The Helper Has Come!

Amen.

Please open your Bibles up to the Gospel according to John, chapter 16, this morning.

John 16 · chapter mention

We are back in John after taking a brief month-long break during the month of January,

and we're in the homestretch now.

Just ten sermons remaining in the Gospel according to John, if you can believe it.

So this morning we're going to be in chapter 16, and I will start in the second half of verse 4

and read all the way through verse 15.

So when you found that in your Bibles, if you would, let's stand together for the reading of God's Word.

John, chapter 16, listen along as I read verse 4 through 15.

John 16 · chapter mention

Jesus says,

I did not say these things to you from the beginning because I was with you.

But now I am going to him who sent me.

And none of you asks me, where are you going?

But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.

Nevertheless, 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 go, I will send him to you.

And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.

Concerning sin, because they do not believe in me.

Concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you will see me no longer.

Concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.

When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the 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.

He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

All that the Father has is mine.

Therefore, I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

This is God's holy word.

Lord, we praise you for this word.

And we pray now that you would do what this text has promised.

That you would, by your Spirit, guide us into all the truth.

We pray in Christ's name.

Amen.

You may be seated.

You may have heard it said before that last words are meant to be lasting words.

Well, here in this section of John's Gospel, we are functioning like flies on the wall,

listening in on some of Jesus' last words to his disciples.

And I'll remind you kind of where we are in the place of John's Gospel,

since it's been a while since we've been in this book,

that this is Thursday.

This is the final day of Jesus' earthly life before the events of Friday,

before the events of the cross.

These are the quickly passing, precious moments before he is betrayed,

before he's arrested, before he's tried, before he's hung on a cross.

And knowing this, Jesus spends his final moments here comforting and encouraging his disciples

and preparing them for what's to come.

And I want us to place ourselves for a moment in the disciples' shoes.

And imagine how they must be feeling.

I don't know if you've ever been with someone in the final moments before their earthly life is over,

in the final moments before they die.

Those moments are weighty.

And most of you know that I went to go see my grandmother last fall,

in the moments leading up to her death.

And I'll tell you, every word was precious.

Every squeeze of the hand was precious.

Every moment that we had left with her was precious.

And we, the family, selfishly, we did not want her to go.

But we knew, even so, as hard as it would be for us to let her go,

that it would be much better for her.

She was a believer.

We knew that she was going to be with the Lord.

And that it's to her advantage that she go.

Well, here, you can imagine, again, the disciples.

They did not want Jesus to go.

They did not want Jesus to leave.

As much as he had prepared them for this moment,

as much as he had told them that I am getting ready to go to the Father,

they did not want him to go.

They loved him as a teacher.

They loved him as a friend.

And Jesus knows this.

He recognizes this.

So he says in verse 6, he says,

Well, because I've said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.

Well, of course it has.

But then he says something surprising in verse 7.

Look there with me.

Nevertheless, he says, verse 7,

It is to your advantage that I go away.

How can that be?

How can that be?

It might be better for you, Jesus, to go.

We know where you're going.

It might be better for you to go.

You're going up to be with the Father.

You're going to reclaim the glory that you had before the ages began.

But how in the world could it be better for us that you go?

How is your leaving an advantage to us?

Well, he tells us.

Look at verse 7 again.

He says,

For if I do not go away, the helper will not come to you.

You know, I've heard people say before,

Well, I just wish I could have been there with Jesus.

Now, I wish I could have walked with Jesus.

I wish I could have witnessed his miracles firsthand.

I wish I could have been there on the Sermon on the Mount

and sat there and listened to his teaching firsthand.

Well, I know it's hard to believe.

But what this passage teaches us this morning

is that it is even better for us right now in the age of the Holy Spirit

than it was for his disciples who lived and walked with Jesus for three years on earth.

Can you believe that?

The Holy Spirit, the helper, is a tremendous advantage to us as believers.

This is what this passage is teaching us this morning.

We've already seen in the Gospel of John that the Spirit,

we've seen some of his work,

the Spirit is the one who gives life.

You must be born again of the Spirit,

not of the flesh,

in order to enter into the kingdom of God.

We've seen even in the same conversation here in the upper room,

Jesus has promised another helper to be with you forever,

even the Spirit of truth,

whom the world cannot receive

because it neither sees him nor knows him.

You know him,

for he dwells with you and will be in you.

John 14, 16, and 17.

He's told us that this Spirit,

whom the Father will send in my name,

he will teach you all things

and will bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

John 14, verse 26.

John 14:26

He's told us,

when the helper comes,

whom I will send from the Father,

the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father,

he will bear witness about me.

See, in this conversation,

Jesus is preparing the disciples

and he's preparing us

for what life looks like

in the age of the Holy Spirit.

He's teaching us and his disciples

a little bit about the person

and the work of the Holy Spirit

and why, how,

this is an advantage for us.

And here in our passage,

verses 8 through 15,

Jesus tells us two final works

of the Holy Spirit.

Two final works of the Holy Spirit.

First, he says that

the Holy Spirit convicts.

The Holy Spirit convicts.

Look there at verses 8 through 11.

Starting in verse 8,

Jesus says,

when he, the Spirit, comes,

he will convict the world

concerning sin

and righteousness

and judgment.

See, the first work of the Holy Spirit here

is the work of conviction.

There was a time,

and maybe we're still in it,

I don't know,

I feel like maybe we've grown out of this a little bit.

There was a time when

felt needs ministry

became very popular

in the church in America.

Everything was geared

towards being

seeker sensitive.

I mean,

making sure that the worship service

was as comfortable

and as appealing

and as accessible

as possible

to non-believers.

pastors would speak

on whatever they thought

might be appealing

to the crowds,

whatever the felt needs

of the crowds might be.

Of course,

they would use the Bible

to get there.

They used the Bible

as a launching point

to get to that felt need.

But I'll tell you something,

if the goal

is simply to draw a crowd

and to make non-believers

feel good

and feel at ease

and feel comfortable,

I'll tell you a few things

that you will never hear

or see

in a seeker sensitive

worship service.

you will not have

many prayers of confession

we had this morning.

That doesn't feel great.

It's a little bit awkward,

isn't it?

A little bit

naming sins in public,

talking about sin.

You probably won't hear

much talk about sin

at all.

And if you do,

it probably would be

minimize the weight of sin,

the severity of sin.

Maybe it would be talked about

as something that you can overcome

or grow out of,

not as an eternal offense

against a holy God.

You probably won't hear

many difficult sermons,

difficult texts preached.

You know,

one of the advantages

of not preaching

passage by passage

through a book of the Bible,

the advantage for the preacher

is they get to hop right over

difficult or controversial text

and preach whatever

might feel good

to the people

who would hear it.

You probably won't hear

many theologically rich songs,

songs that aim to teach

rather than just to make you

feel something.

I kid you not,

I hesitated whether to share this.

It's not here.

I've been to a church service

in the past

where as part of the worship service,

they sang a song

from a popular movie

at the time,

O Brother,

Where Art Thou?

and they played a clip

from one of the Rocky movies

as a part of the worship service,

as a part of their attempt

to connect with the non-believers

in the room.

All of that

because the aim

was to make non-believers

feel comfortable.

Here's my point.

Could it be

that what non-believers need

is not to be made comfortable?

Welcomed,

yes,

loved,

yes,

invited,

yes,

but not invited

to a cheap knock-off

of their own culture.

Invited to hear

the Word of God

and to see

the people of God

worship

and to be

a part of what

the Spirit of God

is doing

in the midst

of the people of God,

to see the Spirit

of God

at work.

Jesus says here

the Spirit

doesn't come

to comfort the world.

What does He come to do?

He comes to convict

the world.

Now don't mishear me.

There's comfort

to be had

in the Holy Spirit.

Amen?

In other translations,

He's called the comforter

even in this own passage.

The comforter.

I will send to you

the comforter.

But that comfort

comes after conviction.

There is no comfort

for any sinner

who has not been convicted

of his sin

repented of his sin

and trusted in Christ.

The Spirit,

Jesus says,

comes to convict

the world

and He does so

in three main categories.

Look here with me.

He says,

He convicts the world

concerning sin,

righteousness,

and judgment.

Concerning sin,

He says in verse 9,

because they do not

believe in Me.

This is the biggest

problem in the world.

We spoke about this

last week,

didn't we?

The biggest problem

facing the world today

is that men and women

all over the globe

do not believe

in Jesus.

And the reason

that they don't believe

in Jesus

is because

they have been

blinded by sin.

What we need,

more than anything,

is not to be made

comfortable.

What we need

is to see our sin

for what it is,

to see the holiness

of God

for what He is,

and to see our need

for Christ

to bridge that gap.

We need to be

convicted of our sin

or we cannot be saved.

There has to be

a genuine recognition

that you are a sinner

in need of a Savior,

and only the Holy Spirit

can give you

that spiritual sight.

He says,

He comes to convict

the world

concerning righteousness.

Verse 10,

Because I go to the Father

and you will see Me

no longer.

Now,

let me ask you something.

Why in the world

would we need to be convicted

concerning righteousness?

I understand we need

to be convicted

concerning sin.

Why in the world

do we need to be convicted

concerning righteousness?

What does this mean?

Well,

I read a handful

of commentaries

here concerning this verse

and surprise,

surprise,

people are all over the map

divided on what they think

this might mean.

Let me tell you

what I think is going on here.

I think we have a clue,

actually,

in the context

of our passage.

Look up to verse 2,

chapter 16,

verse 2.

I think this is

an example

of what Jesus

is talking about,

about being convicted

concerning righteousness.

In verse 2,

Jesus is preparing

His disciples

for persecution.

Up to this point,

Jesus has functioned

as a sort of

persecution magnet.

All of the persecution

has come to Him.

His disciples have

had it pretty easy

up to this point.

But guess what?

Now He's leaving

and who's going

to be left

to collect all

the persecution?

His disciples.

And so He prepares them

and He says this

in verse 2.

He says,

they will put you

out of the synagogues.

Indeed,

the hour is coming

when whoever

kills you

will think

he is offering

service

to God.

And they will do

these things

because

they have not

known the Father

nor me.

Did you hear that?

Whoever kills you

will think

he is offering

service

to God.

Jesus is telling

them that

the persecutions

that the disciples

are about to endure

in the minds

of those

who are persecuting,

they are righteous

acts.

In the minds

of those

who are bringing

the persecution

to the persecutors,

these are

God-honoring,

God-serving

acts of righteousness.

But Jesus says

they don't even

know the Father.

So how could

they possibly

know righteousness?

righteousness.

It's a broken

system

of righteousness.

And in a similar

way, I would argue

that all of us,

everyone in the world,

lives within

a false

system

of righteousness.

A broken

understanding

of right and wrong,

holy and impure,

until the Holy

Spirit convicts

us and shows

us the truth,

which is that we

have no

righteousness.

And we need

to understand

that the world

standard of

righteousness

is broken.

Our good

is not

God's good.

Our righteousness

is not

God's

righteousness.

And he says

the Holy Spirit

will convict

the world

of their

righteousness

because

I am going

to the Father.

You know what

Jesus loved to do?

Jesus loved

upsetting

the false

righteousness

of the world,

didn't he?

Jesus loved

to show the

Pharisees

in particular

that their

version of

righteousness

was empty.

It was vain.

It was worthless.

It was not

true righteousness.

But now

Jesus is leaving.

So who's

going to do

that work

of convicting

the world

of their

false

righteousness?

He says

the Holy Spirit

will come.

The Holy Spirit

shows us

that our

system of

right and

wrong,

good and

bad,

good enough

for God

is completely

broken.

He shows us

that all of

our righteous

deeds are

filthy rags.

That we have

nothing good

whatsoever

to bring to

God that

would make

him more

inclined to

accept us.

He convicts

us of

righteousness.

One of my

favorite songs

says,

nothing in

my hands

I bring.

Simply to

thy cross

I cling.

Naked

come to

thee for

dress.

Helpless

look to

thee for

grace.

Foul I

to the

fountain

fly.

Wash

me

Savior

or I

die.

See,

when we're

convicted of

our lack

of righteousness,

what that does

in our hearts

is it makes

us feel

our need

for true

righteousness,

true

holiness that

cannot come

from within

us.

It must be

given to

us by

someone else

and exactly

what God

does in

the gospel

is he

gives to

us the

righteousness

that he

demands from

us.

God

provides to

us sinners,

unworthy

sinners,

provides to

us the

perfection

that he

demands from

us,

not because

of our

goodness,

but because

of the

perfect

righteousness

of Christ

credited to

sinners by

faith.

That's the

work of the

Holy Spirit.

The last

category here,

the Spirit

convicts,

he says,

verse 11,

concerning

judgment,

because the

ruler of

this world

is judged.

And he's

talking about

Satan,

the enemy.

Now I want you

to think with

me for a moment

about what

happened at

the cross

of Christ.

When Jesus

gave his

life,

what happened?

Well,

sin was

defeated in

him.

And when he

rose from the

grave,

what happened?

Death was

defeated in

him.

He conquered

death.

And as he

accomplished

his plan of

God for the

salvation of

sinners,

what happened?

Well,

the enemy

was judged.

His verdict

is in.

The judgment

is in.

The final

judgment is

yet to come,

yes,

but the

verdict is

already in.

He is done.

The death

and resurrection

of Jesus

was a fatal

and devastating

blow to the

enemy and to

his kingdom

and to

all who

belong to

his kingdom.

And so

Jesus tells

us one of

the works

of the

spirit is

to open

up our

eyes to

see that

following

him is

in vain.

Belonging

to Satan's

kingdom is

in vain.

It's the

work of the

spirit of

God to

take a

sinner,

someone who

belongs to

the kingdom

of this

world,

someone who

by nature

and by

choice walks

in the way

of Satan

as an

enemy of

God to

take that

person and

to convince

them that

this path,

this way

of life is

in vain.

It's a

sinking ship.

It's crashing

quickly towards

judgment.

The verdict is

already in.

See, the

spirit takes

the truth of

God, applies

it to your

heart so that

you see that

life is in

vain and my

only hope is

Christ.

He transfers

you from the

kingdom of

darkness into

the kingdom of

his beloved

son.

The spirit.

He convicts

the world of

sin and of

righteousness and

of judgment.

But church, let

me ask you

this.

How in the

world is that

an advantage

to us?

How in the

world is that

an advantage

to us?

Well, for one,

if you are a

Christian, you

are a

beneficiary of

this work of

the spirit.

If you are a

Christian, it's

because the

spirit of God

has come to

you convicting

you of your

sin, convicting

you of your

lack of

righteousness, of

your need for

Christ's

righteousness,

convicting you

of the coming

judgment against

your sin, and

showing you the

only hope you

have is Christ in

the gospel.

That convicting

work is to our

advantage because it

doesn't stop at

conversion, does it?

We continue all

through our life as

Christians.

the spirit

continues to

convict us of

sin, continues to

guide us in

righteousness, continues

to teach us and

remind us that we

live every day now

in light of that

great coming day

when Christ returns.

That's a work of

the spirit in us.

It's to our

advantage, church.

It's also to our

advantage because it

gives us confidence in

our mission, doesn't

it?

Again, put yourself in

the disciples'

shoes.

In a matter of

hours, Jesus is

going to be

arrested, he's

going to die, he's

going to rise again

and appear to you,

and he's going to

commission the

disciples to go into

the world as his

witnesses.

They're about to be

tasked with taking

the mission, taking

the message of the

gospel, going and

making disciples of

all nations, teaching

and proclaiming to

all the world all

that Jesus has said

and done.

How can you have

any confidence

whatsoever that

anyone will listen

to your message?

Jesus reminds them

that their power

for their proclamation

of the gospel, it

does not rest within

them.

What does he say in

Acts 1.8?

He says, you will

receive power when

the Holy Spirit

comes upon you

and you will be my

witnesses in

Jerusalem and

Judea and

Samaria to the

uttermost ends of

the world.

people.

And so it is

with us, church.

We cannot

convict anyone

of their sin.

We don't have the

power within us to

convert one sinner

into the kingdom of

God.

We are unable to

do it.

But Jesus tells us

that the Holy Spirit,

as we proclaim the

truth faithfully and

obediently as we go,

the Holy Spirit

convicts the world

of sin and of

righteousness and

of judgment.

The Spirit will

convict.

And second, he

tells us that the

Spirit will guide

into the truth.

First, the Spirit

convicts.

Second, the second

work of the Spirit

here in this passage,

verses 12 through 15,

we see the Spirit

guides into the

truth.

Look there,

starting in verse

12.

Jesus says, I still

have many things to

say to you, but you

cannot bear them

now.

When the Spirit of

truth comes, he will

guide you into all

the 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.

He will glorify me,

for he will take what

is mine and declare it

to you.

All that the Father

has is mine.

Therefore I said,

that he will take what

is mine and declare it

to you.

How would I

summarize the work

of the Holy Spirit?

I do it like this.

The Holy Spirit's

work is to bring

glory to Jesus

by speaking the

truth of who he

is and what he's

done into the

hearts of sinners.

I'll say that again.

The work of the

Holy Spirit,

primarily,

is to bring

glory to Jesus

by declaring

the truth

of who he is

and what he's

done.

Declaring it in

power so that we

believe it and love

it and trust it.

This passage,

I love this passage

because it gets

right at the heart

of the work

of the Holy Spirit.

I want you to

notice that we

see a glimpse here

of the Trinity

at work.

All three members

of the Godhead,

God the Father,

God the Son,

God the Holy Spirit,

we believe that

God is three

persons,

blessed Trinity.

Amen?

We see all three

at work here in

this passage.

We believe God

is three in one.

Father,

Son,

Holy Spirit,

one God,

three persons.

This is not

simple,

but it is basic,

fundamental Christianity,

101.

I want us to go

just a step further

here.

Okay?

This is who God

is.

He is Trinity.

Theologians call this

the ontological

Trinity.

That's a big word.

Okay?

I won't ask you

to spell it.

Every member

of the Trinity,

Father,

Son,

Holy Spirit,

is 100% God.

He is not

divided up

into parts.

He's not

one-third here,

one-third here,

one-third here.

And so when we

talk about God

the Father,

we are talking

about God.

When we talk

about Jesus,

the Son of God,

we are talking

about God.

When we talk

about the Holy Spirit,

we are talking

about God.

That's who He is,

the ontological

Trinity.

And yet,

at the same time,

we have to be

careful and clear

to make clear

distinctions

when we talk

about what

God does,

how God

functions,

how each member

of the Godhead,

the Father,

the Son,

the Holy Spirit,

how they play

out their roles,

miracles,

particularly

in the work

of redemption.

And when we

talk about

what each person

of the Trinity

is doing,

this is what we

call the

economic Trinity.

The ontological

Trinity is who

God is,

the economic

Trinity is how

God functions,

particularly how

each member

functions in the

work of salvation.

Is everybody

with me?

Y'all tracking

with me?

Okay.

Think about it

like this.

The great

work of salvation.

Well, you and

I are the

beneficiaries of

the reason why

we're gathered

here as a

church proclaiming

the message

of the gospel.

The work of

salvation was

arranged by

God the Father,

primarily.

It was

accomplished by

God the Son,

and it is

applied by

God the Spirit.

I'll say

that again.

God the

Father,

arranged our

salvation.

He planned it

out in eternity

past alongside

the Spirit,

alongside the

Son.

God the Son is

the one who

actually stepped

into human

history and

accomplished this

plan by living,

by dying,

by rising,

and the Spirit

now is the

one who takes

that finished

work of Jesus

and applies it

to the hearts

of sinners by

declaring the

truth in power.

Are you with

me?

That's the

work of the

Spirit.

That's what

Jesus says

the Spirit

will come

and do.

He says,

He will

glorify me

for He

will take

what is

mine and

declare it

to you.

And this

is why,

by the way,

the Spirit

doesn't come

until after

Christ has

gone.

You know

why?

It's because

at the very

heart of the

Spirit's work

is the

announcing

and applying

the finished

work of

Christ.

Christ.

The very

basis and

substance of

the Spirit's

work is the

Son's work.

Until that

work is

finished,

until the

cross is

completed,

until the

resurrection is

completed,

the Spirit's

work cannot

begin in

full.

The Spirit's

work,

His role,

is to

transform our

mind and

our heart

so that we

grasp and

we love

the gospel

of Jesus

Christ.

Christ.

And this

is how He

convicts the

world of

sin,

by the way.

This is how

He shows

us righteousness,

by the way.

This is how

He shows us

judgment,

by the way.

He shines

as a beacon

pointing us

towards the

cross of

Christ,

what Christ

has done

makes much

of the glory

of Christ.

The Spirit,

the role of

the Holy Spirit

is to bring

glory to

Christ by

taking the

finished work

of Jesus

and the

words of

Jesus and

applying them

in power to

our hearts so

that we see

and are convinced

that this is

true.

This is good.

This is worthy

of my life.

That's the work

of the Spirit.

You know,

that's what it

means to be a

Christian.

What it means

to be a

Christian is that

by the grace

of God,

the Spirit

of God has

taken the

work and

words of

Christ,

applied them

to your

heart so

that you

believe,

and love

the glory

of King

Jesus.

And if you're

sitting here

and you just

don't understand

what all the

fuss is about

with Jesus,

and why we

talk so much

about Jesus,

why we sing

these songs

that teach us

about Jesus,

why we make

such a big

deal about

the glory

of Jesus,

what you need

more than

anything is

for the Spirit

of God

to open the

eyes of your

heart to see

Him for who

He is.

Now,

I want to

apply this

to us

because this

is full of

application for

us,

but first,

we have to

apply it to

the disciples

because there's

a particular

unique application

to them

that's unique

to them.

We can't make

a beeline

straight to us.

I know we

want to.

That's how we

tend to read

the Bible,

but this is a

conversation between

Jesus and

His disciples.

He says,

I still have

many things

to say to

you,

disciples,

but you,

disciples,

you cannot

bear them

now.

When the

Spirit of

truth comes,

He will

guide you,

disciples,

into all

the truth.

He will not

speak on His

own authority,

but whatever

He hears,

He will speak,

and He will

declare to

you,

twelve

disciples,

the things

that are

to come.

We need to

understand this

promise is not

primarily directly

about us.

It's not

primarily to

us or for

us.

It is to

these disciples

who are about

to see Jesus

crucified.

So what's the

promise for

them?

Well,

it's a promise

that once

Jesus is

gone,

the Spirit

will come

and He will

do what the

Spirit does.

He will

clarify for

them in their

hearts with

supernatural

accuracy and

power who

Jesus is

and what

Jesus accomplished

on that

cross.

He will

teach them

and show

them with

supernatural

clarity and

power what

the resurrection

means.

He will

guide them

into all

the truth

of the

person and

the work

of Christ.

All the

truth that

they had

such a hard

time wrapping

their minds

around while

they walked

with Jesus

on earth

for three

years.

He says,

I have more

to tell you

now,

but you

can't handle

it.

Once I

go,

the Spirit

will come

and will

guide you

into all

the truth.

And how

do we

know that

this promise

was kept,

church?

We have

the finished

word of

God,

completed

word of

God in

our hands.

The finished

Bible is the

result of

this promise

fulfilled.

The whole

New Testament,

think about

this,

the whole

New Testament

was written

after Jesus

died and

ascended into

heaven.

written

after the

events of

the cross,

after the

events of

the resurrection,

the whole

thing is an

unpacking and

applying of

the work of

Christ.

Christ crucified,

Christ resurrected,

Christ returning.

How did

these bumbling,

fumbling men

do this?

These 12

disciples who

couldn't tie

their shoes

while they

were walking

with Jesus,

how in the

world could

they unpack

the depths

of the cross

and the

power of

this book?

The Holy

Spirit came

and revealed

to them,

guided them

into all

the truth

and they

wrote it

down for

our good.

I want us

to know

that this

future-oriented

revelation

of divine

truth was a

promise primarily

to them,

not to

us.

This sort

of future-oriented

authoritative

witness

finished with

the book

of revelation.

And so

our application

is not to

seek out

further

revelation

from the

Spirit beyond

the finished

word of

God,

beyond Christ,

beyond the

gospel.

It's to seek

the Spirit's

help,

to seek

His

illumination

that we

might better

understand and

revel in what

He's already

revealed in

Christ.

I want to

understand that

application first,

but there is

more application

for us.

And I want us

just to think

through this

as we close

because unfortunately,

as you know,

the Holy Spirit

is one of the

most misunderstood,

misinterpreted,

misapplied facets

of the Christian

life.

Often he is

sadly at best

often misunderstood

as some sort of

just impersonal

force,

a power to

be felt,

maybe an experience

waiting to be

had,

and at worst,

he's misapplied

as a tactic

to manipulate

and to deceive.

We have to be

careful what

we call

spiritual.

spiritual.

And so we

should understand,

church,

for us,

that the Spirit

is all about

the truth.

You see that

here?

The Spirit of

truth will

guide you into

all the truth.

How?

By declaring

truth.

What's the

truth?

Jesus Himself

has said,

I am the

truth.

If the Spirit

is leading

Christ's disciples

further and

deeper into

truth,

it cannot be

anything beyond

Christ Himself.

And the Spirit

is all about

bringing glory

to Christ

by declaring

who He is

and what He's

done.

And so the way

that you and I

can tell if a

work is of

the Spirit

is not primarily

how it makes

you feel,

how spectacular

or how sensational

it might appear,

but whether or not

it is all about

Christ.

Whether or not

Christ is magnified

in this work.

Whether or not

it's all about

the glory of

King Jesus.

So here's

what this means

for us

practically.

Any hunger

for quote

unquote

spirituality

that goes

beyond the

glory of

Christ

is not

truly spiritual

at all.

Any

revelation

that

distracts from

the glory of

Christ or

detracts from

the glory of

Christ is not

of the Spirit

of God,

it is of

the enemy.

It's a lie.

Paul tells

us that

if I or

even an angel

from heaven

should proclaim

another gospel

from what I've

taught to you,

let him be

accursed.

Any

spiritual

power that

has an end

in and of

itself just

to be amazed

by demonstrations

of spiritual

power or even

at worst

to manipulate

you into

giving your

time,

giving your

money,

so you might

see some more

of that power,

might get a

little bit more

of that power

in your

life,

it's a lie.

It's not of

God.

The Holy

Spirit wants

to make much

of Jesus.

If you want

to understand

the work

of the Spirit,

church,

our mission

statement and

the Spirit's

mission statement

is one and

the same.

We exist to

magnify the

glory of God

in the gospel

of Jesus

Christ.

That's what

the Spirit

aims to do.

We have to

be careful

what we deem

to be

spiritual.

We can

apply this

to music.

I'm going

to start

meddling here

for a minute.

I know music

is emotional

by nature,

so I'll try

and tread

lightly here.

I like to

listen to

soundtracks,

movie soundtracks.

I think it's

amazing you can

listen to the

soundtrack of

a movie and

be moved

emotionally.

You can be

motivated,

you can be

saddened,

you can be

energized,

you can be

made to

feel tension

without a

single word

being sung.

That's powerful.

That's why

they add them

to the movie.

I don't know

if you've ever

watched a

dramatic scene

with the TV

on mute.

It just

doesn't hit

the same

way,

does it?

The music,

it moves

you emotionally.

Now here's

where it gets

dangerous.

You can

very easily,

very easily

put words

that are

not true

or not

really

substantial

words that

don't really

say anything

at all.

Put them

to a

moving tune

and sing

them in a

moving way

and you

have a

hit worship

song all

of a sudden.

And it

feels so

spiritual to

sing it and

you think it's

spiritual to

sing it because

it moves you

emotionally.

But I want to

be as clear as

I possibly

can,

church.

Emotional

does not

equal

spiritual.

Can I say

that again?

Emotional

does not

equal

spiritual.

Christ

centered

truth

is

spiritual.

Truth

and emotion

ought to

go together.

They should

go together.

But truth

has to

lead the

way.

Emotions

are a

terrible

leader.

We have

to be

led by

the truth

and our

emotions

ought to

follow.