John 15:9-16

To remove doubt from the minds of the called, God has given us this Book and He has given us also the example of His Son. In John 15, on this last night of instruction, He gives His teaching—what He wants to be inscribed upon our minds:

He lived according to the instruction in God's own Word. He lived His life by laying it down for His friends—us.

Do not believe those who say that the only thing that matters is one's relationship with God. It is a cliché that I have heard going around: "The only thing that matters is one's relationship with God." It may be said, "It is only me and God." That may be what is actually said.

Did Jesus say that the only thing that matters is our relationship with God? Or did He say, by inference, that if we want to have the good relationship with God, we better love our brother? That is what He said.

When we sin, the sin is against God, but it does nothing against God. Is He affected by it? Can we hurt Him? It may sadden Him to see us do that. No, you see, our sins are committed in the environment with other human beings. They are the ones who are directly hurt by our sins, and that does not make them happy and it does not make us happy either because that is not what will produce joy or happiness.

What am I saying here? I am saying that the way we get the leaven out is primarily through our relationships with other people because that is where the problems really are.

John 15:13-15

Once we become friends with God, once there is peace, once we are walking together, once we are agreed, we are now in the frame of mind that God can tell us His truths and He tells us because we are His friends. It is setting up the kind of environment in which God can begin to pass on the knowledge of God to you and to me. God wants us to know—to understand. He wants to give us His truth, but He gives it to His friends.