Isaiah 42:21, “The LORD is well pleased for His righteousness’ sake;…” Now think how absolutely perfectly that Christ kept the laws, ok. Why did He keep the laws that way? Ok, we’ll find out in just a minute. “…He will magnify the law, and make it honourable.” How will He make it honourable? By basing it on love.

Let’s go to John 5:19. “Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of Himself,…” Now that’s interesting from the point of view the Greek is ek, and that means “coming out from within Himself”. In other words He’s not going to initiate anything on His own, ok. “…But what He seeth the Father do [doing]: for what things soever He doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.” Notice verse 20, “For the Father loveth [is loving] the Son, and sheweth [is showing] Him all things that Himself doeth: and He will shew Him greater works than these, that ye may marvel” (John 5:19-20).

Now let’s come to John 15, the very heart and core of the whole process of the New Testament, the New Covenant, ok. John 15:8. Let’s notice what we are talking about here. “Herein is My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit;…” Now how many people… I want you to pay particular attention to the Scripture that I’m going to mention, which is Matthew 7:21, which says, “Not everyone that says to Me Lord, Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven but the one who’s doing the will of My Father which is in heaven. And many will say to Me in that day Lord, Lord have we not done many wonderful works. Lord, Lord have we not cast out demons in Your name.” (Matthew 7:21-22, paraphrased). So what kind of fruit? See. What kind of fruit? A lot of people look to income and say, “Boy, God is blessing us, we must be spiritual.” But what kind of fruit? Ok. Now that poor little group over there. (Audience laughter) I know when I talk to different ministers they say, “How many do you have?” And I say, “Everyone that truly believes. How many do you have?” Ok, because it’s not the number. Though sinners march hand-in-hand, they’re all going to fall. It’s not the number (Laughter), ok.

So what kind of fruit is it that we’re going to bear? “…So shall ye be My disciples” (John 15:8). And then He answers the question. Notice, too many times we don’t connect the verses so they’re one after another, isn’t that true? Notice how He says to bear fruit, “As the Father hath loved Me, so have I loved you: continue ye in My love.” And if you continue in My love then you’re going to what? You’re going to bear the fruit I want. And what is the fruit? Galatians 5:22, love and joy and peace, longsuffering, and temperance, and gentleness, and goodness, against such there is no law. Why? Because those are a spiritual law to themselves based on love. And as I said, we make the law to stand. We make the Sabbath stand because we love God. We make the Holy Days to stand because we love God. We don’t do away with them. We don’t have the gall to march up to God and say, “God I love you so much but I hate Your law.” Now that’s incongruous isn’t it? That’s stupid. It doesn’t work, ok.

He said, notice how it is to be, “As the Father hath loved Me, so have I loved you: continue ye in My love.” Then He says, “If ye keep My commandments, ye shall abide in My love; even as I have kept My Father’s commandments, and abide in His love.” Now the word “abide” means “to live in”. It is a living love. “These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.” (vs. 9-11). And everyone asks, “Well why am I so miserable in this Christian life?” (and I’ve had my share of misery in it), so that we will learn to love. Do you not appreciate love when you have suffered? Huh? Yes, that’s what it’s all about. May we quit beating up on each other and learn to love each other, ok. So we have the joy and I’ll tell you what, you come down to the last where you think there is no one in the world, or you think that no one understands you. That your wife doesn’t understand you, your husband doesn’t understand you, your kids don’t understand you, nobody in the world understands you and you’re dirty rotten slob. And the only thing you can do is go to God and bawl and say, “God I don’t know anything.” (Laughter) Now that’s when you appreciate love. That’s what He’s talking about here. That’s when you can have joy and it will be filled in you through Christ and His Spirit.

            “This is My commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this,…” (vs. 12-13). And see it all comes to giving of Christ’s life. The only one that God the Father ever begat in the flesh - the one and only. Now did He risk all eternity? Yes, because it was only one. Now that’s how much love God had for us, and He had for Christ. And the only way Christ could do it was because He loved God. How? With all His heart, with all His mind, with all His soul, with all of His being, with all of His Spirit, with all of His strength - everything that was in Him - and that’s the model that we are to follow. That’s what He says, “As I have loved the Father, As the Father hath loved Me.”

Now notice He goes on further and he says, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are My friends,…” So when you get that very alone feeling, you still have one good friend, and that is Christ. And He loves you, and He knows all of your faults and mistakes. And He knows all of your weaknesses, and difficulties, and temper, and anger. And you go to God blubbering and say, “Oh God forgive me.” Whatever your problem may be, ok, God knows. And He still loves you, and He is still your friend. He said, “Ye are My friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you” (vs. 13-14). (Now I’m going to do that. Please, someone help me to do that - the commands in the New Testament, ok.) “…Whatsoever I command you.” And we’re going to find that not only are those based on the Ten Commandments, but they are based on love and they are so profound, ok.

“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. Ye have not chosen Me,…” (vs. 15-16). And the reason that is there is that so no man could boast. Can you imagine how Job would be if he entered into the kingdom of heaven after having… You know at one point he got so angry he said, “After I’ve done all these things, I just wish that there were a betwixt man [which is an umpire] between me and God, and he will know my righteousness.” (Job 9:33, paraphrased). Can you imagine what it would be like if he got into the kingdom of God on that? See, now there is law keeping without love, there is law keeping without understanding human nature. So that’s why he had to be brought to repentance. So how did God bring Job to repentance? He came and smashed him on the head and said, “Job you’re a dirty rotten no good sinner.” No, he said, “Job where were you when I laid the spans of the heavens, where were you when I called forth the deep. And I’ll declared to you Job that if you can clothe yourself in majesty you can save yourself.” (Job 38:4; 40:10,14, paraphrased). And Job said, “Ah I’ve heard of you by the hearing of the ear but now my eye sees you.” (Job 42:5, paraphrased). And that brethren is God’s love to bring him to repentance, and that’s why Christ has called us, in love, to that repentance and to this kind of relationship as a friend. And so when we as the bride of Christ, I mean just think of this down further, Christ is never going to have to come to his bride and say, “Do you love me?” Never, ok.

Now let’s see if we can go on further with is. Let’s go to John 17. And if there’s anything that we can do to keep this in mind, brethren… You know there are certain things in the Bible that God has given to just purely inspire us, because inspiration is the vehicle to overcoming sin. That’s how you overcome sin. Loving God and knowing God loves you is the vehicle to overcome sin, ok.

Now let’s come to John 16 and then we’ll get into John 17. John 16:26, “At that day ye shall ask in My name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you…” And neither will Mary because she’s not there (Laughter), ok. You don’t need Mary up there. Mary will hold a prominent position in the kingdom of God. Believe me, she will. Magnificent. The only woman in all of history to have been selected by God the Father to be impregnated with the seed directly from Him for His only begotten Son. Now some other women have made the claim when they’ve gotten caught… It wasn’t so (Laughter), ok. She was the only one to have conceived from the seed of God the Father in her womb. No other woman can make that claim.

Now, and for us, “…For the Father Himself [notice the “eth”, is loving you] loveth you,…” God’s love is on a constant, continuous, ongoing basis for each one of us. But He’s given us all free choice so therefore He doesn’t interfere in our lives because He wants to know, “Do you love Me?” That’s the question now. He’s not going to ask it later, He’s asking it now. Because, “…the Father Himself loveth you, because ye have loved Me, and have believed that I came out from [the Father] God.” Now let’s come down here to verse 33. He said, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation:…” So that’s why you go through all the things you do. “…But be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (vs. 27, 33). And with His Spirit and His help, you can too.

Now chapter 17 the most inspiring part of the whole New Testament brethren. So let’s read this together, and let’s think upon these things, and let’s think upon the song as we read this, “Do you love me?” “These words spake Jesus, and lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee:…” (John 17:1). And just think for a minute that the love that God has for us that we are going to have the glory.

Here, let’s go to Romans 8, that’s also inspiring. I tell you. Why are the epistles of Paul so inspiring? Because he suffered terribly so that he could write this for us. And when he was called He told Ananias, remember, he said, “You go to him and you tell him that he is to testify of Me before the nations, before the children of Israel, and the things that he would suffer.” (Acts 9:15-16, paraphrased). And look what he wrote. Look what he wrote, ok. Let’s pick it up here in verse 14. It says, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” And if there are any ministers listening, this is how you ought to treat the brethren, ok, as the sons of God. They are not chattel, they are not dollars, they are not merchandise, they are not numbers, they are the sons of God. “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear;…” Remember when we said perfect love casts out fear, that’s what John wrote. “…But ye have received the Spirit of [sonship] adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. [And] The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ;…” (Romans 8:14-17).

Now God is the author of ownership of property brethren. And if we’re joint-heirs we’re going to inherit the property of the kingdom. I mean, you think on that. Isn’t that something? That’s why it’s so foolish to try. Think on that for a minute - how foolish for a church of God to drown itself in wealth, when we’re going to inherit the kingdom. Think of it. And remember what He told the rich man. He said, “You had your consolation in this life” (Luke 16:25, paraphrased), ok. Now don’t go out and take a poverty vow, ok (Laughter), go to the other extreme. Remember we’re going to inherit the kingdom of God, “…joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him,…” That’s the tribulation we were guaranteed. “…That we may be also glorified together” (vs. 17). And you know how fantastic it’s going to be to have a spirit body, to have a spirit mind, to have the glory of God. It will be so good for those of us who have the problem of trying to lose weight. We won’t have to worry about getting overweight, ok. Just a little aside - but we’re going to be glorified together.

“For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” And that’s why we have to be resurrected on Pentecost and meet Him in the air on the sea of glass, so that we will be all glorified together. We will all be there at the marriage of the Lamb, and we will receive the blessing of God in full spirit fullness. That, I tell you, is something. That is something. And not only that, ok, verse 19, “For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the [creation, that’s what it should read] creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of Him Who hath subjected the same in hope, because the [creation] creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (vs. 18-21). And how will that be? By the love of God.

Now let’s come down here to verse 28. Very profound. And when you get down to your very lowest - and I’ve been there, and you been there - you go to Romans 8:28. This is a promise, this is a guarantee. “And we know that all things [all things] work together for good to them that love God,…” So we come full circle back to loving God. “…To them who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.” (vs. 28-29).

Now let’s go back to John 17 because this is what He was praying about. John 17:2, “As Thou hast given Him power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given Him.” And think on that, on your calling, that God the Father called you. “…None can come to Me unless the Father draw him…” (John 6:44, paraphrased). And I’m still trying to fathom that brethren, that the Great Creator, the most superior magnificent being of the universe, ordained to reach down into my life, into your life, and call us and give us of His Spirit. I mean think on that, that is profound, ok. Does that not pale into insignificance then, all of the stupid little things we put ourselves through trying to be Christian? Yes. “And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, Whom Thou hast sent. I have glorified Thee on the earth: I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine Own self with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was” (John 17:2-5).         

“I have manifested Thy name unto the men which Thou gavest Me out of the world: Thine they were, and Thou gavest them Me; and they have kept Thy word. Now they have known that all things whatsoever Thou hast given Me are of Thee. [And] For I have given unto them the words which Thou gavest Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from Thee, and they have believed that Thou didst send Me. I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which Thou hast given Me; for they are Thine. And all Mine are Thine, and Thine are Mine; and I am glorified in them. And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to Thee. Holy Father, keep through Thine own name those whom Thou hast given Me, that they may be one, as We are” (vs. 6-11). And so even Christ looked to this whole being in the family of God together.

“While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Thy name: those that Thou gavest Me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled. And now come I to Thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have My joy fulfilled in themselves.” And brethren, how can you have the joy of God fulfilled in you unless you understand what we’re going through right now? You can’t because there’s nothing to be joyful about. “I have given them Thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world,…” - as much as we may desire that from time to time when things really get bad, but He’s not going to. “…But that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil [one]” (vs. 12-15). And I just wonder how many times brethren, God has rescued us in keeping this prayer that Jesus asked, to keep us from the evil one.

“Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth. As Thou hast sent Me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on Me through their word; that they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee,…” (vs. 17-21). And brethren, that can’t be accomplished unless there is love. The only way we are going to survive…not survive, because we won’t survive. The only way we’re going to live through all eternity is on love, by loving God. We’re going to keep all of His commandments don’t worry, don’t anyone, you see. And this is what so many people are afraid of, they are afraid of that if you really… I don’t even think they comprehend that they are afraid of love because they think that if you really preached love that somehow you’re going to lose keeping the commandments God. No way, never happened, never happen.

Christ’s whole goal is that we may be one. “…As thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us: that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me. And the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one;…” And that’s what God is doing now. And perfection is done how? Perfect love casts out fear. “…And that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast loved Me. [And] Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am; that they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me: for Thou lovedst Me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world hath not known Thee: but I have known Thee, and these have known that Thou hast sent Me. And I have declared unto them Thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them” (vs. 21-26).

So the question, “Do you love me?”, is what God wants to know right now. And our answer should be, “With all our heart, with all our mind, with all our soul, with all our being, with all of our strength.”