9 days from leave.... but who is counting?? // January 8, 2006

Title: Abiding and the Spirit
Text: John 14:15-26 & 15:26 – 16:15
Proposition: It is the Spirit abiding in us that gives us the strength to abide in Christ.

Introduction: We learned last week about abiding in the Spirit. I was speaking to my wife on the subject last week and she began to ask questions of the concept. She asked the single question – what does “abiding in Christ look like? Is it reading your Bible more? Is it spending more time in church? How does the Christian abiding in Christ relate to practical everyday living? Now, understand – my wife is a “black and white” kind of person, she is a right and wrong-there is no middle ground kind of person. I, on the other hand am rather ambiguous about the whole thing and grey is a valid color! Opposites attract! The beauty is that the one balances the other out. Thus, her question is one that many ask – how do you abide? Is it some kind of spiritual thing that just exists and we all live in this mystical reality?

I revisited the passage with this thought in mind – what does Jesus give us to help us “abide in Him?” The answer jumped off the page of Scripture – the key to abiding in Christ is the Holy Spirit – here in the text called the “Comforter” or “Helper” depending on which translation you have. Abiding in Christ is what Paul was talking about when he wrote that we are to both “live and walk in the Spirit.” Remember – our life is Christ is intensely practical, its for us in the here and now. Its not some emotionally laden service where everyone cries – though that is certainly a passionate moment – it is an everyday experience that is shown forth by the fruit of abiding in Christ.

Let us look then at the role of the Holy Spirit in our daily lives.

I. The Function of the Spirit
a. Jesus points out that He is sending the Spirit.
i. The word used is: “Counselor” is an attempted translation of the Greek parakletos, which means literally “a person summoned to one’s aid.” It may refer to an advisor, a legal advocate, a mediator or intercessor” His absence would make more difficult the realization of the person of the Father whom he represented. In his place he promised to send the Holy Spirit. In the First Epistle of John it is applied to Jesus’ present ministry as “the one who speaks to the Father in our defense” (1John 2:1). The Spirit’s function is to represent God to the believer as Jesus did in his incarnate state. “Another” (allon ) means another of the same kind, not of a different kind.
ii. The concept of the Holy Spirit was not new, for the Spirit of God was the active agent in creation (Gen 1:2) and in convicting men who were sinning against God (Gen 6:3). He called and empowered men to do unusual deeds Judg 3:10; 13:24-25; 14:6, 19; 15:14) and to prophesy (Zech 7:12). John the Baptist had predicted that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit (Matt 3:11; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16; John 1:33). In his discussion of the new birth, Jesus had already spoken to Nicodemus of the work of the Holy Spirit (John 3:5). The ministry of the Spirit, however, would be directed primarily to the disciples. He would direct their decisions, counsel them continually, and remain with them forever. Understand that in the Old Testament, the Spirit’s function was to fill believers for a specific task. There was something that God wanted to accomplish so His Spirit would come upon someone and they would be able to accomplish that task. Read through the story of Sampson and you will see this evident – you will see the phrase often in the OT “The Spirit of the Lord came upon” and then some great thing was done for God. It was the function of the Spirit in the OT.
b. What Jesus teaches here about the Holy Spirit
i. Jesus notes that the HS is the “Spirit of Truth.” Who is the audience here? The disciples – note that Jesus is going away, up to this point He has been there to help the disciples discern between truth and error. He has been there to point the right direction to go – its been His primary function. Now, as He prepares to depart, He gives the disciples a way to keep that discernment going. He would not leave them as orphans, but He would guide them through the Holy Spirit. Note 16:13.
ii. He also notes that the HS will teach them all things and bring to remembrance all the things that Christ tells them. Remember, specifically here Christ promising the Disciples – what was it that they needed to do? Write the New Testament! It is the HS that gives us confidence in the accuracy of the Word! There are two ways that the HS is working here:
1. The HS works in Inspiration. Look at II Tim. 3:16-17. In reference to the Inspiration of Scripture there are two authors – the Divine and Human. The term Inspiration refers to the work of the Holy Spirit in human authors in that they wrote what God wanted to communicate to Mankind. i.e. the Word of God. Literally that word is God-Breathed. The Bible truly is God’s love letter given to man to guide him through life. Because it is of God, it has authority to shape our lives. It is an alive book indeed!
2. The HS works in Illumination. This is the work of the HS in bringing believers to understand and receive the truth of Scripture. Jn 16:12-14 Note how Jesus stresses that the work of the Spirit is directly related to His teachings – the Word of God.
3. The conclusion we get from this is that Spirit and the Word work together, God is not going to reveal something to you that is not supported in the Word. The Spirit does not add new meaning to the biblical text, He helps believers understand and apply the meaning already there.
c. Can we understand God’s Word outside of the Holy Spirit? (points from Duvall and Hayes)
i. YES – in that using valid interpretive methods – anyone can cognitively understand the Word of God. I mean, what about “Thou shalt not steal” is exactly hard to understand? If you understand grammar, the logic of a passage, the paradigm that the author wrote in – grasping a passage is approachable even to someone as saved as an old shoe.
ii. YES (to a degree) – Can a person without the Spirit understand a passage? Well, to a degree. However one must note these limitations:
1. Sin has had an effect on the whole person including the mind. It has dulled our ability to recognize, discern or perceive spiritual truth.
2. An unbeliever’s ability to understand a test is limited by the unbelieving pre understanding that they bring to the text. This baggage distorts the way a person perceives the scripture. If you are a hateful person – you will bring that to the text and make it mean that you can be that way. People can make the Bible say just about anything!
3. Understanding the Bible means more than just taking in information – it involves the whole person – mind, emotions, body… Unbelievers, by definition, do not accept the things of the Spirit of God.
4. This is why often as you share the Gospel people sometimes just stare at you – they can understand the concept but it means nothing to them at all.
iii. NO (a person who does not have the Spirit cannot understand the Text at all)
1. The question is: will an unbeliever accept the truth of the Bible and apply it to their lives? NO I Cor. 2:14
2. Paul is not saying that person without the Spirit will have no comprehension of what the Bible is saying. Rather, he means that a unbeliever will understand Its basic message and reject it.
3. People without the Spirit do not know the things of God for they have not experienced them. They may grasp the meaning of a text, but refuse to allow it to grasp them. Ever met someone who knows about the Bible – but it does nothing to their lives? This is what Jesus is talking about – if you walk in the Spirit – if you abide in Him – your life will bear the fruit of righteousness!!
d. What is the function of the Spirit? It is to teach us the difference between right and wrong. It is to help us abide in Christ. It is to help us discern between truth and error. It is to guide us into the path of truth! It is to remind us of what God has done for us and just whose team we are on in the first place. Believe me, if your doing wrong – the Spirit WILL let you know!! He might not holler at you – but in your heart of hearts – you will know that you are doing wrong. Every day, if we will walk in the Spirit, we are promised guidance – not a ticket into seeing the future – but daily guidance as to where to step next.
II. The Filling of the Spirit
a. Who has the Spirit? Here, in the text, Jesus is promising it to the Disciples. He tells them that the Spirit “will come” that He will not leave them as orphans adrift in the world alone. Look at Jn. 7:37-39 – here Jesus promises that anyone who believes will receive “living water” interpreted by that passage as the Holy Spirit. Note Romans 8:9-11 – if we don’t have the Spirit we are none of His, thus, if we do, we are saved. My friend, if you are a Christian, you have been filled with the Spirit.
b. There are two ways the Spirit works in the Believer – that is that He:
i. Fills him at salvation – this gives us access to all that the life in the Spirit offers.
ii. He comes upon a believer giving them the strength that they might need for a particular task. You see this all over the book of Acts. God needed something particular done you see the words “the Holy Spirit fell upon” and then its followed by something very profound.
iii. We can be confident as believers that if we are called to do something – God is going to give us the wherewithal to make it happen. Its going to take work on our part, but the strength comes of Him. We are not talking about some weird, mystical happening that does no one any good – we are talking about the filling of the Holy Spirit for advancing the work of God!!
c. I believe that we as Christians worry too much about the filling of the Holy Spirit. Are you a believer? Then rest in the confidence that you have the Spirit in you! And you do not need to worry if God is going to give you the strength to do something or not – if God wants you to do something – He will give you the power, wisdom, and confidence to get it done!!
d. So stop worrying if your filled with the Spirit and start fellowshipping with Him! Start listening!
III. The Fellowship of the Spirit
a. Gal. 5:16-26 Remember, Galatians was written to set straight those that said that in order to be a Christian, you had to obey the Law. Paul writes this potent book dealing with the liberty that we have in Christ and how the Law no longer is in effect. His first words in chapter five are “Stand Fast (abide) in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free!” This truth is not given that the Christian might use it as an excuse to sin (vs. 13) but we show Christ by…love. (Hmm, seems like I’ve heard that before – something about “this commandment I give you that you…love…) All we do is couched in the concept of love! Negatively, freedom in Christ is not license. Positively, it is service both to God and man.
b. Which brings us to vs. 25 “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” Look at 16 – “walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh.”
i. The Flesh is all that is against God. The flesh combats what God wants. We are in a battle – in case you didn’t know that! Good and evil are at war within you. Man in his fallen state cannot have the victory over sin for sin has won out long ago – but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!! Through the Spirit victory is not only achievable – it is assured!! If the Christian will walk in the Spirit! Note that Paul does not really give the Christian an out here – he is emphatic – walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh! What’s the implication? If you do not walk in the Spirit – what are you fulfilling? This is the Hard Word – we do not like to hear things like this for suddenly the line is drawn!
1. In teaching (and I’m sure the higher NCO’s could attest to this) kids actually love rules. No really – they do! It never fails that as soon as I make a rule my students will come up with fifteen exception clauses and ways to get around the rule. I might say “turn in your homework by such and such a date” as soon as this comes out of my mouth, fifteen hands go in the air and they immediately ask “well, what if…” What is the goal? Try to draw the line as firmly as they can and then go around it. That way that are not responsible if something comes up that was not a rule! Then, the thought it, “well, here’s the checklist – did all that – now – I’m a good student.” That works, if all I was doing as a teacher was producing checklist students – but I am going for the whole person, I don’t want them to have a checklist of good in a world where evil looks o so pleasant – I want them to work through complicated situations and choose the right over the wrong – I want them to understand that holiness is not a checklist - it is a way of life!!
2. So my rule is “be good” Yeah, that’s it. That is the rule. Now, I give some guidance on what I see as good – there are some givens and some absolutes – but there is a lot of leeway in my classroom. Because that’s what life is like – in the battle between the flesh and the Spirit – the flesh dresses sin up to look like good deeds and you need the Spirit to discern what is the right way to go – there is no check sheet for that!
ii. This teaches us that we are to first and foremost – listen to the Spirit of God!
1. Question: can you even hear what God is saying to you?
2. If God was to tell you something – would you even know what He sounded like?
3. See, we as Americans have so filled our lives with noise that we cannot hear what the Spirit is saying to us. We have filled our lives with so much extracurricular distractions that if God was to come to us with a bull horn – we would not hear Him. Instead of meditating on the Word and taking more time in prayer – we go to another conference trying to understand how to cope with life. God has given us the answer and yet we sign up for another therapy session. We spend our Christian lives trying to deal with life and ignore the very thing that God has given us to help us deal – the Holy Spirit!
4. Henry Blackerby says in that study that God speaks to us in 4 ways: His word (the Bible), in prayer, through circumstances, and through other believers.
5. You know why we don’t hear from God? We don’t do what we already know to do! Has God spoken to the Human Race? Of course – the Bible! Now, what do you do with that? You come into church and beg God to speak to you, but you do not open the Word and do the simple things! You come to church and seek yet another experience that makes you feel closer to God but you have no interest in getting to know Him as He has already revealed Himself to you. Why? Because we are a lazy people. We are lazy Christians. We do not want to take the time and find God in the stillness.
6. Remember Elijah – God was not in the fire, He was not in the wind, He was not in the earthquake – He was in the stillness. Christian – I submit to you that you will not hear from God until you make the time to sit still and listen. You will not hear from God till you find a quiet place and you wait to hear from God.

Conclusion: How do we live?? We walk in the Spirit. How do we have victory? We walk in the Spirit. Walking in the Spirit is a daily choice. It is a daily action. If you daily walk, you will daily have victory. Its living life one day at a time. Thy Word is a lamp (not a floodlight) to my feet – God promises the next step. Not ten years down the road – the next step – Are you listening? How do we abide? We walk in the Spirit! Its ours! The Spirit is there waiting for you – why do you keep ignoring Him? If you are not walking in the Spirit – who are you walking in? If you are not producing the fruit of the Spirit – what fruit are you producing? If you are not listening to God – who are you listening to?