There is more, much more! John 14:15-24

THERE IS MORE, MUCH MORE! (or, To Know Him is to Love Him; To Love Him is to Obey Him) John 14:15-24 Introduction: One of the themes that we have seen repeated in this Gospel is that Jesus came to offer “life” to humanity. This life is referred to frequently as “eternal life” and so our tendency is to think ahead to Heaven and the idea that through faith in Christ we will spend eternity with Him. That is a true, correct statement. But it is not all that He means when He says that He came to offer us “life.” Remember that Jesus made a provocative statement in John 10:10b,

“…I am come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly…”

That’s what He wants you to experience. Jesus is interested in presenting to humans the one true way to life, though faith in Him. But He wants more for us than simply knowing we are saved: He wants much more, He wants us to experience the abundant life. Believing God, knowing Him, and loving Him are the key to experiencing what God intends for us. Love is not just an emotion; it is a commitment, a choice. If we really love Him, it will be a joy to obey him. We overlapped a little with last week’s Scripture since v.15 introduces a key idea in this paragraph: If we love Jesus, we will obey Him, v.24 frames the same truth from the opposite side: If we don’t love Him we won’t keep His word. One of the most recent commandments He gave, toward the end of chapter 13, he called a “New Commandment,” i.e. that we love one another. Someone might say “I love God, it’s people I have a problem with!” John will give us God’s thoughts on that in I John 4:20, 21, “If someone says ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this is the commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.” Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” As we come to know God we will love Him and have intimate fellowship with Him as we walk in obedience to Him.

The Big Idea: We can have a vital, intimate, relationship with the Father through the Son that results in obedience in the power of the Spirit.

I. The Spirit is Present: The indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit empowers us to love God and to live in obedience to Him (15-17). The truth reflected in this verse is that obedience flows out of loving Jesus: “If you love me, [or, “you will”] keep my commandments…” The question may be, in light of the context, “how can we do that?” If Peter is going to deny Him, Judas is going to betray Him, and He is going to be delivered up by His own people to be crucified, where does the capacity for living above the struggles and temptations of life in this world come from? What hope is there for any of us? The point is not that we love Him and so must obey Him. The language is clear: “If you love me… you will keep my commandments…”

Listen, the Christian life is not only difficult, if you think you can live it in your own strength you are wrong—it’s not difficult, in our strength is impossible!

But it is not our strength, but His presence and power that is the answer. As the Lord said through the prophet Zechariah, “…Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord…” (Zech 4:6). We introduced the answer last week: the Comforter, our Counselor and Helper, the Encourager called alongside to help, He will enable us. The idea of a transformed life is not a threat, it’s a promise! We know that the Holy Spirit is connected with the idea of powerful Christian witness. Talking of the coming of the Spirit on Pentecost Jesus will say,

“You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you shall be my witnesses…”

We see that exemplified in Acts as the apostles, threatened, arrested, and beaten, continue to boldly proclaim Christ. Even as their own lives are in jeopardy, their response was “We cannot stop preaching what we have seen and heard.” This is true. It’s changed our lives. Jesus is God and He died for us was raised the third day. They were saying this to the very leaders that delivered Jesus to Pilate to be crucified! And its not just power to witness… More generally, the Spirit gives us the power of God’s presence, enabling us to live a life that is different, changed by His grace. He is in us, and He guides us. Paul said in Rom 8:14, “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. …” In Galatians Paul talks about the “fruit of the Spirit…” which is “…is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control” (Gal 5:22-23). “Fruit” indicates something that comes forth, results, from the presence of the Holy Spirit in us. We can have a vital, intimate, relationship with the Father through the Son that results in obedience in the power of the Spirit.

II. The Abiding Presence of the Son: The Coming of the Spirit would follow the unfolding story of the Gospel: the death and resurrection of Jesus (18-20).

Jesus said, “I will not leave you orphans. I will come to you” (v.18). On the one hand the connection between Jesus and the Holy Spirit is so vital, that the Spirit can be referred to as the Spirit of Christ. We read for example in Romans 8:9,

“However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.”

The Holy Spirit can be called the Spirit of Christ. We also read in Acts 16:6-8,

“They passed through the Phrygian and Galatian region, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia; 7 and after they came to Mysia, they were trying to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them…”

Here the Holy Spirit (v.6) is called “the Spirit of Jesus” (v.7). So there is a sense in which the unity within the Godhead, here between the Spirit and the Son, is such, that when the Spirit is present, so is Jesus. But remember that the sending of the Spirit on Pentecost is connected to another event that happened fifty days earlier: the resurrection of Jesus. I think the main point here is that Jesus is looking ahead to His death and resurrection. The “little while” in v.19 is the time until the cross, and His death and burial. The Cross was coming, the “hour” that He had been moving toward, the hour for which He had come. But the disciples would see Him soon after, three days to be precise, when He defeated death in His resurrection. Look ahead to 16:7,

“It’s to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away the helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you…”

The cross, resurrection, ascension, and coming of the Spirit on Pentecost are all connected. So the Spirit is with us and in us, and the Son, as He promised, is with us always. We can have a vital, intimate, relationship with the Father through the Son that results in obedience in the power of the Spirit.

III. The Promised Presence of the Father, Leading us Deeper into Life in Christ (21-24).

The language here reflects a deepening, intimate relationship with God. Rev 3:20 speaks of this kind of intimate fellowship when it says, Revelation 3:20 20 'Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.” He is talking to the church in Laodecia, and inviting them to move ahead from their lukewarm state into the kind of living, vital relationship He wants with them. We Baptists often practically connect “food” and “fellowship.” The word “fellowship” means communion or sharing. When Jesus spoke in Rev 3:20 of “supping” or “dining” with those who open the door and let Him in, He is speaking to that near Eastern idea of intimate fellowship together. We read in John 14:21-24

21 "He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him."

If we love Him we will keep His commandments. That is the evidence, the demonstration of authentic love for Him. “Love” is not just a word that we speak, its not just a feeling or an emotion, it’s a commitment to a person and a relationship that shows itself by actions. Then N.B. what it says: “I will disclose myself to him…” Loving Jesus will enable us to receive deeper revelation of truth. The natural man cannot understand the things of the Spirit of God. This is the difference between knowing about God, and knowing Him personally. It’s one thing to be able to state correct facts of theology, repeat the doctrinal statement of the church, its another to have a growing relationship with Him as the Spirit guides us into a deepening understanding of His word. Those outside of faith in Christ simply don’t see, they are blind to the truth. Here we read that

“…Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, "Lord, what then has happened that You are going to disclose Yourself to us and not to the world?" 23 Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him…”

Obedience shows our love, and the Father leads us deeper in our living, vital, relationship with Him. And the promise is that that living relationship will lead us deeper:

“…and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. 24 "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…”

The word “abode” here is the same word that Jesus used in 14:2, “dwelling place.” We were discussing this in our last small group meeting and a couple of our ladies made a good observation: Jews in the first century would have thought of the Temple when Jesus spoke of “his Father’s house.” John has been making the point that Jesus himself is the presence of God (e.g. “tear down this Temple and in three days I will raise it up…” (2:19-21). He is the ladder the heaven that the angels ascend and descend on in Jacob’s vision at Beth-El [i.e. “House of God”] (1:51). The point here is that we don’t have to wait until we get to heaven to experience this kind of intimate fellowship with God. Because of Jesus, by the power of the Spirit, we are “in Christ” and by faith enter the Holy Place, the very Presence of God. He makes His abode with us.

What is God saying to me in this passage?

Does your life feel empty at times? Or do you perhaps feel overwhelmed by the daily grind? Jesus came that you may life, and that you may have it more abundantly. We can have a vital, intimate, relationship with the Father through the Son that results in obedience in the power of the Spirit.

What would God have me to do in response to this passage?

If you have trusted Christ as Savior, you are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. God is here—with you and in you! If you love Him, you will keep His commandments. One of those was related in this context, at the end of chapter 13, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another…” Our “vertical” relationship with God will show itself in our “horizontal” relationship with one another, and with our neighbors. [By the way, a good turn out here on Wednesday afternoon for Gloria’s memorial service will be a testimony to the family: see how they love each other!]. Walk with the King today, and be a blessing! Amen.