COMMANDED TO LOVE
COMMISSIONED TO SERVE
Preached by
Rev. Kelvin L. Parks
at Greater Faith Church-Baptist, Waukegan, Illinois
on Wednesday, 21 February 2007
John 15:12-17
(v.12) This is my commandment, That ye love one
another, as I have loved you.
(v.13) Greater love hath no man than this, that a
man lay down his life for his friends.
(v.14) Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I
command you.
(v.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.
(v.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.
(v.17) These things I command you, that ye love one
another.
Subject: COMMANDED TO LOVE
COMMISSIONED TO SERVE
We see here in our text Jesus addressing His disciples on His way to the Garden of Gethsemane, where He would later be arrested and then crucified.
John, Chapter 15 starts with Jesus giving His disciples a parable (which is a heavenly story with an earthly meaning) about a vine and some branches.
Now in our text we read where Jesus has transitioned from a parable to a commandment. We will discover as we examine our text tonight that Jesus not only gives His disciples a commandment but He also commissions them for service.
Well, what is this commandment -- watch this …
(v.12) This is my commandment, that ye love one another, WATCH THIS (HOW) as I have loved you.
Well … this commandment begs two questions …
1st how has He loved us?
2nd why is it important that we love one another?
Well ... I’m glad you asked, the answer to our first question can be found in (vv.13-15)
(v.13) Greater love hath no man than this, that a
man lay down his life for his friends.
(v.14) Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I
command you.
(v.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.
This just simply means that ...
- if you love me … you would be willing to put it all on the line.
- If you love me … you would be willing to go wherever, do whatever, and speak to whomever I command you to.
- If you love me.
Walk with me …
(v.14) We sing songs about our friendship. However, it sounds to me like Jesus is saying in our text, thanks, but no thanks I don’t need another Toni Braxton "sad love song." What I need right now is a few good friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. And what is the command (v.12) that WE love one another.
(v.15) Watch the benefits of friendship. you see … there is no secrets in our friendship; no surprises, yes we are BFFL (best friends for life); no hidden agendas, no scouts honor pledges needed; no spitting in the hand; no pinky finger promised required; everything that I know, you know -- In fact, I’m willing to die for all of my friends.
As one song writer so eloquent said: What a friend we have in Jesus. In fact, the Bible is filled with stories about friendship.
- Abraham was a friend of God
- Moses and Jethro
- David and Jonathan
- Elijah and Elisha
- Paul and Timothy
- Jesus and Lazarus …
Well preacher … you still have not quite answered my question. I need to know how has He loved us … and it sounds to me as if you are now suggesting that I too need to be willing to die…
Well … allow me to pause and move out of the way and call on John for some help -- come here John
I John 3:16-17 helps us to understand just how Jesus loved us.
(v.16) Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
Verse 17 of I John 3 goes on to tell us about our responsibility.
(v.17) But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?
Okay preacher, I give you that, but what about the second question, why is it important that we love one another?
Well … Jesus helps us in John 13:34-35 when he said
(v.34) A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
WHY … John 13:35
(v.35) By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
Well what are you saying … well, Jesus is telling us that His commandments to us are the same as His Father’s commandment to Him. Don’t believe me … back up to (v.10) “If you keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in His love.”
What are you saying … He is saying here that we are to love one another in the extent that He has loved us. You see He loved us enough to die and we are called to love Him enough to live for Him and to love our brethren.
So ... now that we understand our commandment to love. It is important for us to understand what Love is and it is also important for us to understand what love looks like. First thing we need to understand is that Love is an action word.
Don’t believe me -- men just ask your wife and she will tell you that actions speaks louder than words. Well, don’t believe me, wives you say that you love and respect your husbands … but actions speak louder than words.
In fact, Jesus even says that actions speak louder than words. Oh yes He did. He said in John 14:15 “If you love me, keep my commandments.”
… and what is His commandment (v.12) -- that we love one another.
In fact, Jesus was once asked what was the greatest commandment. And Jesus said in Matthew 22:37-40
(v.37) … Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
(v.38) This is the first and great commandment.
(v.39) And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
(v.40) On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
This just simply means that contrary to Dr. Phil; contrary to what Anna Nicole said about her very own mother; contrary to how the world may feel … loving one another is not an option it is a commandment. In fact, it is not just any commandment but the scriptures tells us in Matt 22:39 that it is the second greatest commandment.
So we are commanded to love and with that commandment comes a commission to serve … watch this (v.16)
(v.16) Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you…
Simply means that we had nothing to do with the selection process.
Oh no … this is not E-Harmony, or Match.com or some failed try at a Love connection. We did not choose Jesus, He chose us. In fact, I John 4:19 says, “We love him, because he first loved us.”
(v.16) Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, WHY … watch the commission
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.
Oh yes … we are commissioned to serve. Chosen and ordained to go and bring forth fruit; chosen and ordained to produce eternal works … not only that (v.16) throws in a bonus and says that while we are at it that we can also get some prayers answers
Oh that is bonus time … In fact, I think that this would be and excellent place to drop a plug for the vision of 500 souls in 2007. Oh yes, it will …
(v.16) Simply means that
IF YOU LOVE ME …
you ought to be willing to clothed somebody
you ought to be willing to disciple somebody
you ought to be willing to feed somebody
you ought to be willing to forgive somebody
you ought to be willing to give a word of encouragement to somebody
you ought to be willing to house somebody
you ought to be willing to lead somebody to Christ
you ought to be willing to pray for somebody
you ought to be willing to tell somebody about the resurrected Savior Jesus Christ
So my question to you tonight is … in the words of Keith Sweat How deep is your love
do you love Him enough to tell somebody
do you love Him enough to bring somebody
do you love Him enough to love somebody
Greater Faith ... we are commanded to love and commissioned to serve. But one thing I need for you to understand is that these 2 Cs (the command and the commission) are not independent of themselves. They work hand and hand.
In other words, you cannot say you love God and hate your brother. In fact, John helps us understand this point in I John 4:20-21 where it says:
(v.20) If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?
(v.21) And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.
In other words, we cannot say that we love God and standby and ignore the commandment and the commission.
We cannot say that we love God and stand idle and watch our mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, sons and daughters, neighbors and co-worker live and die and go to hell because we refuse to love them enough to tell them about our resurrected Savior Jesus Christ.
Oh preacher … that’s a hard saying, I don’t like no body talking about my momma. Well … allow me let the WORD OF GOD speak for HIMSELF. James 4:17 “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”
Well, I’m saying that when we know that God has commanded us to love and commissioned us to serve and we decided to ignore the command and the commission -- well simply put, that is sin.
What are you saying preacher … well, I’m saying that the command and the commission is not predicated on gender, it doesn’t matter your education, your scholarship, your dissertation, it doesn’t matter your genealogy (your family tree) -- if you ignore the command and the commission IT IS SIN!
It doesn’t matter … how old we are; how young we are; how experienced we are … if we ignore the command to love and the commission to serve … IT IS SIN!
So my question remains … How deep is your love? Do you love Him enough to serve? Operators are standing by for your answer.
Well my brothers and sisters … we have heard the call to serve each Wednesday night. My fellow laborers in the Gospel have stood behind this desk and declared that the harvest at Greater Faith is full but the laborers are few.
So do you love Him enough to get busy. Do you love Him enough to joining Sis Davis on the in reach / out reach team?
Do you love Him enough to get involved in the Sunday School Department?
Do you love Him enough to pass out tracts and flyers … telling people that Jesus lives and promote the great work that God is doing here at our church.
How deep is your love? In fact, if you love Him … not only will you give love but you will also allow yourself to be loved.
So turn to your neighbor and say … Neighbor, I’m commanded to love you, and you are commanded to love me. In fact, tell them like Jennifer Hudson, “And I am telling you, you gonna love me”
In spite of how I may feel about you
In spite of how you been treating me; and U been treating you I’m gonna love you and … baby you are gonna love me
Greater Faith … How deep is your love?
If you loved Him … you ought to be willing to serve and tell somebody
- that the Love of Jesus is stronger than any pain they may experience
- that the Love of Jesus is stronger than any failure they may have committed
- that the Love of Jesus is stronger than any problem they may be going through
- that the Love of Jesus is stronger than any fault that they may have.
If you loved HIM … then we ought to willing to
- understand that we are chosen by God TO do work
- understand that we are ordained by God FOR the work
- understand that we are suppose to laborers who bring IN fruit, and not Idlers who eat and take advantage of the fruit be goers to the work and not waiters for the work.
- Preserves of the fruit and destroyers of the fruit with your lies and gossip
- Pray and fast for the vision of 500 souls for 2007
If you loved HIM … then we ought to willing to
To LOVE all mankind
So my question remains … How deep is your love? Do you love Him enough to serve?
GREATER FAITH
WE ARE COMMANDED TO LOVE AND
COMMISSIONED TO SERVE
HOW DEEP IS YOUR LOVE?
