The Holy Spirit Pt. 1

This morning we're continuing on in the Gospel of John, and you're welcome to open up there in your Bible.

If you have one, or if you don't, you can always use the one in the seat in front of you there.

And this morning we're talking about the Holy Spirit.

I don't think we've done a message yet just about the Holy Spirit.

And so I'm glad that we've come to this now in John's Gospel.

Probably most of us have questions and wonderings about the Holy Spirit.

So we're going to read this morning what Jesus said in John chapter 14.

John 14 · chapter mention

This is the evening before Jesus' death.

Jesus is talking with his disciples.

They're still in the upper room where they ate the last supper.

And this is what Jesus said to his disciples.

If you love me, keep my commands.

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.

Then come down to verse 25.

All this I have spoken while still with you.

But the advocate, 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.

Now let's for a moment just acknowledge some of our thoughts and feelings about the Holy Spirit

before we take a closer look at these words of Jesus.

For some of us here this morning, you might be thinking,

yes, finally, let's talk about the Holy Spirit.

We don't hear about him enough.

And of course, apart from him, we can't do anything.

Others of you may be thinking,

hmm, the Holy Spirit.

I've always wanted to learn more about the Holy Spirit.

I read about him in my Bible, but this idea of God's Spirit living in me,

it's so strange, so mysterious.

How does it work?

Some of you have believed in the Holy Spirit since the day you first were taught about him,

and maybe you feel that you just don't feel or sense his presence in you.

And then others of you might say,

well, I have no doubt that the Holy Spirit is in me.

There's a still small voice inside that keeps calling out to me,

reminding me of the truth,

convicting me of sin.

Others of you might say,

what still small voice?

I'm not sure if I've ever heard that.

How do you know that it's the Spirit,

the Holy Spirit speaking to you,

and not just your own thoughts?

Some of you might say,

well, I just can't explain it,

but I just have this sense,

this feeling,

this prompting.

It must be him.

And others might say,

well, that's interesting.

What about the times when that prompting or that feeling seems to have been wrong,

and it wasn't true,

or it wasn't the right thing to do after all?

And so we easily can get all turned around and jumbled up about this thing of the Holy Spirit

living in us who believe.

Sometimes it can even lead to doubt and disillusionment.

We might wonder,

if God's Spirit really lives in me,

then why do I still feel so strongly the pull of sin?

Or if God's Spirit really lives in me,

why doesn't it feel like it?

Shouldn't I be hearing a regular voice speaking to me somewhere deep within?

Some of us hear that,

and others of us,

for some reason,

don't seem to hear that.

There's a whole kind of bunch of questions that we have when it comes to the Holy Spirit,

and I wish I could answer all of these this morning,

but we won't be able to do all of that this morning.

But hopefully,

as we consider Jesus' words,

we'll get a little bit more clarity and confidence

when it comes to the Holy Spirit.

So let's look at what Jesus said.

If you love me,

keep my commands,

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.

Notice how Jesus refers to this Spirit.

He describes him as another advocate,

or depending on your Bible translation,

another counselor,

another helper,

another comforter.

We'll come back to that whole discussion in a second.

Jesus also calls him the Spirit of Truth.

And then talking about this same advocate,

again down in verse 26,

he refers to this Spirit of Truth

as the Holy Spirit,

the advocate,

the Holy Spirit,

whom the Father will send in my name,

will teach you all things.

Now this probably sounded strange and mysterious

even to the disciples that night.

And yet it's not something

that they'd never heard about before.

If you're familiar with the Old Testament,

all of those Hebrew scriptures

in the first part of the Bible,

the Spirit of God is mentioned

all throughout them.

He's referred to,

he's described.

We'll look at several of those passages quickly.

God's Spirit was there at the beginning

when the world was created.

When the earth was still formless and empty,

it says that the Spirit of God

was hovering over the waters.

Then in the days of the flood,

just before it,

the Lord said,

My Spirit will not contend with man forever.

There was great wickedness on the earth in those days.

Then we fast forward all the way

to the days of Moses at Mount Sinai.

And it was there that God said

that He was going to put His Spirit

on Bezalel

so that He would have exceptional abilities

to do artistic design work

on the Ark of the Covenant

and the tabernacle.

Around that same time,

Numbers 11 verse 17,

Numbers 11:17

God told Moses

that He would take some of the Spirit

that He had given to Moses

and put it on the leaders,

the elders of Israel.

And just a few verses down

in that same passage,

verse 25,

we read that the Spirit

came to rest on these elders

and they began to prophesy.

They began to speak on God's behalf.

Then we could fast forward

to the period of the judges,

the leaders of Israel,

after they had come into the promised land

but before they got their first human king.

And we read again and again

through the book of Judges

that the Spirit of the Lord

or the Spirit of Yahweh

came upon these men

and even women powerfully.

And because of that,

they did great and wonderful things

to save Israel,

to deliver the nation

through difficult times.

One of the most famous

of those judges

is of course Samson.

Samson received superhuman strength

from the Spirit of God

and did some pretty awesome things with it,

fighting off, it seems,

an entire army single-handedly,

ripping a lion apart

with his bare hands

and other things.

Then we fast forward

even further than that

to the days of Nehemiah.

And he and the people

back in his day,

they reflected on all the stuff

that God had been doing

in the history of Israel.

And this is what they said.

They said,

the Spirit of the Lord

will come powerfully upon you.

Oh, that's not...

Sorry.

I'm jumping ahead.

I'm getting ahead of myself here.

Before Nehemiah

came the period of the kings.

And God said there,

the Spirit of the Lord

will come powerfully upon you,

referring to Saul,

the first human king of Israel.

And you will prophesy.

You'll be changed

into a different person.

And then we read later

that the Spirit of the Lord

left from Saul

and an evil spirit

tormented him.

Then after that,

we read about how

the Spirit of the Lord

came powerfully upon David,

God's chosen king for Israel.

Then we get to Nehemiah.

Fast forward all the way

to Nehemiah.

And he reflected back

and they acknowledged

that it was God's Spirit

that was warning the people

all those years

as the prophets spoke.

It was God's Spirit

who was enabling them

to speak God's words

to the people

and warning them,

calling them to turn back

to the Lord.

Then we come to the poetry

of the Bible,

the Psalms,

the prayers,

and the songs.

And the Spirit of God

is mentioned many times there.

This is one of David's prayers

where he prays

and admits to God

that there's nowhere

that he can hide from him

because God's Spirit,

his presence,

knows no boundaries

or limits.

He can go everywhere.

In fact,

he is everywhere

all at once

by his Spirit.

As God said

through the prophet Jeremiah,

do I not fill heaven

and earth?

declares the Lord.

Jeremiah 23, verse 24.

Jeremiah 23:24

And then as we come

to the last words

of the prophets

before Jesus came,

there are quite a few prophecies

and promises

that were made

about the Spirit of God.

Like this one

in Isaiah chapter 11,

Isaiah 11:1

verse 1 and 2.

That there would be

a special son,

a descendant of Jesse,

who would have

the Spirit of Yahweh

rest on him.

And again,

in Isaiah chapter 42,

Isaiah 42:1

verse 1,

there would be

a special servant

of God,

a chosen one.

And God would put

His Spirit on him

and He would bring

justice to the nations.

These promises

began to be fulfilled

in Jesus.

It was John the baptizer

who testified.

He said,

I saw the Spirit of God

coming down upon Jesus

at Jesus' baptism.

And then finally,

there were several

wonderful promises made

through the prophets

that someday God

would pour out His Spirit

on all of His people.

Perhaps one of the most famous

is Joel chapter 2,

Joel 2:28

verse 28.

And afterward,

I will pour out

My Spirit on all people.

Your sons and daughters

will prophesy,

your old men

will dream dreams,

your young men

will see visions.

So all of this

is there

as kind of a foundation

to what Jesus is saying.

This is the same Spirit of God

that Jesus is referring to.

The Holy Spirit,

just like David and Isaiah

referred to Him,

the one who came

and brought all sorts

of wonderful things

to pass

all the way

from the creation

of the world

onto the present day.

This is who Jesus

is talking about

when He refers

to this other advocate,

the Spirit of truth.

It's the very Spirit

of God Himself.

Not a new Spirit,

not a different Spirit,

but the same Holy Spirit

of God

who has been there

moving mysteriously

through the ages.

And now,

what does Jesus say

about this Holy Spirit

now?

He says,

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.

Jesus promises

that the disciples

will not be left alone.

They won't be abandoned.

No.

Jesus will ask the Father,

that's God the Father,

and God the Father

will give them

the Spirit of truth.

And this is just

one of those fascinating things

that Jesus said.

In these two verses alone,

we see what we call

the triune nature of God.

There's Jesus,

the man that's sitting

in the room with Him,

who we've talked about already

is the divine Son of God,

the one who claims

to be one with the Father.

And He,

when He leaves,

He's going to ask

the Father,

that's God the Father,

and God is going

to send His Spirit,

who is also God.

It's God's own Spirit.

All three of them

are here

in just these two verses.

Jesus talks about

His Father

and the Spirit

as if they're

distinct persons.

And yet,

He also speaks

as though there's

this mysterious unity

between them.

I and the Father

are one,

said Jesus.

If you're new

to Christianity

or to the Bible,

this does sound weird.

There's a reason

we believe these things,

though.

It's because this is

how God has described Himself.

These are the words

that He has chosen.

This is how Jesus

describes God

and the Spirit.

In some way,

that's beyond

our understanding.

There's a different

kind of being

than us.

We have some similarities

to our Creator,

but there are

some major differences.

We are all,

each one of us,

just one person.

But God,

according to His own

Word,

is

tri-personal.

His fullness

is somehow shared

by three persons,

Father,

Son,

and Spirit.

I mean,

how else could Jesus

ask the Father

to give the Spirit

unless He's somehow

a distinct person

from the Father?

How else could the Father

give the Spirit

and the Spirit

come from the Father

unless the Spirit

is somehow

distinct

from Jesus

and the Father?

So it is kind of

a wild thing

that Jesus says here.

Not only is there

Father,

Son,

and Spirit,

but Jesus describes

some of how they relate

to one another.

Jesus asks the Father.

He talks to the Father.

The Spirit is given

by the Father

or sent

by the Father.

It's not Jesus Himself

being sent back

to the disciples.

This is somehow

another advocate,

another person.

It's no wonder

we get all jumbled up

and perplexed

when we start thinking

about the Spirit.

I mean,

Jesus,

we can relate to.

He's visible.

He's touchable.

He's tangible.

He's human.

He has all the stuff

of humanity

like we do.

He's like us.

But the Spirit,

I mean,

that's just something

that we can't relate to.

It's outside

of our experience.

A Spirit,

by definition,

is,

for the most part,

a being

without a body.

And we read

in the Bible

that there are

created spirits

like the angels.

We read

that there are

evil spirits

who are fallen angels.

We read

that there is

the spirit of man

which refers

to that inward

part of us

that's immaterial.

But then there is

the Holy Spirit

God's own spirit,

the spirit

who is unlike

any other.

And Jesus

tells them

that this

spirit of God,

the Holy Spirit,

is going to come

to them.

He's going to be

given to them.

And Jesus

tells us a couple

helpful things

about how

he will come.

Imagine for a moment

that you're there

in the room

among Jesus'

disciples,

disciples,

and Jesus

is saying

this to you

and you're

listening

and you're

wondering,

like how

will he come?

What should I

expect?

Is it going to

feel all tingly

inside?

Or will I

start prophesying?

Or will I get

superhuman strength

like Samson?

What's this

going to be like?

Jesus helps

them a little bit

with this.

He tells them

a little of the

how.

First of all,

Jesus says that

the Spirit of

Truth will be

with them

and will be

in them.

So there's a

real sense in

which they will

not be left

alone by Jesus

because the

Spirit of God

will come

and he will

be with them.

And,

you know,

it's not as

though the

Spirit of God

is just going

to kind of

hover around

near their

shoulder

wherever they

go.

No,

it's better

than that.

It's deeper

than that.

Jesus says

he will be

in you,

like inside

you.

The Spirit

of God

himself will

be inside

of you.

This might

bring to

mind some

of those

stories from

the Old

Testament where

God's Spirit

came upon

men like

Moses or

David or

Samson.

This is going

to be the

new internal

reality for

the disciples.

disciples.

But then

as soon as

we think

about God's

Spirit coming

to live

in us,

maybe we

can't help

but think

about Saul,

that first

king of

Israel,

the man

who had

the Spirit

but then

lost the

Spirit.

The Spirit

of God

left him

when he

started to

turn away

from the

Lord and

disobey

him.

But it's

here that we

see something

very special

and unique

in what

Jesus says.

this isn't

going to be

like the

days of

the Old

Testament

where God's

Spirit came

and went.

When the

Spirit of

Truth comes

to you,

he will be

with you

forever,

says Jesus.

Forever.

We're talking

about something

new and

wonderful that

God is doing

here.

God's going

to give his

own Spirit

to these men

and that

Spirit will

take up

permanent

residence inside

of them.

This is

wonderful news.

But still

we're probably

wondering,

well, what

will this be

like?

What will

this feel

like to

have God

himself living

in me?

God's own

Spirit.

Well, Jesus

tells us a

little bit

more, but

not from our

perspective what

it will look

like, but what

it will look

like from the

world's

perspective.

Verse 17,

he says,

the world

cannot accept

him, that's

the Spirit

of truth,

because it

neither sees

him nor

knows him, but

you know him,

for he lives

with you and

will be in

you.

I find this

so helpful.

Jesus says

that the world

does not see

the Spirit.

The Spirit.

So the Spirit

of God will

come upon

these men,

but from the

world's

perspective,

the people

of the world,

they won't

see the

Spirit of

God.

He'll be

invisible to

them.

It's not

like the

disciples will

have a new

and permanent

glow on all

their skin

that's showing

that the Spirit

lives in them,

or that their

eyes will

suddenly shine

like little

flashlights

because the

Spirit has

taken up

residence in

them.

It's not

like their

bodies will

somehow weigh

15 pounds

more than

they look like

they should

because the

Spirit is

in them.

I mean,

a little

later in

the story,

the disciples

will see

the Spirit

come down

at Pentecost

upon them

in the

upper room,

but the

world isn't

there.

The world

doesn't see

it happen.

And there

were some

real and

tangible effects

of the Spirit

on the day

of Pentecost.

The disciples

began speaking

in other

languages and

preaching the

good news of

Jesus,

and later on

went on to

do signs and

miracles and

wonders.

But what did

the world

see?

They saw

ordinary men

come out of

the house.

To some,

they were just

a bunch of

loony bins

who had had

too much to

drink.

To others,

oh,

there's those

men of

Galilee spreading

the cult of

Jesus.

To still

others,

yeah,

those guys

are a bunch

of professional

swindlers

peddling a

bunch of

lies,

or street

performers,

magicians,

that Jesus

was executed

a month ago.

Why should

we believe

them?

Well,

this verse

helps me

understand it.

The world

cannot accept

him because

it neither

sees him

nor knows

him.

There's a

very real

sense in

which something

will be

different about

the disciples

and the

world around

them will

not understand

it.

Jesus

says they

won't

understand

it because

they can't

see him.

He'll be

invisible,

undetectable.

They won't

understand it

because they

don't know

him.

And this

is a sad

thing,

but in

another sense

I find this

comforting because

it tells me

that it's

okay for

the world to

look at us

and think

that we're

weird when

we talk

about the

Holy Spirit

of God

living in

us.

The reality

is that the

disciples and

all true

believers,

we will

know that

we have a

relationship with

the living

God.

We will

know that

he lives

in us,

that his

spirit is

there with

us,

and the

world will

have a hard

time with

this,

says Jesus,

because they

can't see

him,

and they

don't know

him.

You could

take a

Christian's

body,

you could

run all

the scientific

and medical

tests you

want on it,

and the

results will

come back

the same

every time

as if we

were any

other human

being in

the world.

The spirit

of God

in us

cannot be

seen or

detected like

that.

He's

invisible.

He's

spirit.

He's not

flesh or

bone or

material.

how he

interacts with

us inside

here.

It's beyond

what science

or psychology

can tell.

But Jesus

assures us

the spirit

of truth

will be

with you

and he

will be

in you.

It'll be a

spiritual reality

that's just

unseen,

unappreciated,

unaccepted

by the

world.

well let's

come back

for a moment

to this

description

of the

spirit.

Another

advocate

says

Jesus.

I will

ask the

father and

he will

give you

another

advocate

that he

may be

with you

forever.

This is

another one

of those

places

where there's

debate

about how

to properly

translate

the word

from the

Greek

language

that the

New

Testament

was

written

in.

So depending

on the

translation

that you

have in

front of

you,

it might

say something

different.

It's either

advocate

or

comforter

or

counselor

or

helper.

There's even

a couple

translators out

there who

look at this

word and

say,

well there's

just no

English

equivalent

to it.

So let's

just transliterate

it directly

from Greek

right into

English,

just like

we did

with

baptism.

I will

ask the

Father and

he will

give you

another

paraclete.

Well when I

look at that

I kind of

laugh because

paraclete just

doesn't mean

anything to

any of us,

does it?

So why all

the different

translations

here?

Apparently

in Greek

literature

outside the

Bible this

word was

used to

refer to a

legal assistant

or legal

advocate.

So some

go with

advocate.

others are

just not so

sure that

Jesus is

really picking

up on that

specific legal

usage of

the word and

so they look

more at the

verb form of

this word which

kind of means to

call alongside,

to encourage,

to exhort.

And so

some translations

go with

counselor,

comforter,

helper,

all of which

relate to that

idea.

the problem

with all of

these words is

that they

carry baggage

for us today

in English.

As Don

Carson says,

the first thing

that comes to

mind when we

hear comforter

is a quilt

or maybe

somebody who's

handing out

Kleenex boxes

at a funeral.

Helper,

that's pretty

good,

but for some

reason in

English when we

hear helper we

often think of

someone who's

inferior.

Somebody who's

kind of there

but not really

in charge,

not really

just kind of

doing what we

need a little

bit of help

with.

Counselor

seems to have

a lot of

merit to it

but probably

we shouldn't

think of the

Holy Spirit

as like

the school

guidance

counselor

or a

marriage

counselor.

And even

though some

think that

the legal

overtones of

advocate

hit it just

right,

that word

advocate just

kind of leaves

us feeling

cold or

like we're

in trouble.

He's more

than just a

legal consultant

or a defense

attorney that's

giving us

advice about

how to answer

the charges

being laid

against us.

So this is

my way to

understand this

word.

Hopefully this

is helpful to

you.

I simply

like to take

the word

right out

and just

read the

context

to see

what is

he getting

at?

I will

ask the

father

and he

will give

you another

blank

that he

may be

with you

forever.

At the

bottom of

all this

what has

Jesus been

telling them?

He's been

telling them

that he

is leaving

them but

now he's

assuring them

that they

will not

be abandoned.

They

will not

be left

all alone.

Part of

that assurance

comes in

verse 18

when Jesus

says I'm

going to

come back.

But in

the meantime

the other

part of

that assurance

is that

they will

not be

left alone

while he's

gone.

Jesus

will ask

the father

and the

father will

send another

blank to

be with

them.

again in

verse 25

and 26

what's the

concern?

Jesus

says all

this I

have spoken

while still

with you

but the

blank 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.

What's the

concern?

Jesus is

leaving and

with Jesus

going also

goes all

of that

guidance and

instruction that

he's been

giving.

All of the

words that

he's been

speaking to

them from

God that

help.

But Jesus

says you

will not be

left without

that guidance

and instruction.

You will not

be left without

God's word

because the

blank the

holy spirit

will teach

you all

things and

remind you of

everything I

have said to

you.

So this is

how I get

at the

meaning of

the word.

The holy

spirit is

another of

the thing

that Jesus

has been

for his

disciples.

He will

do what

Jesus did

for the

disciples.

Just like

Jesus taught

them and

encouraged

them and

warned them

and gave

instruction to

them and

helped them

figure out how

to think about

all sorts of

things.

Different

situations,

different worries

in life.

In Jesus'

absence, the

spirit of

truth will

be with

them and

do the

same thing.

He will

be to

them a

counselor,

just as

Jesus has

been a

counselor to

them.

He will

be to

them a

comforter,

just as

Jesus has

been a

comforter.

He will

be to

them a

helping guide

and a

shepherd,

just like

Jesus has

been to

them a

helping guide

and shepherd.

word.

I mean,

this is

good news

for the

disciples,

isn't it?

Some of

these men

are going

to sit

down and

write these

gospel accounts

out for

the whole

world to

read for

the next

2,000

years.

And what

if they

can't

remember how

Jesus said

that thing?

Like,

what was

the word

that Jesus

used that

one time?

the Holy

Spirit will

remind you

of everything

I have

said to

you.

This is

wonderful.

He will

teach you

all things,

says Jesus.

Everything

else that

God wants

you to

know,

don't worry

about it.

The Holy

Spirit will

be there

in my

place,

and he

will teach

it to

you.

This is

wonderful.

This is a

beautiful thing

about the

Holy Spirit.

It's as

though Jesus

will continue

to be with

the disciples.

Things will

continue to

go as they

have gone,

but instead

of Jesus

being with

them in

the flesh,

like walking

around beside

them, now

Jesus and

the Father

will be with

them through

the Spirit

who comes to

live in

each one of

them.

All the

things that

Jesus has

been providing

them, the

Holy Spirit

of God will

continue to

provide for

them so

that they

can do the

work that

God has

given them

to do, and

that they

can play the

role that

God has

given them

to play in

his story.

Now I'm

out of time

for this

morning, and

we haven't

even hardly

got to the

things that

we're all

wondering

about.

The things

like, well

that's what

Jesus said

to them, but

what about

the rest of

us?

What about

all believers?

Do we

get the

Holy Spirit

living in

us like

that?

Working in

us like

that?

I'm going

to tell you

to come

back next

week.

We're going

to continue

on this

topic, because

we haven't

talked a lot

about it as

a church.

Hopefully

we'll get

to some

fuller and

clearer answers

to that

question of

how the

Holy Spirit

lives in

us and

works in

all of us

who belong

to Jesus.

Let's

pray.

Father in

heaven, we

thank you

for your

spirit.

We thank

you that

you live

in us,

that we're

not left

alone.

We don't

have to

figure out

all this

life by

ourselves.

We thank

you that

you convict

us of

sin, that

you call

us back

to you

again and

again.

We thank

you that

you remind

us of

the truth.

We thank

you that

you open

our eyes

up to

see what's

really going

on.

We thank

you that

you give

us life

where there

was deadness

in our

souls.

I pray

that we

would all

go on the

journey together

and understand

more and

more of

your Holy

Spirit,

this wonderful

gift that

you've given

us.

We ask

this in

Jesus'

name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.