Well, greetings to each one of you in the worthy name of the Lord Jesus. I want to return to our exposition of the gospel according to John. I think it's been over over a month that we have been here. But today is message number 45. As we have been going through the Gospel of John, I think for, I'm not sure, close to or over two years, that I have been systematically or endeavoring to systematically go through the gospel according to John. So we find ourselves in chapter 15, John chapter 15, and of course chapter 15 is the well-known analogy of the vine and the branches and how that we as children of God are the branches, and that Christ is the vine, and the Father is the vine dresser. And today as we look at our passage, our text is from verse 9 through verse 17, and we move a bit away from the analogy of the vine and the branches, not completely, but We see that when you have the analogy of the vine and the branches that that is a natural analogy that the vine is naturally or the branch is naturally rooted or fastened to the vine and that it draws its life from the vine. It draws its nutrients and it's everything that it needs for sustenance and fruit bearing comes from the vine. Now today as we leave this analogy, we see that actually the branch has responsibilities too. The branch has a few responsibilities that the analogy, and I think this is a danger that we can take in an analogy or a parable too far. By trying to look at all the details and pulling all the details apart, really what Christ is doing here in John 15, 1 through 8, is using the analogy of the vine. That outside of being attached to Christ as the vine, we can do nothing. That there is no possibility for any fruit bearing outside of the vine. We have, you know, as believers in this, today in this passage, verses 9 through 17, is a very important passage on discipleship. And that there is a responsibility for the branches, so to speak, or for those who believe in Christ to be actively a part of the process of discipleship. So I want to begin here in verse 9. I'll read this text, and I want to give you the title, and that is Christ in You, the Hope of Glory. Let's begin reading John 15, verse 9. As the father loved me, I also have loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you that my joy may remain in you and that your joy may be full. This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends. You are my friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing. But I have called you friends. For all things 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 remain, that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give you. These things I command you, that you love one another. Now I'd like to turn back to the epistle of Colossians, I want to read another scripture in Colossians 1 and just simply let the epistle be a bit of a commentary on John 15 verses 9 through 17. I want to read Colossians 1. through 29 and as you may not see the connection immediately but as you ponder a bit here in Colossians 1 and you reflect a bit on this passage you begin to see the correlations between this passage and John 15. Colossians 1 verse 24, I now rejoice in my sufferings for you and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ for the sake of his body, which is the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God, which was given to me for you to fulfill the word of God. the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you. the hope of glory. Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. To this end I also labor, striving according to his working, which works in me mightily." So as you can see, the title comes from verse 27. Christ in you, the hope of glory. Now, you might say, well, I don't exactly see the connection here from Colossians 1 to John 15. And I don't necessarily, I'm not necessarily planning to preach out of Colossians 1, but I wanted to just simply point out how Colossians 1, this short section, how that it relates or how it is saying some of the, has the very same elements in it. So notice, Paul is willing to suffer, yes, even rejoice in his suffering, here in Colossians 1, to fulfill his ministry to the church, a ministry that he received from God to reveal to the saints the riches of the glory of the truth of Christ Jesus. Paul was so intent here that he said, I rejoice in suffering for you that I might even fill up whatever is lacking in the sufferings of Christ so that the body of Christ would be edified. And he says that he is willing to do this for the sake of his body, which is the church. And notice what he, as we look at this, he says that what I'm about, this stewardship from God that I received. My job is to reveal this hidden mystery. This mystery which has been hidden from ages past and from generations past but has now been revealed to the saints. It's been revealed to the saints and how is it being revealed to the saints? Specifically by the ministry of the Apostle Paul here in Colossians 1. He is revealing to the saints the mystery that God had planned in the past and God willed to now make it known to the saints. What is the incredible riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is what? Christ in you. And Christ in you, brothers and sisters, is the hope of glory. We may say, well, that's the hope of a future glorious eternity. And that is true. That is the only hope for that. But it is also the only hope of any glory to come out of your life currently now, you see. And so Paul is so excited about this stewardship, you see. that has been given to him by God, that he's willing to suffer for the sake of the body, that this body might know these things. And notice how he says, and this is how he's accomplishing his mission. He says, him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present everyone perfect in Christ Jesus. To this end, I labor. I also labor striving. I am all about laboring in this way, striving according to something I have already received myself. According to what is working in me, you see. It's working in me mightily, he says. And brothers and sisters, as we reflect on John 15 verses 8 through 17. Indeed, I find myself so needy of this passage. And Paul's teaching and preaching here in Colossians 1 had one end or goal, and that is that we might present every man perfect in Christ Jesus, And Paul labored to reveal to us the truth of Christ in us as the only hope of glory. I would like to say that these elements are in John 15 verses 9 through 17. Christ in us. I want to look at John 14, 23, just flipping back a page. Jesus answered them. This was in response to Judas's question, not Iscariot, who said to him, Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us and not to the world? Jesus answered and said to him, if anyone loves me, he will keep my word and my father will love him and we will come to him and make our home with him. And what a beautiful picture that is. And we see also in John 15 verse 7, If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this my Father is glorified that you bear much fruit, so you will be my disciples. Now as we come, with that bit of introduction, we come now to our text here in verses 9 and following. And the first point I want to just point out to you is that to be in Christ, or to have Christ in you, is to be a recipient of the love of Christ. That it is, that if Christ is living in you, and if you are living in Christ, then you are receiving the love of Christ. As the Father loved me, I also have loved you. You know, Jesus says this as the Father loved me. In that same manner I have loved you. Now this is an amazing statement that if the scripture wouldn't say it, then how could we preach it? You know, to think about the infinite love of the Father for the Son. that he loved him, it's a vast, immeasurable, boundless love that the Father has for the Son. And to have that love that the Father, to have that used as an example of how Christ now loves His children is an amazing truth. And I think it should secure us. It should bring us into a place of resting in Christ to know that this sort of love has been given to us. And that's the first point is that we are loved by Christ as He indwells us. And I wanna just briefly look here at the Father's love for the Son. In John, the, John the Baptist first mentioned this in John 3.35. He says this way, the father loves the son, John 3.35, and has given all things into his hand. In other words, everything, the whole administration of the universe, He even gave the judgment to him. All things have been given over into the hand of the Son. That is a mark of the love of the Father. The esteem that the Father has for the Son is given over. This is a picture of Him giving everything over into His hand. The Father loves the Son and gives all things into His hand. We see it in John 5 20. where Christ himself now says this, for the father loves the son and shows him all things that he himself does, and he will show him greater works than these that you may marvel. You know, I've pondered on this verse in the past, and for those of you who are fathers, You know that sometimes it's a challenge to bring your son along when you're in the middle of a project. You know what I'm talking about, where you're out working on something and your son wants to be with you, right? And if you love your son, then you're showing him things about what you're doing. You're giving, you're giving, you're giving him The rundown. This is why I'm doing this. I'm doing this, that, and the other. Whatever his understanding is, obviously you lower it to whatever his understanding is. But we know here, for the father loves the son, and one of the marks of this love is that he shows him all the things that he himself does. That there is no... There's no hiding, there's no shielding the son or hiding him from what his plans are. And he will show him greater works than these that you may marvel. And so he shows him all these things that he himself does. And then we see that in the beautiful prayer of John 17, I want to point out as we think about what Christ is illustrating His love for us by. In verse, John 17 and verse 23, I in them and you in me, that they may be made perfect in one and that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me. Father, I desire that they also whom you gave me may be with me where I am. that they may behold my glory, which you have given me. For you love me before the foundation of the world. Oh, righteous father, the world has not known you, but I have known you. And these have known that you sent me and I've declared to them your name and will declare it that the love with which you love me may be in them and I in them. What a beautiful picture. Isn't that a beautiful picture of how the Father has loved the Son from the foundation, from before the foundation of the world. And now Christ says to us that as the Father loved me, I also have loved you. This is an amazing statement. And then, and we again in Colossians, you don't have to turn this time with me here. Here he says in Colossians 1 13, he has delivered us from the power of darkness and has conveyed us into the kingdom of the son of his love. Verse 19, for it pleased the Father that in Him, that is in Christ, all the fullness should dwell. We see this amazing picture of the Father's love for the Son, and then we see that in, at the cross, we see the Father sacrificing His Son because of our sin. His love for the Son did not keep Him from sharing His Son with us. This, I think, is that there was never ever in all of eternity what happened at the cross. And that is, Father, why have you forsaken me? And we see that picture of how much this love, how much this cost, this sacrifice of the Son of God for our sins. Jesus describes His love for us by comparing it with how the Father loves Him. To see His virtue and obedience in comparison to our sinfulness and need. Isn't that amazing? That Christ was worthy of this love. Christ was full of virtue and full of obedience to His Father's commands. And now that He has loved us, how unworthy are we of this love? How lacking are we in this? And we see that His love is not based on our behavior, is it? It is not based. It is because He has set His love upon us. And so we now get to live in this love, in light of this love. And it is a love that redeems. It is a love that brings us someplace. It is a love that we get to respond to. And that leads me to my second point. And that is, Jesus says, abide in my love. Abide here. Live here. This is your new home. Abide in my love. To remain in His love is the instruction here that Jesus gives us. And this is where the analogy of the branch and the vine doesn't completely apply because in the sense that it is, that is a natural tie. The branch is in the vine. But now we're called to here is that we are called to abide. You are called to abide. I am called to abide. This is the requirement of fellowship. See, we don't enter into this, well, I think I'm getting ahead of myself here, but this defines our responsibility in the relationship. Jesus imposes regulations on his relations. Isn't that interesting? that it's not a free-for-all, that there are stipulations, there are boundaries, there are parameters. And he says, you abide, you abide in me. This is the boundary of your existence, is to abide here. This is where you live. He says, abide here, stay here. You are to realize, my love, You're to continue in the reality of my love. Enjoy my love, so to speak. Abide. That is, make your home here in my love. Do not leave this special place of blessing. You see, he says we are to abide. That is an instruction. That's a command for us. that we are to give attention to this truth that we are to abide in His love. How then do we abide? How then do we abide? If we are called to this place of dwelling, Well, verse 10 is very clear. He says, if you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love. If you will keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my father's commandments and abide in his love. You see, he is not asking something from us that he is unwilling to do himself. This was the very nature of his own, he says, I have not come to do my own will, but the will of my father who sent me. That this has always been the standard for his ministry was to do the will of his father, which is in heaven, and to keep my father's commandments. And now he is telling us that if you would abide in my love, if you want to stay home, so to speak, then you must keep my commandments. You see, that's why I said that the Lord gets to set the terms of our fellowship. He gets to set the terms of our relationship, right? He says, the parameters of our relationship, of our fellowship is dictated in my word. It is spoken of in my commandments. As you obey my words, you will enjoy my love. John 14, 23 again. We were just there. If anyone loves me, he will keep my word and my father will love him and we will come to him and make our home with him. 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. You see we don't enter into this relationship by us obeying the commandments of God, do we? We can't. We have been unable. Because we're weak in the flesh, we have not been able to meet this standard. And so now Christ has come and bought for us this place. He bought this house, so to speak. And now He's giving it to us and said, just stay in here. He has given us this salvation. We do not enter in to this salvation by obeying the commands of the Lord. It's an impossibility. It's already been, we have proven that over and over again. So now the Lord comes and He buys this place for us, this place of obedience, this place of blessing, this place of acceptance in His Father's house. And therein He says, you stay here. Here's the parameter of your your salvation, here's where you're to enjoy these things, here is your place of staying. And that is interesting here, there are multiple words used here in this passage where he says to abide. He says twice here, I mean I think the old King James says this way, as the Father loves me I also have loved you, continue in my love. It is to abide is to continue. To continue is to remain. Do we see these words here? These things I have spoken to you that my joy may remain in you. Same Greek word. We go down to verse 16. 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, that your fruit should continue, that your fruit should remain, you see, that it is an enduring fruit that comes out of this relationship, that it would remain. Otherwise, you know, it is the labor of our own hands and it comes to nothing. But these words of abide, continue, remain, they're all the same Greek word. And we have it again in John 8 31, a very familiar passage. Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed him, if you abide, if you remain, if you continue in my word, you are indeed my disciples. You see, it is that mark of our continuing And so, obviously, this is not how we enter, but it is how we are discipled. It is how we are to follow Christ. We must remember that we have an obligation if we are members of the household. We have obligations and they're called to abide. They're called to continue. They're called to remain. Here is the parameters of my fellowship. If you want fellowship with me, then this is where we get it. You see, just think about it. This point proves to us that we cannot self-govern. The Lord says that if you are to abide, then you are to listen to what I command you. You are to obey. That's basically what he's saying here. You obey, the Lord says. Isn't that interesting? That means that we need to be taught. We need to be directed. We need to be governed. You see, because we don't know what is best for us. We literally don't know what is best for us. But because He loves us, He directs us. Isn't that amazing? This is a really important point that we must get hold of. Because He loves us, He gives us His commandments. He gives us his direction. He gives us his governing. This is the word that he has given to us. We're incapable of self-governance without self-destruction. If we govern ourselves, dear people, we will self-destruct. we will self-destruct. And that, I believe, brothers and sisters, is so important. As a disciple of Christ, yes, you were born again by the Holy Spirit of God, but if you will not abide, if you are not interested in abiding, if you are not interested in continuing, is it even possible that you're born again? To be left to ourselves, brothers and sisters, is a mark of judgment. That's the last thing you want. Is the discipline of the Lord, is it painful? Yes, it is. Is it uncomfortable? Yes, it is. But if you understand this truth, then you do not want Him to let you go. because you know the end result of that is destruction. And so it is well for you to pray, Lord, don't let me go. It is as David said, Lord, restore unto me the joy of my salvation and renew a right spirit within me. And it was a cry of repentance. And so I want to just flip back to Proverbs Proverbs 1 verses 29 and following, just as an Old Testament scripture here that agrees with this idea that we cannot self-govern without self-destructing. If you would turn to Proverbs 1 and we'll look at verses 29 to the end of the chapter. And let's just let this truth hammer home to us. Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord, they would have none of my counsel and despised my every rebuke. Therefore, because we wouldn't listen. You see that? Because we wouldn't listen. Therefore, they shall eat the fruit of their own way. and be filled to the full with their own fancies." Isn't that amazing? You know the things that we sometimes run after, even as children of God, some of the things that we give attention to, if we were to be let go to the full extent of that, as we heard last week, the chutes and ladders, you know, if we would be let go we would end up eating the fruit of our own way. But in the discipline of the Lord, there's great keeping. There's great security in the Lord coming along behind us and saying, no, that's not the way that you're to act. There are parameters for my children. And these, you must give attention to. And if you do not give attention to, then you will eat the fruit of your own way, he says, and be filled to the full with their own fancies. For the turning away of the simple will slay them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them. The thing of it is, I do believe in the security of the believer. I do believe that the discipline of the Lord is to keep us from self-destructing. that it is to pull us back in, to rein us in, to correct us, and truly that is why His Word is given to us, and we're to abide in it. But notice here that if the turning away of the simple, just to simply walk past and say, I will not listen. that turning away is what will ultimately slay those who do not come to Christ. And the complacency of fools, that sense of, oh, peace, peace, that just, I don't want to think about it. I'm having a good life. That complacency of fools will destroy them. I had to think of our Bible study on Wednesday night. He who would see good days, He would love life and see good days. Let him refrain his tongue from speaking evil and his lips from guile or deceit. You see, you see, the good life is the life of discipline, the life of the Lord bringing us in, bringing us back to that place. And now he calls us here in our passage in John. And this is this is the this is a a very clear passage on discipleship. This is our call to abide, to give attention, to remain. I would like to even say that this principle of having someone govern us is the same, very same principle that is child training. It's the very same thing. A well-trained child is a glory to parents. He is, she is. It's a glory to parents. Notice what he says also in Proverbs 29, and you don't have to turn here, I'll just bring this in for you. In Proverbs 29, 15, it says, the rod and rebuke give wisdom. Okay, so that's the command of the Lord. Abide in my love. How do we abide? By giving heed there unto his word. By giving attention to his commandment. If you keep my commandments. So that's what he's saying here. The rod and the rebuke, they give wisdom. But a child, what? Left to himself. A child left to himself brings shame to his mother. So if you withhold the discipline, if you withhold the direction, if you withhold your government from the child, he will bring you shame. Because a child is oriented away from your direction. And you were called to reign. Brothers and sisters, it's humbling when we see that it's the same thing about us. Isn't it? We sometimes see it clearly in children. But what about us? I see my waywardness so clearly in John 15. I'm so prone to veer this away or to not give attention, to not remain here in the house, in this place of abode that the Lord has for me, that I'm not content with the parameters. You know, the boundaries, the borders. Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it are the, what is it? If you look into that, it is, for out of it are the borders of your life. Out of it are the issues of your life. It is in the heart that the parameters of your existence are determined, you see. So we keep our heart with all diligence. And so as we look here, we see that this principle extends to every area of government. And this is so interesting to me. to see that a child left to himself brings shame to his mother. And if the Lord would leave me to myself, I would bring shame to him. And then we have also Proverbs 23, 24 and 25. The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice. And he who begets a wise child will delight in him. He wasn't begotten wise, was he? No. It is only after great labor that you have a wise child. Let your father and your mother be glad, and let her who bore you rejoice. You see, that is what he is saying in John 15, where he says, By this my father is glorified. When he has such children who bear much fruit, you see. By this my father is glorified that you bear much fruit so you will be my disciples. Well, let's continue. Point number three is that it is only in this place of government of obedience, of submission is that we will find joy. This is the only place you can find joy. These things I have spoken to you that my joy may remain in you and that your joy may be full. Obedience and joy are inseparable. It's really all I would have to say on this point. And this is where I'm often shown up. If I am lacking in joyfulness, you see, it's because I'm lacking in obedience somewhere. I believe that is true 100% of the time. that if I am lacking in joy, then He says, these things I have spoken to you that my joy. You see, in verse 9, it is my love. In verse 11, it is my joy. You see, that is why we see this as being in Christ. that it is not just a theory out here anymore. It's not just a vague idea. No, it has literal implications that His love is living in me. His joy is my reality. You see, we talk about this idea of being in union with Christ. Well, it has real implications, you see. These things I have spoken to you that my joy may remain in you or may abide in you or may continue in you and that your joy may be full. Just a beautiful, a beautiful point of discipleship here. Do we lack joy? I know I do. Joy is not necessarily happiness. It is a much deeper truth than that. It is a place of simply that we are rejoicing in our belonging to Him. That He is mine and I am His. He is my beloved. You see, I may not be happy, that my cows came out, or whatever. I may not be happy that I had a crop failure, but I am rejoicing in the Lord. I have joy in Christ, regardless of these, you know, what does it say in Habakkuk? Where it says, though there be no flock in the stall, yet I will rejoice in God my Savior. It's a beautiful passage, you can look it up. The last couple verses of the Minor Prophet Habakkuk. Joy. Joy. That my joy may remain in you. See, it is these commandments that ultimately produce our joy. Isn't that amazing? It sounds counterintuitive. You having to submit and breaking your will in front of God in front of whoever else that you're called to submit to. Truly, we see that so many times in the life of our children, isn't it? They come to a place of disobedience and we discipline, and then their hearts are restored to us. We literally get the privilege of delivering them from the guilt of their disobedience. That's the wonder that as parents we have. And this is what the Lord does for us. He, as we obey, as we submit, our joy is restored. He says, the psalmist says, restoring to me the joy of my salvation. Well, we cannot truly pray that if we are not interested in repenting. You see, that prayer is by nature a prayer of repentance. Lord, here I am. Please forgive me for this sin. Please forgive me for my waywardness, and please restore to me the joy of my salvation. You see, we can be saved, but we can be unjoyful in our salvation, and we should not be. And so this is a message of discipleship, of bringing glory to God through our joyfulness. Notice what he continues here, this is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you. Now we are again given a commandment that this is something that we are to give attention to, that we love each other as he has given us an example of his own love. As I have loved you. He says greater love has no one than this. And I believe this is speaking into the fact that he is planning to give his life for them. He says greater love has no one than this than to lay down one's life for his friends. And truly, that is the picture that he left for us. So he laid down his life for his friends. You are my friends. If you do whatever I command you. You see, there is this place of intimacy as we obey. We grow in this relationship. We move. He doesn't just call us servants. He says there in verse 15, no longer do I call you servants. I think what he is saying that I am not only calling you servants, because later in this, it is not very far down here, I'm not sure where it is, he does call them servants. Yes, verse 20. Remember the word I said to you, a servant is not greater than his master. So I think what he is saying there, that my relationship with you is not just you serving me, but there's an intimacy in our relationship. We have a friendship together. We are, we, we, intimately in fellowship with each other. This comes from us responding to His Word, obeying His Word, listening to His commands, being submitted to the parameters of our fellowship and of our relationship. You are my friends if you do whatever I command you. And notice what he says, I do not call you servants for a servant does not know what his master is doing, but I've called you friends. For all things that I have heard from my father, I have made known to you. And this is where I wanted to go with the next point. And that is that his love has been portrayed by his revelation to us. And if you go back to the Colossians 1 passage. What does Paul say? He says, I am willing to rejoice in my sufferings for you so that I can reveal these truths to you. You follow my logic here? Christ was doing this, he was the example of that. I am willing to humble myself, take upon the form of a servant, come down to earth, live my life before you, even take the... separation from my Heavenly Father, so that I might reveal these truths to you." Notice he says, I have called you friends for all things that I have heard from my Father. I have declared or I have made known to you. I have revealed them to you. I have manifested them to you. And I think he even, if you go back to this idea of verse 9, as the Father loved me, The way we know how the Father loved Him is by the way the Lord loved us, you see. And so that is a revelation even in His incarnation of His ministry. Just He in His coming has revealed His heart of love to us. And by the way, Abraham is a beautiful example of this idea of a friend. You know, there's two places in the Old Testament that he is called the friend of God. In James 2 23 it refers to Abraham being called the friend of God and if you go back to John I mean a Genesis I think it's Genesis 18 and you don't have to turn there. I'll just read this for you Genesis 18 in verse 17 You remember this account where the Lord came with the two angels and Abraham prepared a meal for them and they were on the way to Sodom to destroy the place. And so this is what the Lord said in Genesis 18 and verse 17. verse 16 it says, Then the men rose from there and looked toward Sodom, and Abraham went with them to send them on the way. Abraham was unaware of what was in their plans. Notice, And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing? Since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him. For I have known him Abraham had a relationship with the Lord in such a way, in such a fashion that the Lord said, Embark on this mission without revealing to Abraham what I'm going to do. And so he is called the friend of God now Jesus tells the disciples he said I refer to you as Friends I relate to you as friends. You will know me you will know my plans and you Actually, I've revealed everything to you already. That's why I'm calling you friends and And it's John 1, 18, where he that dwelleth in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him, you see. And so this friendship, this intimacy, this is the ultimate end of our discipleship, isn't it? That we would grow in intimacy and fellowship with him. I have, again, an interesting passage in Psalm 25. I want to just bring in here. That is in verse 14. He says, The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him. The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, and He will show them His covenant. We have Christ loving us and revealing these things to us that we might know the mind of God. And I believe that even more fully as we come into the next couple, like chapter 16 about the coming, or even the end of chapter 15, the coming of the Holy Spirit is descending forth from the sun. That is so that we might have this intimate fellowship that we might grow in this relationship with Christ, that we might know Him, that Christ would be in us, and that out of this then, out of this growth and relationship with Christ, there's a glory that comes out of our life. That is Christ in us. This hope of glory. Let's continue here in our passage. He says in verse 16, I just think, well, maybe just in case they thought that they were of such a caliber that they were blessed in this fashion. No, he says in verse 16, you did not choose me. You did not choose me. And this, again, I'm thinking about Colossians 1 where he says, the father willed to make known. The father willed to make known. Now he says, you did not choose me, but I chose you. Lest you by any means think that you have some spiritual clout here. No, I chose you. and appointed you or ordained you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should remain, that your fruit should stay, that it should be acceptable. This fruit bearing is directly linked to his choosing of his children. You did not choose me, I chose you and appointed you. that whatever you ask the Father in my name, He may give you. And this comes back to verse seven again, that you will ask what you desire and it shall be done for you. This is because of the relationship, because of the obedience, because of our submission. We do not ask anything not according to His will. When we ask according to His will, we have the promise that He will give it to us. That whatever you ask the Father in my name, He may give you. These things I command you that you love one another. There's one commentary pointed out. He says, these things I command you, as if he were going to give a whole list of things, right? And then he gives that you love one another. And this, that's the second time in this short text that he says, that he commands us to love one another. This is my commandment, you love one another as I have loved you in verse 12. So maybe that is our specific point of weakness in the New Testament. One commentary pointed out that in the Old Testament the admonition to have no other gods before you. This tendency to idolatry was most often addressed. Now here in the New Testament, maybe this is our unique weakness, that we were called to this place of obedience in loving each other. But the thing of it is, just think about it. If you've been loved by the Lord the way the Father loved the Lord and the Lord now loves you, isn't now, now you have the means whereby you can love your brother, you can love your sister. This is the great call here to us. Again, as I have loved you.