If You Love Me, Keep My Commands

If You Love ME

John 14:15-21

Online Sermon: http://www.mckeesfamily.com/?page_id=3567

How are the fallen to come to know, glorify, and obey a holy God of whom is wholly other? No being is like Him for He alone eternally existed before even time began! His ways are truly higher than our ways and even though believers have the mind of Christ and have been given fancy titles such as His ambassadors and royal priests, whom amongst us could ever declare that our attempts to live up to the image in which we were formed is anything more than dust chasing after dust? And yet despite no one being righteous, not one, to God we are His treasured possession, masterpieces of His grace, enabled by Him to do more than we could ever ask or imagine! With the Spirit of Truth living inside of the believer we are not only capable of understanding what God’s ways but also able to be holy as God is holy. But even though sin no longer has mastery over us, we still have a difficult time like the dog in the movie Marley and Me to show our love for our Master by keeping His commands. I often wonder what God must think when He knows the glorious potential, He has granted each of us and yet finds us like a disobedient dog frolicking in the meadows of our own self-pleasure? When one reflects on one’s habitual sins and dare, I say outright defiance towards submitting to His right to rule one’s life, do we not often want to cry out “help me with my disbelief” for Father you know I can do nothing without You? Do we not want to join Tozer and cry out, “O God, I have tasted Thy goodness, and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more. I am painfully conscious of my need of further grace. I am ashamed of my lack of desire. O God, the Triune God, I want to want Thee; I long to be filled with longing!”?

Today’s sermon is going to reflect on Christ’s words to the apostles before His crucifixion. They were petrified because Christ was about to be crucified and He was going away to a place where for now they could not join Him. Jesus reassured them that their relationship was not about to end. Through the Spirit of Truth, they would not only draw closer to Him and His Father but also experience a profound unity: “As I am in the Father, you are in Me, and I am in You!” This remarkable bond is a testament to God’s amazing love! And yet while love is a complex and multifaceted concept, Jesus provides clarity by stating, “If you love Me, keep my commands.” Exploring Jesus’ words in John 14:15-21, its critical to remember that although walking in the footsteps of a holy God may seem impossible for mortal, sinful humans, faith in Christ’s atoning sacrifice enables us to know God and become more like Him. Regardless of our worldly status, whether rich or poor, and our nationality, God welcomes those who give Him their hearts, promising to reveal Himself to them!

If You Love Me, Obey My Commands

In last week’s sermon we learned that those who are born again will perform greater works than Jesus did and that prayer requests made in His name will be granted. The underlying condition for these promises to be granted is love, exemplified in a personal relationship with the Father, through the Son. The kind of love Jesus is talking about here is one that follows His example of obeying God the Father in heaven. In his letter to the believers in Asia Minor John said, “But if anyone obeys His word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in Him. Whoever claims to live in Him must live as Jesus did” (1 John 2:5-6). As we examine the life of Christ we are not be like a person “bargain hunting at a garage sale” combing through and obeying the commands that already match our lifestyle while rejecting all others. Although antinomianism might be an unfamiliar term to many today, i.e., referring to the strict obedience of the laws as being legalistic, the notion that strict adherence to the law undermines grace has led some Christians to wrongly justify their lukewarmness and indulge in worldly living. To be holy as God is holy, means (1 Peter 1:15-16) to be like King David who meditated on God’s word day and night so that he might hide it in his heart so that he would not sin against Him (Psalms 119:11)! Obeying God’s commands is only possible out of love for Christ. When a believer tries to earn God’s favor through their obedience to His law such efforts fail because they are “nothing more than the pursuit of self-righteousness.” The dust (Genesis 3:19) and the jars of clay (2 Corinthians 4:7) cannot pull themselves up from the mirky mire of sin and become holy, no matter how hard they might try. The obedience to God’s commands and pursuit of holiness, are achievable only when believers are driven by love for God and willingly submit their lives to Christ. If one encounters challenges in obeying Jesus, seeking the Holy Spirit’s assistance to ignite a deeper passion for loving God can help eliminate competing affections in the heart. This process, rooted in love for God, enables a closer and more faithful obedience to flow from the well-springs of devotion.