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.
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.