Having the Confidence of Christ • John 14:25-31
Notes
Video teaching begins at 26:57
Jesus is leaving, the disciples are gutted.
Jesus is telling them things hard to process.
He said He wouldn’t leave them as orphans, but still, they are upset.
Jesus knows worse things are coming. Life is going to go upside-down. It’s going to look completely out of control.
Jesus is an encourager, and He will encourage His disciples with the Holy Spirit and with the truth.
In this time of events spiralling out of control, Jesus is accomplishing the will of the Father.
1. Jesus’ work of discipleship will continue, even better than before.
A. You want to say, really? Jesus is already speaking things the disciples have a hard time understanding.
1. He who has seen Me has seen the Father.
2. Greater works than I do you will do.
3. I’m going away but I’m coming back. You know where I’m going and the way.
B. The Holy Spirit is going to come to them and make them understand what Jesus is saying from the inside, with a new spiritual perspective.
1. That is because you can’t understand the things of Jesus without the Holy Spirit.
2. 1 Corinthians 2:11-16 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ.
3. This is why our family members and friends and those around us can’t understand what we say. We don’t lose hope because the gospel is the power of God to salvation. We just give the message out and let it do its work.
C. But when we receive Jesus, then we are going to learn all things. That is, everything that Jesus wants us to know, those things that are freely given to us by God, as Paul says. The Holy Spirit will teach us, which means, cause us to learn. What will He teach us?
1. He wants us to know His word. The things that Jesus has said. The things that God has spoken in the Old Testament scriptures. He is the Spirit of truth. All the word of God is revealed truth. The Holy Spirit is going to teach us the meaning of that word and write it on our hearts so it will be part of us.
2. He is going to teach us to put that word into practice. If you don’t do the word of God you deceive yourself. This is a major problem of Israel, that they listened but did not obey. That means they didn’t listen. And God laments that Israel didn’t listen to Him. Psalm 81:8-16 “Hear, O My people, and I will admonish you; O Israel, if you would listen to Me! Let there be no strange god among you; nor shall you worship any foreign god. I, the LORD, am your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt; open your mouth wide and I will fill it. But My people did not listen to My voice, and Israel did not obey Me. So I gave them over to the stubbornness of their heart, to walk in their own devices. Oh that My people would listen to Me, that Israel would walk in My ways! I would quickly subdue their enemies and turn My hand against their adversaries. Those who hate the LORD would pretend obedience to Him, and their time of punishment would be forever. But I would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.” That’s not going to happen with us, because the Holy Spirit will teach us to listen and to obey.
3. Which means it’s going to be more than head- knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, makes arrogant. The Holy Spirit is not going to teach us arrogance and pride.
4. What the Holy Spirit will teach us is Christ Himself. We are going to learn and practice humility, how to think more of others than ourselves. We are not learning doctrine. Doctrine brings us to Jesus. If your doctrine doesn’t result in your becoming Christ-like, your doctrine is worthless.
D. And we will remember what Jesus said.
1. Jesus said and did much more than is written, but the Holy Spirit directed John to write what he wrote, as well as the writers of the other gospels.
2. The apostles have recorded for us what we need to know. The Holy Spirit taught Paul. He wrote down what the Spirit directed him to write. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, he says in 2 Timothy 3:16. Peter said, 2 Peter 1:15 And I will also be diligent that at any time after my departure you will be able to call these things to mind.
3. We have in the New Testament Gospels, epistles, and Revelation: what happened, what does it mean, how to live, how things will end with the return of Jesus.
4. Remembering makes what is written in the past relevant for today. And the Holy Spirit will remind you of what was spoken by Jesus and the apostles.
E. This means the work of discipleship is going to go better than when Jesus was here. Jesus said for us to make disciples. That’s what we’re all about.
1. We can help one another grow as we share the word with one another. We can do this in our families, friends, anyone.
2. We can pray for those who do not want to be discipled and let the Holy Spirit work on them.
2. Because the work of discipleship is going better than before, the results will be better peace.
A. The result of being taught by the Holy Spirit is peace. This is a major blessing of our salvation.
1. Isaiah 54:4-13 “Fear not, for you will not be put to shame; and do not feel humiliated, for you will not be disgraced; but you will forget the shame of your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more. For your husband is your Maker, whose name is the LORD of hosts; and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel, who is called the God of all the earth. For the LORD has called you, like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, even like a wife of one’s youth when she is rejected,” says your God. “For a brief moment I forsook you, but with great compassion I will gather you. In an outburst of anger I hid My face from you for a moment, but with everlasting lovingkindness I will have compassion on you,” says the LORD your Redeemer. “For this is like the days of Noah to Me, when I swore that the waters of Noah would not flood the earth again; so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you nor will I rebuke you. For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake, but My lovingkindness will not be removed from you, and My covenant of peace will not be shaken,” says the LORD who has compassion on you. “O afflicted one, storm-tossed, and not comforted, behold, I will set your stones in antimony, and your foundations I will lay in sapphires. Moreover, I will make your battlements of rubies, and your gates of crystal, and your entire wall of precious stones. All your sons will be taught of the LORD; and the well-being of your sons will be great.”
2. This is the new covenant with God that results in peace. Shalom. No more forsaken of God, no more rejection, no more shame, reproach, disgrace, anger . Now, everlasting lovingkindness, compassion, unshakeable covenant, and it comes through being taught by God Himself.
B. The Holy Spirit is teaching Christ to us. And He communicates Jesus’ own peace to us.
1. He has His own peace with the Father. I always do exactly as He commands because I love Him. There is no dark clouds, no shadows in their relationship. Full acceptance, full love. The Father responds: This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
2. Jesus is the Prince of peace. Because He is the One who makes peace by the blood of His cross. He died for our sins, He removed forever all sins that God hates.
3. Jesus communicates His own righteousness to us. We are given the righteousness of God in Christ.
C. This is not like the world gives.
1. The world gives physical pleasure, stimulation, highs, as in alcohol or drugs or sex. The world gives recognition, glory, fame, honour, respect, a platform to express yourself. The world gives adoration and fangirlism and fanboyism. They will discuss you all day and all night on the forums.
2. But the world cannot give peace. That’s because the world has no peace to give. The world has no relationship with God. The world is lost in sin and has no righteousness with God. The world is under the condemnation of God. There is no peace for the wicked, says my God.
3. The antichrist is going to command: worship me as god or die. The benefits will be: you can live and buy and sell. People will applaud you. We see in Revelation 7 that an uncountable number of people will refuse to worship this man of sin, and they will pay the price. They will choose to die, and they will die in peace because Jesus gives real peace. Peace with God is worth more than everything in this world.
D. So Jesus says, do not let your heart be troubled. Since you have Jesus, the Prince of peace, you have an everlasting covenant of peace, you have the righteousness of God, you have the Holy Spirit of God Himself teaching you Christ, your peace will be great. Don’t let your heart be troubled. Don’t be afraid of anything. Learn Christ.
3. Notice that Jesus approaches His death with that peace and confidence that He wants His disciples to have.
A. Jesus knows where He is going.
1. All that the disciples hear is, “I’m going away and I will come to you”. They are puzzling over that. Where is that? What are You doing?
2. Jesus says if you loved Me you would rejoice because I’m going to the Father. I know where I am going, and He is greater than I.
3. Let’s not worry about that theologically. Jesus does not mean that He is less than the Father. Paul said I’m hard pressed; I’d like to depart and be with the Lord because that’s better. For us, to live is Christ, to die is gain. It’s better to be present with the Lord than be absent because we’re in the body.
4. Jesus knows fully what the Scripture means, “In Your presence is fulness of joy, in Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” To go to the Father is going to be fabulous. That’s worth rejoicing over.
B. The point is: Jesus knows how His death is going to work out in advance. He wants the disciples to know that He will accomplish what He says He will do.
C. Because the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me.
1. Jesus doesn’t refer to Judas, the chief priests, Pilate. They are pawns in the hand of Satan, the one who is behind all the darkness in this world.
2. When Judas brings up the soldiers to arrest Jesus everything is going to go crazy, upside-down. It’s going to look like the worst possible outcome. It’s going to look like Jesus’ work was futile, He’s going to die, and Satan wins. Jesus will look overcome, beaten, defeated. His death will look like failure.
3. But that ruler has no hold on Me, says Jesus. He has no control over Me. He has no power over Me.
D. I will make it so My death can only mean one thing: This will show the world that I love the Father and I obey Him completely. This death means I will overcome everything, death, sin, and Satan.
E. You see, Jesus is at peace. He knows exactly what He will do. There is no doubt, no suspense, no flicker of uncertainty. Jesus is going to overcome everything.
4. Here’s what we want to gather from this.
A. The Holy Spirit is your teacher. He is the only One who can cause you to learn Jesus and become like Him. Apart from the Holy Spirit you cannot know Jesus.
B. You can read books, listen to recordings, watch videos. You can have ten thousand teachers. But that doesn’t mean that you know Jesus Himself.
C. You have to receive Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. That’s where you start. If you haven’t received Jesus you are still in the world. You are still under the condemnation of God. You are dead in your sins. We beg you and plead with you to receive Jesus and be saved.
D. Then ask the Holy Spirit to teach you and remind you.
1. You know He is going to teach you through the word of God. Because He is the Spirit of truth, and the whole Bible is truth. It points to Jesus, who is the truth. If you are not drawn to the Bible you really don’t know Jesus.
2. You are going to read the Bible a lot. If you don’t read the Bible the Spirit will not remind you of what you have not read. He will remind you, but you have to read it. You must participate with the Spirit.
3. You will do Christ. You will act like Him. You will love, you will forgive, you will bless when you are reviled. You will turn the other cheek when you are slapped. You will glorify the Father with your life.
E. The more you submit to the Holy Spirit and learn Christ and do Christ, the greater will be your peace. When the Prince of peace rules in your life, you will have greater riches than this poor world can ever know.
F. Things are going crazy. They are going to get crazier. Fake newsers are confusing everyone. We don’t know the future. It’s going to look like Satan is winning. It will be easy to give up, to be depressed. But Jesus wants us to learn Him and have His peace. By His Spirit He will cause us to learn Him. Great will be your peace.
Do you want to be satisfied? Let’s pray.