John 15:26-16:4


John 15:26-16:4
26 “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me, 27 and you will testify also, because you have been with Me from the beginning.
1 “These things I have spoken to you so that you may be kept from stumbling. 2 “They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God. 3 “These things they will do because they have not known the Father or Me. 4 “But these things I have spoken to you, so that when their hour comes, you may remember that I told you of them. These things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you.

Jesus is letting His disciples know that He is going to be leaving but that the Spirit will be coming and that will be what is best for them in the long run.  The followers of Jesus have and important job to do, but we do not need to do it alone.  The Holy Spirit has a major impact on our lives and He equips us to impact the world around us.  Jesus was empowered by the Spirit and we have that same honor due to the power of the Gospel.

THE SPIRIT HELPS TESTIFY: The Holy Spirit is called a helper.  He comes from the Father and is sent by the Son.  He is the Spirit of truth and He testifies about Jesus as a means of helping the disciples of Jesus testify about Jesus.  That is our main job description: to testify about the glory of Jesus to others.  It does not sound like a hard job, but it truly is.  There are many reasons that testifying about Jesus is hard.  First, the world hates Jesus, so the really don’t want to hear us talking about how wonderful He is.  Second, we are forgetful people.  It is easy for us to forget important things.  Third, Jesus is indescribable.  His glory and majesty are not easy to put into Words.  Forth, there are so many opinions about Jesus, it is hard to discern the truth.  I am sure there are many more difficulties, but as we look at these four, it is a blessing that the Spirit can give us courage, remind us, give us words and reveal the truth about Jesus.  That is a wonderful help.

THE SPIRIT HELPS STABILIZE: Testify concerning Jesus will not be a popular mission in a lost world.  The persecution and hardship that follow those who live for Jesus will not be easy to endure.  The Holy Spirit is with us to keep us from falling during times of trials and persecutions.  If left on our own, there will be times when things will get so bad that we would question what we are doing and why.  The Spirit helps to stabilize our minds and encourage us through assurances that we truly are following Christ.  This is so vital because those who will persecute the most, are the religious who have rejected the grace of Christ and are actually persecuting the followers of Christ thinking that they are serving Christ.  This was the case of the apostle Paul.  His persecution of believers came out of what he thought was service to the Lord.  There are those who think they are serving God who are persecuting the true followers of Christ.  The Spirit is the one who clarifies the true identity of believers so they can be stable in the face of confusion and tribulations.

THE SPIRIT HELPS REMIND: We tend to forget things.  There are important truths about our identity in Christ that are not readily apparent in the natural world.  The physical always seems to speak louder to us than the spiritual.  The immediate usually seems more urgent to us than the eternal.  The Spirit reminds us of the spiritual realities that are truly important in light of eternity.  The struggles of this life can be a discouragement to us, but the Spirit reminds us who we are in Christ and why we face the trials.  He gives us hope in the face of persecution and assures us of the Lord’s perspective of this world.  The Spirit is a glorious gift to us from the Fathers through the Son.

APPLICATION: Testify to others of all the Jesus has done in our lives, all He has done in history and all He has taught.  Depend on the Spirit to help us be bold, accurate and loving testimonies of His grace.  Be prepared for negative reactions from those who don’t want to hear or reject Christ.  Don’t allow the physical, immediate and temporary take priority over the spiritual and eternal world the Spirit is constantly reminding us about.

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