31/05/09 10.30 Know the truth about yourself John 14:16-21
1. It was Wednesday afternoon.
The sun was shining. And it was hot.
I was seventeen And I was playing tennis against someone who was really quite good… and I was pretty rubbish so I was losing. The PE & Games teacher was watching - and listening. I can’t remember exactly what I said… I think it was a fairly pathetic attempt at a joke… but the teacher heard me. And whatever it was I said… he didn’t think I should have said it.
For the previous six years at the school... whenever we said or did something a PE teacher didn’t like we just got hit with a cricket bat.. or a PE pump… but now I was in the sixth form… and they didn’t do that any more. So instead he spent what felt like a considerable time, in front of everyone else who was on the tennis courts that afternoon, pointing out my various weaknesses and especially drawing everyone’s attention to my tendency to say foolish things. (I know what you’re thinking… nothing’s changed!!!)
But by the time he was finished I felt humiliated and stupid. And at the age of 17 - instead of being really angry with the teacher, I just felt really angry with myself for having managed to say something that had got me into trouble.
Anyway, what I know is that my memory of how I felt at that moment has stayed with me… and I remember that feeling of being stupid, and that feeling of being angry with myself at not being wise enough to think about what I said before I said it.
2. Now believe it or not… since I was seventeen years old there have been other occasions when I have said something I wished I hadn’t said. Like when I went to visit a woman who was arranging her father’s funeral. And I asked her when her baby was due… which I thought from looking at her was a reasonable question. I wish I hadn’t asked her that question!! Unfortunately she wasn’t pregnant.
Or sometimes I might have said something to someone in irritation or anger and my words would have been much better left unsaid.
And sometimes over the last forty three years since I was seventeen, I might have made a flippant or foolish remark, a bit like I did that afternoon on the tennis courts and actually it wasn’t the best thing or the most helpful thing to say.
So as a seventeen year old, I felt embarrassed, and stupid, and angry with myself, and pretty useless. And do you know - some of those emotions and feelings can still surface and be part of my response to my mistakes now.
3. OK now you know how dysfunctional I am...
is there anybody else here who has ever felt just a bit stupid, or embarrassed, or angry with themselves, or just a bit useless even?
Maybe not !!! … Anyway if you can identify at all with any of the feelings I’m describing to you… maybe you are on the same journey that I’m on..
the journey of knowing the truth about yourself.
The bible says that we each have to have know ourselves…
Here is what Paul writes in Romans 12:3 …
(show text)
Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves…
In the context of the rest of the chapter, it’s a warning - not to be proud not to become arrogant. Not to compare ourselves with other people and judge ourselves to be more important to God or more worthy of his love and attention than other members of the church. And - it’s a reminder that God’s purpose is to form the character and likeness of his son in us… so he hasn’t finished with you and me yet, not by a long way.
Here’s the whole of what he said in those verses…
Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves,
measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.
And do you know…
sometimes we are not honest in our evaluation of ourselves,
but not in the way you might think.
We don’t measure ourselves by remembering what God has given us.
4. I know that we have an amazing capacity to fail to see ourselves as we are. I know that we are often much better at seeing the faults in others than we are at seeing our own faults.
But I think that one thing that Christians get wrong more often than anything else, is that we make wrong judgements about ourselves.
We forget who God has made us.
And when we do that we become insecure, self-critical, whinging, complaining, and ineffective.
I’ll explain what I mean…
Have you ever felt a little bit hopeless?
You know the sort of thoughts can go through the mind…“I’m no good. I feel as if I can never get anything right!
I’ve lost my temper again,
I’ve given in to that temptation again…
I’m a USELESS Christian. I’m a failure - I’ll never be any different. . I’m too old now anyway..
No matter how many sermons I listen to, no matter how much bible study I do.. I just can’t change.
I’m no further on now that I was when I first started following Jesus.
Now is this just me having a bad day… or has anybody here ever felt anything like that?
But when we tell ourselves that we are a failure, when we tell ourselves that we are stupid and beat ourselves up… then we are not being honest in our evaluation of ourselves... we are actually being very dis-honest because we are forgetting who we are in God’s eyes and we are forgetting the faith, the gift that he has given to us.
As an embarrassed seventeen year old feeling deep down that I was pretty useless... I didn’t know what Jesus was going to do for me.
5. On the last night he was with them Jesus told his disciples that he would give them a great gift, he said, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. (John 14:16-17)
6. Christians sometimes ignore what the spirit of truth says about us, and instead listen to a voice that doesn’t want to encourage us, but wants to humiliate us. A voice that wants us to feel a failure and useless and ineffective.
And none of it is true.
If you have put your faith in Jesus,
if you have responded to his invitation… Follow me.
And if you know in your heart that you want to live your life with him –
then when you feel down about yourself, I hope you know that that's not the voice of the Spirit of Truth you're hearing.
It's Satan, who just loves to see us depressed, upset, and best of all feeling unworthy and unable to live a life which brings honour and glory to God and demonstrates the power of his Spirit.
And one way to tell Satan to get lost is to remind yourself and him, that God's Holy Spirit lives in you.
This Pentecost Sunday… when we are celebrating the great gift that God has given to us, make sure that you know the truth about yourself.
7. Jesus said
I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth.
God lives his life in us.
So when we get something wrong, when we make a mistake… Does God pack his bags and go back home to heaven? No he is already at home.. with us!
God didn’t make his home with us because we are perfect… God made his home with us because of his perfect love for us.
And it’s not OUR righteousness that keeps him here with us … it is the righteousness of Jesus that keeps him here with us.
So because of our weakness, we will make mistakes.
We can grieve and cause sorrow to the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30) and we can quench or stifle the Holy Spirit and deny him room to work in our lives (1Thess. 5:19) And because none of you are perfect.. anymore than I am perfect… both of those things will probably happen more than once as you make your journey through this life.
But with Jesus you are on a journey of knowing yourself as he knows you, and so you will come to recognise those times when you cause sorrow to the Holy Spirit, or stifle the Holy Spirit… so that you can repent of them and be healed and be set on your feet walking with Jesus once again.
Jesus said
I will ask the father and he will give you another counsellor, the Spirit of truth.
God IS with us.
That’s the truth.
That’s just what Jesus said would happen when we belong to him.
God’s Holy Spirit lives within us.
So if you were feeling miserable this morning,
feeling useless… God is with you!
Whatever it is that has got you down…
Do you think he can’t handle it?
The God who brought the whole of creation into being - out of nothing… can certainly bring new beginnings and new hope for us. No matter how big a mess we have got ourselves into.
God is still with us to sort things out.
We just have to be willing to allow him to get to work.
Optional ending… depending on time…
on the next page
Use this ending here if going to finish now….
Know the truth about yourself, this Pentecost Sunday. If you belong to Jesus then his Holy Spirit,
the Spirit of truth, God himself is with you.
Always.
8. Oh and here’s a bit more good news about the Holy Spirit with us. You might have noticed some of you, that as we get older, our bodies change a bit. Things fall out, drop down, change shape, and some bits don’t work as well as they used to (!) We sometimes get injured, or ill and that can limit us, - whatever…
Is any of that a problem for God’s Holy Spirit do you think?
God's Holy Spirit doesn't get weaker as we get older...
God’s Holy Spirit isn’t limited by our human bodies and their weakness and vulnerability.
Day by day as the Spirit of Truth lives in us, Then our relationship with God can become stronger, more mature, and so despite any weakness in our body or limitation in our body… then actually we should become more and more able to be used by God in ways which will build up his kingdom, strengthen his church and bring others to know and love him.
As long as we have a mind we can pray,
It may be a prayer that no one else can hear or even know about… but when the Spirit of God lives in us.. he prays constantly for us (Romans 8)
As long as we have breath in our bodies we can offer praise and thanksgiving to God.
As long as we can speak a word to anyone we can speak a word of encouragement, a word from God that will build up another person and make him or her stronger.
As long as people can look into your eyes they can see the love of Jesus in them,
as long as they can feel the touch of your hand they can feel the love of Jesus touching them.
Know the truth about yourself, this Pentecost Sunday. If you belong to Jesus then his Holy Spirit,
the Spirit of truth, God himself is with you.
Always.