We Have a Helper

John 14:12-31

Whoever believes in me will do the works that I do

If you love me, you will keep my commands

V. 12

V. 15

V. 21

V. 23

Obedience is not the ground of love

Love is the ground of the obedience

(v. 24) Whoever does not love me does not keep my commands

Why is this so?

Without faith it is impossible to please God

Genuine faith loves Christ Himself, not just the gifts that he gives

Love is the fulfillment of the law

Matthew 22:34-40- But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Jesus sets the example

He obeyed because He loves the Father (v. 31)

He never asks us to do something that He was not willing to perfectly

Greater works than these you will do

This is amazing!

Jesus has been doing countless miraculous signs

He has been teaching the truth with authority

He has been walking in perfect God-glorifying obedience

And yet He says that His disciples will do greater works than these

How is this possible?

He is about to go to the cross, and on the other side the message will become clear

In His earthly ministry, there was no full picture to the work of God in Christ

After His death and resurrectiion, the truth of the Gospel is fully clarified and Christ crucified for the sins of His people is proclaimed

But how will His disciples do these greater works if Jesus is leaving them?

I will not leave you as Orphans

Orphans are made two ways: the parents of a child die or the parents abandon the child

He isn’t going to leave them abandoned

He isn’t going to die and leave them without care

He will not lead them for 3 years, ask them to leave everything to follow Him, and then leave them by themselves

God will never abandon any of His people

No matter how bleak it may seem

No matter how distant He may feel

He will never leave you

Deuteronomy 31:6- Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”

Matthew 28:19-20- Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

This is good news in light of what He has just said about love and obedience

It is impossible for natural man, still in sin and unbelief, to live this way

Romans 3:9-18- Bible

I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper

The Spirit of Truth

This is not a force

This is not some mystical being

He is the eternally existent third member of the Trinity

Perhaps the most misunderstood member of the Godhead

He dwells in you

He isn’t ONLY always with His people

He graciously takes up residence in the hearts of His people

Unlike OT days, the Spirit does not leave believers

He dwells them forever and ever

1 Corinthians 3:16- Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?

The world cannot receive Him

The only people who are Spirit-indwelt those who have been redeemed by the grace of God through faith in Christ

This does not mean that He does not work in the lives of unbelievers

But it does mean that He does not dwell in them or work for their sanctification

Romans 8:9- 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.

The help that the Helper gives

He gives spiritual life

1 John 4:13- By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.

John 3:3-6- Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again[b] he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Seals you for salvation

Ephesians 1:13-14- In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee[a] of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

Gives you peace

Galatians 5:22- But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

Guides you

Romans 8:14- For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

Teaches Truth to you

John 16:13- When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.

Brings to memory the Word of God

Mark 13:11- And when they bring you to trial and deliver you over, do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.

Empowers you to obey

Acts 1:8- But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Romans 8:13- For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.