Sermon Discussion Questions:

1. What comes to your mind when you think of a very “spiritual” person, or church? How does this teaching help correct that?
2. The passage emphasizes that the Spirit is the Spirit of truth, not merely emotional experience. Why do you think we so easily equate strong feelings with the presence of the Holy Spirit? Can you think of a time when your feelings were misleading spiritually or at odds with the truth of God's Word?
3. Why would asking yourself "is that true?" help when your emotions are leading you into dangerous places? Would that help?
4. Jesus repeatedly connects love for Him with obedience (vv. 15, 21, 23–24). How does this challenge or reshape the way we typically think about our relationship with Jesus? Where do you see a disconnect (in yourself or others) between professed love for Jesus and actual obedience?

[Page 901]

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. 18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. 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 manifest myself to him.” 22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” 23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.

“These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. 28 You heard me say to you, I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29 And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe. 30 I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, 31 but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here. - John 14:15-31

Another Helper

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, - John 14:16

Why does Jesus refer to the Holy Spirit as “another Helper”? Or, as the CSB says it, “another Counselor,” or as the KJV puts it, “another Comforter,” or as the NIV puts it, “another Advocate.” The word (paraclēte) is obviously difficult to fully translate into english, which is why we have so many different sounding options. “Helper” is close, but we live in a society that associates the word “helper” with something diminutive (mommy’s little helper). “Comforter” sounds like a blanket. “Counselor” sounds like someone who offers advice or guidance, but advice that can be ignored, like a camp counselor or marriage counselor. I think “advocate” might be the best option, because the word seems to convey the idea of legal help—like a defense attorney who is brought in to offer you his help in a trial. He has the ability, the power, the knowledge to offer counsel, help, and will advocate on your behalf. But the reason that also falls short is that it fails to include the personal encouragement and warmth that it conveys as well. If you hire an attorney, you aren’t doing so because you think that this person has a personal interest in you or cares for you. They care about being paid. We don’t have a great deal of confidence in the profession of lawyers as being a terribly virtuous, nurturing class of people.

So, perhaps it may help to just survey what the Spirit does, so we can get a sense of what kind of help He offers: Three examples from Romans 8:

For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live - Rom 8:13

• The Spirit is the means by which we kill sin.

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, - Rom 8:14-16

• The Spirit is diametrically opposed with the spirit of fear which enslaves us. Instead, the Spirit helps us feel like we are a child of God. The Spirit applies the felt reality of being a child of God, so that we sense God’s presence as He leads us.

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. - Rom 8:26-27

• The Spirit helps us in our weakness. One example is when we do not know what to pray for, we ask for the wrong thing, or we are just at a loss of how to pray for something. The Spirit works to translate our weak, broken, misguided prayers into what we would be asking for if we knew everything that God knows.

This is the kind of Help the Spirit provides. But we are also helped in understanding the ministry of the Spirit by the other little word in our phrase “another.” The Holy Spirit is another Helper. The Son of God who took on flesh, became a man: Jesus Christ, He was a helper, an advocate for His disciples. He has taught them and fellowshipped with them. More than that, He has born with their weaknesses and sins. Do you see the heart of God here? What is God like? He is the God who welcomes the weak. The Bible tells us that it was when we were sinners and enemies of God that the Son of God died for us. It wasn’t when we were righteous and loyal servants that Jesus laid down His life, which is what you expect. Usually, loyalty and faithfulness is rewarded. But in the economy of God, He loves the weak, and is willing to die for their sins to reconcile them to Himself. Friend, if you do not know God like that, you do not know God. The Bible teaches us that our sins earned the punishment of death, eternal separation from God, but the gift of God is that He Himself has taken that debt and paid for it, so that if you accept it from Him, you can have eternal life, even though you do not deserve it.

The Spirit of Truth

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. - John 14:16-17

Why is the Spirit referred to here as “the Spirit of truth”? Why not the “Spirit of power,” or the “Spirit of peace”? Surely, the Spirit is powerful and brings peace? Earlier, what did Jesus tell us about truth? “I am the way, the truth…” (John 14:6). Who is Jesus? He is the word of God (John 1:1-2). The Spirit is the Spirit of truth because He teaches us the words of Jesus, the very word of God. Jesus later prays for us to the Father: “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth,” (John 17:17). Notice, He doesn’t say, Your word is true…but your word is truth. God’s Word is not true in the sense that it aligns with truth; it is the truth because it reveals to us the person behind the Word: Truth itself, Jesus Christ.

What comes to your mind when you think of a “spiritual” person? “The Spirit was so present there…” what makes us say things like that?

1. A person has a lot of zeal, or passion for the Lord, a deep feeling. They are easily moved to tears or to joy, they are effervescent in their expressiveness.
2. A person or church displays remarkable signs. Healings, miracles, exorcisms, supernatural activity that cannot be explained aside from the intervention of God.
3. A person may be really, really nice.
4. A person may have inexplicable insight, a kind of “secret knowledge” to God’s will—”God spoke to me…God pressed it on my heart…I sense God’s leading, His will.”
5. A person may be very strict, austere, and disciplined: “I don’t own a TV or a smartphone.”

These are (I think) the most common ideas that come to mind when people talk about what it means to be “spiritual.” And these are not necessarily wrong! I hope that our church’s worship is passionate, our elders frequently anoint members of our church with oil and pray for healing, we pray for God to reveal His will to us, and we want to be very watchful about worldliness. But it is possible to to possess or pursue each one of those—to cry in worship, to speak in tongues, to sense God’s will, and to fast intensely—and not be filled with the Spirit. The prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel were extremely emotional and passionate in their worship. The Corinthian church thought that “impressive miraculous signs = godliness.” The false prophets of Israel thought that they knew God’s will as they avoided the uncomfortable truth of repentance and focused on the more popular truths that the kings wanted to hear. And the Pharisees were extremely austere and strict in their zealous pursuit of the Law.

The reason we often confuse these for a sign of the work of the Holy Spirit is that we often confuse the ministry of the Spirit with our feelings and intuitions. It feels like the Holy Spirit is at work when we *feel (*what we assume is) God’s presence as we read or pray or go to church. Ironically, churches that seem to put the largest emphasis on the Holy Spirit seem to be the most susceptible to this—they struggle to see how the Spirit may be able to operate and work, even in a way that does not immediately emotionally connect with them. But Jesus describes the Spirit here not as the Spirit of feeling or power, but of truth. And truth stands regardless of our feeling towards it. This is why John in his epistle tells us that we need to “test the spirits.”

In John’s church, there was a popular false teaching going around that denied that Jesus had really become a human being, that He really had a body, so John charges the church:

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, - 1 John 4:1-2

If you have to “test the spirits” that must mean that individual who has this false perspective is still exhibiting some spiritual characteristics. And it may feel like this other person is a spiritual person, but John offers a doctrinal test to scrutinize that claim. Why? Because the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth!

Later, Jesus tells us:

These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. - John 14:25-26

Later, Jesus will say, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth,” (John 16:13)

The Holy Spirit is the Teacher of God’s people. He is the way that the apostles were able to call to mind the teachings of Jesus as they recorded them down in the gospel accounts. He is the voice who carried Paul along as He wrote His letters to the churches. He is who inspired the prophets and kings of the Old Testament as they wrote the sacred Scriptures.

For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. -2 Pet 1:21 (see 2 Tim 3:16)

So, the promise of John 14:25-26 has a unique application to the apostles as the Spirit “brings to remembrance all that I have said to you,” as they pen Scripture. But it also applies to us in His ministry of teaching that Scripture! One of the gifts of the Spirit is the gift of teaching—Spirit-empowered proclamation and explanation and application of God’s Word from a pastor to a church, He gives wives husbands who wash them with the water of the word, and He gives children parents to train their children in the instruction of the Lord. But 1 Corinthians 2 makes it clear that the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit applies to every Christian as they read and listen God’s Word. You have the Spirit at work in you, helping you interact with the Bible, listen to sermons, translating and applying the truth to you personally, and discerning false teaching. Again, to return to John’s epistle:

But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge…26 I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. 27 But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him. - 1 John 2:20, 26-27

What is this “anointing”? It is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. And the Spirit guides His people in truth. John teaches us that all Spirit-filled Christians have the ability to discern true and false teaching. We need teachers—otherwise John would not be writing this letter, otherwise Jesus wouldn’t send teachers to His church, or have apostles write Scripture. But as we hear those teachers say, “thus says the Lord,” the Spirit is at work in us to help us discern “true or false?” But here is the critical point! How you are led by the Spirit in that evaluation IS NOT by feelings alone, but by the Spirit turning your mind and attention to what the Bible says.

The most Spirit-filled person is not the person who says, ‘This doesn’t feel right,’ but they are the person who says, “This doesn’t feel right because this doesn’t align with what God’s Word says, specifically, right here, in chapter and verse.” The most spiritual person is not the person who says, “If it doesn’t feel authentic it can’t be pleasing to God,” but they are those who say, “If it doesn’t feel authentic, but it is commanded in God’s Word, I will do it anyways.”

If someone tells you that you ought to listen to their advice or take their word seriously, but what they are advising or counseling has no basis in God’s Word, or even contradicts God’s Word, it does not matter if they tell you that they have the spiritual gift of discernment, that they had a dream or vision, that they can perform miraculous signs, that they fast three times a week, or that they are just really, really nice, doesn’t matter if the boy or girl is really cute, or if they have a million subscribers on YouTube…that voice is not the Spirit of God at work. The Spirit that leads us, points us to the very Words that He inspired.

Loving Obedience

If you love me, you will keep my commandments. - John 14:15

If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me. - John 14:23-24

We bristle uncomfortably at this. This sounds legalistic, we may say, or like it is making the certainty of our relationship with Jesus dependent on our obedience, like our loving connection with God hangs on how sinful or not sinful we are.

But it is not legalistic nor is it transforming our relationship with God into a works-based righteousness. Jesus is simply describing what an authentic relationship with Him will look like. If you had to describe a Christian as someone who more consistently kept Jesus’ commandments or broke them, which one would you choose? As someone who kept His word, or abandoned His word? What describes those who love Jesus? Jesus makes it plain: those who love Him, keep His word. Those who do not love him do not.

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. 3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. - 1 John 2:1-3

This helpfully shows us that John is not saying that the only people who are Christians are those who never sin. In fact, earlier, John says that if we act like we have not sinned, we are liars (1 John 1:6-11)! He writes these things so that we may not sin, but if we do, when do, when we break those commandments, Jesus Christ is our advocate who died to atone for our sins. But what do Spirit-filled Christians do when they see that? Their love for Jesus grows! And that love compels them to obedience. Even if it is imperfect obedience, even if it is pockmarked with sin and weakness—the GPS coordinates of their heart is: “God, I love you, and I want to obey you.”

But the person who can stare at what God’s Word plainly commands them…and say, “No, I will not obey. I will not give that up. I will not do what You are telling me.” That person is either a Christian walking in high-handed rebellion, grieving the Spirit and searing their conscience…or they have never known God. What has happened to both of them? They have substituted their feelings for truth.

It is so easy to become a victim to your feelings, to be trapped by them, and then confuse them for God’s voice, for the very Spirit itself.

• I don’t feel God’s presence
• I don’t feel forgiven. I feel nothing but shame and self-hatred.
• I don’t feel like I can resist this temptation.
• I don’t feel like what God is commanding me is possible.

I want to suggest one simple trick to help you when you are feeling something like that, and it is to ask yourself three simple words: “Is that true?”

Rely on those God has put in your life to speak and teach God’s word to you:

• Children to Parents
• Wives to Husbands
• Members to Pastors

How do you view God’s Word?

What is the connection here with the Holy Spirit? Why does Jesus intersperse these commands that love obeys His words right inbetween the teaching about the Spirit of truth and the Spirit teaching us His words?

The Spirit leads us into truth, but the Spirit also helps us love God:

God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. - Romand 5:5

God’s Word + God’s love = mastery over our flesh and passions. Head→Chest→Belly.

This is how we walk by the Spirit. The assumption is that in the ordinary course of our life, we will experience passions, urges, emotions, cravings that are against the Spirit, that do not align with truth. The first response to that is to interrogate the feeling: “Is this true?”

Then, if we find that it is not, but we still feel powerless to obey, we ask the Spirit to help us grow in our love of Jesus.

Now, feelings are important information, and they ought to align with truth! They are thermometers, but they are not thermostats. Later, Jesus will promise us:

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. - John 14:27

I think it makes most sense in this section to understand the “peace” that Jesus is referring to here as the peace that the Holy Spirit brings. This is the remedy to the anxiety and fear that the world and your flesh create. If you feel troubled and afraid today and do not feel the peace of God, then something is wrong. But the question for us at that point is: what do we then do? We have a choice. We either say, “Jesus has promised me in His Word to give me peace and to deliver me from my fears. My feelings are deceiving me right now, because His promises are true.” Or we say, “My feelings are my reality. Jesus and His Word are the deception.”