1 RECONNECT The Spirit of Truth John 15:18 16:15 Introduction 1. This week, I stumbled across an article on Forbes.com that listed some of the highest salaried odd jobs out there. There are some jobs out there we hardly ever think of that pay pretty well. Just in case the New Year has you in the mood for a career change... a. Turns out there s some money to be had in some careers you didn t even know existed: i. First job that caught my eye was Ice Cream Taster. Now, the technical term for this job is Food Scientist, which probably helps you feel less fat. But, should you find a job in this field, average salary is $56,000 (plus ice cream!). ii. Not sure I ve ever met any kid who wanted to be an embalmer (not sure I ever want to meet a kid who wants to be an embalmer ). But, they actually make an average salary somewhere around $50,000. iii. Finally, an emerging field is that of the Childbirth Educator. Not a doctor, but a counselor who helps prepare women for childbirth and what to expect. It s a pretty new field, but it does pay pretty well, with median income around $60,000. I think I could do that I m Brandon, your childbirth educator. This is going to hurt a lot! Ask for the drugs. That ll be $60,000. b. Over the past couple of weeks, we ve been talking about the Holy Spirit, the sometimesoverlooked member of the Trinity. Today, we re going to conclude our three-week exploration of the Spirit by talking about what the Spirit does. What s His actual job? i. Now, we ve had some hints of this over the past couple of weeks, right? We ve seen how the Spirit is our Advocate and Counselor. But today, we re going to look at some very specific jobs the Spirit has been tasked with. c. Jesus begins talking about the work of the Spirit in a very interesting way. Before telling us what the Spirit will do, Jesus presents His disciples with a warning: i. John 15:18-2!: If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you. Do you remember what I told you? A slave is not greater than the master. Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you. And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you. They will do all this to you because of me, for they have rejected the one who sent me. ii. Jesus warns His disciples that things aren t going to go well for them. Just because they belong to Him doesn t mean life is going to be easy. In fact, their union with Him almost guarantees things will be difficult. Persecution is coming. Trouble is coming. The world hated Jesus. Now, it s going to hate those who follow Him. iii. Jesus is telling us that when we align ourselves with Him, we are breaking ranks with the rest of the world. The values and ethics of the Kingdom put us at odds with the values and ethics of our culture. We re called to be different. We re called to something greater. d. That s what Jesus is getting at here. He s telling us that there s something profoundly and tangibly different about His people. There s something that makes them stand out. Something that brings them attention and not necessarily in a good way! e. It s in the midst of all these warnings that Jesus once again speaks about the Holy Spirit. He tells His disciples how the Spirit is going to help them through these difficulties. In so doing, He also explains how the Holy Spirit might cause some of these difficulties. i. John 15:26-27: But I will send you the Advocate the Spirit of truth. He will come to you from the Father and will testify all about me. And you must also testify about me because you have been with me from the beginning of my ministry.
2 ii. It s here that Jesus really begins to unpack the work of the Holy Spirit. He tells us what the Holy Spirit will do and how He will accomplish His mission in this world. Specifically, Jesus identifies two tasks given to the Holy Spirit. These two tasks are not a comprehensive look at the Spirit s work, but again, they do help us better understand what He does. TS So, what does the Spirit do? You have these two tasks listed there in your notes 2. The first task the Spirit is sent to accomplish is to TESTIFY TO CHRIST. The Spirit s work is to point people to Jesus in order that they might know Him better. a. Take another look at John 15:26: i. John 15:26: But I will send you the Advocate the Spirit of Truth. He will come to you from the Father and will testify all about me. ii. According to Jesus, the Spirit is tasked with testifying to Him. His primary work is to point people to the work of Christ. iii. J. Oswald Sanders: The ministry of the Spirit is Christo-centric. The test of any movement of the Spirit whether in personal or corporate experience is the place it gives to Christ. b. In my mind, the defining mark of the Spirit s work is the place it gives to Jesus. He is primarily concerned with the work of Christ. When the Spirit moves, there s not too much conversation about Him. In fact, this is one of the great difficulties in talking about the Spirit or studying Him at all He s always pointing to Jesus! i. You can t really get to know someone well if all they do is talk about someone else. This is exactly why it s hard for us to look and talk about the Holy Spirit. The Spirit comes to testify to Jesus and point hearts and minds in His direction! c. Jesus will go onto further describe exactly how the Spirit accomplishes this task. Take a look a little later in the passage. i. John 16:5-11: But now I am going away to the one who sent me, and not one of you is asking where I am going. Instead, you grieve because of what I ve told you. But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don t, the Advocate won t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God s righteousness, and of the coming judgment. The world s sin is that it refuses to believe in me. Righteousness is available because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more. Judgment will come because the ruler of this world has already been judged. ii. Jesus tells us that the Holy Spirit testifies to Him by convicting the world. In pointing people to Jesus, the Holy Spirit convicts the world of its need for a Savior. 1. Now, I want to be clear about something: The Holy Spirit does not work IN unbelievers. His inner heart work is limited to Christians. The promise and presence of the Spirit only for those who have accepted Christ. 2. But, Jesus tells us that the Holy Spirit can work ON unbelievers. Part of His mission is to prepare people to hear the good news. He does that through the words of Scripture. He does that through the work of the church. He does that through the witness of believers. Holy Spirit calls people into relationship with Christ. iii. I think we can understand this, right? Think about what happened before you became a Christian. Chances are you didn t just wake up one day and say, I believe in Jesus Christ! Most of us can trace the sequence of events that led us to faith. 1. Maybe you picked up a Bible for the first time. Maybe you had a conversation with a friend. Maybe someone recommended a Christian book to you. Maybe you were invited to church. Some of you may even
look back and see a low point in your life caused you to reach out to God. 2. Those things that pathway to faith bear the fingerprints of the Holy Spirit. He was moving us further down the path. Calling us to Christ. Looking back, I think we can all identify how the Spirit was working ON us before He ever began working IN us. d. Here in John 16, Jesus paints a very vivid picture of how the Spirit testifies to Him. Take another look at John 16:8: i. John 16:8: And when He comes, He will convict the world of its sin, and of God s righteousness, and of the coming judgment. ii. As Jesus looked at the convicting ministry of the Holy Spirit, He saw that the Spirit calls people to Him in three ways. e. First of all, the Spirit convicts the world of SIN. He comes and tells the world of its shortcomings. He convinces and convicts us that the way we re living isn t right. i. Throughout Scripture, Jesus is referred to as the Light. As the Holy Spirit shines the Light He exposes the darkness of our hearts. He illuminates those nooks and crannies of our heart where we let sin hide and fester. ii. The Holy Spirit announces through the Word and through the church that this world has fallen woefully short of God s ideal. Even in a culture that s lost awareness of sin, we still know our shortcomings. We still know that if there is a God, He is far better and greater than we are. iii. Yet, as Jesus tells us, the world s greatest sin is that it doesn t believe in Him. Our greatest shortcoming is unbelief. 1. John 16:9: The world s sin is that it refuses to believe in me. iv. As human beings, our greatest sin is the inability to believe in Jesus and trust Him fully. The Holy Spirit sets out to remedy that problem. f. Secondly, the Holy Spirit convicts the world of GOD S RIGHTEOUSNESS. The Spirit points people to the righteousness the goodness of God. Specifically, He convicts them of God s righteous plan in Jesus Christ. i. John 16:10: Righteousness is available because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more. ii. Again, the Spirit convicts the world of who Jesus is and what He has done. He proclaims to the world that Jesus is no ordinary man! He stands at the throne of God Himself! iii. Even today, people are interested in Jesus. Can t stop talking about Him. Can t ignore Him. Even those who don t know Him know His teachings. I think that reveals some of the Spirit s work. He is convicting the world of who Jesus is. He s pointing towards the uniqueness of Christ. g. Thirdly, the Holy Spirit convicts the world of JUDGMENT. The Spirit comes to tell the world that its days are numbered. There s a day of reckoning coming for all. i. John 16:11: Judgment will come because the ruler of this world has already been judged. ii. We are a culture obsessed with doomsday scenarios, aren t we? At least a dozen movies or TV shows come out every year that deal with the end of time. The options for our end are limitless. We ve got global warming, asteroids, nuclear war, robot uprising, zombie apocalypse. iii. We know an end is coming. I think this all reflects a warping of what the Spirit teaches. He tells the world that Judgment Day is coming. One day, God is going to sit on His throne and judge everyone who has ever lived. h. The Holy Spirit testifies to Christ. He does that by convicting the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. In all these things, He reminds the world He reminds us of the holiness, power, authority, wisdom, and strength of Jesus Christ. He convicts the world that He might comfort the world with the Good News. i. By talking about the Spirit s work in this way, I think Jesus explains some of the hostility the world will have towards His people. 1. Who wants to be reminded of their sin and inadequacy? 3
4 2. Who wants to be reminded that they are not Lord? 3. Who wants to be reminded that Judgment Day is coming? ii. The world reacts to us with hostility because the Spirit s work on them the Spirit s work in us reminds them of some unpleasant truths. The world responds poorly to those who have the Spirit because they don t want to hear what He has to say. i. When we truly walk in step with the Spirit, it puts us in conflict with the world, because the Spirit Himself is in conflict with the world. i. If we don t feel that struggle and conflict, then it may be that we re not walking with the Spirit as we should. If we re not facing difficulty from the world, it may be that we re too much like the world to create any friction. ii. Which leads me to the second task of the Spirit 3. The Spirit testifies to Christ. He also TRANSFORMS THE CHRISTIAN. The Holy Spirit works in our lives. He changes our hearts and our minds. He makes us more and more like Jesus. a. Take another look at what Jesus said there in John 15:27. i. John 15:27: And you must also testify about me because you have been with me from the beginning of my ministry. ii. Our lives are supposed to be a reflection of the Spirit s work. He desires to use us as a testimony to who Jesus is and what He has the power to do. b. Again, Jesus will later qualify exactly what this looks like later on in this passage. i. John 16:12-15: There is so much more I want to tell you, but you can t bear it now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me. All that belongs to the Father is mine; this is why I said, The Spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me. ii. Jesus tells us that the Holy Spirit will lead us into truth. He will speak Jesus words into our hearts and minds. He will teach us what Jesus said and transform us into who Jesus wants us to be. iii. In fact, later passages in the New Testament will talk about a couple of ways the Holy Spirit accomplishes this in our lives. c. The first is that the Holy Spirit EMPOWERS US FOR THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. He transforms us by empowering us to live for Christ. i. The Spirit s power within us works to give us everything we need to please God. The apostle Peter would later talk about this truth: 1. II Peter 1:3: By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. ii. The Holy Spirit works within us to make us more like Christ. We re not left to figure out the Christian life on our own. Not left to live for Christ under our own power. The Spirit s power works within us to change us from the inside out. We re not different because of who we are, but because of who works in us and through us. iii. The Holy Spirit empowers us to do what God wants. The apostle Paul paints perhaps the most memorable picture of how this works and what it looks like 1. Galatians 5:22-23: But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! iv. Paul calls all of these characteristics the Fruit of the Spirit. Let me ask you: How is fruit made? It s not an assembly line product, is it? You don t have a guy who puts the skin on the apple, another who paints it, and another who glues the stem to the top of it. Fruit naturally grows out of a connection to the vine!
v. Remember, that s what Jesus told us last week. He is the Vine and we are the branches. If we stay connected to Him, we will naturally bear fruit. The Spirit will naturally produce these qualities in our lives as we live with Him. When we walk with the Spirit, He will produce love, joy, peace vi. Maybe one of the reasons we don t grow like we want or like we should is because we rely on ourselves for growth. We try to manufacture godly living on our own. Instead, lean on Spirit. Rely on Him. Pray for Him to bring spiritual growth to your life. 1. Now, these are dangerous prayers! If you pray for patience, you might find that the Spirit brings difficult people/situations to your life to stir patience within you. 2. If you pray for peace, the Spirit might make you watch as the Packers blow a 12-point lead in the last 3:00 of a game! (hypothetically ) vii. We must trust in the Spirit for growth. Trust in Him to empower. Pray that you might rely on Him more for growth. d. Second way the Spirit transforms us is that he EQUIPS US FOR MINISTRY. He doesn t just empower us to personally experience His truth. He equips us to go out and share that good news with others. He gives us the ability to build up the church. i. Multiple passages in the New Testament speak about spiritual gifts a gift that the Spirit has given to us in order to serve the church. ii. I Corinthians 12:4-7: There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us. A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. iii. Paul talks about the nature of these spiritual gifts. For starters, he makes it clear that they are given by the Spirit. In fact, he says the Spirit decides who should have what gift. 1. Multiple gifts are mentioned throughout Scripture. There s the gift of knowledge. The gift of hospitality. The gift of preaching/teaching. Gifts of mercy and service. 2. The Holy Spirit gifts us in unique ways so we can contribute something to the church. They re given to us so that we can help one another! You have been given a gift by the Holy Spirit so that you might serve here at Cornerstone. The Spirit has led you here for a purpose, there s some task here for you to do. iv. The church suffers when you don t use your gifts. We can t do what God s called us to do, we can t minister the way we re supposed to, unless every part does its work. 1. J.D. Greear: The early church was, by our standards, poorly staffed, poorly resourced, poorly equipped, and in an extremely hostile, emphatically pluralistic culture; yet they experienced dizzying success. The secret of their power? The dynamic operation of the Holy Spirit in their midst. Despite all the challenges posed by the pagan culture, the poor state of the church, and even her incessant moral problems, the Spirit-filled church of Acts turned the world upside down with the gospel, largely through the gifts [of the Spirit.] v. I firmly believe the Holy Spirit has each of us here for a reason. You have something to do/contribute to this Body. The Spirit has empowered you to minister here in this church and in our community. 1. A couple of months ago, we had a spiritual gifts inventory available on The Hub. We want to make that available to you again this weekend. If you don t know what your giftedness is, go to the website and take the test. 5
6 2. Once you get the results, talk with some ministry leaders. Talk with a staff member you know. Ask what that giftedness means and how you might get involved. Use your gifts to minister here. e. The Holy Spirit wants to transform your life. He wants to use you for ministry. He wants to make you look more and more like Jesus Christ. i. He does that so our lives might testify to Jesus. He wants to use us to point to Jesus in the same way He points others to Jesus. ii. Remember, the Spirit s work is all about Jesus. He points the world towards a Savior. He reminds us of the One we call Lord. Everything the Spirit does in our lives His convicting, transforming work all of it is intended to bring us closer to Jesus! Conclusion: 4. I want to close up our time together today in the same place we closed up our first sermon on the Holy Spirit. Remind you that the promise of the Spirit is a promise is not just a promise written on the pages of Scripture. It s a promise extended to today. a. Back in Acts 2, when the crowd wanted to know what they needed to do to respond to the Good News of salvation, the apostle Peter gave them a command with a pretty big promise attached! i. Acts 2:38-39: Peter replied, Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This promise is to you, to your children, and to those far away all who have been called by the Lord our God. ii. Promise of the Spirit held out across time and space to us today. Told that we can grab hold of Him. We can grab hold of the wonderful promises God has made to us through the work of Jesus Christ. b. Some of you are sitting here today, and you haven t taken hold of those promises. You haven t accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior. The Holy Spirit is calling you to do so. Pointing towards Jesus. Pleading with you to accept Him to enter into a relationship with Him. i. Want to know what that looks like? Head back to the Prayer Room. c. Those of us who have grabbed hold of that promise are going to celebrate a time of communion. Gather around the bread and the cup the body and blood of Jesus to remember the sacrifice that bought these great promises. i. This time is a time of testimony a time where our lives and actions proclaim who Jesus is and what He s done. ii. I Corinthians 11:26: For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord s death until He comes again. iii. This time proclaim Jesus death. Testifies to His sacrifice. Use this time to remember what Jesus has done for you. Trust in His sacrifice. Rely on His Spirit.