Where is our help during troubling times?
I was here on Easter Sunday as Jon began this series of messages, and at that time I had no idea that he would ask me to conclude the series. I am usually here to preach on Father's Day, so this year I will plan to be here on that day to see what good things Jon has to say about his father-in-law.
I have appreciated the perspective that has been offered in the last few weeks as you have wrestled with the honest questioning of God. In times of trouble we are tempted to ask, "Why me?" because we think God is unfair. Or we ask, "Why this?" because we assume our situation is unique. We ask, "Why now?" because our circumstances seem so untimely. People in Japan and in Joplin are asking those questions. These questions are common to our human nature. That is why we need to be reminded of an even more important question.
The final question in this series titled "Trust: Questioning God When Life Is on the Brink" is, "Who can really help us in the troubling times?" What we often want is some immediate assurance that someone cares. We seek human counselors and comforters but we often overlook the obvious-- the Counselor and Comforter that God provides us. That is the truth revealed in our text today. What follows Jesus' comforting words in John 14:1-6 is Jesus' answer for the "Who can help us?" question. This is in a discourse recorded in John 14, John 15, and John 16. Here are some excerpts from those passages.
John 14:16-20 (NIV) says, "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to 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. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you."
In John 14:25-29 (NIV) Jesus continues, "All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, 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. 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. 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. I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe."
John 15:26-27 (NIV) tells us, "When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning."
John 16:7-15 (NIV) continues, "But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned. I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you."
The sermon in a single sentence.
If I could sum up this series and summarize this scriptuJohn 14re in a single sentence, here it is. Here is my sermon in a sentence. If you know the Who, you have the how to live with any what even if you do not know the why.
Who is this Who?
It sounds like a question from Dr. Suess's Whoville. Who is this Who who lives in you?
In this series, we know from John 14 that the Who in Whom we place our trust is God-- God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. In John 14:1 (NIV) Jesus said, "Trust in God; trust also in me." In John 14:11 (NIV) Jesus said, "Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me..." Then Jesus introduces us to the other Who, the one who also helps us. John 14:16-17 (NIV) says, "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever-- the Spirit of truth."
In many churches and Christian circles this subject of the Holy Spirit is either totally neglected or overly exaggerated. The topic is far too expansive to exhaust in a single message, but it is important that we understand some fundamental things that are foundational to our thinking. Let me share some of my convictions. First of all, the Holy Spirit is not a vague "It". He is not merely a mystical presence or a mysterious power. He is called by several names.
Some names relate the Holy Spirit to the Father.
• the Spirit of God (Genesis 1:2)
• the Spirit of the Lord (Luke 4:18)
• the Spirit of our God (1 Corinthians 6:11)
• the Spirit of the Lord God (Isaiah 61:1)
• the Spirit of your Father (Matthew 10:20)
• the Spirit of the living God (2 Corinthians 3:3)
All these are descriptive titles referring to the Holy Spirit in terms of his relationship to God the Father.
Other titles relate the Holy Spirit to the Son Jesus Christ.
• the Spirit of Christ (Romans 8:9)
• the Spirit of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:19)
• the Spirit of his Son (Galatians 4:6)
• the Spirit of the Lord (Acts 5:9)
Other depictions are personal titles.
• Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost (John 14:26)
• Spirit of holiness (Romans 1:4)
• the Holy One (1 John 2:20)
• the eternal Spirit (Hebrews 9:14)
• Spirit of life (Romans 8:2)
• Spirit of truth (John 14:17, John 15:26, John 16:13)
• Comforter, Counselor, or Advocate (John 14:16, John 15:26, John 16:7)
I hope you see the picture. This eternal, relational, interpersonal Spirit is a holiness-producing, life-giving, truth-revealing, counsel-providing Spirit.
Why is this Spirit important?
Twice in this text Jesus implies that it is better if he goes away and returns to the Father so he can send the Spirit. Both of the sayings are introduced with the words, "I tell you the truth." This phrase was used in the Greek to delineate a very important point.
John 14:12 (NIV) says, "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father."
John 16:7 (NIV) says, "But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you."
How could anything be better than being with Jesus? We must follow the logic carefully. While in the flesh, Jesus was restricted by limitations of space and time.
• Jesus was only in one place with a few of God's people at a time. The Holy Spirit is present everywhere in all of God's people.
• Jesus was with a few of his followers in the first century in Palestine. The Holy Spirit is in all of Christ's followers in every land around the world.
• Jesus was with his followers for a few short years. The Holy Spirit will be with us forever.
• Jesus brought and taught the truth to His followers. The Holy Spirit opens up this truth and explains it for believers.
• Jesus did amazing works when he was here on earth, but through his Spirit at work in the lives of believers of all nations and all generations, he has been and is doing even greater works, not including the work of the cross that was once and for all.
Think about the hundreds of lives that will be touched and transformed as the Holy Spirit works through teachers and counselors at Lake Springfield Christian Assembly this summer. Think of the myriad of needs that are met in Jesus' name as the Holy Spirit works through the staff at Inner City Mission. Think of those of you who are going to Haiti and imagine the good things-- even greater than you could ever imagine-- that the Holy Spirit will do through you. Consider the hundreds of thousands of churches where the word of God is being preached and taught in the power of the Holy Spirit.
In other words, the Holy Spirit is the personal presence of Jesus abiding in and working through Christians while Jesus is with the Father.
What does that mean in practical terms?
This Counselor may not change our circumstances or take our troubles away, but he will help us stand firm in those troubles and stay faithful in those circumstances. The Spirit is the one sent to stand alongside us as our source of strength. Paul prays in Ephesians 3:16-17 (NIV), "I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith."
And Paul affirms in Romans 8:26-27 (NIV), "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us groans too deep for words. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will."
What does this Spirit do for us?
This passage describes several aspects of the Spirit's work in the world and in our lives.
The Spirit prosecutes the case against the world.
According to John 16:8–11 the Spirit will prosecute the case against the world by exposing it with respect to sin and making the world know that its unbelief is the essence of sin. It will expose the world's claim to righteousness as false and that its verdict on Jesus is reversed by the resurrection. The Spirit will pass judgment on the world for using its power to engineer Jesus' death, for continuing to oppose Christ, and tell the world that it stands condemned in Jesus' victory over death.
The Spirit pleads the case for Christians before the Father.
The Holy Spirit was sent to stand alongside us as our advocate, pleading our case before the Father by declaring that we are forgiven of sin because of the sacrifice of Jesus, telling God that Jesus is our righteousness, and that we are judged righteous by our belief in him.
The Spirit serves as our personal live-in tutor.
Did you ever need a tutor or did you ever have a mentor? This is someone to teach you or guide you individually in some specific subject or for some particular purpose That's what the Holy Spirit does. He takes truths and teachings of Jesus and helps us apply those lessons in our lives.
I am indebted to Dr. John Castelein of our seminary for this concept. He preached a message at Lincoln Christian Church a few years ago entitled, "How the Holy Spirit Mentors Christ's Disciples." He observed these truths.
• As our mentor, the Spirit of truth (John 14:17, John 15:26, John 16:13) resembles the teacher who is truth, Jesus Christ (John 14:6).
• Through our mentor (John 14:16), the teacher stays with us until the end of the age (Matthew 28:20).
• While the teacher was with us (Matthew 1:23) incarnationally it was an external presence, but our mentor is within us-- indwelling us and empowering us from the inside-out (John 14:17, John 14:20).
• Our mentor has no other agenda other than Jesus' revelation (John 16:14-15).
• Our mentor bears witness not to himself, but for Jesus' glory (John 15:26, John 16:14). Theologians have called the Holy Spirit the shy member of the trinity since he only wants to bring people closer to Jesus and wants to bring glory to Jesus.
As the Holy Spirit guides us to truth and teaches us, there is an interpretive dance we must do to distinguish when Jesus is referring to first century disciples who wrote scriptures authored by God and to twenty-first century disciples. At our recent Church Leaders' Conference on campus, a gentleman came up to me from a Lutheran church located in the community where I had preached while in seminary 40 years ago. He said, "I remember something you said in a talk to our men's group when you were there." I have been quoted or, should I say, misquoted so often that I wasn't sure what to expect. I certainly couldn't remember what I said in a devotion I delivered 40 years ago, and to be honest, I wasn't sure this older gentleman could remember either.
He told me, "You said that the same Spirit that indwelt the writers of scripture indwells us so we can expect him to guide us in our understanding of what Scriptures mean." I affirmed that I had indeed said that. In fact, I have said that often. I do not believe that the Holy Spirit will lead the readers of scripture to some new or novel understanding that is different than what he intended when he inspired the writers to write scripture. He works in and through the larger Christian community to help us come to an understanding of what scripture means.
How do we receive this Spirit?
We are to trust Jesus and turn to Jesus as Peter preached in Acts 2:38 (NIV). "Peter replied, 'Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."
Praise God that once we receive this gift, we are no longer orphans. But rather, we have been adopted as children of God. As Paul wrote in Galatians 4:4-7 (NIV), "But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, 'Abba, Father.' So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir."
About a month ago, I had my final conversation on this side of heaven with my friend of 44 years and my fellow professor at Lincoln, Dr. Robert Lowery. In his hospital room the day before he lost his battle with cancer, but won his victory in Christ, I was reminding him of who all was with him. I mentioned his family and friends that were there just outside the door. And then a broad smile came to his face when I said, "And Emmanuel is here (God is with us)." Then I spoke over him words of hope and help from Romans 8. God is not only with us in his Son. God is in us in his Spirit. This is our assurance (our down payment, our proof) that God is for us. And if God is for us, who or what can be against us? In all things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. And nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Do you know the Who, so you can have the how to live with any what even if you do not know the why?