[0:00] All right, please turn with me in your Bibles to John chapter 14. John chapter 14.
[0:14] This morning, my hope is to close off this chapter with Jesus' final words to his disciples from the upper room.
[0:26] If you notice the very last words of John chapter 14, Jesus is leaving and he'll be going to the Garden of Gethsemane.
[0:40] This evening, this most confusing night, what was supposed to be a simple Passover meal, has turned into a bit of an emotional foray for these apostles.
[0:57] First of all, Jesus began by not only washing their feet, but demonstrated true servanthood to them. Jesus informed them that one of them will betray him.
[1:10] Judas leaves to do that very act. Peter makes promises that Jesus tells him he will not keep. And Jesus finally announces that he is leaving and they cannot follow.
[1:29] They are heartbroken, confused, and do not understand what is going to happen next. John 14 records for us three questions that the disciples ask of Jesus.
[1:44] The first question is that since Jesus has not told them where he is going, how will they get there? And Jesus simply tells them, I am the way, the truth, and the life.
[1:58] I am the way to the Father. I am the way to God. It's not a set of rules that you follow. It's not a bunch of customs that you adhere to.
[2:09] It's not that great feats that you have to do. But it's simply believing in me. And hey, you guys, you 11 men before me, you do that. The second question is asking Jesus, and we dealt with this last week.
[2:25] At the core, the root of the question is, help us understand. Help us understand. Jesus responds to them, I am the Father.
[2:40] What you know about God, you see in me. Everything you know about me is a reflection of God the Father. You're asking to see his glory.
[2:52] And remember, he understands it. It's a question that heroes of the faith have asked in the Old Testament. Moses, who had seen and done great miracles, it's at that point he says, Father, just show me your glory.
[3:09] Just let me see your face. And God hides Moses in the cleft of the rock, and God walks before him and demonstrates his glory.
[3:19] Just to encourage him in that. Elijah, the same thing. He had done these great miracles for God, this prophet, and yet at the threat of an evil queen.
[3:33] He was discouraged. He did not understand God's plan. He felt that he was alone. God came to him in a still, small whisper.
[3:47] Truth of the matter is, we do struggle. Sometimes not so much with doubt, but we want to understand.
[3:57] I was thinking about the context of this message. And I was thinking, what happens if you were a head of a company, a CEO, and you were leaving?
[4:09] And what would you say to the people under you? And or perhaps you're a coach, and you've been coaching this team, and you know you have to go away for a time.
[4:20] What are the things that you tell them, or maybe even a parent? Maybe you're going on a long business trip, or you're going to be away. What do you do? I'm convinced that if you are a type A personality, you're probably giving them more instructions, right?
[4:36] You want them to make sure they do it all right. I think there's three things that you would consider. You would focus on instruction, or you could focus on what you need to remember.
[4:51] Remember, it's that coach. Hey, I've told you how to play the game. I'm not going to be there on the field with you, but you can do it. I've taught you. Or do you just encourage?
[5:06] Well, we see in this passage, and I'm not going to get to the third question in the same way that I did the first two questions, but I want you to look at the statement that Jesus makes in John 14, verse 12.
[5:23] Let's take a look at verse 12, and it's an incredible statement. And I know I touched on this last week, but it truly is an incredible statement.
[5:35] After what they've all been through, Jesus announced he's going. Then all of a sudden, it's like, he says, truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do.
[5:49] All right? We're up to that part. If you believe in me, you will do the works that I do. But Jesus goes one step further with this, and he says, and greater works than these will he do.
[6:00] So it's not only you're going to do the works that I taught you, but you're going to become the works that you're going to do are going to be greater. And then he puts this caveat, because I am going to the Father.
[6:19] It's a statement that says that when Jesus is gone, these men, these apostles, these disciples, will do greater works than Jesus did.
[6:30] It's even more incredible, given their current emotional, heartbroken state. How will this ever be accomplished?
[6:43] This should have been their third question. How is this going to come about? But if you notice down in verse 22, there's a question within Jesus' statement.
[6:55] It says, Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us and not the world? Now, this is going to be answered in today's sermon.
[7:08] But today's sermon, I've titled Three Promises of a Departing Savior. Three Promises of a Departing Savior.
[7:20] And in these promises, I hope to answer the ultimate question, why is it better for Jesus to be with the Father than to be here with us? Why is it better for Jesus to be with the Father than to be here with us?
[7:37] In fact, we could spend many weeks on this passage because it is such a deep, rich theological passage.
[7:50] And it touches on so many aspects of God, but I don't want us to be here till next January on the subject.
[8:02] But I want to use this framework. And now the framework that I'm going to use is I'm going to go through the three promises. The first promises, which I've just read in verse 12, is that the disciples will do greater works than Jesus did.
[8:21] Now that works, sometimes people think that these are the miracles that Jesus is doing. So the obvious question is, how can the disciples, the apostles do greater miracles than Jesus?
[8:37] But if you've been with us through this sermon series, the greatest thing that Jesus ever did is he came to share the gospel. He came to call people out of darkness into the newness of life.
[8:52] And at that time, and it was the same message that John the Baptist declared, is you need to give your allegiance to God. You need to turn away from everything else in life that you have given your allegiance to, and you need to give that to me.
[9:07] And you do that by repenting. And if you know the words of Mark 1, 15, it simply says, Jesus simply states, repent for the kingdom of God is at hand.
[9:21] Jesus didn't come to teach a new law. Jesus didn't come to be a moral teacher. More than anything else, Jesus' primary profession was that of a gospel preacher.
[9:35] It was to preach new life. As I stated last week, the greatest miracle of all is God removing the scales from our eyes so that we can see him clearly.
[9:47] The greatest miracle of all is taking a heart that is directed towards self, and he removes that heart, and he puts in this, removes the heart of stone, and puts in this heart of flesh, and it gives us a love for the things of God, things that are not natural of man.
[10:10] You see, all through the gospels, Jesus, the miracle worker, the greatest miracles were subordinate to the teachings. Remember? The miracles point to the validation of Jesus' words.
[10:27] And here's the greatest thing. We can do that. We can share the gospel with others. So when he's talking about greater works, he's not talking about the fantastic miracles.
[10:39] He's talking about a gospel that will go beyond Israel to all the ends of the earth. But he doesn't stop there. There's a promise, but there's also conditions to this promise.
[10:54] In verse 12, if you'll look with me, in John chapter 14, I want you to see these in your Bibles. The first condition is whoever believes in me.
[11:07] So the first condition is that you have to believe in Jesus Christ. Would he have to believe in Jesus Christ? He just told us, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me.
[11:19] So there's this first belief that has to happen. Verse 15, notice what it says. If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
[11:33] If you love me, you will keep my commandments. Now jump down to verse 21. There's a restatement.
[11:46] Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me, and he who loves me will be loved by my Father.
[11:57] What a promise. If you love me, you will keep my commandments, and my commandments will reflect that you love me, and my Father will love you. And get this, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.
[12:16] That God will display himself to the one who believes in him, who loves Jesus, who follows these commands. Now look back down to verse 23.
[12:29] Again, 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.
[12:44] Remember, the greatest fear that the apostles had that Jesus was going to leave them. Now Jesus Christ is saying, hey listen, if you follow me, if you believe me, and you follow my word, and you follow my command, which is a reflection of that love, my Father and I will come and reside in you.
[13:08] Do you get the weight of that promise? To the apostles who were sitting there on that night with great fear that God was leaving him, and they would be outside that incredible fellowship that they've been experiencing for these three years.
[13:21] promise. The promise encompasses no matter where you are, no matter who you're with, no matter what time it is, if you keep to these, I will be with you.
[13:36] These promises are conditioned by belief, obedience, and love. Now, there's a question you should be asking yourself right now.
[13:55] What makes the promises that God is giving Jesus, and what Jesus is describing here is the new covenant, what is the difference between the new covenant and the old covenant?
[14:13] Now, if you're not familiar with what the new covenant and the old covenant is, the old covenant is what is found in our Old Testament.
[14:23] These were the promises that God made to his people. He made a covenant with Abraham, he made a covenant with David, but the covenant that I want to focus on is the covenant that God made with Moses.
[14:41] So, turn with me to Exodus, the book of Exodus. It's in your Old Testament. It's one of the first five books written by Moses, and I want you to read this for yourself.
[14:52] So, I want you to turn there with me because there's a huge difference between these two covenants, and you might not understand it yet.
[15:03] so we're starting at Exodus 19, Exodus 19, and we're looking at verse 2, and the events of the Exodus, the Exodus describes God's people exiting Egypt, right?
[15:26] so God has interfered in the lives the Jewish people were slaves, and God brought up, rose up Moses to be their leader, he confronted their leader, and he used his great powers, and he moved them out of, and it said, there Israel encamped before the mountain.
[15:47] While Moses went up to God, the Lord called to him out of the mountain, saying, thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, that's another word for Israel, or the Jews, and tell the people of Israel, you yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself.
[16:11] Kind of what Jesus did to in a certain way, it says, now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice, and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine, and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
[16:42] These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel. So, about 1400 years before Jesus makes these statements, God had originally made these same type of statements to these people of Israel.
[17:00] And it's the same conditions as we learn through the giving of the Ten Commandments, right? You shall love the Lord your God. You shall have no other God before me. And he lays out the other commandments.
[17:12] These are the things that you're supposed to obey. Now, let me ask you, how did it go for Israel? How'd it go?
[17:23] Good or bad? Bad. Bad. Bad. Was it bad because God did not honor his promises? No, not at all, right? It's because man struggled to do what was good, to do what was right, to obey God.
[17:42] And because of that, they ultimately failed. They were unable or incapable of following the commandments.
[17:55] So what is going to make things so differently for the apostles here than it was for Israel, the house of Jacob during Moses' time? Remember, both groups have seen the miracles that God has done.
[18:11] They've seen God's miracles through Jesus Christ, the people of God. Israel saw the incredible miracles that God did through Moses. So it's not as if there was any unbelief or that God existed or God was hearing them.
[18:28] You see, this, my friends, is, as I said, the difference between in the old and new covenants. Although they appear to be the same, they are quite different.
[18:43] They are the same in that Israel, God said, you shall be my treasured possession among all people. How would you respond if God told you that?
[18:58] Or what Jesus says to the apostles, you will be loved by my Father, and he and I will indwell you. Those are special promises, amen?
[19:10] Those are life-changing promises. Israel was supposed to be an example to all nations of what it meant to obey God.
[19:25] The disciples were supposed to reach all the nations with the gospel. One group failed, the other succeeded. What is the difference?
[19:38] promise? Well, the difference is found as the second and third promise that God, Jesus Christ gave. Let's go back to verse 12.
[19:49] And the second promise is God, or Jesus, will be a mediator for us. That Jesus will be a mediator for us.
[20:01] Jesus says in verse 12, he says, because I am going to the Father, verse 13, whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
[20:16] He says, if you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. And one of the things that we're going to learn is that there's many aspects to Jesus Christ.
[20:28] There's many functions to Jesus Christ, and we're going to be getting into the third promise, if I can let the cat out of the bag, it's that he's going to give us the Holy Spirit, which he defines as the helper.
[20:39] But they have different roles. Okay? Jesus Christ, the first role he's going to perform is going to be Savior. He's going to be our Savior.
[20:50] He's going to be our propitiation. He's going to be our sacrifice. He's going to become our wrath. But once that's done, he's going to go into heaven, and he's going to become our mediator.
[21:07] Mediator. A definition is a mediator is one who mediates. What's that means? It means to bring peace between two parties.
[21:19] He acts, or she acts, as a intermediary to work with opposing sides to bring about a settlement. The mediator attempts to influence the disagreement between two parties with the goal of resolving a dispute.
[21:36] The term literally means one who stands in between. In a legal dispute, a mediator represents the interests of both parties, working as an intercessory agent to negotiate a settlement.
[21:58] the big question is why does man need a mediator? Well, what's interesting is the first book that we believe is written is actually the book of Job.
[22:11] And Job, from the very beginning, recognizes this question. What man could stand before God? What man could stand before God?
[22:25] that God is so righteous, so holy. I am so blemished and stained. How could God accept me? And he asked, how could man ever hope to have dealings with God?
[22:45] Psalm 51, 5. It's a psalm that King David writes, after his sin with Bathsheba is pointed out, makes it very clear that all humanity is born into sin.
[23:02] And this thing, sin, is the problem that prohibits man from having this relationship with God. The thing is, it's not just Job or King David that have a problem with sin, but it's us too.
[23:21] Romans 5, 12, the Bible clearly teaches that just as sin came into the world through one man being Adam, death came from sin.
[23:34] And this death, this sin spread to all man because all sin. The reason we cannot stand before God is because we have been born of flesh and sin resides in us, but also because we sin.
[23:55] We are sin itself. Sin is described in the Bible as a transgression of the law of God.
[24:08] It is a transgression against the law of God. Sin is also described as rebellion against God.
[24:24] It's so often we hear today that sin really isn't so serious. Well, how can God expect those things of me? Because I'm obviously not perfect.
[24:40] It must be a big deal. I'm pretty sure God loves me enough that he will wink away my sin. He will just let it pass by. We think of it somehow that it's a mistake.
[24:55] That is a wrong way of thinking. I've heard people on their way to do the things that they want to do, which they know are sin, simply state, God is going to have to give me a pass on this one.
[25:12] People who speak in this way do not understand God, nor the actions that they do are transgressions against God and they are rebelling against God.
[25:28] Sin is simply not a stain or a blemish. See, then the other problem is our sin makes us enemies of God.
[25:40] God's penalty towards sin, it's simple, it's death. And get this, God hates sin so much, it just doesn't deserve physical death, but God has stated that it deserves eternal death.
[26:10] God's rightful punishment for sin is an eternity in hell. sin. That's how God thinks of sin. Let us not think so lightly of sin.
[26:26] There is nothing, absolutely nothing that you and I can do on our own. Not even a second could we mediate a relationship with God.
[26:39] No amount of good works, no amount of good intentions, no amount of law keeping, no amount of I have a good attitude, no amount of I have a loving heart. That would not even earn us a fraction of a second before a just and holy God.
[26:59] So what hope do we have? What can we possibly do? And as many of you know, this is the good news, right? God, this is part of the salvation story.
[27:13] God knows that we are desperately lost. God knows that there is no hope to be found in and of ourselves. God knows that we need a Savior.
[27:25] And this is the whole reason why that this whole series on the life of Christ that I've been preaching for a year is focused on the humanity of Jesus. because as I stated earlier, a mediator needs to represent both parties.
[27:44] You see, if Jesus were fully man but not God, he would never be able to represent us because he would be tainted with sin. If Jesus were fully God, he would not be able to represent us because what would he know of us?
[28:02] That answers one of the questions that people often ask is why did Jesus have to live on this earth for 30 years? Right? And he didn't pick the great time to live like today where we have all the modern conveniences.
[28:19] He chose one of the darkest times of history to come. He wasn't born to a king or a governor or a leader.
[28:32] he was born to a carpenter who humbly served in a town called Nazareth. That's why Jesus lived on this earth for close to 33 years.
[28:51] So he could know us. So he could eventually be your mediator and my mediator. God.
[29:01] Because Jesus Christ is both 100% man and 100% God. Thus making Jesus the perfect mediator between God and man.
[29:18] As man and God, Jesus is uniquely equipped to represent both sides. He alone stands in the gap between us and God. God.
[29:28] He alone meets the righteous requirements of the law. He alone opens the way into God's presence once and for all through his death on the cross, resurrection to life, and he is our mediator who sits at the right hand of God.
[29:44] So when we pray, he hears. Paul writes in 1 Timothy 2.5, he says, For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.
[30:03] This verse tells us that there is only one individual who can perform this very function. it is Jesus Christ, fully God and fully man.
[30:17] And this is the promise he makes to the apostles on this night. Not only will you do greater works, one of the reasons why is that I'm going to be sitting by the right hand of the Father.
[30:29] I need to go make you right before God and then I will always be there. In the Old Testament, you know who the first mediator was?
[30:40] It was Moses. Moses was the first mediator. He was the one that entered into God's presence on behalf of the people of Israel. Do you know what Moses did?
[30:51] He died. He died. He was simply a man. So Jesus set up his brother Aaron to be the priest and of his line would become priests that would represent man before the tabernacle and the temple.
[31:09] And you know why he had to set up that line because we die. Priests die. Not only that, they get corrupt. If you remember back at the beginning we preached, when we were preaching the section in the life of Christ, the priesthood had become entirely corrupted and sought earthly riches rather than heavenly riches.
[31:32] churches. And it thus rendered this Jewish religion, this way that God had designed for him had become an empty dead religion.
[31:44] And that religion needs to be redeemed by God as well. Guess who doesn't die? Jesus.
[31:56] He is eternal. He is always there. there. There is no darkness that overcomes him. There is no sin that overtakes him. He is always there next to the Father.
[32:13] Please turn with me in your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10. It's a magnificent passage. And in case you don't know, let me just give you a quick context of what the book of Hebrews is.
[32:28] Book of Hebrews is written to a bunch of Jews that had accepted the ways of Jesus. But life was becoming so hard that they were going to go back to Judaism.
[32:39] It was easier to go back to this old dead religion. Because they were struggling relationships. Because they were becoming Christians and perhaps their parents weren't Christians.
[32:50] The workplaces weren't Christians. And they were just in this place because they had always lived in this close Jewish confine. And we're going to see one of the reasons why I believe in AD 70 when God sends Rome to destroy the temple of Israel it forces all the Christians out of their enclave.
[33:11] Their safety net. Their comfort zone. And so you have this group of people who are struggling. So the writer of Hebrews is telling them overall that Jesus is better than all those things.
[33:25] Why would you want a priest mediator when you can have the greatest mediator? Hebrews 7 25 says consequently Jesus is able to save to the uttermost. Priests couldn't represent you to the uttermost but Jesus can.
[33:39] Hebrews 8 1 says our high priest our mediator is one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in heaven. A minister in the holy places.
[33:52] In the true tent that the Lord set up. If you remember Moses met in a tent that's where the ark of the covenant had a holy sanctified that's done.
[34:06] Hebrews 9 15 says therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance.
[34:21] The question is why does that matter? What does Jesus being a mediator accomplish? So let's look at Hebrews 10 verses 19. This is beautiful.
[34:34] Therefore brothers since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus. If you remember in the old covenant only the priest who had purified himself was able to go and there was only one priest that one time that could do that.
[34:55] So now he's saying and those guys they used to have a rope tied around their ankle because if they went in there was some blemish or unholiness they would die and no priest would go into that inner sanctum for fear that he'd be struck dead as well.
[35:15] So they'd have the rope to pull him out. So you just imagine right like you're thinking of everything oh my lord I remember that girl Betsy when I was in grade three and I made fun of the ribbon in her hair forgive me like you just think about that for that priest you'd be going through everything wanting to ask forgiveness because you wanted to be totally clean in there right like you had to make sure I didn't go by a tomb or and we know there's just ton of stuff in that day that could make you unclean so you'd have this almost great fear do we have fear coming before Jesus Christ no right we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus because the blood of Jesus has cleaned us from all unrighteousness do we get that like how do we feel when we come to God to pray sometimes we're ashamed or we're tired of whatever we don't want to make these requests to
[36:23] God but here it tells that we can boldly come before our father and present anything to him all right let me continue verse 20 I'm getting overly excited sorry guys says by the new and living way that he Jesus opened for us through the curtain that is through his flesh and since we have a great priest over the house of God check this out let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith with with our heart sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water that blood has made us clean it's made us acceptable not only that we can walk with confidence before him check out verse 23 let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering for he that's
[37:31] Jesus who promised is faithful the promise that we're talking about is the promise that he's referring here and let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works not neglecting to meet together as the habit of some but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day drawing near that day and your Bibles will be capitalized that is the day upon Christ return you see this promise allows us to draw near to God without fear without shame whatever you ask in my name this I will do that the father be glorified in the son that's the condition to the asking what you ask is meant to glorify the father what a wonderful place to be amen so we have this confidence that the old testament saints did not have now here's the third promise which is found in verse 15 if you love me you will keep my commandments and
[38:39] I will ask the father and he will give you another helper to be with you forever and the text is going to reveal to us that it's the Holy Spirit now the topic of the Holy Spirit is a very big topic and it is a very misunderstood topic and I hope next week to give you guys confidence and understanding who the Holy Spirit is what the nature of the Holy Spirit and the actions and why it's important for us but this morning I want to describe to you that the Holy Spirit and you guys know the word Trinity right it's God the Father God the Son is all one God but there's different persons and functions and if anybody says they understand the Trinity they're lying right like it's a hard complex and the reason we believe it is because the Bible says that's what it is and that's what we put our confidence in and the
[39:43] Bible draws these stories these teachings that give us greater understanding how the three work together but in this text it says helper nowhere before this in all the Bibles the Holy Spirit ever referred to as a helper now it all depends the word is paraclete that is used in the Greek just to show you that I can say a Greek word if you have a KGV anybody using KGV here do we have anybody still living in the 16th century no okay but the original KGV they used to translate the word as KGV they use a word advocate like a lawyer the NASB or the ESV uses the word helper and other words are used counselor why so many different words because this
[40:44] Greek word really isn't seen much in the Bible but what they derive from other meanings it has to do with someone coming to help you in an intimate way but it also is in a legal way that idea of an advocate that we have a father an advocate in heaven who testifies for us in heaven right so there's that's helping us amen lawyers help us with the law but there's a counselor counselor helps us with other stuff so it's this idea there's this function that of the Holy Spirit that is used to help us but it's so much bigger but this morning I just want to conclude by demonstrating to you that the third person of the Trinity which we know is
[41:44] God the Holy Spirit is indeed a person it is a fully divine person it is not a force now I don't know what kind of church backgrounds you all come from and there's a lot of varying things but I want to demonstrate to you through the word of God how we define and why we define the Holy Spirit as a divine person as opposed to a force that God and Jesus can call upon to do stuff you know what I'm saying all right so we tend to understand God the Father God the Son the Holy Spirit when we look at our Bibles the Old Testament God the Father is primarily the main mover there right then we have the Gospels which is Jesus Christ but then after Jesus Christ the epistles focus on the Holy Spirit so that's kind of the division the emphasis that happen in our
[42:47] Bibles but I want you to know that the Holy Spirit is throughout the Old Testament the second verse of the book of Genesis chapter one and I'll read them to you in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth the earth was without form and void and darkness was over the face of the deep and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters so even at the beginning of creation the Spirit was active with God you with me on that so it's not like he just shows up here but he's always been there but we're going to see a greater emphasis going forward in the last book of the Old Testament is the book of Malachi and it's an interesting thing and just so you know first week in May mark the date we're having a family conference you don't have to be a parent or married to come but we're going to talk about biblical principles we've got a guest speaker coming in but one of the aspects that
[43:51] Malachi talks about between a husband and wife when they are brought together there's a spiritual union that is created and that spiritual union is created by the Holy Spirit and that's why God uses when he joins if you go through the Old Testament and how Israel keeps falling away the illustration that is used is an adulterous wife that she's the one but they're still bound there's still that union there's still and it's the spirit that does that that's the picture but in Malachi he's talking about that so I want you to know that the Holy Spirit is speaking many times throughout the Old Testament not as much as the New Testament I want you to understand that he's not less than he's not a quote unquote servant of God in the spirit but he's part of God with his own distinctive qualities and
[44:54] I'm going to read these briefly to there's three aspects that what makes a person a personhood an individual and one of them is not a body but the first one is they have to demonstrate cognition or intellect the second one is to have a will of their own and the third aspect of personhood is they have to have emotion or affections so I'm just going to read you a couple of verses the first one these are the verses that demonstrate that the Holy Spirit is a person by their use of their cognition and intellect Isaiah 11 2 has several of them it says in the spirit of the of man but men spoke from
[46:07] God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit the Holy Spirit was involved he inspired scriptures Romans 8 26 likewise the spirit helps us in our weakness anybody know that one right the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness for we do not know what to pray for as we ought but the spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words so the Holy Spirit in this way helps us in our weaknesses and these are some of the examples that point to the intellect the cognition the second area of his will is that the Holy Spirit contends with sinners and this is an interesting verse it's in Acts 7 51 it's an accusation by Stephen as he was preaching a sermon to the Jews who were condemning him because he was preaching Jesus Christ and he says you stiff necked people uncircumcised in heart and ears you always resist the
[47:17] Holy Spirit as your fathers did so do you God that are telling us that the Holy Spirit has a will that they are resisting what's interesting the fathers that he's talking about is way back in Moses when he called the people you stiff necked people you're resisting God you're resisting the will of the Holy Spirit Acts 16 tells us Paul is trying to travel in Asia and he says that they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia so there was this force the Holy Spirit has a will that prevented Paul from doing what he wanted Holy Spirit also distributes our spiritual gifts Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 12 11 all these are empowered by one and the same spirit who apportions to each one individually as he wills so the gifts that we are given by the
[48:22] Holy Spirit are at the will of the Holy Spirit so we're seeing that the Holy Spirit has an intellect he has a will and finally we see that he has affections 1 Thessalonians 1 6 says and you became imitators of us and of the Lord for you received the word and much affliction with the joy of the Holy Spirit the Holy Spirit was joyful that even in affliction the saints received the word of God which means to believe it brought joy to the Holy Spirit Hebrews 10 29 tells us that the Holy Spirit can be insulted it says how much worse punishment do you think will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified and has outraged the Spirit of grace and ultimately the
[49:30] Holy Spirit grieves over our sin Isaiah 63 10 says but they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit therefore he turned to their enemy and himself fought against them and the Holy Spirit loves Romans 5 5 says and hope does not put us to shame because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us I appeal to you brothers by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf and of course as most kids in Sunday school remember this verse well but the fruit of the Spirit is love joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness self control against such things there is no law so
[50:36] God gives us these promises that if we obey him we believe in him and love him he will come and dwell in us and how he makes that happen is that he gives us a mediator and he gives us the Holy Spirit to help us and that my friend is essentially the difference between the old covenant and the new covenant that we have now in Jesus Christ so next week I want to blow up a little bit of the idea of the Holy Spirit if any of you have any questions from your background I encourage you to email them to me so I can kind of work them in does that sound alright so you guys can participate in the making of the sermon and I might be causing greater problems for myself but that's okay it's bk at squamishbaptist.org simple alright let me pray dear lord heavenly father just as there's such depth to these promises that you give us and just as we dig into these passages we see so much reflections from the
[51:44] Old Testament and what you taught the Old Testament saints and how they failed and now you've come to make it so that we do not have to fail not that we're any smarter brighter more faithful more obedient but because you give us these two promises that you mediate with us for our God in heaven that thank you thank you for being our sin thank you for taking on the wrath that we deserve thank you for making it so that we can come before our God with confidence so that when we pray for the forgiveness of sins and we pray for God to demonstrate his mercy on us we pray to give our hearts life and souls to you we need not be ashamed no matter what the sin no matter what our past is we can come with complete confidence that Jesus is there as our advocate testifying to the newness of our heart and the newness of our spirit and father we thank you for the holy spirit and we'll look more into that and the difference that it makes but ultimately it comes as a helper a comforter the greatest time of trouble that we can experience is to be alienated from
[53:27] God that holy spirit as we're going to learn in ephesians 2 seals us into eternity that upon the moment of salvation there is a seal put upon us that Satan this world no man can ever come it clearly testifies that we are gods and that seal is a sign of our ownership in God's family and that can never be taken away father if there's any here who has doubted their position before you I pray that they embrace this truth that is provided to us to the words of God we thank you for this Bible which continues to instruct us and I pray just even in seeing such glimpses of depth in theology here may we give praise to you how wonderful you are that we get a glimpse of the father's heart and the love for us and the promise that you will dwell in us forever so good and gracious
[54:52] God we give you thanks we thank you for all that you do and we thank you that you have spared our lives from the eternal death of hell we ask these things in your most gracious everlasting loving will always be there God amen