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Now, here's today's message from Pastor Skip Heitzig. Let me ask a deeper question. How do you know you love them? I'll just ask you: you say you love the Lord. How do you know you love him?
What's the proof that you would love them? Obey his commands. That's exactly what Jesus said. If you were to say, well, I know that I love him because every time you say that name, I get really warm and fuzzy inside. Not good enough.
Jesus to his 12 apostles, his men. In the upper room. Sharing Passover before he died, by the way, that whole upper room discourse. Especially in John chapter 14, there are two themes that run through it. You know what they are?
Love and trust, love and trust, love and trust. You believe in God, that's trust. Believe also in me, that's trust. Believe me, or believe me, for the very sake of the works themselves. That's trust.
But then he speaks about love. This is John 14, verse 15. If you love me, you will keep my commandments. That is Christianity 101. If you love me.
Obey me. Keep my commandments. Yeah. Verse 21 of the same chapter, he said, He who has my commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him.
and manifest myself to him. Verse 23, Jesus speaking again: if anyone loves me, he will keep my word. Very next verse, verse 24. He who does not love me does not keep my words. Listen, if you don't love Jesus Christ enough to do what he says, you don't love Jesus Christ.
Love. Basis of relationship. How do you prove it? You do what he says. It shows that you love him.
So invisible. does not mean unlovable. Also, invisible does not mean unavailable. Just because you can't see God doesn't mean He's not available to help you. He is your helper.
I can prove that point in the physical world. Try calling 911 and see what happens. You'll talk to somebody you can't see on the other end of the line. But I guarantee you, you will see a visible manifestation of the call that you just made because they will send people out. They'll respond to that call.
Invisible doesn't mean unavailable. A couple weeks ago, I had to call a fencing contractor because this last storm that blew through blew an elm tree that almost took my house out, but it took my fence out, and the backyard just wiped it out.
So I made a phone call to him. Never met him. He was invisible to me. Couple days he had somebody sent out, a representative, and now it's fixed. Invisible doesn't mean not available.
Now when I called him, he could have been in his office. He could have been out on the golf course. Maybe the golf course was his office. Doesn't matter. I couldn't see him, I didn't know, but he made himself available.
And God does too. Jeremiah 33, it says, Call on me and I will answer you. God says, Call on me and I will answer you and I will show you. great and mighty things which you do not know. That's availability.
That's all part of the love relationship. Invisible doesn't mean unlovable. Invisible doesn't mean. Unavailable.
So that's the first ingredient in a personal relationship with God or with anybody else for that matter. It's based on love. Second, relationship is based on trust. Look again at verse 8. Though now, second sentence, though now you do not see him.
Yet Believing. or trust. Same idea, trust. You see, love and trust. Go together.
You can't really separate love and trust. The soul that believes cannot but love, the soul that loves cannot but trust. You can't separate them. Love and trust, they go together. It's like a baseball and a mitt.
It's like peanut butter and Jelly. It's like coffee and donuts. I didn't say it's like policemen and donuts. I wouldn't go there, but it's like coffee and donuts, they're inseparable. Like popcorn in a movie.
Like a lock and a key. Love and trust. Go together. You will recall the great chapter, the love chapter, 1 Corinthians 13. Paul said, love bears all things, love hopes all things, love.
Believes all things. True love Truss. Notice something in verse 8. It's the word now. It's very important.
Though now you do not see him. You know what that implies? You will. You don't now. But you will sometime, you will then, there will be a time when that which is invisible becomes apparent, invisible, and tangible.
1 John chapter 3. When he appears. We will be like him. For we will see him. as he is.
That was the great hope of Job, who suffered the loss of his family, the loss of his health. the curses of his wife, And he said in Job 19: After my skin is destroyed, this I know. That in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself. My eyes shall behold and not another. How my heart yearns within me.
So now you don't see them. But now you trust him. You believe in him. In fact, until we can see, that's what we have. That's what Paul said, for we walk by faith and not by sight.
But you got to know something, and here's the part of the hope. That which is faith right now. will one day pass away. And you'll see him. Horatio Spafford, who is a lawyer in Chicago.
wrote one of my favorite hymns called It Is Well With My Soul. And he wrote that hymn after his wife and children died. He lost them all. They died at sea, and over the very spot, it is said, where his boat sailed. As he was out there to recover.
the damages. He wrote, It is well with my soul. And do you remember one of those phrases, one of those verses in that great hymn? O Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight. The clouds be rolled back as a scroll, the trump shall resound, and the Lord will descend.
Even so it is well. with my soul. That's trust. And that is personal relationship.
So now, right now, we trust, we have faith. When I say we have faith, we trust, we believe, I doesn't just mean, I believe God exists somewhere up there. It means I personally lean on him, I depend on him, I confide in him. That's trust. So these two things bind us together in intimacy with Christ, love and trust.
Now, a personal note for Peter. Which of the apostles, apart from Judas, showed weak faith?
Well, Peter did. Right? Peter was the one when Jesus announced that he was going to Jerusalem to die. Peter said, Oh, no, no, no, no, no, not going to happen. He didn't even see that in God's plan.
He had weak faith. He was the one who, as he was drowning, at least he tried to get up and walk on the water, but as he was sinking, Jesus raised him up with his hand and said, Oh, you of little faith, why did you doubt? Also, which apostle, apart from Judas, was questioned about his personal love for Jesus face to face. Peter was. Remember, after the resurrection, three times, Jesus said, Peter, do you love me?
Yeah, I love you, Lord. Peter, do you love me? Yeah, I love you, Lord. Third time.
Now it's getting awkward at this moment. Peter, do you love me? Three times he was questioned about his love for Jesus.
So here is Peter writing to people scattered, these scattered Christians, and as I see it, what a step of humility for Peter. To an effect, say you guys are are so far above where I was as an apostle. I saw him, I walked with him, and yet I struggled with my own love of him and faith in him. You have never seen him. You don't see him now.
But Your love is strong and your trust is true.
So beautiful. I saw him, you never did. You love him. You trust him, and that. These are the two ingredients of a personal relationship.
In fact, I would say, to a greater degree. Because Thomas, you remember Thomas, he struggled too. And he said, oh, I really won't believe until I can actually see those wounds and put my hand in his side. Jesus showed up and said, okay, Thomas, have at it. He didn't use those exact words, but It's my NSV, new Skip version.
And Thomas did, and Thomas said, My Lord and my God, great confession of faith. And Jesus said, Thomas, You believe because you've seen. But I want to tell you something. Blessed. Are those?
Oh, how happy are those, literally. who have never seen. and yet have believed. That's us. That's the audience to whom Peter was writing.
You've never seen him. But you love it. You're listening to Connect with Skiff-Heitzig Weekend Edition. When you give to this ministry, you're helping reach thousands of people every day with God's life-changing truth. encouraging them to know him and grow in his word.
And to thank you for your support this month, we'll send you The Making of a Biblical Leader, a Practical Guide to Leading Others by Robert L. Furrow. This practical guide, featuring chapters by Skip and Lenya Heitzig, offers biblical wisdom to help you lead yourself and others with Christ-like integrity. Your gift today helps equip believers around the world to walk in truth and share the hope of Jesus. Request your copy when you give $50 or more to reach people around the world through Connect with Skip Heidzig.
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Now, here's more from Pastor Skip.
So this relationship is based on love. This relationship is based on trust. Here's the third principle from our text. This relationship, based on love and based on trust, is one that is ultimately satisfying. Filled with joy.
Look again at verse 8. You need to read it. yourself. Whom, having not seen you love, though now you do not see him, yet, believing, you rejoice with joy. Inexpressible.
Full of glory. Receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
Now, there's been a thought on Peter's mind in the verses that we have read so far, and that is joy. He spoke about it already in verse 6: In this you greatly rejoice.
Now follow his thinking. From all the way from verse 1, he says to these people: You guys have been picked by God, you're elect. Verse 1 and 2. Yeah. That has given you a living hope.
Verse 3. And an inheritance that is incorruptible, undefiled, doesn't fade away. That's verse 4. And when this life is all over, it gets better in eternity. That's verse 5.
And because all of that is true, verse 6, you rejoice. Even because you suffer in the midst of suffering great trials. But now he uses this term. And I hope it just burns its way into your soul. You rejoice with joy.
inexpressible. What does inexpressible mean? You can't express it. It literally means above words, above language. That Any words you could find to articulate the experience that you have would fall short of the real experience you have.
It's inexpressible. The Phillips translation renders it: He brings you a joy that words cannot express.
So, in this relationship based on love and trust, there's a gladness of heart, there's a satisfaction. And you've probably had a hard time conveying that to an unbeliever when you try to describe, and you can only say, you have to try it yourself. to understand. It's inexpressible. Have you discovered in reading through the Bible that joy is one of the great themes of God's people in every generation?
In fact, let me frame it for you this way. Most of God's people throughout all of time are just like we are, and just like the Recipients of this letter. They never saw him. Only three and a half years did people see God in human flesh walk the earth like Peter, James, John. But For the most part, throughout history, God's people have never seen him, but they've loved him and they've trusted him.
And there is this resounding Anthem of joy. Throughout all of God's redemptive history. I looked it up. As you probably know, I would. The word joy appears 158 times in the Bible.
The word rejoice 199 times altogether, words like gladness, joy, joyful rejoicing. appear almost 500 times. It's a constant theme. Here's just a little inkling, just from a couple of Psalms. Psalm 4: You have put gladness in my heart.
Psalm 37, delight yourself in the Lord. Psalm 5, let all those rejoice who put their trust in you. Let them ever shout for joy. Psalm 32, be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, you righteous, and shout for joy. All you upride.
Now that's just the sampling, but all throughout history. God's people have had a constant theme of I have joy. Then we get to the New Testament, and Paul makes a command out of it. Which is kind of weird, isn't it? If I walked up to you and said, Be happy.
Okay, it's like you can't command somebody to do that skip. You can't tell them.
Well, Paul does. Philippians 4, verse 4, he says, Rejoice in the Lord. It's in the imperative. Rejoice in the Lord. And again, I say rejoice.
What makes that A particularly pregnant, powerful verse. Is that Paul gave that command? Do you know where he wrote that from? Jail Prison, a Roman prison. He wasn't at the Ritz-Carlton in Rome, he was in a Roman jail.
And he said, Rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say, rejoice. You know what that tells me? For him to be able to write that in those circumstances and give a command, it tells me, number one, that joy has little to do with what's going on around you and a lot to do with what's going on inside you. And the reason you're not joyful.
Even though you're blaming your circumstances and your people around you, it's because of what's going on in you. Of all the places I've traveled, one place sticks out to me is India. I've traveled there several times, and I met a lot of Christians in that country. And one of the things I I always experience when I'm there is this. I feel convicted being around them because they have such a joy level.
And yet They're persecuted. Most of them are struggling to survive. They have very little of this world's goods, and they're full of joy. I even met a man there named Joy. He came up to me with a big smile.
He goes, My name is Joy. How are you doing? I said, dude, your name fits you perfectly. And I said, tell me your story. He had to leave home because his dad tried to kill him when he converted to Christ.
Joy.
So it tells me it has little to do with what's going on around you, and a lot to do with what's going on inside of you. It also shows me that joy must be carefully guarded. For Paul to say, here's a commandment: rejoice. And I'll say it again: rejoice. Shows me That human beings can typically get our eyes onto the circumstances and off of the Lord, and we lose perspective.
Billy Sunday, an evangelist from Another Generation, said. If you have no joy, there must be a leak in your Christianity somewhere. Your eyes are on the circumstances. The third thing this tells me. Is that joy is not automatic?
It's not automatic. It just doesn't happen. It's a learned response. In fact, it's the result of a choice. That you make.
The essence of Christian joy Is when you choose to love Jesus and you choose to trust him. That's the essence of it. And I'll add something to that. I think it's one of the greatest privileges. If not, dare I say the greatest duty To be a joyful believer.
to be a joyful believer. When I say it's our duty to be a joyful believer, I am not suggesting you plaster on some fake plastic smile. Hi, praise the Lord. I'm joyful all the time. I'm visualizing happiness all the time.
No, you're just weird doing that. That's just goofy stuff. But when you get a spiritual reality check of who God is and who you are, and you love Him and you trust Him. The joy goes up and you can't even express it. It's that real.
Let's close it off. Verse 9. Really, it's a postscript in this thought. There's a comma, and then verse 9. It's the same thought.
Receiving the end of your faith. The salvation of your souls. Please do not misunderstand that verse. He's not saying that if you keep on loving and you keep on trusting, that in the end God will finally save you. It simply means this.
What is invisible Now. and apprehended only by faith now. will one day be visible. And one day be tangible. This relationship you have with God that is so indescribable doesn't even pale in comparison to what's coming up.
When he shows up. Here's an example I use. In photography, well, Let me just Recast this. Once upon a time, They had cameras. that you put film in.
I have to explain that. Because people go, film, what is that? This is all before these little screens on the back of cameras. In those days when there were silver bromide crystals on the emulsion of film. There was produced what is called a latent or latent image.
You would take a picture. And there would be an image on the film, but you couldn't see it. Truly, you live by faith. And not by sight, when you used to take pictures.
Nowadays, you just look at the back of the camera and go, cool, got it. You couldn't look at the back of your camera. It was inside the camera in film, couldn't be exposed to light. But when you took the film into a dark room and you immersed it in certain chemicals, And those silver crystals clumped together, it formed an image. And when you put a clearing agent on it, you could see it.
What was invisible was now made visible. And that's really the thought here. The joy you have now. Based upon the love you have and the trust you have in Christ. That joy that's part of your experience that at times is so good you can't even describe it.
It ain't even developed yet. There's coming a day when it will be fully developed. and you'll be in his presence. And everything now pales in comparison.
Now, if we believe that and if we live that way You are an attractive person to an unbeliever. Do you think an unbeliever is attracted to a joyless person. A person who grumbles and gripes and complains and is legalistic, who's got his. Face down, looking at all the problems in life. Do you think a person listens to that and goes, I want to be just like that?
Miserable. Oh, it's so attractive to me. No, I don't think so. When somebody sees genuine Real person. Experiencing in Christ a joy.
Based upon your love and trust for him. They go, man. I want that. Like the old saying, you catch more flies with a spoonful of honey than a jarful of vinegar. And so it's our great privilege.
If not our great duty, to exemplify and to radiate. Real joy of heart, real gladness of heart. It comes from love and trust. Yeah. We're so glad you joined us today on Connect with Skip Heidzig.
Before you go, remember that as our thanks for your gift of support today, we'll send you The Making of a Biblical Leader, a Practical Guide to Leading Others, by Robert L. Furrow, featuring chapters by Skip and Lenya Heidzig. This resource will encourage you to grow in faith and lead others with wisdom and grace. When you give, you help keep this Bible teaching ministry on the air, connecting more people with the truth of God's Word and the hope found in Jesus. Gift today at connectwithskift.com slash offer or call 800-922-1888 and request your resource when you do.
We'll see you next time for more verse-by-verse teaching of God's Word here on Connect with Skip-Heitzig Weekend Edition. Make a connection now. Of the crisis. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of connection communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.
