Remain in Jesus Christ’s Love (John 15:9-17)
There were very few people in the choir, but I believe it was a choir that gave glory to God. Let us bless one another, Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. I hope that the abundance of God’s love will be overflowing in all the families and individuals who are worshipping in the church, especially outside on the patio, in their homes, and out of state.
A person’s life depends on where they are, and this determines their future as well. No matter how diligently you work, your location determines your result. If there is a fierce storm outside, then you have to go into a building that can protect you from that storm. Even if it’s the same exact person, if they are outside the building, facing the storm themselves, what do you think would happen? So, even if it is the same exact person, their life and happiness will change depending on where they are.
Every single human being has been separated from God and therefore cannot escape from self-centeredness. That’s what it means to be separated from God’s love; it is their own love now. Our self-love cannot save ourselves, because it’s selfish and it can never save you. You may need material things, but if you become centered on material things, you will suffer because of the material things.
It might seem like your thoughts are very renowned and correct; however, if you remain stuck in your thoughts, you will suffer because of that, and the deeper you think, the more you will worry and suffer. The Buddha thought more deeply than anyone in the current century, and there were many philosophers who existed throughout history who think more deeply of life than we do, but their answer was, “Nothing.”
The deeper you think, the less it will benefit you, and it will detract from your health. If your life goal is to move and influence people through your position and power, you will suffer. You won’t be able to save yourself or anybody else.
- Remain in My Love
That is why Jesus gives the word to remain in Jesus’ love, but the people who do not believe in Jesus Christ at all will live as we discussed earlier. They have no choice but to be mentally suffering and spiritually harassed, because their core focus is being centered on themselves and their material benefit and their power. Because of that, they have no choice but to escape from God’s love, and they live their religious life diligently for their own benefit and their own plans. They do whatever behaviors and actions towards a god, trying all these methods so that they can get what they want.
The religious life is whatever behavior they are trying, they are trying to earn grace, whether it’s through prayer or by service or volunteering. But there is no way to escape from the path of suffering that continues to come to them. Even though our scientific and medical advances are getting better, people’s diseases aren’t going away.
70% of our bodies are comprised of water, and if you want to become healthy, that water has to be clean, but that water isn’t clean; we’re so oppressed. The result of a life that is so centered on myself, the physical things, and worldly success, is an oppressed spirit, so our body which is comprised of 70% water has become polluted and very corrupt, and that’s why we have no choice but to lose our health.
That’s why the Lord tells us to remain within the love of Jesus Christ. If we receive salvation but do not remain in Jesus Christ’s love, then we live like unbelievers.
1) Father God
In John 15:9, today’s passage, Jesus Christ says, “As the Father has loved Me, so I have loved you.” 1 John 4:7 says that Love comes from God. Love is not ours; it can only come from God. Then, what is the love we talk about? It is an incorrect love, and the result will be bad. You love your child so much that later, you become enemies because they don’t do what you want. It is a love of yourself and your own benefit.
A husband and wife may marry because they align with each other, but why do they divorce? They were aligned with each other, but if that connection goes away, they become separated. Therefore, the love we talk about cannot save people. No matter how much a parent loves their child, they cannot give the proper love to them. If the child disappoints the parent, the parent has no choice but to feel bad. The parent said, “I love you,” and fed them and nursed them since they were young, but when the child grows up, they don’t turn out the way the parent wanted them to be. That’s the love that people talk about. This is better than hate, of course; however, it still cannot save people.
2) Jesus Christ
That is why love belongs to God, and the way that God demonstrated His love is to send Jesus Christ who died on the cross for us. The love where He has finished all problems of our sin, curses, Satan, hell, and death, and He is with us forever. It is this love.
Love is not just an emotion. When people say “love,” they think about the emotion, but that’s not all. What is “emotion” to God? That’s just the love we keep thinking about. “Oh, this person makes me feel good.” That’s just your own thoughts. But the sign that God loved us is the fact that He killed Jesus Christ on the cross for us.
1 John 4:9-10 says that, “This is how God showed His love among us, He sent His one and only Son that we might live through Him” as a sacrifice for our sins. This love saves us. Love is not whatever we do based on ourselves. The love is where we have been saved from all the sin, curses, and disasters because Jesus Christ died on the cross for us, so you should not keep reverting back to your self-centered thoughts; you need to go back to being centered on God through Jesus Christ. That’s what it means to remain within the love of Jesus Christ, and only then can I come to life.
If you look at yourself through all the things you’ve learned and your own thinking, you’ll misunderstand, “I’m a little difficult, my life is hard, and my life is not working out.” “I am confident in my life.” That is also a misconception. You are a completely new and changed “you” who are with the Holy Spirit of God through Jesus Christ, a new state of “self” where all your problems are crucified on the cross and now He is living within me. The new state where the Lord is living within me as my Lord.
You have to look at yourself with the eyes of the gospel in order to love yourself. Worldly love talks about loving those who love you. If someone’s thoughts align with my thoughts, I will love them, but that is the worldly love. “If they think differently than I do, then I hate them,” and that is worldly hate. However, if you look at everything through the cross of Jesus Christ, you will love yourself and save everybody else.
3) Remain in My Love
So, in John 15:9 where Jesus Christ says to remain in His love, you must remember that through the incident of the cross, God is now always with you. John 15:10, Jesus Christ says that if you keep His commands, you will remain in His love just as He has kept God’s commands and remain in His love. Jesus Christ followed the commands of God and died on the cross, and He followed the Word of God without committing a sin. That’s what it means to remain within the love of our Father God.
- Follow Jesus Christ’s Words (Commands)
Now, He tells us, “If you keep my commands, you will remain in My love.” Love does not belong to us; we can only love through the cross, through Jesus Christ. I have become a child of God who can never fail. Do not look at yourself the way the world sees you; you must see yourself through the eyes of the Lord. You need to look at yourself as the one where the One who has all authority of heaven and earth is with me.
You must look at yourself as one who is with the One who has all authority on heaven and on earth, so it’s okay even if I have no strength, because the strength of the Lord is with me. Now, the holy plan of the Lord is my plan. That’s what it means to remain within the love of Christ. The opposite of this means that you’re outside the love of Christ.
In this verse, it talks about the “Command” which is His word. If we go into Jesus Christ, then the Holy Spirit that lives within us will remind us and teach us so that we can understand the Word He spoke to us. Only then can we follow His Word. If the Word doesn’t come upon me, then I cannot follow His Word.
When you remain within Jesus Christ, you will no longer speak your own thoughts, but instead, the Word of God will come upon you, and that’s what it means to remain within the love of Christ. If you face a problem, by remaining self-centered, I will worry and wander and flounder around, trying to solve my problem of life. However, if I remain in Jesus Christ, the Word of God will come upon me, why? Because the Holy Spirit within me, the spirit of Truth, will allow me to remember and understand God’s Word.
When does this happen? Within worship and life, in all of our many circumstances, the Word of God will come upon us as an answer, then what will happen? The peace of God will be established within us. If you are not remaining within Christ and His Word, you have no choice but to remain within the words of others and of yourself. But if the Word of God comes upon me, then I will have peace in my heart, and no matter how big a problem may be, if I receive the answer of the Word, it’s not a problem for me.
But if you’re outside the Word of God, centered on yourself and on money and your own thoughts, you will suffer mentally and your heart will become very sensitive. The nerves you have will affect your whole body, and even your cells will become insecure, and the 70% of the water in your body will become polluted. No matter how much you try to maintain your health, the 70% of the water in your body will become corrupt and your health will deteriorate. This is what happens to us. But if you remain following the Words of Jesus within Jesus, then the peace of God will guard and guide our hearts and our lives.
1) Believe in the Name of Jesus Christ (1 John 3:23)
Then, what is the command of Jesus Christ? In 1 John 3:23, it says that the command of God is to believe in God and to love one another. The book of John and 1 John are both written by John, the same author.
If you look at 1 John 3:23, it says “This is His command, to believe in His Son Jesus Christ and to love one another as He commanded us.” You can only become a child of God by believing in Jesus Christ; there’s no reason to continue living centered on yourself. You’ve already escaped from that, and now God is with me. Wherever you go, God is with you, that means that wherever you go, the Holy Spirit is with you, giving you His Word. Now that I’ve come to life, I can love and save other people.
2) Love One Another (1 John 3:23, 5:12)
3) Filled with Joy
- Go and Bear Fruit
When Jesus Christ tells us to love one another, it doesn’t mean you have to have some kind of physical contact. “When I came to the church, the pastor didn’t have some physical contact with me, so he doesn’t love me; he doesn’t even care about how my week was, there is no love in this church.” That is a love that people talk about. This is the kind of love that, no matter how much you give to them, if you miss it once, then they will be upset at you.
But the love of God was demonstrated through the cross. You must have the love that loves within that cross, and the love that saves other people through the gospel. I received the gospel and became a pastor, but when I looked at people and myself, I realized I didn’t look at things through the gospel. Even though I had the gospel, I realized that when I looked at people and looked at myself, I wasn’t seeing with the gospel. The fact that I’m not looking with the eyes of the gospel means that I’m looking with my own thoughts, with the standard of whether they had a lot of material possessions or not, and it means that I’m looking at someone based on whether they have a lot of power in the world or not. Then what happens?
I realized that I’d been doing this, that I have the gospel and I’m a pastor who proclaims the gospel, but I’m not looking at others through the eyes of the gospel. I was looking at them with a legalistic point of view, judging whether their behaviors were right or wrong. What does it mean to look at them with the eyes of the gospel? Just as Jesus Christ saved us through the incident of the cross, we must see them with the eyes that save.
How must I see them? Let’s say someone made a mistake and sinned, then of course I want to kill them because they sinned against me and hurt me, and because they harmed me, my reaction is to say something against them so that they will not harm me again, but saying those things will not be able to save or demonstrate love.
“Wow, this person has the gospel, but they are just like I used to be in the past. They’re so focused on themselves and on money, and they’ve fallen into this trap.” What does it mean to love this person? It means to influence them through prayer because prayer is being able to talk to that person without physically talking to them. God goes and speaks to them.
If you pray for them, then actually you’re speaking to them because the Holy Spirit goes and moves them. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth, so the Holy Spirit will go and teach them and correct them. Then when the opportunity presents itself, I can give them the Word of God that God used to save me. That’s what it means to love them. Sure, giving them food isn’t bad, however, the love that God is talking about is remaining within the Lord, and that love is expressed in the cross.
1) Jesus Christ
Do you love yourself? You should. You shouldn’t love yourself because it is yourself, but you love yourself because you see yourself through the eyes of the gospel. In Romans 8:38-39, it says, “I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor future nor any powers, neither height nor depth … can separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ.” As we live our lives, no matter what kinds of problems and circumstances we may face, nothing can stop this love of Christ.
In other words, you are within a love that makes every problem not a problem. Don’t be deceived; what’s important is where you are. Are you within the love of Christ? Are you standing as the “you” with the Holy Spirit through the situation of the cross? That’s very important.
When Jesus tells us to love each other, it means to look at each other through the eyes of the gospel. Do not look at yourself based on your own self-centeredness. If you look at someone else while being centered on yourself, you will be divided from them because they’re not aligned with your thinking, and that’s why you fight. Because that person doesn’t help you at all, you become separated from them, and if someone can help you, you get closer to them. That’s the only level we can have.
But if you look at them through the eyes of Jesus Christ, you will see, “This person needs Christ,” so you’re able to pray for them and forgive them. That’s what it means when God tells us to love one another. When you remain within this stream of the gospel, God tells us to pray for anything and it will be given to us.
Proverbs 10:11 says that hate will reveal our sins, but love will cover over a multitude of sins. So, no matter how much they have wronged us, if you love them in Jesus Christ, you can cover over their wrongdoings. The reason you hate this person is because they hurt you, they oppose you with such aggression, so instead of being on their side, you hate them and cause dissention.
But the Bible tells us that perfect love casts out fear. No matter how much money you have, you cannot block fear. No matter how much you try to build up a fortress to overcome the end of the world with your money, you cannot overcome fear.
John 15:11 says, “Jesus Christ says, ‘I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.’” If you follow the word of God to love and save other people, then His joy will be complete in you. The joy of the world will only give you joy when it’s beneficial to you. If you’re able to convince someone with your words, then you’re happy and if the result goes according to your thoughts, you’re happy, but that doesn’t last long.
However, the joy that the Lord gives to us is unconditional. Where must we be? When we are within the love of Jesus Christ and within the stream of saving yourselves and others, then this joy will be complete in you. Only when a person is happy and joyful will the corrupted water within them become normal. The water that comprises 70% of your body will become normal when you are joyful. If you’re always worried and oppressed by your thoughts, your entire body will be polluted and diseased.
In John 15:14, Jesus says, “You are my friends if you do what I command.” “I no longer call you servants, but I call you friends.” When we are within the love of Jesus Christ, then the answer of God’s Word comes to me. I can save others with that Word, and the result is joy, and now we are no longer servants, but we are Jesus’ friends and He will tell us everything about the Father.
Why? Because in John 15:16, “You did not choose Me but I chose you and appointed you so that you may bear much fruit.” We did not choose God, but God chose us and appointed us. What does it mean to be appointed? It means there is something we must do.
Jesus Christ didn’t just choose to save us so we can live however we want; there is something we must do, and that is our mission. In the Old Testament, God did the work He wanted to do through David. God controls the king and chose to rule through David as king, and that’s when David was appointed. Once David was appointed as king, he couldn’t just do whatever he wanted, but he was anointed with oil so that the Holy Spirit would come upon him, and that’s why God gives us the power of the filling of the Holy Spirit, because God has to do His work through me.
It seems like I’m doing it, but actually it is God within me doing it. God comes into my life and in every aspect of my life, God does His work, and that’s why He promises to give us the filling of the Holy Spirit. What is the filling of the Holy Spirit? God will fully control and seize you. Why? John 15:16 says, “So that you may go and bear fruit.”
2) Can Bear Fruit
What does this mean? It means you will go into the field of unbelievers and make them bear fruit. When God tells us to love one another, it means to love one another in the field and in the church. Now, not only do you love members of the church, but you go into the field of unbelievers and love them so that they may bear fruit.
That is why after Jesus Christ resurrected, He gave them the mission to go and make disciples of all nations. How is someone like Simon Peter, an uneducated person, able to go make disciples of all nations? It seems like Simon Peter was the one doing it, but it was actually the Lord within Simon Peter with all authority in heaven and on earth doing the work. Why? It was to save people through the love of the cross.
Baptize them, which means to bring them into the church, why? You have to make them mature in the Word so they can continue to worship. You shouldn’t give the Word to someone and leave them outside to die; you must help them to bear fruit, too. “Teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you,” means you raise them up so that they can raise their own disciples and bear more fruit. Our lives must be within this stream.
I mentioned in the beginning that your location is important. Your life and future will change based on whether you are within the stream of loving and saving people through the cross, or if you’re judging and killing people with your legalism and self-centeredness.
Mark 16:15-20 tells us to go to all people, to heal them by proclaiming the gospel, and casting out demons. How will we do that? The Bible tells us that the Father God who sits on the throne of heaven will be with us, doing His work through us. It depends on which stream you are in. Are you within the stream of loving and saving other people, or are you within the stream of killing people with your self-centeredness?
In John 21, Jesus says to “Feed My lambs.” What will happen to the church of the future? If you do not teach the love of the cross to the next generation, then they will fall into their self-love and the result is the collapse of the individual, the family, the church, and society itself.
People live longer now, but they live in suffering. Our medical skills are advanced so we may cure illnesses, but diseases unceasingly arise, so that’s why we must go to those people and save the next generation.
3) Whatever You Ask, You Will Receive
We talked about this last week as well, but Jesus said, “Whatever you ask in My name, the Father will give you,” depending on where you are. No matter what you ask for, no matter what you do or try to do, the Father will give you what you ask for, but it depends on where you are. Is your job, life, business, and thoughts within the stream of killing other people with your own greed and ambition, or are you within the stream of loving others with the love of Jesus Christ?
“Whatever you ask for” means that whatever you try to do, whatever you ask for or put your heart to. If you are within the stream of saving other people through the love of Jesus Christ, He will give you whatever you ask for, because the work that you are doing is the work that God must directly do, so whatever you do, God will follow you.
If President Trump comes to LA, everyone must follow him. There’s no reason for him to tell the secretary to follow him; they simply go. If President Trump goes somewhere, people follow, and if the president doesn’t go there, then they won’t go there either.
Everything must follow whatever work the Lord is doing within us, don’t you think that’s obvious? The work of saving lives is the work that you’re doing. If you lack wisdom, God will give you wisdom. If you need money to do God’s work, God will give you money. If you need people, then God will send you people, why? Because God is love and love belongs to God. What’s important is where you are.
Are you within the gospel, within Jesus Christ, within the cross, and within His love? Or are you trapped in your own thoughts? As evidence that you’re within the love of Jesus Christ, you will follow His Word and obey His commands, and you’ll be joyful. Even as you receive answers from the words of God, you’ll be joyful. Then, you’ll come to life and save other people.
Now, why do you go to work? You can get whatever job you want; you don’t have to ask if you should take this job or that job. No matter what you do, keep in mind the flow of this age, but what you do isn’t important. What is important is that, no matter what you do, you stay within the flow of Christ and what God is doing. Stay within the love of God and the stream of saving lives in everything you do.
“Should I dye my hair yellow or red?” It doesn’t matter what you do. “Should I get botox or change my skin?” It doesn’t matter; the Bible doesn’t tell you if you should get botox or not. It doesn’t matter if you get knee surgery like our Assistant Pastor or not; just get it. “Should I put gel in my hair or not?” Don’t argue about that, it doesn’t matter. What’s important is the stream you are in.
What’s important is that, whatever you do, you’re remaining within the stream of loving and saving everybody through the love of Jesus Christ. The people who are unable to stay within the love of Christ in the church and in the gospel are suffering in the world. Are you within the flow of saving those people through prayer and the Word of God?
Why are you working in the world, why are you studying? Are you within the flow where you are saving and loving other people with the love of God in your job? Then if so, even if you don’t ask for anything, God will give you everything. Whatever you need to save somebody else, God will give you everything.
Why do we do temple construction? Are we doing it just to show off? Why are we doing it? There are so many fancy buildings in America. If there is a temple construction that will love and save other people, you can do anything. Why do we do missions? Do it we do it to get blessings, or do we do it so we can love and save other people. “Ask for anything,” and God will work to give that to you.
- Remain in Jesus Christ
What is the core of that message? Remain within the cross of Jesus Christ. - Receive Love and Follow the Word
Then the Word of God will come upon me, and that Word will save me. - Give the Love that Saves Lives
I’ll be full of joy, I’ll save the church members and my family, I’ll go into the world and save the unbelievers, and God will give me anything I ask regarding that. I pray this blessing will be upon you throughout the week.
Let us pray together holding onto the Word we have received. What is prayer? The Word is prayer, so I hope you will be victorious, holding onto this Word this week for 24 hours.