For my name is Alan. For those of you who don't know, I serve here. I oversee the youth ministry here at Watermark.
Kong He Fa Choy. Happy Chinese New Year. Did I say that right? Kong He Fa Choy?
Yeah, I think one thing I've learned in primary school is I asked the wrong person, not I asked Nils.
Did I say that right? What? Okay, anyway.
Okay, so for the past three weeks, as the year began, we've been looking into, we've been going through this series called Abide in Christ.
We usually, when we think about a new year, we usually go into a year making plans.
Okay, how am I going to do better this year? How am I going to improve myself?
But the reality is that we don't have much control of what's going to happen down the line or down the year.
I mean, life is going to throw us things we least expect. Life is going to throw us terrible heartaches.
Life is going to throw us amazing good stuff, beautiful stuff, broken stuff, sadness, and a whole lot of things.
So how do we approach it? We try to take control of it or we just become a little optimistic, hoping that a year would be better.
But this year, we have been talking about another way that we could approach it, and that is by actually abiding in Christ.
Yes, life will throw us incredible sadness, but it's actually abiding in Christ that secures us, that keeps us hopeful, that keeps us secure and in Christ's love.
I mean, life is going to throw us amazing good things, promotions, maybe new relationships, and it's abiding in Christ that keeps us from being prideful
and being focused on Jesus Christ who, in the words of Paul said,
Hey, everything is nothing compared to the surpassing knowledge, the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord.
So for the past two weeks, we've been looking to abiding in Christ.
Last week, we looked into abiding in His Word.
And where we talked about, Hey, how do we get into God's Word?
How do we drench our lives in God's Word?
How do we speak God's Word, not only in our church, families, into every part of our lives?
It's not about having different branches in our lives, like church, family, churches, or whatever.
But actually, having all of our branches of our lives drenched in God's Word.
And so finally, today, we have come to the last week of Abiding in Christ, the series,
and we'll be looking into abiding in His love.
So let me call Soda, who will read today's scripture.
And let's read from John 15.
Yes? Good.
Thanks for the great introduction.
And let us all listen to God's Word and let every single Word of God speak power in your life
for whatever that He wants to tell you.
Today's scripture is in John 15.
You can follow along on the screen or your own Bible.
Starting in verse 1, we read,
I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine dresser.
Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, He takes away.
And every branch that does bear fruit, He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.
Abide in me and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself,
unless it abides in the vine.
Neither can you, unless you abide in me.
I am the vine, you are the branches.
Whoever abides in me and I in him,
he is that bears much fruit.
For apart from me, you can do nothing.
If anyone does not abide in me,
he is thrown away like a branch and withers.
And the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.
If you abide in me and my words abide in you,
ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you.
By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit,
and so proved to be my disciples.
As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.
Abide in my love.
If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love,
just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in His love.
These things I have spoken to you,
that my joy may be in you,
and that your joy may be full.
This is the word of God.
Thank you, Soda.
Hey, can I pray for us before we start?
Father, we come before you to talk about something that is so majestic,
that is so vast, that is so great,
that truly, God, I feel so feeble and so small
to stand and talk about your love.
Love that surpasses knowledge,
love that goes beyond anything that we can ever come to imagine, God.
So, Father, we pray this morning,
would you come, would your Spirit come and speak to our hearts?
Unless you don't, you come.
Father, this is just going to be another talk.
So, Father, we pray earnestly, desperately,
that you would come this morning,
and that you would speak and reveal your love to us this morning.
Father, would you come, and would you be glorified?
Would you increase, and we would decrease?
Would you speak to the idols of our hearts?
Would you speak to our insecurities?
Would you speak to our fears and our plans,
our need to control our life?
And, Father, we pray that you would come and speak.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
So, have you come across a quotation or a saying
that is so profound, so deep, so amazing,
that you had to stop in your tracks,
stop for a while, and just let it process for a while.
You know a saying or something?
So, when I was in high school,
this was one quotation that stopped me on my path.
I was just a teenager.
I was a very romantic quote.
So, here was this quote.
If I had to choose between breathing and loving you,
I would use my last breath to tell you I love you.
It's cringy.
So, hey, I was a teenager.
I saw this quotation.
I was like, oh, I know I'm single,
but, oh, man, I would love this girl,
whoever this girl is, like this.
And I would write it on my notebooks.
I would write it on my books.
I would carve it on my desk.
Don't ask me why I have a knife in high school.
But I would carve it on my desk
and do all sorts of things with this quotation.
And I'm sure we all have come across a quotation
like this in our lives,
when we are reading books
or when we are just walking down the streets.
And today, we'll be looking closely at verses 9 and 11.
And I'm not sure if these verses
have ever stopped us in our tracks in the same way.
Maybe for some of us, it has stopped us in this track.
Maybe for some of us, it has not stopped us
and we have just brushed over these few verses.
And I believe that it's because this verses,
verses 9 to 11,
is sandwiched between such amazing verses
that are talking about divine, abiding in Christ,
that we kind of, it's so easy to miss verse 9 to 11
and not ponder over these three amazing verses.
So, let's take a closer look at verse 9
where there's like a sudden change of words.
In the beginning, we've been looking,
Jesus talks about, okay, you've got to abide in me.
And later on, the words changes.
It becomes, you've got to abide in my word.
Let my words abide in you.
And here's the third change,
which is abide in my love.
So, let's look at verse 9.
And it says,
As the Father has loved me,
so have I loved you.
Abide in my love.
Okay, let me read that again.
As the Father has loved me,
so have I loved you.
And that's the end of the sermon.
Think about it.
As the Father has loved me,
Jesus says,
so have I loved you.
What can be said of the mystery
and the profound of this one line?
This love the Father has for her son,
Jesus Christ,
is something unlike any of us
have fully experienced.
And I use the word fully experienced
in a very greedy and miserly way.
I mean,
it's not like the love
a mother has for her baby.
I mean,
we saw the really cute babies
of Enrica and others.
And it's not like that kind of love.
It's not the love
a teenage boy has for this girl,
the most beautiful girl
he has ever laid his eyes on.
It's not like the love
a husband or a wife has
for each other
that has grown deep
over years and years of marriage.
I mean,
all of this love
do come close
to the love of the Father,
the love the Father has for his son.
But I say it comes close
in the sense that
if God's,
if Father's love
was like an iceberg,
it's just the tip
of the tip of an iceberg.
It's just so close
in comparison to Father's love.
Now what we are talking about here
is a love that is
completely unimaginable.
Now you can see my difficulty
in talking about this.
It's a love
that is so unimaginable.
When we talk about God loving,
we are not merely talking
about an emotion
that a father has for his son
or the father feels towards another.
We are not merely talking
about the many works
the Father does,
the many things,
the activities of God the Father.
I mean,
what we are talking about
according to 1 John 4
is that love for Father God
is who he is.
1 John 4 tells us
that God is love
because for God,
love is not one of the many things
that he does,
but for God,
love is who he is
in his being.
For God,
it is the very essence of God.
It is the indispensable thing
about God.
It is the very core
of who God is.
So to talk about,
to talk about love for God
and to take love out of God
is like going to a restaurant
and ordering an eggless omelet.
It just does not make sense.
You cannot have an eggless omelet.
In the same way,
you cannot have love
without God.
For God,
love is who he is.
I mean,
in our lives,
sometimes we come across
a love that is so amazing,
right?
A love that is so profound
that can leave us scarred,
that can leave us traumatized,
that can leave us transformed.
It can be a love
between a man and a woman.
It can be a love
between a parent and a child.
It can be a love
between a man and a dog.
A love that is so profound.
I know I saw this movie,
a Korean movie,
in high school.
I mean,
today is all about Korean.
It was called The Classic.
I don't know how many of you
have watched the Korean movie
called The Classic.
And even to this day,
when I listen to the soundtrack
of this song,
I still feel the pain in my chest.
I mean,
I would encourage you
to go and watch it.
The Classic.
I mean,
if I listen to the music,
and I fear like,
if I listen to it too long,
I'll break down and cry.
It was just so
heartbreaking and beautiful.
And I actually don't watch it anymore
because I feel like,
if I watch it,
I'll spoil the beauty
that I had felt before.
So it's,
you know,
we do come across
love that is so profound.
And can you imagine
us human beings,
sinful,
selfish,
broken,
humans are capable
of creating
such beautiful love,
imagining such amazing
and beautiful love.
How about a God
who's beautiful,
holy,
pure,
who himself is love,
who is the creator of love,
who is himself,
is the very being love.
In what way
does he love
his son?
I mean,
I don't even know
where to begin
to describe that.
And just to scratch
the surface,
we do see glimpses
of this love
the father has
for his son.
For example,
John 17, 24
tells us that
the love
of the father
over his son
had existed
way before creation.
Jesus says,
God,
you loved me
before the foundation
of this earth.
I mean,
before time began,
before the creation
was even thought of
or even created,
love was there.
It is a love
that existed
way before creation
that has been existing
for eternity,
which is a love
that is eternal,
that goes on and on
for all eternity.
It does not stop.
It does not falter.
It does not change
or wane in any way.
I mean,
it's a love
that never changes.
I mean,
our love changes.
Our love falters.
There are points
in our life
when we question our love,
but for God,
it's a love
that is eternal.
Because for him,
it's a love
that overflows
from who he is again,
right?
It's a love
that comes out
like a roaring water,
like a water
that's gushing out
from who he is.
It's like a love,
like a mighty river.
I don't know
if you guys
have ever been
to a mighty river.
I used to live
just above this river
in India,
and you can listen
to this river
all night.
It's like a majestic sound.
I'm like,
ch-ch-ch-ch-ch.
And God's love,
I'm sorry for that sound effect,
but it's God's love
is like a mighty,
gushing river
that's pouring out.
You know,
sometimes we imagine
God's love
to be calm
and peaceful.
I mean,
at times it is.
But if you look
into Scripture,
if you look at his passion
in the Old Testament,
if you look at the way
he pursues his people,
if you look at the way
he pursues justice,
if you look at the way
he's angry over the injustice,
over the sinfulness,
and all of this motivated
by his amazing love,
powerful and passionate love,
you'll see that his love
is something that is gushing out
with such force,
with such strength
that is just majestic
and mighty.
This is the love
that is motivated.
This is the love
of the Father
and it's so majestic.
Luke 3.22,
in the baptism of Jesus
and the transfiguration
in Matthew 17,
it talks about God
just breaking in
and as Jesus is being baptized,
as Jesus is right there,
God breaks in
and he says,
this is my beloved son
and with you I'm well pleased
and even though
this was fulfilling
the Old Testament,
I mean there is a sense
of God breaking in
and saying,
this is my son,
my beloved son
and with you I'm well pleased
and although my son
has done nothing till now,
he's about 30 years old,
he's been a carpenter
all his life,
all he's done
is build some tables
and chairs
and I know he has done
nothing worthy of worth
but this is the son
with whom I'm well pleased.
I mean I wonder
how many of us
has gone through life
ever hearing that.
Son, daughter,
I'm pleased with you
not because of your
academic achievement
or your career achievement
but I'm pleased with you
because you are my son
and daughter.
I wonder how many of us
have ever heard that
in our lives.
This is,
you see,
because for God
to love his son
Jesus Christ
was not based
on what Jesus has done,
was not based
on what was in the heart
of Jesus
but for God to love
was based
on what was in his heart
and it was a heart
that was full of love
for his son
and it was a love
that was just being poured out
from who he was.
It was his being,
it was who he was.
John 3, 35,
Jesus says,
the father loves the son
and has given all things
into his hand.
You see,
the father out of his love
for his son
has given all things
to the son
sharing,
creating for his son
and to flood his son
with his love.
I mean,
we could go on and on
to describe the father's love.
I mean,
but if I may,
in my insufficient words,
in my feeble attempt
to describe God's love
in one sentence,
it's a love that is eternal,
never waning or changing,
that delights over
and powerfully pours out over
out of the abundance
of his heart
and being
that gives everything
out of love.
I mean,
that's a very long sentence,
but let me say that again.
It's a love that is eternal,
that goes from beginning
to the end,
never changing,
never waning,
that delights over,
that powerfully pours over
out of the abundance
of his heart
and being
and that gives everything
out of love
to the son.
And this is the love
the father has
for his son,
Jesus Christ.
And we cannot even begin
to imagine
how powerful,
how beautiful,
how majestic,
how incredible
and all the words
that I can have
in my little dictionary
is God's love
for his son.
Then Jesus turns around
and he looks at each one of us
and he says,
as the father has loved me,
so have I loved you.
Let that sink in.
As the father
has loved me eternally,
has loved me
with never waning,
never changing,
that delights over me,
that powerfully pours out
out of the abundance
of his heart
and who he is,
that gives everything
and in the same way,
I love you.
And if you think about it,
Jesus did give everything,
did he not?
He gave his life
on the cross.
He took up our sins.
He made them his very own.
He went to the cross
bearing the price
that we had to pay
and gave his life.
And if you think about it,
it grips my heart
when you think about
the way the father
loved the son
and then yet
he was still willing
to give his son for us.
And I mean,
it's not only Jesus
who loves us,
it's also the father
who loves us
in the same fashion.
I mean,
remember the famous
John 3, 16?
For God so loved the world
that he gave his one
and only begotten son,
that he gave his son
that he loved so much
for us.
He gave up everything.
I mean,
now there's so much
that can still be said,
but in the words
of an old hymn
by Frederick,
let me read it out.
He said in this hymn,
could we with ink
the ocean fill
and wear the skies
of parchment made,
wear every stalk
on earth a quill
and every man
a scribe by trade
to write the love
of God above
who drained
the ocean dry,
nor could the scroll
contain the whole
though stretched
from sky to sky.
I mean,
we could go on
and on and on
and then
it would still be infinite,
it would still be eternal,
it would still go on
and on.
Now you can imagine
in Revelation
why the elders
and the people
and they bow down
and they go on
and on for eternity
saying,
holy,
holy are you God
because his love
is eternal.
His love goes on
and on and on
way beyond
we can ever imagine.
And as the Father
has loved me,
so I have I loved you.
And Jesus says,
abide in my love.
And if you remember,
abide means to remain.
Abide means to abode,
to make this
your resting place,
to live in this thing,
to live in his love,
to cling on,
to continuously remain
in his love.
And Jesus says,
abide in my unimaginable love.
Church,
how many days,
how many of us
go through days
without even experiencing
God's love,
amazing love?
When was the last time
you sat beneath
this amazing,
unimaginable love of God
and just rested
and remained
and abode
and lived there
and continuously lived there?
When was the last time
we did that?
And if we are being honest,
we don't always do it,
do we?
There are days
we just go through
through the motion
and suddenly
it's already bedtime.
There are days
we feel everything,
we experience everything
except God's love for us.
I mean,
we sometimes feel like
God tolerates us,
don't we?
Do you know what I mean
by tolerate?
I mean,
yes,
he loves me,
but everything I do,
when he looks at my lifestyle,
he's just there
frowning at me.
He's like,
oh,
this guy.
Or sometimes we feel like,
yes,
God loves me,
but my every action
is making him go,
this guy.
Oh man,
again.
Alan,
again.
We feel like God tolerates us
and what that leads us to is,
is that,
is that we try to start doing
a certain stuff
to actually make God love us.
I mean,
it becomes so easy
to do something
that would make him love us,
right?
So we pray a little more,
maybe add in a little bit
of fasting and tithing,
maybe go to church,
join some CGs,
lead some stuff,
just so that we feel like
God does not tolerate us,
but that he would actually love us.
I mean,
imagine the frustration
of God over that.
Imagine God being frustrated
over us trying
to earn his love.
I mean,
Dan Audlin in his book,
Deeper,
right there,
book Deeper,
he shares his frustration
over his kids.
This is what he writes
in his book.
He says,
when I tell my five young kids
that I love them,
they shrug and they say,
I know that,
but they don't.
They believe it,
but they hardly know it.
I cannot hug them tight enough.
I can't say it loudly enough.
I can't express it often enough.
I have a blessed frustration
at being unable
to communicate to them
how precious they are to me.
I mean,
for us to earn God's love
and not really realizing
that God's love is eternal.
It does not change.
And do you know that
that is how God views us?
His frustration over us
to let us know
that he loves us with a love
that is completely inseparable,
that never changes.
I mean,
let's take a break
from John 15
and let's go to John,
sorry,
Romans 8 for a bit
to see this.
I mean,
if you have a bulletin
on your hands,
the Romans 8
is on the next page.
I mean,
if you have a Bible,
let's turn to Romans 8
and let's see that.
Let's look at verses 31 to 39.
I mean,
Romans 8
is a massive chapter.
I feel like I'm saying
a lot of massive stuff.
I mean,
we'll definitely
not go into details here.
I mean,
this is considered to be
the Mount Everest
of Romans 8,
of the letter to Romans.
I mean,
it was the peak of Romans.
It's the,
I mean,
you cannot go any higher
than Romans 8.
I mean,
Niels told me that like,
hey,
with these verses
are so profound,
so beautiful
that it is just better
to repeat it 20 times
and finish the sermon
and that's it.
That's,
I cannot say anything
much more beautiful
than what's already been said.
And me,
obeying my pastor,
I'm going to do just that.
I'm going to say it 20 times.
I'm just kidding.
I'm not going to do that.
Okay,
so let's look at this.
Let's look at this Mount Everest
from a distance
and let's look at it
from very far
and one thing you'll see is
at the end of all,
in verse 39,
Paul cries out
that there is nothing
that will be able
to separate us
from the love of God
in Christ Jesus,
that his love for us
is inseparable.
I mean,
well,
you got to read
the whole of Romans
to see how he comes
to that conclusion,
but let's just look
from verse 31 onwards
and you'll see that
he asks a few questions
and he answers them
at the same time.
Now,
let's look at verse 31.
He says,
if God is for us,
who can be against us?
Now,
he's saying that,
do you know
that God is for you?
Do you know
that God is on your side?
I mean,
in the world
that we live in,
it's so unpredictable.
I mean,
after having gone
through lockdowns,
looking at the news,
looking at the war,
I mean,
for some of us,
jobs going terrible
and all sorts of things
going terrible.
I mean,
sometimes it can feel like
God is everywhere
except with us.
I mean,
sometimes it is even
our own sins
and our choices
that messes us up
and it feels like
God is not on our side,
but in fact,
God feels like
he's opposite of us.
Looking at us,
frowning at us.
I mean,
but what we see here
is that
God is for us.
I mean,
even if you think about
our choices
and our habitual sins,
it does feel like
God is opposite of us.
But actually,
this says,
no, no, no, no.
God is not opposite of you.
God is not against you,
but God is for you.
He's actually for you
and he's strengthening you
in your struggles.
Do you remember
Philippians 4, 13?
It says,
Paul says,
I can do all things
through him
who strengthens me.
It's not me
doing all things,
but it's God
who is in me
strengthening me,
that he's for me.
But how do you know
that he's for you
and that he's giving you
all his amazing promises?
Well, look at verse 32.
He says,
Paul says,
he who did not spare
his own son
but gave him up
for us all,
how will he not also
with him graciously
give us all things?
The son,
we just talked about,
that he loves eternally
without change,
that delights over,
that he gave his son
for us,
if he can't do that
for us,
will he not fulfill
his promise for us
and not just for eternity,
but even for this life,
for his presence
in our life,
for his presence
and his strength
in our life,
for our sanctification,
for us to overcome
what we go through
in this life.
That God is for us,
that he's not against us.
He's on your side.
Verse 33, 34.
Who is it that is going
to bring charges
against us?
No one.
Because we have been
justified by God.
It's God who justifies us.
Who is it that will
condemn us for our sins
and rebellion?
No one.
Because even though
it was us
that was supposed
to be condemned,
even though it was us
that was supposed
to pay the price,
it was Jesus
who was condemned.
It was Jesus
who took our death
and shame
and he gave his life
for us
so that now
we can stand justified
putting on
Jesus' righteousness
and we can all stand
as if we have
never sinned
in our lives.
That now we are
standing justified
because of Jesus
who has justified us,
who has paid the price.
And finally,
what is it
that will separate us
from the love of Christ?
Nothing.
Verse 38 and 39.
For I am sure,
he starts off,
Paul starts off
with that words.
For I am sure.
Why is he sure?
Because of all the things
he talked about,
that Jesus paid the price,
that God gave
his one and only son
whom he loved
so dearly,
so eternally,
that he gave his son
for us,
that now we stand
without fall,
covered in his righteousness.
And because of all
this gospel truth,
the gospel of the good news
of Jesus Christ,
because of that,
I am sure
that neither death,
nor life,
nor angels,
nor rulers,
nor things present,
nor things to come,
nor powers,
nor height,
nor depth,
nor anything else
in all creation,
nor the troubles
in your life,
nor the sins
that you have put up
before God,
nor anything
that we have
in our lives
or in this creation,
spiritual or physical,
or anything
can separate us
from the love of God
in Christ Jesus,
our Lord.
man,
isn't that just amazing?
I mean,
it is so true.
I could have just read that
and finished it with that.
There's nothing,
nothing that can separate us
from the love of God
in Christ Jesus.
And if I may,
if I can squeeze out
one word from all of that,
it is security.
These verses are reminding us
that God's love for us
is so deep,
so unshakable,
that we are so secure
in the love of God
found in Christ Jesus.
And if you think about it,
in real life,
in our day-to-day life,
things will happen
that will take us,
that will leave us
out of control,
that will make us
feel insecure.
I mean,
even in the beginning
of this series,
we were talking about it,
right?
That as we go into the year,
95% of the things
will be out of our control.
95% of the things
will be things
we are not expecting.
And when that happens,
we feel insecure.
Maybe God is not with us.
Maybe God is not for us.
Maybe God is not
in my life right now.
Where are you, God?
How long, oh God?
Where are you, God?
I mean,
even the things
that we suffer
can leave us
in such a mess.
I mean,
even the sins
that other people
commit against us.
It can be small,
like your boss
scolding you.
Or it can be big,
like an abuse
by someone.
And all these things
can leave us
in such a mess.
And all these things
can shape us
and leave us
in such a mess.
But actually,
what this is saying
is that your life
is not what proves
God's love for you.
It's Christ's love
on the cross
that is what proves
God's love.
For you.
It's not who you are
or the mess
or the chaos
or the suffering
that you go through.
It is the chaos
and the mess
and the suffering
that Jesus went through
that proves God's love
for you.
Isn't that amazing
that there is nothing,
nothing that can separate us
from the love of God
in Christ Jesus.
I mean,
it's like what Kevin
was sharing last week
about what his dad
used to tell him.
That he used to tell
his sons that
son or a kid,
whatever you do
in your life,
whatever you say,
whatever you do,
whatever you decide,
nothing can separate you,
nothing can take away
my love for you.
But here's one thing
that we need to remember.
Here's one thing
we need to remember.
If you look closely
in verse 39,
you'll see that
this amazing love,
this love that is being
poured out
from the Father to the Son,
from the Father to us,
from the Son to us,
the love that is inseparable,
this love that is unimaginable,
this love that is
so profound
and so majestic,
this love of God
is actually found
in Christ Jesus.
So,
if you're here
for the first time
or if you have never
made a decision
to follow Christ yet
or if you're still
debating on it,
this can be the day
for you to come
and receive this amazing
and profound love of God
that can only be found
in Christ Jesus.
Love that satisfies
our deepest longings.
Love that cannot be found
anywhere else on this earth.
A love that is based
not on how you perform
but on who God is
and a love that will
make you whole.
Will you come and taste
this amazing love of God
and that the Lord is good?
I mean,
if that is something
you want to talk about,
if that's something
anyone wants to talk about,
I mean,
you can reach out
to any one of us,
Neil,
Oscar,
or any one of us
at the end of the service.
But for those of us
who have been a Christian
for some time
or if you're new
or if you're a follower
of Christ,
I want us to know
that abiding in His love
is not something
that we experience
deep in our hearts.
It's not something
that is passive.
It's not something
we feel internally
but actually it is something
that is the reality
of our lives.
Abiding in His love
means that our whole life
is being shaped by it
and it's more than that.
Abiding in His love
means that our source
of our joy
is His love.
I mean,
let's go back
to John 15 again.
I mean,
we're going back and forth.
Let's go back
to John 15
and let's look at
verse 10 and 11.
And it says here,
if you keep my commandments,
you will abide in my love
just as I have kept
my Father's commandments
and abide in His love.
Now,
if you read that properly,
that sounds a lot like,
hey,
the way to abide in His love
is to obey His commandments.
Okay,
if you want God's love,
you better have obedience
in your life.
I mean,
it's sounding a lot like that,
right?
But actually,
if you stop and think about it,
not really.
Because you see,
it's quite easy
to fall back into
trying to earn God's love,
right?
And being very insecure
in God's love.
But yet,
there's something about
abiding in God's love
and obedience
that fits in
one sentence.
I mean,
one thing we should
think about is,
you see,
His love for us
never changes.
That's something
we talked about,
right?
His love is eternal.
It's never waning,
never changes,
never goes down,
never goes up
because that's the highest
He can get.
So,
His love for us
never changes,
but yet,
whether we choose
to abide in it or not,
now that can make
a difference.
You see,
abiding in His love,
His love never changes,
but we can choose
to move away
from His love
and one of the ways
we can choose
to move away
from His love
is disobedience.
I mean,
let me give an example.
Imagine a husband
sitting on his sofa
all day,
doing nothing
and the wife's request
to help out in the home
falls on deaf ears.
And for the husband
to say,
I love my wife,
I mean,
I know my wife loves me,
and I love my wife so much,
I care for my wife.
That's quite unreasonable,
isn't it?
I mean,
how many of us
have a husband like that?
That's good.
I'm not going to ask that.
But that's quite unreasonable
for the husband
to say,
I love you,
but at the same time,
do nothing,
not hear,
not listen to his wife
at all,
is quiet.
It just does not fit in
in one sentence.
You don't believe
that the husband
loves this wife.
Obviously,
this analogy falls apart
because the wife's love
for the husband
starts to falter,
starts to go down.
While God's love for us
never changes.
His love is always steadfast,
but it's us
who's choosing
to walk away,
right?
Now,
but,
but it just does not end there.
Now,
look at verse 11 also.
What he ends up with is,
he says that,
he has said all these things
so that his joy
may be in us
and our joy
may be full.
Now,
to the equation
of abiding in his God's love,
commandments,
obedience,
Jesus adds one more thing.
He adds joy.
Now,
joy,
this is a joy
that is not based
on circumstances,
but on the security
of God's love.
It's a joy
that sits steadily
deep in us
regardless of
our circumstance.
It's a joy
that satisfies us
in a way
that are beyond comprehension.
It's a joy
from God's love
that is beyond anything
this world can offer.
I mean,
if you remember David's psalm
in Psalm 63,
he says,
God,
your love
is better than life itself.
Have you ever thought
of that psalm?
God,
your love
is better than life itself?
I mean,
what else do we humans
have apart from life?
Life is the only thing
that we have.
And David comes up
and he says,
God,
your love
is better than life itself.
There's some kind
of satisfaction
in God's love.
There's some kind
of steadiness,
wholeness in God's love
that keeps us,
that leaves us saying,
God,
your love
is way better
than life itself.
There's a joy
in abiding
in God's love
and obedience.
There's a kind
of joy
that when we abide
in God's love
that leads to obedience,
that gives us a joy
that's so deep within.
I mean,
if you remember
Hebrews 12,
it says,
where it says,
it was for the joy
of Jesus
to endure the cross
in obedience
to the Father.
It was a joy
for Jesus Christ
to obey His Father
and to go on the cross
to take our sins.
This is a joy
that comes from
abiding in His love
and obedience.
And it's not just a joy
that fills our heart,
it's a joy
that strengthens us.
That,
if you remember,
the joy of the Lord
is my strength.
See,
this joy
is not just an emotion,
not just something
that's fleeting,
it's something
that's deep within us.
It's almost like a circle,
abiding in His love,
obedience,
joy.
It almost goes
at the same time,
if that makes sense.
So just to bring that in,
church,
here's the thing
to think about.
What are we abiding in
in our lives?
Are we abiding
in our performance?
Are we trusting
and basing our identity
and value
in what we do
and what we perform?
Or is it in His love
that we are secure
and accepted?
Where is the source
of our joy?
Is it our work?
Is it our achievements?
Is it our families?
Is it what we do
and what we receive?
Or is it
this unshakable,
inseparable,
unimaginable love
of God
found in Christ Jesus?
Is our Christian life
marked with rituals
of church attendance
or a few minutes
of Bible reading
in the morning?
Or is it marked
with obedience
in every part
of our lives
that comes out
of knowing
that we are secure
in the love of God
and full of joy
that is unshakable
in every circumstances?
Church,
Jesus calls us
to abide,
to remain,
to cling,
to make this our home,
to abide in His love
so that everything
that we do,
everything that we go through
in coming days,
in this coming 2023,
is grounded
in the security
and joy
found in the love
of God
in Christ Jesus.
You see,
that our lives
are marked,
that our lives
are marked,
I think this Kevin
mentioned this,
to be a man
full of Christ,
full of His word
and full of love,
to be a people
that is marked
with obedience
and joy
that comes
from the love
of God,
that has taken us in,
that has called us
sons and daughters,
not because of
our good works,
but because of
what Jesus did
on the cross,
remembering,
remembering
that He loved us first,
not us.
To bring it to a close,
how do we do it?
I mean,
Kevin has been finishing
with practical application,
so it would be a sin
if I don't.
Here's,
I don't have a lot
of practical application
of, okay,
how do we do this?
Apart from
getting daily
into your scripture,
praying for God
to reveal His love
in His word
in our lives,
here are three
practical application
that came to my heart
as I was preparing
this sermon.
These are the three
that I was reminded of.
I mean,
it's going to sound
a lot like a traffic rules.
You'll see what I mean.
So first one is stop.
Stop.
It's so easy
to get busy.
It's so easy
to go with the flow.
It's so easy
to do family.
It's so easy
to do work,
home,
assignments.
But when was
the last time
we stopped?
Just stopped.
And pondered
over this majestic
love of Christ
over us.
Someone gave me
an advice
years,
years back.
He told me,
go and sit
on a big rock.
And the reason
for that is
it's very hard
to find a big rock
in Hong Kong.
Unless,
unless you go
out of the way,
out of the city
to find a big rock.
So stop
and go find a big rock
and ponder
over the majestic
love of God.
I mean,
it's the same
thing for couples,
right?
I mean,
it's so easy
to do family work,
feed the kids,
sleep on the
sand bed,
and forget to abide
in each other's love.
That's why date nights
are so important.
You go out once a week
or how much ever,
talk to each other,
pour out each other,
listen to each other.
So take time off,
stop,
pause,
take out a significant
time out of your,
out of,
I would say,
every day,
and let God
wash you
with His love.
Second is this,
talk.
in our communities,
with the people
around us,
it's so easy
to pray for each other,
it's so easy
to tell,
help each other
in our sufferings,
in our problems,
encouraging each other,
but let's also,
let's also speak
God's love
to each other,
reminding
of God's amazing
and unimaginable,
unseparable love
of God's love
found in Christ Jesus
to each other.
Let's speak that
to each other
in our communities
and finally walk.
Traffic rules,
right?
Stop,
talk,
walk.
Walk
as you go to school,
as you go to work.
I mean,
in my life,
I found that
when I walk
from my home
to work,
that's the time
when I,
that's the time
I get
to really pray
and let God
wash His love
over me.
So when you go
to school,
when you work,
in those gaps,
remember God's love
that He gave His one
and only Son,
Jesus Christ,
not because
of any good thing
I did,
but out of purely
of grace and love.
That now I can come
putting on
His righteousness
that Jesus looks
at us and says,
as the Father
has loved me,
so I have
I loved you.
So in our lives,
let's take a pause,
let's stop,
let's talk,
and as we walk
in our lives,
as we do
our daily deeds,
let's ponder,
let's let God
wash His love
and let's abide
in His love.
Let me pray for us.
Father,
we praise You
and we thank You
and there's not
a lot of words
I can say
we can say
about Your love
and even in this
feeble attempt
of talking about
this amazing love,
God,
I pray that You,
Your Spirit,
would take these words
and put it deep
in our hearts.
Father,
until and unless
Your Spirit
opens up
and reveals
Your love to us,
God,
we are still blind.
So,
Father,
we pray for each
one of us
in Watermark
that we would be
a church
that abides
in You,
Jesus,
that would abide
in Your Word,
that would abide
in Your love,
that we would be
a church
that is marked,
that is recognized
by being people,
that is deeply
sitting secure
in Your love,
that is full
of Your Word,
that is deeply
full of joy
because of what
You have done
on the cross
and not because
of our performance
and who we are
and how amazing
we look from the outside.
Father,
I pray for each
one of us
that we would be
people that are
deeply secure
in Your Gospel.
Help us to speak,
help us to encourage
each other
in Your love,
God,
that ultimately
that we would decrease
and You would increase.
So,
Father,
we give You praise.
May You be glorified.
May You be lifted up.
May Your love
abide in our hearts
and may 2023
be a year
for us to get deeper
into Your love
that You would reveal
day by day
how amazing,
how vast,
how high,
how deep,
how wide Your love
is
that can be found
in Christ Jesus.
To You we give glory,
Lord.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
...