John 14:15-17

John 14:15-17 "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever — the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you."

Today we see Christ's teaching expand as He reveals to his disciples that his earthly mission was just the beginning of God's plan, saying, I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. The intensity of the moments following his words must have built exponentially as Christ shared information concerning the cry of God's heart from the beginning of time toward all people. Now in the fullness of time, knowing He would soon leave his small band of followers, Christ shares one unbelievable statement after another. So much new information to process with natural ears and unregenerate human minds by men who do not know they are about to turn the world upside down through the power of the Holy Spirit. What they do know is Christ is not going to rule and reign on Earth by setting up a kingdom as the Messiah they had so long awaited. He says He is going away and where He is going they cannot come, but He is preparing a place for them. They know they have no special powers, yet He says they will do greater things than the miracles they have seen him perform before their own eyes. Now on top of everything else, as He speaks of leaving them, He begins to share new concepts, new revelations, about another Counselor to be with you forever — the Spirit of truth. This all must have been strange and confusing to say the least.

Jesus must have smiled lovingly and tenderly as He prepared his beloved inner circle, those the Spirit called to spread the Good News. He would not have been surprised by the looks of surprise and incredulity on their faces when He said, But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. These men were faithful: they had left everything to follow Jesus. They stopped what they were doing, put down their nets, put away they tools of trade, gave up their own lives, and surrendered all to go where the Master led them. These were not faint-hearted men. But they were not aware of experiencing the any manifestations of the glory of God spoken of by the prophets: I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. (Joel 2:28-29) I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. (Ezekiel 36:25-27) No, they had no sense of such an experience and they would not until Christ's words were fulfilled when the day of Pentecost came, when they obeyed him to the letter, and they were all together in one place, and the Counselor who had been with them every step of the way came in all power and all authority and the Holy Spirit fell upon them like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then they would know him, for He would abide in them forever and ever! (See Acts 2)

Jesus knew we need the Holy Spirit: the Comforter, the Guide who walks along side and abides within us. Even those who lived with Jesus, slept on mats beside him, heard his every word, and watched him perform his greatest miracles could not prosper without the indwelling Holy Spirit. Jesus knew God would empower them with the Spirit of truth to be servants, willing to go to the ends of the Earth. A servant does not question his Lord. We who call ourselves Christians (all of us sitting here today, enjoying the luxuries of our modern lives) need the Holy Spirit to speak gospel truth into our lives every day. We need to acknowledge the importance of the Spirit in our lives. We know that we live in him [Christ] and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. (1 John 4:13) We need listening ears and open hearts. We need quiet times beside still waters that we might hear and obey the Spirit's leading, stop following the inclinations of our old nature and making excuses for putting our needs and our wants first and foremost. Oftentimes believers make excuses, the newly saved as well as seasoned Christians: we choose to protect our time and our resources. "Let someone else do it," seems to be a universal feeling in our nation. Let someone else feed the poor, encourage the weary, take care of the sick, pray for the lost, give to missions, and help the church. And who is that someone else? Paul wrote: And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you. (Romans 8:11) Seven times in the book of Revelation, the Lord says, He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Yes, we should rest and have timeouts, but the work is not finished, the harvest is not over until He says, "Well done, my good and faithful servant."