Today we continue our exposition on spiritual direction. Spiritual direction is the direction in which the Lord Jesus himself walked. As the apostle Paul says, “For if we (Christians) live, we live for the Lord. and if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.” (Romans 14:8) “For the Lord” means for the very same purpose and goal for which he died for us. That direction is to lay down our lives; to wholly give ourselves for the salvation of mankind. But this embraces a large area. Lest we be left with some wonderful ideal beyond our reach, let us consider how this commitment can be put into practice. How does this teaching translate into everyday life? In many ways, we shall see that John 15:9-17 is truly a precious passage for it summarizes the points which will help us set our sights on the goal.
John 15:9-17:
“Just as the Father has loved me, I also have loved you: live in my love. If you keep my commandments - words, you will live in my love; just as I have kept my Father’s commandments - words and live in His love. I have spoken these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full. This is my commandment, that you love one another just as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this; that one would lay down his life for his friends. 14You are my friends if you do the things that I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his lord is doing. But I have called you friends because all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you, that you should go and produce fruit, and that your fruit should remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in my name, He will give it to you. These things I command you so that you will love one another.
Notice:
Matthew 28:20: teaching them to obey all that I commanded you.,,,
1 John 2:5: .. whoever keeps his [Jesus] word, in this person the love of God has been truly perfected.
John 14:10: Do you not believe that I am in union with the Father, and the Father is in union with me? The words that I am saying to you I am not speaking from myself... Jesus spoke the words His Father Yehovah gave him to speak.
So, we understand that the words that Jesus spoke were indeed the Father's words and as such, all those words are t be obeyed!
The
commandment to love one another in John 15:12 is
quite familiar to most of us. Often there is the temptation to end this verse
there. At this level, we could still get by by claiming that in some manner we
do truly love the brethren. Now the Lord does not end the verse there. The Lord
does not leave us in doubt how we are to love one another. We are to ‘love one
another as I have loved you.’ We are to love in the same way as the Messiah Jesus loved.
This is the Lord’s standard of love. This same love in action emerges in 1 John 3:16:
“By this we know love that he laid down his life for us; and we ought to lay down our
lives for the brethren.”
The
Lord Jesus calls this his
commandment. A commandment by its very nature is not optional. Either we
determine to walk the way he walked
or we shall not be his
disciples. The kind of love the Lord demands is none other than the kind of
love he is giving to us. So we see the
Lord sets forth clearly both the standard and the necessity of love in the life
of the disciple.
Love and
Joy
What
kind of love does the Lord give us? In v. 13, we read,
“Greater love has no man
than this that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
Let
us try to catch a picture of that the Messiah Jesus builds with his redemptive life and his shed blood. Capture the vision of the called-out Assembly of God when
we all obey this commandment [his word]. To date, we must frankly confess that we have not
obeyed this command in its fullest intent. I have failed as I freely confess to you. In our
selfishness, we have often not been willing to express this total love. To be williing to lay down our livs for our brothers and sisters. Consequently,
we so not live victoriously and have lost the joy connected with this
command in v. 11.
As we begin to live in this full selfless giving life, we will experience a joy that we never knew before. The moment we become defensive and shut ourselves in, the joy goes away. Have we not all had some experience of this? If only once, we try giving ourselves away selflessly, not afraid of being hurt, we would experience the vision the Messiah had for the called-out Assembly of God: a called-out Assembly in which all live for one another and all live for God - Yehovah.
The Requirement of Love
What
is the Messiah’s requirement in our love? What the Messiah requires is that those who
commit themselves totally to him must
also commit themselves totally to one another. Total commitment is not merely
to God - Yehovah, as we may have thought. Much to our shock and fear, the Messiah requires our total commitment to
love one another as well.
(In
the main), we are more prepared to commit ourselves totally to God - Yehovah because we
trust Him. He is wise. He is good. Even in His severity, Yehovah is merciful. But
we don’t trust people.
This
command to commit to love our
brothers and sisters as
ourselves is often more than we can handle, let alone loving our neighbors as outselves. Always there is the haunting
suspicion that if we open ourselves to
love others, we may get hurt. The commandment to commit
ourselves to love one another is therefore frightening. To
attain to the total commitment to God seems already such an awesome task. To
commit ourselves to one one another as we love ourselves; how shall we attain to
this? Only by being filled with the indwelling power of God that enables us to carry out His will.
Love and
Power in Prayer
I
have, in other contexts, pointed out that the relation between disciples and disciple is close to the picture of a husband to a wife. In all aspects,
the commitment is total on the spiritual level. Among brothers and sisters, it
is spiritual, but nonetheless total to to love one another. Now this relationship is vital
to our spiritual life and the spiritual power with which we function. To
illustrate, the Messiah Jesus draws attention to our power in prayer.
The
Lord Messiah makes our power in prayer directly dependent upon our obedience to this
command to love as he loves us.
Have we not all known people who have prayed and were annoyed, when God didn’t
answer their every whim? What is our experience in prayer? Here the Lord Jesus demonstrates
a condition for the answering of prayers; we must fulfill hius requirement to
love. V. 16 relates,
“You did not choose me, but I
chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your
fruit should abide; so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, He may give it to you.”
These
words are the promises of the living God to give us whatever we ask [according to His will]. A person
not totally committed to God and, much less committed to loving his/her neighbor as himself/herself need not
quote this promise because the context of this promise is total commitment.
Here lies the danger in quoting Scripture verses that draw our attention only
to the promises of God. The very promise has an associated context. We may not
claim one of these promises unless and until our life accords or conforms to
the conditions set fur in the context.
Love and
Experience of God
Now
there is a glorious aspect in this passage. As our life and teaching manifest
the teaching which accords with godliness, Yehovah challenges us to take Him at His word. We
may ask what we will, and He will
answer. Yehovah does not hide Himself. He
desires that we may experience Him as the living God. Yehovah dares to make such a promise
when we walk righteously before Him in our generation. I challenge you to begin to experience evermore deeply the fellowship God desires to have with you as
you walk in the light of His word.
The
life of George Muller is a challenging testimony. Not once did the living God
fail. In his autobiography, he details his many prayers for the orphans and
their financial needs, he always obtained what he requested. He meticulously
catalogued every prayer and answer. More than 50,000 prayers. More than 50,000 answers.
As he neared the end of his life, someone asked, “Were any of your prayers ever
not answered?” He said, ‘There are two people I have prayed for, and I have not
got an answer yet.” After his death, inquiry was made, and it was discovered
his prayers had both been answered. Why? Here was a man totally committed to
his God and totally committed to God’s people. This is the absolute confidence
we can have in prayer. Despite my weaknesses and failings, Yehovah has, in His graciousness,
answered my prayers far beyond anything that I could expect or think.
Love and
Salvation
Quite
apart from the matter of prayer, Yehovah taught
me the importance of this total commitment as it relates to our salvation. This
truth was revealed to me through my mother’s death. Let me relate it like this.
In
1977, I had just returned from a preaching tour in various places in Ontario.
On my return, I was exhausted and there was yet before me a preaching
engagement in the West a week hence. One morning my wife, Helen came in the
room and just stood there in silence. She quietly handed me a telegram
informing me of my mother’s death along with the message to come to Switzerland
immediately. I couldn’t take it in. My last memory of her was that of a
vigorous and happy lady. Had I not just received a letter from her a few days
before?
When
I went to my mother’s apartment, in this town in Switzerland, everything in her
apartment was tidy and clean, reflecting my mother as she always was. The
apartment looked as though she had just gone out for a walk. For several nights,
I knelt before Yehovah by the
bedside and said, “Lord, I don’t understand this.” A light had gone out of my
life. My heart felt like it had a great hole in it; one which was to remain for years.
I
could not understand why there was this profound sense of loss because there
was no deep natural affection for my mother. In my upbringing, I was closer to
my father. Mother went to work, leaving me in the care of my nanny. My nanny
bestowed every kindness upon me. She bore with me in all patience. In giving
this account, one can see there was no natural grounds for affection for my
mother. Perhaps it is the danger of some who marry young. Young mothers, in
many cases, see their children as burdensome. Even more I was at a loss to
account for this emptiness. Even in later years, she was deeply disappointed
that I had gone to Bible college, feeling I was wasting my precious energies,
rather than becoming the great man she hoped I would become in the world. Often
my visits were accompanied by a coldness to the Gospel in those days.
Gradually
the message of the Gospel reached into her life not through any preaching, but
because my mother began to see the power of what God was doing in my life
constantly. I determined a stubborn love: though there was no natural reason to
love, I would love her with the love of the Messiah. One day she knelt beside me in
prayer and received the Lord Jesus as King
of her life. Wonderful [was] the moment when she yielded herself to him. As she became totally committed, her whole
attitude changed. She became a person I had not known before. A goodness,
kindness and humility pervaded her life. Whereas before there was an impatience
and intolerance when I came home, now there sprang forth a devotion and love.
Mark well how Yehovah changes a person.
Thereafter I could never sleep so well as when I went home to see my mother. We
gave ourselves totally to one another, having first mutually given ourselves to
God. As we determine to walk close to God, our relationships will carry the
fragrance of God in our lives. Why was there such a deep sense of loss when my
mother died? In His goodness, Yehovah showed
me the reason I felt this loss so acutely: I had lost someone who was living
out this very Scriptural principle we are expounding today; the totally committed person.
Another
lesson dawned on me. How precious is someone who loves us not merely on some
physical level, which passes away; but is
spiritually committed in total love. Such is the beauty in the community of
God’s people. Each individual’s love not only does not lose his/her quality in the group but is simply
irreplaceable. Your contribution to the life of another brother or sister is
indispensable. The loss will be felt. Through this painful experience, I
learned this amazing lesson and began to grasp the vital importance of
fulfilling the Lord’s teaching in the Church.
Love’s
Commitment in God’s Family
I
wonder, can we grasp what is the strength that comes from the assurance that
you are loved with a total love? I began to realize that my commitment must be
not only to my mother but to every single person who is my brother and sister.
Has not our Lord said in Mattfhew
12:50:
“For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother, and sister and mother.”
To
commit ourselves to everyone is rather difficult but I must commit myself to
every brother and sister whom I know does the will of my God and Father Yehovah. To such a person, one should be absolutely committed. Together as a called-out Assembly, we
must have the fullness of commitment to our brothers and sisters the Lord Jesus died to accomplish.
Our
direction is to be like him and that
the called-out Assembly be a community like himself [as members of his body]. The wheat that falls into the
ground and dies brings forth wheat, like unto itself. How my full heart yearns
for the day when the called-out Assembly of the
Messiah Jesus is once again his glorious called-out Assembly, holy and blameless, when the world can look at the called-out Assembly and say,
“Hey, I see the love of God. Here is total commitment.” Truly it shall be as
the Lord Jesus has said on the matter of discipleship:
“By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for
another.” (John 13:35)
So
I shall stand, not only for you, but with you to the limit of my ability. Now
my capacities may be limited but my Father’s are unlimited. Remember the words of Jesus: “Whatever you ask the Father in my
name,
He may give it to you.” This is exactly what we shall prove. There is no
problem too big for our God and Father Yehovah. In this line, we will aim to establish a a called-out Assembly that shows the life and quality Yehovah seeks of His people.
Love and
Service
In
v. 10 Jesus says:
“If you keep My commandments, you will abide (live) in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide (live) in his love.”
Preface this verse, with the fact that on the one hand, he commands us, and on the other hand, he serves us. Thus he says in Matthew 20:28: “Even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” What we learn from this mutual commitment is a deep and abiding respect. In John 13, Jesus washes the disciples feet, emphasizing this point. Some are entrusted with leadership. Some follow. Let me stress on this one thing however, that in the called-ouit Assembly of the God, leadership is not a status but a function of service. That is to say, the leader is not a grade higher than you, he simply has a different function of service from you. The leader must respect those ho are led. Anyone who does not understand this has no place in the called-out Assembly of God. I profoundly respect you as my brothers and sisters in the Messiah. Let us put aside the worldly concept of status or position. It has no place in the house of God. The leader is the servant, as we all are, for the Messiah’s sake.
Love and
Openness
Where
there is this commitment to one another, there is joy. Joy means enjoyment. The disciples must never be ashamed of enjoyment; particularly the enjoyment of one’s brothers
and sisters. If the fellowship does not bring joy, our commitment is very much
in doubt. Our commitment is in trouble. Often our relationships are “chained
door” relationships. We conduct ourselves behind a chained door, slightly open
for fear of being hurt or exposed. The chain defines the limit. We are always
watchful and guarded. Always defensive. Therefore, we cannot relax with one
another. After all, we may even be criticized or rebuked.
Contrast
this to the full commitment to love one another. We are not afraid of our
brothers and sisters. If you are committed to me, you should tell me my faults.
In fact, I beg of you, to tell me my faults. I ask not for nice words. Any
fault of mine could prove spiritually fatal to me. If there is something bad,
please tell me. If there is nothing, what do I have to defend? What is there to
fear? Why are we so fearful? I don’t have to put the chain on. Just come in. Let
us learn to value our brothers and sisters so that together we can grow in the
body of the Messiah.
Love and Friendship
“No longer do I call you servants [slaves], for the servant does not know
what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have
heard from my Father I have made known to
you.” (John 15:1)
If
the Master hides nothing from us, why do we hide anything from one another?
Friendship is trust and openness. Let us learn to relax with one another.
Friendship is the most profound relationship any two people can have. When
friendship goes out of a marriage, it is dead. It becomes just a legal union,
where we are stuck with someone we can’t live with. Rather, marriage is to be
friendship at its highest level. Our partner is our best friend. Endeavor to
build this relation with one another, to enjoy one another. Friendship is built
on mutual trust. In this verse, the
Messiah has set the standard for every relationship. When friendship
goes out of life, what remains? If there is friendship, it matters not what age
we are. there will never be a generation gap.
Let
us therefore be a called-out Assembly where this openness and trust prevails. In so doing,
the glory of God - Yehovah will be revealed in our midst. His power will be manifest in
our prayers. We shall see glorious things as our direction of life accords with our God and Father Yehovah..
Written
by Eric Chang and edited by Bruce Lyon
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