The Word - God Said - “To Love Is To Obey” pt.1 - John 14

Father, I want to thank you and praise you that

we can come before you, open up your word, learn

of you, and learn of what you have for us as

your people, because your scripture holds everything

for life and godliness. Lord, I pray that you

would be honored and glorified as we present

the full counts of your word today, that we as

your people would rightly divide it, and that

we would really come to understand what real,

true, biblical love looks like. Lord, we do praise

you and thank you for your faithfulness. To you

be honor and glory. In Jesus' name, amen. To

love is to obey. That little term, to love is

to obey. was interesting because I wasn't thinking

about the song we picked. So we are in John 14.

As you heard in 1 Samuel, what was the scripture

reading? Give me the scripture reading address

real quick, please. 1 Samuel what? 15, thank

you. I was thinking 55, and I have no idea why.

But if you look at 1 Samuel 15, I want you to

notice some things here. Verse 22. I can get

there. There it is. 15, verse 22. I want you

to pay attention to what Samuel says here to

King Saul. Because when we read before that,

we see King Saul's attitude. Towards God's word.

Okay. Notice I'll read 17 through and then you

guys pay attention to verse 22. And Samuel said,

though you are little in your own eyes, are you

not the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord

anointed you king over Israel and the Lord sent

you as a mission and said, go devote. to destruction

the sinners and the Malachites and fight against

them until they are consumed. Why then did you

not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you pounce

on the spoil and do what is evil in the sight

of the Lord? And Saul said to Samuel, I have

obeyed the voice of the Lord. I have gone. On

the mission on which the Lord sent me. I have

brought Agag and King Amalek. And have devoted

the Amalekites to destruction. But the people

took the spoil. Sheep, oxen, and best of the

things devoted to destruction. To sacrifice to

Yahweh. To sacrifice to the Lord your God in

Gilgal. Think about Samuel's attitude here. God

said, do not take anything. You destroy everything.

And he goes, well, the people took it because

they want to give a sacrifice to God. And then

Samuel said, has the Lord as great delight in

burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying

the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better

than sacrifice and to listen than the fat of

rams. For rebellion is as the sin of divination

and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry.

Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,

he has also rejected you from being king. But

I did obey. No, you didn't. Partial obedience

is not obedience. So Jesus deals with the reality

of what true love of God looks like. Now I want

you to understand this because this has been,

when you're reading the Old Testament, this has

been the problem of the Israelites all those

years. I'll obey a little bit here, but never

all of it. And so there are several principles,

and I want you to pay attention to some things

as we go through this. We are going to be going

through John 14. Let not your hearts be troubled.

Believe in God. Believe also in me. In my Father's

house are many rooms. If it were not so, I would

have told you that I go to prepare a place for

you. And if I go to prepare a place for you,

I will come again and take you to myself, that

where I am you may be also. And you know the

way to where I'm going. And Thomas said to him,

Lord, we do not know where you are going. How

can we know the way? Jesus said, I am the way,

the truth, and the life. No one comes to the

Father except through me. If you had known me,

you would have known the Father also. From now

on, you do know him and have seen him. And Philip

said to him, Lord, show us the father and it

is enough for us. And Jesus said to him, have

I been with you so long? You still do not know

me, Philip. Whoever has seen me has seen the

father. How can you say, show us the father?

Do you not believe that I am in the father and

the father is in me? The words that I say to

you, I did not speak on my own authority, but

the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe

me that I am in the Father and the Father is

in me, or else believe on account of the works

themselves. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever

believes in me will also do the works that I

do. And greater works than these will he do,

because I am going to the Father. Whatever you

ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father

may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything

in my name, I will do it. If you love me, you

will keep my commandments. You know, what's funny

is many preachers stop there. Ask whatever you

want, and God will give it to you. And what does

Jesus say? Obey me. That's what I want. If you

ask according to my word, if you obey me, if

you love me and keep my commandments, I will

do whatever you ask. That's what he's saying

here. But, you know, we want that new Bentley.

And I will ask the Father and he will give you

another helper to be with you forever. Even the

spirit of truth who The world cannot receive

because it neither sees him nor knows him. But

you know him for he dwells with you and will

be in you. I will not leave you as orphans. I

will come to you. Yet a little while and the

world will see me no more. But you will see me

because I live. You also will live. In that day

you will know that I am in the Father and you

in me and I in you. Whoever. has my commandments

and keeps them, it is he who loves me. And he

who loves me will be loved by my father and I

will love him and manifest myself to him. And

Judas, not Iscariot, said to him, Lord, how is

it that you will manifest yourself to us and

not to the world? And Jesus answered him, if

anyone loves me, he will keep my word and my

father will love him. And we will come to him

and make our home with him. Whoever does not

love me does not keep my words. The word that

you hear is not mine, but the father's who sent

me. These things I have spoken to you while I'm

still with you. But the helper, the Holy Spirit,

whom the father will send in my name, he will

teach you all things and bring them to your remembrance.

All that I have said to you, peace I leave with

you, my peace I give you. Not as the world gives

do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled,

neither let them be afraid. You heard me say,

I am going away and I will come to you. If you

love me, you would rejoice. You would have rejoiced

because I am going to the Father and the Father

is greater than I. And now I have told you before

it takes place, so that when it does take place,

you may believe. I will no longer talk much with

you. For the ruler of this world is coming, and

he has no claim on me. But I do as the Father

commanded me, so that the world may know that

I love the Father. Rise, let us go up from here.

Do you see what Jesus said here? That the world

may know I love the Father, I love him because

I do what he's commanded me to do. So why should

that be any less different for his people? Because

we live in the days of grace? Remember I told

you that the definition of grace is not God's

riches at Christ's expense. It's the power to

do what is right. Not the license to do whatever

you want, not the license to sin, but the power

to do what is right. That's what grace is. And

here's the point. To obey Christ is to love Christ.

To obey Christ is to love Christ. Joshua 22 .5

says, Only be very careful. Only be very careful

to observe the commandment and the law that Moses,

the servant of the Lord, commanded you. To love

the Lord your God and to walk in all his ways

and to keep his commandments and to cling to

them and to serve him with all your heart and

with all your soul. Love God, love his word,

love his ways, love his things. It's clearly

right there. That is the standard of believers.

To love is to obey. To love is to obey. To obey

is to worship. Worship is not what we do up here.

Worship is what you do every single day of every

single moment of your life as you're walking

through life and life gets difficult and it gets

very hard and you don't know what to do and you

don't know if you can trust and you have no choice

but to obey. But we don't, do we? Because it's

easier. Because we think we know better. See,

a man plans his ways, but God ordains his steps.

In John 14, 16 through 17, look what it says.

If you love me, if you will keep my commandments.

He does the same thing with Peter at the end

of this book in chapter 21. Peter, do you love

me? Lord, you know all things. You know I like

you a lot. Then feed my sheep. What was he doing?

Was he obeying? He was fishing. How many of you

guys like to fish? Anybody a better fly fisherman

than Ben? No? No, you wish. He's a phenomenal

fly fisherman if you ever want to go. You got

to talk with him about that. But the reality

is Peter's fishing. And God told him, Christ

told him to go. Why are you fishing? And so he

asked him again, Peter, do you love me? Lord,

you know all things. I like you a lot. Didn't

take care of my sheep. And then he asked him

a third time. Peter, do you like me a lot? And

he says, Lord, you know all things. You know

I like you a lot. Then feed my sheep. In other

words, Peter, do you love me? Lord, you know.

Then obey me. Even if you like me, obey me. Then

he says, at the very end, if you really like

me as you say you like me, then why aren't you

obeying me? Because Peter didn't really love

God. Remember the Peter that was like, I'm not

going to let anybody harm you. Take a sword,

cut off a dude's ear. Rooster crows, he denies

him. Look what it says in verse 16. And I've

asked the Father and he will give you another

helper to be with you. Do you get that? The first

thing he says is, if you love me, you'll keep

my commandments. And then he says, I will ask

the Father and he will give you a helper. A helper

to do what? Get through life? No, to be obedient.

You want to be victorious in your Christian life?

Obey him. That's the point. We're like, that's

legalism. No, that's the standard here. We don't

live by the law, or we die by the law if we live

by the law. No, we live by grace, the power to

do what is right. In response to the power to

do what is right, we want to obey because we

love him. And he's given us someone to help us

obey. And this person, the third person of the

Trinity, will be with us forever. He even tells

you who he is. He is the spirit of truth whom

the world cannot receive because it does not

see him, nor knows him, but you know him. For

he dwells with you and will be in you. That's

what he's saying to the disciples. You know what

we have that the disciples didn't at the time?

The Spirit did not dwell in them until the time

of Pentecost. But the moment Christ redeemed

you is the very moment the Spirit of God was

living in you. He was probably in you before

that, just to say, if you read Romans 10. But

the reality is, the reason why we can obey, The

reason why we can know and the reason why we

can know him and know his word is because the

spirit lives in you. If you have the spirit.

Number two, to love Christ is to obey the gospel.

This is an important thing because he clarifies

this here. I talked to you before that the gospel

is more than just a story. It's more than just

a proclamation of the sacrifice of Christ. It

is a command. It's an imperative. Believe the

gospel. It's not an option for the believer,

for the one who has been chosen by God to be

in the family. You are responsible. Every single

person on the earth is responsible to either

obey it or they're going to disobey it. It's

an obedience. It's an issue of obedience. Believe.

Ecclesiastes 12, 13. The end of the matter. All

has been heard. Fear God. Keep his commandments.

For this is the whole duty of man. If the gospel

is a commandment. And it is the duty of man to

come to Christ. Because he has commanded us to

come. Not just to go and preach. As it says in

Mark. but to come, then we must respond in repentance

and come. That's the responsibility of man. So

in John 14, 18 through 21, I will not leave you

as orphans. I will come to you. Yet a little

while and the world will see me no more, but

you will see me. Because I live, you also will

live. Notice Jesus states, I am already alive.

You can't kill a living God. You might try to

kill his body, but it will rise. This is a definitive

statement here. Because I live, not because I

will die then live. He's saying I've always lived

and will always live. And the body that they

will destroy will rise. In that day, you will

know that I am in the Father, and you in me,

and I in you. When? The day he resurrects, because

again, he proves he is alive. Look what it says

here. Moreover, whoever, sorry, has my commandments

and keeps them, it is he who loves me. Who has

the commandments? God's people. God's people

are to keep them. And he says that those who

have and keep are the ones who love. Why? Because

commandments of God are the motivating desire

of our hearts to show love towards him. And he

who loves me. Will be loved by my father and

I will love him and manifest myself to him. There

it is. The reality of the manifestation of Christ

to the believer is the gospel. How else will

Christ manifest himself to us? Through the gospel.

Through the reality of our submission and response

by believing in the gospel. The command to come.

And to know that Christ died, was buried, and

rose again on the third day. The Father loves

those who love Christ and obey His word. The

Father loves those who love Christ and obey His

word. In John 15, 10, If you keep my commandments,

you will abide in my love, just as I have kept

my Father's commandments and abide in His love.

You want to know what it means to abide? Remember,

if you abide in me and I in you, you will bear

much fruit. What produces the fruit? The Spirit

of God working through the Word of God producing

His fruit in you. You want to truly abide? Live

obediently. You're like, well, that's kind of

hard considering we're sinners. Yes, we're not

going to do it perfectly. You're in a constant

battle every single day of our lives when we

wake up with the flesh. But the reality is through

Christ, by the power of Christ, by the power

of the Holy Spirit, through the work of the Word

in our lives, He will sanctify us and conform

us into the image of His Son. And every day,

what you see out of all of the older people who

are in this room is they have become more godly.

Because they have walked, lived, and obeyed for

many years. So, I'm going to throw this in there

for the men. Men, older men teach the younger

men. It's your responsibility as older men to

come alongside these younger men and to teach

them, to walk with them. We're not talking about

not only AIDS, we're also talking about spiritual

maturity. So that's my challenge to you, to men

who have walked with the Lord for many, many

years. Mentor someone. Younger men, find a mentor.

Be coached. Older women, teach the younger women.

Older women, find someone you can mentor. We'll

be starting this probably in the next several

weeks. Women's groups called Women in Ministry.

WM groups. You're going to be able to go into

a WM group of four, five at the most women, and

you're going to do study together. You can do

it over the phone. You can do it in person. You

can do it over Zoom. It doesn't matter. You women

get together, mentor each other, and develop.

Women who understand what complementarianism

is. And younger women, get involved. Find a mentor.

And I would challenge you that a woman is anyone

of the age of 16 or older. Now, I know my wife's

going to talk to me about that later. She's looking

at me like, you just threw that out there. I

know you did. Sorry, honey, I love you. John

14, 22 through 24. Judas, not Iscariot, said

to him, Lord. How is it that you will manifest

yourself to us and not to the world? Jesus already

manifested himself to the world by putting on

flesh. How is he going to manifest himself to

us? Through the resurrection, through the reality

of the Spirit of God. The helper that was promised

earlier in the chapter. Jesus answered him, if

anyone loves me. He will keep my word and my

father will love him and we will come to him

and make our home with him. Notice, love here.

If you love me, you'll keep my word. The gospel

is the word of God, the command of God for people

to come and repent. And it's the work of God

upon the heart of the person because of the work

of Christ on the cross. That's why it's not a

work that you can do, only God. For it is by

grace you have been saved through faith and this

not of yourselves. It is a gift of God, not by

works. Whoever does not love me does not keep

my words. And the word that you hear is not mine,

but it's the Father who sent me. Whose word has

Jesus been preaching? The Father's word. Who

is... Who is the representative of the Father's

word? The word incarnate. If you have any questions

about that, Ephesians chapter 1 clarifies the

Ephesians 1 · chapter mention

reality of this truth. That God the Father set

the plan. God the Son fulfilled the plan. God

the Holy Spirit sealed the plan. But it's God's

plan. The Father's plan. And it's God the Son's

work. And then it's God the Holy Spirit's guarantee.

Those who love Christ have been given the Holy

Spirit to keep and learn God's word. Psalm 143

Psalms 143:10

verse 10. Teach me to do your will for you are

my God. Let your good spirit lead me on level

ground. John 14, 25 through 31. These things

I have spoken to you while I'm still with you.

Here it is. But the helper, the Holy Spirit,

whom the Father will send in my name, he will

teach you all things and bring to your remembrance

all that I've said to you. What's the Holy Spirit's

ministry in your life? Not only is to do the

work to bring you to redemption and do the work

of reconciliation for you and do the work of

of regeneration in your life. It's the reality

is he is also your teacher. He will teach us

all things. So when a preacher or a teacher is

teaching you, what should you do after that?

You take the notes, you go home, you listen to

the message, you prove it out by the word of

God. The word of God is the clarifier of truth.

The Holy Spirit is the reality of truth active

in your life. He will bring you truth because

he is the spirit of truth. Peace I leave with

you. My peace I give you. Notice, he doesn't

say, hey, you're born again. I'm giving you peace.

He says, hey, you're born again. And if you're

born again, you love me. And if you love me,

my peace is with you. Because you can't have

peace with God in disobedience. My peace. Peace

I leave with you. My peace I give you. Not as

the world gives do I give to you. I don't give

you peace like the world gives. Like the board

of peace. This is a peace that you can create

all the boards on the planet and it doesn't matter

because this kind of peace can only come through

the blood of Jesus. Real, true, genuine peace.

It's interesting, in these days we're calling

for peace, but we don't know what really peace

is. We call for peace among men, but not peace

with a living God, which you should be more terrified

of. But look what he says, let not your hearts

be troubled, neither let them be afraid. You

heard me say to you, I'm going away and I'm coming

to you. If you love me, you would have rejoiced.

Why? Because I'm going to the Father and the

Father is greater than I am. If you love me,

you would know that what I've said to you and

what I've commanded you to do is the truth. You

would know that I'm alive, that I'm coming again

because I promised you I would do that. But no,

you don't want me to go. You know why? Because

they don't want a Savior. They want a King. But

Christ is their Savior and their King. Verse

29, and now I have told you before it takes place

so that when it does take place you may believe.

What? Believe what? Believe that I will raise

from the dead. Why? Because I told you I'm alive.

And you will also live. They have no clue. The

very living God of all creation is before them.

Peter even proclaims the reality of the truth

of Christ. You are the Christ, the son of the

living God. But yet, they still aren't sure if

he is God. Which we've read in the beginning

of chapter 15. Chapter 14, sorry. Show us the

Father and we'll believe. Have I been with you

so long, Philip, that you still don't know me?

Reminds me of our Bible study on Wednesday nights.

God commands them not to do. not to build a calf,

not to build anything of gold and silver, and

not to sacrifice on any altar to it. Chapter

20. Chapter 32, they do the exact opposite. Not

only do they build a calf, Aaron encourages them,

give me the gold. He makes it. They then sacrifice

peace and burnt offerings. A sin offering and

a peace offering as if this golden calf is going

to give them peace. Peace I give you. Not as

the world gives. And then at the end, which they're

going to find out this week because they're homesteading,

I'm sure, is Moses goes, what did you do? And

Moses says, it just popped out. What are you

thinking? Moses is like, what are you thinking,

Aaron? What do you mean? Obedience. It's called

love. Look what it says. I will no longer talk

much with you, for the ruler of this world is

coming. He has no claim on me, but I do as the

Father has commanded me, so that the world may

know that I love the Father. I obey what the

Father has commanded me. I do it so that the

world may know that I love the Father, not because

they don't love the Father. They live in disobedience.

I live in obedience. Look what he says. Rise.

Let's go up from here. He's like, I'm done talking

about this. And you go into chapter 15. He talks

about what it means to abide. And what it means

to abide is to be obedient. If I abide in his

word, if I abide in his love, that I am obeying

him. And that expression, verse 10 in chapter

15, if you keep my commandments, you will abide

in my love, just as I have kept my father's commandments

and abide in his love. These things I have spoken

to you that my joy may be in you and that your

joy may be full. You want full, genuine joy?

Be obedient. Obey his word. This is my commandment

that you love one another as I have loved you.

Genuine biblical love expressed in obedience

to God's word is then shared among his people.

Greater love has no one than this that someone

lay down his life for his friends. Why did Jesus

lay down his life? Obedient. No greater love.

And so, what's the point of today's lesson? To

love Christ is to obey. Genuine biblical love

is obedience in action. Obedience in action.

That's my challenge to you. So, we've learned

quite a bit over these last couple weeks about...

The Word. And we will continue to learn Sola

Scriptura. There's a lot more to the Word than

what we think. It's not just going home and reading

it every day, which is very important. Or listening

to it, which is very important. Studying it and

memorizing it, which is very important, which

we will get to. Learning how to study it, meditate

on it, memorize it. That's coming. But you have

to learn how to do it. You do it. And the greatest

way to show that you do it is how you love one

another. Okay? So, let's pray. And then we will

do communion. And then we will get ready for

food. Father, I want to thank you so much for

your faithfulness. Thank you for your goodness.

Thank you for your word. Thank you that you have

called us to love you. Command us to love you.

And that your command of love is to be obedient

to your commands and to love you. To express

that obedience and love. So Lord, help us to

walk in your word. To love you, to love your

word, love your ways, love your things. This

is not, Lord, I know for many of us we have struggled

with this. Thinking it's about legalism. It's

not. It's about submission and humility. and

desire for you and your ways. Your ways are not

burdensome. You have freed us and give us freedom.

We do praise you and thank you in Jesus' name.