John 14:16 · John 14:26 · John 15:26-27 · John 16:8-13 · John 16:14-15 · Acts 2 · 1 Corinthians 14:24-25 · 1 Peter 1:10-12
Jesus' Teaching on the Spirit
Jesus taught that the Holy Spirit's primary work is to glorify Christ and bear witness to him through truth, not to draw attention to emotional experiences. Christians must center on Christ rather than on feelings as the measure of spiritual maturity.
Throughout the nineteenth and halfway through the twentieth centuries, our culture emphasized logic and reasoning. This came about because of the Enlightenment Movement which emphasized industry, science, and knowledge. Human beings could know all there was to know if the right questions were asked and answered. But after World War II something happened in America and not just in America but in the world. There was a population explosion. In America, this population explosion resulted in what was known as the Baby Boom generation. Nothing was too good for these kids. These kids were raised with the best that life had to offer. Good things happened. Life became a bit easier. Entertainment was readily available. Strides were made in our world which made life more pleasant. In fact, the emphasis began to shift from logic and reason to how one felt about what was going in life.
As the Baby Boom generation grew, they acted out what they had been told all their lives. What you think and what you feel matters. In fact, my generation was told over and over again, reality is what you feel. Almost in one generation our culture had shifted from logic and reasoning to emotions and how we feel about things. This brief historical overview is not exhaustive, but intended to demonstrate one important truth. To emphasize logic over emotions or emotions over logic is hazardous to one’s wholeness. God made all people with emotions and with rational thinking processes. Currently, America is reaping the consequences of emphasizing emotions. Much of the discussion in the past twenty years concerning churches has centered on more emotion in life. We want to feel close to God. We want to know that we are in his presence. Such language is highly emotive. Such language opens the door to seeing the work of the Holy Spirit in highly emotional ways. You can see this in our singing. Our newer songs reflect emotions, while songs written long ago require rational thought to process. Neither is wrong or better—just different. My point is simply that with the emphasis on the emotion, then the Spirit becomes a part of that.
What we need to do is teach and learn the truth. Tonight, I want us to learn the truth as Jesus understood the truth. How did Jesus understand the work of the Spirit? He knew that the Spirit was going to be given to his disciples. He knew that when he left, the Spirit would come in his fullness. Jesus had some specific teachings about the Spirit and his work. Let’s turn to John 14.
The Spirit’s Work
Look at John 14:16. Jesus says the Spirit is to be another counselor. Three things to notice. First, the disciples are not told to ask for the Spirit to come. In fact, no passage speaks of asking the Spirit to come into us. The Spirit will be sent as a result of Jesus’s prayer. Second, the word another suggests as clearly as any text that the Spirit and Jesus are not the same person. Third, the word counselor translates a Greek word which means to come alongside to help. This word is found only in John’s writings. It is an image of the Spirit standing alongside one who is in need of aid and strength. The Spirit is our helper. This Greek word is similar in meaning to our word advocate. An advocate is one who goes to court to plead our case because we are not able to defend ourselves.
Look at John 14:26. This passage indicates that the Spirit’s main function is to focus on Jesus. This verse is specifically intended for the apostles and is not intended directly for us. The Spirit was to help the apostles to remember what Jesus had taught them. We are the recipient of this promise through the recorded words of the apostles, the Bible, but the promise is not to us directly. The Spirit helped the apostles to teach and to remember all that Jesus had taught so that they could effectively teach others.
John 15:26-27 contains two important points. The first is that the Spirit is known as the Spirit of truth. Truth was extremely important in John’s writings. He was searching for truth and wrote so that others could come to know truth as he did. The Spirit tells only the truth. The Spirit reveals only truth. The Spirit’s character is that of truth. Thus, as those who are filled with the Spirit our lives should reflect that same nature. The Spirit empowers us with truth and we should pursue truth with the same resolve. Second, the Spirit came to bear witness about Jesus and to help the apostles bear witness. This word “witness” is a legal term. It has nothing to do with feelings and warm experiences. It has to do with reliable testimony to objective facts. When the Spirit testifies, he testifies about Jesus. Spirit-led people do not point to their Spirit-induced abilities; they instead point to Jesus. This text again is not specifically for us. Only the apostles were truly witnesses of what Jesus did. By faith we share their witness and can retell the story, but we are not legal witnesses as the apostles were. The Spirit helped the apostles’ testimony to be truthful.
John 16:8-13 reveals two important truths. First, the Spirit convicts people concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment. The Spirit convicts people of the sin of unbelief in order to bring them to faith. The Spirit convicts people about his testimony about Jesus, a testimony given through Scripture. The Spirit will convict people concerning the judgment. The Spirit is active in the process of salvation as he convinces people of their sin, that righteousness is found only in Christ, and of the coming judgment.
Finally, look at John 16:14-15. How does Jesus summarize the Spirit’s work? “He will bring glory to me…” The emphasis of the sentence is on the word “me.” The pronoun is placed before the verb which means that this is the word which receives the emphasis. “It is I whom the Spirit will glorify.” The Holy Spirit glorifies Christ. The Spirit does not cause one to focus on some exciting experience or inner prompting. The Holy Spirit causes one to focus only on Jesus. The center of attention is to be Jesus not the Spirit. It is error to believe that the important thing for Christians is to be able to reveal some type of experience to verify the indwelling of the Spirit or some emotionally charged testimony to convince that we are spiritual. Far from it. Instead, one who is being led by the Spirit will center on Christ and his work rather than on feelings and emotions. To emphasize emotions over Christ is not the work of the Spirit. To make one’s emotional experience paramount is not the work of the Holy Spirit but the work of a deceiving spirit. When the Holy Spirit is active one speaks of Christ. The center of thought is Christ when the Spirit is present.
Acts 2
Let me demonstrate this from Acts 2. No one will deny the presence of the Spirit in Acts 2. In fact, Luke records with great clarity that the Spirit is present and is present in great power. What did Peter preach about? The audience wants attention to be on the revelation of great power in the speaking of tongues, but Peter and the other apostles do not dwell on this new power, but instead bring the focus onto Christ. The purpose of the sermon was to bring the hearers to conviction that Jesus is Lord and Christ. According to verse 37 the sermon did what it was supposed to do. In this sermon did Peter testify of Christ? Did he convict men of sin, righteousness, and judgment? Did he bring men to faith in Christ? Did he glorify Christ? Did the Spirit have any part in this day? Absolutely. The Spirit inspired the sermon. Now through scripture the Spirit works to convict people of sin, righteousness, and judgment.
The Spirit speaks the same message as before. Let us not make the mistake of allowing emotions to decide for us the level of spirituality we have or the intensity of the Spirit’s presence. The Scriptures do not allow such latitude and neither should we. To do so results in chaos. The greater the emotions the greater the verification of the Spirit’s presence. The greater the emotions the more spiritual we are. Such thoughts take away from objective and rational thought leaving us no concrete way to determine truth. Truth then becomes subjective and based on emotional concepts. This is not how Jesus saw the work of the Spirit. Our view must be no less.
Look at 1 Peter 1:10-12. The work of the Spirit has been consistent throughout history. He has worked to reveal Christ through the prophets and now does through the preaching of the gospel. The Spirit focuses on Christ. So should we. We must be careful not to allow emotions to alter that focus and to define our level of spirituality. Such is not the case in scripture.
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