Jesus Unfiltered - Love - Love... Obeys!, Part 2

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that when you hear the next two words, you don't immediately connect them.

Are you ready? Here they are. Love and obedience. Love and obedience.

The fact is those two words don't immediately stick together. And yet when Jesus talks about what it means to love Him, they really do. Find out how today. Chip's our Bible teacher for this international teaching and discipleship ministry focused on helping Christians live like Christians. In just a minute, Chip will pick up where he left off in our series, Jesus Unfiltered, with the remainder of his message, Love Obeys. Today he'll address our misconceptions about God and love, and reveal what the Bible says about our Heavenly Father's care for us.

With that, here's Chip as he begins in John chapter 14, verse 15. Now if you obey me in this journey of revealing the Father, ask me whatever you wish, and I will ask the Father and He will give you another counselor, literally another advocate. The word is paraclete, one who's called alongside right next to you to give you everything that you need.

The word was used for a lawyer, it was used for a helper, it was used for a counselor. In other words, but the word another, you ready for this? It's another of the same kind. There's two words in Greek, you know, heteros, hetero, homo, heter different, homo the same.

This is the word, not another, another of the same kind. In other words, everything you've experienced in me, in our conversations, in my love, in my heart, exactly of the same kind, I'm going to send the Holy Spirit, and He will be with you, how long? What's it say?

Look, forever. The Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept Him because He neither sees them or knows them. But you know Him by way of experience, for He lives with you and He will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me because I live, resurrection, you will also live. On that day, about three or four days later, you will realize that I am in the Father and you are in me, and I am in you. And then He sums it up, He started, look at verse 15. If you really love Me, you obey My commands.

Look at verse 21 as He closes up. He that has My commands and keeps them, he it is that loves Me. And I will love him, and I will disclose, literally reveal or manifest, I'll make Myself known. What's the fear? You're going away.

What's the answer? The Spirit of God will live in you, and I'm going to make Myself known to you. In other words, I will speak to you more clearly, more intimately, more often than even... In fact, later on He'll say, if you really understood what was going on, you would be happy I'm leaving because your deal gets better. I'm going to live within you. Notice that line He said, you know Him because He's been with you.

Right? These disciples have experienced the Holy Spirit. Remember when they were sent out on the mission?

They cast out demons, they preached, they healed people, they've seen God's Spirit. He said, but He was with you, here's the difference. He is with you, but now He's going to be, what's it say?

In you. I mean, He's blowing their mind. The problem with us today, we sort of, oh yeah, that's right, Jesus lives in you, I received Jesus, He came into my life. We have lost what that means, and we've lost the awe and the opportunity of what God has given us. Well, Judas, not as scary as tracking with him, and he goes, okay, you're going to reveal yourself to us, well how are you going to reveal yourself to us, disciples, and the whole world not see it? And so we pick it up in verse 22.

Verse 22, Jesus is confronted with Judas, not as scary, but Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world? Jesus replied, are you starting to get this connection? If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and notice the change, not I, we will come to him and make our home with him.

You understand what He's saying? The second person of the Trinity, God in flesh, leaving, says, I'm going to be with the Father, I am the path. If you continue to follow and obey my teaching, I'll reveal myself to you. But as you do that, the Father and the Son, we will come and literally, your heart, your inner person will become the home, literally the dwelling place of the eternal God.

Do you get that? Christianity is not like, be a good person, try really hard, have a little bit better morality, be nice. It's about a supernatural relationship with your creator, where the Spirit of God manifests, makes known. And a little bit later, some of you are thinking, I'm not experiencing a whole lot of that, so you better get to that part soon. I will, okay?

I will. And what you're going to see is, Jesus is so profound and so simple and so clear and so loving. He didn't write a book for rocket scientists and all of you PhDs, God bless you all, but there's some of us simple people. It's just got to be clear, but what happens is we get it all religions, and we miss the point. Finally, Judas gets his question answered, and Jesus says, all these things I've spoken to you while I'm still here, but the counselor, the advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, here's the promise. He'll teach you all things, and he'll remind you of everything that I've said to you. So here's my gift, my peace, I leave with you. I don't give you peace like the world, there is a supernatural peace of knowing the future is secure, the Spirit of God lives in you, you know where you're going, I'm going to take care of you. The worst that could ever happen to anyone is to die, and the moment that happened, you would be ushered into my presence, and there's a forever and ever and ever and ever called eternity.

I want you to know that one's done, it's solved, but in between times I'm going to give you a supernatural ability to not respond in fear and worry, literally this let your heart not be troubled, it's let your heart be at ease. I might even translate it, lighten up, lean back, I got this, I got this, and I got you, and it is going to be okay. And for some I'm going to deliver you completely out of some hard stuff, for others I'm going to deliver you right through it, and for others I'm going to deliver you to myself because you're that precious. You can't lose with me.

So be at peace. Don't let your hearts be troubled, don't be afraid. You heard me say I'm going away, I'm coming back to you. If you loved me, you would be glad that I'm going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. I've told you before it happens, there's no surprises guys, I didn't say it's going to be easy, but there's no surprises. I told you before it happens, so when it does, you can believe. Now I'm not going to speak to you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming, but he has no hold on me.

There's a dark day coming. The world is going to get dark, and Satan's going to have his day, and he's going to think that it's all been won because the Son of God is going to die, and when he dies, he's going to defeat death when he's risen from the dead. He's going to defeat sin, and he's going to defeat Satan, so he's going to say to these guys, notice the very last line, I need to demonstrate my love for the Father because I will do exactly as he asks. How does Jesus connect his love for the Father? It's with his submission and obedience to the Father's will. And could I remind you emotionally, if Jesus was going with, if it feels good, do it, he wouldn't have done it.

Do you remember the garden? Remember when he was praying? Remember when he was sweating great drops of blood? Sometimes we think, you know, Jesus has like had a, you know, like a big S on his chest, when it got really hard, he turned into God. Fully God, fully man, hypostatic union, without confusion. He died as a man. Every emotion, every temptation, every struggle, every fear, every doubt that any human being has ever had, Jesus had as a man, and he did not turn on his God aspect. He came, and as a man, he submitted to the Father's will, powered by the Holy Spirit to give his life away for you, knowing he would be beaten to a pulp, knowing that there would be a moment in time when the Father would turn away because sin would be placed on him for you and for me, but who for the joy set before him said, I will endure that.

Why? Because he loves you. He loves me. And he says, I want the world to know I love the Father, and the example is why I obeyed him. The connection, verse 15. The connection, verse 21.

The connection, verse 31. If you love me, you obey. If you love me, you obey. If you love me doesn't mean you don't struggle, but you don't log on to porn and you don't have affairs, if you love me. If you love me, you don't walk off with the trainer and leave me with two kids. If you love me, you don't say, oh, I'm on your team, but not show up. Love and obedience. You don't, obedience is not some external, I got to do the right thing, I'm trying to earn someone's favor. Obedience flows out of a, did you notice, go through the text later this afternoon and every time the word no, after the very first one, circle it, circle it, circle it, circle it. If you knew me, if you knew me, don't you know, don't you know. It's about knowing and intimacy and love.

When you love someone, you care about their outcome and their concern more than yourself. You're listening to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram, and we'll continue our series Jesus Unfiltered Volume 3 in just a second. But let me ask you, do you feel bombarded by negative, depressing, or even sinful thoughts? If you want some help overcoming them, join us after the teaching as Chip talks about the practice of renewing our minds and highlights a resource we have that can help you take every thought captive. Stick around to learn more.

Well, with that, here again is Chip. Now, I understand that it's a clear story and this is history and what's happened, but as I go through things like this, sometimes I feel like maybe it's the teacher in me or I tend to be pretty strategic and linear. So what I did is I took everything that we've learned and I thought I'm going to put that in six clear points and just say, OK, because God loves me, here's six things that are true that come out of this text and then I'm going to give you just a little bit of warning.

Here's how I want you to listen, because I'm going to go through them very quickly. I want you to kind of think this is true of me because God loves me. This is true of me. This is true of me. So are you ready?

Let me just summarize what you've already learned. Because God loves me, Jesus is preparing a place for me with the Father. I don't know what you're going through, but right now, at this instant, He's preparing a place for you personally, if you know Him.

Because God loves me, God sent Jesus to make a way for me to be with the Father. He's the path. He's the road.

He's the way. He revealed the Father. It's a gift. Because God loves me, He sent Jesus to reveal to me what God is really like. You can know Him personally. It's not some vague religious concept. You can know His heart. The Holy Spirit isn't an it.

It's not a force. It's a person. We can make Him sad. We can make Him happy. He wants to talk to you. He wants to speak to you. He wants you to know what He wants you to do. He wants to reveal things to you. He wants to put His arm around you. He wants to give you the kind of strength I saw in my breakfast, where someone looked me in the eye in the midst of stage four cancer. I'm not afraid. And then told me amazing things where God, people He hardly or didn't even know, where God is beginning to minister to Him to say, Hey, I just want you to know you're going through this.

I love you. I haven't forgot you. And He wants you to get that. Because God loves me. Number four, He'll use me greatly and hear me always.

Isn't it amazing to think that the one that spoke, that maybe between 100 and 200 billion galaxies into existence is like, Hey, I'd like you to be on my team. I mean, I made everything, but I would like you to be on my team. And I want you to follow Jesus, and I want you to reveal to people by your words and your actions exactly like Jesus did. And by the way, I'll give you the power. But I want to know you.

I love you. Because He loves me, He sent the Holy Spirit. Notice, to live inside of me, to make known or to manifest the presence, the personality, and the power of Jesus 24-7. You have the ability to have a deeper, more intimate relationship with Jesus than Peter, James, John, or any disciple that walked on the face of the earth on those dusty trails. Deeper.

Finally, because He loves me, He gives me peace even in a world of turmoil by defeating death, sin, and Satan. Do you know how free you are when you get really clear? Do I want to?

Not anytime soon. I'm not afraid to die. Peace.

Sin, addictions, temptations. Do I struggle with them? Yes, they have no power over me. I'm not a prisoner. I have peace. I have freedom. Satan is an enemy. There is evil in the world. But greater is he in me than he that's in the world.

That's who you are. How do we love Him? And Jesus really laid that out.

So let me highlight, and if you have your pen, maybe you're going to put a checkmark just next to one of these. But this is what Jesus taught in this passage we've gone through. If you really love me, you will obey, right? If you really love God, or better, because I love God, I will not fear because my future is secure. That's a choice.

That's where you let your mind go. I will not fear. There is a place for me. My eternity is settled.

Now I work it backwards. Second, because I love God, I will trust Jesus as the only way to eternal life. I'm going to respond to the offer.

It's a free gift, but I have to take that step and receive it. Third, because I love God, I will make knowing God the number one priority of my life. Now think of that. Now, some of you are in business, some in art, some in education, you know, some in sports and athletics. I want you to think about what you're most interested in.

Let's just pretend that the three greatest CEOs that have ever lived said to you, you know, you're in the business world, I'll tell you what we'll do. Three hours, three times a week, I would like to mentor you. I'll come to your house. Would you show up? Or you're into music and you say, the greatest violinist, the greatest pianist, the greatest harp player, the greatest guitar whatever said, you know what, I want to help you learn to play the guitar like me. I'm the greatest in the world. Three times a week, I'll come to your house for three hours and I will work with you to help you be the greatest guitar player in the world. Would you show up? Or I know you have a heart for athletics.

Get the story. I think we would be there, wouldn't we? I mean, no second thought. Make knowing God the number one priority of your life. Eternal life isn't some gift that you get after you die. Jesus would literally say a few chapters later, this is eternal life that they know you, Father, and your Son whom He has sent. And so when we talk about how do you know Him, He said, well, your word is truth.

You can talk to Me anytime. I've put My Spirit in other believers. So through His word and through other Christians and as I talk to Him, here's, make knowing Him your number one priority before food, before family, before work, before anything, because whoever you hang out with, you become like. And if you become more and more like Jesus, you'll have a better family and your work will be better and your world will be better and everything. But I will tell you what, we give lip service and say, oh, you're really important to me, but I don't talk to you much.

You don't talk to me much. My behavior and my priorities don't reflect that knowing you, enjoying you, loving you is my number one priority. Fourth, because I love God, I will use my time and talent and treasure and platform or influence to make Jesus known to others.

Number five, because I love God, I will submit my heart and my mind and will obey the Holy Spirit's direction through His word, His people and His promptings. Can I encourage you to put a little asterisk here? This may be the pivotal point because a lot of what I've said, I'm sort of astute enough to be sort of my own life.

I know lots of you. It's this idea that God is so personal and so real and He speaks and all this. It's like you're going, you know what, good for you, dude. You know, I'm not getting a lot of that, right? You know, I don't hear these promptings. I'm not like having these amazing answers to prayer, and I don't really feel or experience God all that much.

Listen, listen carefully. Obedience is the organ through which intimacy with God is obtained. It's not knowledge. It's not religious activity. It's not trying hard.

It's not trying to be moral. Jesus said over and over and over, what? If you love me, obey me.

So here's the thing. Has God spoken to you? Has God spoken to you about something? If you respond to the light that He gives you, and it might be forgive so-and-so or forgive your mom, forgive your dad, forgive your ex, forgive your business partner, and I'm not doing that, then guess what?

You don't get more light. He says, you know, deal with the lust in your life. Deal with your greed. You know, resolve this issue. He's been nudging you.

Go to counseling and work on this merit. No, I'm not doing that, but I'll go serve in the church. He doesn't want you to serve in the church.

He wants you to respond to the area that He's put His finger on because He loves you. If you do, take a baby step. He'll give you more light, and as you take that step, He will manifest. He'll make Himself known. There'll be more power. There'll be more joy. Every time I take a step toward God, what He wants me to do, more, more, more.

By the same token, the opposite is true. I mean, you can be involved in Bible studies, and you can come to church, and you can, you know, have a morality that's better than people, but if He's put His finger on, you've never forgiven your Father. Or you have this private addiction with TV or with the Internet. Or you're trying to juggle your life. How many times are your kids or your wife or your husband going to say, are you going to live for work, or are you going to live for what really matters? And you keep telling, yeah, yeah, right after this big deal, it's all going to be okay. Stop!

Knock it off! Do what God is speaking to you to do, and I'm going to tell you. And then here you're going to get, you're going, I can't.

Of course you can't. And so you say, Lord, I can't forgive Him, but I choose to do it. And then I will tell you, this will open up.

And then you'll need people. And then He'll speak to you. And then He'll give you peace. Are you afraid?

Of course you are. Obedience to God requires faith and courage and usually help. Everything I'm telling you, I can't do.

I praise God. I've got a wife who walks through this, me, and close friends that, you know, all this is true of me, and He wants me to do that, and I don't want to do it. And then I realize I'll be stuck. How many of you are stuck?

How would you like to get unstuck? Well, it's not some big, big deal. Take the next step. Maybe He's been saying, you know, I'd kind of like you to read my word. I'd like to speak to you. Or maybe could you not rush talking all the time? Could we like have a long, easygoing conversation?

I don't know what it is. The final thing is because I love God, I refuse to worry. You know, I'm just going to let my heart be at ease. Now you say, well, I can't.

Of course you can't. Your mind goes certain places. You're putting certain things in your mind.

You can choose to put your mind on other things, and as you do, we've learned here how not to worry. The very back page, which you all are there, I like the turning of the pages, that's really good, is I bet you can, what's the relationship, where do we start? What's the relationship between love and obedience? Love does what?

Could you fill it in? Oh my gosh, I failed. Love obeys. But see, obedience that flows out of love is different than outward performance or moral conformity that flows out of guilt.

It's like night and day. You're listening to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram, and the message you just heard, Love Obeys, is from the third volume of our Jesus Unfiltered series, titled Love. Chip will join us in studio to share some insights from today's talk in just a minute. The Bible tells us we love because Jesus first loved us. So in our study in the Gospel of John, Chip will help us better understand this divine love, discover from Christ's perfect example five foundational qualities of godly love that can lead to more fulfilling relationships with others and a deeper connection to our Heavenly Father.

Now, if you've missed any part of this series, the Chip Ingram app is a great way to catch up any time. Well, Chip's here in studio with me now, and Chip, before you come back and give us a few thoughts about today's message, you know, many Christians, even though they know they're forgiven, really struggle with guilt over past sins or behaviors. That heavy sense of condemnation just weighs them down. Well, what would you say to that person?

Dave, that is more common than you would think. Yes, the Bible says all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. But the Bible also says that when we confess our sins, He's faithful and just to not only forgive us, but cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Unfortunately, some have a very sensitive conscience, and others really are plagued with some things that have happened, some pictures in their mind or things that they've done in the past that the enemy uses to constantly bring about this condemnation and this discouragement. And so what we've developed to combat those kind of things is what we call truth cards. And in these truth cards, what we've done is we take the common lies that we as followers of Jesus tend to believe, and we identify them, and then right after that, we put the truth. And as you do that, you can break the chain of these condemning thoughts that people struggle with.

Well, let me give you an example. One lie is God could never accept me or really use my life after the terrible things that I've done. And then you flip over the card, and here's the truth. Jesus loves me no matter what I've done, just as He loved the outcast woman at the well and sent her to spread the good news. God wants to share His love through me. John 4.39. I want you to know that you don't have to live with the guilt of the past, and these truth cards are a tool that can help you get that victory.

Amen, Chip. Well, to order your set of our Gospel of John truth cards, go to livingontheedge.org or call us at 888-333-6003. As you read through and meditate on these 21 cards, you'll expose the lies we've bought or fallen into and replace them with the rock-solid truth of God's Word. To learn more about this helpful tool, visit livingonttheedge.org or call 888-333-6003. App listeners, tap Special Offers.

Well, here again is Chip to share that application we promised. As we wrap up today's teaching, I just want to kind of put my arm around you and say, lean back. This is a strong message, and it's strong because it's so counter to the culture that we're living in, even the Christian culture. I've been a pastor for many, many years now, and there is this mantra in people's mind that, you know, I sang some songs, and I feel good about God, and I'm not in God's Word.

I don't give Him the first portion of my time or my money. I selectively decide what I'm going to obey and not obey when it comes to moral purity and sexuality, and everything's okay, isn't it? And it's in the midst of that that this message says, no, no, love isn't just how you feel. Jesus made it so clear, He that has my commands and keeps them, He it is that loves me. And I meet so many sincere Christians that don't understand why their life doesn't work and where is God and the consequences of all kind of behavior and speech because they're not actually walking with God, but they think they are.

And so just between you and me right now, could that be happening to you? I mean, are you really obeying God? Are you in His Word? I mean, are your relationships pure? Are you a servant?

Do you care? Are you involved in a body? I mean, I don't mean just listening to me or someone else or reading a Christian book. I mean, are you involved in a church? Are you involved in a small group in a church? Are you a part of serving and caring and loving?

Does your heart go out to the poor and to the hurting and to the marginalized? And I'm not asking you to be super Christian, but I'm just saying that I'm so concerned that I think we've become a consumeristic, I feel wonderful about God, I take God on my own terms, and I get to decide what that relationship looks like. And because it's not true, I just meet so many Christians with broken relationships and depression and discouragement and hurt. God doesn't want that for you. The organ of transformation is obedience.

So here's just the one question. Would you pray an honest prayer and sit quietly for 30 to 60 seconds? Oh, God, if there is anything in my life that you want to address that I need to change, show me right now I want to obey. And sit quietly, and you won't get condemnation. God speaking will be something very specific. Act on that, and you'll begin to see a fresh work of God in your life.

Thanks, Chip. And as we close, I want you to know that as a staff, we ask the Lord to help you take whatever your next faith step is. Now, if there's a way we can help, we'd love to do that. Give us a call at 888-333-6003, or connect with us at livingontheedge.org. And while you're there, take a moment and look through our resources on various topics, many of them absolutely free. Well, from all of us here, I'm Dave Druey, thanking you for listening to this Edition of Living on the Edge, and I hope you'll join us next time.