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JOHN’S GOSPEL… THE PENTECOST EVENT – 27

Bible Study, ,

John 14:16-18 NIV
[16] And I will ask the Father, and he will give you ANOTHER ADVOCATE 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.

John 15:26 NIV
[26] “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 TESTIFY ABOUT ME.

John 16:8-11 NIV
[8] “When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: [9] about sin, because people do not believe in me; [10] about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; [11] and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.”

John 16:12-15 NIV
[12] “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. [13] 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. [14] HE WILL GLORIFY ME because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. [15] 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.”

Not much in words but a whole lot in meaning!

How mystified the disciples must have been. They were steeped in Old Covenant history and teaching. They knew about the Holy Spirit. He came and went in the lives of some of the old covenant saints…but now, Jesus was speaking of Him as His equal, even His other self, His representative who would replace Him in their lives and yet be as if Jesus Himself would be with them, His unseen but real self, to carry on His work. So Paul could write… “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

First, we must go back to Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus in John 3. The starting place for the Holy Spirit’s ministry in the disciples and all who follow them could only be in their spiritual birth into God’s kingdom. No one who has not entered the kingdom in this radical way can ever have the Spirit indwelling them and doing the work that Jesus said He would do.

Second,

“He lives with you and will be in you… I will come to you.”

“When the Advocate comes… He will testify about me.”

“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.”

everything the Holy Spirit does in believers that is not focused on Jesus…the revelation of who He is, and transformation into His image, the blueprint of God’s Son, is peripheral. What Jesus taught His disciples about the Spirit in the Upper Room is the core of everything the Holy Spirit does in, for, and through the believer.

Second, when we examine what Jesus said about Him, we see that the work of the Holy Spirit is all about Jesus. This is in perfect harmony with the relationship of the three Persons of the Trinity. Each is entrenched in the other two persons, in harmony with, submitting to, and exalting one another.

The closeness between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit cannot be more clearly revealed than in the saving work of Jesus and the aftermath, as Jesus explains here, of bringing people into God’s kingdom and transforming them into His image by the Holy Spirit’s work.

Everything the Holy Spirit does in believers that is not focused on Jesus…the revelation of who He is, and transformation into His image, the blueprint of God’s Son, is peripheral. What Jesus taught His disciples about the Spirit in the Upper Room is the core of everything the Holy Spirit does in, for, and through the believer.

How tragic that so much of modern Christianity has corrupted the Scriptures by presenting, in preaching and practice, a version of the Holy Spirit which is foreign to the Word of God. He is presented as an entertainer… doing strange things while people look on, sending feathers flying and gold dust falling, people collapsing on the floor “under the power”, muttering strange sounds and even animal noises! How do these “manifestations” glorify Jesus or change people into His image?

Even the so-called “miracle campaigns”, so common today, are an abuse of the Scriptures. Jesus’ miracles were, first and foremost, confirmation that He was who He said, he was, the Son of God sent from the Father.

To His opponents, Jesus argued…

John 10:30-33, 37-38 NIV
[30] “I and the Father are one.” [31] Again his Jewish opponents picked up stones to stone him, [32] but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?” [33] “We are not stoning you for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”…
[37] Do not believe me unless I do the works of my Father. [38] But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.”

… And to His disciples, He said…

John 14:11 NIV
[11] “Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves.”

The works Jesus did were through the power of the Holy Spirit…

Matthew 12:24, 27-28 NIV
[24] “But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.”…
Jesus responded…
[27] And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. [28] But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”

How important, then, that the disciples (and we) take Jesus’ teaching seriously, not adding, subtracting, or twisting out OF shape what He said. On their shoulders rested the responsibility of correctly interpreting the events of Pentecost according to the Scriptures and faithfully passing on to the next generation the teaching and ministry of Jesus in obedience to the Holy Spirit in them.

Peter’s sermon on the Day of Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit in them confirms that he recognised the prophetic word spoken by Joel, as that moment of fulfilment.

Acts 2:14-21 NIV
[14] “Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. [15] These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! [16] No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: [17] “ ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. [18] Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. [19] I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. [20] The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. [21] And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’

The Holy Spirit came, inspired Peter with the understanding of truth, and convicted sinners, as Jesus said He would, pointing them to Jesus as the truth and the Saviour of
sinners.

John 16:8 NIV
[8] “When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment:”…

Acts 2:37-39 NIV
[37] “When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” [38] Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. [39] The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

Pentecost was the demonstration and confirmation that the Holy Spirit fulfilled and fulfills everything Jesus taught about Him.

THE HOLY SPIRIT REVEALED

Christian Life, ,

THE HOLY SPIRIT REVEALED

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate 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. 1 John 14:16-18

Except for the few times Jesus mentioned the source of His power, His disciples did not know this Spirit whom He said was coming. Jesus spent the final precious hours before He was torn from them to fill them in on the Person who would take His place, both with them and in them. He told the disciples, in what we call the “Upper Room Discourse”, everything they needed to know about the Holy Spirit so that they would learn to walk with Him as they had walked with Jesus for three years.

  1. Jesus’s “other” self

So close and one were Jesus and the Holy Spirit that He could call Him His “other self”. He could say with confidence:

I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. (John 14: 18)

How could He come to them since He had told them that He was going away? After His resurrection, He was only around for forty days before He left them for good. Ah, but He had another “self”, the Holy Spirit who would take up residence within them forever. The Spirit would not come and go as Jesus had done. He would not be confined to a geographical location as Jesus was. He was spirit, not flesh and blood, and would soon come upon them to be fused with their spirits in an unbreakable union. They would be His temple, individually and together. He would make real the name that was given to Jesus prophetically in the Tanakh – Emmanuel – God with us.

The Holy Spirit withdrew from fallen man in the beginning because He could not dwell with sin. Jesus atoned for and removed sin forever and promised that He would send the Holy Spirit from the Father to be in them permanently once again. Everything that Jesus was to them, He would be.

  • The “Paracletos”

Jesus promised that “another Parakletos” was coming – one who would do the same things He had done while He was with them. The word parakletos comes from two Greek words – para, meaning “alongside” as in the word “parallel” – and kaleo, meaning “to call”. “Parakletos” is in the passive voice – “one who is called alongside”.

Who was this Parakletos and what would He do? Firstly, He was “another Parakletos”, implying that Jesus was the first Parakletos. Therefore, He would take Jesus’s place and do everything Jesus did. To His disciples, Jesus was their rabbi and their model. He was their protector and provider. He was their teacher and mentor.

This “another Parakletos” was called alongside them to support them in their human weakness. He would help them when they tottered under the weight of their burdens by carrying the burdens with them. He would be there to enable them to walk “upright” on their journey to the Father.

  • The Spirit of Truth

Jesus described the Parakletos as the Spirit of truth. He was not just any spirit. He was the Spirit of truth. Jesus identified Himself as the “truth”. Pilate asked rather cynically. “What is truth?” and did not even stay long enough to hear His answer. What would Jesus have said to Pilate? Would He have defined truth in abstract terms? No. As a true Hebrew, Jesus would have simply said, “Look at me. I am the truth.” In other words, everything He was, everything He said and everything He did was the truth.

Now He said to His disciples, “Just as you watched me and saw truth in action, the Holy Spirit will be in you to teach you how to be truth in action.” If they listened to Him as they had listened to Jesus, they would be in no doubt at all about who and what the truth was.

  • The Spirit of Jesus

But how would they be able to differentiate between the voice of the Holy Spirit in them and every other voice that clamoured to be heard? Jesus gave them a simple test.

All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counsellor, 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. (John 14: 25-26)

I have much more to say to you, more than you can bear now. But when He, the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all 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 bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. (John 16: 12-14)

What the Holy Spirit says and does is always in perfect harmony with what Jesus said and did. The test is simple and backed up by a powerful witness:

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. (John 14: 27)

How would they know they were on the right track? Jesus promised that He would replace their insecurity with the same confirmation that powered Him – peace. Peace in the heart always follows truth in the mind. Emotional disturbance is God’s warning sign that there are lies in the mind that contradict what God has said. Jesus assured His disciples that, if they followed the Holy Spirit who would lead them into the truth embodied in Him and His word, His supernatural peace would confirm that they were in the truth.

Scripture is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.