In the power of the Holy spirit

John 14.15‐27 In the Power of the Holy Spirit
Sometimes with hindsight you realise the significance of something that someone has said to you.  It might have been a last conversation with a loved one or a friend.  The same is happening in the passage    In John’s gospel from 13.1‐17.26 we have the farewell discourse of Christ with His disciples.  They are in the Upper Room, celebrating the Passover,  with  Christ  inaugurating  the  Lord’s  Supper.    Our  reading  this  morning  from chapter 14 is set in the context of Christ preparing His disciples for his impending departure. The cross is only a matter of hours away.  They do not know or realise that fact but Christ knows.  So turn with me to chapter 14 verses 15‐27.

Verse 15 – sets the scene of this part of the discourse between Christ and His disciples.  This verse ties the passage to the previous 14 verses.   The prospect of doing greater things, which Christ has mentioned in verse 12, requires enabling power.  So Christ begins with ‘If you love me...’ ‐ this is the controlling part of verses 15‐21.  He does not assume they love Him, nor does He assume that they do not love Him.  He projects a condition and stipulates its entailment.  In 13 verse 1 we read that Christ had demonstrated His love for them and in the same chapter verses 34‐35 He had commanded them to love one another.   Now He speaks of the first time in the gospel of John of their love for Him.
He makes an uncompromising connection between love and obedience.  If you love me you will obey my commandments.   Love and obedience are coupled together and both are associated with the coming of the ‘Comforter.’   Let no one  be under any illusions love and obedience go together in Christianity.  I cannot obey Christ unless I love Him first and I cannot claim to love Him if I do not obey Him.  These words make it perfectly clear that following Christ has ethical and moral implications for behaviour.   read  Romans 8.15 – it is the glad obedience, not the obedience of a slave which is spoken of in 14.15.
Verses 16‐17 – Christ asks the Father to give them  ‘another Comforter’ or ‘another Helper.’ The Greek word here is Paraclete – it means one who is summoned to come alongside, to aid, and advisor, advocate, mediator or intercessor.    The word Paraclete  which  is  translated  ‘comforter,  counsellor  or  helper’  does  not  have  the  21st century understanding of those words.   A ‘paraclete’ was not like a marriage guidance counsellor or psychotherapist – that is non‐directive, there to listen to bring comfort.  No it is more of the imagery of a prosecuting counsel in a courtroom.   That changes your imagination and understanding of Christ’s words here.  This ‘comforter’ is one who makes us strong and brave by being strong and brave beside us.   He strengthens us, a bracing consolation and not a relaxing sympathy is what Christ is speaking of here.
Did you note that Christ prefaced ‘Comforter’ with ‘another.’  Meaning another of the same kind as Himself.   Jesus has been their comforter, their advocate and the one who has strengthened them.   The ‘comforter,’ who we know from verse 26 is the Holy Spirit, is another such advocate.  He is divine, from the Father, the third person of the Trinity.
Then in verse 17 Christ tells them that the ministry of the Holy Spirit is directed towards the disciples.   He will direct their decisions, counsel them continually and remain with them forever.   Look at what Christ tells them.  The Holy Spirit is the ‘Spirit of truth.’   He is the essence of truth and He also imparts truth, convincing and convicting of the truth.  In verse 6 of this chapter Christ said He was the truth, now in verse 17 Christ tells the disciples the Spirit is also the truth.  There are both the subjective and the objective aspect of truth here. the Holy Spirit is the spirit of truth – there is no bias or blurring of judgment in the work of the Holy Spirit.
Christ then points out that the world cannot accept, cannot understand, cannot see, and cannot receive the Holy Spirit.  He is invisible to the world around because the world will not recognise Him.   The King James Version of the Bible uses the word ‘beholdeth Him not’, which paints the picture of a world which is totally unaware of His presence and work.  The world, and those of the world, does not enter into a personal relationship with Him, but it is not so with the disciples, nor us. Look at what Christ says to them, and to us.
His presence was already with them but later, when Christ goes to the Father, the Holy Spirit will indwell them because they know Him.  There is a present continuing reality here – they know Him and He is with them.   There is also a future reality ‐ He will be in you.  In these words Christ makes a distinction between the experience of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament and that of post‐Pentecost New Testament.  His presence was already with them (OT) but He would dwell in them (NT Pentecost experience).  True followers of Christ not only know the Holy Spirit with them they also know the indwelling of the Holy Spirit – there is a difference, Christ says so here.


Verses 18‐19.  In 13.33 Christ has called His disciples ‘little children’ here He refers to them as ‘orphans.’  He promises that He will not leave them ‘desolate’ or as ‘orphans.’  An orphan at the time of Christ was literally desolate, with no hope and no future.   This is not how Christ will leave His disciples, nor His people.  He will not leave them to battle on their own through the world.  What a comfort those words will be to them in a matter of hours and in the days ahead.  They do not realise the significance of those words but years later when John is writing his gospel he realises their significance.  I wonder did he put his pen down at that moment and lean back in his chair and think – He knew.  He knew that in a few hours Judas would betray Him, Simon would deny Him, I and the rest would run away.  He knew we would be ‘desolate’ but He did not leave us ‘desolate.’  Then, maybe, just maybe with
tears rolling down his face he realised the significance of those words spoken in that Upper
Room that night.
Now Christ speaks again of His leaving, His departure.  In a ‘little while’ – they don’t realise how soon this will be.   The cross is only a matter of hours away.   The shattering of their world is imminent.   He assures them that though the world will not see Him they will – speaking of post resurrection appearances which would be the guarantee of life eternal for them.  He will not leave them desolate orphans – because He has defeated death they will live.


Verse 20 – Christ now speaks with certainty to them of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  He now reveals to them the unity of purpose in the Godhead, the Holy Trinity.  A new intimate relationship between God and believers is coming through the Holy Spirit.   Here is the confirmation of His continuing presence in their lives and His continued ministry in their lives.   Here also is the clear revelation that the Father and the Son are One and that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are One.   The Father in the Son and the Son in them through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  Here is the curse of Genesis 3 being removed.  The expulsion of man from the Garden of Eden, from God’s intimate presence is reversed.  The barrier  of  sin  which  broke  the  relationship  between  God  and  man  is  removed.    The indwelling of the Holy Spirit reconciles man to God.


Verse 21 – Christ now reiterates verse 15, showing its importance in the life of the disciples and in our lives as believers.  Love is the basis of the relationship with God.  John has written in 1 John 4.9‐10 that God’s love is in the gift of Christ His only begotten Son.  In 1 John 5.3 he writes that our love is manifested in obedience.  Loving Christ pays unmatched dividends
– bringing unity with Christ.– this is not some trade off, some bargaining chip.  Obedience does not purchase the Holy Spirit.  The lover keeps the commandments of the loved one.   His commandments they must make their own, to take them into their innermost being and observe them in their daily lives.  This is not some intellectual task that they have to grasp but an ethical, moral purity that they must live daily.  Obedience is the mark of true love for Christ.  He cannot make it any clearer to them or us.


Verse 22 – Judas, not Iscariot, maybe Thaddaeus (Matthew 10.3, Mark 3.18) or Judas of James (Luke 6.16, Acts 1.13), poses a question.  He could not understand how Christ could be seen by them but not the world.  He still had not understood the messiahship of Christ. Surely if Christ is the Messiah He must startle the world with His kingship.  The cross would shatter that understanding for Judas, and the other disciples.
Verse 23 in answering Christ does not speculate about His Messianic kingdom.  He doesn’t actually answer Judas’ question.   Instead He once again focuses their attention on the broader revelation that would come through obedience to His known teaching and through the work of the Holy Spirit.  He reveals to them that the presence of Christ and the Father in their lives would be conditional on obedience.   Yet, please hear this obedience is not a condition of God loving us.  God loves us no matter what.  Obedience is a condition of His indwelling though.  Obedience is a consequence of the love of God in their lives, in our lives! Whilst Christ is going to the Father to make a dwelling place for them (verse 3), simultaneously He and the Father make a dwelling in them, in us.  The curse of Genesis 3 is reversed, the Creator and the created are reconciled by the Holy Spirit.


Verse 24 – Christ equates His teaching with the Father’s will.   Thus loving Christ is demonstrated by one’s obedience to the revealed will of God, the Bible.  Mere duty does not generate obedience to Christ.   Only love can and does.   The life of communion with Christ will be expressed under ethical, moral conditions.  Love for Christ implies obedience to Him.  Christ expresses all this negatively in that He speaks of the man who does not love Him.  It is like a husband telling His wife He loves her but being unfaithful to her.  No matter his words his actions reveal the extent of his love.  He can claim he loves her.  He may even convince himself he does love her but his actions reveal the truth – he does not love her. Christ says if you love me you will obey my commands.   You see for John, the beloved disciples, love was no abstract emotion.  Love was, is, something intensely practical and it involves obedience.


Verse 25‐26  here are parting words of comfort.  The next few hours will shatter their lives. They will never have experienced anything like the darkness they are about to witness.  It will literally tear their world apart.   Christ knows this and so speaks these words of reassurance and comfort to them.   Through the Holy Spirit the presence of Christ will be perpetuated amongst them.   ‘In my name...’ the Spirit is officially delegated to act in His behalf.   The function of the Holy Spirit is to teach them the will of the Father, to remind them of what Christ has taught.  He does this by instructing them from within, bringing back to their minds the commands of Christ and prompting them to obedience.  Please note what Christ has said here concerning the function of the Holy Spirit – to be a teacher of the will of the Father which has been revealed in the commands of Christ.


Verse 27 – what a powerful verse to end on.  Here Christ repeats the words of comfort of verse 1.  We could spend eternity on this verse and never but scratch the surface of its meaning.  Peace – is not the exemption from trial or conflict.  The disciples were about to learn this in an unimagined way.  Christ Himself is troubled by the cross.  His soul is in turmoil over what is to come.   The peace which He speaks of here, which He imparts to them, is the calmness of confidence in God.  Here is an impartation of a gift – Christ’s own peace to them and to us.  Please note this is supernatural, as Christ makes clear by saying it is not as the world gives.   He leaves them peace in the imminent face of unspeakable suffering.  A peace born of a living relationship with Christ and deepened though a growing surrender of life to His gracious rule through obedience to His commands.   Here is the assurance of the Father’s love and approval.   This is to be a source of courage for and encouragement to the disciples, and to us.




We are summoned to the Upper Room, to trust in Christ (v1), to banish our anxiety and to face the challenge of God’s call to us.


Obedience of Life = Love of Christ – how is that seen in your life?  How has it been seen in the past week?  Would people have known that you loved Christ by how you lived?


Peace – not the absence of conflict but the calm confidence in God – even in the face of unspeakable suffering.  When your very world is shattered and plunged into darkness, He promises eternal peace.
Amen.