Friends of the Father

Ever find yourself saying the things that you never swore you would say that you heard from your parents?

! Yeah, I'm there. I've been there. I continue to live in that space.

How about some of these statements?

Don't look at me with those eyes.

Quiet down. I can't hear myself think.

Or, as long as you're under my roof, you live by my rules.

Or, shut the door. We were raised in a barn.

Or, stop crying. This is my favorite. Stop crying or I'll give you something to cry about.

I think I've said that more than once.

No means no. And that's all no means.

Or, I'm going to count to three.

And one that we use quite often at our home is,

If you eat too many snacks, you might ruin your dinner.

Well, I want to key in on that last phrase because I think that's probably true in the Christian life as well.

Over the last couple weeks, we've been talking about the significance of fruitfulness and talking about the importance of our abiding relationship in Christ.

And I think what stands in the way more than anything else in life is that we fill ourself up with all of the good things of life and we have no space left for the best thing in God.

What stands in the way of an abiding relationship with Christ is that we find ourselves abiding and satisfying our heart and soul, at least temporarily, in everything else other than Christ.

So we have no room left in our hearts for Him.

We have no room left in our life to be filled up with the real soul-satisfying life source of Jesus.

And so, because of that, we do not abide in Christ.

And because of that, we are barren in life.

We are empty in our fruitfulness.

And we wonder why we can't find the kind of rest and satisfaction and contentment our soul really needs.

C.S. Lewis puts it this way.

It would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak.

We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and pleasure and ambition, when infinite joy is offered to us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum,

because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.

We are far too easily pleased.

And yet, as we look into the scriptures, we see that the psalmist, in particular, his heart was filled up with a deep, satisfying relationship with God.

He says in Psalm 1611,

There is fullness of joy at his right hand, our pleasures forevermore.

Is that your experience this morning?

An experience of being filled up with the pleasure and wonder of God today?

We have been spoiling our dinner, as it were.

The things that were meant to nurture and encourage and comfort and give us joy and peace and meaning and purpose in life are spoiled by the things of life we fill ourself up with to kind of salve over the hurt and the anxiety and the pressures that we feel from day to day.

We run to the well of the world rather than running to the true life source that can be found in God.

When we come to our text this morning, in John chapter 15, verses 12 to 17, and I have to be honest, it was really difficult this week for me to get my arms around this passage.

John 15:12–17

Not because the truths that are in the passage are difficult to grasp, but there seems to be so much interplay between concepts that seem to interact with one another.

And it's hard to know what comes first and hard to know what follows afterwards.

What stands as the starting point for the fruitfulness that God wants us to have?

And how do we, as God's people, live in a way that is pleasing to him?

The challenge comes to us because of two things, I believe.

First, the challenge comes because most of the words that we read and most of the concepts that we'll find in this passage of Scripture are familiar to us.

And that's a challenge because we have grown up with them.

From the time that we were in church, from the earliest points of our life, we've heard about the love of Christ.

And so as soon as we hear about the love of Christ, we figure we can just flip that switch.

We've heard this message, we know this truth, we can check out and just think about what's happening the rest of the week.

There's a familiarity, but there's also something that is quite foreign about this passage.

When we talk about an abiding relationship, when we talk about dwelling and existing in God,

we don't comprehend, it doesn't quite compute because we know doing, but we don't know being.

How can we do being?

How can I accomplish that in my life?

And that's what makes a passage like this so difficult, is the competition between the familiar and the foreign.

Well, I wish I could tell you that I have all the answers, but I trust that through our time this morning,

there will be at least a little clarity in our understanding of the Scripture.

So if you would, please turn to John chapter 15.

John 15 · chapter mention

John chapter 15.

John 15 · chapter mention

Let me read for us, beginning in verse 9, and I'll read through verse 12.

If you're a guest with us this morning, it's on page 901 in the Pew Bible in front of you.

I'm starting in verse 9 because it provides a little segue into our discussion for this morning.

He says this, excuse me, it's 902.

As the Father loved me, so I have 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.

These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you,

and that your joy may be full.

This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

You are my friends if you do what I command.

No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing.

But I have called you friends.

For all that I have heard from my Father, I have made known to you.

You did not choose me, but I chose you,

and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit,

and that your fruit should abide,

so that whatever you ask the Father in my name,

He may give it to you.

These things I command you,

so that you will love one another.

Well, one thing is absolutely clear in this passage.

There is something to be understood in relationship to love.

As a matter of fact, the Gospel of John is so incaptivated by this concept of love,

57 times John talks about love throughout his Gospel record.

Four times as many as any of the other Gospel records.

And in these few chapters, from chapter 13 to 17,

in these last final hours, the final moments of Jesus with His disciples,

Jesus is talking about love 34 out of those 57 times.

Almost 60% of the time He spends talking about love,

He is dealing with the issue with His disciples.

He wants His disciples to know that there is staying power,

there is buttressing strength,

there is fortification for a life of a disciple.

As He comes to understand and to dwell in the love of Christ,

it will accomplish the objective that God has for them.

If they come to terms with what He means about this important concept of love.

And so in these final moments,

these final hours of Jesus with His disciples,

before He will go to the cross,

He wants them to appreciate what it means

to be filled up with the love of Christ.

This morning, as we approach this passage,

I want to ask this pertinent question.

The question is,

are you a friend of God?

And I ask you that question because

we come to that in the middle of this passage,

and what will robe our life,

the fruit that will be evidenced from our life

will demonstrate whether or not you are truly a friend of God today.

Well, we find something about friendship through these verses,

beginning in verse 12.

It begins with,

This is my commandment,

that you love one another as I have loved you.

Front and center,

we see that the friendship with God comes

because you are cherished by Christ.

You are cherished by Christ.

Notice,

everything that will follow from their life

is a result of the initiating love of Christ for them.

This is my commandment,

that you love,

how?

You love as I have loved you.

Their ability to bear the fruitfulness of love

will come as a result of understanding

and steeping themselves in the love of Christ,

as I have loved you.

We saw that the key for fruitfulness

is this abiding relationship with Jesus Christ.

Jesus begins to put some flesh on that in verse 9,

where he begins to be more specific

about what does that abiding relationship look like.

It's not just abiding in Christ,

it's abiding in something very specifically.

Abiding, as it says at the end of verse 9,

in His love,

which will produce a changed life,

a pure life,

a holy life.

Well, you might say,

that sounds like doing to me.

How do we do this?

What does it mean to have an abiding relationship with Christ

that is abiding in His love?

Help me understand.

How do we exist in God's love?

How are we aware of this love

and come to appreciate this love?

Is it about being satisfied with Him?

Is it about being secure in His love?

What is this really about?

How does one arrive in this place?

This is where the familiar moves into the realm of the foreign.

And whatever the answer is,

Jesus is proposing that the key to fruitfulness

is this concept of loving.

So whatever will come from our life

in terms of fruitfulness

is dependent upon understanding

the significance of abiding in His love.

And the Apostle Paul

reinforces this significance

in Ephesians chapter 3.

Ephesians 3 · chapter mention

Listen as I read from verses 14 to 19.

Paul is praying for the church of Ephesus.

He says,

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,

from whom every family in heaven and earth is named,

that according to the riches of His glory

He may grant you to be strengthened with power

through His Spirit in your inner being.

Now this,

So that Christ may dwell,

same word,

in your hearts through faith.

And what does it lead to?

That you, being rooted and grounded in love,

may have strength to comprehend

with all the saints

what is the breadth and length

and height and depth

and to know the love of Christ

that surpasses knowledge.

This is not only a significant concept

for the church of Ephesus to understand,

but it was something that they still

hadn't quite come to terms with.

And so Paul is praying

that God would do a work in their life

to help tune them in

to the significance

of this abiding relationship with Christ,

abiding in His love.

And we know this is important

because John,

this beloved apostle,

actually deals with the church of Ephesus

in Revelation chapter 2,

Revelation 2 · chapter mention

and it's clear that this church

had forgotten the significance

of what Paul was telling them.

Jesus, through the gospel writer John,

says this in Revelation chapter 2

Revelation 2 · chapter mention

about this church.

I know your works,

your toil,

your patient endurance,

and how you cannot bear

with those who are evil,

but have tested those

who call themselves apostles

and are not,

and have found them to be false.

All sounds good on the surface.

I know you are enduring patiently

and bearing up for my namesake

and have not grown weary.

Still very good.

But, he says,

I have this against you,

that you have abandoned

the love you had at first.

Somehow in all of their orthodoxy,

somehow in all of their purity of doctrine,

they had forgotten the significance

of this abiding relationship

with Christ,

abiding in his love.

So whatever this is

that we need to know

about abiding in the love

is foundational for everything

in the Christian life.

It stands before obedience.

It stands even before relationships

with our brothers and sisters.

It stands before our mission.

But what is it?

And how do I obtain it?

I'd like to suggest

that the way to nurture

this abiding relationship

with Christ,

abiding in the love of Christ,

is for us

to put away other loves

and to be filled up

with the love of God.

Clearly, Jesus

says in verse 9,

as the Father has loved me,

so have I loved you.

Jesus himself

set the model

of drinking

at the well

of the Father's love

so that he could pour out

the love of God

for his disciples.

We see throughout

the course of

the Gospel of John

that Jesus himself

had been ministered to

by the love of the Father.

And as a result

of being ministered to

by the love of the Father,

was able to dispense

that love

on the people

that he was surrounded with.

So,

how do we pursue

an abiding relationship

with Christ?

Like everything else,

we have to develop

a taste for it.

You have to develop

a taste

for the love of Christ

that is sweeter

and better

than any other love.

And I would suggest

that you do that

in a similar way

that you do anything else.

That if you're on a diet

and you're getting rid

of salty foods

or sweet foods,

you do that

by immersing yourself

in the diet

and learning to enjoy

those new foods.

If you are trying

to become more fit

and just be more physically fit

in terms of endurance,

you go and you may start

by walking

and then you'll go

into running

and you'll develop

an enjoyment

for the exercise

that overcomes the pain.

Similarly,

when we develop

a taste for God

that overcomes

other tastes,

even a taste for family

or a taste for jobs

or a taste for hobbies

or leisure,

I think one way

for us to do that

is to lay aside

good things

so that we can enjoy

the best things

in God.

And I think fasting

is one way for us

to begin to nurture

a love for Christ

and to enjoy

love of Christ.

Fasting is a way

for us to demonstrate

that God has

our attention.

we sing,

tune my heart

to sing your praise,

to sing your grace.

It is the posture

of our heart

to lay aside

for a time

other enjoyments,

other pleasures

for us

to sit

and to bask

in the encouragement

and the love

of Christ.

John Piper

puts it this way,

he says,

fasting

is our way

to express

our deep longing

for God,

our supreme

dependence

and to look

to Him

for further direction,

greater presence

and fuller taste

for Him.

The greatest enemy

of hunger

for God

is not poison

but the apple pie.

The greatest

adversary

of love

to God

is not

His enemies

but His gifts.

and the most

deadly appetites

are not

for the poison

of evil

but for the simplest

pleasures of earth.

For when these

replace an appetite

for God

Himself,

the idolatry

is scarcely

recognizable

and almost

incurable.

Do you understand?

we fill

ourselves

up

with the good

gifts of God

that

take up

the space

for the

best

things of God

Himself.

We fill up

our moments

and our days

with good

activities,

even the kinds

of things

that God

has commanded

us to do.

Good things

that cover up

and cover over

the best things

that enjoying

who God

is

and saturating

our lives

in the love

of Christ.

Finding that

He is sufficient,

finding that

He is able

to provide

comfort,

that He is able

to meet our

needs,

that He is

better than

that sport

or that good

thing that you

enjoy.

Setting it

aside for a

time so that

you can

just appreciate

and treasure

Christ.

I don't know

if you've

ever gone

for an

extended period

of time

in fasting

and putting

aside food,

but let me

tell you,

it's a little

scary just to

think about

it as a

possibility.

And if you're

anything like

me,

there's a number

of good reasons

not to have

that exercise.

Like,

I've got to

work today.

How am I

going to have

the energy

that I need

to carry

on the

duties of

my day,

whether I'm

a mom or

whether I'm

an employee or

all the

pressures that

exist on my

life.

And yet,

Piper goes

on to say,

the strongest,

most mature

Christians I

have ever

met are the

hungriest for

God.

It might seem

that those who

eat most would

be least hungry,

but that's

not the way

it works

with an

inexhaustible

fountain,

an infinite

feast,

and a

glorious

Lord.

The more

deeply you

walk with

Christ,

the hungrier

you get

for Christ.

I would

like to

suggest

that the

discipline of

fasting that

is so elusive

for us as

people may

very well be

the very thing

that stands

in the way

of us

enjoying and

savoring this

abiding love

of Christ.

Letting it

thrive,

letting it be

nurtured,

letting it grow

in our life.

I would

encourage us

to consider

the significance

of fasting,

of putting away

other loves

so that you

can revel

and marvel

at the love

of Christ

and see that

he is able

and sufficient

to meet

every need.

second,

we find

here as we

continue to

move on

in verse 12,

it says,

this is my

commandment

that you

love one

another as

I have

loved you.

We find

that we are

not only

cherished by

Christ,

we find that

we are

commanded

to love.

We are

commanded

to love.

This is my

commandment

that you

love one

another.

Now,

this ought

to sound

really familiar

to us

as we

started our

year and

as we

set forth

the initiative

of the

art of

neighboring,

we talked

about the

significance

of loving

the Lord

your God

with all

your heart

and soul

and mind

and loving

your neighbor

as yourself.

Now,

the gospel

writer John

doesn't mention

that those

commands

anywhere in

his gospel

record and

yet here

in these

final moments

he addresses

the significance

of love

to his

disciples

and they

stand here

at the

forefront.

Loving

God leads

to loving

one another.

You want

a fruitful

life?

Abide in

Christ's

love.

Plug in

to true

love.

It will

change you.

You will

become a

channel for

the love

that Christ

has poured

into your

life and

it will

flow out

everywhere

you go.

He mentions

here love

for one

another.

Almost as

many as

60 times

throughout the

New Testament

we find the

significance

of love

for one

another.

We find the

significance

of our

relationship

within the

body of

Christ.

We find

various

commands

like we

are to

pray for

one another.

We are to

bear one

another's

burdens.

We are to

sing to

one another

and comfort

one another.

Confess our

faults to

one another.

Prefer one

another.

Be devoted

to one

another.

Forgive one

another.

In order

for us to

express the

love of

God, it

has to

happen as

we are in

community with

one another.

God calls

us to this

kind of life.

It pours out

on the people

that God

has communicated

his love to

and it will

be shared

amongst

those people.

The love

of Christ

and the

spirit of

Christ

create

harmony

within

the body

of Christ.

That's how

it works.

And Jesus

gives us a

real practical

example of

how that

plays out

in verse

13.

He says,

Greater

love has

no one

than this,

that someone

lay down

his life

for his

friends.

Again,

Christ is

the perfect

illustration.

In just

a few

hours from

this point

in Jesus'

conversation

with his

disciples,

he would

do that

very thing.

He would

lay down

his life

for his

disciples.

Lay down

his life

for the

world.

He was

calling his

disciples to

the same

kind of

love.

He's calling

his followers

to the same

kind of

love.

The ultimate

expression of

love in

being willing

to lay

down your

very life

love for

the people

who are

part of

the body

of Christ.

And we

can talk

about this

ultimate

example of

love,

but certainly

if this is

the epitome

of love,

certainly it

should be

easier for

us to

love in

the spaces

in between,

right?

In our

sharing with

one another.

In our

forgiving of

one another.

in our

preferring of

one another.

In being

willing to

see their

preferences in

deferring to

them.

In not

harboring

bitterness.

In not

speaking evil.

In not

demanding our

way.

All of

these ways

for us to

demonstrate

this love

of laying

down our

life for

our brothers.

for one

another.

We may

also talk

about laying

down our

preferences and

serving behind

the scenes.

We might

talk about

laying down

our agenda

to make a

hospital visit

or making

a meal for

someone who

is in

need.

We might

talk about

laying down

our comfort

to reach

out, to

talk to

that person

that you've

seen for

so many

weeks and

maybe even

years here at

the church,

but you've

never reached

out and

gotten to

know them

personally.

What do we

need to do

to lay

down our

life for

the sake

of loving

the people

that God

has put

right in

front of

us?

Are you

a friend

of Christ?

It will

show up in

the way

that you

love others.

Moving on

now to

verse 14.

It says,

You are my

friends if

you do what

I command

you.

No longer

do I call

you servants

for the

servant does

not know

what his

master is

doing, but

I have

called you

friends.

For all

that I

have heard

from my

father I

have made

known to

you.

You are

called his

friends.

Now this

was a

revolutionary

concept for

the disciples.

The disciples

who knew

themselves to

be servants,

who had been

called the

servants of

God.

And not

just any

servant, but

the word in

the Greek is

actually the

word doulos,

or the word

for slave.

It was the

word for

submission.

It was the

word for

total surrender.

It was the

word of

conformity to

the master,

of following

his orders,

and doing

what he

expects.

And Jesus

moves them

from this

position of

submission and

surrender to

a position of

friendship.

Now this is

not to

suppose that

they are now

somehow equal

with God,

but to

demonstrate

their unique

function as

partnering with

God in this

special role that

he has called

them to.

The privilege of

representing God

in the earth.

Throughout the

Old Testament,

we see examples

of how

Moses and

Nehemiah

prayed about

the people of

Israel as being

servants or

slaves of God.

And now Jesus

is helping his

disciples to

understand that

not only are

they disciples,

which is a

notch up from

being a

servant,

but they are

even called to

be a friend

of his.

And as

friends,

God has

let them

in on

this mystery

of the

word of

the Father

to them.

Jesus has

opened the

floodgates of

knowledge,

the knowledge

of God

to his

disciples.

It's

staggering to

consider that

every word

that was

uttered by

Christ was

given first

and foremost

by the

Father to

those to

whom Jesus

was speaking.

we see that

in John

John 8:26

chapter 8

verse 26

it says,

I have many

things to

say and

to judge

concerning you,

but he

who sent

me is

true,

and I

speak to

the world

those things

which I

heard from

him.

Jesus

communicated

the very

words of

the Father

to his

disciples and

to the

people he

was speaking

to.

This was

the revelation

of God

to let

them in

on who

God was

and to

fill them

up with

a knowledge

of God

that would

help them

to come

to a

fuller and

deeper

love for

him.

It's going

to lead

them to

a new

relationship,

help to

nurture

this love

for Christ

and love

for God

through

revelation.

God had

privileged

these people

by helping

them to

come into

the know,

to be

part of

the mystery

that Paul

refers to.

They were

people who

were called

friends,

friends because

they were

part of

the revelation

of God.

And finally,

as we move

to verses

16 and

17,

we see that

they were

chosen to

fulfill

his

purpose.

Verse 16

says,

you did

not choose

me,

but I

chose you

and appointed

you that

you should

go and

bear fruit

and that

your fruit

should abide.

This word

for chosen

is the

word for

God's

work in

a life

of selecting

them out.

It was an

active process

of God

to choose

them out

of the

crowd

and to

set them

apart

for a

special

mission.

So we

have seen

from this

text,

it answers

the question

of origination.

Whose

mission are

we talking

about?

Who is

going to

get the

credit?

Who is

adequate for

this job?

How will

we have the

staying power

for what

we're called

to do?

We'll be

able to do

this because

we understand

that Christ

is the

source.

Christ is

the life

source and

Christ is

the love

source for

us in

terms of

accomplishing the

objectives that

he's called

us to

fulfill.

So why go

and bear

fruit?

We go and

bear fruit

because it's

a representation

of our

God.

It is

the

channel,

the

source of

love that

comes to

us from

Christ

shows up

in the

world.

I like

how John

Piper puts

it.

He says

mission is

not the

ultimate goal

of the

church.

Worship

is.

Missions

exist because

worship

doesn't.

Worship

is the

ultimate,

not

missions.

Because God

is ultimate,

not man.

Worship

therefore is

the fuel

and goal

of missions.

It is the

goal of

missions because

in missions

we simply

aim to

bring the

nations into

the white

hot enjoyment

of God's

glory.

Passion

for God

in worship

precedes the

offer of

God in

preaching.

You cannot

commend what

you do not

cherish.

And the

more we

come to

bask in

the glow

of the

love of

Christ,

the more

it will

propel us

into the

world to

demonstrate

the love

of Christ

to the

world.

You can't

commend what

you do not

cherish.

Do you

cherish

Christ?

Are you

caught up

with the

love of

Christ

today?

If you

are,

then it

will lead

to

verse 17,

which is

where Jesus

ends this

portion.

These

things I

command you

so that

you will

love one

another.

How does

that happen?

Well, it

doesn't happen

because of

duty.

It happens

because you

have been

filled up

with love,

and so what

you have to

give is the

love of

Christ to

the world.

Are you

full?

Are you

abiding in

the love of

Christ?

Christ,

and if

so,

it will

lead to

a love

for the

world.

Let's

pray.

Lord, we

thank you

for the

love of

Christ.

This

familiar

concept that

is so

hard for

us to

miss.

We talk

about it

almost every

week.

We sing

about it

in our

songs and

in our

worship.

We hear

about it

on the

radio.

it has

become so

familiar, but

God, I

pray that

you would

bring us

to the

point of

enjoying the

love of

Christ in

a way that

we have

never enjoyed

it before.

God, I

pray that

you would

move us

to the

place of

setting aside

other loves

for a

time so

that we

can begin

to appreciate

the greatest

love, the

love of

Christ, who

is sufficient

for all

things,

sufficient to

meet our

needs, sufficient

to comfort

us in our

hurts, sufficient

to deal with

our anxieties,

sufficient to

bring peace in

the midst of

the storm,

sufficient to

help us in

our relationships,

sufficient to

encourage us in

the midst of

hard things.

Lord,

wherever we

find ourselves

this morning,

I pray that

you would

help us to

connect into

this wonderful

love of

Christ.

And as we

fill our

lives up with

an understanding

and an

appreciation for

the love of

Christ, Lord, I

pray that you

would help us

to become

conduits of

that love to

the world

around us,

wherever we

are.

Whether we're

in the grocery

store, whether

we're getting

our car fixed

at the

mechanic,

whether we're

stopped by the

side of the

road, wherever

we might be,

God, I pray that

you would help

us to be so

full of the

love of Christ

that we see

opportunities to

convey that love

to the people

you put in our

path.

God, we praise

you for your

enduring love.

Thank you for

forgiveness.

Thank you for

patience.

Thank you that

even when we

fail day after

day, there is

new mercies.

We praise you,

Lord, in Jesus'

name.

Amen.