BACKGROUND:Jesus had said that the Father would send the Counselor, the Spirit of truth. The word Counselor conveys the helping, encouraging, and strengthening work of the Spirit as he represents Christ. The Spirit of truth points to the teaching, illuminating, and reminding work of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit ministers to both the head and the heart, and both dimensions are important.
The Spirit would come to the disciples and tell them all about Him. These disciples were the vital link between Jesus Christ and all subsequent believers. They would need the Holy Spirit to remind them so that as they preached, taught, and wrote, they would spread the truth of the gospel. The Holy Spirit would see to it that their witness would not be impaired by persecution. Jesus has already forewarned these men about the persecution to come so that they would not be surprised.
The disciples would tell others that Jesus is the Messiah. The Holy Spirit would testify by preparing people’s hearts and minds, persuading them of the truth of the gospel, and enabling them to receive the message. By application, this verse extends to all Christians. All Christians are called to testify of Jesus, allowing the Holy Spirit to help them through times of persecution and to remind them of the truth of God’s word and work in the hearts and minds of their listeners.
Jesus warned and safeguarded the disciples against the trials that awaited them. He did not want them to be caught off guard, to stumble, or to fall when trials came. Jesus wanted them to remember that he had predicted his own persecution and theirs in order to fortify them for the difficult times to come. He also wanted them to remember the rest of his teaching (these things). His accurate predictions would increase their trust in his instructions.
SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)
Jesus said, Disciples, if you’re going to live the Christian life successfully remember this
He, the Holy Spirit, will be in you.
I just want to look at what Jesus said about the Holy Spirit and trust the Holy Spirit to talk to us about what He can do in our lives. Jesus said He’ll be in you. This was radical. When Jesus said this in John 14 & 15 it was absolutely radical. Up until that time in Old Testament times the Holy Spirit would come upon a person. But He wasn’t said to be in a person in this kind of way. In the Old Testament the presence of God dwelled in the tabernacle, in the temple. That’s where the Holy Spirit lived. But in New Testament times Jesus says the Holy Spirit is going to live not in a tabernacle any more, not in a temple any more but in you.
The sign of that was when Jesus died. What happened? The curtain in the holy of holies in the temple, where the Spirit of God dwelled was ripped in two from top to bottom. God was saying, I’m out of the temple and I’m coming into your lives. On the day of Pentecost He made that incredibly clear. He’ll be in you. That’s part of the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
The Bible’s teaching us that it’s what’s inside that counts. For you and I as believers one of the pictures that God gives about your lives is that we are containers. The great thing about that picture is the most important thing about a container is not what the container looks like. It’s what’s inside the container that counts. And what’s inside a container makes an incredible difference. If I have a glass of clear liquid of here and say, Why don’t you drink this? You don’t know if it’s water or lighter fluid or vodka. What is it? Knowing what’s inside makes a huge difference.
You might drive a beautiful new BMW. But if someone goes out there and pours salt in your gas tank what’s inside will count will count no matter how nice it looks on the outside. That’s true of us, God says. He wants to take care of the inside of our lives, not just the outside, by sending His Holy Spirit to live in us.
Look at what Jesus has to say about the Holy Spirit when He promises the Holy Spirit in John 14:16 “I will ask the Father and He’ll give you another counselor to be with you forever, the Spirit of truth. The world can’t accept Him because it neither sees Him or knows Him. But you know Him for He lives with you and He will be in you.” Jesus was saying right now, disciples, He lives with you but when the Day of Pentecost comes He’s going to come to indwell your lives. He’s going to live in you.
The Holy Spirit comes into my life and your life the moment that we say to Jesus Christ, I want You as my Savior. He comes to live in us.
Jesus says something very interesting that we often skip over. He will be in you. “I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you.” The reason that the Holy Spirit came and the power of the Holy Spirit’s coming are here in the words of Jesus. How long will the Holy Spirit be with us? Jesus said, I want the Holy Spirit to come so that I can be with you forever. It’s a forever kind of relationship. Forever.
Jesus goes on to say - “I will give you another counselor to be with you… […through the problems of life? Until you die?] forever!” So the relationship that you and I have with the Holy Spirit that begins at the moment of salvation is an eternal relationship. We better get to know Him pretty well. I’ve got to live with Him forever. I’d better give Him as much of my life as I can. He’s a part of my life for eternity.
This is the most important relationship of our lives. It’s an eternal relationship. How does He come into your lives? Jesus said He won’t just be with you. He’ll be in you.
What’s the result? I am not alone. Jesus says there’s very relational result of the Holy Spirit being in my life and your life. It’s not just power although He does give us power. It’s not just information and guidance although He does give us that. The Holy Spirit is a person. So when He comes into our lives, we’re never alone again.
We all need human companionship. I’m not discounting that. But also don’t discount the companionship of the Holy Spirit. During the most lonely moments of your life you’re going to find Him to be your closest friend. You’re going to find a relationship with Him you’ve never dreamed possible. You won’t be alone. That’s what the Holy Spirit does in your lives.
How are you going to depend on the fact that He’s in your life? Spiritual breathing. Every time I talk about the Holy Spirit I have to suggest that we do this. It was one of the first things I was taught about the Holy Spirit. It is the simplicity of recognizing that He’s present in my life. That He’s filling my life and controlling my life. Spiritual breathing is simply this: you can breathe out, recognizing I’m forgiven of my sins. I recognize Christ died on the cross for me. I’m cleansed. Then I breathe in, not to breathe in the Holy Spirit because He’s already in my life, but I breathe in a recognition of His presence and His control. You breathe out and you breathe in.
The reason I like that is because it’s as natural as breathing, of which we do a lot everyday. I’ve found in my life there’s a lot of times everyday when I have to breathe out and breathe in spiritually. When I blow it it’s: Out – Lord, thank You that I’m forgiven of my sins. In – Lord, Will You fill me and control me with Your presence? I’ve got to breathe in and out a lot during the day. Breathe out and recognize His forgiveness. As you’re doing that realize that Jesus Christ died for every sin you committed today. Some of you are feeling really embarrassed and humiliated at things you did today. Breathe out – He forgave. I don’t deserve it but He forgave. Then breathe in – I’m filled with the Holy Spirit because of the promise of God.
How do I know that I’m filled? The promise of God. God’s promise that if we’d trust Him, ask Christ to come into our lives, He’d come into our lives. That’s called the baptism of the Holy Spirit. He’d baptize our lives with the Holy Spirit. He promised that day by day as we trusted Him to control our lives, He’d fill us with His Spirit, fill our actions, fill our attitudes with His spirit. That’s called the filling of the Spirit. Spiritual breathing. That’s something you can do today, all next week about recognizing the Spirit’s control in your life.
I love you guys. Stay faithful. Stay the course.
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