Unveiled - Week 2

Let’s open our bibles together to John chapter 14. Last week we began a new series called, Unveiled. And the purpose of this series is to dive into some of the characteristics of what Holiness is. One truth we learned last week is that when it comes to experiencing something new, like a new career or perhaps even new relationships, or even when it comes to walking by faith, we want the rules. We want to know how to do it, where to do it, when to do it, and we just want a road map to whatever it is we’re trying to do. And we learned last week, Jesus didn’t come to give new rules, He came to give a new identity. And that truth is rooted in what we’re going to explore today in Johns gospel. Read with me in Johns gospel, and look at chapter 14, and we’re gonna start reading together in verse 8. 8 “Lord,” said Philip, “show us the Father, and that’s enough for us. 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been among you all this time and you do not know me, Philip? The one who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who lives in me does his works.

So that’s the image part. He’s telling Philip the one who has seen me, has seen the father. Jesus is saying, the Father and I are one. Here in a moment, Jesus is going to begin to link the rest of the story where he’ll tell the disciples that soon, you and I will be one, through the Holy Spirit. That’s what Paul tells us in Galatians, that, by faith, so faith is the connection here. By faith, God the Father will put the Spirit of His Son within His people whom come to him by faith, and the Spirit of the Son will cry out Abba Father within them. Right? So, Jesus in this moment is, in my opinion, speaking of his own holiness with the Father. Listen to his words, We are one, He is in me, and I am in him and the Father does his will thorough me. What was Jesus saying? He was saying that the image of God the Father was in him. Lets continue further to root out the Scripture our topic for this morning. Verse 11,

11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Otherwise, believe because of the works themselves. 12 “Truly I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do. And he will do even greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.

Now, here is where the image begins to produce something. Jesus just a moment ago mentioned works. He says, You know the Father is in me because of the works themselves. Because of the fruit being produced. Jesus is speaking on a faith that works. It’s very important that we understand that salvation comes by faith alone, not by our works. And There two types of faith, There is Living faith, and also, dead faith. In the book of Matthew Jesus says, you will know them by their fruits. Living faith, faith with the Spirit of God within us, produces fruit. This fruit is produced through abiding in Christ. Dead faith is the opposite. Dead faith doesn’t have fruit. And Specifically, dead faith does not care for the poor. Dead faith focuses on what I can do, and then focuses on who gets the glory for what I did. Well talk about that another time, because thats not the emphasis on unveiling holiness for us this morning… but I will say this, When we have the image of Christ we will alway reflect his compassion to others. That fruit…. hes; talking about is us living a life o compassion for others… But listen to what Jesus says, about it… verse 15… Jesus says, 15 “If you love me, you will keep my commands.

Jesus is talking about obedience. In others versions we can read, If you love me, you will obey my commands. Now, Notice what Jesus didn’t say, Jesus didn’t say, If you do this task, It shows that you love me. Jesus didn’t say, If you come to church and pay tithes, or sing certain songs, you will prove your love for me. He didn’t say, if you say a prayer, or live your life in any way.. no, he says. if you love me…. You will keep my commandments. When it comes to obey, we must understanding that, Obedience is fueled by love. Can I ask.. do you know, as your shepherd, what my prayer is for Momentum Church? My prayer is this… that we would be rooted and Grounded in God’s Love in 2024. It comes from Ephesians 3:17. And that prayer begins with two emphasis… The first emphasis is this… I pray that we as a church family would be captivated by Gods love for us. Because that is where Love begins… Love begins with God, and we receive that love through our faith. Our love for God becomes our most inner burning desire where there are no more idols fighting for that love, not even the idol of self. To be glorified, to be justified, to be lifted up above anyone else. I John tells us, “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God. And so we are.” We are loved, because we are the children of God. We’re known. We’re loved. I wish some of you listening would really realize that…. That you are known and loved by God. We should desire to be a church that filled and compelled by God’s love for us. And that’s more than doing, it’s an act of worship that springs form a heart thats been changed and the Spirit of God now resides within us. Our life, together, as the body of Christ must be an act of worship. Remember Romans 12:1-2, that we live as living sacrifices. Living sacrifices means that our everyday life, our getting up and laying down is an opportunity for worship. And that leads me to share with you the second emphasis I’m praying for and it’s this… , Not only should we be compelled with God’s love for us, but we should also be compelled by God’s love for others. If we cant be a church that first loves God, and I mean we love him together, as a body, then loving others isn’t possible. We’ll hope others come, and maybe we’ll pray for others to join us, but would we truly love them when they come through those doors? Would we serve them? Would we put their needs over our own? Would we accept them, whether they are rich or poor, or anything else. Would we recognize that the gospel is meant to be shared among the congregation and the community we live in. Did you hear that? The gospel isn’t just for us in here. I need the gospel just as much as those out in the community far from God. I still need the gospel just as much as anyone else does. And that’s what drives the core statements, For others. 1 John goes on to say, in verse 11 For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Ans so obedience, it comes from a life that first has the love for the Father, because the Son resides within them, and obedience is an act of worship rather than just duty. When obedience is outside of love, it becomes about duty rather than authentic care and connection with God and with others.

So, how do we choose obedience? First, begin by leaning to listen. Theres a verse in I Samuel that I always think it’s funny, because Samual is hearing a voice and he things it’s his mentor Eli, and so he keeps going to Eli and saying, Are you calling for me? And Eli, recognizing that God might be talking to Samual tells Samuel the next time you hear the voice calling for you, instead of coming to me, respond by saying, Yes Lord, You servant hears. And so, Samuel went back to bed and again he heard the voice calling out to him, Samuel, and he responds back, yes Lord, You’re servant hears and it was God calling to Samual. What I love about this verse is that, “As Christians, we should strive to humbly listen to God with open hearts and open ears.” When I read I Samuel for the first time, I remover saying, I want this posture to mark my life on a daily basis. Don’t you want it to mark your life, where you are open at every moment to however God might speak to you through his word, through his spirit, and even through other people? That you have a soft heart toward God. That you are sensitive to his word and to his Spirit’s leadership in your life. This is a life of humility, this posture of listening to God is vital to experiencing intimacy with God. So listening is learning to loved find to seek for the voice of God. Jesus says, the sheep will know my voice. And to be honest, we have to many voices playing king of the hill in our minds and in our hearts. I remember one time, I was preparing for worship at family camp, and I sat in the back where all the other holy people sit, and right before service, I was reading myself and praying. To be honest with you, I was feeling rejected. Unloved, and I was being really down and hard on myself. And I heard a voice say in my heart, you worship to loudly. Throwing your hands up, and your voice carries over all the other people, and sometimes you even sing the wrong words… have you ever thought about being more meek and humble in your worship. And I was hurt. I began to cry, and I ran out of the tabernacle as worship began. All the people in the tabernacle were worshipping, and here I was outside ashamed, because I was feeling unloved, and unappreciated, and now convicted that my worship was too loud and sloppy. At the end of the service I went to Kerry and told him what I had heard, and he looked at me and said I don’t think that was the Holy Spirit speaking to you. Who are you listening to? And do you listen more to your self doubts than the goodness of Gods word, more than what God says about you.. that you’re wonderfully made. That he loves and cares for you. That he delights in you?

Because answer that question leads us into the second aspect of obedience, and it’s this, its trust. Proverbs says, Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. – Proverbs 3:5–6. Did you know that trusting is the currency of relationships? I remember back in January of 2021 when I was praying over the year. I wrote in my journal, if there is no trust, then your faith and relationships will rust. What that means is when trust is taken away we begin get hard. A hard heart towards God, or towards others stems from a heart that doesn’t trust. And maybe it’s from being hurt? Or maybe it was someone saying something to you that you trust, but even their perspective can be subjective, and wrong. I remember one time, in the oil and gas industry this big muscle dude came out of the store and I was sitting in the front seat and he reached into the window, grabbed me by the chest and say, I was told you were worthless piece of… you can use your imagination to finish that sentence… Some months later, he came to me one day and said, Im sorry. I was told by someone else that you were worthless, but honestly, your a hard worker. Just remember, you are not always what other say about you. Proverbs is what I call a foundational Bible verse. But let it soak in as if its the first time hearing it. God is saying, trust him with all of your heart. I just did the testimony video for Robyn and Jordan Morales, and the things they had to go through to get their son Nike from Haiti were just God led, and God trusting moments. And when it came to obedience and trusting God, they put their trust in listening for God and by faith hearing him say to them both, Trust in me with all your heart. And so they did. This is what it means to live by faith. It means to trust God with everything that’s happening in the world and everything that’s happening in our world, in our lives, with all our heart. Even when others mistreat us because of something they heard, put your trust in God, who knows all, sees all, and loves all… even the people who are saying the untruthful things about you. How are you trusting God? In everyday life, how are you leaning on him? God will never direct you in ways that are ultimately bad for you. No, always, always, always, he will make straight our paths. Does it mean the path will be easy or smooth? No. But it does mean that it will ultimately be good, and purposeful. And finally,

The third and final aspect of obedience is, commitment. What would happen, if today you came to the conclusion that you need to go all in with your faith? Where you would say, God, My life is a blank check, and you sign, and cash me however you wish? What would the look like for you? For me it was in the summer of 2010 when I had felt every urge to not pursue ministry. Where I had this bad dream that the enemy of our soul was saying, if you pursue your calling, I will not ravish you, but I will Ravish your family. And oh.. has he ravished us. And I remember going to church that Sunday, and sitting in the choir between two old ladies and when we began to sing amazing grace, tears began to flow and I began to uncontrollably sob. Later on that morning, the pastor gave the altar call and I went up and told him about my dream, and how I was fearful for my family. And he said, Matthew you need to be entirely sanctified. You need to give your life to God in full commitment to what he’s calling you into. And so, I did. I write on a piecing of paper, June 6th, everything. My life is now your life. My money is now your money. My family is now under your care and protection. I gave God the blank check of my life and my heart, and I said, I’ll do whatever you want me to do.” And just let me be honest with you.. its been a hard road. The enemy has often come to ravish my family. My wife has been hurt, my kids have been hurt by people claiming to be Christians. Often times, people will abandon you when you do the things God is calling you to do. Sometimes, just like Moses leading people out of slavery is dealing with people who refuse to repent, and give their life to God in full utter surrender. I cant make you submit to God, I cant make you love him, but I can live a life of faith where you can see the reflection of his grace in my life and perhaps, just maybe, you’ll want to pursue Christ with me. You see, friends, commitment isn’t just to God, but it’s also to those God calls you to love unconditionally. I believe the test of our commitment to God is whether or not we’re losing our neighbor as we love ourselves. And that begins right here in this worship setting. If we cant be committed to God and loving each other here, and understanding we all make mistakes, then how will we ever truly love those outside of this church?

But did you notice something in all three of these aspects of obedience… Listening, trusting, and commitment all require love. And so, obedience isn’t just doing, obedience is us living our the love of God, in our life, and extending it, and reflecting it out into the world for others to see Christ.

God is calling you and I into obedience…. To listen, to trust and to commit our lives to be the body of Christ, all through the love of Christ, for the glory of Christ, to build the kingdom of Christ… But question is… are you listening to the Holy Spirit, and will you come and give your life to him today?

*