Text: John 14:16-18, Title: More Comfort, Date/Place: NRBC, 6/2/13, AM
A. Opening illustration: What if President Obama says in 2016, “I have to go away, but don’t worry, I won’t leave you as orphans, I’m coming back to you. I am praying to my father, and he will send you another helper just like me, and he will guide you…”?
B. Background to passage: Jesus has told them that He is going away, and they should not let their hearts be troubled, but they should believe in Him, trust Him, follow Him, love Him, love each other, do the works He did, even greater ones, because of the completion of the cross, the prayer in His name, and through loving Him by obedience to His commands. Much advice Jesus has given them in preparing them for His leaving them. All of this to comfort them, but there’s more, He then says He will pray for them, and God will answer. He speaks about His relationship to them as that of a father to his children. And even though He has been clear that he must go, He says, “I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you.” In the bible, that is what an orphan needed was an advocate. He says I am coming back in the form of the Spirit.
C. Main thought: more comfort to disciples b/c He is going away and the Helper is coming
A. Abide Forever (v. 16)
1. The disciples had just invested 3 years of their lives. They had given up time with their families, businesses, roofs over their heads, and all sorts of other comforts. They had gone through storms on the sea, angry crowds who wanted to throw people off cliffs, seeing “ghosts” on the water, demons here, demons there, hunger, and all the elements in hopes of a part of the coming kingdom that Jesus was going to establish. And now he was going away! But the Spirit Jesus said would stay with them FOREVER!
2. Argumentation
3. Illustration: nothing that we know of is eternal, most things in our lives are not eternal – story of the husband and wife dying two days apart last week, same funeral, etc.
4. Jesus’ words that we love to quote about never leaving us or forsaking us have a general meaning in our minds that God will not forsake us. But the reality is that His actual presence and empowering companionship that will never go away and whose company we presently enjoy if we live in that realization is that of the Holy Spirit. And it will NEVER go away. When you can’t feel Him, He’s there. In your darkest moments, He’s there. In your finest hour, He’s there. If you live to be 110, He will be there with you, in you, surrounding you, speaking to you, in presence every second of every minute of every hour of every day of every week of every month of every year! He abides forever.
B. Spirit of Truth (v. 17)
1. Names and personhood of the Spirit. Read the names of the Spirit, read elements of personhood, and the divine attributes of the Spirit. He is not some inanimate, impersonal, Star Wars-like “force.” He is a person. That is hard to fathom for us, but the language we use as individuals and as a church is important. But Jesus uses this name for Him three times in this talk, and John uses it once more. He will never lead us wrong. It is what Jesus is called. It is an attribute of God.
2. 1 John 2:27, 4:6
3. Illustration: I grew up in the ‘80s, and those of you who loved Star Wars then or the later version now can appreciate the hearing Obiwon saying, “May the force be with you.”
4. Knowing about the Spirit will help us appreciate His ministry and rely on Him more. Learning to call Him a “him” rather than “it” will demonstrate a great truth to others around you. In the past we have been afraid to call Him by name and speak of Him much so as not to be mistaken as charismatics or Pentecostals. But if we know Him, are in touch with Him, He will not lead us astray.
C. Unknown to Unbelievers (v. 17)
1. Inability of the world to discern spiritual things. The bible teaches that the natural man is crippled, not necessarily in his intellect, but in his spirit, in his heart. He cannot understand, eyes of his heart are not open. Notice it says the world cannot receive the Spirit because it does not see Him or Know him. This indicates the revealing of Christ to believers because they will know Him (the Spirit) because they know Christ.
2. 1 Cor 2:14
3. Illustration: seminary professor who had completely given up marriage counseling, trying to explain to someone the otherday what it was to experience something that you were convinced was otherworldly in the demonic sense - “you just have to be there”
4. If you are here today, and are not born again. You have not/are not completely resting your hopes of eternal life and hope of any sort of goodness on your account upon Jesus’ death, resurrection, you cannot know the Holy Spirit. You are broken, cannot/do not/will not seek God on your own. You do not know God. Not my words, Jesus’ words. This is also the testimony of the rest of the new testament. If you do not know the Spirit, there could be a problem…
D. Indwells Believers (v. 17)
1. Living inside believers as a down payment, and as a witness to the veracity of our salvation. As an assurance to other believers; and in order to perform all those things that He is. Read the ministries of the Spirit printout. In the OT, the Spirit came down upon people and groups of people for ministry and certain occasions, but was much less specific. In the NT, the Spirit baptizes believers into the body of Christ, the church, then comes to live within them as the agent to perform within them the acts of sanctification. This is why God can assure us that the work that He has begun, He will complete. This is why the NT can teach that those who begin rightly will finish. This is why he can say that all that He justifies He will glorify, and that He will lose none of His sheep. However this does not conflict with our will and, nor does it remove our responsibility to pursue holiness.
2. Argumentation
3. Illustration: VGS to help one overcome the problem of seizures, pacemakers (the Spirit) vs. cpap machines to help you sleep at night (they are like accountability groups), He is the uniform or tattoo on the inside that binds you with others, He is the culture stamp that makes a marine a marine,
4. It will also increase our joy and awe of the wisdom of God for His design of our redemption and sanctification here on earth. He goes with you everywhere. He is at the office, at the kitchen table, behind closed doors, at the computer, while you study. He ensures that Christ will come back for His purchased possession. He enables you to serve and do things that you are commanded to do, because He is inside of you. He makes you part of the church at large, and places you in a church locally. Look what else Jesus says that the Spirit does:
A. Closing illustration: Reading with the girls this week, and we were reading in John 6. Jesus had fed the 5000. Sent the disciples to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. Walked on the water. And when they all got the other side, word spread, and crowds gathered. Jesus told them that they were only there because of the food and the miracles, not because of the thing that the miracles pointed to. They said, “OK, we want to do the works of God, not just get the bread, what do we do? He said believe in the One whom He sent. They said do a miracle so we can believe, Moses gave bread from heaven, give us bread (obviously still not getting it). Jesus said, Moses didn’t give, God gave: and that bread was temporary and they died. I am the true bread from heaven, come to me, believe in me, eat my flesh, drink my blood, never hunger again, never thirst again, have eternal life, never die – I am the living bread – God is the gospel, not His gifts. The Holy Spirit is part of the plan, and performs many awesome, necessary, and helpful things, but don’t just desire the Spirit’s power or blessings, desire the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Love Him, believe Him; this is the work that you need to do today.
B. Recap
C. Invitation to commitment
Additional Notes
● Jesus will manifest (reveal, make himself known) to believers through the Spirit – John 14:22ff
● Jesus and the Father, in the form of the Spirit will make their home in us – John 14:23
● Teach you all things – John 14:26
● Bring to your remembrance all things – John 14:26
● Proceeds from the Father – John 15:26
● Testify of Christ – John 15:26
● Conviction of the world – John 16:8
○ Of sin b/c they do not believe in Christ – John 16:9
○ Of righteousness b/c He’s going to the Father – John 16:10
○ Of judgment b/c the ruler of this world is judged – John 16:11
● Guide you in all truth – John 16:13
