Bethel Lutheran Church - Pastor Luke Bernthal The Holy Spirit – Jesus -Going Away Present- ; John 16: 5 - 15; 2008-05-11
The Bulletin (order of service) Text: John 16: 5 - 15; What Jesus foretold here and promised His disciples was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost, as we read in our 2nd Scripture reading this morning. However, Jesus’ promise to send the Holy Spirit as a “going away present” to all believers finds its fulfillment throughout the Book of Acts and is still being fulfilled today! The Holy Spirit is Jesus’ “Going Away Present” to all believers for all time! In fact, this “going away present” He left us with is so great that He even says in v. 7 of our text, “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you” (John 16:7). Can Jesus really mean that? Can that even possibly be true that it’s to our “advantage that Jesus go away”—in other words, that it’s better that Jesus “go away” from us and ascend into heaven, than if He were to stay here? Yes, actually! How? Well, we could probably give several reasons, but the first one is the most important, and probably the most obvious. Remember, Jesus spoke these words of our text on Maundy Thursday evening, the night before He was crucified. What He was saying to them was absolutely and obviously true: His going away (that is, His suffering, death, resurrection, ascension) is to their (and our) advantage. If He hadn’t, we would not be saved! His ascension into heaven, among other things, was the surefire proof that Jesus had completed all of the work of salvation that He had come to earth to do! The Holy Spirit, which Jesus promised to send, could not and would not attest to the great redemption of Jesus until He had completed it. Pentecost had to be preceded by Calvary and the open tomb. Another reason Jesus said it was to our “advantage” that He go away might not be so obvious. Think about this: One day two pastors were having a conversation about their sermon texts. One pastor said to the other, “Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have been alive when Jesus was here on this earth?” “Yes,” the other pastor replied, “but wouldn’t it be a bummer to be in a town He didn’t get to, though?” This little story points us to another “advantage” Jesus gives us through His great “Going Away Present” of the Holy Spirit. When Jesus was with us, He limited his presence in time and space to one person. If you missed that person, too bad for you! But the Holy Spirit is not limited in time and space. He is available for anyone and for all! Why is that so great? Well, that points us to the first of a list of reasons why the Holy Spirit is such an incredible, wonderful “Going Away Present” from Jesus. Coincidentally, all of these reasons start with the letter “E.” The Holy Spirit…
V 1. ESTABLISHES OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST The Bible clearly tells that our sins create a wall that separate us from the One by whom and for whom we were made, and that without Christ we would be eternally separated from God (cf. Isaiah 59:2 – “But your iniquities [sins] have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear). Now, in Christ our sins are removed. The barriers are broken down. The obstacles are swept away. We are reconciled to God. The death of Christ makes this reconciliation possible and His resurrection offers us the promise of resurrection to everlasting life as well. But how is this new and everlasting life made our own? How do we enter into this new relationship? That is the work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit convinces us of our sins, of our need for Christ and draws us to him. He establishes our relationship with Christ. Remember the words of our text? Jesus said that this is one of the things the Spirit will do, "And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged” (John 16:8-11). The sin of sins is to reject the person, Word, and work of Jesus Christ. Unbelief is the mother of sins. Where that sin prevails there is no hope. Where there is repentance of that sin there is nothing but hope. The Holy Spirit—and He alone—is the one who works through the Word to take away that damning sin of unbelief and make us alive again through faith in Jesus Christ. Paul tells us this in 1 Corinthians, “No one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:3).
V 2. ENRICHES OUR LIFE. When the Holy Spirit establishes us in a new relationship with God through Christ, He is not through with us. He has only begun! Jesus tells us in our text, "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you” (John 16:13-14). The Holy Spirit dwells in the heart and life of the believer to allow us to live and experience the “abundant life” (John 10:10) that Jesus came to bring us. How does the Holy Spirit enrich our lives? First, by giving us gifts. Again we read from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, “But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.” (1 Corinthians 12:7-11). As we develop these gifts and dedicate them to the Lord, our lives will be enriched. Second, the Holy Spirit enriches our lives by producing certain fruit within us. Paul writes in Galatians, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23 NIV). When the Holy Spirit fills, control, and dominates our life through His Word, we will enjoy this fruit! The Holy Spirit empowers our “new man” win the victory over the old sinful nature which still lives within us Third, the Holy Spirit is our guarantee of the inheritance of heaven God has promised us in Christ Jesus, His Son. Paul writes in Ephesians, “In Him [Christ] you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory” (Ephesians 1:13-14).
V 3. ENLIGHTENS OUR MIND. A specific aspect of this enrichment is what the Holy Spirit does to our mind. Jesus told His disciples that there were many things they could not yet understand, "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth” (John 16:12-13a). Most importantly, He guides us into the “truth” of salvation through faith in Jesus. Paul writes of this Spirit-given wisdom in 1 Corinthians 2, “But God has revealed them [the things God has prepared for those who love Himi] to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God” (1 Corinthians 2:10-11). Last Sunday we heard Jesus promise the disciples, “I will not leave you orphans” (John 14:18). The Greek word (orphanous) translated “orphans,” was often used to speak of students or disciples who were deprived of the presence and teaching of their beloved master or rabbi. Jesus’ promise, then, is that we will never be without our Divine Teacher. Every believer has a Master teacher dwelling within, the Spirit of truth. What does that “Master teacher” inside each one of us use? His own Words; His own textbook—the Bible!
V 4. ENCOURAGES OUR HEART. The word “paraclete” which Jesus used to describe the Holy Spirit is translated “Helper” (v. 7) in the NKJV. The Greek word (parakletos) actually means “one called alongside to help.” One secular Greek writer used this word to speak of a general putting fire and courage into dejected troops before they faced a difficult battle. I don’t have to tell you that life gets tough sometimes. Someone has suggested that everyone either is a problem, has a problem, or lives with a problem. Depression and discouragement are familiar companions to us all. The promise of Jesus is that whenever discouragement and depression set in, the Holy Spirit, our “Helper” (v. 7) and our Encourager, is not just with us but within us to console us, to fill us with courage, to cheer us on, and to keep us going.
V 5. EMPOWERS OUR SPIRIT. Jesus commanded his disciples to go to Jerusalem and wait for the Holy Spirit to come. Attached to that command was a promise (cf. Acts 1:8 - "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."). This promise was fulfilled at Pentecost. It continues to be fulfilled still today in us and all believers! Paul described the power of the Holy Spirit in us in Ephesians 3, “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:16-19). Whenever hearts and lives have been changed, wherever churches have been started, lost people saved, Christians used to do the work of Christ’s kingdom, there is a display of the mighty power of the Holy Spirit at work. Trace your own personal history and you will discover the same truth. Go all the way back to your baptism, which for many of you happened during the first days of your life. There the Holy Spirit’s power was miraculously at work in your heart, just as He was in the hearts and mouths of the apostles on Pentecost, miraculously changing your dead, sinful heart into a living, forgiven, believing heart. God Himself prophesied this in the Old Testament book of Ezekiel, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws” (Ezekiel 36:26-27). The Holy Spirit empowers us with supernatural strength, through the Gospel in both Word and Sacraments (Baptism & the Lord’s Supper), enabling us to put into practice the things that Jesus has taught us. (Note: Portions of this section were taken and adapted from a sermon by Ed Wood, “What Does the Holy Spirit Do?”) Thank you, Jesus, for completing your work of salvation for us and ascending into heaven to rule over all things for our good! And thank you, Jesus for giving us your great “Going Away Present”—The Holy Spirit! Come, Holy Spirit, come! Let Thy bright beams arise; Dispel the sorrow from our minds, The darkness from our eyes.
Revive our drooping faith, Our doubts and fears remove, And kindle in our hearts the flame Of never dying love!
Dwell, therefore, in our hearts; Our minds from bondage free; Then shall we know and praise and love The Father, Son, and Thee! Amen. (Hymn 225 v. 1, 2, 5 – TLH) |