Love & Obedience

Well, as we come to the Word of God this morning, we're continuing on in the Gospel of John.

For those of you who haven't been here, we've been working through this account of the story of Jesus.

And it's been a few years, I think, now.

We're still working our way through.

Today we're going to pick up the pace just a little bit,

and we're going to hear Jesus touch on a number of things.

We're in John 14, verse 15.

John 14:15

John 14, verse 15.

John 14:15

This is the night of Jesus' betrayal and arrest.

And He's kind of having this last conversation with His disciples and giving them comfort and encouragement.

This is what He says to them.

If you love Me, keep My commands.

And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another advocate to help you.

And to be with you forever.

The Spirit of Truth.

The world cannot accept Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him.

But you know Him, for He lives with you and will be in you.

I will not leave you as orphans.

I will come to you.

Before long, the world will not see Me anymore.

But you will see Me.

Because I live, you also will live.

On that day, you will realize that I am in My Father,

and you are in Me, and I am in you.

Whoever has My commands and keeps them is the one who loves Me.

The one who loves Me will be loved by My Father.

And I too will love them and show Myself to them.

Then Judas, not Judas Iscariot, said,

But Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?

Jesus replied,

Anyone who loves Me will obey My teaching.

My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.

Anyone who does not love Me will not obey My teaching.

These words you hear are not My own.

They belong to the Father who sent Me.

Well, there's a lot of things in this section of the conversation that Jesus has with the disciples that night.

I counted at least eight.

There could be more.

We'll just run over them really fast.

First of all, Jesus urges His disciples to keep His commands.

Second, He talks about the Spirit of Truth who is coming.

Third, He talks more about His leaving and returning and gives assurance that He's coming back.

Four, He talks about how the disciples will live because Jesus lives.

Five, He talks about a moment of clear understanding.

There's going to be this moment in which the disciples realize that Jesus is indeed in the Father.

And along with that, a moment in which they understand that Jesus is in them, and they are in Him.

Seven, Jesus talks about how He and God will love the disciples and come to them and live with them.

And then finally, Jesus reminds them that the words that He is speaking to them are not His own,

but that they are the words of God, the Father Himself, the One who sent Him.

So, lots in here.

Eight things.

All of them are important.

All of them are worth taking time to reflect on, but we couldn't possibly fully linger over each one this morning.

So, we're just going to focus on the one that seems to hold them all together, number three.

And then we'll look at the one that Jesus emphasizes the most on this evening with His disciples.

So, Jesus talks some more about His leaving and His returning.

And He gives assurance to His disciples that He is coming back for them.

This is something that we heard a little bit about already.

It's how the chapter started.

If you were here, the disciples are worried.

They're anxious.

Why?

Well, Jesus has just told them that He's about to leave them.

And where He's going, He says,

You can't come with me.

Once again, imagine yourself in the room with the disciples as Jesus says this to you.

Jesus has done many wonderful things over the past three years.

But He has also stirred up a hornet's nest of opposition.

And things are about to get ugly and violent.

So, we imagine for the disciples that this is not what they want to hear.

You're leaving us?

You're going away?

Like, all by ourselves?

What are we going to do?

Well, what Jesus says here in verse 18 is powerful.

He says,

I will not leave you as orphans.

I will come to you.

Jesus speaks to the fear in their hearts.

What are they worried about?

They're worried that Jesus is about to abandon them.

They're worried that they're going to have to find their way on their own,

all by themselves,

like a child that has been left by His parents.

And Jesus says,

Listen, I'm not about to do that to you.

No way.

I'm not just going to abandon you like that.

I will not leave you as orphans.

No.

No.

I will come to you.

I am coming back.

And in the meantime,

it will seem to the world as if I'm gone.

The world won't see me anymore.

But you will see me.

In the meantime, while I'm gone,

I will ask my Father,

and He will give you the Spirit of Truth.

And He will be with you.

He will be like I have been to you.

He will be a counselor.

He will guide you.

He will lead you.

He will help you.

He will be with you.

And Jesus says,

He will be in you.

To stay.

In my absence,

He will be there.

And when that day comes,

you will know,

you will realize that I have not abandoned you.

No.

You will see me.

Though the world does not see me,

you will.

And you will realize

that even though I'm apart from you in body,

I am with you.

And I am in you

by my Spirit.

And you are in me.

These are awesome words of comfort

and encouragement.

You know,

sometimes it's hard

when we look out at the world.

What do we see?

We see like the world sees.

We see the absence of Jesus.

We see things going on.

And it's not like the story

that we read about when Jesus was here.

And sometimes doubt creeps in.

And we wonder,

will things ever be like they were

when He was here again?

It's been so long

since Jesus walked the earth

shoulder to shoulder with us.

Where is He?

When is He going to come back?

When will you show yourself to the world?

As Judas asked.

We may even wrestle with deeper doubts.

What if He never really came at all?

Or what if all this that I've believed,

what if it's just some elaborate hoax

or a conspiracy theory?

It's here in this place of doubt

and even despair

that Jesus' words just shine

like a glorious ray of light

into the darkness.

I will not leave you as orphans.

I will come to you.

I'm coming back.

There will be a day

when we will no longer see

the absence of Jesus.

A day when Jesus returns

in personal flesh,

bodily,

and everything that we've had to believe,

everything that we have accepted by faith,

will be plain and undeniable

before every eye in the world.

His return will be visible to every eye.

But for now,

like the disciples,

we must walk by faith.

We must see Jesus with eyes of faith

while the world does not see Him.

We must learn to accept this guidance

of this other counselor,

the Spirit of Truth,

an invisible,

intangible Spirit

that the world can't see

or know

or detect.

But Jesus says

He will be in you.

He will be in you

and I will be in you,

says Jesus.

These are awesome words of comfort,

not just for the disciples

in their days of doubt

and darkness,

but for us as well.

And in the midst of these words,

Jesus says one thing

three times.

Verse 15,

If you love me,

you will keep my commands.

Verse 21,

Whoever has my commands

and keeps them

is the one who loves me.

And verse 23,

Anyone who loves me

will obey my teaching

or literally

will keep my word.

This must be important.

I mean,

Jesus says it three times.

I mean,

think about this.

You're going away on a trip

and you're leaving

the care of your house

to somebody else

and you're doing the walkthrough

before you go.

You're giving them

the instructions

and that one thing

that is the most important,

that if they do nothing else,

you tell them about it

at the beginning.

You tell them about it

in the middle

as you're giving

your instructions

and you remind them

about it one more time

at the end.

This is so important.

Don't miss this.

Well,

Jesus does the same

sort of thing here.

Three times he tells them,

If you love me,

you will keep my commands

or something very similar.

So these are words

that we can't just hurry past.

We got to sit

and reflect

for a few minutes

on what Jesus is saying.

If you love me,

you will keep my commands.

Let's start by talking

about that word commands.

Let's maybe see

a show of hands.

Is there anybody here

that loves to be commanded

to do things?

Nobody?

Well,

the Apostle Paul

seemed to suggest

in his letter

to the church at Rome

that there's a reason

for that.

All of us have sin in us.

We're born with sin

and because of that

we just have this tendency

to rebel.

From birth,

our natural bent

is that when we're commanded

to do something,

we grumble about it,

we complain about it,

and we even rebel against it.

We don't like being told

what to do.

We want to do

what we want to do.

And so this word command,

I don't know about you,

but maybe it sets you

on edge a little bit.

And then it kind of

strikes us oddly,

doesn't it,

that in the same breath

as Jesus speaks about

commanding us,

he speaks about love.

Like what?

How can these two things

be together?

What a strange thing.

We don't love being commanded

and we don't like to mix

love and duty.

Friendship and obligation

or expectations.

And so these words of Jesus,

they just have a way

of jumbling up our emotions

even as we come to them,

even as we hear them

we got to get past that though

if we really want to consider

what Jesus is saying.

This word commands,

it makes us think

about the kind of relationship

that Jesus has

with the men around the table.

Theirs is the kind of relationship

where Jesus commands them

to do things,

not suggests,

not encourages,

not instructs them,

he commands them

to do things.

So I mean like

what kind of relationship

is this between Jesus

and his disciples?

Well, it's not just a friendship,

there's not commanding

in friendships.

I mean they have a friendship.

It's not just camaraderie,

they have that too.

It's not just coworkers,

they've been working

on all kinds of things together.

It's not that Jesus

is their employer.

They're not getting paid a cent

to do any of this.

They're following Jesus

around of their own free will.

And Jesus is not

their military officer

or their commander.

This is not an army.

So who is Jesus

that he commands them

and they must obey?

Well, there's more than one

right answer to that question,

but I'm only going to highlight one.

who is Jesus?

He is their king.

He's the Messiah.

Messiah, Christ.

It means anointed one.

It points us back

to the prophet Samuel

who God sent to pour oil

on the head of King David

to show that yes,

this is my chosen king

who will rule over my people Israel.

and kings command.

They give orders.

They have authority.

And it's funny, you know,

Jesus, I mean,

he doesn't in any way

minimize the fact

that he has this kind

of authority over them.

He just speaks as if it's normal.

If you love me,

you will keep my commands.

I've given you commands,

not suggestions,

not encouragements,

not instructions

that are optional commands.

Jesus commands his followers,

the disciples,

by extension, us,

but he has the right to.

He's the Messiah.

He's the king of Israel

and for all God's people.

So he has authority.

And as I was thinking about this,

you know,

we really need to let this word

commands work on us.

Yes,

Jesus gives his followers

orders,

commands

to do things,

to not do things.

And it's not because

he's domineering

or controlling.

He has every right

to command us

just because of who he is.

He's here to give us

God's commands for us.

He serves God

as our king.

And this should really

change the way

that we think

about all that Jesus said

and taught.

If you're a follower of Jesus,

if you believe in his name,

if you believe

that he is the Messiah,

just like the men

around the table,

the disciples,

you too

are obligated

to obey

his commands.

He is the king.

That's the kind

of relationship

Jesus has

with his followers.

He gives commands

and we are to obey them.

But now let's consider

where love

enters into this.

Three times

Jesus

makes it clear

that love

is somehow

a part of this.

In verse 15

he says,

if you love me,

you will keep

my commands.

In verse 21,

whoever has

my commands

and keeps them

is the one

who loves me.

In verse 23,

again,

anyone who loves me

will obey

my teaching.

What does love

have to do

with obedience

to a commanding king?

well,

first,

Jesus says

that our love

for him

should be the basis

of our obedience.

It's the foundation

for our obedience

to his commands.

If you love me,

you will do this.

You will do the things

I have commanded.

Now,

this might be hard

for us to accept

or it might,

in some of our hearts,

it might just rub us

the wrong way.

Maybe your mind

goes to some

unhealthy relationship

that you've been

a part of

or that you've seen.

Maybe you think

of somebody

who's tried

to manipulate you

or who's tried

to coerce you

into doing something

that you didn't

want to do

and maybe said

something similar

to this.

If you love me,

you'll do what I say.

Perhaps the first

thing we need

to do here

is to remember

that Jesus

is not like

the manipulators

that we have

known and seen.

He is the perfect

son of God.

He has come

to command us

to do the things

that God

commands us to do

and wants us to do.

And God has the right.

He has that place.

I mean,

he's God.

He made us.

We belong to him.

Not only that,

but he's good.

He's glorious.

He's worthy

of not just our praise

and our worship,

but also our obedience.

And then the Bible

goes even further

and tells us

that the way

that God loves us

is such that

he gives us commands

not just because

he can or wants to,

but for our benefit,

for our good,

because that is

what leads to

the happy,

the joyful,

the prosperous life

that he wants

us to have.

So no,

Jesus is not

trying to manipulate

or coerce us

into some kind of

sick or twisted

subservience.

Rather,

Jesus is showing us

what a good

and healthy relationship

looks like

between king

and citizens

of the kingdom,

between God

and his people.

It looks like this.

we obey

his commands

and we do it

because we love him.

Our obedience flows

out of our love

for the king.

The best picture

I can think of this,

I hope that you guys

have seen

or read this,

but

maybe you've

watched

the Lord of the Rings,

Tolkien's Lord of the Rings,

or read the book.

There's a

vile and self-interested

steward

in that story,

a steward of the

kingdom of Gondor.

And everything about

the way he governs

just makes you feel

sick.

It's all about him.

That's all he cares about.

But then there is

Aragorn,

the rightful heir

to the throne

of Gondor.

And everything about him

is noble.

He's humble.

He's gentle.

He's kind.

He's wise.

He's courageous.

He brings out

the best in others.

He leads through

love

and service.

Wherever Aragorn

goes in the story,

he helps the afflicted.

He protects

the weak.

He puts his life

on the line

for others.

And he does all this

without a throne

before he even

becomes king.

And so all throughout

the story,

we kind of watch

as all the good

characters in the story

become increasingly

more and more happy

to pledge their

allegiance

to this man,

to this king.

They want him

to be king

because of how

good he is.

It's an honor

to serve him,

to be commanded

by him.

He is worthy

of the throne.

He's the kind of

leader and authority

that we want,

that we need.

And it's under

his governance

and command

that we will all

flourish and prosper

and have the freedom

that we long for

and be protected

from the enemy.

It's a great picture

of how it is

with Jesus.

Our obedience

should flow

out of our love

for him.

We obey his commands

because we love him,

because he is

that kind of

good king

that we want

and need.

Everything about him

is wonderful.

He's good.

He's gracious.

He's humble.

He's kind.

He's wise.

Courageous.

He laid down

his life

for us.

It's an honor

to serve the king,

to be commanded

by this king.

Well,

now is the place

where we should

really pause

and think about

our love for Jesus.

Jesus says,

if you love me,

an if statement,

it kind of forces us

to that question.

Do I love Jesus?

Do you love Jesus?

And as we reflect

on that,

maybe we're thinking,

well,

what does that even mean?

What does it mean

to love Jesus?

What kind of love

are we talking about here?

Maybe like just the feeling?

How does that work?

If you feel love

towards me,

you will obey

my commands?

I don't think

that really fits.

Love is a feeling,

but as most of us

have learned by now,

feelings are pretty fickle.

They come and they go.

They're affected

by all sorts of things,

by how much sleep

we got last night,

or by when the last time

we ate was,

or by what the weather

looks like outside.

It's wonderful

when we feel love

towards someone

or something.

We want to feel that

all the time

towards Jesus,

towards the members

of our family,

right?

But I think we all know

that really loving

a person,

it's more than

just a feeling.

It has to do

with how we treat them,

sometimes

despite how we feel

towards them.

love.

This gets to that

other side of love,

that deeper element

to love.

It has to do with

our care

and concern

for others.

It has to do

with how we treat them,

not just how we feel

about them.

And family relationships

are the place

where we get

lots of opportunity

to see love

in action.

here we see

that commitment

side of love,

that loyalty

side of love,

that I'm going to be

there

and care for you

and support you

in sickness

and in health,

for better

or for worse.

Love is not

just a feeling.

There are times

when love

is a choice.

it's in action.

It's that deeper

attitude

towards others.

So now,

take this deeper

truth about love

and hear these

words of Jesus

again.

If you love me,

you will keep

my commands.

Jesus is not

promising that

obeying him

will always

feel easy

or that we'll

always like

to do it

or love

to do it.

In fact,

there are many

times when we

must just

simply choose.

to obey,

to do the thing

Jesus has commanded

because we love

him

despite how

we're feeling.

I was reading

through the Psalms

this week

and here's a prayer

of David

in Psalm 141

Psalms 141:4

verse 4.

He prays to God

and says,

do not let my heart

be drawn

to what is evil

so that I take part

in wicked deeds

along with those

who are evildoers.

Now,

why would you

pray a prayer

like that?

Why would you

ask something

like that

unless you

feel that pull

in your heart

towards the

things that

are evil?

There are times

when we must

choose to obey

Jesus,

to do what he

commanded

because we love

him

even though we

don't feel like

it.

Let's look down

a little bit

to verse 21.

Jesus says there,

whoever has

my commands

and keeps them

is the one

who loves me.

It's said maybe

a little bit

differently.

Literally,

the one having

my commands

and keeping them,

that one

is the one

who loves me.

another truth

emerges here.

Obedience

to Jesus'

commands

is the mark

of the person

who truly

loves Jesus.

There is a

visible

and obvious

indicator of

whether a person

really loves

Jesus.

Do they keep

the commands

of Jesus?

Now we're

being asked

a different

question.

Not do I

love,

but am I

actually obeying

the commands

that Jesus

gave?

We look down

to verse 23

now.

This is the

last time

he says it.

Whoever has

my commands

and keeps

them.

No,

sorry,

there it is.

Anyone who

loves me

will obey

my teaching,

literally,

will keep

my word.

My father

will love

him and

we will

come to

him and

make our

home with

him.

This is a

wonderful

promise.

There is

and there

will be

more to

this relationship

than just

our loving

Jesus and

our obeying

his commands.

love will

flow both

ways.

Our love

flows to

Jesus as

we obey

him and

it flows

from the

father,

from God

to us

as we

obey him.

My father

will love

the person

who loves

me and

keeps my

word.

This is

perhaps a

special love.

I mean,

it seems that

God has

loved everyone

even just

by sending

Jesus in

the first

place.

But there

is perhaps

a love

upon that

love for

those who

love his

son and

keep his

word.

My father

will love

that person,

says Jesus.

And then

this sweet

promise which

follows,

and we

will come

to him.

We will

come to

that person.

not just

I will

come to

him,

but we,

father and

son,

we will

come to

him.

This will

no longer

be what

seems like

a long

distance

relationship.

Jesus says

we will

come to

him and

we will

make our

home with

him.

That's

what this

is all

about.

It's about

a relationship

between God

and us.

maybe you

remember back

to earlier

in the

chapter.

In my

father's

house,

there are

many

rooms.

Same

word here.

Many

dwelling

spaces,

many abodes.

That's what

he's saying

here.

We will

come to

him,

we will

make our

home,

our

dwelling

with

him.

That's

the promise.

a good

king and

his people

together.

A good

God and

his people

together,

living together

forever.

That's the

trajectory

here.

But just

like the

disciples,

for now,

we live in

the meantime.

Jesus hasn't

come back

yet,

and this is

how God

wants us

to live.

in

anticipation

of the

return of

the king,

if you

love me,

you will

keep my

commands.

That's the

end of my

sermon this

morning,

but now

it's your

turn to

preach to

me.

I mean,

we couldn't

go through

this whole

message and

really get a

lot of

benefit out

of it if

we didn't

even talk

about what

the commands

of Jesus

are,

right?

It's not

enough to

just have a

general change

of heart or

attitude towards

the commands

of Jesus.

We actually

have to do

them.

We have to

obey them.

So what are

they?

So I'm

going to turn

the sermon

over to you

guys for a

little bit

here.

What are the

commands of

Jesus to

his followers?

Love one

another.

Make

disciples of

all nations.

preach the

gospel,

the good

news.

Don't be

shy.

Shut them

out.

There's lots

of them.

Do unto

others as

you would

have them

do unto

you.

Treat them.

Yeah.

Okay.

Yeah.

Love the

Lord your

God with

all your

heart,

soul,

mind,

and strength

above all

things.

What else?

Pray.

Yeah.

What else?

Obey his

commands.

Yep.

That's one

of them.

To love

truth.

Remain in

me or

abide in

me.

Yes.

Stay

connected to

me.

forgive.

Forgive.

Yes.

Forgive.

That's a

tough one.

What else?

Love your

enemies.

Seek first

his kingdom

and his

righteousness.

Yeah.

acknowledge

there is

no

God

except

Jesus.

Okay.

Yeah.

Acknowledge

Jesus.

Do not

be anxious

about

anything.

Do not

worry about

your life,

what you

will eat

or drink

or what

you will

wear.

fear not.

Fear not.

Yeah.

Yes.

Take up

your cross

and follow

me,

said Jesus.

Repent.

Turn away

from your

sins.

Yes.

Trust.

Yeah.

Believe in

God.

Believe also

in me,

said Jesus.

Okay.

Yeah.

Present your

body as a

living sacrifice.

This is a

great sample

that you've

given of

the commands

of Jesus.

It's so

important that

we know what

they are because

how can we

do them

if we don't

know what

they are.

This is the

kind of life

that Jesus

is calling

us to.

And it's

not that

we'll do

it perfectly.

He knows

that.

Jesus died

so that we

could be

forgiven for

all of our

falling short

of that.

But this

is what

he has

called us

to do,

how he's

called us

to live.

All of

these things

and the

ones that we

didn't even

get to yet,

these are

the commands

of Jesus

and Jesus

says,

if you

love me,

you will

keep my

commands.

Let's

pray.

Father in

heaven,

thank you

for your

word.

Thank you

for the

truth that

you bring

to us.

I pray

and ask

Lord that

you would

help us

as we

seek to

live in

obedience

to Jesus.

Lord,

we confess

right now

it's not

easy and

there's so

many times

that we

want to

do other

things.

We want

to do

some of

the things

you told

us not

to do

or we

want to

just shirk

off the

things that

you called

us to do.

And so we

pray and ask

like David

did that you

would not

allow our

hearts to

go there,

to be drawn

to those

things.

We ask

that you

would enable

us,

that you

would fill

us with

a holy

desire to

serve you

remind us

every day

of just

the awesome

and wonderful

king that

you are,

of your

great love

for us,

and lead

us in

obedience,

lead us

in doing

all those

works that

you prepared

in advance

for us

to do,

for the

blessing and

building up

of each

other,

our families,

and for the

people here

in Davidson.

We ask

this for the

glory of

Christ.

Amen.