John 14:15-20
Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit
15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him, for He lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in Me, and I am in you.
John 14:15-20 GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT IS OUR COUNSELOR
Springford Baptist Church: May 15, 2022.
What things in our possession have the capacity to do more than we utilize?
Computers and cell phones come immediately to mind.
A vacuum cleaner or kitchen stove or particular tool might also fit this description.
Does anything else in your home or shop come to mind as an example of something that could provide other possibilities and help you in other ways that you have not yet explored and that you have not benefited from as fully as you could?
I will say that in thinking about this, I am also aware of the times when people who really care about us say, “Let me know if I can do anything”.
How often do we actually reach out to receive what other people sincerely offer that could help and bless us?
How often do we use resources available in our communities to support and help various needs? Examples: Senior Groups, Alzheimers Society, Grief or other Support Groups…
I know that many of us are inclined to operate fairly independently. We don’t want to bother someone else with our concerns and needs.
So we can recognize, can’t we, that both the resources of things and of people are often not giving us all that could be helpful to us. And very often it is because we have not taken action to receive what is available.
The same reality of more being available than what we have arranged to receive is also true in terms of our spiritual well being. As today’s Scripture highlights, Jesus promises this amazing resource of the Holy Spirit and He intends that we welcome and receive all that the Holy Spirit has for us.
This is not intended to make us feel guilty that we have not regularly accessed what the Holy Spirit has to offer, but rather hopeful and inquisitive about what could make a difference in our lives if we intentionally allow the Holy Spirit to daily provide
what He is willing to provide for us in our lives of faith and service.
It is important to recognize that at the heart of our need for the Holy Spirit is loving Jesus and wanting to obey and faithfully live what He commands.
Jesus clearly says, “If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever-the Spirit of truth…” (John 14:15-17 a)
Yes, we do need the Counselor the Holy Spirit to help us to obey Jesus out of our love for Him.
This involves us saying, “I do love you Jesus and I cannot possibly live for You by myself.”
And Jesus responds, “I know your love for Me and I know you need help. This is why I have arranged for the Holy Spirit to help you.”
God’s Holy Spirit as our Counselor or Advocate is intended to defend us. Yet God’s Holy Spirit is more than the legal term of “counselor for the defense.”
Let’s step back briefly and be more specific about how and why we need the promised Holy Spirit in our everyday lives.
We all know that from the time we get up in the morning we have attitudes that can draw us away from Jesus instead of closer to Him.
These would include attitudes of complaining, judgment, resentment, bitterness, agitation, and feeling sorry for ourselves.
I am sure you can come up with other examples.
These kinds of attitudes very quickly cloud the sunniest of days.
These attitudes can affect our whole outlook and the outlook of other people with whom we converse.
I am not saying that we as Christians are intended to be positive about everything. There are people and circumstances that we can recognize are negative and they affect us negatively. We cannot change them, but each of us is responsible for our own attitudes and our responses.
How in the world can we effectively deal with all that challenges our desire to love and obey Jesus?
Enter the Holy Spirit. We need His constant Presence and help!!
Notice that Jesus says, “The world cannot accept Him (the Holy Spirit) because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him for He lives with you and will be in You.” (vs. 17b)
How do you know that the Holy Spirit is with you and in you?
What evidence do you see of the Holy Spirit equipping and defending and helping you?
Consider when we come through a conversation and think, “I didn’t know what to say and the words just came to me.”
or “I didn’t know how I was going to face that, but I did.”
These are times when the Holy Spirit has been with us and in us as promised. We were not alone!
This is exactly what Jesus promises, “I will not leave you as orphans; (alone)…” (vs. 18)
And unlike the best of friends who cannot remain with us always as this Scripture confirms, God’s Spirit will be with us forever! (John 14:16)
The Holy Spirit is our Counselor Who continues to advocate for us and to help us to know that we are never alone!
Whatever we face, we can rely on God the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit with us always.
20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.
The Holy Spirit, our Counselor, is available to show us the truth of all that knowing God can provide!