“Who’s In The House?”
John 14:1-18
Sermon Series: “Supernatural”
Introduction: Oswald Sanders has written this about the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, “Few biblical doctrines have caused such division and acrimony within the Church as this. One of the most subtle tactics adopted by the Enemy to paralyze the Church has been to make Christians afraid of the Holy Spirit. He has driven groups of earnest believers to adopt extreme positions on the right and on the left. He laughs as he sees neither group in complete enjoyment of the power and fullness the Spirit delights to bestow.”
1. The Holy Spirit is the Person of God in our lives.
A. He is a Person. John demonstrates in this passage by
using a masculine pronoun when spirit is a neuter noun. B. He is God. This is revealed by:
-Scripture Passages (Acts 5:1-4; 1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19)
-Nature (According to our passage, He is another of the “exact same kind” as Jesus because the Greek word “allos” is used.) -Characteristics (Eternal-Heb. 9:14, Creator-Gen. 1:2, all-powerful- Luke 1:35-37, omnipresent-Ps. 139:7, omniscent-1 Cor. 2:10-11)
Application: He is the 3rd person of the Trinity. He is not some ghost or influence or “active force.” Thus, we are to relate to Him as God like we do the Father and Son.
2. The Holy Spirit is the Presence of God in our lives. Our text tells us that the Holy Spirit “abide(s) with [us] forever,” that we know Him, and that “He dwells with [us] and will be in [us].” Jesus also went on to say in verse 18, “I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.” The way He did that is through the Holy Spirit. We are assured that God will never leave us or forsake us
(Hebrews 13:5) because His Spirit permanently indwells us (2 Timothy 1:14).
Application: This takes away our excuses and gives us a responsibility (1 John 4:4). However, it is also an awesome privilege, and it should be a great encouragement to know that God Himself indwells us and is our personal Comforter.
3. The Holy Spirit is the Power of God in our lives. Jesus Christ, the God-Man, lived a perfect life while He was on earth through the power of the Holy Spirit (Luke 3:21-22, 4:1, 14, 16-19). That same power is available to us today through His Spirit (v. 12, 16). Why would we want to attempt to live any other way than through the power of the Spirit? Here are some things that the Holy Spirit accomplishes in our lives by His divine power:
A. He reveals Jesus to us (John 15:27).
B. He teaches us spiritual truth (John 14:26, 1
Corinthians 2:11-14).
C. He unites Christians (Ephesians 4:3, Philippians 2:1). D. He prays for us when we struggle to pray (Romans
8:26-27).
E. He enables us to worship (Philippians 3:3). F. He guides us (Acts 8:29, 13:1-4, 16:6-10).
G. He transforms us into the likeness of Jesus (2
Corinthians 3:18).
Application: Zechariah 4:6 says, “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.” He has the power to enable us to live in the way that God desires for us.
Conclusion: Part of the way that we know that we are genuine Christians is the witness of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. 1 John 4:13 says, “By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit” (see also Romans 8:14-16).
Do you have that witness in your life? If you are a Christian, remember that “God does not give the Spirit by measure” (John 3:34). In other words, because the Spirit is a person, we have all of Him if He indwells us. The real issue is whether or not He has all of us. The way to really live out the Christian life is through being filled/controlled with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18).
