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Well, you can turn with me in 
your Bibles to John's gospel. We are in John 15. John chapter 15. Our focus this 
morning will be verses 9 to 11. Verses 9 to 17 are a unit. But much is going on there, so 
we'll just take up the first section this morning, verses 
9 to 11, and then, God willing, next Sunday, verses 12 to 17. While it's one discourse that 
our Lord gives in what we call this upper room discourse in 
chapters 13 to 16, there are various themes and various emphases 
that we find along the way. So I'll just read from verse 
9 to verse 17. As the Father loved me, I also have loved you. 
Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, 
you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments 
and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to 
you, that my joy may remain 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, than to lay down one's life for his friends. You 
are my friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I 
call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master 
is doing, but I've called you friends for all things that I 
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 remain, that whatever you ask 
the Father in my name, He may give you. These things I command 
you, that you love one another. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our 
gracious God and Holy Father, we thank you for the Lord's day. 
We thank you for the house of God, on the day of God, when 
we get to gather with the people of God. We pray that you would 
be glorified now. We pray that you would send forth 
your Holy Spirit, that you would guide us and lead us as we consider 
the words of our Lord Jesus in this passage. We thank you for 
the encouragement that you give us in the scripture, for the 
admonition, for the rebuke, for the correction, for all that 
we receive from your gracious hand. We pray that even now, 
God, we would be receptive by the Spirit And for any and all 
who've come here this morning dead in their trespasses and 
sins, may they hear of a glorious Savior. May they hear of one 
who lived and who died and who was raised again so that sinners 
might have everlasting life. Do forgive us now for all sin 
and transgression and cleanse us in that precious blood of 
the Lamb. And we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, it's been a 
little while since we've been in the Gospel of John, so just 
by way of reminder, there are several sections in John's Gospel. So initially, you have a prologue 
in John 1, beginning in verse 1 and continuing to verse 18. 
And then from chapter 1 at verse 19 to about chapter 12, verse 
50, we have what we call the Book of Signs. It's the public 
ministry of our Lord Jesus, when he went about doing good, when 
he went about teaching and instructing. And then from 13.1 to 20.31, 
we have what we call the Book of the Passion. It records the 
death and the resurrection of our Lord and the events leading 
up to that. And then the book ends on an 
epilogue. So in chapter 21, we have an 
epilogue where we see some things between the Savior and his disciples. So within the Book of the Passion, 
we find ourselves in the Upper Room Discourse. So as I said, 
from John 13 to 16, Jesus instructs his disciples. And as I mentioned, 
there are many themes and emphases that he visits along the way, 
but one of the overarching concerns is for him to instruct them on 
who God is. In other words, he speaks concerning 
the triune God in a whole host of ways. He speaks of the Father, 
the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and he does that to encourage 
his disciples to build them up and to prepare them for that 
work that they would embrace after his resurrection and ascension. 
Remember, they are tasked, according to 1412, with engaging in greater 
works. So the Lord Jesus supplies them 
with his Holy Spirit. He floods their hearts with peace. 
He causes their joy to increase such that they may go and turn 
the world upside down for his name and for his glory. So now 
as we come to this section, it is connected to verses one to 
eight, which we've already considered. Remember in verses one to eight, 
he uses the analogy or metaphor of the vine and the branches. 
He is the true vine. What old covenant Israel failed 
to be, Jesus Christ fulfills. He is the true vine. All the 
promises of God are yay and amen in him. We're not looking forward 
to a future sort of ethnic Israel centricity. All the promises 
of God are yay and amen in Jesus Christ. The church is the Israel 
of God. Those rightly connected to him 
by faith are his people. So he mentions the necessity 
of the branches and the vine. Without the vine, the branches 
don't survive. Apart from me, he says, you can 
do nothing. So now in verses 9 to 17, he 
highlights love to Christ and love to one another. In other 
words, the disciples must demonstrate or show or evidence, and we'll 
deal with that in a moment, their love for the Lord Jesus. Not 
so that they may be saved, but as saved men, they demonstrate 
by their actions their love for the Lord Jesus. But then he speaks 
concerning their love for one another. He deals with commandment 
keeping and he uses as sort of the primary reference this love 
for one another. As Paul tells us, all of the 
law is summarized in that statement, you shall love your neighbor 
as yourself. So that's essentially what he's doing. So we'll take 
up the disciples' love to Christ this morning, verses nine to 
11, under three considerations. First, the pattern, second, the 
precept, and then thirdly, the purpose. Note first the pattern 
in verse 9a. He says, as the father loved 
me, I also have loved you. This is the pattern that they 
are to imbibe. Now the father's love for the 
son is certainly expressed throughout John's gospel. You see it recurringly, 
you see it repetitiously, you see it over and again piled up 
in terms of the father's love for the son. Now, in theology, 
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, of course, there's this mutual 
indwelling of the persons. Of course, they love each other, 
but I think he's speaking according to his humanity. He's speaking 
as the mediator, as the father loved me. The father loved me 
in the sense that I, as the mediator, assumed humanity, is doing everything 
that the father calls me to do, and he loves me as a result of 
that. There are two instances in Matthew's 
gospel where we see this punctuated. We see it at the baptism of our 
Lord, and we see it at his transfiguration. Remember when Jesus goes down 
in that water, and then he comes up again, which does indicate 
he wasn't sprinkled, he was certainly immersed. He goes down into the 
water, and he comes up again, and we hear that voice of approbation 
from heaven, this is my beloved Son. And then again, on the Mount 
of Transfiguration, when they see Moses and Elijah, and they 
hear the word of God Most High, He says, this is my beloved Son, 
hear Him. So when it comes to Christ who 
assumed our humanity, Christ who is placed under the law, 
Christ who lived for us, He had this divine approval. He had 
this love of the Father. Obviously it was reciprocated, 
he loved the father as well, but here specifically he says 
in verse 9, as the father loved me, I also have loved you. Now again, the son according 
to his divinity. The Word who was with God and 
the Word who was God love the disciples. And that love is infinite, 
eternal, and unchangeable. And we know that from all of 
Scripture. But I think he's speaking according 
to his humanity. In fact, look back at chapter 
13 in verse 1, how the upper room discourse begins. Now, before 
the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had 
come, that he should depart from this world to the father, having 
loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. Is that a wonderful thought to 
contemplate or to consider the love of Christ for his people? Again, look at what it says in 
verse 9a, as the father loved me, I also have loved you. As the father loves the son, 
who is altogether lovely and chief among 10,000, as the father 
has loved the son, so the son loves the father. In other words, 
it's not some cheap love. It's not some breakable love. 
It's not some sort of a love that's negotiated. It is rather 
the love that is love to the end. It is love that is firm. It is love that is lasting. It 
is love that is most glorious and most wondrous. In fact, the 
Apostle Paul in Ephesians chapter 3 prays for the Ephesians for 
them to know specific things concerning who God is. And one 
of the petitions he says is that you, being rooted and grounded 
in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the 
width and length and depth and height to know the love of Christ 
which passes knowledge. It's interesting. Commentators 
try to get into width, length, depth, and height. What's he 
talking about? Is he talking about north, south, east, and 
west? Well, I think that latter statement basically tells us 
the truth, to know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge. 
In other words, don't busy yourself trying to figure out what the 
width, the length, the depth, and the height are, because it 
passes knowledge. It surpasses everything that 
is consistent with our station as demoniacs or thieves on the 
cross who have been liberated by the Son of God and loved to 
the very end. Paul wants us to contemplate 
that love. Paul wants us to be stabilized 
by that love. Jesus wants his disciples in 
the upper room discourse, when they embark from this place after 
his ascension on high, when they go into the then known world 
to proclaim his excellencies, he wants them to be sure of that 
love. The fact is, is that when he says, I'm with you always, 
even to the end of the age, that's a marker, a characteristic of 
love. Love doesn't abandon. Love doesn't vacation. It does, 
but temporarily. Love rather is steady. Love is 
constant. Love is abiding. Love is always 
present. And so Jesus wants his disciples 
to be assured of this. And as we move through this particular 
context, it's not only essential that they contemplate the love 
of Christ for them, but it's also essential that they reciprocate 
that love to one another. so that the church is a community 
defined by love while she finds herself in the hostility that 
this world promotes. Notice in verses 18 to 25, he 
turns direction. After love one another, he says, 
don't marvel if the world hates you. You see what he's doing. 
He's preparing his disciples. Within the context of the disciple 
group, within the context of the church, within the context 
of the gathered people of God, we need to buoy one another up 
with love. Why? Because there's a miserable 
world out there that hates us and wants to destroy us. It's 
an amazing thing to me that some people still haven't figured 
that out. They haven't figured out that 
the devil is a reality that he roams about like a roaring lion, 
seeking whom he may devour. That Ephesians 6.12 is a reality. We don't wrestle against flesh 
and blood, but against principalities and powers and those things that 
are behind the physical demonstration of that aggression. So if we're 
not loving one another within the community of the saints, 
if we're not loving one another within the church of the Lord 
Jesus Christ, we're not prepared to go into a hostile world where 
we're battered about for the cause of Jesus. So the Lord is 
taking his disciples through this instruction, telling them 
about the triune God, promising them various gifts that they'll 
need along the way to engage in these greater works, and emphasizing 
the reality that they need to understand the love of Christ 
for them. They need to reciprocate that 
love among one another, and they need to do so in the midst of 
a hostile world that's trying to kill them, or trying to attack 
them, or trying to snuff out their faith, or trying to cause 
them to stumble and to scandalize them. Again, brethren, the devil 
and the world, they're not your friends. They don't have remedial 
ends for you. They're not there cheering you 
on, running the race with endurance. They despise you. And by way 
of analogy, it still shocks me how many people don't see this 
at the political level. The government is not necessarily 
there to always help you. And in many respects, it apes 
or imitates or parallels what the world does generally with 
reference to the people of God. Come to our prayer meeting sometime. 
Listen to voice of the martyrs. You know who the chief oppressor 
of the people of God is in other countries? Oh, the Muslims. Oh, the Roman Catholics. Well, they're there, but it's 
typically the government. It's typically oppression from 
that particular level. And yet, we'll just blindly do 
whatever they say? No, don't love or don't be surprised 
if the world hates you. This is not a new thing, brethren. This is something consistent 
throughout scripture. So the method of the master is 
to prepare his servants for their love for one another and their 
confrontation with a hateful world. Now notice then, after 
the pattern, he gives the precept in verses 9b and 10. 9b, he says, 
abide in my love. And I think he teases that out 
or amplifies that in verse 10. 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. So when he says abide in my love, 
I think John Gill deals sufficiently with the two possible interpretations. He says, meaning either in his 
love to them, abide in my love. In other words, do what I say 
so that I'll continue to love you. Do what I say so that I'll 
continue to show affection to you. Husbands aren't supposed 
to love their wives this way. Wives aren't supposed to love 
their husbands that way. It's not supposed to be conditional. 
As long as you satisfy all my needs, then I will love you. 
That's not what Jesus is saying, but Gil gives this. Meaning either 
in his love to them, which he, as he always continues in without 
any variableness or shadow of turning, so he would have them 
continue in believing their interest in it, prizing and valuing it, 
or in imitating and remembering it. He says, or else in their 
love to him. I'm gonna argue that that's what 
the context would indicate there, especially in that amplified 
version in verse 10. If you keep my commandments, 
you will abide in my love. What's it mean to abide in the 
love of Jesus? It means to keep his commandments. 
Now again, I wanna deal with that in a bit more detail in 
just a moment. But Gil says, or else in their 
love to him, to his person, to his people, to his gospel, to 
his ordinances, ways, worship, which he knew was liable to wax 
cold, though it could not be lost. Again, I think when he 
says, abide in my love, it's not so much do what I tell you 
to do so that I'll continue to love you, but abide in my love 
in such a way to demonstrate through obedience and the faith 
that you have by God's grace, that you are indeed my disciples. In fact, the relationship of 
the disciple to the Savior is not conditioned upon the disciple's 
obedience and love. You need to hear this, brethren. 
The relationship of the disciple to Jesus is not conditioned upon 
the disciple's obedience to the law. Rather, it is conditioned 
upon the Lord's obedience to the law and the shedding of his 
own precious blood. If you didn't get that as we 
just sang, Jesus, thy blood and thy righteousness, you need to 
go back and review. Because that's the point. It's 
not our obedience unto the law that puts us in the favor of 
God. It's Jesus' obedience to the 
law that brings us into favor with God. The disciple is a disciple 
because he was chosen by God from before the foundation of 
the world. Now, some balk at this, some don't like this, some 
say, oh, it seems kind of unfair. But this is what Paul says, just 
as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world. 
If you understand that, instead of saying, it's unfair, you ought 
to say, glory be to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. Because if He didn't choose me, 
I never would have chosen Him. I was dead in my trespasses and 
sins. I was naked living among those 
tombs. I was cutting myself with those 
stones. I was crying out in that graveyard. It was the Lord who sought me. 
It was the Lord who found me. It was the Lord who clothed me. 
It was the Lord who cleansed me. It was the Lord who put me 
back into my right mind. Maybe not totally, still out 
of it a little bit, but I can look forward to glory when it 
will be consummated. It's the obedience of Jesus. 
The disciple is a disciple because he was chosen by God. And in 
time, in history, so just as he chose us in him before the 
foundation of the world. But in time, what happens to 
us? We hear the gospel. We hear about Jesus. We hear 
about His death, His resurrection. We hear about His life of obedience. And by the presence and the power 
of the Holy Spirit, He regenerates us. He makes us born again. He 
grants us the graces of faith and repentance so that we receive 
the benefits that Christ has accomplished. So He chose us. He regenerates us. We believe 
on Him. As well, through faith, we believe 
in Jesus for salvation. And then His love, or our love, 
after we've been chosen, we've been regenerated, we believe 
on the Lord Jesus Christ. So there's no place to say it's 
my love and my obedience that earns me a title to heaven. No, 
it's the love of Jesus and the obedience of Jesus that brings 
us that right to heaven. Our love for Him, our obedience 
to Him, are the lively evidences. They're the fruits of that. They're 
the consequences, not the condition. The condition for our acceptance 
with God is Jesus, Thy blood and righteousness. We are cleansed 
in His blood, we are clothed in His righteousness, and as 
a result, consequentially, we will love Him. We will obey Him. We will seek by God's grace to 
be faithful to Him. And when we stumble and fall, 
which we will, we have an advocate with the Father, even Jesus Christ 
the righteous. We confess our sins and He is 
faithful and just to forgive us. Jesus is not laying conditions 
upon them for their acceptance with God. If you don't, I'm gonna 
cut you off. No, that's not the way we're 
supposed to interpret this. Rather, we're supposed to see 
it as those justified freely by God's grace, through faith 
in the Savior. The result or consequence of 
that is that they will have love for the Savior. That love will 
be demonstrated in their obedience to the Savior. It is a most wonderful 
thing. Our love to Christ and obedience 
to Christ are not conditions for us abiding in the love of 
Christ. Rather, our love to Christ and 
obedience to Christ are consequences of grace received. If everybody 
got that, we could end here, because that's my concern. There 
are too many Protestants today selling papists. You know, anything 
about the history of theology and the Protestant Reformation? 
What did the Protestants reform? Or protest, rather? Going to 
that first name, Protestant. Well, that's an interesting name, 
but they like to go out and stand out and hold signs. They protested 
the Church of Rome. And one of the aspects they protested 
in the Church of Rome was this addition of works to faith. You've got to believe plus do 
all these things. And once you've believed and 
plus done all these things, then you'll be accepted to God. He 
said, well, how could they get to that conclusion in light of 
the book of Galatians and Romans? Exactly. How could they have 
gotten that conclusion? That's what Calvin and Luther 
and Zwingli and the others were saying. How could they get there? Read Galatians sometime and ask 
yourself if the Apostle Paul wants you to believe and be circumcised 
in order to go to heaven. May it never be. Paul pronounces 
a curse, the wrath and fury and judgment of God, the condemnation 
of God in hell for any who would twist or distort the gospel of 
free grace. When the papers come and say, 
faith plus works, and now we've got Protestants emphasizing faith 
plus works, we need a good dose of instruction concerning causes 
and consequences. Our faith, our obedience, is 
not the cause or even a contributing factor to the cause of our acceptance 
with God. It is rather the consequence. 
because we're accepted in the Beloved, because we've been justified 
freely by grace, because we've been received by the Father through 
the Son in the Spirit, it is now a blessed privilege for us 
to love Him and for us to obey Him. The blood-bought children 
of God don't hear scripture saying, you need to obey the Savior. 
Again, not for your salvation, but because you're saved. You 
don't say, I can't believe God wants me to follow Him. No! We delight in the law of God, 
right? We're like the psalmist in Psalm 
1. We're like the psalmist in Psalm 
119, who, by the way, those are descriptions of Jesus. We're 
like him insofar as we believe in him. What does the psalmist 
say? I delight in the law of God day 
and night. Or I delight in the law of God, 
it is my meditation day and night. What's John the apostle tell 
us about the commandments of God? They're not burdensome. Now brethren, we're not perfect, 
I get it. See, we got our challenges, we 
got our issues, we got our struggles. Paul recognizes that, Romans 
7, Galatians 5. But for the most part, the general 
overarching desire of the people of God, I know it seems zany, 
but they want to follow Christ. That's his point, not follow 
me or I'm going to cut you off. but follow me because this is 
what I've saved you to do. Abide in my love, keep my commandments. And then notice, after having 
made this particular statement, he declares, abide in my love. 
And then he demonstrates this abiding in his love in verse 
10. If you keep my commandments, 
you will abide in my love. And note the comparison, just 
as I have kept my father's commandments and abide in his love. Now, this 
is a recurring emphasis in the upper room. Look back at chapter 
14 on this whole idea of keeping my commandments. John 14 at verse 
15, if you love me, keep my commandments. John 14 at verse 21, he who has 
my commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves me. And he 
who loves me will be loved by my father and I will love him 
and manifest myself to him. Notice in verse 23, if anyone 
loves me, he will keep my word and my father will love him and 
we will come to him and make our home with him. And then again 
in 15.7, notice if you abide in me and my words abide in you, 
you will ask what you desire and it shall be done for you. 
So this is not a unique theme in the grand context here in 
the book of John, specifically in the Upper Room. Again, the 
theological order isn't, abide or keep my commandments and do 
these things so that you get my love. There's a couple of 
other passages that we need to consider as well in this regard, 
in terms of order. Galatians 4.9, but now after 
you have known God, or rather are known by God, or 1 John 4.19, 
we love him because he first loved us. You didn't wake up 
one grand morning and say, well, you know, just decided to follow 
Jesus. I mean, that may have been how it came out, but that's 
not what happened. God, in his infinite grace and 
mercy, took out your wretched rebel heart and put in a new 
fleshly heart. I don't mean physically. You 
don't have a scar there. Spiritually, this is the promise 
of the prophet Ezekiel in Ezekiel 36. It's ratified, confirmed, 
affirmed, demonstrated, and displayed in John 3 in Jesus' discussion 
with Nicodemus. When he says, are you the teacher 
of Israel? You don't know these things? He's not trying to stomp 
old Nicodemus there. Nicodemus should have known the 
realities of Ezekiel 36, that in the New Covenant era, there 
was going to be divine heart surgery rendered. There was going 
to be that cutting out the old dead heart and replacing it with 
a new fleshly heart. There was going to be the knowledge 
of God that was expansive and entire with reference to the 
New Covenant community. There was going to be that forgiveness 
of sins, that internalization of the law of God. Jesus upbraids 
Nicodemus because as a teacher of Israel, he missed the mark 
when it came to promises of the new covenant. And so what we 
have here in this particular emphasis in verse 10, if you 
keep my commandments, you will abide in my love. Again, not 
be, if you do this, then you'll be saved. But notice then this 
comparison, just as I have kept my father's commandments and 
abide in his love. Now, brethren, he is obviously 
here speaking according to his humanity. There's no obedience 
in God in himself. Sometimes today it's happening 
more so with Protestants than even Papists. It's the attempt 
to distinguish the persons of the Godhead, Father from Son 
from Spirit. What do you think they do to 
distinguish the Son from the Father? His obedience, his submission. his willingness to undergo what 
the Father commands. There's no obedience in God at 
intra. There's no obedience in terms 
of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each having the whole divine 
essence, yet the essence undivided. We start breaking that up, we 
end up in tritheism. We've got the big God, we've 
got the littler God, and then we've got the smallest God of 
all. He's not talking about what is true with reference to His 
Father and the Spirit. He's talking about His work as 
the mediator. The Word became flesh and dwelt 
among us. The word obeyed the Father, Jesus, 
thy blood and righteousness. We need the blood shed at the 
cross to cleanse us from our sin. We need the righteousness 
as the clothing so that we are fit now to enter into the presence 
of God most high. We need everything and Christ 
supplies it. And here he uses this by way 
of comparison. So in verse 10, 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. So whatever 
he is saying, it can't be bad. Jesus wants me to abide in his 
love and keep his commandments, just as I have abided in my father's 
love and kept his commandments. How arrogant on our part to say, 
well, no, you know, I'm saved, and it's by grace, and it's through 
faith, and in the life of sanctification, I can just do whatever I want. 
No, you need to obey God. You need to follow the Lamb. 
And you do so with joy, and with thankfulness, and with delight. So in the general context, the 
Lord is speaking according to his humanity. But in terms of 
the theology involved, this is the righteousness aspect of the 
hymn. Jesus, thy blood and righteousness. We refer to his bloodshedding 
as passive obedience. Now, passive there doesn't mean 
he was uninvolved. probably is related to the word 
passion, which indicates suffering. We look at the death of Jesus 
Christ, his penal sufferings, as his passive obedience. But 
then there's that active obedience. He always does what pleases the 
Father. There are theologians today that 
deny the place of active obedience. The imputed active obedience 
of Jesus, it's just some sort of a fake shit. Why do you think 
Jesus highlights it all the time? Why do you think Jesus speaks 
about it all the time? And here specifically, he says, 
just as I have kept my father's commandments and abide in his 
love. Look back at John 4, specifically 
at verse 34, John 4, 34. My food is to do the will of 
him who sent me and to finish his work." John 5, verse 19. Then Jesus answered and said 
to them, most assuredly, I say to you, the son can do nothing 
of himself, but what he sees the father do, for whatever he 
does, the son also does in like manner. Notice as well in John 
6 at verse 38, for I have come down from heaven not to do my 
own will, but the will of him who sent me. John 8, specifically 
at verse 29. John 8, verse 29, and he who 
sent me is with me. The father has not left me alone 
for I always do those things that please him. Brethren, we 
need the blood of the Lamb to cleanse us from all of our sin. 
We need the righteousness of Christ to present ourselves, 
or Him present us to the Father, lovely. See, we need both. And that's what justification 
is. And it's an act of God's free grace wherein He pardons 
all of our sins and accepts us as righteous in His sight, only 
for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us and received by 
faith alone. If you don't have that, Come 
to the Lord Jesus. If you don't have that blood 
and righteousness or an interest in that, then believe on him. Notice John 8, verse 55, as he's 
fighting with the religious Jews, the religious leaders in Israel, 
not fighting physically, but verbally, that you have not known 
him, but I know him. And if I say, I do not know him, 
I shall be a liar like you, but I do know him and keep his word. 
Look at John 10, verses 17 and 18. Therefore, my father loves 
me. Why? Because I lay down my life 
that I may take it again. No one takes it from me, but 
I lay it down to myself. I have power to lay it down, 
and I have power to take it again. This command I have received 
from my father." Notice in 12, 27, and 28. Now my soul is troubled, 
and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour, 
but for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify your 
name. And then again in 1431, he uses 
this with reference to his exhortation to his disciples. 1431, but that the world may 
know that I love the Father and as the Father gave me commandments, 
so I do. Arise, let us go from here. So 
you see what he's doing? It says, as the Father loved 
me, I also have loved you. Now, I want you to abide in my 
love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love. He 
uses a comparison, just as I have kept my Father's commandments 
and abide in his love. In other words, what he's doing 
communicates blessing, privilege, and benefit to them, but also 
example. Why should we live the way that 
Jesus calls us to live? Because that's the way that Jesus 
lived for us. That's the model. That's the 
pattern. That's the way. That, dare I 
say it, is the key to a happy life. And that brings us finally 
to the purpose. Notice, these things I have spoken 
to you. Could be a specific reference 
to chapter 15, verses 1 to 8. drawing out implications from 
the metaphor concerning vine and branches, or it could be 
the context as a whole, the upper room, or the entirety of his 
ministry with that. Whichever way he tells us, verse 
11, these things I have spoken to you that my joy may remain 
in you and that your joy may be full. Now there's two things 
obviously going on here. that my joy may remain in you. I mean, if you're thinking clearly 
through a passage like this, implication, you're not. I didn't 
mean it quite that way, but if you're thinking through a passage 
like this, you're probably still back a ways going, he actually 
loves me. That's mind blowing. He actually 
loves me. He found me in those tombs naked, 
screaming, cutting. He found me in those tombs just 
viciously going after everybody around. He found me there out 
of my mind, and he loved me. He clothed me. He put me in his 
right mind. You're still back there thinking, 
it's kind of like getting that notice in the mail. You've just 
won a free, all-inclusive paid trip to Mexico. We know there 
ain't no such thing as a free lunch. I mean, sometimes things 
sound too good to be true. And in the temporal sphere, that's 
a pretty good, solid rule. But with reference to Christ, 
we think, he loved me? Now, let's just think about what's 
going on in verse 11. that my joy, the Savior says, 
may remain in you. You know, love for us isn't this, 
I have to love them in the covenant of redemption, this is what I 
agreed to, and I just gotta love them. It's not that kind of love. My joy may remain in you. There's two joys going on here. 
His joy in us, and then the text, verse 11, ends with our joy in 
him. But with reference to His joy 
in us, He loves me, but He's also joyful in me? I don't get 
it. I don't understand it. The Bible 
teaches it. Who for the joy that was set 
before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is sat 
down at the right hand of the Father. That our Savior loves 
us, and that it's not this kind of grin and bear it, I gotta 
love you kind of love, but a joy-filled love that terminates on the object 
of that love. That my joy may remain in you. Brethren, again, these are things 
we should think about once in a while. He actually loves me, 
and He's actually happy with me. My dog's not always that 
way with me. My friends aren't always that 
way with me. My spouse isn't always that way 
with me. My parents aren't always, you 
get the point. He loves us and his joy abides 
in us or remains in us. It is truly an amazing statement. 
But then notice after speaking about his joy, you kind of see 
this parable. The father loved me, love. as I've had joy or as I have 
joy in you, joy, he's speaking according to his humanity as 
the mediator for us men and for our salvation in a specific way 
calculated to promote from these disciples that when they leave 
this upper room and they see the atrocities that are going 
to play out before them, They're going to see Jerusalem, city 
of sinners, say, away with him, away with him, crucify him. They're 
going to see him brutalized. They're going to see him agonizing. 
They're going to see him treated with abject contempt. They're 
going to see him put up, not on a throne, but on a cross. 
They're going to see crown of thorns embedded into, they're 
going to see all this. Once they get past that, once 
they see the resurrection glory, once they understand all too 
well, not that they don't, but they're still kind of coming 
to it. Disciples aren't even present there at the cross. When 
it comes down to it, they need to be ready. with all that they've 
seen, with all that they've learned, with all that they've experienced, 
with all the admonition and exhortation and instruction to leave from 
their places of comfort to go into the uttermost parts of the 
earth to testify concerning the glory of Jesus Christ and His 
saving power. So again, verse 11, these things 
I have spoken to you that my joy may remain in you and that 
your joy may be full. I think there's an expectation 
that the passage provides or invites for us. What do you think 
when somebody says, well, if you do this, then this? There's 
kind of an expectation that's not a happy one. If you do this, 
then this. Well, you could just ask me. 
There's an expectation of burden, right? If you do this, then this. Well, 
the, if you doing this thing must be pretty tough in order 
to get the, that thing. But do you see what Jesus is 
saying? The, if you do this thing demonstrates 
you're rightly connected to me through faith thing, which means 
fullness of joy. There's no burden in doing what 
Jesus says. There's no challenge except our 
own remaining corruption. But in principle, why should 
we want to not keep the Sabbath day holy? Why should we want 
to commit idolatry? Why should we want to engage 
in adultery? Those are horrible things. So 
notice that the particular purpose here in verse 11 is that Jesus 
has joy in us, and it remains, and that your joy may be full. So the expectation and emphasis 
on obedience may lead to the interpretation of burden. I got to obey, I don't like to 
obey, so that's going to be a burden or it's going to be grievous. 
I already cited 1 John 5, 3, for this is the love of God that 
we keep His commandments and His commandments are not burdensome. With reference to this, there 
is this reciprocity. Jesus has joy in us. We have 
joy in Him. Jesus loves us. We love one another. What we learn from the Master, 
we turn outward to others. And then as well, the blessedness. Look back at chapter 14, specifically 
at verse 27. Peace I leave with you, my peace 
I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give 
to you. Let not your heart be troubled, 
neither let it be afraid. Just by way of conclusion here, 
look at what he is promising. You've got peace. You've got 
joy. You've got above that the salvation 
for which you ought to be peace-filled about and joyful about. You've got communion with the 
living and true God. You've got every spiritual blessing 
in the heavenly places in Christ. Jesus, if I can say it, motivates 
these disciples at the level that they desperately need to 
witness the horrors they're gonna witness, to then go out and do 
what they eventually do. They turn the world upside down. Why? Because of the peace of 
Christ, because of the love of Christ, because of the word of 
Christ, because of the presence of Christ, because of the gift 
of another comforter, the advocate, the Holy Spirit of truth, everything 
these men need to equip them for the work of mission is being 
conveyed upon them by the Savior King. And I wanna conclude by 
highlighting the last part of verse 11. And I wanna ask you 
to ask yourself the simple question, do I have joy? I'm not saying 
do you have bad days? We all have bad days. I'm not 
saying do you have seasons and periods where, man, it's just 
rough. I'm talking about melancholy. 
I'm not talking about, you know, season of depression. I'm just 
asking, do you have joy? not in your cat, not in your 
bank account, not in your car, not in a sunny day, but in God 
the Lord. There is an empty search for 
joy that is often entertained by man. The prophet Isaiah speaks 
to this in Isaiah 55. Why do you spend your wages for 
that which does not satisfy? So I guess I'm talking to any 
here today that haven't believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. And 
I would ask with Isaiah, why do you do that? Why do you pursue 
joy in things that are not calculated to promote joy? Why would you 
spend your energies? Why would you spend your efforts? 
Why would you busy yourselves going after things that ultimately 
are here for a moment and then pass away? That's essentially 
what the prophet does in Isaiah 55. I've preached it several 
times, usually when I come back from vacation. So I had to fit 
it in at some point. I think it fits in well here. 
Hope. Everyone who thirsts, let him 
come, is what the prophet says to the sinner. You don't have 
money? Come buy and eat. I'll fill you, 
God says, through the prophet with wine that exhilarates, with 
milk that nourishes, with water that satisfies. Everything there 
is that a desperate sinner needs is to be had in God. That's how 
the chapter starts. And then he says, why? Why do 
you spend your money on things that don't satisfy? Why would 
you go to a first-class restaurant with an all-expense-paid trip 
to the table and say, you know what? I'm going to walk through 
the kitchen. I'm going to go to the back of the restaurant. And I'm going to dumpster dive. Why would you do that? Why would 
you jump? Probably the dumpster behind a first-class restaurant 
might be OK. but you're bypassing the table 
that is set with all of the goodies and you're gonna go jump into 
a dumpster? That's a ludicrous illustration, but that's precisely 
what sinners do all the time. You hear there's every spiritual 
blessing in the heavenly places to be had in Jesus? Nah. I'm gonna go out and dive into 
a dumpster. I'm gonna go out and satisfy 
my lusts. I'm gonna go out and search for joy in the creature 
that cannot provide any lasting joy whatsoever. Why do you do 
that, the prophet says? As well, look at the text again 
in 11b, that your joy may be full. What does this teach us 
about the joy that the people of God possess? I would suggest 
it tells us it is constant, even in the midst of trials. There's gonna be trials. Verse 
18, if the world hates you, you know that it hated me before 
it hated you. Look at 16.2. They will put you 
out of the synagogues. Yes, the time is coming that 
whoever kills you will think that he offers God's service. 
And these things they will do to you because they have not 
known the Father nor me. The joy that the people of God 
have has is constant, even in trial, or affliction, or heartache, 
or sorrow, or difficulty. I mean, it's not the upbeat, 
oh, I'm great, I'm fine, everything's great. You're allowed to agonize. You're allowed to cry out the 
lamentations alongside of Jeremiah and Asaph and other sad singers 
in Israel in the Old Testament. You're more than happy or more 
than permitted to do that. That's why God puts those in 
there. but it's never completely devoid of joy. We have the joy 
that is constant. We have a joy that is progressive 
because it's gonna be full. That means it's not full yet. So it's constant, it's progressive. And brethren, I think that that 
progress is seen through our lives, through our trust in the 
Savior, through our following the Savior, through our maturation, 
through our understanding more about the Savior's love for us, 
and all those sorts of things. But as well, it is full in glory, 
that your joy may be full, completely filled to the very brim, probably 
waits till Emmanuel's land. So it's constant, it's progressive, 
but it's going to be full. It's going to overflow. Communion with God Almighty provides 
the fullness of joy. Our brother read Psalm 16 and 
highlighted the messianic part at the end. I'm sure he would 
agree the whole thing's messianic, but at verses nine to 11, therefore 
my heart is glad and my glory rejoices. Now, brethren, I realize 
we don't know of a truth that that's what Jesus prayed in the 
Garden of Gethsemane. We don't know that of a truth. 
But we do know of a truth that the Psalter is all about Jesus. 
Not just, you know, a few messianic Psalms. Jesus is the Psalm one 
man. That's not a description of you 
and I, even at our best. Jesus is the Psalm two king. Those two Psalms introduce everything 
to follow. And it's all about Jesus. So 
I think there is some merit in, if not verbalizing it in Gethsemane, 
it's in his mind. But listen, he's agonizing in 
Gethsemane. My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, 
even unto death. On the cross, my God, my God, 
why hast thou forsaken me? Psalm 22 one, we are told specifically 
that that's what Jesus cried out from the cross. We hear that 
and we forget the rest of it. My soul trusts in you. So in the midst of his grief 
and affliction and trial and pain, he's able to trust and 
rejoice in the Father. I just want to end the sermon 
here. Why are you searching for those 
things that are vain? Those things that will always 
come up short? Those things that are always 
just fainting and fleeting and temporary? When you could come 
to God Most High through the Son, the Lord Jesus, in faith 
and know pleasures forevermore. Come to Jesus, believe on Jesus, 
and you will be saved. Well, let us pray. Our God and 
our Father, we thank you for our Lord's instruction here in 
the upper room. We thank you for all four Gospels and what 
is taught us concerning our Savior, concerning the blessings that 
we enjoy in Him. We pray for the prosperous nature 
of the gospel today, that it would run forth swiftly and be 
glorified, that many from every tribe and tongue and people and 
nation would be called out of darkness into marvelous light, 
by your grace and for your glory. And we ask this in Jesus' name. 
Amen. Well, let's stand and close our 
service by singing the doxology. It can be found on page 568. 
Doxology in praise to our triune God. ♪ Praise him, all ye that hear 
him call ♪ ♪ Praise him, all ye that hear him call ♪ The Lord bless you and keep you. 
The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. 
The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. 
Amen. Well, please be seated for a 
brief time of meditation.