Last time—Spiritual Gifts Inventory
http://www.churchgrowth.org/analysis/intro.php
Did you discover anything about yourself?
What you going to do with it?
The Gospel of John Chapter 14
Lesson in Obedience
You’ve pledged your life to Jesus
Convinced that He is God Amongst Us,
Revealer of both Divinity and Humanity,
Forgiver of Sinners and Giver of Eternal Life
Now that you’ve entered into this relationship with Jesus
how do you live your life as a fully devoted follower of Christ?
That’s the question that the Gospel of John answers for us in Chapters
12-17.
Chapter 12 had a lesson in Worship
Chapter 13 had a lesson in Service
Today Chapter 14 holds a lesson in Obedience.
We are going to focus on verse 15
John 14:15 (NIV)
"If you love me, you will obey what I command.
Or as Eugene Peterson paraphrased it
If you love me, show it by doing what I've told you.
Obedience—Do What God Has Told You Out of Love
Before we watch a video presentation of Chapter 14 there are four
statements Jesus makes I want you to really grab on to.
First Statement
John 14:4 (NIV)
You know the way to the place where I am going."
I have a problem with verbal travel directions.
I often get right and left confused.
Take the first street to the right and then the second left.
Once you pass the big oak tree take the second street on
the right and the road you want is the fourth on the left,
it will be the second house on your right.
Tell that to me and I am a gonner.
We could make a whole new reality TV show out of this—
Mike’s Lost…..
If you really want to help somebody like me with directions try—
“Follow me, I’ll take you there.”
Jesus tells his disciples “you know the way”
Now Thomas was a guy who liked things spelled out for him.
He wants to be sure what place Jesus is speaking about.
He asks and gets an answer.
The place Jesus is going is back to the Father.
Some might get physical and be tempted to say Heaven,
Mansions on hilltops, streets paved with gold.
But I think to be with the Father is something more than we can
imagine.
All creation is the throne room of God,
To be with the Father ------
Can you remember when you were little,
Do you have a memory of how loved, protected, secure and
safe you felt cuddled up in the arms of your daddy?
As a child do you have a memory of daddy teaching you to ride
a bike, or throw a ball, or fish, or paint, or reading books
to you?
As a teen do you have a memory of dad believing in you,
Having a confidence in you that made you feel capable,
Ready to face the challenges of a more complex
world?
As a young adult do you have a memory of dad’s sagely advice,
His letting you go to explore your world,
But also always having a place for you to return
to?
When I think of heaven, I think not so much of a place as a feeling.
To be with the Father.
This is the state of being Jesus is going to.
And Thomas wants to make sure he knows the way.
So Jesus tells him
Our second statement:
John 14:6 (NIV)
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Jesus didn’t give instructions, --go right at the first cross on your left….
Jesus tells Thomas come and follow and I’ll take you there.
Jesus tells his disciples that the place He was going is with the Father,
and that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life—
the means by which the Disciples are to follow.
This path we are to follow is clearly marked out for us:
Luke 22:42 (NIV)
“…yet not my will, but yours be done."
There’s the path,
The high way of holiness
a picture of the Way, the Truth, the Life,
Not me, you, not my way, yours.
Always you, your will, your way—Jesus
This is the path disciples are to follow.
Jesus’ third statement:
John 14:12 (NIV)
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.
From our first moment of saving faith we start doing the things Jesus has done.
As we move ever closer to total and complete transformation into the image
of Christ the more we do the things Jesus has done.
But what are these greater things?
Friends to understand this I think we need to get real earthy.
I could spend some time talking about the deeds of the original disciples.
Truly God used them to turn the world upside down.
Instead I want to talk about us today, living life here and now.
“Jesus, he’s very Jewish, living in Palestine, two millennia ago.
Not in the big cities of the Gentiles,
But in monotheistic, family oriented, Israel.
Jesus did not live in a world
where the marriage bond was a passing suggestion instead of an eternal vow,
where adultery and fornication (translated cheating and hooking up)
was not common a sin much less an expected behavior,
where abuse of every kind shatters souls daily and
where vice and lasciviousness (translated sex and lust) flourished like a
spider plant in a tropical forest.”—Barclay's Daily Study Bible (NT)
We live in a moral mess-pool of anything and everything goes.
And here we are living as disciples,
bringing the Kingdom to the hopeless
Comforting the victims of this madness
Loving the wicked while hating the wickedness.
Being light in someone’s darkness
I think today it is more difficult to live a devout and holy life than just about
anytime in history.
We face a great opposition.
And if these are indeed the last days,
We will face the greatest of oppositions.
Still we carry out the work of our commission,
Go and make disciples.
By loving others we bring them the Kingdom of God.
So I feel that the challenge of discipleship today is more difficult than ever before.
Being a fruitful disciple is a great thing.
How is that possible?
How is it possible to be a fruitful disciple when you live in a mess-pool?
The answer brings us to the fourth statement,
How is it possible that we are doing the things Jesus did and even greater things?
First: Jesus is everywhere present in his disciples,
Moving through us, speaking through us, healing through us.
Second: Jesus pours out the Holy Spirit on His disciples
John 14:26 (NIV)
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 Holy Spirit, God in you.
Teaching you, guiding you, convicting you, healing you, transforming you.
Empowering you to live your life to the full.
Equipping you to use your spiritual gifts to bring the Kingdom
to others through your service.
God manifesting His presence through your acts of love,
His glory enveloping the way you live your life,
His love flowing through you to others—
Bringing about change and transformation and healing,
And peace.
The Holy Spirit inhabits the lives of disciples making it possible for you and
I to be fruitful.
Four statements of Jesus give us instruction and encouragement and wonder
You know the place of salvation
You are daily experiencing the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
As you travel the path you will do the things Jesus did
Because the very life of God is within you.
All this rests on one foundation.
Obedience
Roll the Video
John 14:15 & 21 (NIV)
"If you love me, you will obey what I command…Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."
Jesus never insisted that we obey,
Jesus never demanded that we obey,
rather He commanded us to love.
Jesus doesn’t want you to obey because you are ordered to.
Not Because you are coerced to,
Not Because you are threatened to,
Not because of what you can get
But rather because love motivates you to want to.
Jesus demonstrates His love for His Father and For us by His obedience,
even when that obedience meant His physical death.
Trust is the foundation of a relationship
Love is the life blood of a relationship.
Obedience is the only proof of love.
Obedience from a relational perspective means
I do the things that strengthen the relationship
I refrain from doing things that weaken the relationship.
Focus on the this things that strengthen your relationship
Shun the things that hinder it.
You will naturally move towards what you are
concentrating on.
There’s a kind of formula here in the 14th chapter
Responding to Jesus’ love, you obey
Your obedience results in more revelation of God.
That new understanding motivates you to love even more,
Which results in a greater obedience.
And you therefore grow in both love and
understanding, and obedience.
Obedience is the outward expression of your love of God
The fruit of love motivated obedience is a greater revelation of God
If you love Him, you will obey Him
As you obey Him you will know Him more
The more you know Him, the more you will love Him,
The more you love Him, the more you will obey Him.
The more you obey Him the more you will be like Him.
We are not talking mushy feelings and emotional high kind of love.
We’re talking about a love that is more substantial, more precious,
more sacred, more binding, than mere sentiment.
Love—in the Greek, is agape:
Love that loves for love’s sake.
Love that knows no bounds to meet the need of the other.
Love that requires absolute abandon, sacrifice, that recklessness we spoke of a few
weeks ago.
Loving like this takes a courageous heart.
Courage to obey.
Obedience is always costly.
Obedience comes at a price of change.
But disobedience always cost more.
Obedience is the key which unlocks the blessings of heaven.
Obedience is walking in the light in which you have been given.
Obedience is keeping in step with the Spirit.
You do things that sometimes you don’t want to do.
You allow yourself to be inconvenienced,
You surrender your rights,
You lay down your life
Because love motivates you to obey.
IF you have a problem with obedience you really have a love problem.
Disobedience is a sign that you love something more than God.
It’s a sign that there are idols in your life that are seducing you away
from your first love.
Remember when I said living today is living in a mess-pool?
The problem of living in a mess-pool is after a while you don’t see what a
mess things are.
The back yard at my home is right next to Magnolia Ave.
At this particular point, Magnolia is 6 lanes with a turn lane.
I seldom hear the traffic noise.
Why?
Exposed to something long enough you begin not to notice.
This blocking phenomena works in every area of your life.
The mess of the mess-pool becomes a part of every day life and
you don’t even notice the mess you’re in.
Things just seem normal,
Everybody is doing it,
And at least I’m not as bad as the other guy.
You’re influenced by the mess in the mess pool,
I could argue to the point of being brainwashed
There could be stuff in your life right now,
That you are being totally disobedient in and the only sign of it is that
you feel distant in your relationship with God.
If you feel like there’s something hindering the intimacy of your relationship with
God take a personal survey of your life.
WE called it the spiritual discipline of contemplation.
Is there any area or activity or thought or behavior in your life
That you really wouldn’t want me to know about?
Don’t want the Pastor to know-----
Then ask yourself what’s God will for you in Christ Jesus
concerning this matter.
You and the Holy Spirit will take it from there.
Guiding you our of the mess into all truth
Here’s the lesson I want you to take home with you today and put into practice
Love motivated obedience is the path to the place where the Father is.
I will do the things that strengthen my relationship with God.
I will shun the things that hinder my relationship with God,
Because I really want to.
Love motivated by obedience,
Walk in it with all your heart, mind, soul and strength.
It leads to the place Jesus told us of,
The place where we will be with the Father.