Jesus goes away - overview

[0:00] Please turn to John 13 and 14, particularly into chapter 14.! And we're going to look into these chapters, the next four sermons, that's this Sunday and the following Sunday.

[0:16] And this afternoon, this morning, I want to really just think one thought, which is what happens if Jesus isn't here?

[0:27] Yeah. So there is such a thing as Ben and Jerry's ice cream, am I right? Yes. Okay, does anybody know who Ben and Jerry are? Some people from Vermont.

[0:38] Some people from Vermont. Are they nice people? They seem to be. They seem to be nice people. Are they living people? Yes. We believe so. Okay. Thank you for that.

[0:50] But I see that many of the people who refer to Ben and Jerry's ice cream have no idea who Ben is or Jerry and no idea what sort of people they are. And does it matter?

[1:01] Is the ice cream nice? Yes. Okay, that's the main thing, isn't it? Does it matter whether they ever even existed or whether it is a trade name and, perish the thought, there is no Ben and there is no Jerry?

[1:14] I mean, it might be the case. Yes. Some brands are like that. They have, you know, it's such and such farm, Sunshine Farm. There is no Sunshine Farm. My mum used to work for a firm of solicitors called Doolittle and Dally.

[1:29] Which you might say is an apt name for all solicitors. But I really wonder, did Mr. or Mrs. Doolittle and Mr. or Mrs. Dally ever exist?

[1:46] Or was it just a good name to put so that people would, oh yeah, Doolittle and Dally. Good name for us solicitors, that. It's said of some of our politicians that they are regular Anglicans.

[2:05] Now, do you think you could be an Anglican whether or not Jesus existed? It's an interesting question, isn't it?

[2:16] Do you think you could be, you could say, I'm an Anglican whether or not you thought Jesus was still alive? Interesting question.

[2:30] Do you think you could say, I am a Christian, whether or not Jesus ever existed? That's what I was going to say too.

[2:43] Do you think you could say you were a Christian whether or not Jesus is still alive? I think not. But that's what we're going to look at.

[2:56] Because Christianity is so much connected to the actual person, Jesus. We were just reading at home the other day when Jesus talks to the woman at the well.

[3:09] And she says, I've heard that when Messiah comes, he'll explain everything to us. And Jesus says, I who speak to you am he.

[3:21] It's me. And that is very typical of Christianity. That it comes down to, it's all about Jesus. You know, if you've heard this expression, it's not all about you.

[3:36] But Christianity is all about Jesus. And what I want us to think about this morning is how impossible it would be to subtract Jesus from Christianity and be left with anything useful at all.

[3:51] I have to say, I think you could subtract Jesus from being an Anglican. This is slightly cruel, isn't it? You could say, well, I go to church.

[4:02] I come away from church. I say all the words. I stand up when everybody else stands up. I sit down when everybody else sits down. If that's what an Anglican is, I could be an Anglican. And you could do that whether Jesus existed or not.

[4:16] Now, I'm, pardon? Or a Baptist. But I'm just, I was thinking of all the politicians that lined up and said they were practicing Anglicans. Which, I'm being a preacher.

[4:31] I'm just making a point. You see what I mean? No disrespect. I just chose that as a particular example. How could anyone be a Christian without Jesus' living personal presence?

[4:50] That's what I'm going to ask and think about this morning. And in the text that we have, which was read, the question arises because Jesus says to his disciples, I'm going away.

[5:05] Turn to John 13 and 14. Jesus says in chapter 14, verse 2, I am going. I won't be here any longer.

[5:19] And for the disciples, for the past three years, they've gradually learnt that what they have is Jesus. And then Jesus says, I won't be here.

[5:29] I'm going away. And you wonder what they have left. He says it in chapter, in verse 3. If I go, et cetera, et cetera. And verse 5.

[5:41] And Thomas says, we don't know where you're going. And you could almost detect the anxiety of the disciples. The master's going. What sort of mess does that leave us in?

[5:55] How can we be anything? You know, we were getting towards the idea of being Christians. Except they hadn't called it that yet. But Jesus is going, well, what are we left with? Verse 12.

[6:08] Jesus says something, something, something. Because I am going to the Father. And chapter 16, verse 5.

[6:20] Chapter 16, verse 5. Now I am going to him who sent me. Yet none of you asks me, where are you going? Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. So the disciples were really grieved by the idea that Jesus would no longer be there with them.

[6:44] So that's what we're thinking about. What happens when Jesus goes away? His absence is a big issue in the chapters that we have.

[6:55] 13, 14, 15, 16, 17. His going was a big issue for the disciples. 13, 21. He has said, one of you is going to betray me.

[7:13] Jesus was very upset about that. It says, after he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, I tell you the truth, one of you is going to betray me. Jesus was upset about it. And verse 33, my children, I will be with you only a little longer.

[7:31] Imagine, he puts himself like a parent and saying, kids, mummy won't be here much longer. Kids, daddy won't be here much longer.

[7:42] My children, I won't be here much longer. What a thing to say. What's in verse 36? And Simon says, where are you going? You know, like a child would say, you know, mum has cancer.

[7:57] Says, kids, I'm afraid I won't be here much longer. Well, what's happening, mummy? Where are you going? Jesus was going away. And I think I've already itemized quite a few of these verses.

[8:10] And Jesus speaks about the issue of his going. What will it be like, says Peter, when you're not here? How are we going to manage, says Thomas, when we're not here?

[8:25] And Judas, not Iscariot, says, what's going to go on when you're not here? And I want to ask whether we would have the same thought.

[8:39] How is it for you? Do you think Christianity, your Christianity, can function without Jesus?

[8:52] Would you carry on whether Jesus was there or not? If you think of Shakespeare, well, Shakespeare doesn't have to be alive, does he?

[9:07] We don't really have to know where Shakespeare lived. We've got his plays. That's enough, isn't it? J.R.R. Tolkien. None of us knows what sort of guy he was.

[9:20] We don't know what he was like to have dinner with. We've got his books. We've seen his movies. He would have turned in his grave, probably. Do we miss him?

[9:32] No, life continues as normal without J.R.R. Tolkien. You can get the movies off Netflix or whatever it is, and that's fine. But the Christian life without Jesus, is that possible?

[9:48] Do we miss him? So can we do church? If Jesus was not here, would we just do the same things again? Come along at 11 o'clock?

[9:59] Sing the first hymn? Say words into midair? Do the next hymn? Sit down? Stand up? Listen to a talk? Go home? Jesus wasn't here? Would we say, well, it doesn't matter.

[10:11] Live our lives? Go to work, 9 o'clock on Monday? Come home? Have tea? Catch up with a DVD?

[10:23] Whatever it is? Do the gardening? Do that whether Jesus was around or not? Would it make any practical difference? So why should, why should be, why should the presence of Jesus be a big issue?

[10:41] Because I think it should. I think we should be aghast at the idea of even thinking about doing church if there was no Jesus. Or living the Christian life if there's no Jesus.

[10:53] What in the text are the issues when Jesus goes? Well, here's one for a start off. Jesus had the key role as an evangelist.

[11:08] All the people that had become followers had pretty much become followers because of Jesus. He was so good at speaking to people. He knew exactly the right thing to say.

[11:19] He knew how to challenge people. He knew how to get inside their hearts. And he was the great evangelist. And you say, well, hold on a minute. Andrew, what is it in chapter 41?

[11:31] Chapter 1 verse 41. Andrew. Yes, Andrew. He was an evangelist. He went to find his brother Simon and told him we found the Messiah and he brought him to Jesus.

[11:43] Jesus. We say, he did do evangelism. He did tell somebody, but he brought him to Jesus. Suppose there's no Jesus there to bring him to.

[11:55] He can't do it. Or the woman at the well in chapter 4 verse 42. She was a witness, wasn't she? Well, she was.

[12:05] But in chapter 4 verse 42, the villagers say to the woman, we no longer believe just because what you have said.

[12:16] We have heard for ourselves. And we know that this man really is the savior of the world. So the villagers said, I'm interested in what you say, woman at the well.

[12:27] But I want to go and sit with Jesus. I'd like to have a cup of coffee with Jesus. And having done that, when they actually met him, then they became believers.

[12:38] Now we know. No, Jesus can't be done. So evangelism becomes zero. And if you think now of what this would mean to the disciples, just think of all the ways they had related personally to him.

[12:58] Just in the bit before, Peter has been trying to, been the washing of the feet. And in chapter 13 verse 8, Jesus, Peter had said, you never wash my feet.

[13:14] And Jesus said, unless I wash you, you have no part with me. And then Simon Peter says, okay, well not just my feet, but my hands and my head as well. Do the whole thing. But you see, what got to Peter was the idea he would have no part in Jesus.

[13:34] Now Peter might have said, oh that's fine, I can remember, you know, I've got some of your words written down. I'll have a few photos of you. We've done a few selfies, that's fine. But he wants to have a part in Jesus.

[13:50] And the idea of not having a part in Jesus fills him with horror. Or what in the same meal, John, it says in verse 25, he lent back against Jesus and had a little conversation, a little private conversation.

[14:09] Who's the one who's going to betray you? Sort of lent back against Jesus. And for John, the idea that there would be no Jesus to lean back against. You know, they were very close, weren't they?

[14:19] You'd only lean back against somebody you're really quite close to. Who is it? But no Jesus? Couldn't do that, could he?

[14:32] Jesus referred to these people in verse 35 as my disciples. By this will all men know that you are my disciples.

[14:43] You're my disciples. You're not disciples of a denomination that I'm going to set up. You're not followers of a particular philosophy which I will just leave with you.

[14:55] You are disciples of me, says Jesus. You're my disciples. And if there's no Jesus, then who are they going to follow? What on earth would that mean?

[15:08] Chapter 14, verse 1. Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God. Trust also in me.

[15:18] And they'd learnt to do that. They'd learnt to trust Jesus. So he says to them, we're going to go to the other side of the lake. And they say, really?

[15:32] He says, get in the boat, we'll go. And they learn to trust him. And Jesus says, walk on the water. Not walking on water. But they learn to trust him. And they don't know where the food's coming from.

[15:44] And Jesus says, no problem. Bring me what you've got. You've got some loaves and fishes. That's fine. And they learn to trust him. And he's going away. Well, what are they going to do?

[15:56] Who are we going to bring our loaves and fishes to? Who's going to tell us what to do? And in chapter 14, verse 15, Jesus says to his disciples, if you love me.

[16:10] And the presumption is they did love him. So if he goes away, they're going to be sad, aren't they? If somebody whom you love goes away, you're going to miss them.

[16:22] And they loved him. They did what he told them. They obeyed his commands. And in chapter 15, verse 4, this is the bit about the true vine.

[16:34] Just imagine saying this, if you know you're not going to be there. Chapter 15, verse 4, remain in me and I will remain in you. What a bizarre thing to say if you're not going to be there.

[16:48] And he isn't going to be there. But remain in me. All these things relate to Jesus. Not to Christianity as a philosophy or as a religion or a denomination where you go at a certain time, stand up, sit down, go forward, go back, sing, stop singing.

[17:08] It's not that. It's relating to Jesus himself as a person. And how could they do this if Jesus were dead and gone?

[17:21] Because that's the bombshell, isn't it? I'm going away. Jesus was their advisor.

[17:34] Lord, I'm stuck. What am I going to do about this? Jesus was their master. Jesus was their provider. Jesus was their life giver.

[17:48] To whom else shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, says Peter. And I think it would not be an exaggeration to say that for these men and these men and women, it had come to the point where Jesus was their everything.

[18:05] And if he were not there, to say that the bottom would fallen out of their world would be an understatement. Would you agree? He had become their everything.

[18:17] What's the point of living without Jesus? And so I ask again the question, is that a situation that you feel yourself?

[18:30] Or could you actually carry on with your life quite well, whether or not Jesus was alive, whether or not he'd ever existed? Could you do your religion quite well, whether or not Jesus was alive, whether or not he'd ever existed?

[18:46] Now, let's have a little look about what he says about going away. Because he doesn't just say, I'm going full stop.

[19:00] Chapter 14, verse 2, let's go back over some of these verses. In my father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, I would have told you.

[19:11] I am going there to prepare a place for you. So Jesus is saying, now please understand this, going away, it's not just simply like, I suddenly had been to the doctor and found I've got cancer and I can't stay with you any longer.

[19:27] It's actually much more purposeful than that. I am going to prepare a resting place for you. So there's a sense in which it's like I'm going on ahead.

[19:39] Perhaps if you were emigrating to New Zealand and mummy and daddy says, okay, I've got to go away, but what I'm going to do, I'm going to go away to New Zealand, we're going to buy a house, we're going to decorate it, we're going to get a bedroom ready for you, we're going to get a patio, we can have barbecues, because they do that in New Zealand, unless that's Australia.

[19:59] And I'll get that all ready. So I'm going with that purpose. So there's something beneficial about that.

[20:09] Jesus is definitely saying that. And he's also saying, verse three, 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.

[20:22] So if you think of the emigration again, it says, daddy's going to come back. So he'll go to New Zealand, buy the house, get it all ready, and then come back and make sure you get there.

[20:34] So it's just a temporary absence, and has a purpose, and an end. So that puts a complexion on it. He will take them to be where he is.

[20:47] And then he says other things that are rather baffling. I mean, in chapter 14, verse four, he says, you know the way to the place where I am going.

[20:57] And they say, we don't know. You haven't told us. We don't know what you're talking about. And Jesus says, well, actually you do, if you think about it. Let me explain it again. But in verse 12, he says, now this is rather baffling.

[21:11] I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. Okay. He will do even greater things than these, really, because I am going to the Father.

[21:28] Wow. How does that work? His going will put them in a position to do greater things. Wow. Okay. That's worth thinking about.

[21:39] Chapter 16, verse six, his going is for their benefit. Chapter 16, verse six, because I have said these things, you are filled with grief, but I tell you the truth.

[21:52] It is for your good that I am going away. No, Lord, that can't be right. We want you here. We want you here. We want to be able to ask you questions.

[22:03] We want you to be able to give us answers. We want, we want you to, to provide for us. And Jesus says, well, actually, it's better for you if I go away.

[22:15] There's, there's advantage for you. It's even better than having me there that I go away. That's a strange thing, isn't it? But that's what Jesus says. It seems completely contrary.

[22:29] So it was, worth pondering. And let's do that. So Jesus makes promises about his going away. And I've drawn on the screen a sort of cord with four colored threads going through it.

[22:46] And the way, it seems to me, that chapter 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 operate is to have threads that go through the whole length of that section and they pop up all the way through.

[23:01] And there's themes that keep on recurring. And the themes to me, as I see it, are like this. there's a theme of prayer. Jesus says, when I go away, now prayer will become a really important thing.

[23:18] Prayer. There's a theme of loving obedience, which we'll see in a moment. There's a theme of faith in Jesus' words.

[23:30] And there is a theme of the personal presence and ministry of Jesus through, what he calls the counselor or the comforter or, is it counselor?

[23:44] What have we got? Counselor, comforter, counselor. So, these four strands, what I'd like to do with the remainder of our time this morning is just have a quick look at each of them and then we'll come back to them, God willing, in the next sermon.

[24:01] So, we'll focus on these in the next couple of weeks and today we'll do an overview. So, let's do a little overview of what Jesus says about prayer. He says, I'm going away, but don't be alarmed.

[24:15] Don't think everything comes to a standstill. Don't think nothing can be achieved anymore. Don't think that. Think different. Think that, when I go away, you will do, chapter 14, verse 12, if you're a believer, you will do what I have been doing.

[24:37] So, the work won't come to a crashing halt. You'll do the work I've been doing. Really. You'll be able to talk to people like I talked to the woman at the well and she came to faith and you'll be able to do that.

[24:53] Really. You will. You'll be able to witness in such a way that people believe you and say, now I know for certain that Jesus is the Savior of the world.

[25:05] You'll be able to do that. And you'll do it even greater, verse 12, he will do even greater things than these because I am going to the Father.

[25:16] and you could go off in various tangents about the greater. I don't think Jesus is just inviting us to think of everything he did and then multiply it by a factor of a hundred.

[25:31] So, I don't think he's saying that just as I raised Lazarus from the dead, you guys, every single one of you, if you just have faith in me, you'll raise a hundred people from the dead. I don't think that's the way greater is operating here.

[25:43] I think it would be more along the lines to say Jesus' ministry was, well, the woman at the well and he walked up and down the length and breadth of Israel, didn't he?

[25:58] Population of whatever. I don't know what the population would have been. I'm going to guess. Would it have been a couple of million? I don't know. What's the population of Switzerland?

[26:10] Six million? So, I think not more than the population of Switzerland but you, will go into the whole world and make disciples.

[26:21] You will not just have a period of three years where you're being effective in this but you will have two millennia and more and counting of going and doing what I've been doing and seeing people come to faith.

[26:40] I think that's the way he's going on this. and the fact says Jesus that I am absent will not mean that my power is absent because I will be working verse 13 I will do I will do whatever you ask in my name so that the son may bring glory to the father you may ask me for anything in my name and I will do it.

[27:07] So Jesus says you see this thing about my going away it does not mean that everything comes to a halt it does not mean that my power has suddenly been switched off but it does mean that you learn to be a people of prayer because this power is there through prayer that's what it says isn't it anything is a pretty big promise so let's not try and limit it too much it says anything in my name it says it's not Lord I would like a Ferrari today how will that glorify the father I don't know but it would be very nice to have such a fast car and Jesus said that's not the sort of prayer I'm interested in answering actually it's something that will bring glory to my name that's the sort of prayer but anything along those lines do pray it's really an invitation isn't it it's really an invitation for the church to be a church of prayer so I ask the question are we people of prayer so for you is Christianity something which you say

[28:21] I can't see Jesus right next to me he doesn't ever come to breakfast and sit in the chair next to me but I pray to him and it's just as if he were there because he said ask anything in my and that's what I do I pray let's come to the same thing the life of loving obedience there is a way to walk in relationship with Jesus whereby it does make all the difference that he is alive there is a way to walk in relation to Jesus and he says chapter 14 verse 15 it is a loving obedience if you love me you will obey what I command verse 15 if you so it is still possible to love Jesus it's not like loving

[29:22] J.R.R. Tolkien who is dead and gone can't have a meaningful relationship with him but we can have a meaningful relationship with Jesus you can love me says Jesus you can still do that even when I've gone and you are really loving me and I am really speaking to you and I want you to obey what I command so look at the way this is intertwined chapter 14 verse 21 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 it's him or her obviously do you see how that's intertwined a walk of hearing what Jesus says obeying what Jesus says loving

[30:25] Jesus and in that intimate relationship the father loves back and Jesus loves also and Jesus shows himself to that person it's it's saying here I am in my life I've got to this point I've got the next step to take big step or a small step shall I take that step in the way that Jesus commanded shall I bear that in mind shall I be going that way or shall I go a different way and Jesus says the way to be in relationship with me is to take the steps in the direction that I've said be they big steps or little steps and Jesus actually in another place he says that's exactly how

[31:28] I live I hear what my father says and every time I take a step I take a step in obedience to the father it's not salvation by works it's not saying that earns our salvation but it is a walk now I've been saved now I belong to Jesus how am I going to walk I'm going to walk in obedience to my commands and in particular the commands are to love one another that's his big command which way to walk next which way would you walk next which step are you going to take in 10 minutes time are you going to walk with or will you say right we've finished that it's half past twelve time to go home so we'll forget about Jesus now how does it work for you so this applies to the whole of our lives to the way we use our time to the way we use our leisure to the way we click on web browsers to the way we plan our finances to the way we do our work

[32:44] Jesus is saying if you love me you'll obey what I command who has my commands and obeys them is the one who loves me he who loves me will be loved by my father I too will love him and show myself to him is that the way we want to walk we don't do it perfectly!

[33:03] nobody says that I write this to you that you do not sin but if anyone does sin we have an advocate with the father Jesus Christ the righteous if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness we need that but in principle which way do you plan to walk which way is your heart set on walking with Jesus includes everything includes our relationships includes everything let's look at another strand faith in Jesus words the only Jesus who is the Jesus of the Bible is the Jesus who said stuff there is no such person as a Jesus who never said I am the way the truth and the life no one comes to the father but by me you can't separate

[34:09] Jesus from the things he said do you remember about the wise man built his house upon the rock wise man built his house upon the rock okay what was the rock the man who built his house on the sand heard the words of Jesus the man who built his house on the rock heard the words of Jesus the man who built his house on the sand heard the words of Jesus but did not put them into practice the man who built his house on the rock heard the words of Jesus put them into practice whether you take words of Jesus seriously and in in chapter 14 and 15 and 16 it's all about Jesus saying stuff and he talks about his commands and his teaching he just keeps on coming back to this so I put loads of verses what's 14 23 say if anyone loves me he will obey my teaching verse 24 the words you hear are not my own they belong to the father who sent me verse 25 all this

[35:19] I have spoken to you chapter 15 verse 7 if you remain in me and my words remain in you then you can pray so there is no such thing as a word free Jesus if we're talking about Jesus is Jesus who said stuff and means us to take it seriously and do what he said and Jesus is saying to his disciples I'm going but I want you to live immersed in my words is that right I want you to live immersed in my words I want them to frame your everyday your every thought your every outlook your every attitude so I ask how about you the Jesus who you claim is he a

[36:20] Jesus who said stuff and is he a Jesus whose words you take seriously or is he some other Jesus because there is no other Jesus or perhaps you're just coming towards Christian things would you like to learn the things that Jesus said if that's the way to get to know him would you like to do that and if he told you stuff and taught you stuff would you do it or would you would you say oh that's very nice file that away put that with my national trust membership which I won't be looking at for another year at least fourth thing the personal presence and ministry!

[37:10] Jesus stroke the comforter the counselor and this is really at the heart of these chapters let me just say that the the counselor the comforter the advocate he has different names different ways of translating that word someone is coming it's chapter 14 verse 16 I will ask the father he will give you another counselor and this counselor is the holy spirit and Jehovah's witnesses would say oh the holy spirit is a force you know like electricity you can get zapped by electricity that's what the holy spirit might zap you or gravity gravity can pull you down off a high building with remarkable speed that's what the drawing of the holy spirit is it's and Jesus is saying what

[38:11] I'm referring to is not an impersonal force but a very very special person so chapter 14 verse 16 here's the secret at the heart of this I'm going I'm going away says Jesus I will ask the father who will give you another counsellor to be with you forever the spirit of truth the spirit will come says Jesus from the father at my request and that's exactly what happens on the day of Pentecost that's what Peter says let me read it to you Acts 2 32 God has raised this Jesus to life we're all witnesses of the fact exalted to the right hand of God he has received from the father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear Jesus says I will send the

[39:12] Holy Spirit and because of this verse 18 I will not leave you as orphans but Lord we thought that's exactly what you were going to do you said you were going to go away you said you were going to die we were going to be left as orphans we were not going have anybody and you said I will not leave you as orphans the Holy will be there another person will come to fill up the space that is made by my absence and he will fill that space another counsellor will come not a thing but a person C.S.

[39:58] Lewis the famous Christian writer wrote a book called A Grief Observering which is when he lost his wife and he became a widower and he said that he said she was gone she was absent and nothing could make up for her loss I had the photographs I had the letters I even had strands of her hair in the hair brush that was on the table but none of these could make up for the fact that I none of these things could make up for the fact I did not have her and Jesus says I will not leave you just with things I will send you a person who will be another of whatever

[40:59] I was to you he will be that and he will fill that space I will not leave you as orphans and when the spirit comes he is invisible you cannot see the holy spirit he's like the wind the wind blows where it wants and you see the effects of it but you can't see the wind but when he 14 23 he says when he comes I come when he comes the father comes if anyone loves me 14 23 he will obey my teaching my father will love him we will come to him and make our home with him isn't that amazing Jesus I'm going away you won't see me any longer but I will send you the holy spirit another counselor and when he comes the father comes

[42:00] I come we are there we are there making our home in you with you verse 21 whoever has my commands and obeys them he is the one who loves me who loves me will be loved by my father I too will love him and show myself to him isn't that an amazing thing it is as mysterious to somebody who is not a Christian as it is familiar to somebody who is a Christian somebody who is a Christian they say well it's just obvious isn't it when I pray I have the sense that Jesus is right there when I call on my heavenly father I have the sense that my heavenly father is there he loves well actually it's by the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit can be thought of in terms of his power it's certainly true that there is the spirit is a spirit of power although he isn't usually referred to that in that way but he is powerful the spirit can also be thought of in terms of his performance so you might think of the

[43:15] Holy Spirit in terms of the gifts he enables people to prophesy enables people to speak in tongues cast out demons all those sorts of things but this text does not go down those routes it doesn't say you'll be really powerful when I've gone says Jesus or you'll be able to do all sorts of blinding stuff he says what you will do is you will have me it's not about power or performance but person the Holy Spirit says you were all worried that you couldn't have Jesus with you and rightly so but I will send you one who brings the presence my presence as Jesus into your lives as really as really as really can be and as a Christian you receive the Holy Spirit and you know the near presence of the

[44:18] Father and the Son that's what being a Christian is and I ask you is your Christianity that is your Christianity that because if it isn't that it's not Christianity well this is very substandard Christianity if your Christianity is coming along to a meeting now and again that's it it's not Christianity is it Christianity is communion with God it's prayer it's having the Lord in our lives do you know God Jesus personally in your life please don't be like my rather cruel picture of the Anglican who comes along sings sits down stands up copies something closes the book goes home that person needs to repent and become a

[45:30] Christian because just going through the motions that's not Christianity that person needs to say I've got this wrong I'm not what I thought I was I'm not where I should be I've got this wrong Lord you need to come and deal drastically with me so that I'm just not not just you know an Anglican a Baptist a Presbyterian but I'm a Christian so what have we seen we've seen that Jesus says I'm going away but that doesn't mean the end of everything but it means the beginning of a new way of living the Christian life which is by prayer!

[46:15] by loving obedience by faith in Jesus words and by the personal presence and ministry of Jesus stroke the Holy Spirit God do do you want that would you be content with anything less than that do you want that and do you want still in the end I still want to see his face I still actually want him to come back I know that while he's away I'm looked after but I want him to come back and take me to be with himself I want to be where he is and if it takes a lifetime to get there then so be it that's a good journey we're a well spent journey of seven deaths lay between but that's where I want to be that's where I want to be in the end and that's where I want to be en route Jesus says you did know you see the way the truth and the life it was me all the time