Connected to the Truth
Growing Deeper in the Spirit • Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 8 viewsMPP : Let us continue to seek to be connected to the Holy Spirit – the Spirit of Truth
Notes
Transcript
Text : John 15:26-16:15
Sermon Title : Connected to the Truth
Occasion : English Service
Location : Paya Lebar Methodist Church Sanctuary
MPP : Let us continue to seek to be connected to the Holy Spirit – the Spirit of Truth
Good morning, Church…
Let us pray <pray>
Today, we are continuing the sermon series on Growing Deeper in the Spirit
and we are doing so, by looking at the work, characteristic and the nature of the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit in the Gospel according to the St John…
And today, we are going to focus on John 16:1-16…
But before I do that, I just wondering whether you remember the movie the Matrix?
I’m sure most of you would remember the movie, because it is in my opinion, one of the coolest movies of all times…
But it might just be just me…
And in case you are not aware of the movie or have forgotten about it,
Let me try to jog your memories…
<Slide - picture of Matrix>
The Matrix is actually a series of movies, with the first one being released just before the turn of the century, in 1999…
And the movie started with what appeared to a normal world setting in which the lead character Neo – a computer programmer – started the workday in a very ordinary way…
But as the day panned out, it was anything but ordinary…
What happened?
Well, rather than me trying to explain the story to you,
let me show it to you instead…
<show video>
And what happened thereafter was a series of events that eventually led Neo to meet up with Morpheus,[1] the person on the other side of the line…
And what Morpheus went on to reveal to Neo that the world they lived in was not the real world,
But a virtual world created by machines that now control the world…
These machines modelled the virtual world they were living in like the actual world before they took over the world…
so they couldn’t tell the difference…
So, what the reality for the human beings in the story was,
is that human beings were actually kept in a sedated state and were harnessed for their energy as batteries[2]…
the machines created a world of deception…
distorted their sense of reality and made them voluntarily remain in their falsehood…
Morpheus was one of the few who managed to break out of the sedation and now live in the real world…
But he has a way to continue going back into the matrix to free some of the enslaved humans and free them out of their sedated state…
As for Neo, slowly but surely, with the help of Morpheus,
Neo started to learn more and more about the true reality,
And he was eventually liberated out of the clutches of the machines and started to live the real life… outside the matrix…
This wasn’t something that happened instantaneously,
but it took a while for Neo to take in the truth…
Morpheus was someone outside the matrix and hence outside the control of the machines… and knows the truth…
And yet he was someone who could reach out to Neo within the matrix and hence able to communicate with him and guide him to salvation…
In the story of Matrix, Morpheus was his helper and bearer of truth…
And how is this related to our topic for today?
Well, rest assured church, unlike the story of Matrix,
I don’t think we’re human batteries living in a virtual world that is created by machines…
But similar to the story of the matrix,
In today’s world, it is sometimes very hard to tell the difference between truth and falsehood…
Well, for one thing, with so much information… and opinions…
And this whole notion of relativism that is floating around in the world today,
With many of them contradictory, and many of them either intentionally or unintentionally misleading and wrong,
it’s hard to tell what the truth is anymore…
and in the context of all these things…
it’s therefore assuring that just like Neo, we are not left to fend for ourselves and left to have to decide everything ourselves…
Just like Neo in the Matrix, we have a helper who is able to help us discern the truth…
But unlike Neo in the matrix, the helper we have is not a human being,
But the God Himself, the Holy Spirit…
The one described so many times in the book of John as the Spirit of Truth…
The one that is described in verse 1 of our passage today as the παράκλητος
The one in charge of the entire world…
unlike Morpheus and Neo who lives in a world that the machines are in charge…
So, let us now come and read the word of God together and gleam some more information about the works of this spirit of truth in our lives…
Let us now listen to the word of the Lord
"26“But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. 27And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning. 1“I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. 2They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. 3And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. 4But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you. “I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. 5But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. 7Nevertheless, 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. 8And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; 11concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. 12“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you."
John 15:26–16:15 (ESV)
I think one of the first things that we can gleam from this passage which is what I had already mentioned before earlier, is that the world is not as it should be…
And according to chapter 16:1,
There is a real danger that we, who Christians and having heard and accepted the Gospel will be fall away from God…
it says here that people of God will be cast out of the synagogue as well as be killed by people who think that doing that is “offering a service to God”…
this indeed came to past as Jewish Christians were indeed expelled from the house of God, the synagogues in the 85 AD, and of course there were much persecution against the Christians that started even in the very first century itself…
in fact, one of the greatest apostles of God, St Paul, was indeed a persecutor of Christians before his Damascus Road incident…
and we know that he thought that by doing so, he was being a very good follower of God…
and indeed, if you look throughout history, persecutions against Christians had not stopped…
even today, according to Christianity Today,[3] countries such as North Korea, Afghanistan, Somalia and Pakistan, many Christians are being persecuted…
terrible violence being enacted upon Christians, families are killed
and churches are being burnt down…
an article by Open Door reminds us that in certain countries, it is normal for Christians to be dragged off and killed by radicalists in the middle of the night without reason…
it is normal for Christians to be kidnapped and carnally assaulted…
it is normal for the churches to be bombed and burnt, now even knowing whether they would be able to leave their church service alive…
as of 2019
260 million Christians live in places where they experience persecutions…
2,983 people were killed for their faith…
9,488 churches and other church buildings were attacked and burned down…[4]
Though the earlier article in Christianity Today claims that those figures are vastly conservative… and probably the number of Christians killed is more likely to be 100,000…
the world is not in as good a state as many of us think it is…
living in those places and conditions, it would not be easy to hang on to your faith…
your choice of belief is literally a choice of life and death…
it would be so easy to fall away from the fold of God in those circumstances…
in those circumstances, it would be easy to question whether the Gospel we believe in is the truth or not….
I know for the most of us, we will find it quite difficult to relate those situations…
Since, by the grace of God, we don’t really experience much persecutions here in Singapore…
Except for one or two insensitive remarks made once in a while…
and perhaps think that this verse may not have much relevance to you…
Well, other than the fact that Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 12:26 that if one part of the body of Christ suffers, the whole body of Christ should feel the pain as well,
Let me give a more direct relevance this verse has to us…
Friends, let me tell you that our adversary, which is the διαβολος, referred here in verse 11 as the prince of the world, is much smarter than that…
He doesn’t only have one trick up his sleeves…
There are other ways to get you out of the Synagogue…
And to kill you…
On the former, it is perhaps useful to know that the Greek word synagogue here comes from the Greek word συνᾰγωγή (sunagoge) which simply means coming together or bringing together…
And usually means a place of worship…
So, in other words, it does not only mean the Jewish place of worship…
But can mean your cell group or your church or your accountability groups as well…
And when verse 1 talks about being killed,
Matthew 10:28 which says “do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul…” reminds us that even if our physical body is not killed,
Our spiritual self can be slowly being killed as well
Together, they tell us those of us who are in low persecution and safe Singapore must be on guard as well, for we are in danger of falling away as well…
And this can come in the form of anything that causes us to be drawn away from God,
Whether it’s falsehood that comes in the form of a ridicule you hear about your faith being a clutch and hence is for those who are weak,
Or the falsehood can come in the form of some pseudo-academic argument that tries to disprove and discredit God…
Or the falsehood of someone simply telling you that gathering with your fellow-believers is lame and a waste of time and you’re far better spending your Friday evenings and Sunday mornings socializing with your colleagues and business partners…
Whatever that falsehood that is drawing you away from the life source which is God and being with likeminded people,
And letting your spiritual-self wither…
Or whatever situation that is causing you to doubt your salvation and whether our faith is worth hanging on to…
We read here in John 15:26 that God wants to address them but sending you the Holy Spirit so that we will all not fall away from him…
And he does that because he loves us and is concerned with us…
And he loves us so much that he is sending us the spirit of truth…
the πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας (the peneuma tes althe-ias)
To show us the truth… to correct the falsehoods…
and to cut through the fog of deception present in this world…
So let us now look at some truths regarding the Holy Spirit – the Spirit of Truth
From today’s passage…
And I think the first thing that we can learn from today’s passage is that:
1. The Holy Spirit is your omnipresent helper…
1. The Holy Spirit is your omnipresent helper…
To understand this, we would need to study some of the verses in this passage in closer details…
Let us look first at verse 7, which says...
"7…Nevertheless, 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 16:7 (ESV)
In verse 7, Jesus told the disciples that it was to their benefit that Jesus went away,
Why is this so?
Isn’t it better for Jesus to stay with His disciples in the physical form where he can be seen by them and is able to continue to interact and learn from him?
Well, not really, because when Jesus was on earth in the incarnate state,
Jesus took on the nature and all the limitations of human beings…
Phil 2:6-7 tells us that Jesus “"6[w]ho, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness."
Philippians 2:6–7 (NIV)
And why did he do that?
Hebrews 14-17 tells us that Jesus “…had to be made like [us], fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people..."
Hebrews 2:14–17 (NIV)
In order words, while Jesus was incarnate on earth,
We could tangibly see Him and touch Him…
Well, at least the disciples could…
But while He was incarnate, Jesus, who was omnipresent and omnipotent…
Emptied Himself of all these attributes and took on the form and nature of humans…
The form and nature of humans who was bounded by space and was weak and could die…
And Jesus had to take on the from that was weak and could die…
So that he could die on the cross and provide the atonement for our sins…
And because if Jesus were to appear in all His glory,
Humans who are still in our sins would perish…
And that’s why he had to come in such a manner…
And He had to complete the process of atonement sacrifice,
Offering himself, the perfect sacrifice,
So that we can receive salvation and be able to be reunited and reconciled with Him…
<show Jn 15:26>
But now that Jesus had completed His work on the cross and paid for our sins…
Jesus send us the Holy Spirit, whom he called in Jn 15:26 the Spirit of Truth, to show point us to the truth…
And that truth is that God is constantly and ever with us,
Because of what Jesus did on that cross,
The truth that we have a constant access to God the Holy Spirit…
The truth that the presence of God His presence is no longer confined to a body or a temple…
And this Spirit of Truth, the Holy Spirit is also called in the same verse παράκλητος (para-kle-tos)
And this word is a compound word, meaning it is made up of other words…
Παρά – which means ‘beside’ or ‘near’
And καλεω – which means to speak…
And together, what does the word παράκλητος tell us about the Holy Spirit?
He is someone who comes alongside you, and is with you at all times…
Helping you navigate the confusing fog of misinformation and lies and discouragement…
And also, another point about the word παράκλητος, also tells us that he is not just alongside talking to us,
He is there as our advocate to rebuke the Devil who is telling us misinformation and lies as well…
He is there to defend us, declaring us righteous against the lies of the Evil One as well…
And you know something?
Jn 16:12-14 declares the intimate nature between the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit…
The whole Trinitarian God is behind you…
Don’t let the Devil fool you into thinking otherwise…
Listen to the παράκλητος, the Spirit of Truth, the helper…
He is the παράκλητος , the helper that helps support you when the discouragement of the world gets to you, because this Spirit of Truth is there to counter the whispers if falsehood from the Spirit of lies which is the Devil…
He is the παράκλητος, the helper to help you read the word of the Lord so that you are able to better understand God’s promises and plans for you…
And tell you that your faith is worth it…
He is the παράκλητος, the helper beside you to remind you of the need for fellowship and mutual support as a family of God…
He is the παράκλητος the helper beside you to remind you that the world is not right, but there is more to life than what we see with our eyes… we have an eternal with God and we are here to share this wonderful good news with those we can interact with…
He is the παράκλητος, the helper who will never leave you nor forsake you…
The Holy Spirit is your omnipresent helper…
The Holy Spirit is your omnipresent helper…
So, friends, let us live our lives not like we are all alone because we are not alone…
We have God with us all the time…
He is our omnipresent and ever present helper…
So, friends, do not let him feel like he’s an uninvited guest in your life…
Cultivate a lifestyle of always being mindful of God’s presence in your life…
And I would like to suggest two simple things you can immediately do right now…
1. You can bring an end each day by acknowledging His presence in your life…
a. When you wake up, rather than grumbling and saying… “aiyah I need to work today… so sian… you can start by saying “Good morning Holy Spirit, even as I start this new day, I know that you are here leading and guiding me, and I would like to yield to your leading today…”
b. And when you are about to sleep, take just 2 minutes to review your day and you can say “Holy Spirit, even as I review this day, may you bring to mind anything you want me to be aware of… of anything that is positive, may I be quick to thank you for it… of anything that is negative, may you bring to mind, where you are and what you want me to learn from it…”
i. Then go through mentally the morning, the afternoon and the evening, and let the Holy Spirit bring your awareness to His presence in your day…
2. And a second thing you can do it this…
a. Whenever you come across a situation that make you sad, discouraged, depressed and especially when you feel like you don’t have the energy to continue anymore in the day…
take a moment and pray… “Holy Spirit, my helper, may you come and whisper into my ears, an encouragement right now… and help me see the truth… and the positive in this situation…”
Learn to lean on your omnipotent helper, the Holy Spirit…
And the second thing that we can learn from today’s passage is from verse 4 is that:
2. The Holy Spirit is your persistent helper and a continuum of Jesus
2. The Holy Spirit is your persistent helper and a continuum of Jesus
Friends, some of you may say…
Well, pastor, isn’t that obvious?
And my answer to that is that… yes, it is obvious but sometimes, we know that and we take a long time to feel that…
What do I mean?
Well, maybe I can illustrate again through the story of the Matrix…
You see, Neo, is supposed to be the Chosen One in the Matrix and supposed to be able to be this great person that had been predicted to be able to successfully lead the rebellion and was supposed to be able to gain mastery of the virtual world of the machines and thereby free mankind…
And to do that he was supposed to be able to bend the laws of the virtual world and do amazing things… and so we are, at the first test of whether he was as good as he was supposed to be and what happens?
Let’s have a look
<matrix-first jump>
Well, he failed the first jump…
Because he was so tied to the physical laws of the virtual world, it would take some time to unlearn the falsehoods that he lived in all his life…
and be able to learn and internalize the truth
and that’s why he had Morpheus there to teach him and constantly guide him along…
Similarly, Jesus was trying to teach the disciples here are also trying to teach the disciples and help them internalize some new truths… but the disciples were not ready for it yet…
They have not yet experienced the things needed to lend emotive and experiential logic to the truth that the Lord was wanting to teach them…
they weren’t able to complete receiving the truths, and this is to be continued by the Holy Spirit… this we read in John 16:12-13 which says…
"12“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13But 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."
John 16:12–13 (NIV)
You see friends, like what I mentioned earlier,
We are emotive creatures… and need time to receive the truths, processing them and internalizing them and thereafter enacting upon them, as transformed children of God…
This is ok…
This is how we are designed…
It is this emotive processing of things that make us richer and more holistic and ultimately what makes us human beings…
God knows that and that is why the provision is given through the Third Person of the Trinity to constantly be beside us to patiently prompt us, teach us and nudge us in the right direction and deepen our relationship with God…
And it is through this slow deepening process that we will help us really mature and not like be what Paul describes in Ephesians 4:14 as “14children, [being] tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes." Ephesians 4:14 (ESV)
I mean how many of you have gone through a crash course, or crammed for an test at the end of the course,
Studied all you could in the short period of time…
Go for the test, get full marks for the test…
And immediately forgot what you studied shortly after…
On the other hand, how many of you can remember those sleepness nights you spent at the hospital because your loved one was unwell?
Or the terrible times you went through because of some financial issues?
The latter two incidences went deeper into your memories because not only did you knew about those experiences, you experienced those experiences…
God knows that it is far better for us to be like an American Red Wood tree[5] that grows slower than grass, but definitely much stronger and sturdier…
And that’s why he is with us,
Using life to teach us more about himself and transform and mature us…
And draw us into a closer relationship with him…
That’s how we’re designed…
To be able to grow deeper in the spirit through a life-time or experiential learning rather than through a simple download…
And the wonderful news is that the Holy Spirit is there, our persistent helper…
Teaching us and encouraging us…
So do not feel discouraged if you seem to have to keep learning the same lessons over and over again…
The Holy Spirit is there beside you and he is ever patient with you, and continuing the good work that Jesus had started in you…
But friends, you will need to take time to listen to him and tune yourself to him…
And learn to tune out the noise of the world…
And you can do so, if you haven’t already done so, to have consistent quiet time with him… set aside some time each day…
Reading his word, praying to him, being in his presence…
And like what I mentioned earlier, when you find yourself in a fix…
Ask the Holy Spirit… what is it that he wants you to do at this point of time…
And if you can, find some time each year to go for retreats with him…
There are many retreats available not just in PLMC but by other institutions as well…
And if you’re interested, you can write to our Pastoral Care and Spiritual Formation department to find out where you can go for guided retreats…
Where you can learn to tune out the world and tune in to God…
Where you can learn to disconnect from the world and connect with God more intentionally…
So friends, I pray that you will continue to lean starting today…
To lean upon
The Holy Spirit, your omnipresent helper…
To drown out the discouragement and the lies of the world…
And lean upon The Holy Spirit is your persistent helper and a continuum of Jesus’
Ministry to continue to transform you and complete the good work he has done in you… amen…
[1] https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/matrix-prequel-reboot-remake-morpheus-writer-a7638111.html
[2] https://hnentertainment.co/the-matrix-4-uncharted-postpone-production-in-germany-due-to-coronavirus/
[3] https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2020/january/top-christian-persecution-open-doors-2020-world-watch-list.html
[4] https://www.opendoorsusa.org/christian-persecution/
[5] www.cnn.com