John 16 - "Come Holy Spirit and Fill Me! Come and Fill Your Church!"
I forgot to mention that John 14-17 is commonly referred to the Upper Room Discourse.
"The Upper Room Discourse, found in John 13-17, is a series of teachings and prayers that Jesus delivered to his disciples in an upper room just before his crucifixion. It's often called the "Farewell Discourse" because it marks Jesus' final words to his disciples before his death. This discourse reveals Jesus' love, patience, and his preparation of the disciples for his departure and the coming of the Holy Spirit." (AI Overview)
16 “All this I have told you so that you will not fall away. 2 They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God. 3 They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me. 4 I have told you this, so that when their time comes you will remember that I warned you about them. I did not tell you this from the beginning because I was with you, 5 but now I am going to him who sent me. None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6 Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things. 7 But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 about sin, because people do not believe in me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11 and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.
Jesus tells the disciples to expect persecution from their fellow Jews, it won't destroy their faith. These Jews are so brainwashed that they will even think they are serving God by doing it. We see all sorts of things done in the name of God over the past several centuries. The disciples know Jesus is leaving them, but they are so stuck in their grief they don't realize it is good for Jesus to go back to the Father. It will be good for them too.
Jesus excused their lack of interest in His fate, knowing their great sorrow. They had sorrow at the moment, but their future was brighter. The disciples could only see the sorrow of Jesus leaving; but Jesus’ departure was an essential step in their growth as disciples. - Guzik
But Jesus has another important message for them. Though they are grieving over him leaving, it is actually good that he is leaving. The reason is that unless Jesus goes, the Holy Spirit cannot be sent to them. The word he is uses is "Advocate".
It is always is valuable to have a good advocate. The Holy Spirit advocates for us before the Father. The Holy Spirit comes alongside of us, and reminds us of Jesus' teaching. The Holy Spirit gives us the assurance that we are saved. The Holy Spirit helps us to pray and share our faith with others. There is really nothing that we are called to do as Christians that the Holy Spirit will not equip and empower us to do.
Practically speaking it was better because on earth as a man Jesus' range and scope was limited to one person. But when the Holy Spirit fell upon all the disciples, each one of them could be a little Jesus doing and saying all the same things he did. The same is true today. I think the teaching, knowledge, and experience of the Holy Spirit in the church today is the biggest reason we are not more effective in reaching the world for Christ.
We do a great job teaching about the Father and the Son, but for some reason the Holy Spirit gets the leftovers. I guess if I were Satan, I would be okay with people learning about the Father and the Son, if the teaching on the Holy Spirit is deficient. But once the Holy Spirit starts operating in a person's life look out! All hell will break loose!
Do you feel like you know the Holy Spirit and what He does in your Christian life? There are plenty of verses like these verses in John 14-17, which tells us about the work of the Holy Spirit. Galatians 5 and 1 Corinthians 12-14 also give a lot of teaching on the Holy Spirit. Most importantly the Holy Spirit is a person, which is why you can talk and pray to him as well. A simple prayer is "Come Holy Spirit. Come fill me. Come fill Your church!" Even praying in this way will make you more aware of His presence and power!
12 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”
The Holy Spirit guides us into all truth. Jesus had just said, "He was the way, the truth, and the life." So the Holy Spirit is always guiding us back to what Jesus would do and say if he were us. The Spirit will also reveal spiritual truths to us from the Father. These can come in the words of prophecy. Prophecy can be both "predictive" and "prescriptive".
While I don't see as much "predictive prophecy" in my work as a pastor, I do see a lot of "prescriptive prophecy"! What do I mean by that. Prescriptive prophecy is when the Holy Spirit reveals what is needed in a given situation. The Holy Spirit may reveal what a person needs when you are praying for them. The Holy Spirit may prescribe the meaning of a bible verse and make it applicable to a specific situation. The Holy Spirit inspires and prescribes the preaching and teaching of pastors who are reliant on the Spirit.
Don't get confused the Holy Spirit would never guide us into anything that isn't in alignment with scripture? This has been a problem in some of the charismatic movements. This is why it is dangerous to say, "This is what the Lord is saying". It should always be based on scripture and tested through the leaders in the church, who God has given wisdom and discernment to.
You can see how exciting it is when we learn the role of the Holy Spirit is in our own lives and the life of the church!
The Disciples’ Grief Will Turn to Joy
16 Jesus went on to say, “In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.” 17 At this, some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” 18 They kept asking, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand what he is saying.”
For some reason the disciples are still not getting what is going to be happening real soon. The only defense for them would be that since they don't have the Holy Spirit, they cannot see the spiritual realities in front of them. They also weren't aware that this was a very imminent. I.e. They were only a few hours away from Jesus' crucifixion on Good Friday!
19 Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, “Are you asking one another what I meant when I said, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me’? 20 Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. 21 A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. 22 So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. 23 In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.
Though the disciples will be sad when Jesus leaves, their grief will soon into joy. Jesus is most likely referring to his after his resurrection when he will appear to them. When this happens, and the day of Pentecost happens shortly after that, they will no longer have to ask Jesus these questions. Here are some of the reasons for the disciples sorrow.
The words, you will be sorrowful were certainly true.
· Sorrowful at the loss of relationship.
· Sorrowful at the humiliation of their Master and Messiah.
· Sorrowful at the seeming victory of His enemies.
· Sorrowful because all they hoped for was taken away.
The good thing is the disciples' sorrow will only last for three days. On Easter morning they were filled with great joy! As believers, who have been filled with the Holy Spirit, one of the best gifts the Holy Spirit has given us is joy! If you are not experiencing joy as a believer something is wrong.
This doesn't mean that everything that happens to you will always make you happy. Joy is different than happiness because it is not based on circumstances. This is why the bible says, "The joy of the Lord is my strength." Nehemiah 8:10
I just spoke with a woman who just lost her husband of 70 years. She was filled with joy because he is with the Lord and free of suffering. We don't produce our own joy and it is independent of our circumstances. Why?
Because it is the joy of the Lord? Jesus' Joy! The source of our joy is Jesus through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit!
25 “Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father. 26 In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. 27 No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. 28 I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.” 29 Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. 30 Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God.” 31 “Do you now believe?” Jesus replied. 32 “A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me. 33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
For some reason as Jesus keeps repeating the same basic message over and over, the disciples think he is now speaking plainly to them. They were sincere, but Jesus also knew when push came to shove they might not be so sure.
Jesus, in fact, tells them that they will scatter on account of their being called out for their belief in Jesus. Their absence will for Jesus to face the cross the cross all alone. But the good news is that this is not the end of the story. On the cross Jesus will overpower the forces of darkness, and one day the disciples will operate in that same power to the glory of Jesus' name!
Where do you need the joy of the Lord in your life? Would you say you are living your life in dependence on the Holy Spirit? Do you pray to the Holy Spirit and ask him to have more influence in your daily life?
Paul says in Galatians 5:16,
16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever[c] you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
These verses are huge for us to understand how we can ACTUALLY live the Christian life! It's very exciting!
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