THE PERSON OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

#582                                                     THE PERSON OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

Scripture  John 14:15-31, NIV                                                                                                                     Orig. 9/10/1972

                                                                                                                                                                             Rewr. 5/28/1987

Passage: 15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 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[a] 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. 21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

22 Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?” 23 Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24 Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. 25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Advocate, 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. 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.

28 “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. 29 I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. 30 I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me, 31 but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me.

Purpose:  Continuing a Sunday evening series on the Holy Spirit, here sharing scripture relative to His personality.

Keywords:                           Communication                Person of the Holy Spirit

Timeline/Series:               Holy Spirit

Introduction

                August 9th finally rolled around that distant year and I was glad of it.  That day meant that VBS was about over, and vacation was about to begin.  In fact, we were to leave immediately after Parents’ Night, for the first leg of a nearly five thousand mile journey.

                The afternoon was spent with some final VBS details, and visiting some people who needed to know about the extensions of our plans.  It was a busy day.   At 7:15p.m., just before Parents’ Night was to begin, a knock was heard at my door.  It was an alcoholic needing help.  Fortunately, I knew where that help could be found, placed the phone call, found my  A.A. friend at home.

                That busy day passed successfully, in large measure, because I felt God’s presence.  I knew that the Holy Spirit had succeeded, where I, alone, would have failed.  I knew that He was not with me alone.

                Half way around the world, a friend was experiencing another kind of day.  His day was not being spent in happy pastoral experiences and preparation for vacation.  An Indonesian missionary, John Ingouf, spent that same August 9th at the bedside of his 11-year old daughter, who was dying of lymphosarcoma.  In a letter written five days later, John wrote, “Praise the Lord for His grace.  Pray that He will continue to be glorified in Ann’s illness and home-going.  We are convinced already that much good has come from  this experience.

                The same Holy Spirit who undergirded my work that happy day, ministered to my friend in sadness 12,000 miles away.  I can only do one thing at a time, but the Holy Spirit graces our lives in that He is without limitation.  Wherever we are, whatever our need, He reaches out to us through our companionship with Christ

I.             The Holy Spirit as Transmitter of the Voice of God.  V26 “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”

                This is not to say that before Pentecost God had no voice.  He spoke to Israel in the wilderness. They built a tabernacle as outward display of God’s glory and presence.  Exodus 40:34-35, “34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 35 Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.”  It followed specific directions.

                Centuries later a beautiful temple was erected. David disallowed/Solomon instructed.  I Kings 8:10-11, “glory of the Lord filled.”  A common link: Moses’ tabernacle in the wilderness was temporary, Solomon’s temple in the city was temporary.  The promise was of a new, permanent confine for God’s indwelling.

                John 1:14, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father.”  John 2:19, Jesus: “Destroy this temple, and in three days, I will raise it  up.”

                Paul perceived this transition to completion. I Corinthians 6:19, “What? Know ye  not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you?”

                It is thus, in the Holy Spirit, that God’s purpose of direct communication.  There are inherent dangers,  Men are careless with their brand of truth.  It is that of which liberals are made.  It is also the ground of fundamentalism.  But the good that can come of it prescribes it. 

                He is the teacher of the teachable, not molder of organized mind, not maker of instant intellect, not maintainer of structured creed.  Acts 1:8 “. . . Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be [empowered to perform as followers of Jesus].”

                He is likewise the toucher of the untouchable.  Jesus exercised this touch. Leper/Gentile/woman with issue of blood.  The Holy Spirit confirms and exercises through us.  Men make themselves untouchable.  John 3:18, “This is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men love darkness rather than light.”

II.            The Holy Spirit is the Amplifier of the Deeds of Christ.  John 15:26, “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send to you from the Father, even the  Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, He shall testify of me.  The word “testify” is significant.  It is the word of martyrs’ witness, they who honored the truth by paying with their lives. The Holy Spirit communicates absolutely.

                His singular purpose is to magnify Christ.  John 16:13, “When the Spirit of truth is come, He will guide you to all truth.”  Romans 8:16, “The Spirit beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.”  I Corinthians 12:7, “The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.”

                As someone correctly observes, the Holy Spirit is not interested in magnifying the Holy Spirit.  Those who do so are manifesting their own spiritual value system.  Their values may not be wrong.  They may be good.  But the Holy Spirit magnifies Christ, not Himself.

                We can likewise be sure of this.  When the  human spirit seeks the spiritual nurture to faith and understanding, then the Holy Spirit and the human spirit are going to get together. 

                History’s most significant event was Calvary.  We are in a time slot to magnify the Constitution.  Called “greatest single accomplishment of the mind of man.”  Seated in Philadelphia in May 1787. No doubt, the source of America’s uniqueness.  What the Constitution is to liberty, to time, and to America, Calvary is to soul liberty, to eternity, and to the world.

                God didn’t love any more because of Calvary.  It did not change God.  It changed our perception of God.  At Calvary, we begin to see what God is really like.  There was an Old Testament Spirit.  But He had an Old Testament man to communicate to.

                John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word” . . . v14 “and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.” 

                God is not changed, nor the Holy Spirit, but what happened at Calvary changes us, praise God.  The Holy Spirit is the person and is the instrument of amplification.

III.           The Holy Spirit is Many Things.  We Assess One Thing More.  He is the Receiver of Man’s Spiritual Comprehension.  John 14:16f, “I will pray the Father and He will give you another Comforter that He may abide with you forever.  Even the spirit of truth whom the world can not receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him; but ye know Him, for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.”               John 14:26, “. . . He shall teach you all things, . . . whatsoever I have said unto you.”

                A major problem for most of us seems that we bore ourselves with simplicity.  The more complicated life is, the better.  A new thing to try, a new toy to entertain.  Drugs and alcohol, are, in reality, an attempt at personality adjustment.  The Holy Spirit’s purpose is to aid in determining what we ought to be, and to bring contentment (peace) in the choice.  John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you.”

                We don’t have to be plagued with this dissatisfaction with singleness.  How often have we watched a sporting event, and heard filtered tones of some other event.  We watched Russian gymnasts in New Orleans, and a spectator brought a radio to listen to LSU.  What would happen, do you suppose, if a coach found playoff participant listening to a hockey game?  John 14:16f “. . . He shall give you another Comforter, . . . even the Spirit of truth; whom the world can not receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him.”

                Humanly speaking Solomon sensed the problem.  Ecclesiastes 1:8, “The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.”

                Thus, the Holy Spirit may communicate, and likewise close out all peripheral disturbances.  Job 42:5, “I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear; but now mine eye seeth thee.”

Conclusion

                The name of R.G. LeTourneau was synonymous with oilfield machinery for a  half century.  He who knew machinery so well pointed out often that friction was the chiefest enemy, could rob a machine of half its power.  As a Christian, he would likewise point out the danger of friction to people.  The Holy Spirit is the person of God in the life of the believer to minimize inward, as well as outward, friction.