Jesus Loves Me, This I Know
Notes
Transcript
Remember that beautiful song you sang as a child?
Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Little ones to Him belong, they are weak, but He is strong.
Jesus loves me He who died heaven’s gate to open wide. He will wash away my sin, let his little child come in.
Beautiful song that reminds of the promises Jesus made so many years ago that still hold true for us today. I want to share these promises with you this morning and remind you that you and I are called to trust in Jesus.
Trust in His Power
Trust in His Power
12 “Truly I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do. And he will do even greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.
We have work to do. Jesus commissioned the disciples as we discussed a couple weeks ago. Here again, the promise of God’s power to get the work done is made by Jesus.
Jesus is not withdrawing from the disciples. He isn’t calling them to this way of life, and leaving them high and dry without any resources to accomplish the mission. He stated He is going ahead of them, but the promise is that He is going to still be active in them.
Jesus is transitioning these guys from spectating to participating in God’s purpose and work.
Greater Works - Some take this an immediately start comparing the work of Jesus against the work of the disciples and then today the church. That somehow the Disciples were going to be better than Jesus was at doing Jesus things.
But the comparison is between what Jesus did before He left, and what He did after and does since He left.
The disciples are just participants in the work of Jesus.
The ministry of the church is the Work of God.
“He will be more effective through His Spirit indwelling billions of people around the world over 2,000 years than He would incarnating amongst thousands in one region for one lifetime”. - Jared C. Wilson. (Supernatural Power, p.34)
Greater doesn’t mean more spectacular…but they’re greater in extent...
The Gospel is around the world now.
The Gospel is for every nation, ethnicity.
The Gospel has grown in massive amounts of people.
The Gospel does great spiritual work.
The distinction is found in what Jesus did on earth, and what He is accomplishing now from heaven through the Church.
Trust His Promise of Answered Prayer
Trust His Promise of Answered Prayer
13 Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.
We’ve got prayers to pray.
Pretty bold promise made by Jesus to His disciples. Now He taught them how to pray. In John 17 we will see Jesus’ heart in His own prayer life.
But the work He’s called us to is done as we Pray. So we take Jesus at His word when He says to “ask.”
Now, Jesus promises to do whatever you ask…He promises to answer the prayers of His disciples.
So run home and start praying for all those things you want…new boat, new Tacoma, more income, scholarships for education, health…recite the magical formula and pray in Jesus’s name so it will all come true…we might think prayer is like the famous song from Pinocchio… When you wish upon star…makes no difference who you are, anything your heart desires will come to you...
No…Jesus taught us how to pray…He taught us to focus on God the Father, the uniqueness of God, and our inadequacy of relying on ourselves, and the sufficiency of relying on God for daily provision, forgiveness of sin, and strength to fight off temptation.
It is to pray with the understanding the request you bring is one that will show the World who God is and what He cares about.
1 john 5:14
14 This is the confidence we have before him: If we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
The faithful prayer is the prayer requested in faith according to His will. What is it that we pray for that will promote His mission and His glory?
We’ll see this more in depth when we get to John 17, but for now, know that praying the Father’s will involves praying for the mission and purpose of the Father for HIs glory.
Believe in Jesus Christ - John 6:40
40 For this is the will of my Father: that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him will have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
Give thanks in everything - 1 Thess 5:18
18 give thanks in everything; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
Submit in doing right. - 1 Peter 2:13-15
13 Submit to every human authority because of the Lord, whether to the emperor as the supreme authority
14 or to governors as those sent out by him to punish those who do what is evil and to praise those who do what is good.
15 For it is God’s will that you silence the ignorance of foolish people by doing good.
Abstain from sexual sin. Sanctification - 1 Thess 4:3
3 For this is God’s will, your sanctification: that you keep away from sexual immorality,
John Piper, “Prayer is the open admission that without Christ we can do nothing. And prayer is the turning away from ourselves to God in the confidence that He will provide the help we need. Prayer humbles us as needy and exalts God as wealthy.” - Desiring God.
Prayer is our lifeline in the work Jesus has called us to do.
Perhaps the reason so many churches are in decline is because we don’t know how to pray and we are praying for the wrong things.
Trust in the Promise of the Spirit
Trust in the Promise of the Spirit
15 “If you love me, you will keep my commands.
16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever.
17 He is the Spirit of truth. The world is unable to receive him because it doesn’t see him or know him. But you do know him, because he remains with you and will be in you.
Jesus says, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever.”
The Father will give the Helper. He calls the Holy Spirit the “Counselor” - you may be familiar with this word, “paraclete.” Its translated as “Helper, Comforter, Advocate.” Or some use the phrase, “comes alongside.” The key to understanding this is the word right before it… “Another”
Another means they currently have a paraclete. - It means the same kind as the first. If you’re tracking, it implies that Jesus was the first. 1 John 2:1
1 My little children, I am writing you these things so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ the righteous one.
25 “I have spoken these things to you while I remain with you.
26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you.
This is a promise for the disciples that as Jesus is leaving them physically, the Holy Spirit would be their constant companion to guide, help, teach, intercede for them, and empower them for the tasks ahead. Jesus identifies Him as the Spirit of Truth. Just as Jesus revealed truth about God the Father, so will the Holy Spirit reveal truth about Him.
Contrary to the false teaching of the Jehovah Witness and the assumption of many professed Christians, the Holy Spirit is not an impersonal force or power. The Bible clearly teaches He is a person, He is the third part of the Trinity.
Jared Wilson asks this question, “What is the Holy Spirit?” Again: not what. Who. He is the third person of the triune God, coequally and coeternally God along with the Father and the Son. He is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. As God, He has always existed, and He always will. He proceeds from the Father and the Son, though he shares the same essential nature they do. Equal with both the Father and the Son, He is commissioned by the Father to glorify the Son and apply the work of the Son to the lives of believers.”
Have you ever wanted to have a face to face with Jesus? I mean, who isn’t going to pull out their list of 50 questions. Here is the unique truth here…Just as Jesus comforted, encouraged, strengthened, and corrected the disciples face to face, we too, just as they were, can be comforted, encouraged, strengthened, and corrected through the Spirit who dwells within us.
The world can’t explain it. They said the disciples were drunk on the Day of Pentecost but that wasn’t true. The were empowered by the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit plays a significant role in our lives as believers. We might can talk about what we’ve been taught of the Holy Spirit, but you’ve must understand He plays a significant role in your life. Don’t down play it.
The Holy Spirit is given as promised, and when He comes, they know that Jesus’ love for them will never give way, never die out, never fade away. He is present to help them grow and flourish.
It must be understood that we must depend upon this promise. If the disciples had not waited in the upper room like Jesus told them too, and had they gone out without praying like Jesus told them too, they would have miserably failed. But the Spirit came, just as promised, enabled them, empowered them, and set them on the course of making disciples.
Notice Verse 17 - Jesus says “He remains with you and will be in you.” The Holy Spirit indwells them and begins His ministry of pointing the disciples, and now today the church, to Jesus. Throughout the New Testament, you’ll never see the Holy Spirit saying, “Look at me…worship me.”
In fact, if you’ll consider the Holy Spirit like a camera operator on a television news cast, or the spot-light operator…His focus is always on Jesus. He lights up Jesus…He points to the truth because He is the Spirit of truth - which means He is pointing us constantly to Jesus. If we want more of the Holy Spirit, we’re going to get more of Jesus. Thats what He does. He does points you to Jesus so that the world will know more of Jesus.
And from the throne room of Heaven, Jesus is at work in your life, and the life of His church through the Holy Spirit.
Trust the Promise of His Resurrection
Trust the Promise of His Resurrection
18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you.
19 In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Because I live, you will live too.
20 On that day you will know that I am in my Father, you are in me, and I am in you.
Listen to verse 18 - “I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you.” “I am coming to you.” Now all this talk of leaving them, going away to prepare a place, and now He’s made a promise, “I am coming to you.” He will return. He’s talking here about the crucifixion, and the resurrection. “I am the resurrection and the life.”
After the resurrection, the world will not see Jesus, but the disciples will see him…He is going to appear to them 19-20.
In fact, they will see Jesus in such away they will never ever doubt Him again. They will not be “little faith ones” any longer. Why?
Because the Cross and the Resurrection are “turning points” for the disciples. Listen to this little statement in verse 19, “BECAUSE I LIVE, YOU WILL LIVE TOO.” That promise of resurrection is for the church. It is true for us today.
We know the love of Jesus; we are promised of this great love because of the resurrection, and it is a reality because of the resurrection!
He went to the cross because He loved us, and God raised Him in triumph so we would no longer need to fear death. Isn’t that reassuring in this time of our lives. This COVID season.
Because He lives, I can live today…I can face tomorrow…because He lives, all fear is gone…because I know who holds the future…and beloved life is worth the living, because He lives!
Trust the Promise of His Peace
Trust the Promise of His Peace
27 “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Don’t let your heart be troubled or fearful.
28 You have heard me tell you, ‘I am going away and I am coming to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I.
29 I have told you now before it happens so that when it does happen you may believe.
30 I will not talk with you much longer, because the ruler of the world is coming. He has no power over me.
31 On the contrary, so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do as the Father commanded me. “Get up; let’s leave this place.
Now here is a common farwell…it was common to wish someone “peace.” You might know the word, “shalom.” When Jesus offers them His “peace,” I get the sense that He is leaving something different than what the world offers. This is not superficial goodbye, but rather a genuine promise that is made real by Jesus.
This peace He gives is peace with God, a rest for the weary troubled soul that cannot and will not find this peace in the world. Don’t we try though. Maybe it’s something we buy, something we dream of, work for…and it just never results in what our hearts really need most. We will go into debt to try and find peace for our lives only to find out we are slaves to the lender.
Peace with God is not found in things. Peace with God is found in a person…Jesus Christ.
All though the world around us be at war, turmoil, struggle, and strife…the heart of a Christian is very different. The peace that Jesus offers comes as a result of the Cross where He bore our sins and our sorrows, where the wrath of God was poured out on Jesus so that by His wounds our troubled, sin-sick, sin filled hearts could be made whole and well.
D.A. Carson reflects on this:
The pax Romana (peace of Rome) was won and maintained by a brutal sword; not a few Jews thought the Messianic peace would have to be secured by a still mightier sword. Instead, it was secured by an innocent man who suffered and died at the hands of the Romans, of the Jews, and of all of us. And by His death He effected for his own followers peace with God, and therefore “the peace of God, which transcends all understanding.” (John, 5-6).
This is the absolute splendor of the Gospel. We have peace because Jesus fought the war and won.
Why? Because Satan had no power over Him. Yet Jesus obeyed the Father because He loves the Father and humbled Himself in obedience, to the point of death on the cross, and for this reason, God highly exalted Him and gave Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow —in heaven and on earth and under the earth— and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Phil 2)
Because He Loves You, This I Know
Because He Loves You, This I Know
21 The one who has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. And the one who loves me will be loved by my Father. I also will love him and will reveal myself to him.”
Now in John 13:34, Jesus said, “Love one another. Just as I have loved you...”
How has Jesus loved you? The Cross. It is the greatest example of love there ever was, or ever will be.
13 No one has greater love than this: to lay down his life for his friends.
16 For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
How we know is because Jesus obeyed God the Father.
Because I love Him, Then I’ll Go
The one thing I’ve not touched on yet, and I’ll close with this, is that if we say we love Jesus, then we do exactly what Jesus did…we obey. The Holy Spirit points us in the direction of obedience. He doesn’t MAKE us obey, but rather gives us everything we need to obey, primarily the Love & presence of God is made known through His presence in our lives.
We do not obey to earn credit, we do not obey to earn salvation. This is by grace through faith. But following Jesus, and loving Jesus, means that we obey Jesus. The disciples life is expected to be one of service. It is the mark of a true disciple.
Let me tie this all together:
Even though Jesus was leaving the disciples, the relationship between the them will continue to be defined by love.
His love will be defined and experienced through the presence of the promised Holy Spirit.
It’s all promised & realized through the resurrection, the Spirit, and the Peace that Jesus gives to believers.
Jesus lived this perfect love for us by obeying God the Father all the way to the cross. This is His great love for you as well.
If you’re struggling with obedience these days, don’t try harder. The antidote or vaccine if you will, isn’t obedience, it’s love.
If you’re struggling in obedience, focus on the love of Jesus, and your love for Him. If we love Him, we will live different.