Love (John 15:9-17 Jeff Kliewer)

Proverbs 7 and the Call to Treasure God’s Word

You're in the hallway ready to come on in. Good time to come in. Grab your seats. We gather together in the Lord's presence and again I want to say good morning. So if we could take our seats and settle down I think that would be awesome.

I'm going to open us up this morning in Proverbs chapter 7 verses 1 and 2. They're alive this morning. Pastor Jeff is going to be talking a little bit in a while about the awesomeness of the love of fellowship here in this church which is really really amazing.

But I'm going to ask you to take a seat right now. Proverbs 7 verses 1 and 2. My son keep my words and treasure up my commands with you. Keep my commands and live. Last week as Jeff was taking us into the beginning of John 15, Jesus has the vine with the branches, he got to the point where it talked about the couplet of prayer and study of his word and he was indicating to us, I guess it was Spurgeon Jeff?

Spurgeon. He was asked which is more important prayer or study of the word? Good question. And he said it's like breathing out and breathing in. You can't have one without the other. You got to do both.

And I want to encourage us this morning because we get to come together this morning in God's presence. We get to hear the word of God spoken to us. These are the words that are given to us and we're told to treasure them up, to keep them with you and with those you learn what it is really like to live life as God would intend it.

See here's the thing, God is the only source of truth. There are things out there that are going to be trying to get your attention. You spend time on the internet, you spend time listening to the news.

Whatever it is, there are things that are going to tell you we've got the message for you. But my encouraging words to you are, first of all, without God you are vulnerable. Without his truth you are vulnerable to so many distractions and so many lies out there.

But then here's the encouraging side of it. With him you get to encourage, you get to experience God. Think about that. Actually get to experience God and then you get to bear fruit. So this morning we hear the word.

Listen to the word. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you. Believe here and every day of the week. Spend time in the word. Treasure up his commands with you. Make them part of who you are in daily life. I got some announcements.

We are shifting out of summer mode and we're heading into September. Lots of things going on. The first one I want to highlight is we are going to be offering a baptism in three weeks. September 17th.

It will be down the shore. Same place we went last year down at LBI. If you are at all interested in baptism contact Pastor Jeff, myself, one of the elders, anybody up here on the stage. There are going to be classes.

Actually one is being offered right now. It will be the next two weeks. We encourage you to go for two of them. If you can't make the classes, you still want to be baptized, let us know. We will work it out so that you're prepared for baptism.

If you're at all interested in baptism this one's coming up. It's a public baptism which makes it really cool. It's in the open waters which is really awesome. For the rest of us church family we're going to go down and be with them and encourage them and enjoy the time of fellowship and just encouraging times of baptism.

Right after that we're going to be doing another we call it a starting point class. It's a newcomer's class. If you are new to our church you would like to learn more about our church. You're interested in our church.

Maybe you're interested in in membership. The starting point class is offered a couple of times a year. It will be offered on the 24th of September and then for the following two weeks heading into October.

We will continue to let you know about that but we encourage you to participate in that. I want to encourage you back this evening at six o 'clock for our prayer meeting. It was amazing last week. We had so many people show up.

We couldn't fit in the classroom. We had to come here into the sanctuary. It is so awesome to get together with brothers and sisters in prayer join with us. So there are some classes coming up that I want to make you aware of.

The marriage matters class will be taught again in a couple of weeks. Bill and Janice Biddle teach that. If you're interested there are still a couple of spots open for this class. Contact them. Again Jeff myself one of the elders and join in that.

It's coming up in the middle of September. All the small groups are resuming. If they have they went through the summer they're starting back up. If you're not in a small group that is a great place to grow.

We have a Wednesday noon study that we've been teaching now for two and a half since COVID. We've been teaching it since COVID. We're in the middle of Book of Daniel. We took the summer off. We will be starting again on the 13th of September.

So if that's something you've been part of you're looking when are we starting it's in a couple of weeks on the 13th. There is a young adult study going to be starting out. This is for young adults post high school college and into the early years of everybody's young to me but for the young people it's after the prayer meeting on Sunday evenings.

It'll start tonight. It'll basically be twice a month and there is still a midweek Bible study for high schoolers. It's taught by Eric and Carrie Meyer at their house. I was asked to give you a sentiment encouragement.

This is the farthest advanced I've ever talked about Operation Christmas Child. These are just like what? These are boxes of gifts that we give to an organization. I think it's a Samaritan's Purse. It goes to needy children throughout the world.

Guess what? We are in getting ready for school time. Get your school supplies now while they're on sale and be ready to fill them into your Christmas Operation Christmas Child. Let's turn to prayer. Father we come to you this morning seeking your very presence.

We come because not we deserve it but because of the blood of Christ our forgiveness has been won. We are made adopted children. We are part of your family so we can come to your presence Lord. We come anticipating your love.

We come anticipating the blessings that only come from you. Father we thank you Lord for your word given to us in the scriptures. We are told to take keep the words and to treasure them into our hearts and through them we live in you and so Lord we thank you for these scriptures.

They proclaim power of truth and that through the power of the Holy Spirit Pastor Jeff even this morning will give us your very words that we can take them into our hearts. That we can do this all week long opening your word and through the Holy Spirit we conform to your will.

We say thank you Lord. Be with us we pray this morning as we gather together. Give Jeff the words to speak and prepare our hearts. We pray these things in Jesus.

Name. Amen.

That is plentiful where streams of abundance flow. Blessed be your name in the desert plains through the wilderness. Every blessing you pour to pray in the darkness closing down on me. Blessed be with suffering we offer.

We praise you Lord. 1st Peter 3 18 says for Christ also suffered once for sins the righteous for the unrighteous that he might bring us to God being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit.

In Romans 3 Christ Jesus whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.

It was to show his righteousness at the present time so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. And I hear the Savior say thy strength indeed is small. Child of weakness watch and pray.

Find in me. Let's sing that again from the beginning. And I hear the Savior say thy strength indeed is small. Our gracious heavenly Father we thank you for your love.

Which you have shed abroad into our hearts. We thank you for the forgiveness of sin and the gift of eternal life. We thank you that you have given us your son that we are in union with him and we thank you for the spirit that you have poured into our hearts to teach us the deep things of God.

Father our prayer this morning is that you would teach us to love the way you do. Increase our love. Help us to be more like you in how we love one another. And Lord we pray also that the world would take notice and see the difference between the fake the counterfeit love that it offers and the true genuine love of God in Christ.

Let them see how we love one another and know that we are Christians by our love. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Have you heard the expression love is love? Love is love the banners will say and by that it is meant that whatever a person defines to be love or whatever attraction that a person has should be regarded as equally valid.

Sadly this is the first generation of young people that have been raised not in many cases by parents but rather by devices. Very often children are given smartphones or ipads with access to the internet and they are learning this so-called love by what they stumble upon on the internet.

And the corrupting effect on the human brain especially at that young age is causing people to think very differently than how things were for the course of human history. Do you realize that the decision in Obergefell in 2015 is just eight years ago?

That's how quickly the world has been changing and much of that is because according to Matthew chapter 24 verse 12 as we near the end times the love of most will grow cold. And so people throwing up their hands say love is love because they have not seen the genuine.

You know I saw the the genuine again the last time I visited Florida and I tell this story often because it is to me one of the clearest pictures of love that I've seen while in the flesh here in my short life and that is the love of my father my earthly father for my mother.

She has Parkinson's and at this point she cannot eat except for pureed food and he feeds her those meals but I see how he goes in day after day and this most recent time she couldn't open her eyes but he still feeds her and he never considers it a burden.

It is a joy to him and he told me a couple days ago that from time to time she will open her eyes and smile at him and he catches that glimpse of who she is. And see church this is genuine love that the world knows nothing of that endures every hardship that never fails that's patient that's kind I see it in my earthly father and I wondered where did he learn it?

Well he learned it from his father. There's a friend of ours who does a ministry similar to what we do it's called love life where we call out and we reach out to moms and dads who are about to make a dreadful decision at the murder mill.

My friend Juanie Juan Riesco is in Chicago at the largest abortion clinic there and he says that they've rescued 30 some babies at this point and praise God for that but when he talks to the moms and dads before they go in many of them will say that they know that what they are about to do is murder and some claim to be Christians and plan to repent later.

You see love is very different from what the world understands this is not love that has brought this baby into existence because the mother does not value the child of who should be her husband and the life of this child is not loved it is to be discarded because love grows cold in this world.

Matthew 24 12 says the love of many will grow cold. Where did my father learn to love as he does? He learned it from his father. My grandfather Paul Cleaver was in World War II and after being released from a Russian prison camp four years in the gulag he returned to his family.

My dad was born at that time and he wanted to bring his family to America to a land of freedom and to a Christian country and so he would go and work on bridges rebuilding the bridges of Germany but to get more hours to fund this trip to America he would sleep under the bridge where he worked during the day Monday to Friday and home with the family on the weekend.

This is a kind of love a father love that shaped my dad and it's something that's disappearing as the times grow darker but my grandfather learned this love from where we ultimately all do and that is the love of the father God.

God the father there is no replacement for the love of God as seen in the church. If you'll notice government is trying to step into that role as the father and fails miserably to do so. People look to government for the solutions of all of their provisions but see here's the thing government doesn't love people.

Government seeks power for itself and the politicians cannot fill that need for love. Where then can the world find love? If government if that nanny state cannot provide the love that is needed where is this love to be found?

I'll tell you where I've seen it. Right here in this church. Some people who have come have remarked that I've never been to a church where after it lets out people remain and talk to each other for half an hour an hour or two.

Some people are used to going to church and all they do is wave at somebody and they don't know one another but here there is this kind of love. Maybe six months ago we gathered on a Monday night and normally the women have a precept study and the men have apologetics but Drew and Jill didn't show up that night and in many places I think in the world if someone doesn't show up what do people assume?

Ah something must have come up I'm sure they're fine don't think anything of it but see this church knew Drew and Jill and they knew that they wouldn't just not show up and then stop and then not answer their phones and so Matt and Ivan and others were concerned and because of love they went to their house and they found that their cars were there and their cell phones were there and where are Drew and Jill?

Something terrible must have happened and I saw love in this church because as soon as word of that got out dozens and dozens of people rushed to their house and we were suiting up to go into the woods because Drew and Jill they like to hike in the woods they're back there somewhere maybe there's a bear or something and we were all prepared to go my wife had a smarter idea she actually called the hospitals and she found them at the Marlton.

Hospital.

And so everything turned out okay. But what we learned that day and what we remembered that day is how deeply we care for one another. They will know that we are Christians by our love. The church has something here.

And every genuine church across America and across the world that the world knows nothing of it is the love for the brother. This world seems to be falling apart in many ways but what it's really doing is crying out for love.

Just like that hippie generation remember Jesus revolution. What they're really looking for is love. And they're looking in all the wrong places. So it is with this generation they need love. There was another mass shooting yesterday.

This is new to the world. This hadn't happened in generations previous to this level. Matthew 24 12 as we near the end the love of most will grow cold. But what do we have to tell this world. And what hope do we have to bring.

Is it not the one who brought his beloved disciples into an upper room. And there he humbled himself and wrapped himself in a towel and knelt and washed the feet of his disciples his servants. The king served the servants and then he led them out to the garden of Gethsemane where he allowed himself to be taken.

No one takes my life. I give it willingly. And he went to Golgotha and he laid down on the cross. And he was pierced for our transgressions. He took the death penalty that we owe into his body on the tree in love.

He satisfied the demand of justice god's holy and righteous wrath against the sin that you and i have committed. Jesus took that upon himself because he loves you. The world knows nothing of this love.

But this is perfect love. Jesus has died. The death that we deserve. That's called propitiation. But the death of jesus on the cross is also an example according to first peter that we should love the way he has loved us.

Abiding in Christ’s Love in John 15

Let's turn to john 15 verses 9 to 17 and look at the depths of his love. Before we read john 15 9 to 17 i want to remind you of a theme that's been developed in the book of john and through all of the gospels.

And that is this is that god loved us first. The salvation we have in christ is not god reciprocating once we learn to obey him and earn something from him. Rather he has loved us first. And it's pictured in the calling of the disciples.

Picture matthew at his tax collector booth and jesus comes and says follow me. And matthew leaves everything. The fishermen james and john following zebedee's trade all their life. Can you imagine that they would leave that all behind when some messiah figure comes and says follow me.

And that is exactly what they did. Or nathaniel who's just sitting under a fig tree. And then philip eventually finds him and says come. We have found the messiah. Can anything good come out of nazareth.

Nazareth come and see. And when he meets jesus he tells him i saw you under the fig tree. And just like that with nothing more nathaniel is able to say you are the son of god the king of israel. And jesus says do you believe.

Because i told you i saw you under the fig tree you will see greater things than these like jacob's ladder angels ascending and descending upon the son of man point being the call of god to belong to the son to follow christ to be a disciple comes from god.

It is a powerful effectual call. This is god's love. And you wonder why are you here this morning. Titus 3 5 would tell you it's not any works done of you. It is god's love that has called you unto the son of god and granted you to believe.

So let us read then john 15. With that in mind verses 9 to 17. 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 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 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 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.

The Father’s Perfect Love and the Trinity

First thing to observe in our text today is the perfect love of the father. In verse 9 as the father has loved me the love of god for christ the son goes back to eternity past. Have you heard it said that god is love.

God is love. We've heard this right. It cannot be that god is love unless he exists as a trinity. If he required a creation or something to love there has to be a referent of his love. Then he couldn't be love until he made the world.

Except that god has always been father son and holy spirit. So follow this. The reason we can say that god is love comes down to the fact that the father has always loved the son. The son has always loved the spirit.

The spirit has always loved the love the father and vice versa in every way. In the perfect love of the trinity is the essence of god. God is love he has always been loving and think about this. He didn't need a creation.

He didn't need to make anything in order to become loving. He's always loved within himself. So it says by this my father is glorified that you bear much fruit. And so prove to be my disciples. Verse 8.

And in verse 9 as the father has loved me. Listen this is this is amazing. So have i loved you. The starting point to understand this sermon today is to realize that the love that god has for us church the love that he has for you is the same love as the father's love for the son.

That's a mind-blowing statement. As the father has loved the son the son loves you. You are perfectly loved. The love of god for you cannot be improved upon. It is already perfect. So have i loved you.

And here is the great command of the text. Just like last week there was only one command here. It is the imperative of the text this week. Beginning here in this week is verse 9 abide in my love. That's what we need to do as christians.

Now we talked about last week what does it look like. We saw the word his word abiding in you and prayer talking to god. And as spurgeon compared it to breathing which is more important reading the word or praying.

Spurgeon says what's more important breathing in or breathing out. You need to have both to abide in his love means to relate to him to be in relationship with him to be in union with him. And as we're about to see not departing to to the word actually means remain meno in the greek it is to stay put to be right here in the word where he found you when you were first saved your first love before that might have begun to cool return to that first love right where you began.

And it's no great work of yours it is to remain in his love in the word in prayer relating to him. And so we get to the the next section of the passage. Verses 10 through 12 jesus commands to make our flawed love like his perfect 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. Now what are the commandments as you read this. Certainly it refers to the 10 commandments right.

You must obey the 10 commandments. More than that it refers to the 613 laws written in the old testament because when the father gives the law it is also jesus giving that law. I think that's why jesus bent down to write with his finger in the sand when the woman was caught in adultery.

I think he was reminding those and speaking to us in the text that he's the giver of the law. Just like his finger is writing in the sand. It was his finger that carved out the 10 commandments in the first place.

And everything written in god's law is holy and true and comes from him. But what we're going to see now is that the summary of that is love. The greatest commandment according to jesus in matthew 22 i think it's 37 is to love god with all your heart soul mind and strength and love your neighbor as yourself.

When you picture the 10 commandments there are two tables that moses had two tablets. The first table of the law is vertical how you love god. The second table of the law is horizontal how you love your neighbor.

You don't lie to him or murder him or commit adultery with his wife or covet what he has. The second table of the law is how we love one another. And jesus again here summarizes it in verses 11 and 12.

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 very simply put that you love one another as i have loved you. Now before you say check i got that one.

I'm a very loving person. Notice the the quality of love that he's calling you to the degree to which you ought to love your brother and sister husbands. How you ought to love your wife. What does it say as i have loved you.

The perfect love as we saw earlier as the father loves the son. That's how jesus loves us. Now he's saying i want you to love as i do. Your flawed love needs to be conformed into my perfect love. You need to love more deeply more sacrificially more truly.

And what does that look like. Well don't so quickly discard the 10 commandments or all the 613 laws. The the law as written in the old testament still guides the believer. There are three functions of the law.

Three functions of the law do you know what they are. It's a mirror. It's a restraint. And it's a guide. The three functions of god's law which is referred to here. The commandments are first of all a mirror.

You look into god's perfect law the commandments as paul did in roman 7. And he he read thou shalt not covet. And it's a mirror that showed paul that he covets. It's a mirror that shows you what you're really like.

It shows you your sinfulness to prepare you for the gospel. The law is a mirror that exposes us. We fall short of the law and it shows us our need for a savior. That's the first purpose. The second purpose of the law is a restraint.

There are punishments associated with the commandments. And the punishment is a restraint upon the evil of man. It keeps society civilized. And the degree to which a society is built upon biblical principles and moral categories that come from the bible is the degree to which that society will flourish.

So the law restrains wickedness. It says thou shalt not murder. And the law teaches us that there are penalties for committing murder that by man blood would also be shed. The third use of the law is the one often neglected by christians because we tend to be new testament folks we are in the new covenant and under the new covenant we assume therefore we need not worry ourselves with all those laws.

Some will even say you know leviticus chapter 19 and deuteronomy 22 they tell us that you cannot mix fibers in your clothes. You can't have wool and linen mixed together. And so they'll say well there's no use to that law.

That's just old old testament stuff. It has no relevance to us. But understand this every law has general equity that teaches us about god and it still abides today. So in the old testament under the old covenant the israelites were set apart as distinct and holy because they even dressed a certain way to mark them as pure and unspotted before god.

They didn't even mix fibers. But listen there's a bridge to the new covenant in that as we make application of that we say we need to be set apart. We need to be holy we need to look different. We need to be obedient even in how we dress.

So the law teaches us how to love our neighbor. Even in these things which seem a bit far removed. The point being when the law teaches us moral things of what is right sexually and in all areas of our lives it still applies today.

God has not changed his category of right and wrong. Everything that he said is good is good. Certain things are fulfilled in the new covenant. The ceremonial aspects of the law the dietary codes the sacrificial system all of these things are fulfilled in christ.

But the moral function of the law is still your guide church how do you know how to behave and what is right and what is true. We do not discard the old testament. Rather we see it fulfilled in christ and we look to it to guide us in how to love.

What's happened in our world today is that the law of god has been utterly discarded even by christians. Our friend wani from love life he says that 50 percent of the people he sees going into the abortion clinic say that they know what they're about to do is murder.

And they do it anyway saying god will forgive me. And this church is an utter disregard for the value and sanctity of life. Psalm 139 that it's god who's knitting this baby together in the womb. This applies to all areas of our life.

We cannot discard the old testament in favor of the new because love summarizes what the old testament was saying to us. Verse 11 gives us a wonderful promise. You see if you look out at the culture around us by the admission of the world itself people are depressed and anxious and overcome people are lacking joy.

I even watched a program where this famous hollywood actor is on a quest for joy and bliss and he goes all around hollywood and he admits he can't find it searching for joy. But joy is found in christ when we love other people.

Look what it says in verse 11. These things i have spoken to you that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be full. Listen to this very well. Alistair begg gives this quote. The half-hearted christian gets the worst of both worlds.

Why are so few people enjoying god and one another. The answer is half-heartedness. Straddling a fence one foot in the kingdom the other hanging out as if they still belong to the world. Straddling the fence is a very uncomfortable position.

But when you go all in with christ and you begin to serve him and loving him and others becomes your priority you will have joy. This is a wonderful promise we have in verse 11. Your joy will his joy will be in you and your joy will be full.

I have a friend who i used to know in florida and he moved to texas and i moved up north and did inner city philly ministry and now end up here in mount laurel. You never know how god is going to direct your path.

My friend recently wrote something that i thought was very profound. Tell me if you think this is true. In the last 10 years or so i have come to realize there are very few friends in this world. Very few who will walk with you through the fire.

Very few who sit in the ashes with you. Very few who even check on you or text you to see how you're doing. Very few who ask you to coffee or to their house for dinner. Very few who actually care to those who do these things.

Thank you. The simplest of gestures goes a long way farther than you can even imagine to those few thank you for real friendship. I wonder how many people are sitting at home lacking joy because they are not the one to be friendly first.

If you will make it your ambition to love others as christ loves you and you take that initiative to be a friend your joy will follow in tone. If you will begin to pour yourself out as christ has loved us to be poured out as paul says like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith.

If your whole life to live as christ to die as gain is for the progress and joy of others in the faith the more you do that joy will find you. This is what jesus is saying your joy will begin to well up inside of you.

Tell it's overflowing. Psalm 23. You'll be a joyful person when you stop chasing joy and desires and fulfillment in this life. When you take up your cross and you make your life about serving other people joy finds you.

I love this promise. If you simply do the simplest thing love one another. And as my friend in texas said invite somebody to your house for dinner. Call them text them check on your friends. This will bring joy.

But there's a deeper thing still and we'll essentially end here. Verses 13 to 16 you need to think more deeply about god's love for you in christ what god has done. We're going to see three quick aspects of that love.

It says 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 you. And by the way here if you do what i command you is not prescriptive it's descriptive.

It's not saying that if you can earn it if you can be a loving enough person then you're my friends. Earlier we saw this in verses one to eight. The branch that's connected to the vine will bear fruit will do as commanded.

This proves that you are a disciple of christ. Do you see the difference. If you are obeying the commandments this proves that you're connected to the vine that you have that source of life in you you're born again.

Then it says in verse 15. Listen. 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 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 church. Do you realize that this prophecy of jesus is fulfilled in your hearing.

As we sit here today when it was just a small group of disciples he tells them that their fruit would abide it would remain. And two thousand years later thousands of miles across the globe here we are the fruit of the ministry of the apostles.