The Holy Spirit (John 16:1-15)

SLIDES

Welcome

CalvaryKids

Evangelism Training (Announcement by Pastor Robert)

Calvary Kids Camp/VBS (Announcement by Pastor Pat)

Meet Jesus the God-Man

Teaching Intro - Pastor Pat

5. Title Slide: The Holy Spirit (John 16:1-15)

FCF: We need help, the world needs a witness, so Jesus gives us the Holy Spirit.

Propositional Statement: Since Jesus has not left us alone, we can trust the Holy Spirit to lead us in our effort to reach others.,

Passage Summary: In his last conversation with his troubled disciples, Jesus promises to send a helper, or counselor, This will be positive experience for them. This counselor will testify through them. This is important because they will face very difficult times, including rejection from the very people they are trying to reach. In addition to being the presence and power of Jesus in the lives of the disciples, the Counselor (Helper) will convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. Jesus promises that the Counselor will be a source of truth and guidance for them. The Counselor will glorify Jesus.

Introduction:

The first time that I remember knowing that God is real was at a Christian concert at Calvary Chapel Las Vegas. I was around 16 years old. I thought I was just going to a concert with my Catholic youth group friends, but it was on that night that God chose to reveal Himself to me.

Beyond sensing the presence of the Lord in that place from the minute I walked in, something happened towards the end that I want to tell you about.

The pastor was giving an invitation to accept Jesus, much like I do here every week. He was inviting people to get up out of there chair and go into a prayer room. I could see the room, and I could see them being welcomed into the room as this invitation was happening.

While he was speaking, another pastor went up on the stage, whispered something to him, and then this second pastor began to speak. What he said, I will remember forever.

It went something like this, “God has just shown me that there are two young men here who know that you need to give your life to the Lord.”

I was standing next to my friend with whom I had come.

I said to my friend, “I think he’s talking about us.” My friend didn’t think so, but I knew so.

How did that pastor know that there were two young men there who needed to come to Jesus?

The answer is the Holy Spirit.

As we have come to John 16, Jesus is talking to his troubled disciples about the Holy Spirit. He has told them that he is leaving, and they are sad—more than sad, distressed and discouraged, even depressed. So Jesus tells them about the Holy Spirit.

Do you know much about the Holy Spirit? Who is he? How does he work in the lives of Christians today—in your life and mine? And how does he work, does he work in the lives of those who don’t know Jesus.

Let’s take that first question,

Who is the Holy Spirit?

The Holy Spirit, aka the Spirit of God, is the third person of the Trinity. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. One God, One Essence, Three Persons.

The Father, along with the Son and the Spirit, designed and created the world, including humans. The Son, in cooperation with the Father and the Spirit, redeemed, or saved the world. He, Jesus, brought reconciliation between humans and God. The Spirit, with the Father and the Son, applies salvation, reveals Jesus to people.

If you are listening to me today and you are a Christian, the Holy Spirit has drawn you to Christ.

The Holy Spirit transforms and empowers the Christian.

In the Old Testament, we see the Spirit of God active in creation. The very first chapter, Genesis 1, the second verse states, “the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.”

We see also in the OT, that the Spirit would come upon certain individuals by giving them supernatural power to perform some feat or work that would advance God’s agenda.

Judges 3:9-10 - The Spirit of the Lord came upon Othniel, one of Israel’s judges, so he would have the power to judge Israel and be victorious in war.

A similar thing happened to Gideon. The Spirit of the Lord came upon him and gave him supernatural power for leadership. He put together an army and was victorious, because of the Spirit of God, as one translation says, “taking control” of him.”

The prophet Samuel told Saul,

“Then the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man.” (1 Samuel 10:6, NKJV)

When God wanted to accomplish a purpose in the Old Testament, he would raise up a man and fill him with the Holy Spirit, which would give him power to do a particular supernatural feat.

What would your life look like if you were more aware of the work of the Holy Spirit in you and through you? What would your life be like if you understood the agenda of the Holy Spirit?

The Work of the Holy Spirit in the Christian

The prophet Joel looked forward to a day when the Spirit of God would be

“After this I will pour out My Spirit on all humanity; (Joel 2:28)

then your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your old men will have dreams, and your young men will see visions. I will even pour out My Spirit on the male and female slaves in those days.” (Joel 2:28–29, HCSB)

In the book of Acts, Peter quotes this verse when the Spirit comes on the day of Pentecost.

In the book of Acts we see the Holy Spirit being given to the entire church, every person, man, woman, boy or girl, could now receive the Holy Spirit.

When Jesus began his ministry, he stated, ““The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, (Luke 4:18)

Notice the rest of the verse speaks of the reason why the Spirit of the Lord was on Jesus.

because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim freedom to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed,” (Luke 4:18, HCSB).

I believe that Jesus was 100% man / 100% God; He was completely obedient to the Holy Spirit. He was completely filled with the Holy Spirit. He never hindered the work of the Spirit in His life like we sometimes can. He never quenched the Spirit.

The Spirit of the Lord empowers to do the work of the Lord. God gives the resource to accomplish what he calls you to do. God’s calling is God’s enablement. He will never call you to do something that he won’t give you the help of the Spirit of God to accomplish.

But we can also grieve Him.

“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” (Ephesians 4:30, NKJV).

If you look at this passage in context you will discover that we grieve the Holy Spirit with our anger, foul language, with stealing and lying, with not being generous.

We can grieve the Holy Spirit.

Drinking, recklessness, foolishness, living unwise, these things can all grieve the Holy Spirit.

Instead, we are to be filled by the Spirit.

“Stop getting drunk with wine, which leads to wild living, but keep on being filled with the Spirit.” (Ephesians 5:18, ISV)

In Scripture we see that we are to be continually filled. Keep on being filled with the Spirit.

How are we are filled with the Spirit? We could start by asking, by seeking God, by opening up our heart to Him. We can do this as we sing worship songs, as we pray, as seek Him with all of our heart, we can be continually filled with the Holy Spirit.

The Gifts of the Spirit

Let’s take a look at Romans 12:6-8.

The Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit gives gifts. If you are a Christian here today, the Holy Spirit gives you gifts. The purpose of the gifts is to build up the body, to encourage people, to help them walk closer to Jesus.

Romans 12:6-8 - According to the grace given to us, we have different gifts.

prophecy

service

teaching

exhortation

giving

leading

showing mercy

These are all great gifts that God, through His spirit, gives to His children. Which one of those gifts do you think you have? That was Romans 12:6-8

There’s another list in 1 Corinthians 12, where Paul writes, there are different gifts, but the same Spirit, different ministries, but the same Lord. And there are different activities, but the same God activates each gift in each person.

Then he lists these gifts. These take a little bit more explanation.

a word of wisdom. This is a supernatural occurence when God gives you a solution to a seemingly impossible problem.”

a word of knowledge. In Matthew 17, Jesus had a word of knowledge when he told Peter to go to the sea of Galilee and take first fish that he caught, look in it’s mouth, and he would find a coin to pay his taxes and those of the Lord.

There’s a pastor I know whose wife had a word of knowledge when she was leading a prayer at woman’s conference. She suddenly had an image of a small black bag in which someone was storing bitterness. When she shared that, a woman approached her and said that she was bitter toward God because of her mothers death and was storing he ashes in a small black bag. That’s a word of knowledge.

the gift of faith. this is not saving faith but special faith for accomplishing the extraordinary. Believing God can do the impossible and then stepping out to see it done.

healing - Healing is the “restoration of the body from a state of disease or damage to a state of wholeness.” (Brodersen). We certainly see this gift in Jesus as he healed many people. What about today?

I like what Brian Brodersen says in his book, “The Gifts of the Holy Spirit.” He writes,

“The gifts of the Spirit mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12 are not the permanent possession of any believer but the potential experience of every believer” - Brian Brodersen, The Gifts of the Holy Spirit

I believe that God heals supernaturally today. But I do not believe that God gives a permanent gift of healing to a person that can heal anyone, at anytime, or any place. That’s just not how he works.

God usually heals, according to His will, through the prayers of the church.

performing miracles. God still does miracles today.

prophecy.

https://www.gospelherald.com/data/images/full/3737/pastor-chuck-smith.jpg

When Pastor Chuck was considering becoming the pastor of CC Costa Mesa, he met with the elders and told them that he wanted to remodel the platform. They were stunned because God had given someone there the prophecy that the pastor God appointed would remodel the platform, that the church would relocate, and that the Gospel would go forth from that church to be spread all over the world. That was pretty amazing for a church of 25 people, but all of those things came true.

distinguishing (discerning) between Spirits, this is a supernatural ability to recognize false teaching.

gift of tongues and the gift of interpretation of tongues - this is a very controversial topic. Paul actually calls it the least of the gifts. There are many opinions in the body of Christ about this. Very simply, tongues is a supernatural language given by the Spirit in which the believer prays to God. If it is done in public, it’s companion gift, the interpretation of tongues should also be exercised.

The reason you have these gifts, as I mentioned, is to strengthen others, to accomplish something for God, to serve Him. He gave you character, personality, and gifts—and he doesn’t make mistakes.

One additional note, is 1 Corinthians 13. Love. Love is greater than all the gifts. This is really our goal, our target, to grow in loving God and loving one another.

That’s a bit of summary of the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

So here in our passage today, Jesus talks more about this Holy Spirit, the Counselor, the Helper, the Advocate. The Greek word is Parakletos

What has Jesus already said In Johns gospel?

John 14:16-17

Counselor, Helper,

To be with us forever. That’s nice, isn’t it? We’re never alone.

Jesus calls him the Spirit of Truth

He says that he will be in us.

Let’s keep that in mind, now, as we look at our passage.

John 15:26-16:4

The Spirit gives us the presence of Jesus, especially when we are facing isolation, persecution, and discrimination.

READ John 16:1-2 - The problem

There’s a problem.

Jesus is telling his disciples that they will get cancelled, to use a modern term.

He said that they would get banned from the synagogue, kicked out of the synagogue. Cancelled. No longer part of the culture, we’re not going to allow your voice to be heard. You can’t be with us anymore.

Jesus told them this would happen

v3 - The reason for the problem: they don’t Jesus.

If our values come from Jesus and the Bible, we may get kicked out of the proverbial synagogue.

The “synagogue” for us is not the religious center, the synagogue for you could be a circle of friends, it could be getting kicked out of Facebook, getting fined.

PIC: https://www.frc.org/img/opengraph/Logo.png

The Family Research Council, a non-profit family centered, research and education and public policy organization, recently had a contract cancelled before a big event because they were labeled as hate group because of their stance on LGBTQ+ issues.

To be pro-family, to stand for righteousness, is to be labelled a hate group.

The FRC is not a hate group. But because they are following Jesus they get kicked out of the synagogue.

Get out of the synagogue.

“But I have told you these things so that when their time comes you may remember I told them to you. I didn’t tell you these things from the beginning, because I was with you.” (John 16:4, HCSB)

v4 - Success is not popularity or cultural approval.

Jesus says if this happen, it’s a sign of success.

There is a case involving Calvary Chapel Bangor Maine and Pastor Ken Graves.

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/3a/1f/8c/3a1f8cdfc6d8254e490b45c529234ca0.jpg

The governor of Maine has imposed a cap on religious gatherings of 50 persons. The church went on the offensive and filed a lawsuit, which is now being considered by the Supreme Court. Here’s why this case is interesting and applicable to our passage.

Let me quote Pastor Ken.

We have been forced to choose between worship and criminal punishment. In a country born on the desire to be free and with the right to worship fundamentally enshrined in our First Amendment, forcing such a..choice is unconscionable and frightening.”

The church maintains a Residential Discipleship program, which is a Christ-centered addiction recovery program.

The state allows unlimited occupancy at overnight shelters that feed and clothe those in need or offer social services, which includes counseling for addiction—so long as it does not include worship.

Ken noted that the governor’s orders allow the CRD program to continue as long as they refrain from Bible reading and worship. Here’s what Ken says, “As a pastor who has firsthand experience with the evils of substance abuse and who has worked nearly my entire life to help people trapped in bondage by their addictions, I know that Bible studies and worship are essential. … I cannot in good conscience remove worship from the CRD.

Do you see what’s happening?

Just like these disciples got kicked out of the synagogue, and eventually got killed, so are Christians today getting kicked out of the culture because of what we believe…well, that’s not true…you can believe anything you want, as long as you don’t talk about it.

This is very pertinent to our study.

““But now I am going away to Him who sent Me, and not one of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ Yet, because I have spoken these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless, I am telling you the truth. It is for your benefit that I go away, because if I don’t go away the Counselor will not come to you. If I go, I will send Him to you.” (John 16:5–7, HCSB)

Sorrow has filled our hearts. Where are you God?

Jesus says, “Listen, I am sending you someone to help you.”

Jesus says that it is for the disciples benefit that he is going away. As a man, Jesus could only be in one place at one time, like any of us. Through the Holy Spirit, people all over the world can experience His prescence.

John 7:39

So we are not alone.

Jesus is always with us through His Spirit.

In a world that is against the message of the Truth, I’m sending someone to help.

In a world that doesn’t believe the way that you believe, I’m sending someone to help.

In a world that doesn’t appreciate the message of Jesus, and the teaching of Scripture, I am sending someone to help.

Help in witness (15:26-27)

How does the Holy Spirit help in our work in the world? What is the Holy Spirit doing in people who don’t believe in God?

The Holy Spirit works in the lives of Christians, but the Holy Spirit also works in the lives of those who do not yet believe.

The Work of the Holy Spirit in the World (v8-11)

His Work in the World: Conviction of guilt

CONVICT: to expose, to convince, to convict. To bring someone to an acknowledgement of personal guilt. This word is always used in showing someone their sin.

Sin: Lack of belief

“Therefore I told you that you will die in your sins. For if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”” (John 8:24, HCSB)

In one sense, there’s only one sin that brings eternal death: the sin of failing to believe in Jesus. It’s the same as failing to believe in God/

The Holy Spirit is working in people who do not believe. He is bringing guilt.

Righteousness:, because I am going to the father.

What is right?

The standards of righteousness for the Jews was obeying laws that fordade healing people on the Sabbath, etc.

The standards of right in our culture have changed and are changing.

examples...

Jesus went to the Father, not those who thought he was wrong.

People are guilty because they don’t do the right thing, the thing that pleases God.

Righteousness for the Jews

the temple

Jewish worship

cleansing

obeying the Sabbath regulations

law of Moses

The Holy Spirit is going to convict of this false idea of righteousness.

What are people’s ideas today of righteousness?

All good people go to heaven.

There can’t just be one way to God.

Believe anything

Do you think there is a sentiment in our culture that if you believe the Bible you are narrow minded?

So it’s almost as if you believe the right thing the world says you’re wrong.

“For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.” (Romans 10:3, NKJV)

Judgment.

The judgment of the world, as one Bible teacher says, “if profoundly wrong and morally perverse.”

What is profoundly wrong about the world’s judgment?

That it’s ok to give hormone blockers to children.

That abortion is not murder.

That we can do whatever we want with no regard to God.

Working with the Holy Spirit (v12-15)

Let’s ask the question how does the Holy Spirit do this.

Is the Holy Spirit moving throughout the world convicting people of sin, their false ideas of righteousness, and grossly erroneous judgments? Is that happening among the people who are not Christian?

The Holy Spirit works in the lives of Christians, but the Holy Spirit also works in the lives of those who do not yet believe.

Look at John 15:26-27: He does this through the disciples. We do what the Spirit does.

One sense: through their writings: the New Testament

Second sense: through our voices.

READ John 16:12-15

The Church is the presence of God in the world.

Make no mistake. The Holy Spirit convicts the world, AND he does it through a partnership with us.

v13 - He will guide us into all truth. Because the Holy Spirit guides us, we can analyze the culture, the sin, the concept of righteousness, and we can say, “That is wrong. This particular practice is not righteous.”

The Holy Spirit helps us to interpret the Word of God.

“Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them.” (Ephesians 5:11, NLT)

Part of our calling as Christians is to expose the deeds of darkness.

What are the deeds of darkness in our culture?

What about abortion?

What about human trafficking?

What about abuse?

What about hormone blockers and gender reassignment surgery for teenagers?

What about greed? Greedy corporations?

What about political corruption?

These are not easy issues to address in our culture.

But the point here is that we have the Holy Spirit, we have truth on our side. We have love.

With the power of the Holy Spirit, we speak up knowing that the Holy Spirit is working in the hearts and minds of those who don’t believe.

So it is not optional for us. We must expose the worthless deeds of evil and darkness. We must do so in harmony and connection with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

This is key. The answer for all of these issues is the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is a changed life. It is bowing your knee at the foot of the cross. It is surrendering your life to Jesus. This is the solution.

This is why we stand where we do.

Abortion is wrong because human beings are valuable.

Human Trafficking is wrong for the same reason.

Abuse is wrong for the same reason.

John 16:12–15 HCSB

“I still have many things to tell you, but you can’t 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, but He will speak whatever He hears. He will also declare to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, because He will take from what is Mine and declare it to you. Everything the Father has is Mine. This is why I told you that He takes from what is Mine and will declare it to you.

“The Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all truth” does not mean that the Holy Spirit today brings new revelation in the same category as Scripture.

The early church, the book of Acts church, and any church with a high view of Scripture has always been suspicious of claims of further divine revelation. This would include claims of Mormonism or any organization that has writings which they claim are equal to the Bible.

John 16:14 says that the Spirit will glorify Jesus and the Spirit will take from what is mine and declare it to you. The Spirit always glorifies the Son, the Spirit magnifies the Son. The Spirit reveals the Truth, Jesus is the Truth.

So this passage is not speaking of privileged information that will be revealed, but rather help, assistance, guidance in understanding what has already been revealed in Christ.

Conclusion

That 16 year old boy at the concert, remember him? When the pastor said, “There’s a couple young men here who know that you need to come forward and give your life to the Lord.”

That 16 year old kid, me, didn’t go forward. It took a few more concerts, a few more church services, a few more conversations, but the day came when I yielded to the work of the Holy Spirit and gave my life to Jesus.

I am thankful for all the people that God used in the process.

But I am most thankful for the resource of the Holy Spirit in our lives, He gives us everything we need for life, godliness, and ministry.

May you and I walk in the power of the Holy Spirit.