No Greater Love

Sunday, May 29th 

“No Greater Love”

John 15:12-15

This text immediately reminds me of a conversation between Jesus, a lawyer with the caste of the front Pharisees in Matthew 22.

The man asked Jesus this question: “Master, which is the great commandment in the law?”

Our Lord's response: “they also love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all I soul and with all thy mind.”

This is the first and great commandment.

And the second is like unto it, “Thou shalt love my neighbor as thyself.”

To love God and to love our fellow believers particularly are important details in our living out our faith.

How do we love God?

By as Jesus said in verse 14 of our text by being obedient to him, by obeying his commandments, by responding to his bidding, by sharing his gospel, by extending grace to IK specially those who would consider to be unworthy of that grace.

When we do these things it proves to God the father of our faith, your trust in our love.

How does God prove his love to us as a believer? 

Romans 5:8

"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

That was predicted by John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that he whoever believeth in him shall not perish, but shall have everlasting life.”

Jesus related in our text that if we would be obedient to him that our relationship with the Triune & that our relationship with him would not just be about our being just a number in a group of followers, but rather we are called his friends.

I am a friend of God and as a Christian so are you!

We are not just mere servants, but we are God's personal friends.

Not slaves nor bound slaves, but partners and co-heirs with Christ.

So, understanding this helps us to realize that God's love for us is no small matter, our love for him is no small matter, our obedience and extending grace to others is no small matter.

These all are optimum importance

salvation cost us nothing, it is free to all who will call upon the name of the Lord!

Jesus committed a great act of sacrifice by giving his life, so that slaves to sins, strangers and not friends could live.

He could have shown no greater love than what he did at Calvary.

He freely laid down his life, he willingly let his life be taken in our place.

The most amazing part to this is indeed the fact that we were not friends we were strangers.

How many of us would give our lives, how many of us even do so for a friend let alone a stranger.

For a spouse, a child, a grandchild, a parent, yes, a stranger especially most likely not, yet that's exactly what Christ did.

No greater love is to lay down our lives so that not only those we love may live, so that a friend may live, but so a stranger may live.

Tomorrow, we celebrate the National Day of Remembrance of those who have died particularly those who had served in our military. 

1.5 million of our country's finest men and women have given their lives since 1776 for their nation, our ideals, our freedom. They did so for their families, their friends, and for you and I as total strangers.

No greater love could they have shown when they gave their lives for their friends. That racked up considerably when they did so for others freedom they did not know.

Fatalities by our major conflicts:

American Revolution - 25,000

War of 1812 - 15,000

Mexican American war – 13,283

Spanish American war – 2,246

Filipino American war – 4,196

WW1 – 116,516

WW2 - 405,399

Korean War – 36,574

Vietnam War – 58,209

Iraq war – 4,576

Afghani war – 2,432

the most costly - Civil War- 605,000

please do not include the 10,000’s pf thousands who were wounded, maimed, and scarred of mind, body, and spirit.

In places like Bunker Hill, in Jamestown, the Battle of New Orleans, the Alamo, Antietam and Gettysburg, Mexico City, Manila, The Argonne Forest, Bella Wood, Normandy, Guam, Keshawn and Hamburger Hill, Tora bora, Kandahar and for all the other locations our soldiers, Air Force marines enable personnel show no greater love.

Thousands of white American crosses and stars of David are scattered across Europe’s landscape. Thousands of lives sacrificed in the Pacific real and upon the oceans of this earth.

Many Americans are buried in unmarked quickly dug graves or their bodies were never found.

Arlington National Cemetery holds the remains of over 400,000 vets and close family members. There and in our local cemeteries across our nation small American flag stand as silent guardians over the hero that lies under it.

They flutter in the breeze and snap to attention as the breath of God world's about among them.

If you love your freedom first thank God and Christ for the testimony of the cross and thank our veterans past present and future as we celebrate their sacrifices for those who gave all for extending no greater love.