Love Obedience Help Fellowship

[0:00] Take your Bibles, please, and let's go to John's Gospel, John chapter 14.

[0:17] If you're visiting with us or need a Bible, there's a Bible in the chair in front of you. Pull that Bible out. The New Testament is renumbered. I believe it's page 85 in that black Bible towards the back, page 85, John 14.

[0:34] John chapter 14 this morning. John 14, starting in verse 15 through 31. John 14, 15 through 31.

[0:45] This is gonna be our study for this morning. Again, page 85 in that black Bible. Excuse me, John 14, 15 through 31.

[0:57] Let me read and then we'll jump in. If you love me, you will keep my commands. Now ask the Father, and he will give you another paraclete, that he may be with you forever, the Spirit of Truth, whom the world is not able to receive because it does not see him or know him.

[1:21] You yourselves know him because he abides with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you. Yet a little, the world sees me no more, but you see me because I live.

[1:37] You yourselves shall also live. And that day you will know that I am in the Father and you and me and I in you. The one who keeps my command, excuse me, the one who has my commands and keeps them, this one loves me.

[1:53] And the one who loves me will be loved by my Father and I will love him and will reveal myself to him. Judas, not as scary, said to him, Lord, what then has happened that you're going to reveal yourself to us and not to the world?

[2:08] Jesus answered and said to him, If anyone loves me, he will keep my word and my Father will love him and we will come to him and make abode with him.

[2:23] The one who does not love me does not keep my words. And the word which you hear is not of me but of the Father who sent me. These things I've spoken to you while abiding with you.

[2:36] But the paraclete, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and remind you all that I said to you. Peace I leave with you.

[2:48] My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled. Do not let it be fearful. You heard that I said to you, I go away and I will come to you.

[3:02] If you love me, you would have rejoiced because I go to the Father for the Father is greater than me and now I have told you before it comes so that when it comes you may believe.

[3:16] I will not speak much more with you for the ruler of the world is coming and he has nothing in me. But in order that the world may know that I love the Father and just as the Father commands me in the same way I do, arise, let us go from here.

[3:41] Our culture does not like parents disciplining their kids. It's very much against that. They totally abhor the concept.

[3:53] Now it's our culture versus other cultures or other ethnicities around the world. There was a comedian I saw he differentiated between those who are white and those who are non-white ethnicities and how the non-white ethnicities they discipline their children much more than whites do.

[4:09] He kind of makes fun of that. It's kind of funny. And we discipline them out of love. At least we should. Right? Love is seen though by obeying.

[4:22] The child loves the parent. How does the child show his love for the parent? By obeying the parent. What they say. And that's what it means to be a follower of Jesus.

[4:37] If you love Jesus you're going to obey him. If you love God you're going to obey him. If you love the truth you're going to obey him. That's what Jesus talks about here.

[4:50] Remember here in John's Gospel these chapters 13 through 17 Jesus is talking to his disciples these 11 disciples.

[5:02] Intimate essentials that he's given to us as his people. And that's why we kind of changed the title or tweaked it a little bit to say come know Jesus.

[5:15] And it's to anyone who must come to faith in Jesus Christ they must come to know Jesus but for us as Christians. We grow in our knowledge of Christ so keep knowing Jesus.

[5:26] Keep following Jesus. Come know Jesus and today we're going to see themes these themes and I've used that for the past couple weeks for just using words for you as kind of the title to the message and I'm going to do it again today.

[5:42] This is a title to the message I'm using these themes these words as themes. love obedience help fellowship love obedience help fellowship this is what it means to know Jesus.

[6:03] There's knowledge there's love obedience and there's help in that and there's fellowship. It's what you see in these verses in chapter 14 15 to 31.

[6:20] I'll put in some statements for you to kind of sum it up if you will. Knowing Jesus entails loving Jesus obeying Jesus and fellowshipping with Jesus.

[6:32] That's what it means to know Him. You love Him you obey Him and so doing you fellowship. That's true fellowship as you are loving lovingly obeying Jesus.

[6:46] That's where true fellowship lies. When a Jesus follower loves Jesus by obeying Jesus she or he enjoys true fellowship with the triune God.

[6:57] knowing Jesus entails loving Him obeying Him and fellowshipping with Him. There's another statement for you. A true Christian loves Jesus by keeping Jesus' words and that believer that Christian will enjoy fellowship with the Father and the Son in the Holy Spirit.

[7:18] There's another way you can sum up these verses. again when a Jesus follower loves Jesus by obeying Jesus she or he enjoys true fellowship with the triune God having the peace true peace in this life.

[7:37] Obeying the Father by going to the cross proved Jesus' love for the Father. Obeying the Father by Him going to the cross that proved Jesus' love for the Father and so should we to Christ.

[7:55] We love by obeying Him and when we love by obeying Him we'll enjoy peaceful Trinitarian fellowship and receive Spirit enabling help to keep Jesus' word.

[8:14] These are sentences and phrases that sum up what Jesus is saying here. I'm trying to put it in different ways and give you all these different phrases and sentences to sum up what Jesus is saying here.

[8:25] He says so much here. It's so deep what He says. When we love by obeying Him we'll enjoy peaceful Trinitarian fellowship and receive Spirit enabling help to keep His word.

[8:41] As Jesus proved His love for the Father by obeying Him and going to the cross we prove our love for Jesus by obeying Him. And when we do we'll enjoy true fellowship with the Father and the Son in the Spirit.

[8:57] Fellowship happens when there's loving obedience. That's how you're fellowshipping is in loving obedience. obedience. And it's the Spirit who helps us love Jesus helps us keeps His word and helps us do the mission of God in the world the work of God in John 14.12 because right after that in John 14.12 Jesus starts talking about the Spirit.

[9:28] Another paraclete He says. So the Christian life is us fellowshipping with God through Christ by the Spirit. It's the Spirit God's eternal presence who indwells us who guides us.

[9:44] So Jesus took this time teaching His 11 disciples and encouraging them and He gives them this combination of love and obedience and makes possible our personal intimate relationship with not just Jesus but with the triune God.

[9:59] God and this relationship this fellowship needs help to do God's work. That's where the Spirit comes in. And by the way to live in the Spirit and you'll notice this to live in the Spirit is not some mystical event.

[10:21] It's not some emotional event. It's not done in secret. It's not something that's secret. It's not doing some supernatural feat.

[10:34] No. The Spirit indwells those who trust Jesus who love Him by obeying Him. It's simple. There's no ecstatic mysticism here.

[10:48] It's reading the things in the text. So there's breakdown of different sections here we're gonna look at. We're gonna see different themes. Overall theme of love, obedience, help and fellowship and knowing Jesus.

[11:02] Here in verses 15 through 20 we see this set of themes. Love, obedience, help, fellowship. That's how we started it. That's how we titled it.

[11:13] 15 through 20. Notice verse 15. If you love me you'll keep my commands. Jesus says this four times. So He's trying to make a point, right?

[11:26] I mean, if you say something, if I tell my kids something four times I mean it, right? Oh, yeah. Did I just say that four times?

[11:42] Verse 15 here. Verse 21. Verse 23. Verse 31. Four times He says it here in this section. It's important. Make note of that.

[11:56] What is the nature of our relationship with God? We as His children love Jesus by obeying His commands. You want fellowship with God? You want a fellowship with God? Love Jesus by obeying Jesus.

[12:10] If you love me you're gonna obey me. And our love is not some emotional high. It's not some mystical encounter. Notice, this love is moral.

[12:27] It's obedience to the word of Jesus. You see that word of Jesus verse 24. His word. You know what? For the first time in this gospel Jesus spoke about our love for Him.

[12:38] It's right here. A person who loves God will keep His commands. That defines true love for the Father, true love for the Son, true love for the Spirit.

[12:48] That's true fellowship. Because you'll see that in a moment, this fellowship idea. A true Christian will obey what Jesus commands because she or he loves Him.

[13:01] What are His commands? All that Jesus revealed from the Father. Which is all Jesus revealed about His identity. All that He revealed about His mission. Which also includes all the Spirit brings to their mind.

[13:15] Which He'll bring that up in verse 26. The word. And notice immediately Jesus goes into this. Right here in verse 16. And I will ask the Father, He says.

[13:27] He promised help in this. It would be divine help. Another paraclete. It says helper. And I use that throughout the message, help, but the Spirit's more than that.

[13:44] So just don't think of like some translate of discomfort. He's just comfort. That limits what this word means. Another in the sense He's going to replace Jesus in a very tangible way.

[13:57] Okay? But paraclete, this Greek word is hard to define. Not just giving it one word like help or comfort. Paraclete is the fulfillment of the Old Testament promise of the Spirit.

[14:12] Who would come in the New Covenant age. Our lives would be of the Spirit. A spiritual life. When you say spiritual life, you mean a life of the Spirit.

[14:23] The world has stolen that word from us. You know that? That belongs to us. That word. When people say, I'm not the word, there's some spiritual. You wouldn't say, what? It means you're of the Holy Spirit?

[14:34] That's impossible. You're of the world. You can't be of the Spirit. I probably don't want to say that. But it's true. That's our word. Because when it's a spiritual thing, it's of the Spirit.

[14:47] It's not some mysticism. And the Spirit would indwell all of Jesus' disciples. He's tied to the truth of Jesus, which are Jesus' words, which means he's tied to the word.

[15:00] So, that means Jesus was a paraclete. Now, the Spirit would be another paraclete, another, and I put help, she probably shouldn't put that up there, another help for us.

[15:14] Though Jesus would physically leave his disciples, the Spirit would be the one who would magnify Jesus' presence and work among Jesus' disciples and always be with them.

[15:25] Notice he says, I will give you another helper. He will give you another helper, another paraclete, that he may be with you forever. He'll be with us forever.

[15:37] It's a relational fellowship that is eternal because we will dwell with God forever. It's Trinitarian, we will see. And notice what he says, verse 17, the Spirit of truth, the Spirit who communicates truth or the truthful spirit, you can put it that way.

[16:01] So that means the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth does not work outside of the commands of Jesus. He doesn't work outside of the word of God. Again, when you start saying he works outside of the word of God, then that moves into mysticism.

[16:21] No, he always works within the bounds of Jesus' words because he's the Spirit of truth. He's the truthful spirit. He communicates truth. Jesus is the truth.

[16:33] He says, I am the way and the truth and the life. So, the Holy Spirit is tied to the truth of Jesus and his words and would console God's children, guide God's children, teach God's children God's ways and help God's children in God's work.

[16:54] Notice the different verbs that are used. Console, guide, teach, help. That's why we can't just necessarily say the Spirit is a helper or he's a comforter because then it just limits that.

[17:07] That's not just what he is. He's the paraclete. He's all of those things. You understand that? He's another one like Jesus was to his disciples to those 11.

[17:20] So, it would not be done in some mystical, mysterious way. Ooh. Ooh. No. It would not be done in some emotional sensation. It's not done in secret.

[17:35] Secret. Not done by some supernatural feat. No. You love and obey Jesus. The source of truth is God.

[17:47] The source of truth is Jesus. He is truth. That's how our lives should be rightly viewed. It's in the reality of who Jesus is.

[17:58] We receive truth and obey truth and it's this that the Spirit will help Jesus' disciples to do. And notice the disciples. Notice what he says next part of verse 17. Whom the world is not able to receive because it does not see him or know him.

[18:15] They're not able to receive it. It, the world, cannot because it does not see the Spirit, does not know the Spirit. the reality of God is only seen and experienced by the Spirit and since the world rejects Jesus, they'll never see the Spirit.

[18:32] They'll never know the Spirit because they don't see Jesus and they don't know Jesus. See, Italian. It's not for the world but notice what he says.

[18:45] The next part, last part of verse 17. because he abides with you and will be in you. He abides with Jesus' followers and indwells them.

[18:59] Here is the fulfillment of the promise in the new covenant. We know Jesus more intimately because of the Spirit not just being with us, he's in us.

[19:13] Every individual Christian, all of us that are here who follow Christ, the Spirit of God is in you because you're clinging and trusting Jesus.

[19:25] I mean, you couldn't have that when Jesus was on earth because you're getting Christians that are, you know, Travis is out the door so, you know, if Jesus is here physically, Travis wouldn't be with us, right, because Jesus is here and he wouldn't be with Jesus but now Travis is still with us, he's out walking around and checking the buildings right now, that's what he's doing.

[19:48] He's still with us because he has the Spirit in him, get it? This is what makes it far surpassing these physical manifestations of Jesus physically being here, he's telling you guys, it's gonna be way better now, way better.

[20:05] This love, this obedience, this help, this fellowship is together now, it's in the Spirit. Look at what he says in verse 18. I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you.

[20:17] Here's where we start moving into fellowship. When he says I will come to you, he's talking about his resurrection. After his resurrection, the world will not see Jesus because he says, yet a little while, the world will see me no more, the world sees me no more, but you see me because I live, you yourselves also will live.

[20:37] The world does not see Jesus like they saw him before the cross because they rejected him. And when he says I live, he refers to his resurrection here.

[20:49] So, Jesus is saying here, in the same way, all of Jesus' disciples will be resurrected and they will live when he returns. And we get a foretaste of this resurrection, resurrection eschatological life now.

[21:06] We have it now because look at what he says in verse 20. In that day you will know that I am in the Father and you in me and I in you. He's talking about the resurrection. This is true not only of those 11 disciples but all who follow Jesus.

[21:21] When Jesus resurrected from the dead, a whole new state of existence becomes a reality for all of Jesus' followers. It's a Trinitarian relationship.

[21:32] I am in the Father, you are in me and I in you. This is exciting. And you see more of this fellowship. He's going to bring it out even more later. In verses 21 through 24.

[21:44] This is what it means. This is what life is going to mean in the kingdom, the coming kingdom. I am in the Father, you and me and I and you.

[21:56] So this is life in the kingdom but it is also God's kingdom and experience in this life now. It's inaugurated, it's begun, it started how?

[22:07] Because of the Spirit. His resurrection began the new age, the messianic age, the new covenant era, where we have triune fellowship.

[22:21] So again, the themes of love, obedience, help, fellowship comes out. Now look at the themes that come out here, this next section of 21 through 24. Love, obedience, fellowship, knowledge.

[22:34] Love, obedience, fellowship, knowledge. verse 21. The one who has my commands and keeps them, this one loves me.

[22:46] There it is again. If one has Jesus' commands and keeps them, that one shows that she or he truly loves Jesus. You love Jesus? Notice what he says.

[22:59] And the one who loves me will be loved by my Father and I will love him and will reveal myself to him. If you love Jesus, you'll be loved by the Father, you'll be loved by Jesus, and Jesus will reveal himself, make himself known.

[23:17] Christians love and obey Jesus empowered by the Spirit and he loves them in exactly the same way that he loves and obeys the Father and the Father loves the Son.

[23:29] And the knowledge increases. He makes himself known. fellowship, partnership, sharing with God is a loving relationship expressed by obeying Jesus' words, his commands.

[23:46] So to keep is to love Jesus. To love Jesus brings the Father's love and Jesus' love. And Jesus will continue to make himself clear or explain or inform you of himself.

[24:02] is it going to be some mystical way? No, it's from the word, his words. He's going to bring that up in just a few moments, verse 24. So here's the idea. I'll put it up here on the screen for you.

[24:14] The more you obey, the more you're loved and the more you will come to know Jesus, which will drive more obedience, which displays more love, which brings more knowledge, which brings more obedience, which brings more love, which brings more knowledge, which brings more obedience, which brings more love.

[24:31] It just keeps going. This is what Jesus is talking about. This is why we come to know Jesus. It just doesn't stop. I don't need to know him anymore. I know everything I need to know.

[24:42] Really? If you think that, you're wrong. Why does Peter say, grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in 2 Peter 3.18?

[24:52] Why does he say that? We must increase in our knowledge of Jesus. And as you have this obedience, you have this love, and then the Father loves you, Jesus loves you, it increases knowledge and it continues on the cycle.

[25:09] Look what happens here in verse 22. Judas, not Iscariot, just to make sure everybody knows that, he said to him, Lord, what then has happened? You're going to reveal yourself to us and not to the world.

[25:22] Why us, not them? Why is this going to happen? Verse 23, here's where fellowship comes in. Jesus answered and said to him, if anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make dwelling with him, or abode with him.

[25:47] This sums up the Christian life. Our relationship with God is a relational fellowship of love shown by obeying Jesus' word.

[25:58] Notice again, the commands keeping them in love. Notice the command, obedient love. Notice the connection again. And when that happens, there's this fellowship that takes place.

[26:12] If one does this, that one's loved by the Father and the Son, but even greater, we will come and make dwelling with him. It's the same word that Jesus uses here.

[26:22] I prepare a place for you. He says, and my Father has many rooms. Same word. The Trinitarian God comes to reside in his children.

[26:34] This is what Jesus is saying. This is fellowship. Notice it's not in some mysticism, but it's in you and me having loving obedience to the word of Jesus.

[26:49] this dwelling, this room, this abode, is the indwelling presence of God in the children of God. This is the only place where the Father and Son are linked in this task.

[27:02] The only place. See, this is the beginning of what the future's gonna be like when it's all said and done. We dwell with God forever, Revelation 21.

[27:14] God will dwell with us forever. You get a taste of eternity now. hole. You get a taste of it now. And look at the opposite to this, verse 24.

[27:28] The one who does not love me does not keep my words. And the words you hear is not of me, but of the Father who sent me. Love is displayed in obedience, not by some ecstatic, mystical, emotional experience with God.

[27:44] So this indwelling presence is only for those who love and obey Jesus, which means it's only for those who believe into Jesus. The one not loving Jesus will not obey.

[27:59] The one who loves obeys. That's why it cannot be the world. The world has rejected Jesus. They disbelieve Jesus. They want nothing to do with Jesus. That's why they can't have it.

[28:12] Notice, Jesus says, my word or words. These are simply not Jesus' words that he just thought up. Oh, this sounds like a good idea. I'm going to put this down. No, these are the words of the one who sent him, the Father.

[28:26] Jesus is the self-expression of the Father, the interpretation of the Father. So, be not unbelieving today, but believe in Jesus, trust in Jesus, come to him, repent, and you will have the Trinitarian God make his abode in you.

[28:45] he'll be forgiven of all your sin. Repent and trust Christ, he'll save you. You won't face judgment, you'll face compassion. So again, these concepts of love and fellowship, love, obedience, fellowship, and then knowledge, now notice these themes in verse 25 and 26.

[29:07] Fellowship, help, knowledge. Fellowship, help, knowledge. Look at verse 25. These things I spoke to you while remaining with you.

[29:19] Jesus' time with them in these moments was short. These personal instructions are going to come to an end. Verse 26, but the paraclete, now he calls it the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name.

[29:33] So it's clear that Jesus is speaking specifically to these 11 disciples because notice what he says here. This one will teach you all things and remind you all that I said to you. The Spirit sent by the Father in Jesus' name would teach them all things and remind them of Jesus' words.

[29:52] This is directed to Jesus' 11 disciples. Remember I said this weeks ago, that some aspects we read here are going to be for all of Jesus' disciples and other aspects are going to be for Jesus' specific 11 disciples.

[30:06] This is what we have here. The Spirit was sent in Jesus' name as a way to show that his work is Jesus' work being continued. Jesus never stops working.

[30:19] As Jesus was sent in the Father's name, the Spirit comes in Jesus' name and the Holy Spirit would take Jesus' place, fulfilling the role as their teacher, the disciples, these 11, reminding these 11 of the things Jesus had taught them.

[30:33] So this paraclete would be the one who would direct these 11 disciples, specifically to remember and write down Jesus' words, everything that he said.

[30:44] Jesus is going to bring this up later in chapter 16 as well. Everything Jesus wanted us to know is wrapped up in these 27 books in the New Testament. Everything.

[30:58] All that we need to know is bound here. These men would write the very words we're reading right now. And even though this is specifically directed to the 11, the Holy Spirit does what?

[31:12] He brings God's word to our minds, doesn't he? God speaks to us from his word. He tells us what we need to know from his word because these are Jesus' words. So this fellowship that he has with them and the help he's going to give to them so that they have knowledge is what's going to happen from the word of God.

[31:32] Now the last set of themes I have for you, verses 27 to 31, this is what we'll see. Peace, love, obedience, and fellowship once again.

[31:44] These themes of peace now will be introduced, but also love and obedience which we've seen before and also fellowship. Look at what Jesus says in verse 27.

[31:57] Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you, not as the world gives do I give to you. What is this peace? peace. This is God's peace through Jesus in the spirit.

[32:14] Because he will come to be their paraclete. So in other words, you can even say this peace is the spirit. He's leaving the spirit with them.

[32:25] In a world filled with strife and conflict and so much suffering, Jesus leaves us his peace, not like the world gives to them. this peace belongs to Christ, it's rooted in his identity, it's rooted in his mission, it's promised in the messianic kingdom, it's fulfilled in the new covenant.

[32:47] This peace is God's peace through Jesus in the spirit. So this peace is the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in us.

[33:01] There's another way for Jesus to say this. And it's this peace he gives to his disciples. We can live in this peace and live by means of this peace in a very chaotic, selfish, hateful, bitter, crazy, anxious, money-loving world.

[33:23] Is that not what our world's like today? Our world is filled with chaos, selfishness, people hate each other, bitterness, they're just downright insanity and crazy, people are so anxious and worried, people love money, that's our world, Jesus I live you my peace.

[33:44] The spirit dwells in you, and the spirit dwells in you, you can have peace. Notice he says, next part of verse 27, let not your heart be troubled nor let it be fearful.

[33:58] he gives us his peace, there's no need to fear, to be troubled, be confused, be sad, be uncertain, the peaceful spirit dissolves that.

[34:15] What's one of the fruit of the spirit? Love, joy, peace. Christ controls it all, we can trust him in the midst of the circumstances in which we find ourselves.

[34:32] Look what it says in verse 28, you heard that I said to you, I go away and will come to you. If you loved me, you would have rejoiced because I go to the Father, for the Father is greater than me.

[34:45] Remember, the going is the cross. The going is the cross, along with his resurrection. And the coming is his second return, his second coming.

[34:57] So if they loved him, they weren't really loving him as they should, but they did, they would rejoice that his going is returning to the Father. His going is returning to the Father.

[35:09] Why? For the Father is greater than Jesus. He submitted the Son, he submitted himself as the Son to the Father. What does Jesus mean by this when he says the Father is greater than me?

[35:20] What does he mean by that? Well, the Father is greater than the Son who was in his incarnate state. The Son submitted himself to the Father.

[35:32] Jesus returns to the Father to the glory he had with the Father before the world was. So we see here in this passage the functional subordination of the Son to the Father, as well as the functional unity between them.

[35:49] See, the theology of the Trinity is being displayed to us and taught to us. The Father sent the Son who totally obeyed the Father and was dependent upon the Father.

[36:01] And now he's returning to the Father. Which, in their love for Jesus, that should bring them great joy. Because it's a huge gain for Jesus.

[36:14] So, in a sense, their sorrow here was kind of being self-centered. they're being selfish. They should have rejoiced.

[36:26] Because Jesus submitted himself to the Father, now he's going to go back to the Father. And friends, if Jesus submitted himself to the Father, how much more is he greater than us as his disciples?

[36:38] And we should submit to him. And then look at what he says here in verse 29 and to verse 30. And now, I've told you before it comes, but when it comes, you may believe.

[36:51] He told them all this now, so that when these things happen, they would direct their trust in him and would once again ensure and boost up their faith and their trust in Jesus and his identity and mission.

[37:05] Verse 30, I will not speak much more with you. His departure was coming fast. Notice he says, for the ruler of the world is coming. Satan wanted to destroy Jesus, but he also tried to get him not to accomplish the mission work of the father.

[37:26] But notice what Jesus says in the last part of verse 30, and he has nothing in me, which means he has no claim on me. He has nothing over me.

[37:38] In other words, even though the ruler of this world comes, he has no claim on God's mission. The Satan has no claim on God's work. God controls it all, not Satan.

[37:51] And it's God's plan for Jesus to go to the cross. This is God's mission for Jesus. He's in control. And then notice what we see here, again, the aspect of love and obedience, fellowship, comes into play in verse 31.

[38:08] But in order that the world may know, two aspects. First, that I love the Father. Second, and just as the Father commanded me in the same way I do.

[38:23] What does he mean by this? First, that he loves the Father. He obeyed the Father in the ultimate way. Jesus went to the cross. Jesus going to the cross is the proof of his love for the Father.

[38:38] He obeyed him. The Father said, this is the plan, you're going to go to the cross. Jesus obeyed. So what would look like to be defeat would be victory. His death would bring victory and provide a powerful presence, one that is not bound by physical limitations.

[38:56] The Spirit who dwells all of us at the same time. It's wonderful. This was Jesus' mission. His mission was to die so he could send the Spirit.

[39:09] Obeying the Father by going to the cross proves his love for the Father. And so should we to Christ. We love by obeying him.

[39:22] Here it is on the screen, notice. In the same way that the Father commanded Jesus, notice he says, as the Father commanded me, in the same way I do, Father commanded Jesus, Jesus also commands his disciples, show your love by obeying me.

[39:39] me. When you do, you'll enjoy Trinitarian fellowship and Spirit help for you to obey. That's the promise.

[39:52] That's what you get. When there's this loving obedience, you'll get that help and you'll have that fellowship. Jesus exhorted his disciples to follow his example.

[40:03] I love the Father, I obeyed him. You're my disciple, you'll obey me. This is what the world must know.

[40:16] And they'll be able to know it by means of the powerful Spirit who empowers us to speak this gospel truth of the cross. And then he says here, arise, let us go from here.

[40:30] People like to make big deal out of this. It's just simple. They're in the room, they're going to get up from the table and go to the garden of Gethsemane and as Jesus is talking, he's teaching them these important elements, which you'll see in chapters 15, 16, and 17.

[40:47] As they're walking together, Jesus is still teaching them. When we love Jesus by obeying Jesus, we'll enjoy peaceful Trinitarian fellowship and receive spirit enabling help to keep Jesus' word.

[41:03] love love. This is what Jesus was saying here in verses 15 through 31. He proved his love for the Father by obeying him and going to the cross.

[41:13] We prove our love for Jesus by obeying Jesus. And when we do, we'll enjoy true fellowship with the Father and the Son and the Spirit. Remember, it's not some mysticism, mystical, emotional thing.

[41:28] No, it's an obedient, loving fellowship. That's how it's found. from the Word. A true Christian loves Jesus by keeping Jesus' Word.

[41:42] And that believer, that Christian will enjoy fellowship with the Father and the Son and the Spirit. Or how do we put it at the beginning of the sermon? Knowing Jesus entails loving Jesus, obeying Jesus, and fellowshipping with Jesus.

[42:00] That's what means to know him. let's ask now the Spirit to work in that, to work that in us as God's people. Let's do that. Let's pray.

[42:15] And Father, we pray to you that you would use the Spirit to work that in us. Jesus, we would love you by keeping your word.

[42:31] As we do, we'll enjoy, as we do, we'll enjoy fellowship, Trinitarian fellowship with you, to know you more, driving us to worship, driving us to love you more, and obeying you more.

[42:52] It just keeps going and going, deeper and deeper, higher and higher. Please do that in us as a church, as a body.

[43:08] Work in us as a body, we pray. We need you to do that by your Spirit. it's not going to come from us. Work in us, Spirit, we pray.

[43:23] Enable us to be people who have that love, obedience, get that help, that fellowship.

[43:36] I want to encourage you, as we do each week, take a few moments to fill your mind with truth.

[43:58] Maybe take time to pray, maybe read the text again, read through notes, whichever, but fill your mind with truth, with gospel truth. And we'll respond by singing, by praying.

[44:18] Let this be a time that's less than a minute. Let this be a time between you and the Lord, just a sweet time of prayer, filling your mind with His Word.

[44:35] That's where fellowship lies. please do that. So through the you