The Guarantee

Well, good morning.

Like Michael said, uh I'm Jared.

I'm one of the pastors here and excited to uh bring God's word to you from John 14, 25 through 31.

Now imagine you're about to leave your family for an extended period of time.

Or maybe you're leaving permanently your family.

Not by choice, but you know they will face challenges, uncertainties, and even fears in your absence.

You could even go as far as imagining you're on your deathbed and you're about to pass on from this time.

What would you want to leave them with?

Would it be money?

A home?

Security?

The reality is you'd probably want to leave all of those things to them, but more importantly, you'd probably want to leave them a promise, a guarantee.

A guarantee that someone you trust will be there to help them, to guide them, to walk alongside them and help them, especially if you have young children, whatever it might be, you'd want them to know that, hey, it will be okay because you have another helper that will be alongside of you to guide you and comfort you.

And this is exactly when we come to John 14, 25 through 31.

This is what we find with Jesus and his disciples, and for us, even today, right before his departure.

So Jesus assured them that they wouldn't be alone or left without guidance.

And we will see this today in two ways, with two guarantees.

One is the guarantee of the spirit and the guarantee of peace.

So let's jump into our first guarantee, which we find in verses 25 and 26, the guarantee of the spirit.

Now, this is the very end of chapter 14 in the Gospel of John.

The final few verses as we see, and Jesus isn't really responding to a particular question or a situation, but he's summarizing and reinforcing other things that he has said up to this point.

This is not surprising though.

This is something that Jesus does frequently.

John 16, 1, he says, I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away.

John 16, 12, I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.

John 16, 25, I've said these things to you in figures of speech.

The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech, but will tell you plainly about the Father.

John 16, 33, I have said these things to you that in me you may have peace.

In the world you will have tribulation, but take heart, I have overcome the world.

And within our summary today that Jesus is addressing in these few verses, we find a guarantee.

Right at the beginning of our passage, Jesus makes a statement These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you, reminding his disciples of his impending departure, his he's getting ready to leave, but preparing them for the coming of the Holy Spirit, the guarantee that the Holy Spirit is coming.

This helper that Jesus referred to, the Holy Spirit previously, in something, he clarifies something a little different here in verse 26 compared to what he did in John 14, 16 in our previous passage, where he said, And I will ask the Father and he will give you another helper.

Jesus said, I will ask the Father and He will give you another helper.

But then in verse 25 here, we read, But the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name.

I don't want us to miss something important here when Jesus makes this statement.

The Holy Spirit was being sent in Jesus' name.

Think about it this way.

The Holy Spirit was being sent as Jesus' emissary.

It's basically a fancy word for something like a special messenger or someone who is going to be a representative.

Kind of like what our government does.

We send people over to represent us in other countries.

Other countries send people here.

And when that person speaks, they speak on behalf of what they are representing.

Every time they talk, they are talking as if they are from the United States because that's where they're from.

And they're speaking on behalf of the country.

This is what we see happening here.

Imagine if you had an important message or a gift to give to someone far away, but you couldn't go yourself, what would you do?

You would send someone, a trusted friend, to go in your place and deliver that message or gift.

The important aspect of this this person is not less than you.

They're not of less importance.

This someone is a trusted friend and emissary.

They go to speak and act on behalf of someone else to make sure the message or gift is delivered safely and accurately.

This is what we see the Holy Spirit getting ready to do.

Jesus asks the Father to send the Holy Spirit.

The Father sends the Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus.

Now this is no different than what we saw, Jesus being sent by the Father.

John 5 43, I've come in my Father's name, and you do not receive me.

If another comes in his own name, you will receive him.

So in the same way that the Son is sent in the Father's name, the Holy Spirit is being sent in the Son's name.

I love how A.

W.

Pink, who was born in the late 1800s, but really his writings didn't really get gain in popularity until kind of the mid-20th century.

He says this just as the Son had made known the Father, so the Spirit would take of the things of Christ and show them to his people.

Just as the Son had glorified the Father, so the Spirit would glorify Christ.

Just as hitherto the Savior had supplied all the needs of his own, henceforth the comforter should fully provide for them.

I love the comment here.

Henceforth, the Comforter, aka the Holy Spirit should fully provide for them.

Now listen to what the Apostle Paul says in Romans 8, 9 through eleven.

You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you.

Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is life because of righteousness.

If the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies from through his spirit who dwells in you.

So think about it like this.

Before you press profess faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ, you lived in the flesh.

You did not belong to Christ.

But once you profess faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ, you are now in Christ.

And one of the benefits of being in Christ is now you have the Holy Spirit, the comforter, the helper dwelling within you.

The same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead.

Think about that for a moment.

You have the Holy Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead dwelling within you.

We have the power of Christ within us because of the Holy Spirit.

Now, this is incredible for us today to think about, but you can imagine at this time as Jesus is talking with his disciples and he's sharing this with them, there was something more than the purpose of the Holy Spirit coming from what we saw in John 14, 16 through 17.

Even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him.

You know him, for he dwells it with you, and he will be in you.

D.A.

Carson, a theologian, professor, and author, he says this one of the Spirit's principal task after Jesus is glorified is to remind the disciples of Jesus' teaching, and thus, in the new situation after the resurrection, to help them grasp its significance and thus to teach them what it meant.

If we look throughout the Gospel of John, many times what we find is that the disciples did not understand what Jesus was saying until after the resurrection.

John 2, 22.

When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

John 12 16.

His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered these things that had been written about him and had been done to him.

Whereas the passage that Pastor Tim preached in last week, in verses 15 through 24, the promise of the Holy Spirit in that passage was a more general promise to all who are called and profess faith in Jesus.

But here in 26, the guarantee or the promise is more focused really on those listening to Jesus talking in that moment.

This is a great reminder for us today of how the first followers of Jesus came to an accurate understanding of the truth of the gospel.

This is why in John 2.22 and John 12.16 we read that it wasn't until after the resurrection that his disciples remembered and understood what Jesus taught and who he was.

And this was due to the Holy Spirit.

D.A.

Carson continues on in his commentary where he says, the Spirit's ministry in this respect was not to bring qualitatively new revelation, but to complete, to fill out the revelation brought by Jesus Himself.

And also the Holy Spirit never comes to point the spotlight on himself.

That's not what the Holy Spirit was about.

He always points towards Jesus.

We have to remember that to believe in the gospel, to profess faith in Christ, means we now have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, pointing us to Jesus.

This is a great reminder for us today to be to remember, to think about.

If we have new ideas or we have new spiritual insights, they must always be tested against the historic word of God we have in the Bible.

If your new idea or your new spiritual insight goes against the word of God at all, if it doesn't point you towards Jesus Christ, then it's not the Holy Spirit who gave you these fresh insights into the Word.

Now let's shift our focus a little bit to the guarantee that is deeply rooted in the Word of God, the guarantee of peace, as we see described in verses 27 through 31, the guarantee of peace.

So what is peace?

So what is peace?

Quite often we like to think about peace or define it as an absence of conflict, right?

And that's true.

There's nothing wrong with that statement.

That is an accurate statement about peace.

I don't think anyone would disagree with that.

And I've said many times in my own home with four kids, we just need a little more peace.

What I'm saying is we just need a little more less conflict.

If you ever ever heard someone say we need peace in the Middle East, or we need peace between Russia and Ukraine, what they're implying is that we need this conflict to stop between those countries.

That's what they're saying.

Peace, not war.

Less conflict.

But when we read the word peace here in John 14, 27, what Jesus is implying is something more than just an absence of conflict in the way we typically define peace.

Jesus is using the word here that we get from the Hebrew language shalom, which we typically associate with a greeting or departure, right?

Shalom when they come in, shalom when they leave.

Now let's compare this with what Jesus is saying here in verse 27.

He says, Not as the world gives, do I give to you.

So we have to ask ourselves the question, what is the peace that the world typically offers?

What does the world give us when it says, I will give you peace?

Because Jesus says, Not as the world gives, do I give to you.

So what is the peace that the world offers?

Number one, it's circumstantial.

It's circumstantial.

It's not sustainable.

It will come and go based on whatever circumstance you find yourself in.

If things are good, you have peace.

If things are bad, you don't have peace.

If you have everything you could ever desire, you have peace.

If you don't, you don't have peace.

The world can only offer you circumstantial peace.

Why?

Because the world is full of things like hatred, selfishness, bitterness, anxiety, and ultimately fear.

Think about the moment with me, how we are encouraged to find peace.

Some great examples.

Number one, avoidance.

You deliberately avoid contentious topics or people to remain and keep a superficial sense of peace.

So you hear people make statements like, we don't talk about God, politics, or money, and we have a great relationship.

Maybe it's seeking through peace through situational factors.

So instead of seeking peace, you seek a situational change to temporarily relieve the conflict you're going through by maybe we're gonna take a vacation, I'm gonna change my routine, I'm gonna get a new job, I'm gonna distract myself with whatever it might be.

It could even be mutual fatigue.

Maybe you've experienced this a husband and wife can't stop fighting, so what do they do?

They take time apart from each other.

They're not actually gaining peace, they're just avoiding each other so that they can have momentary peace, a circumstantial peace.

But in reality, all you have is a false peace out of mutual exhaustion, which doesn't actually lead to resolution and true peace.

You seek peace through situational strategic behavior for a short period of time.

I just have to make it through the holidays.

Then I'll be alright.

I just have to attend this wedding and get through it, then I'll feel better about myself.

I just have to get this work at promotion.

But what do avoidance, situational, mutual fatigue, and strategic behavior all have in common when it comes to peace?

It won't last.

Why?

Because deep down, this is not the type of peace you and I are longing for.

Every human being is longing for true peace.

It's like it's like coming upon a crash scene and someone's artery has been cut and blood is literally spraying out, and you're like, I have a band-aid.

Let's use that.

Like, it's not gonna work.

It won't even stick, it won't prevent anything from happening.

It's just covering up something that's not even gonna solve the actual problem.

And this is not what Jesus is offering here.

He says, Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you.

We need to remember that peace is one of the fundamental characteristics of the messianic kingdom that was talked about in preparing God's people for in the Old Testament.

Which is another way of saying that the kingdom that Jesus was ushering in or inaugurating.

For example, talking about Jesus, the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 9 6 says this for to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 52 7, how beautiful upon the feet are the mountains, are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, your God reigns.

So we see the peace Jesus is talking about here, anticipated in the Old Testament, but then fulfilled in the new.

For example, Acts 10 36, as for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ.

He is Lord of all.

Romans 1 7, to all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints, grace to you and peace from God our Father and Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 5 1, therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

And so when we come back to verse 27 here, Jesus says something interesting about this peace.

He doesn't just say, I'm leaving peace with you, and moves on.

He says, My peace I give to you.

Hear that again.

What type of peace did Jesus have?

It was transcendent and not of this world.

It's a type of peace that when Jesus is arrested, he keeps calm.

It's a type of peace that when he stands before the high priest being questioned, he remains calm.

It's a type of peace that when he stands before Pilate, who had the power to release him, Jesus stays calm and then speaks truth.

It's a type of peace that as Jesus is beaten, he remains calm.

It's a type of peace that as the soldiers force and thrust the crown of thorns into his skull, he remains calm.

It's a type of peace that as they drive the nails into his hands and his feet, he stays calm.

It's a type of peace that as he's dying on the cross, he tells the thief next to him that today you will be with me in paradise.

It's a type of peace that as he's hanging on the cross, he utters the words, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.

This is a peace that can be found in nothing else but Jesus Christ.

The world cannot come close to offering anything like this type of peace.

Why?

Because the way the world wants to achieve peace is through power.

Jesus did exactly opposite what his followers and the world expected him to do.

We have to remember at this time, as Jesus is going through this situation, Rome was in power.

They were in charge, they maintained the peace of the day.

D.

Carson clearly explains how the peace of Rome and the peace Jesus brings differs.

He says this the Pax Romana, Roman peace, was won and maintained by a brutal sword.

Not a few Jews thought the messianic peace would have to be secured by a still mightier sword.

Instead, it was secured by an innocent man who suffered and died at the hands of the Romans, of the Jews, and of all of us.

That's the beauty of the gospel.

We have peace because Jesus fought a war.

He fought our fight so we could have peace.

Why?

Because of sin and our rejection of God.

Sin brings chaos.

You ever wonder why you don't have peace?

That's because you're still entertaining sin in your own life.

This is why deep down we all long for peace.

This is why the world longs for peace but goes about it in all the wrong ways.

It's easy to look out at the world and just go, I get it.

I understand why they don't have peace.

Look at how they're seeking peace, money, fame, fortune, buying things, whatever it might be, and they're just, they're terrible, like they're committing suicide, they're overdosing, whatever it might be, like their lives are miserable.

It's easy to look out and see all those things and go, that makes sense.

It's much harder for us to stop and examine our own hearts to understand how we also look for peace in all the ways outside of Christ.

Do a thought experiment with me for a moment.

I want to ask you a question.

I want you to be real honest with yourself.

How often do you live in a recurring cycle of the would've, could've, and should've mindset?

What's going through your mind right now when I say, if only I would have?

What?

If only I should have.

What?

If only I could have.

What?

How often do you live in that mindset?

No one knows.

It's in your head.

You just continually run through that day in and day out.

And this is when we forget the truth about the peace of God.

And there's two aspects of peace that we really need to grasp and understand here.

There's the objective and the subjective aspects of peace.

Objective meaning it's not influenced by our personal feelings or opinions when we consider facts, truth.

So there's the objective side of peace that the Apostle Paul addresses in Romans 5 1.

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

So we have peace because we have been reconciled to God through Jesus.

Before we were justified by faith, there was animosity between us and God.

We were enemies of God.

There was no peace.

Romans 5.10.

For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son.

Much more now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by His life?

So we have the objective aspect of peace.

But then there's the subjective aspect of peace we all long for.

Basically, how we feel.

We understand the truth, but we also want to feel peace.

Now we pause for a moment and remind us that our feelings should always be based in the truth.

Truth starts first.

Let's not flip it and reverse it.

Truth, then feelings.

Satan would love for us to base our truth off of our feelings.

That's what the world does.

I feel this way, therefore I am.

That's what who I am because I feel that way.

It's not going well for them.

But we can do that as well.

The subjective flows out of the objective.

Because of Jesus Christ, we have peace with God.

That's the truth.

We're no longer his enemies.

But then the subjective aspect of peace comes in for all of us.

We want to feel peace.

That's a reality.

We want to live a peace filled life.

We all want what the Apostle Paul talked about in Philippians 4 7, and the peace of God, which Surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

We all want the type of peace that we can't comprehend.

It surpasses all understanding.

I love how Charles Spurgeon, in his commentary to the book of Philippians, who pastored in the 1800s, he said this about Philippians 4, 7, this type of peace.

He says, when one of the martyrs was about to burn for Christ, he said to the judge who was giving orders to fire the pile, meaning literally light the fire to burn this person to death.

The martyr says to the judge, Will you come and lay your hand on my heart?

The judge did so.

Does it beat fast?

inquired the martyr.

Do I show any sign of fear?

No, said the judge.

Now lay your hand on your own heart and see whether you are not more excited than I am.

Think of the man of God who, on the morning he was to be burned, was so soundly asleep that they had to shake him to wake him.

He had to get up to be burned, and yet knowing that it was to be so, he had such confidence in God that he slept sweetly.

In those old Diocletian persecutions, when the martyrs came into the amphitheater to be torn by wild beasts, when one was set in a red-hot iron chair, another was smeared with honey to be stung to death by wasps and bees, they never flinched.

Think of that brave man who was put on a gridiron to be roasted to death, and who said to his persecutors, You have done me on one side, now turn me over to the other.

Why this peace under such circumstances?

It was the peace of God that surpasses all understanding.

Our feelings and actions flow out of the truth.

Also, we have to remember that peace is one of the fruits of the Spirit.

It's the third one listed in Galatians 5.22, but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace.

So one of the results of having the helper, the Holy Spirit, who Jesus promised his disciples in John 14, but also to us is peace.

Now, why was this important here in John 14?

Why did Jesus want to encourage them in this moment of this importance of this coming?

Helps us understand verse 28.

You have heard me say to you, I am going away.

Now, this is not the first time Jesus has told them.

The past few weeks of we've been preaching through the Gospel of John, we continually talk about how Jesus is letting them know his impending departure.

It's coming.

But just in chapter 14, he's just told his disciples multiple times he's going away to the Father.

And there's two important aspects, two important points here in verse 28.

First, they can have peace without Jesus being physically with them.

That's important for us to grasp too, because we've never had Jesus like they did in that situation.

We have not walked with Jesus in the way that the disciples did for those three years.

So why is this important?

Because they will have the Holy Spirit.

We have the Holy Spirit.

Second, Jesus says something that should cause us to pause in verse 28.

If you loved me, you would have rejoiced because I'm going away to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.

If you loved me, at this point in time, the disciples are more concerned about their future and what's going to happen to them when Jesus leaves.

Which I gotta be honest, I would have probably been in the same situation.

You've protected us, you've taken care of us, you've provided for us.

We it's been an incredible run for the last three years.

Like we've seen incredible things, but you're gonna you're leaving?

Hang around a little bit longer.

Wait until I die, and then you can go, right?

Like that's how we would think through this.

True love for someone is more concerned about what's best for them as opposed to what's best for you.

Jesus was getting ready to go back to his rightful place, going back to the glory that was rightfully his.

Jesus had humbled himself for years by taking on human flesh.

And now he's getting ready to return back to the Father who sent him.

Which is why Jesus says, for the Father is greater than I.

Now, what is Jesus claiming here?

What is he getting at?

Is he claiming that he's less than the Father or that he's not truly God?

This is what the fourth century heretic Arius wanted to believe, pushed out there based on this verse.

So what modern-day Jehovah's Witnesses do, they use these type of verses to say, look, Jesus is less than he's not really God.

He's a God, but he's not God.

Throughout the Gospel of John, though, what we see consistently is an equality and a functional subordination within the Trinity.

Jesus makes the claim multiple times, he's equal to the Father.

John 1 1, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1 14, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we've seen his glory, glories of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 8 58, Jesus said to them, Truly, truly I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.

John 10 30, I and the Father are one.

So even though they are God, we also see the Trinity, the Father of the Son, and the Holy Spirit, functioning in specific roles, which is functional subordination.

Where we see the Son submits to the Father.

For example, John 3.17, for God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

God, the Father, sent the Son.

John 4 34, Jesus said to them, My food is to do the will of him who sent me and accomplish his work, being the Father's work.

John 5 36, but the testimony that I have is greater than that of John.

For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, being Jesus, the very works I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me.

John 7 33, Jesus then said, I will be with you a little longer, then I'm going to be with him who sent me.

One commentator said it really well.

The Father is God sending and commanding.

The Son is God sent and obedient.

John's thought here is focused on the humiliation of the Son and his earthly life, a humiliation which now, in his death, reached both its climax and its end.

And why was all of this that Jesus is saying so important?

Verse 29.

So that when it does take place, you may believe.

Believe what?

Jesus said something very similar here back in John 13, when he was talking about Judas preparing to go and betray him to all of his disciples.

John 13, 19.

I'm telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place, you may believe that I am he, that they would believe that he is the Messiah, the chosen one, the long-awaited Savior that Israel had been hoping for and waiting for.

That they would believe everything he said was true, that their faith would be strengthened.

Why would they need this?

Because he says in verse 30, I will no longer talk with you, for the ruler of this world is coming.

He has no claim on me.

Because things are about to get real messed up for the disciples.

It's about to get real for them.

Like life is about to change.

And the early church, after the church has started in Acts, like it doesn't always end well for followers of Christ.

The ruler of this world that Jesus is talking to, who he's referring to here, is Satan.

Satan believed he would win when Jesus went to the cross.

So Satan falsely believed.

But what does Jesus say?

He has no claim on me.

Basically, there's nothing that Satan can accuse Jesus of.

First of all, Jesus is not of this world.

Remember John 8.23, he said to them, You are from below, I am from above.

You are of this world, I am not of this world.

And secondly, Jesus never sinned.

John 8.46, which one of you convicts me of sin?

If I tell you the truth, why do you not believe me?

Satan has no hold on Jesus.

Where Satan believed he would win, Jesus was in full control.

John 10, 17 through 18.

For this reason the Father loves me, because I laid down my life that I may take it up again.

No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.

I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again.

This charge I have received from my Father.

Listen to what Jesus says back in verse 31.

But I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father.

God the Son, Jesus, submits to God the Father.

Satan had no power over Jesus.

Where Satan believed Jesus' victory or Jesus' death was his victory, Jesus' resurrection was Satan's defeat.

I think this is a great reminder for you and me today.

The world may think like the ruler of this world, Satan.

The world may follow along with the patterns of their ruler, Satan.

The world may believe like Satan that they are victorious.

But the ruler of this world had no hold on Christ.

And because you and I, through the gospel of Jesus Christ, are in Christ, the world has no hold on us.

Satan has no hold on you or me.

Not because of anything we have done, not because of how great you are, how smart you are, how successful you might be, or whatever it is that you would believe about yourself.

No, not at all.

It's because of Jesus Christ and what he did through his death and resurrection.

That is the guarantee that you and I can believe in.

That's what we can rest our hope in.

I have two questions I want to leave you with this morning as you walk out of here to consider today, tomorrow, this week.

How does having God the Holy Spirit, the comforter, the helper, dwelling within you impact you every single day?

Do you actually believe the Holy Spirit is God, or do you kind of view him as kind of like the third out there?

Not really comfortable with him.

How has belief in the gospel of Jesus Christ given you peace today?

Not just eternally, because that is true.

That's truth, that's a fact.

But how has he given you peace right now?

As you reflect on these questions, remember our faith isn't just a set of beliefs, it's a relationship with God.

The Holy Spirit, our comforter, our helper, our guide, he empowers us, he guides us, and he reminds us of Jesus' love and sacrifice.

And each day, every single day, we can walk in the assurance that we are not alone.

No matter what you're facing today, no matter what you're going through, no matter how difficult or great your life might be right now, you are not alone.

Every human being you know might walk away from you, but you are not alone.

And we can walk in that assurance that God is with us, that his spirit is within us, giving us strength and peace.