The following sermon was delivered by the Reverend John W. Howell, Rector of Truro Episcopal Church in Fairfax, Virginia, on May 8, 1983. The title is Keep My Commandments, and the scripture reference is the Gospel of John, chapter 14, verses 23 through 29. 

The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John. I'm reading from the 14th chapter beginning at the 23rd verse. You might care to follow along in the Pew Bibles.

Chapter 14, verse 23. Jesus said, If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home 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 things I have spoken to you while I am still with you, but the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you, not as the world gives do I give to you.

Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, I go away and I will come to you. If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I go to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place, you may believe.

The Gospel of the Lord. If you are following along, I want to particularly call your attention to the fact that everything that I've just read is in fact Jesus' response to a direct question that's raised in the immediately preceding verse. It says, Judas, not Iscariot.

See, there were two Judases. this one is sometimes called Saint Jude to distinguish him from the betrayer Judas not Iscariot said to him Lord how is it that you will manifest yourself to us and not to the world look up a little bit before that to verse 19 and you see what provoked the question Jesus said yet a little while and the world will see me no more but you will see Me. Now this was spoken on the eve of the crucifixion.

And Jesus was looking beyond the crucifixion, beyond three days in the tomb, beyond Easter resurrection. He was looking in fact beyond the 40 days of intermittent appearances. He was looking all the way to the ascension, which we celebrate this week, 40 days after Easter.

When, he says, I'm going to be taken up out of the world, and the world will see me no more. But you're going to go on seeing me. And Jude is sitting there scratching his head, and he says, Lord, how can that be?

If you're going to be taken up out of the world, and the world isn't going to see you anymore, how can we go on seeing you? How will you make yourself manifest to us? And I want you to see that Jesus' answer to that question has two parts.

And taken together, they constitute the very essence of the Christian life. We're at rock-bottom basics today. The first answer is that this is the work of the Holy Spirit.

You will see me because the Holy Spirit is going to come among you. In fact, this is the supreme work of the Holy Spirit. To make Jesus known, to make Him real, to make Him manifest in the lives of His followers.

Look over at chapter 16 and verse 14. Jesus says, He, still talking about the Holy Spirit, He will glorify Me, for He will take what is Mine and declare it to you. whatever else you want to say about the Holy Spirit, the supreme work of the Holy Spirit of God is to glorify Jesus.

And as a matter of fact, that's a pretty good test for what purports to be the work of the Holy Spirit. If it brings glory to Jesus, then it's probably the genuine article. But if it calls attention to itself, if it becomes divisive, if it distracts us from Jesus, then at best, it's suspect.

The supreme work of the Holy Spirit of God is to glorify Jesus. And the way that He primarily does that is by making Jesus known to His followers. Back again in chapter 14.

Look at verse 16. Jesus says, I will pray to the Father and He will give you another counselor. That's a very interesting phrase.

Another Counselor. Surely you remember that one of the great prophecies of the Old Testament, 700 years before Jesus, Messiah is being spoken about by the prophet Isaiah. And Isaiah says, And these will be His great names.

Wonderful Counselor. Right? Wonderful Counselor.

Mighty God. Everlasting Father. Prince of Peace.

Incredible names. You stop and think about it. For unto us a child is born.

Unto us a son is given. And the government shall be upon his shoulders. Well, none of that is all that unusual.

Children are born every day. Sons are born every day. And some of them are born to be governors.

baby Prince William is born to be king and all the world knows it. That's not all that unusual but the rest of it is astonishing. These will be his great names.

Wonderful Counselor. Mighty God. The child is going to be born.

An ordinary child who is totally unlike any other. everlasting father he's going to be born and yet he's everlasting prince of peace see Jesus fulfilled all of those and the one we're thinking about just now is that he was a wonderful counselor that's what he was to his disciples he was a wonderful counselor you see not just one who gives good advice but one who demonstrates the goodness of what He's talking about. He becomes the living example.

He is shepherd and guide and example. He makes manifest God to His followers, to His disciples. He says, I've been your counselor.

But I'm about to leave, and I will pray the Father and He will send you another counselor. You get it? One like Myself.

One like Myself. What I have done among you in My earthly ministry is exactly the same thing that the Holy Spirit is going to do among you forevermore. He will be with you forever.

Just as I've made the Father known to you, so He will make Me known to you forevermore. And the difference is that whereas during the three years of His earthly ministry, Jesus was limited by His body to being in one place at any given time, He says this other Counselor is going to actually come and live inside you. So wherever you go, He goes.

And however many there are of you, He's going to be in as many places as you are. And that's His principal work is to make me known, to make me real, to make me manifest to You. This is why Jesus says it's actually better if I go away.

If I don't go away, He can't come. If I go away, I'll pray the Father and He'll come and He'll be with you forever, wherever you go. That's actually better.

They couldn't understand that until it became reality. He'll take what is Mine and declare it to you. Sometimes people say, I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior, and now He lives in my heart.

Have you heard that? Maybe you've said that. That's not, strictly speaking, accurate.

Jesus does not live inside your heart. Jesus is at the right hand of the Father, wherever that is. Luther said, everywhere and nowhere.

Jesus is at the right hand of the Father, but Jesus sends His own Spirit to live inside of us. the identification is so close between Jesus and the Spirit that in three places in the New Testament He is called the Spirit of Jesus. So it's really a kind of a theological shorthand.

What we're really saying is I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior and He sent His own Holy Spirit to live inside me and make me a new creature and to make Jesus known to me. so that's the first answer Lord how will you manifest yourself to us by sending my Holy Spirit to live inside you and make me known sometimes folks speak about spirit filled Christians I really hate that phrase there isn't any other kind there really isn't the book of Romans says he who does not have the spirit of Christ does not belong to him you can't be a Christian without the Holy Spirit being inside you you are spirit filled whether you like it or not say you are you have the Holy Spirit now he may not have all of you but you have Him if you name the name of Christ. What I want you to see is that this first answer involves the sovereign act of God.

Jesus says, I will pray and the Father will send. The Father will send the Holy Spirit to live inside you and to make me known to you. But the second answer involves the obedient response of God's people.

Look again. Jesus says, verse 23, If a man loves Me, he'll what? He'll keep My Word.

If a man loves Me, he'll keep My Word and My Father will love him and we'll come to and make our home with him. Back in verse 15, If you love Me, you will what? Keep My commandments.

Boy, how we have passed over that one. Peter, do you love Me? Yes, Lord, You know I love You.

Then do something about it. Feed My sheep. Christian, do you love Me?

then do something about it. Keep My commandments. Do you think He meant it?

He meant it! But I thought it was all of grace. Yeah, it is all of grace.

That's right. Nothing you can do to earn it. But if you've received grace, doesn't that begin to warm your heart and change your priorities?

Doesn't that begin to alter the way you live? The Holy Spirit's living inside you. Do you dare to say that?

Doesn't that begin to make you a new creature? If you love Me, keep My commandments. It's that basic.

Yes, Lord, I love You. And I'll go on being just exactly the way I have always been. No difference.

You don't love Me. The Holy Spirit wants to make Jesus known to us, but we quench the work of the Spirit when we resist the will of God. I'll put it to you this way.

The fruit of the Spirit only grows in the garden of obedience. Only. Only.

We say, fill my cup, Lord. Fill it up and let it overflow. He can only fill it if it's already clean.

If it's full of garbage, He can't fill it. If you're living in sin, right now, today, Christian, Christian, if you're living in sin, if you're in the midst of adultery right now, or in some other immoral relationship. Or if you're in the midst of a business deal that you know stinks in the nostrils of God.

Or if there's a broken relationship in your life and you've not done everything you can to fix it. Or if you're cultivating bitterness in your heart towards somebody who's hurt you. They were 100% wrong.

You were 100% right. Not likely. But maybe.

And now you're cultivating bitterness toward that person. That's sin. You're 100% wrong.

Or if you've been gossiping. Who's he talking about? if you're living in sin you're quenching the work of the Holy Spirit and you may think that you know Jesus but you're living in a fool's paradise it comes down to you can't get more basic than this if we're not ruthless in ripping out the weeds they are going to choke the wheat and destroy it.

Jesus said, chop off the hand that offends you. Better to enter the kingdom of God maimed than to go to hell in one piece. I didn't say that.

Jesus said that. And Christians in this and every church are going along thinking that everything's just fine with Jesus paying absolutely no attention. to His Word on the subject, if you love Me, keep My commandments.

It's not a really easy word to give. But it comes down to this. God cannot bless that which is contrary to His own character.

He cannot do it. He will not do it. God cannot bless sin.

All He can do with sin is forgive it. And He can't forgive sin unless we repent of it. Sin killed Jesus on the cross and it will kill Jesus in your life and mine.

Peter said the time has come for judgment to begin with the household of God. And if it begins with us, what will be the end of those who do not obey the Gospel of God? Have you ever thought about that phrase?

Obey the Gospel? Obey the Gospel? What will be the end of those who do not obey the Gospel of God?

Lord, how will You manifest Yourself to us? How will You do it, Lord? How will You make Yourself known to us?

By sending My Holy Spirit to live inside those who love Me and who keep My commandments. Let's bow our heads. David said, Lord, search me and try me and see if there be any wicked way within me that I might bring that thing to the light and confess it and repent of it and be cleansed of it so that I might be filled with Your Spirit.

If the Lord has been speaking to you about any particular area of your life, would you just ask Him to forgive you of that sin and to help you to have done with it as of this very moment? Dear Lord Jesus Christ, day by day, three things I pray to see Thee more clearly. to love Thee more dearly and to follow Thee more nearly.

Amen. Amen.