Behold the Greatness of God
(Part 3 - God the Holy Spirit)
John 14:15-26
Sermon by Rick Crandall
McClendon Baptist Church - Feb. 3, 2008
*The most important person in this room today is someone you have never seen. The Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ is here with us today. This is God’s wonderful truth.
*Over the past 3 weeks, we have been magnifying our focus on God, beholding the greatness of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Today our focus is on the Holy Spirit. Join me this morning in praising God the Holy Spirit!
1. Praise Him first because of His divine identity.
*Who is the Holy Spirit? Jesus helps us to see in vs. 16-18, where He said: “I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.”
*Then in vs. 22, one of the disciples asked the Lord: “How is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?” And in vs. 23, Jesus said: “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.”
*One of the most wonderful truths about being a Christian is that God the Father and Son come to live in our hearts through the Holy Spirit. So the Holy Spirit is God. Make no mistake about it. The Holy Spirit is not an “it,” though sometimes our Bibles use that pronoun to describe Him.
*The Holy Spirit is God. He is not a “force” like we see in the Star Wars movies. He is not just a source of power like electricity. He is God the “Helper” (or “Comforter” in the KJV). When Jesus said, “I will send you another Helper” in vs. 16, the Greek word for “another” means “another of the same kind.” And since Jesus is God, then the Holy Spirit is God. He is God everywhere. He is God.
*And since the Holy Spirit is almost always invisible, God’s Word has given us some symbols to help us understand His divine identity.
1-First, the Holy Spirit is like a dove. We see this in all four Gospels at the baptism of Jesus Christ. For example, in John 1:32, John the Baptist said: “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him [Jesus].”
*Why did the Spirit come down like a dove? I would have come down as a roaring lion or a majestic eagle. Wouldn’t you? But God chose to be a dove, innocent and harmless to show us that with all of His strength, He has a tender, peaceful nature. The Holy Spirit is like a dove.
2-And in John 3:5-8 He is like the wind:
-Independent. -- We cannot control the wind!
-Invisible. -- Most of the time God prefers to work behind the scenes.
-Powerful. -- In Acts 2:2 the Holy Spirit came as “a rushing, mighty wind.”
3-But God’s Spirit is also like fire. He appeared as flames of fire when He came to the church on Pentecost. He is the kind of fire that purifies, and gives light.
4-And He is like oil used to heal, soothe, and burn for light.
5-God’s Spirit is also is like water. In John 7:37-39 Jesus cried out and said: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
*The Holy Spirit is like “Rivers of living water” flowing strong and steady! -- Washing, refreshing, filling, satisfying.
*Dr. Donald Potts was one of my seminary professors, and one day he told us about taking a trip to Egypt. On the tour, they came to a river, and Dr. Potts saw a woman washing her clothes in the river. Then he looked upstream and saw a big, dirty water buffalo standing in the water. Then he looked downstream and saw several people getting their drinking water! Want a drink of that water? -- Of course not!
*You can’t get clean water from a filthy stream. And you can’t get a clean life from a dirty world. But the Spirit of God is like rivers of pure, living water in our souls.
6-A dove, wind, fire, oil, water, these are God-given pictures to teach us about His Spirit. But when you ask, “What is the Holy Spirit like?” The best answer is Jesus! The Holy Spirit is like Jesus!
*Jesus was talking about the Holy Spirit here in vs. 18, when He said, “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.” So all of the kindness, compassion, mercy and love we find in Jesus Christ, we will also find in His Spirit.
*And this is a good time to say that we would not have the Holy Spirit like we do today without the merciful love of Jesus Christ. The Lord made this clear in John 16:7 where Jesus said: “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 depart, I will send Him to you.” The Holy Spirit came in a new way after the cross, after the resurrection, after Jesus went back to Heaven, but it is only because of the sacrificial love of Jesus Christ.
*John Haggai saw a taste of this kind of love in the life of Dr. Claude Barlow, a medical missionary to China in the early 1900’s. A strange disease was killing many people and Dr. Barlow knew of no remedy.
*There was no research laboratory for this disease, so Dr. Barlow conducted his own research. He filled a notebook with his observations. He then got a vial of disease germs and sailed for the United States. Before he arrived, Dr. Barlow took the germs into his own body; then went to Johns Hopkins Hospital to be observed. Dr. Barlow allowed his old professors at Johns Hopkins to use him for experiments. Thank the Lord, a cure was found, which a healthy Claude Barlow took back to China with him. -- His efforts saved countless lives. (1)
*What an amazing display of Christ-like love, a small taste of the love Jesus showed us on the cross. But, you see, God’s Spirit has this same kind of compassionate love for us! Christians: the Holy Spirit really is “Christ in us, the Hope of Glory” (Col 1:27). So praise the Holy Spirit for His divine identity.
2. And praise Him for inspiring God’s Word.
*In vs. 17 Jesus called His Spirit the “Spirit of truth.” He is the one who has given us the truth of God’s Word. The Holy Spirit inspired God’s Word. As 2 Peter 1:21 says: “Prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”
*So who wrote the Bible? Did the Apostle John write the book we are studying today? No doubt he did, but John did not write this book by himself. He was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write these words.
*A great place to see this truth is in the first chapter of Acts. When the Apostles were about to replace Judas, Peter said: “Men and brethren, this Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus” (Acts 1:16).
*Then in the last chapter of Acts Paul said, “The Holy Spirit spoke rightly through Isaiah the prophet to our fathers” (Acts 28:25). In these two cases and in every case, the Holy Spirit led men exactly what to write the Bible, so this is in fact the infallible Word of God.
*The Holy Spirit inspired the writing of God’s Word. Now He inspires us to understand God’s Word. As Jesus said in vs. 26: “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 things that I said to you.”
*You will find the Holy Spirit mentioned on the first page of your Bible, and on the last page of your Bible. But the truth is that you will find Him on every page in between, because He gave us this book that is so important to us. So praise the Holy Spirit for inspiring God’s Word.
3. And praise Him for His personal involvement in our lives.
*In vs. 15-23, the Lord helps us understand how His Spirit wants to be involved in our lives. Notice three ways.
1-First: The Holy Spirit helps put us in the family of God.
*In vs. 15-18, Jesus spoke to His followers and said:
15. "If you love Me, keep My commandments.
16. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—
17. the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.
18. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
*“I will not leave you orphans.” The New Living Translation says “I will not abandon you as orphans” That’s a good choice of words, because the original word is “orphanos,” where we get our word “orphan.”
*This verse gives us the absolute assurance that Jesus will never abandon those who trust in Him. When we receive Christ, He comes to us through His Spirit and adopts us into the Family of God. Paul affirmed this great truth in Romans 8, where he said:
14. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
15. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father."
16. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
*Then in Eph 1:4-5, Paul explained that God the Father: “Chose us in (Christ) before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, Having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.” God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit joyfully work together to adopt us into the family of God.
*I have heard adoptive parents talk about the boundless joy they had on the day their dream came true. But God has infinitely greater joy when He adopts us into His family.
*Teacher Debbie Moon tells about a day when her first graders were discussing a picture of a family. One little boy in the picture had different color hair than the other family members. One child suggested that, perhaps, he was adopted. And a little girl named Jocelynn Jay said, “I know all about adoptions because I'm adopted.”
*“What does it mean to be adopted?” asked another child. -- “It means,” said Jocelynn, “that you grew in your mother's heart instead of her tummy.” (2)
*That’s the way God feels about us. And through His Spirit He promises to make us part of His family, so God can say, “I will not abandon you as orphans” The Holy Spirit helps put us in the family of God.
2-And He gives us the life of God.
*In vs. 19, Jesus said: “A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also.”
*Jesus said, “Because I live, you will live also.” When we trust in Jesus Christ, we get this God-kind of eternal life. We are born again by the Holy Spirit of God. In John 3, Jesus told Nicodemus, “You must be born again.” And Jesus said: “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3:5-6) The Holy Spirit gives us the life of God.
3-And He gives us the presence of God.
*In vs. 23, Jesus said: “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.” The last thing Jesus said in Matthew’s Gospel was: “I am with you always, even to the end of the world.”
*Listen to this story from retired Episcopal Bishop William Frey:
-When I was a younger man, I volunteered to read to a degree student named John who was blind. One day I asked him, "How did you lose your sight?" -- "A chemical explosion," John said, "at the age of 13."
*"How did that make you feel?" I asked. -- John responded, "Life was over. I felt helpless. I hated God. For the first six months I did nothing to improve my lot in life. I would eat all my meals alone in my room.
*One day my father entered my room and said, ‘John, winter’s coming and the storm windows need to be up. -- That’s your job. I want those hung by the time I get back this evening or else!’ Then he turned, walked out of the room and slammed the door.
*I got so angry. I thought, "Who does he think I am? I’m blind!" I was so angry I decided to do it. I felt my way to the garage, found the windows, located the necessary tools, found the ladder, all the while muttering under my breath, ‘I’ll show them. I’ll fall, then they’ll have a blind and paralyzed son!’”
*John said, "I got the windows up. Then he said, “I found out later that never at any moment was my father more than four or five feet away from my side." (3)
*If you know Jesus as Lord and Savior, then God Himself is never far away from you, because of His Holy Spirit. Whatever you go through, wherever you are, whatever task God calls you to undertake, whatever trial you have to endure, whatever delights you enjoy or heartbreaks you suffer -- the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ is right there with you.
*Praise the Lord! -- Christ in you the hope of glory. -- Christ in you the Holy Spirit.
-And if you have never trusted in the Lord: The Spirit of the Risen Savior is knocking on the door of your heart right now. -- Open your heart to Jesus.
1. Story from “LEAD ON” by John Haggai (Waco: Word Books 1986) (found in ChristianGlobe.com sermon “Thankful for the Right Things” by King Duncan - Col 1:1-14)
2. George Dolan in “Condensed Chicken Soup for the Soul, 1996” by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen & Patty Hansen. (Found in ChristianGlobe.com sermon “Adopted!” by King Duncan - Eph 1:3-14)
3. Found in SermonCentral sermon “Because He Lives” by Evie Megginson - John 14:19
