[0:00] John chapter 14 verse 15 to 31 that's on page 182 in the Red Church Bible.
[0:14] Jesus promises the Holy Spirit verse 15 if you love me you will obey what I command and I will ask the Father and he will give you another counselor to be with you forever the spirit of truth the world cannot accept him because it neither sees him nor knows him but you will know him for he lives with you and will be in you I will not leave you as orphans I will come to you before long the world will not see me anymore but you will see me because I live you also live on that day you will realize that I am in my Father and you are in me and I am in you whoever has my commands and obeys them he is the one who loves me he who loves me will be loved by my Father and I too will love him and show myself to him then Judas not Judas Iscariot said but Lord why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world Jesus replied if anyone loves me he will obey my teaching my Father will love him and he will come to him and make our home with him he who does not love me will not obey my teaching these words you hear are not my own they belong to my Father who sent me all this I have spoken while still with you but the counselor the Holy
[1:27] Spirit whom the Father will send in my name will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you peace I leave you my peace I give you I do not give to you as the world gives do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid you heard me say I am going away and I am coming back to you if you loved me you would be glad that I am going to the Father for the Father is greater than I I have told you now before it happens so that when it happens you will believe I will not speak with you much longer for the Prince of this world is coming he has no hold on me but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me come now let us leave thanks so much Lucy well this morning we're picking up on a theme that we've been looking at together over the last few weeks looking at the gift that God had promised the promised of a new heaven and a new earth how that gift was initially spoiled when we looked at the fall and how Jesus came to restore that and to make it possible for us to enjoy that but what about now well this morning we are going to see how we can enjoy the gift forever so this morning what I want to do is I want to give you the perfect gift a gift that you can enjoy forever because it is a gift that lasts forever a gift you can enjoy forever because it is a gift that lasts forever before we look at it we're going to pray and ask for God's help as we do this now so let's pray
[3:26] Father we are thankful for all that you do give to us you are a generous good and kind Father one who does not withhold all that is good and right and best for us but you give good gifts and we pray and we ask that you would help us to see comprehend and experience the gift you have come to give we pray for your Holy Spirit that we may not only understand your word but that it also would change us transform us and help us to live as your people we ask this in Jesus name
[4:33] Amen so I want to give you the perfect gift a gift that you can enjoy forever because it lasts forever three big things we're going to look at first the promise gift if you go back to John's Gospel chapter 1 that's where we're going to start keep your finger in John 14 but we will be back in John 14 very quickly John's Gospel opens up with this wonderful announcement of the coming of Jesus Christ into the world verse 1 says in the beginning so before the world was created before time as we know it began in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God and then look what happens in verse 14 the word became flesh and made his dwelling among us it's a spectacular awesome statement the word becoming flesh
[5:50] Jesus Christ who is God the creator God who was there in the beginning takes on humanity and comes into our broken world Jesus Jesus literally moves into our neighbourhood he moves into our street as it were he comes to make his home among us to deal with the chaos and disorder that we see all around us as we've been thinking over these last couple of weeks Jesus came into the world to reverse the effects of sin in our lives and undo the consequences of the curse in our world he came to renew and restore God moved in so as Jesus began to forgive people their sins as he began to heal the sick he was giving us a picture a glimpse of the new creation the world that he will one day bring about and how people like you and me can be a part of it a world without suffering a world without sin that is what he has promised to us and it all comes to us through
[7:18] Jesus Christ the God man who moved into the world for us and that's what we have to look forward to so look at John's gospel chapter 14 and verse 1 John's gospel chapter 14 verse 1 so at John 1 we have the theme of Jesus moving into our home if you like into the world and this is what it says here chapter 14 verse 1 do not let your hearts be troubled trust in God trust also in me in my father's house are many rooms if it were not so I would have told you and I am going there to prepare a place for you and if I go and prepare a place for you I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am Jesus moved into our broken home so that we can go and be with him in his perfect home he moves in with us so that we can move in with him for eternity this is what it's about this is what he came to do and we look at that and we go that is amazing that's great but what about now who's going to help us today who's going to be with us as we continue to live in a sin cursed broken and disordered world because each one of us have stories to tell even perhaps of the last few days of when life has been hard difficult painful where we've experienced struggles so we're not home yet so who's going to be helping us right now as we continue to live in this broken world well
[9:26] Jesus made a promise he made a promise to his disciples and it's a promise to you and I so verse 16 chapter 14 verse 16 he says I will ask Jesus says I will ask the father and he will give you another counsellor to be with you forever well who's this counsellor well look down at verse 26 the counsellor is the Holy Spirit the counsellor is the Holy Spirit this is God's gift to you and I the Holy Spirit is a gift that has been requested by Jesus Jesus is saying I want to give the gift of the Holy Spirit and the Father gives the gift to his children it's not a gift that we can earn or deserve he's not someone that we can manipulate or try and trick or cajole in some kind of way the
[10:31] Spirit is a generous gift from God to his children to his disciples so I know Christmas is over but the gifts keep on coming it's like Christmas lasts forever yes God has moved into the world yes we will move into his home but God is moving into our lives to be with us forever so the gift is promised second this gift is to be experienced because the Holy Spirit is not just an idea or a thought he is a living person he is to be known and he is to be experienced within our lives so who is he well we read in verse 16 don't we that he is another counsellor another counsellor simply means that he is one just like
[11:36] Jesus not different not someone else not something else but another one just like Jesus look what Jesus says about himself back in verse 6 well known verse Jesus says I am the way and the truth and the life Jesus says I am the truth now look at verse 17 what does it say at the beginning of verse 17 it says that the spirit talks about the spirit of truth so is Jesus the truth or is the spirit the truth which one is right well the answer is yes isn't it the answer is yes because the spirit is truth
[12:37] Jesus is the truth because the spirit is the spirit of Jesus it's it's the same person we often think of Jesus if he were here maybe you dream about it or think about it I certainly do if Jesus were here right now sitting there in the seat physically sitting there we'd be better off what would it be like if Jesus was sitting there right now with the point is Jesus is here by his spirit he is here by his spirit the only difference is we can't see him but he's here look at verse 17 he's the spirit of truth the world cannot accept him because it neither sees him or knows him but you know him because he lives with you the spirit is with us the spirit of
[13:40] Jesus is with us which brings us on to the fact that he is with you verse 16 let's read verse 16 again he says I will ask you ask the father he will give you another counsellor to be with you you know when Jesus walked this earth when he was with his disciples he could eat with them drink with them talk with them go down the road with them but if James and John all of a sudden decided and said look we're off fishing today then Jesus would no longer be with them because Jesus couldn't be in two places at once that was part of the limitations Jesus had as he walked on the earth but now that he has given us the gift of his Holy Spirit that means he can be with all of his disciples all of the time wherever we are he's not limited to one particular place or time he is with us all of the time look at verse 18 he says to us
[14:51] I will not leave you as orphans I will come to you an orphan is somebody without a parent without the loving protecting care of a mum or a dad and Jesus is saying I won't let you be like that you will never ever be on your own you will never be abandoned you'll never be without me wherever you are and whatever you do I will be present with you you see Christmas does last forever Christmas isn't just confined to one time of Jesus coming down for that period that's it I will be with you forever Christmas continues and it gets even better look at verse 23 Jesus replied if anyone loves me he will obey my teaching my father will love him and we will come to him and make our home with him isn't that incredible we
[16:03] God father son and holy spirit we will come and make our home with you God who made the universe who made you and me moves into our lives he takes up residence in our lives remember what we read at the beginning of John's gospel the word became flesh and made his dwelling among us he moved into the home of this world but it goes a step further doesn't it he moves into our lives we mightn't have the physical Jesus living among us but we do have the presence of Jesus living in us and through this act through this promise God is saying to his people you know what I can't get close enough to you because
[17:04] I care for you because I love you so much I want to get as close as possible to you the final act of a Christian marriage is to move in with your spouse it's a sign of commitment a sign of loyalty a sign of faithfulness I dedicate my life I'm going to move in with you you are saying to your spouse as you move in together that I love you I care for you but God is doing that he is committed to us in that covenantal marriage that faithful commitment and loyalty to his children to those who trust him I love you I care for you I move into you in your life to be with you look at the end of verse 17 again he says you know him for he lives with you and will be in you
[18:08] Christmas lasts forever because he is in us as we move on in verse 16 let's read it again I will ask the father and he will give you another counselor to be with you forever Jesus Jesus' physical presence when he lived on this earth was for 33 years he was born he lived he died but now Jesus sends his spirit that means there will never be a time when he is not with us there will never be a time when he is not with us look at verse 19 Jesus says before long the world will not see me anymore but you will see me because I live you also will live now
[19:09] Jesus is saying look before long Jesus knows that his death and resurrection are about to happen that's very very close and he says when that happens he says the world will no longer see him now whenever John the writer here of this gospel speaks about the world he is talking about people of the world races languages different nations people who are sinful people who are separated from God people who need rescued by God so we read in John 3 16 God so loved the world it's not the physical world it's the people of the world that God loves he loves the guilty he loves rebels he comes to save us and change us and now here in verse 19 he's saying the world will no longer see him meaning those who have rejected
[20:10] Jesus those who have refused Jesus will not see him but because the spirit is in us even today there's a sense in which we see him we know him we can enjoy him even death won't break the unity that we have with Jesus because our death means that we will see him face to face for all eternity the world will not because they don't know him but because we have the spirit the spirit is there to remind us that we will and that we have him in our lives so we have been given this promise of an amazing gift another counselor Jesus himself by his spirit with you wherever you go whatever circumstances you face in life whatever troubles or struggles you may go through he is with you forever well all that is great what can we expect the spirit to do in our lives well the gift of the spirit is to be enjoyed our relationship with God is to be enjoyed because the spirit is not just an idea or a thought he is a person and as a person he is actively at work in our lives and his work is to be experienced and his work is to be enjoyed so I want to give you three very quick applications if you like three things that you can take away three gifts that you can enjoy that the holy spirit will work in your life here's the first one to know
[22:13] Jesus better what a great gift to know Jesus better that's what the spirit does he helps us to know him better look at verse 17 we read this a moment ago we learned there that he is the spirit of truth now what does it mean that he's the spirit of truth well have a look at chapter 15 verse 26 John 15 verse 26 he says there when the counsellor comes whom I will send to you from the father the spirit of truth who goes out from the father he will testify about me or look at chapter 16 and verse 13 but when he the spirit of truth comes he will guide you into all truth he will not speak on his own he will speak only what he hears and he will tell you what is yet to come so the spirit of truth is the spirit who speaks the truth about
[23:43] Jesus he testifies about Jesus so that we can know Jesus better you see the birth of Jesus is only the beginning of the story there's so much more that we can know and learn and experience about Jesus and so as we read God's words for the spirit is the author of God's words as we read it the spirit enables us to understand and to clearly see who Jesus is so that we can know him better I can pick up this word this bible and read it and it has no effect on my life whatsoever but what the spirit does is the spirit takes that word and helps us to see Jesus for who he is so that we may know him better so that's the first gift that we get and that we receive from the spirit we know
[24:53] Jesus better the second gift that we can take away is that he will help us to obey Jesus he enables us to obey Jesus do you struggle to obey I do it's hard but he will help us to obey look at verse chapter 14 verse 15 chapter 14 verse 15 he says if you love me you will obey what I command verse 21 whoever has my commands and obeys them he is the one who loves me or verse 23 Jesus replied if anyone loves me he will obey my teaching my goodness all this talk of obeying that's hard now that doesn't mean that we first have to obey that if I build up enough obedience points
[26:04] God is going to give us his spirit so I've obeyed well this week therefore that I have the spirit this week but I disobeyed badly today therefore I don't have the spirit that's not right he's talking here to people who have the spirit and the sign and the evidence that the spirit is at work within our lives is obedience how do I know if the spirit is living within me because I will obey and the spirit enables us not only to understand God's word he enables us and equips us and helps us to obey because in and of myself I cannot obey I cannot deal with the sin in my life on my own I need the power of the Holy Spirit to say no to sin and yes to Jesus and he gives us that gift the gift of the spirit to know
[27:07] Jesus and to obey Jesus so that's the second gift that we can take away that we can have and enjoy and the third one is this the gift of being loved by Jesus yes Jesus loves us but do we experience that love in our lives his love will never change his love is constant but there's a difference between knowing and experiencing because the spirit deepens God's love for us look at verse 21 he says whoever has my commands and obeys them he is the one who loves me he who loves me will be loved by my father he will be loved by my father and I too will love him and show myself to him you see as the spirit helps us to know
[28:21] Jesus better as the spirit enables us to obey Jesus' commands so we know and experience the deep love of God he who loves me will be loved by my father and I too will love him you see there's a cycle that's happening here the more we love God the more we obey him and the more we obey him the more we experience and know his love it's only within the dynamic of an obedient and growing relationship that we know and experience and feel his love and the spirit is there to deepen that love to grow that love within us so that's not just a concept out there but a reality in here so three amazing gifts that we can enjoy to know
[29:27] Jesus better we all know Jesus it's not a test it's not an exam to see how much we know intellectually but to know Jesus who he is what he's done what he's come to do what he does in your life we can know more and he's saying I'm here to help you know more and we all struggle to obey him to walk in his way but he says I'll give you the gift so that you can follow my way and enable you to say yes to me and he gives us that gift so that we might love him more and experience his love deeper within our lives Christmas lasts forever because God has not only moved into the world he's not only preparing a home which we will move into but he has moved into the home of our hearts Christmas lasts forever forever and it is to be enjoyed forever let's pray father we thank you for the gift of your spirit requested by the
[30:58] Lord Jesus and given by generous caring and loving father the spirit of Jesus in our hearts in our lives when we when we trust you we thank you so much and we pray for his work in our life as we read your word that we would know Jesus better that we would see who he is and that in the coming year we will know him better we ask for your holy spirit so that you would enable us to obey you not to obey what the world has to say not to obey what our own hearts desires are but to obey you for we know that everything that you have for us is right and best and good and we ask also for your holy spirit so that we may know and experience your love father help us we are needy people we cannot live life as you call us to on our own we we thank you for these gifts and for all that you have done for us in
[32:25] Jesus name amen I and what I