Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit

HOOK

Yesterday right here at “The Message” we continued on Chapter of 14 of the Gospel of John— After Jesus predicted Judas’ betrayal, Peter’s denial. And after Jesus comforted and assured his disciples he responded to Thomas’ question and Philip’s request, he declared that he is the way, the truth and the life— all of these happened on the same night when they had their last supper that we now call as the “Lord’s Supper” [we do this every 4th Sunday of the month at Agape]

From the topic “Jesus the Way to the Father”, we learned the following:

I BELIEVE THAT OUR GOD IS THREE IN ONE

I WILL DO THE WORKS THAT JESUS STARTED

I WILL ASK GOD FOR ANYTHING, BUT I WILL RELY ON HIS WILL

Their conversation did not stop there— let’s see how their night continued— open your Bible to JOHN 14:15-21, once you get there type Amen!

CHARACTER, COMMAND, PROMISES, CONVICTIONS, EXAMPLES, CHALLENGES AND ENCOURAGEMENT

Read JOHN 14:15-21

BOOK

John 14:15–21 NIV

15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 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. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

Previously, I taught you to ask the right questions [5 W’s & 1 H] to get a clearer picture of the passage you’re studying

I also taught you to look for, and extract from the passage certain keywords

Today, I’d like to teach you to find the “Theme” out of the passage we are studying— from this passage, the themes are LOVE & OBEDIENCE

Let’s take a deeper look at the passage

LOOK

IF YOU LOVE ME, KEEP MY COMMANDS

Jesus started his discourse by equating love & obedience— it’s very easy to say Jesus I love you, but it’s difficult to say, Jesus I will obey

What commands do you think Jesus is referring to?— There are a lot, and they are for our own good— because of limited time today, let’s focus on the Great Commandment [MATTHEW 22:36-40]— from this we will see the first 2 purposes of every Christian and every local church— WORSHIP & MINISTRY

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind— That’s WORSHIP

Love your neighbor as yourself— That’s MINISTRY

And before Jesus ascended to heaven, he gave us his Great Commission [MATTHEW 28:19-20]— and from this, we will see the remaining 3 purposes to complete the 5 UNCHANGING PURPOSES of every Christian and every local church—

Therefore go and make disciples— That’s EVANGELISM [the word is GO]

Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit— That’s FELLOWSHIP [baptizing them into the fellowship with God and his people]

Teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you— That’s DISCIPLESHIP

Loving God is one thing, but Obeying God is another thing— Jesus knows that if it is just us alone, we won’t be able to do the things he commanded us to do— we need a helper— we need a power that enables us— that’s why Jesus went on to say…

I WILL ASK THE FATHER, AND HE WILL GIVE YOU ANOTHER ADVOCATE

What does the word “advocate” means?— In Greek the word for it is “Parakletos” which technically means a “lawyer” that defends and prosecutes

This is just one of the many terms used in the Bible to refer and describe the Holy Spirit— Other terms use to denote the Holy Spirit are: COUNSELOR, COMFORTER, SPIRIT OF GOD, INTERCESSOR, SPIRIT OF TRUTH and many more--

HE LIVES WITH YOU AND WILL BE IN YOU

That is the “indwelling” of the Holy Spirit in every believer— The moment you you did the ABC of Salvation— The Holy Spirit will dwell in you and will operate in you

THE WORLD WILL NOT SEE ME ANYMORE

Jesus said that the world will not see him anymore

WHOEVER HAS MY COMMANDS AND KEEPS THEM IS THE ONE WHO LOVES ME

The Lord emphasized the equation between LOVE & OBEDIENCE

And finally he said..

I TOO WILL LOVE THEM AND SHOW MYSELF TO THEM

Jesus is referring to His resurrection— after the Holy Spirit raised him from the dead, he showed himself to his disciples and to many others during his 40 days of glorified days here on earth before ascending back to heaven

TOOK

MY OBEDIENCE IS THE PROOF OF MY LOVE FOR GOD

THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL ENABLE ME TO DO THE WORKS OF JESUS

I will post all the Life Applications from our study this week— In my post, you may type your questions and insights in advance— we will discuss that openly tomorrow

My Zoom will be open tomorrow and every Friday episode for whoever wants to join the panel— you may connect to it at 5:50am— 10 minutes before the start of “The Message”— The link to our Zoom will also be included in my scheduled live post later after this