Sermon Tone Analysis

The Holy Spirit

INTRO: Maybe mistaken identity (maybe bathroom story)

Transition:

Context:

ending on persecution:

The context is that of believers being sent out on mission… to tell the world

It is the mission of both the Holy Spirit and believers to bear witness to Jesus (cf.

15:26–27).

A brief survey of ancient Christian tradition reveals that Peter, Andrew, and James the son of Alphaeus were all crucified; Bartholomew was whipped to death and then crucified; James the son of Zebedee was beheaded, as was Paul; Thomas was stabbed with spears; Mark was dragged to death through the streets of Alexandria; and James the half brother of Jesus was stoned by order of the Sanhedrin.

Philip was also stoned to death.

Others, including Matthew, Simon the Zealot, Thaddeus, Timothy, and Stephen, were also killed for their unwavering commitment to the Lord.

As Clement of Rome, a contemporary of the apostles who died around A.D. 100, observed, “Through envy and jealousy, the greatest and most righteous pillars [of the church] have been persecuted and put to death” (First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians, 5).

Godly leaders like John Huss (c.

1369–1415), Hugh Latimer (c.

1485–1555), William Tyndale (1495–1536), Patrick Hamilton (1504–1528), and George Wishart (1513–1546) were among those martyred for the faith.

When the chain was put around John Huss, securing him to the stake where he would be burned, he said with a smile, “My Lord Jesus Christ was bound with a harder chain than this for my sake, and why then should I be ashamed of this rusty one?”

When asked to recant, Huss declined, saying, “What I taught with my lips I now seal with my blood” (John Fox, Fox’s Book of Martyrs [Philadelphia: J. J. Woodward, 1830], 634).

He died singing a hymn as the flames engulfed his body.

Although the content of this section is similar to that of chapter 15, there is a subtle difference in emphasis.

In chapter 15, Jesus instructed the disciples as to what they were to do (e.g., vv. 4, 9, 10, 12, 14, 17–20).

But in chapter 16 He focused on what God would do for them through the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit (e.g., vv.

1–4, 7, 13–15).

Why does the gospel of grace elicit such violent opposition from both religious and non-religious segments of society?

Grace is disruptive before it is redemptive.

The gospel sabotages all forms of self-salvation.

Our need is so great that it took the death of the Son of God to save people like us.

The good news is that Jesus went willingly and gladly to the cross for us.

The earliest Christians were Jews (Acts 2:11, 14, 22), but quite soon after the church began to grow and spread, it was quickly thrust outside the synagogue (ca.

A.D. 90).

Persecution unto death occurred in the case of Stephen (Acts 7:59), James (Acts 12:2), and others (Acts 9:1–4).

Some people throughout church history have been motivated to persecute believers because of a misguided zeal for God.

They think they are offering a service to God (cf.

Rom.

10:2).

The teaching of the Spirit through the Apostles was not different from the teaching of the Spirit through Jesus Christ.

Some theologians like to contrast the “Christianity of Christ” with the “Christianity of Paul.”

They claim that Paul “ruined” Christianity by making it so theological and complicating the “simple message” of Jesus Christ.

What a sad interpretation this is.

What Jesus said in John 14:26 and 16:13 completely refutes this false teaching.

The same Holy Spirit communicated the truths found in the four Gospels, the epistles, and the Book of Revelation; and He also wrote the history and doctrine found in Acts.

To be made outcasts from the synagogue meant far more than merely being forbidden to attend religious services.

Those who were excommunicated from the synagogue were cut off from all religious, social, and economic aspects of Jewish society.

They were branded as traitors to their people and their God, and faced the likely consequence of losing both their families and their jobs.

Not surprisingly, being unsynagogued was greatly feared (cf.

9:22; 12:42).

Persecution would surely come, since “all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim.

3:12; cf.

Acts 14:22).

Because Jesus had said these things (about the coming persecution) to them, sorrow had filled the disciples’ hearts.

Their thoughts were not centered on what this moment meant for Jesus, but only on what it meant for them.

But instead of being consumed with anxiety, they should have been filled with joy to know that Jesus’ earthly mission was almost over and His return to heavenly glory near.

As He had earlier chided them, “If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced because I go to the Father” (14:28).

See below for explaining why it says no one is asking when he has been asked...

Note that in 16:5 Jesus speaks in the present tense: “No one is asking.…”

His interest here is that in light of his disclosures about persecution, no one is pressing him about his departure.

This question thus must be linked to 16:6.

Sorrow has so swamped the disciples’ lives that they have forgotten that Jesus’ death is not the end of everything, it is the beginning.

They are concentrating on the wrong subject.

“No one is asking me, ‘Where are you going?’ ” Peter’s earlier question was about the reasonableness of the cross.

Thomas was asking about the way of Jesus’ departure.

But now, Jesus says, these are secondary.

The point is the goal of his glorification, namely, the Father’s presence.

Jorge Rodriguez was a Mexican bank robber who operated along the Texas border around the turn of the century.

He was so successful in his forays that the Texas Rangers assigned an extra posse to the Rio Grande to stop him.

Late one afternoon one of the special Rangers saw Jorge slipping stealthily across the river, and he trailed him at a discreet distance as he returned to his home village.

He watched as Jorge first mingled with the people in the square around the town well, then went into his favorite cantina to relax.

The Ranger slipped into the cantina as well and managed to get the drop on Jorge.

With a pistol at Jorge’s head, he said, “I know who you are, Jorge Rodriguez, and I have come to get back all the money you have stolen from the banks of Texas.

Unless you give it to me, I am going to pull the trigger.”

But there was a problem—Jorge did not speak English, and the Texas Ranger did not know Spanish.

The two adults were at a verbal impasse.

About that time an enterprising villager said, “I am bilingual.

Do you want me to act as a translator?”

The Ranger nodded, and the villager proceeded to put the words of the Ranger into terms Jorge could understand.

Nervously, Jorge answered, “Tell the big Texas Ranger that I have not spent a cent of the money.

If he will go to the town well, face north, and count down five stones, he will find a loose one there.

Pull it out, and all the money is behind it.

Please tell him quickly.”

The little translator assumed a solemn look and said to the Ranger in perfect English, “Jorge Rodriguez is a brave man.

He says he is ready to die.”

What we do not know most assuredly does hurt us!

This long section—John 15:18–16:16—is tied together by two important themes: the opposition of the world against the church, and the ministry of the Spirit to and through the church.

Here we see the ministry of the Spirit to and through the Church Weirsbe

Below is good stuff to remind of before getting into the message:

ESPECIALLY THE LAST PART OF HOW EVERYTHING WE DO IS BY THE SPIRIT:

Before we study this passage and see the threefold ministry of the Spirit to the church in the world, we must pause to remind ourselves just who the Holy Spirit is.

The Holy Spirit of God is a Person; Jesus referred to the Spirit as “He” and not “it.”

The Holy Spirit has a mind (Rom.

8:27), a will (1 Cor.

12:11), and emotional feelings (Gal.

5:22–23).

In John 15:26 all three Persons of the Godhead are mentioned: Jesus the Son will send the Spirit from the Father.

Because the Holy Spirit is a Person, and is God, it means that the Christian has God indwelling his body!

If we did not have the Holy Spirit within, we would not be able to serve the Lord in this present evil world.

We are to walk in the Spirit (Gal.

5:16), worship in the Spirit (Phil.

3:3), and witness in the Spirit (Acts 1:8).

READ v.1-

How incredible his words must have sounded in that historical context.

Judas has already slipped out into the night.

The Lord has predicted Peter’s denial.

Outside, the world is plotting his death.

Jesus knows that sorrow has filled the disciples’ hearts, that there is a growing panic among them.

Now he says, “It is for your good that I am going away.”

Foremost on Jesus’ mind is the gift of the Holy Spirit, which he promises five times in chapters 14–16.