how to show jesus that you love him

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    How to Show Jesus that You Love Him

    (John 14:15)

    I. Introduction.A. Orientation.

    1. Last week, we saw

    Jesus telling His disciples

    That He was leaving

    But they were not to be afraid:

    He was going to prepare a place for them

    In His Fathers house.

    The fact that Jesus was bringing them to His Fathers house

    Seemed to have made them a bit apprehensive:

    What was the Father like?

    Would He receive them?

    Would He love them?

    We may have shared the same concerns

    At least at some point in our lives.

    Jesus tells us we have nothing to fear:

    The Father is the same as He is.

    If we have seen and known Jesus

    Weve also seen and known His Father.

    They arent the same person,

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    But they do have the same nature/character,

    And so the same love and gracious purpose towards us.

    Jesus brings this out even more clearly

    By evoking the Jewish imagery

    Of a husband returning

    To his fathers house with his bride

    Just as Abraham sent his servant to a foreign land

    To bring a wife back for his son Isaac,

    So the Father sent His Son into this world

    To redeem a bride to Himself

    And the Son sent His messengers into the world

    To gather that bride together

    That He might bring her home

    To His Fathers house

    Where He might love and cherish her forever.

    Jesus is telling us

    That just as a bride is welcomed

    Into the home of her husbands father,

    So we will be welcomed into His Fathers house,

    Because the Father shares the same love

    For us as His Son

    He was the One who loved us in eternity

    And chose to give us to His Son as His bride.

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    2. We saw Jesus also addressing another concern:

    If He was leaving, how would His work continue?

    The disciples might have been able

    To do what needed to be done while He was here

    But what would happen after He was gone?

    Far from His leaving being a problem,

    Jesus told them things would get better:

    Not only would they do what He had done,

    They would do greater things

    Because He was going to the Father.

    Whatever they asked in His name,

    He would do:

    And so they asked,

    And the Lord powerfully answered.

    That promise still applies to us:

    Jesus says we may ask for anything

    And He will answer us

    As long as what we ask for in His name

    Is something He wants us to have

    Something that will glorify Him,

    And that will glorify His Father.

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    Thats what we will ask for,

    If we love Him.

    B. Preview.

    This brings us to this mornings topic:

    If we love Jesus,

    Well not only use the precious privilege

    He gives us in prayer

    To ask for things that will glorify Him,

    We will also pay attention

    To what He wants us to do

    In every area.

    We know its important to love the Lord

    Especially when we consider

    Everything He is,

    And all that He has done for us.

    But how does He want us

    To show that we love Him?

    Is it enough simply to tell Him?

    He loves to hear us say we do

    But is that enough?

    Does He simply want to look in our hearts

    To see the affection we have for Him?

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    To see it in our souls also pleases Him

    But again, is that all He desires?

    What do we like to see

    From those who love us?

    Is it enough that they tell us?

    It is nice to hear the words,

    But words can be cheap.

    We would rather see expressions of this love

    The evidence that it really exists

    And so does Jesus.

    He wants to see our love

    Worked out in the way we live.

    This morning,

    Jesus says, If you love Me, you will keep My commandments (v. 15).

    II. Sermon.A. First, lets consider what our lives say

    About our love for Jesus.

    Whether we love Him

    Is the most important question

    We can ask ourselves

    Not just so well know

    That Hell answer our prayers,

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    But for our eternal wellbeing:

    Jesus says if we dont love Him,

    We dont belong to Him

    Our sins have not been forgiven;

    We havent been adopted into Gods family.

    Jesus said to the Jews

    That didnt believe in Him

    In John 8:42, If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forthand have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but

    He sent Me.

    Our love for Him

    Is the evidence that we know Him.

    Jesus tells us in Matthew 10:37,

    That it isnt just a question of whether we love Him at all,

    But whether we love Him most of all

    He said to His disciples

    Before He sent them out

    To teach and preach in the towns and villages of Palestine:

    He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who

    loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me (Matt. 10:37).

    The kind of love He wants

    And the kind He actually gives

    Is the kind that puts Him first,

    Over those who are the nearest and dearest to us in the world;

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    And if over them,

    Certainly over the things that are far less important.

    It was because we loved Him

    That we trusted Him in the first place

    Why we embraced Him as our Lord

    And our only hope of heaven.

    Its why we didnt stop

    Where so many do today

    With merely knowing the story

    Of who Jesus is and what Hes done.

    We need to know these things to be saved,

    But were not saved by knowing them.

    There are those who know these things

    Far better than we ever will

    Who have devoted their lives

    To the study of the Bible

    But who dont know Jesus

    Because they have never loved Him.

    Love is why we werent satisfied

    With merely believing what we know about Jesus

    We needed to believe the Gospel to be saved,

    But we werent saved by believing it,

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    Anymore than the fallen angels:

    James writes, The demons also believe, and shudder (2:19).

    Love is why we embracedHimas our Savior

    Why we applied Him to our souls by faith

    As He offered Himself to us in the Gospel

    And why we received Him as our Lord

    This was the kind of King we wanted.

    But how can we know thatwas ourreason

    How can we know that we looked to Him in love

    And not for some other reason, such as fear?

    Jesus tells us in our passage:

    We know because we continue to love Him through our obedience.

    Jesus says, If you love Me, you will keep My commandments (John 14:15).

    We know because the love Jesus gives us by His Spirit

    Is a transforming love: one that makes us like Him.

    How do we know that Jesus loved His Father?

    We know because He obeyed Him.

    He says in verse 31, But so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do

    exactly as the Father commanded Me.

    The same will be true of us:

    If we love Jesus, we will obey Him.

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    If we dont obey Him,

    What does that say about us?

    Jesus says in verse 24, He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the

    word which you hear is not Mine, but the Fathers who sent Me.

    If we dont obey Him,

    We dont love Him.

    And if we dont love and obey Him,

    What does that say about our spiritual state

    And our eternal destination?

    Jesus says that those who dont obey Him

    Will not enter heaven.

    He says in Matthew 7:21, Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter

    the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven

    will enter (Matt. 7:21).

    Obedience doesnt save us,

    But it does show that we have loved and believed in

    The only One who can.

    B. Lets apply this for a few moments.

    First, if obedience is how we can know

    Whether or not we love Jesus,

    We should ask ourselves whether were being obedient.

    Are we keeping His commandments?

    Are we living by the standard He lived by?

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    The Law He kept to save us?

    Is that Law in our minds

    And has He written it on our hearts?

    Do our lives show that it is by our following His example?

    Jesus tells us that a tree is known by its fruit.

    What does the fruit of our lives say about us?

    Is there enough evidence

    To convict us of being Christians?

    Lets dive into this a bit more deeply.

    If our Lords image is being formed in us,

    Then we should want to obey Him

    In the same way He obeyed His Father.

    Is that true of us?

    How much did He love His Father?

    Jesus showed the strength of His love

    By the thoroughness of His obedience.

    Were not going to be able to match

    Either the intensity of His love

    Nor the precision of His obedience,

    But if we love Him,

    Thats what well be aiming for.

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    How thoroughly did Jesus obey His Father?

    He obeyed all His commands.

    He didnt keep just 9 out of 10,

    But 10 out of 10.

    He loved what was right across the board

    His obedience was universal.

    If we love the Lord,

    We will strive to obey Him in all areas.

    Was His love merely superficial?

    Jesus obeyed His Father from the heart.

    He didnt just go through the motions

    He did what He did out of love,

    And sought His Fathers glory in everything.

    We will do the same.

    When and where did Jesus obey?

    He obeyed His Father at all times and in all places.

    He wasnt one way in public,

    And then another in private.

    He lived a consistently godly life.

    If we love Jesus,

    Well try to do the same.

    How extensively did He obey?

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    He applied the Law to every area of His life,

    From the very beginning to the end.

    Early on, we see that Jesus continued to grow

    In wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man.

    He studied the Law to know what honored His Father

    And sought to live by it:

    In every thought,

    In every word,

    In every desire of His heart,

    In every action.

    He loved the Lord His God

    With all His heart, mind, soul and strength,

    And His neighbor as Himself.

    If we love Him,

    We will want to do the same.

    None of us can do it perfectly like Jesus,

    But that will be our goal,

    And we will do what we can to reach it.

    This evening,

    Well see that the Lord

    Promised His disciples and us

    An even greater provision

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    So that we might love and obey Him more.

    In closing,

    If you dont know this kind of love,

    Or desire this kind of obedience,

    Its because you havent trusted Jesus.

    If you dont trust Him from the heart,

    You will never see heaven.

    If thats the case with you,

    Then come to Jesus,

    Ask Him for His mercy,

    Ask Him for His Spirit,

    That you might love Him

    And receive His life. Amen.

    http://www.gcmodesto.org