Why Jesus Left Series

Why Jesus Left

Good Morning. This Morning’s Gospel text is from the same chapter we read from in John last week, John 16, and it does make a nice Part II to what we read. So, let’s review a couple of things from last week.

1. It comes from a part of the Gospel of John I figuratively called Jesus Valedictorian Speech, usually called the Farewell Address, where he gives some last directions to his disciples before he went to the cross.

2. Our theme last week was that the disciples would soon face persecution and suffering in this world. He then compared this pain and suffering to a woman in labor, and that when the child is finally born, she forgets the pain of the past because of the joy of the present.

This week, we continue the theme of Jesus preparing his disciples so that they will not fall away when he leaves. And that is the startling part, he not only tells them that He’s going away, but tells them that this is for their good. Jesus says in verse 7:

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 go, I will send him to you.

Why is it better that Jesus is no longer physically with us? I would think lots of people, despite what Jesus says in our Gospel lesson, imagine it would be much easier being able to follow Jesus if Jesus was tagging along with us. Having Him as your daily mentor. Being able to sit down and have a long talk with him.

But we have Jesus’ word on it, and the lives of the disciples.

Their lives were changed not as much by walking around with Jesus for three and a half years, but by the Holy Spirit.

What would have been the drawbacks of living with Jesus? Jesus sometimes went away. He took time alone to pray. He needed to sleep. If you were in Galilee and he was in Judea, you’d have to wait until he came back again, or you would have to go find him. There were times that Jesus just wasn’t handy when you needed him because he was just as fully human as any of us.

This morning, I want to look with you at two of the many truths (lot more than 2) Jesus teaches about the Helper He sent us, and why these truths matter to us today.

First Truth: The Holy Spirit Dwells Inside Believers

Second Truth: The Holy Spirit Leads You Into Truth

The first truth, First Truth: The Holy Spirit Dwells Inside Believers. God’s plan has always been to dwell with his people. When God put Adam and Eve in the Garden, Scripture tells us he frequently would walk and talk with them. When God called Israel out of Egypt, he commanded them to build a tabernacle so that he could spiritually be with them through the desert wilderness. Spiritual = Real. In fact, keep that image in mind, because that’s a great image for what the Holy Spirit does with us.

Since Christ has ascended into heaven, through the Spirit, God has taken up residence within us, within those of us who are disciples of Jesus, born again, born from above, and he promises to be with us always.

God has made us into His temple, his tabernacle. That is why Paul calls our bodies a temple of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, God is more available to every believer than God the Son was when he walked this earth, who again, was limited. If you’re a follower of Jesus, he’s given you a new life. If you are not yet a follower, it is as easy as repenting from your sins and asking him into your heart and following his Word.

So, First Truth: The Holy Spirit Dwells Inside Believers

Second Truth: The Holy Spirit Leads You Into Truth

Here’s the tough but fun one. Look at what Jesus says this morning.

When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.

The spirit calls to remembrance the things we learn from God’s word, and Guides us in God’s word, which is why it is so important to be in God’s Word and to put on our armor to protect us from the lies of the enemy. Satan has one main tactic he uses: lies. He is not creative, in fact, he can’t create, he can only warp.

Tolkien is famous for saying that Evil can’t create, it only destroys, it’s one of the themes in his writings.