Mike Bickle emphasizes the profound joy found in abiding in God's love as taught in John 15:9-11. He explains that Jesus invites His disciples to remain in His love, which is as deep and unwavering as the love between the Father and the Son. Bickle highlights that true obedience to God's commandments enhances our experience of His love, linking our capacity to feel and express love to our willingness to obey. He encourages believers to embrace their life assignments as disciples, serving and making disciples, regardless of the apparent smallness of their efforts. Ultimately, Bickle reassures that faithfulness in these areas leads to a deeper joy and fulfillment in God's love, even amidst life's pressures.

Turn to John chapter 15 Father we ask you in the name of Jesus for the release of the spirit of wisdom and revelation Father I ask you to strengthen our spirit with might to inspire our understanding Jesus name Amen Well John chapter 15 has been called the most significant teaching of Jesus or Or the holy of holies of his teaching ministry John chapter 14 15 16 17, but particularly John 15 one of the grandest chapters of them all And at the very heart of this great chapter this great teaching of Jesus is verse 9 to 11 Let's read it Verse 9 As the father loved me this is Jesus speaking and the same way that the father loved me I have loved you Abide in my love verse 10 If you keep my commandments You will abide in my love Just as I've kept my father's commandments and I abide in his love verse 11 These things I have spoken That my joy would remain in you and My joy would be full. He'd go on to say now the reason Jesus is giving this teaching this Very it's the premier passage of the premier chapter is that in verse 11? He says he wants his joy To be sustained in them even in times of pressure because they were the disciples Were on the eve of the greatest pressure they would ever know in their life They didn't really understand it though. Jesus had told them repeatedly that he was going to die They were still confused even to the very last minute But they were going to face this incredible sorrow and disappointment of Jesus's death Then their own failure and the fact that they would deny the Lord the greatest failure of their life Mixed with the sorrow then right after that they would experience persecution. I Mean the state itself would come against them the official Civic leaders would come against them and then the pressures of a growing new church It's exploding in numbers, but nobody had any idea of what to do All of these pressures would mount up on them many different types and Jesus said in verse 11 That if you will connect with what I just told you He said my joy will be sustained in you There will be a joy that is stronger than any circumstance. You will face any failure You will endure any disappointment that will come before you So let's look at this passage and look at each of the key phrases let's go in paragraph a Jesus makes a most dramatic announcement That God loves us in the way that God loves God. I mean what a statement Jesus looked them in the eye. I'm in this shocking Dramatic statement that is as true today as it was then He said in the same way That my father loves you in the same intensity and the same measure in the same Consistency, that's how I love you. And then he tells them abide in this love Now this exhortation to abide in love I take it as the primary Exhortation of the entire chapter. He gives several exhortations, but this is the main one that brings them all together He says abide in my love in other words stay focused on it Go deep in this subject to abide in love means to dwell in it live in it this vast Ocean of God's love swim in it and never ever graduate from this truth You know some believers they will Hear a message on the love of God or read a passage and they'll be inspired for a moment But they quickly move on to other things Or maybe they are challenged with what seems to be more sophisticated Doctrines and ideas and theological thoughts Jesus said whatever you do, he's talking to the the Apostles. I mean the foundation stones of the church Whatever you do Leaders of my church church itself do not ever graduate from this truth Stay focused on it live responsive to it Abide in my love again. That's the exhortation that brings all the others in this chapter together But I mean imagine That God loves us the way God loves God How could we why would we ever want to move on past that truth Why would we ever want to lose sight of that? That's the foundation to this joy that would remain in the midst of pressure This is the truth that the enemy wants to obscure Constantly seeking to distract us from this truth and obscure it from us The way that God loves God that means that Jesus is love for us never ever increases ever Because the Father loves loves the Son in fullness That that's how Jesus loves us. He loves us in fullness. It never ever increases or decreases ever By the very definition that it's his full love our ability to experience it increases or Decreases but the love that's offered is consistently and eternally offered in fullness That's the foundation of which Jesus calls the Apostles invites them to this Overcoming joy that would be sustained in any kind of pressure they would face Well, we're to abide in love We're to seek to go deep in our understanding beloved I urge you Study the love of God meditate on it often long and loving Meditation is what this truth warrants. I Urge you to long and loving meditation on the vast ocean of God's love a Million years from now We will still have new experiences and new discoveries of God's affections I mean, it's a vast ocean a million years new discoveries of it fresh encounters Even if someone is preached on this topic 50 years, they're still barely Entering into this vast ocean. I mean they may be a few feet out, but there's an ocean before them that will unfold forever Jesus said abide in this he tells the Apostles don't ever Build your ministries in a way that goes beyond this or neglects this truth Speak on it. Think on it. Pray about it Experience it Everything has its reference point in the kingdom of God to this truth paragraph B Then Jesus tells them keep my commandments in verse 10 We'll develop this in paragraph B. And if you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love What Jesus is doing Is that he is presenting his? exhortation to obedience He's presenting it in context to the revelation of love. It's very significant Because Often when we think of the exhortation to obey We think oh, no, that's the negative Because obedience means to many people Obedience means we kind of Hold our breath grit our teeth and we don't do the things we want to do, but rather we choose to obey We'd rather do others, but we better not so we're gonna obey so obedience For the most part in the lives of many has a negative kind of connotation here He is talking about the revelation of love God loves us like God loves God and now here's the bad news Don't do the things you want to obey instead like oh boy We knew the negative was coming sooner or later, but that's not what Jesus is doing because in the New Testament The perspective of obedience in the New Testament is that which enhances our ability to experience love obedience is not presented as the necessary negative, but rather the way that positions us to Experience and feel and express love at a greater level. I want to say that again Obedience is not presented as a necessary negative that we endure So we don't get in trouble but rather Obedience is the way that we posture ourself. We position ourself in order to experience And feel and express love at a greater level Jesus said obey my commands and you will abide in love you'll live in that ocean in a greater way You'll experience more of it. You'll understand more of it. You'll feel more of it So Jesus connects the spirit of obedience To our ability to feel inexperienced love. That's a new that's a new perspective Because Israel only thought of many of them thought of obedience in a far more negative way again as a Necessary burden that they needed to bear Jesus is no No, God loves you the way God loves God stay locked into it And if you posture yourself with a spirit of obedience, you will experience more of it and more consistently What a statement That our capacity To feel the love of God is linked to the intention to obey Now just moments earlier in John 14 right now We're looking at John 15, but just moment. I mean literally was two three minutes earlier possibly Maybe a little bit more he was talking about the subject of Obedience in love in John 14 21. He says he that has my commandments and keeps them That's the one that's in the place to experience love Now to keep the commandments when you take the whole testimony of Scripture What Jesus is calling us to is the setting of the sincere setting of our own intention to obey because we set our intention to obey the heart intention to obey and That's very important and very valid before God But we set our heart to obey the intention of our heart long before we consistently attain to that obedience. I Mean, there's issues years later We're still seeking to consistently attain obedience, but the setting of the heart is sincere and it's genuine And that's what he's talking about Because when we fail What we do we don't rationalize our sin we call it sin we're honest with God We don't blame shift it. They made me do it Adam tried that it was the woman you gave me We don't rationalize it. We take responsibility for it and we declare war on it But we receive the forgiveness of the Lord and we go forth as first-class citizens in the kingdom I mean immediately after our sin and repentance Now what happens often in the kingdom is that there's two polarized positions That sometimes I mean many times a group a ministry will focus on one or the other instead of the two in their Dynamic connectedness the the the two truths obedience on one hand and the love of God on the other We Got one group. I want many of them They focus on the love of God, but they rarely ever connect it to obedience. They stay away from the call to obedience Seems too negative Talk about the free love of God no relationship to responsiveness No relationship in our ability to experience the love of God to our responsiveness. There is a relationship To our responsiveness our ability to receive and experience love but other groups they go really heavy on obedience And they're shy on love. They'll reference it occasionally, but if they talk about love too much Maybe the people will get careless because they will presume on the love of God and they will start compromising so often in the church, not always a Ministry will pick one side one polarized position or the other but Jesus brings the two in a dynamic connection to one another The setting of the heart to obey is what increases our capacity to feel and experience love and to express it Now there's another tendency That is emerging in the church It's this definition of love that is Just that is nebulous. It's religious sentiment and there's different New age kind of religions and all kinds of different religions that are emerging and the idea and it's made its way into the church these ideas that Love really is a religious sentiment. It's the emotion we feel when the music is real good at a worship service and we cry then we love and I tell you I like crying with anointed worship music and And that is a dimension of love but loves far more than a sentiment that we feel when the music is right Jesus ties the definition of love to the spirit of obedience meaning the sincere Intention to obey again our attainment of obedience in a consistent way that takes time But the setting of the heart is a critical issue We have to love God on God's terms We can't love God on our own Definition on our own terms God won't come to us on our terms. We come to him on his terms very important Because many people talk about the love of God, but what's the definition? It's whatever definition the group wants it to be and the definition We have confidence in is the definition that Jesus gave with his own lips There's no such thing as God on demand That he comes to us on our demand No, we encounter him on his terms I've talked to many believers over the years And they want to feel the love of God more. I mean, they're sincere believers But they neglect this issue of seeking to fully obey the leadership of God They want to feel the love of God that come to regularly to worship services and they do various Events in the in the body of Christ, they they do things involve themselves and outreaches or whatever But this issue of fully giving their heart to the Lord I'm talking about to live under his leadership called the spirit of obedience They well, there's one or two areas that are off-limits to the Lord Lord I'll obey you in these ten areas, but this one area and well, maybe two areas I'll not yet and they don't ever feel the love of God and they say what's going on But love it it's essential That we are bringing every area to the best that we know and sincerely seeking to obey it though again acknowledging the these Consistent attainment takes time but the sincere intention to obey is in place There's a spiritual law That sin doles and defiles the heart When we live in sin God does not love us less but our capacity to feel it is diminished Sin defiles and diminishes our spiritual capacities. I Want to feel the love of God more I want to express the love of God back to him and to other people more I'm not looking for Bible verses that make me feel good about my sin so I can live in spiritual dullness until I die I mean, I I know believers they they've got these these self-defined Doctrines of what grace means and what they find Bible verses so they can live spiritually passive Spiritually lazy with compromise in their life feel good about it But they're spiritually dull between now and when they meet the Lord who wants to live that way I'm not trying to find Bible verses and arguments to live dull. I want to live fully alive with a vibrant spirit That's what Jesus is saying here and not just that I want to feel that vibrancy which I do Jesus is too glorious To approach relationship with him looking for ways to be spiritually lazy and passive and put it under the banner of grace He's too glorious for that his worth Demands a wholeheartedness, but not just that he is worth it beloved the dignity Who you are to him your own dignity in God? Demands a wholehearted response as well paragraph see Jesus defines Keeping the commandment is very critical He defines and what I'm going to show you in a moment He defines keeping the commandments as more than obeying in In the sense of Moral virtues being developed in our life in the areas of morality or speech or finance Keeping the commands is more than just godly character and developing godly virtues in our heart. There's another dimension It's very important because many believers don't bring this second dimension Under the definition and under the the banner of obeying the commands of God. It's this issue of Fulfilling our ministry assignment Did you know that every one of us have received an Assignment from the Lord the Lord has a master plan in his leadership of the earth and you have a very significant role It's a little role, but it's an important role to the Lord It's called every one of us to have a role and It's how we interpret that role And what and how we carry that role really matters John chapter 4 Jesus said my food Is to do the will of him who sent me to finish the work the finishing of the work the finishing of the assignment Was paramount to Jesus's perspective of obedience To Jesus Obedience was more than godly virtue and character It was actually what he did with his time and energy and resource it had that issue as well There is a work There is an assignment That God has given every one of us Again, it's a small assignment and together. It's a big one, but individually it's a small assignment, but it's very important and again many believers They think of obedience as Developing godly character, but what they do with their time and energy and resource in their assignment Well, they can kind of be zealous and diligent or maybe not So they get to decide the level of investment they want to make at that level and Jesus say no No, keep my commandments Yes, the godly virtue the godly character, but also what you do with your time and energy and resource now the subject of Our life assignment to some people. It's a very complicated subject, but I have good news for you. It's a very simple subject Because when I talk about God has a life assignment some people go. Oh, no I've been trying for 20 years to figure out what I'm supposed to do talk to many people that have had that response because they have a Complicated wrong perspective about their life assignment your life assignments actually quite simple straightforward and we all have the same one in terms of our primary assignment we have specific Mandates and assignments to do things but that's not what I'm talking about. Now. I'm talking about the general one We all have basically it's to be a disciple Every one of us our first calling is to be a disciple a fully devoted follower of Jesus Not just in our character development, but what we do with our time and resource our money what we do Not just who we are at the heart level To be a disciple a fully devoted follower of Jesus Now when I think of being a disciple I Think of several things being a servant That as a disciple who seeks to love well That's our everyone's called to be a disciple who seeks to love well and as a disciple were servants We do the works of the kingdom We lead people to the Lord we encourage we love We show friendship We're helpful. We're friendly We have a servant spirit to the people that were naturally in in come into contact with That's our first assignment to be a disciple and to be a disciples to be a servant and The people that we run into contact with the ones that we just naturally come into contact with in our everyday life The guy says I work this job or that job or I drive the shuttle or I'm a janitor. I'm a lawyer I'm a doctor. I'm at the University Does it matter where you are as you come and as you go? There are people that you naturally make contact with that is your field of assignment to be a servant to them To seek to love them well to be helpful I mean simply to be helpful to say kind words encouraging words to to listen to them To take a moment and pray for them now as a disciple That's called to be a servant called to love. Well, my first calling is in my family My first calling in life is to be a disciple. It's not to be a preacher I do I teach on a platform maybe 2% of my life and 98% of my life has a dimension of the assignment of God on it Some people think well, I know what you're called to do. You're called to be a Bible teacher Well 2% of my time, yeah, yeah, yeah But 98% what do I do? called to be a disciple to be a servant and that's starts as a husband then I'm a father and I'm a grandfather with four of the cutest that ever lived I'm a brother. I have five sisters I'm an uncle. There's about 18 nieces and nephews. I don't have the exact number. I asked my son yesterday He said that sounds about right something like that. It's a whole bunch of pickles and pickle pluses hanging around I'm a son-in-law. I'm a brother-in-law. I Have so many natural relationships. I'm a team member of a ministry called I hop I'm on the leadership team Most of my ministry is not on a platform It's in those arenas. It's in the marketplace. It's in the neighborhood. We're called to be disciples with a servant's heart We do the works of the kingdom We evangelize we pray for the sick. We give money we give time we give encouragement. We give helpfulness. We give friendly We give a hearing ear. We're called to be disciples. That's our life assignment all of us Then a second as a disciple we're called to make disciples We're not just called to be a servant We're called actually make disciples find one or two people and maybe it's five or ten But one or two is a good beginning and you sow into them in an intentional way and help them grow in the Lord. I Want to urge everyone not just to be a disciple that make a disciple Find one or two people. They don't have to be in the body here. There's two million people in Kansas City. Just find one So I don't know where the Holy Spirit knows where all of them are ask him Meet with them once a week Maybe less maybe more talk to them a little bit. It's real simple. So into them and Third as a disciple we want to be a servant. We want to make disciples. We want to be a faithful witness of the truth We want to say the things that the father told the son and the son wants them to be said Now most of the things the father told the son are positive and they're fun to say but there's a number of things the father told the son that are negative in this and from the perspective of the human mindset and Jesus said I'm gonna be a faithful witness. I'm gonna tell the positive and the negative because it's not my message. It's my father's message And matter of fact Jesus his first title in the book of Revelation he's called the faithful witness He's the one who spoke the truth about the father's message and he wouldn't back down no matter what it cost him He would not back down. I mean the nation of Israel killed him from their point of view because of his message I didn't kill him because the miracles miracles brought a lot of people to the message The message is what angered the the the national leaders It's the father's message and we're stewards of that message today and we can't pick part of it the part that makes people happy and Ignore the part that disturbs people So all of us have a primary assignment that's to be a disciple That's a servant that makes disciples and that is a faithful witness of the truth So about the truth of the Word of God not talking about Your own subjective revelation So I'm talking about what the Bible says the main and plain things of the Bible is what I mean by the truth well when I use the word assignment a Lot of folks they're waiting for a special prophetic directive Because God gives those to some people but the vast majority of the people I know Through many years of ministry They've never received a special prophetic directive and a lot of folks kind of assume they will so they're 30 years old And they're waiting for direction. Okay now they're 40. They're still waiting now They're 50 no direction yet beloved. You've had the direction long before you're called to be a disciple Who's the servant to the people you run in you make contact with naturally You're gonna make some disciples and you're gonna be a witness of the truth, that's who you are. I Mean, I know people they've been waiting 30 years Kind of waiting on the Lord in prison Just waiting for this special assignment. You're never gonna get one You have the primary assignment that the vast majority have you're not doing it You don't need some more information you have plenty don't be a disciple a Fully devoted follower of Jesus wherever you find yourself serve Make a few disciples and speak the truth when opportunity presents itself You don't need a special place on the church org chart 98% of the ministries never make it to the church org chart They're in neighborhoods and sports leagues and schools and the marketplace in boardrooms That's where the ministry of the body of Christ happens most Well back paragraph C, let's go to paragraph D But the point I want to make is when Jesus thought of obedience to the command of God. He didn't think of just Developing godly character he thought of or having godly character. He didn't develop it But to have a godly character he thought of fulfilling the assignment finishing the work Look at paragraph D He adds this this Uncomely dimension that I have to emphasize because it's not truthful to skip this and it's often skipped Jesus said in John 17 right before he would go to the cross. Here's his final prayer John 17 before the cross Well, I guess he prayed in the garden as well so before that as well He says I finished the work it's this idea of finishing the work was paramount to his thinking I Mean it was big to him to finish the assignment Then he goes on and develops what he means in part verse 8 He says for I've given them the words you gave me. I gave the message father that you gave me beloved Finishing the work as a disciple fulfilling our assignment is related to Being a faithful witness of the message the father gave the son And I tell you some of that message is not not positive to the natural mindset so the paragraph II Jesus We see a very vivid example John 6 Many of his disciples verse 60 They heard his teaching in John 6. I mean John 6 is a very long teaching. It's quite amazing They heard it many of his disciples. Jesus has really got quite a following right now Thousands are responding But they're responding not for all the right reasons beloved we don't want to get overexcited about a crowd a crowd-gathers for many different reasons Jesus was never tricked or seduced by the enthusiasm of a crowd. He stayed faithful to the father's message It's a very very important word for this hour of the church Churches leaders of the church are just enamored with a crowd We need to be focused on the faithful message Let it let the crowd come or go Well verse 60 many of disciples they said to Jesus after hearing this teaching It's hard. It's hard to understand and they didn't really mean hard to understand because they understood the the true meaning It's too demanding too exclusive too narrow No room to move We don't like it. We like your miracles, but we don't like the demand that you're making on us They go we don't understand it What really meant? We don't accept it we don't want to obey it Verse 60 Jesus knew they were complaining because you're offended. You're not confused. You're offended. It's a difference They said we don't get it. He goes. Oh, no, you get it. You just don't like it You don't agree with it. Look at verse 66 from that time Many left him they went back. They said no, we're not following you no more They drew back but Jesus would not draw back on the message It's part of his assignment. He says I have to finish the work and beloved for him to finish the work He could not draw back on the message and for us to finish the work We have to say the father's message that he gave to the son And we can't pick and choose the parts we like Look at Roman numeral two We're staying on this subject of keeping God's command Let's read the verse again that we're focusing on verse 10 Jesus said if you keep my command you will abide in my love Just as I kept my father's command and I abide in his love now again Jesus is connecting Their obedience they're keeping their commands with their ability to experience love That's a critical point He's not saying if you keep my commandments Hey, hang in there. You're tough. He says though you'll experience my love more You really you'll position yourself not to earn love But you'll position yourself to understand it and receive it because your spiritual capacity will increase So first he connects obedience to the ability to experience love But the next thing he does here as he brings Obedience keeping the command to a different place than what they normally thought Meaning the qualifying phrase here as he says keep the commandments and experience the love of God Just like I keep the commandments. So the commandments that he's exhorting us to keep is Parallel to the way he kept it Well, how did Jesus keep commandment did Jesus struggle with? Obeying God in it in the realm of his money. No, that's not what Jesus is talking about He wasn't saying I struggled with money, but I obeyed so you obey in the issue of money He's not talking about that the Jesus struggle with lying in relationships or slandering. No, that's not what he's talking about either The Jesus was he tempted by internet pornography? No, that's not what he's talking. He's not talking about moral Virtues developed in his heart now, that's a important part of obedience, but that's not what he's talking to in this this setting He says I want you to obey the command that's parallel to how I obey the command and what he's calling them to Yes Obedience in moral virtue, but he's saying I'm calling you to something else I'm calling you to finish the assignment and to be diligent to the very last day of your life never ever Resign from being a fully devoted disciple who is engaged as a servant. It's part of your command It's part of your life assignment Now many believers I go. Yes the godly character we get that's mandatory but Engaging in the work don't I mean we're Americans don't we get to choose to do that when we want to? Jesus is saying no you don't I Have as much of a claim upon your character development as I do upon the use of your time and resources I want you to finish the work I gave you You can't retire You can't resign You can't dabble in the work as long as it's fun and people like you Well, I'm gonna be more involved because the people like me there and maybe it's gonna open some doors for me So I think I'll do that and I got a little extra time We don't dabble in the work as long as it suits us Now the application of this is different to every single person Because the one person you're involved in the work in your neighborhood in your home and your family in the marketplace I'm not suggesting there's a there's one answer to how what it looks like in everyone's life What I'm saying is this we don't develop character traits as mandatory then dabble And kind of choose when we're going to be involved in the work. We're disciples. We're fully devoted Followers we're servants our whole life Yes, we have time off to rest. I believe in resting but we don't have time up. We don't say well, I'm gonna take the next Six or eight months or six or eight years and do my thing as long as I don't have any scandalous kind of behavior patterns I'm okay I Go to a Bible study occasionally. I love Jesus no scandalous character traits. I'm okay. Jesus says you're not You're not engaged in the work You're not keeping my commandment I want you to keep the commandment like I kept the commandment and it was involving more than character traits It was involving engagement in the work till the end That's what he's talking about here Some mistakenly see thee their ministry assignment to be a disciple as optional You know again if it's fun It opens a couple new doors. Let's do it. Got a little extra time No good TV shows on tonight. I'm in a good mood But if I'm in a bad mood, I'm running a little late and I don't really like the people forget it the servant things off That's How many approach it? What Jesus is really saying is if you love me if you really love me and you want to experience More of the love of God obey the commands. Yes character development, but more than that you say yes You're fully on under my leadership in the work until the last day of your life You can't turn the switch on and off when you want paragraph B top of page 2 Paul the Apostle had the exact same theology. He had good theology Because he had Jesus's theology. He says here at the very end of his life in 2nd Timothy 4 verse 7 He's at the very end. He's in jail Waiting he's gonna be martyred right after this he goes I finished the race He has the same idea Jesus the consuming idea is not just to stay free of a character Scandal and to stay free of some besetting sin more than staying free of a besetting sin I want to be engaged in the race tell the end and I'm gonna finish it. Well There's no such thing as retiring from this none You can retire from your occupation in the marketplace, but you can't retire from being fully on call to the Spirit Met some folks and their dream is to retire so they can kind of piddle around for 20 years Well, I don't work in the marketplace. And so nobody can tell me when to come and go well Jesus can't and They retire in the kingdom when they retire in the marketplace. They turn both switches off and A lot of folks do it a lot younger than retirement age. They start retiring at 20 I'm burnt out. I need time off. They turn the switch off as though they're the one who determines The right to turn that switch off we belong to another and he said if you love me You'll stay faithful to my commands even in this regard to the end Well Paul and I'm not going to go into detail on this but just let you see it Three facets of finishing the race. There's the godly character. We all know that part But look what he says here verse 27 first Corinthians 9 There's a discipline related to our character if we're going to finish the race well and run the race. Well, I Don't want to develop that but I just want to acknowledge it Running this race finishing this race means we run it There's a discipline Related to our bodily physical appetites It's critical that we buy into that discipline. We can't write it off as legalism and law because it has discipline in it It's critical part of the race number two Paul bought into the hard work and That looks different for every person Different ages different energy levels. I'm not talking about what's the minimum requirement of time? There's nothing like that I'm talking about you give your all whatever your strength is at whatever given season of your life and The strength for one person is much more or much less than another person. That doesn't matter how much strength It's the all of your strength that you bring into the relationship Paul said I labor more than everybody What an amazing statement what he was he had a He had a vision of finishing the race sounds like Jesus Jesus wanted to finish it the work paragraph B I mean paragraph 3 There's another dimension It's not just godly character and willing to stay engaged in the work of a disciple as a servant Who makes disciple does the works of the kingdom? But number three Paul was willing to bear the reproach just like Jesus Jesus connected speaking the father's words with finishing his work. So does Paul look at what he says here Acts chapter 20 because I kept nothing back. He's talking about his messaging You don't need a microphone in a platform your message may be one-on-one to people, but it's still you're giving the father's message Maybe Two children in the neighborhood Maybe to a few friends at the marketplace or in a sports league or somewhere Maybe at the barbecue in the neighborhood, but there's a connection and you are a messenger. There's a connection with people and It's when opportunity presents itself. I Don't mean to cram it into every conversation, but you're ready for it. Here's what Paul said. I kept nothing back He goes I proclaimed everything the whole message not just the positive. I told you the positive and the negative verse 23 the spirit testified in every city Paul said meaning he raised up prophetic voices in every city Paul went to and they Gave the same prophetic word every city went if you keep giving that message You're gonna end up in chains, which means prison and you're gonna be in tribulation. You get beat Everywhere Paul went people prophesied if you don't back off that message You're gonna go to prison and get beat and Paul said I'm not backing off. I Mean the Lord wasn't telling him to back off but warning him what would happen if he stayed true and Paul said look what he Says verse 24 I'm not moved by the fear prison. I'm not backing off the message ever Why look at the end of verse 24 I want to finish the race Because the race the work keeping the commandment is about our Work and being a faithful witness not just about our diligence engaging in the work and not just about godly character Look at verse 27. I've not shunned to declare the whole message He goes there's nothing. I'll draw back on the Lord said it. I'll say it if it's in his word I'm not talking about saying every idea that comes to your mind that you think God told you I'm saying I'm talking about the written Word of God type of truth Some people they say every thought that comes to them. They think it's from God. They drive people crazy So about the Bible the main and plain message of the Bible is what I'm talking about paragraph C writer of Hebrews tells us Lay aside the weights and the sins run with endurance the race set before you now Sin, we know what sin is but weights are different than sins weights are not in themselves wrong behavior Weights are those added Preoccupations with our life where we're expending our life energies and resources on that which is not profitable to the kingdom Paul Said lay the the writer of Hebrews said lay those aside because you're gonna run a race Don't put ten pound weights in each pocket and go run a race take the weights out of your pocket Because you're two way down not by sinful stuff too much stuff too much entertainment too much playing too much stuff goofing off Plug in lay that stuff aside and get rid of the sin too and run with endurance in other words run without quitting Endurance means don't quit Don't take two years off Stay plugged in the whole way Because there's a race that is set before every person every single person has a race that is set before us that has a unique Application as a fully devoted disciple of Jesus. It's set before you again, God has the master plan and Your role is not that Significant in itself to the whole master plan in terms of the eyes of men But it's significant from God's point of view to his master plan. Maybe men will say I you know I don't even know who you are who cares you only impacted one person the Lord says that person's critical It's key to me that you stay focused Well, I retired my occupation can't I retire from the kingdom I'm am older now There's no retiring because you get older. Maybe the pace slows down you never retire ever Paragraph D the big challenge to staying faithful to the work assignment. I Mean there's character challenges. Let's put that aside staying faithful to the work Is the is the word smallness the things are small in our labor? The presence of God is small, you know, the guy says I don't feel his presence when I'm doing it. Okay That's less millions. It would say that I I don't have any resource. There's nobody helping me. No money. Okay, and The people I'm ministering to those three people. They don't listen anyway, I Mean when they do listen, they don't follow through they don't do anything with it. Not really So I have very little presence very little help and money and the people I'm aiming for they nod But they don't ever follow through then on top of that. I have life problems and then I have people attacking me And I'm not doing anything anyway, I'm just gonna check out for a few years and just go eat more and watch more movies Call it the grace of God. It's gonna play more. That's the number one temptation Because things are small we imagined if they would if they were big it would be easier to be faithful You know big presence of God a lot of money everybody responding everyone happy nobody resisting. Hey, I'll be faithful in that context Notice what Jesus says to people on the last day Luke 19. He says you're faithful and very little He didn't say well done You had millions of dollars and millions of people and everybody liked you. Well done. You were so faithful He said no when nobody was responding with very little seeming resource and you couldn't hardly feel the presence of God in your labor But you wouldn't quit at all and you had people resisting you for no reason Jesus said very good He stayed with it beloved Very little in few things 99% of the body of Christ in all of history God has assigned them to something that in the eyes of man is very little but it's still very important to God and that's what proves or What I'm trying to say is is expresses our love to the Lord He says keep my commandments and you'll abide in love you be faithful and you will experience love in a greater way You really will and you'll express love in a greater way Paragraph E. Let's bring this to a close. I mean one of the great prophecies of Jesus in Isaiah 49 This is such a I'm not gonna go to detail on it, but I just want you to know it's here What a stunning prophecy Isaiah 49 Isaiah the Prophet is Catching By the Holy Spirit the dialogue between the father and the son Related to Jesus's earthly ministry. I mean 700 years before Christ And he and he catches this dialogue between the father and the son Wow What an amazing thing David did that in Psalm 2 and Psalm 110 as well Well, here's Isaiah. He gets to do it and he the father said to the son This is related to Jesus's earthly ministry Son you are my servant and whom I will be glorified Now when the Lord says to Jesus I've talked about on his earthly ministry. You are my servant what the father saying is I Determine the course That you'll walk on and the course that I've determined Initially will have a very small response of faithfulness to you But you're my servant and that's what I've ordained. So Jesus is okay. I Got it. I'll do my ministry and I'll have very little return very little immediate initial fruit and Jesus the father says you're my servant. It's good enough for you to be my servant. That's the lot I've chosen for you Will you say yes, or will you only obey if it's big and glorious and dynamic and Jesus said no I'll obey if it's small I'll obey if it's obscure I will and the father looks at him and says well, I'm you're my servant But I want to assure you if you do it my way, I will be glorified when it's all said and done. You'll see then verse 4 a very unusual verse it's Jesus's response related to his earthly ministry But he's speaking from the perspective of the leaders of Israel that would look at him or just anybody Viewing hit the fruit of his ministry and they'd say you've done nothing. I Mean think about Jesus's ministry three and a half years Crisscrossed the country a few times at the end He only ends up with a hundred and twenty people who made the prayer room in Acts chapter 1 and 2 I mean a month or two afterwards. There's only 120 followers the whole movement fell apart 120 and the 12 main followers. I mean the guys leading it they all deny him on the final day of his life So the Pharisees say well this movement ain't going nowhere all the leaders denied they cowered and quit They all scattered a few ladies showed up to be true to him to the end. This movement is over. It's over Somebody could look at him and say you didn't do much all the power you had not much happened and The answer was well, wait and see Get the big-picture perspective view it from God's view from the from the age to come and here's what Jesus would say I've labored in vain Meaning I've led a movement but almost nobody stayed true. I Spent my strength for nothing All my leaders scattered there was nobody there but a few ladies at the cross powerful ladies But here's what Jesus said he looked at the smallness I mean, can you imagine the crowds all dissipated they all left many turned on him. He looked at him. He said but Yes, the movement didn't seemingly take root. I only have a little seed That's all I got and the father said Jesus now remember You're my servant I will be glorified but my first assignment is that you'd be faithful when it's initially small, is that good? Yes But Jesus said surely my reward is with the Lord In other words, he looked at the little fragmented movement that just fell away and almost nobody there He's on the cross looking down a few followers. That's it. I mean for the redemption of the human race. That's it He's on the cross and he could say he knew this verse very well he had this talk with the father My reward is with you. It's in your hand. The timing of it is in the big picture of your plans I'm not concerned with the little fruit. I see paragraph F let's read verse 5 continue Isaiah 49 verse 5 Jesus said I'll be glorious in the eyes of the Lord I right now I'm a condemned criminal and my movement has fallen away and dissipated But what I've done is glorious in the eyes of man I'm a failure the movement the labor was in vain the movement fell away But in the eyes of God it is glorious because God sees the seed And he sees the value of the seed that I sowed with my labors Now the Lord speaks up in verse 6 he goes well now I am going to answer you Oh My servant who labored hard and the whole movement fell away, but just a little seed that barely made it Here's what I have to say to you. I am going to answer you in my timing. He says verse 6 Indeed, this is the father speaking. It's too small a thing that you should only restore Israel Because he's the Messiah for Israel. He came to save Israel. He says it's too small That Israel would be yours only He goes, oh son. I have a far bigger plan than you saving Israel He said all the ends of the earth all the nations They will follow your leadership accept your salvation and they will worship you That's where that little seed is going to end up when it's all said and done Beloved when it's time to obey the Lord his commandments we do the the godly virtue But when it comes to the work, it's too little Nobody's responding. Anyway, nobody's helping us. Nobody applauds. Nobody even knows why bother because we're the Lord's servant That's why we bother and it's glorious in his sight that we obey He said well done faithful and very little for you will have much in the age to come. I see the whole thing I'd see it all finish the race. Well let's just come before the Lord and Let's give ourself to him I'm talking about. Yes, we would obey godly virtue. We want godly character, but more we want to say yes to the work Tell the end No resigning no off switch. Tell the end. I'm not talking about you never rest. That's not what I mean talk about we're always Saying yes, we're gonna be fully devoted disciples We're on till the end no retirement from that none ever. I Want to invite you to stand the Lord says if you keep my commandments You'll abide in love you will experience the love of God in a way beyond what you're imagining, but he links The experience of love to keeping these commands in these ways. I want to be a faithful witness to I want to say what he says Let the crowds go but let's say what he says till the end I want to invite people that want to respond and you're saying, you know, I've said yes to the character Yeah, I haven't done that. Well, I gotta still do work on it. But at least I said yes to that I want to obey in my character, but I want to bring it up a notch. I Want to bring my energy my time my resources. I want to bring it into the relationship Lord. You're fully mine I want to obey you in that arena And if that's a new decision for you Maybe you made it years ago and you've lost sight of it or it's a new idea that you would connect loving Jesus to finishing your race to running well in the work You would like to come before the Lord say Lord. I would do this Maybe little nobody may care but you care and I'm gonna be faithful to the end by the grace of God I want to invite you to come forward Just offer yourself to the Lord Just come stand on these front lines if you want to stay before Have you stand on the line just touch him and have him come on first Lord we say yes to you. I want to stay before Lord we say yes to you. I want to be a fully devoted Sight follow Jesus to the end. I want to be found steady. I want to be found faithful until the end I want to be found I'm yours Jesus. I want to be found steady I want to be found It is enough that I am your servant Even if you love me, it's enough to me that I'm yours Just keep me steady I'm gonna live before your eyes. I want to