EASTER 6 – May 17, 2020 – John 14:15-21
“GREAT MUTUAL LOVE”
Introduction: Grace be to you and peace, from God our Father, and from our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Our text is the Gospel Lesson just read, from Hon 14. We begin with prayer.
Dear fellow disciples of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ:
- Jesus said it: “If you love me you will keep My commandments.” What could He have meant? If you keep them some of the time? If you try to keep them? If you keep some of them all of the time?
- If we are thinking of the Ten Commandments, which are also Jesus’ commandments, then to say that we are keeping them perfectly would be to sin against His commandments. For His Word tells us “If we say we have not sinned we are calling God a liar, and His Word is not in us.” [1 John 1:10]
- So His command is to repent, which is to confess that we are not keeping His commandments, but sinning. So how is this all supposed to work? Just what is Jesus saying?
- To get to the bottom of this, we have to ask and determine how it is that someone gets to the point of “loving Jesus.” If it is just a matter of interaction with His Ten Commandments, no one is going to love Jesus. The Law of God always accuses us and makes us aware of our utter sinfulness. The Law of God always threatens death and damnation to anyone who violates it. So, on the basis of the Ten Commandments, initially, we are not going to love God but rather hate and despise Him.
- However, there are other commandments that Jesus gives us – yes, in relation to the Ten Commandments. You remember what is recorded in regard to the beginning of Jesus’ ministry: “Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’”
- These are the commandments, especially, that Jesus was referring to. Both “repent” and “believe” are in the imperative voice, commandments. Repent – in regard to the Ten Commandments confessing our sins. Believe in the Gospel – this is the good news of sins forgiven, of Jesus the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world.” This the “command” that brings us peace and joy, and impresses upon us God’s great love for us. This wins us over to God, assuring us He is not our enemy but our great Lover and Friend!
- And this is just what the Scripture teaches, that:
I. We Love God Because He First Loved Us, And We Know And Believe His Love For Us
1 John 4:15, 16, 19 “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. . . . We love because He first loved us.”
A. So We Are Bold To Repent Of Our Sins And To Believe In His Gracious Forgiveness
Heb. 10:19-22 “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience.”
B. And So We Are Also Bold To Love Jesus
1 Pet. 1:3,8,9 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead . . . Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. Though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”
Statement: For those of us who do know Him and believe in Him, who are aware of the great love that God has for us, there is no greater peace, joy, comfort, or blessedness that we can enjoy! Even confessing our sins is undertaken with a boldness born of knowing His goodness and His love for us! It is remarkable, what we are able to do simply because of the confidence and courage we have from knowing God and His love.
Application: And the more we know the more we appreciate God and His love. And the more we appreciate God’s love for us, the more we love Him. That is such a good thing, such a precious thing – to have this “GREAT MUTUAL LOVE” with God! And as we all know:
II. This Great Mutual Love Changes Everything!
A. We Now Love And Keep Jesus’ Word
Text: “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”
John 14:23,24 “Jesus 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. Whoever 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.”
B. We Now Receive The Spirit Of God [The Spirit Of Truth] Who Dwells In Us
Text: “I will ask the Father and He will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of Truth. . . . He dwells with you and will be in you.”
C. And So We Are Ever Loved By God, And Jesus Reveals Himself To Us
Text: “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.”
Statement: Now it is true that we are all continuing to grow in our knowledge of Jesus’ Word. And it is also true that our sinful nature still finds some of the things that Jesus’ Word teaches to be odious and uncomfortable. These are sins – of which we repent, and we boldly grasp God’s gracious forgiveness and mercy! And as we grow in our trust in God’s goodness and love, and as we grow in wisdom and discernment, the more we come to accept, to love, and to embrace Jesus’ Word, His teaching.
Application: There are people who reject the notion that relationship with God has anything to do with His Word. Most of these folks are outside of the church. But even within the church the devil has convinced some that it is a kind of idolatry to love and keep Jesus’ Word! They then attempt to influence others – you and me – to convince us that we do not have to love Jesus’ Word in order to love Him.
Jesus says otherwise, quite clearly: “Whoever 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.”
In “GREAT MUTUAL LOVE” with God, our Lord Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father, and the Spirit of Truth, there is no question that we also “keep the word of Jesus.” We know it is God’s Word, and therefore it is truth and it is love! To keep Jesus’ Word is to keep truth and love! There is no greater blessedness! Amen.
Votum: And the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds in the true faith, which is in Christ Jesus, even unto life everlasting, Amen.