Is God Still With Me?
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· 61 viewsHaving confidence in God's presence.
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This morning we are going to be looking in scripture, in the Gospel of John, Chapter 14, for our theme for the month of March, which is “Is God still with me?”
Today we are going to see Jesus with His disciples as He shares with them that He is always with them and will never abandon them or leave them alone.
I recall hearing a story one time about a typical suburban couple living in a typical suburban neighborhood. We will just call them Wayne and Wanda.
Now they did not consider themselves to be really good neighbors but when they saw a moving truck across the street, they decided they would do something neighborly for their new neighbors.
Wanda liked to bake and was especially good at chocolate chip cookies. She made up a batch and her and Wayne took them over to meet the new neighbors.
When a lady came to door Wanda said “Hi, we live across the street and we just wanted to welcome you to the neighborhood with some homemade chocolate chip cookies.”
The lady at the door looked a little surprised. She said "Thank you very much for your kindness, but uh, you see we are not moving in, we are moving out. We have lived here for three years.
It is hard to imagine anything much more embarrassing than that. I’m sure that made their neighbors feel really special.
But you know what, a lot of us feel that God is like Wayne and Wanda, and that He has forgotten we’re even here. A lot of people feel that God doesn’t even know who they are.
It is so easy to feel alone and abandoned. It is especially easy, when you’ve gone thru some trying times, to feel like God has forgotten who we are.
But as we look in the Bible today, we will find out that God is deeply interested in staying in touch with us.
In John Chapter 14, Jesus had just finished the Passover festival meal in the upper room with His disciples. Jesus had let them know that He would be betrayed by one of His own and He would soon be executed.
As you might imagine, the disciples were devastated by the news. A lot of thoughts were running through their heads, not the least of which was, if Jesus were dead, they would all be alone. Their hopes would be crushed.
But it’s here that Jesus is reassuring them that He was not going to forget them. He was not going to leave them alone. Imagine their confusion as Jesus who just told them He would be killed, would not leave them alone.
15 If ye love me, keep my commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. 18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. 19 Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. 20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.
1: A Counselor (vv. 15-16)
1: A Counselor (vv. 15-16)
Jesus was very aware that He wasn’t going to be on this earth much longer, He knew that the time had come for Him to leave this world and go to the Father.”
Obviously, this put His followers in a precarious position because any time a leader leaves, it creates a vacuum; it causes a sense of instability.
You are probably familiar with a service called “On Star” that is available on certain GM vehicles. It is a computer monitoring system, linked with GPS, that provides a number of services to their customers.
If you have a crash and an airbag is deployed, the service will send first responders to your location. If you are lost, you can push a button, and someone will come on line to help you find your way. If you lock yourself out of your car, you can call a special number, give them your pass code, and they will remotely open your car. As you ride down the road in your car, you have the feeling that you are never alone.
Imagine having this kind of service, so much to the point of taking it for granted, and then having it taken away. It would make you feel somewhat vulnerable and that must have been somewhat similar to what the disciples were feeling.
(16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;)
In verse 16 Jesus says that He was going to send them another Comforter. The Greek word is “paraklētos” (G3875). It can also be translated as councilor or advocate.
A councilor or advocate is one who represents you in a court of law and stands by your side to plead your case.
Now, you may be thinking, the only people who need defense counselors are criminals and I am not a criminal.
While that may be true according to the laws of man it’s not true according to the Laws of God. You see, if we break just one command of God, we are considered to be guilty of breaking them all.
10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
Scripture teaches us that there will be a day when we will stand before God in judgment.
And if we stand before God in judgment, we are going to need an advocate, a counselor, someone to provide us a defense; someone to represent us before God because on our own merits, we are guilty.
That’s where the Comforter steps in. Jesus said He was going to give His followers a Counselor who’d represent them before God; a counselor who’d be their friend and give them guidance.
You know who this Counselor is? The Holy Spirit! The beginning of v. 17 refers to Him as the Spirit of truth. Of course, the big question is, “How is Jesus with us if He sends someone in His place.
But here’s the answer. Notice in verse 16 it says that God will send “another” Counselor. The word “another” means “another of the same kind.” It means the Holy Spirit isn’t an inferior replacement for Jesus because He’s of the “same kind” as Jesus! Having the Holy
Spirit with you is the same thing as having Jesus with you!
God sent us the Holy Spirit because we need the Holy Spirit to work as our counselor. Why? Because we need a Counselor who’ll defend us before God. We need a counselor who’ll give us advice and leadership.
When we find ourselves in a position where we are not quite sure what to do, we seek the advice of someone who has some expertise in that subject. People who have been through what I am going through. People who have experience in going through what I am going through.
That’s what the Holy Spirit is willing to do for us. Think about it for a minute. Can you imagine trying to defend yourself in a court of law for murder if you weren’t a lawyer? The prosecuting attorney would pick you apart because you wouldn’t have the same knowledge of the law that he does. That’s why in our country we have the right to counsel because very few people can actually defend themselves in a court of law.
And the same thing’s true in God’s court. Yet God, in His grace, has sent one to defend us, to stand up for us and give us comfort. The Holy Spirit knows how to defend us; how to take care of us and be there for us.
We’re told in Romans 8
26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
The Holy Spirit knows how to speak for us before God. He knows God’s language!
Jesus hasn’t abandoned us. He’s given us the Holy Spirit to be our Counselor, to be the one who defends us and give us direction in life.
How is God with you? He’s with you because He’s sent a Counselor. How does the Counselor accomplish His mission?
He Lives in You (v. 17)
He Lives in You (v. 17)
The Holy Spirit lives with in believers so we can live off Him. This was an important point Jesus was making to His followers. At this time, they’d been with Jesus for 3 years. Jesus had taught them, fed them, been their friend and worked w/them.
But when He went back to heaven, He sent the Holy Spirit to take His place within the life of all His followers. Why? So that the Holy Spirit could work within them to remind them of the things Jesus had taught them; to keep them on the right path.
Jesus talked about the importance of the Holy Spirit in John 16: 8 when He said:
8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
It’s the Holy Spirit who prompts us in our Spirit of what’s right and what’s wrong. He gives us a holy nudge in the direction we should go in living our lives.
When the Holy Spirit is in our lives, He also guides us to live the right way. Let me share with you how important the Holy Spirit is in your life.
5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
Having the Holy Spirit within us is so important for another reason as well. Knowing He’s within us should prompt us to live our very best life. It’s very easy for us to slip into sinful living when we don’t feel like there’s anyone there watching us. I know you’ve seen the Las Vegas commercials. What’s their big slogan?
It’s “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.” What do you think that means? It means if you do some things you’re not supposed to do, you’re going to be okay because Vegas is going to keep it a secret with you. They’re not going to tell on you.
That’s an appeal to our lowest common denominator. But when you’re a follower of Christ you have the Holy Spirit living within you. But that can mean the very best for us. Knowing He’s living within us should motivate us, inspire us to live our very best; to live according to His Word, the Bible.
People live their best when they know they’re being watched.
When New York’s Citicorp tower was completed in 1977, it was the 7th tallest building in the world. William LeMessurier, was the structural engineer who won the top architectural award for his design. But only a week after the building opened LeMessurier was informed that the building’s joints had been bolted together instead of welded.
It was done by one of the contractors in order to save some money.
That doesn’t seem like that big of a deal except that bolted joints aren’t as strong as welded joints. He talked to a meteorologist to find out how dangerous that would be for the building. He was told that statistically once every 16 years a storm would pass thru New York that would cause the building to crumble.
LeMessurier didn’t know what to do. He weighed his options and realized he could do one of several things. One option was not to say anything and take his chances. The only problem with that was there’d be a day when that strong wind would come and people’s lives would be at stake.
Another option was for him to kill himself. But he decided against that quickly. The final option was to confront the problem, and have it fixed even though it might cost him his reputation and cause him embarrassment. But that’s what he did in 1978.
Three months after the welding job was done, a storm hit New York that was the strongest storm they’d had in hundreds of years.
The building stood the test and was determined to be one of the safest structures in the world because one man was willing to do what was right.
That example in now used in a lot of ethics classes in universities across the world.
You may come to a point in your life where you realize your life is like that flawed building. By all appearances you might be strong and successful, but you know you have points of weakness that make you vulnerable to collapse.
What do you do? Realize the Holy Spirit is within you and you’re not fooling Him. But also remember He has the power to give you strength and help when you submit yourself to His leadership.
How is God with you?
He is with you because He’s sent a Counselor.
He’s with you because He lives in you.
He’s with you because:
He Will Never Leave Me (v. 18)
He Will Never Leave Me (v. 18)
In the Old Testament you see glimpses of the Holy Spirit at work in the lives of people. We’re told that the Holy Spirit came upon King Saul. He came upon King David.
But the difference is the Holy Spirit’s presence was temporary. We’re told in 1 Sam. 16: 14- “Now the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul.”In Ps. 51 David asks God to keep the Holy Spirit from leaving him. But this was all to change when Jesus ascended into heaven after His resurrection. After Jesus left the Holy Spirit came upon His followers during the holiday of Pentecost.
The difference was the Holy Spirit was coming to live within the lives of followers of Christ on a permanent basis and not on a temporary one. It’s not surprising to note that Jesus referred to His followers as “sheep” more than anything else. Sheep, left on their own, are very vulnerable. That is why there is always a Shepard close by watching after the sheep.
Jesus knows His sheep are in trouble if He’s not the one leading them. That’s why He told us He’d never leave us. And I want you to know today that if you have put your faith and trust in Jesus the Holy Spirit is living within you.
He’s at your side. He’s available to give you leadership, guidance and comfort. When you feel alone, the Holy Spirit is with you. When you feel like no one cares about you, the Holy Spirit is with you willing to remind you that God loves you.
When you don’t know what to do, the Holy Spirit is waiting for you to call out to God for direction and He’ll prompt your spirit in the right direction.
If you are a believer but you feel alone, it could be because you have some sin in your life. That calls for confession and repentance.
Psalms 66:18 says
If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:
I pray now, brothers and sisters, that you know the Lord is still with you.