B. Abiding in Christ s Love B. 15:9-10. C. Love s Outcome of Joy C. 15:11. D. The Extent of His Love 15: E. Divine Friendship D.

Transcription

1 Congregational handout; outline sermon text on following pages Sermon Notes & References Divine Friendship John 15:9-17 January 22, 2017 A. Introduction A. B. Abiding in Christ s Love B. 15:9-10 C. Love s Outcome of Joy C. 15:11 D. The Extent of His Love 15:12-13 E. Divine Friendship D. 15:14-15 F. The Origin & Application of This Love E. 15:16-17 G. Conclusion F. A John 13:35-35 B John 13:1 C John 14:27, 8:29; Hebrews 12:2 D Hebrews 2:11; Proverbs 27:10; John 13:13, 16 E Deuteronomy 7:7-8; Ephesians 1:4 F 1 John 4:10, 19

2 {1}. John 15: Divine Friendship A. Introduction 1. The opening verses of this chapter give a. the allegory or illustration of the vine, branches & fruit b. where Jesus Christ is the Vine c. and His disciples are the branches, bearing fruit d. (Although the fruit belongs equally to the Vine as to any branches) e. it is a picture of an extremely close and vital relationship (A) the vine and the branches are totally connected (B) the vine provides the branches with life (C) and the branches bear the fruit to serve the purpose of the vine f. It is also, for this same reason, a practical relationship (A) the vine and branches serve one another (B) with the purpose being the fruit 2. But the relationship between Christ and His disciples (which disciples includes us who are believers, includes all believers of all ages) a. Transcends this relationship (A) vital as it is that is, giving life (B) practical as it is that is, producing fruit (1) the fruit of prevailing prayer to our Father God (2) the fruit of the Holy Spirit (3) and more besides b. For as is brought out in our passage today, it is a love relationship (A) It is a love relationship between the Lord and His disciples (B) It is a love relationship that is to exist among His disciples (C) and this fact is brought out by a repetition of the love commandment which was previously given: A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another. (John 13:34-35) c. But the passage goes beyond that description

3 (A) (B) (C) for it tells us the extent of this love and assigns a new title to those who are disciples transporting us from what is common to humanity into the Divine. B. Abiding in Christ s Love : Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father s commandments, and abide in His love. 2. The love between the Father and the Son is beyond any human ability a. It exists as a constant condition or state between them it goes before and beyond time for it is eternal b. And Christ s love for His disciples is of the same character (A) (B) unchanging and constant pre-existing any love on our part it can be seen in His actions at the start of this evening, John 13:1, Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He should depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. (C) and will be further shown in the hours to come c. While we cannot possess such love, our abiding in Christ s love is to be of a similar character a constant state of our new, spiritual being d. The very word, abide, carries with it this constancy, for it can equally well be translated as remain, continue, carry on in Christ s love e. This constancy is not revealed in a mere display of emotions, but is shown in our obeying 3. Obeying is the evidence of abiding in love a. It is the proof positive of the Son s own abiding in the love of His Father (A) Jesus, the Son of God Incarnate, has kept His Father s commands (B) even at that instant is walking that path of obedience to the cross (C) the Son s voluntary sacrifice to bitter crucifixion is the most glorious manifestation of His obedience (and His abiding in the Father s love) b. So also our own obedience to Christ s commandments (A) is the evidence that we are abiding in His love (B) not that this obedience somehow is earning His love (C) for His love is never absent: it precedes, accompanies and follows any obedience of ours; our obedience

4 simply expresses our abiding in this relationship of love to the eternal Son of God c. The subject of His commandments we shall note later C. Its Outcome of Joy :11 1. These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full. 2. What are these things that He has spoken? a. Certainly they include the whole matter of the Vine and the branches, and with it the command, Abide in me of verse 4 of this chapter b. But in reverting to the subject of love we are taken back beyond this into the new love commandment and discourse that followed Judas Iscariot s exit from the upper room c. It is not exaggeration, then, to say that these things include all the truths and the commands of that discourse 3. Jesus now leaves another bequest for His disciples a. He has left them peace My peace I give unto you (14:27) b. He has left them love Abide in my love (15:9) c. These He gives to them as the world cannot give nor take away d. and in the same manner He now leaves them His joy 4. It is His joy because it belongs to Him; He has lawful possession of this joy a. It comes from the direct approval and presence of the Father He could say, And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him. (John 8:29) b. It arises on account of His obedience to the Father (A) He had entered into the world for a mission (B) He was conscious of His unwavering adherence to that mission (C) (D) He was certain of the success of His mission Hebrews 12:2 describes Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. c. It is the will of Jesus that this joy should be fully conferred upon us who are His disciples. J. Vernon McGee has said, The Lord wants us to have a good time. One of the fruits of the Spirit is to have joy in your life. I am mortally afraid of super-pious Christians who have no humour in their lives, yet walk around with a Bible under their arms. A fruit-bearing Christian will have a lot of fun in this life. There will be fun in going to a Bible study;

5 there will be fun in serving the Lord. A life in fellowship with Christ is a joyous life. {2}. D. The Extent of His Love : This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. 2. This verse returns, as we have noted, to Jesus giving of the new commandment, that we love one another. a. The extent of that love is unchanged (A) that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. (13:34) (B) that you love one another, just as I have loved you. b. The measure of the love that we are to have for one another is the measure of the love of Jesus Christ for us. 3. Now that measure is expressly quantified: this is the love that Jesus had which took Him to the cross: that one lay down his life for his friends a. That idiom, to lay down his life is the same idiom as is used in some places of offering up a sacrifice b. So that the underlying action of Jesus Christ is his voluntary laying done of His life on the cross as a substitutionary sacrifice for on behalf of His friends. c. William Hendriksen points out that this is impossible in absolute terms for us to do: As far as its infinite value, substitutionary character, and glorious redemptive consequences are concerned, his act of love, whereby he determined to lay down his life for us, can never be a pattern for our love of the brethren.... Nevertheless, there is one characteristic of this love which should be reflected in the attitude of one brother to another, namely, it self-sacrificing nature. {3}. d. Any act of love that we have for a Christian brother (A) cannot have the infinite value of Jesus laying down his own life (B) it cannot be a substitution for man s punishment (C) it cannot bring man redemption, salvation from sin (D) in those senses, it is beyond being an example for us (E) but it can be given, as was His, without thought for our own selves E. Divine Friendship : You are My friends, if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made

6 known to you. 2. The term, friends, in Greek, comes from one of the words meaning to love in this case to love as a brother but one should not make too much of a distinction here between it and the other word for love in the surrounding verses a. The difference here serves to emphasise the changing nature of Jesus relationship with His disciples b. Hebrews 2:11 speaks of this relationship in terms of the being brothers:... for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, ; in this the emphasis is on a family relationship c. here, however, the emphasis is on friendship rather than family: it is great to get together with siblings who share our memories and our feelings; but Proverbs says better is a friend that is always near d. Do not forsake your own friend or your father s friend, And do not go to your brother s house in the day of your calamity; Better is a neighbour who is near than a brother far away. (Proverbs 27:10) e. Best still is one who is both a brother and a friend as is our Jesus 3. Only a few hours before the term servant, slave had been the prevailing relationship between Jesus and the eleven a. You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. (John 13:13) b. He was the Teacher; they, the disciples c. He was the Lord; they, the servants d. Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master; neither is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. (John 13:16) e. But now He addresses them as friends (A) friendship is a mutual relationship it adheres to both sides, applies to each one, affects both (1) but as Jesus is our elder brother the firstborn our forerunner in the family relationship (2) so in this friendship, too, He is the senior participant as it were: (3) we must keep His commandments if this friendship is to thrive (4) man has a responsibility to meet in this friendship (B) nevertheless, Jesus call His disciples friends whence we can equally well sing today, what a friend we have in Jesus! 4. since the time has come for Jesus to leave them; since that former, earthly relationship with His disciples is ending; a higher one will succeed it a. The slave is but an instrument, following orders, but not knowing the purpose of its master, not sharing in its

7 master s knowledge b. But now Jesus has opened up His heart to them, has shared not only what He has heard from the Father, but also His own tender and personal feelings towards them c. As Hendriksen remarks, Hence, when emphasis is to be placed on the closeness of the fellowship between the Master and his disciples, the name servants is no longer the proper term. {4}. F. The Origin & Application of This Love : You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask of the Father in My name, He may give to you. This I command you, that you love one another. 2. Man, in his pride, thinks that he is in charge of his life a. the Jewish practice was for a student to choose a Rabbi, the Rabbi to accept that student but Jesus reversed that practice b. His election, as is the case with God s election that just means His choice of believers is based not on our merit, on but His love c. The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but because the Lord loved you (Deuteronomy 7:7-8) d. just as He chose us in Him i.e., in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy (Ephesians 1:4) e. not, because He foresaw that we were going to be holy. 3. we should never forget that God is in charge: His will is sovereign a. concerning these disciples and every believer he already has a plan b. chosen, appointed, going forth, bearing fruit, lasting fruit, engaging in prevailing prayer this sums up the message of Jesus to these eleven just before the lowest point in their spiritual journey, when Jesus would be slain, taken from them and their hopes dashed to the ground c. this message was to encourage them they were chosen ones McGee makes this comment, A great many people do not like the doctrine of election, but it is wonderful and practical. Many a discouraged Christian has cast himself on the Lord saying, Lord, you called me and chose me and I'm your child. Dr. G. Campbell Morgan said, He chose me; therefore I am His responsibility. That is trust!' {5}. d. and you and I can do the same when everything looks black.

8 4. Verse 17 concludes this section, saying literally: These things I am commanding you in order that you should love one another. a. the these things echoes the these things of verse 11 b. there have been a number of commandments in these chapters already: (A) follow the example of humility He gave in washing their feet (B) love one another as He has loved them (C) stop being troubled but rather believe in God, believe in Jesus (D) like branches in a vine, abide in Christ c. and the purpose of following these commands is to enable us to obey the love commandment itself, for this we cannot do of our own G. Conclusion 1. What an incentive to obey His commandments! a. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (1 John 4:10) b. We love, because He first loved us. (1 John 4:19) c. but not simply as a slave though He is indeed Lord and Master but because He, who is the Son of God most holy, deems such as keep His commandments to be His friends 2. What a friend we have in Jesus!

9 by Garth Hutchinson, Faith Fellowship Baptist Church of Aurora (Ontario): may be distributed or quoted freely, only let this be done to the glory of the great God and our Saviour, Jesus Christ (Titus ii.13). Except as noted otherwise, quotations are from the New American Standard version, used by permission. Various other English versions of the Holy Bible may be used in this sermon. Explanatory additions to the Bible text are shown in braces. Version identifiers are: ASV American Standard Version of 1901 AV Authorized (King James) Version of 1769 NAS New American Standard version 1960, 1995 The Lockman Foundation (usually the 1995 edition) NIV New International Version 1984 by the International Bible Society NLT New Living Translation 1996 Tyndale Charitable Trust NKJV New King James Version 1979 Thomas Nelson Inc., Publishers NRSV New Revised Standard Version 1989 National Council of Churches of Christ WEY The New Testament in Modern Speech 1902, 1912 R. F. Weymouth Some of the commentaries and resources used in the preparation of this message are identified as follow: Bruce The Gospel & Epistles of John, by F. F. Bruce, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, MI; 1983 BM Biblical Museum, Editor James Comper Gray, ca 1870 EGT The Expositor s Greek Testament, Hodder & Stoughton; 1903 The Gospel of St. John, by Marcus Dods LBBC -- Layman s Bible Book Commentary, Volume 18: John, by James E. Carter; Broadman Press, Nashville, TE; 1984 NICNT The New International Commentary on the New Testament The Gospel according to John, by Leon Morris NTC New Testament Commentary, by William Hendriksen; Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, MI; 1954 RWP Robertson s Word Pictures of the New Testament, by Dr. A. T. Robertson TTBC Thru the Bible Commentary Series, by J. Vernon McGee; John 11-21; Thomas Nelson Publishers; TTBC, in loc. 3. NTC, in loc. 4. NTC, in loc. 5. TTBC, in loc.