Before I Go: John 14:8-31

Thank you so much to our worship team. I was

instructed to give you an announcement on behalf

of the worship team and that is we are looking

to add musicians specifically to our worship

team. We have many, but you probably see a lot

of the same faces up here week after week. And

so we're really committed to making sure that

people are getting to sit as often as they serve.

And so we're looking to add specifically musicians,

specifically keyboard and guitar. So if any of

you are secret musicians among us, they would

love to have an audition with you and to speak

with you further about that. And you're like,

auditions, that seems kind of mean. Well, Kendra

had to figure out a way to keep me out of it.

And so auditions it is. And so far I've failed

every one. So it's working. But, you know, truly

we want to make sure that what we bring in terms

of worship is good. And so we'd love to just

talk with any of you. Kendra and others will

be here after service if you want to make your

way down and say, hey, I think I know how to

play a keyboard or a guitar or whatever. We'd

love to just have that conversation with you

and kind of continue to build our team. We've

had some folks move away. We've had just changes

in life schedule, and we're always looking to

make sure that we have a strong team so that

our worship is. is wonderful and honoring to

God. I know it is week after week. I have just

a couple of other quick things. One is a reminder

that we will share communion together at the

end of our time. So if you did not get the elements

on your way in, feel free to do that at any point

over the next few minutes before we get to that

point in our service. We'd love to make sure

that all of you who want to do that can. Also,

this is very kind of off script and unusual,

I suppose, but I just felt a little prompting

to do something special this morning. How many

of you? by the way, just have been watching the

Olympics. Anybody? I mean, it's in France, Italy,

somewhere. I don't know, somewhere over there.

And the time zone doesn't help, right? Like they're

playing gold medal hockey games at like six in

the morning. We're like, well, that's fun. Anyhow,

in the spirit of Olympics. We have an Olympian

among us this morning, so we're just going to

do this, and we're just going to honor my friend

Josh. Josh, why don't you come up here for a

second, my man? We have a special Olympian among

us this morning. Come here, Josh. This guy, this

guy's a gold medalist basketball player, everybody.

Come here, buddy. He's even got his medal. Dude,

we are so proud of you. This guy, your team name,

I'm going to get it wrong, Tucson Desert Dogs.

I mean, I can see why you won the gold medal,

dude, the name like that. So you guys won it

last week, is that right? Yes. And you're on

the basketball team. And Coach Rob, when we went

out here and shot hoops, that's what got you

ready for that moment, right? Always do. Yeah,

but hey, buddy, we wanted to congratulate you.

We're celebrating the Olympics, the Winter Olympics,

and we're like, we have an Olympian among us.

So one more time for our friend Josh. Congratulations,

buddy. Yeah, man. Glad to have you here. Fun,

fun. Yeah, I saw some photos on Instagram of

Josh as an Olympian. I was like, hey, we got

some famous people among us. So thank you for

doing that. It means a lot to him, I know. All

right, we're in week three of our series. Before

I go, which is an in -depth look at this. kind

of final night that Jesus shared with his closest

friends, his disciples, the night before he was

crucified in an upper room when they were alone

together before the events of Good Friday that

would unfold just a few hours after that. This

is a seven -week series. We're gonna pause next

week to celebrate Baptism Sunday. I am ecstatic

for you to be here, to be in the room, to hear

the stories of our friends that are going to

be baptized. And I'm still praying and believing

maybe there's more of you. It's not too late.

If you are interested, if that's an interest

to you, you wanna have the conversation, today

is really like your best chance to do that, to

get me, call me, grab me after service, let's

talk. But we're gonna be here and we're gonna

celebrate Baptism Service or Sunday together.

next week, and then we'll pick the series back

up and finish it before it takes us to this thing

called Easter, if you can believe that. So that's

where we're at. Up till this point in our series,

so in this conversation, I've done my best. Hopefully

it's been good enough. I've done my best to really

try and... kind of put us in the room in this

conversation between Jesus and his disciples,

as though we're just sitting there kind of as

a third party, taking it in. And up until this

point in the conversation between Jesus and his

disciples, which at this point is 11, if you

remember, because Judas betrayed him and has

left, he's been preparing them for his imminent

departure. Like, I'm going away. It's going to

be soon. And so that all that he's saying is

to prepare them for this the season that's ahead

of them, which is a season that will not include

him. It's coming very quickly. It's coming quicker

than they realize or are ready for. And so if

you were here. If you haven't been here, I'll

just summarize it. In week one of our series,

we consider Jesus' new commandment that he gave

them, right? I'm giving you a new commandment

to love one another. And then last week, we continued

looking at these words of comfort from Jesus,

which is essentially what he's trying to do.

Ultimately, he's not trying to freak them out.

He's not trying to make them worry or panic.

He's actually trying to say like, hey, I'm going

to leave. It's a big deal. But in the process,

I'm offering you words of comfort so that you're

not... Freaked out when I'm gone, essentially.

And so they're so desperate, if you remember,

if you were here or caught it online, they're

so desperate to figure out the where. Remember,

that was the question they were asking, like,

where is it that you are going? And Jesus tried

to... kind of walk them into that, but they still

weren't getting it. And then several different

capacities or forms, they were asking the same

question, which is, where are you going? And

Jesus reassured them by saying, I am the way,

the truth, and the life. If you come to me through

faith, you experience all three. And so that's

kind of where we've been so far in this conversation

between Jesus and his disciples. And he's doing

his best. He's doing his best to help them really

understand. this new season that's ahead of them

when he will no longer be there right beside

them. I mean, I've never in my life, I've never

experienced something like that. I mean, I've

had family members just die. I've had people

move away. I've had, you know, I've experienced

changes, but this is unique in the sense that

he's kind of given the opportunity to kind of

put the pieces in order for them before he goes.

And what a privilege and what a blessing it probably

was for them in hindsight. In other words, Jesus

didn't just get ripped out in the middle of the

night and they're like, where is he? But he actually

had this very sacred kind of final moments together

with them to be able to tell them all these things.

They're scared. They're bewildered. They're confused.

And if you kind of have been tracking like each

of, not each, but several of the disciples have

kind of had their moment, right? So first it

was Peter. Peter's Peter. Not much more you need

to say about him. Thomas followed it up. And

they're both asking these questions. They're

kind of inquiring about Jesus. And now it's Philip's

turn to join the conversation. And that's where

we're going to pick it up in verse 8 of chapter

14. Lord, said Philip. Show us the Father, and

that is enough for us. Jesus said to him, Have

I been among you all this time, and you do not

know me, Philip? The one who has seen me has

seen the Father. How can you say, Show us the

Father? Don't you believe that I am in the Father,

and the Father is in me? The words that I speak

to you I do not speak on my own, but the Father

who lives in me does his works. Believe in me

that I am in the Father and the Father is in

me. Otherwise, believe because of the works themselves.

So we left off. I'm going to insert something

here that's key. We left off last week in verse

7, chapter 14. These were the words that we left

off with. If you know me, this is Jesus, if you

know me, you will also know my Father. From now

on, you do know him and have seen him. So Jesus

had once again made this very bold claim that

he was equal with the Father. They're still trying

to figure this out. And quite honestly, 2 ,000

years later, we're still trying to figure it

out, aren't we? But he had made these very bold

claims like, if you've seen me, you've seen the

Father. If you've listened to my words, you're

essentially listening to the words of the Father,

right? So he made these claims. And then no sooner,

we pick up the conversation again. And it seems,

though, that Philip, again, probably speaking

on behalf of the entire group, is still somewhat

confused. He's the third questioner, right? Peter,

Thomas, and now Philip. And if you piece together

their various questions, first that Peter and

Thomas had asked, they had asked essentially

the same question, which is, where are you going?

And then Philip, you realize they're sort of

asking the same thing, just phrased a little

bit differently. Peter and Thomas, where are

you going? Well, Jesus had just said, or he just

answered them by telling them, I'm going to the

Father. Where was he going? To the Father. So

when Philip says to Jesus, show us the Father,

what is he essentially asking for? Show us where

you are going. You see that? And yet it's still

a little bit unclear what Philip is actually

asking Jesus for, right? He's saying, show us

the Father. That'll be enough for us. What does

he expect Jesus to do to, like, show them the

Father? Like, okay, quick, direct your gaze 40

degrees. I'm going to open the clouds really

quick. And just for a brief second, you're going

to see him. What is he actually asking for? Like

a sign? And Jesus had said, already previously

said, like no signs. Nevertheless, Jesus's response

almost makes it seem like he's a bit surprised

by Philip's request. Like, I mean, you see it

in the text there, right? Like, have I been with

you all this time and you still don't see it?

And we've had those moments with our kids, right?

If you're a parent, like. How is it that you're

15 and you don't know this by now, whatever that

thing is? But Philip's, like, you get a sense

of, I'm not going to say frustration, although

maybe, but Jesus is at least perplexed. Like,

how is it that we've been together all this time,

man, and you still don't see it? You don't realize

that I'm one with the Father. What was Jesus

really saying, trying to say to Philip and the

others in that moment? Plain and simple. The

Son, so Jesus, me, the talker. reveals the Father.

But you can't help but sense that there's like

a deeper longing to Philip's request to show

us the Father. And if you're tracking with us

in the carryover, all credit to Preston in this

coming week's edition of that. Preston so appropriately

puts it. I was reading it as I was preparing

this. Makes my prep a lot easier, of course.

But he appropriately said like, Philip's request

is not like, for some sort of post -dinner magic

trick from Jesus. That's not what he's really

asking for. Okay, Jesus, there's the Father.

You see him? They're not after some sort of magical

miracle, if you will. There's a deeper, reflective,

almost desperate plea to Philip's request that

I want us to see together, and that is tell us,

Jesus, before you leave us, is it all really

worth it? That's almost what's going on here.

Is it really worth it? Because it sure seems

as though when you leave, things are going to

get harder. They're not going to get better.

They're going to get worse, whatever worse means.

And so you almost get the sense, and you have

to kind of read into the text a little bit, but

you get the sense that behind Philip's request,

this is like this plea of certainty, like, okay,

Jesus, we want to see the Father because we want

to actually make sure that it's worth it. And

that there's like a gold at the end of the rainbow,

if you will. I mean, I've only done a handful

of marathons. And one of the beautiful things

about it, they set it up, all the races are set

up differently. But if you can see the finish

line from the start line, that's a good thing.

I mean, you have to run 26 miles to get there.

But you at least know, like, this isn't some

cruel joke that we're just going to go run into

the field and never come back. But there's like

a, there's a finish line. And I don't know if

I'm going to make it, but either my legs or an

ambulance are going to bring me across that thing

at some point. But you at least see it. You're

like, okay, a lot of hard work, quite a few hours,

but we're going to get there. And I think that's

a lot of what's going on here with Philip. Like,

why do we want to see the Father? Because we

just, like, we kind of need a certainty that

it's worth it. Like, that you're not, these words

are not just hollow, like. empty promises, if

you will. Remember, they know that he's leaving,

and now he's giving them sort of these deeper,

somewhat, I would call, abstract promises. Like,

if we had been in the room, we probably would

have been confused like they had been. Like,

what do you mean you're the way? Like, what does

that mean? And so he's kind of talking to these,

not intentionally, but it feels almost somewhat

abstract to them. And Philip, on behalf of the

others, is like, please, Jesus, like, show us

the Father. Just give us a picture of the finish

line so we know that we're not running in vain.

There's a desperation to his request that exposes

the longing of every human heart. Almost like,

if we can be really real for a moment, don't

play with us, Jesus. Show us the real thing.

Because if you really, and we'll talk about this

in a moment, if you really follow Christ, a lot

of times it's very difficult. If you're really

obedient to Jesus, like most of the time it's

actually quite difficult. And so you want to

know that it's not in vain. Like there's a finish

line to this. Like all of the hard effort, if

you will, all of the long hours, all that, there's

like a finish line to this thing that you're

going to get to eventually. And I think Philip's

request of show us the Father is just this. exposing

the longing of every human heart, if we're really

honest. Like, okay, I mean, how many of you today,

if I said, hey, at noon, you know, open this

app on your phone, you're going to see a glimpse

of heaven. The app would crash. There would be

so many people. Seriously. Don't you want to

see it? I mean, surely I'm not the only one that,

like, reads the Bible for years and years and

years and, like, let's hope heaven's real. There's

a lot here about it. You would just long to be

sure. And that's exactly what Philip wants. Is

it really worth it? God, are you who we think

you are? Jesus, are you really worth following?

It's the cry and the longing of every human heart.

So here's the first thing to capture for us.

Jesus meets us in our place of spiritual desperation.

Jesus meets us in our place of spiritual desperation.

One of the things that I think the Bible is clear

about is that God, Jesus, they're not cosmic

beings that are hiding, trying to play hide and

seek with us. In fact, the Bible says, if you

search for me, you will find me if you search

for me with all your heart. And so it's not like

Jesus is elusive or playing this game of cat

and mouse with us, but he actually meets us in

that place of spiritual desperation, provided

that it's authentic, provided that we're really

searching. And that was the same thing here for

Philip. Like, at the heart of this question is

like, I really need to know from you, Jesus,

like, are you who you say you are? Is it really

worth it? Jesus meets us in our place of spiritual

desperation. And admittedly, friends, whether

we are aware of it so consciously or whether

we are unaware of it subconsciously, we are all

longing for the same thing, which is show us

the Father, show us God. We so desperately want

it to be real. And Jesus says, when you come

to me, discovering me as the way, the truth,

and the life, you have in fact seen the Father.

There's no trick to this thing. There's no mystery

to this thing. And yet, in typical Jesus fashion,

he's going to go even further to reassure them

of his love and his presence with them. And it

continues this way in verse 12. Truly I tell

you, the one who believes in me will also do

the works that I do. And he will do even greater

works than these because I am going to the Father.

Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it so

that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

If you ask me anything in my name, I will do

it. If you love me, you will keep my commands.

And I will ask the Father and he will give you

another counselor to be with you forever. He

is the Spirit of truth. He's talking about the

Holy Spirit. The world is unable to receive him

because it does not see him or know him. But

you do know him. Because he remains with you

and will be in you. So here in these verses,

we get the promise of the Holy Spirit, which

the word used here is counselor, I believe. Yep.

Give you another counselor. He's talking about

the Holy Spirit. So we get the promise of the

Holy Spirit. And I'm not going to say a lot about

this today for two reasons. One, we just did

an entire series on the Holy Spirit a few weeks

ago. A series called Things Unseen. I encourage

you to go back and watch it on our YouTube channel

if you missed it. or are interested in it. But

the other reason is here in these coming chapters

are going to be more about the Holy Spirit. So

I'm not going to address that too much today,

but even before the promise of the Holy Spirit,

the counselor, which is verse 16, Jesus says

something very interesting to them and very profound.

In verse 12, Jesus says, if you believe in me,

you will do greater works than what you have

seen me do. And if you, like all of us should

pause there and go like, excuse me? Let's just

pause here and say, well, if we were to brainstorm,

what are some of the great works that we, up

until this point in Jesus' life, what had he

done? Anything great? Anything noteworthy prior

to this bold declaration of these disciples?

And the answer is, he had done tons of things.

some really significant ones. I'll name just

a few, see if they're significant. He had raised

somebody from the dead. He had walked on water.

He had fed thousands of people with only enough

to feed a few people. Like the list of Jesus's

great works is too long to name. And so I don't

know about your experience, but I don't go around

seeing many people do any of these same works.

I've never met somebody who's raised somebody

from the dead. I've never met somebody who's

walked on water, multiplied food. All those things.

Even the disciples, if you think about it, they

would do great works. You get over to the book

of Acts, they're starting to heal people. They're

doing all these kind of miraculous works, but

nothing would compare to what they had seen Jesus

do. Not even close. So what did Jesus mean that

his disciples, and then by default us, all these

years later would do greater works than, quote,

these? The distinction that Jesus is trying to

make. It's really important we understand. It's

not between what he had done and what they will

do, but rather between what Jesus has done so

far and what work Jesus will continue to do through

them because he is going to the Father. What

does going to the Father give them in return?

That's the thing that we have to kind of pay

attention to. Two things, the Holy Spirit, that's

verses 16 and 17, and answered prayer, that's

verses 13 and 14, if you see that. In conjunction

with those two things, like, hey, I'm going away,

but here's the good news. You're going to get

two things out of my absence. One, answered prayer.

And two, the Holy Spirit. And so in conjunction

with those two things, the work that they would

do and the work that you and I would do all these

years later is greater in scope, not power. Greater

in scope, not power. Think about it this way.

Think about it. Most of Jesus' ministry had been

confined to this area of Galilee, Judea, etc.

His disciples, however, were going to begin to

extend that ministry to literally the uttermost

parts of the earth. I mean, it has to start close,

and it goes out from there, of course. So when

Jesus ascended to heaven after his resurrection,

you could put his number of followers somewhere

in the hundreds. You could still count them.

40 days later, in response to the preaching of

the apostles in the book of Acts, it says that

they had multiplied into the thousands, right?

By the time you get to the end of Acts, the gospel

had made its way to Rome. And then 2 ,000 years

later, the gospel is on every continent in the

world, slowly reaching billions of people. And

so... What it does is it starts to give meaning

to Jesus' words in John 16 that we'll come to

in a few weeks where he says, it's better for

you that I go away so that the helper may come.

Why? Because it's going to ignite this exponential

multiplication of the gospel. I mean, we've all

experienced it, right? Like when the leader's

in the room, nobody else has to lead. But when

the leader is gone, it's like you start looking

around like, all right, it's us. We got this.

And that's exactly what happened. Jesus is like,

you're going to do greater works than these.

Why? Because you're going to multiply out from

here, and it's going to have an exponential effect

to the uttermost parts of the world. And it still

is today. It still is today. It's better for

you that I go away, that the helper may come.

And in hindsight, of course, we read that and

understand, how is it better? Because it ushered

in greater works carried out through. You ready

for this? You and me. That's terrifying, right?

We just laugh the awkward like, we're doing the

greater works, are we? Yeah. According to Jesus,

it's crazy to think about. And Jesus knew, what's

so crazy to me is that Jesus knew in that moment,

in that upper room, that those 11 guys would

be faithful unto his work that he was calling

them to do. And that you and I, by faith, all

these years later, would continue that good work.

Continue that good work. And it would have an

exponential multiplying effect that we could

not even begin to calculate. Which means then

this. It's an invitation from Jesus to partner,

not produce. It's an invitation from Jesus to

partner, not produce. Jesus was not in that moment,

and he is not today, burdening us with a pressure

to produce these good works. Because he had just

promised them two things, answer prayer and the

presence of the Holy Spirit. Guess what, man?

I'm giving you the best tools that you can have.

And if you can't make good works happen with

these things, you've got no shot. That's essentially

what he was saying. And so there's not a pressure

to produce. Like, hey, I healed the blind man.

You've got to do one better. I walked on water.

You've got to walk on something. I don't know

what's better than water, but you get the point.

Jesus knew in that upper room that this was an

invitation to partner with him by the Holy Spirit,

not to produce, but to be a partner in this thing

called the Great Commission. It's going to happen

as we're prayerful, and it's going to happen

as we're filled with the Spirit. And those are

the very things that he was promising them. And

so rather, he's inviting us to partner with him

to see good works happen in his name. The second

you start owning the pressure to produce, you're

headed for destruction. And, you know, right

or wrong, probably not the right contrast, but

in the church planting world especially, which

is obviously the world that I've lived in for

most of the last six years, you feel that even

more. Because you're not walking into an established

church that's 50 years old, that has a million

dollar budget, that has people, that has resources.

You're building something, quite literally. You're

building and there's pressure. You don't want

to show up to that next cohort meeting and be

like, yeah, we have nobody, or numbers are down,

or people aren't showing up, or whatever it is.

So there's this pressure to produce, if you will.

I fell trap to it, certainly, especially in the

early days. And it's a dead end. It's a dead

end if you feel the pressure to produce rather

than to partner with Jesus by the Holy Spirit

through prayer to see the greater works happen.

And no one needs that reminder more than yours

truly, someone in full -time pastoral ministry.

There's self -imposed, there is a pressure to

produce. And that was not the invitation from

Jesus in that moment. If those guys felt pressure

to go do greater works in the sense of power

rather than, or scope, if you will, then they

were doomed. They had no chance at it. And so

he's helping them to see this. That's why he

tells them, I'm giving you the Holy Spirit. I'm

giving you this kind of open line for answered

prayer so that it takes the pressure off of you,

actually, to just partner with me by these things

to see greater works happen. 1 Corinthians 3,

Paul's writing, I planted, he did great things.

Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So

then neither the one who plants nor the one who

waters is anything but only God who gives the

growth. Again, it's a partnership, not a pressure

to produce. And Paul knew that. I mean, Paul

was the greatest missionary that ever lived on

the earth still to this day. And he was like,

hey, I did some things and Apollos did some things,

but God ultimately brought the growth. We were

just partners in this thing. God was the one

that brought the produce. Pick the dialogue back

up. Verse 18, I will not leave you as orphans.

I'm coming to you. In a little while, the world

will no longer see me, but you will see me because

I live, you will live too. On that day, you will

know that I'm in the Father, you are in me, and

I'm in you. The one who has my commands and keeps

them is the one who loves me, and the one who

loves me will be loved by my Father. I also will

love him and will reveal myself to him. Judas,

different one, not Iscariot, said to him, Lord.

Another inquisitor. Lord, how is it that you're

going to reveal yourself to us and not to the

world? Jesus answered, if anyone loves me, he

will keep my word. My father will love him and

we will come to him and make our home with him.

The one who doesn't love me will not keep my

words. The word that you hear is not mine, but

it is from the father who sent me. The meaning

of the word orphan that Jesus used here carries

the idea of without any support. without any

support. And many of you know that Kendra and

I, for about eight years before our daughter

was born, did foster care. And we lost track.

We think the number was somewhere around 50 kids

that spent at least one night in our home, some

much longer. And for as rich and wonderful as

that experience was, it was also incredibly heartbreaking

because you had a front row seat time and time

again to these... Picture of these kiddos who

literally had no support. And they were truly

orphaned in the true sense of the word. And that's

the same meaning and word that Jesus is using

here to say, like, I will not leave you without

any support. He's using very similar language.

Jesus is trying to reassure them that you won't

be without support because I will come back for

you. And by the way, good news, until I do, you

have the Holy Spirit within you. You have the

Holy Spirit within you. But I want to draw our

attention to this obedience -love pairing that

shows up in these verses because the promise

of Jesus being with us makes us feel good. The

commandment to obey him doesn't make us feel

good. And so that's the one I want to draw our

attention to. Verse 21, I'll show you this pairing

of love and obedience. We already read it, but

I'm going to draw it out again. The one who has

my commands and keeps them is the one who loves

me. Then you go to verses 23 and 24. Again, Jesus

answered, if anyone loves me, he will keep my

word. It's obedience. My Father will love him

and will come to him and make our home with him.

The one who doesn't love me, he's contrasting

it, will not keep my words. It's disobedient.

The word that you hear is not mine, but it is

from the Father who sent me. So Jesus twice makes

this connection between obedience and love. Really

three times, if you were to go back to verse

15, which we were in. if you caught some of Jesus'

reference to the world, that's another way of

saying those who don't love me. That's another

way of saying those who don't love me. So here's

the truth that we pull from this. This is the

most important one, in my opinion, for today.

Love for Jesus is demonstrated through obedience

to Jesus. Love for Jesus is demonstrated through

obedience to Jesus. Now, let me be really clear

here. You and I are not saved by obeying Jesus.

That's a very important distinction to make.

And I say that based on Ephesians 2, 8, 9. We

are saved by grace through faith. You don't obey

your way into salvation. However, if there is

any uncertainty, it's not uncommon for people

to ask, well, how do I know if I'm like, saved,

whatever that even means. How do I know if I

have salvation? How do I know if I'm going to

go to heaven, so to speak? I think it boils back

to this. If there's uncertainty as to whether

or not I've made a decision of faith and received

the gift of salvation, a good metric to look

at is this. Do I obey Jesus? That's a very simple

and yet very profound metric to pay attention

to. You shouldn't base it on church attendance.

You shouldn't base it on hours of service. You

shouldn't base it on dollars given. You shouldn't

base it on a lot of the trivial things. They're

not trivial, but you understand secondary things

that we're inclined to say like, oh, we made

it to church five weeks in a row. Good, we love

that. But when it comes to salvation, we're stripping

all those things back. We're saying like, how

do I know if it's real? Jesus would say one thing

to look at is, do you obey me? Do you obey me?

And I think we are, personally, I think we're

just too inclined to overcomplicate Christianity

sometimes. And if I'm honest, sometimes, I don't

even know if this is a word, but over -emotionalize

it as well. But it's actually easier than we

are inclined to believe. And it's kind of right

there in front of us. Again, Jesus is not trying

to confuse us. He's not trying to make it a mystery.

He's just putting it right there in front of

us to ask the question, do I obey Jesus? Do I

obey him? Not do I feel warm fuzzies when I go

to church. Not do I try and be a good citizen.

I think those are byproducts of faith in Jesus.

But when you strip all those things down, away.

And maybe someday when you're before the Lord

and you're trying to, what the certainty of my

salvation is, is that I bear fruit for Christ

and I, to the best of my ability, albeit imperfectly,

walked in obedience to Christ. Do I obey Jesus?

Love for Jesus is demonstrated through obedience

to Jesus. So it's worth pausing. It's worth pausing.

I get an hour with you a week, so I want to...

I just want to give you things to chew on and

to take with you. And so it's worth pausing and

asking, like, where in my life am I being disobedient

to Jesus? Is there something in my life that

would make others question my love for Jesus?

And what I'm not talking about is spiritual perfection.

I'm not talking about being a Christian robot.

It just does no wrong. We're probably headed

that direction, and that will change weird things,

right? Because if you're an AI robot, you don't

need forgiveness. You never do anything wrong.

We'll get to that in probably two months when

it happens. Some of you are like, what? It's

okay. I don't understand it either. But imagine

AI Rob up here. No? All right. Whatever. I mean,

I hope it doesn't happen, but it's probably going

to. This is not about perfection. So these self

-reflection questions are not like, oh my gosh,

yeah, I actually, good. When we identify those

things, we step into confession and repentance

and say, God, yes, as a testimony of my love

for Jesus, I need you to forgive me. This area

of disobedience in my life, this thing that probably

would cause others to question my love for Jesus,

based on my obedience or disobedience to Jesus?

What in your life needs attention today? Where

have you been disobedient? Where do you find

a pattern of habitual disobedience? Jesus stated

it so clearly for us, if anyone loves me, he

will keep my word. And so based on Jesus's definition

of love, do you love him today? You need to answer

that. It's not a family answer. It's do you,

based on Jesus' definition of love, as you personalize

that, as you wrestle with that in your own soul,

do you love him today based on his criteria for

love? What's something that needs to change or

shift for you today so your life clearly communicates

your love for Christ? And then there's a few

final verses that are in chapter 14 that we'll

close with. Verse 25, I've spoken these things

to you. while I remain with you. But the counselor,

the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in

my name, will teach you all things and remind

you of everything I have told you. Peace I leave

with you. We sang this earlier very intentionally.

Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you.

I do not give to you as the world gives. Don't

let your heart be troubled or fearful. You have

heard me tell you I'm going away and I'm coming

to you. If you loved me, you would rejoice that

I'm going to the Father because the Father is

greater than I. I've told you now before it happens,

so that when it does happen, you may believe.

I will not talk with you much longer, because

the ruler of this world is coming. He has no

power over me. On the contrary, so that the world

may know that I love the Father, I do as the

Father commanded me. Get up and let us leave

this place. And so Jesus again comes back to

the promise of the Holy Spirit. I'm leaving,

he's saying, but he, the Holy Spirit, is coming,

and so you're not alone. You're not alone. And

then he gives them this incredible promise of

peace. And this is where I want to wrap it up

today. What did Jesus say? He said, peace I leave

with you. My peace I give to you. And then he

makes a very clear distinction. I do not give

to you as the world gives. Don't let your heart

be troubled or fearful. So this is the first

mention. This is kind of an interesting tidbit.

This is the first mention in the entire book

of John. And it sort of bookends where Jesus

started in verse 1 of chapter 14. He said, don't

let your hearts be troubled. And now he comes

in on the backside and says, because I give you

my peace. You see it? Why not? Jesus is like,

don't you know what it's like to live in 2026

in America of all places? Why should we not let

our hearts be troubled? steps into that place

and says, because I give you my peace. He's very

intentional to contrast it with the peace of

the world, which is what? We typically think

of peace as an absence of what? Conflict. Which

is somewhat ironic to just, I mean, about as

neutral of a statement I can say to stand up

here and know that, you know, there's this lingering,

looming question about potential military conflict

with Iran at this very moment. And so the point

is, worldly peace, whatever you think of war

and all the things that surround that, worldly

peace is determined typically as a culture by,

is there an absence of conflict? If there is,

then we're at peace. Quite honestly, we probably

won't see that in our lifetime ever again. So

Jesus is not describing anything that has to

do with outward circumstances. That's the important

distinction. not their outward circumstances

at the moment, which felt scary and uncertain

and all the things, nor our outward circumstances.

So this was not a routine, transient, worldly

kind of peace that comes and goes based on whether

we're at war or whether we're not at war, but

rather a spiritual peace that Jesus offers to

his followers as a permanent gift that external

circumstances cannot take away. The New Living

Translation reads this way. You won't see it

on screen, but I love how it translates this

verse. It says, I'm leaving you with a gift,

peace of mind and heart. And the peace that I

give is a gift that the world cannot give, so

don't be troubled or afraid. And the thing that

I love so much is that Jesus knew that the earthly

journey awaiting his disciples and us today,

and us today, would not be easy. There were many

trials and sorrows that lay ahead for them. And

for us. And so he left them with this assurance.

You have my peace through faith in me. And it's

important to remember that Jesus was very intentional

about his word order here. In this moment. So

first is the promise of finding him, right? The

way, the truth, and life. If you come to me,

you receive those things. So when you come to

the promise of peace from him, it's assumed,

based on the order of this, it's assumed that

we've already been pursuing him. practicing this

new commandment of love for one another, being

obedient to his instructions, being empowered

by the spirit of God, the counselor, the helper.

So if we get the, if you love me, you will keep

my word. If that's out of sync for us and we're

like, hey, he promised us this peace. Yes, it's

on the other side of some of these other things.

Like we have to step into those things. If we

blow off the new commandment to love one another,

we're like, hey, where's the peace that he promises?

Like, where's the obedience that he calls us

to? And so I think Jesus is very intentional

in how he's kind of giving them this farewell

discourse and putting these pieces in place.

It's assumed at this point in the conversation

that we are pursuing him. And in so doing, we

are experiencing this peace. And I will just

say, it's an observation from being a pastor

now almost for 25 years, if you can believe that.

I feel really old when I say that out loud, so

take that back. People's quest for internal peace

apart from Jesus is usually the thing that derails

their life most significantly. That's just 25

years of just watching it. People's quest for

internal peace apart from Christ. is usually

the single thing that derails their life most

significantly. A substance, a relationship, a

risky career move, a risky financial move, an

addiction. And I'm not saying those things aren't

real, and I'm not saying that it's not been the

greatest joy of my life to walk with people through

those things. That's what ministry is, that's

what life is, that's what it means to be human,

is to get on the other side of those things and

have some hindsight and go, oh yeah. In my quest

for internal peace, I turned to that thing and

it left me, it annihilated me, so to speak. But

I've just seen it too many times play out that

way. And I would just say to you, friends, Jesus

stands ready to give you peace that you can't

find in any of those other things. And so are

you... Are you restless today? Is your soul in

turmoil today? Is there a stronghold in your

life that you're hoping will give you peace that

simply cannot deliver you that peace? What is

that thing for you today? Would you consider

Jesus' invitation to find peace in him through

obedience by faith? And he once again, he once

again demonstrates his love for us in that he

will not leave us alone. And I just, I would

say I can't think of a worse human reality than

isolation. I mean, think about it. The worst

criminals in the world, where do they put them?

In solitary, what? Confinement. There's an added

torment, if you will, to being alone. You're

a bad criminal and we're going to add to that

by putting you alone. And I've said it before,

the irony of the world we live in today is that

we have never been more connected as a society

and yet never more isolated. Never more isolated.

And loneliness is an epidemic. It's an epidemic,

and Jesus promised us, I will not leave you as

orphans. I will come to you again. Until I do,

I give you the Holy Spirit. I'm interceding for

you through prayer. You're not in this alone.

The obedience thing that I'm calling you to is

difficult, yes, but you are empowered by the

Spirit of God. I'm interceding on your behalf

to the Father for your prayers as you pray in

my will. It's difficult, no doubt, but you are

not in this alone. You are not left as orphans.

I will come to you again. And so what is Jesus

saying? You do your part. It's an invitation.

You do your part. Love me by obeying me and experience

a peace that you cannot find in anyone or anything

else. And that's where I'll close is just asking

you, we're going to take communion together in

a moment. And maybe it's in those moments where

we're preparing our hearts for communion that

you need to kind of surrender that thing, whatever

that thing is, that. You're inclined to seek

peace through. And we know what those things

are. They're habits, they're addictions, they're

unhealthy people, things that we turn to. And

they may be culturally benign, quite honestly,

but they're not benign for you. They have a stronghold

in your life. And you're looking for that peace

that we all look for. And you're looking to not

feel alone. You're looking to have some sort

of assurance to like, this is all worth it. I

mean, that's where we started, right? It was

Philip like, hey, show us the Father. Like, if

I'm gonna do this whole obedience thing, Jesus,

like, please tell me there's a finish line. And

I'm not just running in vain. And Jesus is like,

there's a finish line. And throughout the whole

course, which is gonna be difficult, you have

the Holy Spirit with you. I'm interceding on

your behalf. You do your part. Love one another

as I've commanded you. be obedient to my word

and he does his part in giving us peace? Do you

need it today? If so, Jesus gives it freely and

we pick it up as a gift that he's given to us

and we insulate our hearts with it, amen? Let

me pray and then I'll lead us in taking communion

together. Father, thank you for the gift of peace

that comes to us through Christ. Thank you that,

well, the whole meaning of grace is that In a

room full of this many people, I mean, there

are just too many examples. And I contribute

many of them myself. There are too many examples

of things that we have turned to. Seeking peace.

Seeking to have those things in our hearts resolved.

God, I confess and I lead my brothers and sisters

in that same prayer of confession today. I confess

that there are just trivial things that you have

given to me as a gift, but they have become gods,

if you will, in that I'm searching and longing

for peace sometimes in the wrong things. And

so, Father, I ask that in this moment today that

you would give us, well, we... we echo Philip

and we just say, we want to see you. We want

to see you. We believe that it's worth it. But

also admittedly, there are days where we feel

very human. We feel very vulnerable. And the

race feels hard. Our legs feel tired. So we,

as Hebrew says, we fix our eyes on you. the author

and perfecter of our faith. You stand at the

finish line, ready to receive us. And the good

news is we don't run alone. You've given us another

helper, counselor who will be with us forever.

So we claim that today by faith. We thank you

for the gift of the Holy Spirit. We thank you

for the promise of answered prayer. And we ask,

Father, that you would Continue to go before

us. You are the way, the truth, and the life.

Help us to trust you and to follow you. Make

us obedient today, not out of a spirit of fear,

but out of a spirit of love. Say, we love you.

And so in obedience, we want to honor you and

we want to follow you. And in those moments where

we do it imperfectly, would you help us? by your

grace, through your spirit. In Jesus' name, amen.