The Holy Spirit – the Spirit of Truth (John 14:15-21)

What is the Holy Spirit? Who is he? Why is he so significant in our midst, especially those who are in Christ? Why do we desperately in need of him? What does he do? How does he work? Why has he been sent? How much is he relevant to our daily lives now? Do we see him? Of course, we cannot see him nor touch him. It is promised to be sent by the Lord Jesus Christ. As he promised, the Holy Spirit descended unto 120 people who were gathered for prayer in the Temple on the Day of Pentecost. This is the birthday of church. The Book of Acts records the works of the Spirit in the first century through the apostles, Peter and Paul mostly. It is unfinished, which means the Spirit has still been working throughout the centuries. Nothing can happen and be done without the Spirit of God in the realm of individual, community, nation, and universe. He speaks, guides, reveals, teaches the children of God the mysteries of God. He intercedes to pray for us who do not know what to pray for the Spirit searches the mind of God. In Christ, we have received the Spirit according to the promise, so we get all power to breathe, live, sustain, love, rejoice, rest in him. Our Lord Jesus told this in the holy of holies prayers recorded in the Gospel of John Chapter 17.

“While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.” (John 17:12)

The disciples were protected and defended by the Lord Jesus Christ by himself while he was on the earth. No one was hurt and unprotected and unshielded at any degree for the presence of the Lord of the universe with them. None and nothing could harm the disciples for the love of the Lord kept them safe and secure. Religious authority and establishment tried to charge the disciples for breaking the Sabbath but the Lord defended them with the power of the Father God in heaven as the Owner of the Law. Apostle Paul writes so pertinently that nothing can separate us from the love of God. “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,  neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:37-39) In the Old Testament language, the Lord God is the shield and refuge for those who put trust in him. “After this, the word of the Lord  came to Abram in a vision: ‘Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.’” (Genesis 15:1) After Jesus’ resurrection and ascension, how are now his disciples protected and shielded? By the Holy Spirit. Our Lord Jesus promised to send the Spirit for his disciples, which is recorded in the Gospel of John Chapter 14.

“If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day, you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.” (John 14:15-21)

First, the Holy Spirit is an advocate to help us and be with us forever. As Jesus was with his disciples during the earthly appearing in person, so will the Spirit be with us forever. He is our supporter, backer, and defender for all our cause whether good or bad. He protects us safe and secure from all the plagues and pestilences poisoned by the evil enemy, the devil. The protection doesn’t always mean a happy ending like Apostle Paul had been battered and persecuted from every side since his conversion at the Damascus Road. It really means the unfailing love of the Father to those who put their trust in the Lord whether it is a happy ending or not to our eyes. Even when we are perplexed, not knowing what to do God knows what to do. “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” (2 Corinthians 4:7-9) We are free and bold no matter what happens and what circumstances we are in for we are equipped with the Spirit who invisibly and overflowingly intercedes, even groans to pray for us in the presence of the Lord God. The Holy Spirit keeps us to be the aroma of the Lord Jesus Christ to the believers and non-believers alike. “But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life. And who is equal to such a task?” (2 Corinthians 2:14-16)

Second, the Holy Spirit never leaves us. That’s a promise, the promise of the Lord God. “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’” (Hebrews 13:5) While the incarnated Jesus the Son of Man was on earth, he was available where he was. When he was up north in Galilee, he was not available down south in Jerusalem and vise versa. It doesn’t mean that Jesus left his disciples, but simply no availability of him. However, the Spirit has no limit in time and space whether in Galilee or Jerusalem. Why won’t he leave us forever? Because we are his treasured possessions purchased by the blood of Christ Jesus. God the Son gave his life for us to deliver from the iron bondage of the evil one, the devil. Christ sacrificed himself, offering his body as the ransom payment for buying back the lost and fallen humanity who was destined for the judgement of death. For the wages of sin is death. The stronger man Jesus came to rescue us from the power of sin and death through his own death on behalf of our sins. “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up his plunder.” (Luke 11:21-22) God gave his only Son Jesus to redeem us from the devil’s trap, demonstrating his love while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8). How much more will he save us from all troubles and accusations from the evil one for we have been made be his beloved children? “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32) As promised, God sent his Spirit to all the believers to indwell in themselves forever. So, every Christian has received the gift of the Holy Spirit, without exception. Otherwise, they do not belong to Christ, no life. “You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.” (Romans 8:9) So, we no longer live in the flesh, but in the spirit for the desires of the Spirit is hostile to that of the flesh.

“Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.” (Romans 8:5-8)

Third, the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth. What is truth? It is holy and never changes. It is honest and never pretends. It is bold and never veils. It is straight and never bends. It holds all together and nothing is left out. It reveals reality as it is and nothing can be hidden. The Spirit of truth reveals and teaches what he hears and sees in the presence of the Lord God. “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me.” (John 15:26) Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6) The Spirit testifies about Jesus who is the truth forever. The Spirit testifies that Jesus was sent by the Father as Christ the Messiah prophesied by the Law and the Prophets, being conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a woman. The Spirit testifies that Christ died for the sin of the world for it was the will of the Lord God (Isaiah 53:10). The Spirit testifies that Christ was buried and on the third day raised from the dead by the power of God (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). The Spirit testifies that the Risen Lord Jesus Christ was ascended into heaven and seated in the right hand of God until he comes again with the loud trumpet and multitudes of angels. “When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because people do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.” (John 16:8-11) Anyone who denies that Jesus is the Christ is the liar and the antichrist because they do not believe the testimony of the Spirit of truth. “I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.” (1 John 2:21-23)

Fourth, the Spirit assures that just as the Son is in the Father and the Father in the Son, so Jesus is in us and we in him for he will come again as promised, not leaving his disciples as orphans. But before he comes again by sending the Spirit, he must be crucified, shedding his blood for the sin of the world. Christ must suffer and die, taking the sin of the world, shame and guilt, pain and death, and all the wages of sin for without blood no cleansing. “In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” (Hebrews 9:22) Christ must suffer with blood and die for there is nothing to meet the ransom payment, not even hundreds of thousand of animals’ blood. The sacrifice must be better than animal sacrifices which cannot cleanse the worshipers though offered again and again. Christ suffered not in Jerusalem’s Temple but outside of Jerusalem where he offered himself to the Father in heaven. “It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. Otherwise Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.” (Hebrews 9:23-26) Christ’s blood cleanses and washes away our sins once for all. After all he had done this, he came again to his believers as promised by means of the Spirit who indwells in us forever. All things have been fulfilled according to the Scriptures.

What are all these things about the Spirit we have observed and thought about? Why is it so significant to understand all these? So that we may be able to obey the commandments of God in fullness. How do we know that we love God? By keeping his commands. What is the secret to keep his commands? By the Spirit. Because we cannot keep the laws and commandments by any means. Human flesh can at best pretend to keep it. Such a pretense cannot go forever, but soon, very soon reaches the end. There is no one can keep up with the law. Otherwise, Christ died for nothing. “I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” (Galatians 2:21) Upon yielding ourselves and admitting that we are powerless and wretched in keeping the commands of God, we have arrived in the unsearchable riches of grace and mercy from the Father in heaven (Romans 7:24-25). When we turn to the Lord Christ, the merciful God is outpouring his grace more and more, even more. “But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” (2 Corinthians 3:16-17) The way to keep his commands is not by hard try, nor by will, nor by dedication, but by the Spirit. This is the way God offers for mankind for it is the way, the life, and the truth. Jesus Christ has paid the price and bought us back to his grace. There is nothing we contributed for righteousness before God except through the faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Apostle Paul says, “For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.” (Romans 10:2-4)

This is the new way of living in Christ the Lord under the new covenant. A spirit-filled life and blessed one. Nothing coming from us, everything coming from God. That’s why it was promised from the beginning and has been fulfilled by the Lord Jesus Christ who bought us at a price. So, we are not our own but the servants of Christ. We don’t have what it takes for living on earth and beyond. As our Lord Jesus depended on the Father, never missing a single moment in his earthly lives, so do we. Although Jesus was the Son of God, he could do nothing by himself. “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.” (John 5:19) He turned on the Father who gave all power and authority and obeyed him even to the point of death. There are struggles and wrestles to live up a fulfilled and exciting life in Christ for all believers. It is real and daily burden at many times how to maintain the life in the faith of Christ Jesus. By the Spirit. Yield and submit to him. The Lord of grace and mercy invites us to come unto him and take rest and peace in him. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30) Because he went through the cup of suffering and finished it on that cross, he understands us with sympathy and compassion. He has not done yet and we are still under construction, being built as his church, the bride of the Lord of glory. Though we struggle and fail to keep his commands, loving one another, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ. We have been bought at the precious price of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is irrevocable, says God. At the last day of the Feast of Tabernacle, Jesus invites the weary and tired people to come and drink. “On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, ‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.’ By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.” (John 7:37-39) Live by the Sprit of truth now and forevermore! Lord bless!

And can it be that I should gain
An int’rest in the Savior’s blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain—
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

’Tis myst’ry all: th’ Immortal dies:
Who can explore His strange design?
In vain the firstborn seraph tries
To sound the depths of love divine.
’Tis mercy all! Let earth adore,
Let angel minds inquire no more.

He left His Father’s throne above—
So free, so infinite His grace—
Emptied Himself of all but love,
And bled for Adam’s helpless race:
’Tis mercy all, immense and free,
For, O my God, it found out me!

Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quick’ning ray—
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in Him, is mine;
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach th’ eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.

 

2018. 1. 2.

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