The Gift of the Spirit: On the night before the cross, Jesus knew he was leaving his disciples, but he promised not to leave them alone. He would send another advocate or counselor, the Spirit of truth. The Holy Spirit would come alongside the disciples and call them forward in the way of Jesus. Even today, believers have been given the Spirit of the living God — what an incredible gift! Recorded on Feb 18, 2024, on John 14:15-31 by Pastor David Parks.
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Finding Life in Jesus’ Name is a sermon series on the gospel according to John in the Bible. Have you ever felt unsatisfied with your life? Or, even when things were going well, something was still missing? Many people sense there must be something more. But what?? John, one of the closest friends of Jesus, believed that Jesus came into the world so that we may have life and have it to the full. Jesus turned John’s life upside down, and John claims this new life — marked by God’s power, presence, and purpose — is available for all who believe.
Sermon Transcript
This year, we’re working through The Gospel According to John in a series called Finding Life in Jesus’ Name. Today, in John chapter 14, we’ll consider the gift of the Holy Spirit. When I was in first grade, I had the worst day of my short life up until that point. I got in trouble in school for something I didn’t do. I had to sit up next to the teacher, and Mrs. Meusson was very disappointed in me. What injustice. A few other inconveniences happened, and when I was telling my mom about my terrible day after school, I slammed the car door in frustration. But the door hit my other hand so hard that the nail turned black and fell off. I see now that that one was on me. But I felt so bad about my day because it felt like the whole world was conspiring against my six-year-old self, and I didn’t have anyone to be my advocate, someone to prove to Mrs. Meusson that I wasn’t to blame, someone to help me. Of course, the older I got, the higher the stakes became. If you have a bad day at six, it’s a pretty quick recovery time. Everything wrong could be fixed by a snack. If you have a bad day at sixteen, it’s definitely going to be worse. A bad day for me today, in my forties, could require a whole vacation to recover. Sometimes, I feel I may never recover. (Is that too dramatic?) Well, in our passage today, Jesus promised to send a helper, an advocate, so that we would not have to stumble through this broken world alone—someone who would be with us and help us find his peace, even through the bad days. This same advocate, the Holy Spirit, is available to us today, and he makes all the difference. If you have a Bible/app, please take it and open it to John 14:15. We’ll read through this and unpack it as we go.
John 14:15–21 (NIV), “15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—17 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. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.” Ok, let’s pause here. For John, vertical love is always linked to horizontal love; love for God is always linked to our love for one another. Of course, he didn’t make this up. He got this idea from Jesus himself. Here, Jesus is saying if you love me, then you will keep my commands. And what is the new command that Jesus had just given them at this very meal? Back in chapter 13 we saw that it was to love one another just as he had loved them. Jesus says the same thing in two different ways here. In v. 15, he says if you love me, then you will love one another just as I have loved you. And then later, in v. 21, whoever loves one another is the one who loves me. If the church is the body of Christ, of which he is the head, then you can’t love the head without loving the body, and vice versa. That would make no sense. But between these statements of Jesus on the love that his disciples were to have for him, his Father, and one another, he mentions another who would serve as the power source for all this love: another advocate, the Spirit of truth. Now, Jesus has much to say about him in chapters 14-16 in John’s gospel. But here, to start, Jesus says three things about the Spirit. First, he refers to the Spirit as another advocate. Who was the first advocate for the disciples? It was Jesus. Jesus himself had already served as the disciples’ advocate. But he is about to depart, in death and later in his ascension back into heaven. However, Jesus promised not to leave them as orphans. What a wonderful promise. He would not leave them alone to grope about in the darkness or wander as a sheep wanders from the flock. He would send them another. In this, it’s important for us to see the work of the Spirit as a continuation of the work of Jesus. Just as we saw last week, in the relationship between God the Father and the Son, so closely linked are the Son and Spirit that Jesus can say in the coming of the Holy Spirit, “I will come to you.” Or elsewhere, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Mt 28:20). The Spirit is another advocate. One final note about this is now that Jesus has ascended back into heaven, and is seated in power and glory as the Lord of all, his advocacy for us hasn’t stopped. It continues even today as Jesus intercedes on our behalf. Another incredible thought. So, between the Son and Spirit, we have advocates in heaven and on earth, in the throne room of God and within our own hearts and lives. Second, John uses a compound word translated here as advocate or in other Bible translations as helper, comforter, or counselor. The two Greek words involved are para, meaning to come alongside, and kaleo, which means to call or call out. As we’ll see over the next few weeks, the Spirit comes alongside the disciples of Jesus and speaks what is true. Now, the truth could be encouraging/strengthening words or correcting/convicting words, depending on what is needed. If we need help, the Spirit works like a legal counselor, in this case like a defense attorney, advocating for us, defending us, and reminding us what is true. But if we need correction, the Spirit works more like a prosecuting attorney, providing conviction within our spirit, again, about what is true. He is ever by our side, calling us forward in following Jesus. This leads us to the third thing that Jesus says about the Spirit, that he is the Spirit of truth. He will not deceive us. He will not trick us or lead us astray. In a world of darkness, in a world of deceit and manipulation and deep fakes and disinformation, we can rely on him. We can rest in him. The Spirit, just like the Son, will be our advocate, coming alongside us, even living within us, uniting us in a relationship with God, helping us experience the love of God, and calling us to see/believe/live according to what is true. But as incredible as this promise is and all the implications it will have for their future, the disciples can’t help but focus on the context of this promise: that Jesus is about to leave them. Jesus said, “Before long, the world will not see me anymore,” and then he said he would only show himself to his disciples. This was still hard for his disciples to understand because, again, before the resurrection, the idea of Jesus dying or leaving them was incomprehensible to them. No one had ever done anything like this before. We see this confusion in their response to him. Let’s continue with v. 22.
John 14:22-26 (NIV), “22 Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?” 23 Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24 Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. 25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 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.” Let’s pause here one more time. Ok, so first, imagine being the other Judas among the Twelve! “Hi, I’m Judas (not that Judas!).” Judas was a popular name then because it was the Greek version of the Hebrew name Judah, and Judah was one of the twelve tribes of ancient Israel. At any rate, this Judas, also called Judas son of James, asks Jesus, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?” And this is not a bad question. The disciples believed that Jesus was the Messiah, the chosen one sent by God to rescue/liberate his people. So, it didn’t make sense to him that Jesus would do this remotely or in some hidden way. In other words, Judas asked Jesus how he could be the Messiah and not show himself to the world. But I love that Jesus just keeps going. He doesn’t answer the question. And why does he do this? Does he not like the other Judas as much as the others? Not at all. Jesus knew that Judas would understand eventually because he knew that Judas would have the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, who would teach him all things and remind him of everything he had said to them. And this is so helpful for us today. We may not understand everything that is happening around us in life. We may not understand what God is doing, either, like Judas. But Jesus responds to this confusion by saying essentially, just do what you know is true. Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching, and they will experience the love of God and the indwelling and illuminating presence of the Spirit of God. When you understand what is going on in life, follow Jesus in the power of the Spirit. When you don’t understand what is going on in life, follow Jesus in the power of the Spirit. It’s not that complicated. It’s not easy, of course, but if this is true, we’re not doing this alone, either. This ought to be a great comfort to the believer. Jesus emphasizes this comforting role of the Spirit and the peace he offers the disciples, starting with v. 27.
John 14:27–31 (NIV), “27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. 28 “You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29 I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. 30 I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me, 31 but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me. “Come now; let us leave.” This is God’s word. So, it is the Holy Spirit who helps us to “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding” (Pro 3:5). We do not have to blindly trust in the Lord with all the strength/faith we manage to drum up. We have the Spirit. He will help us. He will not leave or forsake us. To see this and experience this brings us peace, the very peace of God, given by the Prince of Peace. And he does not give us peace the way the world gives. The world constantly promises peace but never delivers. In contrast, Jesus gives the Spirit without limit, and his peace passes all understanding. When our hearts are troubled, we do not have to be afraid. When the unexpected comes, when we don’t understand what is going on, in the middle of the storm, in the middle of our worst day ever in first grade, the Spirit will be with us and remind us of what is true, and we can abide/rest in the peace of God. Parents, this is such a helpful thing to teach your kids. God not only loves you and cares for you, but he is really with you when you are scared or lonely or upset. For the remaining Eleven disciples Jesus was speaking to, he said that he told them about these things ahead of time so that when it all happens, they will trust him, they will believe in him and be comforted. When what all happens? When the prince of this world, the devil, comes with Judas Iscariot’s betrayal and all the terrible events happen leading up to his death on the cross for the sins of the world. Jesus doesn’t want his disciples to lose faith through all this. But he goes beyond simply preparing them for the shock of the cross, saying that his departure is actually for their good. You don’t need to be troubled/afraid when I speak about leaving. If you understood what would happen, you would be glad “that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.” Over the years, many have wrestled with what Jesus meant by this last phrase: “For the Father is greater than I.” Some have taken it, against the mountain of evidence we’ve already seen in John’s gospel, that Jesus meant by this that he wasn’t co-equal or co-eternal with the Father. This is what the ancient heresy of Arianism taught or what Jehovah’s Witnesses believe today: that Jesus is the Son of God but is not equal to the Father. But the seven signs and the seven “I AM” statements alone, not to mention very clear teachings of Jesus such as “I and the Father are one.” testify that Jesus, the Son, is God. John starts his gospel by saying, “In the beginning was [Jesus] the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Last week, we considered the unique unity that the Father and Son enjoy and that no one is like Jesus. The answer of orthodox Christianity for the last 2,000 years, based on the full witness of the Scriptures, is that the Father is not greater than the Son because they are different in nature or in power/glory but because when Jesus said this, the Father was in the fullness of his glory in heaven, while the Son was still in the world. During the incarnation, the Father sent the Son, and the Son went; the Father commanded, and the Son obeyed; the Son died in humility, and the Father exalted him in glory. To what degree this hierarchy between the Father and Son existed before the incarnation is debated. But Jesus says here that if the disciples truly loved him, they would be thrilled he was going back to the Father and not troubled at his leaving — they would have peace about it. The final sentence of our text has proved difficult for many to interpret. Because Jesus says, “Come now; let us leave.” but then continues to teach for three more chapters. In the end, it doesn’t seem to make much of a difference to what Jesus says after this. Whether he says this, but then they continue to talk after the dinner has ended is one possibility. Or whether chapters 15-17 are happening as they walk through Jerusalem on their way back to the Mount of Olives is another. Either way, as we’ll see, Jesus has a lot more to say on this final night before the cross. Now, normally, I would turn from what the text says to how we might apply this to our lives today. But today, we’ve had application throughout this whole message. Because what Jesus promised to his disciples is true for us today. After his death and resurrection and ascension back into heaven, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. So today, we live in the age of the Spirit. This age was prophesied in the OT and accomplished in the fullness of time. So, in the same way, we have an advocate, a helper, who is God himself. We have the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, who comes alongside us and calls us forward in the way of following Jesus. No matter whether we are having a good day or the worst day ever, we have not been left as orphans. We have the very personal power and presence of God in our hearts, and he makes all the difference. There is so much more to say about this, but Jesus isn’t done. But just imagine if we, as a church, believed this to be true. What could shake us? What in all the world, even the work of the devil himself, could steal our peace? We have the Spirit of the living God. Let us pray.
