When The Spirit of Truth Comes
John 15:26 – 27; 16:4b – 15
Unfortunately we have all been in that place, the place that the disciples find themselves in our lesson from John today. We have all lost someone very important to us. Maybe it was a mother or father, a grandmother or grandfather, a wife or husband. Maybe it was an uncle, aunt, cousin or a friend. Sometimes we, like the disciples, have been forewarned that the loss was coming. In some cases, it was simply a shock out of the blue.
In any case we have never felt that we were the better for having lost the person. But that is exactly what Jesus is attempting to do in our lesson today. He is telling the disciples that despite his leaving them they will be better off than they were.
The story of the arrival of the Spirit is found in our scripture in Acts 2 but today we are focusing on the Gospel lesson from the lectionary, which is the 15and 16th chapters of John’s Gospel. Before the coming of the Spirit on Pentecost, before the ascension of Jesus, before the resurrection and the crucifixion of Christ, Jesus tries mitigate, to lessen the pain of his leaving them and He promises the disciples the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.
To understand Pentecost from John’s perspective, we have to rewind to the Upper Room, on the night Jesus washed his disciples’ feet and shared one last meal with them. We know the Upper Room story very well, Jesus and the Disciples share in the Last Supper, Jesus challenges Peter’s faithfulness, Jesus goes into the garden, Judas betrays Him and Jesus is arrested.
But John’s version of the story is much longer, in fact our lesson today comes from what scholars call The Final Discourse, which is the longest speech in all the gospels, taking up four full chapters. Today we come to the final words Jesus gives to his disciples before he prays for them and heads off to the Garden.
Over and over in our scripture, Jesus tells his friends that he is leaving. Over and over, he tells his friends that, once he is gone, the Advocate will come to be with them. I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away Jesus tells them.
Really, it was to the advantage of the disciples if Jesus is leaves them? How does Christ leaving and being replaced by the Holy Spirit make the believers of Jesus better than before He leaves? Fortunately, the Holy Scriptures describe how we are advantaged when The Spirit of Truth Comes.
First, the Work of the Holy Spirit is Companionship in your life.
Jesus had been their guide and companion for the past three years but he tells them that to fulfill His mission he must leave, He promises to send the Holy Spirit to continue God’s presence with them. Jesus tells them, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever which is the Spirit of Truth”.
The Holy Spirit has always been God’s companioning presence for his people. He appeared as a cloud by day at Mount Sinai, and a pillar of fire at night to lead the nation of Israel through the wilderness.
Through the grace of God, the Spirit is your companion, your Advocate, your Counselor, your Paraclete, literally the one called to come alongside you. He was sent and made manifest on the Day of Pentecost, and demonstrated his powerful presence first through the apostles, and now through his people, you and me, more than 2000 years later.
Second, The Holy Spirit Gives You Courage
If we had been there with the apostles in Jerusalem on that Pentecost day, waiting in the Upper Room, we would have seen a scared, leaderless group, uncertain of what the future would bring.
But then the Spirit’s presence was announced by a mighty rushing wind. Tongues of fire appear on the heads of the apostles and they begin to speak in languages they did not know to speak the Truth to people from all over the region, hundreds of thousands of people that had come to Jerusalem for the Festival of Pentecost.
Peter boldly ascends a makeshift pulpit to proclaim that this — the wind, the fire, the tongues are what the prophet Joel spoke of, the coming of the Spirit on young and old, the restoration of confidence and courage to God’s people.
That same Spirit that gave courage to Peter, not only preach but eventually to die for his faith, is the same Spirit that gave courage to God’s people through the persecution of Roman emperors, through the entire of the first century as thousands of Christians were martyred for their love of Christ. It is the same courage that is available to you today to testify to your faith in an ever increasingly anti-Christian world.
Third, the Holy Spirit Brings You Conviction.
In a compelling description of the works of the Spirit, Jesus says that the Holy Spirit will convict the heart of mankind to convince him of the need to change his depraved self. That conviction comes in three ways:
- Conviction of sin. The Holy Spirit will show those who have not believed that they have missed the mark, missed the target that God has set for us. It is this conviction of your sinfulness and brokenness that has brought you back into the family of God through your salvation. We know that as Prevenient Grace.
- Conviction of righteousness. Jesus said: The Holy Spirit will show the world that my life is the only true example of righteousness, rightness with God. The Holy Spirit will convict the hearts of mankind that my life, my example, my love, my sacrifice is the example of perfect righteousness. The Holy Spirit challenges us to become righteous like Jesus.
- Convict the world of judgment. For those that do not accept salvation through Christ, there is a judgment coming. In other words, if you choose this world, you lose, there is no middle ground. You are either all in for Jesus or you are all out. The Holy Spirit convicts you of your need to embrace Jesus so that you will not face the dire judgment of eternal separation from God.
Fourth, the Work of the Holy Spirit is to Speak of Christ to you and the world.
Jesus reminded his disciples that the work of the Spirit of God is not to draw attention to himself, but rather to point to Jesus, to testify about Jesus. Jesus is the hope of the world; Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life; Jesus is the light in a dark world; Jesus is the Good Shepherd, the Door, the Bread of Life; the Vine, Jesus is God’s Messiah; Jesus is the Savior of the world. The work of the Holy Spirit is to take the nature of Jesus and make it known, bringing glory to Jesus in the process and to help us do it too!
Fifth the Holy Spirit allows Jesus to be with you in all places at all times.
When Jesus came to be with us for a time, he became fully human, fully divine yes, but also fully human. Because of that He has physical limitations, He can’t be in two places at the same time, we see that throughout His ministry, death and resurrection. However, the Holy Spirit can be everywhere and anywhere at anytime! The Holy Spirit allows Jesus to be present in all places and in all times with you and with the other followers.
Lastly The Spirit of Truth Comes to help us fulfil our purpose
When you belong to Christ, your job is to testify that Jesus is the Son of God. The Advocate standing alongside also testifies to this truth. The Advocate will support you in your testimony, helping you to tell your own story of repentance and redemption. It’s your story.
You are the only one who can tell it. You are the only one with first-hand witness of what God has done in your life through the person of Jesus Christ. While you tell your story, the Advocate will be at work in the hearts and minds of those who hear you. The Advocate will be agreeing with you and affirming the truth in what you say.
Hear the Good News my Friends………
As we know, it is hard to let go of the past and to embrace the unknown future. The disciples were eager to hold onto what had become familiar to them. But Jesus was leaving, and the Spirit was coming. Instead of watching Jesus do amazing things, the time has come for the disciples, for us, to do amazing things.
Today we all need a healthy dose of the Advocate in our lives. Instead of waiting for the Holy Spirit to show up, maybe we need to realize that the Holy Spirit is already here among us, waiting for us to testify, as the Spirit testifies, that Jesus really is Lord, and we need to follow where the Spirit leads us.
Pentecost should not be about a past event but rather as recognition of God’s ongoing activity in the world. It should be about the coming of the Spirit in tongues of flame, it is the opportunity to ask ourselves where we see God’s activity in our lives and in our world in the present.
How are we advantaged by the coming of the Advocate? It is about discerning a pattern of God’s activity in our lives, how God acted in us and through us in the past with how God is still at work in and through us this morning. When The Spirit of Truth Comes is not about the distant past, a story of when it came to the disciples or about when the Spirit will come some day in the distant future. It is about the Holy Spirit being with us in the present, enabling us, individually and as His people to do important things for the Kingdom of God.
The Spirit of Truth has come, so today I am asking you to always be mindful of the movement of air around you and remember that Holy Spirit is just like that, always around you, always present with you, altering the Spiritual landscape of your life, refreshing your soul, changing your point of view and brightening your countenance! The next time you feel a breeze, remember the presence of the Holy Spirit is with you, then, there, and always! Amen.