John 16:14

Amen. Scripture this morning is taken from the 16th chapter of the gospel of John, and we'll read once again verse 14, that's John chapter 16, verse 14. He will glorify me for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. May God richly bless both the reading and the hearing of his holy word. There are a few things that I want to consider from this passage, as Jesus is preparing his disciples part of the upper room discourse, as he is preparing them for his impending crucifixion and subsequent resurrection. He is reminding them and preparing them for life after the physical ministry of Jesus. And particularly in this particular or in this chapter, the emphasis is on the coming work or the coming person of the Holy Spirit and his work among his disciples. In some places he talks about the unique work of the Spirit that is unique to the disciples that were present, and in other places he speaks of the work of the Spirit, the ongoing and continuing work of the Spirit until the Lord returns among all of the saints. And in this particular verse, that's exactly what Jesus is doing. He is emphasizing the unique or the work of the Spirit that will be common among believers until the Lord returns. So the first thing that I'd like to do and looking at this particular passage is to acknowledge that in this verse, in verse 14 of this chapter, the 16th chapter of John, Jesus gives us a concise yet comprehensive summary of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. He gives us a concise yet comprehensive summary of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. We know that in other places of scripture and particularly in the gospel of John, Jesus tells us that the Spirit gives life. In other words, he is the agent of regeneration and that unless you are born of the Spirit, you will have no part in the kingdom. But yet in this passage, he doesn't deal with those particulars. But he gives us in broad terms, yet in very concise language, a comprehensive summary of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. And it really falls in two parts. Jesus gives us two parts of this comprehensive work of the Spirit. Number one, he gives us the aim of the Spirit's work, the aim of the work of the Spirit until the Lord returns. And boy, that's an important one because many people are claiming evidence or the power or the presence of the Spirit, but it seems to be disconnected from what Jesus says the aim of the Spirit is. The aim of the Spirit's work, he tells us in this verse, is to glorify me. The aim of the Spirit's work, whatever else's work is, the aim of the Spirit's work is to glorify Jesus. And so brothers and sisters, there's no such thing as people being full of the Spirit and empty of Jesus. There's no such thing as being excited and motivated by the Spirit and dispassionate and distant from Jesus. The work of the Spirit, the aim of the Spirit is to bring glory to the person of Jesus. It is to glorify Jesus. That's what he's here for. That's what he is given for. Not to tickle our fancy. The aim of the Spirit is not to give us extraordinary individual subjective experiences that are disconnected from glorifying Jesus. And so it is interesting that in many generations, in fact, John Owen, in the 16th century, one of my favorite theologians, one of my closest friends, John Owen has noted during, at least even in the 16th century, he notes this movement within the church, claiming all of this energy of the Spirit but void of the knowledge of Jesus. He acknowledges this new definition at that time. He refers to it as a new work of the Spirit. And he questions it, not in terms of the legitimacy of the things that they claim, but he questions it based on the void of the knowledge of Jesus. I know in our own century, we've had many claims of the Spirit. We have lived through, or people are descendants of the whole Azusa street experience where people experience what they call a knowledge or an empowering of the Spirit, but it did not lead to a greater knowledge of Jesus. We have seen laughing revivals and we have heard of all sorts of things, a revival breaking out over here and revivals breaking out over there, but was the end result a clearer understanding of the person and work of Jesus? It doesn't seem to be the case. We are more confused than ever, or as confused as ever when it comes to who Jesus is. So Jesus tells us that when the Spirit comes, here is what he will do. He doesn't say what he will try to do because the Spirit is sovereign just as Jesus is. And so therefore, we will know that the Holy Spirit is at work wherever Jesus is glorified. But not only does he tell us the aim of the Spirit's work, he also tells us, tells his disciples how the Holy Spirit will glorify him. And that's something that we often overlook. How would the Spirit glorify Jesus? And he says, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. That's how he will glorify Jesus, the Holy Spirit will take what is Jesus, what belongs to him, what is accomplished by him, what is true of him, and he will declare it to his disciples. And in that way, Jesus is glorified. He will, he says, the Spirit will come and when the Spirit comes, he will glorify me and how will he do it by taking what is mine and declaring it to you. That's a comprehensive statement that takes into consideration a many number of things. And so that's why this is such a powerful and potent statement even though it's only a few words because Jesus says definitively that the Spirit will glorify him. And he says specifically that the Spirit will glorify him by taking what belongs to him, what is in association with the Son and declaring it to his disciples. Well, that brings us to a second consideration. And that consideration is this. It's really in the form of three questions because Jesus tells us that the Spirit will glorify him and he will glorify him by taking what is Jesus and declaring it to his church. So then, that brings us to three questions. And the three questions are first off, what does Jesus mean when he says the Spirit will take what is mine and declare it to you? That has to be raised. We can't assume and too often Christians we hear phrases, we hear words and we assume we know what it means but that has to be answered because many people are supplying various answers. What does it mean for the Spirit to take what belongs to Jesus and declare it to us? And the second thing, the second question has to be this, how does the Spirit declare what is Christ to us? So what does it mean that he will declare and then secondly, how does he declare? But then there's a third question that I think rises out of this somewhat naturally and that is why is it necessary? Why does the Spirit need to do this? And so let's consider all three of these things. First off, what does Jesus mean when he says that the Spirit will declare what is his to his disciples? So what does he mean by this? What does he mean when he speaks this to the disciples and what does this mean for us who are his disciples by extension? Because Jesus says definitively that the Spirit will glorify him by declaring what belongs to him to his disciples and I would suggest that the Holy Spirit will and does declare what is Christ by disclosing to us the riches of grace that are hidden in Christ. He declares by disclosing and he discloses to us the riches of grace that are hidden in Christ in terms first of the excellency of his person. So the Holy Spirit declares to us what belongs to Christ first by disclosing to us the excellency of his person. Paul says in 1 Corinthians chapter 12 verse 3 that no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Spirit. Now Paul also tells us in Philippians chapter 2 that he has been exalted that every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord and in saying so what Paul is indicating that Jesus has been elevated as Lord of all. He is Lord of all of the earth and what the Holy Spirit does is disclose to us. He declares in declaring saying that he is declaring all things that belong to Christ. He discloses to us that Jesus of Nazareth is exalted above all. He discloses to us the richness, the excellency of the person of Jesus. He reveals that to us. He discloses that to us and so what he declares to us is the Lordship of Jesus. There's no wonder brothers and sisters that in the early church that one of the one of the rallying cries of the early church was Maranatha. Jesus is Lord. Jesus is Lord and so we see them confronting the religious and political officials that no Caesar is Caesar but Jesus is Lord. Jesus is Lord. Caesar is ruler but Jesus is Lord. The Holy Spirit declares to believers the excellency of the person of Jesus that he is Lord exalted above all others. We are not confused by the nails. We are not confused and tripped up by the cross. He is Lord. And so the Holy Spirit declares to us that Jesus is Lord exalted above all others and so we submit to him. We acknowledge him. We worship him and him only because only Jesus is Lord. And brothers and sisters that doesn't come from reading good material. That doesn't come from that doesn't come from going to good conferences. Jesus tells Peter the only place that comes from is from the Father himself. That's what Jesus says at Caesarea Philippi when he says who do men say that I am in all of the leaders all of the disciples of Jesus gave all of the various answers and then he says but who do you say that I am? And Peter spoke for us all. You are the son of the living God. And Jesus says you're absolutely right Peter and you didn't get that from three years of just hanging out with me but my father has revealed that to you. And what the Holy Spirit does in a world that is declining in terms of understanding we were talking about this morning in our Sunday school that we live in a culture that has no respect for authority. And because we have no respect for authority we have we have little concern about Jesus as Lord. We rather talk about him as Santa Claus. But Jesus is Lord. Santa Claus you write with list two. The Lord you worship and you submit yourself to you humble yourself under his authority. The only knowledge the only way that we can know that Jesus is Lord is by the Holy Spirit. So the Holy Spirit declares to us the work of Christ and the worthiness of Christ by revealing to us the exalted person of Jesus. So what does it mean for the Holy Spirit to declare what is Jesus? The Spirit declares by disclosing and what He discloses to us is the excellency of Jesus that He and He alone is Lord. Brothers and sisters it's interesting that in understanding the Lordship of Christ it puts us in our place. You see when Paul tells wives to submit to their own husbands he doesn't say just submit to your husband because he's a man and you're a woman he says no you're a believer. And if you are a believer you've been brought under the Lordship of Christ. So therefore submit to your own husbands even as unto the Lord. Peter is concerned about this when he tells servants to be submissive to their masters and people say well you don't know my boss he's this and the other he says no don't look at your boss. Look at your Savior. Submit to your to those who have ruled over you as unto the Lord. You can't do that by yourself. There's no 10, 12 steps that's going to help you do that. Can't submit until you know that Jesus is Lord and the degree to which we know that he is Lord is the degree to which we are able and willing to submit to his authority even as this broken down and extended through frail, faulty human individuals because ultimately as Peter says that we don't serve and as Paul himself says we don't serve men we're ultimately serving God but we serve God through serving men. And the Spirit declares to us that Jesus is Lord and in declaring to us that Jesus is Lord he shows us why he's worthy of our submission. He's worthy of our obedience but brothers and sisters not only does the Spirit disclose to us the worthiness of Jesus as our Lord but the Spirit also discloses to us the sufficiency of Jesus finished work. That's how he declares to us what is his what is what belongs to Jesus he does this by disclosing to us the sufficiency of the finished work of Jesus. Hebrews chapter 10 verse 14 says this for by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. Oh brothers and sisters the Holy Spirit reveals to us that we who are in Christ are perfected. The Holy Spirit reveals to us he he declares Christ by disclosing to those who are brought under the lordship of Christ that everything that is necessary for life and godliness has been accomplished by Jesus Christ there is not one Iota that has been left in your salvation therefore as broken as you are as fragile as you are as imperfect as you are as up and down as you are as my father would say as some timey as you are in the eyes of God you are fixed in righteousness and nothing can change it. Why because that's what he has accomplished so the spirit discloses to believers the finished work of Christ and the finished work of Christ takes us back to Calvary's cross where Jesus himself said it is finished so get off the treadmills of trying to do better it is finished stop sending up lumber because it is finished stop hoping that he will so that it is finished and the spirit discloses to us that the work of pleasing the Father is finished so that we who are being sanctified have been completed and perfected in Jesus the spirit brothers and sisters the spirit has been given to us by Jesus to declare to us that Jesus is Lord and to declare to us that the work of Christ that is necessary for our salvation is sufficient and complete sufficient and complete but then that brings us to a second question then how does the spirit how does the spirit declare the excellency of the person of Christ and how does the spirit declare the sufficiency of the finished work of Christ how does he do it and brothers and sisters that is the million dollar question I meant to bring and God sanctifies us in different ways because you know I'm twisted I'm fall and I'm broken and so I meant this morning to bring a special gift for our deacons before we came out to service this week I met with some people and and brother was gracious enough to give me a box that on it it has two lines one says frankincense and right under it it says anointing oil and so it was my intention to anoint all of our deacons and ministers before we came out and then tell them belated April fools but God is greater than our twisted sense of humor but I do have it and perhaps sometime in the future and the reason I'm mentioning that brothers and sisters because here's the question how does the spirit declare which means to disclose how does he disclose to us the excellency of the person of Christ and the sufficiency of the finished work of Christ and there are a million religious charlatans that are out there trying to tell you how the spirit is disclosing and that box or that bottle of oil is only one so then how does the spirit declare how does he do it does he speak to us individually does he give us some holy ocean no no brothers and sisters I would say that the spirit discloses the spirit declares to us the excellency of the person of Christ and the sufficiency of the finished work of Christ in two ways he does it verbally in the preaching and teaching of the gospel notice what I said in the preaching and teaching of the gospel the gospel in particular the the whole word of God the whole Bible is the inspired word of God the whole Bible ultimately points us to the person and work of Christ but the gospel is but a part of God's word and what the spirit does is through the proclamation through the preaching of the gospel through the teaching of the gospel and the gospel is a particular message the gospel is not just all of the Bible the ten commandments are not gospel no the ten commandments are holy and true and they are the word of God but there's no gospel in it because the ten commandments tell you what you ought to do and if you if you don't have a gospel associated with the ten commandments it will either destroy you or it will contribute to your self deception how many of us have looked at the ten commandments and figured out the ones that we have kept don't hold your hands up you see brothers and sisters the ten commandments show us what we ought to do but for everything that it shows us that we ought to do it's also showing us what we can't do that's why I don't like my wife likes these these house shows and you know people buying stuff in different places I don't like to look at them I that's why I don't like going window shopping I hate window shopping because it reminds me of what I don't have and unless I'm shopping for windows I'm not window shopping when I go to the store I'm I go to the store with the clearance understanding of what I can and cannot do I don't want to see somebody's buying a million dollar measure that's that's out of my league I'm not looking at that ten commandments are like that they tell us to love God with all of our heart soul and strength and I look at it and I say boy that's good but I can't do it you see Jesus is not declared when we just talk about the ten commandments but the spirit declares to us the excellency of the person of Christ and the sufficiency of this finished work by showing us what Christ has done and what Christ has done is given to us in gospel it's not just reading the Bible but it's reading the Bible as we've said before the law is everything that God demands and the gospel is everything that he gives and what he gives in the gospel is what he demands in the law so therefore what I need is an acknowledgement of what Jesus has done and it's what Jesus has done that is gospel and so the spirit therefore declares to believers the finished work of Christ and the excellency of the person of Christ by taking us specifically to the gospel and by showing us in various portions of scripture what God promises and how Christ fulfills it so how does he do this he doesn't do it by whispering into your ear but the spirit is at work when the word is opened up when the gospel is opened up and expounded if you have ears to hear it is because the spirit has uncorked your ears if you have a minister who is faithful and opening up the person in work of Christ it is because the spirit has used him and moves upon him to show you the things of Jesus that's how the spirit declares the excellency of Christ that's how the spirit declares to us the sufficiency of the finished work of Christ by by the word preached by the gospel preach and taught brothers and sisters not only is he is he depicted to us in in word verbally but the spirit also shows us or first off in in declaring to us the excellency of Christ and and specifically in declaring to us the the sufficiency of this finished work the spirit walks us through the whole of scriptures and shows us those places of promise and fulfillment so therefore through the leadership of the spirit and through the guiding of the spirit we are able to declare that Jesus of Nazareth is the Lamb of God as John the Baptist says who takes away the sins of the world because the spirit declares the things of Christ and the excellency of the person of Christ we are able to look in Genesis 3 15 and know that Jesus is the seed of the woman that crushes the head of the serpent we are able to read in the in John's gospel that Jesus is indeed the good shepherd the good shepherd that that lays down his life for his sheep but the good shepherd that also goes out and seeks after his sheep if we have any sense of clarity we know that Jesus is the good Samaritan not us it is Jesus that goes out of this way and pays the debt that he does not owe and takes the one that has been broken by the world and says I'll be back to take care of and that's Jesus it is the spirit that enables us and takes us to the scriptures so that we would know that Jesus is the servant's son that is well pleasing to the Father the spirit is the one that enables us to recognize through the scriptures that Jesus is the one to whom the Holy Spirit has been given without measure as we search the scriptures we know through the leading of the spirit that Jesus when the word is opened up and and the word is expounded we know that Jesus is Emmanuel God with us we know that he is the word made flesh dwelling among us we know that in him the glory of the Father is revealed he is the only mediator between God and man and he is the forever high priest who has entered in behind the veil as our forerunner telling those who are already there they're coming brothers and sisters it is the Holy Spirit that reminds us through the scriptures that Jesus is the sin bearer that Jesus is our only atonement that Jesus is our Savior that Jesus is the satisfyer of the Father's will and he is the one who has received the Father's wrath and everything that is verbalized in the proclamation of the word is visualized in the Lord's supper and in baptism and the spirit tells us verbally who Jesus is he shows us visually what Jesus has done and so when we baptize it's not that we need to be re-baptized and therefore brothers and sisters we see in Paul's writings in Romans chapter 6 and under the doctrine of or in dealing with the resurrection of Jesus he takes us to the doctrine of sanctification it is because we have been crucified with Christ and therefore raised by Christ that we are to walk in the newness of life and so therefore the Holy Spirit discloses to us the excellency of the person of Christ and he demonstrates for us in the physical sacrament what Jesus is and so when we come to baptism we see him as the victim that has been crucified buried and raised again by the power of God on the third day when we come to the table how can we not hear him say all over again this is my body which is broken for you and this is my blood which was shed for you so we get it in visual form because the Holy Spirit and it is only by the Spirit that we can properly discern the body and blood of Jesus Christ the Spirit the Spirit declares to us the excellency of Christ through the proclamation of the gospel and through participation in the Lord's supper as well as in baptism it is the Spirit that demonstrates to us all that Jesus is and all that Jesus has done on our behalf so when Jesus says that he will glorify me he tells us with the end or the aim of all that the Spirit does it is to bring attention and bring glory to the Son so how will he do it he will do it by declaring what is mine to you and how will he declare what is his he does it when the word of God when the gospel of grace is opened up the Spirit is declaring the work of Christ and brothers and sisters every time we come to the Lord's table and every time we have the ability to witness the baptism of others what we see played out before our eyes is the covenant ritual and ceremony where the Father is cutting off his son for the benefit of the elect every time we come to the table it is God ratifying to us all of the mercies all of the benefits all of the accomplishments of Jesus he's accomplishing he's re-reinterrating it to us he's re-interrating it to us that by his blood we have been brought near and so therefore the Spirit through the the verbal proclamation of the gospel and through the physical participation of the sacraments declares to us the excellency of the person of Christ and the sufficiency of his finished work that brings us to the third question then and that is why does the Spirit need to do this why does the Spirit need to declare to us who have been regenerated by the Spirit why does the Spirit need to declare to us the excellency of the person of Jesus and why does the Spirit need to reiterate to us the sufficiency of his finished work don't we have Bibles why does the Spirit need to declare this why is this necessary and I would suggest for a few reasons number one it is necessary because it is the aim of Satan who is described in 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 as the God of this world it is the aim of Satan to blind our minds from what is given to us in the gospel you see we are told in 2nd Corinthians 4 that Paul says that if our gospel is hidden it's only hidden to those whose minds have been blinded by the God of this world lest they believe in the gospel of God's grace in the person of Jesus Christ and brothers and sisters at the level of evangelism Satan doesn't want the cross of Christ and the person of Christ to be exalted because then he knows he's defeated so he wants to keep the cross hidden from unbelievers so they'll continue to climb Jacob's ladder he wants them he wants to hide from them the only way by which we can be brought into right relationship with God but brothers and sisters he doesn't just want unbelievers to not see Christ he doesn't want believers to see Christ he wants us to be absorbed by anything but the message of his cross because nothing promotes self sacrifice other than the cross of Christ nothing endears within us a love for God and the love for the people of God the way we all accept the cross of Christ and so Satan doesn't want it and so we need the spirit to continue to declare to us the excellency of the person of Christ and the sufficiency of the finished work of Christ because Satan wants us to think that something else and someone else is more excellent and Satan wants us to think that there's more work that needs to be done but secondly brothers and sisters we need the spirit to continue to declare to us the excellency of the person of Christ and the sufficiency of this finished work because our outward circumstances are not always indicators of these things you see in other words we need the we need the spirit to continue to declare to us that Jesus is more excellent even as we suffer because our outward circumstances sometimes don't indicate that we have this standing before God Paul tells us that we are seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus but sometimes the only thing that we can see is the heart seat of oppression that is next to us and we need the spirit to therefore tell us as we are in court rooms and hospital rooms we need the spirit to tell us that Jesus is more excellent we need the spirit to tell us that Jesus is more excellent than all of the trials that we can endure that Jesus is more excellent and he is with us when we go through these things because our circumstances sometimes make us question and our circumstances make us sometimes wonder where is he but thirdly brothers and sisters I would suggest that we need we need the Holy Spirit to continue to impress upon us continue to declare to us the excellency of the person of Christ and the sufficiency of this finished work because our continuing struggles with sin necessitates that we are continually renewed and renewed by and reminded of the fact that Jesus is more excellent brothers and sisters can I tell you something that James tells us but I think it's fleshed out and all of our experiences what is it that makes us sin what is it and don't just put it in big categories whatever the sin is whether it's lying whether it's cheating whether it's failing to love our neighbors as we ought failing to show compassion and love for our brothers whether it's lustful whether it's of the flesh whether it's just nasty whether it's dormant whatever sin it is what is it that causes us to do it but James says it begins with desire here's the truth of our fallen state others and sisters sometimes we will desire that which God forbids we will desire it and we will try to rationalize justify why we said why we did why we went why we look we will justify it but here's the bottom line we desired something more than we desired our savior somehow we did not look at him as the Lord of our life somehow we did not look at our being received by him as the most excellent thing in all of the world somehow it wasn't enough for us to be snatched as a brand from the burning and placed in his family somehow it wasn't enough for him to take us out of hell and put us in heavenly places and somehow our affections and our appetites and our attitudes towards others does not reflect who we are in Jesus a brothers and sisters is for this reason that Jesus says that the spirit will come and when he comes here's what he's going to do he's going to glorify me and the reason for continuing sin is because we seek to glorify yourself and what the spirit does is he declares to us something and someone we're excellent then we can imagine brothers and sisters take your most recent sin don't try to let's not try to get so holy well Lord search with me you don't have to search you don't worry this he searched for lost car keys our sins are more evident than that brothers here's brothers and sisters here's why we need the holy spirit because he needs to tell us that whatever that sin is that we have deemed more important for us than Jesus is not more excellent we need the spirit to show us that Jesus is more excellent Jesus is more desirable that Jesus is more pure that Jesus is more satisfying than and you feel in the blanky why we need Jesus to tell us he'll send his spirit what is it that'll cause men and women to turn from their sin you say well nothing but the blood of Jesus but but now it's not just ABC like that what is it that will make us see the blood of Jesus as being more precious than silver and gold it is the Holy Spirit when men and women buy nice cars and expensive cars you see they don't cross they don't park in two spaces when they get a new civic right or new Kia they don't want anybody to ding it but they're not going to park they're not going to risk a ticket just to protect it when men think their property is so important that they don't want to run the risk they they protect it and here's why we need the spirit to declare to us the excellency of Jesus so that we would have a proper valuation of who Jesus is and what he's done we need to see the fact that we are not only purchased at a price but we've been purchased with the purpose and the purpose is that we would yield our bodies as instruments of righteousness and Jesus says the spirit has come to declare to us all that he is and all that he has given and what he's given us brothers and sisters is freedom and we need the spirit to declare that what is it how is it that he declares what is it that he declares and why do we need him to declare it because Jesus is the end all as the writer ASAP says in Psalm 73 he says this about God he says whom do I have on earth but you and whom do I have in heaven but you we need the spirit to declare to us that Jesus is our greatest gay and therefore he's our greatest joy let me give a concluding thought here therefore point three brothers and sisters as you hear the gospel and as you receive of the Lord's table here's what I pray I pray that you that the spirit would declare to you that Jesus is Lord that the spirit would declare to you through the word spoken and through the supper that is received that the spirit would declare to you that Jesus indeed was broken and wounded so that you could be healed I pray that the spirit would declare to you that for those for whom the the sun was wounded I want you to know that you are free I pray that the spirit would declare to you that you are free indeed you say but I I've been going back to that same sin but you're still free stop volunteering your service you're free now you're no longer a servant of that bad habit you're no longer a servant of bad thinking you're free to think in Jesus Christ you are free you're free from the bondage that others have inflicted on you I want you to know that as you partake that the sun has demonstrated the fathers for giftedness and therefore there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus therefore brothers and sisters do not resist the spirit do not quench the spirit do not grieve the spirit because the spirit declares through to you through these elements the exalted person of your savior and the sufficiency of this finished work you are free you are saved you are sanctified you are set apart in him and you are children of the most high God amen