John 15:12-17

1. “Friends of the King”
“Privilege with Responsibilities”
John 15:12-17
26 April, 2015

2. Last Week, Branches
• Last time we talked about Jesus being the
“vine” and we the “branches”
• Alluding to the fact that all our sustenance
comes from Him, total dependence on Him
• And that we have the privilege of abiding
• And the responsibility to bear fruit
• As Friends, the two things we see differ…

3. As Friends…
• We have privilege that bears responsibility
• Responsibility of obedience to Him
• Obedience brings its own privilege
• Those privileges, however, may differ from
your personal definition
• Privilege of fellowship and its byproducts
• Which sometimes are painful…

4. 100 years ago…
• 1.5 Million Armenian
Christians were
massacred by the Turks
of the Ottoman Empire
• Marched into pits and
slaughtered like animals
• Children taunted with a
crust of bread

5. 100 years ago…
• Many more pictures of
bodies plied in mass
graves
• Can’t even bear to show
you the pictures I found
• The reason? They were
infidels; Christians…

6. 12 “This is My commandment, that you
love one another, just as I have loved you.
13 Greater love has no one than this, that
one lay down his life for his friends. 14 You
are My friends if you do what I command
you. 15 No longer do I call you slaves, for
the slave does not know what his master is
doing; but I have called you friends, for all
things that I have heard from My Father I

7. have made known to you. 16 You did not
choose Me but I chose you, and appointed
you that you would go and bear fruit, and
that your fruit would remain, so that
whatever you ask of the Father in My
name He may give to you. 17 This I
command you, that you love one another.”
John 15:12-17

8. Love one another…
• Agapao, V 12
• Really means grammatically,
“Keep on loving one another as
I have been loving you”
• Not just family & friends but
church family too
• He forgives as we fiorgive

9. Being God’s friend thru obedience…
• Vv 13-14, this is why I use the
Armenian example today
• We think of friendship like this pic
• But sometimes forget the sacrifice
• Jesus offers that friendship to us
with an open hand
• The question is whether we take it

10. Being God’s friend thru obedience…
• He can’t be our friend without a
response from us
• It takes two committed individuals
• If I do nothing to “be” your friend,
how can I say I ‘am’ your friend?
• Awkward!
• He demonstrated friendship already

11. From servanthood to friendship…
• V 15, What a promotion! From
enemies of God to servants to
friends!
• This may be a reference to the
eastern traditions of the “friends
of the king” group of societal elites
• They had unfettered access,
though not heads of state

12. He chose us…
• Vv 16-17, Salvation is not earned, a gift
• Thru His infinite foreknowledge,
predestined people’s lives ac-
cording to their own decisions to
follow Him or not
• Because of this privilege we
bear the responsibility of fruit

13. He chose us…
• But there also comes a cost with
being chosen for friendship
• Matthew 16:24

14. “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he
must deny himself, and take up his cross
and follow Me. 25 For whoever wishes to
save his life will lose it; but whoever loses
his life for My sake will find it.”
Matthew 16:24

15. He chose us…
• But there also comes a cost with
being chosen for friendship
• Matthew 16:24
• John 15:18

16. “If the world hates you, you know that it
has hated Me before it hated you.”
John 15:18, NASB

17. He chose us…
• But there also comes a cost with
being chosen for friendship
• Matthew 16:24
• John 15:18
• This I think was the only reason
for the Armenian Genocide…

18. Some history…
• Remember Thaddeus and
Bartholomew?
• They brought the gospel to Armenia
• Christianity became the national religion of
Armenia in 301 A.D.
• 404 A.D.: Armenian alphabet created solely
to give them a Bible in their
language(Mesrob)

19. Some history…
• The Battle of Avarayr is the site in
southeastern Armenia where St.
Vartan and 1,036 noblemen fell
defending the Christian faith against the
Persian Empire.
• Mt. Ararat, now in Turkey, but was once
part of the ancient Armenian kingdom

20. Privilege and Responsibility
• Paul counted it as a privilege to
suffer with Christ
• Acts 5:41 – “So they went on their way
from the presence of the Council,
rejoicing that they had been considered
worthy to suffer shame for His name.”

21. Privilege and Responsibility
“…but we also exult in our tribula-
tions, knowing that tribulation brings
about perseverance; 4 and perseverance,
proven character; and proven character,
hope; 5 and hope does not disappoint,
because the love of God has been poured
out within our hearts…” Romans 5:3-4

22. Take Away…
• Don’t be shocked when
suffering is heaped upon you
• As a Branch, we are pruned
by the father
• As Friends we are invited by
the Son