Abiding in His Love

For my name is Alan. For those of you who don't know, I serve here. I oversee the youth ministry here at Watermark.

Kong He Fa Choy. Happy Chinese New Year. Did I say that right? Kong He Fa Choy?

Yeah, I think one thing I've learned in primary school is I asked the wrong person, not I asked Nils.

Did I say that right? What? Okay, anyway.

Okay, so for the past three weeks, as the year began, we've been looking into, we've been going through this series called Abide in Christ.

We usually, when we think about a new year, we usually go into a year making plans.

Okay, how am I going to do better this year? How am I going to improve myself?

But the reality is that we don't have much control of what's going to happen down the line or down the year.

I mean, life is going to throw us things we least expect. Life is going to throw us terrible heartaches.

Life is going to throw us amazing good stuff, beautiful stuff, broken stuff, sadness, and a whole lot of things.

So how do we approach it? We try to take control of it or we just become a little optimistic, hoping that a year would be better.

But this year, we have been talking about another way that we could approach it, and that is by actually abiding in Christ.

Yes, life will throw us incredible sadness, but it's actually abiding in Christ that secures us, that keeps us hopeful, that keeps us secure and in Christ's love.

I mean, life is going to throw us amazing good things, promotions, maybe new relationships, and it's abiding in Christ that keeps us from being prideful

and being focused on Jesus Christ who, in the words of Paul said,

Hey, everything is nothing compared to the surpassing knowledge, the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord.

So for the past two weeks, we've been looking to abiding in Christ.

Last week, we looked into abiding in His Word.

And where we talked about, Hey, how do we get into God's Word?

How do we drench our lives in God's Word?

How do we speak God's Word, not only in our church, families, into every part of our lives?

It's not about having different branches in our lives, like church, family, churches, or whatever.

But actually, having all of our branches of our lives drenched in God's Word.

And so finally, today, we have come to the last week of Abiding in Christ, the series,

and we'll be looking into abiding in His love.

So let me call Soda, who will read today's scripture.

And let's read from John 15.

Yes? Good.

Thanks for the great introduction.

And let us all listen to God's Word and let every single Word of God speak power in your life

for whatever that He wants to tell you.

Today's scripture is in John 15.

You can follow along on the screen or your own Bible.

Starting in verse 1, we read,

I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine dresser.

Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, He takes away.

And every branch that does bear fruit, He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.

Abide in me and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself,

unless it abides in the vine.

Neither can you, unless you abide in me.

I am the vine, you are the branches.

Whoever abides in me and I in him,

he is that bears much fruit.

For apart from me, you can do nothing.

If anyone does not abide in me,

he is thrown away like a branch and withers.

And the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.

If you abide in me and my words abide in you,

ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you.

By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit,

and so proved to be my disciples.

As the Father has loved me, so have I 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 the word of God.

Thank you, Soda.

Hey, can I pray for us before we start?

Father, we come before you to talk about something that is so majestic,

that is so vast, that is so great,

that truly, God, I feel so feeble and so small

to stand and talk about your love.

Love that surpasses knowledge,

love that goes beyond anything that we can ever come to imagine, God.

So, Father, we pray this morning,

would you come, would your Spirit come and speak to our hearts?

Unless you don't, you come.

Father, this is just going to be another talk.

So, Father, we pray earnestly, desperately,

that you would come this morning,

and that you would speak and reveal your love to us this morning.

Father, would you come, and would you be glorified?

Would you increase, and we would decrease?

Would you speak to the idols of our hearts?

Would you speak to our insecurities?

Would you speak to our fears and our plans,

our need to control our life?

And, Father, we pray that you would come and speak.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

So, have you come across a quotation or a saying

that is so profound, so deep, so amazing,

that you had to stop in your tracks,

stop for a while, and just let it process for a while.

You know a saying or something?

So, when I was in high school,

this was one quotation that stopped me on my path.

I was just a teenager.

I was a very romantic quote.

So, here was this quote.

If I had to choose between breathing and loving you,

I would use my last breath to tell you I love you.

It's cringy.

So, hey, I was a teenager.

I saw this quotation.

I was like, oh, I know I'm single,

but, oh, man, I would love this girl,

whoever this girl is, like this.

And I would write it on my notebooks.

I would write it on my books.

I would carve it on my desk.

Don't ask me why I have a knife in high school.

But I would carve it on my desk

and do all sorts of things with this quotation.

And I'm sure we all have come across a quotation

like this in our lives,

when we are reading books

or when we are just walking down the streets.

And today, we'll be looking closely at verses 9 and 11.

And I'm not sure if these verses

have ever stopped us in our tracks in the same way.

Maybe for some of us, it has stopped us in this track.

Maybe for some of us, it has not stopped us

and we have just brushed over these few verses.

And I believe that it's because this verses,

verses 9 to 11,

is sandwiched between such amazing verses

that are talking about divine, abiding in Christ,

that we kind of, it's so easy to miss verse 9 to 11

and not ponder over these three amazing verses.

So, let's take a closer look at verse 9

where there's like a sudden change of words.

In the beginning, we've been looking,

Jesus talks about, okay, you've got to abide in me.

And later on, the words changes.

It becomes, you've got to abide in my word.

Let my words abide in you.

And here's the third change,

which is abide in my love.

So, let's look at verse 9.

And it says,

As the Father has loved me,

so have I loved you.

Abide in my love.

Okay, let me read that again.

As the Father has loved me,

so have I loved you.

And that's the end of the sermon.

Think about it.

As the Father has loved me,

Jesus says,

so have I loved you.

What can be said of the mystery

and the profound of this one line?

This love the Father has for her son,

Jesus Christ,

is something unlike any of us

have fully experienced.

And I use the word fully experienced

in a very greedy and miserly way.

I mean,

it's not like the love

a mother has for her baby.

I mean,

we saw the really cute babies

of Enrica and others.

And it's not like that kind of love.

It's not the love

a teenage boy has for this girl,

the most beautiful girl

he has ever laid his eyes on.

It's not like the love

a husband or a wife has

for each other

that has grown deep

over years and years of marriage.

I mean,

all of this love

do come close

to the love of the Father,

the love the Father has for his son.

But I say it comes close

in the sense that

if God's,

if Father's love

was like an iceberg,

it's just the tip

of the tip of an iceberg.

It's just so close

in comparison to Father's love.

Now what we are talking about here

is a love that is

completely unimaginable.

Now you can see my difficulty

in talking about this.

It's a love

that is so unimaginable.

When we talk about God loving,

we are not merely talking

about an emotion

that a father has for his son

or the father feels towards another.

We are not merely talking

about the many works

the Father does,

the many things,

the activities of God the Father.

I mean,

what we are talking about

according to 1 John 4

is that love for Father God

is who he is.

1 John 4 tells us

that God is love

because for God,

love is not one of the many things

that he does,

but for God,

love is who he is

in his being.

For God,

it is the very essence of God.

It is the indispensable thing

about God.

It is the very core

of who God is.

So to talk about,

to talk about love for God

and to take love out of God

is like going to a restaurant

and ordering an eggless omelet.

It just does not make sense.

You cannot have an eggless omelet.

In the same way,

you cannot have love

without God.

For God,

love is who he is.

I mean,

in our lives,

sometimes we come across

a love that is so amazing,

right?

A love that is so profound

that can leave us scarred,

that can leave us traumatized,

that can leave us transformed.

It can be a love

between a man and a woman.

It can be a love

between a parent and a child.

It can be a love

between a man and a dog.

A love that is so profound.

I know I saw this movie,

a Korean movie,

in high school.

I mean,

today is all about Korean.

It was called The Classic.

I don't know how many of you

have watched the Korean movie

called The Classic.

And even to this day,

when I listen to the soundtrack

of this song,

I still feel the pain in my chest.

I mean,

I would encourage you

to go and watch it.

The Classic.

I mean,

if I listen to the music,

and I fear like,

if I listen to it too long,

I'll break down and cry.

It was just so

heartbreaking and beautiful.

And I actually don't watch it anymore

because I feel like,

if I watch it,

I'll spoil the beauty

that I had felt before.

So it's,

you know,

we do come across

love that is so profound.

And can you imagine

us human beings,

sinful,

selfish,

broken,

humans are capable

of creating

such beautiful love,

imagining such amazing

and beautiful love.

How about a God

who's beautiful,

holy,

pure,

who himself is love,

who is the creator of love,

who is himself,

is the very being love.

In what way

does he love

his son?

I mean,

I don't even know

where to begin

to describe that.

And just to scratch

the surface,

we do see glimpses

of this love

the father has

for his son.

For example,

John 17, 24

tells us that

the love

of the father

over his son

had existed

way before creation.

Jesus says,

God,

you loved me

before the foundation

of this earth.

I mean,

before time began,

before the creation

was even thought of

or even created,

love was there.

It is a love

that existed

way before creation

that has been existing

for eternity,

which is a love

that is eternal,

that goes on and on

for all eternity.

It does not stop.

It does not falter.

It does not change

or wane in any way.

I mean,

it's a love

that never changes.

I mean,

our love changes.

Our love falters.

There are points

in our life

when we question our love,

but for God,

it's a love

that is eternal.

Because for him,

it's a love

that overflows

from who he is again,

right?

It's a love

that comes out

like a roaring water,

like a water

that's gushing out

from who he is.

It's like a love,

like a mighty river.

I don't know

if you guys

have ever been

to a mighty river.

I used to live

just above this river

in India,

and you can listen

to this river

all night.

It's like a majestic sound.

I'm like,

ch-ch-ch-ch-ch.

And God's love,

I'm sorry for that sound effect,

but it's God's love

is like a mighty,

gushing river

that's pouring out.

You know,

sometimes we imagine

God's love

to be calm

and peaceful.

I mean,

at times it is.

But if you look

into Scripture,

if you look at his passion

in the Old Testament,

if you look at the way

he pursues his people,

if you look at the way

he pursues justice,

if you look at the way

he's angry over the injustice,

over the sinfulness,

and all of this motivated

by his amazing love,

powerful and passionate love,

you'll see that his love

is something that is gushing out

with such force,

with such strength

that is just majestic

and mighty.

This is the love

that is motivated.

This is the love

of the Father

and it's so majestic.

Luke 3.22,

in the baptism of Jesus

and the transfiguration

in Matthew 17,

it talks about God

just breaking in

and as Jesus is being baptized,

as Jesus is right there,

God breaks in

and he says,

this is my beloved son

and with you I'm well pleased

and even though

this was fulfilling

the Old Testament,

I mean there is a sense

of God breaking in

and saying,

this is my son,

this is my son,

my beloved son

and with you I'm well pleased

and although my son

has done nothing till now,

he's about 30 years old,

he's been a carpenter

all his life,

all he's done

is build some tables

and chairs

and I know he has done

nothing worthy of worth

but this is the son

with whom I'm well pleased.

I mean I wonder

how many of us

has gone through life

ever hearing that.

Son, daughter,

I'm pleased with you

not because of your

academic achievement

or your career achievement

but I'm pleased with you

because you are my son

and daughter.

I wonder how many of us

have ever heard that

in our lives.

This is,

you see,

because for God

to love his son

Jesus Christ

was not based

on what Jesus has done,

was not based

on what was in the heart

of Jesus

but for God to love

was based

on what was in his heart

and it was a heart

that was full of love

for his son

and it was a love

that was just being poured out

from who he was.

It was his being,

it was who he was.

John 3, 35,

Jesus says,

the father loves the son

and has given all things

into his hand.

You see,

the father out of his love

for his son

has given all things

to the son

sharing,

creating for his son

and to flood his son

with his love.

I mean,

we could go on and on

to describe the father's love.

I mean,

but if I may,

in my insufficient words,

in my feeble attempt

to describe God's love

in one sentence,

it's a love that is eternal,

never waning or changing,

that delights over

and powerfully pours out over

out of the abundance

of his heart

and being

that gives everything

out of love.

I mean,

that's a very long sentence,

but let me say that again.

It's a love that is eternal,

that goes from beginning

to the end,

never changing,

never waning,

that delights over,

that powerfully pours over

out of the abundance

of his heart

and being

and that gives everything

out of love

to the son.

And this is the love

the father has

for his son,

Jesus Christ.

And we cannot even begin

to imagine

how powerful,

how beautiful,

how majestic,

how incredible

and all the words

that I can have

in my little dictionary

is God's love

for his son.

Then Jesus turns around

and he looks at each one of us

and he says,

as the father has loved me,

so have I loved you.

Let that sink in.

As the father

has loved me eternally,

has loved me

with never waning,

never changing,

that delights over me,

that powerfully pours out

out of the abundance

of his heart

and who he is,

that gives everything

and in the same way,

I love you.

And if you think about it,

Jesus did give everything,

did he not?

He gave his life

on the cross.

He took up our sins.

He made them his very own.

He went to the cross

bearing the price

that we had to pay

and gave his life.

And if you think about it,

it grips my heart

when you think about

the way the father

loved the son

and then yet

he was still willing

to give his son for us.

And I mean,

it's not only Jesus

who loves us,

it's also the father

who loves us

in the same fashion.

I mean,

remember the famous

John 3, 16?

For God so loved the world

that he gave his one

and only begotten son,

that he gave his son

that he loved so much

for us.

He gave up everything.

I mean,

now there's so much

that can still be said,

but in the words

of an old hymn

by Frederick,

let me read it out.

He said in this hymn,

could we with ink

the ocean fill

and wear the skies

of parchment made,

wear every stalk

on earth a quill

and every man

a scribe by trade

to write the love

of God above

who drained

the ocean dry,

nor could the scroll

contain the whole

though stretched

from sky to sky.

I mean,

we could go on

and on and on

and then

it would still be infinite,

it would still be eternal,

it would still go on

and on.

Now you can imagine

in Revelation

why the elders

and the people

and they bow down

and they go on

and on for eternity

saying,

holy,

holy,

holy are you God

because his love

is eternal.

His love goes on

and on and on

way beyond

we can ever imagine.

And as the Father

has loved me,

so I have I loved you.

And Jesus says,

abide in my love.

And if you remember,

abide means to remain.

Abide means to abode,

to make this

your resting place,

to live in this thing,

to live in his love,

to cling on,

to continuously remain

in his love.

And Jesus says,

abide in my unimaginable love.

Church,

how many days,

how many of us

go through days

without even experiencing

God's love,

amazing love?

When was the last time

you sat beneath

this amazing,

unimaginable love of God

and just rested

and remained

and abode

and lived there

and continuously lived there?

When was the last time

we did that?

And if we are being honest,

we don't always do it,

do we?

There are days

we just go through

through the motion

and suddenly

it's already bedtime.

There are days

we feel everything,

we experience everything

except God's love for us.

I mean,

we sometimes feel like

God tolerates us,

don't we?

Do you know what I mean

by tolerate?

I mean,

yes,

he loves me,

but everything I do,

when he looks at my lifestyle,

he's just there

frowning at me.

He's like,

oh,

this guy.

Or sometimes we feel like,

yes,

God loves me,

but my every action

is making him go,

this guy.

Oh man,

again.

Alan,

again.

We feel like God tolerates us

and what that leads us to is,

is that,

is that we try to start doing

a certain stuff

to actually make God love us.

I mean,

it becomes so easy

to do something

that would make him love us,

right?

So we pray a little more,

maybe add in a little bit

of fasting and tithing,

maybe go to church,

join some CGs,

lead some stuff,

just so that we feel like

God does not tolerate us,

but that he would actually love us.

I mean,

imagine the frustration

of God over that.

Imagine God being frustrated

over us trying

to earn his love.

I mean,

Dan Audlin in his book,

Deeper,

right there,

book Deeper,

he shares his frustration

over his kids.

This is what he writes

in his book.

He says,

when I tell my five young kids

that I love them,

they shrug and they say,

I know that,

but they don't.

They believe it,

but they hardly know it.

I cannot hug them tight enough.

I can't say it loudly enough.

I can't express it often enough.

I have a blessed frustration

at being unable

to communicate to them

how precious they are to me.

I mean,

for us to earn God's love

and not really realizing

that God's love is eternal.

It does not change.

And do you know that

that is how God views us?

His frustration over us

to let us know

that he loves us with a love

that is completely inseparable,

that never changes.

I mean,

let's take a break

from John 15

and let's go to John,

sorry,

Romans 8 for a bit

to see this.

I mean,

if you have a bulletin

on your hands,

the Romans 8

is on the next page.

I mean,

if you have a Bible,

let's turn to Romans 8

and let's see that.

Let's look at verses 31 to 39.

I mean,

Romans 8

is a massive chapter.

I feel like I'm saying

a lot of massive stuff.

I mean,

we'll definitely

not go into details here.

I mean,

this is considered to be

the Mount Everest

of Romans 8,

of the letter to Romans.

I mean,

it was the peak of Romans.

It's the,

I mean,

you cannot go any higher

than Romans 8.

I mean,

Niels told me that like,

hey,

with these verses

are so profound,

so beautiful

that it is just better

to repeat it 20 times

and finish the sermon

and that's it.

That's,

I cannot say anything

much more beautiful

than what's already been said.

And me,

obeying my pastor,

I'm going to do just that.

I'm going to say it 20 times.

I'm just kidding.

I'm not going to do that.

Okay,

so let's look at this.

Let's look at this Mount Everest

from a distance

and let's look at it

from very far

and one thing you'll see is

at the end of all,

in verse 39,

Paul cries out

that there is nothing

that will be able

to separate us

from the love of God

in Christ Jesus,

that his love for us

is inseparable.

I mean,

well,

you got to read

the whole of Romans

to see how he comes

to that conclusion,

but let's just look

from verse 31 onwards

and you'll see that

he asks a few questions

and he answers them

at the same time.

Now,

let's look at verse 31.

He says,

if God is for us,

who can be against us?

Now,

he's saying that,

do you know

that God is for you?

Do you know

that God is on your side?

I mean,

in the world

that we live in,

it's so unpredictable.

I mean,

after having gone

through lockdowns,

looking at the news,

looking at the war,

I mean,

for some of us,

jobs going terrible

and all sorts of things

going terrible.

I mean,

sometimes it can feel like

God is everywhere

except with us.

I mean,

sometimes it is even

our own sins

and our choices

that messes us up

and it feels like

God is not on our side,

but in fact,

God feels like

he's opposite of us.

Looking at us,

frowning at us.

I mean,

but what we see here

is that

God is for us.

I mean,

even if you think about

our choices

and our habitual sins,

it does feel like

God is opposite of us.

But actually,

this says,

no, no, no, no.

God is not opposite of you.

God is not against you,

but God is for you.

He's actually for you

and he's strengthening you

in your struggles.

Do you remember

Philippians 4, 13?

It says,

Paul says,

I can do all things

through him

who strengthens me.

It's not me

doing all things,

but it's God

who is in me

strengthening me,

that he's for me.

But how do you know

that he's for you

and that he's giving you

all his amazing promises?

Well, look at verse 32.

He says,

Paul says,

he who did not spare

his own son

but gave him up

for us all,

how will he not also

with him graciously

give us all things?

The son,

we just talked about,

that he loves eternally

without change,

that delights over,

that he gave his son

for us,

if he can't do that

for us,

will he not fulfill

his promise for us

and not just for eternity,

but even for this life,

for his presence

in our life,

for his presence

and his strength

in our life,

for our sanctification,

for us to overcome

what we go through

in this life.

That God is for us,

that he's not against us.

He's on your side.

Verse 33, 34.

Who is it that is going

to bring charges

against us?

No one.

Because we have been

justified by God.

It's God who justifies us.

Who is it that will

condemn us for our sins

and rebellion?

No one.

Because even though

it was us

that was supposed

to be condemned,

even though it was us

that was supposed

to pay the price,

it was Jesus

who was condemned.

It was Jesus

who took our death

and shame

and he gave his life

for us

so that now

we can stand justified

putting on

Jesus' righteousness

and we can all stand

as if we have

never sinned

in our lives.

That now we are

standing justified

because of Jesus

who has justified us,

who has paid the price.

And finally,

what is it

that will separate us

from the love of Christ?

Nothing.

Verse 38 and 39.

For I am sure,

he starts off,

Paul starts off

with that words.

For I am sure.

Why is he sure?

Because of all the things

he talked about,

that Jesus paid the price,

that God gave

his one and only son

whom he loved

so dearly,

so eternally,

that he gave his son

for us,

that now we stand

without fall,

covered in his righteousness.

And because of all

this gospel truth,

the gospel of the good news

of Jesus Christ,

because of that,

I am sure

that neither death,

nor life,

nor angels,

nor rulers,

nor things present,

nor things to come,

nor powers,

nor height,

nor depth,

nor anything else

in all creation,

nor the troubles

in your life,

nor the sins

that you have put up

before God,

nor anything

that we have

in our lives

or in this creation,

spiritual or physical,

or anything

can separate us

from the love of God

in Christ Jesus,

our Lord.

man,

isn't that just amazing?

I mean,

it is so true.

I could have just read that

and finished it with that.

There's nothing,

nothing that can separate us

from the love of God

in Christ Jesus.

And if I may,

if I can squeeze out

one word from all of that,

it is security.

These verses are reminding us

that God's love for us

is so deep,

so unshakable,

that we are so secure

in the love of God

found in Christ Jesus.

And if you think about it,

in real life,

in our day-to-day life,

things will happen

that will take us,

that will leave us

out of control,

that will make us

feel insecure.

I mean,

even in the beginning

of this series,

we were talking about it,

right?

That as we go into the year,

95% of the things

will be out of our control.

95% of the things

will be things

we are not expecting.

And when that happens,

we feel insecure.

Maybe God is not with us.

Maybe God is not for us.

Maybe God is not

in my life right now.

Where are you, God?

How long, oh God?

Where are you, God?

I mean,

even the things

that we suffer

can leave us

in such a mess.

I mean,

even the sins

that other people

commit against us.

It can be small,

like your boss

scolding you.

Or it can be big,

like an abuse

by someone.

And all these things

can leave us

in such a mess.

And all these things

can shape us

and leave us

in such a mess.

But actually,

what this is saying

is that your life

is not what proves

God's love for you.

It's Christ's love

on the cross

that is what proves

God's love.

For you.

It's not who you are

or the mess

or the chaos

or the suffering

that you go through.

It is the chaos

and the mess

and the suffering

that Jesus went through

that proves God's love

for you.

Isn't that amazing

that there is nothing,

nothing that can separate us

from the love of God

in Christ Jesus.

I mean,

it's like what Kevin

was sharing last week

about what his dad

used to tell him.

That he used to tell

his sons that

son or a kid,

whatever you do

in your life,

whatever you say,

whatever you do,

whatever you decide,

nothing can separate you,

nothing can take away

my love for you.

But here's one thing

that we need to remember.

Here's one thing

we need to remember.

If you look closely

in verse 39,

you'll see that

this amazing love,

this love that is being

poured out

from the Father to the Son,

from the Father to us,

from the Son to us,

the love that is inseparable,

this love that is unimaginable,

this love that is

so profound

and so majestic,

this love of God

is actually found

in Christ Jesus.

So,

if you're here

for the first time

or if you have never

made a decision

to follow Christ yet

or if you're still

debating on it,

this can be the day

for you to come

and receive this amazing

and profound love of God

that can only be found

in Christ Jesus.

Love that satisfies

our deepest longings.

Love that cannot be found

anywhere else on this earth.

A love that is based

not on how you perform

but on who God is

and a love that will

make you whole.

Will you come and taste

this amazing love of God

and that the Lord is good?

I mean,

if that is something

you want to talk about,

if that's something

anyone wants to talk about,

I mean,

you can reach out

to any one of us,

Neil,

Oscar,

or any one of us

at the end of the service.

But for those of us

who have been a Christian

for some time

or if you're new

or if you're a follower

of Christ,

I want us to know

that abiding in His love

is not something

that we experience

deep in our hearts.

It's not something

that is passive.

It's not something

we feel internally

but actually it is something

that is the reality

of our lives.

Abiding in His love

means that our whole life

is being shaped by it

and it's more than that.

Abiding in His love

means that our source

of our joy

is His love.

I mean,

let's go back

to John 15 again.

I mean,

we're going back and forth.

Let's go back

to John 15

and let's look at

verse 10 and 11.

And it says here,

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.

Now,

if you read that properly,

that sounds a lot like,

hey,

the way to abide in His love

is to obey His commandments.

Okay,

if you want God's love,

you better have obedience

in your life.

I mean,

it's sounding a lot like that,

right?

But actually,

if you stop and think about it,

not really.

Because you see,

it's quite easy

to fall back into

trying to earn God's love,

right?

And being very insecure

in God's love.

But yet,

there's something about

abiding in God's love

and obedience

that fits in

one sentence.

I mean,

one thing we should

think about is,

you see,

His love for us

never changes.

That's something

we talked about,

right?

His love is eternal.

It's never waning,

never changes,

never goes down,

never goes up

because that's the highest

He can get.

So,

His love for us

never changes,

but yet,

whether we choose

to abide in it or not,

now that can make

a difference.

You see,

abiding in His love,

His love never changes,

but we can choose

to move away

from His love

and one of the ways

we can choose

to move away

from His love

is disobedience.

I mean,

let me give an example.

Imagine a husband

sitting on his sofa

all day,

doing nothing

and the wife's request

to help out in the home

falls on deaf ears.

And for the husband

to say,

I love my wife,

I mean,

I know my wife loves me,

and I love my wife so much,

I care for my wife.

That's quite unreasonable,

isn't it?

I mean,

how many of us

have a husband like that?

That's good.

I'm not going to ask that.

But that's quite unreasonable

for the husband

to say,

I love you,

but at the same time,

do nothing,

not hear,

not listen to his wife

at all,

is quiet.

It just does not fit in

in one sentence.

You don't believe

that the husband

loves this wife.

Obviously,

this analogy falls apart

because the wife's love

for the husband

starts to falter,

starts to go down.

While God's love for us

never changes.

His love is always steadfast,

but it's us

who's choosing

to walk away,

right?

Now,

but,

but it just does not end there.

Now,

look at verse 11 also.

What he ends up with is,

he says that,

he has said all these things

so that his joy

may be in us

and our joy

may be full.

Now,

to the equation

of abiding in his God's love,

commandments,

obedience,

Jesus adds one more thing.

He adds joy.

Now,

joy,

this is a joy

that is not based

on circumstances,

but on the security

of God's love.

It's a joy

that sits steadily

deep in us

regardless of

our circumstance.

It's a joy

that satisfies us

in a way

that are beyond comprehension.

It's a joy

from God's love

that is beyond anything

this world can offer.

I mean,

if you remember David's psalm

in Psalm 63,

he says,

God,

your love

is better than life itself.

Have you ever thought

of that psalm?

God,

your love

is better than life itself?

I mean,

what else do we humans

have apart from life?

Life is the only thing

that we have.

And David comes up

and he says,

God,

your love

is better than life itself.

There's some kind

of satisfaction

in God's love.

There's some kind

of steadiness,

wholeness in God's love

that keeps us,

that leaves us saying,

God,

your love

is way better

than life itself.

There's a joy

in abiding

in God's love

and obedience.

There's a kind

of joy

that when we abide

in God's love

that leads to obedience,

that gives us a joy

that's so deep within.

I mean,

if you remember

Hebrews 12,

it says,

where it says,

it was for the joy

of Jesus

to endure the cross

in obedience

to the Father.

It was a joy

for Jesus Christ

to obey His Father

and to go on the cross

to take our sins.

This is a joy

that comes from

abiding in His love

and obedience.

And it's not just a joy

that fills our heart,

it's a joy

that strengthens us.

That,

if you remember,

the joy of the Lord

is my strength.

See,

this joy

is not just an emotion,

not just something

that's fleeting,

it's something

that's deep within us.

It's almost like a circle,

abiding in His love,

obedience,

joy.

It almost goes

at the same time,

if that makes sense.

So just to bring that in,

church,

here's the thing

to think about.

What are we abiding in

in our lives?

Are we abiding

in our performance?

Are we trusting

and basing our identity

and value

in what we do

and what we perform?

Or is it in His love

that we are secure

and accepted?

Where is the source

of our joy?

Is it our work?

Is it our achievements?

Is it our families?

Is it what we do

and what we receive?

Or is it

this unshakable,

inseparable,

unimaginable love

of God

found in Christ Jesus?

Is our Christian life

marked with rituals

of church attendance

or a few minutes

of Bible reading

in the morning?

Or is it marked

with obedience

in every part

of our lives

that comes out

of knowing

that we are secure

in the love of God

and full of joy

that is unshakable

in every circumstances?

Church,

Jesus calls us

to abide,

to remain,

to cling,

to make this our home,

to abide in His love

so that everything

that we do,

everything that we go through

in coming days,

in this coming 2023,

is grounded

in the security

and joy

found in the love

of God

in Christ Jesus.

You see,

that our lives

are marked,

that our lives

are marked,

I think this Kevin

mentioned this,

to be a man

full of Christ,

full of His word

and full of love,

to be a people

that is marked

with obedience

and joy

that comes

from the love

of God,

that has taken us in,

that has called us

sons and daughters,

not because of

our good works,

but because of

what Jesus did

on the cross,

remembering,

remembering

that He loved us first,

not us.

To bring it to a close,

how do we do it?

I mean,

Kevin has been finishing

with practical application,

so it would be a sin

if I don't.

Here's,

I don't have a lot

of practical application

of, okay,

how do we do this?

Apart from

getting daily

into your scripture,

praying for God

to reveal His love

in His word

in our lives,

here are three

practical application

that came to my heart

as I was preparing

this sermon.

These are the three

that I was reminded of.

I mean,

it's going to sound

a lot like a traffic rules.

You'll see what I mean.

So first one is stop.

Stop.

It's so easy

to get busy.

It's so easy

to go with the flow.

It's so easy

to do family.

It's so easy

to do work,

home,

assignments.

But when was

the last time

we stopped?

Just stopped.

And pondered

over this majestic

love of Christ

over us.

Someone gave me

an advice

years,

years back.

He told me,

go and sit

on a big rock.

And the reason

for that is

it's very hard

to find a big rock

in Hong Kong.

Unless,

unless you go

out of the way,

out of the city

to find a big rock.

So stop

and go find a big rock

and ponder

over the majestic

love of God.

I mean,

it's the same

thing for couples,

right?

I mean,

it's so easy

to do family work,

feed the kids,

sleep on the

sand bed,

and forget to abide

in each other's love.

That's why date nights

are so important.

You go out once a week

or how much ever,

talk to each other,

pour out each other,

listen to each other.

So take time off,

stop,

pause,

take out a significant

time out of your,

out of,

I would say,

every day,

and let God

wash you

with His love.

Second is this,

talk.

in our communities,

with the people

around us,

it's so easy

to pray for each other,

it's so easy

to tell,

help each other

in our sufferings,

in our problems,

encouraging each other,

but let's also,

let's also speak

God's love

to each other,

reminding

of God's amazing

and unimaginable,

unseparable love

of God's love

found in Christ Jesus

to each other.

Let's speak that

to each other

in our communities

and finally walk.

Traffic rules,

right?

Stop,

talk,

walk.

Walk

as you go to school,

as you go to work.

I mean,

in my life,

I found that

when I walk

from my home

to work,

that's the time

when I,

that's the time

I get

to really pray

and let God

wash His love

over me.

So when you go

to school,

when you work,

in those gaps,

remember God's love

that He gave His one

and only Son,

Jesus Christ,

not because

of any good thing

I did,

but out of purely

of grace and love.

That now I can come

putting on

His righteousness

that Jesus looks

at us and says,

as the Father

has loved me,

so I have

I loved you.

So in our lives,

let's take a pause,

let's stop,

let's talk,

and as we walk

in our lives,

as we do

our daily deeds,

let's ponder,

let's let God

wash His love

and let's abide

in His love.

Let me pray for us.

Father,

we praise You

and we thank You

and there's not

a lot of words

I can say

we can say

about Your love

and even in this

feeble attempt

of talking about

this amazing love,

God,

I pray that You,

Your Spirit,

would take these words

and put it deep

in our hearts.

Father,

until and unless

Your Spirit

opens up

and reveals

Your love to us,

God,

we are still blind.

So,

Father,

we pray for each

one of us

in Watermark

that we would be

a church

that abides

in You,

Jesus,

that would abide

in Your Word,

that would abide

in Your love,

that we would be

a church

that is marked,

that is recognized

by being people,

that is deeply

sitting secure

in Your love,

that is full

of Your Word,

that is deeply

full of joy

because of what

You have done

on the cross

and not because

of our performance

and who we are

and how amazing

we look from the outside.

Father,

I pray for each

one of us

that we would be

people that are

deeply secure

in Your Gospel.

Help us to speak,

help us to encourage

each other

in Your love,

God,

that ultimately

that we would decrease

and You would increase.

So,

Father,

we give You praise.

May You be glorified.

May You be lifted up.

May Your love

abide in our hearts

and may 2023

be a year

for us to get deeper

into Your love

that You would reveal

day by day

how amazing,

how vast,

how high,

how deep,

how wide Your love

is

that can be found

in Christ Jesus.

To You we give glory,

Lord.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

...