How Should We Respond to God's Amazing Love?
The Gospel of John
John 15:9-16
Sermon by Rick Crandall
(Prepared March 13, 2020)
BACKGROUND:
*For many weeks now, we have been studying the night before Jesus died on the cross for our sins. That's because God's Word puts a great emphasis on this night, all the way from John 13 to John 18:27.
*In tonight's Scripture, Christ and His disciples have left the upper room where Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper, and they are walking on the road to the Garden of Gethsemane. In these moments on the road, Jesus highlighted some of the wonderful things God's love can do in our lives. But Jesus also showed us how we should respond to His gracious love. Please keep this in mind as we read John 15:9-16.
MESSAGE:
*We all respond to different things hundreds of times a day. For most people, it starts with the alarm clock every morning. Then we respond to text messages, phone calls, email and all kinds of conversation.
*We respond to heat and cold. We respond to hunger and pain. We respond to music and news. We respond to humor, anger, love, respect and fear. We respond to victories, disappointments and setbacks.
*But how we respond makes a big difference. Chuck Swindoll once said, "I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me, and 90% of how I react to it." (1)
*How we respond makes a big difference, and this is especially true when it comes to the Lord Jesus Christ. Nothing is more important than how we respond to the love of Jesus Christ. And tonight's Scripture shows us how the Lord wants us to respond to His love.
1. FIRST: GOD WANTS US TO APPRECIATE HIS LOVE.
*There should be no doubt that God loves every single one of us. John 3:16 is one of the most well-known and loved verses in the whole Bible. There Jesus said, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
*John 3:16 is the heart of the Gospel straight from the heart of God. "For God so loved the world." This word "world" is found 79 times in the Gospel of John. And "this word is not talking about the physical world or the sinful world system. It's talking about the world's people.
*Walter Wilson said: 'No one in all the world could possibly love everyone in the world. In fact, most people find it hard to love all their relatives...' But in spite of our faults, God's love is so great that it's possible for Him to love every person in the whole world!
*God loves Americans, but He also loves Russians, Chinese, Arabs, Pakistanis the British, Japanese, Israelis, everyone." (2)
*You have probably heard this truth in the song our daughter Katie and I used to sing in the car every day when she only 4. The tune was first written as a marching song during the Civil War. The original words were "Tramp, Tramp, Tramp, the Boys are Marching."
*But after the war, Claire Woolston wrote new words that turned that tune into one of the all-time favorite Christian songs for children:
"Jesus loves the little children,
ALL the children of the world.
Red and yellow, black and white,
They are precious in His sight.
Jesus loves the little children of the world." (3)
*Jesus loves the little children and all the big children too! God so loved the world! That means God loves the oldest to the youngest! And He didn't start loving those little babies when they were born. No. God loved them, as my daddy used to say, "when they were just a twinkle in their mother's eye."
*God loves the best Christian you have ever known. But He also loves the worst sinner you have ever known. God so loved the world! That's why one of the most astounding truths in God's Word is found in Romans 5:6. There God tells us that "when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly."
*Christ died for the ungodly! Christ died for the worst of the worst: Murderers, thieves, drug addicts, and every other sin we could possibly think of. Christ died for the ungodly. He did that because "God so loved the world." And joy of joys, this means God loves us too! That's great Church, because we needed God's merciful love as much as the worst sinner who has ever lived.
*Alan Perkins explained that this is "because God is completely holy, and his standard is perfect righteousness. It doesn't matter if you're a little better than someone else, or even a lot better than someone else. You're still guilty of sin. And you are still under God's wrath without Jesus."
*Think of it this way: "The person who jumps halfway across the Grand Canyon winds up just as dead as the person who only jumps 8 feet out from the edge. They both fall a mile to the bottom." (4)
*We can only make it to Heaven because "God so loved the world." And God wants us to appreciate His love! Jesus talked about His love for us here in vs. 9, where He said, "As the Father has loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.
*Can you imagine how close God the Father is to God the Son? No relationship could possibly be closer. In John 10:30, Jesus said, "I and My Father are one.'' And in John 14:6-9, Jesus said:
6. "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
7. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.''
8. Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.''
9. Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father. . ."
*The Father and Son are one. No love could be stronger. No relationship could be closer. But again in vs. 9. Jesus said, "As the Father has loved Me, I also have loved you. . ."
*God wants to be just as close to us as the Father and Son are to each other! God Himself wants to be our Father and Best Friend! That's how much Jesus loves us. And we can measure the Lord's love by the distance He came for us.
*Love goes the distance for people, and nobody has ever gone farther for us than Jesus! God the Son Jesus Christ was one with the Heavenly Father in all eternity past. But Jesus cared so much that He was willing to come all the way down from Heaven and become a flesh and blood person like us.
*Jesus went the distance! -- Even to suffer and die on the cross for us. The Lord talked about His death in vs. 13, where He said, "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends." Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. We need to let this truth sink in more than ever before!
*Jesus died on the cross to pay the debt for our sins, and that was the only way our sin debt could be paid. There was no other way, and Jesus was willing to die, because of His love for us. As Max Lucado said, "Nails didn't hold God to the cross. Love did." (5)
*The God of the universe loves us so much that He wants to be our Father and best friend! And now our Risen Savior goes to incredible lengths to seek and save anyone who will trust in Him.
*Charles Lowery told the story of a young boy from south Florida. His house was on a lake. One day after school, the boy hit the water and began to swim. When he was about halfway out into the lake, he looked up and realized that he was almost nose to nose with an alligator!
*The boy made a U-turn and swam as hard and fast as he could, yelling the whole time. His mom saw him and dove into the lake. The alligator and his mom got to the boy about the same time. And there was a tug-of-war, but Mom won!
*When the boy got out of the hospital, the reporters were there, and they asked to see the scars from the alligator. So, he showed them the alligator scars. Then he told them he wanted them to see his other scars. He pulled up his sleeve, and there on his other arm were the scars where his mother would not let him go. (6)
*That's a picture of the kind of love Jesus has for us. He came for us, and He will never let us go! The difference is that Jesus has the scars because He went to the cross for us.
2. AND GOD WANTS US TO APPRECIATE HIS LOVE. HE ALSO WANTS US TO ABIDE IN HIS LOVE.
*Jesus stressed this key truth in vs. 9-11 where He said:
9. "As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.
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.
11. These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.
*The original Greek word for "abide" is "meno," and this word is very important in the New Testament. God used it 120 times in the New Testament, and Jesus used it 12 times in this chapter alone.
*For example, in vs. 4-5, Jesus said:
4. "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
5. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing."
*But what does it mean to "abide" in the Lord, or "abide" in His love? It simply means to "stay," "continue," or "remain." It shows up as "remain" here in vs. 11, where Jesus said, "These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full."
*Another translation for "meno" is "dwell," and this translation helps us understand what it means to abide in the Lord and His love. Bob Deffinbaugh explained that when we dwell in a place, we make that place our home. So "to abide in Jesus as the True Vine is to 'make our home' in Him, just as He also 'makes His home' in us. And to abide in Jesus' love is to make our home in His love.
*Think about what 'home' means to us:
-Home is where the heart is. It is where we want to be, especially during holidays.
-Home is the place to which we return, the place we are eager to get back to when we've been on vacation.
-Home is where we feel comfortable, and can really be ourselves.
-Home is a place of safety and security.
-Home is our base of operations. It is at the center of what we do.
-Home is where we bring our friends when we want to have fellowship with them.
-Home is where the people and the things we love the most are found."
*And Bob Deffinbaugh asked, "Isn't this what Jesus Christ should be for the Christian? Shouldn't He be our place of refuge and security? Shouldn't He be the source of our life and strength? Shouldn't He be where our heart is?" (7)
*Of course, the answer is yes! But we have to abide, remain, continue or dwell in His love. What good would home be if you never went home? God's love for us is so great that we should abide in it every day of our lives.
3. GOD WANTS US TO ABIDE IN HIS LOVE. HE ALSO WANTS US TO APPLY HIS LOVE.
*Jesus stressed this great truth in vs. 12-16, where He said:
12. This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
13. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends.
14. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.
15. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.
16. 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.
*How can apply the Lord's love in our lives today? Here are two essential ways:
[1] FIRST WE HAVE TO LOVE LIKE THE LORD LOVES US.
*Again in vs. 12-13, Jesus said, "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."
*God's Word gives us this commandment at least 16 times in the New Testament! First, on this same night, in John 13:34-35 Jesus said, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."
*For another example, in Romans 13:8 Paul said, "Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law."
*In 1 Peter 1:22-23, the Apostle Peter tells Christians:
22. Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart,
23. having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever.
*And 1 Peter 4:8 says: "Above all things have fervent love for one another, for 'love will cover a multitude of sins.'"
*In all of these verses and many more, the Bible is talking about Christians loving one another with the same kind of unselfish, servant-hearted, sacrificial love that God has for us. It's the same kind of love we see in John 3:16 where Jesus said, "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
*It's also the same kind of love found in God's greatest two commandments. One place to see them is in Matthew 22:37-40, where Jesus said:
37. . . "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'
38. This is the first and great commandment.
39. And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'
40. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.''
*God wants us to love other people the same way that He loves us. That's how to apply the Lord's love today: Love like the Lord loves us!
[2] BUT WE ALSO NEED TO PRAY LIKE THE LORD TOLD US TO PRAY.
*In vs. 16 Jesus said, "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." On this same night before the cross, in John 14:13-14 Jesus already told us, "Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it."
*The possibilities of answered prayer are unlimited when we pray like the Lord told us to pray. But remember what it means to pray in the Lord's name. William MacDonald explained that "To ask in Jesus' name is to ask in accordance with His mind and will. It is to ask for those things which will glorify God, bless mankind, and be for our own spiritual good. Also, to ask in Christ's Name, we must live in close fellowship with Him. Otherwise we would not know His attitude.
*The closer we are to Him, the more our desires will be the same as His are. . . And as prayers of this nature are presented and granted, it causes great glory to be brought to God." (8)
*William Barclay added, "The test of any prayer is this: 'Can I make it in the name of Jesus?' No man, for instance, could pray for personal revenge, for personal ambition, for some unworthy and unchristian object in the name of Jesus. When we pray, we must always ask: 'Can we honestly make this prayer in the name of Jesus?'" (9)
*The possibilities of answered prayer are unlimited when we pray like the Lord told us to pray! We will even see miraculous answers to our prayers.
*Christian author, Josh McDowell, gives us a joy example from his days in a California seminary. Josh had led his dad to Christ, and this happened after his dad went home to be with the Lord. Josh's thoughts turned to his mother who had died years before. He was not sure about his mom's salvation, and he got depressed, thinking that she might have been lost.
*Was she a Christian or not? That question obsessed Josh, and he prayed: "Lord, somehow give me the answer so I can get back to normal. I've just got to know."
*It seemed like an impossible request, but two days later, Josh drove out to the ocean. He walked to the end of a pier to be alone, but there sat an older woman in a lawn-chair, fishing.
*"Where's your home originally?" she asked. "Michigan -- Union City," Josh replied. "Nobody's heard of it. I tell people it's a suburb of. . ." "Battle Creek," interrupted the woman. "I had a cousin from there.
*Did you know the McDowell family?" she asked. Josh was stunned and answered, "Yes, I'm Josh McDowell!" "I can't believe it," said the woman. "I'm a cousin to your mother."
*"Do you remember anything at all about my mother's spiritual life?" asked Josh. "Why sure. Your mom and I were just girls, teenagers, when a tent revival came to town. It was the fourth night. We both went forward to accept Christ."
*Josh shouted out, "Praise God!" He was delighted! Delighted to know that his mom and dad were together, delighted that he would spend eternity with them, delighted that God would answer his prayer in such an amazing way, and delighted about the love of God that made it all possible. (10)
CONCLUSION:
*No other love in this world could ever come close to the love of God. Romans 5:8 tells us that "God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
*I like that present tense in God's Word, because it reminds us that the cross still demonstrates God's love today. There are many ways to demonstrate love: a smile, a word, a tear, a hug, a kiss, a card, a gift, and many, many more.
*But God demonstrated His own love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us! That was the greatest demonstration of love in the history of the universe!
*Have you responded to the love of Jesus Christ? God loves us so much that He wants to be our Father and Best Friend forever! This is God's greatest desire for our lives, but we have to turn to the Lord and put our trust in Him.
*So, if you're not sure that Jesus is your best friend, then put your trust in the cross of Jesus Christ. Call on the Risen Lord to save you. Receive Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior. Then appreciate His love, abide in His love, and apply His love in your life every day.
(1) Charles R. Swindoll quote - thinkexist.com/quotes/charles_r._swindoll
(2) Adapted from SermonCentral sermon "John 3:16 - The Greatest Story Ever Told" by Joseph Wallis - John 3:16
(3) http://www.allaboutgod.com/jesus-loves-the-little-children.htm
(4) Adapted from SermonCentral sermon “The Tax Collector and the Pharisee” by Alan Perkins - Luke 18:9-14
(5) https://www.azquotes.com/quote/856456
(6) Adapted from "The Prize" - by Charles Lowery - SBC LIFE - April 2004 Issue
(7) SermonCentral sermon "Abiding in Christ" by Bob Deffinbaugh - John 15:1-17
(8) Adapted from BELIEVER'S BIBLE COMMENTARY by William MacDonald - "Jesus: the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:1-14)" - Edited by Arthur Farstad - Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Copyright 1995
(9) Adapted from BARCLAY'S DAILY BIBLE STUDY SERIES (NT) by William Barclay, Revised Edition - Copyright 1975 William Barclay - First published by the Saint Andrew Press, Edinburgh, Scotland - The Westminster Press, Philadelphia, PA - William Barclay - "The Tremendous Promises" - John 14:12-14
(10) "Our Daily Bread" - Found on Sermonillustrations.com - Topic: Prayer Answered
