Let's look at John chapter 14 verses 15 to 31, and really John
chapters 14 through 16 go together because it's the
overall arching theme of Jesus teaching about the role and the
person and the work of the Holy Spirit.
So give your attention to the reading of God's Word.
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 in me, and I in
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'm
going away, and I will come to you.
If you love me, you would have rejoiced, because I'm 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 maybe leave.
I will no longer talk much with you.
For the ruler of this 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 from here. This is the word of the Lord.
All right? And you may take your seats and
we're going to jump right in. When it comes to the Holy
Spirit, there's either an overemphasis upon him or there
is an under emphasis upon him. My Greek professor at the ETS
named Doctor Wallace. He shared with us in class his
concern about the under emphasis of the Holy Spirit in the
Evangelical Church and he later wrote an article about it that
he entitled Who's Afraid of the Holy Spirit?
The uneasy conscience of a non charismatic Evangelical.
And in it what he does is, he argues, the danger of a purely
rational approach to the scriptures without realizing the
relational aspect of the Spirit who inspired these scriptures.
He says under emphasizing the Holy Spirit can lead to a purely
intellectual approach to God. We're one's relationship to God.
It's rationally based on how well we can interpret and
control the text and keep our doctrine in line.
But then on the other hand, we have an overemphasis on the Holy
Spirit, which when I was doing campus ministry at Baylor, I
heard a sermon from a pastor in the church who actually said
this. He says when you got Jesus, you
got the peanut butter, but to have a really good sandwich you
need the Jelly. The Holy Spirit's the Jelly.
Now whether this pastor knows it or not, he did something that
the Holy Spirit would never do and that is elevate himself
above Jesus. So instead of arguing for a
balanced view as if we need to tone down our emphasis on the
Holy Spirit or we need to ramp up our emphasis on the Holy
Spirit, I just think we better need to understand who the Holy
Spirit is and what his role is. Remember where we are.
We're in chapter 13 after washing the disciples feet.
Jesus says one of you is going to betray me.
And then as Judas leaves, Jesus explains that the hour for the
Son of Man to be glorified has finally come.
Jesus says, I'm going to be leaving you and where I go, you
cannot follow me at this time. And then Peter, he wants to
know, well, why can't we follow you?
And then he boldly proclaims, I will lay down my life for you.
And Jesus says, Peter, tonight you're going to deny ever
knowing me three times. So the disciples, their hearts
are all troubled. They're confused, they're
uncertain, they're fearful of what lies ahead because Jesus is
talking about departing and leaving them.
I mean, for three years they have been with him.
They have enjoyed his presence. They've seen him teach, they've
witnessed his power, they've seen his love, his compassion in
the way he deals with people. Jesus has turned their worlds
upside down and then built them back up.
They've come to believe and trust that he is God's Messiah.
But now he's talking about leaving them, going back to his
Father, and they can't follow him at this time.
So what does all this mean? I mean, if he leaves, what's
going to happen to us? Is Jesus abandoning us?
Are we going to live as orphans, left to ourselves, with no one
to lead us? But in chapter 16, verses 6
through 7, listen to what he says, because I have said these
things to you, talking about His leaving.
Sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless, I tell you the
truth, it is to your advantage that I go away.
For if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you.
But if I go, I will send him to you.
See, what they think is to their disadvantage.
Jesus is actually saying they're better off if I go.
You see, if I do not go, then I cannot send the Holy Spirit.
So having the Holy Spirit it's actually an advantage over
having Jesus's pre glorified body with them.
Let that sink in for a moment. Most people think that the
disciples had it better than we do, right?
Because they visibly saw Jesus, they touched Jesus, they were
eyewitnesses to everything he did and said.
See, none of us have had the privilege of physically seeing
Jesus. And we think that if we did,
wouldn't it be so much easier, right?
Seeing is believing after all, right?
And if I could just see Jesus like they did, I wouldn't
struggle so much believing in him.
If I could see Jesus just like that, I wouldn't doubt so much.
May it be easier for me to live with him if I just physically
saw him, because I would know him better.
But what Jesus is teaching his disciples and what he's teaching
us is that when he sends the Holy Spirit, they would actually
know Jesus better. They will better understand who
Jesus is and the significance of what he came to do.
They would better understand the intimate relationship that Jesus
has with the Father. They would better understand the
relationship that the Father and the Son have with them.
So rather than losing Jesus, they will actually gain him in a
more intimate way. Now, before we look at how the
Holy Spirit's presence is to our advantage, we have to deal with
something that's very misunderstood.
And because it's misunderstood, many Christians misapply this to
their lives and misunderstand what role the Holy Spirit plays.
Many people have interpreted the Spirit's work in chapter 14,
verse 26 as a direct application to all believers.
He will teach you all believers all things.
And then they also look at chapter 16, verse 13 to prove
this as well, where Jesus says the Spirit will guide you into
all truth and He will declare to you the things that are to come.
So many people believe that Jesus is speaking to all
believers here, so they've used these verses to argue that the
Spirit speaks directly to us without the mediation of God's
written word. That he reveals new revelation
to people concerning what God's will is for certain aspects of
their life. Now I want to just briefly argue
that what Jesus says here about the Holy Spirit has a direct
application to the disciples first.
And because it does, it applies to us in a slightly different
way. See first and foremost the role
of the Holy Spirit in John 14 through 16.
It's meant to be a direct application to the disciples
because they were going to be the ones who write down the New
Testament, the inspired New Testament from the Holy Spirit.
In chapter 14, verse 22, Jesus is asked why does he plan to
reveal himself to the disciples and not to the world?
Jesus's answer at the end of verse 24 stresses that his words
that they hear, it has divine origin and authority.
Why? Because they're the Father's
words. All that Jesus said and taught
was inspired by the Father. He only speaks what He hears His
Father speak. So what makes verse 26 so
important is that this inspiration, it doesn't cease
with Jesus's departure. Because when the Holy Spirit
comes to and dwell Jesus's disciples, he, the Holy Spirit,
will teach the disciples all that Jesus taught.
The Holy Spirit will remind the disciples of all that Jesus did
and said. Therefore, Jesus is manifesting
Himself to His disciples and not to the world.
Because when he departs, what's he doing?
He's now giving His authority to be His witnesses to His
disciples. So they now are going to
continue Jesus's work through their witness.
The disciples are going to manifest Jesus to the world
through their teaching and their written testimony.
See in the four Gospels, what do we have?
We have the written form of what the Spirit reminded the
disciples concerning all that Jesus said and taught.
Which means because of the Spirit's direct work in the
disciples to write the New Testament as a witness to
Christ, the spirits work in our lives.
It cannot be separated from the words that He inspired the
disciples to write. In other words, how do I
simplify this? The Holy Spirit does not give
Christians today direct new revelation.
He helps us to better understand and personally and subjectively
experience the revelation already written.
And yes, I did say subjectively experience, which makes us
Presbyterians nervous. I'll explain this more in a
minute, but look at what he calls the Holy Spirit in verse
16 and verse 26. It's the Greek word paraclete.
It's one called alongside in order to help.
This is why some have translated it helper, counselor, advocate,
or comforter. And in chapter 15, verse 26,
Jesus says that when the Helper, the counselor, the Advocate, or
the Comforter comes, whom He will send the Spirit of truth,
who proceeds from the Father. Listen to this.
He, the Holy Spirit will bear witness of me.
That's his role. His role is to take what is
Jesus is and make it known to you.
Now don't miss this, this helper, this counselor, this
advocate, this comforter, the spirit of truth who proceeds
from the Father and bears witness about Jesus.
He's the one who's not just going to come alongside to help
us to understand and know Christ better on occasion.
But according to verses 16 to 18 of chapter 14, what will He do?
He will and dwell forever. Those who believe see Jesus's
departure. It means that you are not left
as an orphan because Jesus is going to come to you and the
person of the Holy Spirit. And when he comes to dwell
believers, he will never leave. See, look again at verse 16, the
Holy Spirit, He's not a different kind of helper than
Jesus is. Jesus is saying, I'm not going
to send you another helper of a different kind.
I'm going to send you another helper of the same kind.
The Holy Spirit will be your helper.
He will be your advocate. He will be your counselor.
He will be your comforter, just as I have been.
He's going to continue my ministry in you.
So this helping, this advocating, this counseling,
this comforting role of the Holy Spirit has an inward subjective
aspect to it and an outward objective aspect to it as well.
And the only way I can explain this is with an illustration.
Golly, when I first saw the movie Saving Private Ryan long
time ago in the theaters, it gave me a knowledge of war.
But sitting on the same row with me was an elderly man who was
weeping and wailing bitterly throughout that whole 24 minute
scene when they invaded Normandy.
And I didn't find out why until after the movie.
Because he was there. I knew about war from what I was
watching. This man subjectively experience
the reality of war because he was there, the Holy Spirit.
He works inwardly in us in such a way that we subjectively and
emotionally experience the truth about who Jesus is and the
implications of what he's done. In other words, he subjectively
enables us to feel the reality that God loves you.
Listen to how Paul puts it in Romans 5 verse five.
He says in hope it does not put us to shame because God's love
has been poured out into our hearts.
How through the Holy Spirit who's been given to us so Paul
was saying our hope and God will never put us to shame because
the God we hope in proves to us that he loves us by giving us a
personal experience of his presence through the Holy Spirit
God. In other words, he gives a real
subjective experience where we actually feel the love of God in
our hearts and we are inwardly comforted by the Holy Spirit, so
we know God is with us. Jesus says it this way in our
text, verses 20 through 21. In that day you will know that I
am in the Father, and you are in me, and I in 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 I will manifest. I will make myself known to Him.
How do we know all these things? Understanding, knowing, and
experiencing the intimate relationship that Jesus has with
His Father and that He and His Father has with us is dependent
on the presence of the Holy Spirit.
Look at verses 26 through 27. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit,
whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all
things. He will bring to your
remembrance all that I have said to you.
Peace I leave with you notices, My peace I give to you.
Not as the world gives to you do I give to you.
Let not your hearts be troubled. Neither let them be afraid.
How do we not let our hearts not be troubled?
How is fear driven from our hearts?
How do we know we have peace with God?
Because through the Word of God, inwardly and subjectively, we
experience the reality of God's love for us through the Holy
Spirit. In other words, what does the
Holy Spirit do? He helps us, He counsels us, He
advocates Jesus to us. He comforts us with the reality
of His presence and gives us His peace.
But don't miss this, this subjective experience that only
the Holy Spirit can produce. Music can't produce it.
Mysticism can't produce it. Getting alone and trying to get
into a state of a higher spiritual plane can't produce
this. Notice that this objective
experience that only the Holy Spirit can produce, it's not
separated from the objective historical facts of Jesus's
life, death, and resurrection. In other words, the Spirit does
this work through the words that He inspired the disciples to
write. This is why John 14 through 16,
it has direct application to the disciples first, and why the
spirits work in US. It's not separated from His work
in them. The Holy Spirit taught them all
things concerning Christ. He brought to their remembrance
all that Jesus said and did. He bore witness to Christ.
Why? So that through their words he
would now bear witness about Christ to us, the Holy Spirit.
In other words, he does not speak forth new revelation.
He helps, He counsels, He advocates, He comforts us with
the words about Jesus already written.
The Holy Spirit's purpose, in other words, Jesus is going to
say, is to glorify me, is to take what is mine and make it
known to you. How does he do this?
By taking the recorded historical facts about Jesus's
life, death and resurrection and opening the eyes of our heart to
see the meaning of it. To make these truths more real.
Where we actually subjectively experience and inwardly feel the
reality of these truths so that because of these truths we
actually experience and are convinced that God loves us.
Which means you and I cannot experience the love of God being
poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit apart from the
words about Christ. This is my sophomore year at
Penn State when I injured my neck and this ended my athletic
career. Not wrestling.
Gave me more time to get involved with the campus
ministry, which I did, and from my experience with this campus
ministry, I was sensing God was calling me into ministry.
I was planning on going on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ,
but because of some sin issues I was told by Crusade that I had
to wait a year to get my moral life together.
So after I graduated I stayed in State College for a semester to
work on my relationship with God and to work on the relationship
I had with my girlfriend hoping that we would get married and
then after a year I would be accepted on staff with campers
to save for Christ. But during this time my neck
started getting worse and worse. I found out that I had to get it
operated on and it would be a year long recovery.
Two days after I found out about my neck, the girl that I was
dating broke up with me and in my anger I hit a cinder block
wall, smashing both knuckles and breaking these two bones in
three to five places. This happened at midnight and I
had to drive home to Pittsburgh, which was 3 1/2 hours away to
get it fixed. On that painful drive home I was
hit with the reality that my life and my sin had gotten out
of control. I was struggling to believe how
in the world could God love somebody like me and all that
was going through my head on this back roads in Pennsylvania
was Psalm one O 3, Psalm one O 3, Psalm one O 3.
I've never read Psalm 1O3I pulled over, pulled out my Bible
and I began to read these words. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and
all that is within me. Bless his holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of his benefits.
And now he's going to list them. Who forgives all your iniquity?
Who heals all your diseases? Who redeemed your life from the
pit? Who crowns you with steadfast
love and mercy? He made known his ways to Moses.
Now he's reflecting on Exodus 32 through 34, where God reveals to
Moses the meaning of His name, Yahweh, His acts to the people
of Israel, the Lord Yahweh's merciful and gracious.
He's slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
He will not always have a case against us, nor will He keep His
anger forever. He does not deal with us
according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His
steadfast, loyal, covenant love to those who fear Him.
As far as the east is from the West, so far has He removed his
transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion to
His children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear
Him. I wept like a baby.
I don't know for how long, but when I read these words,
inwardly I knew I'm OK with God and God's OK with me in spite of
my sin. Because of Jesus, I was at peace
with God, He was at peace with me, and I actually experienced
His peace. Brothers and sisters, why is
Jesus leaving his disciples? Because he's going to die for
his disciples to pay for their sins.
Penalty. Three days later, after paying
that penalty, God raised his son from the dead.
Right now, his son is seated at the right hand of God the Father
Almighty. And what is he doing?
He's sending forth His Spirit to indwell believers to assure
them, to comfort them, to help them understand and know all
that Jesus has done to save them.
And because He has saved them, they are His forever and ever.
Amen. Let me pray Father, thank you
for the gift of the Holy Spirit. Thank you that He takes what is
Jesus's and He makes it more real and more clear to us.
So now I ask that as we are about to partake of this meal,
that you would in fact do that to all who trust in Him.
Make real the reality of your love for them.
We ask this in Jesus name, Amen.