IBC Bremen Sermons

John 16:5-15 The Heart of God
Desiring God's Heart Part 1


During the course of restoration work on Leonardo da Vinci's painting The Last Supper, the leader of the project, Dr. Pinin Brambilla Barcilon, discovered that the face of Jesus in the painting had been distorted by five hundred years of grime, glue, and plaster. Her work with high-powered microscopes, surgical scalpels, and special solvents has revealed the face of Jesus as Leonardo portrayed it.

The Holy Spirit does that kind of work, too. Our image of Jesus is distorted, but the Spirit shows us Jesus as he truly is so that we might appreciate our Savior.

In John 16:5-15 Jesus says that the Spirit leads his followers to see him. He also says the Spirit convicts the world, those who don't follow him. As it turns out, the Spirit's leading believers to see Christ has a transforming effect in their lives, which has a convicting effect in the lives of those who make up the world. The Spirit's work, then, is to our advantage.

This text is part of what is commonly referred to as Jesus' Upper Room Discourse (John 13-17), given when he and his disciples have gathered before he is arrested.


The disciples of Jesus were sad because Jesus was going away. So Jesus told them about a "Comforter" who would come and comfort their hearts. The word for Comforter in these verses literally means to "stand beside." The word is from two Greek words: para - where we get our word parable, paragraph, paramount. It literally means to stand beside someone. An advocate is a lawyer that stands beside you and helps you in court. An intercessor is a someone who stands besides you in prayer. A consoler or comforter is someone who stands with you during difficult times. The Message translations calls the Holy Spirit "Friend". All of these pictures help us to know that as a Christian, the Holy Spirit is there for us. He is our Comforter when we need to talk to God. He is there to strengthen us, to encourage us, and to help us. The Holy Spirit speaks to us as God speaks to Him.


The Word of God speaks to the mind of the person. The Spirit of God, also known as the Holy Spirit, speaks to the heart of the person. Knowledge of God is a mind-thing. Understanding and wisdom is a heart-thing.

I want to share with you how the Holy Spirit helps you discover the heart of God. The reason I want to share with you about the Holy Spirit today is because when we understand the heart of God, God helps us change our hearts to be like His. In this passage, the Bible shows us how the Holy Spirit reveals the heart of God.

THREE WAYS THE HOLY SPIRIT REVEALS THE HEART OF GOD

The heart of God is about people. God's heart should be our heart.

1. To the people who do not know Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit convinces them of their need for Him. (16:8-11)

THREE DIFFERENT WAYS THE HOLY SPIRIT CONVINCES THE WORLD OF THEIR NEED FOR JESUS

1. Alert my spirit of sin
2. Persuade my mind of righteousness
3. Remind me of the coming judgment

The Holy Spirit reminds us of God's heart in these three different ways. God hates sin. The Holy Spirit alerts me to sin in my life. God wants righteousness. The Holy Spirit persuades me of the way that God wants me to live. God wants justice done. Sin must be punished because it is not in the heart of God to tolerate sin.

Sin, missing the true end and scope of our lives, which is God. The Holy Spirit is here on this earth to help me realize that. You and I can't see the Holy Spirit. You will never find a picture of the Holy Spirit. Outside of a dove, or some flames, you probably won't see a personification, or a drawing, or a cartoon of the Holy Spirit. But no matter whether I can see Him or not, the Holy Spirit can alert me to the sin that is in me and around me.

Example: Have you ever had the feeling that what you knew you were doing was not right. Not a mental knowledge. But a feeling. You knew it in your head, but you felt it in your heart. Is that your conscience? No. Your conscience is a mind-thing. It is a recognition based on God's good law that there is a right and wrong to something. When you feel that you know you are doing something wrong, that can be the Holy Spirit speaking to you. Let me show you what I mean.

If I tell you that it is wrong to murder, you may believe me. Most societies agree that it is wrong to murder. If I show you in the Bible, it is wrong, you might agree. There is a legal framework where murder is wrong. But if I showed you a murder, you would feel it with your heart, not your mind. Your mind tells you it is wrong. Your spirit feels that it is wrong. Your mind and your heart would agree on this.

Another example: I was watching Larry King Live this week. He was talking to another reporter who had this series. It was called: "To Catch a Predator." Here is what they do. They use decoys who go online as pass themselves off as young children. Men who converse online with these children, end up talking trash. They set up a time and place, and the men are thinking: OK, I can go there. The man shows up and gets busted. This reporter is there with a camera, and of course the reporter has told the police. But before the man is sent away, the reporter asks him questions like:

What do you do for a living? What are you doing here on a Saturday morning in a girl's house when the parents are gone? What causes you to want to do this?

You can see that the conscience has kicked in. The TV show labeled these guys with a compulsion problem. The reporter said that there were three groups of guys who do this:

1. Young guys who want to try and don't care about the consequences.
2. The hard-core pornography-loving, sex offenders.
3. Men who have this obsession, who would probably not act it out if it were not for the Internet.

The TV hosts called this a compulsion, as if it was just a disease. The Bible calls it sin. Romans 7 calls it the struggle with sin. The Holy Spirit reveals this to you.

The Holy Spirit reveals to you sin in your life, so that you can also know that you need to live like God wants you to. The Holy Spirit reveals to you sin in your life so that you can see your need for God.

Romans 3:23

There comes a time, when you know you need God. The Holy Spirit is leading you to understand this truth. But you never come to realize this just in your head. This is a heart thing.

The Holy Spirit also shares with us the fact that there will be a judgment. Because there is sin, and sin is missing the true scope of our lives which is God, and God can't let sin reside with Him forever, there must be a judgment. Satan will be judged, but so will everyone else who denies this persuasion to come to God.

There will be judgment and we need to know that. The Holy Spirit convicts us of this. When you so convicted of these three things, you will come to a decision. The goal of this conviction of the Holy Spirit is to get you in a relationship with God. The Holy Spirit draws you to Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ draws you to God.

The heart of God is about His children.

2. To His children, the Holy Spirit guides us in our decisions. (16:12-13)

Jesus did not have enough time to guide every single one of our decisions. He could not counsel us to do God's will. He would die and resurrect and go back to His Father. But He sent the Friend who could stay with us. Why? Because there is more to relationship with God than just facts about God. When we know more truth from God, it leads us to want to know God's heart.

God-sense of morality - The Holy Spirit tells us what is right and what is wrong.

The Holy Spirit works in harmony with God's Word to share with you how to know what is right in a circumstance and what is wrong.

God-sense of relationship - The Holy Spirit will reveal to you more about your relationship with God.

The Holy Spirit will share with you who God is. He will show you God's ways.

God-sense of well-being - The Holy Spirit will reveal to you God's desires in your life.

Notice here the distinction between the way the Holy Spirit interacts with the world and the way he interacts with followers of Jesus. He convicts the world, but he leads the disciples. Nowhere else does the New Testament link conviction with the Holy Spirit, which leads me to believe that the conviction of the Holy Spirit is for the world, not believers. The Spirit disrupts the lives of believers, certainly, but he doesn't convict, at least not in the judicial sense that is the intent of this passage. That's because the guilt we deserve is heaped onto Jesus. "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1). (The same word that is translated "convict" [elegcho] here is applied to believers in the non-judicial sense of "reprove" in 1 Timothy 5:20; Titus 2:15; and Revelation 3:19.)

In verse 13a, Jesus states that the Spirit will lead the disciples into all the truth. In verse 13b, he says how the Spirit will lead them: by communicating what he hears. In verse 14, he reveals the purpose of the Spirit's leading: to glorify Christ.


The heart of God is about glorifying Himself.

3. To God the Father, and to us, the Holy Spirit will elevate Jesus Christ.

The Holy Spirit always glorifies Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit will never glorify Himself. Why? It is not like the Holy Spirit is jealous of Jesus. Jesus acted out the heart of God, when He gave Himself up on the cross for the people that were on God's heart. Jesus paid for the sin. Jesus revealed the way to righteousness. Jesus judged Satan and the evil that was part of His kingdom. He has punished Satan to Hell. (When Jesus returns, He will send Satan to prison for a short-term sentence. Then He will place Satan in long-term prison sentence forever.) But Jesus has already judged Satan when Jesus rose from the dead.

The Holy Spirit lifts up this act of Jesus and displays the heart of God. The Holy Spirit says: I will glorify God by lifting up Jesus and making Jesus's name great. It was as if Jesus the Son glorified God by dying on the cross.

John 17:4-5

Now it is the Holy Spirit's time to glorify God, and the Holy Spirit does that by glorifying Jesus Christ. Why? Because by lifting up Jesus, the Holy Spirit is displaying the heart of God. You want to see the heart of God? Look at what His Son did on the cross for for the Father.

Sidenote: This is a Trinitarian verse: (16:15) - The Holy Spirit is the most humble of all of the Trinity. The Holy Spirit glorifies as Jesus glorifies the Father.

Now what does this all have to do with me?

The Holy Spirit will reveal to you the heart of God. He will show you the glory of God. He wants you to change your heart so that you can be like God's heart.

When we understand and appreciate any aspect of God and are drawn into worship because of it, we are changed. Simply, we become like that which we worship. Psalm 115:8 says that those who make idols and everyone who trusts in them "will become like them." Paul says in 2 Corinthians 3:18 that the Spirit transforms us as we "behold as in a mirror," as we scrutinize, the glory of the Lord. In 1 Timothy 3:16, Paul says "the mystery of godliness," or how a person becomes godly, involves appreciating truth about Jesus. John says, "We know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is" (1 John 3:2). John is telling us that one day our transformation to Christlikeness will be complete and that it will happen when we see Jesus "just as he is." And seeing Jesus as he is has a transforming effect that is happening now as the Spirit shows us Jesus.

The leading of the Spirit, then, brings us back to conviction. The Spirit leads followers of Jesus, but he convicts the world. He convicts the world through his presence in the followers of Jesus. He leads us to see Jesus, which conforms us to the image of Christ. As we become more like Jesus, as we love the way Jesus loved, the Spirit convicts the world so that it, too, might follow Jesus.

So I leave you with three questions?

Has the Holy Spirit alerted you to sin in your life?

Has the Holy Spirit shown you your need for God?

Christian, will you let the Holy Spirit bring your heart to be compatible with God's heart - His desires and His will?

Some of us in this room need to go from living our lives with just the mind, and learning to live the heart. But the first step is to align my spirit with the Holy Spirit. He is in every Christian. He resides there - He stands beside you. He is your Advocate, your Counselor, and your Helper. Are you asking Him to help you?

Posted by Jim Erwin at 10:30 AM | Permalink | Comments

1 Timothy 2:8-15
Commitment
What Makes a Great Partnership Part 3

How do you view your relationship in the family? How do you look at the roles of men and women in the family?

JOKE: - Someone once said that the husband may be the head, but the wife is the neck.
JOKE: - The husband may be the CEO, but the wife is the CFO.

In this passage today, we look at a set of instructions written to a leader of a church. While these instructions do describe the behavior of men and women in the church, it does suggest the proper prescription for the roles of husband and wives in the families. In other words, this text may speak about how we should act in the church. But the way we act in the church comes from the way we act toward each other at home. In other words, this text does not say: you can act this way only in the church. This text implies that because you should act a proper way in the church, you should also act this way at home.

This text is about roles. How do I function in society? If my society is made up of families, then how do I function in my family as a man, or as woman? We can learn some very important principles about how we should act. I want to share with you two tips for men and then two tips for women. Each tip addresses an action we should do, and the problem that causes us from acting as we should.

Now some may be looking at the amount of verses dedicated to each person, and wonder: Wow, men don't have much to worry much about what the Bible says about commitment. However, this is not the only place where commitment is mentioned. Paul gives us instruction in Ephesians as well. There, we see more equal treatment. Peter also addresses the role of men and women. He does not speak much about the role of men, but the consequences of not fulfilling their role can be extremely harmful.

I remember watching a show on television that illustrated the communication skills between women and men. It found that women actually talked three times more than men. They even showed a word counter below the man and the woman as they talked during the entire show. Sure enough, the the woman had spoken about three times more words as the man. It is the same here in these verses. Paul writes for the men one verse. Then he uses more verses to communicate to the women. So, remember here that each person has a role, and each role is very important.

Professor E. Earle Ellis has said: The definitive argument of this sort on the complementarian side (distinguishing between role and worth) is that of Charles Hodge. Jesus Christ is not one iota inferior to God the Father. He is God. And yet, there is a difference in role, one of subordination. Subordination is necessary in the world as a whole, for the world to “work.” Therefore, there is no dishonor at all in women being subject to male headship. Only in the modern period are class distinctions viewed as evil per se. (http://greenbaggins.wordpress.com/2006/11/21/women-in-the-church-1-timothy-28-15-part-3/)

What does this mean? Men should not look to their wives and say: "Your role is not important." Nor should they say that their own role is not important. We each have to take our spiritual responsibilities as Christians seriously.

MEN (1 Timothy 2:8)

ACTION: The priority of prayer

The "therefore" in 2:8 has its beginning in 2:1. In the beginning of the chapter, Paul stresses the importance of prayer. Now, he stresses the importance of who should do the praying. Men should lead by placing a priority in praying. But there is a problem.

PROBLEM: Critical casualness

We become too casual in our prayer life. Men become too easily angered, and too easily tied up in discussions and controversy. We should not be skeptics when it comes to prayer. Men should want to pray for others. Men should desire to make prayer an important part of their life. Holiness here, the "holy hands" passage, is not about setting ourselves apart. This word for holy (called hosios in Greek) is about the righteousness in my life. How right am I living? is the question this passage answers. Paul is saying: live a life of righteous and holiness by the way you pray and the way you act. You learn not to be easily angered, or critical. You learn not to doubt God as well. These are the two things that hinder a man to pray. If I get irritated at others, or if I doubt God, I will not want to lift up my hands in prayer. Instead, men are expected to make prayer a priority, and let this lifestyle be an example to the family.

When a man takes the spiritual responsibility of prayer seriously, then next action will take care of itself.

ACTION: Spiritual leadership of the family

Men need to be the spiritual leaders in the home. They need to lead by setting a good spiritual example. They don't act like spiritual dictators. Instead, they act like leading-servants.

PROBLEM: Control

The problem is that men tend to think that if they are the "head" of the family, that they need to control the family. Leadership and control are too very different things. Leadership is simply influence. When you influence someone to do something or act a certain way - that is leadership. So Spiritual leadership is influence that helps a person do what God wants them to do. Control happens when you have lost the ability to lead. When you have lost the ability to influence your family to do what God wants them to do, then you will begin to start to control their actions. This is where the "wrath" problem comes in. The way you act in your family is with wrath. The word here means punishment, vengeance. You push people to do what you think is necessary. When men lead their families, they shouldn't have to push - they should be able to influence.

WOMEN (1 Timothy 2:9-15)
ACTION: Announcing godliness by submitting to your husband

You announce to the world the faith that you have by the way you dress, and the way you act toward your husband. If you dress like a prostitute, what does that say about how you submit to your husband. Dressing immodestly suggest to others that you don't submit to your husband. Instead, you are willing to submit to someone else. But if the way you dress is not suggestive to another man, if it is modest, then you are announcing to others that you want to follow the spiritual leadership of your husband.

Now I don't mean that you have to go out by clothes that make you look old-fashioned. You can still look stylish. But the way you dress communicates much about your marriage. In essence your fashion is a form of evangelism.

PROBLEM: Competition

The problem is that we live in a society that is filled with competition. Women compete with women. But today, society allows women to compete with men. Look at the world of sports, look at the world of business, and look at the world of benefits. You will hear that women can do the same things as men. While that may be true, it leads some people to think that in the home, a woman must compete with their husband. You hear it when you hear women say: I don't need a husband. I can raise the children by myself. I don't need a man. Women are not wrong in saying that they can make decisions. But the Bible teaches, that when it comes to marriage, the leadership decisions end with the men. What the women are doing is a form of competition.

Women, how do you see your relationship with your husband? Is your relationship with your husband rocky - as in Rocky Balboa? Do you seem to think that when you talk to your husband, it is like going out into the ring and slinging a few punches? Do you view your relationship with your husband like a boxing match? Are your conversations like a round in the fight. Ding, ding...the round begins...and you try to do what you can to win the round? You argue, you think you are always right. You always demand your way. Is your relationship like the Bee Gees song "You Win Again"?

Theres no fight you cant fight
This battle of love with me
You win again
So little time
We do nothing but compete

The word for quiet in this verse is the same word used earlier in the chapter in (2:2). Silent in verse 2 is the same as the word quiet in verses 11-12. The women can still speak in church. They just need to act quietly. The reason Paul gives for why women should remain quiet in church is that the men are to lead. It was this way in the beginning (that is the import of verse 13). The Fall was the result of Eve trying to subvert her husband’s covenant headship - or leadership - by making the decision apart from him. Eve was mastered by the animal (the snake) whom she should have mastered. Eve mastered the one being on the planet (the man) she should not have mastered. She subverted and was subverted. Therefore, the punishment was that there would always be a battle for leadership between the man and the woman in marriage (Gen. 3:16).
(http://greenbaggins.wordpress.com/2006/11/20/women-in-the-church-1-timothy-28-15-part-2/)

To illustrate this point, I would say that the way a woman submits, which fights the competition in relationship is alot like dancing. When two people dance, one leads and the other follows. Women, you have to let the man lead. Let me show you what I mean.

EXAMPLE: Dancing with My Wife

Learning to lead in the family is like learning to dance. Let me illustrate to you how to dance. I will ask my wife to come forward and we will dance to a certain song. The first time, we will dance and I will lead. You remember how to dance, men? You lead and she follows. She instinctively knows what to do. She follows my steps and she follows my cues. I twirl her around and then bring her back.

Now, we will dance and she will try to lead at the same time. What happens? She pushes and I have to fight back to lead. This is what happens when we don't know how to dance in our marriage. In order to learn how to spiritually lead your family, you have to learn how to dance. In order to stop the competition and the fights ladies, you have to learn how to follow your husband's lead. He may not be the best dancer, but he can lead you. You have to learn how to follow him.


ACTION: Spiritual leadership of the children

The emphasis in these last verses is the importance of raising the children. The woman has the spiritual responsibility of raising children.

PROBLEM: Carelessness

In today's society, it seems that in most families, the spiritual leadership of the children has been out-sourced. What do I mean? Because the woman is trying to compete with the man, she has to work. When she works full-time in this country, it means she has to let someone else take care of the spiritual leadership of the children. In the business world, when you do this, they call that sub-contracting. You contract out to someone else. Another word used is out-sourcing. You get your resources for the work in your company from outside the country. This is why when you call customer service on the phone, the guy on the other end is not from the office of customer service. He is sitting in another country. Spiritually speaking, women are doing the same thing. In their desire to compete with the man, they neglect the responsibility of the spiritual leadership of the children. Either they don't have as much time as they should. Or they expect someone else to do it for them.

Example #1 - the children's ministry of this church should not the be spiritual leadership of your children. If you think that the only spiritual leadership that your children should get is when they come here, then you are out-sourcing your work. Wives, mothers, you need to take this responsibility seriously. I am amazed at how often mothers complain about the children's ministry, but I have never seen them there to help out. If your child is downstairs today, then mothers, you have a responsibility to help out.

Example #2 - the husband teaches the wife, and the wife teaches the children. There is a chain of commitment to spiritual leadership in the family. But when we get careless, this chain breaks. This is another reason why Paul quotes the Genesis account. Adam leads and works. Eve submits to Adam and bears children. Adam stopped leading and work got harder. Eve stopped submitting, and her bearing children became harder to do.

The effects can be seen in all parts of our lives. 1 Timothy 3 flows from 1 Timothy 2. The Elder-Deacon relationship mirrors the husband-wife relationship in the church. Elders lead, and deacons submit to the elder. Husbands lead and women submit to the husband. Elders lead the church and teach the leaders. Deacons serve the families of the church. Husbands lead and teach the wife. The wife serves the family by teaching the children.

By the way, the transition from husbands and wives to elders and deacons shows us another important principle. The fact that the women are told to be quiet in church is one reason why there can be no women elders or pastors in the church. The transition from husband and wife to elder and deacon shows us also that the qualifications for leadership and service in the church are directed at the men. The offices of elders and deacons are only for those who are the spiritual leaders in the home. That is why there are qualifications that stress the importance of male spiritual leadership in the home. If a man proves himself well to lead his home, he has the honor (and responsibility) to the lead in the church. We don't forbid women ministry team leaders in this church because the spiritual leadership (head) of the church is the elder, and that elder is the pastor - who is male.

But we do say in this church that we have to take spiritual leadership seriously. It is a commitment for both men and women. For singles who are not married, you learn this now, so that you are ready to fulfill your spiritual role when the time comes to marry. For married couples without children, you practice this before the children come. For married couples with children, you are setting the example for the rest of us. For men and women whose children are grown, you can serve as advisors. You did it, and now you can help. Men, you can come to pray on Friday mornings at 6am. Women, you can help out with the children, or the prayer meeting. There are different places of commitment in the church where we can strengthen the family.

When we take our commitment to Jesus in the Body (the church) seriously, it produces harmony and peace. When we fill our roles properly in the home, it brings peace and joy as well.



Resources

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Sermons/ByScripture/21/684_Manhood_Womanhood_and_the_Freedom_to_Minister/ http://greenbaggins.wordpress.com/2006/11/20/women-in-the-church-1-timothy-28-15-part-2/ http://greenbaggins.wordpress.com/2006/11/21/women-in-the-church-1-timothy-28-15-part-3/

Posted by Jim Erwin at 4:22 PM | Permalink | Comments