If You Love Me, Keep My Commands (Jn. 14:15-24)
Let us bless and greet one another, “Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God.” I’m sure there are some of you who don’t know what that means, but either way, these are words of blessing, and these are the words that will cast out all of the curses and disasters in your family, and that is the confession that will cast out all of the evil spirits and demons. That is the confession that brings upon the works of the Holy Spirit. If you confess and enjoy the confession that, “Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God,” 24 hours a day, through prayer, you will be tremendously blessed.
The title of today’s message is, “If You Love Me, Keep My Commands.” In our walk of faith, there is a point, and even people who are really good at fishing, there is a certain point where they fish. So, no matter what you are doing, there is a certain angle or way to do something that will work out. Because they know that certain way for something to work, if they see someone doing something, they know, “Oh, this is not going to work out.” In other words, it means that, in every activity, there is a way, there is a way for it to take place. If things are not working out for somebody, it means they are on the way that is not taking place, and the more diligently you live in a way that does not work, the more your life will not take place. For the people whose lives are taking place, they know the way to be on, so it’s actually an accelerated path, and when they see, they are able to know. That is the content of today’s message and title.
Until our main scripture today, Jesus Christ is telling His disciples that He has to leave and that His disciples will not be able to follow Him. Then, Peter said, “No, Lord, I will follow You forever,” and then Jesus said, “Not only will you not be able to follow Me, but you will deny Me three times before the rooster crows.” Because the Lord is telling them that He is going away, the disciples are troubled in their hearts, then Jesus tells them, “Do not let your hearts be troubled; I will come back.”
1. Love me
In that context, Jesus Christ is saying, “If you love Me, then you will keep my commands,” and the way that you can study, the way that you can work and live your entire life, is contained within today’s message title. If this message title is not your way, it means you are on the wrong way, and if you go down the wrong path, then you will receive the wrong answers. So, may all of us remain within the correct way and receive the correct fulfillment of God’s Word.
1) Jesus Christ – Way, Truth, Life (Jn. 14:6)
In Jn. 14:15, Jesus says, “If you love Me,” and that is talking about Jesus Christ. In John 14:6, Jesus Christ says that He is the way to go to the Father God, and that He is the Truth, that means everything else is a lie; and He is the Life, only He can bring us to life, and Paul confessed that this is everything. That is the point and way of your life to confess that this is everything. If you don’t really agree that this is everything, then you have to set your direction in another way, then the resulting answers will be your heavy and weary burdens. Living life itself is so burdensome, why? Because you have the wrong point. If somebody is really good at fishing, they know exactly where to cast their fishing pole to catch fish. For people who know finances very well, they know how to make money because they know the point. For students who are really good at studying, it’s because they know the really important point. Everybody is working hard, but working hard is not what guarantees success. You have to know the point. Jesus Christ Himself said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life,” and by God’s grace, may you come to confess that that is correct. If you come to love this, then you will keep Jesus’ commands, that means the Word of God will be fulfilled. God is His Word, and the Bible tells us that not 0.1% of His Word will be changed.
(1) I will ask the Father (Jn. 14:16)
Then Jesus Christ says, “I will ask the Father,” and He will give you another advocate.” So, “another advocate” means there was an Original Advocate. The Original Advocate is Jesus Christ Himself; He is our Advocate, He is our Counselor and our Helper.
(2) He will give you another advocate (Jn. 14:16)
So, what Jesus Christ is saying, “I am your Advocate and Counselor, but when I go the Father in heaven, I will send another Counselor to be with you.”
(3) Be with you forever (Jn.14:16)
And not only that, but this Advocate will be with you forever. So yes, we do have to ask for other people’s opinions, but that’s not the point. The point of our lives is to ask the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, Who is within us, because He is the Creator of the Universe and He is the One Who is moving all of creation now. He is the one who is moving all of the past, present, and future. He is the One Who knows all of your circumstances. That is why your main point or focus should be on the One Who is with you. That is the Way, His Words are the Truth, and only through Him can I come to life. Everything else can never save me. The devil is still deceiving me now with lies, as if there were another way. He deceives you with money, making it seem like money is the way of our lives, or success is the way of our lives, as if that is the truth. That is how he makes us set our point in wrong places, that is how our lives have the incorrect answers. We are bound to bear these heavy burdens. If I set the point on Jesus Christ, then I receive the answers of Jesus’ words that say, “Come to Me, all you who are weary and heavy burdened, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
2) Spirit of truth (Jn. 14:17)
He is the Spirit of Truth, Satan is the spirit of lies. So they are both spirits, but Satan lies. The spirit is invisible, we cannot see our own spirit, but we have one. God is Spirit and He is invisible but He is there, and the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth.
(1) Jesus became the truth (Jn. 14:6)
He is the Spirit of Truth and the Truth is Jesus Christ, the Way, the Truth, and the Life. That means the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ, which means, don’t listen to anyone else’s words because everyone else’s words may be correct but they’re wrong. Yes, those other people’s words may be needed physically, but they cannot save my spirit. As I live my path of life, the only Word that can truly save me is the Word of Jesus Christ.
(2) Spirit sets you free (Jn. 8:32)
In John 8:32, Jesus Christ says, “That Truth will set you free.” America is the land of the free, and there’s the Statue of Liberty in New York. When the first people immigrated to America, it’s because people in Europe were looking for religious freedom, so they came to America. That’s why we have certain freedoms that are guaranteed to us through the Constitution: religious freedom, freedom of speech, freedom to bear arms, freedom of assembly, so this is the place where you can freely speak your opinions. However, there are other nations where they do not allow freedom of expression, and that’s why many people move to America in search of freedom and liberty. Even having that level of freedom is very important and good for people, but with that freedom alone, that is not true freedom. The freedom the Bible tells us about is freedom from Satan and sin, freedom from slavery to money; you’ll be set free from the limitations or the situations of your life. That’s the reason Joseph was sold as a slave, but he had the Spirit of Freedom, so he was free. How could Joseph be free if he was a slave? This means that only the Lord can truly set us free.
(3) But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you (Jn. 14:17)
Then in Jn. 14:17, Jesus Christ says, “The Spirit of Truth will live with you and be with you.” So, in this scripture, this is before Jesus Christ died on the cross, but for us, we already know that the Holy Spirit is with us.
3) The world cannot accept him (Jn. 14:17)
(1) The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (1Jn. 2:16)
But then Jesus Christ says, “The world cannot accept Him or see Him or know Him,” the world is controlled by the evil spirit. This world is controlled by Satan, the ruler of the kingdom of the air, as well as his evil and dark spirits. That is how in 1 John 2:16, everyone in the world lives according to the cravings of their sinful nature. It’s all about their greed, their desire. If we come to believe in Jesus Christ, our greed goes away because if you keep being greedy or craving more, it means you’re not satisfied, it means you’re lacking something. However, David confessed, “The LORD is my Shepherd, I shall not want, I lack nothing.” And the Bible also tells us that our greed results in sin, and the price of sin is death. In Genesis 3:5, Satan tempts Adam and Eve by saying, “If you eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you can be like God yourselves,” he plants greed inside, then the world can only see what they see physically. It says, “The lust of the eyes,” if possible, it’s better for someone to be pretty than to be ugly, isn’t it? But that mindset actually led to mankind’s destruction. In Genesis 6, all of the world wasn’t flooded because they married beautiful women, it’s because they married whomever they desired, regardless of what God wanted. We need to live according to what God has desired and has planned, but it says, “They chose whomever they wanted.”
In America, we have freedom of expression and it’s a good thing. However, instead of using that freedom of speech to testify of Jesus Christ freely, people are just talking about whatever they want and whatever they like. So, that means there are so many people expressing things, but it’s very confusing and chaotic. It also says in 1 John 2:16, “The pride of life.” So, why do people live their entire lives so that they can boast? Why did you immigrate to America? So that you could show off. Why do you make sure your kids are educated? So that you can show off. But all of these things, everything in the world, does not come from the Father, it comes from the devil. It means that your life is full of suffering because you’ve set your main point in the wrong place.
Where shall we set our main point? There is a point that brings us suffering. The Bible tells us, “You will have great suffering if you love yourself, money, and pleasure more than you love God.” Then, where do we receive God’s blessing and freedom and grace from? It comes from loving the gospel. So, your thoughts, your decisions, your entire life will change depending on what you love. Jesus Christ says, “If you love Me, then you will keep My commands.” Let’s say you get married and the husband keeps looking at other women. Even though the husband knows he shouldn’t do that, he can’t stop himself from looking at other women, and his heart goes in that direction. It doesn’t matter how much you tell him, “Hey, you guys are legally married, you have to live with your wife and not look at other women,” he can’t control himself because he’s looking before he even realizes that he’s looking at other women. If you tell him, “You’re Christian, you shouldn’t be like,” does that mean he’ll stop. How can he change so that he’ll stop looking? All he has to do is love his wife, so the main point is where you love. Because he doesn’t really love his wife, of course, he’s looking at other women, and if somebody loves money, then their minds are always consumed by money and they’re enslaved by money. If someone is in love with success, then they’re enslaved by success. Paul knew this and he confessed, “Everything I thought was to my benefit in the past, I now consider rubbish for the sake of knowing one thing: for the sake of the greatest knowledge of knowing Christ, I will race towards that,” because it turns out, “Everything is hidden within Jesus Christ,” and the one who loves and knows that gospel is bound to keep the commands of God.
(2) Love the world – No love for the Father (1Jn. 2:15)
It doesn’t matter how long you and your family line have believed in Jesus Christ; if you really don’t love the gospel, on the outside, you look like the perfect Christian and you do the right things, but inside your heart, you do not really love the gospel; you love the world. Then, no matter how long you live your walk of faith, all of your thoughts, emotions, and decisions will be towards the world. 1 John 2:15 says, “Whoever loves the world doesn’t have the love of God in their hearts,” so depending on what you love, your entire life will change. In your heart, what do you love? What do you concentrate on? That sways your entire life.
(3) Belong to the devil (Jn. 8:44)
2. I will come to you (Jn. 14:18)
1) You (Jn. 14:19)
(1) See me (Jn. 14:19)
(2) I live – Resurrection (Jn. 14:19)
(3) You also will live (Jn. 14:19)
Then in Jn. 14:18, Jesus Christ says, “I will come back to you.” Jesus Christ is saying, “After I die on the cross, I will resurrect, and then I will come to you.” Then He says, “Then you will see me and I live. Because I live, you will also live.”
2) On that day
(1) I am in the Father, you are in me
And on that day, after Jesus Christ ascends and sends the Holy Spirit, He says, “You will realize I am in the Father, the Father is in Me, and I am in you.” The fact that Jesus Christ is in the Father means that Jesus is inside the Word of God. This isn’t talking about a physical location, we have a physical body so we often think in physical terms, but it means that Jesus is living inside of God’s Word, that’s why the words of Jesus are the words of God, that’s how much Jesus does not have His own thoughts. The thoughts of the Father God are the same as the thoughts of Jesus Christ, and that is why anyone who has seen Jesus Christ has seen God the Father, they are the same.
(2) Realized that I am in you
And now Jesus says, “And now, I will be in you.” Jesus is inside of us through the Holy Spirit, and then He says, “And you in me,” so that is us living a life that follows the Word of God that the Holy Spirit gives us. That is what it means for us to be in the Lord.
(3) Know it by the Spirit (1 Jn. 3:24)
So, starting from the very beginning, I’ve told you the main point which is, where will you be? You need to know the way that will work out. How can we know this? 1 John 3:24 says, “The Holy Spirit will remind us, the Holy Spirit will teach us what the Lord commands us. So, Jesus Christ says, “Whoever loves me will keep my commands,” and flipping it, whoever keeps Jesus’ commands are the ones who love Him., Then, what exactly are Jesus’ commands?
3) Whoever keeps my commands (Jn. 14:21)
(1) Commands – Believe in the name of Jesus and love one another (1 Jn. 3:23)
1 John 3:23 says, “This is His command: to believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as He commanded us.” First it’s to believe in Jesus Christ, that’s His number one command, that is how I love the Lord. If you fully trust in your wife, then you’re not going to look at other women. If you truly love your wife, then you’re not going to look at other women. If I’m fully satisfied with Christ alone, then I don’t have greed for other things. But because you feel like Christ is not enough for you and you’re missing something, that’s why you keep on getting greedy for other things. Because of your greed, because of that desire, it results in every bad thing and mistake. It’s not that anybody else did or said anything to you, it’s the greed in yourself. I say that I got a scar because I didn’t get what I wanted, and things don’t go the way that I wanted them to. I go to church, but the Lord is not giving me what I wanted, so I say I fell into a trial.
That’s what churchgoers often say, “I fell into a trial,” non believers don’t say things like that, but Christians or churchgoers will say, “I fell into a trial,” but what does it mean to really be afflicted? At the core of it, it means, “I didn’t get what I wanted.” Then, because you didn’t get your greed and it’s not satisfied, you just use the church term, “I was in a trial.” You just have to get rid of your greed. How can we get rid of our greed? We need to be fully satisfied and believe everything is contained within Christ. Let’s think about this very objectively right now. If I’m not satisfied by the God Who created all of the Universe, then that’s a very big problem. We were created to be satisfied with God alone, but you think you can only be satisfied if something else happens, or you have something else. But the reason you think that is not your fault, Satan has actually been tempting you to think that way from the beginning, that’s why we fall deeper and deeper into addictions.
(2) One who loves me, loved by my Father
What does alcohol do for you? Yes, it makes you feel very good at the moment, but we don’t even know that our brains are being destroyed. The alcohol will numb our inhibition and rationality and will emphasize our emotions. When I think about all of my problems in life rationally, it’s so stressful, but when my rationality is completely inhibited and my emotions are at the max, I feel like I’ve gained all of life. If we’re not fully satisfied with Christ alone, we’re bound to fall deeper and deeper into addictions, but it doesn’t end with that; our lives are destroyed. Our most important organ, the brain, is destroyed, but people are so bad at calculating that they don’t even know their brain is being destroyed, they just say, “Oh, I like this,” and they keep on drinking. But that’s not happening for no reason; it’s happening because we’re seized or bound by something.
Same thing for drugs, all kids try drugs, almost. There are kids who try without knowing, and kids who try intentionally, but of all of those kids that try drugs, some of them fall deep into addiction and some of them don’t. When you take substances or when you do a drug, then it will change your brain chemistry, the way your brain chemistry is changed is that, before, you were not happy, but with this drug, now your brain producing all of the happy hormones, so the more you do it, the more your brain is just destroyed. Our brain is so important as we live our lives, and if our brain is destroyed, then our lives are destroyed. The reason why people still do drugs is because they are suffering and they are seized by that substance. President Trump was just inaugurated, but do you think he can solve that problem? Yes, he might be able to try to make some jobs or do something, but he cannot solve that problem.
There’s only one way. The Only Way is loving the gospel, because inside of the gospel, everything is resolved. But the problem is, I want to love money more than I love the gospel, and I love people more than I love the gospel, and that’s why we face the damage of that, because you’ve chosen a different or incorrect path. However, if God gives us the grace, then we will come to love God and the gospel. However, the more grace you receive, if you have more desire for the things of the world, then you’re not really receiving grace.
(3) Show myself to them
Then Jesus Christ says, “I will go back to you and reveal Myself to you.” If Jesus Christ remained in a physical body, then only the few people who were living around Him in Jerusalem would be able to witness Him, but because He died on the cross and resurrected, He can be with all of us through the Holy Spirit. Whoever loves me will keep my commands. When I say, “Keep His commands,” I’m not saying you should think, “Now I have to keep them and do the right thing,” I’m saying it’s impossible to keep Jesus’ commands; that’s why He promised to send us the advocate, the Holy Spirit, and that’s why our lives cannot be fixed with education. We cannot be taught this. The Lord Himself must come into us as the Holy Spirit and place His Words into us.
3. Holy Spirit – Fulfill the commands
What is the working of the Holy Spirit? He teaches and reminds us of the Words of Jesus Christ. Why are people scammed or swindled? It’s because the scammer’s words came into that person’s heart. Why do people get married? “My partner’s words are stuck in my heart,” that’s why they got married. When the Word of God comes into my heart through the working of the Holy Spirit, that’s the Word that will move my life; then, the commands of God’s Word are naturally fulfilled, that’s why worship is so important. If people don’t know the meaning of worship, they think it’s optional, but simply put, if somebody does not go to worship, they are living their life on the wrong path, but they’re not aware of it. They’re under the misconception that they can live their lives on this incorrect path. There is no other way. Jesus Christ says, “I am the Way,” there is no way other than Jesus Christ. There are no words of Truth other than the words of Jesus Christ. There is no way to life other than Christ. Now, I live my life, following the words of the Truth, given by the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ living within me.
1) Those in Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:1)
(1) Law of the Spirit who gives life (Rom. 8:2)
Romans 8:1 says that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. If you believe in Jesus Christ, then the Holy Spirit dwells within you, and then, through Christ Jesus, you’re now under the law of the Spirit of Life, meaning He reigns over you, and we must receive and hear the voice of the Holy Spirit and be led by Him very well. There are some people where you are talking to them, and they are just not understanding you; it’s so hard to communicate, you can never communicate with these people. Let’s say, for example, people who only say their own opinion, again and again, that person has no intention of listening to anything you have to say, they just keep spouting their own thoughts. For those kinds of people, they can’t have good relationships with people. It’s not just a matter of, “Oh, they’re so assertive,” they just can’t have good relationships with people.
And it’s even the case with humans like that. If there’s somebody who only just says whatever they’re thinking, nobody is going to listen to them. If you want to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit, you have to try to listen. But even as you come to church, you’re sitting in front of God, and you keep spouting your own thoughts and desires. If that’s what you’re doing, you also need to listen. The Holy Spirit is inside of us, teaching us the words of Jesus Christ as the answer, then we need to try and listen to the Holy Spirit. How can we try to listen? We must concentrate on Him. Imagine even talking to a person, to listen to that other person, you must focus on them. What happens if someone’s been talking at you for a long time, and you say, “What did you say?” Maybe once or twice you can get away with that, but if you keep asking, “What did you say?” it means you’re not listening. The Lord is living inside of us and is continuously giving us His Word, but my thoughts are so lost in the world; I cannot hear those words.
(2) Live according to the Spirit (Rom. 8:4)
At this time, if you have salvation and you pray, asking God, “What is the Word You want me to hear?” then He is bound to work. When that Word is established in your heart, then your heart moves. That is how you make your decision. When Jesus Christ says, “Keep my commands,” it means that when the Word of the Lord is inside of us, then we are naturally moved to fulfill His Word.
(3) Requirements of the law fully met in us (Rom. 8:4)
That’s in Romans 8:4, “in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who live according to the Spirit.” It’s not that I’m able to keep all of Jesus’ commands, but if I am filled with the Holy Spirit, then the Holy Spirit fulfills the Word of God in my life naturally.
2) Fruits of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23)
(1) Love, joy, peace – To God
Then, the Bible tells us there are nine fruits of the Holy Spirit. The first three are regarding God, there is love, joy, and peace. We need to love God, God is His Word, so if you love God, you will love His Word. Joy and peace, you will be reconciled to God. Jesus says, “Peace I give to you.” This is not talking about a peace where you’re just not having problems, it’s a peace regardless of problems.
(2) Forbearance, kindness, goodness – To others
Then, the next three fruits are regarding other people: patience, kindness, and goodness. If you look at the way you treat other people, you have no patience, and if things don’t go the way that I want, I just get so angry so quickly. What happens if you stay that way, and then that person becomes the owner of a business? It’s a headache for anybody. If somebody is like that, it’s better for nobody to be the owner. You’re not getting angry because those people are not listening to you, you’re getting angry because you’re not getting what you want, because you are the master of your business, and if those people don’t act according to your personality, then you get angry, then that person is going to suffer. The Lord must be the Lord of your business, and you need to follow the command of the Lord.
(3) Faithfulness, gentleness, self-control – To self
Then, the fruits of the Holy Spirit regarding myself are faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. You know, “Faithfulness,” right? Like loyalty to the nation, that means you don’t betray. Why did Adam and Eve eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? They were betraying God. Instead of being faithful to the covenant, they betrayed the covenant. Why? Because the work that the devil does is not faithfulness; it’s betrayal. A lot of people have scars because they’ve been betrayed. But the fruits of the Holy Spirit include faithfulness; faithfulness in the church, in your family, in your workplace.
There was one student I asked, “Why do you want to go into the military?” And let’s say, even if you take out the religious aspect and it’s not for God’s glory or anything, why would someone go to the military? Are you really going to serve in the military because of your faithfulness to protect and serve the country, or are you going to serve in the military so you can get a promotion and you can get benefits? If you say, “Oh, it’s because I look really good in a military uniform,” or, “It’s really beneficial for me in society,” just give up now. If you’re not serving the military out of a heart of faithfulness and serving the nation, then you shouldn’t join. If someone wants to become a police officer because they love the uniform, then they’re going to quit because it’s too hard, because they imagined they would be cool in a uniform, they make a lot of money, but now they have to go catch robbers and get into problems every day, they’re going to go crazy. You have to really love your city of LA in order to catch the criminals and in order to really serve; otherwise, you don’t even want to move in that direction, you’ll say, “Do I really have to go again?” Then, you shouldn’t be in that role. If you want to do something, you have to have a heart for it, then the more you do that work, the more fun it will be. Then, even if it’s hard, you can endure it. However, if you choose to do your work because of another reason, you’ll suffer because of it. Same thing with being a pastor, you can only be a pastor when you have a true love for people’s spirits and souls, but people who have been believers for a long time have a very strange thought.
When I went to the Philippines, I met someone who had gone to a Biblical seminary for ten years and wasn’t able to graduate, so he went to the Philippines. He’s the same age as me, but he didn’t have any money, so he had to join a fisherman’s boat and try to make money by catching fish. And that was a few months after I received Jesus Christ, and I was a new believer in Jesus Christ, and when I went to church, I saw this person who had a blanket over his head and was just mumbling to himself. He was praying to become a pastor, and I thought, “That’s a weird prayer topic,” that’s what I thought back then. I asked, “Why do you keep praying to be a pastor?” He said, “I don’t know.” Do you think that he was really fasting and really screaming to God to become a pastor because he really loved human souls and spirit? No, he went to a really big church when he was young, and when he looked at the pastor at that megachurch, he thought about all sorts of things. He saw the pastor riding a very good car, he saw the pastor was living in a nice house, don’t you think that’s why he wanted to become a pastor?
For me, I didn’t even want to be a pastor, I just naturally became a pastor, and I am actually not really that fit to be a pastor. There are many things I struggle with or have difficulty with. The important thing is, it’s not a problem, because I never dreamed to be a pastor, I didn’t even know what a pastor is. If there’s even one Christian in my entire family, I might’ve been able to get a sense, but there’s not a single person in my family. Even if there was a deacon in my family who went to church occasionally, but there was not one, so I was just naturally led in this direction because I’m proclaiming the gospel and people are coming to life. That is the heart that somebody needs to have in order to be a pastor, otherwise, they’re going to go crazy, thinking, “Oh, I need to go to early morning service,” or, “How am I going to give another sermon?” Isn’t that right? My heart should be racing out of excitement right before the message, but if instead, the pastor is saying, “I have to give another sermon today, I’m going to go crazy,” then they shouldn’t be a pastor. And this is how it should be for your work as well, it should be exciting. If you’re forcing yourself to go to work to just eat and make a living and not die, it’s going to be hard.
Faithfulness, Gentleness, and self-control. God has given each and every one of us our talents, that means that there is a talent that only I can do well, and that’s just all you have to do. If you just do that, it will be good because only I can do this, and that’s what you should do. Teach that to your children. Stop forcing your children to do whatever you want them to do based on your greed, instead, allow them to find the talent God gave them. I told them to think again, “Not anybody can go into the military. Just because you get good grades doesn’t mean you can just join. You need to have something inside you. You need to have something 24 hours a day. A police officer must be ready 24 hours, to serve and devote for the nation or the city in which they serve. If they don’t have that heart, what will happen if they’re called into a shift unexpectedly? They’re going to go crazy. They’re going to say, “I can’t work like this anymore, why did I choose this?” At first, they liked it, but that’s what happens, you need to love it.
3) Filling of the Holy Spirit (Ac. 1:8)
(1) Authority
If you’re filled with the Holy Spirit, it means you will receive the power of the Holy Spirit. Does God give you the filling of the Holy Spirit so that you can work your job well or so that you can study? No, why would He? He gives you the filling of the Holy Spirit when you proclaim Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth because you can’t do that with your own strength. You can study and work with your own strength.
(2) Witness to the ends of the earth
But how can you spread the gospel to all of America, it’s impossible by your own strength, that’s why He promised the filling of the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ says, “Go and make disciples of all nations,” and it’s impossible by our own strength, that’s why He promised to be with us with the filling of the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ told us to proclaim the gospel to all peoples and to heal them, but that’s impossible with our own strength, and that’s why He promises to be with us with the filling of the Holy Spirit, and my business, my studies must be inside of that Word.
In the introduction today, I told you the point. For people for whom things work out, they know the way it will work out. For people for whom things don’t work out, they work so hard, but nothing happens. If you receive the filling of the Holy Spirit, then you receive God’s power, and God’s not going to give you power so that you can work? God why would God give you the filling of the Holy Spirit just so you can work or study? God will give you the filling of the Holy Spirit and work upon your business and studies if you are going to make disciples of all nations and heal them. You will receive authority and power from heaven. If that is where I am, and I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, then God is bound to work upon that prayer. We are limited, that is why God promised to live with His power. We cannot go to Africa and these other countries, but when we pray in the name of Jesus Christ here, God works there.
(3) All nations – Disciples, All peoples – Healing, posterity
May my job be used to save people of all nations, then what do you think will happen to your business? It must become globalized. If your business model works here but it doesn’t work in Africa, then that is not a business model that will save all nations. How will God work upon my business? To the extent that it will be applicable to all nations. My studies will be those studies. That’s how the AI age doesn’t matter, God already knew this age would happen and He said, “Make disciples of all nations, proclaim the gospel to all peoples and heal them. Raise up my next generation.” If your life is in this command of Jesus Christ, then I believe God will give you His power.
Conclusion
1. God’s love – Love the Gospel
2. Holy Spirit – With, Guidance, Work
3. Love that saves lives
In conclusion, loving God means loving the gospel, and loving the gospel means that the Holy Spirit lives within me, He guides me, and I go into the works of the Holy Spirit. Then, you are bound to love people’s lives and spirit. Again, the conclusion, if I love the gospel, then my goal for working is to love people. That’s the point that the Lord wants. The goal for your studies must be to love people, and to save people. That is the Lord’s main point. May you receive within the fulfillment of this Word this week.
Message Prayer
Let us pray together holding onto the Word we have received.
Offering Prayer and Newcomer Blessing
God, we thank You. Thank You for giving us the gospel and for giving us the grace to love the gospel. We thank You for giving us the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and for guiding us to follow Your commands. Allow us to be within the life that fulfills Your Word and command to love God and love others. We have given Your materials as offering. We pray that You will bless the hands that have given the offering so that it may be used to save the places where it is used. We pray that You will work with the economy of light that will raise the Temple construction to save the 237 nations and 5000 unreached tribes. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, amen.
Announcements
1. Online zoom early morning prayer (Mon.-Fri. 5:30, Sat. 6AM) – Raise the bartizan of prayer
2. Hollywood camp – Temple
3. Children Spirituality Camp – 1/27 (Mon.)
4. Education Department Meeting 3:30pm
5. Offering can be given to the church venmo: @Antiochmissionchurch
Benediction
Now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the unending love of God, and the indwelling, guidance, working, and fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be upon the heads of all the people of God, the people of all nations, and the remnants who desire to love the gospel that has finished all problems on the cross, and desire to love others as well, be with them from now until forevermore always, amen.