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John – From the Upper Room... (4 of 12)
The Promise of the Holy Spirit
John 14:15-31
John 13-17 is often referred to as the Upper Room Discourse because the setting begins in an upper room of a house in Jerusalem during Passover. Later it moves to the journey from the Upper Room to the Garden of Gethsemane.
John 14:2 (ESV) –
“In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?”
In the second half of chapter 14, Jesus comforts His disciples by promising the coming of the Holy Spirit.
John 14:16-17 (ESV) –
“I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth...”
The Holy Spirit indwells all true Christians. He will never leave. God is with us and being aware of His presence provides us with unshakable hope and transforms how we see absolutely everything. We are never alone!
John 14:15-17 (ESV) –
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.”
1. Jesus promises the Holy Spirit.
John 14:15 (ESV) –
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”
1 John 5:2-3 (ESV) –
“By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.”
Love for Jesus will always work itself out in obedience to His perfect commands.
Jesus promises to send another Helper. He tells His disciples that the Spirit of Truth will be with you forever and will be in you.
John 14:17 (ESV) –
“…for he dwells with you and will be in you.”
God the Holy Spirit indwells all who believe in Jesus and He will never leave. Ponder the words – God with us.
Romans 8:9 (ESV) –
“You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.”
John 14:6 (ESV) –
“I am the way, and the truth, and the life.”
John 16:7 (ESV) –
“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.”
John 14:16-17 (ESV) –
“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.”
If you personally trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior, then God the Holy Spirit is already in you and He’s staying. He indwells you! This glorious truth transforms how we see everything.
John 14:18-24 (ESV) –
“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me.”
2. Jesus predicts coming to His disciples after the resurrection.
John 14:18-19 (ESV) –
“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.”
John 16:16 (ESV) –
“A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.”
John 11:25-26 (ESV) –
“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
Jesus’ claim is validated by His resurrection! And all of us need to ask and answer His question – Do you believe this? Do I believe this?
The disciples didn’t understand. They would understand this better after becoming first-hand witnesses of the resurrection. This anticipates Jesus’ coming to His disciples and appearing to them after the resurrection.
John 20:19-22 (ESV) –
“On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
John 20:22 (ESV) –
“Receive the Holy Spirit.”
John 14:22 (ESV) –
“Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, ‘Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?’”
John 14:25-31 (ESV) –
“These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But 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 have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe. I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.”
3. Continuing to prepare His disciples for what was coming quickly – Jesus returns to the promise of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus was preparing them for what was coming – His arrest and the cross were coming quickly.
John 14:26 (ESV, emphasis mine) –
“But 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 have said to you.”
John 14:27 (ESV) –
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”
The eternal Son of God set aside the glory that was (and is) rightfully His and fulfilled God’s perfect plan to save us from our sins. Coming to this sin-sick fallen world is not the glory He rightly deserves, it’s setting something aside.
Romans 5:1 (ESV) –
“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
John 14:29 (ESV) –
“And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe.”
Jesus comforts His fearful and confused disciples (and us today) by promising the Holy Spirit! God is with us and being aware of His presence provides unshakable hope and transforms how we see everything.
• Awareness of the presence of the Holy Spirit is perspective transforming!
John 14:16-17 (ESV) –
“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth...”
Being aware of the presence of the Holy Spirit who is the down-payment (or guarantee) of our heavenly inheritance changes everything. God is with us!
• Genuine love for Jesus is inseparable from obedience to His commands!
John 14:15 (ESV) –
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”
John 14:21 (ESV) –
“Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”
John 14:24 (ESV) –
“Whoever does not love me does not keep my words.”
John 14:23 (ESV) –
“If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”
Ask – Where am I refusing to obey? Where am I resisting God’s Word?
John 14:31 (ESV) –
“Rise, let us go from here.”
The only way to be cleansed of our sins is through receiving Jesus Christ as Savior! He shed His blood on the cross as our substitute.
Acts 20:28 (ESV) –
“...the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.”
1 Corinthians 11:23-26 (ESV) –
“For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.”