God gives us the Holy Spirit.
Notes
Transcript
John 14:1–5 (CSB)
“Don’t let your heart be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, so that where I am you may be also. You know the way to where I am going.”
“Lord,” Thomas said, “we don’t know where you’re going. How can we know the way?”
Over and over, we see Jesus’ followers trying to see things with their own limited perspective and understanding.
Can you relate? Have you ever found it hard to fully understand the Bible or the things Jesus said?
In this passage, Thomas, one of Jesus’s disciples, asked where Jesus was going and how Jesus’ followers would know the way to get there. They were worried Jesus was going to leave them behind.
The disciples wanted to be wherever Jesus was because Jesus was their guide! He was how they understood God, the world, their big questions, and their purpose in life.
What is interesting is verse 4
You know the way to where I am going.”
Throughout His ministry, Jesus had been showing them the way, but as Thomas indicated they did not fully understand.
They would remain puzzled until Jesus’s death and resurrection and until the release of the Spirit. They had all the information but they could not put it together.
Jesus was giving his disciples surety that although his time to leave is approaching, he was leaving them with hope.
“If you love me, you will keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever. He is the Spirit of truth. The world is unable to receive him because it doesn’t see him or know him. But you do know him, because he remains with you and will be in you.
The scriptures teaches us that our Body is the temple. John is teaching is the proper temple for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
The temple must be a Heart-Filled one towards God.
This is the preparation of the promised gift.
Jesus knew that they would need help to fulfil their task, and the promise of the Counselor must be seen in this context.
Jesus said this Comforter, this Counselor will be with you forever. In the Old Testament the Spirit did not remain in a person, here is some examples:
The Spirit departing King Saul
Now the Spirit of the Lord had left Saul, and an evil spirit sent from the Lord began to torment him,
Here is another incidence when David was confessing his sin.
Do not banish me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
This is why Jesus made the point that now, those who believe in him, love him and keep his commandments, the Holy Spirit will dwell in them forever!
“I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Because I live, you will live too. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, you are in me, and I am in you.
Orphans: An orphan is a child whose parents have died.
Now At this point Judas (not Iscariot) saw a problem.
Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it you’re going to reveal yourself to us and not to the world?”
The world is those who values, beliefs, and morals are different and rebellious to God’s.
Now I want to break this down even further.
He is the Spirit of truth. The world is unable to receive him because it doesn’t see him or know him. But you do know him, because he remains with you and will be in you.
The word seek in Greek means To Discern.
The word know in Greek means To Know Through Personal Experience.
The Apostle Paul said
But the person without the Spirit does not receive what comes from God’s Spirit, because it is foolishness to him; he is not able to understand it since it is evaluated spiritually.
Judas first needed to understand who the world is, and why they would not receive the Holy Spirit.
And so Jesus answered him with this
Jesus answered, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.
When the sinner trusts Christ, he/she is born again and the Holy Spirit immediately enters their body and bears witness that they are a child of God.
John 14:25–26 (CSB)
“I have spoken these things to you while I remain with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you.
Now for the disciples, they would later (After Jesus Death & Resurrection) recall the teachings of jesus since they have heard the teachings while they were with him.
“Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Don’t let your heart be troubled or fearful.
Jesus wants to give us his peace. But many people find their peace in drugs, alcohol, sex, food, pornography etc.
But listen to what Isaiah said about Jesus
Isaiah 9:6 (CSB)
For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on his shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
Jesus brought his Peace into Flesh, carried it while on Earth, Died to make it ours, and he left it for it to be implanted and maintained by His Holy Spirit in our Hearts.
As followers of Jesus, we’re promised the same Holy Spirit Jesus promised to the disciples so long ago.
Here is what I want you all to understand: The Holy Spirit
Lives within everyone who belongs to Jesus.
Is powerful enough to raise Jesus from the dead.
Gives us new life through Jesus.
Leads us.
Is with us and within us.
