The Love of God

John 16:27 For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God.

Recently, I heard a preacher make a public statement ... not a statement to his congregation ....but to the public at large. His statement was: “You cannot do anything to make God love you more than he does right now.”

When I read that statement on the internet, I really questioned the veracity of the declaration. Then, I came to today’s passage and I knew the statement was misleading. Let’s break this down. Am I questioning the fact that God loves all men? Not at all. Let’s review what the Bible says about this.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

1 Timothy 2:4 Who (God) will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

John tells us that God loves the WORLD! Not just the saved. Not just his followers. Not just those that love him. Not just those that serve him but God loves the entire world; past, present and future. That would include the most vial of beings including murderers and rapists. To prove his love, he gave us his Son to die that we might be saved, because he TRULY, deeply desires ALL men to be saved. So there is no question that God loves the world.

The question then is: CAN one of these rebellious, unbelieving, raping, murderous people do ANYTHING to cause God love them MORE? The answer is absolutely YES!

In our text this morning, Jesus is telling his apostles that God loves them. So, we already learned that right? Is that the “same” love that is directed at the rest of the world? Let’s keep reading. Jesus said that God loves THEM .... BECAUSE they LOVED Jesus and BELIEVED that he was the Son of God. I suggest to you that statement has to mean that this love described here was not the same as the love that God loves the rest of the world. Instead it is a deeper, more profound love.

Let’s look at it this way. Might my father love countless numbers of people that he interacted with throughout his life? Certainly. Could he even love strangers, showing it by helping those that are in need? Absolutely! But how many people will receive the inheritance when he dies. Only five of us ... My mother, my brother and sisters and me. Why do only 5 of us have the opportunity to inherit dad’s stuff? Because we are his family. And he loves his family more than he loves anyone else in the world.

1 John 3:1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God...

Colossians 3:24 Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.

That word manner is emphasizing a degree or level of God’s Love! How much love does he love his followers? So much so that he has declared us his family. Does he love the entire world? Yes. Is the entire world part of the family of God? Absolutely NOT!

Notice now WHY God loved the disciples: Because of their actions! Because they loved Jesus and because they believe in him. So let’s examine that question again: CAN one of those rebellious, unbelieving, raping, murderous people DO anything to cause God love them more? Again YES!. Each of those people can choose to BELIEVE that Jesus is the Son of God. Each of them can and must REPENT of their current rebellious and sinful lives. And they must become New Testament Christians by following HIS plan of salvation. When that happens, anyone can become a child of God and then be partakers of the inheritance of the family.

God loved you enough to be willing to save you, but he is desperately hoping to love you like a child!

Knowing God

John 16:1-2 These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended.

(2) They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service

John 16:3 And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me.

In our last ‘Reflecting the Son’ post, we examined verses 1-2. We came to understand that as a true followers of God, we will be hated and even persecuted by the world. But not only that, much of our persecution will come from those that “think that he doeth God service” (John 16:2)

In our focus today, we will look at verse 3. We learn WHY religious people will be willing to persecute us. JESUS says .....

John 16:3 And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me.

Jesus says that these religious people, who are persecuting us, thinking they are doing it in God’s service, are doing it because they have not KNOWN the Father nor have they KNOWN him! Here is the point that Jesus is trying to make that all of us need to understand: We can be deeply religious, we can be immensely dedicated to a religious belief, we can go about serving, acting, and behaving in a religious manner and doing it all in a fashion without God’s approval or endorsement! Why? Because they are doing it without the proper UNDERSTANDING of what God desires.

Matthew 15:8-9 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. (9) But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

Knowing that God exists is NOT knowing God! Knowing OF God is NOT the same as knowing God! Being religious is NOT knowing God! Knowing some of the Bible stories is NOT knowing God. Even being able to quotes some scripture is NOT knowing God.

Knowing God is a comprehensive understanding of what his will for mankind and for each of us is.

Matthew 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Jesus said here that we MUST understand and DO the WILL of the Father in order to be pleasing to him.

Ephesians 5:17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.

May we all truly Know God by searching the scriptures diligently to come to the proper understanding of God’s will and then may we have the courage to DO it!

Beware of the “Religious”!

John 15:18-19 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.

(19) If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

John 16:1-2 These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended.

(2) They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service

If life, and more specifically, religion wasn’t confusing enough, Jesus has to go and say this! We looked at John 15:18-19 in our last RTS. But the context continues. Jesus warns that not only will the apostles, be hated, they also will be put out of synagogs and other religious places for preaching and teaching about Jesus. But that we already know. The real disturbing information, and our topic today, is found in verse 2.

John 16:2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.

Jesus is telling us that much of our persecution will come from those that are religious. They will believe that their persecution is “God’s Service”. This does not seem all that surprising considering the the state of the world. But we are not just talking about the apparent strife between muslims and christians. Jesus and the apostle Paul also tells us that much strife will come from those professing to be Christians as well.

Matthew 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

2 Corinthians 11:13-15 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. (14) And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. (15) Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

Galatians 1:6-9 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: (7) Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. (8) But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. (9) As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

Paul clearly states when writing to the Galatians that there are not alternative Gospels. There are NOT multiple paths that lead to God. There are however PERVERSIONS of the truth ..... False teachers! Jesus says that the problem is that they will be as wolves in sheep’s clothing. Paul says they will be perceived by others as agent of the Light. They will not only seem harmless. They will seem as though they are doing God’s work. But notice what Paul says about these false teachers perverting the truth .... They will trouble you! Christians will be troubled by other religious folks, claiming to be Christians because the do not want to hear the truth.

Truth is an interesting thing. It will either make you change your life to fit it, or it will make you feel like a cornered animal that feels the need to defend itself. Unfortunatley these religious folks will rather act like a cornered animal. They will attack those representing the truth to defend their own position.

Matthew 13:15 For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

Are you in the truth or are you troubling those that are?

Are You Hated?

John 15:18-19 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. (19) If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

When I was growing up, I was a late bloomer. The beginning of my junior year in high school, I was still under 5 feet tall. That made me an easy target for every bully in school. I would have guys push me into wall as they went by, slammed my head into doors, pick me up and run my head under running water in the science class sinks ..... and that was a good week! I hated school because I dreaded to be rejected and hated.

It is a hard thing to contemplate that one of the goals as Christians is that we are to be hated. Jesus does not say that we are to be hated for hatred sake. But he does say, that if we are living as God requests, we will be so different from the world that we will be hated. And that should be our goal!

One good thing about this is that Jesus does not ask us to do something that he was not willing to do himself. Jesus says that they world should hate us because it hated him. Man was he hated. For years there were men dogging him, trying to trip him up, trying to catch him between an ideological rock and a hard place. And each time they tried, it increased their resolve to kill him. And of course they finally got their way. But Jesus was not the only one. Many of the New Testament Christians experienced similar outcomes. Stephen was stoned to death. Paul gives a list of the the things that happened to him and was finally executed for his ‘crimes’.

The real question then is: Are you hated? Is there enough difference between you and the world to be hated? Or are you so caught up in the world that no one can tell that you are a Christian?

Whether we like it or not, we must be peculiar to the point that we stand out from the world. If we are not, we are not doing it right!

Romans 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. (2) And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Love One Another!

There are so many directions that I could take with these verses. Certainly this could be a whole sermon, and ABSOLUTELY should be more often than it is. Today, I want to take 4 thoughts that this passage brings forth in my mind and the expound just a little on each

1. This is a Commandment .... Not a suggestion!

Verse 12 is VERY clear. Jesus is making a command. That means compliance is not optional but rather EXPECTED. When asked, Jesus once said that Loving the father was the greatest command that God has ever given. However, he went on to say that he really couldn’t separate the second greatest. And that is to love thy neighbor as thyself. There is NO wiggle room here.

2. Love One Another does not necessarily equate to “Like” one another

Liking someone or approving of one’s choices, lifestyles or actions is NOT the same as loving that person. We have NOT been commanded to like everyone. We have NOT been commanded to approve of everyone. Nor have we even been commanded to tolerate everyone! We have been commanded to LOVE everyone. So is there a difference ... really? Absolutely! Did Jesus Love everyone? Absolutely he demonstrated it by dying for the sins of the world! Did that mean that he approved or even tolerated everyone of those people that he interacted with? No way! He called the religious leaders of the day snakes. He drove profiteers out of the temple and no one in their right mind can conclude that while hanging on the cross, he liked those that were yelling “Crucify him”

3. Love is ACTIVE .... not a warm and Fuzzy feeling

God so LOVED that he cried and cried and cried over his warm and fuzzy feelings that he had for mankind. Is that what John 3:16 says? NO! God so loved that he GAVE. He acted. Love is a verb. A word of action.

4. Love demands that we want the best for other.

This is a tough one. Love does not equate to tolerance. Rather, just the opposite. Love demands that we intervene for the best of another. A great example has played out this week in the news. There are a lot of people that will claim to have loved Whitney Houston, however, too many people failed at intervening in her life. Real love is not saying “Its her life she can do what she wants. True love would have demanded that someone get in her face and do everything possible to stop her. That is not to say that no one did. But clearly not enough did. Again, God’s actions makes this point as well. God intervened. So if we are to love others, at times, that means we must tell others that they are going down the wrong way spiritually. That a certain behavior or action is a SIN. That is true love.

May we truly decide to love others as God loves us!

The Source of REAL Joy!

John 15:1-11 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. (2) Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. (3) Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. (4) Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. (5) 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. (6) If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. (7) If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. (8) Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. (9) As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. (10) If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.

We have spent the last several days on John 15:1-10, but today we will only reference it for context. In short, Jesus tells us:

1. That we need to be fruitful for God’s Purpose

2. We must Abide in the VIne (Jesus)

3. Without Him We can Do Nothing

But with all of that understood Jesus says this in the next verse.

John 15:11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.

In this verse,Jesus says that with these truths His Joy might remain in us The first thing that sticks out is the concept of Jesus having joy. It is not that I think he did not have joy, just that I don’t think of him in that concept. Of course we think of joy in the context of the Joy of a birthday, the joy of Christmas, the joy of having a new baby and so on. But notice those are all events of a worldly nature! With Jesus living such a humbled life, I am sure that he may not have had the same kinds of joys that we do. Rather his joys were much different. He had the joy of healing folks. He had the joy of altering peoples life for the better. He had the joy of being their savior. His Joy was a spiritual joy. His joy was a sustainable and lasting joy.

Because of that, Jesus’ desire is that his joy might remain in us and that it might be full. If we are going to experience the joy that Jesus had, we must learn to take the focus off of the worldly things and concentrate on what Jesus did.....serving others. He had joy because his “happiness” was not his focus or purpose. Rather his life was dedicated to serving others and he had joy to spare Maybe we ought to go back to the sunday school lesson on Joy!

J - Jesus First

O - Others Second

Y - Yourself last.

- If we apply a principle like that, we are likely to be Joyous like Jesus!

Obedience ... He Means It!

John 15:9-10 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. (10) If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.

It is interesting ... time and time again I hear people, even so called religious people, criticize Christians over their teaching of the necessity of Obedience. But so often in the New Testament Jesus links obedience with Love ... as he does here.

Jesus states in verse 9 that the Father has loved him. And for that reason, Jesus has in turn loved us. Then he urges us to “continue in his love”. How do we continue in the love of Jesus? Verse 10. We MUST keep his commandments.

John 15:10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love...

Notice the end of verse 10. If anybody questions the need of being strict with obedience, they only need to read verse 10. Jesus says that we should obey God the same way that he obeyed his Father’s Commands.

If Jesus is not to good, too important, too deistic to be obedient ... Neither are we!

Spiritual Life Support!

John 15:1-5 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. (2) Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. (3) Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. (4) Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. (5) 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.

We started looking at this passage yesterday but focused our attention on verses 1 and 2. Today, we want to more closely examine verses 4 and 5.

For a review, Jesus is using farming imagery, that really anyone can understand. Jesus describes himself, in this metaphor, as the vine or the trunk of a plant. God, our father is the husbandman or caregiver of the farm and each individual christian is the branches shooting off of that main trunk. Yesterday we focused our attention on the message that God intends on each of us to be fruitful on his behalf.

Notice with me the first 3 words of verse 4. “Abide in me.” This statement first of all implies that we have choices. We have the choice to abide in Jesus or we have the choice not to. But with choices, come consequences. If you choose to abide in Jesus, he in turn will abide in you and you will bear fruit because through him you will receive what is needed to be fruitful

Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

However, if you choose not to abide in Jesus, Jesus says that you are on your own. He will not abide in you and you will be unable to bear fruit because it is only through staying attached to that trunk that you can receive what is needed to bear fruit. As we saw yesterday, being unfruitful, will cause God to cut you off and cast you into the fire.

When I read this, I cannot help thinking about Jesus being akin to spiritual life support. Our modern medical advancements are nothing short of amazing. We now have certain machines, like a ventilator that will perform certain bodily functions for you so that your body can rest while it heals. But the one short coming to any of these life support devices is that you actually have to be attached in order for them to work. You cannot simply be in the same room with a dialysis machine and expect it to benefit you. That seems ridiculously obvious, but somehow that principle does not seem as obvious in its spiritual application.

We must stay connected to Jesus! We MUST abide in Jesus! It is our choice and so are the consequences. Notice now the last statement in verse 5

John 15:5 ...for without me ye can do nothing.

So how do we abide in Jesus? By abiding in the words of Jesus. Again, this is a principle that we get in real life but somehow, so many people thinks that it does not translate to Christian principles. Are you really a fan of a particular sports team if you if wear the gear of a competing team and watch and cheer for anyone except the team that you are a fan of? Not hardly. Are you really a part of a particular political party if you hold to the values and vote for the other? No way!

So how can any anyone “claim” to be a follower of Jesus and not follow after his teachings? How can one live in a manner that is absolutely contrary to his will and teachings and then claim to abide in him? The simple answer you can’t! If you want to abide in Jesus, and be fruitful, then we must ABIDE in his word!