The Promise of the Holy Spirit (John 14:15-31)

Announcements

Let me remind you that with New Years and Christmas behind us, we’re back to our normal worship schedule, which means that we’re back to having our weekly Bible Study & Prayer times on Wednesdays at 7pm. Join us as we continue our series through the book of Psalms. Please note that there is a light dinner provided every Wednesday at 6pm as well in the Activity Room, we’d love to have you with us.

Don’t forget, that there is a quarterly business meeting right after this service. It should only last about 10-15 minutes and I’d encourage everyone to stick around if they’re able, even if you aren’t a member, you’re more than welcome to stick around, all our business meetings are open to the public.

At the front of the room, there is a new sign-up sheet for snacks for this next few months, if you’re willing and able, please feel free to sign up for a week as you leave this morning.

In two weeks, on January 21st, which is a Friday, we’re going to show the movie American Gospel: Christ Alone in the auditorium at 7pm. It is a mini-documentary which looks at a significant issue in what could be considered popularized Americanized Christianity with a heavy emphasis on the Prosperity Gospel. I highly suggest that if you can be here, that you do so. There is no cost to attend and of course, we’ll also have free popcorn and drinks for anyone who comes. If you stick around after the business meeting for a few minutes, I’ll have Natalie play the trailer on the screens so you can see what it is all about.

Next week, we do plan on partaking in the Lord’s Supper together, so please come prepared to do so.

Let me remind you to continue worshiping the Lord through your giving. To help you give, we have three ways for you to do so: (1) in-person giving can be done at the offering box at the front of the room. If you give a check, please write it to Grace & Peace; and if you give cash and you’d like a receipt, please place it in an envelope with your name on it. If you’d prefer to give via debit, credit, or ACH transfer, please (2) text 84321 with your $[amount] and follow the text prompts or (3) visit us online at gapb.church and select giving in the menu bar. Every thing that you give goes to the building up of our local church and the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Prayer of Adoration and Repentance

Call to Worship (Psalm 38:13-22)

Our call to worship this morning is Psalm 38:13-22, which is the second half of Psalm 38. In the first half, we saw almost a lament by David concerning the discipline that he was facing from the LORD concerning sins that David had committed. Last week’s passage actually left us with a sense of dread or fear; this week’s passage continues the text and places David’s hope completely on God despite the discipline that he’s facing from God himself. Note the petition of David in vss. 21-22 as we read Psalm 38:13-22 responsively. Please stand and read Psalm 38 with me, I’ll read the odd-numbered verses; please join me in reading the even-numbered verses.

Psalm 38:13–22 ESV

13 But I am like a deaf man; I do not hear, like a mute man who does not open his mouth. 14 I have become like a man who does not hear, and in whose mouth are no rebukes. 15 But for you, O Lord, do I wait; it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer. 16 For I said, “Only let them not rejoice over me, who boast against me when my foot slips!” 17 For I am ready to fall, and my pain is ever before me. 18 I confess my iniquity; I am sorry for my sin. 19 But my foes are vigorous, they are mighty, and many are those who hate me wrongfully. 20 Those who render me evil for good accuse me because I follow after good. 21 Do not forsake me, O Lord! O my God, be not far from me! 22 Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation!

Congregational Singing

Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise

God, the Uncreated One

Yet Not I But Through Christ in me

Scripture Reading (1 John 2:7-17)

Our Scripture reading this morning is 1 John 2:7-17. I’ve asked Stacey to read it and as she comes forward, let me just give a few introductory remarks. 1 John is another book written by the author of the text that we’ve been working through, the Gospel according to John. In 1 John, the author has a significant focus on the incarnation, which is something that false teachers during the latter half of the first century doubted. And he utilizes the incarnation as a reaffirmation of true doctrine that compels genuine believers to exhibit sound doctrine, obedience, and love. Or put another way, he insists that genuine believers will have sound doctrine, they will obey, and they will love; and if they don’t, they aren’t true believers.

The verses that we’re reading focuses on the idea of love. Stacey please read 1 John 2:7-17 for us.

1 John 2:7–17 ESV

7 Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard. 8 At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. 9 Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. 10 Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. 11 But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes. 12 I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake. 13 I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, children, because you know the Father. 14 I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one. 15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

Sermon

Introduction

If you have a Bible with you this morning, we’re in John 14:15-31.

This morning’s sermon continues in this conversation that Jesus has with his disciples and in fact, this section is linked or connected to the previous section of Scripture because the idea in vs. 1-14 can only be accomplished through what vs. 15-31 teaches. Or in other words, Vs. 15-31 moves the conversation forward based on Jesus’ statement that they shouldn’t be troubled in heart. So, Vs. 1-14 tells the disciples to not be troubled and the first reason for them not being troubled is that Jesus is preparing a place for them to dwell with him eternally. Jesus calls his disciples to believe in him, not just from the initial standing of justification by faith alone, but also to the extent that they trust in what Jesus has said because of whom he is.

Vs. 12-14, end that section by telling the disciples that they will do greater works than he has done—and we spent quite a bit of time talking about that last week. I explained that this is a quantitative or qualitative remark—they aren’t going to do more or better works; what Jesus means by greater works is qualified by another statement, that they will do greater works, “because [Jesus is] going to the Father.” Or in other words, the only reason their works are going to be greater is because they now can proclaim and teach the full Gospel because they’re going to witness Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection, and ascension.

This morning’s part of the conversation continues with the mindset that the disciples shouldn’t be troubled, the difference being that whereas vs. 1-14 focused more on the future result of what Jesus was doing, vs. 15-31 focuses more on the now and what enables them to do these greater works; as well as teaching the disciples that if they truly love him, they’ll obey him.

What I’m most excited about concerning this message is its high emphasis on the Holy Spirit. Many of us come from evangelical backgrounds in which the Holy Spirit exists and does something, but we didn’t necessarily talk about it a lot. I think part of the reason for that is because most evangelical churches are trying to distance themselves from the hyper-charasmatic groups of churches. The problem is that to prevent association with those groups, many churches found themselves rarely, if ever, teaching about or speaking about the Holy Spirit; and that’s a problem because the Holy Spirit is God and the Holy Spirit is definitely in Scripture—so to refuse teaching about or speaking about the Holy Spirit is to refuse teaching and talking about God and Scripture.

Now, this message isn’t a comprehensive study of the Holy Spirit, but what it is, is an exposition of some roles that the Holy Spirit fulfills according to Jesus. And I want us to see very clearly what the Holy Spirit does according to Jesus before we jump into the text, so let me just give them to you at the start of the message before we dig into Scripture. According to Jesus in John 14:15-31, the Holy Spirit enables obedience, the Spirit teaches us, and, the Spirit comforts us. Again, that’s not comprehensive, that’s just what Jesus is emphasizing here; and you’ll notice as we continue in John, this isn’t all that the Holy Spirit does for God’s people; Jesus will return to talking about the Spirit later.

He’s emphasizing these three roles of the Spirit, to enable obedience, to teach us, and to comfort us as a second reason for the disciples not to be troubled at his leaving them—Jesus tells them not to be troubled at his leaving them because (1) he’s preparing a place for them and (2) he’s sending the Holy Spirit to them.

Let’s read together John 14:15-31.

John 14:15–31 ESV

15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. 18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” 22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” 23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me. 25 “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. 28 You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29 And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe. 30 I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, 31 but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.

As we study this passage together this morning, we’re going to break it up into two parts based on the Promise of the Holy Spirit. (1) Vs. 15-24, The Promise of the Holy Spirit for Obedience, speaks of the necessity of those who truly believe and claim to love Jesus, actually obeying him. It starts with the simple sentence, “if you love me, you will keep my commandments” and it expounds on what enables them to actually keep God’s commandments, which is the Holy Spirit. (2) Vs. 25-31, The Promise of the Holy Spirit for Teaching and Comfort, then tells the disciples some of the other purposes of the Holy Spirit—the Holy Spirit enables true obedience of God’s commands, the Spirit teaches, and the Spirit comforts. Now, that isn’t an exhaustive list of all the Holy Spirit does, but in this passage, it emphasizes these roles of the Holy Spirit to continue in that mindset of not being troubled at heart. Or in other words, Jesus is emphasizing these to continue the conversation of the disciples not be troubled, because Jesus is preparing a place for them and because Jesus is sending the Spirit to them. Likewise, the promise of the Holy Spirit is given to all that genuinely believe, we see that in Acts 2 and its reiterated throughout the New Testament, which means that the Spirit helps us to obey Jesus, the Spirit teaches us, and the Spirit comforts us.

Prayer for Illumination

The Promise of the Holy Spirit for Obedience (15-24)

Jesus continues this conversation with the disciples in a way that might seem unusual, but we have to remember the context of all that is happening.

This is Jesus’ last week on earth and he knows that it is his last week on earth.

We just read about him telling his disciples that he is about to leave them, but they don’t need to be troubled because he is going to prepare a place for them to dwell with him.

We just saw Jesus exhort his disciples to believe in him wholeheartedly and to do greater works that glorify the Father.

And then its almost as if he completely changes gears in vs. 15, but in reality he’s introducing what’s going to enable the disciples to do greater works than he has done.

And he introduces this, by stating “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”

Now, of course, the first question that you have to ask after reading that statement, is “what commandments is Jesus referring to?” Is he talking about the Ten Commandments? Or is he talking about all of the Old Testament law?

At the very least, it definitely means all of what Jesus had taught and all that Jesus had revealed to them—including his most recent command to them to love one another just like he loves them. How do I know this? By interpreting Scripture with Scripture.

This morning for Scripture reading, we read 1 John 2:7-17, and I chose that passage intentionally because it gives us a rather plain understanding of what Jesus meant as John emphasizes what it means to follow Jesus.

John writes that the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.

And then he makes this statement, “whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness” and then if you skip ahead just a few verses, he says, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”

To obey Jesus’ commands means to walk in the Spirit. To walk in the Spirit means to reject sin and follow truth.

Jesus’ statement in John 14:15, “if you love me, you will keep my commandments” means that if they truly love him like he loves them, then they will walk in the Spirit, they will reject sin, and they will follow truth.

Colin Kruse, “Love for Jesus is not sentimental, but is expressed by keeping his commands, i.e. by responding to all he taught, with faith and obedience. In other passages Jesus’ teaching is described as his word, referring to his teaching as a whole, which people need to accept and obey.”

Conversely, what this means is if you claim to love Jesus, but you don’t actually obey what he’s said through his Word, then the reality is that you don’t actually love Jesus.

Just like John says in 1 John, if you claim to love Jesus but you refuse to obey him, then you’re still in darkness.

Which should cause serious reflection on your own heart.

Jesus says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” And then he continues that qualification by stating what will happen if they love Jesus and keep his commandments. Vs. 16, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.”

Jesus’ statement is that if you love him, which is evidenced by your obedience, he will then ask the Father to give you a Helper, a Spirit that will dwell within you and be in you.

In hindsight, we know exactly what Jesus is talking about here, we know he’s referring to the Holy Spirit, but the disciples don’t have that benefit of hindsight yet, so Jesus tells them that the Spirit is given by God the Father to them

And then Jesus describes what this Spirit is like.

But he splits up the description of the Holy Spirit with another statement. So again, it’s clear that what Jesus is teaching is that the Holy Spirit enables them to obey him, the Spirit teaches them and comforts him, but he doesn’t exactly say that outright. He starts by qualifying the coming of the Holy Spirit with the idea that if they love him they’ll obey him.

And we can actually learn quite a bit about the Holy Spirit through what Jesus calls the Spirit in vss. 16-17, which we’ll talk about momentarily, but I do want to point out, that Jesus starts with explaining who the Spirit is and what he’ll do, and then in vs. 18-24, he jumps back to obeying him, so keep that in mind as we continue through the text.

The Bible tells us in vss. 16-17 that Jesus will ask the Father to send the helper and the Spirit of truth.

The word that’s translated as helper can also be translated as advocate, which gives us yet another idea of what the Holy Spirit does for us—he advocates on our behalf, but I think it’s necessary for us to look at this word in light of the two glosses at hand.

The Spirit is both our helper and our advocate—advocate is a legal term with the idea that this person supports or recommends a particular cause or policy. In John 14, the idea is that the Spirit supports us by coming along side us.

The CSB translates this word as counselor. Put all together and the idea is that the Holy Spirit is one who comes alongside us, who helps us, who advocates for us, and in a very real sense, encourages us.

Jesus then says that this Helper is “even the Spirit of truth.”

This title, is utilized here as well as in John 15:26 and 16:13 all to refer to the Holy Spirit.

And this title clues us into something vitally important. We know with hindsight that the Holy Spirit is given by God to permanently indwell each of his believers and that this Holy Spirit is God, but at the moment of Jesus making this statement, the disciples didn’t.

By calling this Spirit the Spirit of Truth it clues the disciples into who this Spirit is.

Think with me that in last week’s passage, Jesus makes this statement, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” How can Jesus possibly make that statement? It’s because Jesus himself is God himself and God is the way, the truth, and the light.

By calling the Holy Spirit the Spirit of truth it tells us that the Spirit is inherently connected to God in Jesus; and it tells us that this inherently connected Spirit is connected because he is God, just like Jesus is God, and the Father is God.

And this Spirit of truth who is God himself, indwells each genuine believer, we know that from vs. 17, “whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.”

This is in contrast to how the Holy Spirit worked in the Old Testament. Prior to the New Testament, and in particular, prior to Acts 2, we know that the Spirit of God would temporarily indwell people, but the promise of the Spirit dwelling with a believer indefinitely didn’t exist.

What this means what that prior to Jesus’ promise in John 14, which is fulfilled in Acts 2, no one was permanently indwelled by the Spirit of Truth.

What Jesus is promising in Vs. 15-17 is that the Spirit of Truth, the Holy Spirit will indwell them and will help them. Now, that might bring up the question of “how does the Spirit help genuine believers?”

And the first answer to that question has already been given, but Jesus expounds on it in vss. 18-24. The first answer to that question is that the Spirit enables obedience—or in other words, apart from the Spirit’s work, no one can obey God.

That is why Jesus tells them that if they love him they’ll keep his commandments and then jumps straight into the necessity of the Spirit indwelling them.

Apart from God, the work of the Spirit, and the atonement of Jesus on the cross, no one can actually obey God

And that’s significant, because it throws away any false notion that you can work your way into heaven or that you can earn your salvation.

Jesus tells the disciples that if they love him, they will keep his commandments; and then he essentially makes the statement, that they can’t possibly keep his commandments unless the Holy Spirit enables them to keep his commandments.

As he continues in vss. 18-20, he then reminds them again that he is leaving, but him leaving isn’t a bad thing. It’s actually a good thing, which he reiterates in John 16:7, “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.”

In Vss. 18-20, Jesus is encouraging them not to think of him leaving as a negative issue, but rather a positive benefit. “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.”

The wording here is a little peculiar, but the idea is actually pretty simple. The idea that Jesus is giving in vss. 18-20 is again pointing back to what he stated earlier in John 14, that they need not be troubled in heart that he is about to leave them.

In fact, you can almost preface these verses with that statement from Jesus, “don’t be troubled in your hearts” because “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. . . Because I live, you also will live.”

Jesus is again encouraging the disciples in light of his impending departure and coupled with what he says in John 16, it’s clear that despite their present discouragement or concern, it’s far better for Jesus to leave them in order for them to receive the Holy Spirit, who will help them to obey Jesus as part of their love for him.

This idea of their obedience of Jesus being the fruit of their love for him, is reiterated in vs. 21, “whoever has my commandments and keep s them, he it is who loves me.” And then it’s given assurance in the latter half of the verse— “And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”

Or put another way, those who genuinely love Jesus, will obey him.

That obedience proves that the person genuinely believes; and that belief results in the Father and Jesus loving them and “manifesting [him] to [them].”

The idea of manifesting him to them might sound unusual because we don’t utilize that word often, but the idea is that Jesus will reveal himself to them, he will make evident who he is to them. Vs. 22-24 pick up on the idea of manifestation because it’s clear that Judas (not Iscariot) doesn’t quite understand something concerning this manifestation. Vs. 22, “Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, ‘Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?’ Jesus answered him, ‘If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mind but the Father’s who sent me.”

Those that truly love Jesus will obey Jesus; those that refuse to obey Jesus in word or deed, reveal that they don’t actually love Jesus.

And the harsh reality, is that it reveals that they don’t actually believe in Jesus.

If they did; they would love him and they would obey him.

Only those that genuinely believe, which is evidenced through their obedience, will actually see the Father and see Jesus.

And that obedience of Jesus, which is a fruit of a genuine believer’s love of Jesus, is only possible through the working of the Holy Spirit within the believer. Or in other words, without the Spirit’s work within you, you cannot obey Jesus. One of the reasons for the Holy Spirit is to help us obey the Word of God, thus the promise of Jesus to send the Spirit was to enable us to obey Him, but this text doesn’t stop with this, it continues by giving us two more reasons for the Holy Spirit in vss. 25-31, let’s re-read those verses.

The Promise of the Holy Spirit for Teaching and Comfort (25-31)

John 14:25–31 ESV

25 “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. 28 You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29 And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe. 30 I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, 31 but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.

The last seven verses of John 14 wraps up this chapter with Jesus pointing out that “these things [he has] spoken to [them], but the Helper, the Holy Spirit, . . . will teach [them] all things and bring to [their] remembrance all that [he has] said to [them].”

The “these things” that Jesus is referring to is everything that he has taught them in this discourse, which includes everything from John 13:31-14:24.

That includes the “new” command to love each other like Jesus’ loves them in John 13:31-35.

This includes the teaching that Jesus is the only way, the only truth, and the only life in John 14:1-14; and that Jesus is preparing a place for them to dwell with him from the same passage.

And, of course, it includes all that we’ve been studying thus far today—that genuine love of Jesus results in obedience and that Jesus is sending the Holy Spirit to be with them.

I would argue, that it really includes all that Jesus had spoken to them while he was dwelling with them and traveling with them—it includes all that Jesus had taught them.

And then he says, “the Helper, the Holy Spirit, . . . will teach them all things and bring to them remembrance of all that he had said to them.”

Or in other words, there was more to be taught, but it’ll be the Holy Spirit that teaches them.

And it’ll be the Holy Spirit that reminds them of what Jesus had taught them.

Put together, vss. 25-26 shows us that Jesus’ earthly ministry was a temporary event, but the Holy Spirit’s role is to come, indwell, teach, and remind.

That might cause you to ask the question, “what exactly does the Holy Spirit teach?” And the answer to that is really in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

The Holy Spirit is what teaches us God’s truth in His Word—when Jesus says, “[the Spirit] will teach you all things,” he has in mind all that Scripture teaches—I’m sure you’ve noticed that one of our prayers before we study Scripture together is a prayer for illumination.

That is a result of the truth of vs. 26, that it is the Spirit that teaches us what God’s truth is through God’s Words.

Because it is the Spirit that teaches us God’s truth.

The second half of vs. 26, speaks of the Spirit bringing to remembrance what Jesus has said—the Spirit does the exact same thing for us today. The Spirit prompts us by reminding us of God’s Word when we need to know God’s truth.

In the case of the disciples, that involved all that Jesus had taught them during his earthly ministry.

In our scenario, it includes all that the Spirit inspired to be written in God’s Scriptures.

The Holy Spirit enables those that it indwells to obey the commands of Jesus, the Spirit teaches those that genuinely believe.

Vs. 27 then starts wrapping up the text. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”

As Jesus wraps up this passage, he gives us one last bit of truth concerning the Holy Spirit and it’s wrapped up in the idea of peace or shalom that Jesus himself provides.

Jesus tells them that he gives peace to the disciples that is different than what the world offers—in fact, anyone who is honest with themselves will admit that it is impossible to find genuine and lasting peace in the things of the world.

There might be a semblance of peace or a temporary peace, but lasting peace only comes from Jesus; and that’s the emphasis that he’s making.

Jesus provides peace because it is his peace.

Thus, because peace comes from him alone, they shouldn’t let their hearts be troubled or be afraid.

And this is where the Holy Spirit ties in. This passage doesn’t outrightly state this, but we know from other passages of Scripture that it is the Holy Spirit that develops peace within us as a result of our relationship with Jesus Christ.

How do we know this? Consider Galatians 5:22-23, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

The fruit of the Spirit are attributes that grow within us as a result of following Jesus; and peace is the third fruit of the Spirit.

Tied in with the idea of not letting their hearts be troubled, of not being afraid, of having peace; we can rightly say that the third role of the Holy Spirit is to provide comfort for God’s people.

This is expounded on in Ephesians 1:13-14 “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.”

Paul in Ephesians 1 is explaining that part of the beauty of the Holy Spirit indwelling each believer is that the Spirit acts as a seal or a guarantee of our salvation, which means despite what is occuring in life, we can have comfort in him.

The Holy Spirit enables obedience, teaches us, and comforts us.

And Jesus closes this chapter, by reminding them again that he is about to leave them to return to the Father and in vss. 29, he tells them that the only reason he has told them that he is about to leave them, is so that when all these things take place, “[they] may believe.”

And in vs. 30, he told them these things and does these things, “so that the world may know that [he loves] the Father.”

Now, I think I’ve heavily emphasized some roles of the Holy Spirit that Jesus expounds on in John 14:15-31; and in doing so, we’ve also learned how these roles influence us as modern-day believers, if we’re genuinely believers. The question is how exactly do we apply these verses to our lives today? So, let’s look at some specific application from each section:

Application

The Promise of the Holy Spirit for Obedience (15-24)—the first section of the passage vss. 15-24 and this section starts with Jesus’ statement that if they genuinely love him, they will keep his commandments. We spoke at length about how his commandments really includes all that he had taught, all that he had said, and all that he will continue to teach and say through the remainder of his life. Because all Scripture is breathed out by God and Jesus is God, we can logically make the conclusion that all Scripture is required to be obeyed because all of Jesus’ words are the very words of Scripture.

So, the question really then is, “how do we obey Scripture?”

And the answer from John 14:15-24, is that apart from the enabling work of the Holy Spirit, you can’t. Those that aren’t genuine believers in Jesus Christ, though they can sometimes be good people and do the right things, can’t obey all that Jesus teaches because part of what Jesus teaches is the necessity of believing in Him alone for salvation.

Part of what Jesus teaches is that the Holy Spirit who enables obedience only indwells those that genuinely believe, thus, apart from genuine belief in Jesus, you can’t obey all of Jesus’ commands.

Only genuine believers can obey all of Jesus’ commands—so for application’s sake, start here. If you don’t believe, then the only way you’ll obey Jesus is to start with repentance, belief, and following Him.

The next question that you might have is “how do we obey all the commands of Scripture?” Are we to literally keep the six hundred plus commands given through the Old Testament to the Israelites? Or are we only to keep the Ten Commandments? Or do we only do what Jesus himself says? Or is this some sort of mystical thing in which Jesus tells us what to do mentally or audibly and then we just follow him:

Let me start by saying that it isn’t some sort of mystical thing—Jesus isn’t a magic eight-ball that you shake to determine which direction you want to go. Hebrews 1 tells us that God doesn’t speak how he used to speak through visions and information given to prophets. He speaks through His Son, Jesus Christ; and we know that the words of Jesus Christ have been given to us in Scripture, thus, if you want to hear from Jesus in order to obey Jesus, the way that you do that is through reading God’s Word and obeying God’s Word.

So, obedience to God is predicated on the fact that you have to read God’s Word in order to know what he has said in order to obey him. The questions are then, do we obey the Old Testament, or do we obey the New Testament, or do we obey just what Jesus has said?

In order to determine this, you have to develop a consistent historical-grammatical hermeneutical approach for interpreting Scripture—in other words, you have to understand Scripture in a consistent way that takes the history and grammar of a passage into account.

For example—in the Old Testament, there are several ceremonial laws concerning how sacrifices are to be made. For the Israelites, these were vitally important because they dictated exactly what they needed to offer to God for the forgiveness of their sins. Thus, they knew what type of animal to use, how exactly to offer the sacrifice, and when to offer the sacrifice. In the New Testament, Jesus is the perfect sacrifice, thus, we no longer have a need to continuously offer more sacrifice. Jesus is our perfect, once-for-all sacrifice. So, those ceremonial laws concerning sacrifices aren’t applicable to a genuine believer.

Or for instance, in the Old Testament there were several laws concerning how Israel as a nation governed itself. The Old Testament explained how Israel was to follow God under the leadership of the patriarchs, the judges, the kings, and eventually the prophets. We could try to transfer all those laws into our modern-day scenario, but there’s a significant problem; we aren’t Israel. So, these social or economic laws concerning governing of Ancient Israel really aren’t applicable to a genuine believer today.

However, there are also several laws throughout the New Testament, that we would typically call moral laws. How the Israelites ought to act, behave, and think. This is where the Ten Commandments would fit in and in these instances because the historical-grammatical hermeneutical approach takes into account the grammar and the history, we have to realize that the moral law of God is predicated on the character of God itself. Or in other words, whereas the ceremonial laws had to do with a temporary means to deal with sin, and the governmental laws had to do with a temporary way for Israel to govern itself; the moral laws have to do with how a believer should respond to God himself, who never changes. Thus, because God doesn’t change, his moral law hasn’t changed. So, for example, the Ten Commandments are still applicable because they’re moral laws and God hasn’t changed.

Another thing to note with these moral laws is this, most of them are repeated by Jesus in the New Testament. Jesus himself says that he did not come to abolish the Law, but that through him the Law might be fulfilled. Or in other words, laws concerning morals—what is right and what is wrong, haven’t changed since the beginning of time—sin is sin regardless of what our culture teaches because it is God who dictates what’s right and what is wrong, not man.

So, when it comes to the moral law of God, the application here is to obey. Obey what the Old Testament teaches concerning right and wrong; obey what Jesus teaches in the New Testament; and obey what is reiterated as right and wrong in the New Testament.

And remind yourself that your obedience to God’s Word isn’t due to you simply working harder to achieve that obedience; it’s only possible through the working of the Holy Spirit within you.

Thus, you aren’t working to obtain salvation and you aren’t working to puff yourself up in your obedience.

You’re obeying because the Spirit has enabled you to obey Jesus and you’re obeying because your obedience shows your genuine love for him.

Our first application then is this—believe in Jesus, rely on the Spirit to help you obey him, and then actively choose to obey all that Jesus has taught throughout the Old and new Testaments as a sign of your love for him. (which by the way, is one of our Core Values as a church, “we desire to encourage growth and nurture obedient service.”

Obey Jesus through the enabling of the Holy Spirit as a sign of your love for him.

The Promise of the Holy Spirit for Teaching and Comfort (25-31)—the last section then concludes this text by reminding us of the comfort that we can have despite Jesus not being physically with us, and in it, Jesus tells us that the Holy Spirit will teach and bring his words to remembrance. And then to conclude the section, he reminds them again to obey him as he goes to be with the Father. I have two final pieces of application based on this last piece of Scripture:

One of the Holy Spirit’s roles is to teach us and to bring the words of Jesus into remembrance. The meaning of this is quite simple, it is the Spirit that illuminates God’s Words to us and it is the Spirit that causes us to remember God’s Word when we reflect on him.

I’m sure you’ve noticed by now, that one of the prayers that we pray in every service is a prayer for illumination—we’re asking the Holy Spirit to reveal God’s truth to us in His Word.

Why do we do this? Because the Holy Spirit teaches us. And apart from the Holy Spirit, we won’t understand God’s Word the way that it was intended to be understood.

How do I know this? Because there are plenty of academic scholars who know the Word of God better than anyone in this room, but because they don’t believe and the Spirit of Truth doesn’t indwell them, they don’t understand the Scriptures the way they were intended to be understood.

It is the Holy Spirit that illuminates and teaches us. It’s the Spirit of God that reminds us of God’s Word throughout the week and it is the Spirit of God that prompts us to remember God’s Word when we’re in conversations and when we’re speaking with people.

But truthfully, unless we’re actively in God’s Word—memorizing it, learning it, meditating on it, and delighting in it, the Holy Spirit won’t have anything to remind us of because we don’t know it to begin with.

How is the Spirit to remind us of something that we haven’t read, and we haven’t learned, and we haven’t meditated on, and delighted in?

The second application is to learn to delight in God’s Word so that the Holy Spirit will teach it to you and so that the Holy Spirit will regularly remind you of God’s Truth

Finally, the Spirit is intended to bring comfort to God’s people, we see that in Jesus’ statement that his peace he gives to us, his peace he leaves you.

I mentioned that this is a sort of peace that is only possible through Jesus Christ. And it is a sort of peace that is only experienced through the indwelling work of the Holy Spirit.

Because this is an otherworldly sort of peace, it is possible to have this peace even when life is difficult and trying. It is possible to experience this peace when all in life seems futile and terrible.

But this experiential peace is only possible through the Holy Spirit’s indwelling work within the believer.

This peace is only experienced in those who genuinely believe in Jesus Christ.

For those that genuinely believe, to find this peace is easy in word, but sometimes difficult in action.

Because it requires for the believer, to cast all their cares to the LORD and to rely wholeheartedly on him.

It requires for the believer, to run to Jesus.

It requires the believer to place their complete trust and faith in Jesus alone.

But for the genuine believer, who delights in God’s Word and obeys him, there is genuine peace is God through Jesus and it is experienced as a working of the Holy Spirit.

So, the last application is to run to Jesus alone to experience genuine peace through the Holy Spirit.

And by the way, since all three of these applications are based on the working of the Holy Spirit, might I suggest that there is a need to ask the Holy Spirit to do these things every single day. Ask the Spirit to help you obey, ask the Spirit to teach you and bring God’s Word into remembrance, and ask the Spirit to cause you to experience genuine peace.

Put simply, John 14:15-31 teaches us to (1) obey Jesus as a sign of our genuine love for him, (2) seek to learn God’s truth through the teaching work of the Holy Spirit as you delight in his Word, and (3) experience genuine peace through the work of the Holy Spirit.

And again, since the Spirit is responsible to enable us to obey, to teach us as we delight in God’s Word, and it is responsible to help us experience genuine peace through Jesus Christ, ask the Spirit to do these things for you each and every day.

Pastoral Prayer

Congregational Singing

O Lord, My Rock, and My Redeemer