A World That Will Never Know Jesus - John 14:22-24

1:05Jesus answered and said to him, If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my father will love him, and we will come to him and make our abode with him. He who does not love me does not keep my words. And the word which you hear is not mine, but the Father's who sent me. So You can call John chapter 14 the question and answer session of Jesus. You have three questions being asked throughout this chapter. And verse 5 begins with Thomas's question, verse 8. I'm sorry, verse 5 begins with Thomas. Verse 8 begins with Philip. And here we are in verse 22, beginning with Judas, one not Iscariot. And who is this Judas? Well, it's probably Judas of James, mentioned in Luke 16 or 6, 16, also referred to as Thaddeus in Mark 3:18, the lion-hearted one. In fact, in the four lists of the disciples, this Judas is placed next to Simon the zealot. So many have thought that maybe this Judas is either a brother of Simon the Zealot or certainly closely linked to him, close friends. But his question is basically, what has happened? What has come about, Lord, that you're going to now disclose yourself to us and not to the world? You see, because what's happening is Jesus is saying, look, after a little while, the world is not going to see me any longer, but you will see me. And so he picks up on. This, okay, you're not going to show yourself to the world.

3:04What kind of a disappointment this might have been to the disciples in the upper room who had left everything, followed him, believed that he was the Messiah, had suffered and given up all for so long, now to come to Jerusalem and to have Jesus not only say, I'm leaving, but I'm not going to display myself to the world. You know, wait a minute, this doesn't fit our conception of what Messiah is supposed to do, right? The Messiah is supposed to show himself, and so you can imagine the disappointment and certainly the consternation that this caused the disciples, enough so that Judas, not Iscariot, asks the question.

3:51You see, I imagine they can say, they understand, like, we really don't need you to reveal yourself to us anymore. We want you to reveal yourself to the Jewish establishment and to the Romans. That's who needs to know who you are. So, what in the world has happened that you're not going to reveal yourself to the world? It's going to reveal yourself to us. You know, sometimes I think we can reduce following Christ down to us, right? And I think there is this.

4:30Perhaps in Judas's mind and some of the others, you're leaving, and now you're not going to show the world that we were right in following you. You can imagine, you know, we can easily make Christianity about being on the right side, and at the end of the day, we're just going to hear this one glorious sound from heaven: you were right all along. Right? I'm on the you're on the right side, you got it, you solve the puzzle, you're good.

5:08And I think it's incredibly disappointing, and I'm not saying I wouldn't have felt this way either, right? After following, after seeing what's going to happen, having been very much aware of the hostility that the Jewish establishment has said against Jesus, I would love if I was a disciple to, yeah, I'd like for you to set the record straight. We know you're the Messiah. And here's Jesus saying, No, I'm leaving, and the world's not going to see me anymore. Jesus is like, Okay, so what has happened? Help me get my mind around why are you not going to show them? Today, we might ask the question like this: Why does God not reveal himself to the whole world? Why not? Why doesn't God just reveal himself to the whole world? Whole world. I mean, we know he will in judgment at the end of the day, but we're talking about why won't you favorably disclose yourself now to the whole world?

6:12You see, Judas was thinking something had gone wrong because now Judas is, I mean, because now Jesus is not going to reveal himself to the whole world, at least in the same way that he did to his disciples. And so, Judas is thinking, what has gone wrong? Well, nothing has gone wrong. In fact, the miracle is that Jesus would reveal himself to anybody and that people would actually understand who he is. Fallen man is on a rapid departure, a rapid trajectory away from God. So the fact that anybody would understand and anybody would get it is really a miracle. It's not that something has gone wrong, but Jesus is about to do something that's very right, something good. You see, Jesus is interested in going deep with people. He's not interested in just a shallow revelation of himself across the whole humanity. He's interested in going deep. He's really interested in revealing who he really is, and he recognizes there's only going to be a few that are really going to go deep. And so what he's doing is he's in the process of revealing himself and revealing God on a much more profound level. Level to a few than revealing himself on a superficial level to the masses. Something you need to know about Christ. He goes deep. To reveal himself, he must go deep. He's not interested in just superficial, shallow breadth, but deep-seated and profound revelation of who God is and who he is. Well, Jesus's answer comes in verses 23 and 24. But notice at the end of verse 24, we become very aware that we're not simply just hearing the words of a Galilean, but we're hearing the very words of the Father Himself. Look at verse 24.

8:24The word which you hear is not mine. The word that you are hearing, literally, the word which you are hearing is not mine, but the Father's who sent me. These are the Father's words. So, in other words, you can think of this, this is the Father's answer to Judas's question. And it's the Father who makes a clear distinction between those who abide with God and those who do not. And he makes a distinction, doesn't he? Father Himself, through the vocal cords of Jesus, makes it very clear to whom he will not reveal himself and the blessings that they will miss as a result. And so this morning, I want to look at two realities about this world that will never know Jesus so that you and I will not be trapped in such a world or be part of such. So that's where we're going this morning. Just a couple verses.

9:34Deep impact, I pray that they will have on us. Well, the world that will never know Jesus, number one, does not love Jesus. And this is their distinguishing feature. They do not love Jesus. He makes it clear in verses 23 and 24 that there is a clear distinction between those who love him and those who do not. And notice he's reiterating what he's already been saying. Look at verse 23. Jesus answered and said, If anyone loves me, he will keep my word.

10:10He will guard my word. And this comes in direct answer, as a direct answer to Judas's question. You see, what love does is love creates oneness. And we see this relationship between Jesus and His. Father. There is a oneness. Love that Jesus has for his father exhibits itself in oneness, a unity of works, so much so that the works that Jesus did were actually the works that the Father was doing. The words that Jesus spoke were actually the words that the Father was speaking. So there is a oneness between Father and Son, and what's happening in these passages, in these chapters, is Jesus is unveiling or revealing the relationship that he is going to have with his disciples. And it's going to mirror the relationship that he has with his father.

11:09The father, Jesus loves the father and does what the father says. He does what the father wants him to do. That's the relationship. And as we go forward, the disciples are to have that same kind of relationship with Jesus. We are to love Jesus, do what he wants. We are to do the things, be active about the things that Jesus does. And so all of this, this oneness, is expressed in action, in action, in deeds, or by action.

11:47It wasn't just a sentimental feeling, but it was expressed by deeds and words and actions. See, oneness with Christ is not just simply being fluent in theology. Important that is, but it's not just simply being fluent in theology, but it's steadily doing what Christ does and walking with Christ and doing the things that Christ does. In fact, one commentator says it like this: Good feelings and desires are useless if they are not accompanied by action. And he goes on to say, passive impressions which do not lead to action gradually deaden and paralyze the heart. I mean, how many times have you had a good impression of what you ought to do or a warm feeling of what you ought to do, but it doesn't materialize into action? Let us move on from that. Love in Scripture is very much driven by deeds. It's a love that overcomes that inertia.

12:54And sometimes we can get to thinking that we love somebody just because we have warm thoughts towards them, but the kind of love that Jesus had with his father was one that put feet to his will, that carried out, gave utterance to his words. And so, if we have a relationship with Christ, oneness with Christ is going to be expressed in action, deeds, keeping his word. You see, a dynamic. Of love, a relationship, is when you love someone, you begin to love what they love.

13:38For instance, I bet you didn't know what my favorite flower is. It's the stargazer lily. And why? You know why that's my favorite flower? It's because it's my wife's favorite flower. And I don't know why, it just somehow, along the way, became my favorite flower because it reminds me of her. Her preferences become my preferences, and that's the way the relationship works. So now, you ask me my favorite stargazer lily. Though Christ doesn't walk with us in his incarnation like he did, his ways are still very much with us.

14:15And his ways remind us of him. And so I delight to walk in his ways because they're his ways. Because I love him. And because I love him, I want to walk in his ways because it reminds me of him. I am in fellowship with him. I am connected to him. You see, love expresses itself in keeping his words. The image here of keeping is a very strong word. It's like it's the same word that's used to talk about the centurion that was to keep guard over Jesus when he is being crucifixion. It's a. Expression of a guard keeping someone in prison or to keep watch out, make sure they don't get away. Okay?

15:10You see, keeping his ways are like we are prone, we know that we can forget, we can easily let them go, we can miss them, they can get away. And so, keeping guard, because I love Christ, I love his ways, because his ways remind me of him, and I know that I am prone to let them get away from me. And so, I keep the one who loves him, keeps is keeping guard, keeping watch, paying attention.

15:40But on the contrary, a lack of love for Jesus does not keep his words. And this is the distinguishing feature of a world that never will know him. Look back at verse 24: he who does not love me does not keep my words. A very simple statement: They do not keep my words, they do not keep my sayings, they do not keep my commandments, they're not paying attention. You know, there's two ways that you can not keep Christ's words. Number one, you may be actively set against it. In other words, you may just, I don't want to hear from him, I can't hear you, I don't want to be in the place where people are speaking. About Christ, or where we're talking about Christ, or where they're impressing Christ upon me, I want nothing to do with that, so I close my ears and yell as loud as I can, and I send His words away. That's actively opposing or hostility, and there are many who do that, but I'd venture to say there are many more that possibly let His words get away from them.

17:03You see, we can disregard His word, we can not give attention to His Word, we can be careless, right? And the one who doesn't love Christ becomes very careless with His commandments, with His words, and we just let it slip away. Disregard. So, why in the world will a fallen world system never know Jesus? Why will they never know Him? Well, the answer is simple: they do not love Jesus. This is about relationship 101, very basics in relationship. You see, love is necessary to draw closer, right? And what happens in a relationship?

17:56Just take a marriage relationship, for instance, when couples are. They're originally drawn to each other's strengths, and so there's some kind of an affinity, an attraction, and so there's a drawing. And so, you know, I know my wife a whole lot better now after 25 years of growing in love. I was attracted to her. And so I wanted to get to know her more. But you see, there was already a fondness, there was an esteem that drew me in.

18:32In fact, I can look back now that I know her so much more and love her so much more that I could say, I hardly knew my wife the day I got married. And those of you who have been married a while, you start understanding, wow, we really didn't know each other at all. We had no business getting married, right? And that's what happened. Knowledge grows and love grows and it grows. But you got to understand that there's already an attraction there. And so relationship 101 is that love is built upon the certainty of Christ's being, right?

19:11I mean, think about it this. I had to believe my wife exists before I could have a relationship with her, right? Pretty basic. Love is built upon the certainty of his being. Faith, and that's faith. So love is built upon faith. Faith is necessary to understand. Understand is necessary to love, love is necessary to obey, and obedience is necessary for a loving relationship. Relationship 101. A world that does not believe that the Christ of Scripture exists will never know him, can never know him.

19:55And many on such basis say, I simply cannot believe the Bible is true and reliable in what it says about the Christ. And because of that, for whatever reason, they will not accept the words about Christ. So they'll never come to know the words. They'll never come to know the Christ of Scripture. And so they will certainly be part of the world that will never truly know the beauty of Jesus. Relationship 101. Love is built upon faith. Number two, love is expressed by attention to who he is and what he said. Right?

20:40I express love for my wife by paying attention to her. Nothing earth-shattering. Three, love involves active obedience to the direct commands, right? Can you imagine my wife? Don't you dare put mustard in my chicken salad. And that's what we do, right? A lot with Christ sometimes, right? But it's like, no, you get to where, like, if you go directly against direct commands, you have destroyed any basis of relationship, and it is certainly not a loving relationship, right?

21:38So love is built upon faith. It's built upon belief and the certainty of Christ's being. Love is expressed by attention to who he is and what he said. Love involves active obedience to his direct commands, not being indifferent, distracted, careless, or disregard, but active obedience. And fourth lesson in relationship 101 is for a loving relationship to flourish, there must be an honoring of his preferences. And this goes beyond just commands. It's not just his direct commands, it's getting to know and appreciate him and devoting our time for getting to know him and giving ourselves to what he prefers.

22:31He doesn't have to directly command, but just what do you prefer? What do you like? What do you appreciate? If I love him, then that's going to come natural. I mean, it comes like that in my marriage. How much more will it come like that in a relationship with Christ? You see, the world does not believe in the certainty of his being, is not paying attention to who he is and what he says, does not actively obey even what they do know, and has disregard for his preferences. So a world that does these things can never know Christ. How can Jesus manifest himself to a world that doesn't even recognize he is or could care less what he says?

23:40They don't love Jesus. And this is their distinguishing feature. And because of that, they will never know him. Because disclosing himself is dependent upon receiving him. If I come to your house and you don't want to let me in your house, you can never get to know each other, right? The tragedy of all this is they will never know him. And what's more, they will miss out on the richest company the soul could ever know. So the world that will never know Jesus is the one that does not love Jesus. Second, such world misses out on the richest company. And this is the greatest loss that they have. Look back at verse 23. Jesus has already said, if anyone loves me, he will keep my word.

24:54An emphatic repetition of what he's already said. The person who really loves me is going to be the one who's paying attention and keeping my sayings and obeying my commandments. And if any person does such, look at what it says, and my father will love him, and we will come to him and make our abode with him. Jesus is saying, look, those who are paying attention to what I'm saying are going to be deeply loved and deeply cared for.

25:30By my Father. These words remind me of the truth that I read to you a little bit ago in Isaiah 66:2. For my hand has made all these. These are the things that came into being, declares the Lord. But to this is the one I will look, to him who is humble and contrite of spirit and who trembles at my word. God hasn't changed. God hasn't changed. The greatest company a soul can ever know is communion with the triune God. It's the whole reason you were created.

26:17Man isn't what he ought to be until he knows Christ and enters into relationship with the triune God. But look at these statements. And there are three future statements here. Look at this. First of all, he will love. You see that? The one who loves me will keep me. So the one who is currently loving me will keep my word. That will be an action that comes out of this individual. Do you love Jesus? Very, do you keep his word?

26:56Jesus, this is how Jesus defines it. This is how the Father Himself. Distinguishes humanity. The one who loves Jesus will keep his word, will be paying attention. But look at the three future promises that come out of this and that speak of a progressive stage in relationship with triune God. First of all, he will, my father will love him. My father will esteem him, highly prized him, treasure him. Strong language here. My father will highly prize him.

27:40Second, and we will come to him. We. I love this. We will come to him. And we will make our abode with him. Abode, home. We will make our dwelling place with him. So this has an application. This abiding presence of the triune God in your life has application in this life and in life to come. It is that state in which the believer experiences the immediate presence of God in their life, and that does not change just because you go through the veil of death. Just because you crossed the river. It is a new life. It is a new beginning. It's something we have even right now.

28:40You know, think about it like this. When's the last time you invited somebody that totally despised you over for dinner? And they didn't come. So you got irritated. And so you hired some hitmen to go out, find them, shackle them, and bring them over to your house and force them through your door and shackle them to your dinner table and have dinner with them. When's the last time you did that? Well, you really don't do that very much. At least I hope not, right?

29:18But think about this. If someone doesn't like a person, they're not going to spend time with them, right? I mean, who wants to spend time with somebody who you have to tie to the chair just to have fellowship with, right? You don't even spend an evening together with somebody like that. You don't even force your presence upon somebody for an evening, let alone a lifetime, and certainly not an eternity. You see, God is simply not going to abide with those who do not love Jesus.

30:00The good news, of course, is that he wants to abide with us. That's why he made us. Listen, believers, there is much more to heaven on earth. There's much more to a close relationship with God in this life than we realize. Revelation 3:20 says, This, Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and will dine with him and he with me. He's talking in the context of believers.

30:40Let him in. Let him in. How do you let him in? By paying attention to his commandments, to his sayings, to his preferences. And his fellowship with us is the greatest company a human soul can know. And I don't care who you are, no matter how poor you are, no matter how humble you are in this world's eyes, you are in the best of companies when you're in relationship with God, when the Father and Son come and make their permanent dwelling with you.

31:25It's the greatest company. You'll never alone. You can never be poor because you become that special, esteemed treasure of the Father and Son, and they dwell with you by their spirit. Friends, we have so much to treasure, so much given to us. This is the Christ of Scripture. This is Himself revealing Himself to us and expressing His desire to get to know you on a much more intimate level. He goes deep, it's not just about superficial breath.

32:11And remember the context here. Jesus told His disciples that He's leaving them. And what is He doing? He's going to go and prepare a place for them to dwell with their Father. And at the same time, what is He doing? He's joining with the Father in making a dwelling place in the believer. He's going to prepare a place in the Father's house for us to dwell. And at the same time, He is joining with the Father to come and dwell with us now.

32:51Such fellowship is eternal. It cannot end because God doesn't end. Let me tell you something from my fatherly perspective. I just love how Jesus repeatedly over and over again says, when you think about God, I want you to think of him as a father. And he constantly, my father, my father, my father. Listen, I am a very poor reflection of a father, of a good father, or of the father like what God is. But I can tell you, even as honest as I can be with myself, I want what is best for my family.

33:35All of my counsel, all of my rules, all of my activities, sin excluded because I'm fallen, but all of my counsel, all of my rules, all of my activities, they're all geared to this end for the well-being of my family. Now, my problem is I'm not omniscient. So my counsel and discipline are not always perfect. I am not omnipresent. So my ability to give them good things and to bring about good things and to ordain circumstances for their well-being, I am limited in. And then I'm fallen. Of course, my fallen flesh gets in the way, but let me tell you about our Heavenly Father. He's not like that at all. He is so much beyond that. And you can see a poor reflection of his goodness even in fallen fathers.

34:31And what a delight. He is omniscient. He knows everything. He knows what is absolutely good, absolutely just, absolutely perfect. And then he is omnipotent. He has all the power to arrange all the circumstances to bring about in your life that which is most good. And his gift is over-the-top good. So he gives us Christ. He gives us instruction, all aimed at our eternal well-being. So he gives us the promise of the greatest company, the richest company.

35:19But there's a negative side to that. And that is if we disregard, we suffer the greatest loss. And this is true about the world that will never know Jesus. They do not love Jesus. And they will miss out on the greatest company, which is their greatest loss. They will suffer catastrophic loss. And one of my favorite times growing up was the 4th of July, right? I think there's a pyro. Maniac, just about every little boy, loves fire, and fireworks gives you a reason to go out and light things on fire and blow things up. And I can remember taking all my money. My mom would always say, you know, all that money is just going to go right up in smoke. I'm like, yeah, but it's going to be big smoke, you know. And so I can remember getting those big packages of fireworks. You remember, and then, and usually there's one in the package, that's the grand finale, right? It's the big fountain or it's the big rocket, and you're just all night you're lighting the little things, and then thing comes the big one, and you light it. You know, there's probably nothing more disappointing in life when your grand finale firework turns out to be a dud. You light, nothing happens, right? I can remember just the whole night just seems to crumble when your main firework just turns into a big dud, especially ones I spent a lot of money on. So much potential, yet so much waste, right?

37:16But to have passed through this world without perceiving the beauty of Christ is catastrophic loss, and it's inexcusable. Listen, we live. In a broken world, for sure. And this broken world serves as the backdrop to see the beauty in Christ. Right? Don't let your life pass through this world without perceiving the beauty of Christ. Look all around. We see the fallen world around us. We experience the fallen world. We see an evil inhumanity. We see a brokenness. And against that backdrop, there is the beautiful one, Christ.

38:08He is honorable in every way. His use of power is honorable. He used his power to serve others. His humble disposition is honorable. He doesn't go strutting around magnifying self. I mean, he could have put himself on display. But he didn't. I find it hard to even watch the Olympics sometimes and root for some of our own athletes when they get so over the top proud of themselves. Oh, I still root for him because part of Team USA, you know, but it's hard to listen to an arrogant or to root for an arrogant athlete. And here's Jesus. He's totally different. He had.

39:00Every reason to put himself on mighty display and boast in himself, but his humble disposition is simply honorable. His care for others is very honorable, very beautiful. He is genuinely concerned for the well-being of others, genuinely concerned for you and for me. And he comes and he gives practical helps. He's truthful, always speaks and advocates for the truth. He's honorable. His commandments are good. You know, we need practical guidance. Whether it's he's dealing with the issue of self-control or making things right with others or forgiving people or giving generously to people in need, all of his counsel is so over-the-top good and honorable.

40:01In fact, a little commercial for the Titus I men. One of the things we're going to be focusing on as being lovers of good is Christ's commandments. If there's anything good, it's His instruction, right? So I hope you'll come out as we have His words and seek to keep His words, and so progress in being men who love what is good. But shame on a world that doesn't. Not welcome him. I mean, even if you think he's a little off, you certainly cannot discount his beauty.

40:45He's honorable in every way. But he is not off. He is spot on. And that is what the Father is telling us. That is why the Father delights in him and loves him and loves those who love him. He is humanity at its best. I mean, what does it say about a person that doesn't love what is lovely? What does it say about a society that doesn't love that which is lovable? You see, the fallen world provides a backdrop to contrast the beauty of Christ with its ugliness. And yet, even in a fallen world, we still see Christ's glory. We see an imminent beauty in nature, and we see heroic virtues displayed in people that are made in his image. So, to pass through this world without perceiving the beauty of Christ is catastrophic loss.

41:55Let me just reread the words we've been studying this morning. Verse 22, Judas not Iscariot said to him, Lord, what then has happened that you are going to disclose yourself to us and not to the world? Jesus answered and said, If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my father will love him, and we will come to him and make our abode with him. He who does not love me does not keep my words, and the word which you hear is not mine, but the Father's who sent me. These verses tell us who ultimately goes to heaven and why, and they also tell us who does not go to heaven and why.

42:31Only those who love Jesus are going to abide with him. No one else will. In fact, no one else wants to. And yet, love for Jesus is itself a work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. That's what initially inclines us to Jesus. There must be a love there to incline us to him. And without such inclination, no one will value Jesus, and a person can never know Jesus. And so, knowing these truths, we are to cry out to God, on behalf of ourselves, give us a greater love for Christ. Give our loved ones a love for Christ. Give all those we come into contact with an inclination. Let them start esteeming Christ and seeing the beauty. Of him for who he is.

43:35So, Judas's question was a good question. And I hope that you will not be part of the world that will never know him. The good news is, right now you can put your faith in the certainty of his being. You can pay attention to what he has to say. You can obey him. You can honor him, and you can enjoy a loving relationship with him. But it starts by simply taking him at his word, choosing to believe him, simply because his word says so.

44:19Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we know deep down in the heart of humanity from the very beginning is it had a lack of love for you. Father, and we confess this morning that we are a people whose love is not what it ought to be, but and we request a greater love for Christ. Give us greater faith, give us greater knowledge, give us greater understanding, and incline our hearts more and more to love, to enter into that beautiful progression and cycle of loving you, knowing more about you, loving you more, and understanding. You more and fellowshipping with you more and loving you more, and help us just to enter into that beautiful cycle of growing in Christ's likeness and fellowship with you. Father, we confess we don't have time for what is good, we don't have time for just to walk around and do what's good, we only have time for what is best. And so, Father, we may justify many good activities, but we confess our time is short and we only have time for what is best. And so, we ask that you would create in us, magnify our hearts to be more and more in love, enlarge our hearts that we may have a greater capacity to love your Son. Thank you. And I want y'all to continue to pray.