Abiding through the Spirit - John 16:4-15

Ben Miller

Abide • Sermon • Submitted 5 years ago

John 16:4–15

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Big Idea: Take comfort: you have been given the Holy Spirit to help you abide in Christ.

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John 16:4–15 ESV

But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you. “I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 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. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

This is the last sermon in our series called “Abide” through …

Last week we popped out of John into Colossians because Pastor Matt Townsend was here from Harvest Bible Chapel Philadelphia…

that was great to have him here… it was great for my family to go there… we love connecting with other GCC churches...

He was here preaching about growing “mature in Christ” and he talked about how maturity is learning how the gospel applies to every part of life…

How all the puzzle pieces fit together…

And that fits so well because this idea of ABIDING is all about growing in our connection to Christ so that he produces HIS fruit in us… abiding is really a picture of growing in maturity…

Today is the last sermon in this section… while I’m away in KL, we will have Al Palmateer, who is an elder at Mission Church, and he’s going to be preaching two sermons on and the revelation of God… which is very fitting considering the habits we’ve been talking about in this series, and then Jonathan Recaman will be here…

You could even talk about a mature vine or a mature plant as one that bears fruit...

Our goal for this series is that we would begin to REMAIN in CONSTANT awareness of... connection to... and dependence on... the power and presence of our loving Savior.

If you’ve been with us throughout this series, have you been growing in the constancy of your awareness of him?

Have you realized your dependence on him in every moment and set up habits to help you receive his word and his love so that you can respond to him appropriately?

It’s been awesome over the course of the last month and a half, listening to you all as a church process through this section of scripture… and to refocus on where the power for living the Christian life really comes from…

I’ve heard from many of you after the sermons… I’ve heard from your discussions in our Gospel Communities… but my favorite place to process these things is in my home with my lovely wife.

And I CANNOT think of a way that we have seen that pattern emerge more clearly at Oak Hill than in the ministry of AROMA.

AROMA is a group of women from Oak Hill who study the Bible IN our community… specifically in the Oak Bottom Village community room… and seek to serve the people who live in that community and even beyond as an overflow of their love for one another.

One of our habits is to sit down every week after the sermon… usually Tuesday mornings… and discuss how WE are applying the sermon and pray together… it’s become a time we both really cherish each week…

So throughout this series we’ve been doing these interviews so that we could get a picture of what it looks like for different people in different stages of life to abide in Christ...

and I wanted to finish out the series with an interview with Katy… so that you can get a glimpse inside our home.

And so I asked Melissa Mohler if she would share a little bit about what it looks like for her to abide in Christ when she is on mission… in those moments where ministry is hard… and sometimes received well… sometimes not so much...

I will be up front with you… we are NOT doing this to say, “Look at us, we are professionals at abiding.”

We are doing this to be real with you to show that we face the same challenges and we have a hard time establishing habits too… and God has been gracious to us and he keeps working on us and in us and producing fruit…

Interview with Katy :

What are some challenges to abiding in Christ in our everyday life?

What are some habits that have helped you and our family to maintain a heart posture of abiding in Christ?

What is some fruit that we’ve seen that we would say, “Only God can do that!” as we’ve sought to abide in him?

Transition: Our whole goal in sharing this with you is to encourage you… it’s hard to maintain habits that fuel our abiding in Christ, but it is worth it!

And here's the comforting reality… this is what keeps me going: we don’t have to do this alone.

Not only do we have one another, but we have someone even more powerful and even more effective:

we have the active Holy Spirit to keep pointing us back to Christ and our need for him.

We are going to see this morning that the Holy Spirit’s whole job is to point us to Jesus...

He makes us aware of our need for Christ and then to leads us in our walk with Christ.

Isn’t it comforting to know that God is so concerned that you would abide in Christ that he gave you himself to ensure that it would happen?

Here’s the big idea for today:

Big Idea: Take comfort: you have been given the Holy Spirit to help you abide in Christ.

Your Bibles are open to ...

Jesus is giving what is now known as the “farewell discourse” to his disciples… he’s helping them prepare for what life will be like after he is no longer with them in the flesh...

And he’s telling them that even though he is gone, they are still going to be able to remain connected to him… like a branch is connected to the vine...

And he says that they will stay connected by receiving his words… and responding in prayer...

And then in chapter 15, it almost seems like there is an interruption to Jesus’ thought as he tells the parable of the vine and the branches before returning to this subject of the Holy Spirit…

He says they will stay connected by receiving his love and extending it to one another…

And he says that all this connection to him will result in the world opposing them… because it opposed him first.

But that leaves the question: how can we remain connected to Jesus when we are under intense opposition and trial? What if we don’t have what it takes to hold on?

And that’s where Jesus assures them that they will not have to abide alone.

But I don’t believe it is an interruption at all...

Another Helper is going to come… the Holy Spirit… and he’s going to lead them to abide in Christ in the midst of a hostile world.

The whole point of the parable of the vine and the branches is to show how much we need to abide in Jesus as our only source of life...

The Father is seeking fruit...

We can’t produce fruit apart from abiding in Jesus as the vine… receiving our life and vitality and nourishment from him...

That comes through a constant conversation of receiving his word and responding in prayer…

and it comes through his receiving his love so that we can extend it to others...

And the result is that we bear witness to Christ as his fruit is seen by the watching world…

But the world opposes Christ… and it will oppose us...

And so we need the Holy Spirit to establish our witness in a hostile world...

That’s where we left off two weeks ago… and now we pick it up in .

Take comfort: you have been given the Holy Spirit to help you abide in Christ.

Explain: In verse 4, Jesus says, “I did not say these things to you from the beginning” (these things about the opposition they will face) because “I was with you.”

Commentator Colin Kruse explains it this way: “While he remained with them he was the ‘lightning rod’ that attracted the flashes of persecution. But after he returned to the Father, his disciples would experience it themselves.” [Kruse, C. G. (2003). John: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 4, p. 324). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.]

Things were about to heat up… and the more Jesus talked, he can see it on their faces: the more they started to be sorrowful.

By this point in Jesus’ ministry, they are convinced that he is the Messiah… they watched him ride into Jerusalem as the victorious king just a week earlier… and in their minds it was only a matter of time until all the opposition ended.

But now Jesus was talking about leaving… and about how people will think they are doing God’s will by persecuting them and putting them to death...

And so now they are getting kind of worried… and Jesus can see it…

Colin Kruse explains it this way: “While he remained with them he was the ‘lightning rod’ that attracted the flashes of persecution. But after he returned to the Father, his disciples would experience it themselves.” [Kruse, C. G. (2003). John: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 4, p. 324). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.]

Kruse, C. G. (2003). John: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 4, p. 324). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

Things were about to heat up… and the more Jesus talked, he can see it on their faces: the more they started to be sorrowful.

English Standard Version Chapter 16

But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.

Verse 5, Jesus says, “But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.” (, ESV)

The reason they have sorrow is because they aren’t considering this question, “Where are you going?”

Now it’s interesting… they actually HAD asked this same question back when they were still in the upper room… Peter asked “where are you going” in chapter 13 and Thomas asked basically the same question in chapter 14… but they aren’t asking it now...

Instead they are sorrowful.

They needed to stop and ask the question again, “Where are you going?”

And more than ask, they needed to carefully consider the answer Jesus already gave them and apply it to the persecution they will face…

Where was Jesus going?

“Jesus is going to the Father… THAT’S not sorrowful!!! That’s the best news ever!!!

That means he is going to have ultimate victory. He’s not just going to sit on a human throne… he’s going to sit on a heavenly throne.

And not only that… he said that we can… we MUST... ABIDE in him. We get to receive all his benefits directly from him.

They needed to do what Paul would later command the Colossian church, “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” ( ESV)

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. (ESV)

They SHOULD be processing those things… but they aren’t.

No... they were sorrowful. They were more focused on how they were going to get through this coming persecution and how hard it was going to be than on how the glorified Son of God would see them through the trial.

They were more focused on how they were going to get through this coming persecution and how hard it was going to be than on how the glorified Son of God would see them through the trial.

Instead, they are sorrowful. They are more focused on how they were going to get through this coming persecution and how hard it was going to be...

They were more focused on the opposition than on the opportunity it provided to abide in him.

They had already forgotten the parable: Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

They hadn’t even gotten into the trial yet, and they had already forgotten their need to depend on him.

Isn’t that the way we are sometimes? At the first sign of trouble...

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

we panic instead of pray.

At the first sign of trouble, we panic instead of pray.

We doubt instead of depend.

We are filled with sorrow instead of surety.

Which is exactly why we need HELP to abide in Christ…

I am so prone to forget Christ... that I need God himself constantly pointing me back to him.

I need HELP to abide… [turn to your neighbor and say, “I need HELP!”] Jesus knows that.

Jesus does not want them to be sorrowful because he is sitting at the highest place… he wants them to remember the great power they have by being attached to him, the Vine.

And so he will send them the Helper… the comforter…

Look at Verse 7 - “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.”

"it is to your ADVANTAGE..."

I’ve heard many say, “Man! If I could just have Jesus physically present with me to hold me accountable and to tell me what choices to make and to show me how to live, this whole Christian life thing would be A LOT easier…

And Jesus is saying, “You have something even better. You have the Holy Spirit in you.

I am going to sit at the right hand of the Father… and because I am going to that place of ultimate victory, I can send you the ultimate Helper to navigate this world in which I am leaving you...

Once I have conquered Satan, Sin and Death.... since you will be united to me by faith… God himself can now dwell in you.

I’m making the way for him to make YOU his temple…

No longer will I just be walking beside you… the Spirit, with whom I am one, will be living inside you.

He will be your helper… the word means advocate... counselor… comforter… that sure, steady person you can lean on…

That is pretty unbelievable to be able to say… Jesus sends us God himself to be our helper.

Illustrate: On Thursday, our team is leaving to go half-way around the world for 10 days…

and I know that our families (especially those of us with young kids) are to some degree sorrowful…

And we ALL WISH we could say to them, “I’m leaving right now… but it’s OK, because I’m going to leave you my Spirit who will be in you and who will make sure you stay connected to me.”

I’m pretty sure that would solve most of our sorrow problems surrounding this trip...

But only Jesus can say that… because only HE experiences that perfect oneness with the Father and the Holy Spirit…

When Jesus goes away, it’s not like when we go away… we can stay absolutely connected to him through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.

And Jesus is saying, “You have something even better. You have the Holy Spirit in you.”

Apply: Do you understand the advantage you have through the Holy Spirit?

You have the Son sitting at the right hand of the Father… and you have his Spirit leading you and guiding you in his way.

You have EVERYTHING you need for life and godliness. You have EVERYTHING You need to stay attached to the vine.

If you ever find yourself sorrowful because of your experience in a fallen world, take some time to acknowledge the gift you’ve been given in the Spirit...

Too often we can take him for granted.

We have the infinite God of the Universe personally accessible to us.

He is convicting us… he is guiding us…

But we are so focused on the opposition that we miss the opportunity to abide… to lean in… to draw near.

And what does this look like to abide through the Holy Spirit? HOW does the Spirit help us abide in Christ? In the rest of the passage, I want us to see…

Two Ways the Spirit Helps us Abide

The Spirit’s whole job is to point people to Jesus. To point them to the only source of life.

And so his job starts when people are still separated from Jesus… look at verse 8: “And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:”

The first way the Spirit helps us abide is this:

1) He convicts the world of our need for Christ.

Explain: Jesus says, “he will convict the WORLD concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning SIN, because they do not believe in me;” (, ESV)

Jesus says, “he will convict the WORLD concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me;” (, ESV)

The reason the world needs Christ is because the world is sinful.

Remember, the world is all those who are opposed to Christ

Remember, the world is all those who are opposed to Christ… who don’t believe him…

And this news of the Spirit’s convicting work is comforting to the disciples… because as we studied two weeks ago, they are going to be his witnesses in a world that is very hostile to them and to Christ… and the Spirit is given as the chief Helper… the chief Advocate on their legal team to be a witness with them.

Sin, Righteousness, and the coming judgement.

So it is a great comfort that the Spirit convicts the world of sin, righteousness and judgment...

That’s HIS job in evangelism, not ours…

And we all start there, right?

But lest we get too proud and think, “YES! Go get em, Holy Spirit! Convict those dirty rotten scoundrels!” we have to remember that we all start out as part of the world...

We all start rebellious toward God in our sin… we sin by nature and by choice from the moment we enter this world...

We don’t naturally believe God… we think we can get along in this life without him… We think we know better than him...

We think we know better than him...

And so when Jesus entered the world and was rejected, WE were part of the group that rejected him.

In our sin, WE rejected him. EVEN if we were saved at a very young age, we rejected him… because at the heart of every sin is unbelief.

EVEN if we were saved at a very young age, we rejected him… because at the heart of every sin is unbelief.

At the heart of every sin is the statement, “I don’t believe God’s way is best. I think I know better.”

And so the Holy Spirit comes and he works upon the hearts of humanity, and he convicts us of sin.

Some people respond to that conviction negatively… they shrug it off… they run away from it… they find people to tell them it’s OK…

But they still remain convicted… before God. They are convicted and ultimately condemned.

Other people respond to that conviction… it churns in their hearts… they feel heavy underneath it…

And they turn and surrender their lives to the only source of true life.

They are converted in nature… and because Jesus provided the only payment for our sins… they are forgiven.

Other people respond to that conviction negatively… they shrug it off… they run away from it…

But they still remain convicted… before God… they are convicted and condemned.

No one comes to abide in Christ unless the Holy Spirit first convicts him of his sin and his need to put his faith in Jesus Christ.

Second, Jesus says the Spirit convicts the world concerning righteousness… because I go to the Father and you will see me no longer.

This is honestly a little bit difficult to interpret… it’s hard to see exactly what about his departure convicts the world concerning righteousness...

But we have to understand the context of the book of John...

Jesus is consistently being told by those who oppose him that he is sinful… that he is of the devil… that he is a blasphemer... not righteous.

That’s one of the primary reasons they killed him.

But the truth was that he was THE ONLY one who was without sin.

So you have the righteousness of Christ… and then you have the world who says, “He’s a sinner...”

And both can’t be right.

And the moment of truth comes when he is crucified. He’s crucified as an unrighteous criminal.

But then God says, “Not so fast! This isn’t what it seems… I’m raising him from the dead to PROVE he is the ONLY righteous one… and to make him the righteous substitute for all who put their faith in him.

Jesus’ resurrection and ascension to the right hand of the Father proves that HE is righteous… and that fact convicts the world that they use a faulty standard of righteousness.

Those who oppose Jesus measure by their own standards of righteousness.... and they are convicted because Jesus is the truly Righteous One.

They think they are righteous because they aren’t as bad as some other people who are the “real” sinners.

They think they are righteous because they think they uphold God’s law or at least some manmade law of traditions.

And we can only become righteous by being attached to him and receiving his life through faith.

The Spirit convicts concerning sin, righteousness… and then he convicts concerning the coming judgment… because the ruler of this world is judged.

Ultimately, the world… those who are opposed to Jesus… who do not abide in him... are under the authority and influence of the ruler of this world, Satan.

And when Jesus rose again, he won the decisive victory over Satan… which means he won the decisive victory over everyone under Satan’s authority.

And if you remain opposed to Jesus in unbelief… if you refuse to seek him for the life only he provide...

The Spirit demonstrates that you are judged along with the one whose authority you follow.

BUT some will respond to that reality of future judgment with faith and they will turn and repent… and conviction will lead them to abide in Christ.

We only have two choices: we embrace the conviction of the Spirit, repent, and put our faith in Christ… or we reject the conviction of the Spirit… keep going our own way… and receive the righteous judgment of God as we stand convicted before him in eternity.

Conviction of the Holy Spirit is the first step toward abiding in Christ…

Without conviction, there is no conversion… there is no attaching to the life source who is Jesus...

And then the conviction of the Spirit continues to be a tool of pruning to remove the sin that will keep us from abiding in him.

Our response to the convicting work of the Holy Spirit is what distinguishes the world from the true disciples of Jesus Christ.

The world rejects conviction and remains convicted for all of eternity before a righteous God.

Disciples receive conviction… recognize their need for Jesus as the righteous one… and put their faith in him.

I want you to notice the common thread in HOW the Spirit convicts of sin… in each type of conviction, he points to the person and work of Jesus.

I want you to notice HOW the Spirit convicts of sin… in each type of conviction, he points to the person and work of Jesus.

He convicts of sin by saying, “You aren’t believing in Jesus.”

He convicts of righteousness by saying, “Here is the standard of righteousness… the one who rose again and sits at the Father’s right hand.”

He convicts of judgment by saying, “Jesus has already defeated the ruler of this world and he will judge the world along with him.”

If conviction isn’t pointing you away from sin and toward Christ, then it is not the conviction of the Holy Spirit.

A lot of times we experience what we think is conviction, but it is really just the condemnation of the enemy...

He comes at us saying, “Look how terrible you are… you will never be good enough for God to accept you… you might as well just give up…”

Often, there is a general bad feeling without a specific vision for change…

Or “You call that living the Christian life?

That’s not conviction… that’s condemnation from the ruler of this world who is already judged.

In conviction, the Holy Spirit clearly demonstrates our sin and it’s source of unbelief in Christ…

He clearly demonstrates Christ’s standard of righteousness...

And he clearly points to Christ’s ultimate victory…

The goal of the Holy Spirit in conviction is to get us looking at Christ so that we would abide in him and produce much fruit!

Illustrate: So often, we try to escape a sense of guilt or shame in conviction by looking to ourselves… or looking to others… instead of looking to Christ.

Someone will say, “Donald Trump did something wrong...”

And then someone else will say, “But it wasn’t as bad as what Pelosi or Clinton or Obama did.”

We look inside ourselves and try to justify our motivations or try to point to our own good works to make us feel better about ourselves...

Someone else will say, “Joe Biden is terrible...”

But the Holy Spirit is saying, “STOP… look to JESUS… believe in HIM… see the one seated at the right hand of the Father who can intercede for you… see the one who has put the ruler of this world under his feet!”

And the defense will come back, “But he isn’t as bad as Trump.”

This goes back to what we’ve been saying for this whole series: for every one look at fruit, take ten looks at Christ.

See him as the source of victory and hope and power...

And we just keep comparing on a human level…

The Holy Spirit is there to make you fix your gaze upon him.

Apply: So let me ask you: what is your response to conviction?

Is it looking to Christ? Or looking to yourself or other standards of righteousness?

This goes back to what we’ve been saying for this whole series: for every one look at fruit, take ten looks at Christ.

See him as the source of victory and hope and power...

The Holy Spirit is there to make you fix your gaze upon him.

Learn the habit of taking conviction to Christ.

1. Confess your sin as an act of unbelief.

I’m convinced we need to do a lot more confessing in our lives. Specific, raw, honest confession. Call sin for what it is.

Name what you are not believing in your sin.

2. Concede your need for his righteousness before the Father.

Jesus is the only righteous one who has gone to the highest place next to the Father.

Don’t try to make excuses or justify yourself before that Judge… just concede, “Lord, I’ve sinned and I can ONLY stand on your grace.”

3. Confidently walk in his resurrection victory.

The ruler of this world is judged. See Jesus as the source of victory and hope and power...

Commit to walking in his resurrection power over sin.

The Holy Spirit is there to make you fix your gaze upon him.

Jesus wants you to be a partaker of his victorious life that produces the fruit the Father seeks...

So he gives the Holy Spirit to convict the world of our need for Christ… and once the conviction takes root…

2) He counsels disciples in our walk with Christ.

Jesus says in verse 12: “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.

I love how gracious and gentle he is with them… he’s recognized that they are sorrowful…

And while they really SHOULDN’T be sorrowful, he knows he can’t just say, “Snap out of it! I’ve got more to tell you!”

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

No, he says, “I have more to say, but you can’t bear it now… it can wait until you are more ready.”

Verse 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. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”

Explain: We’ve already seen this title for the Spirit… Helper [or advocate… or counselor…]… now the Helper is called “the Spirit of truth.”

He is the Spirit who has all the truth in himself because he is God… and his job is to guide disciples of Jesus into all truth.

Don’t get the wrong idea here: It’s not that he teaches us more and more facts… no, he takes the things that Christ says and does and he shows how they apply to all of life.

He actively and personally takes you moment by moment to show how the truth of Jesus as Savior and Lord shapes everything you say and do and think and feel.

The Holy Spirit’s job is to be a tour guide in the truths of God… leading you to walk in God’s way.

I’m not talking about some audible voice or some heightened knowledge that isn’t found in scripture… no he takes the truths of scripture and leads you in God’s way.

Jesus is so clear: The Spirit doesn’t draw attention to himself… so many people prove they have a false conception of the Holy Spirit because in their belief system, the Spirit is always drawing attention to himself or to the individual…

You’ll hear people say, “The Spirit told me this or that… you should listen to me...” but that’s not the way he Spirit works...

Jesus is so clear… he is there to glorify the Father and the Son…

The Spirit doesn’t go rogue and act on his own… He takes what the Son says and glorifies the Son by guiding the disciples into HIS truth… and what the Son says is entirely what the Father says...

He takes what the Son says and glorifies the son by declaring it to the disciples… and what the Son says is consistent with what the Father says...

We are seeing a picture of the absolute unity of the Trinity.

There is no division… of thought or emotion or will or communication… the Spirit loves to glorify the Father and the Son.

The Holy Spirit first did this by inspiring the New Testament authors…

There is theological development that goes on throughout the New Testament… in the first four books, we learn the facts about what happened in Jesus’ life, death and resurrection…

We get some of his teaching…

In the letters and Revelation, we learn how that is applied… and how it changes our lives...

We learn the things that are to come as well… what’s going to happen during this age and in the age to come.

He inspired the New Testament authors… But the Holy Spirit also led the disciples and the early church into all truth in everyday life on mission.

He led them to share the gospel with power.

He led them in the ways of God to plant churches that were ordered in God’s way.

He went before them, convicting the world concerning sin, righteousness and the coming judgment so that masses turned to Jesus and the Roman world was turned upside down.

He led the church in what it looked like to have newly ordered relationships because of what Christ has done.

The Holy Spirit was… and is… the personal, active, tour guide into the truth of God applied… And there is no better tour guide in the ways of God than God himself.

Illustrate: Last Sunday, I was preaching at Harvest Philadelphia... and in the announcements, they kept saying that Pastor Ben was going to be back at the guest reception table to answer questions...

The only problem was, I had no idea where the guest reception table was!

So two guys come up to me asking for help to learn more about the church, and I’m like, “Honestly, I don’t know… let’s find it together!”

And I was really hoping that when I got to the guest reception table, there would be someone there who knew more about their church…

But when we arrived, there was no one. And so I found some cards and was like, “Here, fill out these!” And I ran and found the first person who looked like they knew what they were talking about!

I was not qualified to be a guide for guests at Harvest Philadelphia. I had no familiarity with the way they do things… I didn’t know where I was going...

But at Oak Hill, I can tell you just about everything about the inner workings of this church and why we do what we do and the way we do it…

And when it comes to walking in the ways of God, there is no more qualified guide than the Spirit of God.

Apply: Are you following the Spirit to apply the truth of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection to every part of your life? Are you following him into deeper abiding relationship to Christ?

Apply: Are you following the Spirit to a deeper abiding relationship to Christ?

The Spirit wants to lead you into a closer relationship with Christ.

He will convict you of sin… he will remove what doesn’t belong… but then he will point you in the way you should go… he will put in what does belong.

Sometimes he may prompt you to talk to someone about Jesus… and you will be scared out of your mind… but he will be leading you into the truth of Christ...

Sometimes he will be showing you what to say to your kids… and you will be tired and not want to put in the effort… but he will be leading you...

Sometimes he will be calling you to encourage someone… and you will shrug it off and think, “They don’t need to hear from me!”… but he will be leading you.

If what he is leading you to do is consistent with Scripture, then you can trust him and follow him there.

You have a real, active God at work in your life. And you must rely on him to lead you in every moment.

You must remain aware of… connected to… and dependent on… the power and presence of your loving savior.

As this series comes to a close, I pray that what we’ve learned here will not end.

It’s my prayer that we have established new, lifelong habits of word and prayer.

It’s my prayer that we have learned to receive the love of God and not deny it… so that we can extend it to one another… so that the world might see Christ in us.

Take comfort: you have been given the Holy Spirit to help you abide in Christ.

The Spirit is pointing you to your source of Life, the Son, so that you can bear much fruit and so glorify the Father.