Adapted from a Jeffery Anselmi sermon series https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/4-jesus-used-the-word-to-equip-others-jeffery-anselmi-sermon-on-bible-232922?ref=SermonSeriesDetails

2. As Jesus was seeking to comfort His disciples,
He showed them the importance of keeping His
word!
Today we see the importance that Jesus placed
on using the Word to equip people.

3. As we strive to live for Jesus and as we
endeavor to reach a lost world for Jesus, we
must have an objective foundation for those
endeavors.
Living for Jesus based merely on subjective
emotions will not get us far because there will
be days in which you do not FEEL like living for
Jesus or even doing the right thing.

4. As far as reaching others, employing only a
subjective emotional appeal will not get us far
either.
To be effective, we need the emotional side;
however, we also need the objective truth of the
Word of God to guide us, as well as being able
to offer answers to the questions that folks will
have concerning, God, the world, salvation, and
living life.

5. NIV For the word of God is alive
and active. Sharper than any double-edged
sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and
spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts
and attitudes of the heart.
This passage is one of many which speaks of
the power of the Word of God.
Jesus understood the power of the Word, and
He wanted to make sure that generation after
generation would be equipped by the Word.

6. Today our journey will focus on .
The context of the passage in , Jesus
has told the disciples a significant number of
things.
He is preparing them for His departure, so He is
trying to encourage them as well as to let them
know they will not be alone when He is gone.

7. NIV Jesus replied,
It is important that we are equipped with the
Word because…

8. NIV Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot)
said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show
yourself to us and not to the world?”
Jesus responds with the verses we are
examining.

9. In explaining how they, nor the other believers
would not be left alone, Jesus describes HOW
God the Father, Jesus & (and by implication) the
Holy Spirit would reside within those who follow
this.

10. Jesus begins His answer showing us that for
God to make a home within us,
there is a condition.
What is that condition?
The condition is, “ ”

11. The word means much more than, I am
going to carry my Bible around.
It means much more than, oh,
I know some stuff written in it.
It even means more than,
I have a Ph.D. in Bible knowledge.
It means more than even memorizing the entire
Bible word for word.

12. The word means to watch over, guard,
preserve, hold, observe.
The sense of the word in this context is to
CONFORM ONE’S ACTIONS OR PRACTICE
TO…
This issue of has
profound ramifications.

13. Before Jesus ascended back to heaven He
emphasized teaching them to obey everything I
have commanded.
NIV

14. I do want to clarify something, not one of us will
perfectly keep His word, this is why we need
GRACE, to bridge the gap between where we
are and perfection.
With that said, we should be folks who
habitually .

15. means that I will conform my
actions, practice, my very life to those Words.
When I see my life crosswise of His Word, I will
ask God to help me make the correction, I will
not be willfully, habitually disobedient to His
Word.

16. If I were arrested and put on trial accused of
being a Christian, would there be enough
evidence to be found guilty, as guilty can be.
is the acid test for whether
we really love Jesus or if we love self more!
When MY will and MY desires overrule me
keeping God’s Word, that says a great deal
about who I really love.

17. It is like the person who tells their spouse they
love them, yet cheats on them at every
opportunity.
Their spouse would definitely disagree with
their definition of “LOVE!”
If we love our children, we will show them, not
just offer empty words.

18. When it comes to loving Jesus,
He is not looking for empty words,
He wants us to His .
And there is a little more to it than just being
obedient. He wants us to have a heart for
ing His .
NIV This is how we know that we love
the children of God: by loving God and carrying
out his commands. In fact, this is love for
God: to keep his commands. And his
commands are not burdensome,

19. When we do things for our spouse, don't you
think the heart behind the action is as important
as the action?
When taking care of some tasks to lessen your
spouse’s load you’re grumbling because you
could have been doing something you enjoy are
they going to feel the love?
GUYS HOW WELL DOES THAT GO OVER?

20. THE COMMANDMENTS not being a burden does
not mean they are not hard, but instead,
we joyfully carry them out.
Jesus uses the word for love for which the short
definition is doing what is spiritually best for
someone.
This type of love is characterized by a willing
forfeiture of rights or privileges in another
person’s behalf.

21. Jesus says when we love Him in this manner He
and the Father will make their home with us.
To MAKE means to cause to be or to become
THEIR HOME!
NIV
It is important that we are equipped with the
Word because…

22. Now Jesus hits the unfortunate other side of the
coin.
Jesus says the one who doesn’t love Him will
not keep His words.
An unwillingness to follow what the Lord calls
us to do springs from a heart lacking love for
Jesus.

23. This lack of love for Jesus extends to a lack of
love for the Father.
Jesus reminds us that the Word He speaks is
from the Father.
So, if I will not keep the words of Jesus,
then I do not love the Father either.

24. This does not demand sinless perfection,
it goes back to what we habitually do.
If I habitually refuse to keep His Word, I do so
because I love me, and my will and desires more
than I love Jesus.
We tend to spiritualize our sin in various ways.

25. For instance, no one understands what I am
going through, so I do not have to be obedient
to what Jesus says.
God will make an exception for me.
Are you one to read the fine print of contracts?
Another way we spiritualize is we look for
loopholes in the letter of the law.

26. Well God does not SPECIFICALLY tell me I
cannot do something, so it must be ok even if it
looks wrong to you.
We try to make our situation so unique that we
can skirt what God has explicitly told us not to
do so, we can justify doing it because we want
to do it.

27. Obedience comes from love and trust.
Thus, a person who does not love Jesus will not
obey him.
A sobering way of stating Jesus’ point is to say,
“The quality of our obedience is a direct
reflection of our love for Jesus.”

28. When we lack love and trust,
we will do what we want to do.
Remember when you were a teen.
Your parents said you could not go to the party.
You got mad, and you figured out a way to go,
why?

29. For one, you did not trust that your parents
were looking out for your best interests, you
may have thought they just did not want you to
have fun.
The other reason is that you loved yourself
more than your parents, so you just did what
you wanted to do.

30. This is not about legalism or keeping the rules
because you will get punished in some way if
you do not, it is about who you love.
It is about loving and TRUSTING Jesus enough
that He will provide for you and that He will
always have your back.

31. NIV
It is so important that we are equipped with the
Word that…

32. Jesus wanted the Apostles to know that their
job of imparting His Word was so crucial that
when He was going to be gone, the Holy Spirit
would be given to them to teach them all things
and to remind them of everything that Jesus
taught them during His three-year ministry with
them.

33. Later, this would apply to Paul also as he went
to Arabia for three years after his conversion.
NIV I did not go up to Jerusalem
to see those who were apostles before I was,
but I went into Arabia. Later I returned to
Damascus. Then after three years, I went up
to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Cephas and
stayed with him fifteen days.

34. Before the resurrection of Jesus, the Apostles
did not fully grasp all that Jesus taught them.
After the resurrection and with the extraordinary
outpouring of the Holy Spirit they received at
Pentecost, that changed!

35. This promise, to be taught all things and to be
reminded of all Jesus taught them was specific
to the Apostles; however, for us, the Spirit will
also help us to understand the already recorded
Word, the completed revelation of the Bible.

36. This is what gives power to passages such as:
NIV All Scripture is God-breathed
and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting
and training in righteousness, so that the
servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for
every good work.
God inspired the writers of the Bible to write the
books of the Bible.

37. How else can one explain that the Bible was
written over a 1500-year span in different
locations, at different times, in different moods,
on three continents, in three languages, with a
variety of literary styles?
The Bible covers hundreds of controversial
subjects, yet with all that diversity, the Bible is
united in story & message.

38. Keeping God’s Word, making it the central part
of our life is so important that God went to great
lengths to ensure that we will have His Word
until Jesus returns one day!
If we love Jesus, it will be shown in a genuine
love for His word - and not a love that just
admires His word, but obeys it - keeps His word.
(Guzik)
The level of your love for Jesus is determined
by your level of keeping His Word!