The Holy Spirit Empowers Us to Obey

As we study the Lord Jesus Christ's conversation with His disciples about the Holy Spirit, today we will examine why the Holy Spirit was necessary. The Lord Jesus Christ said that He would go and pray to the Father to send the Holy Spirit to them. We find the answer in John 14:15: "If you love Me, keep My commandments."

The Lord Jesus Christ is discussing with His disciples the great commandment in the coming dispensation—the New Covenant—which is the commandment of love. In Matthew 22:37, we see that Jesus Christ summarized the Ten Commandments into two main commandments, and the foundation of these commandments is love.

The Greatest Commandment

Many Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus Christ and asked, "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus Christ told them, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself."

The Lord Jesus Christ is giving this commandment to His disciples: if you love Me, you must love God and you must love your fellow man. But the question is, how can the disciples love? Because of the effect of sin on human nature, man has become separated from God's character, and therefore it is impossible for him to love God or to love man.

The Holy Spirit Pours Out God's Love

This is why the Lord Jesus Christ is saying that when the Holy Spirit comes, He will cause this love to flow through your life. How? Romans 5:5 says, "The love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit." The Lord Jesus Christ is telling His disciples about the Holy Spirit—that He will go and pray to God to send His Spirit, the Holy Spirit, among them.

Even today, this Holy Spirit is extremely important for us. Without Him, we cannot attain God's nature; without the Holy Spirit, we cannot fulfill God's commandments. God has given the Ten Commandments and they are still applicable today. But the Lord Jesus Christ summarized these Ten Commandments, and in James 2:8 it is called the royal law. We may break many things, but we cannot break the royal law, and this royal law—which is love—we cannot fulfill without the Holy Spirit.

This love is the essence that belongs to God. When a person receives salvation, the love of God is poured into his spirit through the Holy Spirit. Therefore, while discussing the Holy Spirit, the Lord Jesus Christ is saying that this is very important for you, and that is why I will go and pray to God the Father to send His Spirit who will dwell in you, who will be with you at all times—the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. And this is the greatest work of the Holy Spirit that transforms our nature, our life.

The Fruit of the Holy Spirit

What we call the love of God is the fruit of the Holy Spirit that God wants to see in everyone's life. Jesus Christ said, "I am the vine, you are the branches"—meaning My life should bear fruit in you through the Holy Spirit. So the Holy Spirit helps us to obey God's commandment, and the greatest commandment is that we should love one another.

This was the most important work of the Holy Spirit that was vital in the lives of Jesus Christ's disciples. And today, every person who believes in Jesus Christ by hearing the words of those disciples and is called a believer—this applies to their lives in the same way.

Christ's Heavenly Ministry and Our Earthly Need

After this, in the discussion about the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ is explaining why He will pray. He will pray because He is going to heaven in bodily form. In flesh and blood, He is going to serve at the right hand of God the Father as a High Priest so that He may present all humanity before God the Father. So today, Jesus Christ represents all humanity before God the Father in that heavenly place.

But to those on this earth who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ says, "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come and dwell in you." Christ the hope of glory lives in us—today Christ, who is the Anointed One, who is God, how does He live in our lives? He lives through the Holy Spirit. The glory that was separated from Adam's life, the Holy Spirit restores the glory of Christ within us again. This means the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit come and dwell in our spirit and fellowship with us.

The Vital Necessity of the Holy Spirit

So the Holy Spirit has a very important work in this present age. If you are running from the Holy Spirit or fearing the Holy Spirit, you cannot know Jesus Christ. Without the Holy Spirit, we cannot come to Jesus Christ because the Holy Spirit is God who comes and dwells in our spirit. He will dwell in you, He will be in you—"in you" means He will live, He will dwell in spirit. God is spirit and we are spirit beings, so Holy Spirit lives in spirit.

This is what the Lord Jesus Christ was telling His disciples before His death: see how important the Holy Spirit is. So don't we need the Holy Spirit today? We need the Holy Spirit even more than they did, and this Holy Spirit is available. Today the Holy Spirit has been poured out, and every person who believes in Jesus Christ is worthy of this.

Spiritual Reflection

The Lord Jesus Christ before His death told His disciples to see how important the Holy Spirit is. The question for us today is not whether we need the Holy Spirit—we need Him even more urgently. The Holy Spirit has been poured out and is available to every person who believes in Jesus Christ. Without the Holy Spirit, we cannot love as God commands us to love. Without the Holy Spirit, we cannot know Christ or experience His indwelling presence.

Practical Application

If you are sorrowful or troubled in your life, Jesus Christ is the way and the truth. If you receive Jesus Christ as your Savior and Redeemer in your life, the Holy Spirit will help you. If you are sick and afflicted, the Lord Jesus Christ will heal you completely. In the mighty name of the Lord Jesus Christ, every sickness, disease, every curse, every spiritual force of wickedness that works against you—we break from people's lives in the powerful name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and we pray that the revelation of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ may fall upon their lives and they may obtain that salvation, deliverance, and the joy of eternal life.