Getting to Know the Holy Spirit of God
The Gospel of John
John 14:15-26
Sermon by Rick Crandall
Grayson Baptist Church - August 16, 2017
(Revised February 18, 2020)
BACKGROUND:
*Please open your Bibles to John 14 as we continue to focus on the night before Jesus died on the cross for our sins. This is one of 6 chapters in John's Gospel that focus on that pivotal night. Here in the last few hours before the cross, Jesus spoke to His disciples about the most important things, and one of the most important of all was the Holy Spirit of God. God wants us to know His Holy Spirit in a close, personal way, and tonight's Scripture can help us. Let's get started by reading John 14:15-26.
MESSAGE:
*This evening the Lord has given me the privilege of talking about the most important person in this room. It’s not me. It’s not you. And if you look around, you won’t see Him, because the most important person in this room is someone you have never seen.
*The Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ is here with us tonight. And though we have never seen Him, He is here, just as surely as we are here. God wants us to know Him in a close, personal way. And these verses help answer three crucial questions about God's Holy Spirit.
1. FIRST: WHO IS THE HOLY SPIRIT?
*The short answer is God. The Holy Spirit is God, and the Lord helps us see this truth in vs. 15-18. Jesus said:
15. "If you love Me, keep My commandments.
16. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper (or "another Comforter"), that He may abide with you forever
17. 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.
18. 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 when we receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, God the Father and God the Son both literally come to live in our hearts. And how do they do that? -- By the Holy Spirit of God. This truth shows us that the Holy Spirit is also God.
*The Holy Spirit is not an "it," though sometimes the Bible uses this pronoun to describe Him. The Holy Spirit is God. He is not a "force" like they had in the Star Wars movies. He is not just a source of power like electricity.
*The Holy Spirit is God the "Helper" (or God the "Comforter" in the KJV). And in vs. 16, when Jesus said, "I will send you another Helper," the original word for "another" means "another of the same kind." And since Jesus is God, then the Holy Spirit is also God. He is God everywhere.
*This fact takes us to the Trinity, because we have to ask: How many Gods are there? -- Of course, the correct answer is one. The one and only God exists as a Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, one God, three persons.
[1] AND THOUGH THE WORD "TRINITY" IS NEVER FOUND IN THE BIBLE, THE EXISTENCE OF THE TRINITY IS SURELY CONFIRMED IN GOD'S WORD.
*One of the best examples is at the Lord’s baptism. This event is recorded in all four Gospels, and Matthew 3:16-17 says:
16. Then Jesus, when He had been baptized, came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.
17. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.''
*Here we see God revealed to us as a trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God has confirmed the trinity to us, and there is much more evidence in His Word. Nave's Topical Bible gives over 50 references that point to the Trinity.
*Scriptures like Luke 1:34-35:
34. Then Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I do not know a man?''
35. And the angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God."
*We must understand that God exists on a totally higher level than we do. We can have many different relationships in life: mother, father, sister, brother, friend. But no matter how close those relationships are, we are still essentially alone in our personhood. God is not like that. He uniquely exists on the higher level where you have 3 different persons together in the same being.
*Dave Hunt helped us understand it this way: "The Bible presents a God who did not need to create any beings in order to experience love, communion and fellowship. God is complete in Himself, being three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, separate and distinct, yet at the same time eternally one God. They loved and communed and fellowshipped with each other and took counsel together before the universe, angels or man were brought into existence. (1)
*Because this is so, our English Bibles sometimes show God speaking of Himself with a plural noun. Isaiah "heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for US?" (Isaiah 6:8). Moses recorded the same kind of conversation within the Godhead when God said: "Let US make man in OUR image. . ." (Genesis 1:26)
*It's even more obvious in the original language, because in Hebrew a plural noun "elohim" (literally "gods") is used for our one God over 2,000 times! Genesis 1:1 is an example of this when it says: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." The literal translation here would be plural: "In the beginning "gods" created the heaven and the earth." It is the exact same word in Exodus 20:3 where the Lord said, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." But when this plural Hebrew word is talking about the real God, it is translated into English as the singular noun, "God."
*When God told those Old Testament Scripture writers what to say, why did He so often use a plural noun for Himself, the one true God? It's because God exists as the trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
*God's Word also makes many intentional grammatical errors using singular verbs and pronouns with this plural noun "elohim." It's the same kind of acceptable error we make all the time when we talk about our country: We don't say, "The United States ARE going to do something," but "The United States IS going to do something." Why did God put that kind of intentional error in His Word? It's because our one God is three in one. God has confirmed the trinity to us in His Word.
[2] HE HAS ALSO CONFIRMED THE TRINITY TO US IN HIS WORLD.
*In Romans 1:20 the Apostle Paul was talking about God and said, "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead." In other words, "God's eternal power and Godhead are seen in the creation He made."
*Years ago, Dr. Nathan Wood pointed out that the 3-in-1 nature of God is stamped on His creation. For example, the universe is divided into three: space, matter and time, and each of these is divided into three.
*Space, for instance, is composed of length, width and height, each separate and distinct in itself, yet the three are one. Length, width and height are not three spaces, but three dimensions of one space. Time also is a trinity made up of past, present and future, two invisible and one visible. Each is separate and distinct, yet each is the whole. And man himself is a tri-unity of spirit, soul and body, two of which are invisible, and one visible. (2)
*Church, that's no accident. It's not a coincidence. God has confirmed the trinity to us in His Word and in His world. So the Holy Spirit is God. He is God everywhere, and God wants us to know it.
2. BUT WHAT IS GOD'S HOLY SPIRIT LIKE?
*Well, since the Holy Spirit is almost always invisible, God has given us some symbols to help us understand.
[1] FIRST, THE HOLY SPIRIT IS LIKE A DOVE.
*This is another truth we see at the baptism of Jesus. 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 Holy Spirit come down like a dove? He could have been a roaring lion or a majestic eagle. But God chose to be a dove, innocent and harmless, to show us that with all of His strength, He still has a tender, peaceful nature toward all who will come to Him.
[2] THE HOLY SPIRIT IS LIKE A DOVE. HE IS ALSO LIKE THE WIND.
*In John 3:5-8 Jesus said this to Nicodemus:
5. "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
6. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'
8. The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit."
*How is the Holy Spirit like the wind? He is above us and independent of us. We cannot control the wind! Also like the wind, the Holy Spirit is usually invisible. Most of the time God prefers to work behind the scenes. And like the wind, the Holy Spirit is also powerful. In Acts 2:2 God's Spirit came as "a rushing, mighty wind."
[3] GOD'S SPIRIT IS LIKE THE WIND. HE IS ALSO LIKE FIRE.
*The Holy Spirit appeared as flames of fire when He came to the church on the Day of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit is the kind of fire that purifies and gives light.
[4] HE IS ALSO LIKE OIL.
*The Holy Spirit is like the biblical oil used to anoint priests and kings. But it was also used to burn for light, and it was used to heal and soothe. In the Lord's parable of the Good Samaritan, Luke 10 33-34 says, "But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion on him, and went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him."
*Also speaking of the Holy Spirit, Acts 10:38 talks about "how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him."
*And in 2 Corinthians 1:21-22, Paul tells Christians that God has anointed us, sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a deposit."
[5] GOD'S SPIRIT IS LIKE OIL. BUT HE IS ALSO IS LIKE WATER.
*Jesus made this truth clear to us in John 7:37-39:
37. On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.
38. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."
39. 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 in Shreveport. 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. He looked downstream and saw several people getting their drinking water!
*Do you 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 a river of living water in our souls.
*A dove, wind, fire, oil, and water. These are God-given pictures to teach us about His Spirit. (3)
[6] BUT WHEN YOU ASK, "WHAT IS THE HOLY SPIRIT LIKE?" THE BEST ANSWER IS, "HE IS LIKE GOD THE FATHER AND GOD THE SON."
*The Holy Spirit is like God the Father and Son, because He literally is the Spirit of the Father and the Son. Again in vs. 17-18, Jesus told us that the world cannot receive the Holy Spirit, "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." 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."
*The Holy Spirit is like God the Father, a good, merciful and kind father, the best father of all! In Matthew 7:11 Jesus said, "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!"
*The Holy Spirit is also like God the Son Jesus Christ! 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 God the Father and in Jesus Christ we will also find in His Holy 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, the resurrection, and the Lord's return to Heaven.
*God's Spirit came in a brand new way, because of the sacrificial love of God. And if you want to describe the Holy Spirit, one of the best possible things you can ever say is this: He is like our Heavenly Father! He's like Jesus! He's like God, because He is God.
3. BUT HOW DOES THE HOLY SPIRIT WANT TO WORK IN OUR LIVES?
*Tonight's scripture helps us to see.
[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. 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.
18. I WILL NOT LEAVE YOU ORPHANS; I WILL COME TO YOU."
*In the KJV Jesus says, "I will not leave you comfortless," and I like that word "comfortless" because we will surely need God's comfort in this world. The NKJ says "I will not leave you orphans." The New Living Translation says, "I will not abandon you as orphans."
*And all of these translations are good, because the original word is "orphanos." That's where we get our word "orphan," and this verse gives us the absolute assurance that Jesus will never abandon those who trust in Him. When we receive Jesus Christ, He comes to us through His Spirit and adopts us into the Family of God.
*Paul affirmed this great truth for Christians in Romans 8:14-16, 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,
*God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit joyfully work together to adopt us into the family of God. I have heard adoptive parents speak of 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 told 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. And one child suggested that maybe he was adopted.
*Then, 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. And Jocelynn replied, "It means that you grew in your mother's heart instead of her tummy." (4)
*That's the way God feels about us, so Jesus said, "I will not leave you comfortless. -- I will not abandon you as orphans"
[2] THE HOLY SPIRIT HELPS PUT US IN THE FAMILY OF GOD. HE ALSO GIVES US THE EVERLASTING LIFE OF GOD.
*In vs. 16-19, Jesus twice connected everlasting life to God's Holy Spirit. In vs. 16 Jesus said, "I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper (or Comforter), that He may abide with you FOREVER." Then 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.
*Here the Lord was talking about everlasting life, and that's what we receive when we receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior. So John 1:12-13 says, "As many as received Him (received Jesus), to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."
*This means we must be spiritually born again by God's Holy Spirit, and that's what Jesus was talking about in John 3:5-7, when He 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. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'"
[3] THE HOLY SPIRIT GIVES THE NEW BIRTH OF GOD'S EVERLASTING LIFE. HE ALSO TEACHES US GOD'S TRUTH.
*We begin to see this work in vs. 17, where Jesus called the Holy Spirit "THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH." Then down in vs. 24-26, Jesus said:
24. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me.
25. These things I have spoken to you while being present with you.
26. But the Helper (the Comforter), 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."
*Jesus said that the Holy Spirit "will teach us all things." The Holy Spirit of God will teach us everything we need to know about the most important things in life. God's Spirit teaches us through the Word of God, and through the still, small voice of His Spirit. The Holy Spirit can also teach us through our experiences, -- both the good and the bad. The Holy Spirit of God wants to teach us everything we need to know about the Lord and being a child of God.
[4] HE TEACHES US GOD'S TRUTH. AND HE GIVES US THE PRESENCE OF GOD.
*One of the most wonderful works of God's Holy Spirit is the presence of God Himself in the life of every true Christian. This great truth shows up all through this passage of Scripture. In vs. 15-18, Jesus 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. 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.
18. I will not leave you orphans; I WILL COME TO YOU.
*Then in vs. 20-23, Jesus said:
20. At that day YOU WILL KNOW THAT I AM IN MY FATHER, AND YOU IN ME, AND I IN YOU.
21. He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I WILL LOVE HIM AND MANIFEST MYSELF TO HIM.''
22. Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, "Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?''
23. Jesus answered and said to 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.
*Christians: God the Father and God the Son are truly living in our hearts right now by the Holy Spirit of God. We don't see Him, and we don't always feel Him, but He's always there, working in our hearts.
*Listen to this testimony from William Frey: "When I was a younger man, I volunteered to read to a college student named John. He 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 answered, '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 came into my room and said, "John, winter's coming and the storm windows need to be up. That's your job. I want them hung by the time I get back this evening or else!" Then he 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, and found the ladder. All the while I was 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 added this: 'I found out later that never at any moment was my father more than four or five feet away from my side.'" (5)
CONCLUSION:
*If you know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then God the Holy Spirit is never away from your side. 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. (5)
*Praise the Lord for sending His Holy Spirit to us! And if you have never trusted in Jesus Christ, the Spirit of the Risen Savior is knocking on the door of your heart right now. Open your heart to Jesus, as we go to God in prayer.
(1) Adapted from "The Trinity" by Dave Hunt - "The Berean Call" - Publication Date: 10/1/1989
(2) Sources:
-Adapted from "The Trinity" by Dave Hunt - "The Berean Call" - Publication Date: 10/1/1989
-THE SECRET OF THE UNIVERSE by Nathan R. Wood "God, Man and Matter" - New York: F. H. Revel & Co. [1932] http://thestoryofliberty.homestead.com/secretoftheunivers.pdf
(3) Adapted from THE CHRISTIAN LIFE: MASTER OUTLINES & STUDY NOTES - Compiled by Porter Barrington - This work is published in conjunction with The Holy Bible, New King James Version - Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. - "The Emblems of the Holy Spirit" - Luke 3:16
(4) George Dolan in CONDENSED CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL, 1996 by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen & Patty Hansen - Source: Sermons.com sermon "Adopted!" by King Duncan - Ephesians 1:3-14
(5) SermonCentral Sermon "Because He Lives" by Evie Megginson - John 14:19
