Amen. I would now invite you to remain standing together with me for the reading of the scripture, the Old Testament scripture from Leviticus 9, verses 17 and 18. This is a command to love our neighbor, a command to love one another and what it means to love one another as God's children. Leviticus 19, verse 17 and 18. You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. Amen. Now turn to the Gospel of John, chapter 15, for those of you who are new visiting this morning. Every Sunday morning we have been going through the Gospel of John, and this morning we find ourselves in chapter 15, verse 12 to 17. Now remember, this is Thursday night, and on the next day, Friday, Jesus is going to be crucified on the cross. They left the upper room. They're on their way to the Garden of Gethsemane now, where Jesus will be betrayed by Judas. And Jesus, even after he left the upper room, he is still instructing his people. He's still teaching his people. He's handing over the work of his kingdom to his church, to his disciples, and he's teaching them how they should conduct themselves in his absence. as a testimony to one another and as a testimony to the world. I want you to hear our text this morning in that context. This is where we are. Jesus said, this is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants or slaves. For the servant does not know what his master is doing, but I have called you my friends. For all that I have heard from my father, I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you. and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another." Let's pray. Gracious and heavenly Father, Use the preaching of your Word this morning to cause each and every one of us to love you with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our strength, and to love one another truly, deeply, and from the heart. In the name of Christ, we pray. Amen. You may be seated. This morning I want to ask all of you this simple but important question that is related to our theme this morning. And the question is, are you Jesus' friend? Are you Jesus' friend? In our study of the Gospel of John, we have been considering and looking at various aspects of our relationship with Jesus. Our relationship with Jesus so far has been explained, has been described in various ways. One was as the children of God. as the children of light, as disciples, as students, as sheep. Last Sunday as branches. Jesus said, I am the true vine. You are the branches. We are together. You are united with me as branches by faith. And now this morning, friends, friends, In verse 14, notice Jesus said, you are my friends if you do what I command you. He also said, I no longer call you slaves or servants, but friends. The question is, are you his friend? Who is his friend? Well, the friend of Jesus proves that he is his friend by doing His will, by keeping His commandments. Now, I want you all to keep this in mind. You don't become a Christian by keeping His commandments. You don't become His friend by keeping His commandments. But you show yourself that you are His disciple, you are His friend, you are His disciple, by loving Him and the way you show your love to Jesus is you do His will, you keep His commandments. That's what Jesus is saying here. The friendship that we believers have in Jesus Christ or with Jesus Christ is explained here in our text in the context of Discussing three distinction characters of Christ's disciples. Three marks of Christ's disciples in our text this morning. And what are they? They represent the Christian life. They show us and the world who we are in Christ. You know, every company, every enterprise has its own mark. It has its own mark or trademark that represents the products of that enterprise. This is what we produce. This is what we are about. The trademark of any company, any enterprise, tells you what they produce. It represents the products. And the disciple of Jesus is like that. We represent the products of the kingdom. And one of the products of the kingdom is love. Love for God, but this morning, love for one another. And the three marks are... The first one is sacrificial love, verse 12 to 14. The second one is sacred revelation, verse 15. And the third one is sovereign grace, verse 16 and 17. These are the marks of a disciple, a true disciple. The first one is sacrificial love. Listen to Jesus. This is my commandment. that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. See what Jesus is saying here. And it's amazing, you know, when Jesus is saying this. when Jesus is commanding his disciples, when he's giving them this command over and over again. This is a command in the Old Testament, Leviticus 19. But the bar now is higher. In the Old Testament, it is love your neighbor as yourself. In the New Testament, it is love your neighbor in the manner that I loved you. You see the bar is higher in the New Testament. It is the same commandment to love one another. But here you see Jesus is saying, and when you love one another, I want you to love one another the way I loved you. The way I manifested my love to you. It's very important that we Remember that Jesus is going to die. His presence, physical presence, is not going to be with them. And now he's telling them, this is the way that people should know you. This is the way that people should know your church or the church. By you loving one another the way I love you. That's the mark of a true disciple. So let's think about this command or commandment deeply. This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you. Now, we need to ask ourselves this question, how did Jesus love us? How did God love us? The love of God for us can be explained in three ways. The first one is God loved us freely. Yes, God loved us freely. When God set His love upon us, He did it without any need. God's love set upon us in a saving way, was not born out of need from his part. He didn't do that out of obligation. He didn't do that because he needed love in return. There is a tendency in you and me, even as Christians, I'm going to love so and so, provided that he loves me back. That's not Christian love. I'm going to love these people provided that they appreciate my love. That's not Christian love. That's not God's love. That's not how Jesus loved us. He loved us freely. He was not obligated to love us. He was not expecting anything from us as a return. In fact, when He loved us, we hated Him. When He loved us, we were His enemies. When He loved us, we were saying, crucify Him! Crucify Him! We don't want to have this man as our king. He loved us. Freely. He didn't need us. He didn't need our love. You see, the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit loved one another eternally. There was no lack of love in heaven. It was a perfect love, perfect communion. You remember Jesus when he died on the cross? You remember him crying, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Do you know why he cried? He didn't cry that cry because it was, you know, the pain was too much for him. No, he was ready for that. He cried that cry because this eternal love with his father was interrupted. for the first time in his life. He doesn't need us, he doesn't need our love, but he loved us. 1 John 3, 1, Behold, what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God. You see, John was saying, Stop whatever you're doing. Consider God's love. Consider the manner He loved us, the way He manifested His love for us freely. It's because of that reason, you see, Paul in Ephesians 5, 1 and 2. exhorts believers in this way. Therefore, be imitators of God as beloved children, as God has loved you, the way he loved you. Imitate your father in heaven. Love the way he loves. And then he said, and walk in love as Christ loved us. and gave himself up for us a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." You see, Jesus is saying here, your love for one another should be free, should be done freely. Don't expect anything as a return from anyone. Love your brothers and sisters in Christ. the way Jesus loved them. 1 Corinthians 13, 5. Love does not insist on its own. It doesn't insist on its own. It doesn't expect anything in return. So God loved us freely. God loved us objectively, brothers and sisters in Christ. What does it mean? He didn't love us based on our loveliness. When God determined to love us, He didn't say, I'm going to love so-and-so because he's lovely. She's lovely. No one was lovely. There was nothing that attracted God toward us in order for him to love us. When he died for us, we were sinners. When he died for us, we were ungodly. There was nothing lovely in us and about us. So you love your neighbor, you love your brother and sister in Christ, not because they are lovely. Not because it is easy to love them. Some people are not easy to be loved. Yes? But that should never be an issue for a Christian. If that Christian wants to love all people the way God loves. This is very practical. This is very real. It's a real Christian living. This is how a disciple should conduct himself in the world and in the church among one another. There is no hypocrisy in Christian love. There is no pretension in the Christian love. If there is something wrong, you speak the truth in love. You have Matthew 18, you go to your brother, you go to your sister, you sit together and you settle the matter in love. You speak the truth in love. But you don't become hypocrite in your love toward one another. That's not the kingdom of God, it's the kingdom of light, the kingdom of righteousness. You have something against your brother, go to him, speak the truth in love, don't gossip, don't speak behind his back. That's not love. That's not how Jesus loved us. He loved us objectively. He didn't love us based on our loveliness. If that was not the case, no one would be here this morning. And then thirdly, he loved us sacrificially. Not by giving us what was expendable to him, what was extra to him. You know, I have extra time, I have extra resources, I'm going to love this person with what is extra to me. No! He loved us by giving up his own begotten son, Jesus Christ, who was sinless. He laid his life for us. What is sacrifice in your time? What is giving your resources to your brother, to your sister in Christ, in comparison to what Jesus did for you on the cross? You see, Jesus here is teaching us to view our Christian love among one another, to view it based on the cross. Based on the cross, sacrificial love. You know, when I went to Uganda, I was in Karamoja. You know, Karamoja, you know, we always say Karamoja, you know, it's a region, but I was in Nakale, in Karamoja, where our missionary families are. One missionary family comes from California. The other family comes, you know, from another state, you know, here in America. They live in mud-made homes. with mosquitoes. Their children get sick at least once in a week. They have to purify the water. But what I saw was these missionary families with all these sacrifices embracing the Ugandans. To give them the gospel. At the clinic the same, in the church the same. Sacrifice, sacrifice, wherever you go you see them, you know, hugging the kids. Giving them love. Serving them in the name of Christ. What I saw in Karamuja was this love. There was no preference. All the Ugandans, I'm American, there was nothing like that. I don't feel comfortable. No, if you want to love as Christ loves, you have to come out from your comfort zone. You leave that comfort zone, and you be like Jesus. You love the way He loves. That's what Jesus is saying here. And that brings us now to my second point, which is sacred revelation. And Jesus brought this up because he knew that they were asking his disciples, and some of us will ask, wow, this is tough. How do I do this? I don't love people the way Jesus loved them. So how do I do that? What is the motivation that I need? The motivation we need is His love for us. Listen to Jesus. You are my friends if you do what I command you. Now listen to this. No longer do I call you servants. For the servant does not know what his master is doing, but I have called you friends. For all that I have heard from my father I have made known to you." Now he's using two terms here. Servants, slaves, and friends. And Jesus is saying here, I no longer call you my servants, slaves, but my friends. What is he talking about? Let me tell you what was happening in the Roman Empire in the ancient times. In the ancient times in Rome, there were about 10 million slaves. The king has hundreds of slaves. But this is what the king would do. The king would choose from the slaves. He would choose. and bring the slaves that he chose to come into his chamber and become his friends. They are slaves, but he chooses them to become his friends. We find that in Deuteronomy 15, 17. Then you shall take an owl, a tool, and put through his ear, the slave, into the door, and he shall be your slave forever, and your female slave, you shall do the same. So this is what happens, you know, these are slaves forever. But the king will choose them to become his friends, and this is how it would work. They are even in his bedroom. They are very close to the king. They have this intimate relationship with the king. They know his fears. They know his plans. They choose the clothes that the king should dress. There is no secret between the king and the slaves because they are now his friends. They even know things that the wives and the children of the king doesn't know. See what Jesus is saying here? You used to be a slave of sin. You used to be a slave of Satan and the world and the flesh. I redeemed you from that slavery to turn you into my friend. There is no secret between you and I. Listen to Jesus. What the Father gave me, I revealed it to you. It doesn't mean that we know everything that God knows. There are secret things, there are things that God didn't reveal to us, but what the Father wanted the Son to reveal to His disciples, He revealed all of them to us. There is no secret between Jesus and you. You are now a friend of Jesus. This is beyond of my understanding, beyond of my preaching ability. You are Jesus' friend. And that should cause you to be loving to all, equally, without any preference, without any excuse. Jesus said, love one another. The way I loved you, you were my enemy. You were a slave to sin. And now, you are my friend. And how did that happen? Romans 5, 6. Therefore, Jesus died on the cross while, at the right time, while we were still ungodly. We were still ungodly when he died for us on the cross. This love, brothers and sisters in Christ, this sacred revelation, There is no secret. I told you everything that my father wanted you to know. We are now friends. We speak the same language. We are in the same kingdom. Yes, I am your Lord. But at the same time, you are my friend. Paul, in Ephesians chapter 2, he talks about about this privilege that we have in Christ Jesus in Ephesians 2 beginning from verse 8. For by grace you have been saved through faith and this is not your own doing it is the gift of God not a result of works so that no one may boast for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for what? For good works. Beloved, our text you know chapter 13, 14, 15, 16, 17. All these chapters are about fruit bearing. Christians, true disciples, are called to bear fruit. And one of the fruits is loving one another the way Christ loved us, the way Christ loved us. Now that brings us to my third and last point. You know, the question is, How is this possible? How can we love by our own strengths? How can we love our brothers and sisters in Christ the way Christ loved us? It doesn't depend on us. The effort is ours. That's why it's a command. Now I saved you. Now I redeemed you. Now you go and love. Now you put all these efforts upon Christian love. It's a command. But where does the strength come from? Sovereign grace. Sovereign grace. Listen to Jesus. You did not choose me. But I chose you, and I appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should abide. So that whatever you ask the Father in my name, He might give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another." Let me start with the sovereign grace. You didn't start this journey. Jesus is saying, by our own strength. He didn't choose me. He didn't initiate this love. I initiated this love. Before the foundation of the world, Ephesians 1, 4, even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. Before the foundation of the world, before anyone here was born, He loved us in Christ Jesus. And with that love came the appointment. I loved you before the foundation of the world, and I appointed you, Jesus said. You did not choose me, but I chose you, and I appointed you for a purpose. The fact that we are Christians, the fact that we are in the church, the fact that we are the church, is not only for worship. Worship is the prime purpose. But then from our worship flows our testimony. And one part of our testimony is we really love one another the way God loved us. When Paul said, imitate your father in heaven, imitate God. Paul was making a reference to the testimony of the world about us. When they see you, when they examine your life, and the love that you have for one another, let them say, I see God in these people, because they love one another. They love one another. Even when they sin against one another, they still love one another. They speak the truth in love, they forgive, and they move on. They don't compromise, they don't minimize sin, they deal with sin, but they deal with sin in love. Truth. They always are together in the life of His people. They love. They love. Loving one another, they love the truth, they speak the truth in love. And you see Jesus here is saying, all this is grounded. in God's sovereign grace upon you, his eternal and electing love. I appointed you, Jesus said, that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide. We don't love for one day. We don't love for six months. We don't love for a couple of years. We love until Jesus comes back in glory. Our love for one another should abide. You know, in this chapter when Jesus said, I'm the true vine, you are the branches, abide in me. Abide in me means make me your home. Dwell in me. And continue dwelling in me. And it's the same with our love for one another. We dwell in that love today, tomorrow, and until our Savior comes back in glory, we dwell in Christian love. Whatever happens, beloved, we love. Even when we are hated by others, we love. We love. Our mark should be love. Our mark should not be quarreling with one another. Our mark should not be gossiping about one another. Our love should be loving one another. There should not be anyone among us who feels being cornered when it comes to Christian life. We must endeavor to make everyone among us say, I'm not being cornered. Everyone in this church loves me. That's Christ's love. That's Christ's love. And I ask you again, including myself, are you Jesus' friend? Jesus said, if you do my commandment, you are my friend. Keeping the commandment is not going to make you a Christian. But the way you prove that you are a Christian, that you are a true disciple, is you keep his commandment. And his commandment is to love one another, in a manner that He loved us on the cross, which is sacrificial love. May the Lord grant us His grace, individually and as a church, for our mark to be this love. Let's pray. Our gracious and heavenly Father, Lord, you loved us freely, you loved us objectively, you loved us sacrificially, and now we ask you to grant us your Holy Spirit to enable us to love you in the same manner that you loved us. Make us men and women and children of love, this love. the mark of the true disciple. In the name of Christ, we pray. Amen.