“The Spirit of Truth”
John 15
26 When the Counsellor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me.
The Spirit of truth that comes from the Father is also known as the Helper/Comforter/Counsellor.
Paracletos in Greek – it means the person who comes shoulder to shoulder with you, alongside you.
He comes down to our level. He spoke to the multitudes at Pentecost. He spoke to all the different language groups and they all understood. The Helper/Comforter/Counsellor – comes down to your level. The Spirit will convict the world of sin in a way they will understand. He is also our advocate. He comes to help and assist in many different ways. The Lord said He will come and help just as He have done. He had helped solve their problems. The Lord came to their help even when they asked very difficult questions. When the helper comes whom I shall send to you from the Father-it’s the same for us today. He is in the midst of our problems. He comes and convicts us of sin and shows us where we have gone wrong- that is also His way of comforting.
He is the Holy Spirit. It is very important. This Truth springs forth from the Father himself. Ananias and Sapphira lied; they didn’t tell the others that they had kept half. The love of money is sin. It is very difficult for a wealthy person to enter into heaven, easier for camel to go through eye of needle- who can be saved then? asked the disciples. With God all things are possible. Very significant – when we get money we put it close to the heart but the disciples put it at their feet. Where is your money? Judas sold his Lord for 30 pieces of silver (the price of a slave). That small thing meant more to him than God Himself. He sold his God, his Creator, the One who cared for him. He was a thief and dipped into the money the disciples got. The others trusted him with the purse. They didn’t know he was a thief. God saw it and saw that root of the love for money.
A member of the congregation has a shop in Dalton. Businesses can collapse because of theft. Surveillance cameras are used. A person dropped a fat wallet in the shop. Someone came walked passed it another with an overall took it and put it in his pocket. He opened it and saw all the money and took lots of things in the shop and put them in his pockets. The owner went to the exit and waited for him and confronted him. The man said he hadn’t seen it. The owner took him to the office. He replayed the video. He said, “Is technology like this already? Oh, technology!” He never admitted stealing but only his astonishment at the power of technology.
Peter had been freshly filled with the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, when Ananias brought money to him, imitating the others. The Holy Spirit whispered to Peter that something was wrong. Peter challenged him: Is this the money you sold the property for? Ananias answered with a “white lie”. Some think lies are sometimes justified to get you out of a mess. There is no white lie before God. Peter said he had lied to God, not man. He fell down dead.
They didn’t let Sapphira know there about her husband’s burial. Peter challenged her 3 hours later. She also lied. Why was she one with her husband in this evil thing? She fell down dead. The reason was they brought half the story, half hearted in what they did. Doing things like this is dangerous. Also, when you confess your sin- say the whole thing properly. Sometime you polish it and make it look better. Sin was punished so severely- would you like to join such a church? Or do you want to rather join a church where lies are ok? Ministers receive the greater judgement because we preach to others how they should do things and we don’t even do it. Imagine their families and relatives. They could have accused Peter of being a murderer and that there’s something seriously wrong with this church – “no love, they have fallen!” Maybe you think you are lucky you can say lies and successfully get away with it for a while but you will still meet up with God one day.
Lies will not be tolerated because the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth and the truth comes from the Father.
Illustration: There was a young man in Germany who was confronted by thieves. They took money from him (about a 1000 German Marks) and asked whether he had handed over every bit of his money. He said yes. Then, when they had walked away, he found 5 cents in a pocket. He called them back and apologised for telling a lie. Those thieves couldn’t believe it. They decided to give all the money back. The truth worked in the boy’s favour. The truth is the best way. Be faithful in being truthful. Rather keep quiet than say the wrong thing. Test ourselves whether you are totally truthful in what you say.
Tell the truth. Don’t tell lies. Satan is your father if you tell lies. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth. Throughout the Bible you can read what the outcome of lying is –it’s death, spiritual death, if not physical death. Lies takes life out of you. You become like a corpse – you can’t even chase a fly that comes to lay its eggs.
The way to heaven is narrow. On the broad way you can do what you like – go backwards and forwards or whatever you like. The way to heaven is absolutely straight. Don’t just sit there. Don’t sit and talk about others. Go to others and be transparent with others even if it means confronting another person. Don’t evade the issue. Eventually you may need to bring that person before the church. Face it squarely. If you have done something wrong face it.
To walk with God is no light thing. Abraham was referred to by God as the father of believers. The Lord told Him to sacrifice his son. If Abraham came to you for advice, what would you have said?
When Mary was pregnant she did not go and tell everyone about it and what the angel had said. Joseph noticed it or heard about it somehow. He got a shock but he kept quiet. He knew the kind of person she was. It was a dreadful thing in those times to be pregnant out of wedlock. According to the law both girl and boy would be stoned to death. Joseph did not want to disgrace her. If you heard about this incident you may have sent SMS’s and broadcast the news of her pregnancy far and wide before the sun had set. But Joseph turned to the Lord about it, he didn’t broadcast it. When you hear something what do you do? You want to be filled with the Holy Spirit? Put things right in your life – including gossip.
Make a clear decision to let the Spirit of Truth, which proceeds from the Father, fill you.
