The Work of the Spirit.

The Work of the Spirit.  John 15.26-John 16.15

Click to read: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2015:26-John%2016:15&version=ESVUK&interface=print

Well, hello. 

Jesus told the disciples, “It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.”¹ What could he mean…how could it be better?

A newsflash has just come across my screen:

SAN CLEMENTE (GP) – A group of teen-aged students were talking openly about the previous nights’ activities.  One was heard to say, “I knew it was wrong even while I was doing it. I was getting drunk because I wanted to fit in … just for once, I wanted to see what it felt like.  But the feeling I had inside wasn’t worth it.  I felt guilty and gross afterward.  I wish I would have listened to my conscience and just gotten out of there.”  “And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness…”²   One of the functions of the Holy Spirit is conviction.

It was confusing for the disciples to listen to Jesus, and very disturbing at points as well—he was telling them he was going to leave them, that they would be hated, possibly even killed, but it was better for them if he went away.  Can I get a “what?!”  What was Jesus telling these men he loved so much, and why?  He was preparing them with the truth of what was coming—“I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away,”³ Jesus said.  Jesus’ followers would indeed feel alone in the world, but he would not leave them that way—he was sending the Comforter, the Holy Spirit.  Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.⁴  The Holy Spirit brings peace to our hearts.

Dateline: LOS ANGELES (GP) – “Once you know Jesus, no one can take him from you.  Knowing him personally has made all the difference in my life; when I think back to what my life was like before him, I just remember loneliness, and a constant wondering within myself,” a bystander at the meeting heard a middle-aged woman say.  Those nearby listened intently because everything about her was so genuine—you could see it in her eyes, her countenance, and even her collectedness as she spoke.  “I wish I had that,” an onlooker was heard to say.  “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.”⁵

Indeed, Jesus would soon depart their physical world, but he would not break his promise: I am with you always, even to the end of the world.⁶ The Father would send the Holy Spirit.  Where Jesus had been with them, the Holy Spirit would be in them.  The Holy Spirit abides in you and me too, if we are followers of Jesus.  Simply beautiful.

_{1) John 16.7;  2) John 16.8;  3)  John 16.1;  4) John 14.27;  5)   John 15.26; 6)  Matthew 28.20}