- Gospels and Acts(NT) John 14:15~31
THE PROMISE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Question
THE PROMISE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
John 14:15-31
Key Verses: 14:15,16
"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..."
STUDY QUESTIONS
1. Read verses 15-16. What did Jesus promise? Who is qualified to receive the Holy Spirit? How do we show our love for Jesus? What is Jesus' command? (13:34; See 21,23,24)
2. Read verses 16-20. How is the Holy Spirit described? Why can't the world accept him? What does it mean practically that the Holy Spirit would be with the disciples?
3. Who is the Holy Spirit? (16,23; Ge 1:2,26; 2Co 13:14) What does he do for those who love Jesus? What difference does it make that he dwells in our souls?
4. Read verses 22-24. Why did Judas want him to show himself to the world? Why did Jesus show himself to the disciples and not to the world? (17,23,24) With whom does the Holy Spirit not dwell? What are the consequences?
5. Read verses 25-26. What does the Holy Spirit teach? When and how? Can you think of any example? Read verse 27. What additional promise did Jesus give here? How is Jesus' peace different from the world's peace? (Acts 7:59-60)
6. Read verses 28-31. Why should the disciples be glad that Jesus is going to the Father? How did Jesus plant faith in the kingdom of God? Why does Satan have no grip on him?
Manuscript
Message
THE PROMISE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
John 14:15-31
Key Verses: 14:15,16
"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..."
In the last lecture we studied John 14:6. It says, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Throughout history so many noble scholars and philosophers wanted to know what is the way. But they could not get even a glimpse of the way. No scholar has ever made "the way" through a philosophical hypothesis. Jesus is the only way, because he knew where he came from and where he was going back to. Today Jesus teaches his disciples that there is no separation anxiety, because he will send them another Counselor to be with them forever. "Another Counselor" is the Spirit of truth. The Spirit of truth is the Holy Spirit. In chapter 16 we will learn more about the Holy Spirit. Today Jesus teaches us the presence of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit works mainly by dwelling in our souls.
First, the promise of the Holy Spirit (15-20). Look at verses 15-17. "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. 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." Here Jesus is saying two things. First is about those who are privileged to receive the Holy Spirit. Those who can receive the Holy Spirit are those who love Jesus. By hating Jesus, nobody can receive the Holy Spirit. The absolute condition of receiving the Holy Spirit is to obey his command, that is to love one another as he has loved us. John 13:34 says, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." In light of John 13:34 and John 14:15,16, the absolute condition to receive the Holy Spirit is to love Jesus and to love one another. As much as the disciples loved Jesus, their anxiety attack troubled their hearts. So in his troubled heart, Peter cried out, "O good Jesus! O beautiful Jesus! O shepherd Jesus! You know I love you! Why are you going to go away leaving us like orphans?" John and James have some political motivation. But at the Last Supper John leaned on Jesus' breast and enjoyed his Master's love. But in his heart it was unthinkable that his Master would depart from him and make him a man of broken dreams. In this country, the most serious problem is not a future security anxiety, but a separation anxiety. So many girls in college suffer from separation anxieties. They do everything so as not to be separated from their partners.
Second is Jesus' promise of the Holy Spirit. Read verse 16. "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever--the Spirit of truth." Jesus' disciples did not understand the words "the Holy Spirit," so Jesus told them he would give them another Counselor to be with them forever. Here Jesus said that the Holy Spirit, the Counselor, would be with his disciples forever. It is amazing that Jesus promised them that he would send the Counselor to be with them forever. When we look back in history, there are many great saints. However, they never gave any such promise to their followers. For example, Buddha did not promise anything to his multitude of followers, even though they wanted his promise about what the future would be and what would happen. When the time came to bid his followers farewell, he only said, "You must take suffering for granted. Say repeatedly, 'Buddha mercy,' fingering the rosary." Buddha's words cannot be a definite promise to his followers about what to do or what to expect. As we know, we honor Socrates as the ancestor of philosophy. He was about to take the cup of poison because he taught the truth, against false political principles. One of his followers asked him, "What can we expect or what kind of promise can you give us?" After a few minutes of silence, Socrates said to him, "Well, please pay back for me a hen that I stole from my neighbor's house." Here Socrates' last words to his followers make us respect him for his high moral standard. But we cannot say that he gave his followers a definite promise for the future.
But Jesus said that he would give his disciples another Counselor to be with them forever--the Spirit of truth. In other words, Jesus promised to send them the Holy Spirit to be with them forever. Jesus also told them, "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" (17b). The Counselor Jesus promised would tell them definitely what they had to do and what to expect. His promise also gave them assurance that they would not be like orphans. Verse 18 says, "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you." Jesus comes to us by sending the Holy Spirit to dwell in our souls. So we are not alone, nor are we orphans. We are an absolute minority. But we are an absolute majority due to the presence of the Holy Spirit in our souls.
Jesus said that the world would not see him anymore, but that his disciples would see him (19a). It means that the people of the world would not have the Holy Spirit in them. So to them, the death of Jesus seemed to be the end of everything. But his disciples had an expectation that they would see him again, because the Holy Spirit dwelt in their souls (19b). Because of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in their souls, they would see that Jesus lives and they would be confident that they also would live forever. Moreover, they would realize that Jesus went to God's house, and that they were in Jesus, and Jesus was in them (20).
Second, who the Holy Spirit is (16). Look at verse 16. "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever--the Spirit of truth." Jesus did not describe the Holy Spirit in detail. But he told them that another Counselor would come to be with them. To the disciples, "another Counselor" might have been easy to understand, because Jesus was the best counselor to them. When Jesus said "another Counselor," he was indicating the Holy Spirit. The work of the Holy Spirit would be to dwell in their souls and give them the realization and spiritual wisdom to understand Jesus' death on the cross and resurrection. It seems good to think briefly about who the Holy Spirit is. The Holy Spirit is God. When we study the Bible, we learn that there is God the Father, who made the heavens and the earth. We call him "Elohim" or "El Shaddai." Second is God the Son. He is called God's Son due to his incarnation, but he is also God. There was a famous minister whose son had many questions. His son said to him, "If God is the Father and Jesus is the Son, then who is their grandson?" Likewise, there are so many people who do not understand about three persons in one God. God is infinite. In order to save men from their sins, God functions in his divinity in three ways: God the Father as the Sovereign Ruler; God the Son as the Savior of the world; and the Holy Spirit as the invisible God who dwells in the souls of those who love God and his Son Jesus Christ.
Three persons in God are well manifested in the Bible. Genesis 1:1 says, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Here "God" in Hebrew is not singular, but is written in plural form. "Heavens" is also not mentioned as "heaven" but "heavens." Genesis 1:2 says, "Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters." Here, "Spirit of God" is the Holy Spirit. Without the work of the Holy Spirit the world would remain chaotic forever. Genesis 1:26 says, "Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.'" In this verse, "Let us make man in our image" indicates that there are many persons in our God. Genesis 3:22a says, "And the Lord God said, 'The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil.'" The phrase "like one of us" indicates many persons in our God. After Adam's Fall, God worried that man would become groundlessly proud and would say, "We are God." So he said, "The man has now become like one of us." Here we learn that God spoke of his own being as consisting of many persons in one God. At the event of the building of the Babel tower, Genesis 11:6-7 says, "The Lord said, 'If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.'" "Come, let us go down" again indicates that there are many persons in our God. After the Fall, men became extremely proud. They wanted to be equal with God. So God said, "Come, let us go down and confuse their language so that they might have a language problem."
At the death of King Uzziah the people of Judah were confused, wondering if they were tolling the bell for King Uzziah or tolling the bell for themselves. But God did not abandon them. He was looking for a person who would go and fight for his people. Isaiah 6:8 says, "Who will go for us?" Here the phrase "Who will go for us" indicates that there are many persons in our God. 2 Corinthians 13:14 summarizes the three persons in our God. It says, "May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all." Therefore, when we call on God, we are calling God the Father, God the Son and the Holy Spirit all at once. Theologically speaking, we can call these three persons in one God the Trinity of God. Simply speaking, God is like a Father, Jesus is like a mother, and the Holy Spirit is like a counselor or a teacher. It is very important for us to be sensitive to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in our souls. It is important for us to know that our God has three persons. Especially, those who live in this world must be clearly conscious of the presence of the Holy Spirit. Otherwise, weak human beings fall apart. Men are both flesh and soul. When we are not aware of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in our souls, then demons occupy our souls, even up to the number of 6,000. Even one demon is hard to bear. If we have five demons in us, we must go to a mental clinic. Therefore, we must ask God that the Holy Spirit may come to us and dwell in us. Most importantly, we must remember that our God has three persons in himself: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
Third, the Holy Spirit dwells in those who love Jesus (15-24). Christianity is the religion of love. We must realize the love of God through divine humiliation and the humbleness of Jesus. If we do not receive the love of God, we cannot receive the presence of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. In the upper room, Jesus gave his disciples a new command. John 13:34,35 says, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." The top disciple, Simon Peter, didn't care about the new command. He asked him, "Lord, where are you going?" Jesus replied, "Where I am going, you cannot follow now. But you will follow later." Then Peter's pride was offended. He asked, "Lord, why can't I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you" (36-37). Even if it was his human love, it is certain that Peter loved Jesus more than his life. James and John were politically-minded. In Mark 10:35b, they said, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask." It meant they wanted to be prime ministers in the earthly messianic kingdom, putting aside the top disciple Peter. Still, John was known to be the disciple whom Jesus loved (13:23). Despite themselves, they loved Jesus. So they were fully qualified to receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in their souls. When the Holy Spirit dwells in one's soul, it is the same as Jesus living in his soul, because the Holy Spirit is one of the three persons of God.
There are many problems in the world. There are many people whose hearts are troubled living in the turbulent waters of this world. It is very natural that they are uneasy and attacked by anxiety and try to enjoy the pleasures of sin to appease their troubled minds, or to get momentary peace through many kinds of fun. But they cannot have real rest and peace by means of worldly pleasure. There was a handsome young man. He might have been 6'4". He was known as a promising young man. He studied well, and he was the envy of all the town girls. He was a joy to his parents. But one day he got a "B." Then he was upset. He dropped all his courses and did not eat or sleep. He became quite opposite to the person he was in the past. As he had been so nice, now he was indeed wretched. He lived among the tombs and cut his body with stones. Why did he become like that? Was it a depression problem? Was it a psychological problem? Was it an anxiety attack? No. It was demon possession. According to Mark 5, he was possessed by 6,000 demons, the same number as in one Roman legion. To the modern psyche, to love God or not to love God is a matter of indifference. But it is not optional to love God. It is imperative. When we don't love God, we become Satan-worshipers.
In verse 22 Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, "But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?" Judas sounded like a great humanitarian. Judas surely loved Jesus. But he wanted neither to obey a new command nor to be changed. So Jesus said to him in verse 23, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him." Jesus living in one's soul changes him. As the disciples of Jesus were ultimately changed by the work of the Holy Spirit, we too must be changed by the work of the Holy Spirit. Without the presence of the Holy Spirit in our souls, we feel lonely. We even want to spend time with sick and tired boys and girls to share their sympathy and empathy, and mostly, to justify their wickedness. But when the Holy Spirit dwells in us, we feel that Jesus is in us with the joy and peace of the kingdom of God. This is St. John's testimony in 1 John 4:7,10, "Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God." "This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins."
Fourth, the Holy Spirit does not dwell in the wicked. There is a very interesting parable in Matthew 21:28-32. There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, "Son, go and work today in the vineyard." "I will not," he answered. But later, he changed his mind and went. Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, "I will, sir," but he did not go. Here, the first one was disobedient; but later, he repented and went to work. The youngest among the two said, "I will, sir," but he did not go. He appeared to be obedient, but he snuck out to play video games with his friends. This seems to be a small matter. But the elder son was qualified to receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in his soul. The younger son seems to have made a small mistake. But his small mistake led him to be a Satan-worshiper and to become gourmet food for demons, not to mention missing the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
The story of Asa, King of Judah, is recorded in 2 Chronicles 14:2. It says, "Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God." Among so many kings of Judah, Kings Hezekiah, Josiah, Jehoshaphat and Asa removed the high places in the land. In short, the high places were like worshiping through the TV screen while drinking beer. Only these four kings removed the high places. The peoples of Israel and Judah together sinned against God by worshiping God as if they were worshiping idols to prevent their misfortunes. But Asa had faith in God. He worshiped only God. He was a lion-like leader. No king was willing to remove the high places. But King Asa boldly removed them. Asa had been a good king. But then Satan came into his heart, channeling through his proud mind. Once, when he was afflicted with a severe disease in his feet, he imprisoned a prophet; he did not ask help from God but only from the physicians. King Asa began his reign greatly, for the glory of God; but he finished wickedly by provoking God to anger. If the last is more important than the first, King Asa was indeed a wicked man, and he had no right to receive the presence of the Holy Spirit.
Fifth, the Holy Spirit and the peace of God (25-31). To the disciples' assumption, they would undergo many hardships and trials and they would become like orphans. But this was not the case. Instead, they would remember what Jesus would do and what he promised. Look at verses 25-26. "All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, 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." Here, God the Holy Spirit would first teach them to remember everything Jesus has said to them. This is indeed great. Peter had bragged about his human loyalty to Jesus, "I will lay down my life for you! Why not? You will see, I will lay down my life for you!" But he denied Jesus three times during Jesus' trial. He could not believe he would deny Jesus--not just one time but three times. So he pinched his thigh several times and wiped his eyes several times to make sure that it was Peter himself, and that he had betrayed his master Jesus. It was fact. The trial at the kangaroo court was almost over. It was dawning. Then the rooster crowed twice. It was the moment Peter remembered what Jesus said, "...before the rooster crows twice you yourself will disown me three times" (Mk 14:30). It seemed to be a coincidence. But it was not. The Holy Spirit convicted him to remember what Jesus had said to him. Then he cried in repentance. Since then, he became a new man and commander-in-chief for the worldwide gospel ministry. He was no more fearful. He encouraged his fellow Christians to participate in the remaining suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ. He also encouraged penniless fellow Christians to cross the Mediterranean Sea and go to Rome to conquer the Roman Empire with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Finally, he was arrested and about to be crucified. But he was not fearful at all before the executioners. He said, "Our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified. I cannot be crucified like our Lord Jesus Christ. Please crucify me upside down." At the moment of death, he was filled with the peace of God.
There are many stories about people who held the peace of God at critical moments. Among the seven deacons there was one named Stephen. He boldly proclaimed the gospel of Jesus in view of Christian history. Then the Jews who had crucified Jesus plugged their ears, gnashed their teeth, and, out of their anger, stoned him to death. But Stephen prayed in the same way Jesus had prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Then he fell on his knees and cried out, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." When he had said this, he fell asleep (Ac 7:59-60). Death by stoning must have given him a most sharp pain. But the author of the Acts of the Apostles says, "He fell asleep." Indeed, he didn't feel any pain, because the Holy Spirit dwelt in him and gave him the peace of God. The peace of God ruled and overruled his soul.
Jesus said in verse 27, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." The peace of God and worldly peace are quite different. The Holy Spirit gives us the peace of God when we are in big trouble, and finally helps us remain in our Lord Jesus Christ until he comes again. Therefore, Jesus said the peace of God is different from worldly peace. Look at verses 28-29. "You heard me say, 'I am going away and I am coming back to you.' If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe." In these verses Jesus again told them that he was going back to God and that he would come back again. But for the time being, the prince of this world would come (30). Here, "the prince of this world" indicates Satan. It is indeed wonderful that Jesus planted faith by showing them that he was doing exactly what the Father had commanded him. He also planted faith in the kingdom of God (29).
Today we learned that our Lord Jesus Christ is not here, but he is in our souls reminding us of his words and counseling us to believe in the kingdom of God and to hold the peace of God. The Holy Spirit is not a deceptive people's weapon. The Holy Spirit is one of the persons in God. When we have the Holy Spirit, we can enjoy the peace of God.