Peace in the Holy Spirit

We will continue our study of John 14 -16 as we look for how Jesus is speaking peace into the lives of the apostles. Our two theme verses for this series are:

John 14:27 (NIV) — 27Peace 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.

John 16:33 (NIV) — 33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Throughout this talk he has revealed several “things” that will give them peace and throughout this series we have seen Jesus mention the Holy Spirit and I kept saying we will get to that, and here we are!

The Holy Spirit is a recurring theme throughout this talk. In fact, when you study the Holy Spirit John 14-16 is one of the go-to passages – maybe THE go-to passage.

Five times Jesus promises the coming of the Holy Spirit:

John 14:16–17 (NIV) — 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—17 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.

John 14:25–26 (NIV) — 25 All this I have spoken while still with you. 26But the Advocate, 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.

John 15:26–27 (NIV) — 26 When the Advocate 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. 27 And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.

John 16:7–11 (NIV) — 7 But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 about sin, because people do not believe in me; 10about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11 and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

John 16:12–15 (NIV) — 12 I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the 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. 14He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”

The Holy Spirit will only come after Jesus leaves and that’s why Jesus says it is good for him to go. This must be hard to believe at the time but we see a remarkable transformation in these apostles after the resurrection and especially after the day of Pentecost recorded in Acts 2. There is no doubt these men and other followers of Jesus are bolder, more confidant, more committed, more united, more effective than they ever were while Jesus was with them. It is a remarkable transformation - that is what the Holy Spirit does. The Holy Spirit does that for us as well today. He transforms us as Paul reminds us:

2 Corinthians 3:18 (NIV) — 18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

This should give us peace knowing that we are not the people we would be without the Spirit and we have potential to be even more effective as the Spirit continues to transform us. There was no way this group of men could have done hat hey did without the Spirit and there’s no way you can do what God wants you to do without the Spirit – but both they and we have the Spirit!

Someone once asked me, “How I can know I have the Spirit?” My best answer is to imagine what my life would be like without him. I am far from being who I should be but without the Spirit I would be an absolute failure. I know the Spirit is giving me patience, I know he has guided me in decisions, I know he reassures me of my future with God, I know I reflect the image of God better. In no way is this a boast - this is a testimony that the Holy Spirit has transformed me.

Jesus leaves and as we see things play out it really is good because the Spirit takes them to places they never thought they could go.

What specifically does Jesus say the Holy Spirit will do?

Throughout this going away speech reminds them that as they carry on his work they will not be abandoned – they will not be alone – they will not be left unprepared.

Two things in my life can rob me of my peace – being alone and being unprepared.

Have you ever been in a situation where you are standing up for someone and no one else agrees with you? That’s stressful.

Have you ever shown up at a meeting and when you arrive you’re the only one there? That’s stressful.

Have you ever been hiking and see no signs and can’t read the trail map? Panic sets in.

That’s how it’s going to feel for the apostles – they will think they are all alone

John 15:18–19 (NIV) — 18 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.

John 16:2 (NIV) — 2 They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God.

Do you ever feel like you are the only one standing up for what the Bible teaches? People at work, people at school, maybe your own family think you are crazy for believing what you do. That can be stressful, but Jesus says we are not alone.

He uses an interesting word in reference to the Holy Spirit in this section of Scripture – Advocate. The Greek word is parakletos, some even use a form of that word, paraclete, when they speak of the Holy Spirit. It’s a word that means called alongside. It’s a reminder that you are not alone when you call sins, sin. You are not alone when you talk to others about your belief in God.

Especially notice what Jesus says in

John 16:7–11 (NIV) — 7 But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 about sin, because people do not believe in me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11 and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

The advocate is right there with you condemning sin in the world. He is right there with you, agreeing with you, giving you an amen when you stand up for what the Bible says is right and what the Bible says is wrong.

The world wants you to believe that you are the only one who believes what you believe. The world wants us to believe that we, the church, are the only ones who agree with what the Bible teaches. We are not alone. You are not alone at work, at school, in your neighborhood, in your family. When everyone else seems to disagree with you, you have the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, right there with you applauding you and agreeing with you.

John 14:16–17 (NIV) — 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—17 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.

That should give you some peace – you are not alone.

Another situation that can rob us of peace is feeling unprepared. Maybe you’ve felt that in a new job. My first real job was teaching – I felt unprepared. The apostles are going to feel unprepared – especially when Jesus leaves.

Another title given to the Holy Spirit is Spirit of Truth.

John 16:12–15 (NIV) — 12 I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the 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. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”

John 14:25–26 (NIV) — 25 All this I have spoken while still with you. 26But the Advocate, 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.

The Spirit of Truth prepared the apostles by reminding them and teaching them the truths Jesus communicate. John recorded two examples:

John 2:18–22 (NIV) — 18 The Jews then responded to him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” 20 They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” 21 But the temple he had spoken of was his body. 22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.

John 12:14–16 (NIV) — 14Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written: 15 “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.” 16 At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.

It is universally accepted that this applied to the apostles. Does this apply to us?

Two thoughts:

What was taught by Jesus the Holy Spirit inspired believers to record in the Bible, so we have the truth in Scripture. As we study the Bible we have the revelation of God through the Holy Spirit. That is why it is so important to study the word of God – we have the confirmed truth right there. The Spirit reminds us through the reading and study of the Word. We are prepared. We have the truth.

Is it possible that the Spirit can remind us of things as he did the apostles? I tend to think so but let that never discourage us from studying the word. We can’t be reminded of things we have never read. But haven’t you had an experience where something from Scripture came to your mind at just the right time? Could that be the Spirit of Truth working in you? I also would believe that the Holy Spirit is guiding us in practical and timely applications of the truths of Scripture. I can rely on the Spirit it help me know how to handle a situation. We can trust the Holy Spirit. Never will the Holy Spirit contradict Scripture or lead us to do anything that does not glorify God, but I believe the Spirit of Truth dwells within us to help us make right decisions.

Let’s just review. We can have peace in knowing that God is present with us in the person of the Holy Spirit. As Advocate, we know we are not alone in believing and trusting in what the Bible teaches and as Spirit of Truth we can be confident that through Scripture and through his indwelling we are prepared to do the job God has called us to do.

You are never alone and you are not unprepared.