Matthew C. Mitchell's Blog, page 7
September 8, 2024
“After a Little While” [Matt's Messages]
“After a Little While”Life in Jesus’ Name - The Gospel of JohnLanse Evangelical Free ChurchSeptember 8, 2024 :: John 16:16-24The disciples just had the hardest time understanding what Jesus meant by the phrase, “a little while.”
I think John uses the words “a little while” seven times in the first 4 verses! They are really tripped up by it. And it must be really important for Jesus to spend so much time undoing their confusion. “A Little While.”
Remember, this is the night before His crucifixion, and Jesus has been preparing His disciples for His departure. We call these section, “The Farewell Teachings of Jesus.” Chapters 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17.
Last week, we read about how Jesus said that it will be better for His disciples if He goes away because He will send the Holy Spirit to take His place. Remember this? Because when He comes, the Holy Spirit will convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment, and He will guide the church into all truth.
But before the Spirit comes, there is another important set of events that must occur. And that’s what Jesus is talking about, I think, in this section. In these verses, Jesus predicts what is going to happen in just “a little while.” And it will make all of the difference for everything forever for all of Jesus’ disciples including for you and me. Listen to what Jesus says in verse 16.
“‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.’”
Now, for you and me, it’s almost obvious what He means. It’s a straightforward prediction of what is going to happen that very weekend. That “little while” is going to happen in just...a little while!
But for the eleven disciples huddled with Him that night, it was anything but obvious. They just couldn’t understand what He was getting at. They didn’t have categories. They were confused. They were consternated. Look at verse 17.
“Some of his disciples said to one another, ‘What does he mean by saying, 'In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me,' and 'Because I am going to the Father'?’ They kept asking, ‘What does he mean by 'a little while'? We don't understand what he is saying.’”
“What’s He talking about? What’s this ‘little while’ thing? What does He mean by saying He’s going ‘to the Father?’”
Remember how last week Jesus said that He had much more to tell them, but they just couldn’t bear it? Well, they obviously couldn’t bear what He had already told them. How could He disappear and then reappear? What exactly is going to happen?
Well, you and I know. And Jesus knew. Jesus knew it the whole time. That’s what He was trying to get them prepared for. Look at verse 19.
“Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, ‘Are you asking one another what I meant when I said, 'In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me'?” “Let me explain it to you.”
What does He mean? What was He referring to in verse 16? “In a little while you will see me no more...” What was that?
It was the crucifixion, wasn’t it? And His burial. In less than 24 hours, Jesus was going to be arrested, put on trial, tortured, mocked, and killed on a Cross. This time next day, He would be buried in His tomb. “In a little while you will see me no more...”
“....and then after a little while you will see me.'" What’s He talking about there? He’s talking about the resurrection! He’s not going to stay dead!!! No wonder they were confused. They were confused that He had to die. And they were confused that He was going to return from the dead. That generally does not happen!
And even though they had seen a kind of resurrection in Lazarus not that long ago, it was because of the power of Jesus. But if Jesus was going to die, where would the power come to resurrect Him? How could all this be true? What could it all mean? In just “a little while?”
And, of course, it didn’t feel like just “a little while,” I’m sure. The entire time Jesus was in the grave probably felt like forever. Whenever we go through something really hard, it can feel like it lasts forever. Right? There’s probably a lesson here in those words “a little while” referring to the difficult waiting periods of our lives, no matter how long they are (see also 1 Peter 1:6 and 5:10). But always worth it. Because of Jesus, always worth it.
I see Jesus teaching us two huge things that are going to happen to us because of what happened to Him between those two little whiles. And they are both incredible encouragements to our hearts. Here’s number one.
After a little while:
#1. YOUR SORROW WILL TURN INTO JOY.
Jesus tells it like it will be. Look at verse 20.
“I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices.”
That’s terrible. They are going to cry their eyes out. Theirs hearts are going to be torn in two. Their Lord and Teacher, their favorite person, their Rabbi, their Good Shepherd is going to be ripped away from them, stripped of all dignity, mocked, spit on, struck in the face, and whipped on His back and then nailed to a pole until He dies. “You will weep and mourn.”
And to make it worse, they will mourn “...while the world rejoices!” Remember the world is going to hate you. Jesus said, “It hated me first.”
You’re going to see it firsthand. The world is going to cheer.
“Crucify Him!”“Crucify Him!”
“Yeah! They crucified Him! So much for that troublemaker. We should make this a holiday. Got rid of Jesus Day. What a Good Friday!”
I can’t hardly imagine how the disciples felt. But Jesus knew in advance. And He told them. So that when it happened, they had some categories to fall back on. And when the pain hit, to remember that Jesus said it would come...and then it would all go away! Verse 20 again.
“You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.”
It’s going to hurt like nothing else, but then it’s going to get better. Unimaginably better. “After a little while” your sorrow will turn into joy.
Jesus has an illustration handy for this. He says it’s like a mom in labor. Look at verse 21.
“A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world.”
Ladies, is this true? Does it actually hurt to give birth? I’ve heard that it does. Yes, it does. And some moms are tempted to yell at their husbands, “What have you done to me?!” and vow to never have another child ever again. But then it all changes after the baby is born. Some moms even want to have another one...or three!
Jesus doesn’t mean that she totally forgets how much it hurt, but in comparison to the joy of the little girl or little boy being placed in her happy arms, it doesn’t matter any more. The pain and the heartache are totally worth it.
That’s what Jesus decided for Himself, isn’t it? He decided that the joy set before Him was worth enduring the Cross and scorning its shame. And He decided it worth it for His disciples to weep and mourn while the world rejoiced because, after that, His disciples would rejoice and never stop rejoicing. Verse 22.
“So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.”
Oh, I love that! “I will see you again.”
Death is not the end. “I will see you again.”
“And you will rejoice, and no one (not no one) will take away your joy.”
Your joy will be un-snatchable. Your joy will be un-ending.Your joy will be forever and ever and ever and ever.
This verse makes me think about what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4. Which I often read at funerals, and, boy, there seems like there’s been a lot of funerals recently.
Paul is talking about how hard it is to live the Christian life. We all feel it. Our lives right now are marked by some weeping and mourning. Not because Jesus has died but because we are waiting for His return. And everything has not yet been made right.
So Paul writes to the Corinthians with this same logic of Jesus, “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles [“a little while”] are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. [There’s no comparison!] So [Paul says] we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Cor. 4:16-18 NIVO). And that includes our joy.
“No one will take away your joy.”
The application of that is obvious. It’s to rejoice. To rejoice because Jesus is alive. To rejoice even because Jesus died. Because He died for our sins. And He paid the just penalty for them. It WAS a Good Friday! Because in a little while Jesus went to the Cross carrying our sins on His shoulders, and then He buried them far away from us. And then He walked out of that tomb on Sunday morning as alive as you and I are today. More alive, in fact!
Because He will never die. And neither will our joy!
Rejoice! Our weeping and wailing will turn into whooping.
Woohoo! And our whooping will never stop. So never stop whooping.
Are you rejoicing today? You cannot rejoice unless you have first repented. Because the Cross is not good news for you if you have not put your trust in Jesus. Remember it’s when we believe in Jesus that we get life in His name. Have you put your faith in Jesus? Then rejoice. And never stop.
Now, that doesn’t mean that we always feel happy. The disciples didn’t feel happy that night. And there would be more sorrow yet to come even after Jesus was raised from the dead. Because the world was going to come after them.
Persecution is on the way. But there is joy underneath, isn’t there? No matter what happens, we know that Jesus is alive and that nobody can take that from Him, and therefore nobody can take away our joy.
One of my most favorite passages in the whole Bible is Isaiah 35 with its prophetic prediction of the kingdom to come. Here’s the last verse.
Isaiah 35:36 says, “...and the ransomed of the LORD will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.”
After a little while, your sorrow will turn into joy.
#2. THE FATHER WILL ANSWER YOUR PRAYERS.
Look at verse 23.
“In that day you will no longer ask me anything. I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.”
Wow! I think that’s like the fourth time that Jesus has promised answered prayers in the Farewell Teachings. He may be going away, but that doesn’t mean that we are alone. We are still allowed to ask and to expect to receive.
“In that day you will no longer ask me anything...” Now, I don’t think He’s actually talking about prayer there. I think He’s saying that after the resurrection, all of these questions they have been asking will be cleared up. They will finally “get it.” And they will soon have the Holy Spirit to guide them into all truth. Their confusion will melt away, and the answers to their prayers will roll in.
“I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.”
Whatever. We are allowed to ask for whatever. Nothing is too difficult. We are invited to ask for anything. Provided...that we ask in Jesus’ name.
Remember, a name in the Bible refers not just the thing which you are called but to the thing signified by the thing by which you are called. The name stands for the whole person. Your reputation, your authority, your character, your will. So when we ask “in Jesus’ name” we are asking for God to do what Jesus would ask for.
It’s not just a talisman or some magic words to add efficacy to our prayers, “inJesusnameIprayamen.” No, but it is a powerful thing to pray in Jesus’ name. Especially because of what happened between “in a little while” and “after a little while.” Because of the Cross and the Empty Tomb. When we pray in the name of Jesus now, we are praying “in the Person” of the crucified and risen Son of God!
How do you think God the Father is going to feel about answering prayers that are prayed in that name?!
I think that’s what Jesus is getting at in verse 24.
“Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.” It’s not that God didn’t delight in answering the prayers of His people in the Old Testament. Of course He did; just read it. But now what the Old Testament prefigured has been fulfilled! Jesus, the Word of God, has come and taken on flesh and, in His flesh, has died and come back to life.
That’s the name in which we can now pray. You can ask for God to do things in that day!
Praying to the Father, through the Spirit in the name of the crucified and risen Son.
“Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.”
That’s the application, isn’t it?
Ask! And receive.And rejoice once again.
What are you asking the Father these days?
What are you praying for?
Don’t bother praying for things you know that the crucified and risen Son would never authorize. But if you believe it is something He might get behind, then don’t stop asking in His name. Because the Father loves to pour out good gifts on His Son and those who are in His Son.
“Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.”
***
Messages in this Series
01. "That You May Believe" - John 20:30-31
02. "In The Beginning Was the Word" - John 1:1-18
03. "John's Testimony" - John 1:19-34
04. "Come and See" - John 1:35-51
05. "The First of His Miraculous Signs" - John 2:1-11
06. "This Temple" - John 2:12-25
07. "You Must Be Born Again" - John 3:1-15
08. "God So Loved The World" - John 3:16-21
09. "Above All" - John 3:22-36
10. "Living Water" - John 4:1-26
11. "Ripe for the Harvest" - John 4:27-42
12. "Your Son Will Live" - John 4:43-54
13. "Pick Up Your Mat and Walk" - John 5:1-18
14. "To Your Amazement" - John 5:19-30
15. "Testimony About Me" - John 5:31-47
Christmas Eve Bonus: "The Astonishing Gift" - John 3:16 Again
Christmas Eve Bonus: "We Have Seen His Glory" - John 1:1-18 Again
16. "Enough Bread" - John 6:1-15
17. "You Are Looking for Me" - John 6:16-36
18. "I Am the Bread of Life" - John 6:35-71
Vision Meeting Bonus: "As I Have Loved You" - John 13:34-35
19. "At the Feast" - John 7:1-52
20. "I Am the Light of the World" - John 8:12-30
21. "Your Father" - John 8:31-59
22. "Now I See" - John 9:1-41
23. "I Am The Gate" - John 10:1-13
24. "I Am the Good Shepherd" - John 10:14-21
25. "I And The Father Are One" - John 10:22-42
26. "I Am the Resurrection and the Life" - John 11:1-53
27. "Expensive" - John 11:54-12:11
28. "The Hour Has Come" - John 12:12-26
30. "Believe In Me" - John 12:37-50
31. "Do You Understand What I Have Done For You?" - John 13:1-17
32. "I Am Telling You Now Before It Happens” - John 13:18-38
2024 West Branch Baccalaureate: "The Way, The Truth, and The Life" - John 14:6
33. "I Am the Way and the Truth and the Life” - John 14:1-6
34. "Show Us the Father" - John 14:7-14
35. "If You Love Me" - John 14:15
36. "I Will Ask the Father" - John 14:16-24
37. "My Peace I Give You" - John 14:25-31
38. "I Am the True Vine" - John 15:1-11
39. "You Are My Friends" - John 15:12-17
40. "If The World Hates You" - John 15:18-6:441. "When He Comes" - John 16:5-15
September 1, 2024
“When He Comes” [Matt's Messages]
“When He Comes”Life in Jesus’ Name - The Gospel of JohnLanse Evangelical Free ChurchSeptember 1, 2024 :: John 16:5-15 Jesus told His disciples that it would be better for them if He went away.
In this section of the Farewell Teachings, the Lord Jesus insisted to His followers that they will better off if He leaves them.
And that was very very hard for them to receive.
It’s the night that Jesus betrayed. Jesus has washed their feet and told them to love one another. Judas has slipped out in the dark to betray Jesus to the rulers. Jesus has told his closest followers that He is going away, and they are shaken to the core. He’s been comforting them and giving them big promises to sustain them while He’s away. But He’s also been telling them that it’s going to be hard.
Very hard. The world is going to hate them. That’s what we focused on last week. Jesus is going away, and the world is going to come after them. Jesus hadn’t said much about that because He’s been with them, but now He’s going away (v.4), so now He’s warning them.
And that has shaken them to the core. So much so that they aren’t even asking good questions about what this means this for Jesus or their future. Look with me at chapter 16, verse 5.
[VIDEO WILL BE EMBEDDED HERE.]
“Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, 'Where are you going?”
You aren’t even asking what this all means! Now, earlier this evening, Peter did ask Jesus where He was going (13:36), but he wasn’t asking for Jesus. Thomas did say, “We don’t know where you’re going...” (14:5), but he was focused on trying understand what Jesus meant by “You know the way...”
And they have probably left the upper room by now and walked through a vineyard on their way to the Garden of Gethsemane. And nobody is asking Jesus right now, “Where are you going?" They just can’t get over the fact that He’s leaving and how it makes them feel. V.6
“Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief.”
They are so distressed! Even more now because Jesus has said that the world is going to hate and attack them. How would you feel? How would you feel if Jesus said that He was going to leave you?
But there is kind of a rebuke here. Because Jesus has been assuring them that this is all part of His good plan. Not only are not thinking about Jesus and being concerned for what He is about to go through, but they are missing the bigger picture here.
Jesus is going to “him who sent” Him, and that will be better for the disciples and even for the world. Look at verse 7.
“But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.”
That is very important. Jesus says that it’s better for Him to go away, or they won’t get the “Paraclete.” NIV, “Counselor” also translated “Comforter” or “Advocate,” or “Helper.” We know Him by His main name in the Scripture, “The Holy Spirit.”
Here’s the plan. Jesus is going to die, come back from the dead, ascend to His Father, and ask His Father to send the Holy Spirit to be poured out in a special unprecedented way.
So the Holy Spirit will only come if Jesus goes away. Which is better? We sometimes get the idea that it would be better for us to have walked the dusty roads of Jerusalem with Jesus in the flesh. And that would have been awesome! But Jesus says that we have it even better now than they did then.
Because He went away, we got the Spirit! Because of the Cross and the Empty Tomb and the Ascension on high, we got Pentecost. And wildly, that brings Jesus even more closer to us! Because the Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus, so through the Spirit we have the presence of Jesus in our hearts. His leaving doesn’t really mean His absence from us, but in a deeper way, His presence with us! “And surely I am with you always...” And that’s why we can abide or remain or dwell in Him.
“It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.”
And He did! And in the next few verses, Jesus explains what the Spirit will do when He comes. That’s our title for today’s message. “When He Comes.”
And the “He” there is not Jesus and His second coming, but the Spirit and His coming in the book of Acts. What will happen with the Holy Spirit comes? I see at least three things.
When He Comes...
#1. THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL CONVICT THE WORLD.
Look at verse 8.
“When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment...”
What does that mean? We proclaimed it together just a few minutes ago when we did our Worship in Unity with Joe in Article 6 of our statement of faith. “We believe that the Holy Spirit...convicts the world of its guilt.”
When the Spirit comes, He is going to act not just like an Advocate but like a Prosecutor. He’s going to make a case about the world, and convict the world of its guilt.
Now, remember, that word “world’ in the Gospel of John isn’t just talking about the big blue Earth, but the humans of the world-system united together in sinful rebellion against God. The Spirit is going to come and prove that they are guilty.
It’s not 100% clear to whom that is being proved. It could be just convicted before God. The Spirit will prosecute the world before the righteous Judge of all the Earth, and the world will be rightly condemned. That’s true! That will surely happen.
But I tend to think that it’s also talking about how the Spirit convicts individual hearts of some in the world that causes their hearts to change. He shows those in the world where they are wrong, and they repent and believe in Jesus. Look what He says in verse 9.
“When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me...”
Which is the fundamental sin, isn’t it? Humans who do not believe in Jesus are in sin. And sin will keep you from believing in Jesus. The Spirit is going to point that out. Nobody who rejects Jesus will get away with it before the Judge. But, for some, the Spirit will so move upon their hearts that they will wake up and say, “Oh. I’m a sinner! I have failed. I have fallen short of the glory of God. I have been rejecting Jesus. What must I do to be saved?”
And that’s exactly what happened when the Spirit came. Acts chapter 2?
The Spirit came at Pentecost–as promised, a rushing wind, flames of fire over the disciples, speaking in unlearned languages. The Apostle Peter getting up in front of the crowd and sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ.
And Peter ends his message:
“‘Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.’ [What happened then?]
When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’ Peter replied, ‘Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
.... Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer” (Acts 2:36-42 NIVO). The church was born!
None of that would have happened unless Jesus went away. The Spirit convicted the world of guilt in regard to sin. And in regard to righteousness. Verse 10.
“...in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer;”
Now, this is the only place in the gospel of John that uses the word “righteousness.” That’s more of a Matthew-word or Paul-word than a John-word. But John reports here that Jesus said that the Spirit will convict the world in regard to righteousness.
That could be Jesus’ righteousness. That the world will come to see that Jesus was righteous, after they had rejected Him all along. Or it could be the world’s righteousness. That they had been pursuing their own brand of righteousness. We might call it self-righteousness. Like the Pharisees. Thinking that their good works were sufficient to justify them before God. The Spirit will dismantle that kind of false thinking. Their righteousness will not cut it.
But I tend to think that it’s more than that. I think the Spirit will convict the world that they need righteousness. That they don’t have it. They will wake up and not only say, “I am a sinner,” but say, “I need righteousness.” I need more than forgiveness, with my slate wiped clean. I need some moral goodness put on my account.
This happened to me when I was in junior high school. I heard an Methodist evangelist named Earl Bailey share the gospel. And I felt my sin like I never had before. And I saw my sinfulness. I felt it. And I felt that I need covered with a righteousness that I could achieve on my own. And when Earl Bailey told us about Jesus and what He had done for us on the Cross, I responded and the next day I told a friend about it.
You know Who I believe was speaking that night to my heart? The Holy Spirit, of course. The Counselor. The Advocate. The Helper. I couldn’t see Jesus. Jesus wasn’t there in the flesh, but the Holy Spirit was. Look at verse 11 again.
Convicted “...in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longe...”
But the Holy Spirit will be there, and He can bring the conviction.
Is He doing it right now in this room? He’s here in this room. Is He convicting you of your sin, of your un-righteousness and your need for Christ’s righteousness to be put on your account?
Is He convicting you in regard to judgment? That’s the third one in verse 8 and in verse 11.
Convicted by the Spirit, (v.11) “...in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.”
Now that could mean the world’s judgment about Jesus. Because they have been judging Him wrong.
All through this book, we’ve seen how the world has been judging Jesus wrongly. They have not believed that He is Who He says He is.
He is not the Bread of Life.He is not the Light of the World.He is not the Gate for the sheep.He is not the Good Shepherd.He is not the Resurrection and the Life.He is not the Way, the Truth, and the Life.He is not the True Vine.
That’s how the world judges Jesus, and the Spirit is going to show that they are all wrong about that.
But I tend to think that’s it more than that. I tend to think that the Spirit is going to show those in the world that their judgment is coming.
They are sinners.They are unrighteous.And they are in trouble.
And if they don’t repent, they will face the same fate as the Satan is going to face.
“...because the prince of this world now stands condemned.”
That’s not how it seems. It seems like Jesus is going to stand condemned. In just a few hours, He will be condemned to death before Pontius Pilate. But He will not stay dead. That judgment will be overturned by the Great Judge through the resurrection. And He will ascend to sit at the right hand of the Majesty on High. And He will ask the Father, “Please send our Spirit.” And the Father will say, “Yes.” And the Spirit will come, and when He comes, He will convict the world in regard to judgment.
Is He doing it right now in this room? The Spirit is here. Is He pointing out your sin to you? Your unrighteousness? Your judgment that is awaiting if you do not repent and trust in Jesus? If He is, give in!
Isn’t good that Jesus went away so that the Spirit would come?! If He didn’t then we wouldn’t be saved. Nobody in this room would be saved.
And isn’t this good motivation to share the gospel with people out there in the world? Because we can’t save anybody. But the Spirit can. We can’t convince people on our own that they are sinners that need Jesus. But the Spirit can.
He can convince them that they have gotten Jesus all wrong up to till now, and that judgment is coming and coming soon. But Jesus took on the condemnation that we deserved so that we don’t have to.
The Spirit can drive it home in their hearts that “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (Jn. 3:16-17 NIVO).
That gives us great motivation to tell people about Jesus! Because it’s not all up to us. We just tell them. The Spirit convicts them when He comes.
Notice, by the way, that the Holy Spirit is a “He.” He is not an it. He is a Person not just a Thing. I’ve heard Christians refer the Holy Spirit as an “it” from time to time, and it’s understandable because He often does impersonal things. He is poured out. We are baptized in Him. Like He is water or something.
But the Spirit is not just an impersonal power like the Force in Star Wars. The Spirit is a Person. He is the Third Person of the Trinity. He is not just the power of God. He is a Person of God.
And He speaks. He is the Spirit of Truth. Look at verse 12.
“‘I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come” (vv.12-13).
He speaks. And He speaks the truth.
When He comes...
#2. THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL GUIDE THE CHURCH.
And He will guide them into truth.
Jesus wants to tell His disciples even more. He has so much to share with them. The truth of chapters 13, 14, and 15, as great as it all is, is not all there is. He’s got more. Lots more. But they can’t handle it right now. They can’t comprehend it. They can’t wrap their minds around it. They are too scared right now to receive it. It’s more than they can bear. They can’t hardly handle what they have just been given.
But that’s okay. Because the Spirit of Truth is on His way. And when He comes, He’s going to guide the disciples into the truth.
He’s not going to take them in some weird new direction. He’s going to remind them what they have already heard and make sure they know all the rest of the stuff they need to get. And both for now and the future.
Isn’t that good news?! Aren’t you glad that the Spirit came?
Because this is what He gave us. He gave us the Bible. He led these 11 scared men to write down what they had learned. And He guided the rest of the authors of the New Testament to write down everything we need for life and godliness.
And He continues to guide the church into all truth.
I think one of the most obvious applications of that is we should prayerfully read our Bibles. If Jesus went away so that the Spirit of Truth would come so that we could have our full Bibles, probably we ought to read them!
It’s amazing to me how many Christians think they can get along just fine without a regular diet of Bible. And then they wonder why they don’t understand what’s going on in their world. Often, it’s because they have not prayerfully read what the Spirit is saying to the church. The same Spirit who inspired the Scriptures wants to help us to read and understand them.
“[W]hen he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13).
And that will bring glory to Jesus.
When He Comes...
#3. THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL GLORIFY THE SON.
Look at verses 14 and 15.
“He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you” (John 16:14-15).
God the Spirit loves to shine the spotlight on the God the Son. He’s always doing it. That’s what we proclaimed in Article 6 of our EFCA Statement this morning: “We believe that the Holy Spirit, in all that He does, glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ.”
And, here He does it, by sharing what I call, “Trinity Truth.” The Spirit doesn’t take off on His own. He shares what belongs to the Son with the Church. Jesus says, “[He takes] from what is mine and [makes] it known to you.” What is that? In verse 15, He says that it’s what belongs to God the Father.
“All that belongs to the Father is mine.”
There is no daylight between them. They share everything! They are never at odds. They are always perfectly together. They are One God. There is only one truth of the one God. And that one God is triune. He is Three Persons. And what the Father has, the Son has, and the Spirit takes from that and shares it with us.
This is so mind-blowingly wonderful!!!! Think about truthful this truth is. God the Father knows all things, right? Including the future. God the Son says that He is the Truth, right? And God the Son says that He is going to send God the Spirit Whom He calls the Spirit of Truth. And that Spirit is going to take from the Father and the Son what is true and give it to...you and me???!!! How precious is that truth?!
Jesus told His disciples that it would be better for them if He went away. Because the Holy Spirit would glorify the Son by guiding the church into all truth. And even convict the world to leave the world and believe the truth.
When He came.
Glory be to God!
***
Messages in this Series
01. "That You May Believe" - John 20:30-31
02. "In The Beginning Was the Word" - John 1:1-18
03. "John's Testimony" - John 1:19-34
04. "Come and See" - John 1:35-51
05. "The First of His Miraculous Signs" - John 2:1-11
06. "This Temple" - John 2:12-25
07. "You Must Be Born Again" - John 3:1-15
08. "God So Loved The World" - John 3:16-21
09. "Above All" - John 3:22-36
10. "Living Water" - John 4:1-26
11. "Ripe for the Harvest" - John 4:27-42
12. "Your Son Will Live" - John 4:43-54
13. "Pick Up Your Mat and Walk" - John 5:1-18
14. "To Your Amazement" - John 5:19-30
15. "Testimony About Me" - John 5:31-47
Christmas Eve Bonus: "The Astonishing Gift" - John 3:16 Again
Christmas Eve Bonus: "We Have Seen His Glory" - John 1:1-18 Again
16. "Enough Bread" - John 6:1-15
17. "You Are Looking for Me" - John 6:16-36
18. "I Am the Bread of Life" - John 6:35-71
Vision Meeting Bonus: "As I Have Loved You" - John 13:34-35
19. "At the Feast" - John 7:1-52
20. "I Am the Light of the World" - John 8:12-30
21. "Your Father" - John 8:31-59
22. "Now I See" - John 9:1-41
23. "I Am The Gate" - John 10:1-13
24. "I Am the Good Shepherd" - John 10:14-21
25. "I And The Father Are One" - John 10:22-42
26. "I Am the Resurrection and the Life" - John 11:1-53
27. "Expensive" - John 11:54-12:11
28. "The Hour Has Come" - John 12:12-26
30. "Believe In Me" - John 12:37-50
31. "Do You Understand What I Have Done For You?" - John 13:1-17
32. "I Am Telling You Now Before It Happens” - John 13:18-38
2024 West Branch Baccalaureate: "The Way, The Truth, and The Life" - John 14:6
33. "I Am the Way and the Truth and the Life” - John 14:1-6
34. "Show Us the Father" - John 14:7-14
35. "If You Love Me" - John 14:15
36. "I Will Ask the Father" - John 14:16-24
37. "My Peace I Give You" - John 14:25-31
38. "I Am the True Vine" - John 15:1-11
39. "You Are My Friends" - John 15:12-17
40. "If The World Hates You" - John 15:18-6:4
August 25, 2024
“If The World Hates You” [Matt's Messages]
“If The World Hates You”Life in Jesus’ Name - The Gospel of JohnLanse Evangelical Free ChurchAugust 25, 2024 :: John 15:18-16:4 Jesus says that His disciples should expect to experience hostility.
In this passage of Scripture, Jesus tells His disciples, on the eve of His crucifixion, to be prepared to be hated. To be ready to be hated by the world.
The very first words in verse 18 are, “If the world hates you...”
[VIDEO WILL BE EMBEDDED HERE.]
So far, chapters 14 and 15 have been more about LOVE.
Jesus has been preparing His followers for His departure, and for the most part, He’s been giving them comfort. He’s told them that He’s going away to prepare a place for them. And He’s told them that He’s coming back for them. And He’s told them that He is their way to the Father and that through Him they know the Father.
Jesus has told them that they are going to do greater things because He’s going to the Father. He’s told them that He’s going to ask the Father to send the Holy Spirit (the Paraclete, the Advocate, the Alongsider, the Counselor) to be with them and in them forever. They are not alone.
And they are going to be loved! So loved! Loved by the Father, loved by the Son, loved by the Spirit, three in One. The Spirit reminding them of everything that the Son has taught them all along.
And giving them peace! And answering their prayers! And giving them life! And producing in them fruit like a vine to its branches.
Jesus has told them that they are His friends. That’s what we saw last time in the Gospel of John. Jesus has called you and me His friends! He has chosen us and appointed us. And He is going to die for us!
“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends” (v.13)!
Love, love, love. And He says that we are called to love each other. The Vine wants the branches to love the other branches. How many times this evening has He said to them, “Love one another?”
We sang it last week at the end of the Malawi Team Report. “They will know that we are Christians by our love.”
It’s ringing out of verse 17, “This is my command. Love each other.”
“Love each other.”“Love each other.”“Love each other.”
But then in verse 18, He speaks of hate. “If the world hates you.” There’s a lot about hate in this next section, but notice that it all runs one way. It’s the world that does the hating. Jesus is preparing His disciples for the hate that is going to come their way very soon from the world.
And we should take note, because we can expect it, too.
Now, that doesn’t mean that all we can expect is hate from the world. There will be times of relative peace. Even in the book of Acts when this all first played out, there are times when the church experienced some favor in the eyes of the world. But the general expectation is hostility. The world is not neutral about Christians because it is not neutral about Christ. And that’s the first and most important thing that Jesus wants His disciples to understand when they experience this hate. They are not alone. V.18
“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.”
By the way, the “world” here is the human system of the world. Sinful humanity united together, working together against God. Not the “world” as in the Earth. But the world system that Jesus came into and for but who rejected Him. Remember that from the very first chapter of John?
“[The Word] was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him...” (Jn. 1:10-11 NIVO).
If you experience hostility from the world, you are not the first. The world hated Jesus first. In fact, that’s why the world hates you. It’s not really about you. It’s about Him.
I have three points to summarize the teaching of this passage, and this is the first and biggest one.
If the world hates you...
#1. YOU ARE HATED WITH JESUS. And that’s a good thing. It’s good because you’re not alone. Someone else has gone through this before you, and by the Spirit, is going through it with you even now. And it’s good because it means that you are doing it right.
I don’t know about you, but whenever the Christian life gets hard, I tend to think that I must be doing it wrong.
“Oh no, the world hates me. What am I doing wrong? What can I do to fix this?”
But Jesus tells us that this hate is going to flow towards us, and it’s not because we’re doing it wrong, but because we are connected to Him. Look at verse 19.
“If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.”
It’s not because you are doing it wrong, but because you are doing it right. You’re with the right One!
Because you belong to Jesus now, and the world hates Jesus, so it’s going to hate you.
Now, by the way, make sure that this IS the reason why the world hates you and because you act like a total idiot. Make sure that the world hates you because you act like Jesus! Make sure that you abide in Jesus and produce much fruit. We want the world to hate us because of our love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
If the world hates you because you’re angry, unloving, contentious, impatient, rude, mean, and out of control, that’s not on Jesus. That’s on you. And cut it out! But if we are abiding, remaining, dwelling in Jesus, that will not safeguard us from the world’s hate. It will actually attract it.
The world will hate that you left it for Jesus. And so you will experience the hate it has for Jesus. We will not escape the hate. Why would we think we would? V.20
“Remember the words I spoke to you: 'No servant is greater than his master.' [John 13:16]. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.”
What a number of Christians have experienced in America for the last two centuries has been an anomaly. There has been quite a bit of favor shown to Christians in our culture. And we can be grateful for that and steward it well whenever it comes our way. Daniel is example of a believer who, at times, was shown favor by the world. Great example for us.
But not the rule. The Apostle Paul said, “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted...” (2 Tim. 3:12 NIVO).
Our Lord Jesus said that no servant (that’s us) is greater than His master (that’s Him). So if they persecuted Him [And they did! They killed Him on cross!], they will persecute us, too.
Notice, however, that He also says if they obeyed His teaching [And some of them did. They came over!], then they will obey ours as well. So that gives us hope that there will be times when the haters will change and become the lovers! But don’t think that you are above this.
Don’t think that you, as a follower of Jesus, can expect to be celebrated by the world as a follower of Jesus.
I think this is especially appropriate for Back To School Sunday. When all of these Christian students, teachers, administrators, helpers, aides, bus drivers, head back into various situations amongst the world. You will not always be celebrated for belonging to Jesus. You may very well experience hate.
Don’t take it personally. Verse 21 says, “They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me.” It’s not really about you and me. It’s about Him. It’s about His name.
Remember, that’s where we find life. “...that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (Jn. 20:31).
And you will also have persecution in His name.
It’s about Jesus. And it’s about His Father. “...for they do not know the One who sent me.” In fact, they rejected Him. And so they will be judged. Verse 22.
“If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin.”
He doesn’t mean that they would have no sin whatsoever. We all have sin. He’s saying that if He had not come in the flesh, they would not have rejected Him in the flesh. But He did, and they did. And there was no excuse. They hated Him. And they hated His Father. Verse 23.
“He who hates me hates my Father as well.”
That’s really important. Some people say that they love God, but they just don’t believe in Jesus. But that’s not true. If you reject Jesus, you are rejecting His Father, as well.
Do you feel all the hate here? They hate the Son. They hate the Father. That’s why they hate you. Verse 24.
“If I had not done among them what no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen these miracles, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: 'They hated me without reason'” (vv.24-25).
Jesus is not surprised by this hate, and neither should we be. It was predicted a thousand years before He came on the scene. Jesus here is quoting Psalm 69.. A thousand years before Jesus was born, the Old Testament was predicting His suffering and death. And His persecution.
If you are hated by the world, don’t be surprised. You are in good company. You are hated WITH Jesus and His Father.
So what should you do if you find yourself hated by the world?
Don’t be surprised. Be grateful to be in good company. What else? What should you do if the world hates you?
Should you hate them back?
Should you fight fire with fire?
Should you whine and complain about being mistreated on social media?
Should you write your congressperson?
Should you make sure you vote for the candidates for public office that promise to give you the most protection for living out your Christian values the way you want to?
You can vote however your conscience directs you, but that’s not where Jesus goes here.
Jesus says that we need to testify.
If the world hates you...
#2. SPEAK UP FOR JESUS.
Look at verse 26. Jesus promises the Holy Spirit once again. Verse 26.
“When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me.”
Remember this? Jesus is going to ask the Father to send the Spirit to come alongside us and even be in us. The “Paraclete” or the “Advocate” or the “Counselor.” And the Father is going to do it. He’s going to pour out His Spirit at Pentecost. The Spirit is going to come, and...what’s He going to talk about? he Spirit is going to testify about the Son.
“About me” Jesus says.
The Holy Spirit loves to point the spotlight on Jesus! Whenever the Spirit shows up, Jesus gets glorified!
You see the Trinity here? God is Three Persons.
The Son sending the Spirit to the Disciples.The Spirit going out from the Father (who has also sent the Son).The Spirit testifying about the Son.
Three in One.
And when that Holy Spirit comes, what is the Church supposed to do?
We are supposed to testify, too. Verse 27.
“And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.” The eleven remaining disciples had been with Jesus since the start, and when the Holy Spirit shows up, they are supposed to talk about Jesus and talk about Jesus and never stop talking about Jesus. Even if they start to be killed for talking about Jesus. Jesus is preparing them to die if they need to. And most of the men in that room will eventually die because they belonged to Jesus. And we need to be ready to die for Him, too.
And we need to speak up for Jesus even if they come at us with guns.
Now, that’s easy to say and hard to do. And we need to pray for wisdom and discernment about how and when and what we say. But we also need to be bold.
Because Jesus is worth it. He died for us, and we need to speak up for Him. We need to tell the world what we know about Him.
Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. Nobody comes to the Father except through Him.
That’s not a popular thing to say to the world. But it’s true. And everybody needs to hear it.
Jesus is the Bread of Life.Jesus is the Light of the World.Jesus is the Gate for the sheep.Jesus is the Good Shepherd.Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life.Jesus is the True Vine.
We know the truth about Jesus, and we need to testify that truth to the world. And if they reject Jesus, that’s on them. But we need to speak up for Him, even if they hate us for it.
That’s hard to do. It’s easy for me to get up here on a Sunday with all of you smiling at me and say all these great things about Jesus. Everybody here nods at everything I say. I’m glad you do!
But they aren’t nodding at us out there in the world. They don’t want to hear what Jesus says.
They don’t want to do what Jesus says to do.
With their money.With their bodies.With their relationships.With their words.With their hearts.
And they are going to get mad when we tell them about Jesus.
But Jesus says (v.27), “You also must testify...”
You don’t do it on your own. The Holy Spirit is there testifying inside you and through you. He’ll provide the power! But you still have to step out in faith and speak up about Jesus. And not stop. Not run away. That’s the third and last point.
If the world hates you...
#3. DON’T FALL AWAY FROM JESUS.
Look at verse 1 of chapter 16.
“All this I have told you so that you will not go astray.”
The Greek word there means to not “stumble” or “trip up.” Jesus is telling the disciples how hard it will be, so that they do not bail on Him when the going gets rough. And it’s going to get rough! Look at verse 2.
“They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God.”
That happened. Think about Stephen. He was telling people about Jesus, and the Jews picked up rocks to throw at him. And they threw enough rocks at him that he died. And there was a guy named Saul there who was holding the coats for the guys with the rocks. And they all said, “We are offering a service to God” by killing this man talking about Jesus.
And it happens today. Not so much in this country at this point, but lots of places around this world, Christians are killed in the service of many gods.
And, of course, it’s not just killed. Jesus says that they may be ostracized. Put out of the synagogue. How hard that would have been to accept! To get kicked out of the center of your community.
And that can happen to us, too. You might get dirty looks and snide comments. You might lose a job or be denied a promotion or a scholarship. You might not get an important sal or lose someone’s business. You might lose your spouse if they can’t stand you talking about Jesus. You might be ridiculed or accused of things you have not done to smear mud on your reputation.
Or you may be jailed or tortured or killed. Verse 3.
“They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me. [Remember, it’s not you. It’s Jesus.] I have told you this, so that when the time comes you will remember that I warned you. I did not tell you this at first because I was with you.”
They were safe while He was still there. But He’s going away, and the hate will come raining down. nd He wants them to be ready so that they don’t run away.
Jesus did not tell us all of this to scare us. He told us all of this so that we are ready and steady. So that we would remain! So that we would abide! So that we would continue to stay closely connected to Jesus, the Vine.
And not fall away when the going gets rough. Because He did not fall away. He was ready to go all the way to the Cross for you and me.
“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.”
So we aren’t alone, we aren’t surprised, we aren’t scared.
And we don’t fall away, but instead we tell everyone what Jesus did for us.
***
Messages in this Series
01. "That You May Believe" - John 20:30-31
02. "In The Beginning Was the Word" - John 1:1-18
03. "John's Testimony" - John 1:19-34
04. "Come and See" - John 1:35-51
05. "The First of His Miraculous Signs" - John 2:1-11
06. "This Temple" - John 2:12-25
07. "You Must Be Born Again" - John 3:1-15
08. "God So Loved The World" - John 3:16-21
09. "Above All" - John 3:22-36
10. "Living Water" - John 4:1-26
11. "Ripe for the Harvest" - John 4:27-42
12. "Your Son Will Live" - John 4:43-54
13. "Pick Up Your Mat and Walk" - John 5:1-18
14. "To Your Amazement" - John 5:19-30
15. "Testimony About Me" - John 5:31-47
Christmas Eve Bonus: "The Astonishing Gift" - John 3:16 Again
Christmas Eve Bonus: "We Have Seen His Glory" - John 1:1-18 Again
16. "Enough Bread" - John 6:1-15
17. "You Are Looking for Me" - John 6:16-36
18. "I Am the Bread of Life" - John 6:35-71
Vision Meeting Bonus: "As I Have Loved You" - John 13:34-35
19. "At the Feast" - John 7:1-52
20. "I Am the Light of the World" - John 8:12-30
21. "Your Father" - John 8:31-59
22. "Now I See" - John 9:1-41
23. "I Am The Gate" - John 10:1-13
24. "I Am the Good Shepherd" - John 10:14-21
25. "I And The Father Are One" - John 10:22-42
26. "I Am the Resurrection and the Life" - John 11:1-53
27. "Expensive" - John 11:54-12:11
28. "The Hour Has Come" - John 12:12-26
30. "Believe In Me" - John 12:37-50
31. "Do You Understand What I Have Done For You?" - John 13:1-17
32. "I Am Telling You Now Before It Happens” - John 13:18-38
2024 West Branch Baccalaureate: "The Way, The Truth, and The Life" - John 14:6
33. "I Am the Way and the Truth and the Life” - John 14:1-6
34. "Show Us the Father" - John 14:7-14
35. "If You Love Me" - John 14:15
36. "I Will Ask the Father" - John 14:16-24
37. "My Peace I Give You" - John 14:25-31
38. "I Am the True Vine" - John 15:1-11
39. "You Are My Friends" - John 15:12-17
August 10, 2024
“You Are My Friends” [Matt's Messages]
“You Are My Friends”Life in Jesus’ Name - The Gospel of JohnLanse Evangelical Free ChurchAugust 11, 2024 :: John 15:12-17 Ready for some boggling? Want to have your mind boggled? This is mind-boggling:
In John 15, Jesus tells His disciples that they (and by extension you and I) are His friends
Jesus uses that word “friends” 3 times in these 6 verses.
He says it outright in verse 14, “You are my friends.” There’s our sermon title.
And in verse 15, He says, “I have called you friends.”
What a privilege to carry that designation! A friend of Jesus!
“‘Friendship’ was an important category in the ancient world” (Edward W. Klink III, ZECNT, pg. 657).
I’ve been reading a great book about friendship in the Bible by Rebecca McLaughlin. It’s called No Greater Love: A Biblical Vision for Friendship, and I highly recommend it. There’s a whole chapter just on this passage.
Friendship in that world was similar to and yet also kind of different from what we tend to mean when we use the word “friend” today.
It was different in that friendship didn’t always mean that the two people in the friendship relationship were considered equals. One could actually be a subordinate to the other. We don’t tend to use that word that way about most of our “friendships.” But they often did.
And we’re going to see that here. Jesus is not saying that He and His disciples are equals in everything. Share and share alike. Friend and friend alike. We are not equals with Jesus. But we are His friends.
Being a friend did mean that there was a special bond between the two people. And the word “friend” still means that to us today.
It takes a kind of love to be a friend. In fact, the Greek word translated friend is “philos,” the noun form of the Greek verb for loving something (like, for example, a sibling). “Phileo.” “Philadelphia” the supposed city of brotherly love.
A “philos” is someone you care about. Some you’re attached to. Someone you have something in common with, and you are fond of them. You have affection for them. A bond.
Peter and Macy's best friends came together yesterday be in their wedding party. Several handsome young men and radiant young ladies united together in lasting friendships. Their friends.
And Jesus says to His disciples (and by extension to you and me), “You are my friends.”
Last week, we saw that Jesus called them “the branches.” He was the True Vine, and His Father was the Gardener.
[Does that make the Father the first Branch Manager?]
Jesus said that He was the True Vine and His true disciples were the true branches whose main job was just to stay vitally connected to Him. Remain. Dwell. Abide.
You see here what happens when a so-called branch does not remain. How much fruit will this cut-off branch yield for the Gardener? None. Absolutely none.
But if a branch stays connected to the True Vine, then it will bear much fruit (as we saw in verse 5, and Jesus said in verse 8...) “This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples” (Jn. 15:8 NIVO).
And now He calls these “branches,” His friends.
This is the same occasion. This is the same night. This is just the next few verses. Jesus knows He’s soon to be arrested, soon to be tortured, soon to be mocked, soon to be killed. He’s going away to the Cross.
And before He goes, He’s telling His followers that they aren’t just followers, they are His friends.
And, here, Jesus explains some of what He means by that and gives them at least three things that they are supposed to do because of it. Three points of application this morning. Here’s the first one.
Jesus says, “You are my friends” so...
#1. LOVE LIKE IT.
Look at verse 12.
“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.”
Jesus has been emphasizing obedience to His commands throughout the Farewell Teachings. We had a whole sermon devoted to obeying His commands when the Challenge Crew got back. Chapter 14, verse 15.
Jesus said, “If you love me [my friends], you will obey what I command.”
In verse 9, Jesus said that if we obey His commands, we will remain in His love. We’ll live in His love. Dwelling in His love. Like friends!
And here He says what His big command is, “Love each other as I have loved you.”
Jesus wants His branches to love His other branches.
“Love each other as I have loved you.”
Jesus just keeps hammering this idea, doesn’t He? He’s going to repeat it again in verse 17.
And it is His new command that He gave earlier this very evening when they were still around the table after He washed their feet. It’s our memory verse for 2024. Say it with me:
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (Jn. 13:34-35 NIVO).
Do you think He wants us to love one another?
It must not be that easy to do. It must not come naturally to us. We have to be commanded. We have to be reminded. We have to be told how important it is to our Lord that we do it. “Love each other!”
That’s important because we’re different from each other. We have different values, different personalities, different politics, different priorities, different backgrounds. These branches on Jesus’ vine can be wildly different from one another, but we all have the True Vine of Jesus in common, and so we’re supposed to love the other branches.
And He doesn’t just tell us to; He’s shown us how. Look at verse 12 again.
“Love each other as I have loved you.”
Jesus is our example of this, and there is none greater. Verse 13.
“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”
That’s another verse to memorize. There is no greater love than sacrificial love for someone you say you love.
It’s one thing to say you love someone. To say that they are your friend. Your “philos.” That’s a good thing to say! Even saying it is a kind of love.
But it’s a totally different love on a greater level to actually show your love by sacrificing yourself for your friend.
And it’s even greater if your friend is not your equal! If your friend is your subordinate. Like the Shepherd laying down his life for the sheep. The Shepherd is greater than the sheep! But the Good Shepherd (the Best Shepherd!), lays down his life for the sheep.
The good friend, the best friend, lays down His life even for His inferior friend. We are not equal with Jesus, and yet we are His friends. And Jesus laid down His life for us.
Jesus knows what’s coming. He knows Satan is on his way. He knows that He will be dead in less than 24 hours from asphyxiation while nailed to a post. And He’s choosing it. He’s laying down His life. Willingly.
Because He loves us. Because we are His friends.
“Greater love has no one than this...” If that doesn’t boggle your mind, you haven’t gotten it yet or you’ve forgotten what you know.
But the main reason why Jesus is mentioning His sacrificial love here is because He wants us to do this, too! Jesus wants us to love each other as He has shown us love.
How are we doing at that? How are we doing at loving the other branches? The branches that are different from us? The branches that drive us crazy? The branches we wouldn’t relate to if they weren’t also branches?
Jesus says, “My command is this: Love each other.”
He’s talking to eleven disciples who may have hated each other’s guts if they weren’t all connected to Jesus.
Did you ever look at the backgrounds of Jesus’ disciples and how different they were from one another? We think it’s impressive when Christian Republicans and Christian Democrats can love each other in Jesus in America, but Jesus’ own inner circle had a Zealot and a Tax-Collector in it! One who colluded with the Romans and one who wanted to overthrow them.
“My command is this: Love each other.”
How are we doing at loving the other branches?
Here’s the measure: Are we sacrificing for them? Are we laying down our lives for those we say we love? Most of the time, our laying down our lives is not dying for someone like taking a literal bullet for them, jumping in front of the bus. Most of time it’s a little death, one little death at a time. It’s laying down your rights. It’s refusing to fight. It’s putting someone else’s best interests ahead of your own (Philippians 2).
Who have you recently died for?
Yesterday at their wedding, I talked to Peter and Macy about forgiving each other as Christ forgave them. That's a little bit like death each time you do it, but it's always the best way to live and to love!
Don’t wait until they deserve it to begin. Thankfully, Jesus did not wait until we deserved His love for Him to lay down His life for us. Don’t wait until that other Christians in your life have become worthy of your love before you start laying down your life for them. Because they won’t ever.
One great example of how this church family is growing in love is our Malawi Missions Team. Those 3 gave up some their limited vacation time to go over the sea and share our love with our Malawi branches. And you all gave from your own funds to send them. And you gave from your own hard-earned funds to send along with them money for food. That’s laying down your life for those you call your friends. That’s following our Lord’s example and obeying our Lord’s command. And that’s acting like Jesus’ friends.
You are my friends, so love like it. That’s the point of verse 14.
“You are my friends if you do what I command.”
Now, that sounds a little funny to our ears. Because we don’t tend to talk like that to our friends:
“You’re my buddy if you do what I say.”
But that’s not what He’s talking about. And it’s not a buddy-buddy friendship. Jesus is saying that if you do what He commands, you will show yourself to be His friend. A true friend is someone you can count on. A true friend is someone who acts like one.
We could say it this way. “You are my friends” so...
#2. LIVE LIKE IT.
Our obedience does not make us His friends, it shows that we are.
“You are my friends (and all will know it) if you do what I command.”
How wrong would it be if we said that we were the friends of Jesus, and we lived the exact opposite way that our Lord asked us to?! A true friend wants what their true friend wants. We show our friendship to Jesus by our obedience.
And that’s different from just blind obedience. That’s different from just mindless obedience. That’s the point that Jesus is making in verse 15.
“I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.”
Now, there is a sense in which, of course, we are still also His servants.
But Jesus is emphasizing here that we aren’t mindless slaves. We aren’t robots. We aren’t following Jesus’ commands just because He says so and He’s more powerful than we are.
We don’t just obey because we’re scared of being punished if we don’t. We obey because we are His friends. We obey because we love Him. We obey because He’s told us what He is up to, and we’re a part of it!
Yes, this is saying we’re on Jesus’ team!
This is mind-boggling. “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business [They don’t know what God is up to in the world]. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.”
Jesus has told them about the mission that He was sent on.
He has told them about His special relationship with the Father. He is the " monogenays ," the One and Only Begotten Son sent from the Father full of grace and truth. He has told them about the Father’s love for the big bad world and how He has sent His One and Only Son to save everyone who believes in Him. He has told them He is going away to prepare a place for them and that He’s coming back for them to take them to be with Him. He’s told them that He’s going to ask the Father to send another Counselor, the Holy Spirit to take His place.
“Everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” Jesus has taken them into His confidence. He’s disclosed Himself. He’s shown them the Father. They are not equals, but they are confidants. They have been brought into His circle. They are His friends.
And so are we. So we should live like it.
We know what Jesus wants from us. We have all of His teachings to study and put into practice. And we even know WHY we are supposed to do them. We are not mindless slaves. We are inner circle friends.
Are we acting like it?
Jesus tells His followers that they are on the inside with Him because He took the initiative to bring them there. They aren’t there because they’re so smart or because they deserve it or because they moved first. Look at verse 16.
“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit–fruit that will last.”
And there He is back to the vine metaphor.
Jesus says that His disciples did not love Him first. He loved them first. Before they ever chose Him, He was choosing them. We saw that in chapter 1 when He started gathering His disciples. And He’s doing that today. He always makes the first move, even if we never perceive it. We love because He first loved us. He came after us to make us His friends.
And to make us His branches, bearing much fruit that will last forever.
We are His friends (because of His love), so we should live like it.
We should live lives like Jesus’ with “[L]ove, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Gal. 5:22-23 NIVO).
Last week, we said that bearing fruit meant more followers of Jesus, and it meant more followers of Jesus living like Jesus!
That’s what we’re trying to do this week with the Good News Cruise, isn’t it? We’re trying to make more followers of Jesus and live as followers of Jesus more like Jesus. That’s the main thing, right? And we always say, “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.”
Jesus told us, “I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit–fruit that will last.”
You are my friends so live like it.
And pray like it. V.16
“Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.”
#3. PRAY LIKE IT.
Jesus says that when we are on mission, bearing lasting fruit, His Father will give us whatever we ask in Jesus’ name. The Father delights to answer our prayers as we pray them in the name and authority and will of His Son. Jesus has been hitting this theme over and over again in the Farewell Teachings, hasn’t He? He wants us to ask for things.
Just because He’s going away doesn’t mean that we have no access to God. We have the Spirit, and we have prayer in Jesus’ name. And the Father is listening.
I think that Jesus says this kind of thing over and over again because we are tempted to not believe it. We often don’t believe that the Father really wants us to pray or that He really will answer our prayers.
But Jesus presents a picture of a generous heavenly Father bent on giving good gifts to His people. The Father/Gardener loves to bless the branches as they reach up to Him!
One of the true marks of friendship is being able to ask for something right?
We say, “I need a favor, and I’m asking as your friend.”
This weekend, any time Peter or Macy asked their friends to do something, they just jumped right up and took care of it.
One of the most important parts of having a friend is being there for each other. Well, Jesus doesn’t need anything from us. But He asks for our obedience.
But He wants us to ask Him for stuff and His Father for stuff. And because we are His friends, we should expect answers!
Of course, truly good friends will tell you, “No,” from time to time if you are asking for something dumb or bad or at the wrong time. But the best of friends love to help their friend out.
“Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.”
What are you asking in Jesus’ name today? I have my list. There’s something I’ve begun to ask for every single day. And I’m asking the Father through the Son in the Spirit. He hasn’t given it to me yet. But I’m asking. I’m a branch connected by faith to the True Vine, and I’m asking. I’m a friend of Jesus, and I’m asking. What are you asking for?
Pray for the Good News Cruise this week. Pray for all the details, and pray for lost souls. There are guaranteed to be lost people on our campus on Saturday, and we need to pray for them.
“I have called you friends...” so pray like it. “Take it to the Lord in prayer."
And here’s another thing to pray for. Pray for the love you need to love the other branches. Verse 17 and last.
“This is my command: Love each other.”
I think He’s serious about that. It’s not an option for the branches on the True Vine. Jesus wants His branches to love His other branches.
And mind-bogglingly, He has shown us no greater love than this at the Cross.
***
Messages in this Series
01. "That You May Believe" - John 20:30-31
02. "In The Beginning Was the Word" - John 1:1-18
03. "John's Testimony" - John 1:19-34
04. "Come and See" - John 1:35-51
05. "The First of His Miraculous Signs" - John 2:1-11
06. "This Temple" - John 2:12-25
07. "You Must Be Born Again" - John 3:1-15
08. "God So Loved The World" - John 3:16-21
09. "Above All" - John 3:22-36
10. "Living Water" - John 4:1-26
11. "Ripe for the Harvest" - John 4:27-42
12. "Your Son Will Live" - John 4:43-54
13. "Pick Up Your Mat and Walk" - John 5:1-18
14. "To Your Amazement" - John 5:19-30
15. "Testimony About Me" - John 5:31-47
Christmas Eve Bonus: "The Astonishing Gift" - John 3:16 Again
Christmas Eve Bonus: "We Have Seen His Glory" - John 1:1-18 Again
16. "Enough Bread" - John 6:1-15
17. "You Are Looking for Me" - John 6:16-36
18. "I Am the Bread of Life" - John 6:35-71
Vision Meeting Bonus: "As I Have Loved You" - John 13:34-35
19. "At the Feast" - John 7:1-52
20. "I Am the Light of the World" - John 8:12-30
21. "Your Father" - John 8:31-59
22. "Now I See" - John 9:1-41
23. "I Am The Gate" - John 10:1-13
24. "I Am the Good Shepherd" - John 10:14-21
25. "I And The Father Are One" - John 10:22-42
26. "I Am the Resurrection and the Life" - John 11:1-53
27. "Expensive" - John 11:54-12:11
28. "The Hour Has Come" - John 12:12-26
30. "Believe In Me" - John 12:37-50
31. "Do You Understand What I Have Done For You?" - John 13:1-17
32. "I Am Telling You Now Before It Happens” - John 13:18-38
2024 West Branch Baccalaureate: "The Way, The Truth, and The Life" - John 14:6
33. "I Am the Way and the Truth and the Life” - John 14:1-6
34. "Show Us the Father" - John 14:7-14
35. "If You Love Me" - John 14:15
36. "I Will Ask the Father" - John 14:16-24
37. "My Peace I Give You" - John 14:25-3138. "I Am the True Vine" - John 15:1-11
August 4, 2024
“I Am the True Vine” [Matt's Messages]
“I Am the True Vine”Life in Jesus’ Name - The Gospel of JohnLanse Evangelical Free ChurchAugust 4, 2024 :: John 15:1-11 Here He goes again!
Once again, Jesus makes everything about Himself.
Six times so far we have heard Jesus make a grand statement like this about Himself in the Gospel of John. Six times, He has said, “I Am” and then filled in the blank with an astonishing claim about Himself.
He said, "I am the Bread of Life." He said, "I am the Light of the World."He said, "I am the Gate for the Sheep."He said, "I am the Good Shepherd."He said, "I am the Resurrection and the Life."
And just a few moments ago, on this very same night, He said, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life.”
And now, the seventh “I Am” and the last one in this book, Jesus says, “I Am the True Vine.”
There He goes again. What did He mean by that?
It’s obviously a figure of speech, an extended metaphor. Jesus doesn’t mean that He is “Groot,” some kind of strange creature made of vines like the character from the Marvel movies. It’s a metaphor, but a powerful one. And an extended one. Jesus is going to explain what he means for 8 verses and then continue to refer to it beyond that. What’s going on?
Well, first we have to remember where Jesus was in chapter 15. This is the night that Jesus was betrayed. The night before the Cross. And Jesus has just told His closest followers huddled together inside that He is going away. So we often call this section of Scripture, “The Farewell Teachings of Jesus.”
His disciples are distraught and troubled so Jesus is giving them comfort and big promises that will sustain them and us[!] in the days to come.
In chapter 14, He has promised to make an eternal home for them and then come back for them to take them (and us!) there.
He has promised to answer prayers in His name about whatever and anything.
He has promised to personally pray the Father to give His disciples another Counselor (another Comforter, another Alongsider), the Holy Spirit to be with them and inside them (and us!) forever.
And He’s promised them (and us!) the gift of His peace.
And the last chapter ended with Jesus saying (14:31), “Come now; let us leave.” Now, it doesn’t say it outright, but my guess is that they all got up from the table then and headed out the door towards the Garden of Gethsemane. But Jesus doesn’t stop teaching them as they go. And my best guess is that they walk through a vineyard. And Jesus uses what is around them to teach them about their relationship with Him. And Who He truly is.
He said, “I am the true vine.”
Now, what they knew that we often miss is that in the Old Testament, the nation of Israel was often symbolized by a vine. It’s all over the Old Testament. Israel was supposed to be a vine and vineyard full of life from God and producing much fruit for God. Israel was supposed flourish and be obedient and do great things for God, replicating the life of God in the world and for the world. Do you know that? Read Isaiah 5 this afternoon. Or Psalm 80. Or Ezekiel 15.
But, catch this, every single time Israel is called a vine in the Old Testament, they also are depicted as a FAILURE. A vine that does not produce good fruit. A vine that is disappointing to God. A vine that doesn’t do what the vine is supposed to do. Fruitless. Dead. Barren.
So what does Jesus come along and say about Himself?
“I am the TRUE vine.”
Jesus is what Israel was supposed to be all along. Jesus is going to succeed where Israel always failed. Jesus is going to flourish and have abundant life and fruit popping off of Him in every direction! Jesus is the TRUE vine. Just like He’s the GOOD Shepherd and the Bread of LIFE. He is the TRUE fulfillment of everything Israel was supposed to be. And the TRUE source of life for all who are vitally connected to Him.
There He goes again making everything about Him because, it turns out, everything is about Him.
Now, Jesus makes several points of analogy with his metaphor.
He says that He is the true vine. And He says that “His Father,” whom He loves to talk about, is “the gardener.” Verse 1.
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.”
Some of you may have “husbandman” or “vinedresser” or “viticulturist.” That’s the person who tends the vineyard.
Now, all analogies break down somewhere. This is not saying that Jesus is something completely different from God the Father. We have been learning that the Father is God and the Son is God (and the Spirit is God). But in this metaphor, Jesus is the true vine, and His Father is the gardener.
So who or what are the branches? It’s people, like you and me, who claim to be followers of Jesus. People who claim to be His disciples and who claim to belong to Him.
[VINE] This came from Josh and Katie’s little vineyard here in Lanse. Thank you, Josh. You are a viticulturist! You are a husbandman. These are some branches that were just cut off yesterday.
In His metaphor, Jesus is the True Vine, the trunk of the vine, the heart of the vine, so to speak, where all of the life and heart and sap and vitality is.
Is that here in this room? No. That’s over at Josh and Katie’s house. If we wanted to see what Jesus was, we would have to have church over there. But you can get the idea. Jesus is the true vine, and people who claim to be connected to Him are the branches. Like these.
What does Jesus teach about the branches? Look at verse 2.
“He [the gardener] cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.”
There are two different basic kinds of branches.
There are what we might call “fake” branches and what we might call “true” branches.
The Father/Gardener looks at the branches and sees if there is fruit. If there is no fruit, He cuts off that branch. It’s no good. It’s just “faking it” we might say. He determines that it’s no good, and verse 6 will tell us where “branches” like that end up.
This is people, perhaps, like Judas. They appear to be disciples, but the Gardener can tell by close inspection that they really are not.
But other branches, upon close inspection, bear fruit. They have grapes. They are the real deal. What does Father/Gardener do with them?
He cuts them, too. He prunes them. He doesn’t cut them off. He prunes them. Or the word in verse 2 could be translated “cleans them.” He cleans up the branch, taking off the little tiny shoots that will get in the way of greater fruitfulness.
My wife once explained to me that a plant’s natural inclination is not to bear fruit but to keep growing more branches, more leaves, etc. But with each bit of growth, a loss of energy happens. So when a plant is carefully pruned, it focuses the life in the plant to produce stronger, healthier shoots, leaves, and more and better fruit. Make sense?
So what’s the basic difference between the two kind of branches?
Whether or not they yield or bear fruit, right?
What is “fruit” in this metaphor? Well, if Jesus is the vine, and we are the branches, then I think that the fruit must be the life of Jesus coming out of our lives.
Fruit is the product of a process, right? It’s the natural result of life doing what life does. So if you have an apple tree, and it’s fruitful, you get apples. If you have a orange tree, and it’s fruitful, you get oranges. If you have phone tree, and it’s fruitful, you get more phones, right? That last one is a joke because our phone are not alive. At least not yet. If you have a phone tree, you get more phone calls.
If you have a true Jesus vine, then what comes off of the vine is little true “Jesuses.” It’s the true life of Jesus producing true life in Jesus’ followers. So it’s more followers of Jesus, and it’s more followers of Jesus living like Jesus!
I think it’s things like what the Bible calls “the fruit of the Spirit.” Can you list the ninefold fruit of the Spirit? It’s “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Gal. 5:22-23 NIVO). That sounds a lot like Jesus to me. And if we are His branches, that’s the kind of fruit I would expect to find on us.
And so would the Father/Gardener. He looks us over and He says, “Yep. I see the fruit. This one is mine. Nope. I don’t see any fruit. This one wasn’t real. Cut it out of there.”
This one from Josh’s had some fruit on it. Here’s a little bunch of grapes. It would have been a keeper if we didn’t need it for this illustration.
What did Jesus say the Father does to those branches that do bear fruit? Does He just leave them alone? No. He prunes them. That sounds painful. He takes the snipper to them.
He allows pain and suffering into their life to help them grow bigger and better fruit. More love, more joy, bigger peace, bigger patience, bigger kindness, bigger goodness, bigger faithfulness, and bigger gentleness and more self-control.
That’s encouraging to me. That’s actually comforting because when my life gets to hurting, I sometimes think I must be doing it wrong.
But Jesus said that the Father snips so that I would more fruitful. He never cuts off anything that is actually vital. I don’t lack for anything. But things that hinder? Snip, snip. Things that might stop my growth? Snip, snip. Things that need to go, no matter how painful? Snip, snip. “So that [I] will be even more fruitful.”
Now, what kind of branches are you and I?
Jesus knew that the eleven disciples still sitting there with Him that night were the real kind of fruitful branches. Look at verse 3.
“You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.”
They had experienced pruning already. Judas who was not clean (or faithful or fruitful) had left the circle. These eleven had put their true faith and trust in Jesus and were saved (see John 13:10). Jesus knows that they will bear fruit and fruit that will last.
And here’s where He gives them their instructions and another promise. V.4
“Remain in me, and I will remain in you.”
I have four points of personal application this morning, but they call flow out of this big one.
#1. STAY.
Jesus says, “Remain in me, and I will remain in you.”
Some of your versions will say, “Abide” which is a beautiful word that we need to bring back. But we just don’t use it very much in English these days. We also don’t use it’s noun form, “Abode.” A place to “abide.” A place to dwell.
The Greek word here is “meno.” Which is the same root at the word for “dwelling places” or “rooms” like in chapter 14, verse 2, “In my Father’s house are many rooms....” “Monays.” We might say, “A place to stay.”
Jesus says that we should “remain” in Him. And He’s going to use that word “remain” at least 10 times from here to verse 11!
“Remain, remain, remain, remain, remain, remain, remain, remain, remain, remain.” I think He means it!
And means to do it Himself. “And I will remain in you.” Ge will stay connected to us. He asks us to stay connected to Him.
What does that mean? What does that look like?
Well, this is one of those places where the analogy continues but also kind of breaks down, right? I mean the branches of a grapevine don’t get to decide whether or not to stay attached to the rest of the vine, do they?
But that’s the very thing that Jesus is telling us to do with Him.
Stay connected to the true vine. Stick with Christ. Keep trusting Him. Draw your life from Him. Stay close to Him. Persevere in faith. Stay dependent on Him.
This is not about earning your salvation. This is about not abandoning your Savior. Not departing from Him. Stay. Stay dependent on Jesus because there is no life outside of Him. He’s the true vine. Look at verse 4.
“Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” Verse 5. “‘I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”
Stay. Stay dependent.
Anybody know what this branch is going to look like in a few days? It was just cut off yesterday, and it’s already brown around the edges. It was vibrantly green yesterday!
These grapes will be no good, and there will be no more grapes.
“Apart from [Jesus] you can do nothing.”
What does that mean? People who don’t trust in Jesus can do lots of things. You can do lots of things without Jesus, but nothing of eternal value. You can’t yield true fruit without being vitally connected to the true Vine.
Stay. Reside. Abide. Whatever you do, don’t leave. Because...look at verse 6.
“If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.”
That’s Judas, right? That’s the people who look like disciples of Jesus maybe for a time but then they bail on Jesus. Like those people in chapter 6 who just couldn’t accept that Jesus was the Bread of Life and walked away (John 6:66).
And Jesus asked the Twelve, “You do not want to leave too, do you?”
And Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God” (Jn. 6:67-69 NIVO).
The Eleven stayed. They will have their ups and downs. They will be tried and tested and go through trouble. They will be pruned. But they will remain. They will abide. And they will bear fruit.
In fact, we in this room are a part of that fruit!
Stay. Stay dependent. Don’t try to do the whole Christian thing on your own. Some people think that they have to somehow produce fruit in their own power. That’s like asking this vine here to pop off some more grapes. Not going to happen! This isn’t about doing good works to somehow impress the Father/Gardener. This is about resting and trusting and staying vitally attached to Jesus the True Vine. Does that make sense? Do you see what I’m saying?
There’s a warning here, for sure. It’s for those who stop trusting in Jesus and walk away (in their hearts). Don’t be like Judas. Don’t depart. “Such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.”
Stay. If you stay, you will bear fruit. It’s inevitable. The true life in the True Vine will pulsate from the True Vine to the True branches and produce true fruit. Jesus says (v.5 again), “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit.” Guaranteed! You can count on it.
Do you want to grow in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control? I do! I want to be (like we talked about last week) transformed into the image of Christ.
I want to be fruitful. I want more followers of Jesus, and I want to be a follower more and more like Jesus. Here’s how you get there: STAY. Remain in Jesus. Abide in Jesus. Dwell in Jesus. Allow the pruning. Submit to the snipping, painful as it can be. Stay. Keep trusting Him. Keep drawing your life from Him. And it will happen. “He will bear much fruit.”
And your prayers will be answered! Look at verse 7.
“If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.”
That’s point number two this morning, but you can see how it’s really just the same application.
#2. ASK.
Jesus tells His disciples if they remain in Him, and His words remain in them, they can pray about “whatever,” and it will be answered. I think that “my words remain in you” is pretty much the same thing as “I remain in you” (from verse 4), but the emphasis is on Jesus’ teaching. If they have filled their minds with Jesus’ teaching, they will increasingly pray for the things that Jesus would want, in line with Jesus’ will.
And we learned in chapter 14 (verse 13&14) that the Son will answer our prayers in His name in the way which the answers will bring the most glory to the Father.
If we are abiding in Jesus, then we will see amazing answers to prayer! Have you seen your prayers answered? Have you been praying? Have you been asking?
I think we read a verse like this and we take it of the context of everything else the Bible says about prayer. We shouldn’t do that. So this doesn’t mean that the answer won’t sometimes be, “No.” Jesus was abiding in His Father, and the Father told Him, “No.” That’s true, too.
But also shouldn’t also KEEP FROM ASKING because we don’t believe these words! This is Jesus telling us to ask. Ask, seek, knock. The True Vine says, “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.” Sometimes you have not because you ask not. Stay and ask.
And that will bring the glory to the Father. Verse 8.
“This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”
This is why our church exists. Right here. What is our purpose statement as a church? Lanse Evangelical Free Church exists why?
"To glorify God (“This is to my Father’s glory”) by bringing people into a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ." In other words, to get people connected to the True Vine. And as they do, they will bear much fruit, and we will show ourselves to be His true followers!
The Gardener gets the glory! The Father/Gardener walks through the vineyard, and says, “Have you seen the size of my grapes?!” He gets the credit. “This is to my Father’s glory.” As we show ourselves to be Jesus’ disciples. Which means that we obey Him. That’s point number thre e.
#3. OBEY.
But, again, it’s really still the first point. Stay. Remain. Look at verse 9.
“‘As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain [same word] in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love.”
Now, don’t get the wrong idea from these two verses! It might sound to you like, “If you don’t obey me, I’ll stop loving you. My love is completely dependent on your obedience.” Like an abusive parent. But that’s not at all what it’s saying!
It starts with Jesus’ love, and it says that He has loved us as the Father has loved Him! That’s amazing just all by itself! “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.” That’s not like an abusive parent! That’s a sacrificial parent. We’re going to see, next week, in verse 18, just how much He loved us. He loved us enough to lay down His life for us.
And that’s what we are going to remember at His table in just a minute. Do you know how much He loved you?
Jesus says that He wants us to remain in His love. To stay in His love. That’s the same thing as staying in Him. Abiding in Him. The emphasis isn’t on His words here (like in verse 7) or His Person (like in verse 5), but in His love.
We need to not depart from His love! We need to live in His love. Dwell in His love. Depend on His love. Enjoy His love. Draw our life from His love. His love is the “sap” so to speak. His love is like the living energy that’s being transmitted through the True Vine to the true branches. His love is pulsating from Jesus to us.
Don’t walk away from that! Don’t detach from that! Because that will empower your obedience. Right?
That’s how it worked for Jesus. See what He says in verse 10? “Just I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love.” The Son’s obedience didn’t create His loving relationship with the Father. It just furthered it. Nurtured it. Continued it.
The Father loved the Son, and the Son lived off of that love and loved the Father back by obeying Him which made the Father just love Him the more! Which made the Son just want to obey Him even more (see John 14:31). If “even more” is even a way we can talk about Trinitarian love!
Stay in the love of Jesus by obeying Him. Obey. Do you know His commands? Next week, we’ll remind ourselves of some of them. Don’t disobey. Don’t conform to this world. Don’t step away from His love. Don’t step away from enjoying His love and trusting His love. When we go off and sin, we are saying that His love is not enough for us. Reside in His love. Stay and obey His commands.
And you will have joy.
#4. REJOICE.
Look at verse 11.
“I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”Yes, Jesus makes everything about Him.
But that’s because everything is about Him. So if we our lives about Him, then we will enjoy His joy! He told us that He is the True Vine so that we could get “His joy” inside of us. Last time, it was “His peace” that we get.
Now it’s “His joy” which could be just the joy that is a gift from Jesus. And that would be good enough. But I tend to think that He’s actually promising to give us a taste of His own joy, Jesus’ joy, His own divine happiness in having Himself. His own blessedness transferred from our vital connection from the True Vine into His true branches!
The fruit of the Spirit is joy! We get His joy as we remain in Him. And not just temporary joy. Here today and gone tomorrow. But He says (v.11), “That your joy may be complete.” Full of joy.
Joy, joy, joy. Deep in my soul! Stay. And rejoice. Forever.
***
Messages in this Series
01. "That You May Believe" - John 20:30-31
02. "In The Beginning Was the Word" - John 1:1-18
03. "John's Testimony" - John 1:19-34
04. "Come and See" - John 1:35-51
05. "The First of His Miraculous Signs" - John 2:1-11
06. "This Temple" - John 2:12-25
07. "You Must Be Born Again" - John 3:1-15
08. "God So Loved The World" - John 3:16-21
09. "Above All" - John 3:22-36
10. "Living Water" - John 4:1-26
11. "Ripe for the Harvest" - John 4:27-42
12. "Your Son Will Live" - John 4:43-54
13. "Pick Up Your Mat and Walk" - John 5:1-18
14. "To Your Amazement" - John 5:19-30
15. "Testimony About Me" - John 5:31-47
Christmas Eve Bonus: "The Astonishing Gift" - John 3:16 Again
Christmas Eve Bonus: "We Have Seen His Glory" - John 1:1-18 Again
16. "Enough Bread" - John 6:1-15
17. "You Are Looking for Me" - John 6:16-36
18. "I Am the Bread of Life" - John 6:35-71
Vision Meeting Bonus: "As I Have Loved You" - John 13:34-35
19. "At the Feast" - John 7:1-52
20. "I Am the Light of the World" - John 8:12-30
21. "Your Father" - John 8:31-59
22. "Now I See" - John 9:1-41
23. "I Am The Gate" - John 10:1-13
24. "I Am the Good Shepherd" - John 10:14-21
25. "I And The Father Are One" - John 10:22-42
26. "I Am the Resurrection and the Life" - John 11:1-53
27. "Expensive" - John 11:54-12:11
28. "The Hour Has Come" - John 12:12-26
30. "Believe In Me" - John 12:37-50
31. "Do You Understand What I Have Done For You?" - John 13:1-17
32. "I Am Telling You Now Before It Happens” - John 13:18-38
2024 West Branch Baccalaureate: "The Way, The Truth, and The Life" - John 14:6
33. "I Am the Way and the Truth and the Life” - John 14:1-6
34. "Show Us the Father" - John 14:7-14
35. "If You Love Me" - John 14:15
36. "I Will Ask the Father" - John 14:16-24
37. "My Peace I Give You" - John 14:25-31
July 28, 2024
“________formed” [Matt's Messages]
“________formed”Family Bible Week 2024 - Breaker Rock BeachLanse Evangelical Free ChurchJuly 28, 2024 :: Romans 12:2Our Lord wants us to change because He always stays the same.
I really enjoyed our theme this week. It was different from years gone by. One of the reasons I enjoyed it is because Heather and I have just come back from visiting her family in the Pacific Northwest!
I’m sure that Vicky didn’t know that we were going to vacation there when she picked this out theme, but Heather and I came home from Vancouver Island and Washington State, and Karen and Shelly transformed our building into a Breaker Rock Beach!
Here’s some pictures I took from the beaches I walked on just last month. Rocks. Driftwood. Some tall trees. Lots of water. Sand. It looks a lot like the videos we watched this week.
The point of the theme this week is that Jesus Christ is the Solid Rock and His Word is trustworthy and true. Unlike the shifting sands of the world around us.
Every morning when I went out for my before breakfast walk, the beach had a re-set. The tide came and the tide went out and the sand was all different. Footprints were erased. The landscape had changed. There were different little rocks. Different sea-shells. Different driftwood. The beach was worn down just a little bit more. Everything was different. The ocean is powerful and the beach is shaped and formed by it.
Have you ever been to the beach? You know what I’m talking about?
But a solid rock, in contrast, does not move so easily. It stands there even if the waves beat against it. [I wish I had snapped a picture of a great big rock on one of those beaches. I never thought of it.]
Now, of course, all analogies break down at some point because even all rocks will eventually get shifted by the ocean. But imagine a rock that is completely un-shiftable.
That’s what we’ve been talking about this week. Jesus Christ is such a Rock, and His word is unshakable.
And here in Romans chapter 12, His unchangeable Word says that we need to be changed.
We need to be _____formed.
In verse 2, the Apostle Paul gives us two different commands that are like two sides of the same coin. He says:
“Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God” (Rom. 12:2, CSB).
Nearly all of the English translations have this great little play on words in verse 2. It’s not actually in the Greek words, as they come from different roots, but it very effectively captures the meaning of the two words.
Do not be con-formed to this age.But be trans-formed by the renewing of your mind.
Notice: Being _____formed is inescapable.
We will all be _____formed in one way or another.
The question is what will form us? And what eventual form will we take? What will capture our minds and hearts? What will we become?
Romans 12:2 says that if we make the right choices here, we will increasingly know the right thing to do. I don’t know about you, but I want to be able tell what is the right thing to do! I want to be able to “discern [to pick out and love] what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.”
Let’s look at this verse more closely.
We don’t have time this morning to explain everything that has led up to Romans 12:2. [See our study “All Roads Lead to Romans 2014-2016.”] Paul has been explaining the truth of the Gospel and how it’s the good news for all who believe. Eleven chapters of God’s amazing grace and mercy on display! And in chapter 12, Paul is beginning to unpack what a difference that gospel of grace makes in the lives of all true believers.
In verse 1, he says that it means that we must give our whole selves over to God in total worship. He says, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship” (Rom. 12:1 NIVO).
Hold nothing back. He held nothing back for us at the Cross. We should hold nothing back from Him.
And in verse 2, he says what that looks like in terms of letting God change our whole lives. “Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God” (Rom. 12:2, CSB).
#1. DO NOT BE CONFORMED TO THIS AGE.
This is what we are supposed to avoid. This is what we are supposed to resist. This is where we say, “No.”
Followers of Jesus are supposed to be different from the world. We are supposed to go against the flow.
Paul says to not be conformed to “this age.” What “age” is that? The NIV calls it, “the pattern of the world.”
This “age” is this present time, this world that exists, between the Fall of humanity and the Return of Christ and the coming of His Kingdom.
It’s this long evil time period that we are living in while we wait for His Kingdom to come. And this time, this age, is marked by wickedness and rebellion against God. And by a completely different set of values than the values of the Kingdom to come.
Do you feel pressure to conform to this age?
To become like the world?
How the world talks? How the world dresses?How the world entertains themselves?How the world works?How the world acts?
The ocean is a powerful thing! There is amazing pressure on us to conform.
And, often, it’s so powerful we don’t even feel it. It’s an undercurrent.
The worst temptations to conform are the ones where the world is telling us to do what feels right to us already. Where it’s the thing we naturally want to do.
For example, to complain. The world says, “Complain! Grumble. Get your way. Get on social media and blast those people who are doing it wrong. Stand up for your rights and get what is coming to you. Be outraged and pour on the shame and condemnation.”
And, boy, does that feel right! (And, yes, there is a right way and time to do something like it righteously.)
But I often want to complain sinfully. So it doesn’t take much to “conform to this age!”
But Philippians 2 says, “Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life” (Phil. 2:14-16 NIVO).
Like the Milky Way on a dark night, we are supposed to stand out and shine.
That’s why I was so happy with how everyone handled the water problem at church on Wednesday night at Family Bible Week. You weren't complaining. You weren’t conforming.
Years ago, J.B. Phillips paraphrased this so well. He put it, “Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould.”
What are some of the ways that the world has squeezing you recently?
I think a lot of us immediately think about the pressure in “this age” to celebrate sinful sexuality and gender confusion. Same-sex romance and “marriage.” Trans-genderism.
The world wants us to conform.
And if you are tempted to reject God’s good design for males and females, then I urge you to resist. Do not conform.
But I think “this age” is also happy to get us to conform in another way on those issues.
“This age” is happy to have us become hateful and unloving with our words and actions towards people who are different from us or who have different struggles than we do. Being judgmental and condemnatory and rude and unkind. And pushing people into rigid stereotypes aren’t biblical either.
I’ve had several private conversations recently with a bunch of you about how to love people in your lives that identify as LGBTQ. To not conform to an worldly ideology and at the same time not conform to a worldly animosity. I’m so proud of you for resisting both directions.
By the way, I want to recommend this book that the kids got to hear about at Challenge. More to the Story: Deep Answers to Real Questions on Attraction, Identity, and Relationships by my friend Jennifer Kvamme. It's the best book out there right now for young people, especially.
Do not conform. Either way.
Where are you feeling the squeeze? Where do you feel the undertow? Where is “the ocean” trying to take you these days? Shape you, form you? And it even feels so right. Do not conform. But, instead:
#2. BE TRANSFORMED BY THE RENEWING OF YOUR MIND.
The Lord wants us to change because He always stays the same. The Lord doesn’t just tell us to resist culture. He tells us to change our minds and to be transformed. Just like Karen and Shelly transformed our building into a beach for the month, the Lord wants to do a total make-over of us, but permanently.
Be transformed.
This is different from the beach analogy. We aren’t just supposed to keep from being shaped by the world, we are supposed to be shaped by the Word. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
That says that true change starts in our minds and hearts and then works out into the rest of our words, deeds, and lives. And we renew our minds by reviewing biblical truth.
That’s why we have Family BIBLE Week, right? Because the world is blaring at us 24/7, we need to regularly come back to see what God’s Word says. Jesus’ followers are constantly bathing our minds in biblical truth so that they get renewed.
We don’t have to wonder what God wants us to actually be like. If you keep reading Romans 12, 13, 14, and 15, you get a picture of how God wants to, by His grace, radically transform His people.
For example, the world wants us to believe in ourselves and have high self-esteem and follow our hearts and believe that we are the best!
But what does verse 3 say? The very next verse.
“For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you” (Rom. 12:3 NIVO).
The Lord seeks to make us humble people. Transformed into humility. Our adult class this week learned a lot about humility by thinking about the greatness of God.
God is God, and we are not. Let that renew your mind. This is what our church is all about. It’s in our purpose statement. We exist to glorify God by bringing people into a...what?
A life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ.
He loves us just as we are but He loves us too much to leave us that way. He wants to transform us by the renewing of our minds.
This is what our parents' class was talking about this week. What they are trying to do with their kids. Teaching them solid-unchanging biblical truth so that they can be transformed by the renewing of their minds. Change is hard. It’s hard to change, isn’t it? It’s easy to go along with the undercurrent. It’s hard to fight against it.
What does it take to change?
It takes something unchanging to change! You have to have something solid to hold onto. You need a rock. You need a God like the One we learned about this week. Great and forever unchanging.
And you have to know what He says (and always says!) so that you can let that change your mind. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Learn His new pattern of thinking.
For example, this age says, “Be greedy. Grab all the money you can. And keep all the money you can. That’s where happiness is. Money makes the world go around.” Is that what God’s Word says?
No. Jesus said, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Lk. 12:15 NIVO).
Or skip down to verse 13 here in Romans 12. “Share with God’s people who are in need.”
So God owns all the money, right? And He has given it to us to enjoy and to be generous with.
And so we are sending Keith, Steph, and Mary Beth with our money to share with God’s people in Malawi who are in need.
And we have a big group planning to do it, not just in Africa but also, in America. You know we’ve been working on sending a group to Kentucky with Crisis Response next summer? Well, we have so many generous people in our congregation who want to go, that we are going to have to send two different teams on two different weeks in 2025 to share with God’s people who are in need.
That’s because we’re being transformed here by the renewing of our minds.
Listen to that whole section. Verses 9 through 21.
“Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.
Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord. On the contrary: ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.’
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Rom. 12:9-13:1 NIVO).
Those are the values of the Kingdom! That sounds a lot like the Sermon on the Mount to me, as I’ll bet it does to the Challenge Crew.
But it does not sound like the values of “this age.” “This age” says to hate our enemies. To blast our opponents on social media every chance we get. Give “them” a taste of their own medicine.
But our Rock says, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you” (Lk. 6:27-28 NIVO).
That’s not easy to do[!], but Jesus did it. He showed us how. And He does not change.
And as we fill and renew our minds with biblical truth, we can be transformed into His image. We can increasingly share in the shareable attributes of God Himself.
And as we continue do this, we will increasingly be able to make wise choices. We’ll increasingly know the right thing to do. Verse 2 says, “...be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.” By God’s grace, we can live out the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God! I want that for me, and I want that for you.
And there’s only one way to get there. And it’s through Jesus Christ.
The kids have learned this week that “this age” says that there are many ways to get to heaven.
But we have renewed our minds, so we know that is false and as untrustworthy as shifting sands. We know what we have learned in John 14.
Jesus said of Himself, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (Jn. 14:6 NIVO). But everyone who comes through Him and what He did for us at the Cross gets to the Father!
Jesus Christ is the only way, and He is the only Rock.
July 21, 2024
“My Peace I Give You” [Matt's Messages]
“My Peace I Give You”Life in Jesus’ Name - The Gospel of JohnLanse Evangelical Free ChurchJuly 21, 2024 :: John 14:25-31 Satan was coming for Jesus.
“The prince of this world,” the prince of darkness grim, the enemy of our souls was coming to take Jesus down.
Just a short while ago in this very room, Satan had entered into Judas Iscariot, and he had slipped out of the room and entered into the night (13:27-30).
And now this Satan-infested Judas was on his way back with Romans soldiers to arrest Jesus. And to see that Jesus was tortured and killed. Satan was coming for Jesus.
And Jesus knew it. He knew it in His bones. He knew Satan was coming for Him, gunning for Him, coming to take Him down.
And how did He respond? Did He panic? Did He run? Did He fall apart?
No. He was troubled in spirit (13:21). He felt strong emotions. He felt like quitting. He wanted to ask His Father to save Him from this hour (12:27). He sweat like He was bleeding (Luke 22:44).
But Jesus resisted the temptation to run away. He knew that He had come for this purpose. For this very reason.
And He had peace. Watch Him! Watch how Jesus acts. Listen to what Jesus says. Watch Jesus in these remaining chapters go through His arrest, His trial, His torture, His public shaming, His crucifixion. And be amazed at His peace. His peacefulness.
Satan Himself is coming for Jesus, and Jesus is full of peace.
Now get this: In our passage for today, Jesus promises to give His disciples His peace.
[VIDEO WILL BE EMBEDDED HERE.]
The key verse is verse 27: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
Jesus is going away, but He is leaving a parting gift. He is leaving them with peace!
And not just any peace. He’s leaving His own peace with them.
Now that could just mean that He’s leaving them with a peace that is particularly from Him. It’s His gift to give. And that would be enough. But I tend to think that Jesus means something even deeper. I think Jesus means to give His disciples the exact same kind of peace that He Himself has.
The kind of peace that can get you through the worst thing ever. The kind of peace that you can experience even though Satan Himself is coming after you! Doesn’t that sound good?!
Jesus says that He doesn’t give peace like the world gives peace. That’s good! Because the world is terrible at giving peace. The world promises peace all the time, but it’s just wishful thinking or a con game. The world’s peace is fleeting and temporary at its best, and it’s just fake and empty at it worst.
Beware people who promise you peace who don’t have peace themselves.
But Jesus is the Prince of Peace, and He has plenty of peace to give to His people (Isaiah 9:6, John 16:33). So Jesus says to His disciples, “Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
Do you need to hear that this morning? I sure do. I often let my heart be troubled, and I am tempted to live out of fear. I struggle to maintain my composure, and I am tempted to be be cowardly and chicken out when I should be bold and courageous. I regularly need to be reminded that Jesus has left His peace for me as a gift.
Now, remember, this is not a rebuke. It’s a gift. Jesus started this chapter by saying (v.1), “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.” And that wasn’t a rebuke either. It was a comfort. Remember, Jesus Himself had a heart that could be troubled.
It’s not a sin to feel anxious.
The question is what are you going to do with it? Are you going to embrace it or embrace the gift of Jesus’ own peace? “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.”
Jesus gives us every reason to be at peace. We have many good reasons to be troubled, but we have even greater reasons to be peaceful. Amen?
I see a bunch in this passage, and I want to point out at least three.
The first has to do with the amazing gift that we heard Jesus promise last week in verse 16. The gift of the Holy Spirit. There is no genuine peace without Him.
In verse 16, Jesus promised to ask the Father to give His disciples “another Counselor” to be with them forever, the Spirit of Truth.
Remember this? We said the word “Counselor” or (in Greek) “Paraclaytos” (Paraclete) was hard to capture in English. That’s probably on purpose because the Holy Spirit Himself is hard to capture, as well. He is “another Counselor” or “Advocate” or “Comforter” or “Strengthener” or “Helper” or “Alongsider.” And He is going to come and take up Jesus’ place in His follower’s lives. That includes taking up Jesus’ role as Teacher. Look with me at verse 25.
"All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”
The disciples are shocked and dismayed that Jesus is going away. And one of the things they are worried about is who will teach them what is true? Who will remind them what Jesus has taught them these last 3 years or even these last 3 hours? Jesus has been their source of truth for so long. He IS the truth (14:6). What will happen if He is taken away?
Jesus says, “Don’t worry. We’ve got it covered. The ‘Paraclete’, the Holy Spirit, is going to make sure you guys know everything you need to know. He’s going to make sure you have all the Truth you need. He’s the Spirit of Truth, and He’s going to “teach you all things.”
Isn’t that encouraging?! The disciples don’t need to worry that they are losing their source of Truth because Jesus is going to ask the Father, and He’s going send them the Spirit of Truth.
“In my name,” Jesus says. And in His place. Just because Jesus asked!
Let me put it this way. We can enjoy the gift of Jesus’ peace because:
#1. THE BIBLE IS COMPLETELY TRUSTWORTHY.
Where do I get that from?
Verse 26 basically promises us the New Testament! Look at it verse 26 again, "[T]he Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”
That promise is where we get our New Testament. And it’s how we know that it is trustworthy.
I’m so thankful for verse 26 because these disciples have, so far, not been very encouraging in their understanding, have they?
How many times in have we seen the disciples be confused? Misunderstand? Not “get” what Jesus is talking about? It’s all over the place!
These guys do not give you a lot of confidence:
“Could someone have brought him food?” (John 4:33)
“Eight months wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!” (John 6:7).
“This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” (John 6:60).
“Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better” (John 11:12).
These are the words of the disciples!
Even this very night:
“No, you shall never wash my feet!” (John 13:8). “Then, Lord, not just my feet but my hands and head as well!” (John 13:9).
“Lord, why can’t I follow you now?” (John 13:37).
“Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” (John 14:5).
“Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us” (John 14:8).
The look on their faces throughout this book is basically dazed and confused most of the time.Is that who you want writing your Bible for you? These clueless guys? These guys do not give me much peace.
But, Jesus says that they are going to get the help they need to write the New Testament. The Helper they need. The Son is going to pray to the Father, and the Father is going to give the Spirit in the name of the Son to the disciples, and He is going to (look again at verse 26), “teach [them] all things and remind [them] of everything [Jesus] has said to [them].” And this time, they will get it.
One of the people that room hearing this promise was named “John.” And John was there when the requested Holy Spirit was poured out as promised on the Day of Pentecost. And John was taught everything he needed to know. And he was reminded everything he needed reminded of. Even down to the details of all things he previously misunderstood! And that’s why we have the Gospel of John in our laps today. And why we can trust it. And that should give us peace. Amen?
That’s why we have Family BIBLE Week, right? Because Jesus kept the promise of verse 26, and the Spirit did His work. That’s why we have this solid rock to stand on. When all around is sinking sand.
Are you trusting in God’s Word? Are you standing on it? Are you reading it? Do you know what it says? Are you in your Bible and is your Bible in you? Are you memorizing Scripture?
Are you studying the Bible? A secondary application of this verse is that the Holy Spirit is interested in helping believers to understand what they read in the Bible. He not only wrote it, but He illuminates the meaning of the Scriptures in the hearts of believers who prayerfully and earnestly seek it.
The Bible is completely trustworthy because the Holy Spirit inspired it. He came as verse 26 promised and taught and reminded the apostles of everything we need to know and remember for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3-4)! Including Jesus’ promise of peace. Verse 27.
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
Notice, again, that this peace is a gift. It’s not something that we earn. It’s not something that we deserve. It’s a gift from Jesus to His followers, and it’s received by faith. And it’s a multi-faceted peace. It is, first and foremost, peace with God. It’s won by Jesus’ death on the Cross for us. But it’s also peace with others. One day it will be peace on the whole earth! And it’s also peace within ourselves. It’s total well-being, it’s blessing all around.
Like Hebrew word that we learned a lot about in Jeremiah, shalom.
In Jesus’ day, you would say, “Shalom” as a greeting, and you might say it as you part, as well, “Shalom.” Like we often say at the end of our worship time, “Go in peace.”
Jesus says, “I leave you with peace. I give you MY peace.” It’s a gift. It’s ours for the taking. It’s solid and firm like a great big Breaker Rock on a beach. And we can build our lives on it. We do not need to be troubled or afraid.
Number two. We can enjoy the gift of Jesus’ peace because:
#2. THE FATHER’S PLAN IS PERFECTLY ON TRACK.
Look at verse 28. Jesus is still reassuring them, though there is a hint of rebuke here, too. Verse 28.
“You heard me say, 'I am going away and I am coming back to you.' If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe.”
The rebuke is when Jesus says, “If you loved me...” He knows that they aren’t really thinking about Him. They are thinking about themselves. They are really concerned for themselves if Jesus leaves and not for what that really means for Jesus.
But Jesus does not say, “If you loved me, then you would hate that I’m going to die on the Cross.” (Though, of course, that’s true.) He says, “If you loved me, then you would be glad that I am going to the Father FOR the Father is greater than I.”
Now a lot of interpreters have choked on that last phrase because they think it might disprove the Trinity. (Don’t worry; it does not.) The Arians in the fourth century and the Jehovah Witnesses in our day both make that mistake. They think that Jesus is saying in verse 28 that He is somehow a lesser god or not as much God as the Father is. Not equal in essence.
Does that sound right? Does that sound like it fits with the rest of the Gospel of John?
How would that work with John 1:1? “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” With-ness and was-ness.
How would that work with John 5? “For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these. For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him” (Jn. 5:20-23 NIVO).
How would that work with John 10:30? “I and the Father are one.”
It’s not talking here about how how much God Jesus is. He’s fully God! But He’s also fully man. And in His full humanity, He has been sent by His Father on a mission.
The Father’s mission is greater than the Son’s comfort and even life. The Son is committed to glorifying the Father, no matter what. That’s what He’s talking about. That’s what’s greater. The Father is greater as the sender of the incarnate Son.
And the Father is living in unshielded glory, but the Son has humbled Himself, and while still worthy of all glory, is not enjoying the glory He had with the Father in His presence before the world began (John 17:6). We’re going to learn more about that when we get to His great prayer in chapter 17.
The Father is currently greater in glory than the Son at this moment of the Son’s humiliation. But the Son is going to the Father and that full glory is going to be restored!
And if we really loved Jesus, we would want that. We would want Jesus to go to the Father and receive that glory and then come back to share it with us! We wouldn’t want Him to die, but we would want Him to die and be resurrected! And we would want Him to ascend to the right hand of the Majesty on High. Because that’s the plan. That’s the Father’s grand plan. And it is perfectly on track.
Jesus is saying, “Guys, guys. Don’t get all worried by my saying I’m going away. It’s all good. It’s all good. In fact, it’s great! It’s glorious. It’s what’s supposed to happen. This was the plan all along, and it’s on track.” Verse 29.
“I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe.”
Do you believe? That’s the whole point. Jesus is getting them ready for what’s going to happen in just a few hours. Their faith is going to be shaken to its core, but He’s told them in advance so that they can put their faith in Him. That’s the whole point of this book. It’s been written so that we might believe that Jesus is the Christ and that by believing we might have life in Jesus’ name.
Do you believe? Do you believe that the Father’s plan is on track? Do you believe that the Cross was a part of the plan all along? That Jesus was going to the Cross to pay for our sins and to give us life forever with Him and therefore peace forever with Him?!
If you have never trusted Jesus as your Savior and Lord, I invite you to do so right now. Because He is the source of all true peace. “My peace I give you.”
Ironically, if the disciples would just trust that this was all part of God’s plan, then they would have even more peace. And joy! And joy for Jesus in His coming exaltation.
But first Jesus must go through His crucifixion. He has not forgotten what is going to happen to Him in just a few hours. Jesus knows that Satan is coming for Him. V.30
“I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me, but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me. Come now; let us leave.’” (vv.30-31).
Jesus knows that the time is short. The door is closing. He only has few more fleeting moments to teach them what they need to know before Satan comes knocking.
But did you see what Jesus says about Satan in verse 30?
“He has no hold on me.”
The ESV says, “He has no claim on me.”The King James says, “He hath nothing in me.”The 2011 NIV says, “He has no hold over me.”The CSB says, “He has no power over me.”
You and I can experience the gift of Jesus’ peace because:
#3. SATAN WILL SURELY LOSE.
That’s not how it’s going to seem. Satan is going to come with all the forces of the world, and Jesus is going to suffer and die. But not because Jesus deserved it. Jesus was not a sinner. He wasn’t going to Cross because Satan had some kind dirt on Him. He was going to the Cross because of verse 31 not because of verse 30.
The Father was sending the Son to the Cross. And the Son loves the Father, and true love truly obeys (remember v.15!), so the Son was going to the Cross out of love for the Father.
“....the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my (greater in this context) Father has commanded me” (v.31).
So off He went.
But, for the same reason, He did not stay dead. Because death had no hold on Him. Sin had no hold on Him. Satan had no hold on Him. Nothing could hold Him down! The Father has commanded Him to lay down His life only to take it up again!
And Satan could do nothing about it. It seemed like Satan was winning, but he was losing the whole time. And he always will.
Because, brothers and sisters in Christ, Satan has no hold on you now either. He has come to steal, and kill, and destroy, but you belong to Jesus and He has come so that you might have life to the fullest!
Satan will surely lose. Don’t forget that. It’s not always going to seem like it. Satan does hate you and is coming at you. “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Pet. 5:8 NIVO).
“But the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world” (1 Jn. 4:4 NIVO).
Remember what Romans 16:20 says: “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet” (Rom. 16:20 NIVO).
Which God? The God of peace. The One who said, “Peace I leave you. My peace I give you.”
***
Messages in this Series
01. "That You May Believe" - John 20:30-31
02. "In The Beginning Was the Word" - John 1:1-18
03. "John's Testimony" - John 1:19-34
04. "Come and See" - John 1:35-51
05. "The First of His Miraculous Signs" - John 2:1-11
06. "This Temple" - John 2:12-25
07. "You Must Be Born Again" - John 3:1-15
08. "God So Loved The World" - John 3:16-21
09. "Above All" - John 3:22-36
10. "Living Water" - John 4:1-26
11. "Ripe for the Harvest" - John 4:27-42
12. "Your Son Will Live" - John 4:43-54
13. "Pick Up Your Mat and Walk" - John 5:1-18
14. "To Your Amazement" - John 5:19-30
15. "Testimony About Me" - John 5:31-47
Christmas Eve Bonus: "The Astonishing Gift" - John 3:16 Again
Christmas Eve Bonus: "We Have Seen His Glory" - John 1:1-18 Again
16. "Enough Bread" - John 6:1-15
17. "You Are Looking for Me" - John 6:16-36
18. "I Am the Bread of Life" - John 6:35-71
Vision Meeting Bonus: "As I Have Loved You" - John 13:34-35
19. "At the Feast" - John 7:1-52
20. "I Am the Light of the World" - John 8:12-30
21. "Your Father" - John 8:31-59
22. "Now I See" - John 9:1-41
23. "I Am The Gate" - John 10:1-13
24. "I Am the Good Shepherd" - John 10:14-21
25. "I And The Father Are One" - John 10:22-42
26. "I Am the Resurrection and the Life" - John 11:1-53
27. "Expensive" - John 11:54-12:11
28. "The Hour Has Come" - John 12:12-26
30. "Believe In Me" - John 12:37-50
31. "Do You Understand What I Have Done For You?" - John 13:1-17
32. "I Am Telling You Now Before It Happens” - John 13:18-38
2024 West Branch Baccalaureate: "The Way, The Truth, and The Life" - John 14:6
33. "I Am the Way and the Truth and the Life” - John 14:1-6
34. "Show Us the Father" - John 14:7-14
35. "If You Love Me" - John 14:1536. "I Will Ask the Father" - John 14:16-24
July 14, 2024
“I Will Ask the Father” [Matt's Messages]
“I Will Ask the Father”Life in Jesus’ Name - The Gospel of JohnLanse Evangelical Free ChurchJuly 14, 2024 :: John 14:16-24 The things that Jesus promises His disciples (and therefore you and me) in these nine verses are almost too good for words!
Yesterday, I struggled to put my astonishment and joy into clear sentences that would capture the glory of these promises. They are just so huge and so wonderful.
I’m sure that Jesus’ disciples were struggling to take them all in. Especially because they were still reeling from the shocking news that Jesus was leaving them. Jesus said that He was going away. And they couldn’t follow Him.
So they were troubled in their hearts. Who wouldn’t be?! But Jesus has been comforting them, strengthening them for the days ahead.
Jesus told them about His Father’s spacious house and how He is the way to get there. And He’s told them about His amazing oneness with His Father, and how when they look at Him they have seen the Father. And He’s promised them that they will continue to do great things in His name. And that He will answer their prayers about “whatever” and “anything.”
And He’s pointed out, as we saw last week in verse 15, that if they truly love Him, then they will faithfully obey His commands. Real love means real obedience. Which we’ll hear Him say again and again this week.
And then in our first verse today, Jesus explains from where the power will come to obey His commands.
Jesus says that He will pray that the Father will give us exactly what we need. In fact, Jesus says that He pray that the Father will give us exactly Whom we need.
[VIDEO WILL BE EMBEDDED HERE.]
“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever–the Spirit of truth.”
That is humongous. First off, just that Jesus promises to pray for His disciples to get this gift. “I will ask the Father.” How comforting that should be!
Yes, He’s going away, but He’s promising when He’s away to pray for His disciples. And you know that He’s doing that for us today, too, right?
“I will ask the Father.” And how do you think the Father is going to feel about the Son’s prayer request? How does the Father feel about the Son? He loves Him, right? Jesus is His beloved Son with whom He is well-pleased.
He will say, “Yes,” to this request!
Jesus says so. “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever–the Spirit of truth.” It’s going to happen!
Jesus hasn’t prayed it yet. He’s promised to ask the Father. He’s going to do that after His crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. But He’s going to ask the Father, and the Father is going to give the disciples “another Counselor.”
Now that word translated “Counselor” is notoriously difficult to capture in English.
The Greek word is “paraclaytos,” and it’s only used a few times. All of them by John in the New Testament. We’ll see four of them in these Farewell Teachings of chapters 14, 15, and 16.
It comes from two Greek words that means “someone called alongside.”
“Para” - alongside. “Claytos” - one called. Often shortened to “Paraclete” in transliterated English.
Not Parakeet! Jesus hasn’t promised us all exotic birds, but instead Someone who has been called alongside of us. Paraclete.
But what does that mean?
The 1984 NIV that we have in our pews and that I tend preach from has “Counselor.” Which is pretty good. Because that captures how close and intimate this Person is. And we also use that word in a legal setting. Like we call lawyers, “counselors.” And this Greek word is often used for someone who stands next to you in court and advocates on your behalf.
In fact, some of your Bibles may have “Advocate” there in verse 16 for “paraclaytos.” That’s what the 2011 updated NIV has in verse 16.
So we shouldn’t get the idea that this Person is just a Psychologist or a Therapist kind of Counselor, but also a strong Advocate, even before a righteous judge.
That’s one of the reasons why “Comforter” is kind of lacking. Because we don’t call our Advocates, “Comforters.” It kind of sounds like a soft thing like a quilted bedsheet. This Person is not a quilted bedsheet.
Now if you use the old meaning of “comfort,” that is someone who gives you strength. Someone who not just consoles you and pats you the head but fortifies you, then Comforter is really good. “The Strengthener.”
Many other versions have the word “Helper” in verse 16 for “paraclaytos.” And that’s really good, too, because this Person is there to help!
Sometimes we use the word “helper” to indicate someone who only helps a little. Like “Mommy’s little helper?” So that can be problem if we get that idea in our mind when read verse 16. This kind of Helper is Helper with a capital H. He is not an inferior or a subordinate. He doesn’t come and obey us. But He does bring help. Boy, does He. The help He gives us is indispensable.
And the key word that can really get missed when you’re trying to translate “paraclaytos” is the word right before it. What kind of Counselor is the Promised Paraclate? V.16
“Another Counselor.”
That means that this Counselor is fundamentally similar to another Counselor that they already know.
They already have someone who is their Helper, their Comforter, their Advocate, their Strengthener, their Comealongsider. Someone who has been standing by them the whole time. Who do you think that is?
It’s Jesus, right? He's been comforting them in this way even this very room this very night!
In fact, the Greek word here for “another” is a bit of a stronger word that means “another the same kind.” There’s another word for “another of a different kind.” This one is another of a similar kind.
Jesus is going away, but He’s going ask the Father to send this Person to take His place in His people’s lives.
Who are we talking about? Jesus calls Him here, “The Spirit of Truth.” He goes by a lot of names in the Bible, but we all know Him as the Holy Spirit. Jesus promises to ask the Father for the gift of the Holy Spirit.
And don’t miss this one other word in verse 16. He isn’t just coming for the weekend. He isn’t just coming temporarily. He is coming forever!
“I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever–the Spirit of truth."
#1. SPIRIT FOREVER.
This gift of the Spirit will be permanent. He’s not just going to come for Family Bible Week, make a guest appearance, and then head off for the hills or for another appointment. No, He’s going to come and take up permanent residence in Jesus’ disciples. That’s the big reveal of verse 17.
“The world cannot accept him [the Spirit of Truth], because it neither sees him nor knows him [doesn’t wanna]. But you [disciples] know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.”
That’s huge! The world hates the Spirit. He’s the Spirit of Truth, and the world loves Lies. But Jesus’ disciples love the Truth. Because Jesus is the Truth. He’s the Way, the Truth, and the Life!
And they know the Spirit. It’s not like they’ve never heard about the Spirit before. The Spirit has been God from all eternity [the Third Person of the Trinity!], and He was present at creation, and He has guided God’s people throughout history, and He’s come upon God’s people to great things in the Old and New Testaments–anointing prophets, priests, and kings!
The Spirit has always been around blowing wherever He pleases. Like Jesus told “Nick at Nite.” They know Him. Better than they probably realize. They know Him.
But they don’t know Him like they’re going to know Him.
Jesus is going to ask the Father, and the Father will give them another Alongsider to be with them forever–the Spirit of truth–and He’s not just going to be with them, but inside of them!
He’s going to stand so close alongside them that He will actually be inside of them.
And never leave.
And “The Comforter Has Come,” right? Jesus did ask the Father, and the Father said, “Yes,” and the Helper was poured out at Pentecost. And He’s come to dwell inside of each and every one of Jesus’ people!
You know what that means, Christian? It means that you are not alone.
You are not alone.
You are never alone. Never. And you never will be. The Spirit is with you. He’s so with you that He’s in you. And He’s not going anywhere. You are not alone. And you never will be.
Help is here.
Do you see how this would be encouraging and (comforting!) and strengthening for the disciples, once this sunk in? Yes, Jesus is going away, but, in some ways, He’s giving them something even better by giving them the Spirit. And the Spirit will help them to obey Jesus which is what you do if you love Jesus!
Now, Jesus will have more to say about the Spirit of Truth in these chapters. He uses that title for Him three times. The Spirit is going to be a Teacher of Truth to the disciples. But here the emphasis is on His presence. His in-dwelling. And a new level of intimacy that we can enjoy with the Spirit and will forever.
#2. LIFE FOREVER.
But that’s not all that Jesus promises! [That would be enough, wouldn’t it?!] But Jesus promises not just the Spirit forever, but life forever. Look at verses 18 and 19.
“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.”
Now, what’s He talking about there? Some people think He’s still talking about the coming of the Spirit, and that’s possible. He’d be saying that He’ll come to them through the Spirit and be with them like, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matt. 28:20 NIVO). But I don’t think that’s the most natural way to read it.
Some people think He’s talking about His second coming like He did at the beginning of the chapter, “I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (Jn. 14:3 NIVO). That’s possible, too. And it’s the end result of the whole thing!
I think, however, He’s just talking again about what’s going to happen this weekend. He’s going away. “Before long, the world will not see me anymore...” Jesus is going to die on the Cross and be buried in the Tomb. But He’s not going to say dead. He’s coming back on Sunday morning from the dead. He’s walking out of the Tomb and walking back into their lives.
“[The world may not see me,] but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.” Jesus is coming back to life to give life to His disciples. And that new life is going to be like His new life–indestructible, immortal, permanent, and unending. Life forever!
“Because I live, you also will live.”
Remember when He said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" (Jn. 11:25-26 NIVO).
Do you?
Christian, you are going to have life forever. Not because of anything good you have done, but because of what Jesus did for you. He died for our sins, for our forgiveness. And He came back to life to give us life forever. “Because I live, you also will live.” Do you believe this?
I invite you to believe right now. I invite you to trust Him for this right now. If you do, you get the Spirit forever, and you get life forever. And you get loved forever.
#3. LOVED FOREVER.
Look at what verse 20 says will happen next. After they see the resurrected Jesus, they will understand their relationship to Him in a whole new way. V.20
“On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.”
Wow! We just had our minds blown a couple of weeks ago thinking about how close the Father and the Son are. They are so close that they are in each other. "Their with-ness is so close because of their is-ness that we have to say that they have in-ness." And Jesus promises here that His disciples will grasp that in a new way after His resurrection.
And they will also understand that they are in Jesus, and Jesus is in them! Not in the exact same way, of course, as the Father and the Son (them both being God), but we will also have a kind of oneness, a kind of in-ness with Jesus, with the Son! Probably because of the Holy Spirit.
How’s that for mind-blowing?!
Christian, do you know that you are “in Jesus?”
The Apostle Paul’s favorite phrase to use in all of his letters is, “in Christ.” We call it the Doctrine of Union with Christ, and it’s so glorious. We’re going to learn a lot more about it when we get to chapter 15, but here it is right here in verse 20. “On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.”
And catch this: He likes it that way.
He likes being in us and us being in Him. Because He loves us! He doesn’t just tolerate us being connected to Him in this way, He loves it.
He loved us first! And He loves us last. And He loves us best.
And we love Him back. And you know how we know if we love Him? What did we learn last week? We obey His commands. Look at verse 21.
“Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. [Sounds familiar. Now listen.] He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.’”
Wow! You see what I mean by there just aren’t enough words to capture how good this is?!
He loved us first.We love Him back. We show that by our obedience.We are loved by the Father.And we are loved by the Son.Guess Who else loves us? The Spirit! {See Romans 15:30, for example.}
And through the Spirit, the Son will show Himself to us.
He will reveal Himself to us.He will disclose Himself to us.And when you know the Son, guess who else you know?
The Father, right?!
We are loved by the Triune God!
And He’s revealing Himself to us out of love. And it’s not going to end.
So Judas (not that Judas, the other one) asks what is kind of reasonable question. He’s just heard this promise that Jesus is going to reveal Himself to them. And Judas (not that one) wants to know why Jesus isn’t going to reveal Himself to the whole world at this point. Look at verse 22.
“Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, ‘But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?’”
And Jesus just doesn’t answer him. He just side-steps the question. It’s not a bad question. There will be a time for Jesus to be revealed to the whole world. He’s said that already in this gospel. But that’s not what He’s talking about right now.
He’s talking about loving His people and living with them, forever. V.23
“Jesus replied, ‘If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. [You think that’s important to Jesus? He’s said it now 3 times in this chapter! We need to obey out of love. And look what we enjoy as we do!] My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. [The opposite is also true. V.24] He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me” (vv.23-24).
I can’t get over the words in verse 23, “My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”
That’s a forever home. The Triune God plans to live with His people forever.
That word for make our “home” is the same root word as the “many rooms” back up in verse 2.
God the Father wants to live with you.God the Son wants to live with you.God the Spirit lives inside of you!
And they love it!
God doesn’t just tolerate you. He doesn’t just put up with you. God loves you.
Jesus just said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms [it’s a big home]; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (Jn. 14:1-3 NIVO).
He wants to live with you forever! Make His home with you.
You are loved. Christian, you are loved.
If you belong to Jesus, you are not alone and you never will be. And you are going to live forever.And you’re going to live forever with the Triune God! Who loves you.
At the very end of the Bible, the Apostle John writes about the Day when all of this is fulfilled to the fullest.
And it says, “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God” (Rev. 21:3 NIVO).
That’s what Jesus asked the Father for.
And He’s going to do it.
***
Messages in this Series
01. "That You May Believe" - John 20:30-31
02. "In The Beginning Was the Word" - John 1:1-18
03. "John's Testimony" - John 1:19-34
04. "Come and See" - John 1:35-51
05. "The First of His Miraculous Signs" - John 2:1-11
06. "This Temple" - John 2:12-25
07. "You Must Be Born Again" - John 3:1-15
08. "God So Loved The World" - John 3:16-21
09. "Above All" - John 3:22-36
10. "Living Water" - John 4:1-26
11. "Ripe for the Harvest" - John 4:27-42
12. "Your Son Will Live" - John 4:43-54
13. "Pick Up Your Mat and Walk" - John 5:1-18
14. "To Your Amazement" - John 5:19-30
15. "Testimony About Me" - John 5:31-47
Christmas Eve Bonus: "The Astonishing Gift" - John 3:16 Again
Christmas Eve Bonus: "We Have Seen His Glory" - John 1:1-18 Again
16. "Enough Bread" - John 6:1-15
17. "You Are Looking for Me" - John 6:16-36
18. "I Am the Bread of Life" - John 6:35-71
Vision Meeting Bonus: "As I Have Loved You" - John 13:34-35
19. "At the Feast" - John 7:1-52
20. "I Am the Light of the World" - John 8:12-30
21. "Your Father" - John 8:31-59
22. "Now I See" - John 9:1-41
23. "I Am The Gate" - John 10:1-13
24. "I Am the Good Shepherd" - John 10:14-21
25. "I And The Father Are One" - John 10:22-42
26. "I Am the Resurrection and the Life" - John 11:1-53
27. "Expensive" - John 11:54-12:11
28. "The Hour Has Come" - John 12:12-26
30. "Believe In Me" - John 12:37-50
31. "Do You Understand What I Have Done For You?" - John 13:1-17
32. "I Am Telling You Now Before It Happens” - John 13:18-38
2024 West Branch Baccalaureate: "The Way, The Truth, and The Life" - John 14:6
33. "I Am the Way and the Truth and the Life” - John 14:1-6
34. "Show Us the Father" - John 14:7-14
35. "If You Love Me" - John 14:15
July 7, 2024
“If You Love Me” [Matt's Messages]
“If You Love Me”Life in Jesus’ Name - The Gospel of JohnLanse Evangelical Free ChurchJuly 7, 2024 :: John 14:15 We’re only going to make it through one verse this morning. I wasn’t sure how long the Challenge Group would want to share, so I kept this message focused down to just one sentence from our Lord Jesus Christ.
Here’s the sentence. It’s very simple, and the logic is clear. It’s an if/then sentence. If this, then this. John chapter 14:15. The words of Jesus to His disciples:
“If you love me, you will obey what I command.”
Jesus said to His disciples on the night before He went to the Cross, “If you love me, you will obey what I command.”
[VIDEO WILL BE EMBEDDED HERE.]
Jesus draws a tight connection between our love for Him and our obedience to Him.
This is going to be a theme we’re going to see again and again in the Farewell Teachings that we’re studying together this summer–chapters 14, 15, and 16 of the Gospel of John.
In fact, Jesus connects love and obedience five times in this chapter alone. Real love and true obedience are intimately connected.
Which might be surprising until you think about it a little. We tend to connect obedience to duty or fear. We obey an authority just because they are an authority or because we are afraid of them. But that’s not the only reason why we might obey, is it?
Employees might obey the boss because they love the company. Citizens might obey the government because they love their country. Children don’t just obey their parents because they might get spanked. Children might obey because they love their parents.
Children might obey because they know that they are loved first. And the focus in the Gospel of John up to this point has been to demonstrate how much God loves us!
“God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (Jn. 3:16 NIVO).
This very night, the Lord Jesus has gotten up from the table where they are having their Passover meal (the forerunner to our communion table), and He’s shown them the full extent of His love (13:1).
He kneeled down behind them and washed their dirty, stinky feet.
Jesus has been comforting their troubled hearts even as He’s told them that He is going away. He’s told them about His Father’s spacious house and how to get there. He’s just promised to answer their prayers about “anything” and “whatever” when prayed in His own name. And He’s just about to promise them the gift of the Holy Spirit Himself to take up His place in their lives.
Jesus loved these disciples, and they will know that. And they will love Him back. And that love will look like obedience.
“If you love me, you will obey what I command.”
As I thought about this one sentence this week, I thought how appropriate it would be for our Challenge Crew to hear as they came down from the mountain.
Because they have been learning all week about what Jesus commands for His followers. The Sermon on the Mount. And we heard a little bit from them this morning about what they learned.
The Lord Jesus wants His followers (who love Him) to live differently from the world as citizens of His kingdom (obeying what He commands).
We studied the Sermon on the Mount together here the first half of 2018.
Jesus invites you and me to live as citizens of His upside-down, inside-out, counter-cultural, counter-intuitive, Kingdom of Heaven.
That’s what our group heard about this week at Challenge. That’s what Jesus commands of us.
The question is: Will we obey? Do we trust Him? Do we love Him? Will we actually do what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount? “If you love me, you will obey what I command.”
If you don’t, you won’t.
And if you don’t, your life will ultimately crash.
At the very end of His Sermon on the Mount Jesus tells the story of the two builders, the wise and the foolish builders.
I’m sure the last speaker on Friday night at Challenge talked about this story. It’s in Matthew chapter 7, verses 24 to 27.
Jesus said, “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice [“If you love me, you will obey what I command.”] is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.
But everyone who hears these words of mine [the commands of Jesus in the the Sermon on the Mount] and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.'"
I love that story. I love singing it with kids.
This story sounds a lot like what we’re fixing to learn about here at Family Bible Week with “Breaker Rock Beach.” It’s beginning to look a lot like FBW around here! I grabbed my seashell already to remember to pray for FBW the next two weeks.
The idea of Family Bible Week this year is that we live in world of sifting sands, but God’s truth is a solid rock that can be trusted for us to build our lives upon. We can and must obey what Jesus’ commands.
The trick question I always ask when teaching on the two builders is–which house gets hit by the storm?
Both houses probably looked great. In fact, the house built on sand might have looked better because they didn’t have to waste time and resources with all that digging.
But when the storm hit, you could see which builder was wise and which one was a fool.
Jesus forces us to choose.
“Are you going to obey my commands? Or not?”“Are you going to build your life on my teachings? Or not?”“Do you love me, or don’t you?”“If you love me, you will obey what I command.”
That means change. And change can be really hard. When you’re on top of the mountain like being at Challenge or being at church, it kind of seems easy, but when you come down from the mountain, that’s when reality hits.
And that’s when you have ask yourself the question, “Do I love Jesus?” Do I really trust Him? Do I really know that He loves me? And if do, then I will obey what he commands.
The last few weeks, I’ve had some great conversations with different folks about following Jesus. Sadly, a couple people I talked with turned away from following Jesus when they heard what He was asking them to do. Some others turned towards Him.
How about you? What is King Jesus asking you to change right now so that you are obeying His commands? Living as citizen of His upside-down, inside-out, counter-cultural, counter-intuitive, Kingdom of Heaven.
We’ve heard from the Challenge Crew. What about the rest of u?
Jesus is saying to us today, “If you love me, you will obey what I command.”
***
Messages in this Series
01. "That You May Believe" - John 20:30-31
02. "In The Beginning Was the Word" - John 1:1-18
03. "John's Testimony" - John 1:19-34
04. "Come and See" - John 1:35-51
05. "The First of His Miraculous Signs" - John 2:1-11
06. "This Temple" - John 2:12-25
07. "You Must Be Born Again" - John 3:1-15
08. "God So Loved The World" - John 3:16-21
09. "Above All" - John 3:22-36
10. "Living Water" - John 4:1-26
11. "Ripe for the Harvest" - John 4:27-42
12. "Your Son Will Live" - John 4:43-54
13. "Pick Up Your Mat and Walk" - John 5:1-18
14. "To Your Amazement" - John 5:19-30
15. "Testimony About Me" - John 5:31-47
Christmas Eve Bonus: "The Astonishing Gift" - John 3:16 Again
Christmas Eve Bonus: "We Have Seen His Glory" - John 1:1-18 Again
16. "Enough Bread" - John 6:1-15
17. "You Are Looking for Me" - John 6:16-36
18. "I Am the Bread of Life" - John 6:35-71
Vision Meeting Bonus: "As I Have Loved You" - John 13:34-35
19. "At the Feast" - John 7:1-52
20. "I Am the Light of the World" - John 8:12-30
21. "Your Father" - John 8:31-59
22. "Now I See" - John 9:1-41
23. "I Am The Gate" - John 10:1-13
24. "I Am the Good Shepherd" - John 10:14-21
25. "I And The Father Are One" - John 10:22-42
26. "I Am the Resurrection and the Life" - John 11:1-53
27. "Expensive" - John 11:54-12:11
28. "The Hour Has Come" - John 12:12-26
30. "Believe In Me" - John 12:37-50
31. "Do You Understand What I Have Done For You?" - John 13:1-17
32. "I Am Telling You Now Before It Happens” - John 13:18-38
2024 West Branch Baccalaureate: "The Way, The Truth, and The Life" - John 14:6
33. "I Am the Way and the Truth and the Life” - John 14:1-6
34. "Show Us the Father" - John 14:7-14
June 30, 2024
“Show Us The Father” [Matt's Messages]
“Show Us The Father”Life in Jesus’ Name - The Gospel of JohnLanse Evangelical Free ChurchJune 30, 2024 :: John 14:7-14 You probably noticed that we're starting right in the middle of a quote from Jesus. Last week, we ended with verse 6, and Jesus was talking, and we just left it hanging there in the middle of a two-part statement from Jesus! So that’s where we start up today.
It’s going to be like that for the next few months as we study the Farewell Teachings of Jesus together. We’re slowing down and taking each part of chapters 14, 15, and 16 bit by bit. Most of these 3 chapters are just Jesus teaching the deepest truths He wants His followers to know while He’s away. And we want to soak up every last bit of it. So, we’ll just take a little bit and chew on that and then take the next little bit and chew on that. And I’ll try to make connections from week to week so that we don’t lose sight of the forest as we look closely at each of the trees.
But the trees today are verses 7 through 14.
[VIDEO WILL BE EMBEDDED HERE.]
“Show us the Father.”
Let me ask you a question. Is that a good prayer request? Is that a good thing for us to pray today? “Show us the Father.” Is that a good thing to pray?
Those four words come directly from verse 8. The disciple Philip requests that Jesus show the Father to him and the rest of the disciples. Look at verse 8.
“Philip said, ‘Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.’”
That sounds like a pretty good prayer request to me. At least at first. It seems both big and humble to me. At least considered all by itself.
Philip asks to see the Father. And we know, in context, that’s God the Father! Which is a pretty audacious thing to ask! It’s kind of like Moses praying to Yahweh in Exodus 33, “Show me your glory!” (Exodus 33:18).
That’s a big ask! It’s a good and glorious thing Philip is asking for, a revelation of God the Father.
And Philip is asking the right Person. Jesus has just said that He Himself is the way, the truth, and the life, and that nobody (but nobody) gets to the Father (and into His house, His Father’s spacious house) except through Jesus Himself.
So Philip is asking the right Person. He’s asking the Son to show them the Father.
And He seems kind of humble about it. He’s not saying that he deserves to be shown the Father. And He says that that’s all he asks. “And that will be enough for us.” That will be sufficient.
However, Jesus is not happy with Philip’s request. In fact, Jesus rebukes Philip for asking for this right here. He actually asks Philip in verse 9, “How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”
“How could you pray that?! Why would you think that’s a good thing to ask right now?!”
Jesus does not think that this is a good prayer request.
How come?
Well, for one, because Philip was not grasping what Jesus had just said to them! Look with me at verse 7. Actually, let’s start in verse 6 to put last week’s together with this week’s.
Jesus met in private with His disciples on the night before the Cross, and He said He was going away and that His disciples knew the way to where He was going. Thomas said, “No. We don’t know the way.” Verse 6.
“Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. [Verse 7.] If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.’”
Do you see why Jesus might be very disappointed in Philip’s request?
He just said, “You have seen Him. You have seen the Father.” And Philip says, “That sounds good! Show us the Father.” Verse 8.
“Philip said, ‘Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.’”
It’s like he’s looking around Jesus, and seeing if the Father is standing behind Him somehow or will appear behind Him.
“That’s great, Jesus. Go ahead and do that. Conjure up the Father. Give us a vision of Him. Make the Father appear to us. If you do that, then that’ll be plenty. Then we’ll be satisfied. We’re ready. We’re all set.”
But Philip wasn’t listening. Jesus just said, “If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.'”
“Don’t push me aside and ask to see the Father. I’m right here. I’m showing you the Father. That’s why I’m here.” Look at verse 9.
“Jesus answered: ‘Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?” (v.9).
“What do think I’ve been doing these last three years? 'Show us the Father?' I have! I am! Right now!”
This morning, I have four points of application that I want make, and I’ve boiled them down into 4 short words to make them, hopefully, easy to remember if not always easy to actually do.
#1. See.#2. Believe.#3. Do.#4. Ask.
Let’s talk about the first one.
#1. SEE.
See the Father by looking at the Son. Know the Father by knowing His Son. That’s why Jesus came, is it not?
We learned this way back almost a year ago when we started in on the Gospel of John. It’s in chapter 1. Where Jesus is called “The Word.” Remember that?
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (Jn. 1:1 NIVO).
And what did that eternal Word do? He became flesh. He became one of us. John 1:14.
“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (Jn. 1:14 NIVO).
And why? Why did He come. What did that accomplish? John 1:18. “No one has ever seen God [the Father], but God the One and Only [God the Son], who is at the Father's side, has made him known” (Jn. 1:18 NIVO).
John got it! By the time he wrote his gospel, John understood what Jesus was saying here in the Farewell Teachings.
“Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” The visible Son makes the invisible Father known and seen.
And here’s how He can do that: They are IN one another. Look at what Jesus says to Philip in verse 10.
“Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work” (v.10).
Now these are mind-blowing ideas, but they are foundational to the whole Christian faith.
God the Son is so close to God the Father that they can be said to be IN one another. We call that the doctrine of “mutual indwelling” or “co-inherence” or sometimes it’s called “perichoresis” or “inter-penetration.”
It’s a vital part of the doctrine of the Trinity that the Father and the Son are distinct in their Persons but are at the same time One Being, One essence, One substance. Perfectly together and undivided.
There is only One God! Even though eternally there are, subsisting in that One God, three Persons.
[And we’re going to get to the Third Person next week, Lord-willing! But here it’s the Son and the Father.]
Remember again what we learned in chapter 1, verse 1?
“In the beginning was the Word [another name for the Son, and the Word [the Son] was with God, and the Word was God” (Jn. 1:1 NIVO).
We said that God Son and God the Father had with-ness and was-ness. Remember that? “With God and was God.”
Well, here we learn that the Son and the Father also have in-ness.
Their with-ness is so close because of their is-ness that we have to say that they have in-ness.
I know that I’m making up words, but it’s to try to get across this point that Jesus wants His disciples to understand.
“Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me?” (v.10a).
“Why would you ask to be shown the Father, when you have me?”
“He’s IN me. I’m IN Him. You’re seeing the Father right now, Philip. You’re hearing from the Father right now, Philip.”
“The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work” (v.10b).
What do we call that the Persons of the Trinity are working so closely together that the work of One Person is also the work of the Others? “Inseparable Operations.”
Why is this important? Why are we spending so much time on it this morning? Because the application is to see the Father by looking at the Son. If you want to know God, then you study Jesus. If you want to come to the Father, then you come to the Son. If you want to know what God is like, what He loves, what is important to Him, what God’s heart is all about, then stare at Jesus.
Don’t try to go around Jesus. Don’t try to look around Jesus!
Some people say they “believe in God,” but they “aren’t so sure about that Jesus guy.” They like the God of nature and the great outdoors, but they aren’t into all of that Jesus-stuff, like the Sermon on the Mount, and loving your enemies and all of that stuff.
If you don’t know Jesus, you don’t know God. Jesus is Who God is! There’s no other way to know Him.
This section is the densest section in the whole Gospel of John for teaching about Who the Father is. The words “The Father” are repeated 12 times in just 8 verses. The most in all of the book!
But the focus is never on the Father by Himself. Because the Father is never by Himself! He’s always the Father, which means there is always the Son! And the Son is the Father’s appointed means for us to know Him.
See the Son by looking at the Father.
This applies to our lives in lots of ways. Take Bible study for example. Don’t ever try to read your Bible and understand who God is by looking around or behind Jesus or away from Jesus. It’s okay to try to study the Father. But never try to understand the Father by Himself. Always make connections to the Son. Because He’s the fullest revelation to us of the Father. Does that make sense?
See the Father by looking at the Son.
#2. BELIEVE.
Believe in the Son because He is in the Father and the Father is in Him.
Jesus has already used the word “believe” in verse 10. He says it again in verse 11.
“Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.”
Jesus invites His disciples to put their faith in Him and believe in His inextricable co-inherence with the Father. And if the disciples are struggling to do that, Jesus reminds them to just believe on the evidence of what they have seen with their own eyes.
The NIV has “miracles” in verse 11, but it’s actually bigger than that. It’s “works.” It’s everything that Jesus has been doing, working all along. Everything they’ve seen Him do for the last three years. From turning over tables in the temple, to walking on water, to raising Lazarus from the dead, to washing their feet that very night.
Jesus says, “Think about everything you’ve seen me do, and then put your faith in me.”
Have you done that? Are you doing that?
That’s the whole point of this book we’re studying right now. John said that these things in his book have been written out for us “that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (Jn. 20:31 NIVO).
Jesus Himself said that He “is the life,” and we get that His life through putting our faith in Him. Believe.
You and I have even more reason than these disciples did to believe in Jesus because we live on the other side of His greatest work--what He did on the Cross and at the Empty Tomb. That’s part of the point of verse 12.
“I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.”
That’s application point number three.
#3. DO.
Do greater things for and with Jesus on this side of the Cross than Jesus did on that side of the Cross.
Now, there’s a lot I love about verse 12, but there’s some things in there I struggle with.
I love that we are active and not just passive. Jesus says that we get to DO things. In fact, we get to do GREAT things! We don’t just come to Christ and then sit around staring at each other. I love that our faith means action.
I’m super glad that we are not saved by our works. We are saved by grace through faith in Christ. But we are saved to do good works! Jesus says here that anyone who has faith in Him will do what He has been doing. In fact, He says (v.12 again), “He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.”
Now, that I sometimes struggle with that.
I like the sound of it, but I’m not sure what all’s involved. Does He mean that I’m supposed to feed five thousand people with just a happy meal? Does He mean that I’m supposed to put mudpacks on blind people’s eyes and heal them? That I’m supposed to call people out of their tombs?
I doubt it.
My guess is that I’m supposed to do the things He’s specifically told us are His example for us–like washing other people’s feet. Loving our brothers and sisters in Christ.
And sharing the good news of the kingdom of God.
But He says that what I do will be greater than what He has been doing so far. How is that?!
We just got done saying that Father is in Him and He is in the Father. How can our works be greater than His?
The key, I think, is in those last few words of verse 12. Why are they greater? “BECAUSE I am going to the Father.”
And we know how He’s getting there. He’s going to the Father through the Cross. And then His resurrection and the Empty Tomb. And then His ascension to the Right Hand.
That’s how He’s going to the Father.
And everything will be greater after that.
So these greater things are not greater in spectacle or power. They are greater in era. Everything that we do now in faith looks backwards to the Cross and the Empty Tomb and the glorification of our Savior.
So there’s a greater quality to our works on this side of the Cross. They are blood-bought works and done for the glory of the Resurrected Jesus.
And they are greater in quantity, too. Because, as we’re going to learn next time, the Spirit is going to come and ratchet everything up to eleven. So it’s not like we get superior miracles to perform than what Jesus was up to. We get to do our good works for Jesus in the era of the Spirit after the glorification of the Son.
And everything is better then!
So, for example, I don’t know how many people Jesus talked to during his earthly ministry, but after He went to Father, thousands came to trust to Him in the early days of the church. And then thousands more. And then thousands more. And then millions more. And then millions and millions more. Greater things!
Jesus never (to our knowledge) left Israel. But now we are talking about Him right here in central Pennsylvania today. All because He went to the Father.
And here’s the application of that. We need to do. We need to do great things! We need to attempt great things for the Lord.
Everything He’s asked us to do in following His example (like washing feet and loving our enemies) and all kinds of things we can come up with to serve Him in faith.
And those things we do will be “greater things” because He has gone to the Father. Does that make sense?
Does that make you want to try some things and to be bold?
I think that these three we heard from this morning who are going to Malawi in 41 days are living out verse 12.
I think the 15 who are in the van to Challenge are living out verse 12.
And everyone here who did something this week because you belong to Jesus and believe in Him, are living out verse 12, too.
The missionary William Carey was fond of saying, “Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God.”
And they might actually seem quite small. But if done in the name of the resurrected Son, in the power of the Spirit, and to the glory of the Father, then they will be greater in some way than everything we’ve read in chapters 1 through 13!!!
What might you do this week in faith?
And what might you pray for and ask Jesus to do this week?
That’s the last of our four applications.
#4. ASK.
Ask for big things in Jesus’ name so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. Last two verses. Great big promise. Verse 13.
“And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”
Wow. I love the sound of that, too. But I also have questions.
I believe that Jesus means every single word in these two verses. But it’s every single word together. And it’s all in the context of everything else He says. We don’t rip these out of the rest of the Bible, and try to figure out what they mean and don’t mean on their own.
Jesus means the words “whatever” in verse 13 and “anything” in verse 14. That means that we can pray about whatever and we can ask for anything.
And He also means “I will do” in verse 13, and “I will do it” in verse 14. That means that Jesus answers prayer! He personally is involved in answering His follower’s prayer requests. “I will do it.”
But He also means the words “in my name.” And those words are not just a tagline that we slip into each prayer to make sure that it’s kosher. “In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
“Oh, you didn’t say, ‘In Jesus’ name, Amen.’ So that one’s no good!”
No, praying in Jesus’ name means praying in Jesus’ authorization.
It means praying in Jesus’ reputation. It means praying in Jesus’ character.It means praying for the things that Jesus wants done.
So, we shouldn’t go praying for anything that we know that Jesus hates.
Don’t pray about who to commit adultery with.Don’t pray about who to murder.Don’t pray about how to get away with theft or slander.
That is not prayer in Jesus’ name.
Praying in Jesus’ name is not telling Jesus what to do. It’s not ordering Him around. Yes, He says, “I will do it.” But the key word here is “ask.”
If you want to know what to ask for, look at Jesus. Look at what He prayed for. And pray in line with what you see. Just like looking at the heart of the Son will reveal the heart of the Father, it will also show you the heart of prayer. Jesus means that we ask in His name and only His name.
And He means for us to ask for things that will ultimately bring glory to His Father.
Don’t miss those words in verse 13.
“And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.”
That has to be the result of His answering our prayers with YES or it will be NO.
And, of course, that’s often mysterious.
We don’t always understand (in fact, we often don’t understand) what will bring the most glory to the Father in a given situation. We can keep from praying for things that we know won’t. But we don’t always know what will.
We can pray, for example, for a new car. Probably shouldn’t pray for 12 new cars and, “Lord, it would be great if one of them was a Rolls-Royce.” But we might not even get that new car because in not getting the car, the Father will get even more glory from whatever He gives us instead.
We can pray for rain. Who was praying for rain yesterday? Thanks a lot! But someone else might be praying that it not rain at a given day or time for a particular reason. And which one will bring ultimate glory to the Father? We leave that up to Him.
But we can and should pray about whatever and ask for anything in Jesus’ name, and we can be sure that He will answer.
Isn’t that good news?!
Remember, these disciples are tempted to be troubled. They are distraught over His departure. But Jesus is assuring them that even if He goes away, they can still talk to Him! And they can still be sure that He is at work. He’s still doing stuff.
Do you need to hear that this morning?
I think these two verses were the biggest challenge to me personally this week, as I prepared this message. Because they confronted me with my relative prayerlessness. I am not asking enough.
I pray. And I pray with others. But am I asking Jesus to do big things? In line with His reputation, His character, His authorization, His will. And trusting in the Father’s wisdom to answer as He sees fit.
But am I asking?
There’s something right now that I’ve begun praying for, but I’ve been really timid about it. I’ve shot it into my prayers from time to time. But I haven’t really been asking. Jesus tells His disciples to ASK.
How about you? Are you taking Jesus up on this offer?
“And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”
Ask!
What I love about this invitation to pray about whatever and anything is that Jesus answers us, not because He loves us (even though He does) but because He loves His Father!
Jesus promises to answer our prayers so that the the Son may bring glory to the Father.
God gets glory when He gives us the things we ask for! And we know that the Father loves to glorify the Son, and we know that the Son loves to glorify the Father. Because they are IN one another!
The have is-ness and with-ness and in-ness.
And if we understand that, then I think we can even pray with great confidence, “Lord Jesus, through Your glorious Self, show us the Father.”
***
Messages in this Series
01. "That You May Believe" - John 20:30-31
02. "In The Beginning Was the Word" - John 1:1-18
03. "John's Testimony" - John 1:19-34
04. "Come and See" - John 1:35-51
05. "The First of His Miraculous Signs" - John 2:1-11
06. "This Temple" - John 2:12-25
07. "You Must Be Born Again" - John 3:1-15
08. "God So Loved The World" - John 3:16-21
09. "Above All" - John 3:22-36
10. "Living Water" - John 4:1-26
11. "Ripe for the Harvest" - John 4:27-42
12. "Your Son Will Live" - John 4:43-54
13. "Pick Up Your Mat and Walk" - John 5:1-18
14. "To Your Amazement" - John 5:19-30
15. "Testimony About Me" - John 5:31-47
Christmas Eve Bonus: "The Astonishing Gift" - John 3:16 Again
Christmas Eve Bonus: "We Have Seen His Glory" - John 1:1-18 Again
16. "Enough Bread" - John 6:1-15
17. "You Are Looking for Me" - John 6:16-36
18. "I Am the Bread of Life" - John 6:35-71
Vision Meeting Bonus: "As I Have Loved You" - John 13:34-35
19. "At the Feast" - John 7:1-52
20. "I Am the Light of the World" - John 8:12-30
21. "Your Father" - John 8:31-59
22. "Now I See" - John 9:1-41
23. "I Am The Gate" - John 10:1-13
24. "I Am the Good Shepherd" - John 10:14-21
25. "I And The Father Are One" - John 10:22-42
26. "I Am the Resurrection and the Life" - John 11:1-53
27. "Expensive" - John 11:54-12:11
28. "The Hour Has Come" - John 12:12-26
30. "Believe In Me" - John 12:37-50
31. "Do You Understand What I Have Done For You?" - John 13:1-17
32. "I Am Telling You Now Before It Happens” - John 13:18-38
2024 West Branch Baccalaureate: "The Way, The Truth, and The Life" - John 14:633. "I Am the Way and the Truth and the Life” - John 14:1-6
