We hope that you enjoy this teaching from Christ Church.
This material is copyrighted and no unauthorized duplication, redistribution, or any other use of any part is permitted without prior consent from Christ Church.
Please consider donating to this work in the San Francisco Bay Area online at ChristChurchEastBay.org.
My name is Luther George. I'm a 9th grader at Oakland Tech and I'm in the youth group.
My name is Eli Gilbert. I'm an 8th grader at Claremont Middle School and I'm in the youth group.
A reading from the gospel according to John.
John 14 verses 16 through 18.
And I will ask the Father and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever.
The Spirit of Truth. The world cannot accept him because it neither sees him nor knows him, but you know him.
He lives with you and will be in you.
I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you.
Continuing with verses 25 through 26.
All this I have spoken while still with you, but the advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name,
will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have said to you.
John 15 verses 26 through 27.
When the advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth, who goes out from the Father,
he will test about me and you also must testify for you have been with me from the beginning.
John 16 verse 17 through 15.
Be very truly, I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away.
Unless I go away, the advocate will not come to you.
But if I go, I will send him to you.
When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment.
About sin, because people do not believe in me.
About righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer.
And about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.
I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear.
But when he, the Spirit of Truth, comes, he will guide you into all the 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.
He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.
All that belongs to the Father is mine.
That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.
He will glorify me.
This is the gospel of the Lord.
Thanks to you, Lord Christ.
Thank you so much for that reading, Eli and Luther.
And good morning, Christ Church.
It's good to be with you.
And is it warm in here?
Could someone turn the heat down back there?
We're going to melt if it stays like this, or I am at least.
If you're a guest today and you're new at Christ Church, we're delighted to have you.
We'd love to meet with you after the service and connect with you over our coffee time.
I have three weeks until my sabbatical begins, so this is my moment to form a connection with you for a little while.
I will be here on April 17th, Easter Sunday, and then April 24th, which is a time when we'll celebrate our 16th birthday as a church.
It should be really fun.
As Andrew said, the mission of our church is to lead people into a deeper relationship with Christ and his church through community and for the city.
And part of that mission is that we don't really talk about sports here at this church.
Particularly, we don't talk about college basketball.
We especially don't talk about the Final Four, the Duke-UNC rivalry.
And if you're here to talk about that today, I don't want to talk to you because sports are dumb.
Sports are just dumb.
Okay.
All right.
Well, you can tell my team lost last night, so let's just get into the good news, shall we?
We're looking at the farewell discourse, the Gospel of John, chapters 14 to 17.
And it's the upper room.
It's Thursday night before Jesus' Good Friday crucifixion.
And he's been saying to his disciples that he's going to leave them.
And the result is that they're full of trouble in their hearts.
Because they know that they can't continue the work that Jesus is entrusting to their hands unless Jesus is with them.
And without Jesus, the mission is going to be impossible.
And so they have sorrow in their hearts because if he leaves, we're totally helpless.
We don't have the power we need to carry out this ministry.
And so Jesus, in this discourse, he's anchoring them in something bigger than themselves.
He's anchoring them in the being of God and the heart of the triune God.
And so that's why in John 14, he's talking about his father.
In my father's house, there are many rooms.
And then in John 15, he's talking about the son, that I am the true vine and you are the branches.
And then in John 16, he begins talking about the Holy Spirit.
And this is really the most concentrated teaching we have from Jesus on the Holy Spirit in the four Gospels.
And Jesus is comforting these grieving disciples who are preparing for his departure by saying,
the spirit of truth is going to come and he's going to take my place.
And this is how I will continue to be with you, my disciples, during my time of physical absence from you.
So as we dive in to learn about this mysterious person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit,
I want to encourage you also to be thinking ahead to next week.
We have this congregational meeting.
And one of the things we're going to do in that meeting is nominate new elders and deacons for this church.
And, you know, as we think about what are the character and competency qualifications for somebody who's ordained to lead in the church,
there's a lot of ways to answer that question.
But surely part of the answer is that that person would be full of the Holy Spirit,
that they'd be a person who walks with the Holy Spirit and is led by the Holy Spirit
and bears the fruit of the Holy Spirit that we're going to be learning about.
So I want you to keep that in mind as well.
Well, what does Jesus teach us in the Farewell Discourse?
What we learn is that the Holy Spirit speaks about Jesus through the apostles to us and through us to the world.
The Holy Spirit speaks about Jesus through the apostles to us and through us to the world.
And I want to begin with the idea that the Holy Spirit speaks to us about Jesus.
You can look in chapter 14.
He lays some stuff down in chapters 14, 15, and then really unpacks it in chapter 16.
But chapter 14, verse 16, Jesus says,
I will ask the Father and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever, the Spirit of truth.
So first of all, the Spirit is a who and not a what.
The Spirit is a person and not an impersonal force or thing.
And as a person, he's an eternal person, not a created person who just kind of shows up here on the scene in the first century.
Jesus is talking about the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit who existed before creation
and has been related to one another in an eternal, unceasing outpouring of love, each with the other.
And so Jesus says, I'm going to send you another advocate.
I've been your advocate these three years.
I'm going to send you another advocate who's going to be just as helpful to you as I've been to you.
And then he says, if you turn to chapter 16, verse 7, Jesus says,
Very truly I tell you, it is for your good, it is to your advantage that I go away.
For unless I go away, the advocate cannot come.
But if I go away, I will send him to you.
Now that's a striking statement because if you're like me, you often think,
if only I could have been with Jesus, if only I could have seen his face or heard his voice,
if only I could have watched him feed the hungry and heal the sick and raise the dead,
if only I could have sat at his feet like Mary and leaned on his shoulder like John,
how could it possibly be better for Jesus to go away?
How could it possibly be more for us to have less of Jesus?
How could that be for our good?
Well, I want us to keep in mind that there were two limitations to Jesus' physical presence.
First of all, Jesus' presence was local, meaning that he could be separated from his disciples
and their fellowship could be interrupted.
If Jesus went down to Galilee or went down to Jerusalem, some of them stayed behind in Galilee.
If the disciples went out to fish on the sea and Jesus stayed on the land, they couldn't be together.
And if you think about it, if Jesus were still on earth today, we would not be able to get near him.
All the planes, all the ships, all the roads, they'd be packed and there'd be really, really long lines
and you'd be at the back of the line.
But what the Holy Spirit does is he universalizes the presence of Jesus
and makes Jesus available to every disciple in every church everywhere.
Pretty awesome.
Jesus' presence was local, but Jesus' presence was also external,
meaning that he was not able in his ministry to enter into the personalities of his disciples.
He wasn't able to change them from within to get into their thoughts and their passions
and their motives and their desires.
But we learn here that the Holy Spirit internalizes the presence of Jesus.
Jesus says the Spirit will be in you.
And this is why the apostles go on and on about this.
This is Ephesians 3.
It says Christ dwells by his Spirit in our hearts.
Or 1 Corinthians 6 says that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit.
And what that means is that when congregations get together to worship,
Jesus is here in our midst by the Holy Spirit.
That when two or three disciples get together to pray,
Jesus is there in their midst by the Holy Spirit.
And that when you as a Christian are alone,
you're actually not alone because Jesus is with you by the Holy Spirit.
And that's why Jesus says it's to your advantage,
it's for your good that I'm going away to send you the Holy Spirit
because he's going to universalize my presence to the church and to every disciple.
They're going to have the internalized presence of Jesus.
Well, what does the Holy Spirit do when he's inside of us?
What is his ministry within us?
Well, let me just repeat a few of these verses we heard.
John 14, 26, Jesus says,
The Spirit of truth will teach you everything you need to know
by reminding you of everything I have said to you.
Chapter 15, verse 26, Jesus says,
The Spirit of truth will testify about me.
And then in chapter 16, verse 13, he says,
The Spirit of truth will guide you into all the truth,
speaking what he hears from me
and making known what he receives from me
and bringing glory to me.
So I like to think of the Holy Spirit as the floodlight.
When floodlighting is done well,
the lights are so subtly placed in front of a building
that you can't see the fixtures.
And it's meant for us to just be able to see the building
that the floodlights are illuminating.
So think about like the Campanile at Cal at night.
It's lit up at night, right?
You're not paying attention to the lights themselves,
but to the thing that's being lit.
And the Holy Spirit loves nothing more
than to light up Jesus Christ,
to illuminate Jesus.
Jesus says,
He will glorify me.
So the Holy Spirit is this self-effacing,
never advertising himself,
always glorifying Jesus person.
How do you know if you're in a Spirit-filled church
or with Spirit-filled Christians?
Well, because are they centered on Jesus
or are they centered on some other center?
That would be the way to answer that question.
Well, how does the Holy Spirit illuminate or glorify Jesus?
Jesus says five times,
He calls the Holy Spirit the paraclete.
Paraclete.
And that word in Greek means
one who comes alongside of us.
Sometimes it's translated as a helper,
a comforter,
an encourager,
a counselor.
It's one who comes alongside us
and brings us to Jesus.
And Jesus says three times
that this Spirit is the Spirit of truth
who will teach and testify and speak.
So that when the Holy Spirit comes
on the day of Pentecost,
we find Him to be a speaking Spirit,
a declaring Spirit,
a teaching Spirit.
And He will continue the teaching of Jesus
after His death,
His resurrection,
His ascension into heaven
where we can see Him no longer.
Jesus' teaching ministry
will be carried on by the Holy Spirit.
If you're familiar at all
with the Acts of the Apostles,
it's really a book
that's a theology
of the person and work
of the Holy Spirit.
And if you look at Acts chapter 2
on the day of Pentecost,
what happens
is that tongues of fire
come to rest on the apostles.
And it's a vivid picture
of this speaking Spirit
who comes and touches
the lips of His church,
comes and touches
the organs of speech
of His disciples
so that the flame of Jesus
is resting on them
that the Spirit,
that Jesus might speak
by His Spirit
through His church.
And what happens
at Pentecost next
is that they all begin
to open their mouth.
And they all begin
to speak in different languages
about the wonderful works
of God done
in and through Jesus Christ.
What happens
on the day of Pentecost
when the Spirit comes?
The Apostle Peter
preaches a really long sermon.
Not a three-pointer,
a five-point sermon,
longer than any of you
could possibly bear
to listen to.
And what is that
Spirit-inspired sermon about?
It's about Jesus.
The Spirit is a calling,
beseeching,
entreating Spirit
who says things like this
in Acts chapter 2.
He says,
God has raised this Jesus
to life,
and God has made this Jesus
whom you crucified,
both Lord and Messiah.
Repent and be baptized,
every one of you,
in the name of Jesus Christ
for the forgiveness
of your sins.
That's what it sounds like
when the Holy Spirit
shows up and begins speaking.
So the Holy Spirit
speaks about Jesus.
But also the Holy Spirit
speaks about Jesus
through the apostles
to us.
The Holy Spirit speaks about Jesus
through the apostles
to us.
It's really important
to remember
that Jesus is not speaking
to us in this farewell discourse,
but that he's speaking
to these 11 apostles.
And he says again
in verse 26,
the advocate,
the Holy 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.
The Holy Spirit
will remind these apostles
of Jesus' teachings
that they've already heard.
And of course,
these apostles are human.
Their memories
are fallible.
Of course,
they don't have TVs
and smartphones
like we do,
so their attention spans
are far larger than ours.
And in their oral culture,
they had a capacity
to memorize
as far greater than ours.
In fact,
Jews in the first century
learned more by memory
than they did by manuscript.
And so we can be assured
that these apostles
had the capacity
to remember all the things
that Jesus did and said,
but we have even greater assurance
because the Holy Spirit,
it says,
came to remind them
and be teaching them.
And that assures us
of the accuracy
of all the things
that we have
in our New Testament.
That here,
in a special act of God
through the Holy Spirit,
He preserved
the unique teaching
of the supreme intelligence
who's ever visited
our planet.
The Holy Spirit
has given us
divine objective truth
in the New Testament.
And that's what Jesus
is teaching us here
in chapter 16,
verse 12.
He says,
I have much more
to say to you,
more than you can now bear.
There's a ton more teaching
you apostles need to hear,
but I know you can't
take it in.
I know you can't carry it.
I know it's too heavy
a burden tonight.
You could not possibly
assimilate it
to teach it to others
at this time
because your hearts
are so full
and so burdened
and so troubled
with the events
that are leading up
to my cross
tomorrow night.
But, Jesus says
in verse 13,
when He,
the Spirit of truth,
comes,
He will guide you
into all the truth
and He will speak,
He will not speak
on His own,
He will speak only
what He hears
and He will tell you
what is yet to come.
The Spirit will come
to bring the entire truth,
all the truth
that I taught you
and all the truth
that I wanted
to teach you,
all the truth
that God sent me
into the world
to teach you.
And the Holy Spirit,
when He comes,
He doesn't give
a new,
independent,
secret revelation.
The Holy Spirit
does not teach
a new gospel
that's different
from the doctrines
and the ethics
that Jesus taught.
We don't become
a Christian
and then learn
the gospel of Jesus
and then sometime later
learn the gospel
of the Holy Spirit.
It's all one thing.
Jesus says
He's going to hear,
He's going to speak
what He hears
from the Father
and the Son
and He's going to declare
to you
the things
that we find
in the gospels,
in the apostolic letters
and in the Acts
of the Apostles
and in the revelation
given to John,
all the stuff
that's in the New Testament.
And the question is,
can we trust
these writings
to tell us
the truth?
And I want to suggest
to you today
that if Jesus
gave the Holy Spirit
and the authority
of the Holy Spirit
to the apostles
to teach
and if He empowered
them with His Spirit
of truth
to nudge their minds
as to how Jesus
would be responding
to all the opportunities
and the challenges
of these new Christian communities
to which these letters
were being written,
then we have to give
those letters
final authority
in our lives.
We have to believe
those words
as words that are coming
straight to us
from the resurrected,
ascended Jesus Himself.
We are not at liberty
to selectively affirm words
that fit our own paradigms
and then to ignore
or even reject words
that we simply don't like.
You guys tracking with me?
So, the same thing applies
not only to the apostolic letters
but to the gospels
because these are the result
of the Holy Spirit
bringing to remembrance
all the things
that Jesus said
and all the things
that He did
climaxing
in His Good Friday
and Easter Sunday work.
And the Holy Spirit
doesn't just give us
this cold
and lifeless book.
What the Holy Spirit does
is He takes this firm word
of the scriptures
and He gives us
a fresh word
for our spirits.
When the Holy Spirit comes
we call upon Him
to teach us
through the New Testament
which is the end product
of the Spirit's work
in the apostles
and we ask the Holy Spirit
through this external
objective word
to give us an internal
subjective word
for our spirits.
And what we need
to hear today
the Holy Spirit
makes this Jesus
not just a historical figure
of the past
but a living contemporary
who speaks to us today.
The Holy Spirit
applies
the historical
revelation of Jesus
to our present experience
and He renders
the truth of Jesus
active and alive
in our hearts.
The Holy Spirit
interprets to us
the words
and the works
of Jesus
and takes what belongs
to Jesus
and makes it plain
to the church.
And that's how you know
the Holy Spirit's working
when that's happening
among us.
The Holy Spirit
doesn't just enable us
to look backward
to memories about Jesus.
The Holy Spirit
enables us
to look upward
at the living Christ
Himself
and to look forward
to the kingdom
in which
Jesus
is leading us.
So do you want
to know the Holy Spirit?
Do you want
to have a relationship
and experience
the power
of the Holy Spirit?
You've got to spend time
near the hot spots
of the Holy Spirit.
And the hot spot
is the scriptures
that the Spirit
produced.
The Spirit of God
produced the Word
of God
and you've got
to create
and develop
a daily discipline
to digest
those scriptures
and to make them
a part of your life.
A predictable pattern
for reading the Gospels
and the epistles
of the New Testament.
And when you do
to ask the Holy Spirit
to guide you
into the truth
that He's revealed
to illumine
and glorify Jesus
for you
and to enlighten
your mind
to understand it
because He knows
Jesus best
and He knows
you best
and He knows
how to take
what belongs
to Jesus
and make it
yours.
And we should be
saying to the Spirit
as we're reading
Spirit,
what do you want
to say to me?
What do you want
me to do?
What do you want
me to say
as a result
of what you're speaking?
And don't be surprised
if the Spirit
comes back to you
and says,
well, keep your eyes
fixed on Jesus
and see what a
capable,
competent Savior
He is for you
and trust Him.
Live for Him.
Don't let Him down.
Follow Him.
Serve Him
with all of your life.
That's the kind of stuff
the Spirit
says over
and over
again
and as much
as possible
we should try
to read
the Word of God
created by the Spirit
of God
with the people
of God
because that's
again the hot spot
of where the Spirit
likes to show up
and do His work
on the world,
on the earth
and in the world.
The Holy Spirit
speaks about Jesus
and likes
no other topic
more than that one
and the Holy Spirit
speaks about Jesus
through the apostles
and really
no other organism
but that organ.
He speaks through
the apostles
to us
but finally
the Holy Spirit
not only speaks
through the apostles
to us about Jesus
but He speaks
through us
to the world
about Jesus.
Now I have much
more to say to you
more than you can
now bear.
This could be
a really long sermon
but I'll try
to keep it short
when the Holy Spirit
comes at Pentecost
we see Him
as a missionary spirit.
He's a witnessing spirit
and that's what Jesus
is telling us
in verse 8.
He says
when He
the Spirit
comes
He will prove
the world
to be in the wrong
about sin
and righteousness
and judgment.
The Spirit
is a powerful advocate
who goes
before the church
to bring the world
under conviction
and in bringing
the world
under conviction
to expose
the falsity
of the world's
most fundamental
ideas.
All people
everywhere
have ideas
about what's right
and what's wrong.
All people
everywhere
draw lines
to mark off
that which is good
from that which is bad
that which is true
from that which is false
that which is worthy
of honor
and that which is worthy
of condemnation
and Jesus is saying
the Holy Spirit
is going to come
do three things.
First of all
how do people
here where we live
how do they
answer that question
of what's most wrong
with the world?
What is the greatest
sin of the world?
And Jesus says
in verse 9
He says
the Spirit's going
to come
and prove the world
wrong about sin
because people
do not believe
in me.
The Holy Spirit
is going to show
that our rejection
and condemnation
of Jesus
was a failure
to respond
to the coming
of God
in the flesh.
The Holy Spirit
is going to come
and show
that the root
wrong in the world
is a refusal
to believe in Jesus.
A refusal
to trust
in God's Messiah
who was sent
to reveal
the Father's love
for the world.
The Holy Spirit
Jesus says
is going to come
and show
that this persistent
ongoing refusal
to believe
in the greatest
of all world realities
namely Jesus
is the greatest
of all wrongs.
That that is
the basic evil
out of which
all other evils
flow.
And then the second
thing the Spirit
is going to come
and do is
Jesus says
well how do people
around you
how do they answer
that question
of what's most
right in the world?
What is the reality
and the event
and the fact
that is the most
right thing
that's ever happened
in human history?
And Jesus says
in verse 10
the Spirit's going
to come
and He's going
to convict
the world
that it's wrong
about righteousness
because I'm going
to the Father
where you can see
me no longer.
The work of the Spirit
is to come
and show us
that Jesus' career
His life of obedience
to the Father
His crucifixion
to atone
for the world's sins
His resurrection
to conquer death
His going
to the Father
to rule
over all things
in heaven
that these
are the most
important
helpful
just
and right
deeds
that have ever
been done
for the world.
And you see
by the world's
understanding
of righteousness
Jesus was found
to be in the wrong.
The greatest
of all religions
the greatest
of all governments
at that time
said Jesus
is wrong
and they put Him
on a cross.
But in God's
higher tribunal
in the higher
law court
of God
Jesus was found
not to be
in the wrong
but to be
in the right.
And Jesus' cross
reveals
that the one
hanging there
is He is
the righteous
one of God.
And that by
His hanging there
He's won a victory
of the righteousness
of God
over human sin.
And that everybody
who places
their faith in Him
we share
in His status
of being people
who are not
in the wrong
but who are
in the right
with Him.
This is what
the Holy Spirit
does.
You want to know
the third thing
He does?
He convicts the world
that it's wrong
about what's wrong.
He convicts the world
that it's wrong
about what's right.
And then Jesus says
that you know
how do people
around you
answer this question
about who wins
in life's
great contest
between what's
right and what's
wrong.
Between sin
and righteousness.
Between just
and injustice.
Between good
and evil.
Who ultimately
wins?
And Jesus says
the Spirit
comes
in verse 11
and He convicts
the world
that it's wrong
about judgment
because the prince
of this world
now stands
condemned.
The prince
of this world
the evil one
the dark power
who enslaves
people and holds
people in bondage
that same power
that came to
condemn
and to destroy
Jesus
on His cross.
Well guess what?
The resurrection
the resurrected
Jesus
shows us
that the power
of that evil one
has been
definitively
broken
and that
He has been
dethroned
and that
that dark power
that prince
of this world
He has been
soundly judged
and condemned
so that all
those whom
He was
condemning
can be
set free
and all
those who
were in
bondage
can be
liberated
and have
a new
life.
That's what
the Holy
Spirit
comes
to show
us.
Sorry I've only
got a couple
more sermons
and then
I'll go on
sabbatical
you don't have
to put up
with my passion
too much
longer
but this
missionary
spirit
this witnessing
spirit
He convicts
the world
in order to
convert the
world
in these
three major
areas of
what's wrong
with the
world
what's right
with the
world
and who
ultimately
is judged
to be
victorious
and who
ultimately
is judged
to be
defeated
and Christ
Church
I just
want to
encourage you
today that
you have
this
missionary
spirit
that
residing
within
you
is
this
witnessing
spirit
that
the
holy
life-giving
spirit
of God
is in
you
that
according
to Romans
8
the one
who
the spirit
who raised
Christ
from the
dead
is living
in you
right
now
and that
through
your words
and your
works
through the
words and
works of
this
disciple
community
this
mighty
spirit
this
mighty
advocate
who
wants
to
bear
witness
to
Jesus
through
your
lives
and
through
what
you
do
and
what
you
say
this
mighty
spirit
wants
to
bear
witness
so
that
people
look
upon
this
hated
and
humiliated
one
on
his
cross
and
with
us
they
come
to
confess
actually
Jesus
is
Lord
the
Holy
Spirit
brings
the
power
of
God
and
the
truth
of
God
to
bear
so that
people
look at
Jesus
cross
of
shame
and
defeat
and
they
come
to
believe
with
us
actually
that
is
his throne
of glory
and victory
in this
world
the
spirit
of the
father
the
spirit
of
Jesus
the
spirit
of
truth
wants
wants to
perform
his
own
miracles
in the
hearts
of
people
here
in the
bay
area
so that
they
are
brought
to
recognize
Jesus
as the
one
he
is
and
he
wants
to
perform
those
miracles
through
us
through
us
may it
be
so
the
holy
spirit
longs
to
speak
about
Jesus
through
the
apostles
to
us
and
through
us
to
the
world
may we
be
empowered
to
do
that
very
thing
in the
name
of
the
father
the
son
and
the
holy
spirit
amen