Knowing Jesus

1. Knowing Jesus Lesson #5:What Does He Expects From Us? Text: John 14:15

2. Review: Knowing Jesus Knowing Jesus Who is He? How did He come? What He taught? Why He died? What does He expects from us? We need to get to know Jesus!

3. “Knowing Jesus” Means Knowing What Does He Expects From Us? He Expects Us To Love Him And Keep His Commands “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life , he cannot be My disciple. And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.” (Lk. 14:26-27) “If you love me, keep my commandments.” (Jh. 14:15) “You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.” (Jh. 15:14) To know Jesus, we must understand, “What He Expects?” Let’s explore Jesus’ expectations of us.

4. At The Most, He Expects Devotion and Allegiance Marriage between a man and a woman reminds us of this concept. Devotion to each one. One man, one woman, for life. - “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, they shall become one flesh.” (Ge. 2:24) God has always expected loyalty. A “covenant people” are loyal – “…if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine.” (Ex. 19:5) Spiritual adultery is failure to be loyal – “…I saw that for all the causes of backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a certificate of divorce...” (Jer. 3:8) “…with purpose of heart they should continue with the Lord.” (Ac. 11:23)

5. At The Most, He Expects Devotion and Allegiance Jesus wants us to “totally give ourselves” to the Lord! The “seemly impossible” can get done with our commitment to the Lord –“And this they did, not as we had hoped, but first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God.” (II Co. 8:5) When others threaten our relationship with Him, it is our devotion that sustains us –“…Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge…We ought to obey God rather than man.” (Ac. 4:19; 5:29)

6. At The Most, He Expects Us To Listen and Obey Our devotion is not just emotional, but purpose-driven. Jesus preached this concept Himself –“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock; and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. Now everyone who hears these sayings of Mine and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand; and the rain descended and the floods came, and the sands blew and beat on that house. And great was its fall.” (Mt. 7:14-27) Both listened and faced life’s storms, but one obeyed and the other did not - “Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like...” (Lk. 6:47-48)

7. At The Most, He Expects Us To Listen and Obey The Sermon on the Mount delivered by Jesus sets the expectations of those who would live in the kingdom. Jesus’ expectations of kingdom living - “Blessed are the…you have heard it said…but I say unto you…do not be like the hypocrites…do not worry…Not everyone who says to Me Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father…” (Mt. 5-7) James concurs - “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But whoever looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.”(Jm. 1:22-25)

8. At The Least, He Expects A Willingness To Try The Lord knows we have not earned the right to be His disciples - “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!...” (I Jh. 3:1) The Lord knows we will disappoint Him through our disobedience - “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us…if we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.” (I Jh. 1:8, 10) The Lord asks us to try to be faithful - “…be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life…test all things; hold fast to what is good…Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong...” (Rev. 2:10; I Th. 5:21; I Co. 16:13)

9. At The Least, He Expects A Willingness To Try We are accountable for what the Lord has entrusted us with (Mt. 25:14-30). We are waiting for His return - “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.”(Mt. 25:13). While waiting, we must be busy. We will be accountable of our degree of stewardship – “…Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord…You wicked and lazy servant...” (Mt. 25:) The focus is not on the 2 or 5 talent men, but the 1 talent man who would not even try - “But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money…You wicked and lazy servant...”(Mt. 25:18, 26).

10. At The Least, He Expects A Willingness To Try Has not God blessed us? - “For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, but all members do not have the same function, so we being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.”Ro. 12:3-8). To whatever extent He has done so, we all need to do “what we can.” - “She has done what she could...”(Mk. 14:8).

11. At The Least, He Expects A Willingness To Try Jesus has made provisions for those who try and fail. We need to confess, repent and pray – “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse from all unrighteousness…Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you.” (I Jh. 1:9; Ac. 8:22) What provisions are in place for those who don’t even try?

12. Summary: What Does He Expect of Us? What Does He Expect of Us? He expects us to love Him and keep His commands. > He expects 100% devotion and allegiance to His cause. > He expects us to listen and obey ALL His commands. > He expects us to be keep trying, even if we fail. Jesus expects us to love and obey Him in ALL things as He did. We “should follow in His steps.” (I Pt. 2:21)

13. Conclusion While emphasizing His expectations, some may conclude he is too demanding. Not so, we can know for sure – “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.” (I Jh. 5:3) Such a lesson should forever answer the objection, “I would obey the gospel, but I just don’t think I’d measure up…I’d only fail.”

14. Being A Christian Is Demanding It is true. You must give yourself up! -“Ifanyone comes to Me and does not hate [love less] his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life , he cannot be My disciple. And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.”(Lk. 14:26-27) We are to be a living sacrifice like Jesus –“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” (Ro. 12:1-2) It is not so high a hurdle that we can’t meet it -“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Ph. 4:13) Are we ready for the challenge of meeting Jesus’ expectations?