith. Continue looking
to the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ died for
His people, the just one dying for the unjust that He might
bring us unto God. It is only by His reconciling
grace and as the fruit of His atonement that sinners are called
His friends. His friends. Christ has made
us His friends. By choosing us. We didn't choose
him. He chose us. It says that in
verse 16. We'll look at that next week. He made us His friends
by choosing us in that eternal covenant of grace. He made us
His friends by dying in our womb and in our stead to put away
our sin. He made us His friends by making
us new creatures in Christ Jesus. He made us His friends by freely
imputing all salvation and righteousness unto us. He made us His friends
by saving us by His almighty conquering grace. You have the
quickened who were dead in trespasses. and in sin. Now, look at verse 14. You are my friends, he says.
You are my friends. Now, how are we his friends?
By his electing grace, by his love. If you do whatsoever I
command you, you display that you are my friend. Now, the Lord does not say, Now,
look at it carefully. The Lord does not say, I am your
friend. Doesn't say that, does it? He said, you are my friend. You
remember back in John 13, 13, where the Lord said to those
to whom He washed their feet, He said, you call me Master and
Lord, and you say, well, for so I am. Thomas declared, thou art my
Lord and my God. He does not say, I am your friend.
He's our Lord. He's our God. He's our Savior.
But He calls us His friends because He has chosen us to be His friends,
His family, His bride. He has given us grace in our
heart to believe Him and to obey Him. And as partakers of His
household, we have been made by the grace of God. Behold what
manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should
be called sons of God, friends of God. Abraham was called a
friend of God. Moses was called a friend of
God. Now again, listen to me carefully,
we don't obey Him to be friends, we obey and believe Him because
we are His friends, ordained to that end. Did you get that?
Now, listen to this. A famous Arminian preacher, well-known
back in the 1700s. His name was John Wesley. You ever heard of him? John Wesley. John Wesley with his brother
Charles are considered the fathers and founders of the Methodist
Church. Upon looking at that statement
there in verse 14, John Wesley who was a denier of the gospel
of God's grace, wrote these words, "...who then dares assert that
God's love does not at all depend upon man's work?" Hmm? Isn't that a terrible statement?
"...who then dares assert..." He read this verse and then he
said this, and it gets right back to what? The false preacher
declares that salvation all depends upon you. Who then dares assert
that God's love does not at all depend upon man's work? His love depends upon my work. His salvation depends... I mean,
everything really... I mean, I really make the difference.
I mean, you know, he did his part, but you really make it
happen. And my friend, that's the false
gospel. That's a false gospel. And yet,
in our day, it is taken hook, line, and sinker without a question. Time somebody start exposing
these phonies for what they are. This preacher is not going to
back down. I'm going to declare the gospel of the grace of God
that salvation is all determined, dependent, and accomplished upon
Him. We're dead dog, filthy, rotten
sinner, dead in the dust, spiritually dead. It takes God to make us
alive. If He's not almighty, all-powerful,
all-sovereign, this sinner has no hope. If He did not accomplish
all salvation for this sinner, I have no hope. You don't either. Not a good hope. It's a good
hope through grace. You see how far gone this religious
world has gone with perverting the gospel of God's grace? They say it really depends upon
you. The man who precedes my radio program on Sunday morning,
closes his radio program every Sunday morning with putting the
whole of salvation upon your shoulders. It all works upon
what you do with it. I'm saying that salvation is
all dependent upon Him. He may have mercy on whom He
will have mercy. It's all His doing. You have no part in it. Not in accomplishing it. You
receive it as a gift. That He gives you. That He gives
you. Henceforth I call you not servants,
for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth. I have called
you friends, for all things that I have heard of my Father I have
made known unto you. He hid these things from the
wise and prudent, and revealed them unto Baal, even so, Father,
for so it seemed good in his sight." And then he says, and
we'll pick up here next week, you didn't choose me, Just as we read in 1 John 4,
19, we love Him because He first
loved us. You didn't choose me, I chose
you. I ordained you. That is the Bible
doctrine of election right there. Salvation is His choice, not
yours. What choice would you make left to yourself? Huh? You love darkness and hate light. You keep on hating God. hating
one another.