Three Levels of Abiding in Christ

Enjoying these past seven days. It's amazing how Mr. Byers is able to describe all this stuff that we're not supposed to eat. And describe it in such luscious terms, such delicious terms. But also that, of course, during these days, you know, we're focused on something different. We're focused on the unleavened bread that, of course, represents the life that Christ lived and the life that He can. And that we want Him to live in us.

And as we mentioned on the first Holy Day, this past Sabbath, we all want to feed as we eat unleavened bread for a period of time. Actually, a whole week. We want to feed on that bread and think of how it is that it represents Jesus Christ. How it is that He is the bread of life and how we are to be enjoying that.

Actually, here in John 15, I've read several verses here to you over the last few weeks. And I want to continue to go through another aspect of what Jesus says here. Because here in John 15, as He worked with His disciples, this was actually before He was taken, before He was betrayed, before He was crucified, shortly before, because this was obviously the evening before a lot of that activity was going to occur. And yet He told His disciples exactly what they would need to do. He told them how they would need to be prepared. He told them how they would need to react.

And here in verse 5, He says, I am the vine and you are the branches. Those who abide in Me and I abide in them will bear much fruit. Because apart from Me, you can do nothing. See, that's why God has us eat unleavened bread for seven days. To the focus on who is able to help us overcome. Who is able to deliver us from not only our sins, but from our own selfishness.

See, unfortunately, when I was baptized, my selfishness did not disappear. I knew that I was selfish then, and I knew I wanted it to disappear, but it didn't disappear. It's still something I struggle with. It's still something I labor with. And, you know, I think it's perhaps improving a little, but it certainly is not gone. What he says in verse 6, whoever does not abide in Me is thrown away like a branch that withers, and the branches are gathered and thrown in the fire and burned.

But, in verse 7, if you abide in Me, see, he actually mentions three different aspects of abiding. That we want to be very familiar with. That we want to appreciate. Verse 7, if you abide in Me, that's one of them. If you abide in Jesus Christ, if you have a growing, a thriving, an expanding relationship with Jesus Christ, then you are going to be delivered.

You are going to be successful. You are going to succeed in overcoming and pursuing the kingdom of God. But he says, if you abide in Me, and then he goes ahead to say, if my words abide in you. So, here's another aspect, and we've talked about this, how it is that the Word of God needs to abide in us. We need to not just study it out of, well, because I have to, or because it's something that, you know, probably they expect, they being whoever.

God expects. I shouldn't study the Bible because I think God expects that of me. I should study it because I want. I want those words to abide in Me. So, he says, if you abide in Me, and if my words abide in you, then ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. And so, your relationship with the Father and with the Son is going to be enhanced. And he says in verse 8, My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and you become My disciples.

And so, here he's mentioned two different abides. Abide in Me, in Jesus, and abide in My words. He goes on to verse 9 to mention something else. As the Father has loved Me, so I have loved you. And so, he points out the relationship that the Father has toward the Son and that He had toward all of us in His life coming to this earth. He says, as the Father has loved Me, so I have loved you, I want you to abide in something else. I want you to abide in My love.

So, we're supposed to abide in Jesus Christ. We're supposed to abide in the words of God, the words of Jesus. And we're supposed to abide in His love. Now, he goes on to describing this. He says, in verse 10, if you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love. Just as I have kept My Father's commandments, and I abide in His love.

I've said these things to you so that My joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

Do we really want to be happy? Do we really want to be joyful? Do we want to be filled with excitement and enthusiasm for life, for others, for God? Well, he says you want to abide in My love in order for that to be achieved. In verse 12, this is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

See, now, these words of Jesus, again, are words that we often read over, and maybe we focus on them. Maybe we identify with them. Maybe they are written on our hearts, because that's truly what we want.

We want not only the laws of God written on our hearts, we want the words of Jesus written in our hearts and in our minds. And so, I want to explain what Jesus is stating here, if I can.

What is He showing us when He tells us that He wants to abide, or wants us to abide, in His love? Are we really doing this during these days of Unleavened Bread? Okay. Do we see and do we respond to the multiple levels of His love that we're supposed to be abiding in?

See, I'm going to point out at least three levels. There are probably more levels. I certainly am not the end tale on this topic. But I do know that there are multiple levels that Jesus mentions. And we want to be familiar. All of you, I'm sure, have seen a track meet at one time or another. Some of you have participated in track meets. How many of you have seen the high jump?

Okay. Most of you are familiar with the high jump. You know that what they're trying to do, and I was certainly never able to do this, so I never did even try. I always thought it looked terribly intimidating to try to jump over a bar that was set at a certain height, you know, five, six feet high. I was as tall as I was, so I wasn't about to try to jump over the thing.

But as you know, whenever they're running the high jump, whenever they use that as one of the events in a track meet, you set the high jump at a level that at least the participants are pretty sure they think they can get over it, start with. And that's the first level. And of course, that does eliminate a few of the people, maybe in the contest. But then they're going to raise it, and of course, usually they're talking to the contestants, how much do you want to raise it? And often you're asked how many times you want to jump. If you know you can jump six inches higher than that, then you don't bother jumping at a lower level because you're just going to spend your energy.

But ultimately, what they do is that they raise it to another level. They raise it to a higher level.

And then, of course, that eliminates other people. And then you get down to the last queue, the last several who are in the high jump competition, and they're raising it even to a higher level. And then ultimately, one of them is the victor. I only want to use that as an example or an illustration of what it is they're doing in just raising the bar. They're raising the bar, and in essence, whenever we think about abiding in the love of God and in the love of Jesus Christ, there's multiple levels. And we don't want to neglect any of them. We want to embrace all of them, and certainly we want to be asking God, and we want to ask Christ to enable us, to empower us, to strengthen us, to be able to achieve the levels that He actually places before us. I want to explain, in essence, the first level. And we've already read it here, starting in verse 9.

The first level we might say is to abide in the love of God or to abide in the love of Christ, we need to obey His commandments. In many ways, people in general might ignore that altogether.

They might not even consider the fact that while coming to church on Friday morning and Friday afternoon, that sounds crazy. That doesn't sound crazy to you or to me, because that's what we're doing today, and we're going to do it again tomorrow. We're going to be in church service again tomorrow because it's a weekly Sabbath. And today is an annual Sabbath. And what we read is that God says, these are my appointed times for you to come and appear before me and to learn of me. And He says, you know, these are my Sabbaths, whether they're weekly or annual.

But see here what we find in, starting in verse 8, actually, my Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples, and as the Father has loved me, so I have loved you, abide in my love, and if you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and I abide in His love.

Now again, that's something that's in many ways very foundational. Very foundational to you being a part of the church of God. For any of us to be cultivating relationship with Jesus Christ, who we want to keep His commandments. We want to obey the commands of God. And yet, I want to point out that this is simply the first level. It's simply a beginning point. In essence, it describes a way of life. It describes how we order our lives. In many ways, the Sabbath and the annual Sabbath, they describe how we order our lives. If we're in school, then we go to school, usually Monday through Friday. If we're at work, then we may have Monday through Friday. We may have other times when we are expected to be at work. But if we're honoring God with our lives, we're keeping His commandments. Well then, Sabbath is important. The Holy Days are important. And of course, all of the other commands are important as well. I'd like to go on over, because John not only mentions this here in the book of John, but we have several epistles toward the end of the New Testament that John wrote. This is the Apostle John writing this. And actually, at this time, and I believe from what I've read that John was writing these later on in his life, he was the longest living Apostle. He would later be given the revelation that he would write down, a revelation from Jesus Christ that he would write down and that we could read today and that we could kind of know what are we approaching as we see the end of this age. But you find, here in these small letters, the epistles of John in John 1 or John 1 John and John 2 or 2nd and 3rd John, you see him making some statements that you would think would be, you know, they should be quite obvious. But at that time, you know, people were already neglecting, keeping the Ten Commandments, observing the commands that God has given. And so he was reinforcing some of this. Here in 1 John chapter 2, 1 John chapter 2 verse 1. Again, just keep in mind that this is the way of life that God asked us to live. And in essence, this is somewhat of a, you know, a beginning point or a starting point. He says in 1 John 2 verse 1, My little children, I'm writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And so he's very clearly encouraging us not to sin, not to ignore the law, not to ignore what it is that God tells us and commands us to do. But he says, if anyone does sin, you have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins and not ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. And he goes on in verse 3, Now by this we may be sure that we know God. By this we may be sure that we know God if we obey His commandments. Whoever says, I've come to know God or know Him, does not, but does not obey His commandments is a liar. And in such a person the truth does not exist. But whoever obeys His word truly in this person, the love of God has reached perfection.

And I know that King James or New King James is a little different than that, but it's very similar in just showing that observing the commandments of God is, is in essence, an initial requirement, an initial request that God states that we turn from sin. And then John had to reinforce this, actually. You see him reinforcing this over and over.

If we go on in chapter 3, I want to point out two or three different statements that he makes here in 1 John chapter 3.

1 John chapter 3, starting in verse 23.

I'm obviously picking out certain verses here that are going to focus on these points that I'm stressing, but you know, you can read the whole thing. It's all about how it is that we should love God, how it is and why it is that we serve God. And of course, part of that is keeping His commandments. In verse 23, he says, this is His commandment, that we should believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ and that we should love one another just as He commanded us.

But all who obey His commandments abide in Him, and He abides in them. And by this we know that He abides in us by the Spirit that He has given us. See, as we became a part of the church of God, we were asking God to give us His Spirit. We were wanting to turn from sin. We were wanting to obey the commandments. We were wanting to serve God in that way, and we desperately needed.

When we were baptized, one of the things that I clearly knew I needed was God's Holy Spirit.

That was, in essence, a reason why. I not only wanted to be forgiven, but I wanted to be empowered. I wanted to have something that I knew I didn't have on my own. Something that would come from God. And, of course, as all of us have gone through that same progress or that same process, we've been recipients of the Holy Spirit. But here in verse 24, He just says, we obey the commandments and we abide in Him and He abides in us. See, this is, again, one of the requirements. One of the things that we focus on during the Days of Unleavened Bread. Over in 2 John, the next epistle, again, I want to focus just on one verse here, or one section.

He says in verse 4, I am overjoyed to find some of your children walking in the truth. See, John was, again, writing to people in general. He's writing to different congregations or church in general. He says, I'm glad to see that your children are walking in the truth, just as we have been commanded by the Father. But now, dear lady, talking again to the church as a lady, I ask you, not as though I've written you a new commandment, but one you have taken from the beginning. Let us love one another. And this is love that we walk according to His commandments. And this is the commandment, just as we have heard from the beginning, that you must walk in it. Again, He kind of goes over this over and over in His statements that He makes to the church. And yet, it is something that we want to keep in mind. We don't ever want obeying God or honoring God's Word and keeping His commands to be a secondary thing. We want to understand the fact that that's very foundational.

It's very foundational, but I do want to say it is only the base level.

What's the next level? What's the next level that we can see here in John? We'll be back up to 1 John 2 again. The next level, if we're going to abide in the love that Jesus extends to us, He's going to ask that we do something more. Not just keeping His commandments. That's the first level. But then He asks us here in 1 John 2, starting in verse 6, by this we may be sure that we are in Him. Verse 6, whoever says that I abide in Him ought to walk even as He walked. Now, we're going to walk as Jesus did. We're going to do what He did.

Now, it's kind of interesting to see that when you read about the life of Jesus, you see Him interacting with many people, and you see that He was able to converse with anyone. He could talk to any type of group. He could talk to the doctors of the law. Even amazingly, where was Jesus during the days of Unleavened Bread when He was 12 years old?

See, His family was in Jerusalem observing the Passover. They were observing the Passover and the days of Unleavened Bread. And whenever His family started to go back home, they found that He wasn't there. He was in the temple. He was talking to the doctors of the law. He was discussing with them things that they couldn't imagine He was able to discuss. He was telling them things that they really had difficulty comprehending Him. They were amazed at what Jesus was doing even at that age. But He was respecting and observing a festival of Unleavened Bread during the time when He was there in the temple talking to the doctors. And so He was walking in a way of life that He, of course, tells us that we are to continue to walk in. If we drop down to verse 8 here, 1 John 2, verse 8, He says, I'm writing to you a new commandment that is true in Him and in you because darkness is passing away from the true light and it's already shining. The true light is already shining. Whoever says that I am in the light? And so here He again is talking of those who would consider themselves Christians, those who would consider themselves to be abiding in Jesus Christ, those who are observing or respecting the law, who obey the commandments of God. He says, if we say in verse 9, I'm in the light while hating a brother or a sister, if we say that, then we're still in darkness. To here He's actually raising the bar. More than simply obeying, more than simply respecting and serving God by keeping His commands, He talks about our relationships with one another.

He talks about our relationships with the people seated here in our congregation. If anyone says I'm in the light while hating a brother and sister, they're still in the darkness.

Whoever loves a brother or a sister lives in the light, and in such a person there's no cause for stumbling.

If we have the love that God is able to give us, if we have the love for others, others who are our brethren, others who we hope also are going to be trying to return that love for us, and of course this could be within our own families, within our husbands and wives.

He tells us that you ought to love the brethren. And on down in verse 11, whoever hates another believer is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and does not know the way to go, because the darkness is bringing on blindness.

This is actually a higher level of love, a higher level of the love of God that He's wanting for us to be able to consider and think about, especially during these days of 11 bread, where we're considering, well, what do I need to overcome? What do I need to get away from?

Well, I need to get away from any hypocrisy. I need to get away from any deceitfulness that is in my heart, because brethren, too many times we can allow that to, you know, we can want to do the right thing, and yet we need the help of God to be able to actually do that right thing and actually have His love, abide in His love, and have the love for the brethren that we're required. This actually is describing an action that all of us have to take. We have to know and then love the brethren.

Know and love each other. Now, I'm sure that, you know, none of us would say, well, I hate so-and-so, or I hate, you know, the people here. But sometimes, you know, that could be in our head. That could be in our heart. We might not say it, but we still want to ask God to help root that out.

We go on to chapter 3.

Chapter 3, and John is filled with this information, because he continues to raise the bar because we're going to abide in the love that God has for Christ and that Christ has for us, and that we're to have for each other. Well, then we're going to have to be able to overlook certain things. Here in 1 John 3, starting in verse 11. Starting in verse 11, he says, this is the message that we've heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. And so, again, that was a defining statement that Jesus made to His disciples. In John 13, after He had washed their feet, after He had told them what's going to happen, after He had sent Junus out, after He then told them, brethren, I want you to love one another. I want you to love one another more than you have ever thought you have loved one another. See, when you think about it, the disciples loved one another. Jesus called these twelve to be together with Him. Of course, one of them was a rebel. One of them was the Son. That was going to be cast aside. Judas was not going to be a part of that twelve, but what about the other twelve or the other eleven? Did they love one another? Well, some of them were brothers. It's James and John. Some of them were brothers, but what do we read about their interactions? Well, sometimes they're trying to take advantage of each other.

Sometimes they were trying to see, well, who's going to be in charge of something?

They were vying for position. They were trying to determine who's going to be at your right hand, who's going to be at your left. Even a mother of James and John was involved in trying to get her sons a little better position, a little higher opportunity here. I think you find that the group knew that they were together. They were in a unique situation. They had come from different backgrounds. I bet there were several of them there. Didn't like Matthew much either, because he's a tax collector. You know, IRS is around the corner here in the next few days.

Do you think they really got along all that well? They had a numerous... they were all infected like we are with human nature, where we're all human.

But see, why was Jesus telling them, you need to love one another? You need to really love one another as... you know, I'm telling you, this is the way people are going to identify you. By this, all men shall know that you are my disciples if you love one another.

See, though, it does have a lot to do with us getting along. It does have a lot to do with us loving each other.

It does have a lot to do with us being able to overcome certain of our own prejudices and certain of our own biases. And see, there are a number of you in here that are just a whole lot smarter than me.

Now, I could be offended by that, or I could accept that as a pretty simple fact.

I know that's the case. I don't... I want to love you, and I hope that you want to love me anyway.

And, you know, all of us could think of numerous different comparisons. Actually, let's go on here.

He says in verse 12, you should not be like Cain, who was from the evil one and who murdered his brother. And why did he murder him?

Because his own deeds were evil and his brothers were righteous.

See, why did Cain murder Abel? Well, because of wrong comparisons. Looking at others, making comparisons. See, what Cain did with Abel was, ah, look at that. God accepted his offering, and he's not accepting mine. And, of course, he, I'm sure, blew that way out of proportion and into a state of, you know, great anger to the point of where he ultimately decided, well, I think we can just do away with him. We don't have to have him around, and then I'll be accepted by God. Well, it doesn't work that way. See, the compare... He was making a wrong comparison. Clearly, Cain was not seeing himself in the light of what God says or what God asked him to do. See, Cain could have been accepted, I'm sure, if he'd have just simply done what God had asked. But, see, there were comparisons being made, unwise comparisons. And, of course, there's other verses, and I'm not going to go to those here this morning, other verses that we could go to that tell us that this is just very unwise.

Comparing ourselves among ourselves is simply not wise. But that's what Cain was doing, and he was doing it to such a degree that he thought getting rid of Abel, killing him, was not such a bad idea.

So, he says we must not be like Cain, who was from the evil one and who murdered his brother. Do not, in verse 13, be astonished, brethren, that the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life because we love one another. See, that's a hallmark of the relationship that should be displayed in the church of God. A hallmark of the relationship we should have with one another, and not only in our homes, but in our congregations.

He goes on to say, whoever does not love abides in death.

Verse 15, all who hate a brother are murderers, and we know that murderers don't have eternal life abiding in them. But we know, loved by this, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. See, here he's starting to describe something that is actually beyond just loving your neighbor as yourself. What does this really say? Here in verse 16, we know, loved by this, that he, talking about Christ, laid down his life for us, and that we ought to lay down our lives for one another. See, that's a different level of concern, a different level of respect, a different level of honor, a different level of service that Jesus is asking us. In verse 17, he follows this by saying, how does God's love abide in anyone who has the world's goods and sees a brother or sister in need, and yet refuses help. This is a way that John categorizes things here that are, you know, actually, you know, remarkable as far as the fact that he says, beyond observing the commands, beyond obeying, as we're asked and required to do, to put sin away from our lives, we're asked to love one another like Jesus did, being willing to lay down our lives for one another. Now, the extent of that is, you know, that is a remarkable, absolutely remarkable amount of love, and I guess something that none of us have ultimately done, because, you know, we're all still here. But that's the comparison that he makes. If we go on to chapter 4, verse 7, Beloved, let us love one another because love is from God, and anyone who loves is born of God and knows God.

You know, that's quite a good company to be in. If we ultimately are asking God to provide the fruit of His life in us, to actually love one another and to love each other in a selfless way, as Christ did, let us love one another because love is from God. Anyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. You have a statement in verse 8 that describes the character of God. It describes the nature of God and the way that God looks down upon this earth and, of course, knowing long before why He created the earth and fashioned it, recreated it in such a way where human beings can thrive on this earth. You know, nowhere else in the universe it would appear to us, at least looking from our vantage point, can people live?

Everything else too cold, too hot? This is the only place that God has fashioned where we can live and where we can thrive in His love. Verse 9, God's love was revealed among us in this way. He sent His only Son into the world so that we might live through Him. And in this is love, not that we love God, but that He loved us and that He sent His Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. The love that we want to share with one another, that we want to express to one another, that we want to speak and act toward one another, doesn't just come from us. It comes from God. He's the one who initiated it. He's the one who has it to give. He's the one who gave it as He sent Christ to the earth. Verse 11, beloved, since God loved us so much, then we ought also to love one another. See, here He actually points out what's the motivation.

What's our motivation? Why should we do this? Why should we love one another? Why should we interact with kindness and thoughtfulness and consideration toward one another?

Why should we do that? Well, because God loved us first.

And in verse 12, no one has ever seen God. If we love one another, then God lives in us.

And His love is perfected in us. Again, we started off where Jesus said, I want you to abide in my love. I want you to abide in that love. I want you to understand it. I want you to live it. I want you to thrive in it. We drop down to verse 20. He says, Those who say that I love God, and yet hate their brother or sister, are lying. For those who do not love a brother and sister whom they have seen, they cannot love God whom they have not seen. So He points out, you know, quite directly, that this is not just a nice thing to think about. This is a requirement. If we're going to love God, then we're going to have to learn to love one another. We're going to have to learn to love the brethren. And the commandment in verse 21 from Him is that those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also. So I think it's certainly a higher level than we might have thought. How important is it? How significant is it? Well, it's very significant. It's very meaningful. But see, there's a higher level as well that I also want to cover.

And actually, if we turn back to Romans 12, where Mr. Beyer had us reading earlier, Romans 12, see, what's the next level? What's raising the bar even beyond loving one another as God loves us? Well, here in Romans 12, and I won't read through the same verses that we already read through earlier and very nicely, Mr. Beyer went over that in the sermonette.

Now, there's way too much information here to try to cover because every sentence, every statement says something more about what it is that we should do to abide in the love of God. But starting in verse 14, it says, Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse them.

And so here he's starting to get into a realm that Paul describes here in, again, very explicit terms.

And that Jesus also talked about, and he's the one who ultimately describes this in perhaps the greatest level. He says, bless those who persecute you. And so here he's talking about those that not only, not the brethren, you know, the brethren you hope are going to try to love you back. And that might even be easier to show love for someone who also has a certain level of love and concern for you. But what about those that don't even like you? What about people around in general? Or people ultimately who would come to hate you because you love God and you love His law and you love His way and you love what He tells us to do.

He says in verse 15, Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep, live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty but associate with the lowly. Do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it's possible, as far as it depends on, you live peaceably with all. Now again, that perhaps has many different statements that you could focus on and concentrate, you know, a whole sermon or series of sermons on what that says that we should do. But I want to focus on what it says in verse 19 and in verse 20. Verse 19, it says, Beloved, never avenge yourself, but leave room for the wrath of God. For it is written, Vengeance is mine, and I will repay, says the Lord. No, if your enemies are hungry, feed them.

If they're thirsty, then give them something to drink, for by doing so, you keep burning coals upon their head. See, now Paul's taking part of that out of a proverb, but he's also accentuating how it is that Jesus talked that people who are going to follow Him, people who are going to become like Him, people who are going to serve with Him for all eternity, they're going to learn not only to obey the commandments, they're going to learn to love one another, and they're even going to learn to love their enemies. And we have to think about it sometimes, maybe you can identify your enemies real easily, I'm not sure. I kind of have a hard time identifying people as my enemies, but a lot of times people do things to us or about us, that really shows that they care very little for us. They would really prefer that we not be functioning. See, what Jesus said in Matthew 5, of course, ties together with what is here in Romans 12. Here in Matthew chapter 5, you see again a statement out of the sermon on the mouth that Jesus gave. In verse 43, He says, you heard it was been said that you should love your neighbor and you should hate your enemy. Now, this was part of what He was going to change.

This is part of what He was going to say, you know, my disciples are going to do differently. They're going to continue to raise the bar. They're going to continue to see things beyond just the norm. But He says in verse 44, I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you so that you may be the children of your Father in heaven. And He makes His Son rise on the evil and on the good, and He sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

For He follows that up in verse 46 by saying, if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? To here He was pointing out that Jesus not only was going to give this as instruction, and of course Paul was going to later write this as direction to the Romans who were a part of the Church of God at that time, and to all of us, as we read the book of Romans, Jesus was actually going to live this. He was going to love His disciples. He was going to care for them. He was going to even give His life for them.

He was even going to show love for Judas Iscariot. He was going to show love for the Roman tormentors who were pounding nails in His hands and feet and who lifted Him up to crucify Him.

He simply said, Father, forgive them. They don't know what they're doing.

And it's interesting in Acts 7 that in essence, Stephen basically said the same thing.

Other, they just don't know what they're doing. They're about to stone Him, but he says they just don't know what's going on. They just don't know. And see, right now, brethren, we're in a time where we may not have as much opposition as we will eventually have.

And it may be that those who are our enemies will become more clear in the future.

Those who would like to do harm or damage or limit or persecute us.

But see, the example of Jesus is telling us that I want you to abide in my law.

I want you not only to keep the law, I want you to love one another. I want you to grow to where you actually can even love your enemies. I don't know that we're there. I don't know that I'm there. I'm just reading it. I know this is what it says. I know this is what we may be required to act upon. But ultimately, what it tells us is that when we read here in John 15, that Jesus wants us to grow and bear fruit. He wants us to bear fruit. He doesn't want us to remain stagnant. He doesn't want us to think, well, I've got it made, and I don't really need to change anymore. I really don't even need to identify any more selfishness or any more deceit or any more hypocrisy. I'm doing wonderfully. And I would imagine all of you have done quite well throughout this past week avoiding 11 products and eating unleavened bread, which, of course, is very meaningful and very significant. But are there any areas that we read about when Jesus talks about learning to abide in my love? Are there any areas that we may yet need to consider, we may need to think about? So here in verse 12 of John 15, he says, My commandment is this, that you love one another as I loved you. No one has greater love than this than to lay down one's life for one's friends. So that's what Jesus was willing to do. That's what He came to the earth to do. That's what He came to teach His disciples. That's what He comes to teach us today. And so, I hope that we can grow in an understanding of what a true servant is. This is what Jesus was. This is how He lived. This is what He actually did. Whenever the situation arose, He was able to extend the love of God. He was able to extend the type of love that He teaches us to grow in. And so, I hope that during these days of Unleavened Bread, as we think about the life that Jesus is to live in us and the love that He wants us to abide in, that we can see that there are multiple levels of that and levels that perhaps we've not even approached as yet. But nonetheless, levels that we need to be aware of and certainly growing in.