Love Fueled Obedience

Transcript

If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another helper to be with you forever, even the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. You know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 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. Judas, not Iscariot, said to him, Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us

— John 14

(ESV)

and not to the world? 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. These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, I am going away, and I will come to you.

If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place, you may believe. I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Let’s pray. Father, we do pray this morning that you would give us the Helper. We confess that without the Helper, we couldn’t know anything about your word. So we pray even now that you would help your people to see Christ Jesus clearly in the text, that we might be encouraged, that we might be built up, that we might trust, that

The Call to Obedience

we might believe, and ultimately, that we might be compelled to worship and obedience. We pray these things in the name of our risen King Jesus, Amen. Amen. Men, if you say you love her, but never cherish her, never listen to her, never serve her, never sacrifice for her, never prove your faithfulness to her, then your version of love is entirely superficial. They’re just words that don’t really mean anything. Women, if you say you love him, but you never show loyalty, never offer kindness, never give your trust or devotion, never prove your faithfulness to him, then something is grossly off with your understanding and profession of love. Children, listen. If you say you love your parents, but you never listen to their wisdom, never treat them with respect, never consider their good counsel, and never obey their instruction, then you probably need help understanding what love is, and more importantly, what love

does. Because family, love, real love, biblical love, is not proven by the amount of times we say I love you, or how it feels in the moment, but how it acts. Love always moves. Love always expresses itself in action. Love always reveals itself by what it does. And that reality is what makes Jesus’ opening words in our passage so piercing. John 14, 15 says plainly, if you love me, you will do something. You will keep my commandments. These are, if we’re honest, very hard words to swallow. And when Jesus says this, listen, he’s not trying to be harsh. He’s not threatening or demanding. He’s not trying to guilt trip his children into obedience. He’s simply defining love the way it ought to be defined. The way God defines love. Not as sentiment, but as faithfulness. Not with words, but with action. Because if we claim to love someone, but our actions contradict that claim, then our understanding

of love is deeply out of alignment with reality. This is where Jesus’ words can get very uncomfortable for a lot of people. Because the truth be told, much of our daily living exposes the disconnect between what we say love is and what we actually show love to be. We say with our mouths all the time we love God. We sing songs about it. But we often live as though we don’t because we have separated love from obedience. You know, it’s easy for Christians to talk about mercy. To talk about grace. To talk about forgiveness, adoption, assurance, and even love. All these glorious realities for the Christian we easily cling to. But as soon as we bring up obedience, Christians get very uncomfortable. Especially if you’ve been shaped in any way by reformed theology, which I deeply love, by the way. We hear the word obedience and immediately you tense up.

You might even start quoting the solas to me. You know, faith alone, grace alone, Christ alone, don’t get it twisted. Listen, those are glorious truths. We’re not saved by our obedience. We’re not accepted because we obey. We’re not justified by our religious works. But scripture is equally clear that love for God compels obedience to God. Faith without obedience is a contradiction. Grace that produces no movement at all is a counterfeit grace. Love that never expresses itself in action is not love at all. And listen, before you check out or you build up your theological defenses about obedience, listen. The New Testament is filled with this kind of language. Jesus says it here in John 14 multiple times. James says faith without works is dead. Paul says we were created in Christ Jesus for good works. Peter tells us to make every effort to supplement faith with virtue.

John says the one who claims to know God but refuses to obey him is lying to himself. Not because obedience in any way earns our salvation, but because salvation produces obedience. Family love fuels obedience. Love compels faithfulness. So then, I think this probably raises a very painful question for us. If love for the Lord is supposed to compel obedience to the Lord, what does it mean for us when we fail to obey? What does it mean when sin overpowers our resolve to follow Jesus’ commands? We know the right thing to do, but we don’t do it. What happens when we want to obey, but for whatever reason we can’t seem to obey consistently? Every honest Christian knows this experience. We know obedience matters. We know that love is meant to be expressed. We know Jesus says, if you love me, you will keep my commandments, but we also know the

reality of the struggle to obey. We feel it. We know very well what it feels like to fail. We know what it feels like to carry shame. So then, what do we do with all of that? Well, this is why we need the rest of this passage. If all we had was verse 15, if you love me, you will keep my commandments, family, we would collapse in a deep pit of despair, into complete hopelessness. But praise be to God that Jesus doesn’t stop at verse 15. He keeps going. He keeps explaining. He keeps comforting us. He keeps helping his disciples and us understand how obedience is even possible. This passage isn’t Jesus placing a heavy burden on our backs. This is Jesus placing strength in our souls. John 14, 15 through 31 is Jesus saying, I know you can’t obey me in your own strength,

You Can’t Obey Alone

so I will not leave you alone. I will give you everything you need to love me faithfully. And this is the heartbeat of this whole section in our text. Jesus is preparing his disciples for their departure in the upper room. He has told them he’s going away. Their hearts are troubled. They’re confused. They’re afraid. And in many ways, they’re destabilized. They’re about to lose their compass. And into that emotional frenzy, Jesus speaks three life-giving, obedience-strengthening truths. You can’t obey alone, you’ll never be alone, and you don’t have to be afraid. And these three truths will serve as the structure of our sermon this morning. These are the truths that Jesus lays before his disciples in their confusion and fear. And these truths are what he lays before us this morning as an encouragement for your soul that’s weighed down because of your lack of obedience.

So let’s begin in verse 16 with the first truth. You can’t obey alone. Verses 16 and 17, Jesus has just said one of the hardest statements in the New Testament in verse 15. If you love me, you will keep my commandments. But he doesn’t give us a full stop. He doesn’t leave us sitting in the weight of that sentence for long. Immediately after saying this, almost before the disciples can catch a breath, he speaks a promise that changes everything about this command. He says in verse 16, and I will ask the Father and he will give you another helper to be with you forever. This is the first gospel logic of obedience in this passage. Jesus commands, but he also supplies. Jesus calls us to obey, and then Jesus gives what he commands. The great theologian, Augustine, said it centuries ago, Lord grant what thou commandest and command

what thou wilt, meaning God is free to ask anything of us because he himself provides everything for us. And you see, if we miss that truth, we will live the Christian life under crushing guilt while trying to white knuckle obedience. So the merciful and loving Jesus lifts our eyes and says, I’m not leaving you to figure out obedience on your own. I’m asking the Father to give you a helper, someone like me to strengthen you, to steady you, to teach you and to empower you. And that word helper that Jesus uses, it’s beautifully rich. It means someone who comes alongside, someone who strengthens you in weakness, someone who steadies you when you’re wobbling off balance, someone who gives counsel when you’re confused, courage when you’re afraid, conviction when you drift, help when you struggle and comfort when you’re wounded. Jesus calls him another helper, which can be translated another of the same kind.

Meaning this helper will do for you what I’ve been doing for you. I mean, just think about this for a second. For three years, Jesus taught the disciples, corrected them, comforted them, showed them the Father, protected them, carried them, prayed for them, guided them. They lived every single day with God right beside them. Now Jesus says, I’m sending you someone like me, not lesser, not different, not a downgrade. And that help is the Holy Spirit who will now carry my ministry forward in you. And then Jesus tells them something that must have sounded mind blowing. This helper will be with you forever. Jesus had been with them for three years, but the Spirit, the helper will be with us forever, which means never leaving, never distant, never silent, no matter how you might feel in the moment, the helper is with you and available forever.

No matter the season you’re in, no matter the weakness you feel, no matter your inconsistency, no matter your failure, the Spirit is with you forever. And notice Jesus doesn’t just call him helper, he gives him another title, one that I think speaks directly into the world we’re living in. In verse 17, he calls him the Spirit of Truth. And family, just so you know, this is not some throwaway description for our time. This is a title that still reverberates off the corners of our culture and has throughout centuries. The Spirit of Truth is essential. Truth in John’s gospel is not simply a set of correct facts. It’s not simply doctrine. Truth is reality as God defines it. And more importantly, truth is a person, Jesus himself. Jesus was not playing when he said, I am the way, the truth and the life. So when Jesus calls the Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, he means the Spirit that communicates

truth, the Spirit that reveals truth, the Spirit that interprets truth and applies the truth and the truth that is rooted in the person of Jesus and revealed in the word. And this Spirit of Truth is so important in our world. Because without the Spirit of the truth, the world cannot know the one who the Spirit of Truth points to. This is what Jesus makes explicitly clear in the middle of verse 17. The world cannot receive him because it neither sees him nor knows him. And family, this verse here speaks directly into our post-truth world. We live in a culture where everyone wants spirituality, but no one wants truth. Truth is treated as personal or private, subjective or fluid. You hear things all the time like my truth, your truth, inner truth, authentic truth, live your truth. But only the Spirit of Truth can guide you to the reality of truth and the person of

truth who is Jesus Christ. The world cannot know truth if they cannot see Jesus. And what this means for us is that we only know truth because of the grace of God through the Spirit whose help us seen Jesus the truth. This is why Jesus says, you know him for he dwells with you and will be in you. The world cannot see him. So the world uses their sinful imagination to redefine truth in their own image and thereby rejecting the true truth. But Christians know him because the Spirit has revealed truth to us. And the Spirit doesn’t just simply teach us truth. The Spirit of Truth takes up residence in you. So the Spirit is not just near, not around, not hovering. He’s inside of you, dwelling, remaining and animating. In the Old Testament, God’s presence dwelt in a tabernacle, then in a temple, then in

Jesus in a human body. But now through the Spirit, you are the dwelling place of God. It’s crazy. And this family is what makes verse 15 possible. You see, without verse 16, if you love me, you will keep my commandments would crush us. We would be hopeless. But Jesus says, I know your love is weak. I know your obedience is inconsistent. I know your strength runs out. So I will give you another helper. And what this means is that obedience is not something God expects you to produce on your own. It’s something God empowers you to do. The Spirit in you supplies love where you have none. The Spirit strengthens you where you have none and gives you desire where you have none. He is the indwelling, empowering presence of God in your obedience. Amen. The second truth Jesus gives his disciples and us is this.

You’ll Never Be Alone

You’ll never be alone. We see this in verses 18 through 24. In this section, Jesus shifts from the Spirit beside us and in us to the reality of Christ with us and in us. And it begins with one of the most comforting sentences in the whole Bible. Verse 18, I will not leave you as orphans. This is the anti-abandonment anthem for Christians. Jesus uses the language of anti-abandonment by design because abandonment is likely how the disciples feel right now. They had given up everything to follow Jesus. They had lived every day under his voice, under his presence, under his leadership and his love. To them, being with Jesus wasn’t simply an accessory to life, it was life. It was identity, it was security, it was direction, it was everything. But now Jesus is talking about leaving. So Jesus looks directly into their fear of abandonment, into their confusion, into their

trembling uncertainty and he says, I’m not walking out on you. I’m not leaving you fatherless or directionless. I will come to you. And for those of you who have felt the deep sting of abandonment, let this verse sink deep into your soul. You have been adopted and you will never be abandoned. And to be clear, that the coming Jesus refers to here isn’t the second coming, at least not in this moment. Here he’s talking about his resurrection. In fact, he explains it in verse 19, he says, yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. The world will not see him after the cross, but his disciples will. And seeing him alive after the cross changes everything for them because his resurrection is not simply his victory, it’s theirs and ours. And it’s not just victory, it’s life.

This is why he says at the end of verse 19, because I live, you also will live. This family is the heartbeat of Christian assurance. Jesus doesn’t say you might live. He doesn’t say you could live, but you will live because he lives, which means even in death you will live. You won’t be abandoned in death. And this glorious truth means your life is not anchored to your obedience. Your life is anchored to his. Your hope is not built on your consistency as a Christian. Your hope is built on his risen, indestructible life. His life flows out of your life. Your strength grows out of his strength. Your endurance is carried by his victory. So you can rest in that profound reality, saints. Not because you’ve done enough, but because he’s done enough. You can rest because the weight of your obedience is not on your shoulders.

You can rest because the Spirit holds what you can’t hold. You can rest because the Savior who calls you to obey is the same Savior who supplies everything required for obedience. So rest in that, saints. Rest in the unshakable, undefeatable, unstoppable life of Christ in you. And then Jesus pushes this truth even deeper to the very core of what it means to be a Christian. Verse 20 he says, in that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. Here Jesus is explaining in the simplest, clearest, and deepest way the doctrine of union with Christ. And to be clear, this doctrine is not simply a kind of niche theological doctrine that, you know, seminary professors or scholars look into. This union with Christ is the lifeblood and the lifeline for the Christian life. It is the difference between trying to follow Jesus in your own strength and Christ living

his life through you. And Jesus frames this union with three interconnected realities. First Jesus says, I am in my Father. So Jesus begins with himself. Secondly Jesus is saying, I am in eternal union with the Father, which means Jesus shares perfect fellowship, an unbreakable fellowship with the Father. One will, one mission, one divine life. This is the eternal Son dwelling forever in the love of the Father. And this relationship, this eternal fellowship, is the foundation and framework of Christian salvation. We know this because, secondly, Jesus says, you are in me. Jesus says to his disciples and every follower of Jesus, you are brought into the very relationship that I share with the Father. And this reality is the great transition of Scripture. We who were once in Adam, separated from the Father, are now in Christ and in fellowship with the Father. Before salvation, we were in Adam’s guilt.

We were in Adam’s corruption, in Adam’s condemnation, in Adam’s separation, in Adam’s death. Paul says in 1 Corinthians, in Adam all die. This was our old identity, our old lineage, our old outcome. But through Christ, we are transferred into Christ’s righteousness, into his acceptance, into his life, into his fellowship with the Father. In that same verse in 1 Corinthians, Paul says, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. So your entire spiritual history changed the moment Christ saved you. You moved kingdoms. You moved families. You moved identities, and most importantly, you moved representatives. And Jesus summarizes this massive reality in one sentence, you are in me. You’re in me. And what this means supernaturally and practically is that his righteousness covers you. His obedience counts for you. His death atones for you. His resurrection empowers you. His righteous standing before the Father becomes your righteous standing before the Father.

What a glorious truth for the Christian to be in Jesus Christ. Third Jesus says, I am in you. Now I know it sounds similar, but it’s different. With these words, Jesus completes this circle here. He’s not simply above you in authority. He’s not simply beside you in companionship, but in you, his presence, power, and life. He’s in you. So Jesus doesn’t simply tell believers how to live. He shares with believer the life by which they live. His peace is in you. His strength is in you. His love is in you. His presence is in you. And his will to obey is in you. This family is the difference between religion and salvation. It’s the difference between self-effort and grace. Between fear and assurance. This union with Christ transforms your obedience. This is why obedience is possible. Not because we’re strong. Not because we’re so disciplined with our Bible reading.

Not because we’re among the kind of moral majority or spiritual elite, but because Christ lives in us, and we live in him. Which is why immediately after Jesus builds out this glorious doctrine and reality, he returns again to the topic of obedience in verse 21. Essentially Jesus is saying, in light of all of this glorious doctrine, this union with Christ, hear my words. Verse 21, whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. So Jesus repeats this command, not to add pressure, but to reiterate where obedience comes from. Family, it flows out of union. It’s the fruit of divine indwelling. When you obey, you’re not proving yourself to God. It’s proof that God’s life within you is at work. You understand that distinction? Kids, you understand that? When you obey, you’re not proving yourself to God. It’s proof that God’s life within you is at work.

It’s the evidence that just as Jesus is in the Father, that we have been saved into this eternal fellowship with the Father. Which is why Jesus mentions the Father’s love in the second half of this verse. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him. Do you see what Jesus is doing here? What Jesus is doing here is he’s tracing this circle of grace, a kind of holy circle of divine love that surrounds every Christian. Listen to the circle in simple terms. The Father loves the Son. The Son loves the Father and obeys him. The Son loves the people the Father has given him. The Spirit reveals the Son to those the Father has loved. God’s people respond in loving obedience because the Spirit empowers them from within, and the Father pours out his love again on his people.

It’s a full circle. This is salvation from start to finish, initiated by the Father, secured by the Son, and applied by the Spirit. All of this salvation is rooted in this Trinitarian circle of love and fellowship, and union with Christ is what brings it all together. And immediately after this glorious reality, one of the disciples, not Judas, not Iscariot, but probably one of the disciples that was a bit confused, asks this obvious question, Lord, how will you manifest yourself to us but not to the world? In other words, how in the world will this happen? Well, Jesus gives us a very Trinitarian answer in verse 23. He says, if anyone loves me, we will come to him and make our home with him. You hear that Trinitarian language there? ‘We’ and ‘our’? And not only that, this is temple language. But it’s no longer a building.

It’s no longer a sacred room. It’s you. This means God doesn’t simply forgive you when he saves you, he indwells you. He doesn’t simply accept you, he abides with you. He doesn’t simply restore you, he resides in you. And if all of that is true, if the Father and the Son and the Spirit truly make their home in the one who loves Jesus, then this union is not simply a doctrine to understand, it’s a reality to live from. So union with Christ means obedience isn’t something you manufacture, it’s something God empowers you from within. What God commands, God supplies. Union with Christ means you can pursue holiness without despair because your failures won’t drive him away. God who lives in you sanctifies you. He convicts you, he corrects you, he restores you, he renews you from within, within his own home. Union with Christ means you can walk through suffering without fear of abandonment because

Jesus doesn’t dwell only in the strong Christians. He dwells in the weak, not only in the polished ones but in the broken. Union with Christ means you carry his presence into every sorrow, every valley, and every anxious moment. Union with Christ means sin becomes incompatible with who you truly are. Not because we fear punishment, but because the one who lives in you is holy and holiness stops being a burden and becomes a response of love. Union with Christ means you can love others with more than your own resources. You understand that? Christ in you becomes Christ through you. His patience becomes your patience. Parents, amen? His gentleness becomes your gentleness. His compassion becomes your compassion. And really what all this union means, family, is that you can rest, really rest. Your hope is not built on your consistency. Your hope is built on his risen, indestructible life.

You Don’t Have to Be Afraid

So breathe, believer. You don’t walk alone. You don’t obey alone. You don’t suffer alone. You don’t fight sin alone. You don’t minister alone, and you don’t endure alone. Because Christ, the risen Christ, lives in you, we are inescapably tethered to Christ in our union. This is a glorious truth, dear saint. Anchor yourself to that reality. And then finally, Jesus gives us the third truth. You don’t have to be afraid. We see this in verses 25 and 31. In this section, Jesus now turns to the final truth that his disciples desperately need to hear. And we need to desperately hear. Not just the spirit who empowers obedience. Not just union that sustains obedience, but peace that steadies obedience in a world full of fear. I mean, think about this. The disciples’ world was about to collapse. Judas has just left, and Jesus said, one of y’all is going to betray me.

The cross is only a few hours away, which will appear to the disciples as Satan’s victory. And Jesus tells them, I’m leaving. Everything familiar with these disciples is about to change. Which means, fear is starting to bubble up to the surface. So Jesus gives them this gift. A pillar to stand on when everything feels shaky, and he builds this out beginning in verse 25. He says, these things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. In other words, I’ve taught you everything I intended to teach you during my earthly ministry so you don’t need to be afraid. I’ve been helping you this whole time. But then comes the punch of this promise that’s intended to flip their fears upside down. Verse 26, he says, but the helper, the Holy Spirit, in case you got that twisted, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance

all that I have said to you. This is a weighty reality. Before we get into the meat of this statement, I do want to just take a moment to provide some necessary clarity for our family. This statement is not Jesus promising some brand new revelation detached from his own teaching. He’s not handing his disciples or us a kind of blank check for spiritual creativity. He’s not saying the Spirit will give you new doctrine, or new truths, or a new message that stands outside or beyond what I’ve already revealed. No, Jesus is saying something far more grounded, far more glorious, and far more needed. The Spirit will take everything that I have already taught and not only remind you, but make it alive in you. So what this means is that the Spirit illuminates, he does not innovate. The Spirit reminds, he does not rewrite. He applies, he does not add.

You understand those distinctions? He makes the words of Jesus alive, clear, piercing, and unforgettable. And family, this is exceedingly important for us, especially in Portland, because in our city, there is a rapid-growing misunderstanding of the Holy Spirit. There is this popular idea, especially among the kind of spiritually curious, progressive, or even creative church cultures, that the Spirit is some kind of free-floating, mystical energy who reveals truth apart from Scripture. Now, to be fair, some would say the Spirit is a person. Some would say that in Portland. But that Spirit leads by subjective impressions, private feelings, or personal intuitions that carry equal or greater authority than the Bible itself. I’m not kidding. This is the popular view in Portland. You hear it all the time when people say things like, you know, I feel the Spirit told me. Or I just sense that God is saying something new.

Or we don’t need doctrine. We have the Spirit. That’s dangerous. Or God has given us a new word for today. And then the most problematic, but probably the most popular, I follow the Spirit, not some ancient text. You hear that, saints? Run. I mean, there’s even an annual conference here in Portland. Did you know that? Where the Holy Spirit is the focus. Where these same kinds of things are taught about the Holy Spirit. But let me be clear, Jesus leaves no room for that. Listen, the Spirit does not speak apart from the Son. The Spirit does not reveal apart from Scripture. The Spirit does not contradict the Word that He Himself inspired. Jesus says the Spirit will bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. The ministry of the Holy Spirit, despite its many abuses by people, is the ministry of

Christ-centered remembrance, Christ-centered illumination, Christ-centered understanding. So very practically what this means is that the Spirit’s work never competes with Scripture. The Spirit’s work completes Scripture by opening our eyes to what’s already there. Listen, a spirit divorced from Scripture isn’t the Holy Spirit. It’s an idol built out of your own emotions. A spirit who contradicts Christ isn’t the spirit of truth, it’s the spirit of the age. A spirit who leads you away from the Word is not leading you, it’s deceiving you. So run from that. But the real Holy Spirit, the Spirit Jesus promises draws you deeper into His Word, deeper into Christ, deeper into what Jesus has already said. And here’s why this promise matters so deeply for Christians. Jesus is saying to His disciples and us, I know everything is about to unravel. I know fear is coming. I know confusion is coming. I know your courage will fail.

So I’m giving you someone who will keep my words alive in you when everything around you feels unstable or fearful. The Spirit’s ministry is a ministry of holy remembrance, not nostalgia, not sentiment, and not some vague mystic spirituality, but a Spirit-empowered, heart-awakening, mind-illuminating remembrance of the words of Jesus precisely when you need them the most. And this is exceedingly important for us, because Jesus knows that our fears have a way of erasing truth. Think about this. When fear hits, the first thing that collapses is memory. We forget what God said. We forget what is true. We forget what He has promised. We forget who we belong to. Fear has a way of shrinking our world down to the size of the threat that’s right in front of us. So Jesus gives you the Spirit to expand your world again, to bring back to your mind what

Jesus has already spoken. And Christian, this is exceedingly important for you. When anxiety presses in, the Spirit brings to your remembrance, peace I leave with you. Let not your heart be troubled. When guilt tries to choke you out, the Spirit whispers again. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. When you feel alone, the Spirit makes alive the words, I will not leave you as orphans. When temptation feels overwhelming, suddenly the Spirit’s words return to you, man shall not live off of bread alone. When sorrow clouds your view, the Spirit brings back to your attention, my grace is sufficient for you. When your future feels uncertain, the Spirit steadies you with, I am with you always to the end of the age. And even when death feels frightening, the Spirit speaks again, because I live, you also will live. You understand how that works?

This is not accidental remembering. This is not your brain suddenly, suddenly firing off because you had three cups of coffee. This is the Spirit doing exactly what Jesus promised, bringing back the very words your soul needs in the very moment you need them. And this works in a myriad of ways. Through Scripture you’ve read, the Spirit uses verses you thought you forgot, and they become alive again when you need them. It happens through sermons you’ve heard. This is why you have to preach Scripture. The Spirit brings back a sentence or a phrase or a truth that’s been saturated in Scripture to encourage you. Through hymns and worship songs, lyrics become reminders of His promise, which, this is by the way, we sing songs that are saturated in Scripture. Through conversations with the saints, the Spirit takes a Scripture someone spoke months ago and returns them with power.

This is why we always encourage you, do that word work to one another, Scripture to one another. It happens through devotionals and prayer, a Scripture rises to the surface with unexpected clarity. And even through sleepless nights, the Spirit brings to your mind a lifeline in the midst of darkness. This is why you saturate your life with Scripture. This is why you gather with the church and center around Scripture. This is why we give you liturgy every single Sunday, packed with the words of Jesus. This is why you listen, this is why you sing, this is why you read, this is why you meditate, this is why you memorize God’s Word. Because every investment you make in the Word becomes the material that the Spirit uses to steady you in the storm. The Spirit draws from you the well that you keep filling it. You want to know why you feel stagnant in your Christian life?

You are not filling up your well with Scripture. I’m not talking about some Bible plan that you read in a year. I’m talking about the life-giving words of Jesus that becomes the source of everything in your life. Nothing else will matter. The Spirit uses what you put into your well. You may forget what Jesus said in the moment, but the Spirit never forgets. And in your weakness, and in your trembling, and in your fear, He reaches into the treasury of God’s Word and brings out exactly what you need. And not only does He bring these things to our remembrance, as if it’s just a disconnected thought, like, ‘Oh, I remember that Scripture.’ No, the Spirit turns remembrance into resilience. He turns Scripture into strength. He turns Jesus’ words into peace. This is the pillar Jesus is giving His disciples because they’re afraid.

And this is what Jesus gives to us when we face this world. You don’t need to fear the future because the Spirit will meet you there with His words on His tongue. He is giving us assurance that every time we open up our Bibles, every time we hear the words of Christ preached, every time we meditate, every time we study, memorize, consider or obey, the Spirit Himself is at work. He’s our teacher, our reminder, our illuminator, our interpreter, and our strength. He makes the Word live. He makes the truth burn. He makes the Gospel clear and most specific to our text. He makes obedience possible. This is what Jesus promises here. Without the Spirit, Jesus’ teaching will sit dormant in our mind, collecting dust, fall into the abyss of all the other things we forget about, especially as we get older. With the Spirit, Christ’s words become fuel for your soul.

And listen, Jesus knows that knowledge alone won’t steady their trembling hearts and so He gives them another gift, His peace. In verse 27, He says, peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you, not as the world gives, do I give to you. And to be clear, this is not some generic peace or temporary emotional lift from your difficult or fearful circumstances. This is His peace, the same peace that steadied Him in the wilderness, the same peace that carried Him through betrayal, conspiracy, and rejection, the same peace that sustained Him when the cross was looming over Him. This is peace rooted in the Father’s will, anchored in the Father’s love, and settled in the Father’s sovereignty. The peace that the world offers us evaporates under pressure. It’s built on distraction, on denial and distance from the fear. So in our world, you want to escape anxiety and fear?

Turn up the music to drown out the sound, numb your sadness with streaming, cope with your fear of the future with nostalgia, deal with your depression by doom scrolling, fight boredom with buying something new, chase comfort with food, chase control with pornography, chase stability with all the false promises that money offers you. The world can only give you a momentary illusion of peace in the midst of fear and anxiety. Jesus gives a peace that remains when the storm intensifies, peace that outlasts anxiety, peace that outlives fear, peace that silences shame, and peace that steadies our obedience. So He turns to His trembling disciples and to trembling saints this morning and says, let not your heart be troubled, neither let them be afraid. Again, He gives this command because He gives the peace that makes it possible. You see how Jesus does that? He commands it and then He provides everything necessary for you to obey that command.

And Jesus says something that they could not possibly comprehend in the moment. Verse 28 says, Jesus says, if you love me, you would have rejoiced because I’m going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. The disciples hear that, they’re like, what? How is leaving us supposed to help us rejoice? How is you going away to the Father better for us? Do you see, do you understand what being alone looks like? They hear loss. They hear abandonment. Jesus sees victory. Jesus knows this is the road to glory. Why rejoice? Because He’s returning to the glory He had with the Father from before the world began. Glory because He’s about to finish the work of redemption, where the Father will give Him all authority. Because the Father is greater, not in essence, but in authority, and the Son is returning to His rightful throne.

Because the cross is not defeat, but coronation. Then in the face of fear, Jesus pulls back the curtain on the spiritual realities of our dark world. He says in verse 30, the ruler of this world is coming. In other words, Satan is moving. The plot of betrayal is set. The soldiers are assembling. The cross, the bloody cross is only hours away, but Jesus immediately declares, He has no claim on me. Satan has no claim on me. How is that possible? Satan has no hold on Jesus because there is no sin in Him. No guilt in Him. No darkness in Him. No accusation in Him that can stick. And what this means, family, is that if you are united to Christ, then what’s true of Him is true for you. Satan has no claim on you because you are in Jesus. Not because you’re sinless, but because you’re wrapped in the righteousness of the sinless

one. Not because you’re strong, but because your life is hidden in the strong one. Every accusation, every guilt, every disobedience, every record of debt that once gave Satan a foothold was nailed to the cross with Jesus. So He can tempt you, but He cannot own you. He can accuse you, but He cannot condemn you. He can attack you, but He cannot claim you because your life is bound in Christ’s life. And the ruler of this world has no claim on the one who is covered by Christ. His obedience to the cross purchased this deed of no claim. You see, this was all part of the plan, family. The Father set it in motion. The Son was sent to fulfill it in obedience. And don’t get it twisted, this obedience, though we benefit from it, it was primarily an expression of Jesus’ love to the Father.

This is why Jesus says in verse 31, I do as the Father commanded me so that the world may know that I love the Father. Do you see it? Jesus commands obedience from us while He Himself embodies obedience for us. He calls us to love Him and He shows us what love truly is. A love that obeys the Father all the way to the cross. This is the heartbeat of the whole chapter. This is the anchor that holds all Christian hope. Listen, we obey because He obeyed. We love because He loved. We stand because He stood in our place. And then Jesus gives the final line of the chapter, rise. Let us go from here. It’s as if Jesus is saying, let’s walk into the night. Let’s go. Let’s walk towards the cross. I’m not afraid and you don’t need to be afraid either. Because my Spirit will teach you, because my peace will uphold you, and because the

ruler of this world has no claim on us. Because you are in me and my obedience, my life, and my love are in you, I will carry you all the way home. Because He will carry us home, family, we never have to be afraid. Come whatever dark circumstances in our world, we don’t have to be afraid. Friend, if you’re here this morning and you don’t know yourself to be a Christian, I hope you see the invitation of this passage. I hope you see how crazy this invitation is for you. You don’t come to God because your record is clean, or your love is strong, or because you’re a good and morally upright person. You come to Jesus because Jesus obeyed in your place, died in your place, and rose so that you might live in Him. Crazy! If you do nothing, Jesus does everything. And His invitation means you can come to Him this morning.

Are you weary? Afraid of this world? Come! Are you guilty? Overwhelmed by all of the sins that you’ve committed and you keep committing? Come! If you are afraid and have no peace, come! If you feel far from God this morning, like your life has been so messed up, God couldn’t possibly accept you, Jesus says come! Because the Savior who walked into the night with His disciples also walked into the darkness of the cross for you. And today He stands alive, risen, and reigning, offering you His peace, offering you His presence, and His Spirit, and His life. And all He requires is that you trust Him, that you believe that He is the Son of God who has come to save you from your sins, and He will rescue you. So rise and come to Jesus this morning. And if you want to know more about what it means to become a Christian, to follow Him

in obedience, to know this peace, to know this life, to know this love, ask any Christian in this room. If they say they’re a Christian, they will most certainly talk to you. In fact, if you’re a member, raise your hand, keep it up there for a second, and if you have questions, ask anyone with their hands raised, and they will talk to you about Jesus this morning. It is the most important thing you will ever understand in this life. Don’t go without getting your questions answered. Trinity Church, I want to leave you with this. Take heart. Take heart. Jesus who obeyed for you now lives in you by His Spirit, uniting you to the very life of God. So you’re never alone. You’re never abandoned. You’re never without strength to love, obey, and endure because His life is now your life. Amen? Let’s pray. Father, we thank you for the Spirit who reminds us, who points us to the words of Jesus, who

convicts us, who corrects us, who gives us encouragement, who lifts our eyes to hope, and most importantly, who indwells us forever. We thank you that we did nothing, but you did everything for us. God, we pray that this very week, you would make us Christians who are dependent upon the work of the Spirit, change our prayer life, help us to beg for the Spirit’s help until we sense the Spirit’s presence revealing God’s words to us that comforts us and helps us walk through the storm. We desperately need it. And God, if there are those in our midst who do not know you, we pray that the Spirit of the living God would open up their eyes to the truth, that today would be the day of salvation, that they would come to know and trust the living God, the true truth, the one who died for their sins, who was raised from the grave and now is seated on the throne

with all authority, with a glorious crown and says, come to me. Oh, God, we pray that you would quicken hearts this morning for their good and for your glory. Oh, God, we pray in Christ’s name. Amen. Amen.