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e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e good morning to everyone welcome to Free Grace Baptist Church a welcome back for all of our regulars and a a fresh welcome for any visitors out there this morning it's good to have you join us for uh for the worship of our trying God this morning just a few announcements before we begin worship uh we welcome Pastor Butler back it's uh it's great for him to be on on vacation for a time but it's also great to have him back and with us preaching uh this uh this morning and this evening uh the Lord's supper is tonight so at our 5:00 pm service we'll be observing the Lord's Supper um Wednesday night bible study returns this upcoming Wednesday at 7:30 uh it's good that Wednesday night bible study is on Wednesday um it's at 7:30 in the fellowship hall um so anyone who can attend it's uh it's great to have you there um Saturday morning theology class will also be starting uh this week so on Saturday the 7th uh bright and early at 6:30 p.m. if anyone's interested you can uh contact Pastor Butler if you'd like to be added to the email list for our uh Saturday morning theology class we're beginning an introduction to the doctrine of the Trinity by uh Scott Swain so uh everybody's welcome to that well let's begin our worship then let's turn in our Bibles to Psalm 16 psalm 16 our call to worship this morning as we read this though it's not a dogmatic statement some have thought that Christ perhaps may have prayed this uh in the Garden of Gethsemane as we read through especially as we get to uh verses uh 7 and following verse 9 to verse 11 uh we can certainly see the Messianic nature of this Psalm psalm 16 beginning at verse one a mcum of David preserve me oh God for in you I put my trust oh my soul you have said to the Lord you are my Lord my goodness is nothing apart from you as for the Saints who are on the earth they are the excellent ones in whom is all my delight their sorrows shall be multiplied who hasten after another God their drink offerings of blood I will not offer nor take up their names on my lips oh Lord you are the portion of my my inheritance and my cup you maintain my lot the lines have fallen to me in Pleasant places yes I have a good inheritance I Will Bless The Lord who has given me counsel my heart also instructs me in the night Seasons I have set the lord always before me because he is at my right hand I shall not be moved therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices My Flesh also will rest in Hope for you will not leave my soul in shol nor will you allow your Holy One to see corruption you will show me the path of life in your presence his fullness of joy at your right hand our Pleasures forever more amen well let's stand together and sing our first hymn is Psalm 148b is in Bravo 148b let's stand and sing together the heavens praise His name Prest all his angels praise all go together pra him moon and [Music] stars [Applause] [Music] gra is and His glory is and his glor is and glor is ex [Music] Earth and his and forever be EST hise shall the Earth all mon all and and is for GL is his glor is and his glor [Music] is the Earth and Sky all all M heav K of Earth and allers Judes all and children let the [Applause] prise [Music] for and is and his glor is ex and glor is ex the [Music] Earth let's go to our God In Prayer let's pray Heavenly Father we come to you in prayer on this your Lord's Day gathering together in the name of our savior the Lord Jesus Christ and we pray that you would help us now to hallow your most high name we pray that as we gather and now as we pray uh in this act of worship we pray that you would give us by your spirit understanding reverence and godly fear that we would come to you by faith rejoicing in our one and only living and true God Father Son and Holy Spirit we rejoice in you we rejoice in your your multitude of goodnesses and blessings towards us we thank thank you for Jesus Christ Our Savior we rejoice in the Blessed fact that in the fullness of the times you did send forth your son born of a woman and born under the law to redeem those under the law that in Jesus we have very God and very man yet one Christ the only mediator between God and man and we pray that you would help us to rejoice in the blessedness of gospel salvation knowing that we're saved not by Deeds of righteousness which we have done but solely and alone according to your mercy you saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit by virtue of the perfect work of Our Savior Jesus Christ his doing his dying and his glorious Rising again we thank you that he now sits at your right hand where he does ever live to make intercession for his people we pray that you would be uh with those unable to join us whether for injury for illness for travel we pray that you would watch over them and strengthen them uh we pray Lord God that you would be with the favors that you would strengthen them in body that you would encourage them in Soul all those struggling with illness and disease that you would tend to them and heal them that you would give them strength in the physical man and in the Inner Man with respect to their spirit that you would lift them up to high thoughts joyful thoughts of their God and their savior the Lord Jesus Christ we thank you for the birth of uh Ike this baby boy to Tyler and arienne we pray that you would bless mother and child that you would cause this baby to to have strength in body to to grow uh in health and In Due Time by your grace and For Your Glory profess the name of Jesus Christ Our Savior we PR pray that you be with both mother and father cause them to rejoice and cause them to sing your Praises for the wonderful gifts that you give and with all those uh presently with child we pray that you would strengthen uh the mothers we pray that you would strengthen babies in the wombs and Lord God we just thank you for these gifts that you give and we pray for much health we pray that you would lift up those down in spirit that you would cause them to rejoice in the joy of their salvation and cause them to have a blessed joyful thoughts of their God and their savior the Lord Jesus we pray God for the persecuted Church throughout the world as we're we're called in the scriptures to pray for those who are impr prison those who are in Chains those who are persecuted for uh confessing the Blessed truth as it is in Jesus Christ we pray that throughout the world our Brothers and Sisters in Christ would be protected by you that they would be strengthened by you that in the face of opposition you would give them much courage and much confidence we pray that you would deal with those who are opposing them the the tyranny of governments the the tyranny of their own countrymen and even their own families we pray that you would cause them uh to know the truth that by spirit and your gospel you would bring them forth from Darkness to light we pray for those who would remain and in reprobate opposition to the people of God that you would take them out of the way that you would rip out their fangs and cause them to uh to wither away as the snail as we often pray that they would no longer bring violence against the people of Christ we pray for those who govern over us we pray for rulers those who are in Authority that you would cause them to rule in righteousness and in proper Justice we pray that you would cast down those who would seek to uphold wickedness in the land and that you would raise up those to rule in righteousness we do pray Lord now for pastor Butler as he returns to the pulpit and as he opens up the Bible to preach your word do give him strength in this Pulpit help him to know the aid of the Holy Spirit uh that he would know that help from on high to preach your word uh in a manner of great confidence and great joy we pray that it would come to us clearly and that by that same Spirit Lord God you would stir the hearts of your people that we would have high thoughts of Christ that we would be well equipped to go out in this crooked and perverse generation to hold forth your word of Truth and we pray that the preaching of the go gospel this morning the preaching of the word of God would be unto the salvation of Sinners that by your grace many would be saved this morning young and old and that they would own Jesus Christ as their own we pray that you would be with us now in worship and we pray in the name of Jesus Christ Our blessed savior amen well let's stand and sing together our second hymn will be Psalm 121a let's stand as a church and sing 121a [Music] I help the to and Earth has we will not your [Music] will not for will your right hand the Lord your keeper is your sh shall you by by of all [Music] and the Lord he you can turn in your Bibles with me to the gospel of Mark Mark chapter 5 as we read every Lord's Day morning consecutively through the New Testament we're now at Mark 5 we'll read from verse vers 1 to verse 20 Mark 5 beginning at verse 1 uh once again the word of the Triune God then they came to the other side of the sea to the country of the gines and when he had come out of the boat immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean Spirit who had his dwelling among the tombs and no one could bind him not even with chains because he had often been found with shackles and chains and the chains had been pulled apart by him and the shackles broken in pieces neither could anyone tame him and always night and day he was in the mountains and in the tombs crying out and cutting himself with stones when he saw Jesus from afar he ran and worshiped him and he cried out with a loud voice and said what have I to do with you Jesus Son of the most high God I implore you by God that you do not torment me for he said to him come out of the man unclean Spirit then he asked him what is your name and he answered saying my name is Legion for we are many also he begged him earnestly that he would not send them out of the country now a large herd of swine was feeding there near the mountains so all the demons begged him saying send us to the swine that we may enter them and the uh and at once Jesus gave them permission then the unclean spirits went out and entered the swine there uh excuse me then the unclean spirits went out and entered the swine there were about 2,000 and the herd ran violently down the Steep Place into the sea and drowned in the sea so those who fed the swine fled and they told it in the city and in the country and they went out to see what it was that happened then they came to Jesus and saw the one who had been demon possessed and had the legion sitting and clothed in his right mind and they were afraid and those who saw it told them how it happened to him who had been demon-possessed and about the swine then they began to plead with him to depart from their region and when he got into the boat he who had been demon-possessed begged him that he might be with him however Jesus did not permit him but said to him go home to your friends and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you and how he has had compassion on you and he departed and began to Proclaim into capis all that Jesus had done for him and all marveled amen well just briefly a couple of things one thing that we could note here is that if if I was to ask you as Christians who who in the Bible do you most identify with you know perhaps some of you might say ah you know what I I kind of identify with Moses or I see myself I see the Apostle Paul in me a little bit you know maybe Peter ah I think I'm a I'm a David or a Daniel well I would implore you to consider that you should identify most with two people either the thief on the cross or the demon-possessed Gathering because as Christians we are those who are brought from a place where we were not in our right Minds where we were as it were and in a sense demon-possessed found in wickedness found in iniquity found in darkness and sin and Christ comes to us and by his glory and by his grace and by his conquering Majesty he puts us rightly clothed and rightly in our own minds sitting by the grace of God and resting upon the blessedness of Amazing Grace we were once a demon-possessed man we are now those who are brought forth by the grace of God to be such as who then go out into the the the it's a it's a wonderful pattern if you will for evangelism we're found in Sid God comes comes to us he saves Us by his grace through the glory and the Perfection of Christ and then we go out into decapolis 10 cities and preach all that Jesus had done for us it's a wonderful thing that Jesus does here uh don't stay with me though that's what we of course want to do but rather go out to your friends tell them what great things the Lord has done for you and how he has had compassion on you and in decapolis it would have been it would have been they would have been ravished by Pagan idolatry and religion in those 10 cities there was some Semitic religions going on perhaps a measure of Judaism to a certain degree but many without belief many in sin and in trespass hearing from this previously demon-possessed man the glories of Jesus Christ and just finally notice that the demon identifies himself as Legion a a word applied to Roman armies of about 6,000 people you can think of 6,000 demons ravaging this man uh amongst these tombs and the Conquering Christ comes and these 6,000 demons if that is the case cow before the king of kings and Lord of lords that's our Christ the Conqueror our warrior king Our Redeemer who brings many sons to Glory through the Perfection of his saving work let's pray Heavenly Father we thank you for your word we rejoice in your goodness to us thank you for this account of the the Conquering Majesty of our savior the Lord Jesus Christ we pray that you would cause us to be like this one who goes out and tells our friends tells many about the glories the riches and the ex encies of Jesus Christ help us to rehearse those today as we are here gathered in worship help us to rejoice in our blessed savior and that we would sing the Praises of Father Son and Holy Spirit we pray in the Name of Christ amen well let's stand and sing together our final hymn before the preaching is hymn number 457 let's stand and sing 457 together my love and myy are my glorious World great shall up my stand in by great for to my shall he through the s and from and shame to [Music] my Jesus di for me praise to for GL [Music] everting now my voice now glor Jesus for and [Music] right 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 to1 17 are a unit but much is going on there so we'll just take up the first section this morning verses 9 to1 11 and then God willing next Sunday verses 12 to 17 well 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 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 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 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 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 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 have 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 CH 12: 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 131 to 2031 we have what we call the book of The Passion it records the the death and the resurrection of our Lord and the events leading up to that and then the book ends on an epil OG 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 13-6 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 tri 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 14:12 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 1 to8 which we've already considered remember in verses 1 to8 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 looking forward to a future sort of Israel ethnic uh uh 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 to7 Tey 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 the 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 the primary reference this love for one another 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 9 to1 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 loved you this is the pattern that they are to emide 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 over and again uh uh uh uh 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 they 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 who 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 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 uh 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 live 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 loved 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 one 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 are 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 allog together 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 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 love 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 the the then Known World to Proclaim his excellencies they want or 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 Mark or 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 Divine 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 Bing 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 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 to cause them to stumble and to scandalize them again Brethren the devil in 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 meetings sometime listen to voice of the martyrs you know who the chief oppressor of the people of God is in other countries oh the the Muslims oh the the the 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 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 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 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 gild deals sufficiently with the two possible interpretations he says meaning either in his love to them abide in my love 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 a shadow of turning so he would have them continue in believing their interest in it prizing and valuing it or in uh in imitating and remembering it he says or else in their love to him I'm going to 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 want to deal with that in a bit more detail in just a moment but Gil says or else and 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 you demonstrate through obedience and the faith that you have by God's grace you are indeed my disciples in fact the relationship of the disciple to the savior is not conditioned upon the disciples obedience and love you need to hear this Brethren the the relationship of the disciple to Jesus Jus is not conditioned upon the disciples 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 on under 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 BO at this some don't like this some say 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 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 uh 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 uh he chose us uh in him before the foundation of the world but in time what happened happens to us we hear the gospel we hear about Jesus we hear about his death his resurrection we hear about his 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 We Believe on him as well through faith we believe in Jesus for s salvation and then his love or our love after we've been chosen we've been regenerated we We Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ so so there's there's no place to say it's 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 the Lively evidences they're the fruits of them 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 if you don't I'm going to 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 if everybody got that we we could end here because that's my concern there are too much too many Protestants today sounding papists if you know anything about the history of Theology and the Protestant Reformation what did the pro Protestants reform or protest rather going to that first name Protestant well that's an interesting name did they like to go out and stand out and Hold sign 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 saywell 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 zwingley and the others were saying yeah how 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 papists 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 wants me to follow him no we Delight in the law of God right we we're like the psalmist in Psalm 1 we're like the psalmist in in Psalm 119 who by the way those are descriptions of Jesus who are like him in so far as we believe in him what is what is the psalmist say I I Delight in the law of God day and night or I Delight in the law of God it it is my meditation day and night what's John the Apostle tell us about the Commandments of God they're not burdensome they're no Brethren we're not perfect I get it see does you really we got our challenges we got our issues we we we got our struggles Paul WR recognizes that Romans 7 Galatians 5 but for the most part the general uh General overarching desire of the people of God I I know it seems zany but they want to follow Christ that's his point not follow me or I'm GNA 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 uh John uh 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 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 so this is not a unique theme in the the the the grand uh context here in the book of of John specifically in the upper room again the theological order is doesn't abide or keep my Commandments and and do these things so that you get my my love there a couple of other passages that we need to consider as well in this this Regard in terms of order Galatians 4:9 but now after you have known God or rather are known by God or first John 4:19 we love him because he first loved us you you didn't wake up one grand morning so have just decided to follow Jesus I mean that may have been how it came out but 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 and spiritually this is the prom promise of the Prophet Ezekiel in Ezekiel 36 it's ratified confirmed affirmed demonstrated and 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's going to be divine Heart s 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 teach 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 there's no obedience in God in himself self sometimes today it's happening more so with Protestants than even papists it's the 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 in at intra there's no obedience in terms of Father Son and Holy Spirit each having the whole Divine Essence yet the essence undivided if we start breaking that up we end up in tritheism we got the big God we got the little God and then we 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 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 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 blood shedding 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 some sort of a fiction 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 434 my food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work John 5: 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: 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 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 yet 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: 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 14:31 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 so you see what he's doing 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 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 veres 1 to8 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 them whichever way he tells us verse 11 these things I have spoken to you that my joy May remain in you and that your Jo Joy may be full now there's two things obviously going on here that that my joy May remain in you I mean if you're thinking clearly through a passage like this implication you're not I I didn't mean it quite that way but but if you're thinking through a passage like this you're probably still backways going he actually loves me that's mindblowing he he actually loves me he found me in those tombs naked screaming cutting he found me in those tombs just you know viciously going after everybody around he found found me there out of my mind and and he 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 to you know 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 we think he he loved me now 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 it's love for us isn't this I have to love them and the Covenant of redemption this is what I agreed to and I I just got to love them it's not that kind of love like my joy May remain in you there's two Joys going on here 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 he loves me but he's also joyful in me I don't get it understand it 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 father that our savior loves us and that it's not this kind of grin and Barrett I got to love you kind of love but a joy filled love that that terminates on the object of that love that that my joy May remain in you Brethren again these are things we should think about once in a while he he actually loves me and he's actually happy with me dog's not always that way with me my my friends aren't always that way with me my my spouse isn't always that way with me my 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 love me love as I've had Joy or as I have joy in you Joy he 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 the the 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 with abject contempt they are going to see him put up not on a 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 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 theyve 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 uh uh uh uh uh invites for us what what do you think when when somebody says well if you do this then this there's kind of an expectation that's not a happy one if 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 why should we want to commit idolatry why why should we want to engage in adultery well those are 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 an 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 uh 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 going to 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 want to conclude by highlighting the last part of verse 11 and I want to 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 you have seasons and periods where man it's just rough I'm talking about Melancholy I'm not talking about you know Season depression I'm just asking do do you have joy not 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 your wages for that which does not satisfy so I guess I'm talking to any here today that that haven't believed on the Lord Jesus Christ and I would ask with 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 oh everyone who thirsts let him come is what the prophet says to The Sinner you don't have money come byy and eat I I'll fill you God says through the prophet with with wine that exhilarates with milk that nourishes with water that 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 why would you go to a first class restaurant with an all expensed 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 the the restaurant and I'm going to dump dumpster dive why why why would you you do that why would you jump probably the dumpster behind a first class restaurant might might be okay but but you're bypassing the table that is sat with all of the goodies and you're going to 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 n I'm want to go out and dump dive into a dumpster I'm going to go out and satisfy my lusts I'm going to go out and search for joy in the creature that cannot provide any lasting Joy whatsoever why 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 the there's going to be trials Verse 18 if the world hates you you know that it hated me before it hated you look at 162 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 so the joy that the people of God have 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 Asaf and other sad singers in Israel in the Old Testament you're you're 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 going to 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 emanuel's land so it's constant it's Progressive but it's going to be full it's going to overflow communion with God Al Almighty provides the fullness of joy our brother read Psalm 16 and folk or highlighted the Messianic part at the end I'm sure he would agree the whole thing's Messianic but at verses 9 to1 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 alter 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 2 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 my soul is exceedingly sorrowful even unto death on on the cross my God my God why hast Thou forsaken me Psalm 221 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 so therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices My Flesh also will rest in Hope for you will not allow my soul or or for you will not leave my soul and shield nor will you allow your Holy One to see corruption you will show me the path of life in your presence is fullness of joy at your right hand are Pleasures forever more 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 and temporary when you could come to God most high through the son the Lord Jesus in faith and know Pleasures forever more 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 the 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 be 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 bless PR all Crees Praise Him above the PR father 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 will please be seated for a brief time time of meditation e e e for