As you know, after Easter, I said this last week,
I'm just trying to remind us all, the lectionary
gospel readings remind us of Jesus' words to
his disciples before his death, burial, and resurrection.
And just as the disciples needed Jesus to explain
all the law, the prophets, and the Psalms after
and in light of the resurrection, we can only
truly understand the words of Jesus through the
lens of the resurrection. It is through the resurrection
that the words of Jesus have been made clear.
Jesus' words are proven true in the resurrection.
Amen. Christ is risen. Let us pray. Heavenly
Father, praise be your name. Make us ever mindful
that we are the people of the resurrection and
that there is no power greater than your power.
No power that can overthrow thy purpose and thy
kingdom. Help us to hear and obey your voice.
We do humbly ask you now that by your mercies
and grace that you would make the words of my
mouth and the meditations of all our hearts acceptable
in your sight, O Lord our strength and nearest
kinsman redeemer, Jesus Christ. Amen. Let's hear
the gospel reading once more. John 14. If you
ask anything in my name, I will do it. If you
love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray
the Father, and he will give you another helper,
that he may abide with you forever. The spirit
of truth from the world cannot receive because
it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know
him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
I will not leave you orphans. I will come to
you. a little while longer, and the world will
see me no more. But you will see me, because
I live. You will live also. At that day, you
will know that I am in my Father, and you in
me, and I in you. He who has my commandments
and keeps them, it is he who loves me. And he
who loves me will be loved by my Father. And
I will love him and manifest myself to him. Judas,
not as chariot, said to him, Lord, how is it
that you will manifest yourself to us and not
to the world? Jesus answered and said to them,
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. He who does not love
me does not keep my words. And the word which
you hear is not mine, but the Father who sent
me. These are the words of Almighty God. receive
them in your hearts. Now there's three things
I want you to see in this passage today, or to
understand about this passage. One, love is words
and actions. Love is words and actions. Living,
we should be living, guarding the observance
of God's commandments. We should be living, guarding
the observance of God's commandments. And finally,
and this is the best news of all, the living
triune God is with us. The living triune God
is with us. So I have a question for you this
morning. What do you love? At first glance, it
seems easy to diagnose. After all, what do you
spend your time and your resources and your energies
on? But I think the true examination comes down
to why you are spending time and resources and
energies on them. If you've been around me long,
you may have heard me say, We must be able to
distinguish between allies and co -belligerents.
Those are terms often used to describe people
who are collaborating together in war. The difference
between allies and co -belligerents is simply
their motives. For example, many peoples can
unite together to stand against tyranny. But
the question is, to what end result? And tyranny
is an evil, and it should end. But to what end
and by what means? Some can come together to
end tyranny for the purpose of ending wicked
rule and establish a Christian world. Others
might fight tyranny to remove all restraint and
to establish anarchy. That is the rule by every
person's idols So again, I ask you What do you
love and why? As you know from the sermon last
week Jesus on the night that he was going to
be betrayed Sitting around a table gathered together
in deep intimate fellowship Right. He tells his
disciples Do not be troubled This is just the
next passage in that time, at that table. And
why are they troubled? They've been hearing Jesus,
especially in the last several weeks, continue
to emphasize his death, the fact that he's going
to be arrested, the fact that he's going to be
put to death, and he keeps telling them that
he's going to rise again. And now they keep seeing
all these signs around him, and Jesus emphasizing
even more that even the betrayer is in their
midst. All of these things, they're troubled.
And Jesus assures them by first reminding them
that He and the Father are one, and that they
are brought into peaceful relations with the
Father by He alone. The only way to have peace
is to have peace with God the Father. And you
can only have that through Christ alone. And
finally, he assures them that Jesus's mission
is the redemption of sinners by the establishment
of the new temple in which God dwells, built
of the living stones of his bride, the church.
Jesus in verse 14, assurance takes place in this
way. And whatever you ask in my name, that I
will do. that the Father may be glorified in
the Son. If you ask anything in my name, I will
do it. Asking for something in His name, or better
put, for Jesus' sake, is to ask the Father to
do something that brings glory to God. Who gets
the glory is a very big motive for why people
do things, even good things. even things that
look like they're going to last. Now, the illuminating
light of Jesus comes down on the motives of the
heart. So he's assuring them. He's building them
up. He said, look, I'm the foundation. You are
going to be part of the next. I'm the cornerstone.
You're going to be part of the foundation. And
the church is going to grow. And it's been growing
this way. Right Jesus right here at the bottom
and it's growing out and it's filling the earth
Just as all the scripture has declared But here
after he says he gives them all this authority
and assures them of all this He says what are
your heart motives? Are you asking God? for things
Are you doing things? Are you putting your energies
and efforts in things that are to bring about?
The glory to God Jesus in this way starts with
verse 15. He says if you love me Keep my commandments
First of all, you need to understand that this
you is the plural you you all or y 'all in the
context of What he said just before this it is
all y 'all who are the temple of the new the
stones of the new temple Jesus tells them to
the collective group of them. Do you understand
this? He's speaking to them corporately. And
just as Paul tells us in Ephesians chapter 2,
beginning in verse 19, now therefore you are
no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow
citizens with the saints and members of the household
of God, having been built on the foundation of
the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself
being the chief cornerstone. in whom the whole
building being fitted together grows into a holy
temple in the Lord, in whom also you are being
built together for the dwelling place of God
in the Spirit. Together the church must love
God by keeping God's commandments. For this reason
here in worship, we do a corporate pair of repentance.
We don't just do that haphazardly. Presumably,
if you're a faithful Christian, you're going
to be dealing with your sins all week long. We
hope so anyway, right? You're going to sin against
your wife, right? You're going to sin against
your kids. You're going to sin against the neighbor
in some fashion. It might be gossip, it might
be disdain, whatever it is. Sin against the authorities
God's placed in your life. All of this, we need
to Understand that we should repent of those
things, but we sin all of our sin affects the
rest of us in this church Whatever you sin this
week it has impact your your joint by covenant
by the meal of God We need to corporately repent
and sometimes even we can do this we can sin
as a group conspire together in sinful ways And
that is why we do as a church come together and
confess our sins before God corporately. You
know, Jesus, earlier at this very table told
them this, a new commandment I give you that
you love one another as I have loved you. You
also love one another. By this, all will know
you are my disciples. If you have love, one for
another. So I ask you, what do you love? If you
didn't speak to another person in this church
this week, what's going on? If you didn't make
a sacrifice for others in your family and across
the church, are you loving one another as Christ
loved you? We are to love God and one another
in a manner that is so astonishingly different
from the unbelieving world that the only conclusion
is that we are disciples of Jesus. Can you imagine
that? What is love? What is it to love? We know
that God is love. And in Romans 5 -8, it tells
us, God demonstrated His love towards us. And
while we were still sinners, Christ died for
us. You know, a lot of times we want love to
simply be, I do because they do. Well, if they
stop sinning against me, then I'll stop sinning
against them, or I'll treat them better. That
is not how the love of God works. Jesus, by the
command of the Father, lays down His life that
we might be reconciled to God for the glory of
God. We lay down our lives for one another that
others may be reconciled to God in our families,
in this church, and in our very community. We
see, of course, this very thing in the shadow
and type of Lazarus' sickness and death and in
Jesus' providential delay. Right that is laying
down dying for the glory of God in John 11 for
it says when Jesus heard that that Lazarus was
sick Right Jesus says this sickness is not unto
death But for the glory of God that the Son of
God might be glorified through it now We know
that Lazarus actually died people were grieving
people had come from all over Lazarus has been
dead for four days. Do you ever feel like God
has put you in a bad spot and there is no alternative
but the absolute worst disaster that you can
think of? And you're like, why is God delaying?
Why is he not responding the way that I want
and the timing that I want? The very answer to
that is right here. Jesus loved us by obeying
the Father for the glory of the Father at the
right time. Remember, people were trying to push
him to be the king. They said, time's not come.
And then, of course, when he's killed, nobody
wants things. OK, this is not the king, then.
When Jesus was questioned by whose authority
he was teaching in the temple in John chapter
7, he says this. He who speaks from himself seeks
his own glory. But he who seeks the glory of
the one who sent him is true. And no unrighteousness
is an enemy. So the question that we have to
ask ourselves is, are we speaking for our own
glory? Are we doing things for our own glory
or for the glory of God? Are we living as the
people of the resurrection for God's glory so
that others might know Him? Are we so cross with
other people? Are we so antagonistic? Are we
growing people in the Lord? Not for any gain
of ourselves, not for anyone to mention what
we've done. Dearly beloved, Jesus, when assuring
his disciples, tells them if they love him, they
will keep his commandments. Of course, they're
not gonna be without sin, but when they do sin,
right? They will repent. Now, what does this
mean to keep the commandments? It means they
are to guard their observance of His commandments.
Now, what's the first question that you've got
to ask yourself about guarding the observance
of God's commandments? You got to know them.
One question I might ask you is, can you recite
the Ten Commandments? And then the second question
is, do you even know what they mean? Last summer,
we did a whole series on the Ten Commandments,
or as I think is more appropriate to call them,
the Ten Words. These are God speaking his law
to his people. And I put a whole sermon on what
those meant. Some of those things might have
been new to you. Are you studying God's law so
you understand what these things mean? What they
do prohibit and what they do tell you to do You
see if they sin you got to know it and so that
when you do sin you will in humility repent We
need to follow God's own example of love which
is serving others love by sacrificial living
is not For our own glory, but for the glory of
God Sometimes we can get on social media, or
we can get on the phone, or in a conversation,
or do things in such a way that people say, look
at me and the hardship I've had, or the sacrifices
I've made, or the things that I've done. Whose
glory is that for? The fidelity of their love.
will be to keep the commandments for God's glory
alone. Do you follow God's word for your glory
or God's glory? Are your motives in such a way
that others recognize your works and they see
God in Christ Jesus? Are you allied with God
or merely a co -belligerent? Do you follow the
commandments of God for the approval of men?
Do you fight for acknowledgement from others?
Do you go to work for men or for money or to
please God? How do you do your work? Does the
how relate to exactly how much it is and for
what attention you'll get from it or Is it so
that they know God? Do you do hospitality for
the honors of your cooking, or your housekeeping,
or even to hear praises about your family, or
your hobbies, or your interests? Do you dress
or adorn yourself to please and glorify the Father,
or for the applauses, accolades, and acknowledgement
of others? Do you attend this church? Simply
to have some type of marriage bad merit badge
that says I go to the best church in town The
most right church the one that follows the Bible
the best Or do you come here to worship God?
for his glory Dearly beloved all of this All
those motives that point back to you. This is
contrary to Jesus' words here, and is echoed
again by Paul in 2 Timothy 3, 1 -5. We can hear
now that those who do not seek the glory of God,
for they are hudstrong, haughty, Lovers of pleasure
rather than lovers of God having a form of godliness,
but denying its power And what does Paul say
and from such people? turn away Now these people
they look right and good their families might
look like they're in order They might do all
the right kinds of things, but to what end? for
whose glory Jesus now brings his assurance to
his disciples who of course are realizing Because
he keeps saying it again and again because they're
hard -headed just like we are But he's saying
that he must leave them But he says I will not
leave you as orphans He says he will pray the
father that's beseech the father that is get
the father's ear and he will give you another
helper or comforter that he may abide with you
forever. Now this isn't helper like, okay, you
know, gonna pick up, this Holy Spirit's gonna
come around to just pick up your messes. No,
no, no. This word is paraclete in the Greek,
and it means an advocate. One who builds up one
who encourages one who confronts one who sticks
with you He dwells with you and he will be with
you and he will help you You see Jesus sends
to us the third person of the Trinity and in
this way the spirit gives us wisdom Convicts
us of our sin as it says in John 16 and the spirit
dwells with us and works for God's providential
plan to the glory of the Father and the Son and
for our benefit. Even if it's not in our timing,
even if we think that everything is stacked against
us in the government and in the legal system
and in the church and everything else. Obey God
for His glory. Keep steady. God dwells with His
people. through the Spirit, because of the work
of the Son. And we're reunited to the Father.
Jesus is assuring his church of his abiding with
them. It is sure. But again, the troubling circumstances
were once again highlighted by Jesus. A little
while longer, and the world will see me no more.
but you will see me because I live, you will
live also. And in that day you will know that
I am in my Father, you in me, and I in you. So
again, you come back to this troubling thing.
Jesus is like, he's like a dog on a bone. He
will not leave. Hey, are you listening to me?
You can almost see him coming up and grabbing
him and shaking him. Are you listening? You ever
felt like that with your children? I may have
done that once. Here's the thing. Jesus is trying
to make clear the reality of what he is doing
and that he's not going to be with them. And
he has given him these very words. And he says
this, because I live, you will live also. What
this means is, I've got to go die. I'm going
to leave you. But I'm going to send you the spirit.
You're not abandoned. I'm going to dwell with
you by the Spirit Excuse me, and they're only
going to know all these things About I am in
the Father the Father's in me and I in you and
this so you to the Father all of that happens
because he goes Jesus again points to his impending
arrest and Those disciples are going to abandon
him his suffering and his death he points to
all these terrible things Too often, we don't
want to accept the hard providences that God
allows. Let me say this again because we need
to hear this. Too often, we don't want to accept
the hard providences that God allows. We desire
to be delivered from our hardships and we can
ask Him, But you know, sometimes we at least
want to be distracted from our miseries. You
do understand that without the misery of Jesus'
arrest, suffering and death, we cannot get to
the resurrection. Without the resurrection, we
cannot deal with our sin or be reconciled to
our holy God. It is in the resurrection that
the disciples truly see as they have never before
understood that Jesus is in the Father and that
they are in Him and Jesus is in them. So there
at the end when we hear Jesus reiterate, He who
has my commandments and keeps them, it is He
who loves me and He who loves me will be loved
by my Father and I will love Him and manifest.
myself to Him. We know that Jesus died for our
sins and He didn't leave us leaving us with that.
He didn't leave us to ourselves but we are reconciled
to the Father in Him and He in us but also that
the Holy Spirit comes to change our hearts and
minds to conform us to Christ Jesus. What do
we know? Like we keep seeing continuously Disciples
Standing right in there Jesus explaining it again
and again. He's like this is Judas Lord, how's
it you'll manifest yourself to us and not to
the world because they're thinking right if you
manifest just yourself to me Well, the world's
not gonna see me with you Sitting in your great
throne and and and be that co -regent And Jesus
answered him, if anyone loves me, he will keep
my word and my father will love him and we will
come to him and make our home with him. He who
does not love me doesn't keep my words. Jesus
just goes, he pivots back to what he's been saying.
See, Judas here, not the Ascariot, he's just
on the wrong thinking. And he's been walking
with Jesus for three years. You may have been
walking with Jesus for a long time or a short
time. Turn yourself to his priorities for his
glory alone. Know his word. Learn it. Love it.
Obey it. And through the church, through the
brethren, by the power of the Spirit, love one
another. And you will truly understand and see
God manifest. Dearly beloved, Jesus is enthroned,
and that is a great joy. We are not alone. Jesus,
who always keeps his word, has told us that he
abides, that is, dwells with us in the Spirit.
Judas wanted to know how Jesus would be manifested
if he's not here with us. Jesus, having already
assured them of the Spirit, responds. And he
says this. Love me. Love. and keep my commandments.
God's people in their love shown by obedience
reveals and manifests God to the world for God's
glory. Let me say that again. God's people in
their love shown by obedience reveals and manifests
God to the world. Don't worry about what the
world is thinking or seeing. Obey Him. You might
say this is the slow road. Obey Him steadfast,
steady, first in worship. And then at the end
of the worship service, we are commissioned.
And we go together in the Spirit and flow out
into the world, loving God and keeping His commandments,
thus transforming the world from glory to glory.
Here in closing, these last words in 2 Corinthians
chapter 3. Nevertheless, when one turns to the
Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is
the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord
is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled
face, beholding as a mirror the glory of God,
are being transformed into the same image. That
is the image of the Lord Jesus Christ, from glory
to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.
People of God, The living triune God abides in
His church so we are able to love Jesus and to
guard and observe the commandments of God that
His glory may be revealed in the world in every
single relationship that we have. Let us pray.
Heavenly Father, we thank You for sending Your
Son to deliver us. from our sin that we might
be reconciled to you and abide with you forever.
Help us, we pray, to be children of the resurrection
and so love Jesus and obey his commands to your
glory and your honor that our light may shine
before men that they may see our obedience and
glorify you. We ask all this for the sake of
your son Jesus who reigns with you and the Holy
Spirit forever and ever. Amen.