What Jesus Said About the Holy Spirit

and How It Applies to Your Life

• Chapter 1 – Main Points
– Background scene: The Lord Supper
– The disciples left everything to follow Jesus
– The disciples were addicted to Jesus’ presence
– What they saw and heard changed them forever
– They count on him, rely on him, depend on him

– So where is he going?
 Chapter 1 Jesus, The Spirit, and the Final
Discourse
• Final Discourse (The Lord Supper)
– John 13:33
– John 16:10
– John 16:28
– Jesus is leaving and they can’t stop him. And now
they must contemplate a life without his voice,
without his touch, without his face.
– Jesus will come again
– John 14:18-19, 28; 16:22
– Jesus had a plan- to remain present beyond the
grave
 Chapter 1 Cont’d
• Jesus introduces the Paraclete- The Holy Spirit
at the Final Discourse (The Lord Supper)
• John 14:16-21, 25-27; 15:26-27; 16:7-11, 12-
16
• Discourse included:
– When the HS will come
– What the HS will do
– How the HS will help
– Why the HS will be their sustaining strength for
the rest of their lives
 Chapter 1 Cont’d
• The Paraclete:
– Is Jesus’ presence when he is gone
– Will live and walk among them
– Will teach them what they need to know
– Will calm their troubled hearts and give them
peace
– Will testify to the world and encourage their
testimony
– Will convict the world of guilt
– Will continue to reveal the Father
 Chapter 1 Cont’d
• In this final discourse Jesus focuses on telling
them about the Holy Spirit because he knows
that the disciples will need something
stronger than affection and mutual support if
they are to preserve and carry on his mission.
• He offers his disciples relationship with a
living, indwelling, empowering, equipping,
convicting and revealing Spirit.
 Chapter 1 Cont’d
• John was the forerunner for Jesus
• Jesus was the forerunner for the Holy Spirit
• Each did the work they were sent to do
• Jesus never thought of his life-on-Earth, his-
death-on-a-cross as the closing chapter in God’s
salvation book. The final chapters were to be
written by the Holy Spirit.
• Without the Holy Spirit the disciples would
founder. They would loose hope and lack power.
 Chapter 1 Cont’d
• Woodroof seems to think that without the Holy
Spirit, Peter and the other disciples would
return to their former lives.
• Jesus knew the Paraclete was coming and so he
needed to shift the disciples dependence from
him (physical) to the Spirit (invisible).
• Woodroof seems to think that the disciples and
believers today are faced with the dilemma of
not taking the Holy Spirit seriously.
 Chapter 1 Cont’d
• Similarities of the disciples and believers
(according to Woodroof):
– We both struggle to follow a missing Lord
– We yearn for and need a relationship with Jesus
physically rather the memory of his words and
deeds.
 Chapter 1 Cont’d
• Woodroof believes that we tend to overlook
the section in the book of John which speaks
about the handoff from Jesus to the Spirit. He
believes that we should be more interested
about it.
• What do you think? Why?
 Chapter 1 Cont’d
• “For many of us have been deaf to Jesus’
promises about the Spirit in John’s Final
Discourse,” says Woodroof.
• According to him:
– We believe Jesus words are not relevant to us only
for the 12 disciples
– We focus on the Spirit in other parts of the bible
ignoring the Final Discourse
 Chapter 1 Cont’d
• Woodroof feels we need to rethink what we
believe about the Spirit and his work.
– Jesus is our guide to the Holy Spirit; Only in the
book of John does Jesus speak about the Spirit at
length
– The Final Discourse places emphasis on who Jesus
is, not just what the Spirit does. His work is Jesus’
work. The Holy Spirit has no separate agenda. He
is Jesus in other form. (The Spirit will bear witness)
 Chapter 1 Cont’d
• What Jesus says in the Final Discourse about
the Spirit has little to do with miracles and
much to do with making us spiritual. Does the
Holy Spirit make us Spiritual? Define spiritual
• The work of the spirit we value most –
transformation, wisdom, Christ-like character,
courage makes us spiritual
• This however important was not the discourse
at the Lord Supper.
 Chapter 1 Cont’d
• Final Discourse focused on:
– The “greater work” (supernatural) of the Spirit
which includes:
– The Holy Spirit offering us companionship,
teaching, peace, courage, conviction, and
revelation. The Spirit deals with our hearts and this
results in maturity and transformation not just
signs and wonders.
– The Spirit Jesus describes and promises fits our
present need. It is worth pursuing him.
 Chapter 2
Why Bother With the Spirit?
• What is your assumption of the Holy Spirit?
• Why bother the Holy Spirit?
– It confronts us with difficult challenges and
difficult people.
– It can be stressful and pain-filled
– It’s not easy. “If we are to deal honestly with our
calling, we can’t avoid the prickly parts of
discipleship. We need to survive the stings and
stabs of being disciples in this broken world.”
 Chapter 2
Why Bother With the Spirit?
• How is your faith walk? If the Holy Spirit is our
teacher, witness, the power of the word of
Jesus, why is our faith weak at times?
• Have you ever felt lonely, overwhelmed, afraid,
and small in your faith?
• How do you think the disciples felt when Jesus
told them he was going away, but he would
send the Paraclete as a comforter until he
returns.
 Chapter 2
Why Bother With the Spirit?
• The disciples felt:
– Abandoned – Jesus was leaving them behind after
spending three and a half years walking and
talking with them. They loved being with him and
depended on him.
– Inadequate – They didn’t always understand
Jesus’ teaching. They couldn’t muster much faith.
They were not sure if they could carry on without
him.
 Chapter 2
Why Bother With the Spirit?
• The disciples felt:
– Frightened – They saw over the past three years
how Jesus was treated when he spoke the truth
about the gospel. Now they would have to carry on
the gospel work knowing that they could be
persecuted and killed.
– Powerless – They were things that needed to be
done in order for God’s kingdom to come. The
disciples saw all that Jesus went through and were
not sure that they could do the same.
 Chapter 2
Why Bother With the Spirit?
• They felt small – the disciples were fishermen,
tax collectors, etc. and probably felt that the
task of carrying for Jesus was too much. They
were probably just beginning to understand
Jesus and his mission and now they were given
the task to spread the gospel. They felt small
because they were not big enough to hold his
fullness and glory.
• Can anyone testify to these attributes?
 Chapter 2
Why Bother With the Spirit?
• As Jesus is washing their feet, he continues to
discourse with the disciples to prepare them
for what is to come. The most important thing
for them to know is that the Paraclete will be
to them what Jesus has been to them in the
flesh.
• The Holy Spirit will live in them. He is Jesus in
“forever form.”
 Chapter 2
Why Bother With the Spirit?
• The disciples are worried, but Jesus says in
John 14-26…
• The Spirit will equip you, teach you everything
you need to know and make you competent
for changing the world. What an awesome
task. How many of us feel this way today?
 Chapter 2
Why Bother With the Spirit?
• The disciples (and us) will not have to do the work
alone. We will partner with the Spirit, and he will do
the kingdom work they don’t have the ability to
accomplish.
• The Spirit will enlarge the disciples, mature them and
make them capable of bearing the glory of God. Can
you imagine that we will become spiritual like Jesus?
• The Spirit will make the disciples and us sufficient for
what is ahead. Rely on the Holy Spirit.
 Chapter 2
Why Bother With the Spirit?
• Does all of this teaching and promises apply to
us today?
• This promise will live in us as well and do
everything promised to the disciples.
• The same presence, competence, boldness,
equipping, courage, partnership, deepening
and maturing can take place in us by God’s
Holy Spirit. (I want and need that)
 Chapter 3
The Spirit in the Old Testament
• In the beginning of time, the Spirit was present
(Gen. 1:1-2).
• The Spirit was present when God breathed into
man (Gen.2:7)
• He was there when man fell (Gen. 6:3)
• He was there during the Exodus out of Egypt. He
was in the burning bush (Ex. 3:1-6)
• He was in the pillar of cloud and fire (Ex. 13:21-
22)
 Chapter 3
The Spirit in the Old Testament
• We continue to see his presence:
– Moses (Ex 34:29-35
– Joshua (Num 27:18; Deut 34:9)
– Judge – Othniel (Jud 3:10)
– Jephthah (Jud 11:29)
– Samson (Jud 14:6)
– Saul (1 Sam 10:6)
– David (1 Sam 16:13)
– Elijah (1 Kings 18:12)
 Chapter 3
The Spirit in the Old Testament
• Ezekiel (Ezek 2:2)
• Micah 3:8
• Neh 9:30
• Isa. 63:11
• Ps. 106:33
 Chapter 3
The Spirit in the Old Testament
• The Messianic Age - a time when the Messiah
will come and peace will rule on the Earth
• According to Isaiah Prophecy in chapter 8 –
there will be war and destruction because the
people of God has rejected him. The Assyrians
are coming.
• But a new day is coming (Isa. 9:2 – the people
walking in darkness have seen a great light)
 Chapter 3
The Spirit in the Old Testament
• Prophecy of the Messiah to come – Isa. 9:6
• For to us a child is born,    to us a son is given,
    and the government will be on his
shoulders.And he will be called    Wonderful
Counselor, Mighty God,    Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace.
 Chapter 3
The Spirit in the Old Testament
• Messiah – means “anointed one”
• Isaiah prophesied in 11:1-2
• A small tree[a] will begin to grow from the
stump of Jesse.[b] That branch will grow from
Jesse’s roots. 2 The Lord’s Spirit will always be
with that new king to give him wisdom,
understanding, guidance, and power. The
Spirit will help him know and respect the Lord.
(ERV)
 Chapter 3
The Spirit in the Old Testament
• Woodroof suggest that everyone who put
their hope in the Lord and his Anointed one,
will receive the Holy Spirit.
• According to Woodroof, the spirit has always
been present in the OT:
– With God
– God’s creation
– God’s people
 Chapter 3
The Spirit in the Old Testament
• “The Spirit creates, gives life, accompanies,
anoints, leads, empowers, grants prophetic
visions and utterances, and vivifies dry
spiritual bones.
• Observations of the Spirit in OT
• 1) The Spirit is ever-present
– Woodroof believes that the spirit was present and
vigorously active in the life of the apostles
 Chapter 3
The Spirit in the Old Testament
• Common Vocabulary in both OT and NT:
• “power”, “poured out,” “glory,” and “filling”
• “the spirit conducted God’s business with
Israel in the same manner as he did later in
the first-century church.
• Second Observation – the distinction between
the Spirit’s miraculous work and his
transformative work.