The Spirit of Peace

John 14:23-27

Immanuel – Candlelight Service – 12/24/24

          This quiet night, this eve before the birth of mankind’s hope; we worship the Giver of gifts: the Father who gave, the Son become flesh, the Spirit of peace. When that most precious baby was born in Bethlehem, God poured out all of heaven’s graces along with Him.

          As the Apostle Paul testified,

          He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things?                           -Romans 8:32

          The baby, born to die. Jesus, come to give His life as a ransom for many. This Christmas, it is good and right for us to remember, to worship, Jesus; who loved us and gave Himself for us. We worship the Father, who gave His beloved Son, that whoever believes in Him would not perish, but have everlasting life. But there is a third person of our Trinitarian God that perhaps gets overlooked during the Christmas Season. Of course, I refer to the Holy Spirit.

          If you are a person of the Book – the Bible – then you know that the Holy Spirit has been given as a gracious gift. And it is this Christmas Eve that I want us to consider how intimate, how helpful, how comforting, is God’s gracious gift of the Holy Spirit.

          First, let us consider the intimacy of the gift of the Holy Spirit.

          Read vs 23-24

          Who are the people who have made their home with you? Your dad? Your mom? Your husband or wife? Are there children?

In the different chapters of life, these are the people that are in your presence every day. You see how each other lives. There is a harmony with each other’s rhythms. You know what makes those people tick, their nuances, what they like and dislike; and they know the same for you. Your lives are woven together. Your identity as a person is bound up with those in your home. This is family, and how precious these people become to you – it is felt all the more when death takes one of them from you.

          There is another who has made a home with you: It is promised! In verse 23, Jesus promises that He and the Father will come make their home with us, if we keep His word.

          Keeping His word is virtually the same as believing in Jesus’ word, trusting Him for forgiveness and life, and then following Him in repentance and obedience. In other words, this means loving Jesus. Love Jesus like this, and Jesus promises that He and the Father will make their home with you.

          But I want to show you how, and more precisely, this means you will be indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Father makes His home with you by giving you the Holy Spirit. Indeed, the Holy Spirit is the very Spirit of the Father.

          “When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.”        -Matthew 10:19-20

          The Spirit of the Father, speaking through believers, is the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit is not just the Spirit of the Father, but also the Spirit of the Son – Jesus’ own Spirit.

          Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”                                                       -Galatians 4:6

          When you received the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Father and Son made their home with you through God the Spirit. The Holy Spirit binds Himself to your spirit, and your heart is imprinted with His heart. In the deepest part of your being, there is the Holy Spirit, pulsating with God’s love, speaking forgiveness and comfort and constant care. He is the voice of God’s word dwelling within you.

I know this is often hard for us to see, and it doesn’t always feel like this, but that in no way means it is less true. What is true, is what Jesus promised. If you keep the words of Christ, the Spirit has made a home with you.

          So, because Jesus has given us an unshakable promise, this means the Holy Spirit is in our presence every day. We see how each other lives. There is a harmony with each other’s rhythms. You understand what God likes and dislikes; and He knows the same for you. Your lives are woven together. Your identity as a person is bound up with Him who has made a home with you. This is family, and the person of the Spirit becomes exceedingly precious when we understand that He has chosen to make His home with us.

          As David wrote in Psalm 139,

Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.                    -Psalm 139:7-12

          How intimate! How holy! The Spirit has made His home with us! What a gracious gift!

          And the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is not only an intimate gift, but a helpful gift. Jesus said, if we keep His word, God will make His home with us. But we all know that we are not very good about keeping His word, not that consistent, often doubting.

          But the Spirit is home, and He is our patient and gracious Helper.

          Read vs 25-26

          The Spirit is teaching us. This is not the schooling of a classroom, not the instruction of a manual. This is the tutelage of a home. When you were a child you watched your father, you saw his life, and through your own personality you emulated your father. Likely you emulate him to this day. Similarly, this is how the Holy Spirit teaches us.

          As we have seen, loving Jesus means keeping His word. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus sends to us, He brings to our remembrance all that [Jesus has] said. Meaning, so long as the Spirit is within us, Christ’s word will never leave us. His word is kept within us.

          Jesus tells us to keep His word, but knowing our weakness, He graciously gives us the Spirit who will keep us in His word. The Holy Spirit is a beautiful, precious gift.

Elsewhere, Paul tells us just how powerfully the Spirit helps us:

           Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.                                                        -2 Corinthians 3:17-18

          Can anyone overstate how great a Helper is the indwelling Holy Spirit?! Quietly, always active, working behind the scenes – even in spite of our wayward selves – the Spirit is transforming us, recreating us, conforming us into the glorious image of Jesus our Lord. How He deserves our worship this Christmas Eve!

          The gift of the Spirit is deeply intimate and supremely helpful. He is also the unfiltered source of heaven’s comfort.

          Read vs 27

          The peace that Jesus leaves with us is not merely an abstract idea, not some ethereal platitude. The peace that Jesus leaves with us, that He gives to us, is a person. The divine person of the Holy Spirit, living within our hearts, constantly speaks peace to us.

          When there is division and strife, the Spirit speaks peace: “As Christ loved you and gave His life for you, love this difficult one. Were you not difficult once? Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God. Turn away from evil, pursue the gracious path of peace.” So the Spirit speaks into our hearts.

          Even when the darkness sweeps over you like a flood, still the Spirit speaks peace. He whispers, “God loves you, He is with you, these are light and momentary afflictions. God is working all things together for your good. He is for you, nothing against you can stand. Nothing will separate you from His love.” All we need is to listen with ears of faith.

          Yes, if we listen to the gentle voice of the Spirit, in division or darkness, Jesus tells us what will happen. “Let not your heart be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” Such interesting words: Both a promise and a command. Jesus promises hearts what will not be troubled, that will not fear. The command: “Let not.”

          How do we, Let not? Faith. We remember Jesus’ love for us, and our love for Him, and we keep His word. We open the pages of Scripture and listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit. There He will speak again of God’s love for us.

          God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.                                                                             -Romans 5:5

It is perfect love that casts out fear; and it is the Spirit who pours out God’s love into our hearts. The peace that Jesus gives to us is a person, speaking God’s love into our hearts, comforting us in times of trouble, breaking the chains of fear that would weigh us down. Simply open His word and, in trust, listen to the voice of the Spirit speaking to you.

          The Holy Spirit has made a home with you. He intimately cares for you. The Spirit holds you fast, He is your almighty Helper. In your times of trouble, He is the Spirit of Peace.

          Can anyone overstate how great is the gift of the Holy Spirit? How precious! God is the giver of gifts inexpressible, glorious, and loving beyond measure. He knows us, and we are known by Him.

          This Christmas Eve, and tomorrow when the wrapping paper is flying, remember that you have already received the greatest gifts of heaven. For if you believe that the Son of God was born in Bethlehem, who 33 years later gave His life for you, who three days later was raised from the dead, who is currently seated at the right hand of God; then heaven has been poured out for you, gifts upon gifts, grace upon grace.

          I end with a passage I ended with two Sundays ago:

          “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him.” These things God has revealed to us through the Spirit.                                                                       -1 Corinthians 1:9-10