The Spirit of Truth, John 14:15-31
Introduction
When Christina and I lived in Tarpon Springs, Florida, one of our favorite places to visit was the Greek Sponge Docks. We lived on a few blocks away, in fact, and we would often take evening walks past the boats, restaurants, and little shops that are scattered along the docks. In years past the Sponge Docks were major centers for the local economy because of the abundance of natural sea sponges that grow in the area waters. The sponge divers would go down under the water for great lengths of time as they walked along the sea floor, collecting natural sea sponges.
They would face the perils of sharks and other sea predators. Diving equipment then was not what it is today. In those days diving equipment was heavy and cumbersome, with large brass helmets with glass portals through which to see. There connection to the surface was the air line which extended from their large brass helmets and heavy air tight canvas suits to the surface, where the sponge boat would supply pumped air into the line and keep and eye out for a tug on the rope which extended from the diver up to the surface. If the diver got into trouble or when he was finished harvesting sea sponges, he would pull the rope and then the deck crew would hoist him to the surface. Though the sea sponge market has dropped to a point where only a few sponge boats still operate commercially in Tarpon Springs and while diving techniques have shifted dramatically, a person may still see the old world way of sponge diving in action. On one occasion I took my oldest son Kurtis and Christina’s younger brother on a tour that is offered to see just how the sponge divers did it back in the hay day of their operation.
The sponge diver, in his heavy suit and weighty metal helmet was at the mercy of the gulf waters, submerged several feet from the surface, surrounded by the possibility of a shark tasting his air hose, leaving him oxygen-less, or worse yet, taking a bite out of him. The diver’s link to the surface is that hose and that tug line. In the Christian life, our link to the surface, our source of spiritual oxygen, life, and our help in times of trouble come from the Holy Spirit of God who lives and dwells within us. Though we may at times feel alone, lost in the dark, helpless, Christ has left us with His divine presence right here, right now, dwelling within our very beings!
In what is knows as “The Farewell Discourse” in John 14:16-17, Jesus says, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever – the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.” (NIV)
Transition
This morning we will examine what it perhaps the most important section of Scripture with regard to that most crucial and sadly, one of the most often neglected doctrines of the Christian Church; the Holy Spirit. This morning I will not spend a tremendous amount of time dealing with the divine nature and character of the Holy Spirit as the Second Person of the Triune Godhead.
Suffice it to say that the Holy Spirit is the second person of the Trinity. He is more than just a force in the world. He is more than just a feeling or event a gift of God. He is the very presence of God within us. He is the empowerment, the anointing of God’s presence, Christ within us. As the Apostle Paul said, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? (1 Corinthians 6:19a NIV)
This morning we will give our attention entirely over to what the Holy Spirit does in the life of the believer. Who is He? God! What does God’s Spirit do? This we shall see as we walk through the contents of Jesus promise in our text.
Exposition
I would suggest that the doctrine of the Holy Spirit is among the most confused doctrines of the modern church era. Views of the Holy Spirit draw lines of distinction between Christian denominations. At the same time, they cause division among believers within denominations, churches, and even between individual believers within supposed like-minded churches.
The matter of arriving at a clear understanding of the Holy Spirit’s character and role in the life of the believer and the world is further complicated by various perspectives in regard to the so called Charismatic Movement. As Erickson points out in his systematic theology, “Since Pentecostalists make so much of the Holy Spirit, certain non-Pentecostalists, anxious that they may be mistaken for Pentecostalists, avoid speaking of him altogether.”
Popular debates over the Holy Spirit’s role in the life of the believer, the lack of or over emphasis on the sign Gifts which he has wrought in the Church, and misunderstandings on both sides of the issue have largely strained reasonable hopes of lucidity with regard to the Holy Spirit.
I would encourage you today that we lay aside past prejudices or notions about what the Holy Spirit is and does in our lives. O let it never be said that the Holy Spirit is not only for charismatic or Pentecostal Christians!
God is alive and well in His Church and His precious Holy Spirit is alive and well in the hearts of believers. The great trouble, I am afraid, is that for lack of emphasis in preaching, teaching, and personal devotion, many of us are altogether too likely to neglect nurturing our understanding about and relationship with the great gift which Jesus promised us and gave to believers; His disciples today.
Jesus and the Holy Spirit
In seeking an understanding of what the Holy Spirit does in the life of the believer, we can not overlook what He did in the life of Jesus Christ. In the Bible we find that the Holy Spirit was present at the miraculous conception of Jesus. Indeed, Jesus knew no earthly father. He was conceived by God according to the power of His presence moving upon the virgin to conceive the Christ; the Messiah; the man Jesus. The Holy Spirit was present at the baptism of Jesus as He was anointed with the Holy Spirit and empowered for His earthly ministry. In the book of Acts, Peter is recorded as expressing how God “anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power.”
The role of the Holy Spirit in the life of Jesus can not be overlooked. It was the power of God descending upon Jesus at His baptism by John in the River Jordan. It was the “ordination” as it were, of Jesus beginning His ministry as the Messiah, the Son of God who was sent into the world to reveal the truth of God, express the character of God, and bring salvation into the world. Jesus, though divine in origin and nature, was subject to the limitations of his humanity; having “poured himself out” (Kenosis) in order to fulfill His mission in the earth. The Christological doctrine (Nature of Christ) of the humility of Christ is intrinsically linked with the pneumatological (Holy Spirit) aspects of the empowerment of Christ.
Peter’s confession that God had “anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit and power” is of particular interest when it is considered alongside the words of Jesus in John 14:16-17, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever – the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.” The words of Jesus in this section of the book of John remind believers that the Holy Spirit has been imparted unto the Church in just the same fashion as the Holy Spirit was imparted into the life of Jesus Christ.
This is particularly compelling in light of the Triune nature of God, as it is expressed in John 14:26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”
Just as God the Father is revealed in God the Son, so too, God the Son is revealed in God The Holy Spirit. The phrase ‘in my name’ used previously in vv.13, 14, means that the Spirit would be Jesus’ official delegated representative to act in his behalf. Just as Jesus himself demonstrated the personality and character of God to men, so after his departure the holy Spirit would make the living Christ real to his followers. In Christ we see the holiness, grace, and beauty of the Father, in the Holy Spirit we see the presence of God manifest within us!
The work of the Holy Spirit in the life of Christ is a reflection of what His work is in the life of present followers of Jesus Christ. In Christ we have not only the moral example to follow, not only our Lord and Saviour, but also a pattern to follow of what a relationship with the Holy Spirit looks like; what it brings into the life of New Testament era saints of God.
We are rightly filled with the Holy Spirit and according to His presence within us; we are empowered to be His witnesses, His disciples, and His worshippers! Just as Christ was indwelt and empowered for the ministry reconciliation, hope, and healing, for which He had come into the world, so too, when we place our trust in Christ for salvation, the Father fills us with the Holy Spirit to empower us!
Illustration
But how does this work? The absolute necessity of the indwelling Spirit of God is demonstrated by the forester. Whitewashing and spraying never reaches some parasites attacking the tree, so the forester bores into the very heart of the tree, and introduces chemical solutions which mingle with the sap and circulate through every branch and leaf. Thus is the old tree rendered absolutely safe from its foes. Is this not exactly the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers—to so indwell them as to render them safe from their foes? His ministry is very much like that of the antiseptic. To be effective the antiseptic must come in direct contact with the putrefaction in the flesh. Just so the Holy Spirit must be permitted direct access to the innermost secret sins of the believer if there is to be real spiritual blessing.
The Holy Spirit as Counselor
In John 15:26 Jesus says, “When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me.” The Holy Spirit, according to Jesus, is the means by which God continues to minister to His Church in the absence of Jesus Christ. In Christ the Church was established and by the work of the Holy Spirit the Church continues. The Spirit, at least in this sense, is the presence of Christ among His followers in the absence of His physical abiding presence.
Whereas Christ once walked among His followers, eating with them, dialoguing with them about the Kingdom of God, comforting, and teaching them, now the Holy Spirit does these very things from a position of residence in our very being.
“The Spirit’s role thus ensures the continuity between Jesus’ pre- and post-glorification ministry.” Kostenberger goes on to say that as the substitution of the presence of Christ, the Holy Spirit performs many functions in the life of believers. The Holy Spirit reminds believers of what Jesus has taught us (John 14:26). He testifies to us regarding Jesus (John 15:26). He convicts the world of sin (John 16:8-11) and He leads us into all truth (John 16:13).
The Holy Spirit is not a counselor in the modern sense of the word, though He does guide and lead believers. The modern usage of this word may very well be too generic to properly apply to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the internal compass, the rudder on the ship of our lives, and yet even these analogies fail to even begin to encapsulate the work of the Holy Spirit as Paraclete or counselor. The Holy Spirit is Christ presence in our lives, at the very center of our beings. For the believer this has tremendous implications for the practical matters of faith: we are not alone!
For the unbelieving world the presence of the Holy Spirit in the world likewise has remarkable implications. In John 16:8-11 Jesus says, “When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.”
Just as the Holy Spirit convicts the believer of sin as He pushes us along the pathways sanctification, the Holy Spirit also convicts the world of its sin as He covers the world with an invitation toward repentance leading unto eternal life.
The unbelieving world is not without an advocate. It is not as though John presents a picture of the Holy Spirit which only deals with His specific role in the lives of the elect.
John is careful to record the words of Jesus which tell us that the Holy Spirit is at work in the world calling sinners to repentance. With regard to the Great Commission recorded in Mark chapter sixteen, John reminds us that Jesus did not send us out alone. The Holy Spirit has gone before us to prepare the hearts of those to whom we would minister and He also indwells us and fills us with the power needed to fulfill our task. The Holy Spirit is the very presence of God within, enabling us, empowering us!
The Holy Spirit and Truth
We find ourselves living in an age when truth has come under attack as perhaps never before. In the so called age of enlightenment and knowledge, humanity has managed to lose its footing in truth, having cast any notion of absolute truth aside in favor of a relativistic view of truth. The saying goes, “Well that may be true for you, but it is not true for me.” Truth has been replaced with experience and experience is altogether subjective. Perhaps the words of Jesus in John 14:17 are needed as never before. “The Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.”
The world has long since declared itself in full allegiance not with the doctrine of the Holy Spirit but with the doctrine of self. The world is cut off from receiving fully the knowledge of the truth of God. We see the reality of this played out on the evening news every night and in the lives of those around us at every turn. “With the eye of faith the disciples would see Christ manifest to them but not to the world.” It is only when we turn our hearts to Christ that we know truth. Knowing truth is ultimately knowing Christ!
The Holy Spirit is the chief representative of truth in this world. One of the chief functions of the Holy Spirit in the world today is to witness to the truth that God has revealed through His Son Jesus. “You are a king, then!” said Pilate. Jesus answered, “You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” (John18:37) The Holy Spirit convicts the world of its sin by pressing upon the world the reality of Christ, in light of the abundance of falsehoods in this world. The Holy Spirit is the chief ambassador of truth in the world and we are His envoys!
Conclusion
When I lived in Butte, Montana as a teenager, one of my favorite places to go was a little spring high in the Rocky Mountains. My grandfather had shown me the place and occasionally we had gone there together. The place was a little spring where the water seemed alive in its ability to refresh the body. It was the purest mountain water free from defilement and filled with life. At the well of the Holy Spirit is just such a fount. Before departing this world, Jesus promised that He would send the comforter, the Paraclete, the counselor, the spirit of truth. Today, I invite you to open your heart to the knowing the presence of God within! Amen.
