2017.07.02                                      JOHN 14: 12-18

                   I will not leave you Orphans

                The Promise of the Holy Spirit

Good Morning…. I am glad to be with you this morning… I have Good News for You! His name is Jesus… We are on a great adventure… We are Experiencing the Life and ministry of Jesus…

Jesus continues to Transform hearts and minds… by the Power of His Holy Spirit working in and through the Word of God… Jesus has been warning the Disciples of the very difficult hard times that are coming... Jesus is spending His last day…. His last evening… With His disciples… It is a very intense time…

What is going on here? This is the last time that Jesus is with the disciples before being arrested and going to the cross… Jesus is speaking to the hearts of the disciples…   He is preparing and comforting them…  

Their world is going to be shaken apart…

 We are down to the wire now… Because of His unfailing love… Jesus is warning the disciples of the desperate hard times that will burst into their lives in just a few hours now… He is offering the disciples comfort from their fear and anxiety… look with me at John 14… beginning at v12…

John 14: 12-14                          NLT   Neues Leben

12 “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. 13 You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. 14 Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!  

These words of Jesus tell us that all genuine believers will carry on His work… And in some ways… We will do things even greater than the works of Jesus…  

It’s a promise to all believers… This is not only for these 12 Apostles… It is not only for missionaries or highly gifted Christians... No… Jesus says… whoever believes in me…  

In other words, this is normal Christianity… This is what it means to be a Christian…  Jesus promises all believers will do his works…  

We are making problems for ourselves if we think… Miracle!… I am going to do miracles!... Especially if we focus on Jesus’ most amazing miracles…

Jesus  has recently raised Lazarus from the dead… As we read the Word of God… The incredible miracles stagger the mind…  Did Jesus mean that every Christian would do all of these things?

I don´t think that is what Jesus is saying… In the New Testament we do see some miracles… For example in the record of the early church… The Book of Acts for example… Now when we study the letters  to the churches… Miracles are mentioned… They are shown as gifts of the Spirit… But Gifts that only some Christians have… Look with me at 1 Cor 12… v7-11…

1 Corinthians 12: 7-11                   NLT  Neues Leben

7 A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. 8 To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. 9 The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. 10 He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. 11 It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.

Look at verse 11…

v11… 11 It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have...

Well, if Jesus doesn’t mean that all believers will do miracles like his… what does he mean when he says… “Whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do”? He is pointing to something far greater than raising someone from the dead… He is pointing the Mission that He has given us…. To go into all the World and proclaim the Gospel to every creature… He is pointing to the presence of the Holy Spirit living inside of us… And By the Holy Spirit in flowing through us… The greatest Miracles are what we will do…. The miracle of Salvation is the greatest miracle… Transformed hearts and minds… think about it…  

Millions upon Millions upon millions have come to Christ… Part of this Miracle is the Love of God which is shed abroad in our hearts… God´s love broadcast out from us to a lost and dying world… The Holy Spirit working miracles…

Leading many to Christ… Jesus is saying… Here is the Miracle…. You will survive this terrible time that is coming upon you… Then the World will see my Love flowing out of you to a lost and dying world… That miracle will draw People to me… let´s continue on in John 14…v15…

John 14: 15-18                          NLT   Neues Leben

15 “If you love me, obey my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. 17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.18 No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you.

Remember that all of these words… Chapters 13-18 were all spoken just hours before the greatest act of love in history… Jesus will be arrested in just a few hours…

In the morning He will be Crucified for our Sins… He will Rise from the dead to secure our forever by His side…

I would like for us to notice a few things from this section…

1 Jesus expects us to love and obey Him… v15

2 He promises the Holy Spirit… v16

3 The Holy Spirit will come to you to help you… v16

4 The Father will give you another Advocate… v16

5 The Holy Spirit will lead the World to Truth… v17

6 I will not abandon you as Orphans… v18

1 Jesus expects us to love and obey Him… v15

Look at verse 15… Jesus expects that we… As genuine believers… Will Love and Obey Him… On another occasion… Jesus said… Why do you call me Lord and not do what I tell you?… Luke 6:46… Real Christians love the Lord Jesus and try to obey Him…. With the help of the Holy Spirit… How?... look at v16,17 

2 He promises the Holy Spirit… v16… Through the Holy Spirit dwelling in us…. The Holy Spirit will cause these things to happen in our hearts…This is exactly what we see in the Jahres losung verse for this year… A new Spirit and a new heart… Ezekiel 36:26…  This is the Promise of God… The new birth…  This is the greatest miracle…

3 The Holy Spirit will come to you to help you… v16 We cannot love God… We cannot love each other unless the Holy Spirit is working in and through us…

4 The Father will give you another Advocate… v16… The Greek here means “another just like me”… Just as Jesus said…. I am the way and the Truth and the Life… The work of the Holy Spirit is to testify to the truth…. John describes Jesus when he appeared as being full of Grace and truth… John 1: 14… Now because the Holy Spirit is living in us… We miraculously reflect Jesus Love to the world… We Graciously and loving proclaim the Good News… There is hope… His name is Jesus…  We will a a sense be the WAY The truth and the Life that the world sees now… Because He is going away… That leads us to v18… next side please…

Jesus is sending His disciples to represent Him to the World… He is comforting them… He is  preparing them for the coming hard times… Soon comes The arrest… The Cross… His death…. And His Resurrection…. But He is also preparing us for difficult times in this world…

Right now they are afraid… They will all abandon Him… But beginning on the day of Pentecost… They will shake the world with His Love and His words of life flowing out from the church to the world… They will go to the ends of the earth…  In the Power of the Holy Spirit… But for now he has a powerful word of comfort too…

6 I will not abandon you as Orphans… v18

The greek word here is exactly what you would expect… “Orphanos”… Orphans…

These Disciples are very confused and afraid… They need comfort and encouragement because  Jesus is going away… Jesus message here in this text to them…  And also to us… Is comforting…  After His death and resurrection…

We are all comforted to know that He and the Father and the Holy Spirit will come to us… They will be with us forever…  Jesus says I am going away… But I will not leave you as orphans… Jesus says… Love me and obey me…

Practical Questions

What does it mean to love Jesus? And what are we promised if we do? First…

1 What does it mean to love Jesus?

look at John 14 again… v15,16…

John 14: 15,16                 NLT   Neues Leben

15 “If you love me, obey my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. Look at the second question…

2 What are we promised if we love and obey Him?  v16… another advocate… The Holy Spirit who will be with you forever…

What does Jesus promise His disciples…  Jesus promises all genuine believers… Yes I am going away but after the Resurrection… The Father, the Holy Spirit, and I will be with you forever... We will never leave you… We will   never forsake you… Never no matter what happens…. No matter where you are… This is what Jesus is saying to comfort and strengthen the disciples… These words of life are also for us… To help us handle the disasters in our tomorrows…  Jesus tells us this in a special way… Look at v16 again…

v16… And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you…

When he calls him “another Advocate… he means that this Advocate… this Comforter…  is not the Father and He is not me…  because I am the first Advocate… The first Comforter…  This second Helper is the Holy Spirit…. We will see that next time in John 14… verse 26… He Is saying…  When Jesus returns to heaven… the Father will give us the Holy Spirit… Another Advocate… To come along side… Another Comforter…  He promises… scroll down to v17…

v17… He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you…

The Advocate is  the Holy Spirit… He is the Spirit of Truth… He is with you now as you are here in my presence… And he will be in you… In you in a new and powerful way when I pour him out after the day of Pentecost… This is why we read…

v18… No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you… Jesus made this wonderful promise to these freaked out and frightened Disciples… They Where are you going…. We do not know the way…. Show us the Father… Jesus said You have seen me… You have seen the Father… Don´t be afraid… I will send an Advocate… A comforter to come along side you… And he will never leave you… Then in a few more verses He says something that points to the perfect unity and purpose of the Trinity… We will come to you and make our home with you… Not only will the Holy Spirit come… Jesus will also come to us with the Father…   And he will give us what  every orphan needs… Comfort and protection and provision and guidance… Jesus will do all that and more… Earthly Fathers… My Dad…

Yes Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us…  But He has not Left us without help… What Good News… We love and Obey Jesus… We follow His example…. Like Jesus… We are Humble servants leaders… We are a sweet aroma to the lost and dying world… We are salt and light… At least we should be… Here are the last three questions for this morning…

 3 How does loving Jesus like this affect the way we live our lives…

4 How does loving Jesus affect the way I work…

5 How does loving Jesus affect the way I treat others…

You know sometimes we tend to lose focus on the now of our relationship with the Lord Jesus… Yes we have been forgiven…. Yes we have been redeemed… Yes we will be with the Lord forever when He comes again… But what about right now? How do I love and obey Him today..? How do I be the salt and light that we have been called to be..? Jesus died for us… He also died for everything that we face today in this fallen world… We should ask ourselves what is the present out working of Jesus in my life for my parenting? For my work life… Do the people that I meet day by day see even a trace of Jesus in me? Am I being that salt and light that Points others to our great and loving God and Savior the Lord Jesus Christ… Do they see a gracious and loving representative of the Lord… Am I patient and kind to my children… To my wife… To the people at work… To strangers? If not why not? In Closing… Let´s listen to Paul´s exhortation to the church at Ephesus… He spent more time there than at any other church… His words are filled with solid practical advice… look with me please at Eph ch4… v1…

Ephesians 4:1-6                              NLT   Neues Leben

1 Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. 2 Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. 3 Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. 4 For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. 5 There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all, in all, and living through all.

1 Als ein Gefangener für den Herrn fordere ich euch deshalb auf, ein Leben zu führen, das eurer Berufung würdig ist, denn ihr seid ja von Gott berufen worden. 2 Seid freundlich und demütig, geduldig im Umgang miteinander. Ertragt einander voller Liebe. 3 Bemüht euch, im Geist eins zu sein, indem ihr untereinander Frieden haltet. 4 Ihr sollt alle gemeinsam ein Leib sein und einen Geist haben, weil ihr alle zu einer Hoffnung berufen seid. 5 Es gibt nur einen Herrn, einen Glauben, eine Taufe, 6 und es gibt auch nur einen Gott und Vater, der über allen steht und durch alle lebt und in uns allen ist.

Is my pride and self-righteousness preventing others from wanting the transformed Life that Jesus has given me..?  Can they even see it? Or does my representation of Jesus stink to them… Not salty and not shining with the Love of Jesus… That is the big question for us today…

Will others see Jesus in us… Will others see Jesus in Me?

Let´s pray…