What kind of church? A progressing church.

John 15:9–17 KJV (WS)

9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. 10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. 11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. 12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. 13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. 14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. 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. 16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. 17 These things I command you, that ye love one another.

Introduction

Progressing in love.

Jesus has loved us with the same love that the Father has loved Him.

If the Bible hadn’t recorded this, I would feel like a false teacher to say it to you now.

But the Bible does record this truth.

Though it seems impossible or incomprehensible.

Meditating on the fact that Jesus loves his followers as the Father loves Him, is incredibly encouraging.

You could feel as lonely as any sad sap has ever felt while you face a storm of life.

The Bible reminds you that Jesus truly does love you.

It’s just easy for us to get distracted from that fact.

Which is why Jesus tells his disciples to continue in his love.

It is possible for us to get distracted and forget or overlook Jesus’ love for us.

It is also possible to live in such a way that we don’t fully experience the reality of God’s love.

When we keep the commandments of the Lord, we will abide in his love.

To abide in God’s love, means that we will interact with it regularly.

Trials can distract us from God’s love.

Sin can prevent us from our daily interaction with God’s love.

Though nothing can separate us from God’s love, a life of disobedience can (on our end)cause us to live as though God doesn’t love us.

His commandment is that we would love each other.

He set the standard for such love.

It is a self-sacrificing love.

Progressing in obedience.

Even for believers, it is important for us to observe to do all that God has commanded us.

It is part of the Great Commission.

Being saved doesn’t mean we never struggle with sin.

We must still battle the devil, our flesh, and the world.

All three of these enemies of ours are defeated.

You are no longer part of Satan’s family.

Your flesh has been mortified so you can live in the spirit.

The world is overcome by our Savior.

There is no just reason for us to continue to follow any of these opponents.

But sometimes we do.

Disobedience not only prevents us from abiding in his love, but it also hinders us from experiencing fullness of joy.

Disobedience to Jesus’ commandments is antithetical to our new nature.

Our spirit is alive and thrives most when it acts in accordance to God’s will.

We oppose ourselves when we align with the defeated enemies of our past.

This leads to an internal conflict that steals our joy.

Joy is an internal product.

Internal conflict prohibits its production.

Jesus knows this.

He wants us to have joy.

He wants us to obey him.

The process of sanctification should lead us to progress in our obedience to Him.

Progressing in our relationship.

When Jesus died on the cross, he initiated a path of reconciliation that remains open to every human who will repent and believe.

Here we see how this path is illustrated as Jesus informs his listeners that they can make the transition to friends.

I’ve always found it to be a touching statement when the Bible refers to Moses as the friend of God.

That closeness is available to all of us who care to enter into it.

As we progress in our personal Christian walk, we must also progress in our corporate mission.

As individuals we progress.

In our love.

In our obedience.

In our relationship with God.

As a congregation we must also adopt a culture of progress.

Specifically a progress that moves us forward in the gospel.

Jesus directs his disciples to go and bear fruit.

The command to go requires action on our part.

It is not a command to be idle or to sit.

We have to be put into action if we are going to bear fruit.

If we aren’t progressing in the other areas that we talked about at first, we will not have what is required to progress in this area either.

The gospel mission requires us to be growing in love.

It is necessary for us to be progressing in our obedience.

If we are not growing in our own relationship with Jesus, why would we want other people to begin a relationship with Jesus.

For our church to be a church that is progressing in the Gospel, several things must happen.

Individual members need to be growing in their understanding of the gospel.

The love of Jesus.

Obedience to His commands.

Closeness to the Savior.

As we take personal responsibility for the gospel in our own lives, we will experience a greater gospel focus in our congregation.

This will give us a greater passion for lost souls.

A visitor that comes into our church service.

An attendee that comes to one of our special events.

A stranger we meet out in the community

Our neighbors.

We will want them to have what we have.

We will want to go.