John 16:12-15
Noting the Constant Presence of God
Today is Trinity Sunday. The Trinity--God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit--is one of the great mysteries of the faith. Our brains struggle to fathom one God in three persons. We have different images to help us. As a kid, I learned that water can also be experienced as ice or steam; the same substance in three manifestations. Or you may have different roles you play: wife, mother, grandmother, friend, sister; or husband, father, grandfather, brother, son. You are one, yet manifest yourself in different roles. These are all images to try to help us understand the Triune God of the Bible.
Michael Jones uses the picture of a relay race. God the Father has spoken to people in various times and ways throughout the Old Testament. Then, he hands the baton to his only begotten son Jesus who runs with it as he teaches and performs miracles for three years. In today’s setting, Jesus is preparing for his final moments on earth. His arrest is imminent. Then will follow his death, resurrection, and ascension. And he knows that, only in going, can he send the final team member of the relay, the Holy Spirit, who will bring to mind all that Jesus has taught the disciples and continue to help them along in their daily lives.
A couple of chapters earlier, Jesus had shared with his disciples about this Holy Spirit. In John 14:17, he promised, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and 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.” We saw last week at Pentecost the fruition of this, as the Holy Spirit entered into every believer to stay, and enabled them to do what they could not do on their own. Ever since, the moment you become a believer, the moment you say yes to Jesus and enter the family of God, Jesus sends his Spirit, the Holy Spirit, into you.
As I thought about what today’s verses say about the Holy Spirit’s work, I came up with three actions we can take. First, we need to ...
1. Depend on the Holy Spirit’s help
Jesus told his followers in verse 12, “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear.” Jesus was probably talking about his coming trials. We know from scripture that he repeatedly tried to prepare his disciples for his death on a cross; yet they continually refused to believe it. They had in their minds a different sort of Messiah, a militaristic hero that the entire nation longed for. Jesus knew they weren’t ready to hear more at this time, but they could take it in as they looked back at the cross. After all, hindsight is 20/20.
For us today, we don’t have the same problem as the disciples, although certainly there are some things we are probably not ready to hear. The Holy Spirit speaks those things in bite-sized bites that are palatable with what we can handle. Sometimes you may feel you are at the end of your rope, that you can’t take any more. Know that the Holy Spirit is there with you, in that moment, to help you bear up and make it through another day.
I believe it is simply impossible to live the Christian life without the help of the Holy Spirit. He is your constant guide, your champion, your reminder of God’s presence in your life 24/7. He is your conviction when you drift from God’s best, when you follow sin’s destructive path. And he is the one who warms your heart as you return to the God of your youth. Count on the daily presence of the Holy Spirit as if your life depended upon it...because it does! Secondly,
2. Trust God’s truth as the truth.
Jesus said to them, in the first part of verse 13, “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth.” For these disciples, this scripture was fulfilled as the Holy Spirit helped them write what we call the New Testament. Even before the New Testament had come together, the Apostle Peter wrote, in 2 Peter 1:20-21, “Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” Two chapters later, Peter referred to Paul’s letters at the time as “scripture” (2 Peter 3:16). We are blessed to have the Holy Spirit as the divine author of these scriptures we read today.
Yet, the Holy Spirit is not limited to Bible times; he helps us understand truth today as well. In this post-modern time, a lot of folks claim there is no absolute truth: “your truth is different from my truth.” Yet, Jesus says he is truth (John 14:6), and we know that God’s word is true, because God never lies. The Holy Spirit, then, guides us into God’s truth. He will show you the truth of your situation. Don’t trust your own heart, because the heart can betray us.
When the disciples got caught in a terrible storm on the Sea of Galilee, they all thought they were going to die. They thought that was the truth of their situation. Yet, as Henry Blackaby quips, “Truth was asleep in the back of the boat.” When they woke up “Truth,” He spoke to the storm and the sea and calmed the waves. What they perceived as truth was not true. Don’t assume you know the truth of your situation until you have a clear word from God.
Trust God’s word. Trust God’s Holy Spirit, who will reveal to you all truth. Charles Stanley writes, “In every area of our inadequacy, the Holy Spirit indwells us to meet our needs in the way that honors God ... Everything that God calls us to do, the Spirit equips and empowers us to accomplish it” (The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible, p. 1507).
You can depend on the Holy Spirit’s help and seek God’s truth as the Spirit reveals it to you. Then lastly,
3. Serve like the Holy Spirit
In verses 13b and 14, Jesus said, “He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.”
The Holy Spirit would lead the disciples into what was to come, including the death and resurrection of Jesus. Today, the Holy Spirit continues to lead us into what is to come, as we yield daily to God’s leading, and seek His next step for our lives. Sometimes we say, “I wish God would just show me the long-range plan!” The problem is, we couldn’t handle it! As I look back over my life, if I knew all the twists and turns it would take, that knowledge as a 20-year-old would probably overwhelm me. Yet, the Spirit was there leading the entire time.
Now I want you to notice the servant-like humility of the Holy Spirit: he never draws attention to himself. Rather, he always puts the spotlight on Jesus the Son. Earlier, in John 5:19-20, Jesus told his disciples how Jesus never acted on his own initiative but only did exactly what the Father told him to do. So Jesus directed attention to God the Father. The Holy Spirit directs attention to Jesus, the Father directs attention to Jesus, and Jesus directs attention to the Father. The Trinity as a whole models servant-like humility for us.
We, like the Holy Spirit, can orient our lives to serve others and give glory to God the Father and Jesus the Son. We, like the Holy Spirit, can always honor God in quiet ways that build the kingdom without drawing attention to ourselves.
C.S. Lewis tells the story of a college student who wrote to him. The young man was an atheist, and he was very concerned because he had made friends with some Christians. These other students were enthusiastically witnessing to him about Jesus, and it had shaken up the man's thinking. He was struggling greatly with Christianity, and he wanted to know, “What does Dr. Lewis think?”
C. S. Lewis wrote back, “I think you are already in the meshes of the net. The Holy Spirit is after you. I doubt you will get away.” [From Ron Dunn, “Don’t Just Stand There, Pray Something”]
That young college student did get saved. His name was Sheldon Vanauken and here is what he wrote about that day: “I couldn't reject Christ. There was only one thing to do. I turned and flung myself over the gap toward Christ. On a morning with spring in the air, March 29th, I wrote in my notebook: ‘I choose to believe in the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. In Christ, my Lord and my God. Christianity has the ring, the feel of unique truth. Essential truth. By it, life is made full instead of empty, meaningful instead of meaningless. I confess my doubts and ask my Lord Christ to enter my life. I do not know God. I do but say: Be it unto me according to Thy will. I do not affirm that I am without doubt. I do but ask for help, having chosen, to overcome it. I do but say: Lord, I believe. Help Thou mine unbelief.’” [unknown, Encounter With Light - an honest account of how a scholar met Christ]
Let us pray: Thank you, Father, for being a perfect Heavenly Father for us, for sending us your Son to save us from our sins, and for putting your Holy Spirit into each one of us so that we are never without your presence. Help us to depend on you, to trust in your truth, and to serve like you. We ask this in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, amen.”
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John 16:12-15
12 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”
For welcome (recognizing fathers on Father's Day):
From Lee Strobel:
C.S. Lewis said, regardless of your relationship with your earthly father, all of us can imagine what a perfect father would be like. He’d be kind, loving, forgiving, encouraging, affirming, warm. THAT is a picture of your Heavenly Father. He is love, and you can know him for eternity.
