Promises. Awesome promises. We have all had some awesome promises made to us by people in our past. Some were kept. Some were not.
Back in February 1967, when I turned 16 years old, my Dad promised to teach me how to drive when the weather turned for the better. Sure enough, in the spring of that year my Dad kept his promise. I climbed into the driver’s seat of my Dad’s 1966 Ford Galaxy 500 (which felt like a battleship to a young neophyte wanna-be driver) and my Dad became my driving instructor, my driving counselor. He taught me how to grip the steering wheel, how to work the gas and brake pedals, how to glance, “not stare” into the mirrors, how to parallel park, and all of the intricate things that one must do to be a safe, competent automobile operator.
Now, lest you think it was all fun and games, I assure you that my Dad was quite capable and willing to point out and correct my mistakes. He did that, not because it gave him a thrill, but because it was necessary for my good and safety, and because my Dad loved me. He promised me that if I would listen to him, the counselor, I would enjoy driving for years to come.
Well, in today’s Gospel reading, we learn of another promise; of another Counselor, and what an awesome promise it is! Hear John’s account of what Jesus has to say:
Sometimes I find myself thinking that living would be so much simpler if Jesus had never left. We wouldn’t have to struggle with doubts or fears. It would be so much less complicated and better for us if we could just reach out and touch our Risen Lord, wouldn’t it?
Actually, it would not. Christ had to leave this Earth and return to Heaven so that our salvation might be made complete. He had to go and take His place at the right hand of the Father in order to be our daily Intercessor. But before He left, He gave us this truly awesome promise. He promises to send another Person, not an “it”, a Person whom He calls the “Counselor”. Jesus wanted to let the disciples know that He loved them, and that He would never forsake them. So He tells them that he would ask the Father to send the Third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, to indwell them, guide them, teach them, and love them.
This promise is awesome, and it is a promise that Jesus intends to keep. Hear again His words, “…and I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever – the Spirit of Truth.” Jesus knows that we human beings, left to our own devices, can forget about truth and turn from goodness to evil in a heartbeat. So, out of His concern and love for us, He has sent the Holy Spirit to help us to deal with God’s truth.
Pontius Pilate asked Jesus, “What is truth?” Many people ask that same question today. Pilate, the world’s representative, was telling Jesus that he placed no stock in any absolute truth. He was saying, as many say today, that truth is relative to what you want it to be or perceive it to be.
You’ve probably all heard someone say something like, “I feel that may be truth for you, but not for me.” Folks, we need to understand, and teach others to understand, that truth has nothing to do with how we feel. Truth just simply is. So Jesus tells the Disciples that, “the world cannot accept Him (the Holy Spirit), because it neither sees Him nor knows Him, but you know Him for He lives with you, and will be in you.” Jesus was telling the Disciples that:
And there folks is the rub. While the promise is available to each and every person, the promise is not an open-ended, non-conditional promise. To take advantage of this promise, a person has to be a child of God.
“Well, Pastor,” you say, “isn’t every person a child of God?” According to Scripture, the answer to that question is unfortunately, “No”. While every person is God’s creation, not every person is God’s child. Listen to Jesus’ words to the Pharisees in John 8:41-47: “You are doing the things your own father does.” The Pharisees answer, “The only Father we have is God Himself.” Jesus responds, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I came from God and am now here. I have not come on my own, but He sent Me. Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the Devil, and you want to carry out you father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies he is speaking his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear, is that you do not belong to God.”
Now, hear Jesus’ words again from today’s reading: “If you love Me, you will obey my commands. Whoever hears My commands, and obeys them, he is one who loves Me.” Jesus is saying that if we truly love Him, the natural result is that we will strive to obey His commands. Oh, we may fall occasionally, but the effort to obey will be foremost on our minds.
In our world today, obedience to the Word of God is very often considered old-fashioned, out-of-date and not fitting in with the modern “wisdom” of the day. For instance, the Ten Commandments are under constant attack. People say the Ten Commandments are, “too burdensome” or “out-of- date” or “too hard to keep”. But what does God say to us who are His children? He says, “This is love for God; to obey His commands. And His commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.” (1 John 5:3-4)
By grace we are given faith and our faith is able to overcome the world’s sinful desires and temptations. By grace our faith enables us to follow God’s commands, to love and obey, not because we feel we must, but because we love our Lord because He first loved us when we were unlovable!
Even though the world around us, and sadly even some within the Church, may tell us to “Live the way you want. It doesn’t matter. God loves us all and won’t condemn anyone to Hell.”, the Lord says, “Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house upon a rock.” If we truly love our Lord, we will desire to follow in His footsteps; we will desire to obey Him with all of our hearts, and He will give us the power to do so.
Those people who claim to be followers of Jesus Christ, yet continue to live lives contrary to the teachings, commands and will of God according to Scripture, are fooling themselves and playing a game that can have disastrous, eternal consequences. Those who say “I am what I am, God made me this way I and cannot change” have no clue as to the power of Jesus Christ to change lives. If He truly cannot change them, then He cannot change anybody. If that is the case, we are all doomed to Hell for our sins.
But I can tell you that He has indeed changed my life. And if He could do it for me, He most certainly can do it for you. Two times in John 14 Jesus tells His disciples, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Peace I leave with you.” Those words are also for you and me, God’s children. By grace we know the promises of God. As God’s children, we love the Lord and that love moves us to obey His commands.
Just as we know the promises of the Lord, we know that they are true and sure. Listen to what Joshua told God’s children as they were entering the Promised Land: “You know with all of your heart and soul that not one of all of the good promises the Lord your God has given you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed.” By God’s grace, you and I know God’s promises. They number many, and they are always true. He never goes back on a promise. But there often are things we must do to fulfill our end of the bargain. Hear Jesus’ words again: “If you love Me, you will obey my commands, and I will ask the Father, and He will send you another Counselor to be with you forever.” That is God’s awesome promise to us who are God’s children, who love and obey Him.
If you are not sure if you are able to claim this promise for yourself, you can find that assurance. Turn your entire life over to Jesus right now. Do not hold anything back. If there is something, anything, in your life that may be keeping this promise from you, turn that something over to Jesus Christ right now, and He will give you the power to defeat the enemy within and replace him with the Holy Spirit of the Living God, who will be your Counselor, your Comforter, your Protector for all eternity. Amen!