Welcome to the Defender Bible Study, a weekly encouragement to equip the body of Christ through the study of scripture and prayer to manifest the gospel to orphans and vulnerable children around the world. This podcast is a ministry of Lifeline Children's Services where we believe that defending the fatherless begins by being rooted in God's word.

It's Monday, 05/26/2025, and I'm coming to you from Birmingham, Alabama. Well, this week, we are continuing our study on the gospel of John, and we'll specifically be looking at John chapter 14 verses 15 through 31. And so as we look at this passage, John fourteen fifteen to 31, it reminds us that the spirit of Christ is with us and that we are no longer orphans. It's hard to believe, but last week, I celebrated my twenty second year at Life Line. As we reflect back, there is joy at what the Lord has done over the last two decades, but also moments of hardships and discouragement.

As we reflect on our days in ministry and in general, I imagine that for many of us like me, it's it's been full, Full of long hours, hard conversations, and maybe even some moments of discouragement. When you're in the trenches of ministry, especially ministry that touches deep brokenness like the ministry of lifeline, there are days that can honestly feel like it's just too much. But it's in those moments that it's so easy for us to feel alone, easy to forget why we even started this ministry or why we started down this path. It's easy to feel the weight of every child, of every due date, and of every crisis. But in John chapter 14, Jesus speaks to his disciples who are facing their own moment of uncertainty.

He's preparing them for his departure and they're afraid, confused, and maybe even a bit angry. And into that moment, Jesus doesn't just give them a strategy, he gives them a promise. A promise of his spirit, his peace, and his presence. John 14 is one of the most comforting and theologically rich chapters in the gospels. Spoken on the night before the cross, these are Jesus' words to a room full of troubled disciples.

He has told them that he is going away, that one of them will betray him and they will all fall away. Confusion, fear, and sorrow are heavy in the air. And it's into that moment that Jesus speaks words of deep comfort and eternal truth. He promises them that he is preparing a place for them, that he is the way, the truth, and the life, and that knowing him is knowing the father. Then he goes even further.

He assures them that they will not be left alone. Though he will depart physically, he will send his holy spirit, the helper, to dwell in them, to teach them, to remind them, to comfort, and to empower them. And finally, Jesus offers them his peace. Not the shallow calm of worldly comfort, but the deep abiding peace that flows from his unchanging presence. And I believe the same words he spoke in that upper room still speak to us today.

You see, because the word of God is alive, it's living, and it's active. The words he spoke meant something back then to the disciples standing in that room, but the words that he spoke mean something to us today, and the words that he spoke ensure our future for tomorrow. So no matter who you are or where you are or how you got to this podcast, I can tell you that as a ministry lifeline who cares for the vulnerable, this passage ultimately reminds us that we have not been left as orphans, but that we have the presence of God our father. And so it's with that that we look at the passage in John chapter 14 verses 15 to 31. Jesus says, if you love me, you will keep my commandments and I will ask the father and he will give you another helper to be with you forever, even the spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him.

You know him for he dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me because I live, you also will live. In that day, you will know that I am in the father and you and me and I and you.

Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me, And he who loves me will be loved by my father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him. Judas, not Iscariot, said to him, Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us and not to the world? Jesus answered him, if anyone 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. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words and the word that 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 helper, 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 am going away and I will come to you. If you loved me, you would have rejoiced because I am going 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 I will no longer talk much with you for the ruler of the world is coming. He has no claim on me, but I do as the father has commanded me so that the world may know that I love the father. Rise.

Let us go on from here. So beloved, in John fourteen fifteen to 31, Jesus prepares his disciples for gospel ministry in a broken world by showing us four ways that he equips his people to live with faith, love, and courage. The first way Jesus equips us is by teaching us that true love obeys Christ. We see in verse 15 again that Jesus says, if you love me, you will keep my commandments. In this one sentence, Jesus flips our cultural understanding of love upside down.

You see today, love is often framed as a feeling, emotional, instinctive, or or even passive. But Jesus says that true love for him, shows itself in obedience. It's not just how we feel about Jesus that matters, it's how we live for him. First John five one through three says, everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God and everyone who loves the father loves whoever has been born of him. By this we know that we love the children of God when we love God and obey his commands.

For this is the love of God, that we keep his commands and his commands are not burdensome. John Stott wrote in the book Basic Christianity, Love is the true and proper response to the revelation of God and obedience is love's proof. We do not obey to win God's favor but because we already have it. And so in our ministry, whether walking with a birth mother in crisis, guiding a family through the adoption process, or stepping into the trauma of a vulnerable child, we're not just doing good work. We're walking in obedience to Jesus.

Our love for Christ is lived out in how we carry out our calling faithfully, sacrificially, in alignment with his word. May we be a people so enamored by Christ that we joyfully obey him in all things, personal, private, and in our public ministry. The second way that Jesus equips us is by assuring us that we are not left as orphans. Verse 18 says, I will not leave you as orphans. I will come you.

You see, Jesus knew his disciples would feel abandoned after his departure. So he assures them of something remarkable. The spirit will come and dwell with them. And in them, they will not be left alone. They will not be left powerless.

His presence would continue with them through the Holy Spirit. Jesus signs our adoption papers so that we are no longer orphans. Paul drives this home in Romans eight verses 14 through 16 when he says, for all who are led by the spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry out, Abba, daddy, father. The spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.

My friend, David Platt wrote in his book Radical, the Holy Spirit is not a luxury for a few charismatic Christians. He is absolutely necessary for every Christian every day. Without the spirit of God, we can do nothing of eternal value. Absolutely nothing. You see, beloved, this promise speaks deeply into the heart of our mission.

When we walk alongside children who've been left abandoned or removed from their families. When we serve moms who feel unseen, we carry this truth. You are not alone. You are not orphans. Why?

Because the spirit of Christ is with you. For us, as leaders, as individuals, we don't do life in our own strength, but the spirit walks with us into our homes, into counseling sessions, into work, into ministry, into church. We are not alone. The third way that Jesus equips us is by giving us the Holy Spirit to teach but also to remind us of truth. You see in verse 26, Jesus says, the helper, the holy spirit will teach you all things and bring you to remembrance all that I have said to you.

You see the spirit doesn't only comfort. He instructs and reminds us of God's word and he applies that truth to our life. He takes the words of Jesus and brings them to bear in our lives and reminds us of them when we need them most. In the midst of anxiety or weariness or spiritual confusion, the spirit brings clarity by bringing scripture alive in our hearts. I'm continually amazed at how the lord uses my personal devotion time in the morning to bear truth during my days.

And beloved, that's the holy spirit alive and working within us. This is why Paul tells the church of Corinthians two ten through 13, these things God has revealed to us through the spirit for the spirit searches everything even the depths of God. For who knows the person's thoughts except the spirit of that person which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit who is from God that we might understand the things freely given us by God.

And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom, but taught by the spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. Pastor R. C. Sproul said, The Holy Spirit does not give us new revelations that override contradict scripture. Rather, he works to illuminate and apply the word that has already been given, bringing to our remembrance the truth of Christ.

So when we are sitting in a counseling room with a birth parent unsure if she can take the next step, trauma, or when we're facing decisions with no easy answer, remember, we are not alone and we are not unprepared. The spirit of God is our teacher. He brings to our mind the truth of God's word, and he gives us what we need in the moment when we need it. That brings us to the fourth way that Jesus equips us, and that's by offering his unshakable peace. You see, Jesus gives his peace, not the world's.

Jesus says in verse 27, peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you, not as the world gives do I give it to you. You see, Jesus' peace is not temporary, conditional, or circumstantial. It's not the world's version of peace and quiet. It's his presence with us even in chaos. It is rooted in the cross and unshaken by fear.

The world offers escape. Jesus offers himself. Philippians four six through seven, Paul tells the church at Philippi, do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Matt Chandler writes in one of my all time favorite books, The Explicit Gospel, when he says peace isn't the absence of fear, it's the presence of Jesus in the storm.

It's the confidence that whoever, that whatever is happening around me, I am not abandoned and I am not unloved. The gospel reminds me that my peace is not tied to circumstances, but to the unchanging character of God. You see, beloved, we don't need to fake calm or rely on control. The peace Jesus gives holds steady even in the storm, even when politics and and the government is unstable, even when our lives seem unstable, even when stories don't resolve neatly. You see, we carry this peace into every room we enter, and we offer it, not just emotional calm, but the presence of the risen Christ.

At Lifeline, we offer this presence. We offer this peace through the gospel of Christ Jesus to the families, the mothers, and the children that we serve. You see, John 14 is not just a farewell speech. It's a gift, a promise, and a charge. Jesus says, I will not leave you as orphans.

That's not just theology. It's our mission. Mission. That the message we carry into every room, into every life we touch, that the reason that we do what we do is to make the gospel known, that you don't have to be left as an orphan. So in closing, let our obedience be worshiped.

We don't just work, we worship. Everything that we do, every email that we send, every phone call we make is an act of obedience to the one who called us. But two, let our spirit, let our counsel be spirit empowered. We are not alone in hard conversations. The Holy Spirit equips us to speak truth and love, to be bold when it's needed, and gentle when it's not easy.

The word of God says that the Holy Spirit gives us words of utterance when we don't know what to speak. He gives us an answer in our day of calamity. But then third, let your hope rest in the presence of God. Our hope is not in our outcomes. It's not in emotional resolutions.

Our hope is in the one who never leaves us and who never forsakes us, not now and not ever. And then fourth and final, let your peace come from Jesus himself. Not again in the world. The world offers a false calm, but Jesus offers something far better, his presence in the middle of the storm. And that's what we, in turn, offer others.

So take heart, beloved. You're not alone. The spirit is with you. The son has gone before you, and the father will love you till the very end. Thanks for joining us for the defender bible study.

This week, we are praying for our donor relations and our donor team and praying for the hearts and the minds of people to be pricked to give to the ministry of what the Lord is doing here at Lifeline. Let's pray. Father God, we just ask that you would open doors and open hearts and new connections with individuals and churches and foundations who may have a heart to give to the ministry of Lifeline. Father, we just ask that you would provide. You say in your word that you own a cattle on a thousand hills.

And, Lord, we trust you and know that you will bring to bear the resources that we need to continue to manifest this beautiful gospel to orphan and vulnerable children. Lord, we just also pray that you would open up genuine relationships with our current donor, relationships that would be honoring to you, relationships that that would not be just transactional, but that would be life giving, that would be disciple making. Oh, father god, help us to minister to those who are faithful to you and give to the ministry of Lifeline. Lord God, help us to to trust you knowing that that you will bring the resources when we need them. Oh, father, I just pray that you would do a wonderful work in our midst.

I pray that we would not worry or fret over finances, but that we would trust you. We would know that you are the calm in the storm, that you will not leave this ministry and that you will not forsake this ministry. Lord, would you bring more and diverse funders to Lifeline? Would you open up the hearts and the minds of people to give? And, father, would you grow this ministry this through the sacrificial giving of your children.

It's in your great name that we pray, the name of Jesus. Amen.

Thanks again for joining us for the Defender Bible Study. If you enjoy making this podcast a part of your weekly routine, we'd love for you to take a moment to subscribe, rate, and review the Defender Bible Study to make it easier for more people to find. For more resources and information on how you and your church can partner with Lifeline, please visit us at lifeline child dot org. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter by searching for Lifeline Child. You can email us directly at info@lifelinechild.org.

We look forward to seeing you again next week for the Defender Study.