If We Love Jesus...
The Gospel of John
John 14:27-31
Sermon by Rick Crandall
Grayson Baptist Church - August 23, 2017
(Revised February 28, 2020)
BACKGROUND:
*Please open your Bibles to John 14 as we continue to focus on the night before the cross. Here in the last few hours before Jesus died for our sins, He spoke to His disciples about the most important things. And one of the most important things of all is our love for the Lord. Loving God is so important that Jesus mentioned it 6 times in this chapter.
*In vs. 15, Jesus said, "If you LOVE Me, keep My commandments." In vs. 21, Jesus said, "He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who LOVES Me. And he who LOVES Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.'' In vs. 23, "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 home with him.'" Then in vs. 24, Jesus put it in the negative form: "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." Finally, in vs. 28 Jesus said, "If you LOVED Me, you would rejoice because I said, 'I am going to the Father,' for My Father is greater than I."
*Nothing matters more than loving the Lord Jesus Christ. It changes our lives in drastic, miraculous, everlasting ways. And tonight's Scripture helps us see how. Please think about that as we read John 14:27-31.
MESSAGE:
*You've probably heard God's greatest commandment. The Lord first gave it to us in Deuteronomy 6:4-5. God's Word also speaks of loving the Lord eight more times in Deuteronomy. The Book of Joshua speaks about loving the Lord twice. And Jesus confirmed this greatest of all commandments in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. For example, in Mark 12:29-30 Jesus said, "The first of all the commandments is: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one Lord. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' This is the first commandment."
*God greatest commandment is for us to love the Lord our God with every fiber of our being. But what does that mean for our lives? Tonight's Scripture helps us see.
1. FIRST: IF WE LOVE JESUS, WE WILL LET HIM PROVIDE US WITH HIS PEACE.
*Jesus is able, and willing to give us His peace. As the Lord told His followers in vs. 27, "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."
[1] GOD WANTS TO GIVE US HIS PEACE! AND WE SHOULD RECEIVE HIS PEACE BECAUSE IT'S DIVINE.
*God's eternal Son, Jesus Christ came into the world to give us peace with God. That's why in Romans 5:1-2, Paul tells Christians that "having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God."
*Christians: We certainly "have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." But more than that, Jesus IS our peace. Paul explained this truth to us in Ephesians 2:12-18. There, Paul was talking about the Old Testament division between Jews and Gentiles. And he compared life without Jesus to the life we receive when we receive Christ as our Lord and Savior.
*Paul said:
12. . . at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
13. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been made near by the blood of Christ.
14. FOR HE HIMSELF IS OUR PEACE, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of division between us,
15. having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace,
16. and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.
17. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near.
18. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.
[2] WE SHOULD RECEIVE THE LORD'S PEACE BECAUSE IT'S DIVINE, AND BECAUSE IT'S DIFFERENT.
*God's peace is different in the way it operates. Worldly peace always depends on circumstances. When the sky is sunny, so are they, but when dark clouds form, darkness rules their day.
*God's peace works in a different way. It can work through our good experiences, and it can rise above the bad. As Jesus said in John 16:33, "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."
*In the world, there is no real, lasting peace, -- not yet anyway. But in Jesus Christ there is peace. And Jesus can give us peace like nobody else! Galatians 5:22 tells us that His peace is the fruit of His Holy Spirit working in our lives. Christians: Our peace is heaven-sent from the Lord, so we have an invisible source of inner strength that can help us rise above the worst circumstances in life.
*William and Catherine Booth had the kind of peace that God wants to give to us. William founded the Salvation Army in London in 1865. Today the Salvation Army serves in 130 countries, all the way from Australia to Zimbabwe. Many millions of people have been helped. And there is no telling how many have been saved.
*The work had already spread to 41 countries by the time William Booth died in 1912. But near the end of his ministry Booth went through the tragic loss of his eyesight. It would have been easy for him to question the Lord: "God I have been faithful to you. I have served you with all my heart. Why did you let this happen to me?"
*But that's not what happened at all. William's son had to break the bad news to his father. When he did, William said, "You mean that I am blind?" His son replied, "I fear that we must contemplate that."
*"I shall never see your face again?" asked the father. "No," said his son, "probably not in this world." Then the old man reached out until he grasped his son's hand, and William Booth said, "I have done what I could for God and for the people with my eyes. Now I shall do what I can for God and for the people without my eyes." (1)
*William Booth had the heavenly peace of Jesus in his heart. So did his wife Catherine. In one troubled season of her life, Catherine said, "The waters are rising, but so am I. I am not going under, but over." (2)
*That's the kind of heart-felt peace Jesus wants us to have. How can we receive it? ONE KEY IS TO CONCENTRATE ON THE LORD. Isaiah 26:3 tells God: "You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You." And the more we keep our minds focused Jesus, the more of His peace we will have.
*Christian evangelist and author Corrie ten Boom survived a Nazi concentration camp during World War II. Here's what she said about keeping the right focus: "Keep looking up and kneeling down. Then you can keep looking down from the position of Jesus' victory over your problems. He is willing to make you more than a conqueror. Look around and be distressed. Look within and be depressed. Look at Jesus and be at rest." (3)
*IF YOU WANT GOD'S PEACE, CONCENTRATE ON THE LORD, AND CALL UPON THE LORD. As Philippians 4:6-7 says, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."
*Jesus is able and willing to give us His peace that passes understanding. And if we love Jesus, we will let the Lord provide us with His peace.
2. WE WILL ALSO REJOICE IN HIS RETURN.
*In vs. 28, the Lord spoke of His resurrection and His return to Heaven. Jesus said, "You have heard Me say to you, 'I am going away and coming back to you.' If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, 'I am going to the Father,' for My Father is greater than I."
*Church: There is an infinite supply of joy for us in this Scripture. We can rejoice because Jesus returned from the dead! Thank God Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins. And thank God that three days later, Jesus rose again from the dead! Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has conquered death forever!
*We can rejoice because Jesus returned from the dead. We can also rejoice because Jesus returned to His Heavenly Father. Again Jesus said, "If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, 'I am going to the Father,' for My Father is greater than I."
*Try to imagine the celebration in Heaven, when the Son of God returned home to His Father in Heaven. Jesus was the conquering King who had accomplished all that the Father sent Him to do! He returned home in absolute victory over sin, Satan and death. What joy! And the Lord wants us to share in His joy.
*But Church: We can also rejoice because Jesus is returning to earth! Before He died on the cross, Jesus told the disciples, "I am going away and coming back to you." Just then, the Lord was talking about His crucifixion and resurrection.
*But doesn't He say the same thing to us today? "I've gone away. But I'm coming again!" That's why Acts 1:9-11 says this about Jesus:
9. Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.
10. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel,
11. who also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.''
*Jesus is coming again! That should fill us with great joy. Imagine the joyful reunions all Christians will celebrate in Heaven.
*From 1927 - 1960, Dr. R.G. Lee was the beloved pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis. He was born in 1886 to poor, sharecropper parents. One day when R.G. was a little boy, he asked his mother what was the happiest day of her life. Her name was Elizabeth. And she thought back to the time she was a little girl during the Civil War.
*Elizabeth's father had fought for the South. And while he was away, her mom had to do all the work in the fields. One day a letter came saying that her father had been killed in battle. Elizabeth's mother didn't cry much during the day. But the children could hear her sobbing at night in their small house.
*About 4 months later it was summer, and they were all sitting on the front porch shelling beans. A man came down the road and Elizabeth's mother watched him for a while. Then she said, "Elizabeth honey, that man coming yonder walks like your father."
*The man kept coming down the road, but the children thought, "It can't be him." Then as he came to the break in the fence, he turned in. Her mother jumped up and cried, "Children, it is your father!"
*Elizabeth's mother ran all the way across the field and kissed and cried and held him for the longest time. And many years later, Elizabeth told her son, "It was the happiest hour I ever knew." (4)
*That's just a taste of the joy-filled future in store for everyone who has received Jesus as Lord and Savior. And if we love Jesus, we will rejoice in His return.
3. WE WILL ALSO KEEP COUNTING ON CHRIST.
*Jesus wanted His disciples to keep trusting in Him, even though He was about to suffer and die on the cross. That's why in vs. 29-31 Jesus said:
29. "And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe.
30. I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me.
31. But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, so I do. . ."
*Jesus wants us to keep trusting in Him no matter what may happen in our world. And these verses give us 3 reasons why we can always count on our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
[1] FIRST: THE LORD'S PROPHECIES HAVE BEEN PROVED.
*We see this truth in vs 29 where again Jesus said, "I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe." Jesus Christ can tell us things before they come to pass.
*The Lord fulfilled over 300 prophecies during the 33 years of His life on earth. On just the day of Jesus' crucifixion, 35 different prophecies were fulfilled. No wonder Jon Allen said, "The biography of Christ was written centuries before He was born."
*So for example, in the Old Testament we read that:
-He would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2).
-He would be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14).
-He would be betrayed by a friend (Psalm 41:9).
-The price of betrayal would be 30 pieces of silver (Zechariah 11:12-13).
-His hands and feet would be pierced (Psalm 22:16).
-None of His bones would be broken (Psalm 34:20).
-His side would be pierced (Zechariah 12:10).
-He would be buried with the rich (Isaiah 53:9).
-And that He would rise from the dead! (Psalm 16:10).
*Could the fulfillment of all those prophecies about Jesus be just a coincidence? Mathematician Peter Stoner calculated that the odds of even 8 of these prophecies coming true would have been one in a hundred-million-billion!
*Then to help us understand that staggering figure, Peter gave an illustration using that gigantic number. Dr. Stoner said, "Suppose we take a hundred-million-billion silver dollars, and lay them out over the state of Texas. Those silver dollars will cover the whole state of Texas two feet deep!
*Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly, all over the state. Blindfold a man and tell him that he can travel as far as he wishes anywhere in the state, but he must pick up the silver dollar that was marked.
*What chance would he have of getting the right one? The same chance that the prophets would have had of writing these 8 prophecies, and having them all come true in any one man!" (5)
*Praise the Lord! We can always count on Christ because His prophecies have been proved.
[2] AND BECAUSE HIS PURITY HAS BEEN PROVED.
*In vs. 30 Jesus told His disciples, "I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me." That meant there was nothing evil in our perfect Savior for the devil to grab and hold on to. Satan could never get Jesus to sin even once. And you know he tried every evil scheme he could imagine.
*Praise the Lord! We can always count on Christ because His purity has been proved.
[3] AND BECAUSE HIS DEVOTION TO HIS FATHER WAS DEMONSTRATED.
*The first part of vs. 31 points us to this truth, because there Jesus said, "That the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, so I do." Jesus Christ was totally devoted to doing the will of His Heavenly Father! That's why the devil couldn't get a foothold in the Lord's life. And that's why Jesus went to the cross.
*Yes, Jesus died on the cross because He loved us. And yes, He died on the cross, because it was the only way to pay the price for our sins. But the biggest factor was the Lord's total devotion to do His Heavenly Father's will.
*God the Father could always count on His only begotten Son. And so can we! Have you done that? Have you trusted in the Lord? Have you counted on the cross of Jesus Christ? Have you trusted in Jesus to save you from your sins? You can call on the Lord to save you tonight.
4. THEN LOVE THE LORD ENOUGH TO FOLLOW HIS FOOTSTEPS.
*In the last part of vs. 31, Jesus said this to His disciples, "Arise, let us go from here." The disciples had been following Jesus for over three years. And though they were greatly troubled on that night before the cross, they continued to follow Jesus. Follow the footsteps of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the wisest way to live in this world, because Jesus will never lead us in the wrong direction.
*In January 1936, Baptist songwriter B. B. McKinney was leading the music at the Alabama Sunday School Convention. The featured speaker was the Bro. R. S. Jones. He had been McKinney's friend for many years. Due to declining health, Bro. Jones had recently returned from missionary service in Brazil. The two men were visiting over supper one evening when Bro. Jones told Dr. McKinney that his doctors would not allow him to return to South America.
*When asked about his future plans, the missionary said, "I don't know, but wherever He leads I'll go."
*Those words stuck in Dr. McKinney's mind, and before that night's session, he had written both the words and music of a hymn we have often sung. At the close of Bro. Jones' message, Dr. McKinney told his friend's story and then sang these words:
"Take up thy cross and follow me,"
I heard my Master say;
"I gave my life to ransom thee,
Surrender your all today."
He drew me closer to His side,
I sought His will to know,
And in that will I now abide,
Wherever He leads I'll go.
It may be through the shadows dim,
Or o'er the stormy sea,
I take my cross and follow Him,
Wherever He leadeth me.
Wherever He leads I'll go,
Wherever He leads I'll go,
I'll follow my Christ who loves me so,
Wherever He leads I'll go." (7)
CONCLUSION:
*God wants us all to live with a love like that for the Lord. Let's ask for His help as we go back to God in prayer.
(1) Sermons.com sermon "Peace Be Unto You" by King Duncan - John 20:19 - Easter Series 2005
(2) Sources:
-SermonCentral sermon "God Is in Trouble" by Mike Turner - Psalm 46:1-3
-Catherine Booth quotation from "William and Catherine Booth," Christian History, no. 26 - Source: "Bible Illustrator for windows" - Topic: Trouble - Index: 1952 - Date: 4/1998.1919 - Title: Staying Above the Water
(3) Sources:
-www.geocities.com/trinitytoronto/sermons2005/Pentecost_8A_Jul10-05.htm
-www.hefirstlovedus.com/hefirstlovedus/Corrie_ten_Boom
(4) Adapted from "Illustration Digest" by Jon H. Allen, May-June-July 1994, p. 9 - Personal note from Jon Allen: R.G. Lee, long time pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church, Memphis Tennessee, and my father were friends. He visited in our home and ate at our table many times. In 1965, I heard him preach in Fort Worth, Texas. This is from that sermon.
(5) Peter Stoner in "Science Speaks" - Source: "Illustration Digest" edited by Jon Allen - Number 2 - 1996, p. 11 - Also see: SermonCentral illustration contributed by: David Parks - Source: "Evidence that Demands a Verdict" by Josh McDowell)
(6) Sermons.com sermon "Put the Cross on Top" by Bill Bouknight - 1 John 4 7-12 - 2002
(7) Sources:
-CRUSADER HYMNS AND HYMN STORIES by the Billy Graham Team - Hope Publishing Co, 1966 - illustration contributed by SermonCentral - June 18, 2007
-http://www.popularhymns.com/wherever_he_leads_ill_go.php
