Guided Into All Truth

Transcript

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[0:00] Today our reading for the sermon is Pentecost Sunday. And instead of preaching from Acts, we're going to preach from John chapter 15, which is the account in the Last Supper of Jesus predicting that the Pentecost will come. So a little bit of introduction about this section here from John 15. It's during the Last Supper. It's before the high priestly prayer that we talked about in previous weeks where Jesus is sort of praying for and preparing his disciples for his departure. Now, think about the Holy Spirit. Today we're talking about the Holy Spirit a lot. In all of Scripture, there's various references to the Holy Spirit, or sometimes referred to as God's Spirit, right? And some of them are specific, but some of them are kind of vague. Like there's just a mention of the Spirit, that God has a Spirit, and that it does a few things, but it's not really sort of fleshed out very well. And so if, for example, we only had the Old Testament, if we didn't have the New Testament, you may ask yourselves, would we actually develop an understanding of the Old Testament? would we have an understanding of the Holy Spirit? The answer is yes, we would, because there's definitely enough in the Old Testament that points to the existence of the Holy Spirit and even to the work of the Holy Spirit, right?

[1:08] And also the Trinity. So the Holy Spirit is part of the Trinity, as we understand. Even the Trinity is described in some ways in the Old Testament, but the New Testament brings a lot of it into focus, okay? So in the Old Testament, it was enough to know that God had a Spirit, that God, that the Spirit was a Spirit, whether it was like a wind or a breath that blew and moved and got people to prophesy and inspired people.

[1:37] In Ezekiel's vision, it would bring the breath of God into dry bones and bring them to life. So the Spirit had this power and this role in the Old Testament. But I would say in the New Testament, we start to get much more specific references to the Holy Spirit. And in our passage today, we get a name for the Spirit and even a list of things that the Spirit will do. So, So today's passage is actually one of the most specific and well-listed set of attributes of the Holy Spirit, which is why we're doing it for Pentecost Sunday. So this is about Jesus predicting Pentecost, preparing the disciples for that day, which is not too distant in the future, not too far off. And so here's kind of a challenge. I want you to either underline in your bulletin if you feel like it or mentally. As we read, pay attention to the specific things, Jesus tells the disciples that the Spirit will do. What are some things the Spirit will do or does? Like what are his jobs? What are the jobs of the Spirit? And then there'll be like a little quiz. Not really, but we'll just see how we did afterwards. We'll encourage audience participation, even from home. So if you want to put it into the YouTube chat, I will look at that too. Okay.

[2:50] So let's go to our reading and pay attention. What does Jesus promise that the Spirit will do when the Spirit comes? So our reading, John 8. John 15, starting verse 26, and then on to chapter 16. So Jesus says, But I will send you the Advocate, the Spirit of truth. He will come to you from the Father and will testify all about me. And you must also testify about me, because you have been with me from the beginning of my ministry.

[3:19] Yes, I'm telling you these things now so that when they happen, you will remember my warning. I didn't tell you earlier because I was going to be with you. I was going to be with you for a while longer. But now I am going away to the one who sent me. And not one of you is asking where I am going. Instead, you grieve because of what I've told you. But in fact, it is best for you that I go away. Because if I don't, the Advocate won't come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God's righteousness, and of the coming judgment. The world's sin is that it refuses to believe in me.

[4:03] Righteousness is available because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more. Judgment will come because the ruler of this world has already been judged. There is so much more I want to tell you, but you can't bear it now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own, but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me. All that belongs to the Father is mine. This is why I said, the Spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me. Let's pray.

[4:49] Oh Father, thank you for your word, this word about Pentecost, this word about the Spirit and his work. We pray that you add your blessing to it. In Jesus' name, Amen. Get ready to raise your hand. I want to give the people at home a fair shake, because there is a 9-12 second delay.

[5:07] People at home, start shooting in things if you want to. What are some of the jobs of the Holy Spirit? I'm going to bring up the chat. The rest of you are ready. So far, nothing in the chat. What did you hear? Anyone? What are the jobs of the Spirit?

[5:24] Bring the truth. Good. Yes. And what verse was that in? Verse 26. Verse 26. Yep. He'll testify about me. Yep. Good. Anyone else? Yeah, that's right. Two or three of them actually. Yeah. Very good. I didn't hear that. I'm sorry.

[5:47] Yeah. What else is the Spirit's job? Testify about Jesus. Testify about Jesus. Testify about Jesus. Yep. Yep. Conviction. Conviction. Yeah. Convict the world of its sin and of God's righteousness and of the coming judgment. So it's kind of a threefold sort of news that comes from the Spirit about the world. Yes. What else? Guide. Guide. Yes. Guide the disciples into all the truth. Right?

[6:17] And there's some similar ones. Right? He'll tell them what he's heard. So he kind of relays. He's sort of a mediator of God and his people. And Jesus is the Father and the Son's word into the world will come mediated through the Spirit. Yeah. So we can stop. We can stop taking, you know, this was fun. We don't have to belabor it. Verse 13, interesting. He will tell you about the future. We're going to talk about that a little bit. That sounds kind of intriguing, doesn't it? And verse 14, he will bring glory to Jesus. And as Zach said, there's another hidden job, which is actually hidden in the name of the Spirit. Advocate. And the Greek word for that is parakletos. We transliterate it as paraclete. And we'll get into that later. So I would say, wow, you know, in a way you would say after centuries of sort of drip, drip, drip, not, I mean, enough information about the Spirit, but not cohesive, not all put in one place. You kind of had to find some clues here and there about what the Spirit did. Here is like a fire hose of information about the Spirit. This is great. Like it's all coming out. And the source of it is from Jesus. Like Jesus himself is telling the disciples what the Spirit's role in the world is. So that's really great.

[7:33] Now what should we do with this list? I am not going to take the time to go over every single job, but I'm going to take two of them and we'll also discuss why this is happening. And let's start with that. Why is this happening? So this is an important part. Why is Jesus telling them this? And the answer to that is several. One is he wants to comfort them. He knows they're grieving. They're getting the sense, there's some talent they haven't quite figured it all out, but they're getting the sense that this is an important night. This is the Last Supper. They get the sense that something is foreboding. He's talked about his death plenty of times. I wonder if it's beginning to sink in. And in Jesus's mind, he's like, I'm leaving and you'll be like sheep without a shepherd. I need to send somebody to take over for me. I can't stay in this world forever. Why? And why that is, I think is an important question, but I would, it would suffice it to say that he needed to leave so that we could take on all the work that he was doing with the power of the Spirit. So Jesus can't stay forever. He's like, it would be very interesting if he had an address somewhere in the world and you could write him a letter, you know, and he would, he would go on a speaking tour and

[8:42] talk at stadiums. He's, it's just, that's not, that's not what was ever going to happen. He wasn't going to stay on earth forever. He had to leave and the Spirit had to come. And do, continue this. Continue the work that he did. So the truth about Jesus needs to be told. And so Jesus not only cares about his disciples, he cares, he cares about them knowing, them continuing the work with the guidance of the Spirit that he had started, but he also realizes that they're deficient in the truth. They don't have everything yet. He's a good teacher, but he's not that great because the students were not that great. You know?

[9:23] If you're a good teacher, you can be the best teacher in the world, but if your students aren't there, there's, they're not going to all get A pluses, right? And that's nothing against, it's, I think the disciples, we should give them credit. They were a bunch of goof ups, but at the same time, you know, in the end they finally came through and maybe they just, Jesus just got them as far as they could conceivably go on their own will. And that, and then he was realized they, they still don't understand everything that I've been trying to tell them. And so the Spirit has to come and keep them. Keep on teaching them and bring them into the truth. So only the Spirit will be able to teach them this truth.

[10:00] And so there's two, that's why this is sort of in a large sense why Jesus is doing that. But there's two things I want to emphasize. And the first is in verse 13. So go ahead and go back to verse 13 and maybe we could show it on the screen if we like. Although maybe it's, is it, it looks like we, sometimes you have to quit, it's weird. You have to quit pro-present. Okay. And then start it again. It's been, it's been acting weird. But verse 13, the Spirit will guide the disciples into all truth. And I want to note two words in there. Into and all. You could even underline them. Into all truth. And the into implies that there's this journey, right? There's from being outside the truth or maybe on the edge or the perimeter of the truth. George is taking geometry right now. And I'm, it made me think of a circle, you know, and the, the outside ring of the circle is the perimeter.

[10:53] And it's kind of like there's, they're at the edge of the circle and the truth is in there. And they're very close, but they haven't quite crossed the threshold into all the truth. So the, and Jesus hasn't been able to get them in there. He hasn't been able to get them to the center of it all. And so the Spirit's job is to bring them on a journey over that boundary of non, the boundary from non-truth to truth. The boundary from not knowing it all, not understanding it all. To being inspired by the Spirit to understand it all. And it's clear if you remember what Pam read from, from Acts chapter two, here, Peter gets up and preaches with such great confidence because of the power of the Holy Spirit. He's able to not only understand it, but to articulate it himself. And we believe the Spirit actually inspired him to say what he said. So this is a really a dramatic transformation for Peter from being not that, not that reliable. Okay. Not that, you're not that great of a student into somebody who's turning into quite a star. He really is quite a star. And over and over and over in Acts, we'll see that Peter is able to preach. Peter is able to articulate the gospel in great terms. Now Peter also makes mistakes in Acts.

[12:07] There's a question about the Gentiles and Paul, and that's, that is such a good reminder that even somebody who's gone into the truth and found it by the power of the Spirit is still human. They're still going to make mistakes. And the Spirit can convict. The Spirit could convict Peter even when he makes mistakes. So it's, it's a process. It's an ongoing journey. You've never really fully arrived, but the Spirit is with you along the way. So the movement is into the center of the truth over the boundary of non-truth. The truth, I'm going to repeat myself just that one point. And so this sets up the idea that there is a truth at the center of all things and that it's possible to get to it. And our modern world, sort of our postmodern world would completely reject annihilation. Well, let me just let you open your mind and let me open your mind and let me open your mind and let me open your mind and let me open your mind and let me open your mind and let me open your mind and let me open your mind and let me open your mind and let me open your mind and let me open your mind and let me open your mind and let me open your me open your mind and let me open your mind and let me open your mind and let me open

[13:06] your mind and let me open your mind and let me open your mind and let me open your mind and let me open your mind and let me open your mind and let me open your mind and let me open your mind and let me open your mind and let me open your mind and let me open your mind and or on the edge of the truth, which may mean they see some of the broad strokes, but they still don't see how it all fits together. And this reminds me of the Apostle Paul when he says in 1 Corinthians, he says, now we see in a mirror dimly or darkly. And mirrors were not that good back then. You're lucky because now mirrors are made like perfectly well. It's a perfect image of yourself. But back then they had to kind of keep polishing a piece of metal enough and enough and flattening it out. It was hard to do. It was very hard to find a good mirror back then. And so Paul was drawing on that idea that the mirrors that we have, I look at myself and I barely see what's actually going on there. You have a much better chance just looking down into a puddle of water because that's actually perfectly flat. If the light is right, you'll see yourself much better in a puddle of water. But Paul says, now we see in a mirror darkly or dimly, but then in the future, we will

[14:11] see face to face. We will be fully known just as we will fully know. Isn't that amazing? And to me, that's like incredibly comforting, but it's also incredibly terrifying because I don't actually want to see myself as I actually am. Do you? Not me. You don't want to see me at all. I'm sure that's fine. But do you actually want to see yourself as you actually are? Do you want to see God's mirror held up to your own face? But that gets you closer to all the truth. You will see more clearly in that moment, right? And I may not want to see all the things that I would see, but it's okay, right? Because the spirit will be with me. God will guide me. Jesus will forgive me. I'll look at, I think on the last day, I'll see all that and I'll cry and I'll weep and I'll wail and I'll beg God for forgiveness of all the bad things that I have done that are still remembered. And, and, you know, the father will say, my son paid for all of this. And I'll say, that on the cross, come, come into your rest. It's okay. So that's the, that's the truth. Now, what is the partial truth and what is all the truth? So one example is in the gospel of Mark, there's three times when Jesus is like, the son of man will be, will, will be killed and suffer,

[15:34] you know, and on the third day, he'll be raised again. And three times the disciples are like, no, that doesn't seem right. No, I don't, Jesus, we don't believe you or let's talk, let's talk them out of it. That sounds very negative. We don't like negative stories like that. So they don't understand that the pathway to defeating the power of death and sin and the devil is for Jesus to die. Death is the pathway to defeating death. This is the, this is the message that Jesus keeps telling them. He says, you have to die to yourself. I have to die. All sorts of things have to die so that new life can come. This is the truth. This is all the truth. of it is you have to die to be raised again to new life you have to die to yourself i have to die all that and and they don't get it so they're not in all the truth they're partial truth they get that jesus is going to do something but they have weird ideas about it and so they ask questions all throughout the gospels you get questions like this like lord who will be first in the kingdom which one of us ah he must have been so like exactly like the teacher the best teacher in the world but with kind of a a poor set of students going have i taught you nothing how long must i endure

[16:46] with this sinful generation he's very frustrated or they would say uh lord who's going to have the seat of honor at the table it's a similar question right and he's like that's not for me to decide you know just do just die to yourself just stick to that and then one of them once they said uh lord should we ask god to rain down fire on this town that has rejected as us and not walked on us and he's like you guys are so dumb he didn't say that but he thought it he thought i'm going to go out there and say he thought that he's like what have i these are all dumb questions and they're questions that show that they are on the edge of the truth but they're not in it or they have a partial truth but not all of it so jesus either he would not or he could not fix all these truth flaws in his believers before he left i think he couldn't be without violating their free will do you understand what i mean you can't make somebody know somebody you can't make somebody know somebody you can't make somebody know somebody you can't make somebody something it takes time it takes a journey it takes life experiences and so he's saying this unfinished work of leading and accompanying you into the truth into all the truth will

[17:52] have to be done by the spirit after i leave and that is pentecost pentecost is the spirit leading the disciples into all the truth and then them sharing all of that truth in all these languages with full confidence and power because they've been able been empowered to do it okay so that was the first main idea is this verse 13 is he's bringing them into all the truth very important the second idea is that the the spirit is given a name this is exciting the spirit is given a name in this passage and that name as you see in the in the in our text from the new living translation is advocate other translate english translations have comforter companion things like that paracletos uh in the new living translation is advocate other translate english in greek the actual word can mean advocate so advocate is probably the primary but that kind of gets sort of like a lawyerly like this is a person who speaks on your behalf that but paracletos has a wide range of meetings the most important one probably was advocate but it could mean guide companion comforter and friend a little bit somebody who walks with you in a certain sense and this is this is the challenge of words one word to name the spirit let me just let me

[19:38] say is redefined as a word into being all the things that the Spirit is going to do. So, I just said that. Okay, good. So, we're almost done. The paraclete, this is how I would interpret this word. The paraclete is the one who will continue the work of Jesus after he ascends to the Father. The paraclete will speak the words given to them by the Father and the Son. So, this paraclete has this sort of a mediator role. The paraclete will reveal to the disciples and to us what all the truth is and will lead us into all the truth. And that is the most important journey of our lifetimes. And you may take a pilgrimage somewhere. You may take a trip to Europe. The most important journey of your lifetime and my lifetime is the Spirit leading us into the truth.

[20:36] And that's the moment we come to faith. This is so important. The Spirit's role in us coming to faith is huge. We understand this. Okay? So, the most important journey of our lifetime is the Spirit leading us into all the truth. And all the truth is the truth about ourselves, the parts we don't even want to see, is truth about the world, is the truth about God's love and judgment, and the plan for God to rescue the world from his own judgment by sending the Son. And this is what we call the gospel. So, all the truth is the gospel that we come to believe. That the Son has rescued the world by the direction of the Father and the Spirit teaches us what it looks like. And that's the gospel. So, the paraclete will also tell us about the shape of the future. And it will be, and not specifically, I don't think it's like Nostradamus or something like that, like, or you would say, oh, the Spirit, tell me about the stock market. It would be good. You know, I'm going to cash in. It's not like that. Actually, I'd like to know who would win some football games. I really would. Because then I wouldn't watch the ones that I care about if my team was going to lose. I'd be like, oh, no, don't even waste my time on that.

[21:48] Not that kind of future. This is the future that the paraclete says. The future, especially for the disciples back then, was the immediate future is Jesus is going to go to the cross. Jesus is going to be raised. Jesus is going to ascend to the Father. And I'm going to, the Spirit's going to come and I'm going to teach you how to see the future. And I'm going to teach you how to see the future. And I'm going to teach you how to speak in other languages. I'm going to give you Pentecost. So that's the near-term future, definitely for the disciples. But for us, I think we see the broad strokes of the future. God plans to rescue this world for the power of sin, death, and the devil through the work of the church empowered by the Holy Spirit. That's the shape of our future. And the Spirit is revealing it to us. The Spirit shows us what it looks like. And I think the Spirit also gives us short, little short, tiny future moments where the Spirit says, go. Help that person. There's a need there. You need to go help that person. You need to go speak that word. And some of you have had experiences like this. I hope all of you have had experiences like this where the Spirit said, stop what you're doing. Whatever you think right now is important,

[22:48] isn't important. You need to be doing this right now because somebody's going to walk through your door in five minutes. And they're going to need to hear it. You have to be ready for it. So the Spirit will show us the shape of the future. I think sometimes in short terms, it might prepare us for encounters that we need to be ready for.

[23:06] And again, for the disciples, the very near-term future was the cross, the resurrection, and the ascension and the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost. So what is there for us? What do we do for us, right? We don't talk about the Spirit enough. I would hate for us only to talk about the Spirit once on Pentecost. Next Sunday is Trinity Sunday, so we'll talk about the Trinity. It's super exciting. I hope, and I hope you've heard us speak a little bit more about the Spirit than just once a year. But it's always a good reminder that we need to speak about the Spirit more. We shouldn't be afraid of that.

[23:35] It's a reminder to us from today. I want you to take these things home for us. The Spirit is your advocate. The Spirit is your advocate. The Spirit is your comforter. The Spirit is your guide. The Spirit is your friend. The Spirit is your companion, right? The Spirit gives you gifts. The Spirit convicts you of your sins. The Spirit shows you what you really look like if you're willing to look, right? The Spirit empowers you to do the work that God wants you to do, which is the continuation of the plan to rescue the whole world through His Son, Jesus. The Spirit tells you what the gospel is, and it prepares you for the future. This is the Spirit's job, okay? So the attitude today, I think, for us, I would say, is thankfulness and challenge. Thankfulness that we have such a great helper sent by the Father and the Son to be with us all the time. The Spirit is with you all the time. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Father, for sending the Spirit. What a great thing. And finally is the challenge. Here's the challenge. We need to stay in tune with that same Spirit to journey further into all the truth and to keep working in God's plan to rescue the world. The Spirit empowers us to do that. So happy Pentecost.

[24:48] Amen.