How was everyone’s Thanksgiving? Mine was great. And it was not great for the usual reasons. I mean, it was great because of the usual reasons, bit it was great for so much more this year. Over dessert at my family’s house the subject of black holes came up. Being a physicist, that in and of its self was great. We talked about space time, quantum mechanics, sting theory, and the new E8. But the conversation didn’t end there. After all that, my cousin asked me what I believed about creation. This opened up the floor to Spiritual matters, and for the next 2 hours we talked about the gospel. We talked about the texts authenticity, about the claims of Christians, about “Religion”, about everything. We got to the point where we are going to pick up today. It is possibly the most offensive idea in all faiths, but at the same time, it is the most freeing.
Before we look at the text, let me set the stage. Jesus and his disciples have just had the last supper, and he is giving them some parting words before he is dragged off and murdered. It is at the end of his ministry. He had been with the men he is talking to for three years now, doing all sort s of wonders, miracles, and teachings. And this is the last this he wants them to hear. This is then, is the most important teaching, I imagine. I know if I were going to die, an I knew it, I would want to pass on my best jewels of wisdom, my sincerest love, not just something like, “don’t forget to turn off the lights in the garage.” I can assume that most of us are the same, right? We wouldn’t waste our last moments on Earth with our closest friends. We would make every word count. Jesus is doing the same thing here. He is passing along the last things he will say to his disciples before he goes to the cross.
Turn with me to your programs. We read:
1"Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. 4And you know the way to where I am going." 5 Thomas said to him, "Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?" 6Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him."
8 Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us." 9Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? 10Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.
Let us stop there for a minute and unpack this. As I said before, this is one of the most offensive and freeing parts of the Bible. What is Jesus really saying here? Well it seems sort of self evident, doesn’t it? If we are Jesus words at face value he is saying that 1. We need to believe in him, 2. He is the only way to heaven, and 3. That he is God.
If we remember back to the beginning if the Exodus journey, we may remember that God makes similar statements to Moses when he begins his journey. In Exodus 6 we read
God spoke to Moses and said to him, "I am the LORD.” 3I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as(D) God Almighty,[a] but by my name the(E) LORD I did not make myself known to them. 4(F) I also established my covenant with them(G) to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners. 5Moreover,(H) I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant. 6Say therefore to the people of Israel,(I) 'I am the LORD, and(J) I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and(K) I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. 7I(L) will take you to be my people, and(M) I will be your God, and you shall know that(N) I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out(O) from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8I will bring you into(P) the land that I(Q) swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession.(R) I am the LORD.'" 9Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel, but they(S) did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery.
Jesus words are echoing the exodus. Right before Jesus spoke these words he had instituted the Lord’s Supper. He calls it the New Covenant. He is reminding them of the old covenant. They were eating the Passover meal during this conversation. All the promises of Exodus would have been in their minds, as well as all the requirements. What Jesus is doing here is setting up the new covenant.
And this New Covenant looks remarkably similar to the Old. In the Old Covenant God sets up a few things. First he establishes that he is God. And then as we just read, he sets up some requirements. That is that Israel would be his people. If the denied him, then he would forsake them. But at the same time, if we go back to when the Covenant with Abraham was set up, God took the entirety of the Covenant upon himself, knowing that Abraham could not handle it. We are going to see the same pattern here with Jesus.
He first sets up, as we just read that he is God. But he does so much more than this. At this time there is a religious movement called the Pharisees. If we trace back their origin we find that they started out as a great movement, beginning with Ezra, a chief priest in the Old Testament. They began as a way to ensure that the people were following God, and as a call to all of Israel to be holy. However, by Jesus time, they had become corrupt. They had forsaken God for their rules. What they had done is decided that the way to God was through laws and regulations. If you followed their rules to a T, then you were safe, God would let you into heaven, and all was well. If you didn’t, well, then your fate as not so pretty. What they were trying to do was guarantee their spot in heaven buy their own power. They wanted to be sure to please God, and so they set up all these ways that they could be holy. Let me footnote this, and say that the desire for holiness is not in and of itself bad. It is actually very good. But what the Pharisees did was exchange God’s holiness, and God for their holiness and rules.
The Pharisees took the 613 Laws of the Old Testament and added to them thousands. They were so concerned with holiness that they would keep their drinks covered so as not to even drink a gnat, thus making themselves unclean. This seems a little absurd right? Worrying about gnats? And how were they to guard against them in their sleep? But before we laugh too hard at these men, how many today are trying to be good persons to get into heaven, or believe that that is all one needs to do. If we really question them though, we find that their idea of what a good person looks like looks pretty close to what they look like. They, like the Pharisees, have raised up their own standard of holiness, and forsaken God’s standard. If we were to ask them who got into heaven, based on being a good person, all of them think that they should get in.
Jesus says different though. He says that he is the way, the truth and the light. No one come sot the Father except though him. This New Covenant he sets up is one based on relationship. Just like is Exodus, if we call God our God, he will call us his people, and lead us into the Promised Land. This New Covenant is really no different from the Old.
Remember back to last week’s sermon. After God had established his covenant with the people he set up some guidelines for them to follow. We know them as the Ten Commandments. God is telling the people that the way to be his people is to follow his rules. He is not doing this just to get people to follow his rules though, he is doing it as a loving Father. Jesus is going to do the same as he sets up this Covenant. He says in John 14:15
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”
And again in John 14:23-24
"If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.
And what are these commands? Well, of starters we know that in the previous chapter of John Jesus specifically gives a command to love each other. So that is part of it, but there is so much more. Let me submit that what he referring to when he says “my word” is everything he has taught. Just as Israel was given statutes to live by, so are we, if we call our selves Christians. And part of the reason for this is obvious. How can the world tell that you are part of this covenant if there is nothing different about you? The reason for all the laws given to Israel was to set them up as a light among nations. It was to set them apart and to call others to the Living God.
But back to what Jesus says. He says if you love me you will keep my commands. Some of Jesus words are very harsh. He tells us in the Sermon on the Mount
21 "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.' 22But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insult his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, 'You fool!' will be liable to the hell of fire.
27"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' 28But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
What Jesus is telling us is that God’s standard of Holiness is impossibly high. That the idea of being a good person is thrown out the window. But at the same time he says that if we love him we will obey him? How is this possible if his commands are in fact impossible?
There are a few things going on here, and we need to deal with each of tem to get a full picture of hat Jesus is saying. One of the first things that he is saying is that just acknowledging God is not enough. OT say that yeah there is a God, and even to say that it is Jesus doesn’t cut it. Even Demons know that to be true. In James 2:19 we read,
“You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!”
So just a knowledge or head belief is not enough. There must be a outward change. We must begin to not only say that there is a God, but to obey him. Jesus is here speaking to those who would say they love him but continue in sin. IT is the people whop have no desire to change. The one who pay lip service to God. Jesus is saying that one way to find out if someone loves me is if they are changing.
I don’t think Jesus is referring here to a perfect obedience. That contradicts his teaching, as well as all of Scripture. We are unable to obey on our own. We are sinners. What Jesus is saying though, is that there will be a change, a desire to obey, an outward mark. We will get back to this though.
The second thing that Jesus is trying to teach us here is total and utter dependence on Him. See we Are going to screw up. No matter how hard we try, we are going to get angry, we are going to lust. We can not fulfill the law. But remember the way to God. It is not through being good, but through Jesus. He is the way the truth and the light. In the same breath that he tells us that if we are angry we have broken the commandment about murder, h tells us that he has fulfilled the law. When he is crucified his last words are “It is finished”. In both cases he is communicating that we need not worry about being good people any more. What we couldn’t do, Jesus did. Paul states it this way in 2 Corinthians 5:21
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
This is the Gospel. God did for you what you could not do for yourself. God says obey, you can’t, so he sends his Son to die and pay the penalty you deserved. Through this death you can exchange your sin for righteousness. Jesus is calling us back to himself when he calls us to obey. We try, we fail, we come to the cross.
The third thing that Jesus is doing when he tells us that if we loved him we would obey him is changing the conversation completely. The motivation for obeying is different than any other religion at any other time. This is what makes Christianity unique. We are not called to obey out of fear, or to gain something for our selves, but out of love. If you love me, obey me, Jesus says.
In every other religion you obey to become holy so God won’t punish you, or so that the Gods will smile on you and give you what you want. The motivation is fear. Muslims pray 5 times a day because if the don’t Allah may deal harshly with them. Buddhists offer sacrifices and obey their gods because if the don’t evil spirits will torment them. The Pharisees obeyed their rules because if the didn’t they couldn’t be sure that God would protect them. In every other religion at every other time the call to obey was motivated my fear. Fear of Hell, of wrath, of tormenting demons. If you obeyed and became holy you could assure for yourself a p[lace in heaven. You could appease the gods, you could dissuade god’s wrath.
This is not the motivation in Christianity. We can do nothing to make our selves holy. W are sinners. We are evil and vile. In Isaiah God says that our righteous deeds are like filthy rags. We read in Mark that Jesus says that no one is good. This is good news however, because God saves us. He knew that we were sinners, but Christ died that we have become holy. There is nothing that we need to do, except accept Jesus sacrifice for us.
Out of this we obey. Knowing that we are loved, that God desires us to be with Him, that he died for us, that he sacrificed his only Son so that we may be called Sons of God, knowing all this, we obey. This is the motivation. Do you see the difference. It is subtle but it is there. We obey because we are loved, we are not loved because we obey. We are given grace upon grace, and after all this we choose to obey a loving Father that has plans to prosper us an not to harm us.
We realize that our worth is not based on what we do, but on who God is. We see God as the loving Father who has set up rules and commands for us to obey to protect us. He is not some cosmic sadist who just wants his own way, but rather a parent who wants what is best for his kids. And after we realize all this, we obey.
So there’s my introduction which brings me to today’s sermon.
Obeying is hard though, isn’t it? If left to our own how many of us would be able to stop getting angry, stop lusting, stop lying, stop being greedy, stop drinking, stop being prideful and self righteous, stop any of the negative behaviors we have? I know I couldn’t. When I was drinking and womanizing I would try and try to stay sober. I knew that I wasn’t supposed to be drinking to blackouts and sleeping with anything with 2 legs. I knew it in my core. But I couldn’t stop on my own. I tried everything in my power, and nothing worked. My own strength wasn’t good enough. I could not make my self a better person. I know that not all of you share my testimony, but I assure you that you share my story. The details may be different, but everyone in this room has tried to make themselves better in some way, and failed. Although the sin may be different, the flesh is the same. And if you are sitting there thinking tat you have never had this experience, then you sin I pride, and I assure you, you can not change you self righteousness on your own.
So how then are we to obey, as Jesus tells us? Let’s go back to today’s text.
15 "If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. 18"I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him." 22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, "Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?" 23Jesus answered him, "If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.
25"These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 26But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
Can you see what happens? God gives us his Spirit to live in us. One of the Spirits jobs is to help us in all our struggles. You receive the Spirit when you become a Christian. So here is the pattern.
1. God calls us to be in Covenant with him
2. This covenant means we need to obey all sorts of laws we can’t obey
3. God knew we couldn’t obey, so he sent his Son to die in our place
4. We believe in Christ and love him because of who he is and what he has done
5. God calls us his own and makes his home with us, giving us the Holy Spirit
6. The Spirit helps us to obey all the commands we couldn’t before
The Spirit helps us obey all that is commanded, as well as giving us new desires for holiness. Let me explain with an example. When I was drinking, not only could I nit stop, but I couldn’t imagine a life with out alcohol and women. It was not just that I needed to drink; it was that there was no other alternative. That is what life was, and that is all I could hope for it to be. I couldn’t imagine a Friday night apart from parties and bars, a life without meaningless sex.
However once I submitted to God, crying out to Him in my brokenness, not only did he help me to not drink, he filled me with new desires. I could truly be free through the Spirit that lives in me. I was able to see an entire world apart from the one where I had been enslaved. I was freed t have a life outside of the prison of alcohol and drugs that I had made for myself. I was able to see way out.
Jesus promises that he will not leave us a orphans. He is here talking to his Apostles, but also to each of us. God is not some far off being, trying to impose his tyrannical will upon us. He is right here with us, helping us every step of the way. Jesus isn’t calling us to follow him, and then wishing us luck. He doesn’t go to a better place and allow us to fend for ourselves. He is right in the thick of it with us. He is helping us in our struggles. His Spirit lives in us, moving us forward in our sanctification. He doesn’t just say obey, but helps us to learn what that truly means.
It is through this Spirit that we can learn to live holy lives. Once we come to Jesus, and love him, we are already righteous in his sight. There is nothing else we need to do. Jesus said “It is finished.” All our work has been completed. But he also knew that there would still be struggles and hardship. That at times we would not want to obey, or be able to. We are constantly struggling against the flesh. Paul, the most prolific writer of the New Testament says that he does what he does not want to do, and doesn’t do what he wants. Jesus says that he is with us though. He will not abandon nor forsake us. Jesus says that he will make his home with us. He will live there. The Spirit of God will dwell in side of us.
As we listened to Robert speak last week about the Ten Commandments he cautioned us. His warning was about just trying to obey them with out looking to Jesus. Here is why. Either, like the Pharisees we check all the commandments off the list and become self righteous, or we live in utter despair because we try to follow the rules and find that we couldn’t. The temptation is to set up a religion. We set the rules higher than the rule giver. We add our own laws and call all those who don’t live up to our expectations evil. Or we live in fear and despair, never being able to live up to the standards we set for ourselves.
Jesus is calling us here to something completely different. He is calling us to love him, to love God. That is all. Yes he is calling all of us to obey, but it is out of a love for God. And with this love comes a knowledge that our salvation is secure. That God had hade his home with us, and we are his friend. We know that the Holy Spirit lives inside of us, and through His power, the same power that raise Christ from the dad, we may be transformed. That even if we mess up and sin, God still loves us. His love is not based on our performance. His love is unconditional, and we need to just accept it to be free.
Jesus ends this speech on the Spirit as follows:
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you.
And this is his peace. You are God’s. He loves you like a Father loves his children- unconditionally. There is nothing that you can do to make him stop loving you. His arms are stretched out awaiting you. All you need to do is run into them. He died for your sins, not because you were holy, but because he is Holy. He doesn’t love you based on what you can do, but based on who He is.
If you are a Christian, you need not worry any more. Your salvation is secure. You are sealed. You are His Beloved. His love depends no more now on your perfection as it did when you first came to him broken and sinful. Because of Christ’s sacrifice you have been made righteous. There is no condemnation for you. There is no longer Judgment on you. As Paul writes in Romans 8:38-39
for I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Nothing. Now, with that knowledge, obey him. Obey him out of love. He has such better plans for you than you can imagine. The sin you are living in right now is nothing compared to the overwhelming joy of knowing God more fully. Listen to the Spirit that lives inside you, and have life abundant. Out of the overwhelming grace that God has shown you, respond in joyful obedience. Know that he has set up his rules to protect you. He is a loving Father, not a tyrant. Love him more and obey. In the Weight of Glory, C. S. Lewis writes that we as people don’t sin because we are too passionate, but because we are not passionate enough. We are like a child content to play with mud pies because he can not imagine what is meant by a holiday at sea. We are far too ready so sin and exchange God for lesser things. God is with you, his Holy Spirit lives in you. You could have God more fully, and you are content with the sin that you are living in. Respond to God’s love. He wants to give you nothing less than himself. Yes he gives you peace, and salvation, but more than this, he gives you himself. Love him more. Cry out to him in your sin, and allow the Spirit to guide you in all truth and righteousness.
Like wise, if you are not a Christian, hear Jesus call on your life. He doesn’t require holiness before you come before him. He doesn’t want you to obey out of fear. He loves you. He wants to be in relationship with you. He wants to make his home with you. Jesus did all the work. You can be made righteous in him. All he requires is that you love him as he loves you. He is calling you right no to give up your mud pies and come to a vacation at sea. He has so much more than this world has to offer, and he gives it to you for free. You don’t need to do anything but accept it. He is calling to you as a loving parent, laying down his life that you might be saved.
Give him your religion, your self righteousness, your sin, and your filth. He has already done the work. You don’t need to try to impress God anymore; he loves you just as you are. He loves you just as you are. He has for you peace unlike anything you have ever known. He has for you his Spirit. He has for you himself. Come unto him, in all your sin and shame. He will clothe you in righteousness. He has already done the work. Come receive a renewed soul. Come, cry out to your Savior, and receive the life he always meant for you to have. Come and be in relation to your Father, who loves you beyond compare.
Jesus calls us to be in covenant with him. He calls us to a new Covenant. One where all we need to do is love him, and accept his love. In front of me is the Lord’s Supper. It was given to the disciples as Jesus spoke all this to them, and more. As he sat in the upper room eating the Passover Meal with his followers he took the bread and said “This is my body, broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way he took the up and said,” This cup is the New Covenant of my blood. Do this as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
If you call yourself a follower of Christ, weather it has been for years, or minutes, I invite you to the table. Know that you have been cleansed. Come humbly to the feast set before you, confession those sins that you are holding on to, asking the Spirit o free you from bondage. Come and eat of the New Covenant. Come to God as he calls out to you. Come.
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