[0:00] Please take your Bibles and turn to the fourth gospel, John chapter 15.!
[0:16] These are the words of our Lord Jesus as He talks to His disciples in that very last night that He's with them.!
[0:29] I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.
[0:45] You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself and must remain in the vine.
[0:56] Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine. You are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit.
[1:09] Apart from me, you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers. Such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire, and burned.
[1:21] If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, and that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
[1:37] As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love.
[1:53] I have told you this so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete. My command is this, love each other as I have loved you.
[2:05] Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command.
[2:17] I no longer call you servants because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.
[2:28] You do not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.
[2:43] This is my command, love each other. The Apostle John has been nicknamed the Apostle of Love, and rightly so.
[3:00] Love permeates the writings of John the Apostle. Fifty-six times in his gospel he speaks of love. That is more than all three other gospels put together.
[3:16] And then John speaks of love fifty-four more times in his three little epistles at the end of the New Testament. His writings are loaded with this theme of love.
[3:30] Love in God and love in his children. Now in his gospel, John never refers to himself by name. He'll mention the names of the other apostles, but never his own name.
[3:44] Rather, he refers to himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved. He never got over the fact that Jesus loved him. And according to John, that's the most important thing you need to know about him.
[3:57] I am the disciple whom Jesus loved. I've been enjoying a song that says, Jesus loves me, and I guess that says it all. Last winter, I needed a wrecker to come to my house and pick up my car that wouldn't start.
[4:17] And it was a day later that the son of the owner actually came and picked it up, and he apologized and said, Well, my dad went into the hospital yesterday, and he's not doing well at all.
[4:29] So it was a few days later when I went in to pay my bill, and on the way in, I was listening to Jesus loves me, and I guess that says it all. As I got in there, there he was, this owner of the wrecker.
[4:45] And he's sitting there with an oxygen tube to his nose and chewing the fat with an old fellow in the corner. And so I told him that your son told me you were in the hospital.
[4:57] How are you doing? And he told me, Well, I'm doing much better. Thank you. And how are you doing? He said. And I said, Well, Jesus loves me, and I guess that says it all.
[5:09] And that old man in the corner came to life and says, That does say it all. Now, that's what I think John is telling us when he says, I am the disciple that Jesus loved.
[5:22] And, folks, that says it all. That says the most important thing you need to know about me. Jesus loved me. Now, of the four Gospels, John gives us the longest account of Jesus' teaching on the night of his betrayal.
[5:37] We read from a portion of it in John chapter 15. But that evening teaching begins in John chapter 13, there in the upper room with the 12.
[5:49] And it continues all the way through Jesus' prayer in Gethsemane. And John chapter 17. So from John 13 to 17, we have all this information, five chapters, about what Jesus said to his disciples on that last night before his crucifixion.
[6:10] Now, if you have a red-letter edition of the Bible, those chapters are nearly completely red. And let me just remind you that that doesn't mean they're more important than the black sections. It's all the inspired word of God.
[6:22] But it just says to us that we're reading what Jesus himself said to his disciples that night. And 33 times that night, Jesus spoke of love.
[6:38] 33 times in those chapters. He speaks of love. The Father's love. Jesus' own love. And his children's love. It's one extended discourse on love.
[6:52] So from the time they got together to the time that he was arrested in the garden, Jesus is talking. He's talking. Many things. But the dominant note that he pounds 33 times that evening is love.
[7:06] Love. Love. And I think sometimes we miss that dominant theme because we come to that section and we read chapter 13 and we go on our way.
[7:17] And tomorrow we read chapter 14. And the next day maybe chapter 15. And we miss the fact that those five chapters were spoken within a few hours of each other.
[7:27] In one long discourse. So I want to challenge you this week to read them in one sitting. It shouldn't take you more than 15 minutes, I wouldn't think. I didn't time it, but John 13 through 17.
[7:41] And notice the dominant note of love struck 33 times in that last evening. And then you'll see that it's not just John who is preoccupied with love.
[7:52] It's Jesus himself. And that's why love must become our preoccupation as well. Because it's his. Indeed, all saving faith is a faith that expresses itself by love.
[8:09] All saving faith expresses itself by love. Love. And the whole summary of the law of God. Can be summed up in one word.
[8:20] Love. Love God. Love your neighbor. Well, we're studying. If you're wondering where all this is coming from.
[8:30] We're studying four graces of the Christian life. Four things that God works in the hearts of his people that we need to live the Christian life. We've seen humility, the great emptier.
[8:41] And faith, the great receiver. And now we're looking at love, the great giver. We started by looking at God's own love. And we found his love flows in two directions.
[8:55] It flows Godward. That is, within the Trinity, there is love flowing all around. And then it flows manward to us. And we learned God's love language last week, didn't we?
[9:13] In his love manward. Or, I'm sorry. Last week, we began to study our love. So we saw God's love, manward, Godward.
[9:24] Now we started studying our love. The grace of love within us. And we're going to notice it flows in two directions, Godward and manward. Last week, it was our love for God.
[9:36] And we learned that God's love language. We learned how he wants to be loved. How love expresses itself towards God. Summed up in the words of Jesus, if you love me, you will obey my commands.
[9:51] Well, we come then today to our love manward. And we find throughout the Bible, then, that we're to love our neighbor, our fellow man, whoever that may be. We find that we're to love our enemies, those who mistreat us.
[10:05] And most of all, we find that we're to love one another in the body of Christ. Our spiritual brothers and sisters in the family of God, as Paul says, do good to all people, but especially to those who belong to the family of faith.
[10:21] Now that's our topic this morning, then. Loving one another in the family of God. The main lesson for today is this. Loving one another is no small part of what it means to love God.
[10:40] Let me say that again. Loving one another is no small part of what it means to love God. Or put another way.
[10:52] We love God by loving one another. Or another way. We cannot love God without loving one another.
[11:05] Loving all his people. Now, let's look first at Jesus' own words. Open to John chapter 14. And that takes us right away into this evening discourse on love.
[11:18] And we saw it last week. And we're just going to mention it briefly this morning. John chapter 14. And we're going to look at Jesus' words in the form of a syllogism.
[11:33] A syllogism has three lines. You have, first of all, two statements from Jesus. And then when you put them together, you can draw a conclusion in the third statement.
[11:46] The third line. So if one is true and two is true, then the conclusion drawn because of what is said in one and two is also true. I think you'll get it as you see it.
[11:58] So the first two statements of Jesus and then the conclusion drawn from it. Number one, then. If we could have that. Number one. If you love me, you will obey my commands.
[12:11] True or false? True. That's what Jesus said in John chapter 14 and verse 15. You see it there? He says it again in verse 21, 23, 24.
[12:22] Four times for emphasis. If you love me, you will obey my commands. Real love obeys my commands. Okay? Statement number two.
[12:35] This is my command. Love one another. Now, you'll find that in chapter 13. You're in chapter 14, just minutes before, perhaps.
[12:47] In chapter 13 and verses 34 and 35. Jesus said to them, a new commandment I give you. Love one another as I have loved you.
[12:57] So you must love one another. And by this, all men will know that you are my disciples. If you have love one for another. Then, after John 14's statement, which we found up about.
[13:14] I'm sorry, not number three yet. We not only have the statement in John chapter 13 about his command is to love one another. But we also have it in chapter 15 and verse 12.
[13:27] You see it there? My command is this. Love each other as I have loved you. And again, in chapter 15 and verse 17. This is my command.
[13:38] Love each other. And what we need to remember is that all these statements are being said just within a matter of minutes and the longest a few hours together. So that's the second statement.
[13:51] True or false. This is my command. Love one another. True. So if one is true and two is true. Then the conclusion that we draw from that is also true.
[14:05] And that is. If you love me. You will love one another. Now notice how we can say that. The conclusion is drawn upon the two statements that are just made.
[14:22] If you love me. You will keep my commands. And this is my command. Love one another. So if you love me. You will love one another.
[14:32] Does it track? God is logical. He made us logical. And that's the syllogism of Jesus on love. If you love me. You will love one another.
[14:45] So. Do you remember those two big hooks we talked about last week? How Jesus in Matthew chapter 22 says that all the commandments in the Bible can be hung on two hooks.
[14:58] Loving God with all our hearts and loving our neighbor as ourselves. So you can take them. Hundreds of them. And stack. Some of them are showing us what it means to love God. And others are showing us what it means to love man.
[15:10] Our fellow man. Now. What we see today is an advance on that teaching. That loving one another. Is part of what it means to love God.
[15:24] That we love God. When we love one another. Because that is his commandment. That we love one another. And we love God by obeying his commandments.
[15:37] So now what that means is you can take all the commandments that have to do with loving one another. And you can hang the whole hook in all of them over here on loving God. Do you see it?
[15:48] If you love me. You'll keep my commandments. And all these commandments. About loving one another. They are commands. So. That's how you show your love for me.
[16:00] In other words. These two are not at odds. These two. Are not a choice that we must make. Will we love God? Or will we love man?
[16:12] No. Not at all. For in fact. We love God. By loving one another. Because that is his commandment. Well.
[16:24] The question comes then. That's why I say that loving one another is no small part of what it means to love God. All these commands.
[16:35] Are showing us. How to keep God's commandments. Which is to love him. But the question may be raised. Are we correct to draw this conclusion?
[16:47] It's true that we see the first two statements in our scriptures. But. Is this just human logic? Have we gone further than the scriptures by.
[16:58] By drawing this conclusion? A valid question. We need to be careful about drawing conclusions. From our own minds. That would.
[17:09] Conflict with God's mind. But I want to remind you. That the disciple whom Jesus loved. Was there. In the upper room. When Jesus. Made the first statement.
[17:20] And along the way. As he made the second statement. And he drew. The conclusion. Of number two. Three. That if you love me. You will love one another.
[17:32] So I'm going to ask you. To turn to John's own words. Back in his little epistle. His first epistle. First John. He draws this.
[17:45] Same inescapable conclusion. That all who love God. Will love one another. It's one of the main themes. Of this little letter. Five chapters.
[17:56] And. And we see it over and over again. And so certain. Is he of this conclusion. That he's able to say. That not loving your brother. Is proof that you don't love God.
[18:07] You cannot possibly love God. If you don't love your brothers. That's. That's John's conclusion. So it's not just. Us getting. Logical about things. No. That's the way we're meant to think.
[18:18] And that's exactly the conclusion. That John draws. So. Listen. We'll just work our way through. Chapter three. In verse ten. And this is the. The apostle that Jesus loved.
[18:30] Who heard Jesus. That night. And he says in verse ten. Of chapter three. This is how we know. Who the children of God are. And who the children of the devil are. Anyone who does not do.
[18:40] What is right. Is not a child of God. Here it is. Nor is anyone. Who does not. Love his brother. So you show.
[18:51] You're not a child of God. If you don't love. All the other children of God. That's John's conclusion. Chapter three. In verse fourteen. We know.
[19:01] That we have passed. From death to life. How? Because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love. Remains in death. So in other words.
[19:13] Spiritual life. The life that Jesus gives us. Shows itself. By loving our brothers. In Christ. Chapter four. Verses seven and eight. Dear friends.
[19:25] John says. Let us love one another. For love comes from God. Everyone who loves. Has been born of God. And knows God. Whoever does not love.
[19:36] Does not know God. Because God is love. You notice the certainty. With which he speaks. He uses absolute terms. Like everyone. Everyone who loves.
[19:48] Has been born of God. And knows God. Whoever. Doesn't matter. Anything else about. Whoever it is. If you don't love. You don't know God.
[19:59] Because God is love. Love. You see. You can't possibly know God. Who is love. And be born of God. And share his nature. Which is love. Without showing love.
[20:11] Love to. Your brothers and sisters. Because God is love. And to know him. Is to love him. And is to love his. Chapter four.
[20:22] Verse twelve. No one has ever seen God. But if we love one another. God lives in us. And his love is made complete in us. According to John.
[20:34] You can tell where God lives. Look for love. Because God is love. And wherever he lives. It comes out. Chapter four.
[20:44] And verse nineteen. You see. He lives in us. And his love in us. Causes us to love one another. We love. Because. He first loved us.
[20:56] His love. For us. Causes. Creates. Makes. Love. For each other. And then in verse.
[21:07] Twenty. And twenty. Two. Chapter four. Verses twenty. To twenty. Two. John is so convinced. That the supernatural love. Of God. Will cause love.
[21:18] For. One another. That he says. If. If anyone says. I love God. I love God. Yet. Hates his brother. He is a liar.
[21:29] Again. It's. Anyone. You see. How. How. How. Absolute. John is in this. Doesn't matter. Doesn't matter. If you go to church every day. Read your Bible. Pray. Whatever. If you claim.
[21:40] To love God. But don't love your brother. You're just a liar. You're lying. Now. How can John say that? Well. He goes on. For anyone. Who does not love his brother.
[21:51] Whom he has seen. Cannot love God. Whom he has not seen. And he. Has given us. This command. Whoever loves God. Must. Also.
[22:02] Love. His brother. Well. That's God's command. And so. Anyone who loves God. Will keep his commands. And his command. Is that we love one another. And it's God's love.
[22:14] In our heart. That makes it. A reality. If we love God. We will love one another. And so. Consistently. True. Is that. Across the board. That.
[22:24] Loving one another. Becomes the litmus test. Of whether or not. We have true love. For God. Read through. The. The. The. Epistle. Of first John.
[22:35] You'll see that. He keeps coming back to it. It's the test. Of who's been born again. Who knows God. Who loves God. It's easy to claim. That we love God. Whom we cannot see.
[22:46] Isn't it? That's easy to do. What's harder. Is to love. One another. That we do see. And we do bump. Elbows with. And we do. Offend. And get offended with.
[22:57] That's the harder. Of the two. And yet. John says clearly. You don't love God. That you can't see. If you don't love your brother. Whom you do see. You can't.
[23:08] It's impossible. Because love for God. Flows in two directions. The same love. That loves God. Loves. One another.
[23:18] In the body of Christ. Now. One more verse. In first John. Chapter five. And verse one. Everyone. Who believes. That Jesus is the Christ. Is born of God.
[23:30] And here it is again. The absolute term. And everyone. Who loves the father. Loves his child. As well. No exceptions. If we truly love the father.
[23:41] We'll love all the other children. That he has as well. Has he set his love on them? And will I withhold. My love. From them. Impossible. Impossible.
[23:53] Not if I love God. Because God's love in me. Will move me to love. Him and his. Now. These are clear. And hard hitting statements.
[24:04] By the apostle. Of love. And let's never forget. Who's speaking. This is John. The apostle of love. Why does he talk so frank with us?
[24:15] Because he loves us. He's loving on us. And his whole. Goal in writing this epistle. Is given in the end. In chapter five. And verse 13.
[24:26] Is that you might know. You might know for sure. That. That you have eternal life. In Jesus Christ. And one of the tests is. Do you love your brothers. And sisters. All of them.
[24:38] Because that's the. Litmus test. Of love. For God. If you love the father. You'll love his children. No.
[24:49] He doesn't want us. Showing up in heaven. As those who claim. To love God. And only there. At the judgment. To be shown that. No. You didn't love me at all. You loved yourself.
[25:00] And it was packaged. In religious garb. But. But. You didn't love. Your brothers and sisters. And that proved. Your lack of love for me. He doesn't want that happening.
[25:13] And so. He. In love. Rights to us. Now. Maybe you've never heard this before. And. And you're cut to the quick.
[25:24] And you say. That's me. I guess then. That I. I don't love God. Not what he calls love. Which is keeping his commands. Which is to love one another.
[25:36] So. What do I do? Well. You come and you confess. Your sin. To this God. Who loves. To save sinners. And every time.
[25:46] A poor sinner. Comes. And confesses. Their sins. He's faithful and just. To forgive us. Our sins. And to purify us. From all unrighteousness. Why?
[25:57] Because he loves us. And he wouldn't. Ask of us. What he doesn't do himself. He tells you. Forgive one another. And. He forgives.
[26:10] You. The mountain of your sin. As you come in repentance. And. Look to that cross. As the place. Your sin. Was paid for. And for. And redemption.
[26:21] Was one for you. Forgiveness. Was one for you. So. If that's you. Come to him. Come to him. He receives.
[26:32] All. Who come in faith. Now. This isn't just John. It's. It's the same. In the apostle Paul. He makes the same point. In his letters. To the churches.
[26:42] Let me just read a few. I think I did this. At the outset. Of our study. A couple months ago. But Ephesians 1. Paul often starts. A letter. By telling them. Every time I think of you.
[26:52] I give thanks to God. In my prayers for you. And that's how he. He speaks here. In Ephesians 1. 15 and 16. For this reason. Ever since I heard about. Your faith. In the Lord Jesus.
[27:03] And your love. For all. The saints. I've not stopped giving thanks. For you. Remembering you. In my prayers. Colossians. The church in Colossae. Chapter 1.
[27:14] Verse 3. We always thank God. The father of our Lord Jesus. When we pray for you. Because. We have heard of your faith. In Christ Jesus. And of the love you have. For all the saints.
[27:25] He says the same thing. To Philemon. And Athia. And the church. That. That is held in their house. Giving thanks. For their faith. In the Lord Jesus. And their love for all the saints.
[27:37] It's interesting. And I. I had to circle that. All the saints. All the saints. All the saints. You see. This love for all the saints. Is God's love.
[27:48] It's God's supernatural love. And that's why it includes all the saints. It's not just natural love. That we have. And making decisions.
[27:58] On who we will love. By personal preferences. And so. Where we naturally. Tend to love those who like us. And love us. Or we. We love on the basis of.
[28:08] A similar age category. Or income. Or education. Or similar hobbies. And interests. Or likable personalities. And people who treat us so well. And every other natural drawing card.
[28:22] So that we would love them. No. That's. That's not the kind of love. That God has. He has. This. This supernatural love. Love. And.
[28:32] He. In love. Reaches out. And saves people. From all different kinds of backgrounds. Doesn't he? All kinds of people. And he adopts them into. His one big family.
[28:42] The family of God. And what a motley crew we are. We. We. We. We have all kinds of differences. And backgrounds. And that's the glory of God. In his love.
[28:54] That it brings together. Those who otherwise. Wouldn't be together. We're. Loving each other. In this fellowship. Of God's. Love. So we love all the saints.
[29:07] All the children of God. Because they are his children. We love all the redeemed. Because they are the blood bought bride. Of Christ. Along with us. And so we must love the weakest.
[29:20] We must love the most ignorant. The most defective disciple. Of Christ. Christ. We love. All the saints. Not so much. Because of who they are.
[29:30] But because of whose they are. If you love. If you love him. You will love his. And you'll love them for his sake.
[29:45] You will love them because they are his. And because they're loved by him. And when you do love them. Because they're gods. He takes it. I say God takes it as it.
[29:57] As love shown. Directly to him. Hebrews chapter 6. In verse 10. God is not unjust. He will not forget your work. And the love.
[30:07] You have shown him. As you have helped. His people. And continue to help them. Love shown him. By helping.
[30:18] His. People. Do you get God's bookkeeping method? It's very clear. He says. You love me. By loving. Mine. And I'm not going to forget that.
[30:30] But we'll reward it. One day. As love. Shown to me. So many of you helped out. On Friday. At the funeral.
[30:41] And the meal afterwards. For the. Family of Levantieri. And bringing food. For the family. Serving. Setting up. Tearing down. Cleaning up. Music. Testimony. Soundboard.
[30:53] Your very presence here. For some of you. Your prayers here. For others of you. A card. A word of comfort. Spirit. And Hebrews 6. 10. Says. That as you helped. His people.
[31:05] He takes it. As having loved him. You've loved me. In loving my people. And Matthew tells us. On that last.
[31:16] Great day of judgment. When Jesus brings. All the nations together. And we stand before. Jesus Christ. The judge. He will divide. All mankind. Into two camps. And he will put.
[31:27] The goats on his left. And his sheep on the right. And then he will say to. His sheep. Come. You were blessed by my father.
[31:37] Inherit the kingdom. Prepared for you. Since the creation of the world. For I was hungry. And you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty. And you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger.
[31:48] And you took me in. I was in prison. And you came. To visit me. I was sick. And you looked after me. I needed clothes. And you clothed me. And then the righteous. Will ask him. Lord. Lord.
[31:58] When did we see you hungry. And feed you. Or thirsty. And give you something to drink. When did we see you a stranger. Invite you in. Or needing clothes. And clothe you. When did we see you sick.
[32:08] Or in prison. And go to visit you. And the king will reply. Folks. This is what's going to happen. We're being told. What's going to happen. In that last day of judgment. The king will reply.
[32:20] I tell you the truth. That's the introductory statement. To something that's going to follow. That you might have a hard time believing. But it's true. So he says. I tell you the truth.
[32:31] Whatever you did. For one of the least of these my brothers. You did. For me. According to Jesus. What's done. For mine. Is done.
[32:42] For me. And that's how. It will be. On the day of judgment. It will be seen. By all. Yes. Yes. These people. Had love for Jesus Christ.
[32:54] And it. It breathed in them. And expressed itself. By love for his. His children. His people. So if you're loving one another.
[33:04] You're loving God. After Jesus rose from the dead. He appeared to his disciples. On different occasions. Over those 40 days. And on one such occasion. We have the record in John chapter 21.
[33:16] Jesus had some special words for Peter. You remember. Peter had just. Denied three times. That he even knew Jesus Christ. That is a failure of love.
[33:29] Isn't it? Love doesn't act that way. With its friends. Jesus. Jesus. I don't know the man. May God damn me. If I know the man.
[33:43] Peter had done that. Christ had. Gone on to die on the cross. And then. Raised again. The third day. And. And now. Jesus has them on the shores.
[33:54] There. Of Galilee. And they're sitting around. Eating the breakfast. That Jesus has prepared. And Jesus says to Peter. Do you. Do you love me? And feed my lambs.
[34:09] Do you really love me Peter? Then take care of my sheep. Do you love me? Then feed. My sheep.
[34:20] Do you see what he was saying to Peter. As he reconfirms him. In his office. And. And work. As apostle. Peter. If you love me.
[34:31] Then love them. I'm not going to be around. For you to love on me. And to. To wash my feet. And to. To feed me. And clothe me. And take care of me.
[34:41] I'm not going to be here. Long at all. So show your love for me. By loving them. By shepherding them. Feeding them. And.
[34:55] Jesus is saying as much to us all. Isn't he? If you love me. You will love one another. So show me your love. By loving. Them. So here it is. The command to love one another.
[35:06] Is before us. It couldn't be more plain. If you love me. You will keep my commands. And this is my command. Love one another. So if you love me. You will love. One another.
[35:16] But our Lord doesn't stop there. With our duty. Now. Our duty fills. This. Evening discourse on love.
[35:27] This is the stuff that. Jesus is teaching on. And so he doesn't avoid our duty. He teaches it to us. Vociferously we might say. But. He doesn't stop with our duty.
[35:40] As if we're left to ourselves. To figure out. How in the world do I pull this off? Loving all. His disciples. The most immature of them.
[35:52] The most obnoxious of them. Where do I find that kind of love? Well. Turn to John chapter 15. And now we're where we started. In our scripture reading.
[36:04] And here Jesus. Directs his disciples. And directs us to the source of love. And again. We're right in the middle. Of this discourse. On love. And in. Chapter 15.
[36:16] Verse 5. Jesus says. I am the vine. You are the branches. If a man remains in me. And I in him. He will bear much fruit. Apart from me. You can do nothing.
[36:28] So the Lord Jesus. Is not like Pharaoh. Commanding. But giving you no straw. To make bricks. That's not Jesus. That's not the new covenant. No.
[36:39] Not at all. If Jesus commands us. To love one another. Then he will supply. All the love that we need. In order to love one another. To obey. That command.
[36:50] The grace of love. Is in him. And it's in him. For us. For us to draw upon. Just like a branch does. From a vine. So that's.
[37:00] That's the good news. That as a branch. Draws all strength. Life. And all life. From the vine. So we. Can draw. From Jesus. All that we need.
[37:13] Do you know that Jesus. No more expects us. To come up with this love. On our own. Than you would expect. A branch. Lying on the ground. To produce an apple. He's not expecting you.
[37:25] To come up with this love. On your own. He knows what we are. He knows how selfish. And proud. And self-righteous. And. Curved in on ourselves. We are. That if we're ever.
[37:35] To open up. And love. All of God's people. It's going to take. A miracle. It's going to take. Supernatural grace. And that's what he's.
[37:46] Promising. That if by faith. We are united. To Jesus. By our tight union. And communion. With Jesus. The sap.
[37:57] Of divine love. Will flow from the vine. Into us. The branch. And enable us. To bear. Much fruit. Much fruit. That's the good news.
[38:08] That Jesus brings. To his disciples. On this night. And he speaks of it. Once again. In verse 8. Of bearing much fruit. This is to my father's glory. That you bear much fruit.
[38:19] Showing yourselves. To be. My disciples. Now. What fruit is Jesus. Talking about here? You see. This is where I think. That if we just read. John 15. 5. In a. In isolation.
[38:31] Compartment. We. We might miss. The bigger point. What fruit is he saying. That we will bear. If we. Maintain union. And communion. With Christ. Well.
[38:42] Of course. It includes. All the fruit. Of the spirit. But. What is specially. In sight here. Throughout this whole evening. Is the fruit of love. And what is the first fruit of the spirit?
[38:56] Galatians 5. 22. The fruit of the spirit. Is love. That's the predominant. Spirit. Fruit of the spirit. And that's what. Jesus is promising.
[39:10] Chapter 14. Was all about loving God. And keeping his commands. What follows here. Is verse 12. My command is this. Love each other. As I've loved you. 17.
[39:21] This is my command. Love each other. So. He's talking about the fruit of love. Especially. Is what we will be able to bear. We'll be able to love. Our neighbor. Our brothers.
[39:32] One another. As we. Maintain union. And communion with Christ. Because it will be his love. Supernatural. Sap of grace.
[39:42] Flowing. To us. The branch. And there's another. Obvious clue. That that's what this fruit is. And. In the end of verse 8. Of chapter 15. This is to my father's glory.
[39:53] That you bear much fruit. Showing yourselves. To be my disciples. Do you remember in chapter 13. And verse 35. This evening. He's just said a few. Moments. Perhaps.
[40:04] Minutes. Hour. Before. By this all men. Will know that you are my disciples. If you. Love one another. Father. That's how they'll know.
[40:16] You're my disciples. And now. What does he say here. In 15. 8. This is to my father's glory. That you bear much fruit. Showing yourselves. To be my disciples. What. What is the fruit. Especially.
[40:26] That marks us. As his disciples. Well it's. Loving one another. And so this whole passage. On fruit bearing. I'm afraid. Sometimes we. We lift it out.
[40:37] And I say we. I mean me. We lift it out of that. Whole evening discourse. And we miss. The. The real pinnacle. Of the application. Those men.
[40:50] Had to be withered. That night. With this command. That if you love me. You will love one another. We'll see next week. Lord willing. How they were arguing. On that night. About who is the greatest.
[41:02] How. How proud they were. And self-righteous. They were. And. And. And Jesus is saying. If you love me. You will love one another. You mean I gotta love. Thomas.
[41:14] You mean I gotta love. Matthew. Peter. The big mouth. Do I have to love. All of them. Oh I'm doomed. Oh Jesus says. I'm the vine.
[41:25] You're the branch. Yes you are doomed. Apart from me. But. Because apart from me. You can do nothing. But in me. You can do all things. A weak Christian. With a strong.
[41:36] Savior. A strong Christ. Is able to do. All that he requires. It's united to him. That we bear the fruit of love. Never forget.
[41:50] The source of this love. That we're talking about. Is God. God is love. And that's. The only way. We can. Bear this fruit. We can only give.
[42:02] What we have received. And freely. He has loved us. Now freely. We give. And no wonder he says.
[42:12] This is to my father's glory. That you bear much fruit. Who else can make such proud. Self-righteous. Self-serving people. Love one another. What a gardener. He must be. To get such beautiful fruit.
[42:23] As loving one another. From this branch. You see. Oh. He's honored. He's honored by it. And that's motivation for us. Love is the lesson.
[42:34] Taught by God. To all his children. Jesus says. Of his own. They will all be taught by God. And we saw that earlier. There in 1st Thessalonians 4. 9 and 10. As he writes to the church.
[42:45] At Thessalonica. He says. About brotherly love. We don't need to write to you. You yourselves. Have been taught by God. To love each other. And in fact. You do love all the brothers. Throughout Macedonia.
[42:57] Yet we urge you brothers. To do so more. And more. We don't need to inform you. About brotherly love. Why not? Because God's already done that.
[43:08] God always does that. With his children. It's a lesson. He teaches every one of his children. To love him. And to love his. And he says.
[43:19] In fact. You are doing it. Because when God teaches. We get it. And yet we urge you brother. Brothers.
[43:30] Just do so more and more. So we do need. Urgings. To do so more and more. And we'll see more. Next week. Why that is. Why do we need these urges. If God's teaching us.
[43:41] To love one. Why do we need these urges. So he says. In first Thessalonians. Three twelve. May the Lord. Make your love. Increase and overflow. For each other. And for everyone else.
[43:52] Just as ours does for you. You see. It's the Lord. Who will make his love. Increase and abound. For one another. So. May the glory of God.
[44:03] Motivate us. Brothers and sisters. To increase in love. To overflow in love. For each other. You do love each other. If you are. In Christ. You have his love in you.
[44:14] And it is expressing itself. To all of God's people. But. But we urge you. Just grow more and more in it. Because it brings more and more glory.
[44:25] And honor. To your gardener. And to your vine. And so. We. We. We can never make too much of love. We can never think too highly of it.
[44:35] We can never pray too much for it. We can never make. Enough. Effort. To practice it. So let me just ask you. Will you do that this week? Will you pray every day? Lord. Increase.
[44:47] My love for one another. In the body of Christ. Make it to increase. An overflow. That you might be honored. As the source of it. And then lay plans.
[44:58] In how to put into practice. This love. The early church father Jerome. Tells us that the apostle John. Lived in Ephesus.
[45:09] At the end of. Until extreme old age. And he was so infirm. That his followers. Would have to carry him. Into the church. Building. Where he could barely muster his voice.
[45:20] To speak a few words. And he usually said nothing more. Than little children. Love one another. And they'd haul him in the next week. And he'd say. Little children.
[45:31] Love. One. Another. And so it went. Week after week. And some of the parishioners. Were a bit annoyed. Because they heard the same thing. Every week. And they finally said.
[45:42] To their teacher. Why do you always say this? And he replied. Because it is the Lord's command. And if.
[45:53] It alone. It alone. Is kept. It is sufficient. This is a hook. That has a whole. Hundreds of others.
[46:05] Commands. Hung on it. And if we love one another. It's sufficient. Because it will carry the day. With all the other commands. That we have. Toward one another.
[46:16] Well John got it. David got it. He says in Psalm. 133. How good. And how pleasant it is. When brothers dwell together in unity.
[46:28] There the Lord. Commands the blessing. Even life. Forevermore. How good it is. How good it is. When we walk together.
[46:40] In love. Let's stand and sing that song together. Giving God thanks. Crying out at the same time. For more. Of his love. To be demonstrated in us.
[47:02] Well there's motivation for us. To the honor. Of our great God. Amen. Amen. Amen.