Sermon #1506 Miscellaneous
Sermons
Title: “Thou Hast Loved Them
As
Thou Hast Loved Me”
Text: John 17:23
Subject: God’s Everlasting Love for His Elect
Date:
Introduction:
I want you to turn with me
to John 17:23. As you know, John 17 contains our Lord’s
prayer for us as our great High Priest. It not only records his desires
for his people, which cannot and will not be denied (What Christ desires,
Christ shall have!); but this great, intercessory prayer is filled with gospel
truth and is a very instructive portion of Holy Scripture. Verses
23 teaches us something about God’s love for his elect that is simply
astounding. Let’s read it together.
(John 17:23) "I
in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the
world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved
me."
This verse is full of mysteries I will never be able to comprehend or
explain. It is itself a profound volume of theology.
“I in them”—The Lord Jesus
Christ is in us in a distinctive, unique, saving way. Obviously, as the
omnipresent God, Christ is in all the world. As the
Creator of all men, he is in all men, giving all the light of conscience by
which all are found guilty and condemned from within themselves. As the
incarnate God, as a man, our Lord was once here, dwelling among men. “The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us!”
These things John tells us in chapter one.
(John 1:1-5) "In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (2)
The same was in the beginning with God. (3) All things were made by
him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. (4) In him
was life; and the life was the light of men. (5) And the light shineth
in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not."
(John 1:9-11) "That was
the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. (10) He
was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
(11) He came unto his own, and his own received him not."
(John 1:14) "And the Word
was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of
the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."
But
when our Lord says, “I in them,”
he is telling us that he is in every believing sinner in a special, gracious
manner.—In regeneration,
the new birth, he is revealed in us and to us. Christ is formed in us when we
are born of God. He enters into the chosen, redeemed soul, taking possession of
his ransomed one by almighty grace, establishes his throne in the heart,
communicates his grace, and grants fellowship with himself, and dwells in the
heart. He is to every heaven born soul, “Christ in you,
the hope of glory!” He is in us by his Spirit, yes. But our
text says more. He is personally in us! He is in us as…
·
The King in his kingdom.
·
The Head in his members.
·
The Master in his house.
What
wondrous, condescending grace! Christ is in us! Therefore, because he who is
holiness dwells in us, we have Holiness within, that holy thing which is born
of God and cannot sin. Because he who is Light dwells within, we have Light and
shall never walk in darkness. Because he who is Life dwells within, we have
life, eternal life, within and shall never perish. Because Christ dwells within
us now in grace, he shall dwell in us forever in glory!
“I in them and thou in me”—God
the Father is in Christ, not only as one with him in the Holy Trinity, but also
as our God-man Mediator. The Father is in the Son communicating all grace to us
through him. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are in Christ the Mediator
in all the fulness of the eternal Godhead. “In him
dwelleth all the fulness of the godhead bodily.”
The Father is in the Son graciously now and will show himself in and through him
and him alone forever. The Father will show himself glorious in the Son
throughout the endless ages of eternity!
“I in them and thou in me that they may be made perfect in one.”—All
this fulness of God in Christ and of Christ in his people is designed for this
purpose and shall accomplish it. Because God was in Christ, all his people were
made perfect in justification when that man who is God died as our Substitute
at
Because
this Christ, in whom all the fulness of God dwells, dwells in us we are made
perfect in sanctification. He has made us holy, and righteous, “meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.”
Because
Christ is both in the Father and in us, because he is in glory, because he is
within the veil, because his blood speaks there for us, we shall soon drop this
robe of flesh and be made perfect in glory! Then we shall be perfect in
knowledge, in holiness, in peace, joy and love.
Because
this great, glorious, gracious, omnipotent Christ is in us and all God’s elect
are in him, the number of the saved in glory shall be perfect, complete. Not
one shall be missing. And we shall be perfectly one!
“I in them and thou in me that they may be made perfect in one and that the world may know that thou hast
sent me.”—We sometimes
sing, “Everybody ought to know, Everybody ought to
know, Everybody ought to know, who Jesus is!” Let me tell you something, when
he gets done, everybody will know who he is!
Now,
watch this!
“I in them and thou in me that they may be made perfect in one and that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.”—
“Thou hast loved them as thou hast loved me.”
Imagine that! What an astounding word this is from our God and Savior! “Thou hast loved them as thou hast loved me.”
That is what I want to talk to you about today. “Thou hast
loved them as thou hast loved me.”
·
The Father loved Christ as his own Son, and
loved him as our Mediator.
·
He loved him when he assumed human nature.
·
The Father loved him while he walked on this
earth as his obedient Son, fulfilling all righteousness for us!
·
Oh, how the Father loved the Son, even when
he was made to be sin for us, especially when he was made to be sin for us,
though justice demanded that he both slaughter him and abandon him pouring out
all the horror of his holy wrath and fury upon him!
The
instances and demonstrations of the Father’s love to the Son are marvelous to
behold. Because the Father loves the Son as our Mediator he has
put all things into his hands, trusting him with all his glory and all the
people of his love! He has made him head over all things, put all things under
his feet, and determined that in all things he shall have the preeminence!
The
Father’s love for the Son is an eternal, immutable, indestructible love of
complacency and delight. It will last forever! That I have no
difficulty understanding. But what our Lord tells us here is infinitely
gracious and glorious beyond my highest imagination.
Proposition:
Our Lord Jesus here declares that God the Father loves us, his people, in
exactly the same way as he loves him!
He
loves us not merely as his creatures (like a man loves his dog), not merely as
the descendants of Adam (as a man loves a man), and certainly not as considered
in ourselves (as a man despises and hates his most implacable, obnoxious
enemy). But God loves us in his Son, for the sake of his Son, as he loves his
Son!
Do
you ask, “How God does God display such love for us?” Behold how he loved us! “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us!”—Does
he indeed love us as he loves his own darling Son?
·
Did he choose Christ as our Mediator (Isa.
42:1-4)?—So he chose us (Eph. 1:3-6).
·
Did the Father make a covenant with the Son
before the world began (Ps. 89:28?—So he made a covenant
with us (Jer. 31:31-34; 32:38-40).
·
Did the Father raise the Son from the dead,
making him free from sin (1 Pet. 4:1-2)?—So he has
raised us up from the dead, making us free from sin (
·
Did the Father supply the Son with all
things in daily providence while he walked on earth?—So
he supplies us!
·
Did the Father send his Spirit and his
angels to minister to his Son when he was tempted?—So
he delivers us out of all our temptations.
·
Does the Father perform all things for the
Son?—So our God performs all things for us!
·
Does the Father love the Son from
everlasting?—So he loves us!
·
Does the Father accept the Son?—So he accepts us!
·
Does the Father love the Son with utmost
pleasure, satisfaction and delight?—So he loves me!—“Thou hast loved them as thou hast loved me!”
Near, so very near to God,
nearer I cannot be.
For in the person of His
Son, I am as near as He!
Dear, so very dear to God,
dearer I cannot be,
For in the person of His
Son, I am as dear as He!
Let my heart be forever
humbled, ravished, inspired, and filled with praise to my God for his great
love to me. Let my soul be forever exultant, joyful and at peace! Let my life
be forever and alone his!
What a great, glorious
gospel truth we have here. It is something that could never be known except by
divine revelation. How honoring to our God! It is just like him. How comforting
to our souls! To the extent that we are able to believe God’s revelation, our
souls shall be comforted.
Our great all-glorious Savior says, “Thou
hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.” Thus, he tells us that God our Father loves his elect in Christ as he loves Christ himself! That is such an amazing,
stupendous thing that were it not written in Holy Scripture, I would not dare
to think it, much less speak it. But there it stands. And, oh, how my soul
rejoices in it. It is our Savior’s desire and purpose that the whole
world shall know that God loves us as he loves him; and so it shall be!
“When God’s elect have all
been gathered together in one (John 11:52), when the glory which Christ
received from the Father has been imparted to them, when they shall have been
made perfect in one, then shall the world have such a clear demonstration of
God’s power, grace and love toward His people, that they shall know that the One who died to make this
glorious union possible was the sent One of the Father, and that they had been
loved by the Father as had the Son, for ‘When Christ, who is our life shall
appear, then shall ye also appear with him in
glory’ (Col. 3:4); then ‘he shall come to be glorified in his saints and
admired in all them that believe...in that day’ (2 Thess. 1:10).”
A.W.
Pink
“AS”
That
little word, “as,” means “just as,” “even as,” in proportion as,” “to
the same degree as.” When our Lord says, “Thou hast
loved them, as thou hast loved me,”
this great, little word “as” implies at least these three
things.
I. First,
there is a
similarity of cause between God’s love for Christ and his love
for us.
A. God loves us in Christ.
God’s love is not a
universal sentiment for all men. God’s love is in Christ. Apart from Christ,
God is a consuming fire. This needs to be understood. These days, men
everywhere are taught and universally presume that God loves them. Nothing
could be further from the truth. Until
you are united to Christ by faith, you have no reason to imagine that God loves
you. Our faith in Christ does not cause God to love us. Our faith is
the fruit and result of God’s eternal love for us. But, until a sinner trusts
Christ, only the wrath of God is revealed and known to him; and the wrath of
God is upon him.
(John 3:36) "He that
believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son
shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him."
(Ephesians 2:3) "Among whom
also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh,
fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the
children of wrath, even as others."
B. God loves us for Christ’s sake.
Thomas Manton wrote, “The elect are made
lovely, and fit to be accepted by God, only by Jesus Christ...The ground of all
that love God beareth to us is in Christ.”
We are “accepted in the beloved.” God accepts our faith, our
worship, our works, and our persons only because of Christ, because we are in
Christ and because of what Christ has done for us.
C.
And God the Father loves us for the same reason that
he loves his Son as our Mediator.
Be sure you get this. It
will help you. God the Father does not love us for the same reason that he
loves his Son as his Son. He loves his Son as his Son necessarily because his
Son is one with him in perfection and praise. He cannot but love Christ as God.
Else he would cease to love himself. But God’s
love for Christ as our Mediator is based upon his perfect obedience unto God as
our Mediator (John
(John 10:14-17) "I am the
good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. (15) As
the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for
the sheep. (16) And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them
also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and
one shepherd. (17) Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay
down my life, that I might take it again."
Do you understand what our
Lord is teaching us here? God’s love
for us is free and, at the same, time fully deserved! He said, “I will love them freely” (Hos. 14:4).
Yet, his love, mercy, grace, and salvation flow to us upon the grounds of
Christ’s obedience as our Substitute. He is merciful and gracious to us,
forgiving us of all sin, and loves us “for Christ’s sake” (Eph.
“God could not love us with honor to himself,
if his wisdom had not found out this way of loving us in Christ...God was
resolved to manifest an infinite love to man, but he would still manifest an
infinite hatred against sin; which could not be more fully manifested than by
making Christ the ground of our reconciliation...How could the holy God, the
just God...love such vile and unworthy creatures as we are? The question is
answered - He loveth us in Christ, and for Christ’s sake.”
Thomas Manton
II. Second, this word “as”
suggests a Similarity of love.
The Lord God loves his
people in the same way as he loves his Son. Again, let me stress the fact that
our Lord is comparing the Father’s love for him as our Mediator to his love for
his elect. Christ, as our Mediator, is the first object of God’s love. He loved
Christ as the Head of his mystical body, the church, and us as members. He
loved Christ for his own sake. He loves us for Christ’s sake.
God the Father loved Christ
the God-man as “the express image of his
person” (Heb. 1:3). So he loves his people who in Christ have been (and those
who yet must be) renewed “after the image
of him” (Col. 3:10; 2 et. 1:4). He loves Christ as his only begotten Son;
and he loves us in Christ as his adopted sons (1 John 3:1). Because the Savior says, “Thou hast loved them, as thou hast loved
me,” we are assured that...
A.
God loves his elect freely.—As we have already seen, the
Lord Jesus Christ earned his Father’s love as a man by his mediatoral obedience.
Yet, when our Savior came into the world, the Lord God loved the child freely,
delighting in him even before he had fulfilled his will (Isa. 42:1). -- He is
that One of whom the Father says, “In whom my soul delighteth!” Even so,
he loves us freely (Deut. 7:7-8; Hos. 14:4).
(Deuteronomy 7:7-8) "The
LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in
number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: (8) But
because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had
sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and
redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of
Egypt."
(Hosea 14:4) "I will heal
their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from
him."
B.
God loves us tenderly and affectionately.—As
the Father’s love for his Son is a tender, indescribably affectionate love, so
is his love for us (Isa. 62:5; Zech. 2:8).
(Isaiah 62:5) "For as a
young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and as the
bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over
thee."
(Zechariah 2:8) "For thus
saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent
me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the
apple of his eye."
C.
God’s love for his elect is immutable.— The Lord willing, I will say more about this later.
For now, let me simply remind you that there is no possibility of change in our
God (Mal. 3:6, James
The famous Arminian
preacher, founder of the Christian Missionary Alliance denomination, A.W. Tozer, made these
statements about the love of God. They are shocking, but they accurately
express what the whole religious word believes.—“God must love and will love
man until hell has erased the last trace of the remaining image (of God in
him). Men are lost now. But they are still loved of God...I believe that God
now loves all lost men...(But) the day will come when lost man will no longer
be loved by God Almighty...I believe the time will come when God will no longer
love lost human beings.”[1]
Such fickle, useless love
may be worthy of fickle, useless man, but not of the great and glorious Lord
God. Our God does not love today and
hate tomorrow! His love is unchangeable!
III. Thirdly,
our Lord intends for us to understand that there is A similarity of results, that the effects and
fruits of God’s love to him and his elect are alike.
Love that has no effect and
bears no fruit is lip-love; and lip-love is useless love. Love that is never
known by the one loved is a frustrated passion that destroys one’s own peace
and happiness. Love that never sees benefit and blessing upon its object, but
only misery and woe, is a tormenting love. But that does not describe the love
of God. Oh, no, a thousand times no! God’s love toward us, like his love toward
his Son as our Mediator, is an effectual, fruitful, beneficial love. Here
are five things mutually enjoyed by
Christ and his people as the fruit and effect of God’s love.
A. The Revelation of Secrets
All things are open, common
knowledge between people who love one another. As all things are manifest and
made known to the Son as our Mediator by the Father (John 1:18; 5:20), so all
things are manifest and made known to God’s elect by the Son (John 14:21;
15:15).
(John 1:18) "No man hath
seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the
Father, he hath declared him."
(John 5:20) "For the Father
loveth the Son, and showeth him all things that himself doeth: and he will show
him greater works than these, that ye may
marvel."
(John 14:21) "He that hath
my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth
me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself
to him."
(John 15:15) "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."
B. The Bestowment of Spiritual
Gifts
God’s love is a bounteous
love. He has given all things to the Son (John
(John 3:34-35) "For he whom
God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by
measure unto him. (35) The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all
things into his hand."
(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."
(Ephesians 4:8) "Wherefore
he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led
captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men."
(Ephesians 1:3) "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in
Christ:"
C. Strength and Protection in
Life
As the Lord Jesus was
upheld, strengthened, and protected throughout the days of his obedience to do
his Father’s will (Isa. 42:1), so the Lord God upholds, strengthens, and
protects us, the objects of his love, throughout our days of obedience in this
world (1 Cor. 12:9).
(Isaiah 42:1) "Behold my
servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have
put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles."
(1 Corinthians 12:9) "To
another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same
Spirit;"
D. Acceptance of All We Do for
Him
Everything that Christ did
for God was accepted and well-pleasing to him because he loved him (Eph. 5:2).
And everything we do for God is accepted and well-pleasing to God through the
merits of Christ because he loves us as he loved him (1 Pet. 2:5). God our Father accepts our paltry
efforts at serving and pleasing him for two reasons.
(Ephesians 5:2) "And walk
in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an
offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour."
(1 Peter 2:5) "Ye also, as
lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy
priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus
Christ."
·
He accepts our poor, sin stained obedience upon the merit of Christ’s
perfect obedience.
·
He accepts our efforts at pleasing him because of his fatherly love for
us in Christ.
Illustration: A Boy Trying to Walk in His Dad’s
Footprints
Faith’s
Dandelions
E. Honor and Exaltation
The Lord Jesus was honored
and highly exalted by God the Father as the object of his love. He was given
preeminence in, possession of, and power over all things (Ps. 2:7-8; Heb. 1:8).
The Lord God, our heavenly Father, will do the same for us (John
(Psalms 2:7-8) "I will
declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this
day have I begotten thee. (8) Ask of me, and I shall give thee the
heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for
thy possession."
(John 12:26) "If any man
serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if
any man serve me, him will my Father honour."
(Hebrews 1:8) "But unto the
Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre
of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom."
(Revelation 3:21) "To him
that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also
overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne."
Hear the Son of God, my
brothers and sisters in this world, and rejoice! “Thou hast loved them, as thou hast loved me!” What a pillow upon
which to rest our heads! What a comfort for our poor, aching hearts! What a
glorious theme for daily meditation! What a cause for adoration, praise, and
worship! We may be despised, misunderstood, abused, and hated of men, but we
are loved of God! God our Father loves us even as he loves his darling Son; and
he has so loved us from eternity!
(Romans 12:1-2) "I beseech
you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a
living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable
service. (2) And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed
by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and
acceptable, and perfect, will of God."
What would you give, what would you do to have the enjoyment and assurance
of such love from God? Perhaps, you are thinking, “Pastor, I would do anything
to know the love of God like that.” Let me ask you this—Would
you do nothing to have it? That is what you must do, nothing. If you would rest
in his love, simply trust the Son of God.
________________________________
(Romans 5:1-11) "Therefore
being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
(2) By whom also we have access by faith into this
grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. (3) And
not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation
worketh patience; (4) And patience, experience;
and experience, hope: (5) And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love
of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
(6) For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the
ungodly. (7) For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet
peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.
(8) But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us. (9) Much more then, being now justified by
his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. (10) For if, when
we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more,
being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. (11) And not only so,
but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now
received the atonement."
(Ephesians 3:14-21) "For
this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, (15) Of
whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, (16) That he would
grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might
by his Spirit in the inner man; (17) That Christ may dwell in your
hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, (18) May be
able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and
depth, and height; (19) And to know the love of Christ, which passeth
knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. (20) Now
unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or
think, according to the power that worketh in us, (21) Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus
throughout all ages, world without end. Amen."
(Jude 1:21) "Keep
yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ
unto eternal life."