Words Of Promise And Challenge

John 14:15-21

A word of promise and comfort, and a word of challenge.  That is what our passage of Scripture for today gives. Our verses are contained in the great discourse that Jesus gave to His disciples in the upper room right after the Last Supper.  The words of promise that Jesus told the eleven remaining apostles (Judas having already departed to betray Jesus), was that He would be sending the Holy Spirit to them (vs. 16-18). The challenge Jesus also gives is that if we love Him we will keep His commandments (vs. 15, 21).

Let’s start by looking at the promise Jesus has given in our passage. Jesus had been telling the disciples that He would be leaving them, not only when He would be taken and executed, but also after His resurrection when He would return to heaven.  As this was slowly beginning to sink in, Jesus gives them words of comfort by promising to send the Holy Spirit to them, as a Helper, a Comforter, One who is called alongside to aid and assist.  The Holy Spirit is God’s presence within us, helping us to live as God wants. He came down upon the disciples on the day of Pentecost, described in Acts 2:1-4, and been with every believer from that day forward.  If we are believers the Holy Spirit is continually with us, actually indwelling us, and we can appropriate His power by faith each day.

When the word “another” is used in verse 16, it means someone just like Jesus, who will take His place and do His work.  The Holy Spirit is equally as divine as Jesus and the Father are. He is also the source of all truth, and He communicates that truth to His own, i.e. all believers (vs. 17).

Throughout this discourse Jesus gives us some truths about the Holy Spirit. First, He will be with believers forever (14:6). He will never leave us, as we also read in Hebrews 13:5.  Next, the world, the unsaved, cannot receive the Holy Spirit, but He lives with and in us believers (14:17).  All believers have the Holy Spirit indwelling them. Thirdly, the Holy Spirit teaches us and reminds us of Jesus’s words (14:26; 15:26).  Next, He convicts us of sin, shows God’s righteousness, and announces His judgment (16:8). Another truth about the Holy Spirit is that He also guides us into truth (16:13), and He brings glory to Christ (16:14).

After one has accepted Jesus as their Savior, and has received the Holy Spirit, we have several things that the lost, unsaved world does not have.  One is that we now have a supernatural Helper (vs. 16-17). We receive eternal life in heaven, which the lost do not have (vs. 19). We now have a union with God (vs. 20-25).  We also now have a divine Teacher through the Holy Spirit, which the world does not have (vs. 26). And finally, all believers, who now also have the Holy Spirit, can have divine peace, no matter what circumstances they are going through (vs. 27).

The second message that Jesus gave us in this passage is a challenge. He told His disciples that night after the Last Supper that if we truly love Him then we will keep His commandments (vs. 15, 21).  We cannot truly love God but live in disobedience to Him. Obedience honors God. It will bring a life that pleases Him. Obedience brings peace.  It brings joy in serving God. Obedience also brings us comfort in our sufferings, relief from guilt, and assurance of God’s blessings.

Obedience is a sign of genuine love for God.  Love equals obedience. We cannot truly love God, but be disobedient to His Word, the Bible. Love for God is shown by our commitment and conduct. If we love God, prove it by doing what He says.