Text: John 14:15-21
Facebook live: The comforter points to our true comfort, Jesus!
15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
When I was a little boy growing up, I attended kindergarten in Glassport Pennsylvania. We, had fire drills to prepare ourselves in case of an emergency.
When the fire bell rang, we were directed to exit the room orderly, row by row and as we entered the hall walking towards the door one of the older children from the upper grades would hold the hand of a kindergartener and walk with them out the door to the designated place of safety.
They became our guide and helper and would not leave us until the drill was over.
In the life of the Christian, the good news is that you will not be left alone either.
The Holy Spirit is your helper and guide and will remain with you and will comfort you no matter the circumstance. You do not have to hope that He will come and lead you to safety … for He dwells with you and is in you!
The comforter points to our true comfort, Jesus!
Jesus, in John 14 speaks of sending the comforter, the Holy Spirit, to be our comfort and our hope.
He had told the disciples about that hope and not to be troubled, to believe in God and also to believe in Him and that He would be going to prepare a place for them, that where He is they too may be also.
To Thomas’ question of how they could know the way Jesus replied that …
He is the way the truth and the life and that no one comes to the Father except through Him
… and to Philip’s question to show us the father,
Jesus said, whoever has seen me, has seen the Father!
There is an inseparable connection between Jesus and the Father.
To see Christ is to see God and to know Christ is to know God the Father; one God in essence, uniqueness of persons.
The Father is not the Son and the Son is not the Father but the mystery of the Godhead in there for the first disciples and for us as well.
Today’s reading begins:
15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
Well that’s comforting. We poor sinners confess unto you that we are by nature sinful and unclean!
God’s Law we can’t keep, and his law shows us our sin, and that we fall short daily needing the comfort and forgiveness only given us by God himself - through His comforting absolution pronounced by His called and ordained servants, in the stead and by the command of Christ.
16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17even the Spirit of truth.
The Disciples are being comforted that when Jesus leaves them and ascends back to the Father, the helper, the Spirit of truth, will be with them [and us] forever.
The Holy Spirit's role is to shine the light on our Lord Jesus Christ.
Some years ago we upgraded the building of our church here at Peace with new lights on the building. When lighting is done well, the lights make visible the building when otherwise it would not be seen for the darkness. This illustrates also the Spirit's role and work. He is, the hidden light shining on the Savior.
It is as if the Spirit stands behind us, throwing light over our shoulder on to Jesus who stands facing us. The Spirit's message to us is never,
"Look at me; listen to me; come to me; get to know me", but always, "Look at him, and see his glory; listen to him and hear his word; go to him and have life in him; get to know him and taste his gift of joy and peace.”
The Spirits role is to bring you and Christ together and ensure that you and Jesus stay together.
James Packer, Your Father Loves You, Harold Shaw Publishers, 1986.
But you don’t … and I don’t. We fall short, we miss the mark. It’s like having directions to our destination and always getting lost … always making the wrong turn!
In a similar way the Spirit shows you when you miss the mark, when you are going the wrong way and He, as the Helper who will be in you and with you forever, points you back to Jesus … so that you once again see the error of your sin and where you fall short, but also see the way the truth and the Life.
Jesus is our light and life, who kept the commandments – the Law - perfectly for you and me and who the Spirit continues to point you to, Jesus– the light of the world and Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. His gracious forgiveness and love for you is what we see by the Spirit’s work!
Jesus said:
18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
It is Jesus who gives us every good and perfect gift from above.
It is Jesus who will not leave you as orphans.
It is Jesus who took your sin upon himself at the cross burying it in the tomb and
It is Jesus, who asks the Father to send the Helper, the Spirit of truth, to you, so that you can continue to see Christ, the author and finisher of your faith Jesus.
Christ says:
Because I live, you also will live. 20 In that day you will know that I am in my father and you in me, and I in you. 21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my father, and I will love him and – make myself known - to him.”
The comforter points to our true comfort, Jesus!
Many of us learned about Jesus and the comfort found in him from our mothers and grandmothers.
On this Mother’s Day, we joy to celebrate the blessings that come to us through our mothers.
Many of you joy in the mothers you still have and some, I’m sure, long for the mother’s they once had. Some were blessed with godly step mothers and others had mothers that unfortunately missed the mark of what a good mothering should be.
As a pastor in my 11th year, I’ve done a number of funerals; some for mothers, and some for fathers, and some for uncles and dear friends.
Funerals are a place of grief. Death is not something any of us wants to think about or deal with, but it comes unexpectedly at times, as it did with my own mother’s death.
For us death is who we are. We are born dead in trespass and sin and the wages of sin, remind us of this daily.
On Ash Wednesday as the ashes are placed upon our forehead in the sign of the cross, we hear these words:
“Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.”
Death at times pretends to be comforting. You may hear at a funeral, “He’s in a better place.” Or, “Well, she’s not suffering anymore.”
I assume it is how we who remain deal with the loss of a loved one.
But the reality is that death is not a good thing. It is the consequence of who we are as sinners.
Because of the work of the Spirit in the life of God’s children - you will know Him and His ways and you will be found acceptable because you will be clothed in the robes of the God/man Himself, Jesus Christ, the Righteous one.
Remember:
In the life of the Christian, the good news is that we will not be left alone.
The Holy Spirit will comfort you in all your trials because you do not have to worry if He will come to you - for He dwells with you and is in you!
The comforter points to our true comfort, Jesus!
In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit
Amen
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