Dial In with Jonny Ardavanis - Dial In - John 14:12-31 (Ep. 38)

Episode Date: May 22, 2020

Dial In is a devotional series with the intention of helping followers of Christ understand God’s word and love Him more. Jonny seeks to communicate the profound depth of scripture in a digestible and condensed format each weekday. The goal of the podcast is that our “minds would be renewed” as we behold who God is in His word. In this series, Jonny is walking sequentially through the Gospel of John.In this episode, Jonny covers John 14:12-31 where Jesus, on the eve of His crucifixion tells his disciples that love for Him inevitably produces a life of obedience. Starting in chapter 14 through chapter 17, Jesus gives the most significant discourse on the person and work of the Holy Spirit. He will lead the disciples into all truth and comfort, strengthen, encourage and illuminate truth to them. Watch VideosVisit the Website Follow on InstagramFollow on Twitter

Hey guys, my name is Johnny Artavanis, and this is Dial In. In this episode, we're in John chapter 14, verses 12 through 31. Let's dial in. John chapter 14, verses 12 through 31. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do, and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.

If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world will see me no more. But you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.

In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he is the one who loves me. Judas, not Iscariot, said to him, Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. He says, remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, I am going away and I will come to you. If you loved me, you would have rejoiced because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it takes place so that when it does take place, you may believe. I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise. Let us go from here.

Now, the 14th chapter of John through the 17th chapter of John is the longest teaching we have in the Bible in regards to the Holy Spirit. And truly, we could spend so much time here and we will barely scratch the surface of the necessary topic of understanding the person and work of God's Spirit who lives inside of every single Christian. But my hope and prayer is that your understanding and your love for God's Spirit will deepen over these next few episodes. Now, it's always important to keep in mind the context of the passage that we are examining. Right now in John 14, we are back in the upper room the night before Jesus is crucified, and doubt and fear and confusion consumes the disciples who are listening to Jesus,

who has just told them that he is about to die. And it's in the midst of this conversation that Jesus tells them in verse 15, if you love me, you will keep my commandments. Now our justification, which means our right standing with God is not based on our works, meaning that you could never earn your way to God, but true transformation by God, when he regenerates our hearts, as we studied in John 3, always results in a life of obedience. All those who have been justified, made right with God, will be sanctified, which means that they will become more like God. And Jesus here, without an ounce of obscurity, says, if you love me, guys, you will obey me. And consequently, if you don't obey me,

then regardless of what you profess, you do not love me. This is a rampant theme throughout scripture and consistent in the writings of John. Jesus will say again in verse 21, he who has my commandments and keeps them, meaning obeys them, is the one who loves me. Verse 23 says, if anyone loves me, he will keep my word. And again in verse 24, he who does not love me does not keep my words. We'll see this again in 1 John 2. The one who says, I have come to know him,

meaning the one who says, I have come to know him, meaning the one who says, I know Jesus and does not keep his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word in him, the love of God has truly been perfected. This is the definition of a Christian, someone who loves God and someone who obeys God. Now, loving Jesus always precedes keeping his commandments because keeping God's commandments, as we saw here, is the result of loving him. Jesus says in verse 15, if you love me, then you will keep my commandments. Verse 23, if anyone loves me, the result will be that he will keep my word. Obedience that honors God. This is what he's telling them the night before he's going to be crucified. Obedience that honors God is fueled by a love for God. A Christian, a follower of Jesus, is not merely someone who professes God

because Jesus says in Matthew, many will say unto me, Lord, Lord, I did this and I did that. And Jesus will say to them, depart from me. I never knew you. A Christian then is not someone who merely professes. A Christian is someone who loves God and obeys God. But the question is, how is that obedience possible? How can we obey God? Jesus tells us in verse 16, I will ask the Father and he will give you another helper to be with you forever. Jesus is going to give his spirit to his followers. And although he is leaving, he tells us that the spirit of God will be with us forever. Many translations refer to the helper here as the comforter. That's true, but it's too small and too narrow of an understanding of what the role of the

Holy Spirit is. The Holy Spirit is the strength and power of the Christian life. Now, where does the power of the Holy Spirit come from? Verse 17, even the spirit of truth. The Holy Spirit is the spirit of power because he is the spirit of truth. And nothing is more powerful in the universe than truth. Jesus said early in this chapter, I am the way, the truth, and the life. And Jesus is sending his spirit to his followers who is the spirit of truth. John 16, 13, when he, the spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth. The Holy Spirit wields power in our lives and causes us to love God and consequently obey God

because the Holy Spirit leads us to the truth because he is the spirit of truth. Now the question is, how does the Holy Spirit lead us to the truth? Well, the answer is he gives us the scripture. He gives us the truth of God's word. Jesus says in verse 26, but the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name. He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. So how is the Holy Spirit going to work with the disciples initially? He is going to inspire the scriptures by bringing to remembrance the things that Jesus said and did so that they might record them in the Gospels. The Gospel record does not rest solely on the ability of the disciples to recall to mind all the events that had happened, but the Holy Spirit would aid them in causing

them to remember what Jesus had said and done. The Holy Spirit then inspires the truth of Scripture. And not only that, 1 Corinthians 2 says that the Spirit teaches us the meaning of truth. So He not only inspires, but He helps us to understand what God has said in His Word and also provides us with power to apply that truth to our life. Without God's Spirit, you and I cannot live one single moment of faithfulness to Christ. So Jesus says that the Father is going to send his Spirit who will do for believers what Jesus did and provided for his disciples. The Holy Spirit, like Jesus, will give us wisdom. He will give us knowledge. He will lead us to the truth. He will give us comfort. He will give us knowledge. He will lead us to the truth. He will

give us comfort. He will give us counsel. He will keep us from temptation. He will draw us near to God. He will teach us how to worship. And lastly, he will give us the peace of God. Jesus says in verse 27, peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. It is one of the most precious truths in all of the Bible to realize that just hours before Jesus was crucified, he was concerned for the peace of his followers. Jesus wants his followers to have peace. And the Spirit of God gives us peace because he provides us with assurance of the peace with God that the believer now has because his sins have been paid for. The war is over. The Christian has peace with God. And this is a peace you cannot pay for, but that Jesus has already secured through his

blood. If you do not have the peace of Christ, I pray that your heart is filled with trouble until you do. But I know if you are not in Christ, you are already troubled and lack the peace that only Jesus can provide. We see here in this passage that true believers love God, and that love is the fuel of obedience, and that obedience is made possible through the power of God's Spirit. And if you're in Christ, that Spirit is in you right now. You can experience fellowship with God not just in isolated moments throughout your life,

but each and every moment of each and every day because Jesus says he will give us his spirit and that spirit in verse 16 will be with us forever. Stay dialed in. Bye.