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This morning we are going to be looking in scripture, in the Gospel of John, Chapter 14, for our theme for the month of March, which is “Is God still with me?”
Today we are going to see Jesus with His disciples as He shares with them that He is always with them and will never abandon them or leave them alone.
I recall hearing a story one time about a typical suburban couple living in a typical suburban neighborhood.
We will just call them Wayne and Wanda.
Now they did not consider themselves to be really good neighbors but when they saw a moving truck across the street, they decided they would do something neighborly for their new neighbors.
Wanda liked to bake and was especially good at chocolate chip cookies.
She made up a batch and her and Wayne took them over to meet the new neighbors.
When a lady came to door Wanda said “Hi, we live across the street and we just wanted to welcome you to the neighborhood with some homemade chocolate chip cookies.”
The lady at the door looked a little surprised.
She said "Thank you very much for your kindness, but uh, you see we are not moving in, we are moving out.
We have lived here for three years.
It is hard to imagine anything much more embarrassing than that.
I’m sure that made their neighbors feel really special.
But you know what, a lot of us feel that God is like Wayne and Wanda, and that He has forgotten we’re even here.
A lot of people feel that God doesn’t even know who they are.
It is so easy to feel alone and abandoned.
It is especially easy, when you’ve gone thru some trying times, to feel like God has forgotten who we are.
But as we look in the Bible today, we will find out that God is deeply interested in staying in touch with us.
In John Chapter 14, Jesus had just finished the Passover festival meal in the upper room with His disciples.
Jesus had let them know that He would be betrayed by one of His own and He would soon be executed.
As you might imagine, the disciples were devastated by the news.
A lot of thoughts were running through their heads, not the least of which was, if Jesus were dead, they would all be alone.
Their hopes would be crushed.
But it’s here that Jesus is reassuring them that He was not going to forget them.
He was not going to leave them alone.
Imagine their confusion as Jesus who just told them He would be killed, would not leave them alone.
1: A Counselor (vv.
15-16)
Jesus was very aware that He wasn’t going to be on this earth much longer, He knew that the time had come for Him to leave this world and go to the Father.”
Obviously, this put His followers in a precarious position because any time a leader leaves, it creates a vacuum; it causes a sense of instability.
You are probably familiar with a service called “On Star” that is available on certain GM vehicles.
It is a computer monitoring system, linked with GPS, that provides a number of services to their customers.
If you have a crash and an airbag is deployed, the service will send first responders to your location.
If you are lost, you can push a button, and someone will come on line to help you find your way.
If you lock yourself out of your car, you can call a special number, give them your pass code, and they will remotely open your car.
As you ride down the road in your car, you have the feeling that you are never alone.
Imagine having this kind of service, so much to the point of taking it for granted, and then having it taken away.
It would make you feel somewhat vulnerable and that must have been somewhat similar to what the disciples were feeling.
(16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;)
In verse 16 Jesus says that He was going to send them another Comforter.
The Greek word is “paraklētos” (G3875).
It can also be translated as councilor or advocate.
A councilor or advocate is one who represents you in a court of law and stands by your side to plead your case.
Now, you may be thinking, the only people who need defense counselors are criminals and I am not a criminal.
While that may be true according to the laws of man it’s not true according to the Laws of God.
You see, if we break just one command of God, we are considered to be guilty of breaking them all.
Scripture teaches us that there will be a day when we will stand before God in judgment.
And if we stand before God in judgment, we are going to need an advocate, a counselor, someone to provide us a defense; someone to represent us before God because on our own merits, we are guilty.
That’s where the Comforter steps in.
Jesus said He was going to give His followers a Counselor who’d represent them before God; a counselor who’d be their friend and give them guidance.
You know who this Counselor is?
The Holy Spirit!
The beginning of v. 17 refers to Him as the Spirit of truth.
Of course, the big question is, “How is Jesus with us if He sends someone in His place.
But here’s the answer.
Notice in verse 16 it says that God will send “another” Counselor.
The word “another” means “another of the same kind.”
It means the Holy Spirit isn’t an inferior replacement for Jesus because He’s of the “same kind” as Jesus!
Having the Holy
Spirit with you is the same thing as having Jesus with you!
God sent us the Holy Spirit because we need the Holy Spirit to work as our counselor.
Why?
Because we need a Counselor who’ll defend us before God.
We need a counselor who’ll give us advice and leadership.
When we find ourselves in a position where we are not quite sure what to do, we seek the advice of someone who has some expertise in that subject.
People who have been through what I am going through.
People who have experience in going through what I am going through.
That’s what the Holy Spirit is willing to do for us.
Think about it for a minute.
Can you imagine trying to defend yourself in a court of law for murder if you weren’t a lawyer?
The prosecuting attorney would pick you apart because you wouldn’t have the same knowledge of the law that he does.
That’s why in our country we have the right to counsel because very few people can actually defend themselves in a court of law.
And the same thing’s true in God’s court.
Yet God, in His grace, has sent one to defend us, to stand up for us and give us comfort.
The Holy Spirit knows how to defend us; how to take care of us and be there for us.
We’re told in Romans 8
The Holy Spirit knows how to speak for us before God.
He knows God’s language!
Jesus hasn’t abandoned us.
He’s given us the Holy Spirit to be our Counselor, to be the one who defends us and give us direction in life.
How is God with you?
He’s with you because He’s sent a Counselor.
How does the Counselor accomplish His mission?
He Lives in You (v.
17)
The Holy Spirit lives with in believers so we can live off Him.
This was an important point Jesus was making to His followers.
At this time, they’d been with Jesus for 3 years.
Jesus had taught them, fed them, been their friend and worked w/them.
But when He went back to heaven, He sent the Holy Spirit to take His place within the life of all His followers.
Why?
So that the Holy Spirit could work within them to remind them of the things Jesus had taught them; to keep them on the right path.
Jesus talked about the importance of the Holy Spirit in John 16: 8 when He said:
8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
It’s the Holy Spirit who prompts us in our Spirit of what’s right and what’s wrong.
He gives us a holy nudge in the direction we should go in living our lives.
When the Holy Spirit is in our lives, He also guides us to live the right way.
Let me share with you how important the Holy Spirit is in your life.
Having the Holy Spirit within us is so important for another reason as well.
Knowing He’s within us should prompt us to live our very best life.
It’s very easy for us to slip into sinful living when we don’t feel like there’s anyone there watching us.
I know you’ve seen the Las Vegas commercials.
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