Obedience: The Test of Our Love

SPEAKER 02 : 0:01

Welcome to the InTouch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Thursday, July 31st. If we truly love God, we’ll do what matters most to Him. And what is that? It’s simple. We show our love by obeying Him, because obedience is the test of our love.

SPEAKER 01 : 0:19

When you say to someone, I love you, what do you mean by that? You say, well, that depends on to whom I say it. If I say it to just a casual friend, maybe it means one thing. If I say it to my children, I mean something else. But when you say I love you, what do you really mean by that? Well, suppose somebody says to you, I love you. What do you think they expect from you as a result of that? Do they have any expectation at all, or are they just saying, expressing something they feel on the inside? In fact, the truth is, if you had to define love, you might have a little difficult defining it. And if you look around you and look at the world and the way the world expresses all the different ways they say they’re loving people, Most any of us would be confused by what love really is because oftentimes people say I love you and horribly mistreat us. Sometimes they say I love you and it’s sort of a casual joking kind of thing. But you know with God loving is not joking. There’s nothing that has any lack of seriousness in it when God begins to talk about love. Sometimes we say God I love you, Lord I love you. I wonder what we really mean by that. Well, sometimes it’s real unclear to us what we mean. And we say, well, Lord, as best I know my heart, I love you. But with him, none of this is unclear. It’s very, very clear what he means when he says to us, I love you. And he wants it to be very clear to us when we say to him, I love you, Lord. He wants us to know exactly what we’re saying, what that means. And for it to be meaningful to him, There’s something that is required when we say it. So what I want to talk about in this message is simply this, and this is the title, Obedience, the Test of Our Love. And I want you to turn, if you will, to John chapter 14. John chapter 14, and any time the Lord repeats something over and over and over again, it’s because He wants to make an emphasis on it. And so when he says the very same thing three times in one chapter, he really means he wants us to listen. And you sometimes laugh and sort of joke about the fact that I say to you, are you listening? Well, it’s because I want you to hear what I’m saying. Because it’s not my opinion, it’s what God says. And when he says, Jesus said, verily, verily, I say to you, I think he was saying the same thing. Are you listening? Truly, truly, I say to you. Because he’s very clear about what he says. And when he repeats something three times, you know he’s trying to get your attention. And if you’ll think about this 14, 15, 16, 17 chapters of John, the night before his crucifixion, and he’s reminding them of some very important things. For example, he said, now, I want you to remember, I’m not going to leave you as orphans. I’m coming again. So the Holy Spirit’s going to come, and he’s going to be in you, with you, and upon you. And over and over and over again, he is encouraging them and reminding them of some things he doesn’t want them to forget. And amidst all the talk about the Holy Spirit and about who he is and where he’s going and what he’s going to do, he drops this in three times. Look, if you will, beginning in verse 14 of the 14th chapter. He says, if you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. Now listen, if you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. If you love me, you will keep my commandments. Look, if you will, in the 21st verse. He says, he who has my commandments and keeps them is the one who loves me. Verse 23, 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. Now, let’s look at these verses for a moment. Look back again in Verse 15, he says, if you love me, you will keep my commandments. What does the word keep mean? Well, in other words, if I love his word, if I love his commandments, to keep them means I’m going to guard them, I’m going to follow them, I’m going to treasure them, and that’s the path I’m going to take. I’m going to keep his commandments. verse 23 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 he says the words my words are the words of the father so he says if you and i are living in disobedience to him he says we don’t love him so if i walked up to you and said do you love god And you watch how people say, well, you know, I love my children, but. I love my husband and my wife, but. But, but, but. I love them, but. And then there’s mistreatment, and there are derogatory statements, and criticism, and all kind of rejection. And we say, well, yes, I do love them, but. It’s very clear what he means when he says, if you love me, you will guard. You won’t just hold it in your hand. You will guard these truths. You will follow these truths. They will be a compass and a guide to your life. You will treasure these truths. And you will treasure them because you see them as God’s roadmap for your life. You see them as God’s direction for your life. You see them as God’s personal word to you as to how you ought to live your life. And how often we say, He’s planned the best for you. He has the best in mind. He’s stored up the best for you. And if you and I choose to walk His pathway in obedience to Him, we will experience God’s very best in our life. And how often we say, He’s planned the best for you. He has the best in mind. He’s stored up the best for you. And if you and I choose to walk His pathway in obedience to Him, we will experience God’s very best in our life. So the question is this. Do you just tell him you love him? Or do you really love him? You say, well, I have to think about it. You don’t have to think about it. He said, this is how clear this is. If you love me, you keep my commandments. You guard them. You treasure them. You follow them. You obey them. He says, if you love me, you will keep them. You’ll keep the commandments. You’ll keep my word. And he says, my word is the Father’s word. And so the truth is, I can nail this down real clearly in my own life and in your life. If you and I are living in obedience to God, we’re loving him. If we’re not living in obedience to him, we don’t love him. You say, well, I just don’t think you can say that. I didn’t. I’m just quoting Jesus. I’m just quoting what he says. He says, if you love me, you keep my commandments. He says, one of the indications you don’t love me, he who does not love me does not keep my words. Now, let me clarify one thing. That doesn’t mean that if you do something or if you sin against God, let’s say you got real, you lost your temper. You were ugly as you could be at somebody and you just blessed them out. And as soon as you walked away, you knew you’d done the wrong thing. In fact, the truth is you knew you were doing the wrong thing when you were doing it, but you did it anyway. You just, they caught you the wrong way and you had a moment of weakness and you just blessed them out. Well, does that mean that you don’t love God? All of us sin at times. Amen. Amen. And not because we necessarily want to, but at that moment we want to, we wouldn’t do it. Now, so to say that a person doesn’t love God because they commit a sin that’s not their lifestyle, not what they want in life. In other words, we can’t say that people don’t love God because they sin here or sin there. What we’re talking about is this, that people whose lifestyle They’re selfish. They’re self-centered. They live in sin, and it may not be that it’s always that much. But oftentimes, people have no heart for being obedient to God. They’re not being obedient to God. They don’t love God. Now, you can be saved and not love God. You say, well, how in the world could I be saved and not love God? You can be saved and not love God. because you see the truth is he says we will keep his commandments not do my commandments once in a while not keep my word once in a while he said you will keep my commandments that is it’s our lifestyle it’s the way God wants us to live and so if I’m keeping his commandments that is the way I think that’s what motivates me that’s what moves me that’s what I want to do daily in other words we want to be able to say what Jesus said and that is he says always do those things that are pleasing to the Father Well, if you and I are always doing those things pleasing to the Father, we can’t say always, but we can say that’s my heart’s desire, that’s where I am in life, that’s what I desire, that’s the bent of my heart to be absolutely obedient to Him. There will be those moments when any of us, we are not. At that moment, we are not expressing and showing and demonstrating love toward God. But that should be an exception in our life. And that’s why I want to say again and again and again, holiness is a way of life. sanctification. Listen, we are saved, we are sanctified, and that is we are set apart by God for holy living, righteous living, godly living, obedient living to the Lord. That’s His goal, that’s His pattern, that’s His desire for our life. So he says, now, three times that night, because he knew it was coming, he says, now, if you love me, you’re going to obey me. He knew it was going to be tough. It’s going to be difficult. They were going to be threatened. Their lives are going to be in danger. And he knew that he was going to protect them through all of that. But out there, when they were carrying out the great commission, he says, I’m reminding you, if you love me, you will obey my commandments. You will keep my word. And my word is the Father’s word. And so what we have to ask is this, is that our lifestyle? Do we just parrot, I love you, Lord? Or is there any real genuine evidence that you and I are in love with the living God? Now, this isn’t something new. Go all the way back to Deuteronomy chapter 6. You recall in Deuteronomy chapter 6 that God has given Moses some direction for the people of Israel, and he’s making some things very clear. And you remember now, they’ve been in Egyptian bondage for all those 400 years, and their generations have grown up there with all the paganism and the heathenism, the unbelief and the ignorance about one true God, and they worshipped everything imaginable. So he wants to get this very straight with them. Here’s what he says. Remember now, they’ve come out of bondage, and here’s what he says in the fourth verse of the sixth chapter of Deuteronomy. For new Christians, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. Listen. He says, verse four, “‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one. “‘You shall love the Lord your God.’ With all your heart, with all your soul, with all your might, these words which I’m commanding you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently. So what is he doing? He’s linking obedience to loving God. I want you to turn, if you will, to Nehemiah. Let’s move on over a few books to Nehemiah. Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1st, 2nd, 3rd. Nehemiah, move on over there for a moment. Then I want you to notice what he says in this very first chapter. And you remember that Nehemiah is the cupbearer of the king. He’s in foreign land. And in a few days or a few weeks there, he’s going to be confronted with something. But when he hears the bad news that’s been happening in Jerusalem, the walls have broken down, the gates have been burned, here’s what happens. He says, if you’ll notice in verse four, when I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days and I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven. And listen to what he said. I said, I beseech you, O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who preserves the covenant and loving kindness for those who love him and do what? Keep his commandments. So, in Deuteronomy, he links up love and obedience. Again, he links up love and obedience. Go all the way over to a prayer that Daniel prayed. Ezekiel, Daniel. Look at that for a moment. Daniel, the ninth chapter. And he’s praying to the Father here about the condition of things. And listen to what he says in this ninth chapter. And I want you to notice how, again, he links it up. He said God got his attention, and he says, I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek him by prayer and supplication with fasting sackcloth and ashes. And verse 4 of chapter 9 says, I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed and said, Alas, O Lord, the great and awesome God who keeps his covenant and loving kindness for those who love him and keep his commandments. How many of you have said to your kids, If you love me, you will obey me, right? Right. Now, don’t sit there like you didn’t ever say that, because I’m sure you did. You probably said some stronger things than that. But you said, if you love me, you will obey me, which is absolutely natural. In other words, a child who is absolutely a rebel against their parents and uses profanity, criticizes their parents, takes advantage of them, takes money that they shouldn’t take, and misuses the things that their parents give them, and you say, well, if you love me, you entreat me that way. And you know what? We would agree, right? Then we turn right around and do God the same way. Turn right around and what do we do? People sometimes who believe us, they profane the name of God. They do not use their resources properly. They disobey Him by their critical attitude, by the things in life that are absent that ought to be there, the things that ought not to be there that are there. And we say, well, sure, I love God. In fact, more than likely, you can walk out on any street in America and walk up to a stranger and say, do you love God? You’d be rare if you met somebody who said, no, I do not. Most of them are going to say, well, sure I do. They don’t have any earthly idea what they’re talking about. What that means is I have a good feeling about him. They don’t even know who he is. They don’t know the Word of God. They’ve never studied the Word of God. They don’t listen to preaching. And so, do you love God? Why, sure I do. They think the idea is why everybody loves God. Now, here’s what they’re loving. They love this figment of their imagination, which they have created in their own minds, and this God fits their lifestyle. That’s why they say, I love him. It fits their lifestyle. When somebody says, well, tell me about your theology. And you see, we say that a person’s theology will govern their conduct. Well, that’s true, but there’s another side of that. For many people, their conduct governs their theology. This is the way I want to live, therefore, this is what I believe. And many people act that way. This is the way I want to live, this is what I believe. What they don’t realize is they determined what they believed after they determined how they wanted to live. And so they want to live in a way that is convenient and comfortable to them, and God is only on the outside, and when they need Him, they’ll call upon Him. There’s so many people who are totally deceived about the fact that they love God. How can you love a God you do not know? How can you love a God whose commandments you do not know and do not understand for the simple reason you are interested in those things? When he says, if you love me, you will obey me, and you cannot love God and totally ignore his word. And I’m going to show you that in a moment. if you love me, you will keep my commandments. So all the way from the Old Testament, all the way back to Joshua, all the way back to Moses, all the way back to the saints of old, what’s happening? God is linking up loving him with obeying him. And so you can’t separate them. They’re inseparable in the mind of God. In our mind, they’re not. Now, for example, somebody says, well, I know that’s God’s measuring rod, that I obey Him. That’s a sign of my love for Him. But let’s think about this. For example, you know, I serve the Lord. I serve the Lord in church, and I’m on this committee or that committee, or I do this or I do that, or I serve Him somewhere else, and so therefore, surely I love Him, I wouldn’t be serving. Not necessarily. You can have a place of service because you get acceptance. You get approval. It makes you feel good. Or it may be that that service may happen to be your spiritual gift, and therefore… because it’s your spiritual gift, you just enjoy serving other people. It’s not necessarily because you love God. And so your service can indicate your love for Him because you do love Him, you want to serve Him. But you could be serving God out of some other motivation. So it’s not just a matter of service. Somebody says, I know I love God because I spend time praying. Well, what are you praying about? And certainly if you love God, you’re going to pray. Certainly if you love God, you’re going to meditate upon His Word. but is that an indication that you are loving God not really You can pray, listen, any one of us can pray the most selfish prayer, get on your knees at night, lie on the bed and say, Lord, I just want to thank you for protecting me during the day. I want to thank you for what you’ve given me here, and you’ve blessed me there and protected me there. And Lord, here’s my list for tomorrow. I want you to do the following ten things tomorrow. Then, you know what, we don’t say this, but it’s the way we feel sometimes. Then I’ll know you really love me. Did you know that God’s not on the spot to be proving it? Listen, God doesn’t have to prove anything. There’s one ultimate proof of His love. One ultimate proof, the cross is God’s ultimate proof that He loves you. You can’t put Him on some test every day to see if He loves you. The issue is do you love Him? Somebody says, well, you know, I read, listen, I’ve read the Bible through for 10 years. Every single year I’ve read it through. Wonderful. Is that a sign you love God? Not necessarily. You may like to say, read the Bible through for 10 solid years in a row. Bless me. That may be your attitude. Now, I hope it’s because you love him and can’t get enough of it. But just reading the scripture doesn’t mean that you love God. And isn’t it interesting that Jesus never said, if you love me, you will read my word. You love me, you will pray. You love me, you will do… In other words, he says, if you love me, you’ll obey me. Because you see… It isn’t the same thing for everybody. I couldn’t say, well, if you’re not willing to preach the gospel, you don’t love God. Well, that’s not true. That may not happen to be your gift. In other words, as best you know his will for your life, are you walking in obedience to him? Are you doing the things that you know he wants you to do? Are you doing things that you know he does not want you to do? Things that you’re allowing in your life that does not fit who you are, his will, purpose, plan for your life. You want his best, but you keep canceling it out. And see, when you start talking about using the word love, it’s got to have some foundation to it. It’s got to have some meaning to it. And Jesus says, here’s what I mean by love. Love equals obedience. And my friends, you and I can substitute a thousand different words for obedience, and it won’t work. There’s only one word, and that’s obedience.

SPEAKER 02 : 19:20

Thank you for listening to Obedience, the Test of Our Love. For more inspirational messages like this one, visit our online 24-7 station. And if you’d like to know more about Charles Stanley or InTouch Ministries, stop by InTouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of InTouch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.