Well, have you ever had a parent or a close friend or someone else you love and respect take you aside when you were on the edge of something new or difficult, take you aside and forewarn you about difficulties ahead, about things to expect, forearm you for how you're to deal with those things? Sometimes when we're in those situations, if we're honest, we only half listen to such advice. We think that we've got it all sorted, or that the person speaking to us doesn't really understand what we're going through. perhaps some of you can identify with that. I certainly could sometimes identify with that as a teenager. Sometimes maybe you teenagers can identify with that as well. But that's the case and yet oftentimes when we look back on those things years later, if the person who was speaking to us was truly wise, really did love us, had our best interests in mind, we look back on those conversations with great appreciation. Maybe it's only in hindsight, but we can see their love and their care. we can see their heart as it comes across to us warmly and wonderfully. Well, I say that because here Jesus is speaking to his disciples on the verge of a new chapter in their lives. They're about to be without him. Soon he will be leaving them, at least physically, It is mere hours till his arrest. So he brings them to this upper room to celebrate the Jewish festival of Passover and to instruct them and to pray for them. Here in chapters 13 to 17 of John's gospel, Jesus is preparing his disciples for life in the world without him physically. He's comforting them. He's showing them the basic contours of how they are to live. He is warning them of the challenges they will face. He is showing them where the power will come from to live in this life. And he's doing all of this in an intimate way. All that he says is intensely personal. It is personal because it flows from his heart for them. It's personal because it's all bound up with him. Yes, he is going away physically, but he's going to send his Holy Spirit to be with them. He's not going to leave them as orphans in this world. And in the end, He will come again to take them where He is. He's going, in fact, to prepare a place for them. And He is the way, the truth, and the life. These chapters then show us something about the heart of our Savior like few other places in Scripture. They're full of instruction and encouragement to us about how to live as his disciples in the world. But that instruction, that encouragement is not cold. It's not just theoretical. It is bound up with Christ himself and it flows from his beating heart for us. The chapters begin with this situation of foot washing where Christ washes the feet of the disciples and it's symbolic of his redemptive work for them. We see that in chapter 13, two to 30. Then Jesus equips them for living in this world with counsel and comfort. And we see that from 1331 to 1633. And then finally, we get a sacred glimpse into the inner recesses of the heart of our Savior as we see and hear Him praying to the Father on our behalf in chapter 17. And all of this, as I mentioned earlier, is prefaced by chapter 13, verse one. Now before the Feast of Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come, that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who are in the world, He loved them to the end. So as we begin this study in the Upper Room Discourse, I want to just consider this one verse with you, and in particular, the love of Jesus for His people. we will briefly look at Jesus' love towards his own, Jesus' love in our need, Jesus' love to his own in the world, and Jesus' love to the end. Right at the center of this verse, we hear that he loved his own. He loved his own. There is a special love that Jesus has for his people, his own. Those who were chosen in him before the foundation of the world, those he came into this world for, he chose each one of them And here I'm not speaking so much of election, but I'm speaking of calling in the same way that he chose the disciples. He called them out of this world. Each one of his own, he called by name and powerfully enlightened their minds and softened their hearts and drew them to himself. He gives His very life for them. He does that before they ever turned to Him. He does it while they were still sinners, still His enemies. He is their shepherd, the one who knows them intimately, the one who protects them, the one who provides and cares for them, all that they need physically, spiritually, emotionally, psychologically. He is their great treasure and inheritance, but they are His. He came into this world. He endured the sufferings of the cross that He might have them as His people, that He might be with them forever and ever in glory in the new creation with them, enjoying them, enjoying communion with them as they reflect back the glory of His Father, reflecting His own character as the perfect man. They are His body. No one will snatch them out of His hand. He protects them from every foe, even from their own doubts and their own weaknesses. And He will raise them up on the last day. What you see throughout all of this is that Jesus has a people that he knows intimately, that he has worked for and has won and is protecting and caring for and bringing to be glorified. There is an exclusive intimate love which he has for them. And it is all the more powerful because it is exclusive, because it is for His own that He has this love. Just like the love of a husband and a wife That love is so special, so powerful, so wonderful because it's not just indiscriminate love. You don't love your wife or you don't love your husband like you love just anyone. You love them because they are yours. There is an exclusivity about that love and therefore it is powerful. And this is the love that Christ has for his people. He loves his own, his own whom he has and is and will save for himself and for the glory of his Father. Are you one of Christ's own? Does He have this powerful, exclusive, passionate love for you? Are you a part of Christ's own? The way to be a part of those whom Christ calls His own is repentance and faith. to turn from rebellion against him and to turn unto him in faith and trusting yourself to him, resting upon him alone for reconciliation with God and as your King, the one who rules your life in everything. And that's not only something you do once, but if you are one of His own, it is something that you're doing every day, multiple times a day, it's part of your life. Do you take comfort from the fact that you are part of His own, if indeed you are? The love of Christ for you, if you are part of his own, is not impersonal. The song, the children's song, Jesus Loves Me, can just float over our heads because we're so used to it and we perhaps sing it to our children, only half paying attention to it. But if we are part of Christ's own, then we can say that, Jesus loves me. If you have doubts about that, look not at your weak faith, but at all that Christ has done for you. Look at all that he has done for his own. and try to remember his faithfulness unto you, the way that he has not let you go, but has remained faithful to you because you are one of his own. We see here Jesus' love towards his own. And then secondly, we see Jesus' love in our need. The verse says, when Jesus knew that his hour had come, that he should depart from this world to the Father, he loved them to the end. It is in this moment that we particularly have this emphasis on the love of Jesus for His own when He is about to remove Himself physically. He knew that He was about to depart, so He loved them. The implication is that He knew what this would mean for the disciples. They would be without Him. Have you ever lost someone very, very close to you? Maybe if you haven't experienced that, maybe you felt the hole in your life when you were away from someone very, very close to you for some period of time. Even just that separation for a week, for months, for a year left a hole in your life. You were reminded powerfully of how much you depend upon them practically and emotionally. Or if you indeed have lost someone to death that you were very, very close to, you know that sense of loss, that intimate close relationship that seems gone without any immediate ability to recover it. Think about these disciples. They had left everything to follow Him. They were fully invested in Jesus Christ. They, as it were, had taken all their savings and invested it in the cause of Christ. I'm not just talking about monetarily, but all that they were, all that they had, they had invested in Him. despite their weakness, they had come to depend on Him, to love Him deeply. And His going was going to leave a massive hole in their lives. And we see that by their reaction. When He dies and they think that is the end, it's like they're undone, they don't know what to do, they're lost. Jesus knew all that this would be for them. He knew all that was coming for them. He knows all this. And now, in His last hours with them, He pours into them all that they will need. Remember, as I began, I was talking about that conversation that maybe you have had with someone you love and trust, maybe you didn't appreciate it at the time. So much later, you look back and you appreciated it much more. Well, that was what it was gonna be like for the disciples here. They didn't fully appreciate what Christ was saying to them now, but he was giving them everything that they would need so that they could look back, as indeed they did, and fully appreciate his heart. for them. Later on in this discourse, he says, and now I've told you before it comes, that when it comes to pass, you may believe. He knew what was coming. He knew how it would affect them. He gave them what they would need. He loved them in their need. And he does the same for his own today. Jesus Christ knows what is around the corner for each one of you. He knows what will happen this evening. He knows what will happen this week. You think you know what will happen this evening. You think you know what will happen this week, but you don't, do you really? Sometimes things happen to us that are significant, that just come completely out of the blue, and all of a sudden we remember how little we know. Sometimes in those situations we remember that actually we really don't know the future. And we don't. But Christ does. He knows everything that will encounter you and he is able to provide for you. if you're His own, He will love you like He loved these disciples. He will give you all the spiritual strength, all the emotional, psychological strength, all the practical things that you need. It doesn't mean it necessarily will be comfortable. It doesn't necessarily mean that you will go through those things with flying colors. The disciples weren't comfortable when Christ left them. They didn't live comfortable lives the rest of their lives. Sometimes they were weak and failing. Even Peter, who had a great revolution in his character after the day of Pentecost, slid back into wrong thinking and had to be rebuked by the Apostle Paul. The disciples didn't live comfortable lives, it was up and down, but Christ gave them everything that they needed and he sustained them. And Christ's love is the same for us. It's love in our need. Jesus then loves his own in the world. The verse says, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end, who were in the world. Special attention is given to the fact that these disciples were in the world. They were subject to and were going to be subject to all sorts of opposition. The Word of God specifically singles these who are in the world out as the object of Jesus' love. Why? Because they might grow weary. Because the hatred of the world might cloud their vision of the love of Christ? If the world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, a servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will keep yours also. These things I have spoken to you, that in me you may have peace, and the world you will have tribulation. But be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. And the same is true of us, isn't it? The world still opposes the gospel, still opposes the truth of God, still opposes those who take the things of God seriously, still laughs at us, still tries to marginalize us any way it can. And we still live in this world that is under the curse and we pour our efforts into something and it all goes wrong. or we are struck by debilitating pain, or struggles mentally, or whatever it might be. We are still imperfect. We still have sin in us. We still are shocked at the depths of our vileness if we really look into our hearts. All of this is saying in one way or another that we are in this world. We are subject to persecution. We're subject to its futility. We're subject to the sin that still remains in us. We're not under it, under its dominion anymore, but it affects us. And Christ says, that he loves you in the midst of all that. He loves you though the world hates you. He loves you even when you've poured yourself into something and it's all gone wrong. He loves you When you look into your own heart and you see its blackness or you see nothing to be encouraged by, He loves you if you are His, if you've been united to Him. Jesus has a particular love for those still in the world because He knows that They are subject to its hatred. They're subject to the fragility of this world. He knows that they are still weak in their sins. And then finally, Jesus loves to the end. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. Jesus' love is faithful. When the Scripture says that He had loved them and He continued to love them, it's saying that Jesus had a proven track record with these disciples. Think about it. they could look back on his companionship with them. They had walked with him. They had talked with him. They had slept with him. They had shared meals with him. They had done probably menial tasks with him. They had shared their lives with him. He had been a companion with them. In their lack of understanding, He had instructed them. In their moments of need, He had been there. When they were on the sea in a storm, they thought they would all die. He had calmed the storm. And many, many other times, He had been their help. He had a proven track record with these disciples. And what this is saying is that same love, which they had known all throughout their time with him, he continued right up until the very last moments that he was with them. He loved them to the end. His love was absolutely and utterly faithful. He loved them despite their sin, despite their thickness, despite their ingratitude, despite their arrogance. Think of Peter, even at one point taking it upon himself to rebuke Jesus, saying that the way that Jesus thought his ministry was going to work out wasn't right. He had loved them, and He would love them right up until the end. He had loved them like this, and He would love them right up until the end. We might have expected Him to be distracted. Remember, Jesus was a man just like us, and on the horizon were dark storm clouds laden with the most awful things imaginable. not only that man could concoct in beatings and shame and the execution of the cross, but the very wrath of God for all of the sins of his people, all of that was on the horizon. We might have thought that Jesus would be distracted away from his disciples with the weight of all that he was about to endure, And yet it says, having loved them, he loved them to the end. And the same love is the love that we can count on. This same faithful love is the same faithful love that we can count on. Jesus Christ's love for you, if you are His, will not go part of the way and stop. Jesus' love does not ebb and flow. It is rooted in the counsels of the Trinity from eternity. It has been secured by His lifeblood And it is absolutely sure No matter what you are going through, no matter what you will go through You can count on Jesus to love you to the end So brothers and sisters, as I close, let me exhort you to love this Savior in return. If He loves you in this way, ought you not to love Him in return? Is there too much you can do for Him? I don't think so. Love Him as faithfully as you can. Love Him by His grace. Serve Him. Live for Him. Seek that your heart might more and more be drawn out to Him as His heart is to you. If you are not His own, consider how much the poorer you are because you don't have this wonderful love for yourself. We can see in human love what a wonderful treasure it is when two people really love each other, not just with some sort of emotional love, not just with some sort of attraction of lust, but a faithful, long-term, sacrificial delight in all that this other person is and that love is mutual. We can see how much of a treasure that is. We can see that the people who have it are wealthy beyond measure as almost. What I'm saying to you is the love of Christ for his people is something that exceeds that so much more than we can possibly imagine. So if you don't have that, you are so much the poor for not having it. Seek Christ. Seek Him that you might be His own. And finally, if Christ loves us like this, are we not to love each other? We are members of His body. If Christ our Lord Loves each one of us who are His like that? Ought we not to follow Him and love the fellow objects of His love with as much love as we can muster? Ought we not to pray for grace to love those who are difficult and unconstant and challenging to love amongst us? Ought we not to love each other as he loves us? Let's pray. Lord God, we praise you for this truly precious love that you have for us, your own. Help us to appreciate it more. Forgive us for taking it for granted. And may it draw us out in love for you. May we love you all the more, and may we love each other with but a measure of the love that you have shown to each of us. We ask it in your name, Lord Jesus. Amen.