John 14:16-18 (The Spirit Our Helper)

Hi, this is Pastor Kendall, I just wanted to say thank you so much for following along with the Shepherd's Church and listening to the sermons that we preach every Lord's Day. And I just wanted to say apologize for the audio quality on this week's sermon.

Had a little bit of a glitch with the audio equipment, so it is not the best. I do pray, however, that it would encourage you, even in its current form, that the Lord would use it and strengthen you, and that knowing who the Holy Spirit is and what he helps us to do and accomplish as Christians, I pray that that would be a blessing to you.

So thank you so much, God bless you, and I'll leave you to the sermon. Thank you for subscribing to the Shepherd's Church podcast. This is our Lord's Day sermon. We pray that as we declare the Word of God, that you would be encouraged, strengthened in your faith, and that you would catch a greater vision of who Christ is.

May you be blessed in the hearing of God's Word, and may the Lord be with you. Thank you for watching this week's sermon. I am going to share some news with you that totally, you know, you're in that moment they say something to me and then all of a sudden everything in the background sort of fades, time slows down.

You're not really hearing what they're saying anymore. It's just like everything is sort of melded into this moment where time standstill. You're processing the information. I kind of think that's what the disciples are going through and John 14, they had this to be going on with Jesus and how following Jesus was going to look and what, what ministry was going to be like.

The Messianic Expectations of the Disciples

And they had a view of that was informed by the scriptures and Jesus said, I'm leaving you. Which would have been the conversation that broke the mind of a kid. See for three years now, they've been chasing after Jesus, following him over every type of hill and bush and tree from the nooks and crannies of Judah to the, even to the ends of Samaria.

They've been following Jesus from the Jordan river to the sea of Galilee or every valley, hill mountain, rural plain and bustling city in between. They were following him because they saw and they knew and they believed that he had the words of eternal life and that he was the Messiah.

They were not Messianic tourists on a, on a guided tour of Jerusalem for Israel for three years. They were following him because they knew he was the anointed king. They were following him because they knew that he was the son of David.

When I was going to return his people's fortunes, he would establish Judah as a power in the region. Again, that's what they were thinking. They thought he was, or they read in Isaiah two, that he was the shepherd that was going to come to his temple and teach his people and teach the nations, the things of God.

They saw him as the ruler of Isaiah nine, whose government would know no end, whose he would be the mighty God, Prince of Peace, and his kingdom would only increase. They saw him as the son of God from Psalm two, who was going to have the nations as his inheritance.

They saw him as the son of man of Daniel seven, who was going to get all authority over all the nations and all the nations would come and bow down at the feet of Christ. They saw from Zechariah chapter nine, that his kingdom was going to flow to the ends of the earth, like one river to the ends of the seas.

They saw from Habakkuk two, that his glory was going to pervade the cosmos, like the water covers the ocean, which if you ever been to the ocean, it's water. So his glory is going to cover everything.

They saw from someone 10, that he was going to have all of his enemies put under his feet from Micah four, all the nations were going to stream to him. They had a concept of his kingdom that was global in perspective, and we have to remember that they were the first 12 guys to show up.

So they probably thought that they had Catholic positions or, or at least, you know, dignitaries, some fancy title. They shuffled with this. You know, we read last week in Luke 22, right before Jesus is crucified, that they're arguing over who's the greatest, because they're expecting this kingdom is going to be a worldwide empire.

Rome is going to be put down. All of the kingdoms of the orient are going to be put down and Jesus is going to be king over the world, and they're going to be his dignitaries, the thief on the cross, even in the way that he talks to Jesus, he petitions Jesus as king to make sure that he is a part of the kingdom.

He says, when you come to your kingdom, remember me, everyone who interacted with Jesus treated him. At least the ones who saw him for who he really was, is that he's going to be the king of the world and that we want to be on his side and his kingdom as his citizens.

And these expectations were not unfounded. We just referenced about seven or eight scriptures in the old Testament where you could reasonably say or get, or see at least how they got there. But what they did not understand is who the kingdom was for.

That's where they got it wrong. They thought the kingdom was for Israel, for political, national Israel, for the, for the people who descended from Abraham, who are going to have this great kingdom that was going to rule over all the nations.

They were looking for national glory, national strength, national power. They had no idea of a spiritual kingdom for a spiritual Israel, for people who come in through Christ, who are going to multiply to every tribe, tongue, and nation.

All these promises are coming true in Christ, but not in the way that they were thinking. They also didn't understand the timing of the kingdom. They thought the kingdom was going to come right then. They thought in their lifetime, they were going to see Rome fall, the Caesars crippled and Jesus reigning on the throne.

They had no concept of a 2000 year campaign, a long war, multiple thousand year war even. And we don't even know when it's going to be over because until every enemy has been put under Jesus' feet, the kingdom continues, the campaign advances.

They had no idea that it wasn't a physical war, that it was a spiritual war. It was a war to reclaim the entire cosmos that Satan stole in the garden. They had no idea that it could be like the parable that he shared, that the wheat and tares would grow together until the very end.

They thought that it was going to be their field and it was going to be their time and they didn't understand. So they were shocked. They were appalled. They were dismayed. They were broken. When Jesus said that he was leaving, you just got here, except one minute on the throne in Jerusalem.

Jesus, how are you giving up on this now? That's the way they would have heard him. What do you mean you're going back to the father? You're here to bring his kingdom to us, to the chosen people. What about the prophecies?

Jesus? What about the Bible studies that we talked about where you said your kingdom is going to cover the whole world? What about that? What about all the things that Jesus had just got through time?

Don't let your heart be troubled. What Jesus? Thank you. You just told me that you're leaving. So now my heart is troubled. What about the fact that he told me to leave? He told me that he was going to prepare a place.

Why didn't he prepare a place? They are with them right then, right there. Why is he leaving to do that? He told him he returned and he didn't. It was going to be a long time. Why is it going to be like this?

Jesus? He told him he was the way, the truth, and the life, and they have to follow him, but they are not going to see him. How are they going to follow him? Where is he going? They wouldn't understand all of these things until much later.

And it was a direct result of the Holy spirit of God. You give up. You can't stay in the truth of Christ without the spirit of God, you can't experience the life that God has given you without the spirit involved, the greater works that you've been called to do.

You can't do those. You can't pray. You can't obey. You can't do anything without the spirit of God in the same way that you and I were totally incapable of saving ourselves. We're also totally incapable of sanctifying ourselves as well.

Every aspect of our salvation is by external power alone. God, the father choosing us, Christ purchasing us, the spirit in glowing us. None of it is about you and I, because we're sinful and broken. We can't do these things without the help of God.

The Promise of the Holy Spirit

Another day where we're going to look at it. We're going to look at the Holy spirit. Jesus is promising his people. You're going to do these things. You're going to pray. You're going to obey. You're going to expand my kingdom, but you're not going to do it alone.

You're going to do it with the spirit of God. Today. We're going to look at three things when it comes to the spirit. Now there's a lot. I dealt with this this week, by the way, you can ask, ask for Derek.

I wanted to stop and take like a five or 10 week excursus just to talk about the spirit because there's too much. But today, all we're going to do is we're going to look at what this passage teaches us about the spirit.

There's four things that are three things that we're going to see. We're going to see that. It tells us about the promise of the Holy spirit. It tells us about the purpose of the Holy spirit, and it tells us about the presence of the Holy spirit.

Those are the three things that we're going to cover today. So if you will turn with me to John 14 versus 16 through 18 today, as we look at really John's first deep teaching on the spirit of God. So John 14, 16, three, Texas, I will ask the father and he will give you another helper that he may be with you forever.

That is the spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it does not see him or know him, but you know him because he abides with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you.

Lord Jesus, in so many ways, this passage is the apex of everything you've been teaching John 13 all the way to now. This is very reason why your people will obey you and pray to you and seek you and find you and build and work and spread your kingdom to the ends of the earth.

Spirit of God is the only reason why we're here. The only reason why we fear you, the only reason why we love you, the only reason why we desire to please you. Lord, I pray that today that we would get a glimpse of who the Holy Spirit is and the Lord that in that, that you would cause us to be people that deeply depend upon you, depend upon your spirit's work.

We don't quench the spirit with, with reprobate living, but as those who've been cleansed and washed, we leave our former lives and we live an hour in the spirit of God and the giftings of the spirit of God.

The glory of God Christ. Amen. Amen. Jesus begins his passage about the Holy Spirit with a promise. He says, I will ask the father. That's a promise. That's a future tense verb that says, I'm going to do this.

I am going to go and I'm going to ask the father. I'm going to convene with him. I'm going to have a conversation with him after I've died, been buried, resurrected and ascended to heaven. I'm going to go and have a conversation with the father and I'm going to ask him something on your behalf.

The result of that is going to be that he's going to send to his people another helper. That's a fascinating phrase. Another helper. What does he mean by that? I thought there was only one Holy Spirit.

What does he mean by another helper? Well, the word here is para clay toss. I share that only if you do Bible trivia and the word means mediator, intercessor, advocate or helper. It shows up five times in the Bible.

That's it. Paracletus mediator, intercessor, advocate or helper of the five times that it shows up. It only shows up in the writing of John and of those five times it shows up four times in the gospel and they all refer to the Holy Spirit.

The only one that, that even nuances it a little bit is John 14, 16, the verse that ran where it says another helper, which means that there's more than one helper. There's not just one advocate. Maybe there's more than one advocate.

So we need to figure out what this means. And we look at the fifth example in the writings of John. It's not in his gospels though. It's in his epistle where he tells us who the other advocate is. It's in first John chapter two, verse one.

We read this earlier. He says, my little children, I'm writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone does sin, we have an advocate, Paracletus with the father, Jesus Christ, the righteous.

What he's saying is that Christians have two comforters. Christians have two advocates. Christians have two helpers. We have the former helper who came and who lived with his disciples for three years, 12 of them in the larger discipleship community, helping them to understand the things of God.

And we have the latter helper who is the Holy Spirit. You also think about it like this. We may have the same two mediators, the same two helpers, except we're not living physically with the incarnate Christ.

He is raised to the throne of God and in heaven. So who's our two helpers? Christ who is in heaven is interceding for you at the throne of grace, speaking your name before the father, advocating for you, even while the spirit is your helper here on earth.

So you've got to hope we're both in heaven and a helper here on earth. That is what Jesus is getting after that. When he's gone, he's going to send the spirit of God to be the helper of the believer in time and space and to help them know God, to follow God, to walk with God, to love God and to know his word.

That's what another helper means. It means that Jesus is going to ascend to heaven and be your advocate before the father so that the father hears that. No, no, no. Dan, Derek, Greg, everyone who's here, they belong to Christ.

They belong to me. That's what Jesus is doing for us right now. Advocating for us at the throne. The Holy Spirit is helping us to walk that out and live that out properly. We now this passage, this idea of a helper coming is not a new idea that Jesus invents.

Now Jesus has the right to invent things. He's God knows everything. So he can say novel things. We should be very careful when we say novel things. When we say things that are new about scripture, it's possible that you're the only one in church history who's figured something out, but it's not likely.

And it's more likely in fact that you're speaking heresy. But with Jesus, Jesus can say novel things, but it's not what he's doing here. He's saying promises. They go all the way back into the old Testament promises that have been around for centuries about the coming of the spirit of God.

Joel chapter two verses 28 to 29. I will come up. It will come about after this and I will pour out my spirit on all mankind. Your sons and daughters will prophesy and your old men will dream dreams and your young men will see visions.

Even on the male and female servants. I will pour out my spirit in those days. Now we don't have time to deal with this passage entirely, but in those days are the days in which Christ came in the days in which he resurrected the spirit was poured out in a mighty way.

Their Pentecost in Acts chapter two and we see that in the book of Acts, that amazing outpouring of the spirit did wane as the church age went along and as the canon of scripture began to be formed so that when we had a completed Bible, those sorts of miraculous events started to wane and to close out that season of time.

But for a season, the spirit was pouring out in miraculous evidentiary sort of works. So it's prophesied here hundreds of years before the events happened. The spirit of God was going to come upon believers.

Isaiah 44 three is another example. I will pour out water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground and I will pour out my spirit on your offspring and my blessing on your descendants. So if you think about it, the spirit of God is going to be poured out on believers and also upon the church.

The spirit will be the blessing of God's people prophesies 700 years before the spirit of God came. And Isaiah Ezekiel 36 26 through 27 sort of describes what this blessing is going to look like. It's the blessing of faith, the blessing of regeneration, which means you're made new.

Ezekiel says, moreover, I will give you, this is God speaking. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

And I'll put my spirit within you and I will call you to walk in my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances. Actually, in Jesus and Matthew or John 14 15 quoting Ezekiel here, he says, if you love me, you will obey my commandments.

And he starts talking about the spirit. See, he was promising that that the spirit of God will come upon you and make you love God and make you obey God, which means that there is an essential relationship between loving God and obedience with the spirit.

You can't love him without the spirit. You can't worship him without the spirit. You can't obey him without the spirit. You can't walk with him without the spirit. You are, and I am entirely indebted to the spirit of God.

Zechariah 12 10 says, I will pour out in the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication so that they will look upon whom they have pierced and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only son.

One of the works, the great works, the Holy Spirit is sorrow over sin. One of the greatest works of the spirit that you know, the spirit has come inside of you is that you hate your sin when the spirit comes upon an unbeliever and regenerates them and makes them new.

The first thing that begins to happen is a sorrow over sin, a hatred of the things that you once loved and a love, a alien sort of love, a love that you don't even fully understand of the things that you once hated.

The spirit is not only there to cause you to sing and to malicize them, to have joy, but also to break your heart to the things that you ought not be loving, to cause you to repent, to cause you to have a sorrow.

This is not saying new things. He's reminding them of centuries old promises about the spirit that they were misunderstanding. Even in his ministry, he reminds them. He's not just reminding them of scriptures.

In john chapter one, john the baptist sees the spirit descending on Christ and he says he's the one who's going to baptize in the Holy Spirit. That's a reminder to his people that the spirit's coming, that that Joel chapter two prophecies about to be fulfilled.

You remember Jesus's conversation with Nicodemus and he said, are you the teacher in Israel and you don't understand these things? Man must not be born by water alone, but by the spirit of God. John three 34.

He said, I'm the one who's going to get the spirit without measure. John four 23 tells the woman at the well, the time is coming and it's already here where people are going to worship the Lord and spirit.

And in truth, john seven, Jesus tells them exactly when the spirit is going to come. But this, he spoke of the spirit when those who believed in him were to receive for the spirit was not yet given because Christ was not yet glorified.

He's given a timestamp there that the spirit that's going to be poured out without measure. That's going to break people's hearts of their sin because of the love Jesus and worship him. That spirit is coming on the day when Christ is glorified.

You see in john chapter 12 is the day that they raised him up on a cross and crucified him at the pinnacle of the city, a day that for most criminals, for all criminals is the most infamous and inglorious day of their lives was the day of God's greatest triumph and glory.

It was on that day, it was on that day that the promises of the old covenant were coming true. So just a few days later, the spirits poured out on God's people and the world got turned upside down. This should not have been a surprise to the disciples if they were reading their scriptures, but it was, they didn't get it.

And guess what? If we were there, we wouldn't have either. We have the benefit of hindsight. We can watch the tape. We wouldn't have seen it either. This passage though is really important because it really begins to teach us about a discipline of theology called pneumatology.

It's another Bible trivia night word for you. Pneumatology just means the theology of the Holy Spirit. So if you want to learn about the theology of the Holy Spirit, John 14 is a great place to go. John 16 is a great place to go.

Everybody wants to go to Corinthians. We're talking about the gifts. That's important, but this is really the first teaching in the gospels. The first, the first dense teaching of who the spirit is. And because of that, we'll see four things about the spirit.

The Holy Spirit’s Continual Presence

Number one, first thing we'll see that Jesus teaches us in this passage is that he's going to be continually with his people. The purpose of the spirit is to be with his people continually. Jesus says in verse 16, I will ask the father and he will give you another helper that he may be with you forever.

What good news is that? That the spirit is going to be with you forever. There's never a day in your life where you're alone. There's never a day in your life where you're abandoned. There's never a day in your life where you are by yourself.

If you're a Christian, you have the presence of almighty God with you. Now, let's clarify something because that doesn't mean that you're always going to feel it. He didn't promise that. He didn't promise that you will feel his presence forever.

That you will sense his nearness continually, that you will feel his power coursing through your veins. That's how the charismatic church in many ways has gone off track because they view the efficacy of the spirit through evidence.

If I'm seeing gold dust fall from the ceiling, if I'm, if I'm seeing evidences in my life, then the spirit is really moving and spirit really is power. If I leave the worship service and I've had an experience, then the spirit was really present.

But make sure we invite him there because we have to do that. We have to invite him. There's a song that Holy Spirit, we welcome you. The spirit is there with you. The reason you don't feel is not spirit.

It's not because he's somehow not manifested himself in a way that you and I can bear or feel. We're the problem. We're the problem. The spirit is there. He promises it. Jesus is, is truth. If the words of Jesus says is true, then the spirit is with you always and forever.

There's never a moment. Dear Christian, where you do not have the spirit of God. He is with you. Stop feeling like you've been abandoned. If Jesus is telling us the truth, then the spirit is with you.

Whether you feel him or not, whether you feel him or not, oftentimes it's because let me make this a little clear. I'll give you a guaranteed way where you will never feel close to God. I'll give you a guaranteed way where you will always feel like the spirit is distant from you, where you'll never feel his power.

You'll never feel his intimacy. You'll never feel anything from the spirit. Little life of sin. That's the way to do it. Do not do what God has commanded and do what God has forbidden. If you live that way, then don't complain about why God feels distant and look in the mirror, but if you want to know God and you're a Christian, why would you not?

And if you want to experience God again, if you're a Christian, why would you not want to want to know him and feel his intimacy and love in the same way that a husband wants to know his wife and feel the intimacy of his wife and husbands or wives want to do that for their husbands, mothers, for their children, fathers, for their sons and daughters.

Why would we not want to know him? If you want to know him, there are ways that you can cultivate that. He promises that he will never leave you. He will never forsake you. He'll be with you always, but there's work that you and I can do to cultivate that relationship.

We call it the means of grace. We say we share it every week. It's actually not complicated. They're one of the one of the interesting things about the modern world is that we have to come up with new concepts, a new 10 point list, a new a new program, a new this and do that.

Most books are worthless that have been published because they're just rebranding something that's already been published before. How many leadership books can we possibly come out with saying the same thing?

How many marriage books? Love your wife. Respect your husband. Okay. We say these things every week. They're not complicated, but they do take effort. If you want to know God, if you want to have a thrilling relationship with God, if you want to see the fruit of that relationship, I'm going to read you a few things.

Come to church. Matthew 18, he says, where two or more gathered in my name. I'm there in their midst. You want to be the closest that you can ever be to Jesus. This side of heaven. Come to church because he's promised to be here in a way that he's not on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday.

His presence is here. That's something else is more important. I understand. This is funny, right? But we, this is the way that we live. We're talking about a spirit. If you want to know him and be in his presence, come to church when he gathers, participate in the sacraments.

Did you know that he's giving you baptism and the word supper to, to nourish you and grace. Be baptized. Take communion. These are avenues of grace in your life. Honor the Sabbath day is holy. Set it apart from all the other days of the week and honor it.

Pray. Speak to God. How did you have a relationship with the one you never talked to fast? Not, not, not to get on the scales next week and see some gain. It's tempting fast so that you will know him above all things.

Practice solitude silence. This is a discipline. This is a means of grace that I think needs to be recovered in the modern world. Pay attention. Take a notebook out this week and write down every single time.

Turn your, turn all your, your, your volumes up on your phone right now. How many times in 30 minutes that an alert pops up on your phone that grabs for your attention? How many times is a text message coming in?

How many times is an email coming in that you have to deal with? We are people who are so distracted. We live like a pinball machine Monday through Sunday. It's any wonder that we come in with such shallow reflections on who God is because we've been jostled back and forth from one distraction to the next.

Take a day and turn your phone off and just sit in silence with God. I'm telling you what a beautiful discipline. Open Bible, open notebook, pen and no electronics. I'm telling you, I've spent days like that before.

Some of the richest, most beautiful days with Christ that I've ever had in my life. Read scripture, memorize scripture, meditate on scripture. These are things that the spirit gave you. Imagine if you go to the hospital and you've got a man who is so believers from extroverts.

That's easy from introverts. That's harder. Work it out. I'm introverted. Worship in your homes. Worship with your wife. Worship with your children. Educate your children in the fear and admonition of the Lord.

Participate in discipleship and evangelism. Come alongside a younger brother or younger sister and help them understand the scriptures and telling you there's few ways in your life that you will see the spirit of God move in you when you help someone else.

When I stand up to preach, even I see it every week. You can ask Derek. I come in every week. I'm insufficient for this work. I'm broken. I'm this. I'm bellyaching about everything. And every single week I see God help me.

Every single week I see God use me to minister to you. It's not because of me. It's because God wants his message to go to his people. You want to see the Lord move in your life? Bring his message to his people.

He will do it. He's faithful. He will not let the word return void. He won't even let you ruin it. I have personal experience with that evangelism service. There's so many different ways that we can experience the grace of our God through the spirit of God.

And yet we neglect the means of grace. If you want to have a close, lovely, affectionate, intimate relationship with God, do the things that God has told you, because they will work to build in you a life giving supply of grace, joy, peace, satisfaction that can't be taken away from you.

Even in the darkest time periods, even when everything looks bad, you can look and say, my God is good. It's not complicated, but it takes effort. The first thing I want to share with you here in this section is that the Holy Spirit is with you.

He's not leaving you. He's not forsaking you. Sometimes you neglect him. Sometimes you quench his spirit, cultivate that work on that. Obey him. Read his word. Pray not to get him to love you more. He already loves you more, way more than we deserve to experience.

The Holy Spirit as the Spirit of Truth

Number two, the second purpose of the Holy Spirit is to communicate truth to the elect, to the people of God. Verse 18, Jesus calls him the spirit of truth. He also, throughout the scriptures, we know that God is the God of truth.

Christ is, is the son and he's truth incarnate and the spirit is the spirit of truth. Truth is known only through God. The spirit is not just a truthful being who tells the truth. He is truth. Everything that he does is true.

Everything that he says is truth, which brings us to a point here. There's so many today who are looking for a word from the Lord, a message. And yet we have a completed Bible. God, the father, when he speaks, he speaks revelation.

That revelation was written down by men who were carried by the Holy Spirit, who wrote these things down. Jesus died so that we would have the spirit. The spirit comes to reveal these words to us. We don't need new revelation.

If you want to know what God says about a matter, go to the scriptures. If you want to hear God speak out loud, read it out loud. Because that's his word. The spirit only ever illuminates the word. The spirit never speaks in opposition to the word of God.

The spirit never tells you to do something that is not commanded in scripture. Oftentimes, that spirit is your spirit. You need to repent of that and go back to the spirit, who is the author of scripture.

I don't think the spirit ultimately really cares what stock you invest in. So you don't need to pray about that. I don't think he cares what brand of green beans you buy. I don't think he cares if you take job A or B.

Give glory to God in whatever you do. He will make the truth from God, which is the scriptures known to you. You don't need continual additional revelations to feel like you're hearing from God. Read the scriptures and you will hear from God.

That's number two. He reveals the truth of the word of God to his people. He also, number three, conceals the truth from the world. Now I'm not saying that the world can't know things. There's lots of smart people in the world.

There's lots of smart people who know how to do all kinds of things. Who can work on my car engine and I can't. Who know more about what's happening in the clouds than I do. Or who can cook a perfect medium rare steak, which is hard to find in New England.

You may not know because you're from here. It's hard to find a perfectly cooked medium rare steak in England. If you grew up in the south, they kill it. They throw it on for a few seconds and flip it.