John 16 12-15 (3)
John 16:12-15
Second Sunday after Pentecost / Trinity Sunday
“He Guides You Still”
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The text for today’s meditation is taken from the Gospel of John, the 16th chapter starting at the 12 vs., and reads as follows: 12 "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 14 "He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. 15 "All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.
Intro.: What does the word “truth” mean to you? Collier’s Encyclopedia defines it like this: Truth, the ideal perfection of knowledge. The kinds and degrees of failure to achieve this perfection constitute untruth. With that definition in mind let us consider what truth means for us in our society. The Truth, for us as for people in all times, is considered a valuable commodity, more valuable than all earthly treasures like gold or a highly valued stock in a profitable company. The threads of society are woven together with what we call truth. Countries rise and fall based on the truthfulness of their leaders and the stability of nations depends on the truthfulness of their treaties with one another. Our market system is based on it. “A man is as good as his word”. Jobs are given to and taken away from people based on their promise to work. Credit is given in the good faith that people will be true to their word and repay their debt. Our legal system is based on the truth. In court, we swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Our families are based on the truth. Men and women pledge their unending love and commitment to each other in marriage. The truth is that there appears to be very little truth in the threads that weave our society together. Countries rise to power and fall based on their lies. Treatise are not kept. People don’t always keep their word. The truth is only a relative term in our courts. Divorce tears apart 50% of the families in our country. Where, then, is truth and who has it. We may be inclined to say as Pontius Pilot said at Jesus’ trial “ what is truth.”
The words of our text are part of Jesus’ final instruction and encouragement to his disciples given to them in the upper room after he had eaten his last supper with them. This was the end. For three years Jesus had taught them, lived with them, and loved them; now the culmination of his love was at hand in the sacrifice of his life for theirs. They didn’t understand, just as we still don’t fathom the depth of what he did. All they knew was that they had beheld the glory of the one and only Son of God who came form the Father, full of grace and truth. They saw the truth in everything he did, in every word he spoke and in his very essence. Now Jesus was leaving them, the lessons were over and he was trusting them with everything that was his. Imagine their thoughts and their fears and in so doing perhaps you will see our own thoughts and fears. As one of his disciples, I think I’d say to Jesus “ you want me to do what?”, You want me to do what you have done, to love as you have loved, to say what you have said and to say it with authority?” Lord, I am a simple man, a weak man. I am not holy; you know that. I can’t do it. Yes, Jesus knew their weaknesses just as he knows ours. What they could not do, he could and would do through them by giving them his Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth to lead and guide them. Through his Spirit he still guides you and I in truth today. Jesus gives his disciples the very thing that the world can only mimic. We know now who has the truth, we do. But what is truth the Spirit guides us to and where can it be found?
A) It guides us to the truth about our sin.
1) We are in a state of rebellion against God.
The Spirit leads us to consciously understand that we were in a state of rebellion against God and opposed to everything that is true and good - God himself. We resisted the truth because it was easier to live the lie of unbelief. We resisted God and promoted the ultimate lie in the denial of Jesus as the Christ and therefore exalting ourselves as God. Some of us here today may still be in this position. Even now, as children of God, we succumb to the flesh and fail miserably in our attempts to follow his laws. The Lord’s Spirit convicts us of our choice of doing our own will and not his. The words of the Apostle Paul call out to us “ for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”
2) The penalty for our disobedience is death.
In our disobedience and unbelief, the Spirit reminds us that we are under a death sentence, “ for the wages of sin are death.” Not only physical death which we experience in this life, but also spiritual death which is the final and eternal separation from God. We as Christians too must beware. Not following the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ, we condemn and separate ourselves from the blessings he would give us. To ignore and not follow the words of our Lord, we risk loosing every gift that he has given us, even our salvation. What a mess we would be in if the only truth that the Spirit leads us to is that we are sinners and our punishment is impending.
B) It guides us to the truth about Christ.
1) Through Jesus we are unconditionally loved by the Father.
It is in this position that the Spirit guides us to the truth about Christ and the unconditional love that has been poured out for us by his Father. Jesus revealed the fullness of God. He has given us his name which is - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We baptize in His name. We invoke His name at the beginning of our worship services and in our prayers. We confess it in our creeds. It is the name of God which we celebrate today, Trinity Sunday. The Father has given us his son, Jesus. Jesus has given us the Spirit of truth and the Spirit of truth only points to Jesus. If you have seen the Son you have also seen the Father. Jesus alone lived and died and rose from the dead. It is through his name alone that we are saved from our own condemnation.
2) Through Jesus we have forgiveness and life.
The Spirit teaches us that we are forgiven for the sake of Jesus Christ; and through him all the gifts of God have been given. Jesus has given us the gift of his word in the Bible. It is through his word that the Spirit acts in us to create faith. It is his word, with ordinary water, that we are baptized into God’s family. It is his word, with bread and wine, that we eat his body and drink his blood. Through all these gifts God proclaims his forgiveness of our sins and makes us his children. So now we know who has the truth and what it is. Is that all there is? No.
II The Spirit of God equips us for a purpose.
A) We are equipped to do good works.
1) We are unable to do anything good on our own.
Jesus gave us his Spirit to equip us to do good works. On our own and without God we are utterly unable to do good things. That’s right - before we knew God, before we were forgiven - helping our neighbors, giving to charities (even anonymously) and just being a “nice” person were not things that were good. We did these things for our own glory - to make ourselves feel good. To glorify ourselves, even privately, and to not give the glory to God from whom all good things come, makes what in appearance looks like a good deed, an evil deed. Before we were called to be the children of God everything we did was evil because we had no ability to give God the glory. What does this tell us about what we are currently doing now that we are children of God? Do we do good works or evil ones? For whose glory is it really being done for? Give God the glory in all you do. It is not you that does anything good but the Spirit of God in you which enables you to do good.
2) We are able to do good works because we have been made righteous through Christ.
We are able to do good works because we have been made righteous in Christ. He has given us the ability to glorify God in the good things we do. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Isn’t that reassuring that we don’t even have to go out looking for good things to do. God has already prepared them for us.
B) We are equipped to proclaim the Gospel.
1) Without Gods Spirit we proclaim the lies of the temporal world.
Without the Spirit we can’t help but proclaim the lies of life without Christ, a life under rules and laws that we can’t keep. It is a life of work for treasures that will rot or be given to someone else after we die. Without the Spirit there is no understanding of God’s word and no word itself. There is no gift of faith. Now we have the Spirit, given to us at our baptism; and He enables us to do the greatest thing in the world . Of all the good works that the Spirit has equipped us for there is one that is most important. It stands at the top of the list of good that we can do. What do you think it is? Love God? Love your neighbor. Do good to those who do bad things to you? No! The greatest good work that you can do is to proclaim the Good News that God has restored this lost world to himself, through Jesus Christ.
2) With Gods Spirit we proclaim Christ boldly.
Boldly tell the story of what you have been told. The Spirit equips you mightily, Jesus told his disciples before he was lifted up to Heaven, “you shall receive power, after the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be my witnesses… to the uttermost parts of the world.” Indeed, Jesus fulfilled his promise and the Holy Spirit did come on Pentecost, which we celebrated last Sunday. Boldly proclaim the message of Jesus to each other in your families. Teach your Children. Tell your friends. Do they know you go to church? Do they know which church you go to? Do your best friends know? Do they go to church. If not, invite them. If you don’t know how, ask me or the elders and we will find a way together.
Conclusion: Our Lord made some very serious promises to his disciples in the upper room, before his passion, at a time when they were weak and wondering what to make of all the things that he had taught them. They stayed in that upper room behind locked doors, fearing what was outside. In that same upper room, fifty days later the Holy Spirit was given on Pentecost; and he gave them the power to save the world. Here we are, gathered together in our Lords presence, listening to his words and eating his holy supper with him. This is our upper room. We come here in our weakness and our Lord nourishes us and prepares us to proclaim his love. He has poured out his Spirit of truth on us and has opened the doors of our upper room to the world and to the hearts of people everywhere.
AMEN