Title: Our eternal companions (John 14:12-24)
Content We continue to listen to the exposition of John 14.
When the Lord said that they had to die on the cross, unspeakable worries and worries arose in the hearts of the disciples.
They were worried that they would be the only ones left in the world after breaking up with their beloved teacher.
The Lord speaks of this in verse 1.
"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me."
And tell me two important reasons not to worry.
All.
From verse 2, it says that I am going to worship a place for you, and when a place is ready, I will come again to receive you, so that where I am, you may be also.
So there is nothing to worry about, our eternal dwelling place is prepared. There is no need to worry because you will go to that country whenever you die.
Then there is nothing to worry about, verse 16 says, “I will ask the Father, that he will give you another Comforter, that he may be with you forever.
In other words, I said the Spirit of Truth, which means the Holy Spirit.
Verse 17: The world cannot receive him, for it neither sees him nor knows him.
But you know him, and he abides with you and will be in you.
Romans 10:9 / If anyone does not have a Greek spirit, he is not a Greek.
Those who live in this world can never receive the Holy Spirit, but those who believe are with the Holy Spirit.
By the way, look at verse 18.
“I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
This means that the Lord is coming among us by the Holy Spirit.
He comes to us with the Holy Spirit so that we do not live like orphans.
This means that we will live as children of God, calling God Abba Father in this world.
As children of God, if our relationship with God is cut off, we are bound to become like orphans.
(Famous Chinese teacher Lim Eodang) - Originally, he was a theologian and knew God. And he has written many atheistic books. And later, when he returns to the Lord, the first words he says are, "The past 40 years of living without God have been like an orphan."
The Comforter, the Holy Spirit, comes among us and guides us to live with a certain belonging as children of God.
And the word comforter is paracletos, which means to call from the side or to speak.
In other words, it is always with us forever, encouraging, comforting, and interpreting God's work.
In a word, it means that He becomes our eternal companion in our lives.
However, focusing on today's text, some of the works of the Holy Spirit as a companion in our lives are introduced.
Let's think about it together.
1. Not only can we do the work of the Lord, but we can also do greater things than that.
See verse 12.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do, and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.”
The reason why this can be so is that it says, 'I am going to the Father.'
Joh 16:7 But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; the Counselor will not come to you unless I go away; but if I go, I will send him to you.
When the Holy Spirit comes, we will do the works of the Lord, and we will do even greater works than that.
In other words, this means that the Lord accomplishes what the Lord has done through the Holy Spirit within us.
The Lord accomplishes what He wants to do through those who have received the Holy Spirit.
Of course, the Lord has done all the fundamental and important things.
No matter how much we do the work of the Lord, we cannot accomplish the work of redemption that must be accomplished on the cross. Only the Lord can accomplish this life work.
However, we can do the work of spreading and sharing the history of this life.
In other words, what I did, they will do means, "I preached, you will evangelize, I served, you will serve, I have overcome, and you will have victory."
When we say that we will do bigger things, we mean that we can have a bigger history in terms of quantity.
For example, when Peter preached once after being filled with the Holy Spirit, 3,000 people repented at once.
However, if you think deeply about this, it was also accomplished through the event of the cross that the Lord accomplished.
When the Lord was crucified, there weren't that many people who believed.
However, later, as the church was established through the disciples, the evangelism work expanded throughout the world.
The word of the Lord is saying this.
Obviously, the Lord is still alive today, and He uses those who have received His Holy Spirit to accomplish what He wants to do. It doesn't matter if it appears to be greater than what the Lord has done in this world.
He wants a greater work of evangelism, a greater work of service, and a greater work of miracles to take place.
It is only through the work of the Holy Spirit. Let's not limit ourselves. We are all people who have received the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is our companion.
Do not limit his history and his abilities, believe. We too can do the Lord's work, and even the seemingly greater work can be accomplished like a dream.
2. It means that we will live a life in which we receive what we ask for through the Holy Spirit, who is our eternal companion.
John 14:13,14 Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in my name, I will do it.
The important word here is whatever you ask in my name! I pray in the name of Jesus - there is no magic in it
I believe that this verse should be interpreted in comparison with the following verses.
John 14:26 The Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and will remind you of all that I have said to you.
You said that if you ask in my name, you will hear me, but it is the Holy Spirit who sends you in my name. Then, this Holy Spirit teaches everything, not just teaching, but reminding us of what the Lord has said. It is the word of God.
In other words, it is the fact that the Holy Spirit who has come in my name will hear what I ask as he has taught me in me.
In other words, it is the fact that our Lord hears us because of his name when we ask according to the work of the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, who is speaking to us, that is, according to the work he has spoken to me through the Word of God.
And that's what I'm going to do.
Who does the implementation? Our Lord is doing it.
All I need to do is to ask according to the Holy Spirit, and it is the Holy Spirit who gives it to me.
Let us consider for a moment the appearance of false prophets who appeared once in Matthew 7.
Matthew 7:21 - Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, "Lord, Lord, we prophesy in your name, Have you not cast out demons in your name, and have performed many mighty works in your name? Then I will tell them plainly, I never knew you.
If we do it in the name of the Lord, it is only what our Lord has done.
However, it is said that we should not mistake the name as if we had implemented it.
Those who do the Lord's work must be humble to the end.
If you work a little and talk a lot, you can't do it if you're not humble enough to do something.
3. To love the Lord and keep His commandments.
John 14:15 If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
It is the Holy Spirit who gives us strength to keep the word of the Lord and live a life of loving God by following it.
Unless the Spirit of the Lord fills us and gives us strength, we cannot bear it.
The Holy Spirit, the eternal companion of our lives, empowers us to live in obedience to God's commandments.
He especially teaches us to love and live.
Among those who claim to receive the Holy Spirit and work at work, there are many people who have bad Christian ethics. That's not right.
A person who has received the Holy Spirit does not become strange, but appears as a person who keeps God's commandments well.
The roles of salt and light are not different, but they are in walking with the Holy Spirit and obeying God's word.
(In a book written by Professor Kim In-soo) He points out that many of the problems that Korea is experiencing today come from the fact that the Korean church does not live its life according to the word.
If you go to an apartment in Gangnam where there are 10 million Christians or more middle-class people, you can see that at least one of them has a church plaque or a Catholic nameplate.
It is said that almost half of the people who are leading Korean society economically and intellectually know Jesus Christ and receive the lessons of the Bible.
It is said that our society will be bright if these people do what they are supposed to do as Christians.
(Seawater) content is barely
3.4%. Even with this alone, sea water does not rot.
There are 25%, but why is it being said that they are rotten? It is the fact that the number of Christians is more rotten than Japan and Taiwan, where only 1% of the Christian population is.
The Spirit-filled life of the disciples of the Early Church and the life of the Early Church began to be praised by the world.
Later they turned the world upside down and became a Christian nation.
A life that bears fruit through the work of the Holy Spirit is important.