Wednesday in the Word...John 14:18-24...Our youngest grand is 1!

Our youngest grandchild is now 1!  Here is Connor with one of his birthday presents.  We pray daily for our grandchildren to know of God's love for them through the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ.

One more note before our study today is another event of my life that I will not post with a picture.  It was the pulling of another tooth which ended up as a surgical procedure.  I have never been punched in the jaw but I guess I know what it feels like now.  The treatment of chemotherapy for cancer does a number on the enamel of our teeth and this is a byproduct of 8 years of being able to continue on with life for God's glory!  "Consider it all joy,..."

Today's Wednesday in the Word takes us farther into Jesus' conversation with His disciples around the table in the upper room.  We are covering John chapter 14 and verses 18 through 24 today.

v.18-20 - “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.  After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also.  In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you."

Jesus has told His disciples that He is going to leave them.  He has also told them that He is sending to them another One, the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is a counselor, a helper, the Spirit of truth, and who will be with them forever.  Jesus is leaving but the Holy Spirit is coming.

They will feel like orphans when their rabbi, Jesus, leaves them.  Jesus speaks of His going but He also speaks of His rising.  "In a little while" would be the 3 days Jesus is in the grave.  After that little while, Jesus would appear to them and many others.  1 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 6 indicates that it was more than five hundred brethren at one time.  They would see that He is alive.  The resurrection would be the capstone for them to say, "Jesus is God."  For every Christian and for one to be a Christian, we believe that Jesus rose from the dead.  There is no Christianity without this fact.  

Thomas and Philip have asked and made statements about how they would know what Jesus is talking about.  Jesus answers that on that day, the day He appeared to them after the resurrection, they would know who He is.  They would understand Jesus' relationship with the Father and their relationship to Jesus.

v.21 - "He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.” 

Obedience is tied to our relationship with Jesus.  We respond to His commands on how we are to live as Christians with obedience.  We value what Jesus says with obedience and it is an obedience that goes on and on and on.  Remember that this statement is made after the statement of faith that Jesus rose from the grave.  This obedience is not a means to salvation.  Salvation has happened and this obedience is the response of the Christian's life now that we are saved, born again.  

We show our love of Jesus through our obedience and as we obey, we experience God's love for us.  A by-product of obedience is being more aware of God's love for us.  God's love is there, but obedience to His commands opens our eyes to see His work in our lives.

v.22 - Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, what then has happened that You are going to disclose Yourself to us and not to the world?” 

Another disciple speaks up and it is Judas but not Judas Iscariot who has left to start of the process of Jesus' betrayal and capture by the Jewish authorities.  This Judas gives us the hint that not all will see Jesus or know Jesus like those who believe He is the Son of God.  There is the broad road that leads to destruction and many travel it but then a narrow gate and few find it.

What has happened?  Sin has happened and the penalty for sin requires a Savior.  The Savior is only truly realized as the Savior to those who have responded in faith that He truly is the Son of God.  Every knee will bow on the last day to the Savior but that doesn't mean every knee will abide with Him forever.  Every bowed knee will receive his just judgement from the Savior.  There will be a recognition that there is only one Savior but the question is, "Has your knee bowed to Him as your Savior prior to the day that every knee (saved and unsaved) acknowledge His position?"  "Is your kneeling one of faith or it is one forced upon all mankind because He is God and we are not?"  

v.23, 24 - Jesus answered and said to 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 abode with him.  He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me."

What does Judas (not Iscariot) need to know at this time?  Jesus tells him and the others again to respond with obedience.  The sign of love for God on our side of heaven is our obedience to His word.  The first obedience is to respond to the faith God has given us to see His Son, Jesus Christ, as the Savior of our sins.  It is Jesus who died on the cross in our place and has justified us before the Father.  This is the first obedience that is followed by a life of obedience.  We walk now, not alone, but with the Holy Spirit given to us to continue to guide us in God's truth.  

We experience the love of the Father that He had for us before we ever loved Him with the lavish gifts of the Holy Spirit, His Word, His Church, and eternal life with Him.  We know of our love for Him by our response to His words.  If we love Him then we will obey Him.  If we don't love Him then we will know it because we are disregarding His words.  This is how it works.  These words from Jesus are from the Father who sent Him.  The authority of all of heaven rests on this concept that those who love God also obey His words and those who don't love God disregard His words. 

It would be easy to use this as a judging point or at best, a discerning grid to determine another's salvation but with God who is the only one who saves, this needs to be a self-evaluation tool for the one standing before God.  The believer could use this to help another evaluate if he truly loves God but it would be based on God's words and not your own.  "Are you obeying what He says?"  Sticky spot when you are in church leadership and making sure you are basing your actions on God's words only. 

Jesus will conclude this talk with His disciples in the next paragraph and we will cover that in the next Wednesday in the Word.  Before they get up from the Passover Meal and head to the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus will wrap up this sermon with some words to tie these conversations together.  

"Heavenly Father, thank You for loving us before we ever loved You.  Thank You that Your Son, Jesus Christ was obedient to Your will and may we follow His example to be obedient in our lives.  May Your words become precious to us with practical application to this day that we live.  May it be truly for Your glory.  Amen."

Pastor Adam