The Promise of the Holy Spirit part 2

Go ahead and take your Bible and turn with me to John chapter 14. John chapter 14, this morning we'll be covering verses 18 through 26. Now most of you should remember that we're in a part two this morning. Last week we looked at the promise of the Holy Spirit. John chapter 14 verses 18 through 26. Now with the verses that we're looking at this morning, you should know the background and the foreground of what's going on. The confusion of the disciples, their perplexity and all that's been going on is really looming in the background. That just is there every week it seems.

But in contrast, Jesus in his work is at the forefront of all that is going on here in these verses. Jesus meets his disciples right where they are in that confusion. He is patiently and faithfully providing them all that they need for their circumstances that are before them. He is, I've used this language so many times, persevering in them in their perplexity and in their confusion. Now last week I started the verses. We looked at verses 15, 16 and 17 and I've shared that we are summing up all of these verses in one word and that word is provision.

If you could, I would like you to write that word down in your notes, provision, because that really describes the theme of these verses, verses 15 through 26. If we could look at these verses and see this word provision, we'll see that this provision centers around Jesus and the Father giving the Holy Spirit to his disciples. I love the heart of Jesus in these verses and the heart of Jesus is found all in these verses. I want to ask you to skip ahead and look at the beginning of verse 18. The beginning of verse 18. Jesus says, "I will not leave you as orphans." What do we see in that verse?

Jesus is not leaving them alone as he is going to the cross and he will depart from them very soon. That is the heart of Jesus with his disciples. Now last week we examined in verses 15 through 17 two major truths. I call them the prerequisite to the Holy Spirit and the provision of the Holy Spirit and we need to see that understanding these verses are vitally important because this morning's message builds on what we looked at Sunday morning. First we looked at the prerequisite to the Holy Spirit. Now this enables us to see true Bible Christianity in comparison to cultural Christianity. That was really out of one verse. That was verse 15.

Now I don't know if you realize it but cultural Christianity is the scourge of our community. It is the scourge of South Mississippi. This morning Christ will add to what we looked at in verse 15. And then second last week we looked at the provision of the Holy Spirit. These verses enabled us to see who the Holy Spirit is. Yes he is our counselor. Yes he is our helper. Yes he is our encourager. But he is more than that. He is our advocate. He is our legal helper, our legal counselor, our legal encourager. And this morning Christ will add to this teaching as well.

This morning we will continue in these verses on the provision of the Holy Spirit. And I would like us to read these verses together. We're going to go back and start with verse 15. And we'll go all the way down to verse 26. "If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father and He will give you another helper that He may be with you forever. That is the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it does not behold Him or know Him. But you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you." Now verse 18 is where we'll start this morning. "I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you.

I will come to you. After a little while, the world will behold me no more. But you will behold me because I live. You shall live also. In that day, you shall know that I am in the Father and you in me and I in you. He who has my commandments and keeps them, He it is who loves me. He who loves me shall be loved by my Father and I will love Him and will disclose myself to Him." Verse 22, "Judas, this is not Judas Iscariot, said to Him, 'Lord, what then has happened that You are going to disclose Yourself to us and not to the world?' And Jesus answered and said to Him, 'If anyone loves me, he will keep my word and my Father will love Him.

And we will come to Him and make our abode with Him. He who does not love me does not keep my words and the word which You hear is not mine, but the Father's who sent me. These things I have spoken to You while abiding with You. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach You all things and bring to Your remembrance all that I said to You." Now that leads us to the title of the message. It's fairly simple. Like I said earlier, this is a part two. The promise of the Holy Spirit, part two. The promise of the Holy Spirit. You see how we'll divide these verses?

The presence of the Son, verses 18 through 20. The presence of the Father, verses 21 through 24. And the provision of the Teacher, verse 25 through 26. Should be very simple for you. I encourage you to write these truths down. We want you to develop the discipline and the habit of taking notes. And if we can assist you in any way, we'll be glad to. We want to study and learn and retain all that the Lord wants to give us. So let's look at our first major truth, and that is, truth number one. The presence of the Son. The presence of the Son. Let's go back to verse 18. And I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you after a little while.

The world will behold me no more, but you will behold me, because I live. You shall live also. In that day, you shall know that I am in the Father, and you in me, and I in you. Now here we see that Jesus is alluding to his death and his eventual departure. He had spoken of his death to disciples quite a few times. If we backtrack back to chapter 14, verse 2, Jesus speaks of his death and departure. Then if we go a little further back in chapter 13, he did this in verse 33 and in verse 36. Now we know the disciples would not have understood much, if anything, that Jesus was saying.

But Jesus was preparing them for all that they would experience. He is preparing them for their loss. He knew the gaping hole that would be in their lives when he was taken from them, when he is crucified and he is in the grave. Of course, we know that he was not taken, but he willingly gave his life for them. Now this is still part of that provision. I want to make two observations here out of these verses. First I want us to see Jesus will not orphan them. Jesus will not orphan them. Isn't that what we see in verse 18? I will not leave you as orphans. Now here we need to understand this word orphan.

Now the King James uses the word "comfortless" and I do not think that that captures the meaning of what Jesus is saying here. This word literally in the original means "desolate." But this word goes back to what Jesus had taught previously in chapter 13 verse 33, where Jesus had spoken to them and said, "Little children, in their day to be an orphan meant destitution, it meant poverty, and it meant loneliness. In their day there were no social provisions for orphans as we have today in our culture." Here Jesus is saying that although he is leaving them, he will not orphan them or leave them desolate.

Now we see that he will come to them in two ways, and that's what he says here in verse 18. He says, "I will come to you. I will not leave you desolate." Now there are two ways he'll come to them. First, he will come to them at the resurrection. We know that after he goes to the cross, after he dies, after he is in the grave for three days, we know that he is resurrected. And the Scriptures teach that he appeared to many and he appeared to the disciples for some 40 days. So after the resurrection, he comes to them. But then second, he will come to them in the power and the person of the Holy Spirit.

If we continue along after the Gospels in Acts chapter 2, Jesus comes in the person of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit falls on the disciples there at the Day of Pentecost, and they are filled and anointed with the Holy Spirit. So Jesus will not leave them desolate. He will not leave them as orphans. He says, "My little children, I will come to you." So first, Jesus will not orphan them. Second, we see the disciples and their future certainty. Look back at verse 19. After a little while, the world will behold me no more, but you will behold me because I live. And you shall live also.

And in that day you shall know that I am in the Father and you in me and I am in you. Now with this little phrase, "After a little while," Jesus speaks to how soon He will face the cross. Now we know the timeline. This is the night before the cross, the night of His arrest. After the cross, the world will not see Him again, but He will appear to them at the resurrection. Jesus states this in the second portion of verse 19. But notice how Jesus speaks to the coming confidence of the disciples. He says in verse 20, "In that day you shall know." There's confidence. There is certainty. Now notice what they are certain about. They are certain.

They are confident in Christ's unity with the Father and their unity with Him. Now what comfort and certainty they will experience. All along they've been confused, they've been perplexed, and now they will have great confidence. This is completely different from the condition that they've been in and they are in even now. So we see the disciples and their future confidence, their future certainty. So out of these verses, what do we see here? Jesus will not leave them desolate. Jesus will not leave them alone as an orphan.

He will reveal Himself to them at the resurrection and after, and He will reveal Himself to them through the giving of the Holy Spirit. But then He declares they will come to a place of confidence and certainty finally. Finally, because they've been living in confusion for so long. Now just out of these verses, what can we learn? What can we apply to our own lives? We are not like the disciples. We are not part of that chosen band. We are New Testament Christians, yes. But what can we learn? How can we relate to this? We must see that just as Jesus would not leave them as orphans, He will not leave us as orphans.

He will not leave us in desolation. And we need to see that we can be in a place of confusion in certain circumstances in our life. Trials come, difficulties come, great tragedy comes in our lives, and it can create confusion and it can create uncertainty, and we might not understand what Christ is doing in our life, but take great confidence that He will not leave us desolate. He will not leave us as orphans. And the day will come when that same certainty, that same confidence will come. It will come because of a work that God does in you. Now remember, verses 19 and 20, Jesus is speaking of the future. That certainty will come.

At this time, they're still in confusion. Some of you are in confusion right now. Some of you, you're facing uncertainty now. And you just feel like, you just feel like the Lord is a million miles away. You just want Christ to come and give you confidence and certainty and undergird you. Listen, take heart. He will not leave you as an orphan. He will not leave you in desolation. In His time, He will work in you and He will give you the confidence and the certainty that you need. But that does not mean that He will take your circumstances away. Your difficulty might not leave you. Your trial might not go away.

Be careful because you might think that the confidence and the certainty you need, the confidence and the certainty that you want can only come when the difficulty is gone. That might not ever happen. Your trial might be with you the rest of your life. Your difficulty might be with you all of your days. But in the midst of that, Christ can come and He can give you a confidence and a certainty that can only come by a work in you. He will not leave you desolate as an orphan. Let's continue on. Let's notice our second main truth I want us to see. Our presence, the presence of the Father. The presence of the Father.

Starting in verse 21, "He who has My commandments and keeps them, he is who loves Me, and he who loves Me shall be loved by My Father, and I love Him, and will disclose Myself to Him." Then we have this question from Judas. This is not Judas Iscariot. He says, "Lord, what then has happened that You are going to disclose Yourself to us and not to the world?" Jesus said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love Him, and we will come to Him and make our abode with Him." Verse 24, "He who does not love Me does not keep My words, and the word which You hear is not Mine, but the Father's who sent Me." Now, here in these four verses, Jesus goes back to the same teaching out of verse 15.

In verse 21, 23, and 24, Jesus again speaks of keeping His commandments in connection with a true love for Him. Now, this is very important. Some make an error here and think that Jesus is speaking of work salvation. That is not the case. This obedience is an inevitable result of true biblical salvation. And here in these verses, Jesus adds to that teaching out of verse 15. Again, this is still part of that provision for observations that I want to make here. First we see the acceptance of the Father. The acceptance of the Father out of verse 21.

"He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me, and he who loves Me shall be loved by My Father." Here Jesus states that the one who keeps His commandments truly loves Him. Now, this phrase, "He who has" needs to be seen. The language seems to say that the commandments become their own. The commandments, they take possession of them in their life. One commentator that I read says that they take them into one's inner being. Now notice what happens here. This one who truly loves Christ obeys His commandments, and the commandments are in them, and then they are loved by the Father.

Again, this is not work salvation, but a result of true salvation. They are also loved by the Son, and the Son will reveal Himself to them. Simply, Jesus will be a part of their life. So there is an acceptance by the Father through obedience because of a true love for Jesus. And then second, notice the question from Judas. This questioning from Judas. Now John, in his writing, purposefully says that this is not the traitor Judas. Now this Judas is one of the twelve, and he is mentioned in Luke chapter 6 verse 16. He is mentioned as the son of James there. And then he is called Thaddeus in Matthew chapter 10 verse 3.

And here Judas is revealing his confusion in these matters. Isn't it amazing that every time one of the disciples speaks up, they mention their confusion. Judas was assuming that Jesus was speaking of His returning to establish His earthly kingdom. He just could not understand all that Jesus was teaching. So the questioning from Judas. And then third, notice the abiding of the Father and the Son. The abiding of the Father and the Son. Go back to verse 23. If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our abode with him.

Here Jesus repeats this same teaching from verse 15 and from verse 21. If anyone loves him, he will keep his commandments, and the Father will love him. Now that is the answer that Jesus gives Judas and his question. Notice he doesn't specifically address Judas' confusion. He just continues with his teaching. But notice that Jesus adds something here. He says, "We will come and abide with the One who truly loves Me." He says, "We will come and make our dwelling with the One who has this true love." This is a permanent end-dwelling of the Holy Spirit, deity in them.

Simply Jesus is saying, "My Father and I are coming to dwell in you in all who truly love Me." So we see the abiding of the Father and the Son. And then fourth, notice the revelation of the disobedient. The revelation of the disobedient. Look at verse 24. "He who does not love Me does not keep My words, and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me." This is the negative response to what's being taught. Here Jesus gives the other side of this love and obedience. Here He states that those who do not obey His command do not love Him. Simple and plain is this. These are not Jesus' words. This is not Jesus' teaching.

This comes from the Father. So what do we see here in summary? Jesus takes the teaching out of verse 15 and He adds to it. When one truly loves Him and the one that truly loves Him keeps His commandments, then the Father will love Him as well and the Son Jesus as well. And they will come to make their abode in them. Simply Jesus is saying, "My Father and I are coming to dwell in you in all who truly love Me." So you see that Jesus is adding to the teaching from verse 15. Now how might we learn from this teaching? There's a lot of repeat from verse 15, but yet there is some additional teaching. There are some additional layers.

What might we learn? This teaching right here refutes two false forms of Christianity that we see today. And these are more prevalent than you know. There are those who have what I would call an abstract emotional love for Christ. They do not have a tangible love for Christ. Oh, they might use the right words. They express emotion. They declare they love the Lord Jesus, but it is abstract. It is emotional. It is out there. And it is not tied to the teachings of the Word of God. What does Jesus say? If you have a love for Me that is true, it's tangible. It's bound up in the teachings of the Word of God. Let me explain this a little further.

There are a lot of people that will say they love God, but they don't love the church. There are a lot of people that say, "Oh, they love God and they serve God, and they just have church on their own." Well, that is completely foreign to what's taught in the Scriptures. If you love God, and if you love His commandments, and you obey His commandments, you will be faithful to the church. You will pour your life into the church. You will faithfully attend the church. You will love the brothers and love the sisters, and you will love the work of the church. You will love the lost, and you will desire to pour your life into the church.

So when someone says that they love God, and they don't love the church, that is an abstract emotional love. When someone says that they love God, and their life doesn't resemble the teachings of the Word of God, that is an abstract emotional love. It's just out there. Well, this teaching refutes that. It refutes it. It contradicts it. Because Jesus says right here, "He who does not love me does not keep my words." Also this teaching refutes this abstract emotional love, non-tangible love for Christ. I'll give you another one that it refutes.

It refutes a profession of a love for Christ without a possession of His words and deity living in them. You might say, "Well, pastor, that's kind of a repeat." No, let me explain what I mean. We live in the day of decisionism. We live in the day of the dreaded profession of faith. Now there have been people who have been converted because they prayed the sinner's prayer, made the profession of faith by walking down the aisle. But that's been overly emphasized, and we are drowning in the hour of decision and the profession of faith.

And listen, everybody that you meet on the street corner, everybody that you meet while you're shopping, everybody in your family has made a profession of faith and made a decision, but they don't walk in the ways of God. They don't obey the word of God. They've made the decision. They'll even say, "Yes, I've been saved." But from what? They've not been saved from sin. They've not been saved from themselves being the captain of their own lives. They'll argue with you up and down that they've decided to follow Christ. But that is refuted right here in the Scriptures. Now those two are very similar, but I want you to see the difference.

Some have this, "Oh, I love God. Oh, I just love Him, and He's a part of my life." And then some say, "Well, I've made that decision. I've given my life to Christ, but if their lives are not bound up in the teachings of the word of God, if their lives are not bound up in what Christ loves and hating what Christ hates, Jesus says right here, they are not Bible Christians." I was sharing with Brother Keith this morning and this week. There's so much preaching just in verse 15. And then it just gets even more in verse 21 and then in verse 23 and in verse 24, because what is Jesus saying? If you love me, you will keep my commands.

And in verses 21 through 24, "And the Father will love you, and I will love you, and we will come and make our dwelling with you." Let's move on. I want us to see our third major truth, and that is the provision of the teacher. The provision of the teacher, verse 25, "These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you." Here Jesus says, Jesus says what He is about to teach them, what He is teaching them, He is speaking to them while He is with them.

In verse 25, He is saying, "My time is short. The cross is near, and these things that I am teaching you, I am teaching you as I am about to depart." Now again, this is part of that provision. Two observations I want to make here. First, the provision of the Spirit, verse 26. We should know this verse by now, "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you." So, we see this provision of the Spirit. Here in this verse, we have the fullest description of the Holy Spirit found in John's gospel.

Now here, John says that he is the Holy Spirit. John does not speak of His function or His power, but of His holiness. This speaks of the Spirit's character. This speaks of the Spirit's purity. This speaks of the Spirit's deity. But notice all three persons of the Godhead are mentioned here. First, the Father will send. That is God the Father. And then the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit will come. And then the Holy Spirit will come in Jesus' name.

Go back to the verse, "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name." Now this phrase in my name means, "On my behalf." This came in the Father's name or on the Father's behalf. And now the Spirit comes in the name of Jesus and on the Son's behalf. So we have this provision of the Holy Spirit, deity. And then second, notice the provision of the Spirit of truth. He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Pastor John emphasizes the function of the Holy Spirit. He comes as a teacher, being that He is deity, that He is perfectly truthful.

He has the ability to teach perfectly the truths of God. I'll remind you of a verse that we looked at in our two messages before we got into these verses. 1 Corinthians 2.10 reads, "These things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God." So this alludes to the fact that the Spirit is the teacher. Notice the comfort here, that Jesus gives the disciples though at the end of the verse. He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

Jesus tells them that the Holy Spirit will bring back to their memory all that He had taught them for some three years. Right now they lack understanding. Right now they are confused. They are not at that place of certainty. But the Holy Spirit will remind the disciples of the truths Jesus had been teaching them. So what do we see here? We see the most thorough description of the Holy Spirit and the greatest comforts to the disciples, even really to all believers. He is more than a comforter. He is the Holy Spirit. He is the Holy Teacher. The Holy Spirit will remind the disciples of the truths Jesus had taught them.

And you could say that the Holy Spirit will explain the truths of Christ to them. Now for you, for me, in application, what can we learn here? We must see that upon our true salvation that comes from God, you know me by now, I push back from a salvation that you and I can do. Jesus taught us in John chapter 3 that we must be born again, born from above. It is the gift and the work of the Spirit. So when we are born from God, born of the Spirit, and we encounter true salvation, then the Holy Spirit comes to live within us. And when that happens, the Spirit of God begins to do for us what the Spirit of God did for them. Let me explain two ways.

First, the Spirit of God guides us in the holiness, godliness, and purity. The Spirit of God guides us in the holiness, godliness, and purity. If the Spirit of God is God, and He is, and if the Spirit of God is truthful, and He is, and if the Spirit of God is pure, and He is, and He dwells within us, where will He lead us? He will lead us into godliness, He will lead us into purity, and He will lead us into holiness. Our life should be continuously going after holiness and godliness and purity. If I could use this language, the Spirit of God is a rudder that guides us in this direction.

And when we're walking with the Lord, and we're serving God, and we're wanting to be all that God wants us to be, when unholyness, or impurity, or ungodliness comes our way, the Spirit of God will put the brakes on in our life, and will guide us and remind us that no, that is not correct. No that is ungodly. No that is not purity. The Spirit of God did that for them, and the Spirit of God will do that for us. But then second, the Spirit of God teaches. The Spirit of God explains, the Spirit of God illumines the truths of God's Word. That's why it's so important for you to be in the Word of God, to be in the Word of God in your personal life.

Get up a little earlier, stay up a little later, skip your lunch break, but get in the Word of God consistently. That's why it's so important for you to be right here with God's people under God's Word Sunday morning, and Sunday night, and Wednesday evening. Why? Because we're going to put ourselves under the Word of God. But when we put ourselves under the Word of God, notice what the truth of God does. The Spirit of God takes that truth, whether you read it, or whether it's explained, and the Spirit of God takes that truth, and He explains it, He illumines it, and He makes it apply in our life.

For one on one side of the room, it is encouragement, it is comfort, and for the other, on the other side of the room, it is correction and reproof, and that's the work of the Spirit. Prior to conversion, when you sit down and read the Word, it's not illuminated. It doesn't make sense. But yet when you are converted, and the Spirit of God's dwelling within you, the teacher is there, and He explains it and illumines the Word to you as you study it on your own. And the more you grow in Christ, the more you learn, the more He applies, and then you can absorb more and more truth.

Whereas when you're first converted, you might read a small portion, and then years later, you can digest more and more. Why? Because that is the work of the teacher in you. So what are we seeing here? We have a part one and a part two. We have the prerequisite to the Holy Spirit, verse 15. We have the provision of the Holy Spirit, verse 16 and 17. The presence of the Son, verse 18 through 20. The presence of a Father, verse 21 through 24. And then the provision of the teacher, verse 25 through 26. Now in concluding all of this scripture, verse 25 through 26, we need to see one word. I know I've repeated it, but we need to see it.

It's provision. It's provision. It's provision. Jesus is about to leave the disciples. They are in their state of confusion. They don't have the understanding, and He is saying, "I'm providing for you. I'm leaving you, but I love you. You are my children. I will not orphan you. I am providing." And Jesus is encouraging these disciples. He is telling them that He is going away, but He will provide. Now I want to conclude these passages by asking you two questions, directly from the teaching here. Now, with these two questions, there are going to be some other questions. First question.

Do you meet these prerequisites that we see in the scriptures? Do you meet them? Is your love an abstract love, disconnected from the Word of God? Is your love just merely a profession? Is your love just merely a decision? Is your love just merely a membership card in a church somewhere? That's an abstract love floating out there. But Jesus says, true Christianity, a genuine faith, is bound up and connected to His commandments. Do you meet these prerequisites? Do you obey His Word, proving that you have a genuine love? It's not a work salvation. You obey because you love. And is God's Word in you? I mean, we learned another layer.

What is John saying? The commandments of God are ours. They are a part of us. The commandments belong to us because He lives within us. Do you walk in God the Father and God the Son's love because you obey God's Word out of a genuine love? See, when you get the Spirit, you get God the Father and God the Son. And are you doing these things because you are truly born again? Listen, anything else is not Bible Christianity. If your life does not fit in, verse 15, verse 21, verse 23, and verse 24, it is not Bible Christianity. It's cultural Christianity. And listen, if it's not Bible Christianity, it is a lie.

It is a lie straight from the heart of Satan to deceive you into hell. Do you meet these prerequisites? The second question, do you have this wonderful provision of the Holy Spirit? Does the Holy Spirit of God live in you? Did God come to take up residence in you? Listen, when God comes, it is a historical event. That's why I have a hard time understanding that someone could get converted and not know it for years. How could God come to live within you and not know it? Now you might have a hard time articulating it. You might not know the church words. You might not know the theology behind it all.

But as you grow in knowledge and understanding of the Word of God, you'll be able to say, "Yes, that's what happened to me." Does the Spirit of God live in you? Do you have the peace of God because you have that legal counsel before God on your behalf? He is that legal friend, that legal counselor, that legal encouragement, that legal comforter. All those words that we are familiar with, we must understand them in light of the fact that He is our advocate. And do we have that advocate before God? Or are you alienated from Him? Do you have the Spirit of Truth which guides you into God's truth? Do you want the truth of God?

Do you want to hear the Word of God? Do you want the Word of God taught and explained? Do you want the reading of the Word of God? And do you want the illumination of the Word of God and the explaining of the Word of God and the applying of the Word of God in your life? Is that going on in you? That's the wonderful provision. So what do we see in these verses? So much. And I'm afraid the simplistic title really doesn't capture it all. The promise of the Holy Spirit. The promise of the Holy Spirit. So much that we can learn and have learned. And I look forward to how much more He's going to teach us as we continue.

And we'll learn more of how the Spirit works in us. Let's pray.