WEBVTT 00:00:00.880 --> 00:00:02.160 Good morning, church. 00:00:02.399 --> 00:00:04.480 It's such a blessing to be here with you. 00:00:04.639 --> 00:00:08.080 And uh today is Baptism Sunday, so it's extra special. 00:00:08.160 --> 00:00:11.919 We had three baptisms at the earlier service, three more later for us. 00:00:12.080 --> 00:00:14.000 And so what a what a wonderful day. 00:00:14.160 --> 00:00:15.359 Um I'm Tim. 00:00:15.439 --> 00:00:21.920 If if you're newer here and you've never met me in IU, uh and one of the pastors here, it's my privilege to get to bring the word this morning. 00:00:22.000 --> 00:00:31.519 And want to invite you to participate with us by opening your Bible to the Gospel of John, chapter 14, which will be a continuation of our sermon series there. 00:00:31.760 --> 00:00:50.240 Before we dig into the text, I just want to express uh my appreciation on behalf of Brandy and myself for the love and support and prayers and checking in and the meals that you've given us over the last two weeks on uh behalf of Calvin, our little little newly adopted son, who's here this morning. 00:00:50.399 --> 00:00:55.119 And we're so thankful for his life and for your love and getting to walk with us through this experience. 00:00:55.280 --> 00:01:01.039 Last Sunday he was here for the first time on Father's Day Sunday, really making it a red letter day for me. 00:01:01.200 --> 00:01:02.399 What a blessing it is. 00:01:02.560 --> 00:01:31.439 When Brandy and I, alongside Jordan and Holly Boyd, um, a little over two years ago, were going through state-required adoption classes up in Springboro, one of the things they really impressed upon us was that even as exciting as adoption can be, and of course all the parents in that class were there, just like saving the world one life at a time and everyone's there, they wanted to pop the bubble a little bit and say, as exciting and as wonderful as adoption can be, it always signals tragedy of some sort. 00:01:31.680 --> 00:01:36.400 Yes, it's redemption, but there's redemption because there's profound brokenness. 00:01:36.719 --> 00:01:40.400 There's gain, but it's because there has been so much loss. 00:01:41.040 --> 00:01:55.040 Because without the corruption and brokenness and sorrow of sin in the world, little boys and little girls would never need someone to come alongside and be mom and dad, this side of heaven, or to be welcomed into a new family. 00:01:55.280 --> 00:02:02.319 I wonder if you this morning have considered recently that adoption is part of your story too. 00:02:02.560 --> 00:02:13.759 If you're a believer in Jesus Christ, you've been adopted into the family of God in a way that dwarfs adoption human to human in all of its dimensions. 00:02:14.159 --> 00:02:23.439 Apart from being adopted into God's family, you and I would remain destitute and desperate and alienated from the life and love and family of God. 00:02:23.599 --> 00:02:26.879 And so if you're a believer in Jesus Christ, you're an adoptee. 00:02:27.039 --> 00:02:27.919 Isn't that awesome? 00:02:28.159 --> 00:02:43.439 Romans chapter 8 and verse 15 says it this way for you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you've received the spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, Abba, Father. 00:02:44.159 --> 00:02:59.840 Like orphans adopted into the family of a rich and benevolent king, we'll spend the rest of our lives, the rest of eternity, just coming to grips with all the blessings that are ours because we've been brought into the family of none other than God Himself. 00:03:00.879 --> 00:03:09.759 But it prompts me to ask the question of you this morning and of myself: are we living like sons and daughters of the king? 00:03:10.000 --> 00:03:12.080 Or are we living like orphans? 00:03:12.879 --> 00:03:24.159 Who their legal status is they're children of the king, but they're living in the slums next door to the castle with very little access or sense of the presence of their father within? 00:03:25.759 --> 00:03:34.560 Do we ever find ourselves feeling alone and anxious, and as if we're just in this by ourselves and there's really no one looking out for us? 00:03:34.879 --> 00:03:37.919 Despairing, maybe even feeling distant from God. 00:03:38.080 --> 00:03:40.080 Those are the feelings of orphans. 00:03:40.800 --> 00:03:48.000 That's not what a child feels when they're in the lap of their daddy who's loving them and who's been loving them for a long time, and there's this bond and connection. 00:03:48.159 --> 00:03:52.800 So often you and I live like orphans, even though we've been made sons and daughters. 00:03:53.039 --> 00:03:55.599 The text this morning relates directly to this. 00:03:55.680 --> 00:03:58.080 And you may ask, why am I belaboring this point? 00:03:58.240 --> 00:04:02.319 Well, because this is actually the first sermon I've preached since bringing Calvin home from the hospital. 00:04:02.400 --> 00:04:12.319 And right in the middle of our text, in John 14, 18, Jesus says these words I will not leave you orphans, but I will come to you. 00:04:12.639 --> 00:04:17.600 Needless to say, this passage means a lot more to me this today than it did a month ago. 00:04:17.839 --> 00:04:22.240 We're gonna title our message When Jesus Feels Far Away. 00:04:22.639 --> 00:04:28.079 And the way this passage is gonna be unpacked this morning is we're gonna look at three promises that Jesus gives us. 00:04:28.319 --> 00:04:34.399 Three promises, and then we're gonna find two conditions for those promises to come to pass, and then one pursuit. 00:04:34.560 --> 00:04:38.800 That is our response to these two three promises and two conditions. 00:04:38.959 --> 00:04:43.920 So, first I want to give you the context before we get into the promises and conditions and that sort of thing. 00:04:44.079 --> 00:04:50.959 The context of John chapter 14 is rather remarkable because Jesus and his eleven apostles are still in the upper room. 00:04:51.199 --> 00:04:55.360 They're still uh reclining at the table, they haven't yet gone out. 00:04:55.600 --> 00:04:59.120 John chapter 14, Jesus is still uh performing, still preaching. 00:04:59.199 --> 00:05:01.600 At the end of John 14, we find that then they finally leave. 00:05:01.759 --> 00:05:04.720 So they're reclining, it's an intimate fellowship. 00:05:04.879 --> 00:05:10.800 Judas has already gone out to betray Jesus to the Pharisees and the scribes and the temple authorities. 00:05:11.279 --> 00:05:12.800 And here's the kicker. 00:05:13.040 --> 00:05:18.240 Jesus is only a few hours away from being taken from his apostles. 00:05:18.480 --> 00:05:21.759 You think about how closely they have walked with Jesus up until this point. 00:05:21.920 --> 00:05:42.079 Over the last couple of years in Jesus' ministry, you've had them sleeping next to each other, warming themselves by the same fire, eating the same food, laughing at the same jokes, feeling the same rejection by some of the Jews in that area, feeling the same dangers when marks are placed on their heads. 00:05:42.319 --> 00:05:48.240 And for the first time in their experience with Jesus, Jesus is going to go away. 00:05:49.279 --> 00:05:51.839 And he's never gonna come again in the same way. 00:05:52.079 --> 00:05:57.199 You see, even after Jesus, when Jesus goes to the cross, they're gonna, they're gonna feel forsaken, obviously. 00:05:57.439 --> 00:06:01.680 But even after Jesus is raised again, he never abides with them for very long. 00:06:01.839 --> 00:06:10.879 He'll come and he'll visit and he'll make numerous manifestations and appearances to them throughout the rest of his 50 days on earth after the resurrection. 00:06:11.199 --> 00:06:14.560 But he'll never be with them in the same way he had been up until this point. 00:06:14.720 --> 00:06:15.839 Things are about to change. 00:06:15.920 --> 00:06:21.120 And so Jesus knows that after his arrest and death they will feel abandoned. 00:06:21.439 --> 00:06:32.240 Jesus knows that after even his resurrection and ascension to the Father, which they will behold with their own physical eyes, that they're gonna feel utterly inadequate to carry on the mission he has given them. 00:06:32.399 --> 00:06:33.439 And guess what? 00:06:33.680 --> 00:06:37.360 Jesus knows that you and I are gonna feel the same exact way. 00:06:38.800 --> 00:06:42.720 And so he's gonna give them a promise, he's gonna give us promises. 00:06:43.680 --> 00:06:48.720 When we look at the text, we see these three promises, two conditions, one pursuit. 00:06:49.040 --> 00:06:50.639 First, let's look at the three promises. 00:06:51.040 --> 00:06:59.040 He's gonna promise the presence and the revelation and the fellowship of God. 00:06:59.680 --> 00:07:03.600 Promise number one is the indwelling presence of the Spirit. 00:07:03.759 --> 00:07:09.120 What an antidote to them feeling abandoned, forsaken, lost, orphans. 00:07:09.519 --> 00:07:16.319 As Jesus goes away, he's gonna send someone to be with him, namely the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit. 00:07:16.480 --> 00:07:18.319 Let's look in verses 15 through 18. 00:07:18.480 --> 00:07:19.600 Let's read this together. 00:07:19.920 --> 00:07:23.439 John 14, verses 15 through 18. 00:07:24.560 --> 00:07:27.839 If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 00:07:28.000 --> 00:07:40.959 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another helper to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. 00:07:41.279 --> 00:07:47.600 You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. 00:07:48.399 --> 00:07:53.360 I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you. 00:07:53.600 --> 00:07:58.160 Jesus promises the indwelling presence of God through the Holy Spirit. 00:07:58.399 --> 00:08:03.279 He assures us that if we love him and keep his commandments, he will ask the Father to give us the helper. 00:08:03.519 --> 00:08:04.720 Maybe you're familiar with the term. 00:08:04.879 --> 00:08:08.800 This term helper in Greek is periklite or perikletos. 00:08:08.959 --> 00:08:12.000 And it's used four times in John's Gospel of the Holy Spirit. 00:08:12.160 --> 00:08:13.839 We know what a paramedic is, right? 00:08:13.920 --> 00:08:17.519 If you if you injure yourself, you call 911 and the paramedic comes. 00:08:17.600 --> 00:08:20.000 There's someone paramens alongside or besides. 00:08:20.160 --> 00:08:24.000 The paramedic is a medical person that comes alongside you to help you and give you aid. 00:08:24.160 --> 00:08:28.399 Well, a parakletos is someone who walks alongside you to give you aid. 00:08:28.560 --> 00:08:32.960 Here he speaks about the Holy Spirit as the helper, it can be translated. 00:08:33.200 --> 00:08:36.879 Four times in the Gospel of John, it's used of the Holy Spirit's ministry. 00:08:37.039 --> 00:08:45.279 Once it's used about Jesus himself in 1 John, where he's called our advocate, who is ever before the Father pleading our cause. 00:08:45.440 --> 00:08:53.440 What wonderful reassurances that even when Jesus is away, his Holy Spirit is with us and even in us. 00:08:55.519 --> 00:09:00.639 There's a second promise, the promise of the illuminating revelation of God. 00:09:01.440 --> 00:09:03.200 The illuminating revelation of God. 00:09:03.360 --> 00:09:08.159 That is, you may know Jesus today, but tomorrow you can know him better. 00:09:08.799 --> 00:09:12.480 We find this in verses 19 through 21. 00:09:13.200 --> 00:09:20.960 19, 19 through 21, Jesus says, Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. 00:09:21.200 --> 00:09:23.919 Because I live, you also will live. 00:09:24.240 --> 00:09:30.000 In that day, you will know that I am in the Father, in my Father, in you in me, and I in you. 00:09:30.320 --> 00:09:42.159 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me, and he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him. 00:09:42.879 --> 00:09:47.919 So here in verses 19 through 21, Jesus promises the illuminating revelation of God. 00:09:48.320 --> 00:09:50.240 The crux of this promise is in verse 21. 00:09:50.320 --> 00:09:51.360 Let's read it again. 00:09:51.679 --> 00:10:01.519 He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him, and here's the promise, and will manifest myself to him. 00:10:02.399 --> 00:10:06.320 What would it be like for Jesus to reveal himself? 00:10:07.120 --> 00:10:23.440 It makes my mind think back to the story of Joseph, where Joseph was raised after his difficult time in prison and being lied about, and then God raised him up to second in command of Pharaoh himself, and his brothers in the time of famine come to Egypt, and they appear before their brother, but they don't know it's their brother Joseph. 00:10:23.519 --> 00:10:29.679 They think it's an executive leader in Egypt who has the power of life and death over them. 00:10:29.919 --> 00:10:42.399 And the there's such a tender passage there when Joseph, after he sort of talked to him like an official, then he asks the Egyptians to leave the room, close the doors, and it says, and he made himself known to them. 00:10:43.200 --> 00:10:49.759 He probably stepped off his throne, came down there, looked them in the face, and says, Do you recognize me? 00:10:50.480 --> 00:10:51.840 I'm Joseph. 00:10:52.240 --> 00:10:59.039 Maybe he did some other things that only Jews would do to show them that he was their brother. 00:10:59.759 --> 00:11:07.840 And they had that intimate revelation that was before their eyes all along, but they just didn't see it until it was revealed to them. 00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:12.080 That's why I'm calling this the illuminating revelation of God. 00:11:12.159 --> 00:11:26.639 Because what I'm not suggesting is that there's revelation to be had that's not in Scripture, that maybe God can tell you things and you're gonna have this extra biblical revelation that maybe can even add to Scripture and do what Scripture can't do. 00:11:26.720 --> 00:11:27.519 We're not talking about that. 00:11:27.600 --> 00:11:36.240 We're talking about an illuminating revelation where there's things that are there as plain as day before our eyes, but presently we can't see them. 00:11:36.559 --> 00:11:39.200 Maybe we see them, but they don't appear glorious to us. 00:11:39.360 --> 00:11:47.519 The revelation Jesus is talking about is an illuminating revelation where he opens our eyes to see him in all his glory. 00:11:48.559 --> 00:11:54.639 I don't think this is talking about a basic knowledge that the new covenant promises every believer is gonna have about God. 00:11:54.799 --> 00:11:59.759 They're all gonna know me from the least and to the greatest, uh, the prophet uh Jeremiah said. 00:11:59.840 --> 00:12:04.159 I believe this is talking about something that happens in the lives of believers. 00:12:04.399 --> 00:12:09.440 That there are levels and degrees to which we have Jesus Christ revealed to us. 00:12:09.600 --> 00:12:12.960 And if I'm here today, I want to be here tomorrow. 00:12:13.200 --> 00:12:14.799 I want to know more of Christ. 00:12:14.960 --> 00:12:26.080 I want to feast on him more, I want to trust him more, like a friend that over time, through trials and difficulties, you just grow in this love and appreciation and admiration more and more over time, tried and tested. 00:12:26.240 --> 00:12:28.720 I want to have that walk with Jesus Christ. 00:12:28.879 --> 00:12:31.279 And Jesus says it's available to us. 00:12:31.519 --> 00:12:38.480 The 17th century Baptist theologian John Gill commented on verse 23, 21 when he says this. 00:12:39.120 --> 00:13:01.120 By manifest myself to him, Jesus speaks of a spiritual manner, as when he makes himself known to his people in ordinances, such as the Lord's Supper and baptism, and favors them with communion with him, and they see his beauty, they see his fullness, they see his grace and righteousness, his power and his glory. 00:13:01.279 --> 00:13:03.679 Notice that's the same word Jesus used in our text. 00:13:03.759 --> 00:13:08.480 He says, The world, when I go to be with the Father, the world's not going to see me anymore. 00:13:08.720 --> 00:13:10.960 But you're going to see me better than you ever have. 00:13:11.200 --> 00:13:25.600 Because the spirit that I'm sending to be, not only with you, but in you, is going to progressively open up your eyes to see more of the glory and the beauty and the fullness and the grace and the righteousness and the power of who I am. 00:13:26.799 --> 00:13:30.720 I think this bears itself out in our own walks with the Lord, does it not? 00:13:30.799 --> 00:13:39.440 That there are seasons where our love for Jesus is strong and when we taste and see that the Lord is good, when we look at him and he's altogether lovely. 00:13:45.759 --> 00:14:02.879 In those kind of seasons, you open your Bible and promises are jumping off to you, and you're being convicted of sins, and you can't wait to share with your wife or your coworker what the Lord told you through his word that morning, and you're walking in sweet communion, and when trials come upon you, you hear bad news, your heart isn't wrecked because you know you can trust in the Lord. 00:14:03.039 --> 00:14:05.279 Those are wonderful times of life. 00:14:05.600 --> 00:14:08.240 There's also seasons of coldness. 00:14:08.879 --> 00:14:20.879 When our love for Jesus grows cold and we're distracted by so many lesser things on earth, and we look at Jesus, and our hearts are stale. 00:14:21.440 --> 00:14:25.039 In such a condition, we may lose a sense of the light of his countenance upon us. 00:14:25.120 --> 00:14:27.200 We think about his love for us and it doesn't move us. 00:14:27.279 --> 00:14:29.039 And in fact, we may even doubt his love. 00:14:29.200 --> 00:14:35.679 And we we we relate to him like he's an austere judge with a big fly swatter waiting to swat us as soon as we mess up. 00:14:35.919 --> 00:14:42.399 We forget our status as sons and daughters, and the king feels so far away. 00:14:44.879 --> 00:14:52.000 Doesn't this promise of an illuminating revelation of Christ Himself to your soul, doesn't that stir you to say, I want that? 00:14:53.440 --> 00:14:58.159 I want Jesus to be more beautiful to me tomorrow than he was yesterday. 00:14:58.399 --> 00:15:00.159 I want to see what's there. 00:15:00.960 --> 00:15:06.080 The cloud, the haze, even as the Apostle Paul talked about, we see now through a glass dimly. 00:15:06.240 --> 00:15:13.759 I want that tint on the window to get lighter and lighter as I gaze into glory, the closer I get to meeting Christ face to face. 00:15:13.919 --> 00:15:18.720 And Jesus promises here, it's available to believers who have the Spirit. 00:15:18.960 --> 00:15:23.919 Promise number three: the intimate fellowship of God. 00:15:24.480 --> 00:15:26.639 The intimate fellowship of God. 00:15:27.519 --> 00:15:41.200 We read in verses 22 through 24, Jesus says, Judas, not Iscariot, said to him, Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us and not to the world? 00:15:41.440 --> 00:15:50.000 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. 00:15:50.639 --> 00:15:58.399 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words, and the word that you hear is not mine, but the father's who sent me. 00:15:58.639 --> 00:16:03.840 Here Jesus gives us a third promise, the promise of the intimate fellowship of God. 00:16:05.279 --> 00:16:15.519 When asked by the apostle Jude, as we may call him, or Judas, not Iscariot, he's also called elsewhere Thaddeus, he's also called Lebius, he's the apostle of many names. 00:16:15.679 --> 00:16:18.639 I saw Ted McQuinn this morning, and I said, I'm gonna give you a shout-out. 00:16:18.879 --> 00:16:23.840 Because Ted, we don't know whether to call him Tyler or Ted or Theophilus or Theo or whatever. 00:16:23.919 --> 00:16:26.559 Like, I don't know what to call him, I just call him something different every time. 00:16:26.799 --> 00:16:28.960 So here the apostle Jude was the same exact way. 00:16:29.039 --> 00:16:30.960 Here he's called Judas, not Iscariot. 00:16:31.200 --> 00:16:38.320 Judas Iscariot in chapter 13 had already gone out to betray Jesus and sell him into sell him to his death. 00:16:38.559 --> 00:16:40.240 Notice verse 23 again. 00:16:40.399 --> 00:16:42.240 Here's the crux of this promise. 00:16:42.480 --> 00:16:51.200 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. 00:16:51.679 --> 00:16:57.679 I love this fact here, because this this Greek word monet for home is used twice in the entire New Testament. 00:16:58.080 --> 00:17:03.120 Once here in verse 23 and once in verse 2 of this same chapter. 00:17:03.440 --> 00:17:04.480 Same idea. 00:17:04.720 --> 00:17:18.160 And what's neat about verse 2 of this chapter is Jesus is promising that as he goes away to be with the Father, he's going to prepare a place for us because he said, My father's house has many money, many rooms. 00:17:18.559 --> 00:17:29.200 So in verse 2 of chapter 14, he's clearly talking about the world to come, the kingdom come that we are now, we are going to be in when he comes and retrieves us and takes us back to be with him forever. 00:17:29.440 --> 00:17:32.240 But verse 23 is a promise for here and now. 00:17:32.480 --> 00:17:41.519 He says, If you love me and keep my commandments, my father will love you, we will join forces, and we're going to come in our monet with you. 00:17:41.839 --> 00:17:50.480 If you put verse 2 and verse 23 together, we get a foretaste of heaven on earth when we are walking in the Spirit. 00:17:50.960 --> 00:17:58.000 A foretaste of the abode of Father and Son through the Spirit in us and with us. 00:17:59.119 --> 00:18:02.240 Can you imagine how enjoyable heaven's going to be? 00:18:03.279 --> 00:18:08.240 How amazing it's going to be that we are going to be able to have access to our Father. 00:18:08.559 --> 00:18:10.000 None of this living in the slums. 00:18:10.720 --> 00:18:13.119 None of this barriers that are between us. 00:18:13.200 --> 00:18:14.000 No more sin. 00:18:14.559 --> 00:18:21.119 No more, no more apathy towards our Father, no more barriers, no more distractions. 00:18:21.359 --> 00:18:33.599 Our entire existence will be to live and to work and to worship in the presence of the Lord for his glory as we are feeding off of the fuel of our love for him in the manifestation of his glory for us. 00:18:34.799 --> 00:18:53.440 But doesn't this promise of that foretaste of heaven here, when the Father dwells with us in a powerful, special way through his spirit, maybe that you and I may not be experiencing this morning, doesn't that stir you up a little bit to seek the Lord so that you can know this foretaste of heaven today? 00:18:54.079 --> 00:18:55.839 That's what the promise is for. 00:18:56.079 --> 00:19:00.319 He says, I'm going away, but you're actually going to be better off without me. 00:19:00.559 --> 00:19:04.559 Because when the Spirit comes, he's going to help you see more of me. 00:19:04.799 --> 00:19:06.079 He's going to empower you more. 00:19:06.240 --> 00:19:08.640 He has been with you, but now he's going to be in you. 00:19:09.039 --> 00:19:12.880 And he's going to create this. 00:19:13.039 --> 00:19:20.240 He's good through him, we are going to dwell with you, even though the Father and Son cannot be contained. 00:19:20.319 --> 00:19:22.160 They will dwell in us like a temple. 00:19:23.039 --> 00:19:26.000 Now, not all believers are going to enjoy God's presence alike. 00:19:26.160 --> 00:19:29.519 I think that's one thing that came through the passages of in meditating on this. 00:19:29.759 --> 00:19:35.920 As great and as precious as these promises are, they're not automatically enjoyed. 00:19:36.160 --> 00:19:44.799 If you think about the presence and the revelation and the communion of God, these are not things so often we we do live like those orphans. 00:19:44.960 --> 00:19:52.400 And so you may ask the question, well, what is it what needs to happen in order for me to enjoy these promises that they would be fulfilled in me? 00:19:52.640 --> 00:20:13.200 It's my observation from the text that these promises are contingent promises, are conditional promises, that are sort of on top of the promises of the new covenant, that all of God's people will know him, all of them will be indwelt by the Spirit, all of them will be sanctified, all of them will be glorified, all of them will go to heaven. 00:20:13.519 --> 00:20:29.839 This seems to be a next step above that where Jesus is saying, if you want to feel my presence, if you want to see me the way I am, if you want to know I'm here, that I'm alive, and thus you are living and you're living the abundant life, then you've got to be walking in the spirit. 00:20:30.079 --> 00:20:33.759 I really believe that Jesus is talking about the abundant life here. 00:20:33.920 --> 00:20:37.920 Not merely about being saved, check the box, we're good. 00:20:38.640 --> 00:20:53.279 But about a plane of existence that Jesus hinted at in John chapter 10 when he said, the thief comes in to steal and to uh as a marauder to kill, but I have come that you may have life more abundantly. 00:20:53.599 --> 00:20:59.920 The abundant life where we're not merely just going through life waiting for heaven and waiting, Lord, when are you going to just take me out? 00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:01.119 I'm kind of tired of this life. 00:21:01.279 --> 00:21:08.960 But we can actually go through life through the Holy Spirit, living an abundant life, richly and dwelt by his spirit. 00:21:09.200 --> 00:21:18.079 Like the Apostle Paul in Ephesians chapter 1 prayed, that the eyes of their understanding would be enlightened, that they could know what is the riches of God's inheritance in the saints. 00:21:18.240 --> 00:21:28.720 In chapter 3, he says, he prays that they would know the depth and the breadth and the height and the width of God's love, so that they'd be filled with all the fullness of God. 00:21:28.960 --> 00:21:30.960 That's not standard stuff. 00:21:31.279 --> 00:21:32.880 That's walking in the Spirit. 00:21:33.039 --> 00:21:36.799 That's something that's available to us, but often we're not taken advantage of. 00:21:38.400 --> 00:21:48.559 Not all believers will enjoy these promises fulfilled in their lives by equal measure because there are two conditions Jesus gives for the fulfillment of these promises. 00:21:48.720 --> 00:21:51.680 He mentions them over and over and over again. 00:21:51.759 --> 00:21:56.960 And these two conditions are we must love and obey Jesus. 00:21:58.319 --> 00:21:59.759 I don't have to convince you that. 00:22:00.640 --> 00:22:04.960 Love is on a spectrum, as is obedience. 00:22:05.680 --> 00:22:09.680 There's no obedience, and there's full obedience, and there's everywhere in between. 00:22:10.079 --> 00:22:15.200 There's motives of zero love and there's complete love and then there's mixed motives in between. 00:22:15.519 --> 00:22:26.079 And I believe that where we lie, where we fall in this, our walk with Christ in a given moment is going to determine our experience of the fullness of these promises in our life. 00:22:26.319 --> 00:22:28.799 Let me just show you the argument here in chapter 14. 00:22:28.880 --> 00:22:32.640 In verse 15, he says, If you love me, you'll keep my commandments. 00:22:32.880 --> 00:22:33.759 Verse 21. 00:22:33.920 --> 00:22:37.200 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. 00:22:37.359 --> 00:22:38.079 Verse 23. 00:22:38.160 --> 00:22:39.920 If anyone loves me, he'll keep my words. 00:22:40.079 --> 00:22:40.960 Verse 24. 00:22:41.200 --> 00:22:43.920 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. 00:22:44.240 --> 00:22:45.680 You see a pattern here? 00:22:46.240 --> 00:23:05.359 Jesus is not making these unconditional promises that are going to be shared in equal measure by all believers simply by being believers, but rather he's talking about experiencing the fullness of the presence, the revelation, and the fellowship of God through the Spirit when you're walking in greater love and obedience to Jesus Christ. 00:23:05.519 --> 00:23:09.440 Now, why is this so important, I think, for us to grasp? 00:23:10.640 --> 00:23:17.200 Too often we think that our faith in Jesus Christ, the first condition is love for Jesus, we're going to look at love for Jesus. 00:23:17.519 --> 00:23:28.000 We often think about our faith in very cognitive terms, in very intellectual terms, or just in propositional terms, such as Jesus is the Son of God. 00:23:28.160 --> 00:23:29.119 Yes, I believe that. 00:23:29.279 --> 00:23:30.799 He came in the flesh, yes, I believe. 00:23:31.039 --> 00:23:33.759 He lived a perfect life, went to the cross, died on the cross for my sins. 00:23:33.920 --> 00:23:36.160 Three days later, he rose from the dead for me. 00:23:36.400 --> 00:23:38.319 He went to the Father, he promised to return. 00:23:38.480 --> 00:23:39.920 I believe all this stuff. 00:23:40.160 --> 00:23:45.839 And yet it remains kind of like stuck in our heads, and it doesn't trickle down to our hearts. 00:23:46.160 --> 00:23:57.440 Almost like our walk with Jesus Christ is like filling out a voting ballot where we go to the local gymnasium and we get a slip of paper and we go to our little cubicle and we see the different candidates here. 00:23:57.519 --> 00:24:05.839 We have we have Jesus and we have Muhammad and we have Buddha and we have self and we have religion and we have humanism and secularism, all these different ways of living our lives. 00:24:06.000 --> 00:24:11.839 We put the bubble beside Jesus and then we hand, we drop it in the slot, and we think, my job's done. 00:24:12.559 --> 00:24:19.759 But following Jesus is not making merely a choice, it's a matter of loving Christ. 00:24:21.119 --> 00:24:28.319 The truths of the doctrines in the Christian faith can often be mechanically subscribed to. 00:24:40.400 --> 00:24:45.359 Doesn't mean you love the truth, doesn't mean you're walking in love with Jesus Christ. 00:24:45.839 --> 00:24:54.720 And to the degree that we are walking in love with Jesus, and in subsequent obedience to Christ from that love, we're going to experience more of Christ. 00:24:55.440 --> 00:24:58.559 I believe is absolutely apparent in the text. 00:24:58.799 --> 00:25:01.279 Now, what exactly do we mean by love? 00:25:01.519 --> 00:25:04.079 What does it mean to love Jesus Christ? 00:25:04.240 --> 00:25:06.079 Is it just a sentimentality? 00:25:06.319 --> 00:25:07.599 Is it just a feeling? 00:25:07.759 --> 00:25:12.079 I love how John Piper defines the love of Christ. 00:25:12.400 --> 00:25:14.799 He says this about it that's I think very helpful. 00:25:14.960 --> 00:25:17.920 He says love for Jesus is pleasurable. 00:25:18.160 --> 00:25:21.359 It's desiring him because he's infinitely desirable. 00:25:22.079 --> 00:25:25.680 It's admiring him because he's infinitely admirable. 00:25:25.839 --> 00:25:28.559 It's treasuring him because he's infinitely valuable. 00:25:28.720 --> 00:25:32.559 It's enjoying him because he's infinitely enjoyable. 00:25:32.799 --> 00:25:38.160 It's being satisfied with all that he is because he's infinitely satisfying. 00:25:38.400 --> 00:25:48.720 Love is the reflex of the awakened and newborn, of awakened and newborn human soul to all that is true and good and beautiful embodied in Jesus Christ. 00:25:48.960 --> 00:25:53.680 You see, so often we use the term love almost synonymously with faith and being a Christian, like do you love Jesus? 00:25:53.759 --> 00:25:55.119 Yep, love Jesus. 00:25:56.480 --> 00:25:58.559 It's almost like in a dating relationship, right? 00:25:58.720 --> 00:26:01.680 When you first started dating, if you're married, or maybe you're still dating. 00:26:01.920 --> 00:26:04.960 Or you've dated in the past and it hadn't worked out so well for you. 00:26:05.200 --> 00:26:09.279 You can remember those days when you were just in love, right? 00:26:09.839 --> 00:26:15.200 When the endorphins were kind of raging and you would talk for hours on in and it was easy. 00:26:15.519 --> 00:26:20.319 And now maybe you're married and you're a husband and your wife complains that you just don't want to talk. 00:26:20.960 --> 00:26:23.839 Um, or maybe she used to show you all kinds of attention. 00:26:23.920 --> 00:26:48.240 Now there's like five or six kids in between you, and and uh literally in between you, and you can't hardly get a word in edgewise, and it seems like you're so busy, your lives are just like running kids over here and there, and more like a chauffeur service, and you haven't connected, and and the love that you once had that was so close and so pure and so immediate has been had water poured on it, and maybe has died the death of attrition. 00:26:49.039 --> 00:26:59.519 And you can't hardly you can say, Yes, I love my spouse, but the feelings aren't there, or I should say the experience of that closeness isn't there like it used to be. 00:26:59.759 --> 00:27:01.519 We all know that experience. 00:27:01.759 --> 00:27:05.119 I love how John Piper describes love, that it's it's pleasurable. 00:27:05.200 --> 00:27:13.039 We're not merely talking about cognitive beliefs that we say yes to, but we find joy in Jesus. 00:27:13.279 --> 00:27:19.039 Can you find the can you think of the last time you were stunned or amazed or gripped by Jesus? 00:27:19.279 --> 00:27:25.440 That you were excited about Jesus, excited to tell someone else about something you experienced about Jesus. 00:27:25.920 --> 00:27:39.039 Don't get me wrong, church and theology and all the stuff we're doing today, and serving and mission kids and mission group relationships and interactions we have during weekdays and all these things that we call we do as sacred mission church. 00:27:39.200 --> 00:27:40.559 They're wonderful things. 00:27:40.799 --> 00:27:44.079 But we can do all those things and not be loving Jesus. 00:27:44.400 --> 00:27:46.960 It's called the trappings of religion. 00:27:47.519 --> 00:27:57.119 And in fact, the longer we are Christians and the deeper we intertwine our lives with the Christian faith and with Christian community, we're in greater risk all the time of actually forgetting Jesus. 00:27:57.440 --> 00:28:03.359 Jesus is sort of the thing we rally around, but when's the last time we communed with Jesus? 00:28:03.680 --> 00:28:05.359 When's the last time we read his word? 00:28:05.599 --> 00:28:08.720 We were reading it as if Jesus was talking to us. 00:28:09.200 --> 00:28:14.640 You see how easy it is to just get caught up in the faith and we actually leave Jesus behind? 00:28:15.359 --> 00:28:21.599 What might it look like for us to take delight in Jesus, to love Jesus, to want to be moved to worship Jesus? 00:28:21.759 --> 00:28:22.960 I'll just share one personal story. 00:28:23.119 --> 00:28:37.680 A few weeks ago in mission group, we were we were going through John 13, talking it, talking it out, and Judas was about to go away, and we it came up that that Peter had denied Jesus, and we went to Luke's gospel in chapter 22, where it records where Jesus is denied by Peter. 00:28:37.839 --> 00:28:44.640 And we're just reading along in the fact that Jesus predicts that Peter is going to deny Jesus three times. 00:28:44.960 --> 00:28:50.640 Here they are, the upper room, and Jesus says, Hey, all of you guys are gonna be scattered later today. 00:28:50.799 --> 00:28:52.480 You're gonna run to the four winds. 00:28:52.640 --> 00:28:53.759 They're like, hmm? 00:28:54.319 --> 00:29:00.160 And Jesus looks at Peter, the most bold and audacious and outspoken uh uh apostle Jesus had. 00:29:00.240 --> 00:29:09.200 And he says, Peter, you are gonna deny me not once, not twice, you're gonna deny me three times tonight before the rooster crows. 00:29:09.920 --> 00:29:11.039 That just kind of struck me. 00:29:11.200 --> 00:29:18.960 We're reading this and I'm like, what kind of knowledge would it take to have that kind of detailed knowledge of the future? 00:29:19.599 --> 00:29:25.680 So Jesus doesn't just know Peter's gonna be discouraged, maybe Peter's gonna run, but he's gonna deny Jesus. 00:29:25.839 --> 00:29:26.799 I mean, how unlikely is that? 00:29:26.960 --> 00:29:30.079 In fact, Peter protests and said, Lord, may it never be. 00:29:30.240 --> 00:29:32.799 I will never leave you, I will never, I will never deny you. 00:29:32.880 --> 00:29:34.319 In fact, I'd rather die for you. 00:29:34.480 --> 00:29:37.279 And Jesus says, Nope, tonight, three times before the rooster crows. 00:29:37.359 --> 00:29:40.160 And we find later in chapter 22, it blows me away. 00:29:40.400 --> 00:29:53.599 Here Jesus is in front of uh Caiaphas and Annas in the courtyard of the high priest, and there's all these Pharisees and Sadducees there, and they're they're calling out names, and they're they're uh have false witnesses that are saying Jesus is doing things in the power of the devil and all these things. 00:29:53.759 --> 00:30:06.160 They're even coming up to Jesus and striking him in the face, they're even pulling his beard, and all the while, within eyeshot, you have Peter over there warming himself by a fire, just watching, seeing his Lord, getting abused. 00:30:06.480 --> 00:30:10.400 And this young uh servant girl comes up and says, Wait, I think I recognize you. 00:30:10.480 --> 00:30:12.160 You're you're one of Jesus' disciples, right? 00:30:12.240 --> 00:30:13.359 And Peter's like, Me? 00:30:13.680 --> 00:30:15.519 No, no, I'm just kind of cold. 00:30:15.759 --> 00:30:18.880 Just here, just walking around tonight, thought I'd stop by. 00:30:19.279 --> 00:30:24.079 A little while later, she looks at him again, she hears him talking, she's like, You're from Galilee, you've got a southern accent. 00:30:24.240 --> 00:30:26.799 I can tell that you are with Jesus, you're one of his disciples. 00:30:26.880 --> 00:30:27.200 I knew it. 00:30:27.279 --> 00:30:30.079 He says, No, no, no, no, I'm not one of his disciples. 00:30:30.240 --> 00:30:30.799 You understand that? 00:30:30.960 --> 00:30:32.480 I don't even know that guy, right? 00:30:32.799 --> 00:30:35.839 Some other men walk up and they stand there and she talks to them. 00:30:35.920 --> 00:30:38.240 She says, Hey, I think this guy's one of Jesus' apostles. 00:30:38.400 --> 00:30:42.079 You can hear him how he's talking, I recognize him, and Peter has to really up the ante. 00:30:42.400 --> 00:30:46.400 He starts cursing and swearing that he doesn't even know who they're talking about. 00:30:46.640 --> 00:30:50.799 And it says, as he's dining for the third time, the rooster crowed. 00:30:52.079 --> 00:30:56.720 And then Luke records, Jesus looks across the courtyard and locks eyes with Peter. 00:30:56.880 --> 00:30:58.559 When I read that, it blew me away. 00:30:58.720 --> 00:31:00.079 I've read it before. 00:31:00.400 --> 00:31:24.640 But to think about a man, my Savior in the flesh, God in the flesh, knows the future so well that down to the second he sees and knows what's going to happen, that even his most unlikely apostle to ever deny him, denies him three times, at the same time that cotton pick and rooster crowed, and Jesus looks across the courtyard, looks at Peter, and Peter sees Jesus looking at him. 00:31:24.880 --> 00:31:30.799 Amidst all the voices of scandal and accusation, Jesus looks at Peter, has that kind of presence of mind. 00:31:30.960 --> 00:31:35.920 That's the kind of Jesus you're praying to when you're worried about tomorrow in the interview you have. 00:31:36.160 --> 00:31:47.119 When you're worried about how you're going to pay the bills and you're praying to him, you're praying to a Jesus who knows the future down to this second and who's going to sustain you to endure it. 00:31:47.359 --> 00:31:52.400 Because Jesus said in Luke 22, verse 31, Satan has desired, has asked permission to sift you like wheat. 00:31:52.480 --> 00:31:58.240 He wants to grind you, Peter, but I've prayed for you so that when you're converted, you'll strengthen the brethren. 00:31:58.720 --> 00:32:10.000 And I'm moved to think that at the end of John chapter 21, at the very end, the close of John's gospel, we find Jesus meeting Peter on the shore of Galilee and restoring Peter, who was shamed and abjected. 00:32:10.079 --> 00:32:12.160 He'd gone back to his old way of life as a fisherman. 00:32:12.240 --> 00:32:15.200 Jesus comes to Peter and says, Peter, do you love me? 00:32:16.079 --> 00:32:18.559 Then he asks him again, Peter, do you love me? 00:32:18.799 --> 00:32:21.519 Then he asks him a third time, Peter, do you love me? 00:32:21.920 --> 00:32:24.559 Peter had said no three times before. 00:32:24.799 --> 00:32:27.440 And here he gives Peter an opportunity to say yes. 00:32:27.599 --> 00:32:31.200 And he says, Feed my sheep, feed my sheep, feed my lambs. 00:32:31.359 --> 00:32:32.559 He restored him to the ministry. 00:32:32.720 --> 00:32:34.319 That's the kind of Jesus we serve. 00:32:34.480 --> 00:32:41.119 And I read that and I was blown away by the love and tenderness and knowledge and power of Jesus Christ. 00:32:41.440 --> 00:32:45.119 He wasn't just the man, the one who came to sacrifice himself for my sins. 00:32:45.359 --> 00:32:52.240 He is the one who is the king of the universe, the king of the past, present, and future, down to the millisecond. 00:32:53.359 --> 00:32:56.400 That kind of delight is called love. 00:32:57.680 --> 00:32:59.359 I want Jesus. 00:32:59.599 --> 00:33:01.039 It made me want to pray to him. 00:33:01.440 --> 00:33:04.000 It made me want to turn my anxieties over to him. 00:33:04.319 --> 00:33:09.279 It made me want to take my insecurities, my guilt, my shame, bring it to him and say, I'm no better than Peter. 00:33:09.359 --> 00:33:10.079 I am Peter. 00:33:10.319 --> 00:33:11.440 I am Judas. 00:33:11.680 --> 00:33:15.680 And you love me and you receive me to yourself, restore me. 00:33:15.839 --> 00:33:21.200 That kind of love for Jesus, I do believe, when we're walking in that kind of love, it produces obedience. 00:33:21.359 --> 00:33:23.599 And the Father and the Son really like that. 00:33:23.839 --> 00:33:26.960 And they said they will come and make their abode with us. 00:33:27.519 --> 00:33:31.599 Condition number two, obedience to Jesus. 00:33:32.480 --> 00:33:35.119 It's not one condition, love and obedience. 00:33:35.359 --> 00:33:39.839 Love is not obedience, obedience is not love, but you do have a relationship between the two. 00:33:40.079 --> 00:33:41.599 Obedience stems from love. 00:33:41.759 --> 00:33:46.720 You can have obedience without love, but you cannot have love without obedience. 00:33:47.039 --> 00:33:54.079 Jesus says it best in verse 21: Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. 00:33:54.880 --> 00:33:58.400 If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, verse 23. 00:33:59.279 --> 00:34:01.920 Do you ever wonder why we struggle with sin? 00:34:02.559 --> 00:34:23.599 Whether overt, obvious, shameful, maybe even public sins, or just the private sins of not trusting God and being envious of other people and being defensive instead of confessing and isolating ourselves instead of running towards community and all those sorts of soft sins we like to think about. 00:34:23.679 --> 00:34:25.599 Then why do we do those things? 00:34:25.920 --> 00:34:32.719 I think Scripture is very clear that we do those things because in those moments of truth we love something more than Jesus. 00:34:34.079 --> 00:34:47.440 When it comes down to me being faithful with my wife, how I use my eyes and my time on the internet, how I'm faithful to the Lord, or whether I'm going to compromise and give myself over in that moment to sexual lust. 00:34:48.480 --> 00:34:51.280 Everyone here faces that temptation every day, right? 00:34:51.360 --> 00:34:54.480 In a day of smartphones and endless connection. 00:35:10.159 --> 00:35:15.039 Instead of going to Jesus and trying to find our satisfaction in him. 00:35:15.920 --> 00:35:23.119 You see, our obedience stems from a love for Jesus that finds Jesus to be delightful. 00:35:24.400 --> 00:35:25.440 Think about it this way. 00:35:25.519 --> 00:35:29.360 I was trying to think about how to make this extremely practical and applicable to us today. 00:35:29.599 --> 00:35:34.159 The role that love plays in just the lives we live, here's a couple ways. 00:35:34.400 --> 00:35:42.960 Unless we're walking in love and in the spirit of Jesus Christ, what we're doing right now in public worship, for many of us may be boring right now. 00:35:43.679 --> 00:35:53.360 We come to church, it's sort of an arduous thing, you gotta get the kids in the car, you gotta kick them in the car, you gotta change some diapers, have to, the spouse is kind of angry because we didn't help out as much as we should have the night before, etc. 00:35:53.519 --> 00:35:53.760 etc. 00:35:54.079 --> 00:35:56.800 Here we go again, going to church, packing our schedules out. 00:35:56.960 --> 00:36:01.519 As soon as church is over, we gotta run to the ballgame, we gotta go here, we're gonna go eat dinner with my parents. 00:36:02.000 --> 00:36:03.679 That's that's what we do, right? 00:36:04.559 --> 00:36:09.039 And we can do this whole charade without loving Jesus. 00:36:10.320 --> 00:36:16.480 Or we can show up and we can be all about it, because not because we love Jesus, because we just enjoy being around other people. 00:36:16.639 --> 00:36:26.480 We're real we're extroverts, we can't wait to talk to people, we can't wait to hear some music and a sermon and have our um, you know, we enjoy the Bible, we find it intellectually fascinating. 00:36:26.639 --> 00:36:28.159 And where's Jesus? 00:36:28.639 --> 00:36:29.679 Where's he at? 00:36:30.400 --> 00:36:36.880 Maybe loving Jesus and our relationship with him, and we open scripture that in the morning, it's an arduous task, and we're like, man, this is for the birds. 00:36:37.039 --> 00:36:41.280 This is for maybe preachers and some a few weirdos, but this is not for me. 00:36:41.519 --> 00:36:45.440 I read this and I'm reading to Jeremiah, and I'm thinking, man, doom and desolation, I don't need that. 00:36:45.519 --> 00:36:46.320 I'm gonna turn on Dr. 00:36:46.400 --> 00:36:46.800 Phil. 00:36:46.960 --> 00:36:49.360 At least I'm gonna get some positive affirmations there. 00:36:51.280 --> 00:36:52.559 That may be you. 00:36:53.119 --> 00:36:54.880 Because the connection with Jesus isn't there. 00:36:54.960 --> 00:36:56.719 These aren't the living words of the living Christ. 00:36:57.119 --> 00:37:00.800 They're the the dead words of a dead Christ to you. 00:37:01.119 --> 00:37:12.480 Here's on the other hand, you can actually, there's there's some of us maybe that open the Bible every morning, six o'clock in the morning, we can't wait to get it and to read it and to listen to sermons because we love how knowledge is power. 00:37:12.639 --> 00:37:16.159 And power is influence, and influence is respectability. 00:37:16.320 --> 00:37:24.320 And if we can just keep spending time in God's word and hearing sermons and journaling, we can increase our knowledge, our influence, and people are going to respect us and we'll be a big-time Christian. 00:37:24.639 --> 00:37:25.920 Where's Jesus? 00:37:26.159 --> 00:37:31.840 You see, whatever you fall on the side of the spectrum of just like, it's not for me or you're all into it. 00:37:32.079 --> 00:37:33.679 Where is Jesus in that? 00:37:34.000 --> 00:37:36.880 It's so easy to claim love for Jesus. 00:37:36.960 --> 00:37:42.559 It's so easy to fake love for Jesus when he's not the one we're delighting in. 00:37:42.800 --> 00:37:50.320 And so I want to, in this passage, as Jesus does, call us back again to loving and obeying Christ. 00:37:50.880 --> 00:38:04.719 God often sees through the sham of our mixed motives, and he doesn't receive those things as good works and true obedience, and he doesn't honor them with the pleasure of his intimate revelation, which leaves us with one pursuit. 00:38:04.960 --> 00:38:17.119