Today we have the privilege of receiving two sisters into the membership of the church. Occasions like this one give us the opportunity to consider what our relationships in the church should be. In other words, what does it mean to be a member of a church? At our church it means several things that we go over in our membership class. Our bylaws list seven components that describe a member at the Bible Presbyterian Church of Olympia:
1. Credible profession of faith;
2. An active desire to live a holy life;
3. Whole-hearted support of services and activities of this church;
4. Baptism (or willingness to be baptized);
5. Willingness to participate of the Lord's Supper;
6. Pledged submission to elders and brethren;
7. Acceptance of the doctrinal standards as agreeable to the Bible (or willingness to submit to them for the sake of the peace of the church).
But there is more to membership than these seven items. There are the relationships that are immediately formed by membership. The Lord Jesus describes these relationships in terms of love. He says that we are to love one another and as we to that, our joy will be full!
I. First, Are Jesus's Words for the Church as a Whole?
A. In other words, were they meant just for the disciples who were with him in the Upper Room on that Thursday evening?
B. The answer is that this passage is absolutely for us right here and right now for at least two reasons.
1. Reason # 1 – the disciples/apostles are often considered the representatives of the church; therefore, what Jesus spoke to them, he spoke to us through them.
2. Reason # 2 (this one may be easier for you to see than the previous one) – John grabs these words and gives them to the Church.
1 Jn. 3:10-16 (see Jn. 15:18 as reflected here) – In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother's righteous. Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death. Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
C. We can have all confidence that our Lord is speaking to us.
1. What a privilege to hear from our King, our Husband, our Friend!
2. These a beautiful words, not only about our Lord's love for us, but about our love for each other.
II. Loving One Another Is a Matter of Joy, 11.
A. What Jesus is telling us here is one of the components that lead into the fullness of joy.
1. Jesus establishes our relationships with one another in order to give us his joy.
2. Please notice that the fullness of joy is expressed in this command to love one another, 12.
a. The command is to love, not to be loved.
1) We hear that our joy is to be complete through the relationships we have in Christ, and more often than not, we begin thinking about how this person over here didn't bring us joy, or that person over there hurt us.
2) We gravitate to thinking how the people in the church could do a better job loving us.
3) And joy seems to be the farthest thing from us.
b. The reason for that is that the fullness of joy is in focusing on loving one another, not on being loved by others.
B. The beautiful thing about this is that when we all focus on our own active love for one another, we will all be loved!
III. Nobody Was Randomly Placed in This Church, 16.
A. Every relationship was hand-selected by Jesus himself, who does not make mistakes.
B. When you look at the people around you, it may seem to be a randomly gathered group, but nothing could be farther from the truth.
1. Jesus Christ himself appointed all the events of your lives so that you could be part of this body in order to love one another.
2. You may think that you could have done a better job selecting worthier people.
3. Yet, these people here, especially the ones who have committed themselves to each other by way of membership, are the very people who the Lord Jesus chose to be the object of our love.
IV. We Cannot Love One Another apart from a Vital Relationship with Christ, 5.
A. The only way our joy will be full in our relationships in the church is through total dependence on Jesus.
1. I think we all get the analogy of vine and branches.
a. The only way a branch will thrive, be alive, and healthy is if it is attached to the vine.
b. The only way they will produce any fruit is if they are attached to the vine, 6.
1) The branches of a grape vine are only useful to produce grapes.
a) You can't build anything with it.
b) You can't use it to produce furniture.
2) The only other thing that fruitless grape vine branches can be used for is fuel for fire.
Ez. 15:1-5 – Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: "Son of man, how is the wood of the vine better than any other wood, the vine branch which is among the trees of the forest? Is wood taken from it to make any object? Or can men make a peg from it to hang any vessel on? Instead, it is thrown into the fire for fuel; the fire devours both ends of it, and its middle is burned. Is it useful for any work? Indeed, when it was whole, no object could be made from it. How much less will it be useful for any work when the fire has devoured it, and it is burned?
2. This union with Christ is vital (life-giving) in order for us to bear fruit and, in this passage, the fruit is our love for one another.
B. Living as branches in the vine means several things.
1. It means that we believe in Jesus Christ for our salvation.
a. We believe that we are who the Bible says we are – sinners who are spiritually dead in our sins and unable to do anything about it apart the life giving work of the Spirit of God who gives us a new heart and enables us to believe in what the Scriptures say.
b. We believe that Jesus is who the Bible says he is – the only suitable Savior for sinners such as ourselves.
2. It means living in light of our union with him.
Phil 4:13 (this includes loving one another) – I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
3. It means walking by the Spirit of Christ since love is a fruit of doing just that.
V. Loving Our Fellow Church Members Helps Us Experience the Love of Jesus, 9-10.
A. The repetition of the word abide connects the love of the Father for the Son and the Son's love for us with our love for each other – notice what the commandment is in v. 12.
B. This may be a little counter-intuitive because we think in terms of experiencing love by others showing love to us.
C. But here Jesus tells us that a sure way to experience and remain in his love is to love others.
D. That is why John in his first epistle to the church at large says that it is impossible to love God and be loved by God if we hate the brethren.
1 Jn. 4:20-21 – If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.
1. At this point, someone who hasn't been actively loving the people in the church might say, "I don't hate them."
2. Yet, indifference is a very serious form of hatred because you are treating them as if they didn't exist.
VI. Loving Relationships in the Church Glorify God, 8.
A. The reason God is glorified by loving relationships in the church is that the relationships themselves are fruit of the presence of Christ in our lives.
B. In the beloved answer to the first question of the Shorter Catechism, we reminded that our goal in life, our highest calling, the reason we exist is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.
1. Loving the other church members is a concrete way to glorify God and to enjoy him.
2. It is important that we think of loving the brethren not only as a duty but as a delight!
VII. Loving Relationships in the Church Are also the Fruit of the Prayers of a Heart That Delights in the Lord, 7.
A. When we are united to Christ and his word abides in us, we will pray what is according with his word and character.
B. Those are prayers that God for sure answers.
C. Jesus is telling us here that he will answer the prayer of one who wants and asks for love for the brethren.
Ps. 37:4 – Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.
Application & Conclusion
· The declaration to the world that we are disciples of Jesus is the way we relate to each other in the church.
Jn. 13:34-35 – A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.
· This love is the laying-life-down sort of love
1 Jn. 3:16 – By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
· The very word translated friend throughout is philos= the object of one's love.
· Concrete ways to love your fellow members.
Rom. 13:9-21 – Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion. Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rathergive place to wrath; for it is written, "Vengeanceis Mine, I will repay," says the Lord. Therefore "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
· So, what does it mean to be a member of the Bible Presbyterian Church of Olympia?
1. Credible profession of faith;
2. An active desire to live a holy life;
3. Whole-hearted support of services and activities of this church;
4. Baptism (or willingness to be baptized);
5. Willingness to participate of the Lord's Supper;
6. Pledged submission to elders and brethren;
7. Acceptance of the doctrinal standards as agreeable to the Bible (or willingness to submit to them for the sake of the peace of the church).
And it also means that we will love one another as Christ has loved us.
http://olympiabp.blogspot.com/2015/10/the-fullness-of-joy-john-155-17.html
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