Before we pray, let me say a few words about where we’re going in this summer’s preaching. If the Lord willing, today and next weekend I would like to finish the fourteenth chapter of the Gospel of John. Then, on June 17, I hope to address the issue of homosexuality and so-called gay “marriage.” Then we will have a guest on June 24, Ed Stetzer, on 1 Peter 4. And in July and August a nine-week series on 2 Timothy: “To Him Be Glory Forever and Ever”: Unashamed of Christ and Ready to Suffer: A Summer in Second Timothy.
The plan is that I do five of those nine and when I’m on vacation other pastors do four. Summer is for seeing and tasting and displaying Christ. Keep Christ in the center. Wherever you go, do not neglect worship with God’s people. The point of today’s sermon, and my experience in Bucharest, Geneva and Hamburg, is that Jesus Christ will be with you and manifest to you wherever you are.
Enjoying the Risen Christ
I serve a risen Savior,
He is in the world today;
I know that he lives
Say what men say;
I see your merciful hand,
I hear your voice of joy,
And just the time I need it
He is always near.
He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today!
  ;He walks with me and He talks with me
Down the narrow path of life.
He lives, He lives, salvation to impart!
You ask me how I know that He lives:
He lives inside my heart.
My prayer is that when I finish this message, you will be able to sing that song with more conviction and more joy and a sweeter experience of fellowship with the risen Christ than you have ever known.
Disciples in Need of Animelment
These words in John 14:15–24 were spoken just hours before the greatest event in the history of the world, the greatest act of love in history, namely, the death of the incarnate Son of God in the place of the dead. sinners so that all who receive and believe in him will be forgiven of all our sins and will be accepted as righteous by the creator of the universe in the endless joy of eternal life. What Jesus is saying here assumes that. He is, as he said in John 10:15, about to give his life for the sheep.
“Loving Jesus is not the same as keeping his commandments. It precedes and gives rise to the observance of the commandments.”
And these sheep, these eleven precious friends, apostles, are very confused and fearful and need much encouragement because of what they are about to face with the loss of Jesus. And that is what Jesus does for them, and not only for them, but for you, for all those who believe in his name.
And his message here to them, and to us, is that when he dies, he will live again, and he and the Father and the Holy Spirit will come to us and be with us forever, and never leave us, no matter where we are, or what is happening to us.
God’s special love for his
Let’s make two introductory remarks about what Jesus says here. First, makes it explicit that the gifts he promises us here are not given to the world. Or put another way, the love he promises us here is not a love he has for the world. There is God’s love in John 3:16: “God loved the world so much that he gave his only begotten Son so that everyone who believes may not perish but have eternal life.” But here there is a love, there are gifts, that God reserves for his own. Look at verses 16–17:
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Comforter, to be with you forever, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees nor knows him. You know him, because he dwells with you and will be in you.
And verse 19: “In a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me.” And verse 22: “Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, ‘Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us and not to the world?'”
So it is clear from verse 17, 19 and 22 that the gift of intimacy and help and love that is promised in these verses is something that the world cannot see, does not know, does not give and does not experience. What is promised here is something so personal, so intimate, so reciprocal and relational that the world cannot receive it.
That is the first introductory remark.
The Love of His Beloved People for His Son
The second it is that those who receive these gifts — these promises, this love — are not simply called Christians or believers, they are repeatedly described — four times as those who love Jesus.
Verses 15–16: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Comforter, so that he may be with you forever.”
Verse 21: “He who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. and the one Loves Me will be loved by my Father.” This is not a love that God has for the world. This is a personal, intimate, relational, affectionate, committed love of the Father only for those who love Jesus.
Verse 23: “Jesus answered him, ‘If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him.'” We know from Romans 5:8 that “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” God did not wait for us to love him before loving us. And we know that’s what John believed too, because in 1 John 4:19 he says, “We love because he first loved us.” No doubt about that. glorious truth.
And now here is other glorious truth. Verse 21: “He who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves. and the one Loves Me will be loved by my Father.” Or again in verse 23: “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him.” In other words, God’s love precedes and makes our love possible (Romans 5:8; 1 John 4:19). Y God responds to our love and loves with a unique, personal, intimate, affectionate, supportive, committed love that belongs only to those who love his Son.
Those are the two introductory remarks. The promises in these verses are not for the world. They cannot see them, know them or experience them. Rather, this love is for those who love Jesus.
Now just two more questions. What does it mean to love Jesus? And what are we promised if we do?
1. What does it mean to love Jesus?
Jesus tells us four times that this love is of such a nature that it results in the fulfillment of the commandments of Jesus, or, more generally, his word.
- Verse 15: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”
- Verse 21: “He who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me.”
- Verse 23: “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word.”
- Verse 24: “Whoever does not love me, does not keep my words.”
The first thing to note is that loving Jesus is not the same as keeping his commandments. It precedes and gives rise to the observance of the commandments. Keep the word of him is the result to love him, no the same than love him
- Verse 15: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”
- Verse 23: “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word.”
So what is this love for Jesus that gives rise to keeping the commandments of Jesus? Jesus has no flaws. He has no demerit. Therefore, we cannot and dare not love him graciously, the way God loves us. We dare not love him with a love that overcomes some fault or ugliness or sin in Jesus to treat him well. No. Love for Jesus is fully deserved. He is infinitely lovable. He is perfectly charming. he is not loved despite of what it is, but by all that is.
“Loving Jesus is not a matter of doing excellent things. It is about delighting in a fine Savior.”
Which means that love for him is a response to beauty, greatness and glory. It is not a response to need, weakness, or defect. Which also means that love for Jesus is pleasurable. It is to desire it because it is infinitely desirable. It is admiring him because he is infinitely admirable. It is treasuring it because it is infinitely valuable. It is to enjoy it because it is infinitely pleasant. It is being satisfied with everything that is, because it is infinitely satisfying. It is the reflection of the awakened and newborn human soul of all that is true, good and beautiful, embodied in Jesus.
In short, loving Jesus is not a matter of doing great things. It is about reveling in an excellent Savior. Jesus says that doing fine things, keeping my word, is the result of delighting in the fine Savior. “If someone loves me, my word will be fulfilled.”
Love: Want, Desire, Enjoy, Prefer
Two confirmations that we are on the right track. The word love in the Gospel of John it is used like this. For example, John 3:19 says, “The people loved more darkness than light.” That’s what they wanted. They wanted it. They enjoyed it. They preferred it. They did not love the dark out of duty. They loved him out of desire.
The same kind of love is found in John 12:43: “They loved the glory of man more than the glory of God.” They wanted it. That’s what it means to love him. They longed for it. They longed for human praise. That’s how they “loved” him.
Or consider the Father’s love for the Son John 3:35: “The Father loves the Son and has put all things in his hand.” Remember the words of the Father at the baptism of Jesus and at his transfiguration: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). “You are my beloved Son; I am well pleased with you” (Lk 3:22).
This is the only way to love the Son: to be pleased with him. Feel pleasure in it. Esteem and admire and enjoy and treasure and be trembling, blissfully amazed at him.
That is a confirmation. The word “love” is used that way. The other is to ask: What are the commandments that Jesus has in mind when he says in John 14:15, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments”?
The “commandments” in the mind of Jesus
When you read the entire Gospel of John looking for specific commands of moral behavior, what do you think? find? You will find two explicit commandments that you could call commandments of moral conduct: the new commandment to love one another as Jesus loved us (John 13:34–35), and the command to Peter: “Feed my sheep” (John 21:16). .
But Jesus did not say, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments of moral conduct.” He said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (verse 15). So if you read the Gospel again, what you find are many commandments like: “Receive me” (John 1:12). “Follow me” (John 1:43). Arise, crippled (John 5:8). Rise from the dead, Lazarus (John 11:43)! “Believe in the light” (John 12:36). “Believe in God” (John 14:1). “Believe me” (John 14:11). “Abide in me” (John 15:4). “Ask what you want” (15:7). “Abide in my love” (John 15:9). “Receive the Holy Ghost” (John 20:22). These are the commandments that are in the entire Gospel of John.
Now how does that confirm the way we have understood the love for Jesus in John 14:15, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments? ”? Because if the commandments in the Gospel of John are overwhelmingly to receive, believe,…