Never Alone

We have been doing a series of messages from the Gospel of John and today we are in John 14. In the beginning of this chapter, Jesus had just finished telling them that He is the only way, the only truth, and the only life and that the Father has been working through Him to accomplish His work and His will. He had also told them that one day, they would do even greater works to accomplish His Father’s work and will because He was going away to be with the Father.

In these last few hours before He is crucified Jesus is preparing the disciples for the inevitable and in John 14:1-14, the disciples were now filled with fear. Jesus is leaving us and how are we supposed to carry on the work without Him? He’s asking us to do the impossible. But Jesus challenges them to stay close to Him and assures them that He will send someone to help them on their journey after He’s gone. Let's open to Jn 14:15-31.

15“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. 16 I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, so that He may be with you forever; 17 the Helper is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him; but you know Him because He remains with you and will be in you.

18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you. 19 After a little while, the world no longer is going to see Me, but you are going to see Me; because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you are in Me, and I in you. 21 The one who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and the one who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will reveal Myself to him.” 22 Judas (not Iscariot) *said to Him, “Lord, what has happened that You are going to reveal Yourself to us and not to the world?” 23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will follow My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our dwelling with him. 24 The one who does not love Me does not follow My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.

25 “These things I have spoken to you while remaining with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and remind you of all that I said to you. 27 Peace I leave you, My peace I give you; not as the world gives, do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, nor fearful. 28 You heard that I said to you, ‘I am going away, and I am coming to you.’ If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29 And now I have told you before it happens, so that when it happens, you may believe. 30 I will not speak much more with you, for the ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in regard to Me, 31 but so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do exactly as the Father commanded Me. Get up, let’s go from here.

Jesus promises them here that they will not have to go through life alone, that they would never be alone. If they were going to follow Him and be able to do even greater works, even as times got tougher - they would need the:

Spirit of Truth

Spirit’s Power

Jesus Peace

Let’s look at the first aspect of the Holy Spirit as the:

Spirit of Truth

3 times in this passage in John 14 Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep My commandments. Jesus was going away, and His disciples were freaking out. They are fearful and anxious about being abandoned, left alone to fend for themselves, and try to accomplish the impossible without Him. If they were going to keep His commandments which included washing each other’s feet, loving each other as He had loved them, and for the Father to continue to do His work through them they would need to: 1. Stick together, in community, and 2. Wholly depend upon the Lord for their strength.

Jesus promised them that they would never be alone. When I speak about being alone, I am not referring to having personal time to rest and recharge. There’s nothing wrong with being “alone” where you are physically by yourself. And all of us need downtime, alone-time, but there is a difference between being alone and being lonely. Being “lonely” is an emotional state where you are feeling alone or disconnected from others – and that can happen even when people are right next to you. Jesus promised that the Spirit of Truth would personally and specifically speak what God wanted to say to them. He would be the means of Jesus' presence within them. He would guide them and enable them to find God’s will and teach them how to live according to God’s truth. His Spirit would be in them, comforting and strengthening them not just for a period of time but forever.