THE LOVE OF JESUS
Colin J Brien
John 15: 12
We read this verse in our household a few days ago when they were having a bit of trouble getting along with one another. I was particularly affected by the second part of the verse where Jesus says, “as I have loved you”, and I wonder what the experience is of each person here with the love of Jesus.
His love is so great that it has turned people in their earthly pathway completely around. His love is so great that it has arrested souls in their tracks, in their course away from God. We can even say the love of Jesus has reached people unprovoked. Maybe they were not even seeking Jesus at all, maybe they had no relationship with God at all, and the love of Jesus appeared to them. One person, whose name was Saul, was harming Christians, imprisoning them, maybe having them tortured. We know that he had permission to harm them, but then Jesus appeared to him, Acts 9. The love of Jesus affected a whole household: Lazarus and Mary and Martha, John 11. Jesus wrought miracles in that home. The love of Jesus affected John the writer of this book, who was on the island of Patmos and became in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, Rev 1: 10. The Spirit of Jesus was in him and he, no doubt, had perfect peace. He was able to see things that are so great they are unspeakable. I am sure that, with the Spirit’s help, he put the words as best as he could to describe the greatness and awesomeness of what he saw.
The love of Jesus changed the man named Peter, and his brother, and John, and his brother; they followed after Him. The love of Jesus healed persons. The love of Jesus helped a woman who had committed adultery and was about to be judged by the Jewish people; the love of Jesus reached out to her, John 8. The love of Jesus reached the woman who touched His garment. In faith she just reached out and touched it. She was so miserable with her condition and could do nothing for herself. In faith, she thought, even if I just touched His clothes something might happen. The result was that she was healed because of her faith, Matt 9: 20-22.
The love of Jesus has affected millions or billions of people. The love of Jesus is as great as that. I have been reading about the appearing of Jesus to many Muslims around the world, particularly in the Middle East. Again, unprovoked persons who have hated the Jesus of the West, as they call Him. He manifests Himself to them in dreams. How do they know it is Him? How do they know it is not some false dream? They know because they feel loved like they had never experienced in their life before, followed by peace that they have never felt before.
The second half of this verse is testing, to consider, ‘How much do I know about the love of Jesus? How has the love of Jesus affected my life?’. We know a little bit about love; we have dealings with people who love us and care for us, and chasten us because they love us. Fathers and mothers know what I am talking about; it is a very challenging thing to chasten our children and it is done in love because we care deeply for our children. The love of the Christ is far greater than that because He says, “No one has greater love than this, that one should lay down his life for his friends”, John 15: 13. Love held Jesus to that cross. A brother was recently speaking about how they pounded those nails through His hands and through His feet into that cross as He hung there nailed. He could have come down; He is that powerful. He created all things! He stayed there for you and for me. You can put your name in the second half of that verse, ‘as I have loved _______’; you can put your name there and consider how much the Lord Jesus loves you. Can you name another person who would be willing to die for you? The book of Romans says that maybe someone who likes us, someone who cares for us, might be willing to die for us. Jesus suffered on that cross because He loves you, dear friend - because He loves you; Jesus loves you. What do you think about that? Is it just going to sit there like an ornament for you to look at? Do you know what it is to be loved by Jesus? Imagine looking on Jesus hanging on that cross and never believing in Him. Imagine being at that scene and seeing Him die on that cross and then turning away without another thought.
There is nothing more serious than the moment the glad tidings are presented and put in front of every person who hears. He asks for us to believe on Him, to believe on His love. He cares so much for us that He was willing to stay on that cross. When we were speaking about the tomb of Jesus in the reading today, I was very impressed that Jesus could rise of His own accord, by His love for us. He was received into heaven because of the love of God. He was the perfect One. Dear hearer, this day Jesus desires you to be filled with that love; to have your sins forgiven. Do you know what that does to you? I can tell you: I have never in my life been happier. It is not because of a job change; I can tell you that right now. Every job has difficult things. The love of Jesus has given me so much happiness, and so much peace and joy. And it is not anything to do with me. This is what the love of the Lord Jesus desires for you today. When we read this verse in our household; we realised, ‘How can we love one another if we do not know what it is to be loved by Jesus?’.
Firstly, I appeal to everyone in the room: if you have not been filled with the love of Jesus, now is the time to ask the Lord Jesus to come into your heart. We speak about Him coming into our heart because that is easy for us to understand as children. Oh the love of Jesus! He desires to fill you with His love that you might be His forever. That you might be saved! We are not going to go into a lot of detail on what we are saved from because it is obvious. We are sinners; everyone is! Jesus stayed on that cross for us. We often speak about the blood of Jesus; the blood of Jesus is a wonderful thing. I never get tired of talking about it for this reason: a brother read many years ago, in the preaching, the verse in Isaiah that speaks about our sins being red as scarlet and being made as white as snow, chap 1: 18. I love to speak about the blood of Jesus because that blood is put over us, and God does not see us as sinners any longer. He sees the blood of Jesus, His own Son, and then He sees us as His own, children of God. How wonderful that is: it is nothing that you did, or I did, but all because of the love of Jesus. He desires that each one of us would be filled with the peace and love and joy because of Him.
I want to speak now about the first part of that verse. “This is my commandment, that ye love one another''. I have been thinking a lot about this lately. I say in all humility, dear brethren and friends and loved ones, that I have struggled in my own history to love others with the love of Christ. I would seek to bring into the glad tidings this question: is there any bitterness that might be in your soul? Bitterness in the soul can only have one aim, to destroy. Bitterness can never result in joy or happiness. But what does it mean to love with the love of Christ? What does it mean to us when we think about the second half of the verse and how Jesus loved us? If I were to list out every bad thing I have done, the list would go on for a long time; I would be there for days and weeks and months. It is not going to get better because sin is in our nature. When I think about what He has done for me, how He has covered my sins with His blood regardless of everything I have done against Him, my own wilfulness, my own thoughts, trying to take control of things. Control is a big one for me; maybe it is for others too, I do not know. I like to have a plan; make sure it all goes just right - and it never does. The love of Jesus, He has covered all of that selfishness, wilfulness and sin. He has satisfied all of that and I have had to relearn how to love people the way He has loved me. It is just wonderful. We have to experience the love of our Lord Jesus Christ, a love that is patient, a love that is kind and a love that sometimes chastises us.
Do you know what chastisement means? Often our parents have to chastise us. Our parents disciplining us is very important. If they did not love you, they would not chastise you. They would not care. They chastise you because they do care, and they have the very best interest in mind for you; and so does Jesus. He wants the very best for you. We turn away from it; we shun it; we disregard it. We do everything we can to get away from what He has presented to us. You know why? We think we are more important than Jesus. How has He dealt with that? - on the cross! On that blessed cross, hanging on that cross between two robbers. From what I understand, they would usually put a cross near a main road or city or somewhere for everyone to behold. You might think that is awful. But He was there for all to behold, the wondrous cross where everyone could behold Jesus there dying on the cross for them and for you. The cross is wonderful to behold because we each have to come to that cross and acknowledge and admit that we are sinners. The bitterness that is in our soul will only lead us further and further away from the love of the Lord Jesus. That is the only result it can accomplish. There is nothing in that bitterness of soul or hatred or despising others that is for God in any way. It will only lead us away. How do we correct that pathway? By turning to Jesus, by accepting His love, by accepting all that He has accomplished, by accepting the blood and being washed in it, as the scripture speaks about it. What a wonderful thing it is that the blood of Jesus has been shed.
If we are going to love one another, we have to have hope. Jesus did not stay on that cross, as we discussed in our reading today. He was put into the tomb. The stone was rolled right over; it was sealed. Guards were put by it. Every precaution was taken, every plan was made to make sure that Jesus did not come out of that grave. And yet, He rose. Does that thrill your heart in any way? Who can boast of such power? He rose because He loves you! Because He is living we shall live. That starts right now. When you ask the Lord Jesus into your heart, and you ask and receive His love, then life begins.
There is a wonderful passage in 1 Peter 2: 1: “Laying aside therefore all malice and all guile and hypocrisies and envyings and all evil speakings”. Can anyone relate to this list, or have any here done any of these things? “As newborn babes desire earnestly the pure mental milk of the word, that by it ye may grow up to salvation, if indeed ye have tasted that the Lord is good”, v 2. This came to my mind because of the scripture that we read in John’s gospel, “This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you”.
Have you ever considered reading that scripture as if it was the very first time, the very first time ever that you opened the Bible and read that scripture. Have you ever considered beginning with the New Testament and reading it as if you were a new child, and it was brand new, and it was written just for you that you might have life? How wonderful that is to think: ‘Well, I do not know much about this, but the scripture says it, and I believe it, that Jesus loved me’. Therefore, I can love others in the same manner that He did because He did all of that for me. It is good to read the Word of God as if we are a newborn babe and it is our milk, our food and nourishment; to take the word of God as if it is brand new will help us to grow into something; to grow up into salvation because the Lord is good. What a wonderful prospect we have, dear hearers.
The love of Jesus is available today, but it will not always be available. There is a time coming when He will come for us, and I cannot wait; and I am sure there are others who cannot wait either. In our time of waiting, we can love one another. That love shows that we are disciples of His. I want to speak directly to you young ones for a moment, because when young we often tend to fight, to argue, to disobey. I think you can relate to what I am talking about. Jesus desires that we are to have life and have it abundantly. You have to lay hold of that, but we cannot learn to be good. We cannot learn to love without Him; so we have to follow Him. He has gone that path. He went to the cross, He has risen out of that grave and He has been received into heaven; and He is speaking this day and appealing to you in love to follow Him. In a coming time we will be caught up in the air, that wonderful day when the trumpet will sound. For me that will be a great sound! As a music teacher, I have heard a lot of trumpets sound in my life, but that trumpet will be the most distinctive and beautiful trumpet that I have ever heard. We will be received immediately. There will be no waiting, but immediately. It will be wonderful to be with Him for ever! We can hardly take it in. What it will be to live in an area where there are no tears, there is no sadness, there is no anger, there is no evil, only rejoicing and joy! We can experience that now while we are waiting, but it requires the love of Jesus.
I commit these words to all in this room, and even to all those who are not able to be here that we might speak to them about it, that the love of Jesus is the answer to all our problems, the answer to everything. As I ponder it, I can hardly think of anything that the love of Jesus cannot cover. When we have that experience there is just complete and total joy. Does it make our life perfect? - No. We do have power, however. We have power to overcome, we have power to get through, by the Holy Spirit. How vital it is to ask for the Holy Spirit, and to receive the Holy Spirit. Some people we have watched, and seen how they have lived, and the circumstances they have gone through that are overwhelmingly heartbreaking and sorrowful. You can hardly take it in. We have all had an experience of meeting people who have very difficult circumstances. We have also seen persons go through difficulties where the love of Jesus has carried them through and their love for others has not decreased in any way. In fact, it has increased and they are more restful and they are sure that the love of Christ is the answer to everything.
May the Lord bless the word.
Aberdeen ID
31st December 2023