 But that said, John chapter 15. I'll begin reading at verse nine. I'll read to verse 11. And we'll get into our study. John chapter 15, beginning at verse nine. Jesus said, as a 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've spoken to you that my joy may remain in you and that your joy may be full. And so as we open up our study right now, remember that Jesus has been encouraging his disciples to remain faithful to him. He has just encouraged them to abide in him. And when he speaks concerning abiding, and that's what he had been doing in chapter 15, verses one through eight, when he was speaking concerning abiding, notice verse seven, how he said, if you abide in me, and my words abiding you, as he's been speaking of abiding, the word abide means to continue, to remain or to stay around. Obviously, Jesus is saying, continue with me, abide in me, remain in me. Abiding in Jesus' evidence that salvation has already taken place. When he speaks concerning abiding in him, there's an assumption there, an inference if you will, that salvation has taken place and therefore you abide in him, you remain in him, you continue in him. And this fruit of abiding in Christ, the fruit of being in Christ is gonna be demonstrated by continuing with him as well as an obedience to his word. You see, one of the ways we demonstrate that we're abiding is we have a heart of obedience. And that's why in chapter 14, verse 21, that's why he had said, 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. In verse 23, he had said, 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 so abiding in Christ is demonstrated by a love for him and his word. To abide in Christ is to live out the salvation that took place when you committed your heart to Christ and it's demonstrated again by continuing with him in obedience to him by his word. Remember in chapter eight, verse 31 and 32, how Jesus said to those Jews who believed him, if you abide in my word, you are my disciples indeed, you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. So he's speaking to those who claim to know him, he said, you need to continue with me, you need to do so because that demonstrates you're kind of abiding me and thus through your obedience, you're revealing that you have faith in me. And so when Jesus is speaking, concerning abiding in him and all of that and speaking of his words again in verse seven of chapter 15 where he says, my words abiding you, when he's speaking concerning that, he's speaking concerning the fact that we have heard him and we are obeying him. You see hearing his word and obeying his word is really one of the evidences that we're a believer. It's not just the hearing because people will come to Bible studies, perhaps you may be right now watching this Bible study because somebody's forcing you to or you're interested in what we have to say, preferably you're interested and you hear but just because a person hears doesn't mean that they adhere. You hear the word of God, but we're called to adhere to the word of God. We are called not to listen alone but to act on those things that we're hearing. That's the mark of a believer. There's a writer that has influenced me as a devotional writer, a man that many people are familiar with. His name is A.W. Tozer. And A.W. Tozer said this. He said, when the Holy Spirit is in full control of our lives, he will expect our obedience to the written word of God, but it is part of our human problem that we would like to be full of the spirit and yet go on and do as we please. And that's true. We wanna be filled with the spirit but still live for ourselves. A person who's really walking with the Lord is a person who hears what he has to say and obeys. Somebody who's abiding in Christ is somebody who's connected vitally to the true vine. And so we receive our nutrients, our life from the vine. And he is saying that if we actually are part of that vine, then one of the ways we demonstrate that we are in him is we obey his word, we live for him, we produce fruit. So obedience from a heart of faith is evidence that we are followers of Jesus and to obey his word is actually gonna reveal that we're saved when we obey from the heart in faith. Now to hear speaks of listening to something, to understand something, to give heed to something. So hearing God's word and obeying demonstrates a devotion, a devotion to his will. And that produces a fruitful prayer life because the Christian seeks to please God. We're not seeking to please ourselves. We desire to be in the center of his will as we pray. And that's why again in verse seven, he said, if you abide in me, my words abiding you, you will ask what you desire and it shall be done for you. And so to abiding his word, abiding in him, producing fruit in Christ is demonstrated in various ways, including the fact that our prayer life is fruitful because the Lord is listening to us as we pray according to his will. You see when we pray, we're not seeking to please ourselves. When we pray, we pray that we might be in the center of his will. In James in chapter four, verse three, in the New Testament, James writes, when you ask, you do not receive because you ask with wrong motives that you may spend what you get on your pleasure. And so our prayer life is fruitful when we're abiding in Christ and abiding in his word. And when we're abiding in his word, we pray according to his will. And as we pray according to his will, we receive that which we have asked of him because we're asking according to his will, receiving those things that he desires for us. And so we were looking at that together in the first eight verses of chapter 15. And now we move on into verse nine where Jesus continues and Jesus says this. He says, as a father loved me, I also have loved you. He goes on to say, abide, abide in my love. Now Jesus has already spoken of his father's love for him. In John 3.35, he had said, the father loves the son and has given all things into his hand. It is said there, the father loves the son and has given all things into his hand. In John 5.20, it reads, the father loves the son and shows him all things that he himself does. And so Jesus Christ speaks concerned in the fact that the father loves him. But notice in verse nine, he says, the father loved me, I also have loved you, abide in my love. So we're gonna be looking at a moment together. We're gonna be looking at how he gives his disciples insight about God's love. The first thing I wanna point out about the love of God is love originates with him. Love originates with God and love is intended to be shared with other people. The father loves him and he loves them. They are to abide in his love and they are to love one another. In 1 John 4.7 and 8, beloved, let us love one another for love is of God. And everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. And he who does not love does not know God. For God is love. If there's anything, guys, if there's anything that is contrary to true Christianity, anything that is contrary to true Christianity, it is when somebody claims to love God and doesn't love other people. It is so contradictory. How can I say I love God whom I have not seen and yet I hate my brother whom I do see? How can I claim to have the love of Christ in me when I don't love those whom he loves? And there are quite a number of people who have this attitude. They don't love other people. And it's sad, but it's true. And you see it all the time, I do. I've seen it all, I see it quite often. You see, love originates in God. God's love is demonstrated in Jesus Christ. Jesus loved his men, but it doesn't stop there. They're to love one another and they're to love other people. That's the mark of a true Christian. The fact that they have a discerning kind of love, a love that is a welcoming love. And if there's anything that the church needs to be reminded of, I would say it's the love one another. It's the love one another. I think there's an absence of love in the body of Christ today and it concerns me greatly to see that. You see, love for Jesus is gonna be demonstrated by keeping his commands. And obedience results in fellowship with God. And obedience results in resting in his love. In verse 10, he said, 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. So obedience, as mentioned a moment ago, obedience to him results in fellowship with God and abiding or resting, resting in his love. In verse 11, these things I've spoken to you that my joy may remain in you and that your joy may be full. These things I've spoken to you that your joy may be full. Remember in verse nine, as he said, the father loved me, I also have loved you, abiding my love, abiding in the love of God. When you're abiding in his love, you're abiding in various things guys. You're abiding in fellowship with God and you're abiding in his designs for you and abiding in his love and having faith in his plans for you are good. It gives you a peace. It gives you a sense of God's presence in a way that is extremely powerful and that is the fount of joy. That's where you receive joy. It's knowing that you're in Christ and the love that God has for Jesus is the same kind of love that you can have with him. He loved Jesus, Jesus loves you and you love him in return and as a result, you're able to love other people. And when you have this settled kind of sense that God is for you and not against you, when you have this settled sense that God's presence is there and his power is there, then you have a peace that passes all understanding. If there's a time that we need to practice that again, it's right now, don't you think? Isn't it time for the church or isn't it past the time for the church to be able to rest in the joy of the Lord because the joy of the Lord is our strength and Jesus wants his joy to remain in us and he wants his joy in us to be full. And so as you abide in the love of God and as you're obeying him, well, your joy comes from God and you can rejoice for a variety of things, including the fact that Jesus is going to the Father and as he goes to the Father, even so one day, you will too. There's this thing that I think the church has forgotten and I'm speaking to myself as I speak to everybody else. This world is in my home, I'm just passing through. I'm a stranger and I'm a pilgrim, I'm a sojourner. Why am I looking to the world to give me peace? Why am I looking for somebody to pass some kind of law or eat it that's going to give me peace? Why am I doing that? Why do I think that peace is going to come from any other source other than God himself? Why do I think that? I want to have peace, how about you? Do you want joy? I do too. Where does peace come from? Where does joy come from? It doesn't come from our circumstances or surroundings, does it? It comes from a deeper source. It comes from your relationship with God through Jesus Christ. He gives you that peace that Paul would say passes all human understanding. It goes beyond any human comprehension and the ability on my part to really think through and to come to really understand. You know, there was a well-known atheist who was a father of existentialism who is reported, said, I don't want a peace that passes understanding. I want a peace that I can understand. Well, if you can understand the peace, maybe it's not real. The thing that passes understanding comes through Christ where you should be, according to the world standards, experiencing certain tensions and anxieties. And yet because you've learned in faith to cast your cares on the Lord, you've learned that he cares for you. You know, as I'm sharing, this isn't part of my notes and I'll say this briefly, but I have to tell you, you know, pastoring this church as long as I have, 38, 39 years, real soon, I can tell you that the Lord has shown me in so many different ways by his love and his provision that he raised up our fellowship with a reason. And that reason has yet to be fulfilled. In other words, continuing to work on the things that he intends for us to do. He wants us to work and continue to serve him so that the things he designed for this church may take place. And right now, you know, it's difficult for me. It's difficult, as I was mentioning a little bit earlier, it's difficult to walk into a sanctuary this large and to know that there was, we were seeing the church and it was healthy and the sanctuary had many people in it and there's so much going on that has been so good and fruitful and then suddenly to have an empty sanctuary and to speak to empty chairs more than usual, it's difficult, but you know what? I come in here like perhaps some of you do and I will come in, I'll stand behind this pulpit and none of you would know that more likely unless somehow you might have seen and I'll stand behind this pulpit and I'll look at an empty sanctuary and I pray over the seats and I say, God, in Jesus' name, I pray that you will fill those seats once again, that you'll bring people here that we can minister to and we can edify, we can equip and then they can go out and they can do the work of ministry and reach people for Jesus' sake, Lord. So please, Lord, in Jesus' name, may we once again be able to meet, may we once again be able to worship together and fellowship and hug each other and do the work of ministry and I've learned and I'm learning, have you? I'm learning to cast my cares on him. Why? Because he cares for me. Because he cares for us. You need to think of that and realize that God loves you and the joy that Jesus has, he said it's my joy and that joy originates in his relationship with his father. It's a joy that he has because he's united with his own father. It's a joy you can have. My joy can be your joy because you too are united with the father and God's plans for you are good. Even though we go through the valley, even though we go through difficulties, it all turns out for the good. If we understand that we can have peace as well as his joy. So he says, my word needs to abide in you. In other words, I need to by faith receive what he has to say and act on it to obey and joy will be the fruit that is produced. In Hebrews 12, verses one and two, the writer said, therefore, we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross despising the shame and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God, the joy that was set before him and Jesus Christ is encouraging us with the same joy. In verse 12 and 13, this he said, it's my commandment that you'll love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this then to lay down one's life for his friends. Greater love has no man than this and to lay down one's life for his friends. The word friends there is a Greek word, it's philos, it speaks of those who are beloved, they are the loved ones, to lay down one's life for his loved ones, for his friends. You see, when we speak of the love of God and abiding in Christ in obedience, we need to remember that the essence of God's love is sacrificial. Laying down one's life for friends is the supreme test and expression of the love of God. It's the kind of love that Jesus revealed to them, it's the kind of love that he reveals to us. And it's the kind of love that believers exhibit to other people. In Galatians one verse four, Paul said, Jesus gave himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age. He gave himself. It's a sacrificial love. It's kind of love that we're to have for one another and Paul even refers to this kind of love when he's writing to husbands in Ephesians 525 when he says, husbands love your wives. Just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. Love in its purest form, in its agape form is demonstrated by sacrifice. And so he's saying love one another, be sacrificial towards one another. And remember that greater love has no one than this than to lay down one's life for his friends. And this is what Jesus does. He's laying down his life for his friends. But he also speaks about what his friends do for him because in verse 14, he says, you are my friends if you do whatever I command you. So in verse 13, he spoke of those whom he loves and what he would do for them. But in verse 14, he speaks of how they respond to his love and they do that by obeying him. Their love, their friendship is revealed by obedience. In Luke 11, 27 and 28, it says, as Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you. And he replied, blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it. In Matthew 12, 47 through 50, then one said to him, look, your mother and your brothers are standing outside seeking to speak with you. But he answered and said to the one who told him, who is my mother and who are my brothers? And he stretched out his hand toward his disciples and said, here are my mother, my brothers. Now notice for whoever does the will of my father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I have laid down my life for you, demonstrating my love for you. You demonstrate your love for me by obeying, by doing what I have commanded you. You see, obedience is the evidence of friendship with Jesus Christ, because friendship is normally based on like-mindedness or common aims. The person that you call friends is, your friend is usually the person who agrees with you the most. It's a person that you get along with the best. And why do you get along with them the best? Because they usually agree with you and you usually agree with them. That's what friendship is. It's based on common likes, common philosophy, common direction. That's what friendship is. And so when we're a friend to Christ, that simply means we have things in common with him. The things he wants to do are the things we want to do. What he wants us to do is what we want to do. Why? Because we have common interests and common desires. We have a like-mindedness. We have common aims. It's like James 2.23, where it says the scripture was fulfilled, which says Abraham believed God. It was accounted to him for righteousness. He was called a friend of God. Abraham believed God, but God said to him, he accepted, desired, and acted upon. He had a common aim. He's the only person in the Old Testament that's referred to as a friend of God, Abraham. Because he did those things that God commanded him to do. James tells us that friendship with the world is enmity with God in James chapter four, verse four. So when I make friends with the world, I'm automatically in a hostile opposition to God. But when I want to do the things that are pleasing to God, I want to obey his commands. Then I'm demonstrating that he's my friend and I am his. Notice verse 15, where he says, no longer do I call you servants. For a servant doesn't know what his master's doing. But I've called your friends for all things that I've heard from my father I've made known to you. So Jesus is making clear that though they are servants, they are deeply loved by him. He's not saying that they don't serve him, but he is saying they're true brethren to him. It's interesting how he says a servant doesn't know what his master's doing. When he says a servant doesn't know what his master's doing, he doesn't know what he's doing or about to do. How do I illustrate that? Because he's saying that a servant is not informed of why something needs to be done. He just does what he's told. That's what servants do, right? What you're told. That's what the essence of a job is by the way, right? We're all, I'm seeking to employees, you know. What do you do on the job? What you want or what you're told? Well, you do what you're told, right? That's a job. And that's where I think sometimes confusion comes in because we start thinking that we can do what we want when in fact, no, we do what we're told. That's what a job is. And sometimes sometimes people haven't had real jobs. We call it real jobs. Meaning jobs outside of the church. And so what happens is we start thinking that we've got some kind of voting thing where, well, if I don't want to do that, or I think this is better, that's what we do. That's not how it works in the real world, right? I learned that very early and I think we all have to some degree, you know, in a church it can be a little bit awkward and sometimes even confusing because you're putting on, I put on the pastor's hat and then I have to put on a boss's hat. And it's very difficult to wear both. That's why it's, that's why I have administrators. That's why I have other people who help me with that to be honest with you. Because I don't want to be the boss. I want to be the pastor. I want to think of the spiritual things and lead in a spiritual way. But on the other hand, we all know this, we basically get hired to do whatever it is that we do. We get a wage for doing those things and that's what a job is, right? That's how it works. And so when Jesus is speaking about this he's saying that a servant in his day isn't necessarily told why things are being done. And again, I can apply that here to the church. I could say that if I walk in as the overseer of the boss or whatever you want to call me, you know, king, whatever makes you feel comfortable. If I can walk it in and I say, I want this done it's not a wise thing for you to argue with me about it. That's not a wise thing because I'll scratch my head and I'll wonder, did I ask you permission to make this decision? Did I put you on my board or are you? I'm open to hearing other sides because we ought to be, right? But do I tell you do this so that this can be done as a result? No, I shouldn't have to, right? When I was in the military I had to learn that the hard way. I learned that the hard way because when a sergeant told you to do something it wasn't a debate or a discussion. It was an order and you follow the order. If you don't follow the order you find yourself after five because we'd get off work at five doing some overtime, something you didn't want to do cleaning an office, picking up trash. And I've done that when I was in the military. They didn't like, I didn't like the order was given. I said, I'm not gonna do that. So I ended up doing something else. They're gonna trash because that's what they would do. You would work overtime. That's how it works. So I learned very early that it wasn't my pay grade to make the decisions that a sergeant was making or the captain was making or the general was making. It was my responsibility to simply follow an order. And that's basically what Jesus is referring to. Something we all understand. We all understand that a servant doesn't have to know the reasons why the boss said clean that room up. Servant doesn't need to know that. The servant doesn't need to be told because I'm gonna have some gas and the yes gonna need this and then they're gonna say this long and this is what we're gonna feed it. They don't need to know all of those things, right? But the servant needs to know is the room needs to be cleaned. And that's what Jesus is talking about here. Very basic thing, very true. He's not informed about everything. He's not informed about why something needs to be done. That's what Jesus says. He's simply saying do this. Look, if I hire an outside company to work on the campus, some outside company and I need something done, they don't come, I don't walk out there and say the reason I'm having you trim these trees or clean this is because they don't need to know that, right? They just get paid to do the job. And that's basically what Jesus is speaking about. They just pay, they get paid to do the job. They do the work. They're not told what we want to accomplish. They're not told why it's being done. And frankly, they don't really care. They just need to do it. In a servant-boss relationship, reasons Jesus is saying are not necessary to be revealed. But in a friendship relationship, reasons are important to reveal because those doing the work will actually take personal ownership of that work because they know that they're part of the overall plan and they will be blessed when the fruit is produced. And that's why with many of you, and many of you have been with me a long time, you'll know that sometimes I'll open my heart and tell you this is why we're doing this. I'll tell you that. The reason I want to do this is because of that. I will do that with my staff. And I will say, watch what happens. We're gonna see this. And that gets my staff excited to say, really? And then when it happens, then we all rejoice together. So if you look at it like that, if I bring an outsider in to do something, he doesn't care. So he's a servant. I don't owe them an explanation. But I treat people differently and I'll say, you know why we're doing that? And it may seem like it's not reasonable, but look at what's gonna happen. Then we all rejoice when the fruit is produced. And that's what Jesus is saying. It's not that they're not his servants. I mean, that's what Paul and the other apostles would refer to themselves as. The most many times when Paul was writing his letters, he'd say, Paul is servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. No, he knew what he was. He was a servant. But Jesus also made him a friend. And so the servant did what he was commanded, but he was also given insight into why this is taking place. Remember in Matthew, remember in the book of Matthew, how Jesus gave a series of parables. And as he was giving the series, as it's found in Matthew 13, when he was giving the series of parables, the people were there just listening to these mysterious teachings that they weren't understanding or grasping. The average people were not understanding. And in Matthew 13, 10 and 11, the disciples came to him and said, why do you speak to them in parables? And he answered and said to them, because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. And so Jesus revealed to his men the things that he didn't reveal to others. This reminds me of something that the psalmist wrote in Psalm 103, verse seven, where it says he made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the children of Israel. That's one of my favorite Psalms, by the way, one of my favorite scriptures, because I understand it in a different way. The children of Israel knew what was being done by the Lord, and they could explain it. They could say this is what God has done, but Moses knew why God did that. He not only knew what was done, but he knew why it was done. His ways were made known to Moses. You reveal your ways, or you can reveal your acts. If you wanna know how I as a pastor feel, ask my kids. Ask my kids. My kids have a very clear view of why daddy does what he does. They know what I do, but I guarantee you, if you ask them why, 99.9% of the time, they can tell you why I do what I do. Many people in our church know that I do certain things, but my kids can tell you why. My ways have been made known to my children, but my acts have been made to the church, before the church. So Jesus is speaking to his men. He said, I'm not calling you servants, not that they're not, because they are, but I'm calling you friends, because a servant doesn't need an explanation to do the job, but I want you guys to know why I'm doing what I do. And I've taken this, by the way, and I'll make it a little personal for another moment here, and I will let you know that that's why I feel a need to always tell you guys what I do. I'll tell you why I'm doing what I do. Not everybody in this room is a staff member, and you may not know, but I will tell you in devotions. I'll say, this is why we're doing this, because I look at you as more than just servants in jobs, but I see you as brothers and sisters in a family, and that's how it works. And that's why Jesus said, I'm not gonna call you only a servant, I'm calling you my friend, because a servant doesn't need to know why the master does what he does, but a friend does. And that's what Jesus is disclosing to them. He goes on and he says, and notice at this time, they're really not able to understand exactly what he's saying. He says, in verse 15, all things that I heard from my father I have made known to you. Well, many of the things that he had made known to them, they were yet to truly understand, but later on it would be disclosed to them and they'd have a deeper understanding. They were not yet prepared to receive all that he had to give, but they were moving in that direction. And then he says in verse 16, you didn't choose me. 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. And so Jesus reminds them that they were lost before he found them. They weren't seeking him, he actually came seeking them. They were the lost sheep. They were like that lost coin that Jesus speaks about, that lost son. And he's the one who sought them out. He chose them, he ordained them and he gave them a commission to go and notice and to bear fruit. They were to go and do the work of ministry but he would work with them. And Jeremiah, one of my favorite portions of the book of Jeremiah is found in chapter one verses five through seven, where God says, before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I sanctified you. I ordained you a prophet to the nations. And I said, oh Lord God, behold, I cannot speak for I'm a youth. The Lord said to me, do not say I'm a youth for you shall go to all whom I send you and whatever I command you, you shall speak. You didn't choose me, I chose you. I ordained you and I'm sending you out and you're to bear fruit. Your fruit will remain whatever you ask the father and my name he may give you. I'm the one who called you to do these things. You will go out and you will seek and you will find even as I sought you and found you and you will bring them to faith in Jesus Christ. You didn't choose me, I chose you. And I like that phrase where he says and I ordained you in the King James, I ordained you. I appointed you, go and bear fruit and your fruit will remain. These things verse 17, I command you. Again, that you love one another. What is gonna make their ministry fruitful guys? What is gonna make the world see that God is truly amongst them? He says you're gonna love one another because love is what the world will see and love is what the world reacts to. When they see the church loving one another it demonstrates that there's a God who loves. He says in verse 18, if the world hates you you know that it hated me before it hated you. Part of the fruit will be antagonism towards you and your message. There's gonna be an angry rejection that leads to overt persecution fueled by hate. This world system constantly opposes God and the establishment of his kingdom on the earth. It's a system that is fueled by the rejection of God and all that he stands for. It especially provokes the enemy when God's children love one another. It's the love of God and one another that actually stimulates angry persecution. So he says in verse 18, if the world hates you you know that it hated me before it hated you. They hated Jesus first and they're gonna crucify him and if they hated him they're gonna hate us. And because this is true there's more reason to love one another and be united with one another in heart. And listen there's enough anger and hatred in the world the church doesn't need to be a hotbed of it either. If there's anything different about us is that we love one another. God help us to do that. God help us to love each other because that's a mark of a Christian. That's what demonstrates that we really know the Lord. The world's gonna hate you but remember they hated Jesus before they hated you. He says in verse 19, if you were of the world the world would love its own because you are not of the world but I chose you out of the world therefore the world hates you. So John makes it clear that the world loves its own by repeating the word world five times. Very often that's true. The world loves its own. Get a bunch of strangers and start talking to them about Jesus and strangers will unite against Christians. You can have a public forum and a public forum will attract strangers who unite in opposition to the gospel. All you need to do is get a group of people and begin to discuss abortion or homosexuality. Talk about living together or pornography and see what happens. The world unites against the church. You see righteousness by contrast is always confrontational and those who follow Christ will live such lives that evil is exposed in contrast and the world's response is not always positive. In second Timothy 312 it simply says all who will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. And when you live for Christ those who don't will notice that you do and your life provides a contrast for their own lifestyles and often they respond with anger. The world doesn't have much of a problem with compromising Christians. As a matter of fact they like them because they can point them out as hypocrites but when you're sincere in your faith for Christ that's when you have some problems. In verse 20 and 21 remember the word that I said to you a servant is not greater than his master they persecuted me they'll persecute you if they kept my word they will keep yours also but all these things they will do to you for my name's sake because they don't know him who sent me. And so he reminds them of what he had been saying earlier he has been persecuted and they will have persecution also and the reason for rejection notice they do not know me. Persecution arises because they don't know God even if they're religious. Sometimes the strongest persecution has actually come from religious people. In verse 22 if I had not come and spoken to them they would have no sin but now they have no excuse for their sin. He's not saying they'd be sinless because all sin and fall short of the glory of God. What he is saying is they would not be guilty of rejecting Messiah. Knowledge of his message has given them accountability to God the more you know the more you oh you hear the message and Jesus is called and now you're responsible to respond to what you've heard perhaps there are some right now listening to this and you haven't committed your heart to Jesus Christ the more you know the more you give an account of and so ultimately you give an account of yourself to God for everything that he has deposited in you all that he has told you because knowledge of his message makes you accountable. He goes on and we'll close with this in verse 23 following he said he who hates me hates my father also. In other words you can't love the father if you hate his son. If I had not done among them the works which no one else did they would have no sin but now they have seen and also hated both me and my father but this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law. They hated me without a cause. They heard his message, they saw his works they still rejected him. In John 5 Jesus said at verse 36 he said the very works that I do bear witness of me that the father has sent me. In John 12 37 it reads although he had done so many signs before them they didn't believe in him. Remember always the greater the privilege the greater responsibility of response and this is something that is called willful rejection they're rejecting him even though he's done works and given them words that no one had ever done before. They are now held accountable for the things that they know even as those who are right now listening to this study even as you are also held accountable and Jesus Christ has called us to have relationship with him he laid his life down for us. He says if people follow me they're gonna have love for one another. The body of Christ has intended to love one another if you're having problems with a brother or sister in the Lord you need to deal with it you can't hide it you can't pretend it's not there you have to deal with it because if you're not loving your brother it's very difficult to say that you love an invisible God if you can't love the person who you can see how can you love the one you don't see? So God is speaking to our hearts and he's saying to us you gotta let these things go and you've gotta walk with me because there's enough hatred and antagonism in the world today the church shouldn't be a hotbed of that and believers need to learn to pray for one another and have compassion on one another care for one another, pray for one another and to forgive one another so that we can have unity in Christ that the world that is lost might see a living witness of those who've actually been bought by the blood and transformed by Jesus himself and in this we're demonstrating that we're his disciples greater love has no man than this than a man laid down his life for his friend and you're my friends Jesus said if you do what I commanded you. Father I ask that you would work in our hearts even now and I would lift up those who are having struggles in this particular area and I would ask Lord that we would obey you for your word teaches us to and has nothing to do with our feelings has everything to do with your word and obedience so I'm asking that you would work in all of us who are believers that we would learn to just not quench your spirit and allow the fruit of your spirit which is love to blossom in us. Lord again I ask that you would work within us and continue to move through us and as our eyes are closed and our heads about there may be some that need to get right with the Lord as you're viewing this right now the Holy Spirit speaking to you and you need to get right with God I wanna pray with you and if you need to get right with Jesus I wanna pray with you now if you open up your heart and say God be merciful to me I'm a sinner forgive me Lord because I am imperfect because I carry bitterness and anger because I've done other things because I'm tired of this and I need to get right with you and if you have a heart for that right this moment we can pray and you can say to the Lord forgive me a sinner God and if you desire to please I'm gonna share a simple prayer and I'm gonna ask you to pray along with me if you need to get right with God you can say God I'm a sinner Jesus Christ came to save sinners Jesus came to save me forgive me of my sins cleanse me give me a new life I will follow you every day from this day forward in Jesus name, amen. And if you prayed that simple prayer and you're sincerely in faith saying God be merciful to me come into my life all the Bible makes it very clear you became the temple of the spirit of God by faith you received Christ and if you just prayed that please let us know so we can contact you and minister to you further but if you got right with the Lord just now please walk with Christ but let us know and that way we can be of help to you and now we'll close the continuation and closing of this prayer in Jesus I pray that you would work in all of us to your glory and have your way in us and we would pray these things in your name, amen.