Latest / Reformed Thinking / Word-Kept Love and God’s Indwelling Presence (John 14:23–24)

Transcript

Word-Kept Love and God’s Indwelling Presence (John 14:23–24) · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome and thank you for joining us for a brand new
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edition of the Reformed Thinking podcast.
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We are. We're really thrilled to have
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you listening today as we begin a brand new deep dive.
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Yes, thank you for being here with us.
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We have a lot of ground to cover.
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We really do. Our specific mission for today's
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analysis is to conduct an extensive, exhaustive look at a
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highly specific, highly consequential passage of
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Scripture. We are looking at John chapter
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14 verses 23 and 24. And we are going to be utilizing
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2 incredibly detailed theological source texts that
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analyze these verses. I mean, they do so in a way that
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should completely reshape how you view your relationship with
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Christ, your daily obedience, and the very nature of the God
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who saves. OK, let's unpack this.
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The central theme we are establishing today is this
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genuine affection for the Savior is proven by a life of joyful
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obedience, and that obedience is rewarded by the intimate,
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indwelling communion of the Triune God.
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Right, we're looking at a text that shatters a lot of modern
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assumptions about what it actually means to love Jesus.
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Yeah, because the surrounding culture often defines love as a
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well, a fleeting warm feeling, a romantic spark, or maybe a loose
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religious affiliation that cost the individual absolutely
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nothing. But the text we are examining
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sets a completely different standard.
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It draws an unyielding line between the affection of the
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heart and the submission of the will.
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It is a joy to be here to analyze this text with you
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today. And to set the parameters for
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our discussion right out of the gate, I want to confirm for the
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listener that today's analysis relies strictly upon Protestant
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Reformed theology. We are specifically looking
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through the interpretive lens of the Westminster Standards.
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Which is such a helpful grounding framework it is.
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As we dissect the relationship between the internal love of the
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believer and the external obedience of the believer, we're
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going to be meticulous about maintaining the crucial
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distinction between justification and
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sanctification. Because blurring those lines
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always leads to spiritual disaster.
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Yes, that distinction is the absolute bedrock of a healthy
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biblical faith. By keeping those categories
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clear, we are going straight after some major errors that
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consistently plague the modern church landscape.
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Right, like antinomianism. Precisely, we will confront
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antinomianism, which is the false idea that a person can
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accept Jesus as a fire insurance policy while completely
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rejecting his authority as Lord. And we also have to deal with
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the other side of that pendulum. Yes, we will also confront
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legalism, That is the false claim that you can earn God's
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favor or maintain your justification through your own
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moral sweat. And there is 1/3 error we are
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tackling today too, right? We will address modern
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mysticism, which attempts to find a spiritual connection to
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God outside of or apart from His written word.
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The sources we have before us are incredibly precise.
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They demand that we handle this text with theological rigor,
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historical awareness, and intense pastoral care.
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Having those guardrails in place is incredibly helpful.
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It gives us a firm, objective framework to operate within as
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we walk through this heavy material.
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So to get us started, I want you to set the historical and
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biblical scene for our listener. We can't just parachute into
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verse 23 without understanding the atmosphere in the room when
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these words were spoken. Take us back to the night before
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the cross. Put us in the upper room so we
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can comprehend the crushing weight of the moment when Jesus
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actually utters these specific promises.
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The setting is absolutely vital for grasping the gravity of what
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Jesus is communicating. We find ourselves in the middle
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of what theologians call the Farewell Discourse, which spans
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John chapters 13 through 17. And this is right before
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everything goes dark. Yes, the shadow of the cross is
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looming large over everything happening in this room.
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Paint the picture in your mind. Jesus and his disciples are
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gathered in a private upstairs room in Jerusalem for the
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Passover meal. They are reclining at a
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traditional triclinium table. And the evening starts off with
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something totally unexpected. Right.
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It begins with a shocking display of humility.
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Jesus, the Lord of glory, takes off his outer garments, wraps a
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towel around his waist, and proceeds to wash the filthy feet
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of his disciples. He deliberately assumes the
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posture of the lowest Gentile slave.
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And Judas is there, at least initially.
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Yes, Jesus has just exposed the impending betrayal by Judas
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Iscariot. Judas has now left the room to
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set the Gears of the crucifixion in motion.
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The meal is concluding, the hours growing very late, and
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Jesus is preparing his closest friends for his imminent
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departure. He is about to go to the cross.
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He is about to inaugurate the New Covenant with his own blood
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on a Roman cross the very next morning.
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You have to understand the sheer confusion, the panic and the
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intense anxiety gripping the disciples.
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Because they thought things were going in a completely different
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direction. Exactly.
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For three solid years they have been operating under the
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assumption that Jesus was going to usher in a public, visible
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political triumph. They were steep in the
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expectations of their day. They wanted a conquering
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Messiah. They wanted a Messiah who would
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expel the Roman occupiers, overthrow the corrupt religious
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establishment, and set up an earthly Kingdom in Jerusalem
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right then and there. Instead, Jesus is talking about
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suffering, about leaving them, about the world hating them, and
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about a coming persecution. It is a massive crisis of
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expectation their. Theological categories are
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crumbling right in front of them.
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The Kingdom is not coming with a sword, and their hearts are
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profoundly excuse me, their hearts are incredibly troubled
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by this reality. That confusion really comes to a
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boiling point just one verse prior to the text we are
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analyzing today in verse 22. The other Judas, Judas not
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Iscariot, sometimes called Thaddeus, asks a very revealing,
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almost frustrated question. He says to Jesus, Lord, how is
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it that you will manifest yourself to us and not to the
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world? You can almost hear the
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bewilderment in his voice. You really can.
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He is speaking for everyone in the room.
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He is essentially asking if you are the victorious king, why are
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you keeping it a secret? Why are you only showing
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yourself to this tiny group of fishermen, tax collectors, and
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zealots in a hidden backroom instead of marching out to the
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temple except tomorrow morning, calling down fire from heaven
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and forcing the whole world to recognize your glory.
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That question from Judas exposes the lingering worldly categories
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the disciples we're still clinging to.
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They wanted a theatrical display of glory.
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They wanted a headline grabbing spectacle that would vindicate
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them and crush their enemy. But Jesus pushes back on that
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completely. Yes, his response fundamentally
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redefines how he will be known from this point forward.
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He clarifies that his self disclosure is covenantal, not
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theatrical. He has absolutely no intention
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of accommodating their demand for a massive public spectacle.
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And we need to define what he means by the world here.
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Right. The sources point out that when
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the apostle John uses the term the world throughout his Gospel,
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he is not just talking about the physical globe, nor is he
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talking about humanity in a generic, neutral sense.
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The world, the cosmos, represents humanity organized in
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active, hostile rebellion against its Creator.
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It is an entire system of opposition.
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It is a structural system of thought and value that prefers
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darkness to light, a system that actively resists the authority
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of divine revelation. The world is spiritually blind
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and structurally incapable of receiving His words as life.
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Which explains why Jesus limits his manifestation.
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Therefore, Jesus explains that He will not manifest himself to
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a rebellious world that refuses to submit to Him.
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He will not cast pearls before swine.
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He will only manifest Himself to those who receive Him, who guard
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His teaching, and who willingly bow to His authority.
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So it is an exclusive manifestation.
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The manifestation He is offering is intimate, quiet, and reserved
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exclusively for the covenant community of the faithful.
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I think we really need to pause and let that reality sink in for
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a moment because it completely flips our natural human desires
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upside down. Think about how often we as
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modern people look for flashy, undeniable signs from God.
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We constantly demand visual proof.
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We do. We want the sky to part.
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We want a booming voice. We want some undeniable,
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spectacular event that proves God is at work in our lives or
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in our culture. We want the cinematic version of
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faith. But Jesus is offering something
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entirely different. He is offering a quiet,
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covenantal intimacy that is based entirely on submission to
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his word. He is telling those anxious men
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in the Upper Room, and by extension he is telling you, the
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listener, that the proof of his presence is not going to be
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found in a viral miracle or a political victory, but in the
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steady devotion of a heart that listens to what he says and
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obeys. That brings us directly to verse
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23. Let's look at the very first
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part of Jesus's answer in verse 23 to see how he defines this
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devotion. This is the evidence of
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affection. Jesus says if anyone loves me,
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He will keep my word. The research spends a lot of
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time looking at the original Greek grammar here and it is
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fascinating. It really is.
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The Greek verb for love used here is Agatha.
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The commentators note that this verb is in the present active
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subjunctive. Now for the listener who might
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not be a Greek scholar, let me breakdown why that matters.
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This grammatical structure denies an ongoing habitual
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disposition. It is continuous.
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It is an action that is continuous and active.
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It is not a fleeting sentiment. It is not a sudden rush of
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emotion during a moving worship song that fades away by Monday
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morning when circumstances get difficult.
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It is a steady, constant, unrelenting posture of the heart
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that characterizes the entire life of the believer.
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What's fascinating here is how violently that biblical
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definition of love clashes with the modern definition of love.
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They're worlds apart. In our contemporary culture,
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love is almost exclusively defined as a warm feeling, a
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flutter in the chest, or a vague sense of spiritual admiration
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that requires absolutely 0 sacrifice.
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The culture views love as an emotional state that exists
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primarily to validate whatever internal desires a person
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happens to have at any given moment.
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But Jesus strips all of that cultural baggage away.
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He says that true saving faith, true love for the Savior, is an
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ongoing disposition that inevitably produces a specific,
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visible result. The motive is love, but the
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necessary unavoidable consequence of that love is
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obedience. And if that obedience is
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missing? If the internal affection does
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not result in external submission, it is a counterfeit
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affection. This is the absolute core of the
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Christian life. Jesus does not offer us the
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option of admiring Him as a brilliant moral teacher while
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simultaneously rejecting His authority as Lord.
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You cannot separate the Savior who forgives from the King who
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commands that. Brings us to the second-half of
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that phrase, which is where the rubber really meets the road.
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He will keep my word. The Greek word for will keep is
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Teresa, and it is a future indicative.
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That specific word choice has massive implications.
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It does. The theological text we are
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looking at today define this as a sustained guarding of a divine
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deposit. It is a much stronger, more
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aggressive concept than just casually remembering something.
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We're occasionally checking a list of rules to see how you're
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doing. The visual illustration here is
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very helpful. Think about a century standing
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guard outside a royal treasury. That century is alert, focused,
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armed, and totally dedicated to protecting what is inside that
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malt at the cost of his own life.
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That is the picture Jesus is painting of how we are supposed
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to treat His teaching. We don't just agree with it, we
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guard it. We are to guard it, protect it,
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and hold it fast against a culture that wants to snatch it
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away. And it is not just an
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intellectual exercise where you memorize trivia.
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It is an active, lived out obedience.
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We are to structure our entire lives, our schedules, our
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finances, and our relationships around the protection and
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application of what Jesus has commanded.
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I want to highlight something very specific about the phrasing
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Jesus uses. Is there because the precision
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of his language is striking. He says my word in the singular.
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Not plural. Right.
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He does not say my words or my suggestions or my general
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philosophy. By using the singular my word,
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Talmagon Mao, Jesus is indicating the unified, cohesive
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authority of his teaching as a whole.
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It is a complete package. You cannot bargain with it.
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You cannot go through the teachings of Jesus like you're
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walking down a cafeteria line, selecting only the palatable,
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comforting parts about grace and peace while leaving behind the
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difficult, offensive demands about taking up your cross,
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denying yourself, plucking out your eye, and living a holy
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life. You have to take all of him.
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To genuinely love Jesus is to accept the totality of His
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revelation. You yield to the absolute
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Lordship of the Speaker over every single square inch of your
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life. His Word is a singular, unified
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deposit of truth and true affection guards all of it
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without compromise, even when and especially when it
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contradicts our personal preferences.
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That naturally brings up a massive theological question,
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and I want to frame this carefully for you, the listener
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within the Protestant Reformed tradition we are operating in
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today. If we believe, as the Scriptures
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teach and as the reformers championed, that salvation is by
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grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone, how does this
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intense focus on keeping the Word on rigorous obedience fit
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into that framework? It is the question that defines
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the Reformation. If we are saved entirely by
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grace apart from works, why is Jesus making obedience the
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definitive test of whether or not we actually love him?
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How do we harmonize the free gift of the Gospel with this
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unyielding demand for obedience without sliding back into
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legalism? The Reformed tradition,
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specifically the Westminster Confession, provides a crystal
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clear answer to this by maintaining A strict, unyielding
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distinction between justification and
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sanctification. Let's define those terms
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clearly. Think of justification as a
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courtroom setting. It is the one time definitive
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legal declaration by God the Judge, where he pardons all our
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sins and accepts us as perfectly righteous in His sight.
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And He does this not based on anything we have done, but
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solely based on the imputed righteousness of Christ, which
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we received by faith alone. We bring nothing to that table.
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You contribute, dispute absolutely nothing to your
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justification except the sin that made it necessary.
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So we must firmly repudiate the error of Roman Catholic merit
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logic which suggests that our obedience, our sacraments, or
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our charity somehow contribute to our right standing before God
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or purchase His favor over time. That is a false gospel that
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destroys assurance. But we also have to guard the
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other flank. However, we must equally
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repudiate the opposite error, which is antinomianism.
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Antinomianism, which literally means anti law is a no lordship
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Christianity that treats obedience is optional.
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It claims you can have Jesus as your savior while totally
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disregarding his commands, living however you please.
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The confession has strong words about that.
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The Westminster Standards teach that while faith alone
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justifies, the faith that justifies is never alone.
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True saving faith is always accompanied by all other saving
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graces, and it inevitably yields the fruit of obedience.
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A dead faith produces nothing. A living faith produces works.
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This is where we introduce the reformed concept of the third
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use of the law. I really want you to explain
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that third use of the law concept for the listener,
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because when people hear the word law, they usually think of
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a police officer waiting to write them a ticket.
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But Reformed theology has a much more beautiful way of
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categorizing how a Christian relates to the commands of God
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after they have been saved. Can you break down those uses,
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maybe using an everyday analogy so we can grasp it?
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Certainly in classical Reformed theology, the moral law of God
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has three primary uses. The first use is to act as a
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mirror when you look into the perfection of God's law.
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It exposes your sin, shatters yourself righteousness, and
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drives you to Christ for salvation because you realize
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you cannot save yourself. It shows us our desperate need.
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The second uses to act as a bridle.
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It restrains the evil in society through the threat of civil
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punishment, keeping human communities from destroying
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themselves entirely. But the third use, the principle
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highest use for the Christian is to act as a rule of life for the
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justified believer. John Calvin had a great way of
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describing this. Yes, Calvin famously used the
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analogy of a whip versus a gentle guide.
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For the unbeliever, the law is a whip driving them to despair,
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but for the believer, it is a lamp to their feet.
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Think of it like a fence around a playground.
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The fence is not a ladder you climb to get into God's yard.
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Christ is the door, and He brings you in by grace.
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But once you are in the yard, the fence is a blessing.
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But once you are safely inside the yard, the law is the fence
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that keeps you safe, happy, and flourishing.
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It shows the grateful child of God how to please their heavenly
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Father and how to avoid running into the traffic of sin.
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Which brings us back to Jesus's statement in verse 23.
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Therefore, when Jesus says if anyone loves me he will keep my
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word, He is not setting up a new system of works righteousness
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where you earn your keep. He is describing the inevitable
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fruit of a regenerated heart. A new heart created by the Holy
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Spirit according to the promise of Ezekiel 36 inherently desires
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to obey the one who saved it. The obedience is the fruit, not
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the root. The obedience does not 'cause
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the salvation. The obedience is the undeniable,
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visible evidence that the miraculous salvation is actually
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taking place. So Jesus isn't talking about
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treating the believer's heart like a hotel room for the
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weekend. He is talking about moving in
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permanently, bringing his own furniture and changing the
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locks. Once Jesus establishes the
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evidence of affection, which is keeping his word, He immediately
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moves to the staggering promise that follows.
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For those who demonstrate that affection.
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Let's look at the second-half of verse 23.
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This is a massive theological pivot.
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Here's where it gets really interesting.
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Jesus says, and my father will love him, and we will come to
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him and make our home with him. I want you to notice the plural
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pronoun there. We we will come to him.
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He is talking about the Father and the Son.
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This is a breathtaking statement about the Trinity taking up
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residence inside a fragile human being.
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It truly is a staggering promise, and to fully grasp the
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weight of it, we need to conduct a rigorous lexical study of a
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very specific Greek term used in this verse.
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Which word is that? The word translated as home or
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abode is monan, based on the theological text we are
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examining. This word is exceedingly rare in
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the Greek New Testament. In fact, it appears only twice,
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and both occurrences are right here in John chapter 14, here in
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verse 23, and earlier in verse 2.
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And it's usage outside the Bible sheds light on this too.
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Now, in extra biblical Greco Roman literature from that era,
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you might see similar words used to describe a temporary lodge or
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a traveler's way station, a place a merchant stays for a
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single night before moving on down the road.
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Like an ancient motel. But Jesus is deliberately
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contrasting his promise against any idea of a temporary,
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fleeting visit. He does not use the Greek word
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for tent, which would imply A transitory, nomadic presence.
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Instead, Monan shares a linguistic root with the verb
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mana, which means to abide, to remain, to stay permanently.
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So he isn't packing his bags anytime soon.
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Jesus is declaring that the Godhead is establishing a fixed,
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stable, permanent residence within the believer.
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This provides incredible systematic theological clarity
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regarding the perseverance of the Saints.
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God does not move into your soul only to pack His bags, break the
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lease, and leave the next time you stumble.
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His presence is not fickle. He is a stable, sovereignly
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established habitation that cannot be undone.
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For you listening right now, I want you to think about the
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massive shifts represents in the grand storyline of the Bible.
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Think back to the Old Testament. Think about the Garden of Eden
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where humanity was exiled from God's presence.
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Think about the Tabernacle in the wilderness or the massive
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gold covered temple built by King Solomon in Jerusalem.
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The presence of God was something to be feared.
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In those days, the Shekinah glory of God, his visible,
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localized, terrifying presence, dwelled in the Holy of Holies.
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It was hidden behind a thick veil, guarded by priests and
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completely inaccessible to the average person.
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If you walked into that room and invited, you died.
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It was a lethal holiness. God dwelled among his people,
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but there was a strict, terrifying distance maintained
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because of. Of human sin.
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Now jump forward to what Jesus is saying in the Upper Room.
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How is this new covenant promise fundamentally different from
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everything that came before it? What you are highlighting is a
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massive advancement in redemptive history.
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In the Old Covenant, the presence of God was external,
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localized in a physical building made of stone and cedar, and
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strictly mediated by a human high priest who could only
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approach once a year with the blood of an animal.
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It was highly restricted. But here Christ unveils a new
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covenant intimacy that is almost beyond human comprehension.
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The Godhead, the Creator of the cosmos, the one who speaks
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galaxies into existence, now takes up permanent residence
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within the individual soul of the believer.
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The human heart, once a factory of idols, becomes the sanctuary.
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And this happens through the Spirit.
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And this is not just a poetic metaphor.
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It is a spiritual reality mediated by the Holy Spirit.
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In the immediate context of John 14, Jesus promises the coming of
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the Helper, the Spirit of truth. It is through the indwelling of
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the Holy Spirit that the Father and the Son make their home in
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us. But there is a cost to this
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transaction. We must be crystal clear
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regarding the mechanics of this. This habitation is only possible
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because of the cross. It is only through the atoning
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blood of Jesus Christ shed the very next day, that the filthy,
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corrupted temple of the human heart is washed, cleansed,
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justified and consecrated to receive such a holy guest.
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The veil is removed. The veil in the temple is about
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to be torn from top to bottom, not just to let us in, but to
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let God out, to make his home and his people.
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The theological texts make a very strong point here about how
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we are to understand the nature of this indwelling spirit.
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They apply a strict cessationist warning to this text and I think
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it is crucial we address that so we don't veer into error.
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Yes, this is a very necessary boundary line.
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In a lot of modern charismatic circles, or even in just general
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modern spirituality, there is this popular idea of the Inner
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Light. It is the concept of a private,
22:02
mystical voice of God that speaks directly to a person's
22:05
mind, sometimes giving them new revelations, private prophecies,
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or telling them to do things that are completely disconnected
22:11
from the Bible. How does Reformed theology
22:14
confront that kind of modern mysticism based on this text?
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Reformed theology confronts it head on by insisting on a
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fundamental principle. The Spirit and the Word are
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inseparable. The endwelling of the Spirit is
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not a mystical inner light that operates separate from or
22:30
contrary to the written Scriptures.
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We have to reject that kind of subjectivism.
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We must firmly reject the error of modern mysticism that chases
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private impressions, alleged prophecies, or subjective
22:40
feelings while ignoring the objective truths of the Bible.
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The Holy Spirit is the divine author of Scripture.
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He breathed it out. Therefore, the Spirit who dwells
22:49
within you will never ever speak a word, give you an impression,
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or lead you in a direction that is contrary to the written word
22:55
He himself inspired. He is a spirit of order, not
22:58
confusion. He does not contradict himself.
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His primary ministry, as Jesus explains later in this very
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discourse, is to glorify Christ and to bring to our remembrance
23:08
the things Christ has already spoken.
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The indwelling presence of the Trinity empowers the very
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obedience called for in the first half of the verse.
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It is not about discovering hidden knowledge.
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God does not indwell us to give us novel extra biblical
23:21
revelations about who to marry or what job to take.
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He indwells us to give us the supernatural strength to keep
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the objective, historical written word of Christ.
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To pit the Spirit against the Word is a dangerous, unbiblical
23:36
practice. That is such a vital safeguard
23:38
for the Christian life. It keeps us tethered to
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objective truth rather than drifting aimlessly on the sea of
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our own subjective, ever changing emotions.
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It is a beautiful picture of intimacy, but Jesus doesn't let
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the disciples just sit in that comfort.
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No, he brings a very sharp warning next.
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He immediately pivots in verse 24 to give what amounts to a
23:56
sobering mirror. For anyone who thinks following
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Him is casual, listen to the stark contrast.
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Verse 24 says Whoever does not love me does not keep my words.
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Notice the subtle but massive shift in the grammar there.
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In verse 23, Jesus used the singular word Loganon, but here
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in verse 24 He shifts to the plural words logelas.
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Why does he make that shift, and what does it tell us about the
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person who claims to be a Christian but doesn't actually
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obey? That shift from singular to
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plural is extremely revealing and intensely practical.
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While the singular word represents the totality of his
24:30
teaching is 1 unified body of truth, the plural words
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highlights the specific, concrete, day-to-day commands
24:36
that make up that teaching. It gets down to the specifics of
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how we live. The false professor, the person
24:41
who claims to love Jesus but actually doesn't, might give lip
24:44
service to the general abstract idea of fallen Christ.
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They love the idea of a loving God, but they reject His
24:50
specific, concrete teachings. They pick and choose.
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They reject His demands regarding sexual purity and a
24:56
permissive culture. They reject His ethics regarding
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money and greed. They reject His command to
25:01
forgive enemies. They reject the call to costly
25:03
discipleship, church discipline and repentance.
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They might look the part on a Sunday morning, though.
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They might sit in a Pew every Sunday, listen to a sermon and
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hear Jesus externally. They might know all the right
25:13
theological vocabulary, listen to Christian radio and enjoy the
25:17
worship music. But they do not keep his words
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as a guarded treasure. They negotiate with his
25:22
commands. They water them down to fit
25:24
their own desires. They trim them down to fit their
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lifestyle. They explain them away to avoid
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offending their secular friends. And Jesus states with absolute,
25:33
uncompromising clarity that pattern of continuous rejection
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is not just a sign of spiritual immaturity, it is undeniable
25:40
proof of a loveless, unregenerate heart.
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If there is no keeping of His specific words, there is no
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genuine love for His person. Jesus does not let anyone off
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the hook here. He doesn't say, well, if you
25:51
don't keep my words, you might just be a struggling carnal
25:54
Christian who needs a little more time to figure things out.
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No, he draws a hard, absolute line, and he grounds that hard
26:01
line in the ultimate authority of the universe.
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I want to read the second-half of verse 24.
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Jesus says, and the word that you hear is not mine, but the
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Father's who sent me. He brings the Father into the
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warning. If we connect this to the bigger
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picture of John's Gospel, we see what theologians call the
26:17
sending motif. John uses this theme constantly.
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Throughout the entire Gospel of John, Jesus continually
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highlights that he is the sent 1 He is not a rogue rabbi coming
26:28
up with his own novel philosophy on a hillside in Galilee.
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He is the Father's uniquely appointed authoritative
26:34
revealer. His mission, His authority, and
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His words are all derived directly from the Eternal
26:39
Father. They are completely unified.
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The Father and the Son are perfectly united in their
26:43
essence, their will, and their work.
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Therefore, to reject the specific words of Jesus is not
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simply to disagree with a human teacher or to have a different
26:53
theological perspective. It is an act of high spiritual
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treason against the Eternal Father.
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You can't have one without the other.
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You cannot bypass the Son to get to the Father.
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You cannot claim to worship the Creator while dismissing the
27:06
commands of the Christ. Which completely dismantles a
27:09
very popular academic approach to the Bible that has poisoned
27:13
seminaries for over a century. The research we are relying on
27:16
specifically tells us we need to rebuke theological liberalism
27:20
right here at this exact point in the text.
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And that rebuke is incredibly necessary.
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Yes, it is. For well over a century,
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beginning with thinkers like Schleiermacher and continuing to
27:29
movements like the Jesus Seminar, theological liberalism
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has attempted to drive a wedge between what they call the
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historical Jesus, who they view as just a good and enlightened
27:38
moral teacher, and the divine Logos, the eternal Son of God.
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They try to cut Jesus in half. They try to separate the
27:44
historical man from the divine authority.
27:46
They want to strip away the miracles, the demands for
27:48
exclusive allegiance, the substitutionary atonement and
27:51
the wrath of God. They want to leave behind only a
27:54
palatable, generic message of being kind to one another and
27:57
advocating for social justice. But this text absolutely
28:01
destroys that premise. Jesus absolutely forbids that
28:04
separation right here in verse 24.
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His words are the Father's words.
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Therefore, His words are absolute, inerrant, and
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eternally binding on the conscience of every single human
28:14
being. To deny the words of the Sun, to
28:17
treat them as outdated cultural artifacts, is to declare open
28:20
war on the Father. What's really striking about how
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Reformed theology handles this text is that it leaves no room
28:26
for nominal cultural Christianity.
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I want you, the listener, to think analytically about the
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landscape of the modern church. Think about the messages you
28:35
hear on mainstream Christian broadcast, or maybe even in your
28:38
own local congregation. There is a lot of compromise out
28:41
there. There really is How much of what
28:43
we call Christianity Today actually aligns with this
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absolute demand for submission to the specific words of Christ.
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We see churches bending over backward, conducting market
28:53
research and altering their services to make sure no one is
28:56
ever offended by the demands of the gospel.
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The commentators we are studying systematically dismantle what we
29:02
often call seeker sensitive pragmatism and cafeteria
29:06
Christianity. This is the pervasive modern
29:09
movement that deliberately dilutes the offensive doctrines
29:12
of Scripture. Things like the reality of hell
29:15
or the exclusivity of Christ. They dilute the reality of
29:18
eternal hell, the absolute necessity repentance, the
29:21
exclusivity of Christ for salvation, and the biblical
29:23
definition of marriage. They do this in order to remain
29:27
culturally relevant and keep the attendance numbers artificially
29:30
high. It's treating Jesus like a
29:32
buffet. It treats the teachings of Jesus
29:34
like a cafeteria line. You take the grace, you take the
29:37
promises of peace, you take the community activities, but you
29:40
slide your tray right past the demands for personal holiness
29:44
and self denial. But that creates a massive
29:46
pastoral crisis. When a church offers a Christ
29:49
without a cross, when a pastor offers a crown without a
29:52
commandment, they are not making disciples.
29:54
They are manufacturing false professors.
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They are literally inoculating people against the true gospel
30:00
by giving them a counterfeit version of the demands.
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Absolutely nothing of them. And according to verse 24, those
30:06
people do not genuinely love Christ, no matter how much they
30:09
sing, how often they volunteer, or how highly they speak of Him
30:13
as a generic Savior. So what does this all mean for
30:16
the person sitting in the Pew or the person listening in their
30:19
car? Right now, we have covered some
30:21
heavy, sobering theological ground.
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We've talked about the absolute necessity of obedience, the
30:27
staggering promise of the Trinity making a permanent home
30:30
in US, and the terrifying peril of the false professor who
30:33
ignores the commands. We have to bring this down to
30:36
ground level. We do.
30:38
This isn't just an academic puzzle to be solved.
30:40
It is meant to be applied surgically to our daily lives.
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I want you to speak to the weary St.
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I hear all of this, but practically speaking, how does a
30:48
believer tell the difference between imperfect obedience and
30:52
just being a false professor who is good at making excuses?
30:56
That feels like a terrifying tightrope to walk.
30:58
It can certainly feel that way if we lose our theological
31:01
bearings. There is someone listening right
31:02
now who loves Jesus, who desperately wants to keep his
31:06
word, but who looks at their own life and sees failure.
31:09
They see the times they lose their temper with their kids,
31:12
the times they give in to pride, the times they fail to trust God
31:15
with their finances. And they hear Jesus say, whoever
31:18
does not love me does not keep my words.
31:20
And they are terrified that their failures mean they are
31:22
entirely fake. How does this text offer comfort
31:25
to the weary, a stumbling believer, without watering down
31:28
the demand for obedience? This is exactly where the
31:31
careful pastoral care of Reformed theology shines
31:34
brightest, and it is why we must be so precise with our
31:37
categories. We must be very careful not to
31:40
turn Jesus's words into a legalistic demand for sinless
31:44
perfection. Because if perfection is the
31:46
standard, we are all doomed. If sinless perfection is the
31:49
benchmark of true discipleship, then heaven will be entirely
31:52
empty. The distinction we must draw for
31:55
the weary St. is between the direction of a person's life and
31:59
the perfection of a person's life.
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The Weary St. needs to hear this clearly.
32:03
You're stumbling. Imperfect obedience, when it is
32:05
coupled with genuine grief over your sin and quick repentance,
32:08
is undeniable evidence of God's grace at work in you, not the
32:12
cause of God's love for you. Paul's struggle in Romans 7 is a
32:14
perfect example of this. Think about the Apostle Paul in
32:17
Romans Chapter 7. He agonizes over the fact that
32:20
the good he wants to do he doesn't do, and the evil he
32:23
hates he keeps on doing. That internal war is a sign of
32:26
life. A dead body doesn't fight back.
32:29
The false professor sins, excuses it, justifies it by
32:32
saying God just wants me to be happy and feels no internal
32:36
conviction. They have a seared conscience.
32:39
The true believer sins, feels the crushing weight of having
32:42
grieved the Father they love, and runs quickly back to the
32:45
cross for forgiveness, pleading for the Holy Spirit to give them
32:48
the strength to obey next time. So the struggle itself is proof
32:52
of the Spirit's presence, the very.
32:53
Fact that you are burdened by your remaining sin, the fact
32:56
that your failures bother you is proof that the Holy Spirit is
32:59
residing in your heart, acting as a prompt to holiness.
33:02
Your desire to obey, however flaw the daily execution might
33:06
be, is the heartbeat of a regenerated soul.
33:09
We teach that subjective assurance grows as object of
33:12
obedience grows. But we never look to our
33:14
obedience for justification. You don't look at your obedience
33:17
to find your justification. You look only to the finished
33:20
work of Christ for that. But you do look at your growing
33:23
obedience over years and decades to find assurance that your
33:26
faith in Christ is living, active, and real.
33:28
That distinction is so incredibly helpful.
33:32
It shifts the focus from a terrifying, paralyzing legalism
33:36
to a restful reliance on grace that actually produces real
33:40
fruit. Let's talk about how this text
33:42
shapes the corporate life of a Reformed congregation.
33:45
Because this isn't just about individual piety in our prayer
33:47
closets. It's about what happens when the
33:49
people of God gather together on the Lord's Day.
33:52
Corporate worship is where this theology takes visible shape.
33:55
If a church truly understands John 14.2324, how does that
34:00
alter the way they worship? It seems to me that it
34:02
absolutely demands that the preaching must press the text.
34:06
The pulpit cannot be a place for motivational speeches, Ted
34:08
talks, or light, fluffy moralism.
34:11
The preaching has to bring the weight of Christ's unified Word
34:13
to bear on the conscience of the congregation.
34:16
And the worship itself has to be ordered by Scripture, not by
34:19
what is currently trending on Spotify or what will draw the
34:21
biggest crowd from the suburbs. You have identified the core
34:25
difference between a consumer driven church and a biblically
34:27
faithful church. This leads to what Reformed
34:30
thinkers call the regulative principle of worship.
34:32
Can you define that for the list?
34:33
Simply put, it means God is the sole architect of His own
34:37
worship. We don't get to invent the
34:40
blueprint based on what draws the biggest crowd, what
34:43
entertains the youth group, or what sounds good to our modern
34:46
ears. We only do in corporate worship
34:49
what God has explicitly commanded in Scripture, reading
34:52
the Word, preaching the Word, singing the Word, praying the
34:55
Word, and administering the sacraments.
34:57
If He hasn't commanded it, we don't do it.
35:00
And this ties directly into the sacraments.
35:02
It connects directly to the sacraments themselves.
35:05
In Reformed worship, we strongly connect the audible word of the
35:08
sermon to the visible word of the sacrament.
35:11
Think about the Lord's Supper. When you, the listener, approach
35:13
the communion table on a Sunday morning, you are not just going
35:16
through an empty nostalgic ritual to remember a dead
35:18
teacher. There is a spiritual reality
35:21
taking place. The bread and the wine represent
35:24
the broken body and the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
35:27
That very sacrifice is what purchased the indwelling
35:31
presence we have been discussing today.
35:33
When you take the elements, you are visually, physically, and
35:36
spiritually recalling that the Father and the Son have made
35:39
their home in you through the Spirit, and that this intimate
35:42
communion was bought at the highest possible price.
35:46
The Lord's Supper is a tangible, visible seal of the invisible
35:50
promise given in verse 23. Before we wrap up, we need to
35:53
issue a clear pastoral call. There might be someone listening
35:56
right now who realizes, perhaps for the very first time today,
35:59
that they are the false professor we described earlier.
36:02
They recognize that they have the vocabulary down.
36:04
They have the cultural markers of Christianity.
36:06
They vote the right way, they attend church on Christmas and
36:08
Easter. But their heart is entirely
36:11
devoid of the habitual act of obedience and love we've been
36:13
talking about. What is the call to the
36:15
unbeliever of the nominal Christian who is sitting under
36:18
the terrifying weight of verse 24 right now?
36:20
The call is as urgent as it is clear, and it leaves no room for
36:24
self-reliance. You cannot manufacture this
36:28
required love by your own willpower.
36:30
You cannot simply grit your teeth, turn over a new leaf, and
36:33
decide to start keeping the words of Christ in your own
36:35
strength starting tomorrow morning.
36:37
Because the law shows us we are incapable of that.
36:40
The law is a mirror showing you that your natural heart is dead
36:43
in sin, hostile to God, and incapable of true submission.
36:48
You must abandoned yourself rule, you must repent of your
36:51
desire to be the sovereign king of your own life, and you must
36:53
flee to Jesus Christ. We have to run to the cross.
36:56
Flee to the One who perfectly kept the law of the Father on
36:58
your behalf. Lay your rebellion, your fake
37:01
religion, and your pride at the foot of His cross.
37:04
Trust entirely in His finished work, and plead with Him to give
37:07
you a new heart. When He grants you that new
37:09
heart, by His sovereign grace He will grant you the Holy Spirit,
37:12
and the love and obedience He demands will become the joyful,
37:15
natural rhythm of your new life. That is the gospel in its
37:18
purest, most undiluted form. As we come to the close of our
37:23
time together, let me recap the core thesis for you, the
37:25
listener. The massive truth we have
37:27
uncovered today is that love is not defined by our culture, and
37:31
it is not defined by our fickle feelings.
37:33
Love is defined by Christ. Biblical love is word kept
37:37
loyalty. It is a loyalty that is
37:40
initiated by God, enabled entirely by His sovereign grace,
37:44
sustained by His Spirit, and rewarded with the staggering,
37:47
breathtaking reality of the Trinity making a permanent fixed
37:50
home in the soul of the believer.
37:53
As we depart, I want to leave the listener the final
37:55
concluding thought, one that builds directly on the
37:56
vocabulary of the text we have studied.
37:58
As I mentioned earlier, Jesus uses the exact same rare Greek
38:02
word for home on him in John 14.2 just a few verses before.
38:06
When he is talking about heaven. In verse 2, He uses it to speak
38:10
of the dwelling places He is currently preparing for us in
38:13
heaven in the Father's house. I want you to sit with the
38:16
gravity of that linguistic connection.
38:18
If the Triune God has already begun making His home inside
38:21
your right now through the permanent indwelling of the Holy
38:25
Spirit, how does that reality alter your anticipation for the
38:28
new heavens and the new earth? It changes everything about how
38:32
we view eternity. Because the inward invisible
38:34
reality you experience today, the Father and the Son dwelling
38:37
in you amidst all your struggles, is just a foretaste.
38:40
It is the down payment, the guarantee of that coming day
38:44
when that inward reality will become the visible, physical and
38:47
glorious reality for all eternity, when God will
38:50
physically dwell with His people forever in a world without sin.
38:53
What a phenomenal hope filled thought to end on the home He
38:57
makes in US right now is the ironclad guarantee of the home
39:00
we will share with Him forever. Thank you so much for joining us
39:03
for this extensive theological deep dive on Reformed thinking.
39:06
Keep guarding the Word, keep looking to Christ, and rest in
39:09
the grace of the One who has made His permanent home in you.