Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Prayer Meeting Lesson Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/pm/pm20000202.htm

JOHN: TRIUMPHING IN LIFE'S MOST CRITICAL ISSUE
Part IV: Presentation Of The Messenger Of Salvation
D. Christ's Credentials Revealed In His Preparations For The Cross
3. Christ's Credibility Seen In Encouraging His Disciples In VIEW Of His Coming Cross
c. Christ's Encouragement Offsetting His Disciples' Sense Of Leaderlessness
(John 13:33, 36; 14:15-26)
  1. Introduction
    1. Anywhere we look in world missions or church ministry today, there is the cry and need for adequate leadership. Pick up any book on Christian ministry that lists prayer needs for any land, and 90% of the time the main prayer request will be for godly teachers or leaders in the field.
    2. There is a solution to this need, a solution offered by Jesus to His disciples as He was preparing to leave them and head back to heaven to be with His heavenly Father. It addresses our leadership vacuum toda y:
  2. Christ's Encouragement Offsetting His Disciples' Sense Of Leaderlessness, John 13:33, 36; 14:15-26.
    1. When Jesus announced He would leave His disciples for where they could not immediately follow (13:33, 36), Peter voiced the concern of His disciples, complaining about not being able to be with Jesus, 13:36.
    2. The sense of leaderlessness produced by Jesus' announced departure is countered by Christ's prediction of the coming of the Holy Spirit permanently to indwell the disciples, John 14:15-26:
      1. Jesus announced that if His disciples loved Him, they would also keep His commandments, Jn. 14:15.
      2. In conjunction with this thought, He would also send them another Leader in His visible presence's absence, a Leader Who would be with them forever in the Person of the indwelling Holy Spirit:
        1. The "Comforter" (KJV) [NIV "Counselor"] comes from the Greek word, paraklaytos, "paraklete," cf. U.B.S. Greek New Testament, p. 388; Bib. Know. Com., N.T., p. 323.
        2. Such a word is used to describe the parenting or leadership ministries of "advising, exhorting, comforting, strengthening, interceding, and encouraging," Ryrie St. Bib., KJV, ftn. to John 14:16.
        3. Since Jesus also teaches in verse 18 (NIV) that He would send the Holy Spirit so the disciples would not be left "as orphans," this "Paraklete" is the Parent or Leader replacing Jesus' visible absence.
      3. Jesus said the Spirit would one day be in the disciples, abiding within them forever, John 14:17, 16.
      4. He is the Spirit of truth, so He would lead the disciples into the truth, even reminding them of the things Jesus had taught in the past, John 14:17a, 26.
    3. Then, as the disciples obeyed Christ's word under the Holy Spirit's ministry, His disciples would enjoy the added practical signals of God approving their actions in everyday living, John 14:19-24:
      1. In ADDITION to the Holy Spirit's leading, parental ministry to the disciples, if they obeyed Jesus' commands out of love for Him, they would also be loved of the Father and the Son, and see Jesus' work in their lives (through the Spirit's revealing, cf. Jn. 16:14) in very practical ways, John 14:21.
      2. In fact, they would thus see both the Son and the Father indicating their approval of the believer thus being obedient to the Lord, John 14:22, 23-24.
    4. In the day when the Spirit came to indwell the disciples (Pentecost, Acts 2), they would see there was a close unity between the Son and the Father, and in turn between the believer and the Persons of the Godhead, Jn. 14:19-20. This would console their sense of leaderlessness from Jesus' visible absence.
Lesson: The departure of the visible presence of Christ from the disciples would be more than compensated in the coming of the PERMANENTLY INDWELLING GOD, the HOLY SPIRIT. In ADDITION, when the believer OBEYED God's will out of love for God, the F ATHER and SON would reveal through the Spirit their close connection to the believer in his lifetime events of living!

Application: All the LEADERSHIP the Church worldwide cries out for today is AVAILABLE from God HIMSELF if God's people will submit to the will of God revealed in His Word. The cry for leadership worldwide indicates a need for alignment to the Holy Spirit's leading, an alignment that involves correction from disobeying God! Good HUMAN leaders will come from those men who are filled with and governed by the PARENTING, LEADING Holy Spirit Himself!