Welcome to the InTouch podcast with Charles Stanley for Friday, August 1st. Do you know how to truly show your love for God? Jesus gives a clear and powerful answer in John chapter 14. Join us today as we explore what it means to love Him through obedience. How many of you have said to your kids, If you love me, you will obey me.
Right? Right. Then don't sit there like you didn't ever say that. Because I'm sure you did. You probably said some stronger things than that.
But You said, if you love me, you will obey me. Which is absolutely natural. In other words, a child who is absolutely a rebel against their parents and uses profanity, criticizes their parents, takes advantage of them, takes money that they shouldn't take, and misuses the things that their parents give them. And you say, well, if you love me, you wouldn't treat me that way. And you know what?
We would agree, right? Then we turn right around and do God the same way.
So, what I want to talk about in this message is simply this, and this is the title. Obedience The test of our love. And I want you to turn, if you will, to John chapter 14. Look, if you will, beginning in verse. Uh beginning in verse uh 14 of the 14th chapter.
He says, if you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.
Now, listen, if you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. If you love me... You will keep my commendments. Look, if you will, in the 21st verse. He says, He who has my commandments and keeps them is the one who loves me.
Verse 23. If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our abode with him. He who does not love me does not keep my words, and the word which you hear is not mine, but the Father's who sent me.
Now, let's look at these verses for a moment. Look back again in. Verse 15. He says, if you love me, you will keep my commandments.
Now, what does he mean by that? He doesn't mean all the commandments he's ever given in the Bible, because a lot of commandments he gave the nation of Israel that only apply to them. All their ceremonial laws were commandments of God, only apply to them, don't apply to us at all. Then you say, well, what commandments are they? They're all those commandments that have to do with moral issues.
And when Jesus, for example, sort of interpreted the Ten Commandments in the Sermon on the Mount, he made it very clear. It's very clear what he meant. And when he talked about how we treat each other, for example, this is a commandment. He says we're to treat each other the way we want to be treated. As we say, do unto others as you'd have them do unto you.
The issue is: is that your attitude? Is that your spirit? Is that what you want to do in your life? And people say, well, you know, I really try my best to obey God. If you're obeying God, you're asking, what does obedience call for?
Not can I skirt sin. Without committing it. What does God want me to do? What does God desire me? And I think about a good way to wake up in the morning, and I love saying this to the Lord.
He says, Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable to you today, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer. And what Jesus said, I wish I could say it, and I say it anyway: Lord, I only want to do those things that please you. And then, thirdly, I will go in the strength of the Lord my God. That's the way to get up every morning. Think about it.
You're asking God to guide your thoughts. that guides your actions. You want to go in His strength. And you want to do the things that please him. But how many people get up in the morning and they're trying to figure out what am I going to do?
Never ask God, never seek the mind of God about how am I to live my life today? Would you say that your lifestyle is a lifestyle of obedience? Then, if you can't say that, then how can you sing, Oh, how I love Jesus? And can you sing Any of these songs about loving him. You see the truth is We can get so enamored and covered with stuff that's counterfeit and plastic and unreal.
But when it gets down to it, for example, and two people are getting ready to get married, they can talk about how sweet the other one is and how wonderful you are, and on and on and on they go. When it comes down, if they're wives, when it comes down to saying, I do, you better have a lot of distance. down to earth, hard coal facts in mind. Love is not just an emotion. It isn't just a feeling.
Listen, it's a belief inside of you. It's an action in your heart. It's something that's going on in your mind, your whole being. When you love somebody, you don't love them.
Well, I see you, love you, thank you very much. But rather Here I am. is all of me. And you don't say, well, I love you. Oh, how many people have said, Well, you know, I love you.
If you say that to me that way, no, I don't know that. But if you say I really do love you. I really do love you. You know what? Gets all the way to my heart.
Gets all the way to your heart. But if somebody casually tells you that, And I wonder how often we're sort of casual with God about our love for Him. Do we really love him? Oh, we just said, Well, now, Lord, you know, I love you. In the midst of our prayer, that's so totally, absolutely self-centered, God, you know, I love you in Jesus' name.
You know what? Tacking Jesus' name on the end of a prayer doesn't mean a thing. You don't tack that on the end. What that means is I come to you by your authority. In submission to your will.
to walk in obedience to you. Therefore not condition. I'm trusting you to answer my prayer. And so oftentimes, we don't have any idea what's going on. We say, Lord, you know I love you, and so we expect.
You've got to just take our casual statement and apply it when he knows better. If you love him, he says you will obey him. You will treasure His words. You'll keep His Word. You want His Word in your heart.
Nobody has to beg you to read the Bible. They don't have to beg you to pray. They don't have to beg you to come to church. You don't hear me pleading with people to come to church. I'll tell you why.
I know that if I present the truth of God's Word, you hear it, you obey it, you'll be here when you ought to be here. And I don't think you ought to beg people. Beg people, please do this, please do that, please do the other. For the simple reason, if we're living obediently before God, you know what, we're going to do that.
Now, we all need encouragement. And we need motivation. We're not begging people to do something, we're saying, you know what? This is a right thing to do. This is a proper thing to do.
This is a wise thing to do. This is a godly thing to do. And you know what? When you're doing the godly thing, It's an expression of your love for him.
Now, when I think about what he said here, he said, if you love me, you will obey me.
So It's very specific, so it's not emotional. We're not talking about feelings, we're talking about. Listen, not just words, but action. What is it about your life that is an expression of your obedience to God? Then you'll have a sense of security, then you have a sense of self-esteem, then you'll have a good feeling about yourself.
Because you know that you're doing what God wants you to do.
So it isn't just a matter of feelings. Because people can have all kinds of feelings. A second thing I want you to notice about that is this. that throughout the scriptures When we're talking about love, We're talking about relating it to the Word of God. And you'll notice what Jesus said.
He said, for example, in that 12th chapter, in the 49th verse, listen to what he said. He said, For I did not speak on my own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent me has given me a commandment. as to what to say and what to speak. I know that His commandment is eternal life, therefore the things that I speak, I speak just as the Father has told me.
So listen. If you're not going to be obedient to God, We must know His Word. You must read His Word. In other words, you say, Well, I do read His Word. It's not enough to read it.
What does He say? You know, there are hearers, and then there are those who hear Him and obey Him.
So, for example, what is a commandment anyway?
Somebody said, I love to keep the commandments. What is a commandment? A commandment is an authoritative word or series of words. Given to us by God for the purpose. of obeying them.
That's what a commandment is. God does not give commandments as suggestions or possibilities, He expects. obedience. He anticipates obedience from you and me. And so, when you think about how precious God's Word is to us, He says, for example, the grass withers, the flowers fade, but the Word of our God shall stand forever.
Why? It's because it's God's guidebook in our life. And so, if you're going to be obedient to God, you have to be in the Word of God. Meditating upon his word means that I read it. I think about it.
I asked questions about it. I talk to him about it, but most of all, God, how does this apply to my life? Are you saying something to me? Is there something in this passage you want to say to me? You see, the Word of God is a vital part of obedience.
Because notice what he said. He said Keep my commandments. Keep my word. And so, what is he saying? He says, if you're going to obey me, you've got to know what my commandment is, you've got to know what my word is.
I want you to turn, if you will, to Luke chapter. Look at Luke chapter or that Chapter six. This is one passage, and there are others, but look at this. Look at this, and this is a good question we have to think about. And this is why I say you ought to take notes because you're not going to remember much if you don't.
And I've not said anything thus far that's not important. Amen? I'm just telling you the truth.
So, if it's truth, you ought to remember.
Now, listen to what he says. Verse 46 of Luke 6. Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say?
Now I want you to look at this is serious business. He said, Why do you call me Lord and you don't do what I tell you? He's not going to tell you what kind of person you are. He's this kind of person you are. Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and acts on them, obeys them, I will show you whom he's like.
He or she is a person like a man or woman building a house who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock. When the flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house, could not shake it because it had been well built. Founded on the Word of God. He says, A person who hears my word and obeys me is like a person who chooses to build a house and they find a good solid rock to build a foundation on so it cannot be blown over in the storm. He says now.
If you're the kind of person who goes to church, Listens to the word of God. And you listen, verse 49. But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation. The torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed and the ruin of that house was great. You know what he's saying?
It is a very foolish man or woman. who hears my word, walks away and does not obey it.
So what you have to ask yourself is this. Do I really love him? Or am I a foolish person who thinks I'm going to build my life on a foundation without the Word of God? When, listen, He's always linking it up. Time, if you love me, you will do what?
You will keep my commandments. Not that you'll feel good and go to church, read the Bible, and pray. You'll keep my commandments. Which ones? All of them?
Well, how am I going to know all of them? Listen, you don't have to worry about that. You have to make a decision, God will show you what to do. He will bring to your mind and heart. And as you think about times that you've read the scriptures and you just went across some of them, you didn't fully understand them.
And then you get in a situation, you think, God, what in the world am I to do in this situation? God will bring back a passage, a verse, or something you've heard from a sermon, a read in a book, and so forth. And you know what? The Spirit of God, He says, the Holy Spirit will bring to your remembrance the things you ought to remember. The issue is we can obey.
But we need the word of God. To know what he teaches, so we'll know what to do. You see, no believer should be pulling out their hair and saying, Oh, what am I going to do? You know what? It's all right here.
And the reason people get in that position is because they don't want to do what he says there. They're looking for some way out. They cry out to God and cry out to God and cry out to God, oh God, and God's already giving them an answer. And you know what they're doing? They're trying to convince God somehow.
There must be some other way, no. And you see, here's the thing about obeying God: there's no such thing as picking and choosing. This is what people do. People say, I believe part of the Bible. Which part?
Well, the part that makes it possible for me to sin without being convicted and condemned. That won't work. Listen. There's no picking and choosing the commandments. He says, Keep my words, keep my commandments.
Which ones? That's not even the question. Except those ceremonial laws back then had nothing to do with us today. Which commandments?
Well, all of them. Treat my neighbors myself. Love my neighbors myself. Thou should not steal, lie, and cheat, and all these other things. But all the things I am to do, serve the living God.
Walk in obedience to Him. Love of the people. Try to witness to them. Share the gospel. There's so many things that we are to do that are included that we know what to do.
And so It's not a matter of picking and choosing.
Now let me go a little step further. Not only am I not picking and choosing which verses I don't want, But you can't pick and choose how you want to interpret them. In other words, when God says something, He says it exactly the way He means it to be said. People take verses of scripture and they'll say, well. Oh That's just the way you see it.
Let me ask you this. Is there any other way to see this? If you love me, you will obey me. Is there any other way to say this? Thou shalt not steal?
I mean, he makes it very clear when he says, lay aside. That is put out of your life. All wrath and anger and malice and and all impurities and all those things, it's all there. When he says lay it aside, walk away from it. When he says, thou shalt not, don't do it.
When he says, thou shalt, that means do it.
Now I don't know how simple, how much simpler can it get than that? You can pick and choose.
Now can you pick and choose the interpretation? that suits your lifestyle. What you have to ask is, God, what are you saying to me? But the one thing I think oftentimes we forget is We grieve the Spirit of God.
Now remember this, you can only grieve somebody. Who loves you? And you see someone that you don't love, they can't grieve you.
Someone can walk up and just tell you off. If you don't love that particular person, in other words, they're just some stranger who walks up and misinterprets maybe who you are, what you did, or what you said, and just blesses you out in good fashion. And you can just stand there and say, well, thank you very much. But you know what, if it's somebody you really love Somebody that you love with all your heart. You do anything in the world for them.
and they absolutely obliterate you verbally. and verbally abuse you over and over and over again, what happens? gets to your heart. You feel hurt deep down inside. You can't describe it.
Tears can't flow fast enough or long enough or stop flowing. You got hurt. You got hurt because You love that person. And they disappointed you. and you hurt deeply.
And it's so grievous to you because you didn't expect it. You weren't ready for it. You had anticipated it. And besides, worse than that, I think to me personally, is when I am misunderstood. When I have done my best.
And I misunderstood. That will grieve my heart. If I've done something wrong and somebody says so, then you know what? I understand, I can handle that. But for some of the misinterpreted And to Criticize and to totally misunderstand your very pure motive.
That's very grievous.
Now. I can remember the first time I ever got that message. I don't exactly know exactly how old I was. I have a pretty good idea. I was old enough to know better.
But my mother was going to leave and go somewhere, and she wanted me to stay at home, and I didn't want to stay at home. And so I said something that was very, very, very unkind to my mom. She left anyway. And she came back. And I was already worried about her coming back.
And so she came back. And she said, I love you. And she said to me, I lay down my life for you. And she said You hurt me deeply. What you said hurt your mom deeply.
And I think for the first time, and I never forgot it, I realized that I hurt my mother. Not because she was my mom, I hurt her because she loved me so deeply. And you know what? Never. And all my years after that, I was just...
Six or seven, something like that. I wouldn't have thought. of saying anything that would hurt my mom. You know why? Because I loved her.
And that day I felt her pain, even as a kid. that I'd hurt the person who'd let their life for me. I never said an unkind word to her after that. I couldn't do enough for her. I loved her dearly.
I grieved her spirit. I heard her. And I had to think about Later on in life and many times I've thought about it. How many times have I grieved the heart of God? How many times have I done things that grieved his heart?
Because my mother can only love me as a mother loves a son, which is a wonderful love. But Jesus loved me enough to go to the cross. And took every sin I've ever committed. And everyone that I'll ever commit. and never complained.
or said accept. bore my sin debt absolutely in full. Because he loved me. There's no love to match that. And to think that I would sin against him grieve his heart, Cause him pain.
He said, Grieve not the Spirit of God. And that's what we do. Whether it's an act, or series of acts. We grieve his spirit. We hurt the God who loves us.
And you know what, if you've ever loved anybody, With all of your heart. And they hurt you deeply. I don't have to explain or define the word grieve. It can be so deep. and so overwhelming.
There's no adequate explanation. And if I think about hurting someone else. Who is human? Versus hurting the absolute pure Cure. Heart of God.
What a difference it must be. and how he must be hurt. He says, if you love me... You will obey me. No substitutes.
That's just the way he put it. You keep my word. Keep my commandments. You'll do what I tell you because it's what's best for you. If you love me.
You will. Obey me. Thank you for listening to part two of Obedience: The Test of Our Love. For more inspirational messages like this one, visit our online 24-7 station. And if you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley or InTouch Ministries, stop by intouch.org.
This podcast is a presentation of InTouch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.
