In this portion of the Farewell Discourse, Jesus is very compassionate as He urges them to not “fall away”. He includes a warning of what they can expect as they continue to follow Him:

1. They will ban you from the synagogue – This is a harsh punishment for any Jewish believer since this is the hub of all community for them. It will isolate them.
2. They will kill you – The world does not like followers of Jesus and by killing them they will think they are doing a service for God. This is largely due to the fact that Jesus was considered a revolutionary and His ways went against the traditions and culture of the day. It is no different for us today. Our response to this is to love and serve our city.

In verse 5, Jesus tells them that He is going away, and that it is better that way because He will send the Helper (v7) See also Ch.14:6,26; 15:26. The advantage of having the Holy Spirit is due to the relationship of each believer’s mission. We are to point people to Jesus regardless of the context. The Holy Spirit will guide and counsel us to make the name of Jesus famous in our surroundings. The Holy Spirit will also convict towards sin, righteousness and judgement (v8). Conviction is the overarching work as the Holy Spirit convinces us of the Truth in a way that changes us. The three ways that Jesus says the Holy Spirit will convict:

1. Sin – this is the sin of unbelief. It will move people to trust and cast all of their weight on Jesus.
2. Righteousness – the Holy Spirit will convince us that Jesus is the only One that is qualified to take our sin.
3. Judgement – The Holy Spirit convinces convinces the world that Satan is a defeated foe. (Col 1:13)

The 2 extremes in the beliefs of conviction:

1. Mistake – God does everything and we just sit back.
2. Mistake – It’s all up to me and my abilities to draw people to Jesus.

TRUTH: The Holy Spirit initiates and chooses to use us as a part of people’s stories of repentance. Remember, the Holy Spirit is not less than God. He is God. He leads us to the Scriptures and He always glorifies Jesus by orienting our hearts and minds to delight in Jesus. How to live this out:

1. Reject the superlatives; embrace the ordinary – The world will not deliver on its promises. We must live out our ordinary days with faithfulness and watch Him work.
2. Reject substitutes; embrace Christ – His i the only One who satisfies.
3. Remember eternity; not the worldly – Remember the big picture that our life is but a breath, but an important part of God’s Grand Story.
4. Revive your walk with Jesus – Ask the Lord to revive your heart for Him. Remember that spiritual disciplines help us stay connected to Him; especially when we have strayed from Him.

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