Help!

God’s people would take God’s
word and turn back once again to John’s gospel. We find ourselves
in chapter 14 yet. John chapter 14, where we have
been for several weeks. It’s a simple transition. In fact, it’s not a hard break
as John enters us into chapter 14. He is essentially continuing
a conversation that had begun in chapter 13. And he’s dealing
here recording Christ engaged in very practical discipleship. He is answering a series of questions
regarding what were for the apostles nagging questions about the future. As we open into chapter 14, as
we’ve seen, Jesus is continuing his reply to Peter and essentially
Peter’s question was where? Where are you going Lord that
we cannot follow? Jesus answers that question and
that only leads to another question by another apostle, Thomas. Thomas’ question is how? How
do we No. How do we know the way when we
don’t even know where you’re going? Jesus answers that question
clearly and fully and yet that leads to yet another question. That’s where we find ourselves
this morning is in the midst of Jesus’ reply to Philip’s question. Philip’s question isn’t where
or how but who. Who is the Father? Show us the
Father. If only we could see the father
it would be enough we see Phillips question beginning in verse 8
and that’s where we would zero in this morning John chapter
14 in verse 8 Phillips said to him Lord show us the father and
it is enough for us Jesus said to him Have I been so long with
you and yet you have not come to know me, Philip? He who has
seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, show us the
Father? Do you not believe that I am
in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say
to you, I do not speak on my own initiative, but the Father
abiding in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father,
and the Father is in me. Otherwise, believe of the works
themselves. Truly, truly, I say to you, he
who believes in me, the works that I do, he will do also. And greater works than these
will he do, because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in my
name, that I will do. so that the father may be glorified
in the son. If you ask anything in my name,
I will do it. If you love me, you will keep
my commandments. I will ask the father and he
will give you another helper that he may be with you forever.
That is the spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because
it does not see him or know him, but you know him because he abides
with you. and will be in you. I will not
leave you as orphans. I will come to you. After a little
while, the world will no longer see me, but you will see me.
Because I live, you will live also. In that day, you will know
that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. He who has
my commandment and keeps them is the one who loves me. And
he who loves me will be loved by my Father and I will love
him and will disclose myself to him.” As we have seen, Jesus
is engaged with these men and they with Him. Every answer that
Jesus supplies only seems to elicit more and even greater
questions by these men that had walked with him for three years.
And even though they had been with him, what they reveal in
their questions is just how little they know him. Philip’s question
was particularly troublesome to Christ. that Philip, even
though he had walked with Jesus for this long time, yet knew
very little about Christ, knew very little that he and his father
were one. And so, when Philip asks Jesus
to show him the Father, Jesus’ reply is somewhat of a rebuke,
isn’t it? Do you not believe? Jesus had
articulated these things on many occasions. Was it simply a matter
of a lack of faith in Philip’s heart? Well, Jesus answers that
and then begins this series of really cultivating the disciples’
faith, all of the disciples’ faith. Because in verse 11, when
He says, Believe Me, He’s talking now to all of the disciples. they all needed to cultivate
faith. And in order to cultivate faith
rather than just some harsh and heavy command, Jesus turns to
the blessing of promises, a series of three. Gracious promises to
troubled men for the purpose of stirring up and cultivating
their faith. We began last week with the astounding
promise that these men were not only going to do works like Christ,
but they were even going to do greater works. We consider just
the astounding nature of that statement that somehow we collectively,
those who from the apostles forward, we’re obedient to Christ and
proclaiming the gospel, we’re essentially doing a greater work,
garnering a greater harvest than even Christ had on the earth. That is in our conclusion. That
is Jesus’ words to us. And in connection with those
things, in direct connection with the ministry of the gospel,
Jesus says, if you ask anything in my name, I will do it.” What
a great promise that is. But that’s not the only promise
and it’s almost as if Jesus sets the tone for this next promise
in verse 15. I referred to this simply by
title as help and I was sharing with the saints in Sunday school
just a few weeks ago that Sermon titles are the last thing
that I work on they come out pretty easily on most occasions
Because you’re so steeped in the passage, and that’s exactly
what we have here is help But what we have is a gift here that
is given to And Jesus wants to talk about this promise and wants
to really introduce this gift to the apostles, something he’d
never shared with them before now. And as any gift, the gift
needs to be, first of all, recognized and held and then unwrapped and
appreciated for what it is. We’ve all received gifts like
that. Perhaps we knew something was
coming. But we don’t even know whether
we need the gift until we open the gift. And then once we open
the gift, the gift really isn’t a gift until it’s put to use. Well, Jesus begins right there. He begins with the need. He begins, first of all, with
the need of spiritual assistance. And he points out the spiritual
assistance needed in verse 15. If you love me, you will keep
my commandments. If you love me, you will keep
my commandments. And perhaps You could even hear
Peter if Peter were speaking, because remember, as soon as
Peter falls silent earlier in the chapter, he’s silent all
the way until chapter 18. He has been rebuked, he stands
corrected, and he stands silent. But if Peter could speak, it
might go something like this. If you love me, you will keep
my commandments. Hey, no problem, Jesus. If you love me, you will keep
my commandments.” Yeah, sure. If you love me, you will keep
my commandments. Okay. No problem. When Jesus speaks of His commandments,
He’s talking about things that He particularly has taught. He isn’t setting aside the Old
Testament law. and those requirements and those
observations. What he really points to is the
totality of his teaching, his ethical and moral teaching while
he was with these men. But it’s very important to note
that there was something said even in the context of this If
you would, flip back to chapter 13, verse 34. This probably occurred
not much more than an hour prior to this particular dialogue,
this running dialogue that he’s having with the apostles, when
Jesus issued a new commandment. Look at verse 34. A new commandment
I give you that you love one another even as I have loved
you that you also love one another. By this all men will know that
you are my disciples if you have love for one another. Jesus emphasizes
in the most solemn manner possible. And remember this followed on
the heels, no pun intended, of the foot washing of the apostles. Where Jesus humbled himself to
really model true and genuine love for one another. And what
Jesus urges upon them is a mutual love for one another. The commandment
isn’t new as we saw when we looked at it. The Old Testament is replete
with the exhortation to love one another. Love thy neighbor
as thyself. Leviticus 19. But the whole motive
of loving one another was new. Now they had the love of Christ
shown and exhibited to them specifically and as Christ loved them in such
same manner, this constant sacrificing love, they were to love one another. Love was to be the great mark
of the Christian church, love for one another. Well, this exhortation will repeat
itself, Christ will repeat it, over and over again. If you flip
over to chapter 14, glance down to a passage we’ll come to perhaps
even next Lord’s Day. Look at verse 21. He who has
My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me and he
who loves Me will be loved by My Father and I will love him
and disclose Myself to him. If you really want to show Me
you love Me, Jesus says, obey Me. my commandments flip over
to the next chapter chapter fifteen. Chapter fifteen and verse ten
if you keep my commandments you will abide in my love just as
I have kept my father’s commandments and abide in his love. These
things I have spoken to you that my joy may be made in you and
that your joy may be made full. This is my commandment that you
love one another just as I have loved you.” This was the great
example that He had set forth, lived forth, lived in front of
them and now was calling them to emulate and perpetuate. And so the true examination,
the true test of their love was not just this warm feeling towards
Christ, not this sadness at His departure, not even a lengthy
and protracted mourning at His going away, but the true test
of love for Christ was love for one another, obedience to His
commands. But I want to warn you of a very
great potential for error here. If you look at verse 15, it looks
doable, doesn’t it? And that’s why we chuckle when
we hear, you know, the suggestion of the possibility of Peter’s
reply, ever one to launch himself to the front with some great
and bold declaration, if you love me you’ll keep my commandments. That sounds doable. Israel thought that it was doable. All these things we will do.
And we saw how long Israel lasted. God’s commandments sound doable. But in and of our own, on our
own energy, on our own capabilities, in our own heart and mind, are
not doable, are they? And so, Jesus begins to introduce
the Holy Spirit, and we’ll get there momentarily, but I want
to point out a real potential for error here. Jesus says, I will ask the Father
and He will give you another Helper. What Jesus is doing there
in verse 15 is not issuing us a condition. He’s not saying, look, if you
keep my commandments, I will give you a gift, a gift of the
Holy Spirit. Here’s how some in church history
have articulated it. For those who are serious about
their commitment to Jesus Christ, those who both love Him and keep
His commandments, Jesus promises that He will pray that the Father
will give another comforter. Does that sound uncomfortable
to you? That if you will only do as Jesus commanded, if you
will only live up to the standards of the law, if you will only
obey God in all things, then He will give you a helper. another
said it this way some years ago, those who keep Christ’s precepts
will receive a great blessing. Those are astounding statements
especially based on that incredible passage in Galatians that we
just heard. We don’t do in order to receive. It doesn’t work that
way. We are commanded And as the law
came and is a schoolmaster to us to point out our need of Christ,
we find ourselves over and over again, like Israel, failing at
the very thing that we’re commanded to do. Paul in Romans 7. Nope. It isn’t that way. It doesn’t
work that way. They need a great blessing in
order to keep. Christ’s commandments. It isn’t
because of our faithfulness to God’s commands that we receive
the Holy Spirit. Our ability to keep God’s commands
is because of the indwelling Spirit. And that’s the point
that Jesus is driving home. First and foremost, they needed
to know how great they needed this gift, this Holy Spirit. They needed to know how desperately
they needed help. They needed to see their need.
And Jesus says to them simply, if you love me, keep my commandments.
Oh, sure. Like we could do that for even
a day or an hour. I loved R.C. Sproul’s comment
here because R.C. Sproul takes us right back to
the Reformation. Obedience is a certain inevitable
consequence of affection for Christ. In other words, what
R.C. Sproul says, if and when you
truly get saved, you cannot not obey. You will obey. You will be eager to obey. The
Spirit will prompt you and enable you to obey. Sproul continues. the Reformers held to this view
and that this is why they had believed that while justification
is not based on our works. That’s why when I heard that
passage read, I wanted to do back flips up here. Because it
echoes exactly what Jesus is teaching here. We are not justified
based on our works. True justification, Sproul says,
always generates a response of obedience. Did you hear what
he said? True justification always generates a response of obedience. Why, that sounds like John chapter
14, verses 15 and 16. If you love me, you will keep
my commandments. Sanctification, Sproul concludes,
always and ever flows automatically and necessarily out of justification. You see, the same spirit that
begins the process of salvation in our lives continues it in
the process of sanctification and concludes it in the great
work of glorification. It’s the Spirit. It’s the Holy
Spirit. And the Holy Spirit is absolutely
indispensable to the process. What Jesus was pointing out there
was their great need of assistance. They needed help. And in verse 16, we have the
spiritual assistance promised. We’ve already seen the need of
a spiritual assistance in verse 15. Now we have the clear promise
in verse 16. I will ask the Father and He
will give you another helper. Note when Jesus says here, I
will ask. That’s all He has to do is ask.
He doesn’t have to plead before the Father, and the word here
is a different word than typically is used for our prayer lives,
where we have to go and implore the Father and plead our case
and our need before the Father. That’s not the word that is used
here and used always of Christ when He speaks to the Father,
used of the prayers of Christ Himself to the Father. Jesus
had just used the verb, ask, when talking about the prayers
in reference to those of His apostles. But He changes the
word here to a word that just means, I’m going to go put in
essentially an order. I’m going to go make a request
on your behalf. And the requests that God hears from Christ are
always honored. We have to go before the Lord
and plead our case, ask, even beg. Jesus, all he has to do
is go and make request of the Father. This is what we need. And in this case, we need another
helper. The word there, another, points
to another of the same kind. They need more divine assistance. Jesus is about to go away. And he would never be with his
disciples, his apostles, his closest friends on earth in this
capacity again. And so he didn’t want them to be
alone. They didn’t want to be alone.
They didn’t want Jesus to leave. But Jesus doesn’t want to leave
them without altogether. And so he simply asks the Father
for another, a helper. of this passage begins to introduce
to us for the first time this helper, this Holy Spirit. And it’s the first time in a
series of opportunities where Jesus is going to begin to unfold
the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. I will not even attempt to give
you a full treatment of the Holy Spirit today because we have
several occasions left remaining where we can add and augment
what we digest even today. But if you would look at chapter
14 verse 26 where Jesus mentions the Holy Spirit yet again. 1426, the helper, the Holy Spirit whom
the Father will send in my name. He will teach you all things
and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. What
a great comfort that is. You know that they didn’t have
to rest completely on their memory even though in that day and age
everything was passed on by memory. The disciples themselves even
for their own lives sake knew that they weren’t going to have
to depend completely on their memory for these things. The
Holy Spirit was going to lead them and guide them and teach
them and remind them. Turn, if you would, to chapter
15, verse 26. Chapter 15, verse 26. He mentions
the Helper again. When the Helper comes, whom I
will send to you from the Father, that is, the Spirit of truth,
who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me. We’ll talk in a moment about
the Holy Spirit It’s interesting in evangelical circles. It’s a lot like what happens
with Protestants with regards to Mary. Jesus’ mother, Mary. Protestants typically don’t want
to talk anything about Mary lest they sound like they’re Roman
Catholic. We have this kind of fear and so we kind of skirt
the issue. If we read the passage we blazed through the passage,
and we don’t dwell on Mary. We’re afraid to talk about Mary.
Well, in like manner, evangelicals have this same tendency to not
want to talk about the Holy Spirit much, lest we start to sound
like we’re charismatic. Jesus isn’t afraid to talk about
the Holy Spirit, but it’s interesting to note here in chapter 15 When
the Holy Spirit comes, He will testify about me. The Holy Spirit’s
role is not to give new revelation. It is to exalt the ministry of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn, if you would, to chapter
16, where Jesus once again speaks about the Holy Spirit. Look at
verse 7, 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 go, I will send Him
to you, and He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning
sin and righteousness and judgment.” So the Holy Spirit has a role
to play, and we will discover Him again and again as we course
through the Gospel of John. So when the Holy Spirit goes
away, the Spirit is going to be sent by the Father to indwell
these believers in Christ. And as a result, they will not
be left without a divine resource. Well, that’s Romans chapter 8
all over again. It’s the Father’s plan effected
by Christ carried out by the Holy Spirit, Romans 8. This word is a fascinating word,
taken from the verb parakaleo, to call to one side. But here,
identified as the paraclete, the called alongside one, if
you will, it was a person who was called alongside to help
in a variety of different occasions. Here, a helper and a friend sent
down from the very throne of God to come alongside believers. Let’s talk about the Holy Spirit
for a minute, the called alongside one, the helper. This one who
was called alongside, sent by Christ alongside in order to
help. We’ll talk more about that help
in a moment. This word is used five times
in all of the New Testament. Four of those in this particular
gospel. which we just read, always of
the Holy Spirit. 14, 16, 26, 15, 26, and 16, 7. Always of the Holy Spirit. But once, this word is used to
speak of the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen, just briefly. 1 John
2, 1. My little children, I am writing
these things to you. so that you may not sin. Does
that sound familiar? And if anyone sins, we have an
advocate, not a helper, an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ,
the righteous. We have somebody who is going
to go and essentially argue our case. Look, I know that he sinned. I know that he has the proclivity
to sin, but he is justified by my blood. Now, it’s interesting
that in many cases, translations often give us the translation
of comforter. The comforter has come, we have
songs about it. And what that really talks about
is somebody who just comes along to assuage our hurts and difficulties
and bring us whatever kind of comfort we need. But here, the
word literally meant in that day and age, it literally spoke
of one who is summoned to the side to come alongside of someone,
especially in the court of law. This is your lawyer. If you were
a first century Christian and you had a paraclete, he was your
lawyer in a court of law. And in a sense, he would be a
great comfort to you. Anybody who’s ever been in a
legal situation would know that you need a lawyer. You need good
counsel, especially in the case of defense. And so the thought
here is really one of Advocating, not so much comforting, although
that is a comfort, it’s advocating, it’s advocating, it is a friend
who has come alongside to advocate for you, a legal friend. And so, what is indicated here
is advocate. Pleading our case, arguing our
case, convincing, even convincing us and instructing us He is the advocate. He is our
counselor. He is our lawyer, if you will.
He is our advocate before the throne of God and before men.
J.C. Ryle put it this way, the Holy
Spirit was in the hearts of the Old Testament believers. No one
ever served God acceptably from Abel downwards without the grace
of the Holy Spirit. It can only mean that he shall
come with more fullness, influence, grace, permanence, manifestation
than he did before. So while Jesus asks for a helper,
this helper comes now in a whole new way. He comes now to advocate
for us. and advocate on our behalf. What a blessing. What a gift.
And as we look at the course of the passage, they didn’t even
know how badly they needed Him. You want us to do your commandments?
No problem. And so Jesus moves to identify
this helper. Look at verse 17. just briefly. I will ask the Father and He
will give you another helper that is the spirit of truth. Truth is certainly strongly associated
with that of being an advocate, right? You want a defense lawyer
who’s going to go before the judge and talk about the truth.
He’s going to stand before the jury and articulate the truth.
That is what exonerates the individual. And so the Spirit would come
along, be a helper who would be implanted into the hearts
of believers, advocating all the while for God, for truth,
uncovering the truth to the sinner, uncovering the reality of the
sinner to others, including God Himself. It is the Holy Spirit. And this doesn’t surprise us
to see Jesus refer to Him as the Spirit of Truth. It was the
Holy Spirit who inspired the Scriptures, giving the very true
words of God. It was the Holy Spirit who illumines
them and allows us for the first time to see them as what they
are, God’s Word. It is the Holy Spirit that applies
the truth to the life of the sinner so that the sinner for
the first time recognizes his sin for such. It is the Holy
Spirit who essentially exposes our sinfulness and brings us
to repentance. The Holy Spirit, as I said, inspires
God’s Word. 2 Peter 1, know this first of
all, that no prophecy of Scripture was a matter of one’s own interpretation,
for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but
men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. It was the Spirit
of truth giving us the Word of God. And so God’s Word, all 66
books, inspired by God, conveyed through the Holy Spirit, even
though written by men. The Holy Spirit’s work in people
is a quite dynamic and really amazing thing. If you back up and look at the
totality of the ministry of the Spirit in sinners’ lives, the
first thing that the Spirit did, as I just said, is in part truth
about sinners and in part truth about Christ. Those whom God has set His love
on from eternity past are by a very special and instantaneous
work of the Holy Spirit regenerated. They’re brought from a state
of deadness to life. That’s the Holy Spirit. That’s
the spirit of truth, showing them their sin, showing them
Christ, showing them their need of Christ. Once they are enlivened, once
they see their sin for what it is, once they see Christ for
who He is, they cannot not come to faith. Gifting and gracing take place
almost immediately. The Holy Spirit grants, as we
have seen even in months past, He grants believers gifts. 1
Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4, and He empowers them by His grace
to avoid evil and to do any good thing. We’ll talk more about
this in Sunday School, but if you glance down, once again,
If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” That isn’t
even possible outside of Christ, outside of the Holy Spirit. Outside
of the divine enablement of the Holy Spirit, gifting and gracing
the believer, it’s not possible. Not only regeneration and illumination
where we can read the Scriptures now and understand them, whereas
before they were like mysteries, ciphers, The Holy Spirit now
is indwelling us and illuminating God’s Word, teaching us even
as we read it. The Holy Spirit indwells believers,
as the Scripture says, immediately upon regeneration. He brings
to life a deadened sinner and immediately takes up residence.
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3.16, you are a temple of God. The Holy Spirit dwells in you. What an amazing thing. What does He do once He takes
up residence? Helping, teaching, illuminating. The Holy Spirit teaches believers
spiritual things so that they might know and better serve God. Jesus wasn’t being cruel when
He said, You will keep My commandments. In a sense, he was forecasting,
but he was essentially showing them how desperately they needed
the help. They knew in their hearts. Paul,
looking back after his conversion, where he says in 1 Corinthians
2, we have received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit
who is from God so that we might know the things freely given
to us by God. Which things also we speak, not
in words taught by human wisdom, but by those taught by the Spirit,
combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. But a natural
man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they
are foolishness to him, for he cannot understand them, because
they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises
all things. He who has the Spirit dwelling
within him, he just gets it. He is illumined by the Holy Spirit
of God. He understands the deep things
of God. Not only are we regenerated by
the Holy Spirit and indwelled by the Holy Spirit, helping us,
teaching us, shining the light of God as it were, what Calvin
called the spectacles of faith. The inability that we have in
our natural condition to look down and understand the Word
is a direct result of illumination. Not only all of that, but it’s
for a purpose. Why help? Why teach? Why illuminate
God’s Word? Sanctification. It’s the process
of sanctification. We’ve already talked about this
already. Positionally, a believer is justified, holy before God. We stand in the righteousness
of Christ. But practically speaking, we’re far from perfect, right?
We’re not holy yet. We’re not glorified yet. And
so the Holy Spirit, the very one that initiates the process
of salvation, continues the work of sanctification in every believer’s
life. This is Romans 8. bringing us
to repentance, bringing us to conviction for sin, drawing us
toward Him even in that conviction so that the closer we come, we
are more inclined to fall on our face and confess our sin
to Almighty God and plead for grace to change. You see, it was absolutely crucial
that they see their utter need of help. Keep your commandments. We’re going to need a little
assistance. No, we’re going to need a lot of help. We’re going
to need divine assistance. The Holy Spirit changing us from
within, taking up residence, teaching us, showing us, convicting
us. Not only do we see the spiritual
assistance needed there in verse 15, we see the spiritual assistance
requested there in 16, we see the spiritual assistance appropriated
in 16 and 17. I will ask the Father, verse
16, He will give you another helper that He may be with you
forever. That is the Spirit of truth whom
the world cannot receive because it does not see Him or know Him. But you know Him because He abides
with you and will be in you. He’s appropriated. See, Jesus, their current advocate
and helper, comforter, is going to leave them. And so Jesus pleads
with the father, goes before the father, makes request that
he would send another helper, an advocate who would come and
stay, abide with them, a helper, a true friend. The Holy Spirit,
even though the Holy Spirit, the disciples had known flashes
of the Holy Spirit. Otherwise, they could not have
been converted. They could not have come to faith in Christ
without the regenerating influence of the Holy Spirit. But the Holy
Spirit had not been permanently bestowed upon them, indwelling
them yet. But at Pentecost, he would be.
And once he was given at Pentecost, he would never leave them. And
I take that literally. Meaning that in heaven, in some
way, shape, or form, the Holy Spirit is going to continue to
be with us, communing, as it were, with God and our Savior. It’s a new and different advocate,
a new and different helper that he has sent. But I want you to
look at verse 17. It’s the Spirit of Truth, this
Helper. This Helper that God will send, the Spirit of Truth
whom the world cannot receive because it does not see Him or
know Him. We just read that spiritual things
must be spiritually discerned. And as one pastor said, the world
has intelligence, the world has scientific investigation, it
has the faculty of critical thinking and learning, but it cannot lay
hold of the Holy Spirit. It cannot just go sign up for
the Holy Spirit. It cannot go and purchase some
measure of the Holy Spirit. It cannot acquire by their own
means the Holy Spirit. As one said though, and this
is the same inaccuracy, the same danger, the same error as we
warned about earlier, the gift of the Holy Spirit could only
be received by spiritually minded men. People, that’s not true
because there are no spiritually minded men. People who possess the Holy Spirit
do so not because they are spiritually minded, They are spiritually
minded because they possess the Holy Spirit. See, they do not,
the world doesn’t see the Holy Spirit, but that’s only part
of the problem. They don’t have faith, and so
the unseen remains unseen. As a result, they never come
to know the Holy Spirit. He isn’t urging upon us a kind
of divine hospitality where we need to be warmly inclined to
the Holy Spirit. And if He comes our way, receive
Him in gladly. Not at all what’s being said. Spirit is not received per se. Rather, He is bestowed He enters
into a sinner’s life, and when he enters, he takes up residence.
He doesn’t stand at the door and knock. The Holy Spirit comes. The Holy Spirit regenerates a
dead sinner and brings him to life. And once regenerated, he
begins his work of sanctification. You know what this tells us?
We don’t have to ask for the Holy Spirit. It wouldn’t matter
if we did. We don’t ask for the Holy Spirit. It’s part of the process of salvation,
specifically regeneration. That the Holy Spirit, once initiating
that work in a sinner’s life, enters in and takes up residence. We don’t have to receive the
Holy Spirit in any kind of hospitable fashion, some formal way. The
Holy Spirit doesn’t have to be requested. He doesn’t have to
be received. We don’t have the option to refuse
the Holy Spirit’s entrance into our sordid life. Look at the passage. Look at
the passage. He is the Spirit of Truth whom
the world cannot receive because it does not see Him or know Him,
but you know Him. You know Him because He’s taken
up residence. You know Him because He’s begun
a work. You know Him because He abides with you and will be
in you. There’s nothing here in the passage
about receiving or not receiving, about rejecting, or anything
remotely related to a volitional element at all. It isn’t about
us. It isn’t about our will here. When He says you know Him because
He abides with you and will be in you, He has begun a work and
you cannot deny it. In the first place, He brought
you to repentance. He brought you to an awareness
of your sin. The ugliness of it, the deadliness
of it, the eternality of it. He brought you to an awareness
of that sin. And He brought you to an awareness
in that sin of your desperate need of Jesus Christ. You knew
that there was a Savior. You discovered Him as such. And
as soon as you did, the Holy Spirit laid heavy upon your heart
the need of that Savior. And as He drew you to Him in
faith, As He drew you to Him in faith, He drew you to repentance,
two sides of the same coin. He brought you on your knees
to Christ. Could not refuse the Spirit. And you know that from that day,
you know Him. Because that same Holy Spirit
that did that amazing work of salvation, which you did not
seek, He has begun a work of sanctification in your life.
He, little by little, even this morning, has brought to mind
some sin, some indiscretion, some foul word, some evil thought. He has done it. You know Him.
He’s in you. This is why I used to tell young
college kids, conviction of sin is a sign of life. That’s the
Holy Spirit. You know Him. Examine your hearts before Him.
Our merciful King, we humble ourselves before the very throne
of God. And Lord, no amount of eagerness,
no amount of will, no amount of enthusiasm in our lives would
have enabled us to do Your will, to obey Your commands. But Lord,
You have provided help And that help has first brought us salvation. It brought us from death to life.
And in so doing, Father, that blessed Holy Spirit took up residence
within us and began a work, a work that will conclude only in heaven. Glorification. Lord, we thank
you for this gift. We thank you for the discovery
of our need. We thank you for your request
before the Father’s throne And we thank you that we know, we
know the Spirit is at work within us. And Lord, if there is even
one who does not see or know that the Holy Spirit is resident
within them, Father, may this be the day where the Spirit moves
upon them to bring them to repentance for their sin and bring them
to salvation. taking up residence within them.
What a glorious day. It’s in Jesus’ name that we plead.
Amen.