Life in Jesus’ Name - The Gospel of John
Lanse Evangelical Free Church
July 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.”
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).
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
29. "Father, Glorify Your Name!" - John 12:27-36
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
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