Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Together today.
[00:00:01] Seriously, you guys are. You guys are great.
[00:00:06] Just in case you weren't aware of it, we had a church workday yesterday. And I wanted to bring it up because I wanted to thank all the people who came up here and spent their Saturday serving our church and all sorts of stuff. It was a group project between ifc. You can clap for that. You can clap for that. It's a group project between IFC and Iglesia Emanuel. And they did all sorts of stuff. They worked on our playground, they did building maintenance outside. They trim bushes, they ran wide. Lucas climbed up in the attic. Okay. Lucas climbed in the attic, they ran wires, they mounted TVs, they cleaned and sanitized children's toys. It was wonderful. It was great. It was a wonderful day to be together and love and serve our church together. And if that was you, if you were here on yesterday, working, thank you. Thank you for. For serving our family.
[00:00:53] We are. There are TVs. They don't work yet, but they're there. So it is a step in the right direction. Many of you don't know this. There is a cross behind that screen. It's there. We just never see it. You can see the little tail sticking out there. Okay, sorry, that was probably inappropriate for this setting.
[00:01:15] Oh, what a joy to be together. We are continuing our series on the Nicene Creed.
[00:01:20] And if this is your first Sunday here, or if you just haven't been here the last couple weeks, that might sound like the most boring sentence a person could say out loud. And if that's you, I apologize for that. But I actually think this is a really cool thing for us. So we just finished up a multi year journey through the Gospel of Matthew. It took us a while to get through Matthew. We're done with that. Praise the Lord. In just a few weeks, we're going to be starting up a multi year series in first and second Samuel, which will be really cool. I'm excited for that. But in the in between, we're doing this series on the Nicene Creed. And there's a couple of reasons for this. The two big ones that I want to remind us of each week is this. You know, this year we celebrated the 1700th anniversary of the original adoption of the Nicene Creed, which is pretty wild.
[00:02:10] 1700 years ago, in the summer of whatever that is, 325, the church came together debating doctrine and came together on a unified stance of orthodox Christian doctrine and that. So when we look at documents like the Creed, it's really helpful because it grounds us in the historicity of our faith. When you give of yourself and your family to follow Christ, to pursue him, you're not stepping into something that is a splash in the pan culturally. You're stepping into something that is ancient and transcendent. You're stepping into a work that God has been doing in the world for thousands of years. And it's really helpful to be grounded in that truth, right? That as a follower of Christ, you are brother and sister to followers of Christ across generations and across time and space. It's very, very cool. But the other side of that that I think is immediately applicable to us in practical is that the Creed was written to help the Church define primary doctrine. Now, I've used that term a couple different times the last few weeks, but it essentially means this. There are all sorts of secondary doctrines that Christians in good faith debate and discuss, and they should. These are things the Bible teaches that are open to interpretation. And so as a follower of Christ, your particular conviction on the sovereignty of God as it relates to salvation, to who you should baptize and when, to the role of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Spirit, you can tell the Holy Spirit's here. He powers the feedback in the microphone. That's one of his ministries. We'll talk about that today.
[00:03:45] Those different things, those are open to debate and discussion. Christians of good faith throughout the history of the church have debated these things and discussed them and stayed passionate about their unity as brothers and sisters in Christ. But there are certain doctrines that are a dividing line between what is Christian and what is not Christian.
[00:04:08] There are certain beliefs that if you do not affirm them, you have stepped outside the realm of what the Bible calls Christianity.
[00:04:16] And the Creed was written to help define that line, to distill down biblical teaching. Remember, it was written 1700 years ago, before the printing press, before the average Christian had access to the written Word of God. And so it was written at a time when. When the Arian heresy, specifically that challenged Jesus's divinity, was running rampant. And the church had a really hard time countering it because most believers didn't have access to the Word. And so the Creed helped define the doctrines of what is Christianity and what isn't. But it was also helped distill those biblical teachings into a document that was short and memorable, that churches could memorize together. And so when we step into these doctrines and we're not just grounding ourselves in history, we're stepping into a really important foundational facet of Christianity, which is some beliefs are foundational to Christianity.
[00:05:12] Some beliefs are foundational. You can't falter on them, you can't have difference of opinion on them. You can, but if you do, you're stepping outside of what is Christianity. And guys, we live in a cultural moment where that is incredibly important.
[00:05:28] You as a follower of Christ need to be versed in primary doctrines. You need to know the difference between Christianity and not Christianity.
[00:05:38] Because we live in a culture at a time that, where a lot of folk really like to co opt Jesus's likability or even Jesus's ethics and stamp them on to worldviews and belief systems that are not Christian.
[00:05:55] And you need to be able to discern that. I had an experience of that firsthand this week. Those of you guys that know me know I write the majority of my sermons by the fireplace at St. Louis Breadco. It's embarrassing, but it's what it is. It's what I look, I don't have an office here and I have four children, so I don't write at home, right? So I go to Breadco, I sit by the fireplace. That's where I write most of my sermons. And this week I had a moment where an older gentleman came up to me. I had on all my study material spread out. He came up to me and sat down at the table and started chatting with me. And about an hour we sat and chatted. And what he dug into with me as we were discussing is he goes, man, I, I hope you're not reading those books to learn about the Bible.
[00:06:33] I, I actually I am, in fact, yeah, that's what I'm doing. And he let me know, those aren't going to help you because those, those books are from evangelicals who will consider the Bible to be historical. And so those won't be, those won't be helpful for you to learn the truth of what's going on. I go, that's interesting. And we start talking back and forth. And at some point he asked me what I do for a living. And I tell him that I'm an evangelical pastor. Right, but, which is great. But what, what came about in this discussion was this man let me know that he joyfully was a Christian, but his understanding, his definition of Christianity really just centered around the Christian doctrine of the imago DEI and the Christian ethic of neighbor love.
[00:07:17] He was really infatuated with the idea that all people are precious and all people are worthy of dignity and love. And to him, he told me very explicitly for the whole Bible several times, I've studied all the major world Religions and Christianity can be summed up as this. You should love every single person with complete dignity, respect, acceptance of whoever they are and whatever they want to do with zero judgment. That is the essence of Christianity. And that's why I'm a Christian. And so I asked him what church he went to, and he said, I don't go to church because I have found that Christians are too legalistic and judgmental. And then he, this was the best part of the conversation. He stopped and said, you know, I'm judgmental of Christians, but I said, I shouldn't be judgmental of anyone. I've got to figure that out. Which is a really humorous part of the conversation. And listen, I'm not saying this. I'm not saying this to decry this guy, this gentleman. We actually had a really. A really interesting conversation, and I got to speak the gospel truth to him and invite him into the reality that the reason the imago DEI and the love of neighbor is a viable doctrine is because it's rooted in the lordship of Christ and the authority of Christ. And then it is only through loving Jesus and submitting to him that the very idea of loving neighbor has any meaningful context. And so we had a really good discussion back and forth. But I bring that up again not to belittle this guy, but just to say this. You know, as we spoke, I wasn't surprised by his answer that he didn't attend a church because he didn't understand the core Christian teaching. Again, not to call him out, but just to point out the importance of this cultural moment.
[00:09:01] It's important to understand what is and isn't biblical Christianity, because we live in a world where Jesus's name is being slapped onto a whole lot of things that have nothing to do with the ministry of Christ or the kingdom of the Lord.
[00:09:17] So with that in mind, what have we done in this series so far? Well, for most of the Creed is really centered around the doctrine of the Trinity, the Trinitarian view of God as Father, Son and Spirit. And it has a particular emphasis on Jesus's role within the Trinity because that's the heresy that they were debating when they wrote the Creed, right? And so two weeks ago, we look at the doctrine of the Father. We talked about God the Father is Creator and how his. His identity as Creator grants him this unique authority that he has. He has the authority to have an expectation of us as his creation. He has claim on us as his creation. Last week we talked about the doctrine of the Son, and this does take up the majority of the Creed. And so rather than break up into multiple weeks, we kind of summarized for us the thread that runs through the section of the creed about the Son. And we talked about this idea that Jesus has this role in bridging the gap between the Father's holiness and our sinfulness, Right? That God the Father, because of his perfection and holiness, will always be other and separate from sinful humanity. His glory is too much for sinful humanity to face. But Jesus is God with skin and bones that we can spend time with him, we can look him in the eye, and he is true God, but He is approachable and he is knowable. This amazing way of allowing sinful humans to know God.
[00:10:42] And so where are we headed today?
[00:10:44] We're finishing out our creedal discussion of the Trinity with a discussion of the Holy Spirit.
[00:10:50] It's amazing how the Scripture actually provides us with this really clear progression of thought.
[00:10:57] God made us for relationship with Him. He wants us to be with Him. He wants to be with us, but sin separates us from God. And so God has been working to restore our relationship all the way back to Genesis 3. When sin entered the world, God immediately began the work of restoration. And God the Father will always be impossibly separate from sinful us because of his holiness. And so Jesus the Son, he makes God knowable. He is God with flesh and blood. But at the same time, Jesus's work on the cross required his body, right?
[00:11:32] He died and rose again and ascended to heaven, from which we await his return. And as we'll discuss today, God has sent His Spirit to His church to make our relationship with him more intimate than it was when people hung out with Jesus face to face. Face that Jesus bridged the gap and made God knowable. But the Spirit amps up the intimacy of our relationship with the Father and the Son. Jesus revealed God. But, and this is my main point today, the Holy Spirit is God with us, Holy Spirit is God with us.
[00:12:13] But that leaves us with a really important question that to me, goes something like this. What the heck does that mean?
[00:12:20] Right?
[00:12:21] Because if you think about the state of Christianity and the diversity of belief within the church, the Holy Spirit is talked about a whole lot of different ways.
[00:12:31] And some of those ways seem really bombastic.
[00:12:34] Some of those ways seem deceitful, even in the way people use the name of the Holy Spirit to claim miraculous superpowers and things like that, and how many oftentimes those people end up exposed as charlatans, right?
[00:12:50] And so the relationship of the church with the Holy Spirit today At least in the American church, is kind of a minefield to navigate.
[00:12:57] So if we say Holy Spirit is God with us, what does that actually mean? What does that look like in your life? That can't just be a cool, pretty thing we say on Sunday. If it's God with us, that has to mean something when we leave this space.
[00:13:13] Well, if that question is going through your mind either before or now, because I said something, I think this text will be encouraging to you. So we're going to be in John 14 today. If you want to grab your Bibles and turn to John 14. If you don't have a Bible with you today, we have house Bibles around the room. We really believe in the importance of access to God's word here, to meaning of fellowship. If you don't own a Bible, strongly encourage you to just take one of the Pew Bibles home or talk to one of our pastors and we'll get you a nicer one. But we're going to be in John 14 today. And while you turn there, let me give us some context before we jump into this text. Last week we were in John 1 and I mentioned this. But it's worth repeating. John is unique amongst the Gospels. It's easily the most theologically complex of the four Gospels. It's written explicitly, with invitation in mind that you would hear it and you would understand the gospel, you grow theologically and that you would grow in your intimacy with Christ. And so because of that, it's a great book to read if you're new in the faith, if you're trying to grow in your faith. But that being said, it's simultaneously because it is the most theologically rich and complex of the Gospels. It's the hardest one to read. It's the most confusing for most people. This is because John is written pastorally and theologically, and so he spends less time on the narratives of Jesus life and focuses more on on Jesus's teachings and giving commentary on them. And because John's writing style is a bit hard to follow, like, it gets even weirder because he'll linger on Jesus's discourse and he'll weave in multiple metaphors and images to help you give thought to some of the abstract ideas Jesus is talking about. But then he moves back and forth between them. And so over a couple chapters, he might introduce three different metaphors, but he just keeps cycling between them. And so you hit the same metaphor four times over two chapters. It's. It can be hard to follow sometimes of John, you have to read A text and go, huh? And then go back and read it again and then go, huh? And then go back and read it a third time and finally go, oh, okay, okay. That's just. That's normal. But it can be really helpful for stuff like this because it is incredibly theologically rich gospel. So our text Today in John 14, it picks up in the middle of one of these larger sections. John 13:16 describes Jesus's last conversation and teaching with his disciples before his betrayal in the Garden of Gethsemane. This entire section of Scripture, if you have one of the red letter Bibles, all these red letters in this chapter, it takes place in the walk from the upper room where the Last Supper happened to the Mount of Olives where the Garden of Gethsemane is. As they're walking, Jesus is talking to his disciples. And it's like he's trying to cram in all the relationship and friendship and wisdom and encouragement he can before his coming suffering.
[00:16:07] And so knowing what's coming, knowing that they're confused, knowing they're not going to get fully what happens when he's betrayed and arrested, he jumps ahead of it, he preempts it, and he tries to warn them and even prays for them. That's. That's the chunk of text we're stepping into. Is Jesus trying to prepare his closest friends for what's going to happen in just a couple hours? Pray with me and we'll read this text. Jesus, we need you this morning to be our discipler.
[00:16:37] We need you to speak through your word for us.
[00:16:40] So, Holy Spirit, we ask that you would do your ministry to us, teach us, encourage us, remind us, Lord, let us, let us hear from you in the way our heart needs today.
[00:16:51] God, for those of us in this room who are distracted, for those of us in this room who are hurting and sorrowful, Lord, I pray that you would break through breakthrough to what our hearts really need today.
[00:17:05] Even those of us who have built up calluses, who have learned to ignore the prodding of your voice, Lord, I pray that you would convict us afresh.
[00:17:14] Father, we need you to do this work. So we pray it in your name, Jesus. Amen.
[00:17:19] Okay.
[00:17:20] John 14. Starting in verse 15, we read this.
[00:17:25] If you love me, you will keep my commands.
[00:17:28] And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another counselor to be with you forever. He is the spirit of truth. The world is unable to receive him because it doesn't see him or know him. But you do know him because he remains with you and will be in you.
[00:17:46] So chapter 14 opened with this very idea we just talked about. Jesus is affirming this idea. He reveals the Father to us. If we know Jesus, if we spend time with Jesus, then we know the Father. That's beautiful. That's wonderful. But then Jesus gets into this teaching that honestly might seem distasteful at a first glance. He talks about the necessity of obeying him if we're going to say we love Him. And our text opens with a brief comment on this. But this is actually. I'm saying that because this is actually Jesus connecting that thought. If you. If you say you love me, you have to obey me. He's connecting that idea to what he's about to say regarding the Holy Spirit.
[00:18:29] But that leaves. Why do we have to obey Jesus if we say we love Him? Right. Like, if that was said in a relationship between sinful humans, we would consider that to be manipulative and maybe even abusive, Right? Well, if you love me, you have to do everything I say.
[00:18:47] The important thing is to remember Jesus isn't another sinful human.
[00:18:51] That's actually the point of this.
[00:18:53] He and the Father are one. He is God.
[00:18:57] And this is an echo of the language God has been using since the covenants with Abraham and Moses to Israel. To be in relationship with God is to submit to his authority. And lordship requires you to submit to living as God designed you to live. You must follow him and obey his commands. His design for you. By saying this, in this moment, Jesus is further linking himself to the Father.
[00:19:26] He's saying, you cannot love Jesus casually.
[00:19:31] You can't.
[00:19:33] You must acknowledge him for who he is, God.
[00:19:37] And if he is God, then you must conform yourself to him because he is Creator, he is authority. He is perfect. To love him is to understand his divinity and to submit to him by obeying his commands.
[00:19:51] But this raises a significant problem.
[00:19:56] If you go back and you read the whole Old Testament, you should. That's a good idea.
[00:20:01] What you'll find is that people are really, really, really, really, really, really bad at obeying the commands of God.
[00:20:12] In fact, this is the entire problem Jesus came here to solve, Right?
[00:20:17] Like if you go and read the New Covenant passages from the major prophets, what you'll find is that they understood humanity is so sinful they're incapable of actually obeying God and following his commands. This is why Israel was judged and condemned and destroyed and exiled. We need a new covenant.
[00:20:40] We need the commands of God to be written on our hearts. We need God Himself to intervene and change our hearts and bend us toward obedience and holiness. Like we have a need.
[00:20:52] Exactly.
[00:20:54] That's exactly what Jesus is, is getting at. Jesus comes and he is God with flesh and blood. And his work on the cross makes a way for our sin to be forgiven. And his perfect life allows for us to be drawn into Jesus's righteousness and experience heaven.
[00:21:08] But it still leaves us with the problem of our sinful rebellion.
[00:21:12] Even in Christ, you're still a sinner, right?
[00:21:15] You still choose sin on a daily basis.
[00:21:18] So how can you obey God's commands? How can you submit to his standard? We need God himself to intervene and to change our hearts of St.
[00:21:28] Into hearts of flesh.
[00:21:31] And so because we have that need, Jesus will ask the Father, and the Father will send a counselor, the spirit of truth.
[00:21:41] And in typical Jonian fashion, Jesus's teaching on this counselor is spread out over like the next three chapters. But his first introduction to the idea Here in John 14 is so important because it spells out a lot for us.
[00:21:56] The Holy Spirit is coming to us from the Father and the Son. Jesus calls him both a counselor and a spirit of truth. This word we read as counselor is this Greek word paraclete. And it refers less to, like we use the word counselor often to mean a therapist. Right, Less a therapist and more legal counsel. But there's even a further nuance, because it's not the picture here is not like your lawyer that you hire and pay by the hour. And in Roman culture, the norm in legal proceedings if you were facing court was to have someone wise and trusted with you, who was a friend, a family connection who could help you navigate, yes, the details and intricacies of the law. But more than that, who could help you navigate your moral and ethical responsibility within that court case?
[00:22:44] They were your wisdom. Roman culture was deeply built upon the idea of honor and duty.
[00:22:50] And so the letter of the law wasn't the only factor that went into a court case. You also had to consider what your duty was, depending on the charge and who was accusing. And the paraclete was a friend, an unpaid counselor who came alongside you because of relationship, to help you navigate the court case, but to help you navigate your own heart.
[00:23:09] This is the term Jesus connects to the Holy Spirit.
[00:23:12] And it's an image that really helps us understand the spiritual ministry within our lives.
[00:23:18] He's a trusted friend.
[00:23:20] He's our wisdom, he helps us navigate the law, but more than that, he helps us navigate our own sinful hearts.
[00:23:31] What a wonderful picture of the work he does in our lives.
[00:23:35] But Jesus doesn't Just stop there. He gives the Holy Spirit a title. He is the Spirit of Truth. The Holy Spirit is not like your closest trusted counselors and friends in this life. Because he is not flawed.
[00:23:48] He makes no mistakes. His counsel is never foolish. It's never wrong. In him is truth and truth alone. Everything he says to us is completely trustworthy because he is truth.
[00:24:03] Spirit of God is truth.
[00:24:06] And he taps this all off by saying, the world neither knows the Spirit nor recognizes him, but Jesus followers will.
[00:24:15] And why will we know Him?
[00:24:18] Because he is with us.
[00:24:19] We hear this church. Look at the text.
[00:24:23] He is in us.
[00:24:26] This is so key.
[00:24:27] So key.
[00:24:29] Jesus is making a wonderful theological connection here.
[00:24:34] Something that should draw us as followers of Christ to celebrate with worship and gratitude. Read on with me. Look. Look what he says here. This is verse 18.
[00:24:44] I will not leave you as orphans.
[00:24:46] I am coming to you. In a little while, the world will no longer see me. But you will see me. Because I live. You will live, too.
[00:24:54] On that day, you will know that I am in my Father and you are in Me. And I am in you. And the one who has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. And the one who loves me will be loved by my Father. And I also will love him who will reveal myself to him.
[00:25:08] And Judas, not Iscariot, said to him, lord, how is it that you're going to reveal yourself to us and not to the world? And Jesus answered, if anyone loves me, he will keep my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with Him.
[00:25:23] The one who doesn't love me will not keep my words. The word that you hear is not mine, but from the Father who sent me.
[00:25:30] Remember, Jesus here is preparing them for his coming passion, his death on the cross. He's leaving his friends. For the last three years, these disciples have literally, physically lived their lives, shared their lives with God, with Jesus.
[00:25:48] This is the closest humanity has come to Eden since Genesis.
[00:25:54] But it isn't enough.
[00:25:57] See, Jesus came to the earth for the crops, to give his life for the penalty of sin. And he will give us the reward of his righteousness. This is why he came to Earth. And nothing will dissuade him from this amazing work.
[00:26:12] But Jesus knows what this will mean for his followers.
[00:26:16] He knows he's leaving. And they will be without him.
[00:26:19] For a few short glorious years.
[00:26:22] A small group of people got to live with God again.
[00:26:27] But now, to accomplish his glorious work, he must leave.
[00:26:32] But here, this church Jesus is leaving does not mean he is abandoning.
[00:26:38] Notice what he says here. He's leaving, but we'll see Him.
[00:26:43] The world won't see him, but we will.
[00:26:47] He's coming to us. Even though he's leaving. His accomplished work will mean we have life through Him.
[00:26:54] And beyond this, we'll know that he and the Father are one and that he's in us.
[00:26:59] What does that mean?
[00:27:01] We've talked about this each week of this series, but the idea of the Trinity is a certified noodle baker, right?
[00:27:08] It is difficult to understand. That's an understatement. The truth that God is both three and one is incomprehensible.
[00:27:16] But it's unapologetically how the Bible reveals God to be.
[00:27:21] Jesus is accomplishing his work and will ascend to heaven and be away from us. And he's sending us the Holy Spirit, the counselor, the Spirit of truth and God. The Spirit will dwell in us. But just as to know Jesus is to know the Father, to have the Spirit dwell in you is to have Christ dwell in you. And this is exactly what Jesus tells us here.
[00:27:40] He says that it's only those who follow Jesus who will get this.
[00:27:44] Jesus will only be revealed to his followers. And the disciples are confused because they're still thinking in terms of their immediate context. They're thinking of Jesus as the Jewish Messiah who will unite the people and overthrow Rome. And so Judas, not that Judas. And can we just stop for a minute?
[00:28:01] Can we just stop for a minute and acknowledge that that poor guy, he had to have the rest of his life, right? The rest of his life. Hey, I'm one of the apostles, follower of Jesus. Judas, not that Jesus.
[00:28:15] And so much so that he was like, you know what? I'm just going to go by Thaddeus. That's. That's a better. Honestly, I'd rather take getting made fun of for being named Thaddeus than having to explain that I'm not that Judas.
[00:28:27] Regardless. Sorry, sorry.
[00:28:32] This idea, they're so stuck in their context. That Judas, not that Judas, asks, why will you reveal yourselves to us and not the whole world?
[00:28:42] He's thinking about Jesus as this Messiah who will unite the people, who will overthrow Rome, who will fight free Israel from political oppression. Right?
[00:28:53] He's thinking about the marketing campaign involved in Jesus's messiahship. But Jesus is thinking about his church.
[00:29:01] He's thinking about us. He knows it's all going to change when he resurrects and inaugurates the church. He won't be with them bodily, but they will still need him. And so look at what he says is coming. It's in verse 23 he comes back to this connection between obedience and love again, the way God has related to us since the beginning.
[00:29:22] He essentially says to everyone who's actually in relationship with me, a love relationship with me, where they know that I'm God, where they submit to my Deity, where they love me and seek me and obey me. That person, God will make his home within them.
[00:29:42] Beloved God will make his home with his children.
[00:29:48] There is power in that statement.
[00:29:51] I've already alluded to this several times, but this is where the whole thing has been aiming.
[00:29:58] This is the design God made us for. Perfect, loving relationship with Him. It was our sin that destroyed this.
[00:30:07] God is so holy that sinful us have to remain separate from Him. We can't even approach him because his glory would consume us. But God is not content to allow sin to have the final word on his good creation. And so he seeks us out.
[00:30:23] He knows we can't come to him, so he comes to us. And Jesus enters into our mess and makes the unknowable God knowable. He lives among us. And his death and resurrection pays for our sin and opens the way up for us to be restored to God.
[00:30:38] We talked about this last week. But Jesus set up his tent among us, right? The language John uses in chapter one refers back to the design of the garden. It harkens back to the tabernacle in the wilderness. God has always been moving humanity back toward relationship with Him.
[00:30:57] He's moving us back toward love and connection. And now Jesus is accomplishing his work. And because of that, his body is leaving the world.
[00:31:08] So rather than us losing relationship with God, Jesus is amping up the relationship and the intimacy, taking a step forward. He's not setting up his tent near us. He's not living out in the world, hanging out with us. No, now God is making his home within us.
[00:31:29] Come on, church.
[00:31:31] If that doesn't excite you, you're not thinking about the complexity of that truth that the Creator of the universe, the holy and righteous perfect God, who cannot be around sin, who lights angels ablaze with his glory, who loves you and made you and sought you out, has made a way for his spirit, his person, to live within you.
[00:32:00] Beloved, God is with you.
[00:32:02] The design has always been for God to be with you.
[00:32:07] That's always been the design. You know why?
[00:32:11] Because your Creator loves you.
[00:32:17] God loves you.
[00:32:19] He wants to live in relationship with you.
[00:32:23] He's known you from before you were born. He's known Every facet about you, your strengths and weaknesses, your joys and sorrows, your victories and your deepest shame. And he loves you.
[00:32:35] He died for you, made a way for you to have eternity. And hear this beloved in Christ.
[00:32:43] Christ is in you.
[00:32:46] His Spirit lives within you. The counselor, the truth. The Spirit of Jesus has been sent to you.
[00:32:55] You are not orphans.
[00:32:56] You are not abandoned.
[00:32:58] You are not alone.
[00:33:00] God is with you.
[00:33:03] How does that actually work out in your life as a believer?
[00:33:06] Read on for me this last little bit of text, verse 25.
[00:33:12] I have spoken these things to you while I remain with you. But the counsel, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you.
[00:33:23] Jesus caps off this progression of thought in the text with this amazing promise.
[00:33:30] The Holy Spirit will minister to us.
[00:33:34] God himself ministers to you.
[00:33:38] When we talk about what it means that the Holy Spirit lives with you and lives within you, the core of it is simply this truth.
[00:33:48] God ministers to you.
[00:33:52] Your Creator who. Who spends of his time and energy and will to sustain the universe. Right?
[00:34:00] The God who's holding the other black holes and subatomic particles at the same time lives with you and ministers to you.
[00:34:10] He serves you.
[00:34:11] He cares about you.
[00:34:14] That's wild.
[00:34:16] Jesus names two specific ministries of the Holy Spirit here. But let me just really briefly take us through some of the broader New Testament teaching on the Holy Spirit's ministry and see if you can connect together some of the common threads here. If you study through the New Testament, this era and age where the Holy Spirit is dwelling within believers, you'll see some of these teachings come out about his ministry to us. In our passage we saw, the Holy Spirit will teach you new things about the Gospel of Jesus. The Holy Spirit will remind you of everything Jesus taught you that you've forgotten. This is already awesome. But the Bible reveals even more. If you go over one chapter in chapter 15, it says the Holy Spirit will testify about Jesus to the church and to the world. If you go over to chapter 16, Jesus lists out even more ministry of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit brings conviction regarding sin. The Holy Spirit proclaims the righteousness of God. The Holy Spirit reminds people that judgment is coming. The Holy Spirit guides us in all truth. The Holy Spirit speaks the words of the Father and the Holy Spirit guides the church into God's future for it.
[00:35:19] You can skip forward in the New Testament, go to Romans 8 where Paul says that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us and prays for us.
[00:35:27] When life overwhelms us and our own words and our own language falls short. The Holy Spirit intercedes in our prayers. In First Corinthians 2, Paul says, the Holy Spirit searches the depths of God the Father and brings his person to us, that we might know him. In Galatians 5, Paul spells out, the Holy Spirit bears fruit within our lives, that he brings about righteousness within us. I could keep going, but we'll run out of time.
[00:35:56] I hope you see the point here is actually really clear.
[00:35:59] Indwelling Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. Beloved, it is immediate and present ministry.
[00:36:09] He truly is our counselor, our helper.
[00:36:13] He's bringing us the love and pursuit of our Lord.
[00:36:19] These are real and present ministries of the Spirit, by the way, that you can count on if you are in Christ.
[00:36:27] Scripture says the Holy Spirit dwells within you and you can count on this ministry.
[00:36:33] When you read your Bible as a believer, when you take time to read, whether it's you're getting up early and doing your quiet time, or you pull out the Bible app and do the verse of the day, or you're doing a Bible study with your friends, whatever it is, if you're in Christ and you open up the Scripture, hear this. It is the Holy Spirit who is teaching you, who's proclaiming the words of the Father to you.
[00:36:56] When you pray over a heavy issue, that friend who's struggling in the marriage, or you're worried you're giving them bad advice and you don't know how to lift it up. It is the Spirit who intercedes in your prayers, who speaks to the Father for you. When your heart is not clear, when you're in a heavy conversation with your small group or your child and a scriptural truth pops into your head and it's just exactly what needs to be shared in the moment, you think, where did that come from? Beloved, it is the Holy Spirit who is reminding you of Christ's words.
[00:37:28] If you are in Christ, His Spirit dwells with you as your companion, as your wisdom, as your counselor, as the Spirit of truth. He is guiding you. He is helping you. And this is nuts, guys.
[00:37:45] He is serving you.
[00:37:48] The God of the universe serves your needs.
[00:37:53] You.
[00:37:54] No offense, you're great.
[00:37:57] But that's nuts.
[00:38:00] That God loves you with that kind of love.
[00:38:03] To walk through the minutia of your life, to provide you with wisdom but counsel and joy and truth and teaching and encouragement and prayer.
[00:38:14] That's wonderful.
[00:38:16] It's wonderful.
[00:38:20] But there's a caveat to this one. Thessalonians 5:19 warns believers not to quench the work of the Holy Spirit.
[00:38:30] If you are in Christ, the Spirit dwells within you. But for whatever reason, you can train yourself to ignore his wisdom and quiet his voice.
[00:38:41] You can avoid your Bible.
[00:38:43] You need to know this, beloved, if you avoid your Bible, you're going to avoid the voice of the Holy Spirit teaching you through the Word pure and simple.
[00:38:53] You can learn to avoid prayer.
[00:38:55] When you avoid prayer, I guarantee you, beloved, you're going to ignore and avoid the prayers of the Holy Spirit interceding for you.
[00:39:04] You can learn to isolate, to let go of your habits of connecting with your faith family, whether that's Sunday attendance or small group or discipleship or relationship you can turtle shell in.
[00:39:16] And to do so guarantee you, beloved, is to avoid the voice of the Holy Spirit speaking truth to you through your brothers and sisters.
[00:39:24] You can train yourself to not hear His Word.
[00:39:30] And it's not that the Holy Spirit leaves you or ceases to minister to you. He is God, you are His. You can't tell him to leave. You belong to him.
[00:39:41] But you can train yourself to ignore Him. You can ignore his ministry.
[00:39:46] It's worth understanding that warning.
[00:39:50] So what do we do with this?
[00:39:52] How do we land this out today? What's the takeaway from an idea like this?
[00:39:57] Well, I kind of just said it, so let me resay it in a positive instead of a negative.
[00:40:01] Beloved, the indwelling Holy Spirit is a miracle.
[00:40:06] It is a miracle that the God of the universe chooses to live with you as your friend and counselor and wisdom to serve you in your needs.
[00:40:17] That's a miracle.
[00:40:19] That is worth gratitude, it's worth praise. But it's also a reminder to actively engage his ministry on your behalf.
[00:40:28] So if you hear this today and you go, how do I live that out practically?
[00:40:33] Well, there's three really easy ways to start.
[00:40:36] Spend time in the Word.
[00:40:39] When you engage the Word, it is a promise from the Spirit. He is the one who will teach you the words of the Father.
[00:40:45] He is the one who will discern the truth of the Gospel, who will proclaim the righteousness of God and the coming of the judgment and the words of Jesus. So when you spend time in the Word, you will learn to hear the voice of the Spirit. Because this, beloved, is the primary way that God speaks to us.
[00:41:02] There are all sorts of supernatural, amazing ways God intervenes throughout history. You can read about them in the Bible.
[00:41:08] But the normal way God talks to us, the normal way you will hear from His Spirit, is through His Word.
[00:41:15] You want to grow in intimacy with the Spirit, Spend time in His Word and take baby steps.
[00:41:21] Download that Bible app, get the verse of the day text.
[00:41:25] Show up to church. Show up to gc. Like, they'll crack open their Bibles, right?
[00:41:30] Get in the Word and you will grow in hearing the voice of the Spirit.
[00:41:35] If you want to engage in the ministry of the Holy Spirit today, you want to grow in sensitivity to his voice.
[00:41:43] Grow in your prayer life.
[00:41:45] Spend time talking to God. When you read your Bible, that's a really good reminder to go, you know what? I should pray for a minute.
[00:41:53] Pray about what I just read. Pray for the Holy Spirit to unscramble up my mind because I read John and it was super confusing, right?
[00:42:00] Pray for the Holy Spirit to speak to you, to teach you, and you will learn to sense his voice. You will learn to sense those moments when he's interceding on your behalf, when he's engaging in your prayer life.
[00:42:11] And spend intentional time in Christian community.
[00:42:15] One of the ways we hear the voice of the Spirit is when we use the wisdom he gives us in the context of community.
[00:42:22] When you're sitting in discipleship or small group and people are sharing and you're praying for one another, those are the moments when those of us who are sensitive to the ministry of the Spirit will hear his voice going, hey, they need to hear this. Hey, remember this scripture. Hey, speak this prayer over them. Those will come out organically in that moment. That is the Holy Spirit ministering to you and through you.
[00:42:43] Spend time in community helps you sensitize your heart to the voice of the Spirit.
[00:42:51] Now, some of you guys may have noticed the big omission from this whole sermon. We spent zero time talking about the gifts of the Spirit, and the reality is we simply don't have time, right? Like, I'm over on time already, so we don't have time to talk about that today. It's really interesting. If you want to geek out on that, text me. We'll grab a coffee, we can talk.
[00:43:11] But the reality is I decided to zone in today on the presence of the Spirit and the ministry of the Spirit.
[00:43:19] I think that's the piece we most need to be reminded of the gifts of the Spirit in the American church today. That's the part that gets the most talk. And it's usually in debates about Pentecostal and Charismatic circles and what gifts to still operate and what gifts don't operate and how do you know your gifts and how to use them, which ones are appropriate and all that stuff. And listen, that stuff's interesting, right? I geek out on theology. I love digging into that stuff. And that's an important facet of your life. In faith, if you are in Christ, it is true the Holy Spirit has gifted you supernaturally for his glory in the service of the Church. Right? That's true. And you should learn to understand how the Holy Spirit has gifted you and how he works through you.
[00:43:57] But I'll tell you guys, before you get there, you need to start with receiving his ministry.
[00:44:04] This is where you start. You start with receiving the ministry of the Spirit. And as you engage in those categories of growing in intimacy with him, meeting him through the Word, speaking with him through prayer, seeing him work through you and for you in community and in your church family, I promise you, the way the Spirit has gifted you and gifted others will begin to become evident.
[00:44:26] It'll become naturally evident, and you'll see it work out.
[00:44:30] That stuff's interesting.
[00:44:32] But it's much more important. And it's much more simple to start with the ways he ministers to you.
[00:44:39] Because the reality is, beloved, when you leave this place, every moment of every day you spend, when you go to work, when you're cooking dinner, when you're cleaning up your dog's poop halfway through a walk, every moment of your life, your Creator is with you, loving you, serving you, ministering to you.
[00:45:00] There is no moment of your life that is not sacred and holy, because there's no moment of your life in Christ where you are separate from your God.
[00:45:09] David says, where can I go to hide from your Spirit? Answer is nowhere.
[00:45:13] Who's with thee?
[00:45:15] Every moment of your life becomes sacred Band. If you want to come back up, I'll end with this.
[00:45:22] In the 1600s, there was an illiterate French monk named Lawrence.
[00:45:27] Some of you guys have heard of this guy before. He lived in a monastery surrounded by scholars who practiced medicine, who wrote copies of important texts, who wrote theological treatises in the depths of doctrinal exploration.
[00:45:42] He was in this place surrounded by people, people who were the geniuses of their day.
[00:45:47] And he was the cook, the dishwasher who couldn't read. He couldn't write.
[00:45:54] And after his death, a few letters that he had dictated through friends in the monastery who could read and write, they got collected together and published. It's this wonderful short little book. I highly recommend it. It's called Practicing the Presence of God.
[00:46:09] And in a life where he could have easily been intimidated or bitter by being surrounded by people who, by worldly standards, were higher up than him. With himself being uneducated, Lawrence instead found a deep and rich life of faith.
[00:46:28] Deep and rich.
[00:46:30] He talked about how the sink in the kitchen was his cathedral for worship, where he would dig his hands into the soapy water and scrub the pots and spend the entire time praising God and speaking to him.
[00:46:45] Because what he understood was this truth.
[00:46:48] The Spirit of God dwells within us.
[00:46:52] And when the Holy Spirit of God, the creator of the universe, dwells within you, every moment of your life becomes sacred.
[00:47:02] The Spirit was just as present with Lawrence in the kitchens, in the dishes, as he was in the libraries and classrooms of his scholarly brothers.
[00:47:13] Beloved, this is true for you today.
[00:47:16] When you come to church, hopefully you experience Christ in a refreshing and unique way. I literally pray that every week that those of you who gather will be filled up with Christ, that you would be refreshed, be filled with God.
[00:47:30] But the reality is that if you are in Christ, you have God with you all the time.
[00:47:35] The Spirit of God is present with you when you go to work tomorrow.
[00:47:38] He's present with you in your parenting.
[00:47:41] He's present with you when you mow your lawn tonight. He's present with you when you go on a date night, when you read a book on the couch, when you're sorrowful and crying, when you're joyful, when you're playing games with friends, when you rest, when you work, all of the above. He is with you and beloved you to grow in intimacy with him today.
[00:48:03] So let's do this.
