Will you please turn to the Gospel according to John?
Now before the feast of the passover, Jesus knowing that His hour was come that He should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved His own that were in the world, He loved them unto the end.
There was at the table reclining in Jesus’ bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved.
If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatsoever ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
Herein is My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; and so shall ye be My disciples.
They will have a word of prayer.
Dear Lord, we want to thank Thee for gathering us together here this morning. We thank Thee especially for inviting us to Thy table, to Thy love feast.
Thou dost love us, and love us to the very end. We thank Thee that, as we gather here, we are gathering in Thy presence. We believe Thou art here with us by Thy Spirit.
Lord, we pray that our eyes may be opened to see Thee, our ears may be opened to hear Thee, and our hearts be opened to receive Thee. Speak, Lord, once again to us. We need it very much. In the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
One day, as I was meditating before the Lord, a phrase came to me: “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” It touched my heart very deeply.
We know that it is John. Yet, in his Gospel, he does not come out and tell us his name. Instead, he describes himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.”
This happens five times in the Gospel of John. Here, in John 13:23, at the Last Supper, John leaned upon the breast of our Lord Jesus. The Bible says that he was the disciple whom Jesus loved. He was the one who asked the Lord, “Who is the one who will betray You?” And the Lord told him.
Then again, in John 19:26, at the foot of the cross, our Lord Jesus saw the disciple whom He loved, and He committed His mother to his care.
Again, in John 20:2, Mary Magdalene came to report to the disciples that someone had taken our Lord away. The Bible says that she went to tell Peter and the disciple whom Jesus loved.
And again, in John 21:7, the disciples were fishing in the Sea of Tiberias. It was early morning. There probably was a fog or mist, and the Lord was standing on the shore. He spoke to the disciples in the boat and asked them, “Do you have anything to eat?” Then He told them to cast the net.
They could not see the Lord, and yet the disciple whom Jesus loved told Peter, “It is the Lord.”
Finally, in the same chapter, John 21:20, our Lord told Peter to follow Him. Peter looked back and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following, and said, “What will happen to this man?” The Lord said, “If I will that he abide till I come, what is that to thee?”
So here you find five times that John, instead of telling us his name, uses this descriptive title: “the disciple whom Jesus loved.”
Now, I wonder, why did he do that? Why did he not just tell us who he was—John, the son of Zebedee? Instead, he tried to hide himself under this very special title.
Was it because he just wanted to hide himself? Or was it because he wanted to exalt the Lord? Or was it because the Lord was everything to him, so he did not want to be known independently? He wanted to be known as one under the shadow of the Lord: “the disciple whom Jesus loved.”
Now I ask myself, do I want to be the disciple whom Jesus loved? I think probably all of us would like to be known as the disciple whom Jesus loved. I think there is no better description that we would love to have than this descriptive title: “the disciple whom Jesus loved.”
But if you look at the beginning of John 13, it says that our Lord Jesus knew that His time had come, and He loved His own, and loved them to the uttermost.
In a sense, we know that our Lord Jesus loves us all. He loves us all the same. Our Lord is not partial in any way. He does not love you more than He loves me. He says He loves all who are His own, and He loves them to the uttermost.
And yet, you do find in the Word of God that it seems as if there are some to whom the Lord shows very special love. For instance, among the twelve, you do see a difference.
On three occasions, our Lord Jesus took only three of His disciples with Him—not all of them. He took them with Him when He called the daughter of Jairus back to life, when He was on the Mount of Transfiguration, and in the Garden of Gethsemane. He left the eight behind and brought the three forward.
So it is as if, even though the Lord loves everyone just the same, there seems to be a difference. Especially when you come to John, you find there is something special about him, something special in the love that our Lord showed to him.
How are you going to explain this contradiction? On the one hand, the Lord loves all of us just the same; yet, on the other hand, you do discover that there is some difference. Why is it? Is it because our Lord Jesus is partial, or is it because of something else?
Now, in my home, we had a Virginian whom we called Grandma. She was one who came from Virginia to China in the early days. She was a missionary, and she opened a school. My father went to that school and was led to the Lord by her.
After she retired, she stayed with us in China and became one of the family. We called her Grandma.
My father had seven children, and she loved my youngest brother the most. Sometimes we tried to stir her up. We would go to her and say, “You are partial. You love the youngest brother most.”
When she heard that, she was so exasperated. She would always tell us, “I love you all the same.” We would say, “No, you do not. You love the youngest brother the most.”
She tried to explain it to us. She said, “I love you all the same. The reason why it seems that I love your brother more is because he is close to me. He responds to my love more, and that is the reason.”
Now, brothers and sisters, is that the reason why we find that there are some disciples whom Jesus loved in a very special way? Our Lord Jesus is not partial in any way. He loves us all the same. But those who are close to Him, those who listen to Him, those who respond to Him, they are the ones whom Jesus loves in a special way.
We would like to see this one whom Jesus loved. We know that he was the son of Zebedee. Zebedee had at least two sons: James and John.
Zebedee was a fisherman, a well-to-do fisherman, because he had not only his sons fishing with him, but he even had hired servants. So we know that he was pretty well-to-do.
If you look into John, what kind of person was he naturally? He was reserved, quiet, meditative, perhaps a little mystical in his thinking.
His brother, probably James, was just the opposite. The Bible does not tell us a great deal about James, but my guess is that he was brave, outspoken, and outstanding.
The reason I think that way is because, of the twelve apostles, he was the first arrested by Herod and killed. Probably he was always at the front, and that may have been the reason why he was the first martyr among the twelve apostles.
But anyway, you find the wonder of the Lord. The Lord usually puts two different temperaments together to balance each other and to supplement each other.
These two brothers were disciples of John the Baptist. Especially the younger brother, John, was the type that would become attached to people. John was very much attached to John the Baptist.
But when John the Baptist declared of the Lord and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God,” John and Andrew left John the Baptist and followed the Lord Jesus.
When our Lord chose the twelve disciples, as you find in Mark 3:17, He gave James and John a nickname, a new name: Boanerges, “sons of thunder.”
These two brothers differed in temperament, and yet the Lord gave them the name “sons of thunder.”
Now, dear brothers and sisters, we are all made differently. Not only are our physical features different; among all the billions and billions of people, not two persons are exactly alike physically or in appearance. Even twins may deceive strangers, but they cannot deceive their parents. There are differences even between them.
Physically, we are all different because our God loves variety. And I believe the same thing is true with our temperament. No two persons are the same temperamentally. We are all different; our makeups are different.
I personally believe that temperament is the shape of our soul. Our body has a form, and our soul has a shape. God just made us that way. Our souls are all different in shape. Some are quick, some are slow; some are more reserved, some more outgoing; some are extroverts, some are introverts. We are all different.
Sometimes we think that there is a difference in the value of our temperaments. We think those who are quick are too quick and would like to be a little slower; those who are slow are too slow and would like to be a little quicker. So we are not very happy with our temperament.
Sometimes we think one temperament is better than another temperament. But the truth is, no. Just as we have different physical features, and every feature is beautiful because God creates us and He is a God of beauty, so it is with temperament.
There is no ugliness. Everyone is beautiful. When a baby is born, every baby is beautiful. No matter how he looks, he is beautiful. He is created by God, marvelously created.
The same thing is true with temperament. Every temperament, every soul-shape, is made by God, and it is beautiful. It is neutral in itself. There is nothing wrong with the slow, and nothing wrong with the quick; nothing wrong with the extrovert, and nothing wrong with the introvert. It is simply variety, and God loves variety. We should look at it that way.
But here you find that our Lord called these two brothers sons of thunder. When we were children, we were usually afraid of thunder. Actually, thunder itself will not do you any harm; it is lightning that is dangerous. Yet we are afraid of it.
Here you find our Lord Jesus called these two brothers sons of thunder. In other words, I believe that even with different temperaments, naturally they were thunderous.
If we express ourselves through our natural temperament, sooner or later you will see thunder. Some may come a little slower; it may take some time to gather momentum. Others may come a little faster. But whether you are fast or slow, it will come. There will come a time when you can hear thunder—frightening thunder.
You find in the Word of God how these two brothers thundered. When our Lord Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem, passing through Samaria, the Samaritans would not receive Him because He was facing toward Jerusalem. The Samaritans had such prejudice against the Jews, as the Jews had against the Samaritans.
These two brothers came to the Lord and said, “Lord, they do not receive You. Do You allow us to call fire down from heaven and burn them up?”
The Lord said, “Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.” When our Lord was journeying to Jerusalem, He journeyed in the spirit of the Lamb. He was going to be sacrificed. But these two disciples had a very different spirit: the natural spirit, the spirit of self-life. Here you find thunder instead of forgiving love.
Again, John found someone casting out demons in the name of the Lord. The demons were being cast out, but John was unhappy. He came to the Lord and said, “We forbade him.” Why? Because he did not follow with them.
They thought, “We are the orthodox ones, the proper ones. If anyone wants to use the name of the Lord, we have the exclusive right.” But the Lord said, “He that is not against us is for us. Forbid him not.”
Again, as they were approaching Jerusalem, the disciples thought that our Lord was going to be crowned as king. Among the twelve disciples, there was maneuvering against one another all the time: who was the greatest?
Here you find these two brothers brought their mother and came to the Lord to ask, “Lord, promise You will give us whatever we ask.” They would not tell Him what they were asking because they knew it was a little shameful.
But the Lord never writes a blank check. The Lord said, “What do you want?” They said, “One on Your right and one on Your left.”
Our Lord Jesus said, “It is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it hath been prepared of My Father. Are ye able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?”
Of course, the other ten disciples were indignant because they had been outmaneuvered. Brothers and sisters, here you find that temperament itself is neutral, but when it is used by our self-life, it will be terrible—like thunder.
On the other hand, when our Lord Jesus gave a nickname, He always meant good. Like He said to Simon, “Thou art Peter.” You are to be a stone. That should be good.
If you look at the good side of it, probably the Lord was predicting that, in spite of what they were in themselves, they would become sons of thunder. Thunder here represents the voice of God.
You remember John 12. When some Greeks wanted to see Jesus, humanly speaking, this was a glorious time for our Lord. He had entered Jerusalem triumphantly, and now even the Greeks wanted to see Him.
Yet our Lord Jesus said, “The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. Except a grain of wheat fall into the earth and die, it abideth by itself alone; but if it die, it beareth much fruit.”
Then He said, “Father, save Me from this hour. But for this cause came I unto this hour.” And there came a voice from heaven: “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.” The people around the Lord Jesus said, “It thundered.”
Brothers and sisters, here you find that the voice of God is like thunder. Even if you read Psalm 29, you find that the glory of the Lord thunders.
These two brothers became sons of thunder. I wonder if James was the apostle of dying love. He loved the Lord so much that he was willing to die, to give his life for the One who redeemed him. He was the first martyr among the apostles.
With John, we know that John is the apostle of love—an apostle of undying love. He loved the Lord all the way throughout his life. He never let up.
Brothers and sisters, what a testimony these two brothers left with us. Are we so constrained by the love of God that we are willing to die? Are we so constrained by His love that our love toward Him is never dying?
Let us go back a little. We know that after our Lord Jesus was tempted, He came back from the wilderness. As He was coming toward John the Baptist, the Bible says John the Baptist said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world.”
The following day, John the Baptist was standing there with two of his disciples. He saw the Lord walking by, and he said, “Behold, the Lamb.”
When the two disciples heard it, they left their master and followed the Lord. The Lord turned back and asked, “What seek ye? What do you want?”
Brothers and sisters, it is amazing what they said to the Lord. They said, “Rabbi, where abidest Thou? Where do You live?” In other words, “We want to live with You.” That was what they wanted.
So they abode with the Lord that day. The result of their abiding was that Andrew went to find his brother Peter and said, “We have found the Messiah,” and he brought his brother to the Lord.
Brothers and sisters, I wonder why this man John was the disciple whom Jesus loved. What was his secret? We know that the Lord loves us all just the same, but somehow there are some who seem to be especially loved by the Lord. What is the secret?
How can we be like John, to be the disciple whom Jesus loves? I wonder if that secret is abiding. If you look into the life of John, you find from the very beginning to the very end that it is a matter of abiding.
The first time he followed the Lord, his desire was to abide with Him—to live with Him. Brothers and sisters, how often we do want to know the Lord and we do want to see Him, but we just want to be with Him for a little while, and then we want to go our own way.
We do not continue to dwell with Him. We do not continually make our home in Him, and that is abiding. Abiding means making a home. We make our home in Him.
We visit our Lord once in a while. Maybe you visit Him on the Lord’s Day for an hour, and the rest of the day you are out of His presence. Yet here is a person whose whole desire toward the Lord is abiding. He wants to dwell, to be always in His presence.
This marks the beginning of his life. Then, when you come to the end, you find the same thing. When Peter asked the Lord, “How about this man?” our Lord said, “If I will that he abide till I come, what is that to thee?”
I wonder if this is the secret of the disciple whom Jesus loved.
If you read John 15, our Lord Jesus tells us of a new relationship that we have with Him in view of His finished work on the cross. A new relationship would be formed between Him and us.
When the disciples were with Him during those three years, He was with them and they were with Him, but in a sense it was external. But a change was coming.
After our Lord died and was resurrected, and the Holy Spirit came, you find a new relationship formed between Him and the disciples. It is a new and good relationship. The Lord said, “I am the vine; ye are the branches. I in you, and ye in Me.”
Dear brothers and sisters, our relationship with the Lord today is no longer external. Our relationship with the Lord is intensely internal. He is in us, and we are in Him.
This is our relationship, just like the vine and the branches. He is the vine; we are the branches. We are part of Him. This is our position, our union with Christ. This is where we stand.
But on the basis of that ground, of that relationship that God has given to us, there is a responsibility, or a response. We have to respond to that relationship and respond to that position given to us.
Our response is what the Lord said: “Abide in Me, and I in you.”
Thank God, we already have that relationship. But are we using that relationship? There is a union there, but is there communion?
He is in us, and we are in Him. But do we abide in Him? Do we continue in Him? Do we make a home in Him? Do we dwell with Him? Do we live in His presence, keeping communion, in uninterrupted communion with Him?
If we maintain such a relationship, the result is that He says, “And I in you.” He will make His home with us, and His words will abide in us.
The words here are not merely the words we find in black and white, the words in the Bible. The letter becomes living words to us. His words will be in us. He will be speaking to us by His Word.
By the Word that He has already spoken, He will speak again to us in an intimate, personal way. His love will become real to us and will fill our hearts. Then we can bear much fruit, the Father will be glorified, and we are truly His disciples.
So, brothers and sisters, probably the secret of the disciple whom Jesus loved is in this matter of abiding.
We know that John was one of the first to follow the Lord, and among the apostles he was the last. He was among the earliest to follow the Lord, and we find how he abode with the Lord.
At the foot of the cross, he was the only one of the twelve there. Of course, we know that he lived the longest, almost one hundred years.
So it is just a matter of abiding. Brothers and sisters, more and more I sense the importance of abiding. It is basic to our Christian life.
We are given the privilege of that inward relationship with the Lord. Are we making full use of it in our daily life? Do we abide in the Lord? If we do, then He abides in us, His words abide in us, and we abide in His love. Then He will love us.
That is the secret.
Now, being by temperament more reserved and quiet, when you read the record of the Bible, you find that John was not usually at the front of things. But we do know how the Lord used him in a special way.
You remember Peter. After he denied the Lord three times, he went out weeping. He realized what he had done. He could not face anyone anymore.
I wonder if he was just walking, drifting, wandering, with nowhere to go. He did not have any desire to see any of his fellow apostles. He was too ashamed of himself.
Who brought him back? When Mary Magdalene reported the missing of the Lord to Peter, the Bible says Peter was with the disciple whom Jesus loved.
John had a home in Jerusalem. Our Lord committed His mother to him. I wonder if it was not John who went out and searched for Peter. Peter would never have returned if somebody had not gone out and found him.
Love recovers.
After Pentecost, we find that the Lord put John and Peter together. There was a special relationship there.
Peter, by the grace of God, was always the spokesman. On the day of Pentecost, he was the spokesman; the other disciples stood with him. When Peter and John went to the temple to pray, it was Peter who said to the crippled man, “Rise up.”
John always seemed to be a silent partner, but he was there faithfully with Peter. He was not one who would push himself forward. He was willing to be a help where help was needed.
In the Book of Acts, from chapters 1 through 12, among the apostles you see mostly Peter. From chapter 13 onward, you see Paul. Where was John?
We know he was in Jerusalem, because when Paul went to Jerusalem for that council, John was there. He was one of the three pillars in the church at Jerusalem. Paul said that they gave him the right hand of fellowship.
We knew he was there, but there was no record of him. He seemed to be hidden there.
But wait. After Paul and Peter were martyred, the church was persecuted. Things began to deteriorate. Most of the apostles were gone.
But here you find John. He moved into Asia, to Ephesus, and he began his ministry there. It was a ministry of love, trying to recall and recover the saints.
The foundation of faith was shaken at that time. It was toward the end of the first century. Gnosticism began to raise its head, questioning the sonship of our Lord Jesus.
In spite of the fact that three records of the life of the Lord had already been written—Matthew, Mark, and Luke—John was moved by the Spirit of God to give us another Gospel.
It was to strengthen the foundation. He wrote that we may know that Jesus is the Son of God, and that, believing in Him, we may have eternal life.
Love strengthens the foundation. It was a time of persecution. People’s faith was shaken. Love had grown cold.
There you find John writing the epistles: love and truth, restoring with love and truth. This is the ministry of John.
Brothers and sisters, I believe we are living at the very end of the end times. As the Bible says, not only the earth is shaken; even the heavens are shaken. Everything that is shakable is being shaken, because the unshakable kingdom is coming.
During this time, we find that faith, hope, and love are all being challenged. The church seems to have lost its first love. We are in a Laodicean situation.
What is the Lord looking for today? Whom can He use to recover the lost situation?
I believe the Lord is looking for people like John—the disciple whom Jesus loved.
Brothers and sisters, today I feel it is not a matter of teaching. It is a matter of love. Only love can restore.
But if we do not know the love of God, if we do not know the love of Christ in an intimate way, how can we show His love? How can we minister His love to those who are in such desperate need?
I believe the Lord today is looking for a disciple whom He loves. He wants to find some people who love Him in a very special way, who love to be with Him, who love to stay close to Him, who love to lean upon His breast.
He wants those who desire to know Him—to know Him in a deep way, not superficially.
If we do, we will find ourselves to be the people—the disciples whom Jesus loved.
More than anything else, if only the Lord could say to us, “You are the disciples whom I love”—not only disciples, but disciples whom He loves.
I believe such ones will be the vessels through whom the Lord will do the work of recovery in our time.
So my burden, brothers and sisters, is simply this: do not be satisfied just to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. But really, personally, by His grace, may we be the disciples whom Jesus loves.
Shall we pray?
Dear Lord, we do realize that we are living in a very unusual time. We find ruin all around us, even within us.
Lord, we do acknowledge that our love has grown cold. Thou art looking not for anything else, but for that first love. O restore us to that first love.
Draw us like a magnet, that we may be so attached to Thee, that we may be so close to Thee, and never leave Thee.
May Thy love so fill our being that we may express Thy love to others. Lord, may Thy love fill Thy church and restore Thy church to that glorious state, ready for Thyself.
Lord, here we are. We want to humble ourselves before Thee. Do not allow us to be complacent, thinking that we are right. Lord, we are not right. We need Thee.
Have mercy upon us. Touch us deeply with Thy love, that Thou mayest have a way in Thy church.
We ask in the name of our Lord Jesus and for His glory. Amen.