Love, the Holy Spirit, and Peace — John 14

3:24 Well, morning. Good Good morning. What a joy to be with you this morning. I'm I'm grateful that my my summer of doing camps has finally come to an end as of Friday. Yeah.

3:39 They they wear you out those camps preaching all day long, you know, and so praise god that that part is over but the the exciting part is we saw quite a number of children turn to the Lord, you know. It's so exciting to see them respond to to the word of God being taught. And wow, it's it's worth it, right? Amen to to that. I know I know Camp Lalolai saw some children come to Christ.

4:03 The camps in Texas did in the in Tennessee. They saw some children come to Christ and this couple of days ago, a young lady, well, twins from Africa had come to visit and they were there for the summer and one of the twins turned to the lord for salvation. 17 year old young lady when she heard the gospel, you know, believed it. So exciting what what god is doing and to teaching his word. We were gonna do chapter 14 today, continue of the gospel of John.

4:34 And as we've been looking at the the gospel of John, the first 12 chapters, Jesus is dealing with the the the people, the the the multitudes as the Bible says, the Jews, the non believing people, and he's proving to them that he's god and they could put their faith in him and you see these tremendous debates and battles going back and forth as he's saying, I am god and they kept wanting to stone him for saying that reality. Up to that point then, he shifts gears and then he starts focusing just on the believers, right, at the up... What they call the upper room discourse and he starts talking to them and this is the end of the upper room discourse we're going to look at today because at the end of the chapter 14, you're going see that they leave the room and then they go to to where? The gardener, the garden. That's right.

5:25 The to the garden. And and so you you see that transition but he's still talking just to believers. Now, even though he's talking just to believers, as we read the text in a minute, you're going to be able to see that he's also addressing non believers. Alright. So so our outline today has three points.

5:45 You should be able to take this home with you. Number one, the love of Jesus. Number two, the Holy Spirit and number three, the peace that Jesus offers, alright? So, that's our outline. If the mains told me to give it to them and they all took off as soon as I said it.

6:01 That's why they're not here this morning and so so the outline again was the love of Jesus, the holy spirit, and the last one, the the peace of Jesus. Alright, the three things. You're going to take that home with you. You're going to remember it, right? Amen?

6:16 Hopefully, right. Okay. So, let's read the text and as we're reading the text, I want you to look for those three things. The love of Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the peace that Jesus offers. Alright, so let's begin our text then.

6:33 Verse 15, John 14 and verse 15. If you love me, you will keep my commandments, thus the love of Jesus. Right? And I will ask the father and he will give you another helper that he may be with you forever. That is the spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it does not behold him or know him.

7:00 That that is Jesus. But you know him because he abides with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you. After a little while, the world will behold me no more, but you will behold me because I live, you shall live also. In that day, you shall know that I am in my father and you in me and I in you.

7:28 He who has my commandments and keeps them, he is who loves me and he who loves me shall be loved by my father and I will love him. And I will disclose myself to him. Judas, not Iscariot, said to him, Lord, what then has happened that you're going to disclose yourself to us and not to the world? Jesus answered and said to him, if anyone loves me, he will keep my word and my father will love him and will... And and we will come to him and make our abode with him.

8:11 He who does not love me does not keep my words and the words which you hear is not mine, but the fathers who sent me. These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you. But the helper, the holy spirit, whom the father will send in my name, he will teach you all these things and will bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you.

8:44 Not as the world gives, do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled nor let it be fearful. You heard that I said to you, I go away and I will come to you. If you love me, you will have rejoiced because I go to the father for the father is greater than I. And now I have told you before, it comes to pass that when it comes to pass, you may believe.

9:13 I will not speak much more to you for the ruler of the world is coming and he has nothing in me. But that the world may know that I love the father as the father gave me commandment, even so I do, arise, let us go from here. And so you can see that they left the upper room and they're on their way to the garden. Okay? Father, bless your word in Jesus name.

9:42 Amen. Amen. Alright. So, number one, our outline. Let's see if you remember it.

9:47 Number one was what? The love of Jesus. Number two, the holy spirit. Number three, the peace of Jesus. Right.

10:27 Wow. And then he says one more time in verse 23, if anyone loves me, he will keep my words and my father will love him and we will come to him and make our abode with him. He who does not love me does not keep my words. Now, you know and you can follow along logically with me that any relationship, the the the base, the foundation of any relationship is what? Is love, right?

10:55 When when I when I met my wife, I I through God's help, he said to me, that's the wife... The woman you're gonna marry, and he gave me great love for my wife. Right? And so there has to be love for there to be a a relationship. And so Jesus says something that we could not understand.

11:13 Right? If you don't love me, then naturally, consequently, you won't keep my commandments because a true believer who has genuine faith will love to do what I do, keep my commandments because they love me. Now you could make good money, but you could hate your job. You don't love it. But you gotta pay bills and so there you go.

11:34 Right? It's a drudgery. You could be married, but not be loved. As the proverb says, there's there's nothing more sad than than a woman not loved in her marriage. And so you could take out the trash but hate your parents for telling you to do that.

11:52 You can do it with no love. Love makes all the difference. Love makes all the... If you don't love Jesus Christ, then the Lord's Supper this morning was boring to you and it was a drag. You gotta love him.

12:06 If you don't love the Lord Jesus, even this meeting right here could be tedious. It could be a drag. It's like, come on. Get it over with so we can go home. And so there's there's a song and and I can't remember the name of the guy who sang it, but he says, if you love somebody, they're always on your mind.

12:24 You remember that? I don't wanna sing because I'm not a good singer, you know. Especially after you hear a beautiful performance like that, and I don't wanna blow the day by trying to sing that song. And now, once you become a believer, now follow me on this one, once you become a believer, the number one objective of the devil, the number one, is to get you to not love Jesus. And we have to fight that.

12:49 I don't know about you, but I can get very indifferent and very cold in my walk with Jesus, in my daily walk, and I struggle sometimes. And I even pray, please father, please holy spirit, give me love for your son. I I I feel indifferent today. I just feel like... I don't even feel like opening the word.

13:05 And it's a battle. Right? And and so so that's... There's that natural struggle, and then there's the reality that there's a devil in in second Corinthians eleven two, but I'm afraid that as as Eve was deceived, Satan wants to deceive you from the sincerity and love of devotion to Jesus. Because Jesus knows the moment you don't love him, he's got you right where he wants it.

13:31 That that's what Satan does. He knows it. If I can get a Christian to not love Jesus Christ, I don't even have to tempt them. I don't have to do anything at the right where I want them because they're indifferent. And and and that's exactly the battle and Jesus knows this and so he goes, look, if you don't love me, you're not going to keep my commandments because they're going to be a drag to you.

13:54 Right? But if you love me, everything I ask is is going to be... It won't be a burden but it'll be a blessing as you do what Jesus wants you to do. And I have found that throughout my walk with the Lord, save now forty one years, I come to say that this is a reality. That when I love him and I do what he asked me to do and I obey him, that's a demonstration of proof that I have genuine faith that then what he wants me to do is boring, it's not like if he's taking away my freedoms and I can't enjoy life, but it's a blessed life.

14:26 But the relationship that we have with Jesus is not a religious thing, it's not an obligation, You don't do it because somebody made you, you do it because you love the Lord Jesus. That has to be our motivation. Give you an example. When I went to Emmaus Bible College to study the word of God, there was a lot of people there and I would ask them, I noticed that they were very indifferent. I asked them, why are you here?

14:50 Oh, my dad's rich and I didn't know what to do so he paid for me to come here. Okay, so no wonder you don't care, and you don't study, you don't care about Jesus. So I asked the other one, why are you here? Well, my mom made me, you know, because we mentioned we're supposed to go there. And so here I am.

15:06 I'm like, okay. So there was no love for the Lord Jesus. So you can be in bible college for different motivation, different reasons, but unless you love the lord, you're the the word of god and and and Jesus and coming to church and worshiping, it's a drag. It's a drag and Satan knows that and so, his number one objective is to get you to to be bored with with Jesus and to not be excited to come to worship him. That's what he wants and that's what we had to fight And Jesus says clearly then, if you love me, you're gonna do what I say.

15:43 And it's gonna be natural because it's based on love, not because I'm making you, not because it's your religious duty, because there's a relationship with the living God. And so he says very clearly in verse 23, if anyone loves me, he will keep my word, the word of God, and my father will love him. Notice that there is a reciprocation from God. When we love him, he loves you, and we we, Jesus and the father and the holy spirit, will come to him, to the person who loves, and we will make our abode with him. My goodness.

16:20 What a promise. What a promise. The the the the one who who loves Jesus, the father loves him because Jesus loves the father loves Jesus more than anything else. And when you love Jesus, the father loves you and they come and they and they actually come and they make your boat inside of the believer. Wow.

16:43 So the whole trinity is at work in my life, but it has to be motivated motivated by love, by love. Not a drudgery, not because somebody makes you, you don't sing to the Lord and and do things like that, being fake because the Lord knows our hearts. Right? And notice what he says also in verse 24. I'm sorry, verse 21.

17:09 He who has my commandments and keeps them, he is who loves me and he who loves me shall be loved by my father and I will love him and will disclose myself to him. To disclose means to reveal, to show yourself, to make yourself known. So so in other words, this is a tremendous promise from Jesus that when you love me, I'm I'm not only going to be inside of you, but when you open the word of God and you read the word of God, you're going to learn about God, and I'm going to reveal myself to you, and you're going to have a a deep intimate walk with the creator. Folk, this isn't stuff Jesus is making up. This is a reality that he's teaching us that can be ours to to enjoy.

17:55 So, the the first part of our outline was the love of Jesus. The love of Jesus. Do you love him? He knows our hearts. He knows if we love him, if we have trusted him as savior, or if we're rejecting him.

18:12 He knows if you're indifferent and cold, you're not fooling him. First John two three five, just listen. And by this we know that we have come to know him if we keep his commandments. The one who says, I have come to know him that is professing, I know Jesus and does not keep his commandment is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps his word, in him, the love of God has truly been perfected.

19:01 They were hanging out with him for three and a half years. They were sleeping with him, eating with him, preaching with him, doing everything with him. And they had become a very intimate, very dear, and they were trusting him and suddenly he says, look, I'm going to leave and they were scared. What do you mean you're going to leave? And so he begins to to address that particular issue in the first part of chapter 14.

19:23 But in verse 16, he goes a little further in his explanation and he says, when I leave, I'm gonna ask the father and he's gonna give you another helper. Another helper is one called alongside to help. The Greek word is parakletos, it means a helper, a comforter, a counselor, an exhorter, an intercessor, an encourager, an advocate. In other words, a defense attorney. I'm gonna say that again.

19:54 This one word, another helper, one called alongside the help, right, means a lot of things. And I was gonna do a PowerPoint, I should have done it to lay it all out for you, but they didn't have PowerPoints when they were first preaching the word, so hey, you know, here we go. Alright. So it means... What does it mean another helper?

20:13 It means someone who comes alongside of you to help you throughout your walk. It means a comforter. It means a counselor, an exhorter, an intercessor. That means somebody praying for you. An encourager, and an advocate, a defense attorney, man.

20:32 So the the... Jesus says, not only do I want you to love me, but when you love me, the Holy Spirit comes into your life and he's gonna walk alongside you, he's gonna be your parakletos, your helper, He's going to be your counselor, your comforter. He's going be your defense attorney. He's going to encourage you, and he's going be praying for you constantly. And the same word is used of Jesus in first John two one.

20:59 He says, beloved, I don't want you to sin, but if you do sin, if anyone does sin, we have an advocate. There's that same word, another... A parakletos, an an advocate with the father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. So in other words, when when as a believer, I sin, which we have, right? You confessed this week, didn't you?

21:21 Right? Yes. I did a bunch of times. Yes. Right?

21:26 Okay. We we we sin. We don't want to sin but we're in the flesh and so we do sin. And and beloved, if you do sin, you have an advocate. The word is a a defense attorney.

21:39 Oh, you don't have to pay them any money by the way. Right? See, when I was at camp this week, I sat down with a lady, she's... I said, well, what do you do for a living? She said, oh, I'm an attorney.

21:49 I thought that's funny. And and I said, how does it go? She goes, man, they come in as long as they have a bunch of money, I'm ready to defend them in anything they want. Right? And I thought, well, that's funny.

21:59 I'm glad Jesus doesn't do that. And so here's a believer, here's a believer and you you blow it. Right? You you sin. And then here comes the devil and he accuse you and and if the devil doesn't come, you accuse yourself.

22:13 Right? Your your conscience bothers you and then there's always someone who saw you do and say, look what you did. You're a Christian. Right? And so we have all of that coming at us and then here's Jesus, the defense attorney saying, look at here, I died for that person.

22:26 They are... They have been acquitted because I paid for their sin. Consequently, I will not accept your education... Your... I'm sorry, your accusation against them because I am the defense attorney, so dismissed.

22:41 Because they confessed. And so there's Jesus, my pericletos, my my defense lawyer, my attorney. And so not only is the Holy Spirit your attorney, but also Jesus, they both referred to in the same way, the same Greek word. Then he says another, that's the Greek word alos, another of the same kind. The promise of Jesus was this, I will send another helper exactly like himself.

23:11 The spirit of God, the holy spirit is a perfect substitute for the Lord Jesus Christ. He goes, I know you're nervous because you're not gonna see me physically anymore because Jesus is gonna return, but I'm gonna send you another helper, equal. In other words, this other helper is just like me. He's God, but without a body. The Holy Spirit.

23:31 Another just like me, and he's more than capable of coming into your life and sealing you and empowering you to live the Christian life. The Holy Spirit, he's gonna come and he's just like me, another of the same kind. He's full deity. And so that's what that word means, in the Greek. Alright?

24:21 Without the holy spirit's help, we would all be pretty pathetic. But praise God for the holy spirit who enlightens us and helps us to understand. In fact, without the holy spirit's help, you can't even be saved. The holy spirit begins to show and reveal to you the truth of the bible so that you can put your faith in Jesus. And according to Ephesians three sixteen, the...

24:44 Paul, when he's praying, he says, this is what I pray for the Christians, that they will be strengthened with power through the Holy Spirit that is in them. And so this is... That's the prayer. Holy Spirit, empower, strengthen, strengthen the Christians so they can live your your your life. And so without the Holy Spirit, we can't live the life of Christ.

25:04 We need the helper. We need the counselor. We need our attorney. We need our exhorter to be right there with us, walking alongside us, empowering us to live his life. Amen?

25:14 Amen. Right? Because the temptations from all sides and and the flesh is so weak and there he is. There he is. And so and so, he teaches truth.

25:27 He strengthens us with power and and and Romans eight twenty six says this, that he intercedes for us. That's part of what it means too. That is, he prays for me constantly. Lord, this is what their need is and god for the father, god the son, here's here's the need and I'm praying for them. Look, they're in they're they're in such trouble.

25:47 They're they're they're so broken right now. They can't even pray right. So, I'm going to intercede for them and he does. Amen. And he's our intercessor.

25:56 Wow. Interceding, praying for me constantly and so notice notice verse 16. It said that he's to be with you forever. How long? Forever.

26:08 Everybody said it. Four? Forever. Which means that if the holy spirit comes into your life at the point of salvation to empower you, to be your helper, to be your advocate, can you lose your salvation? Because you didn't earn it.

26:20 Holy Spirit gave it to you through grace. It was it was a gift of God. And once he comes in, he's going to be there forever. It doesn't say forever until you screw up. You'd be surprised how many people have sat down with me and said, but I screwed up, and so I think I lost it.

26:37 That's not what the Bible teaches. The spirit of truth, the world can't receive it because it doesn't want to know about Jesus, the Holy Spirit won't come into a person who keeps pushing Jesus away. Verse 18, and I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you. And so he walks with me and talks with me along life's journey. Right?

27:03 And that's what Jesus is. When he came in, he never left. I can't... As a matter of fact, I can't pluck him out. I can't purge him out.

27:12 When he comes in, he's there. When the holy spirit comes in, it's forever. Listen to what the word of god is saying. In verse 20, in that day, you shall know that I am in the father and you in me and I in you. So the whole trinity is involved in my salvation and the whole trinity is in the believer.

27:34 Wow. Man, was Jesus encouraging them or what? So the whole trinity then is involved in my salvation, in my sanctification, empowering me to live his life. And then we come to the third point, the peace of Jesus. The peace of Jesus.

28:13 You heard that I said that I said to you, I will go away and I will come to you. If you love me, you will have rejoiced because I go to the father for the father is greater than I. Now we we all desire peace. Isn't that true? Alright.

28:30 Let me give you couple of stats from history. Now this was written ten years ago, so it probably needs to be updated and that's going to be a lot greater. But three thousand five years of world history has seen only about three hundred years of peace. So there's always fights going on in battles, wars. Of five thousand five hundred years of history, there have been 8,000 peace treaties broken.

29:02 There's been 14,000 wars, a combined total of 4,000,000,000 casualties. And the world is desperately seeking peace. And so what do you see when you when you drive around, you see a sticker that says, for world peace. And and the Christian says, it's not gonna happen. Not until Jesus returns.

29:28 It's not gonna happen. And at that time, Isaiah chapter two and Isaiah chapter 11, they're gonna beat their plowshares into... I mean, I'm sorry, their swords into plowshares. In other words, they're not going to need guns and bombs and all that kind of stuff. Though I love guns, don't take me on, I like to hunt and shoot and all that kind of joke.

29:44 But I'm talking about for war. Right? I don't mind shooting a pig and all that kind of stuff, but I don't know if I'd ever plug a human. Right? Alright.

29:58 At that time, when Jesus returns and he conquers the enemies and he's ruling the world, at that time, he said, they're going to get rid of all of of that kind of stuff. They're not going to need it cause there's to be no war when he's ruling. Right? And so there's going to be peace when comes. But this is more than that kind of peace.

30:24 This is not just an absence of war. I mean, you know yourself that when you have a disagreement with someone, when you fight with your spouse, or with your mom and dad, or with your brother and sister, or with somebody here, you know, you can't sleep and your and your your conscience bothers you because we're called to be people of peace. Amen? Right? And so you know I gotta go make it right and and you can't rest in your in your soul because you you you haven't made it right.

30:50 And so we we want that kind of peace. And and so people people do different things to try to to try to get peace. Some people say, well, let me get married and then I can leave my home which is, you know, dysfunctional, and then we can create our own home and then we're gonna have peace. And then you do that and you find yourself in another battle. Right?

31:15 So so that that doesn't usually work. And so other people... Sometimes it does. So some people say, well, I'm gonna get a good career and I'm gonna make money and I'm gonna do things and and, you know, I'm gonna try pleasures and I'm gonna do all kinds of stuff and and what if... Why are people doing all this because they're grasping for peace.

31:35 Not not just freedom of of of wars, but not just peace within relationships, but but, you know, what what can give me peace in my heart? And deep inside, there's an emptiness that can't be satisfied until you turn to Jesus Christ. Amen. Period. Amen.

31:53 You can't. You can gain the world but lose your soul and you won't have peace. The Bible says it clearly in Isaiah also, there is no peace for the person who rejects Jesus. There's no peace. He won't let you have peace.

32:30 Right now, he's in a fog. But deep inside, he knows the peace of God is being poured into his heart by the Holy Spirit who comforts, who helps in a time of need. The the Christian walk is is is a reality where where God comes into my life and he comes alongside to help me and to comfort me in a time of need, and the peace of God somehow sustains me even through that kind of pain. It's so real for everyday life. And so Paul says that there's peace in our hearts because I know I have been forgiven.

33:14 And I'm gonna refer you to to Romans five one, which I thought I had memorized like 10 times over, but it won't come to mind. Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Now this is a key word. It says we're justified by faith. It's a legal term.

33:41 Speaking of attorneys, the the attorneys, when they're in a court case and they declare someone to be acquitted, it's written down, you know, in a piece of paper, this person has today officially been acquitted. We call that word justified, so that when that person leaves the court, that person cannot be accused anymore of that accusation. And so here here's here's a man, a woman, people, you and I, standing before God and guilty of sin, and then then Jesus, what he does is he pays for sin, and then when I put my faith in Jesus, the father declares me just. It's it's a legal term saying this person is just as if he didn't sin. He has been acquitted and and because the righteousness of Christ has been imputed into his life.

34:40 And so the Bible says, we have peace with god. Why? Because we have been justified. God didn't just overlook sin. He had to pay for sin for us to be declared just and and righteous for this to be a reality.

34:55 And so the bible states clearly then, we have peace with God. In other words, God doesn't look upon me when I have Jesus as my savior and I've been declared just with any kind of animosity. But all the love that that god feels towards Jesus, that same love is true of my life too. Amen. Because Jesus, I'm going to give you my peace.

35:17 That is the peace of knowing that when you die, you're going to go to heaven. The peace of knowing that that god is not angry with you anymore. The wrath of god have been removed from your life. The the peace that you know that that he's with you everywhere you go because the counselor is there to walk alongside of your life. That's the kind of peace that I give, and the world doesn't know how to give that.

35:53 We have to be theologically correct when we look at the text. Look at verse 28, go back to John fourteen and twenty eight. You heard that I said I will go to you, I will go away and I will come to you. If you love me, you will have rejoiced because I go to the father for the father is greater than I. Of course, the the non believers, the skeptics, they have a field day with this verse.

36:19 You say, you see Jesus said that he's not equal to the father. Well, he already said it about 10 times in the prior verses. And so we know that Jesus is not going to contradict himself. He said clearly, I and the father are one. He said before Abraham was, I am.

36:35 He said to the to the Samaritan woman, I am the Messiah. I am God. And so what what what is this? What is this? We have to understand this.

36:45 And so in his humble state as a man, as it says in the bible, he emptied himself taking the form of a bond servant and being made in the likeness of men, he found... And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death on a cross. Jesus was so submissive to the father, he took on like a slave. It means an under rower, somebody under the Roman ship rowing, just a no name slave down there. That's what Jesus did when he came as a man, and he was so obedient, so completely submissive to the father that as a man he says, I am submissive to him in my role right now as a savior, as as a perfect son of god.

37:33 I am totally submissive to him. So, he's greater in that respect. As god, he was equal. As man, a humble servant, bond servant, he was subjective to subjected to the father, complete obedience and surrender to him. I do everything the father tells me to do.

38:09 Do you love Jesus? Revelation two four says, I have this against you that you have left your first... Wow. So you think it's important to Jesus that we love him? Yeah.

38:26 He wants your heart. He wants your affection. That it starts there. If it doesn't start there, you're gonna be indifferent, you're gonna just be bored. This is what I have against your church, he said to them.

38:40 You lost your first love. Now take it a step further. First Corinthians sixteen twenty four says this, if anyone does not love the Lord Jesus, let him be accursed. Wow. You think it's important to the father that his son be loved?

39:00 That is be eternally condemned, whoever does not love the Lord Jesus. The the second question, are you allowing the Holy Spirit to come alongside you and to guide you and to comfort you and to empower you? Are you grieving the Holy Spirit or you're allowing him to work? And thirdly, are you experiencing the peace that Jesus offers? He says, I'm gonna give it to you.

39:34 This is my gift to you. I'm gonna give you peace. Are you living that out in everyday life? Is that a reality? Are you feeling it and experiencing it through your circumstance, through your pain, in good times and in bad?

39:48 Is the peace of Jesus sustaining you? That's for you. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your holy word and thank you for the love of Jesus. Oh, please help us to love you more.

40:05 Thank you for the holy spirit. What a what a gift. What a gift. We couldn't do without the Holy Spirit. And thank you for the peace that Jesus offers.

40:18 My peace I give to you, my peace I offer you. Not like the world, it's better than the world. Thank you, Lord. Bless your word to our hearts in Jesus name. Amen.

40:29 Thank you.