Wednesday, February 22, 2017

The World May Know (LS34)

        'Last Sermon of Jesus'

John 14:31  "But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, so I do. Arise, let us go from here."
    Why would our Lord Jesus want the world to know that He loves the Father? How did He love the Father?
   The only way for Jesus to love the Father is for Him to keep and obey the Father's commandment.

John 14:21  "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."
    Similarly, the only way to love our Lord Jesus is by keeping His word and commandments.

John 14:24   "He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me."
    Brethren, if we do not keep Jesus' words, then we just do not love Him. We can cry, sing, pray, declare, confess that 'we love Him', but if we have not kept His words (the pure word of God and without distortion nor wrong interpretation), then we are only deceiving ourselves. Jesus' words include His commandments, sayings, warnings, teachings, prophecies, promises, etc. An example of each:-

Commandments:  
John 15:12  "This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you."
Sayings and Parables (Mat 5-7):
Mat 7:26   "But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:"
Warnings:  
Mat 12:31   "Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men."
Teachings:  
Mat 7:20   And He said, "What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornication, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness."
Prophecies:  
Mat 17:22b-23a   Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him, and the third day He will be raised up."
Promises:  
Rev 3:21   "To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne."
     
Luke 23:34a   Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do."
   When our Lord was in great agony being crucified, He still called out to the heavenly Father, to forgive those responsible for torturing and killing Him. By this, the world witnessed His love for the Father.

John 13:34-35   "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."
    Similarly, if we love one another, then the world will know that we are truly the disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ. They will then believe that our Lord Jesus is the Son of God, Whom God had sent into the world to be their Saviour.

Father, I know that I am nothing
if I have not loved the brethren

1Cor 13:1-3   Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.