Who Is This Jesus?
15. He is the Giver of the Holy Spirit
John 16:1-15
Don Jaques
February 26/27, 2005
MAIN IDEA: Jesus does not leave his disciples as orphans. He sends them the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth.
1. He convicts people of sin. (John 16:8)
Are you listening?
2. He reminds disciples of the truth of what Jesus taught. (John 16:13, 14:26)
Are you obeying?
3. He is our constant companion. (John 16:7,14:26-27, 14:16, 16:33)
Are you leaning on Him?
OBJECTIVES:
The audience will understand why the Holy Spirit was sent and will welcome his work in their lives.
People will feel conviction about their sin and the need to be ready for judgment.
People will seek the work of the Holy Spirit to lead them into truth and to bring them peace in the midst of trouble.
INTRO:
I saw a great movie last Monday. “Because of Winn Dixie” tells the story of a ten year old girl who moves with her father to a small town in Florida where he is the preacher for a small Baptist church. The movie is memorable for the dog “Winn Dixie” who really can smile! But in one of the opening scenes, young Opal is praying in church, “Please Lord, send me a friend. I only know the kids from church and that’s not too many.”
The movie then shows how the Lord answers that prayer through a homeless dog and a number of people that the dog introduces her to.
In the movie, Opal feels all alone. You ever felt that way? I’m sure we all have at one time or another. But if we believe in what Jesus taught in John 16 – those of us who are his disciples are never truly alone. We’ve been given the Holy Spirit.
We’ve been going through the Gospel of John and here we are at chapter 16 where we find that the answer to the question “Who is This Jesus?” is “He is the Giver of the Holy Spirit”. As we examine the teachings of Jesus today we’ll get a chance to discover why Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to the world, and we’ll have a chance to examine our own lives to see if we’re welcoming His work in our lives or not.
Let’s start with verse 15:26. The scene is still the Last Supper, where Jesus is giving his disciples his final instructions before he is crucified. Let’s listen in…
John 15:26“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. 27And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.
John 16
1“All this I have told you so that you will not go astray. 2They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God. 3They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me. 4I have told you this, so that when the time comes you will remember that I warned you. I did not tell you this at first because I was with you.
5“Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. 7But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: 9in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; 10in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.
12“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all 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. 14He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. 15All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.
So Jesus tells his disciples that he’s going away from them – but that it’s actually a good thing (which is hard for them to understand) because only when he is gone from them will He send to them the one he calls the “Counselor”, “The Spirit of Truth”. This is good news for the world, and especially for disciples of Jesus Christ, for at least three reasons that Jesus mentions in this passage and other verses in John 14 and 15. Let’s take a closer look at what the HS is sent to do in this world.
1. The Holy Spirit convicts people of sin. (John 16:8)
8When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment.
I’ve always found this paragraph a bit hard to understand in the NIV, so let me read it to you in the New Living Translation help make it clearer.
NLT John 16:8-11 And when he comes, he will convince the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment. 9The world’s sin is unbelief in me. 10Righteousness is available because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more. 11Judgment will come because the prince of this world has already been judged.
When the Spirit of Truth comes – his first work in our lives is to tell us the truth about ourselves and about Jesus.
ILLUS RE: CONVICTION OF SIN
A pastor wrote about a lesson he learned from his family’s carpet cleaning business. He wrote they offered a special service for removing pet urine odors. To show potential customers their need for the service, he would darken the room and then turn on a powerful black light. The black light caused urine crystals to glow brightly.
To the horror of the homeowner every drop and dribble could be seen, not only on the carpet, but usually on walls, drapes, furniture, and even on lamp shades. One homeowner begged me to shut off the light: "I can’t bear to see anymore. I don’t care what it costs. Please clean it up!" Another woman said, "I’ll never be comfortable in my home again."
The offense was there all the time, but it was invisible until the right light exposed it. It would have been cruel to show customers the extent of their problem and then say, "Too bad for you" and walk away. He brought the light so that they might desperately want my cleaning services.
In the same way, the Holy Spirit comes to us and begins exposing our sin. He shows us the truth that our lives are stained and unrighteous and disgusting in the presence of a Holy God. But the spirit doesn’t stop there. He also helps us to understand that Jesus is the righteous one, our Savior, and as such he is going to judge each one according to the sin in our lives. This is the first work of the Holy Spirit in any of our lives.
The reality of God’s word is that our eternity hinges upon whether we’ve allowed the cleaning power of the blood of Jesus Christ to cleanse us from our sins. If we have – we are promised eternal life in heaven! If we have not, we are promised an eternity apart from God in the torment of Hell.
God sends his Holy Spirit – the Spirit of Truth – to help each one of us understand the truth of who we are apart from Christ – and our need for his free gift of salvation.
The question I’ve got to ask you is this: Are you listening? Is the Holy Spirit letting you know that you need Jesus Christ? Is he creating in you a sorrow for your sin and an understanding of how it breaks God’s heart and will ultimately separate you from God for eternity?
If you sense the Holy Spirit doing this work – you need to repent (turn away from) your life of sin and submit your entire life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. You need to receive his gift of salvation from those sins by faith – and begin following His ways today.
TRANS: But that’s just the beginning of what the Holy Spirit is sent to do for and in us. After we’ve come to a right relationship with Jesus…
2. The Holy Spirit reminds disciples of the truth of what Jesus taught. (John 16:13, 14:26)
John 16:13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth.
This echoes what Jesus taught back in 14:26…
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.
As you and I live our lives, trying to follow in the ways of our Master Jesus, one of the things we can count on is opposition. Satan and his demonic hordes will try to trip us up at every turn – and one of their favorite tools is confusion.
Jesus had this to say about the devil:
John 8:44 …[T]he devil…was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
The devil is the father of lies. We should expect that he will always twist the truth.
• He will whisper lies about Jesus.
• He will tell you that God’s word doesn’t really apply to YOUR situation.
• He will tell you that you don’t really need God’s help.
• Or He’ll tell you the opposite – that you’re so terrible of a sinner that God wouldn’t want you anyway!
• He will whisper condemning words to you.
Don’t listen! But rather, receive the work of the Holy Spirit to speak the truth about who you are how valuable you are to God.
As you live out your life this week – there will be all sorts of times when the Holy Spirit will try and remind you of the truth of God’s word.
• You’ll have a chance to gossip – but He’ll remind you of the Word.
• You’ll have a chance to harbor bitterness – but He’ll call you to forgive.
• You’ll have a chance to let sexual and violent images fill your mind – but He’ll remind you of God’s call to Holiness and purity.
The question is, Are you obeying? When the Holy Spirit reminds you of what God’s word says do you respond by obeying?
The sad truth is that many people have become callous to the promptings of the Holy Spirit through repeated disobedience – to the point of not even hardly feeling it anymore.
ILLUS: Guitar playing makes my fingerpoints callused. I can’t feel anything (which is good because it was painful when I COULD feel it!) sometimes when I stop playing for a few weeks, those old calluses peel off – and I can feel again much better!
If you’ve got calluses on your heart that don’t allow you to hear the Holy Spirit – the way to peel them off is through getting back into God’s word and by listening and OBEYING when the Holy Spirit brings God’s truth to mind.
TRANS: This leads into the 3rd work of the Holy Spirit that we learn about from John.
3. The Holy Spirit is our constant companion. (John 14:26-27, 14:16, 15:26, 16:7,16:33)
In 4 different places in chapters 14, 15, and 16 Jesus calls the Holy Spirit the “Counselor” –in the NIV that is.
This is a translation of the greek word “parakletos” – which has been translated in a number of ways over the years…
Comforter, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, Standby, Friend.
Literally the term means “the one who comes alongside”.
And not only is he our advocate, our counselor, our friend – there is one more usage of the word “parakletos” that comes down to us from ancient times.
In the book Healing the Masculine Soul, Gordon Dalbey says that when Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as the Helper, he uses a Greek word, paraclete, that was an ancient warrior’s term. "Greek soldiers went into battle in pairs," says Dalbey, "so when the enemy attacked, they could draw together back-to-back, covering each other’s blind side. One’s battle partner was the paraclete." Our Lord does not send us to fight the good fight alone. The Holy Spirit is our battle partner who covers our blind side and fights for our well being.
And because of this fact – we can experience peace in the midst of difficulties. Here’s a couple more verses…
John 14:26-27 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. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
John 16:33“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Here amidst all the other promises of scripture is one that we don’t dwell on too much. Jesus promised his disciples not only an abundant life – but trouble alongside of it. The Holy Spirit’s presence in our life is not a safety barrier keeping all trouble from us. But he is our comforter, our advocate, our counselor, our friend – through whatever comes our way in life.
And when we acknowledge this – we find peace. The peace that Jesus promised to leave with those who call themselves His disciples.
ILLUS: Talking with C. this week she shared how she had a visit to the VA hospital that she was dreading. It’s an annual visit dealing with some of the long-term effects of the difficult labor and delivery she had 3 years ago when P. came into the world. She told me how she dreads the drive down to Seattle and back because it brings back the memories of all the difficulties surrounding P’s birth, and she is all alone in the car.
I’d been studying this passage of scripture – and I just told her, “Remember – you’re not alone.”
That’s the truth for all of us. We’re never alone. No matter what we’re facing – whether it’s a joy or a trial – we are not alone. We have the promise of scripture in John 14:16 that when the Holy Spirit comes – he comes to be with us forever! And because of this – we need never get our feathers ruffled. We’re not alone – we have someone who is closer than our closest friend.
The question I want to ask you now is…
Are you leaning on him? Or are you trying to get through everything on your own. Are you letting your heart be troubled? When you do – remember you’re never alone. Lean on him when you’re not strong.
Jesus has left this world. He now sits at the right hand of the throne of God, where he will one day judge each one he has created. But we’re not alone. He’s sent us the Holy spirit to
1. Convict us of our sins.
2. Remind us of the truth.
3. To be our constant companion.
May we all learn to welcome His work so that we might be shaped more and more into the image of our Lord Jesus Christ.
