Sermon Tone Analysis

Jn. 14:15-17

8~/11~/02

!

The Helper

Intro.

series

     Pick up in John 14, where we were a month ago, on a three week series on the Holy Spirit.

In the midst of a passage where Christ is laying out important words.

Parting words.

"Articles of faith" for His disciples.

Articles of faith are usually thought of to separate:

"We're right-you're wrong!" (truth ~/falsehood & light~/darkness)

     Not so with these.

Believe this and you will find strength and comfort.

l.

preparation of an eternal home with the Father (14:2)

     2.

promise of an event - Christ's coming          (14:3)

    3.

practice of prayer                         (14:12-14)

     4.

personal helper                            (14:15-17)

 

(read Jn. 14:15-17)

A fresh look at the person and work of the Holy Spirit is very much needed for several reasons.

*     1.)

To know God.  *

     The Holy Spirit is one of the persons of the triune Godhead.

Equal in essence and very being with the Father and the Son.

If we would know God, then we must know the Holy Spirit.

-(We can't neglect the Holy Spirit and know God as fully

          as He desires us to at this time.

-If we are going to know the Father beyond mere cognitive data, the way that we will do this is by relating to the Person of the Holy Spirit whose mission it was to reveal Christ, whose mission it was to glorify the Father.

*2.)

To be holy.

*

          The Holy Spirit is the sanctifier in the believer

          -He customizes the process of becoming Holy

          -He develops Christ-like character in the Christian.

-understand and cooperate with His works~/promptings

          -can learn bushels of Bible info., rejoice, etc., but    

          will not grow until you learn to relate to Holy Spirit

     *3.)

To serve fruitfully*.

The Holy Spirit is the source of the believer's power for service.

The Holy Spirit is not a force out there in the           universe.

"Whenever I hear it said that God gives us power "to use" or "to draw upon," my hackles rise, because it seems so clear to me that the New Testament teaches us to think of the Spirit and his ministry in terms of a *personal sovereignty* whereby he uses us, not we him."

-J.I.

Packer

          fresh look... (cont.)

-we cannot serve God apart from the person of the Holy

          Spirit.

*4.)

To counteract the neglect.*

Of the three persons in the trinity, the Holy Spirit has      been most neglected by many believers.

ill.)

If the Holy Spirit were withdrawn from the average Bible-believing church, 95% of the work would go unchanged.

"Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit says the Lord.

“Unless the Lord build the house, they labor in vain               that build it.”

Jn.

15 Apart from me you can do nothing...

     *5.)

To correct the errors.*

It was the observation of a prof I had in seminary that the modern charismatic movement moved into that void.

The evangelical church had grown weak in its worship and in its emphasis upon relating to the Person of the Holy Spirit experientially.

Personal relationship was not emphasized.

Cognitive understanding of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit was the focus.

But, the Holy Spirit is a person, He is not a doctrine.

It needs to be understood that the Bible does give us certain information, doctrine, about this Person that we need to understand cognitively, but, full knowledge of the Holy Spirit is ours by walking with this Person as we would any friend.

We are not a charismatic church.

We recognize the divisive nature of the charismatic imbalances and excesses.

We believe that the supernatural sign gifts were given for a limited duration of time for a revealed purpose.

They were to authenticate the Apostolic messengers.

Not the message, but the messengers.

Today, we have the completed canon of Scripture.

Our lives and activities must be tested for authentication up against that.

*     Heb.

2:4 "God also bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will."*

Tongues were also a sign to the unbelieving Jews.

*I Cor.

14:22 "So then tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe, but to unbelievers; ..."*

     We would draw a distinction between miracles, which occur frequently, and the gift of miracles.

This morning we'll not do an in-depth study of the Holy Spirit's work...rather, we want to examine the circumstances and the revelation of Scripture with regard to the announcement of the Spirit's coming.

In so doing we will gain insight into why the Spirit came.

*I.

The Prodasis (v.15)*

There is a great big “if” in the spiritual life.

At first, v. 15 seems to be a statement that doesn't fit,but as you read on...a concept begins to emerge that is vital to understand.

-(only touched on today--v.

21,23,24 cornerstone upon which others line up)  grammatically connected to the next two verses; in thought to the next 6 verses (Pastor Mike will pick that up next week):

vss.

15,16  *“if you love me, you will...* (keep [accept, obey, guard over] *my commandments.”*

then...I will            (ask the Father)

                He will           (send the Spirit)

cycle                Holy Spirit will  (be with you forever)

                (Helper enabled to keep commandments)

      Christ doesn't request; This is not "Let's make a Deal"

              He deserves and states!

if...this will happen

paraphrase

"If by an act of your will you have placed your love on Christ, you are going to do what He wants you to do."

     Ill.

After 23 years in the ministry –I have heard all the excuses- most of them in my own soul- as to why I can disobey and still love God.

repeated concept (v.21,23)

     -he who is "having" (Characteristic of life) my commandments

     memory, meditation, availing your thought processes to what Jesus said, ”he who keeps my commandments (receives, obeys, guards over) -he is loving       in a position of knowing God intimately

      (-a sense in which God loves everybody-Jn.

3:16

        another sense in which God is known more intimately by those who love Him as this verse explains.

turn to I Jn.

2:3

     ill.)

a lot of water passed over the dam

            John, having kept Christ's commandments all his life