The Gospel of John (95)Jesus, the True Vine (3) ** PART 2

First Baptist Church Leominster

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

00:00

Where there is no Christ like love there is no grace no work of the Spirit and no reality in our religion

00:08

Blessed are they that do not forget Christ's commandment They are those who shall have right to the tree of life and enter in through the gates of the city revelation 22 14

00:21

Love is the sign of the new covenant It indicates and betrays the true

00:27

Christian He loves Christian brothers and sisters That's the first characteristic of a friend of Jesus Well in verse 14 we read a second characteristic of Christ's friends friends of Jesus Christ are ones who obey him

00:46

Jesus said you are my friends if you do whatever I command you The ones for whom

00:52

Christ died are his friends His friends are ones who order their lives according to his commands

00:58

Jesus Christ is their friend, but he's also their Lord Obedience to God through Jesus Christ is the grand mark of the true

01:07

Christian Just as love is that mark so is obedience to Jesus Christ It's the fruit of the new birth when

01:16

God causes one to be born from above Born of his spirit God imparts a new heart that longs to be fully obedient to God and his son

01:25

Arthur Pink Described it this way Regeneration is that miracle of divine grace brought in the soul which enlists the affections

01:35

Godward Which brings a human will into subjection to the divine and which produces a real and radical change in the life

01:43

That changes from worldliness to godliness from disobedience to obedience at the new birth

01:49

The love of God is shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Spirit and that love is manifested in a dominating

01:56

Longing and sincere purpose to please in all things the one who has plucked me as a brand from burning

02:03

There is a greater difference between the genuine Christian and the deceived professing Christian than there is between a living man and a corpse

02:12

None need remain in doubt if they will honestly measure themselves by the

02:17

Holy Word of God Obedience Now when

02:23

Jesus said you are my friends if you do whatever I command you he was not stating how people become his friends obviously

02:32

Rather he was simply describing what his friends are like They do order their lives according to his commandments true

02:40

Christians are obedient friends of Jesus Christ Every true Christian is a true friend of Jesus Christ a friend of Jesus Christ is not a special Christian a super Dedicated Christian a friend of Jesus Christ is a

02:54

Christian by definition Obedience to God is one of the tests again whereby we may have assurance.

03:05

They were true Christians We saw how love is a true test for assurance. So as obedience by this

03:12

We know that we love the children of God when we love God and keep his commandments For this is the love of God that we keep his commandments and his commandments are not burdensome

03:24

That's the definition of love when you order your relationship with yourself and God and with one another according to God's law that's what it is to love others and Then now by this we know that we know him in other words by this you can have assurance of salvation

03:42

If we keep his commandments He who says I know him and does not keep his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him

03:49

But whoever keeps his word truly the love of God is perfected in him by this.

03:55

We know that we are in him And so just as love is a true test of salvation and a true basis of assurance of salvation.

04:05

So is obedience Well now we come to verse 15 and here we see a third quality of Friendship with Jesus Christ Jesus Christ reveals the will and purpose of God to his friends

04:24

Verse 15 Jesus said no longer do I call you servants For a servant does not know what his master is doing

04:32

But I've called you friends for all things that I heard from my father

04:37

I have made known to you This suggests several matters respecting our relationship with the

04:44

Lord Jesus Let's refer rehearse them first It depicts a closer relationship with God that Christians enjoy

04:52

That then believers enjoyed before coming to Christ before the coming of Christ Not Everybody in the

05:00

Old Testament is called a friend of God. There are a few To actually Abraham and Moses and we'll talk about them shortly

05:08

But every Christian in the New Testament age is a friend of Jesus Christ This is a privilege.

05:15

It is a quality of relationship That we enjoy as Christians that was not enjoyed until the coming of Jesus Christ to the extent

05:25

That we now presently possess But John the

05:31

Baptist Jesus once said for I say to you among those born of women There is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist But then he said but he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he

05:42

Are you in the kingdom of God? Are you a Christian? You are greater than John the Baptist That's what

05:48

Jesus said The Reformation Study Bible has a good footnote to this verse

05:54

John Jesus praises John is the greatest of men cast in the mold of the prophets of Israel and unmoved by expediency or luxury

06:03

Yet as a prophet he belonged to an era that was being withdrawn as the kingdom of God was introduced in this sense

06:10

He was less than those who were in the kingdom If you're a

06:15

Christian you're a friend of Jesus Christ and Positionally You are greater than John the

06:23

Baptist was positionally Of course, he and all Old Testament saints have been brought into that relationship

06:30

Of course through the death bearer resurrection of Christ But as they lived in this world in this on this earth in their personal lives

06:39

You and I have a relationship with God in Christ that is further advanced than what they enjoyed

06:48

That's an amazing thing In fact in the

06:53

Old Testament only Abraham and Moses are referred to as friends of God Under the

06:59

New Covenant Jesus regards all Christians as friends every Christian is his friend

07:06

So let's consider these two Old Testament saints these two Old Testament friends of God Abraham and Moses and By considering them and how they related to God we can get an insight in better Into what what it is that we enjoy as friends of God First let's consider

07:25

Abraham the friend of God He's actually declared as such in the book of James New Testament book

07:35

Would not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar You see that faith was working together with his works and by works faith was made perfect and the scripture was fulfilled

07:47

Which says Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness and he was called the friend of God This verse speaks of Abraham's relationship with God through many years of faith

08:02

The quotation that James cited was from Genesis 15 6 This was an early declaration respecting

08:09

Abraham That was said of Abraham long before the birth of Isaac Here's the passage in which this verse is found

08:19

After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision saying do not be afraid Abram I'm your shield your exceedingly great reward

08:26

Abram said Lord God, what will you give me seeing I go childless and The heir of my house is

08:33

Eliezer of Damascus my head steward. He's gonna inherit everything. I don't have a son

08:40

And Abraham said look you've given me no offspring Indeed one born in my house is my heir

08:48

And behold the word Lord came to him saying this one shall not be your heir but one who will come from your own body will be your heir and Then he brought him outside and said look now to heaven count the stars if you're able to number them and he said to him

09:02

So shall your descendants be and then we read this wonderful glorious declaration Abraham believed in the

09:08

Lord and he God Accounted it to him for righteousness And James alluded to that declaration in James 1 21 through 23

09:23

But the reference that James gives of Abraham offering his son Isaac on the altar is an event that occurred many decades after this initial declaration of Genesis 15 6

09:37

Abraham was already the friend of God and then it was demonstrated as such When Abraham offered his son or was willing to offer his son

09:46

Isaac as a sacrifice to God By the way,

09:52

Abraham is a friend of God is also mentioned by the Chronicler in recording the words of King Jehoshaphat of Judah Jehoshaphat offered a prayer to God in which he identified

10:03

Abraham as God's friend 2nd Chronicles 20 This was in our scripture reading this week

10:10

If you're following your chart then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem in the house of the

10:15

Lord before the new court and said Oh Lord God of our fathers Are you not God in heaven and do you not rule over the kingdoms of the nations?

10:24

And in your hand, is there not power and might so that no one is able to withstand you? Are you not our

10:29

God who drove out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and gave it to the descendants of Abraham?

10:35

you're a friend forever and Interestingly in the

10:42

Old Testament passage we read earlier Isaiah 41 is The only other occasion in which

10:48

Abraham is called a friend of God Isaiah 41 8 you Israel are my servant

10:54

Jacob whom I've chosen the descendants of Abraham my friend Abraham was a friend of God and so because the people of Israel were descendants of God's friend

11:06

Abraham God regarded them and purposed to bless them for Abraham's sake and In a similar way because we are disciples of Jesus Christ whom he regards as his friends

11:20

God his father has regard for us and his purpose to bless us for Christ's sake

11:30

I'm envious of some of you Who have lived in this city all your lives?

11:38

I and there are others here too, of course who have lived in different places Raised in California lived in Texas lived in Germany now here.

11:47

I've actually lived here longer than any other place in my life interestingly but There's been a tick occasions when

11:55

I've been out in the in the city with someone who was raised here in Leominster and they run across an old school friend that they went to Kindergarten with and they greet one another at the

12:05

Home Depot and they kind of catch up and talk with one another You know, we don't have that my wife and I don't have that Background.

12:13

It's like we lived in different worlds and we had friends, but we don't have any contact with them whatsoever and You know, there's a blessing in having that that that friendship

12:24

I believe Well, we are of course have that friendship with Jesus Christ and when we meet another

12:33

Christian He or she is another friend of Jesus Christ and there's a common life we we have and there's common values and beliefs that we share and Of course, it's a richer relationship, isn't it then any human?

12:50

Friendship that we could possibly have My dad grew up in a small town in Southern California in the

12:59

Mojave Desert an oil producing town Taft California And he grew up there went through high school junior college went into the

13:09

Navy with his best friend Darren and Then of course, they separated from one another after the war lived in different parts of the country

13:17

I had never really seen or heard of him, but my dad often spoke of him.

13:23

Oh One day when he visited us He showed great regard for me

13:30

Because I was my father's son and There's an affinity that God has for you because of your association with his son

13:42

He loves his son, but he loves you with the same love that he loves his son

13:47

He loves you because of his son and we ought to be keenly aware of that and bask in that Especially when we may be going through some difficulty in our lives

14:00

You certainly do not look at circumstances in your life as evidence or a test of God's love for you

14:07

You don't do that. You look at what God did for you in Jesus Christ and that is evidence and proof of your friendship with God Now we had said and I'm toward the top of page six of our notes now

14:23

We had said that one important aspect of one's friendship with Jesus Christ is that he reveals the will and purpose of God to his friends

14:34

This was true of God's friendship with Abraham in the Old Testament Because God regarded

14:40

Abraham as his friend God disclosed Abraham what he was about to do and Then in response

14:46

Abraham engaged in conversation and direct involvement in the accomplishing of God's will

14:53

And we read of this for example in Genesis 18 in the account of God visiting

14:58

Sodom with view to destroying it God had come to the tent of Abraham with his two angels and After enjoying a fellowship meal together at which

15:10

God revealed his purpose to fulfill his promise to Abraham That he would father a son through Sarah God arose and he began to depart with the two angels toward Sodom and then we have this

15:23

Interchange taking place. It's fascinating This is in Genesis 18 verse 16

15:28

Then the man rose from there and looked toward Sodom and Abraham went with them to send them on the way and the

15:34

Lord said Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing? Abraham was his friend

15:43

God Desired to impart to Abraham what he was about to do

15:50

Jesus said to his disciples I no longer call you servants But I call you friends because everything that the father is doing for through me.

15:59

I have made known to you This is an aspect of friendship God reveals his will and his purposes in history to his friends and this is what he was doing with Abraham Shall I hide from Abraham what

16:14

I'm doing since Abraham shall surely become a great mighty nation all the nations of the earth Should be blessed in him for I've known him.

16:22

That's the language of friendship and So he told Abraham because of the outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah their sin is very grave.

16:31

I'm gonna go down and see them and Determine the degree of it assess it and determine whether or not to destroy it and then

16:44

Abraham begins of course to engage in conversation with God and We read of course

16:52

Abraham appealing to God God are you going to destroy the whole city if you if there happened to be 50 righteous men in the city and Of course

17:00

God responded to Abraham. We had this interchange and God responded No, I won't and of course

17:07

Abraham worked it down Well, suppose there's 45 you're gonna destroy the city for 45 and God responded

17:13

No, I won't and of course it got all the way down for the sake of 20 and then 10 and God said

17:20

I'll not destroy it for the sake of 10. And so here we have God revealing to Abraham his will what he intended to do

17:27

I'm going down to Sodom To visit it destroy it, but then Abraham engaged with God and between the two of them

17:37

We had what fell out of God's purpose He would not destroy

17:43

Sodom for the sake of 10 Now obviously this is on a human level

17:49

That this was all in the purpose and decree of God from eternity Of course God had ordained that he would hand gauges this conversation with Abraham so that the outcome

17:59

It's not like God changed his mind or modified his position But rather it was all wrapped up in the decree of God, of course

18:06

And so he did what he had willed to do But the idea of friendship is that there is this involvement

18:13

First there's this understanding of what God intends to do and then there's this involvement of participating

18:20

With God working with God in order to accomplish his purposes and that's what friends of Jesus Christ do

18:28

As friends of Jesus Christ he's revealed to us what he's doing in the world God sent him to save people

18:36

God sent him to grow a kingdom to reconcile a fallen world to himself

18:43

We understand that he's revealed that to us and because we're friends of Jesus Christ we want to be involved in that Fellow workers with Jesus Christ and therefore we participate with him, this is what friends do

18:58

I don't call you servants any longer because servants don't have a clue as to what their master's desire and will is to do

19:05

They just go about and do what they're told to do, but I've called you friends because I've informed you

19:11

I've let you know what we're doing There's a cooperation and there's a there's a working together between God with God and his people in order to accomplish his purposes that's what friends do and By the way, just as Abraham kind of a prayed to God here we had destroyed if there's 45

19:32

Our involvement as friends of Jesus also involves prayer That's the primary way in which the kingdom of Christ is advanced

19:41

And so you find back in John 15 this reference to Jesus You know,

19:46

I'll answer anything that my father will answer anything you request It's all involved in working with Jesus Christ as his friend to further his kingdom to further the purpose of God in the world

19:59

This is what friendship is We're friends of God And so you see how shallow it is to somehow think in terms of a relationship with God in Christ Only in terms of what

20:13

I get from it In terms of what I receive from it We're fellow workers with God we're greatly privileged to be working in his vineyard as it were

20:26

To be his friends working together with him and he delights in accomplishing his purposes through us

20:35

Top of page 7. Let's consider Moses Moses also is described as the friend of God He had a special relationship with God that was not enjoyed as the other

20:47

Israelites Moses conversed with God Exodus 33 7 to 11

20:52

Moses took his tent He pitched it outside the camp far from the camp called it the tabernacle of meeting

20:58

And it came to pass everyone who sought the Lord went out to the tabernacle meeting which was outside the camp

21:05

So it was whenever Moses went out to the tabernacle that all the people rose each man stood at his tent door watched

21:12

Moses Until he'd gone into the tabernacle and it came to pass when Moses Entered the tabernacle that the pillar of cloud descended stood at the door of the tabernacle and the

21:22

Lord talked with Moses All the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the tabernacle door all the people rose and worshipped each man in his tent door

21:31

So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face as a man speaks to his friend

21:39

Moses was a friend of God And then he'd returned to the camp and of course he would impart the

21:46

Word of God the will of God to the people King David alluded to this special relationship that Moses had with God in Psalm 103

21:54

We read in verse 7 God made known his ways to Moses His acts to the children of Israel the children of Israel saw what

22:04

God did through all the miracles bringing them out of Egypt But God did more for Moses. He actually revealed his way of working as it were in history and That's what

22:15

God does for us and with us in Jesus Christ He reveals his ways to us

22:22

This is an aspect of friendship We may read of specific instances in which this friendship with God and Moses was

22:31

Manifested for example on one occasion and this is somewhat similar to God interacting with Abraham on one occasion

22:38

You recall God got very angry with the children of Israel and basically declared to Moses stand back.

22:44

I'm gonna wipe them out I'm gonna form a new nation from you Then you remember what happened?

22:50

Moses began to appeal to God And he said if you do that, then your glory is going to be

22:57

Sully in the eyes of the other nations and so we won't read this but we have this interchange in numbers 14 once again we have

23:05

Moses as a friend of God going back and forth with God and the outcome of that is

23:11

God forgave the children of Israel. He did not wipe them out But he continued to deal mercifully with him now

23:18

God God didn't change his mind God, of course Embraced all of this in his eternal decree.

23:24

It worked out exactly as he purposed it to do, but you have this relationship This friendship between God and Moses that is played out in this passage

23:35

I would urge you to read it sometime in the light of these considerations And so once again, we may know that the

23:43

Lord Jesus declared to his disciples that this is what characterized them as friends Although many in Israel had witnessed firsthand his acts his disciples to his disciples

23:54

He had revealed his purposes what his father was accomplishing through him many saw Jesus performing miracles all over the place

24:01

But to his disciples he revealed what the father was doing through him bringing redemption to his people and So this suggests to us that our friendship with Christ Suggests that one of the central aspects of the

24:19

Christian life is learning more fully God's purposes in Christ What's God doing in the world today

24:28

What's happening through this virus? What's happening as our our society has fallen apart at the seams?

24:36

You know is the thought there's fear on the part of a lot of Christians as though some somehow

24:41

God has lost control That somehow the devil has gained ascendancy not at all as we know fully well

24:49

King Jesus is Executing his righteous judgment in history. We know that and so we're not alarmed by it

24:56

It's we're concerned of course, but we're not terrorized by it Because we know that Jesus is doing what is right in history he's bringing salvation to his people and he's bringing judgment upon his enemies and We have the response that we have the privilege of being

25:13

God's friends at this time in history To represent him and declare him to the world in which we live because I don't hear it being proclaimed much

25:25

This is what it is to be a friend of God. And so it's incumbent upon us to Understand to grow in our knowledge

25:35

Of who God is and what he's doing it's more than just coming to understand his attributes as important and foundational that is we have to understand what he's doing in history and Attempt to understand what he's doing now within our world

25:51

He's called you and me We're always quoting the heroes of the faith of the past and I'll always continue to do that, but they're gone

26:00

We're here and he's entrusted us with this glorious opportunity as well as Significant responsibility to represent him and declare him to the world and we are his friends and He'll reveal to us as we think humbly and prayerfully studying and learning from the scriptures in the way he deals with peoples and events in history and Declare it to the world today

26:30

That's what we're called to do And in this way God will use us Lord, Willie Is a blessed

26:39

Blessed privilege to be a friend of Jesus Christ May the

26:45

Lord help us to be to see this privilege and help us to be responsible and Faithful in these matters.

26:54

Amen Let's pray Thank you father for your word Thank you our

27:00

God for the wonderful privilege. We have to be friends of Jesus Christ And we pray that you would help us our

27:07

God take these matters to heart Help us our Lord to be mindful keenly aware of our relationship with your son and Help us

27:18

Lord to be keenly aware of the infinite love that he has for us The same love that you have for your son

27:25

Help us our God to understand also what you're doing in history So that we might be able to declare your word faithfully and fully to the generation to the world in which you've placed us and We pray that your name and your glory would be furthered as a consequence of our actions