5-14-23 Sermon - the “Counselor”,,, the “Spirit of Truth”,,, the “Holy Spirit” 13 Minutes

John 14:15-21

This morning I'll be reading John chapter 14 verses 15 through 21. And I'll be reading from the Holman Christian Standard Bible. John 14:15-21 Jesus is speaking to the disciples before He is arrested,,, doing His best to give them instructions and comfort since He knows what is going to happen. John 14:15–21 (HCSB) 15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever. 17 He is the Spirit of truth. The world is unable to receive Him because it doesn’t see Him or know Him. But you do know Him, because He remains with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you. 19 “In a little while the world will see Me no longer, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live too. 20 In that day you will know that I am in My Father, you are in Me, and I am in you. 21 The one who has My commands and keeps them is the one who loves Me. And the one who loves Me will be loved by My Father. I also will love him and will reveal Myself to him.” The word of God for the people of God,,, thanks be to God! God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning. Let us pray: Dear Lord,,, as we begin this morning,,, with everyone here today and all that are listening and watching by video,,, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen. ___________________________________ Last Sunday we looked at 1 Peter 2:2-10 and we learned that Peter explained to the Christians then,,, and us today,,, that we are chosen by God.

Through Jesus Christ,,, a "Living Stone",,, we are chosen.

Our relationship with Him is far more important than our jobs,,, successes,,, wealth,,, or knowledge.

We have been chosen by God as His very own,,, and we have been called to represent Him to others.

Remember that your value comes from being one of God's children,,, not from what you can achieve.

You have worth because of what God does,,, not because of what you do.

So we must remember to live a life that models Jesus’ example since we are the “Living Stones” of the church today!

We are responsible for bringing others to Jesus so that the church will continue to grow until Jesus returns.

And we do that best,,, by truly understanding,,, that we are,,, the “Living Stones”,,, chosen by God,,, to do His will,,, and build up,,, His church!

This morning we will look at these verses in John 14:15-21 and see how they will help us in our walk with God this week.

___________________________________ Verse 15 said: 15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commands.

The last verses,,, actually 15 through 31,,, are about Jesus leaving so the Holy Spirit can come in His place,,, which is what Pentecost Sunday is all about.

The disciples love for Jesus and our own love for Jesus are shown by our obeying His commands.

Jesus has set the pattern of love and obedience and we are expected to follow.

We see how this can easily be carried out by the next verses.

___________________________________ Verses 16-17 said: 16 And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever. 17 He is the Spirit of truth. The world is unable to receive Him because it doesn’t see Him or know Him. But you do know Him, because He remains with you and will be in you.

And it’s through the Holy Spirit that we can obey Jesus’ command to love others as our self!

Up to this point in John’s Gospel,,, there has been little said about the Holy Spirit.

The words to Nicodemus found in John 3:5-8 were private and the verse in John 7:39 pointed ahead to Pentecost.

As we all know,,, Pentecost was the day that the Holy Spirit came to all the disciples and truly gave them everything that they needed to carry out God’s plan which Jesus had explained to them after His resurrection before He ascended back into Heaven.

This is also what gives us the strength and power that we need to do our job here on earth.

Without the Holy Spirits help,,, this would be impossible.

The Holy Spirit is to be the Counselor.

In a sense He has now replaced Jesus’ physical presence; and He mediates God to believers.

The Spirit is in a believer forever (cf. Rom. 8:9).

He is also the Spirit of Truth (lit., “Spirit of the truth”; cf. John 15:26; 16:13) and thus would guide the apostles.

___________________________________ Verses 18-20 said: 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you. 19 “In a little while the world will see Me no longer, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live too. 20 In that day you will know that I am in My Father, you are in Me, and I am in you.

He is invisible (the world cannot accept Him because it neither sees Him nor knows Him), yet He is real and active.

As an example,,, without a radio,,, radio waves go unnoticed.

The Holy Spirit is unnoticed by the unsaved who have no spiritual life.

The disciples had some experience with the Spirit (doubtless in preaching and miracle-working) but now His working would be much more intimate.

Why did Jesus say that the Holy Spirit will be (fut. tense) in them?

Because in Old Testament times the Spirit came on some believers for special enablement,,, but after Pentecost He will be in every believer permanently (Romans 8:9 and 1 Corinthians 12:13).

___________________________________ Verse 21 said: 21 The one who has My commands and keeps them is the one who loves Me. And the one who loves Me will be loved by My Father. I also will love him and will reveal Myself to him.”

The real proof of one’s love to the Lord is obedience to His commandments.

It is useless to talk about loving Him,,, if we do not want to obey Him.

In one sense,,, the Father loves all the world.

But,,, He has a special love,,, for those who love His Son.

Those are also loved by Christ,,, and He makes Himself known to them in a special way.

The more we love the Savior,,, the better we shall know Him.

And the better that we know Him,,, the easier it is to obey Him because we know to listen to the One that guides us,,, the Holy Spirit!

___________________________________ Today as all of you know,,, is “Mother’s Day”,,, a day set aside to honor our mothers.

But it’s also a day to honor all women because women have been given the gift of love from God to share with others,,, even those that aren’t their biological children!

So many times women are the ones holding the church together,,, they are the strong ones and never get the true thanks that they deserve!

Thank you for mothering us.

Being a woman,,, made in the image of God,,, is a gift.

I thank God for each one of you.

___________________________________ To go along with that,,, I did google some things that are special in relation to “Mother’s Day”!

How is a mother's love like that of God?

They love us in spite of what we are because they don't look only at our actions, they look upon our hearts.

That is why a mother's love is the closest thing to God's love we can imagine.

God loves us with an unmerited love called grace and He has given that same capacity to a mother's heart.

A mother is Christ-like and a mother would lay down her life for her children.

A mother spends hours on her knees praying for her children.

She is ready to make sacrifices for them; her precious love demonstrates the love Jesus Christ has for mankind.

How does God describe mothers in the Bible?

Motherhood is sanctifying, but it is also sweet.

Scripture teaches mothers to point children toward Christ by praying for them, modeling faith and character, and training them in wisdom (Prov 1:8, 29:15).

What does a mother's love is a reflection of God's love mean?

A mother's love for her children is like the love of God.

It's an unconditional love that will never end for her children as God's love will never end for us,,, as we see in Lamentations 3:22 “The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease.” ( Lamentations 3:22) NLT.

___________________________________ Which brings us back to the scripture from today!

Because of God’s love for us,,, especially since we don’t deserve His love,,, we should be able to follow His commands each and every day!

But God knew that we would need help,,, that’s why He sent the “Counselor”,,, the “Spirit of Truth”,,, the “Holy Spirit” to help us and guide us in the way that we should go!

Going forward this week,,, we should remember that we show God’s love to all,,, and by doing so,,, we show God,,, that we love Him,,, by obeying His commandments!

___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ Hymn: 337 - Oakdale Hymn: 337 - Seminary Benediction -----------------------------------------------------------