Walking in Humility

SERIES:

SUBJECT: Called, Because He Loves Us!

READING:Joh 15:9-17

Today we will focus on the fundamental truth that God calls us because He loves us.

In the mind and heart of God so much is at stake when He calls a person! His call to us is not merely so we can go to heaven when we die although that is how it begins, but so that we can begin knowing Him, walking with Him, and serving Him from the time of salvation and throughout eternity.

He desires a relationship with those He calls—a love relationship!

Jesus is the pattern of love for us.

He first loved us, drew us to Himself,
Adopted us into His family through salvation, and
Sent the Holy Spirit to reside in us so that we could experience and share His love with others.

At the very center of a relationship with God is Love; Mat 22:37-38 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. (38) This is the first and great commandment.

At the very center of a relationship with our neighbour is Love; Mat 22:39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

Mat 22:40On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Loving God, loving ourselves, and Loving our neighbor are the core principles of God’s Eternal Purpose.

Let’s read John 15:9-17 responsively, then answer the following questions.

(9) As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.

(10) If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. (11) These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.

(12) This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

(13) Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

(14) Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.

(15) Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

(16) Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

(17) These things I command you, that ye love one another.

Jesus said that He loved us in the same way the Father loved Him. He tells the disciples to (Continue) abide in His love. How can we abide in His love? (verse 10) “If ye keep my commandments”

One place we learn what God commands us is in 1Th 4:9-12 But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another. (10) And indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia: but we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more;(In Godly and Brotherly Love) (11) And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you; (12) That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing.

First, Paul told these believers that they are to increase in Brotherly Love!

Secondly; a strange commandment; study to be quiet,

He used an electric word (ambition) and coupled it with a low-energy word (quiet).

“To be ambitious toward a quiet life.

Paul wanted them to see that a tranquil, restful life does require effort.

It is easy to get carried away in spiritual excitement and emotional issues, but we must purposefully aim toward balance and calm. This is what Christ calls us to practice.

Though there is a great urgency in the imminent coming of the Lord, which prompts earnestness about proclaiming the gospel while there is yet time, the apostle Paul did not command the Thessalonians to live lives of noisy, frantic evangelistic anxiety.

Instead, and as a result of their excelling still more in brotherly love, they were to make it their ambition to "lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity"

Third; to do your own business, a part of loving one another is “Minding your own business.”

Doctor McGee addressed this quaintly; "Tend to your own knitting" is the way I used to hear it as a boy. Keep your nose out of the affairs of other people. This is good advice for Christians.
In the second letter to the Thessalonians There were those who apparently going around sponging on others not working but waiting for Christ’s return. This may be the beginning of that problem by criticizing those who kept jobs, cared for their families instead of working themselves!

Fourth, he instructed them to to work with your own hands

Work is a reflection of our Christian life and ethics; it must not be neglected.

Our Christianity should never be separated from daily responsibilities and obligations to our family, our church and our community!

What is the result of keeping His commandments and abiding in His love? (verse 11)

(11) These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.

When we obey Him, we will abide in His love and we will experience His joy to the fullest measure.

Jesus describes a new relationship He will have with His disciples. How does Jesus describe this new love relationship? (verse 15)

15) Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

Jesus says that the ones who keep His commandments will no longer be called His servant or slave, but they will be called His friends.