John 14:12-17
A Real Church Service #1: The Holy Spirit
I. Introduction
-What makes a good church service?
-It is debated in churches today.
-I do not want to wrangle about preferences.
-Biblical answers to this kind of a question...
-We’ll start with what Jesus promised, the foundation of a good church service.
II. Scripture
III. Truth, Truth
-v. 12 "Truly, truly, I say to you..."
1. Truly = amen
2. "Truth, truth" gets your attention!
-v. 12b "whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do..."
-Are we doing the works of Jesus?
1. Miracles, healings, etc.. No.
2. Gospel, Kingdom of Heaven, Salvation... Yes
-Are we doing greater works than Jesus?
1. At the end of Jesus’ physical life he had only 11 undedicated disciples
2. He would be a "failed pastor" by today’s standards.
-v. 14 "If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it."
-Jesus is talking to disciples.
1. This is not about a million $$, your favorite sports team winning, or your whims.
2. This is about being so in tune w/ God you ask for what He wants to give.
IV. Spirit & His Word
-v. 15 "If you love me, you will keep my commandments."
-Receiving God’s Spirit is linked to receiving God’s Word
-Sinners cannot receive His Spirit; they cannot understand His Spirit; they cannot realize the need for His Spirit!
-Listen to two passages of Scripture (1) talks about effects of Spirit (2) talks about effects of God’s Word.
1. Ephesians 5:18-20 "And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, [19] addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart, [20] giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."
2. Colosians 3:16-17 "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. [17] And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."
-Bible talks about the Holy Spirit continually!
1. Don’t quench the Spirit.
2. The Spirit came!
3. Blaspheming the Spirit.
4. Ananias and Saphira "test the Spirit of the Lord"
-All Jesus is promising is wrapped up in what the Spirit will do for them.
-It’s not about you doing greater works!
1. It’s the Holy Spirit doing through you!
2. Preaching= I shut-up, allow the Spirit to use me.
3. The difficulty of preaching is, and always will be getting out of the way of the Lord!
V. The Promise
-The Father will give you a helper.
1. Counselor/ Advocate
2. Someone to instruct you!
3. Not a back seat driver!
-Ill. Associated Press carried this dispatch sometime back: Glasgow, Ky.- L. Puckett, after struggling to start his car, lifted the hood and discovered that someone had stolen the motor."
-Too many churches are struggling to start the church w/ out the engine.
1. Things didn’t start for the church until Pentecost.
2. Things won’t start for you until your Pentecost!
-That is why ‘quenching the Spirit’ is so serious!
-The Spirit is the engine!
VI. A Consistent life
-The Spirit brings a consistent life.
-Lot’s of churches have a big production on Sunday morning and dead the rest of the week!
1. Ill. Church with curtains pulled back from "stage" and "performance."
2. That’s not a disciple!
3. That’s not a product of the Holy Spirit.
-Ill. Author Jamie Buckingham visited a dam on the Columbia River.
1. He always thought that the water spilling over the top provided the power, not realizing that it was just froth
2. Reality is that deep within the dam turbines and generators transformed the power of tons and tons of water to electricity-- quietly & without notice
-Don’t look for the ‘flash-in-the-pan,’ look for the long-term faithfulness of the Spirit.
1. Don’t look for the revival services, look for the lives changed.
2. Don’t look at the attendance, look at the disciples.
VII. The World Cannot Receive
-v. 17 "even the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him."
-Non-Christians cannot receive the Spirit, believers must!
-J. S. Baxter: "What God chooses, He cleanses. What God cleanses, He molds. What God molds, He fills. What God fills, He uses."
-Ill. Don’t tell me about my wife! I know her better than you do!
1. I eat with her, sleep with her, live with her, fight with her, etc...
2. Sinners, don’t tell me about the Spirit/ God; you don’t know Him!
-Then who is it available to/ promised to? Answer: Those who know Him!
-v. 17b "You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you."
VIII. How Much of the Spirit?
-The question is not: How much of the Spirit do you have?
1. You either have it or you don’t.
2. Question is: How much of you does the Spirit have?
-Ill. DL Moody was going to have a revival in England.
1. One elderly pastor protested: "Why do we need this Mr. Moody? He’s uneducated, inexperienced, etc. Does he think he has a monopoly on the Holy Spirit?"
2. A younger pastor replied: "No, but the Holy Spirit has a monopoly on Mr. Moody."
-Does the Spirit have a monopoly on your life?
-Paul was led by the Spirit.
-Acts 16:6-7 "And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. [7] And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them."
IX. Conclusion
-Ill. A lady was asked how she knew the voice of the Spirit,
1. She answered: "How do you know your husband's step and your child's cry from the step and the cry of all others? I can not tell you how I know the voice of the Spirit, but it is as real to me as the voice of any person I know."
2. How real to you is the still small voice of the Spirit?
-Has it been a while since you heard from God?
-Ill. You may believe you have grown in grace since you are not too emotional or tender hearted anymore.
1. Really you have just quenched the Spirit.
2. Really you are growing cold and distant from the Spirit of God.
-Why don't you just participate in a real church service and receive His Spirit afresh and anew!
