John 14.15-21

John 14:15-21 (New International Version)

Jesus (Promises) the Holy Spirit

 15"If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— 17the Spirit of truth. The world(lies) cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be^[a^] in you. 18I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20On that day(in Acts?) you will realize(it will finally click) that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am (spirit) in you.(kind like those Russian dolls) 21Whoever 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."

Background

Before ch.13the time has not yet come

and in13v.1

Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.^[a^] “

things begin to shift and turn from here on

then last week in14v.1

Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, Trust also in me.

Jesus begins to prepare the Disciples for "the time"

We pick up this morning with 15:

15"If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— 17the Spirit of truth

 

(now this morning I will talk about 3 things -I have already given you the Background, I'll talk about the Promises, and I'll talk about Love.)

Promises

*Holy Spirit    -remember at the beginning of 14 –Jesus promises a home (a place)

Helper, Counselor, Comforter, Paraclete (johanned writing)

another helper

He may abide with you forever

The Spirit of Truth

You know Him for He dwells(abide) in you

*I will not leave you as Orphans

Wikipedia says it like this:An orphan is a child permanently bereaved of his or her parents.^[1][2] In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents is called an orphan.

Jesus says He will not leave us and promises to give us a Helper. 

Todd McMichim : “God gives us all we need; every resource required to love Him and complete His will for our lives”

 

 

-Then Jesus gives order –placement –some theology

19Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20On that day(in Acts?) you will realize(it will finally click) that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am (spirit) in you.(kind like those Russian dolls) 

I am going away, but you will still see me because I live and I am in the father and you are in me and I am in you.

When the Spirit shows up -it is clear how it all works -it is complete -and we are set to accomplish the Mission of God

 

Love

thenv.21

Jesus drops the bomb.

Jesus starts this section with v15 saying:

kjv. says If ye love me, Keep my commands.    –no question to it

then circles back in v.21 and makes the same statement.

FF. Bruce points out " This is the first time in the Gospel of John where Jesus speaks of the Disciples love for Him. 

All other times so far have been about Jesus' love for them and their love of others."

Here Jesus is saying “love me”

 

**This is serious.  Remember the time has come!

You and I know that Jesus is headed for the cross.

Jesus Begins to set the tone for his death, burial, and resurrection. (the Departure)

He knew that he was going away.  That this may be one of the last times this side of heaven that He would look in His Disciples faces.

-Some theologians call this text "the farewell discourse" 

What would you say to some one you loved, if you knew you where leaving for a long time?, ….but knew you would also come back for them.

You would want them to be strong

You would want them not to be lonely or afraid.

You would want the best for them and good decisions for them.

You would want them to remember you.

to trust you, to stay in touch, to reach out, to dream about you

to accomplish the mission

to continue what you started

 

And Jesus gives these Promises. These crucial pieces, key ingredients,

The Holy Spirit ,Jesus promises –The one who is with us and in us.  When all have failed you and have gone away –there He is. The Spirit of Jesus there to guide us, to teach, to inspire us, to empower us, to help us serve the Bride(the church).

*Jesus never left us!  He is here now with us. He is in those who trust in Him, who’s lives are surrendered to Him.

 

Lastly, Jesus says he who has My commands and keeps them, is he who loves Me.

 

Its all about Love. And for the first time in the Gospel of John Jesus makes clear those who truly love him.

See, if you love Jesus you will obey Him.

No one who truly doesn’t love Jesus can obey his commands.

His commands are fulfilled by love.

Take for example: the Greatest One  “to love God with you Heart, Mind, Soul, Strength” –this command itself leads us to love God. And when we fail, because we are distracted by other lovers. Then we see our helplessness or Our inability to obey Gods commands.

This leads us to surrender our live. Asking Jesus to live in us and take over. He gives us the Holy Spirit and then we are able to truly Love God and obey Him. And when we push back on the Spirit(sometimes) and live in the flesh, God corrects us with His word and we see that that there should be less of us and more of Him (the Spirit of God)

And we continue on -to be made more like Christ.

Its all about Loving God.

Lets Pray.

1.Come to Christ/receive the Holy Spirit 2. need reminding of Gods promises 3.you have sought to do the commandments, but have lacked Love

 –the spectrum is wide. Respond