For as long as it takes we are going to study the gospel of
John chapters fourteen to seventeen. Some of it will be what I have already
written and some will be new. Therefore it may sometimes appear that I leave
off in the middle of a topic to be continued, since I have reached my daily
word count limit. We will also return to placing a blog posting daily for the
time being.
In order to follow this you ought to have read from the first
posting in the series – John 14 (One).
"If you love me, you will obey what I command. And
I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counsellor to be with you
forever - The Spirit of truth," (John 14:15-16).
When Jesus spoke the words in John 14:13-14, I can
imagine the disciples thinking: Wow, whatever we ask in His name - how about a
nice something to make life comfortable? Maybe they had a new fishing boat or a
bigger house in mind. Jesus, however, added some water to their fire in
the above passage. He basically said: ‘If you love me, you will do as I say and
also make use of the offer to ask for whatever you need to get the task done.’
He added in the same breath that He would ask the Father to give the Holy Spirit.
Did you see the condition? ‘If you love me’ you will prove it ‘by obeying my
commands’, and to help you I will ask the Father to give you the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is called a counsellor. What is the
work of a counsellor? Is it not to guide us in discovering truth about
ourselves? Is it not to guide us in the way we should go? If one for example
consults a marriage counsellor, she will have two purposes in mind - to get
both partners to see where they individually have gone wrong in the course of
the marriage, and then to guide them in the necessary action to put things
right. This Counsellor is called the Spirit of Truth and His task is to counsel
us in the truth.
Here is where many Christians get deceived. I once
drove behind a vehicle that had the following written on the rear window: ‘Have
you experienced the Holy Spirit power’. On the door was the emblem of a church
organisation. I asked myself whether that is what the Holy Spirit is all about
– to have some sensational experience. Paul summarised the role of the Holy
Spirit well in 2 Timothy 1:7: "For God has not given us the spirit of
fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind" (KJV). Although the
context is somewhat different, the truth is the same. The Holy Spirit works in
three ways:
·
Through power - 1 Corinthians 2:4: "My
message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a
demonstration of the Spirit's power,” and in 1 Thessalonians 1:5: "Because
our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the
Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your
sake." Miracles were many – of that we have enough evidence from the book
of Acts - but the power spoken of in these passages is power related to
preaching, conviction and lifestyle.
We therefore need the Holy
Spirit to counsel us in how He wants us to implement His power to change the
hearts of the people to God; whether by miracles, conviction or His gifts. His
power is not meant for the church to draw people to a sensational meeting in
order to make us look good or to increase the popularity of the church, but to
assist us in building the Kingdom of God.
·
Through love. Since the Holy Spirit is the
Spirit of love, His task is to counsel us how to love one another. Only through
love toward one another (John 13:35: By this all men will know that you are my
disciples, if you love one another) and toward our enemies (Luke 6:27: But I tell you who hear me: Love
your enemies, do good to those who hate you) we will be able to build the
Kingdom of God and at the same time love the Lord, since we then
obey His commands.
·
Through a sound mind. This is a very
important role of the Holy Spirit. Why? Because the devil goes out of his way
to confuse God’s people. One only has to look at all the deception under the
name of Christianity to understand this, leave alone the battle of the mind
that every Christian experiences. The meaning of the Greek word for sound mind is
self-control and is translated in the NIV as self-discipline.
The Holy Spirit therefore has the task to counsel us
how to always have God’s mind concerning His Kingdom, and how to exercise
self-control when dealing with all the power and knowledge we get exposed to
when being involved with God’s Kingdom. He will guide us away from ourselves
towards the Lord who deserves all the glory.
I submit to your
guidance Holy Spirit, so I can prove my love through obedience.
Thank you Lord that
your Word went out from your mouth, via your servant’s pen, and it will not
return to you empty, but will accomplish what you desire and achieve the
purpose for which you sent it.
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