Holy Spirit Paraclete

7/01/12 Sermon by Minister Michael Johnson

I have been re-reading a book called Knowing God by J.I Packer. This is a fundamental book for learning more about theology. It is a helpful resource, whether you’re a new Christian or whether you’re well versed in Scripture. The main concept behind Knowing God is that to know Him, you must first understand who God is. Understanding God means to know Him as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. What I have just said may seem like an obvious statement, but really when you think about it people tend to spend less time on the Holy Spirit than the Son and the Father. We obviously spend a lot of time learning about Jesus. We spend time learning about His birth. We learn about His work teaching and healing people. We read about his correction of the Pharisees and Sadducees. We also learn about His love for us, His dying on the cross for our sins and the salvation we find in His sacrifice and resurrection.

We also learn about God the Father who demonstrates His creativity when forming the earth and everything in it. We know He answers our prayers. He is sovereign over everything as our Lord. He sent His son Jesus to save us. While we learn about God the Father and God the Son we often overlook God the Holy Spirit. I agree with J.I. Packer that many do not focus on the person of the Holy Spirit. To remedy this, I would like to take some time in this sermon to discuss the Holy Spirit. This won’t be a completely comprehensive study on the Holy Spirit, as we could spend months studying His work and power in our lives, but today I’ll concentrate on the reason the Holy Spirit was sent to us.

The Holy Spirit has always been alive in the world just as Christ has always been alive. The Holy Spirit was present right from Creation. Genesis 1:1-2 states, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” You see? The Holy Spirit was there! He didn’t just have a front row ticket either. He was actively participating in God’s creation work. After creation and throughout the Old Testament we read about people seeking the Holy Spirit. Psalm 51:11 exclaims, “Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.” King David knew that God had blessed him with the presence of the Holy Spirit and he was desperate for the Holy Spirit to not leave him. King David was very aware of his sins and he was concerned that his sin would offend the Holy Spirit to the point where He would leave him. Do we have the same passion as David did? If not, it’s because you don’t understand the relationship we can have with the Holy Spirit. So let’s take a closer look at what the New Testament has to say.

Scripture refers to the Holy Spirit in an abundance of places. Today, we’ll focus on five passages in John that demonstrate the nature and purpose of the Holy Spirit. When we look to John in Chapters 14, 15, and 16 we find five paraclete passages. Great, right? Now we are talking about a paraclete as if I know what that means! Obviously paraclete is not a word we use in normal conversation. The word paraclete is a Latin word that originates from the Greek word parakletos. In the Greek, the word means helper, advocate, comforter and/or counselor.

The first passage, John 14:15-17, reads as follows, “If you love me, you will obey my commandments. Then I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever– the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept, because it does not see him or know him. But you know him, because he resides with you and will be in you.”

This passage sets the tone for the coming Counselor. Jesus is talking about the relationship the disciples will have with the coming Counselor and how He will care for them after Jesus’ departure. The disciples already have a relationship with Jesus. They love Him and obey His commandments. They have committed their lives to Him. They have chosen to obey Him. They have given their hearts to loving Him. Jesus is saying that the relationship they have with Him will be reflected in their relationship with this coming Counselor. Jesus is trying to prepare them for when He leaves and goes to Heaven. He wants them to know that they will not be alone

What is curious here is the language Jesus uses when he promises the Counselor. Jesus says, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever….”. Jesus knows he will be leaving. So he promises another Counselor. But why use the word another? Is the Holy Spirit replacing someone? It is not that the Holy Spirit is replacing Jesus, but is coming to continue teaching truth about the Father and the Son. Jesus was given by the Father to teach the disciples and the crowds of people about the way to Salvation, the Truth of God, and Kingdom of God. So too will the Counselor. The Spirit of Truth would continue to teach the disciples and other followers of Christ about the Lord. Also, just like Christ, the world would not accept the Holy Spirit. This is because people would continue to reject the Gospel. These people are not willing to open their hearts to the Lord. This does not mean that the world does not witness the work of the Spirit, but they reject Him. They find ways to discredit His work.

John 14:26 writes, “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and will cause you to remember everything I said to you.”

Of course Jesus is talking to the disciples here. At that time they did not have the teaching of Jesus in writing. Kids, the new Christians did not have Sunday School teachers or parents to teach them about Jesus. The disciples were charged with teaching and preaching Jesus’ message, but as humans they were prone to mistakes. The Spirit’s role to the disciples was to continue to teach them and remind them of the Truth of Christ. Therefore the Holy Spirit was sent by the Father in the name of Jesus to be with the disciples and make sure the message they preached contained the True message of Christ.

The presence of the Holy Spirit to counsel the disciples and lead them into the truth and teachings of Jesus was not just a one-time deal meant solely for the disciples. We also need the Holy Spirit to teach us the Truth of Christ. He doesn’t just help us by swooping in when we’re in trouble. The Holy Spirit actually resides in us. With the Holy Spirit dwelling in us as Christians, His truth is revealed and sin no longer has a place. We also need Him to help us remember the Lord’s Word, to write Scripture on our hearts and minds. This reminds me of Deuteronomy 6:4-9, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

Did you know that some of the Israelites heard this, put Scripture in boxes and literally tied the boxes to their foreheads? Can you picture that? Even now, some people are known to walk around with Scripture taped to their foreheads to somehow prove how spiritual they are. God does not prefer this type of outward demonstration as it’s usually done to impress other people. What He wants is for His words to really take root in our minds, for us to think about them and apply them in our daily lives. He wants His words and instruction to leave an impression on our hearts, so that even if the Scripture is not taped to our heads, we will remember it and follow it. If we seek the Holy Spirit to keep Scripture etched on our hearts and on the forefront of our minds He will do so. What an image! The Holy Spirit not only resides in us and pushes out sin, but He also literally speaks the Word of the Lord to us all the time. The Holy Spirit will never leave us if we continue to seek Him. He will give us the knowledge of Scripture and when asked about the Word of the Lord He will give us responses. The Holy Spirit not only helps us know Scripture and apply it to our own lives, but also gives us power to share the Gospel message with others, which leads us into the next passage.

The next passage is from John 15:26-27 and reads, “But when the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.”

Remember, all of this was completely new to the disciples. Jesus did not want them to think that the Holy Spirit would be doing all the work and they would be watching Him. Instead, just as they had participated with Jesus in His ministry, they were to work in tandem with the Holy Spirit, who would be with them, empowering them to do it. You see, Jesus knew that the disciples would not always be together as a group. He was going to send them out to different places. They needed to know that no matter where they went to share the Gospel, the Holy Spirit would be with them, would remind them of Jesus’ teachings, and would embolden them to teach and preach the Gospel message.

We have the same charge as the disciples. We have been given the task not to hide the message of the Gospel but to seek the Holy Spirit’s instruction on how to share it. In fact, Jesus makes the charge to preach the Gospel message in the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20,

“And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’”

Jesus has commanded us to go out and make disciples of all nations. We too get to be part of that! The Holy Spirit will give us the words to say. He will show us who to speak to. It does not always need to be to say, “Do you know Jesus?” Maybe you have a friend who is having a hard time and you simply ask if you can pray for them. That might be good enough. So long as we seek the Holy Spirit to speak through us we cannot fail. I know it may seem sometimes like we have failed. There have been plenty of times that I have tried to share Christ and felt like I did a horrible job. I wound up stumbling over my words and getting nervous. But you know a great thing about the Holy Spirit? Even when we think we make a mistake talking to our friends about Jesus the Holy Spirit can use what we say and make it clear. It is not up to us to change the hearts of people. It is up to us to do our best to talk about our love for Jesus.

John 16:7-11 reads, “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I am going away. For if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you, but if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong concerning sin and righteousness and judgment– concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.”

Here Jesus is not trying to say the Holy Spirit was not present during his Christ’s ministry by saying if He does not go away the Counselor will not come. Jesus is making more of a point about the need for his death and resurrection. If Jesus does not “go away” then the Message of the Gospel cannot be fulfilled. Jesus’ whole purpose was to open the Kingdom of God to all people who confess faith in the Lord. So the coming of the Holy Spirit is an eschatological necessity based on the fact that Jesus must “go away.” Christ needed to ascend to Heaven to open the door for Salvation. In doing so the Holy Spirit fell on the believers to open their eyes and hearts to be able the share the Gospel. We see the Holy Spirit fall on the people in Acts.

Acts 2:1-4 states, “When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and hit filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

It was Jesus who first came with power to share the gospel message. But when He left the earth it was the Holy Spirit who came to continue this work. Up until this point the disciples had been following and learning from Jesus. Once Jesus died on the cross, they didn’t know what to do. They hadn’t yet realized that Jesus’ death and resurrection were part of the plan. Jesus had told them about it, but they had been unable to grasp it. They certainly were not yet empowered to share the Gospel. Once Jesus ascended to Heaven power was given to the disciples in the Name of Christ and by the Work of the Spirit. Their eyes had been opened and they began to fully understand the breadth and scope of what Jesus had accomplished in His death and resurrection. As such, they were filled with the power of the Holy Spirit to share the Gospel. The disciples taught about God’s plan through Jesus Christ, while it was the Holy Spirit that worked in the listener’s hearts. For example, as the disciples spoke of sin, the Holy Spirit was revealing sins to the listener. As the disciples spoke of the righteousness that could only be achieved through faith in Christ, it was the Holy Spirit that was working in the listener’s life to see where he or she fell short. As the disciples spoke about the coming judgment, it was the Holy Spirit who stirred the listener’s heart to respond so that he or she could be reconciled to Christ.

The world does not know about the work of Christ like we do. The world does not know about Jesus’ love. It is by the Holy Spirit that we even came to know Jesus. People who are not Christians have their own perspective on what it means to be a good person. They have their own view on what it means to go to heaven. When we walk according to the Spirit, we demonstrate the Gospel message through our actions. By the way we talk and the way we behave we demonstrate we are different from the world. I remember I used to pray before school lunches and kids would ask what I was doing. I said I was praying. They made fun of me but that is because they did not know Christ. They did not have the Holy Spirit in them. But I was comforted knowing that I was walking in the Holy Spirit. I was comforted know that when I was being made fun of for praying I knew I was doing something right. I was being Christ-like and that makes the world mad. Jesus knew this well. He was mocked, spit at, and hurt because He was preaching a message that the world hated. The world doesn’t want to hear that they’re not good enough, not smart enough, not righteous enough to enter into the presence of the Almighty. In fact, it’s easier for them if they don’t even believe in an Almighty. This should serve as a comfort to us because Jesus is our Savior. Just as He stayed above the mockery so will we. The Holy Spirit helps us keep our eyes on the Kingdom of Heaven so we don’t get discouraged by the world’s mockery.

In the final Holy Spirit passage we find the continued and future work of the Holy Spirit. John 16:12-15 states, “I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. For he will not speak on his own authority, but will speak whatever he hears, and will tell you what is to come. He will glorify me, because he will receive from me what is mine and will tell it to you. Everything that the Father has is mine; that is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what is mine and will tell it to you.”

This passage demonstrates two things. It demonstrates that more teaching will come from the Holy Spirit regarding the work of the Lord. This does not mean that more revelation is to come. The message of Christ does not change nor would the Holy Spirit ever add to the Message of Christ. We find this fallacy when we encounter religions such as Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witness, and Islam that claim to have additional and special revelation given to them in addition to Scripture. However, the belief of these religions is fundamentally false based on Scripture. According to Scripture God cannot change. His character is ALWAYS the same.

What is meant by “leading into all truth” is the continued unfolding of the Kingdom of God. We continue to learn and understand the Words of Christ through the illumination of the Holy Spirit. We can never know too much about Scripture. The Holy Spirit will always give us a refreshed way of looking at things. Just like when you were a child and you saw something one way and then later in life you saw the same thing in a different light. The meaning does not change, but your understanding of that thing is expanded. The same with Scripture. A Scripture passage may have meant one thing to you at a certain point in your life and later in life your understanding expanded. The meaning of the passage did not change, but your application of it widens.

In these passages we see the work the Holy Spirit as Counselor to Christians. The Holy Spirit has been sent to continue teaching the Truth of the Message of Christ to us Christians and to work in the heart of non-Christian’s to bring them to a saving faith in Christ. The Holy Spirit has been sent to penetrate to the core of our hearts and to transform us. The Holy Spirit also gives us courage and strength to face the world and stay true to the Word of the Lord. Because He resides in us, He continually highlights the things in our lives that need to be corrected and transformed. If you become aware of a habit or a thought process that is not pleasing to the Lord, thank the Holy Spirit for bringing it to your attention. He wants you to deal with it, once and for all, and His power will enable you to do it enabling. When you are unsure of something seek the Holy Spirit to illuminate the situation. Ask Him to give you a Scripture that reveals the answer. Remember, the Holy Spirit resides in us. He lives in you and in me. He is among us today as we gather as a Body of Believers. If we seek the Holy Spirit evil cannot enter into us. Where the Holy Spirit is the enemy cannot also exist. Let us seek Him today and in our daily lives. Let’s pray.

John 14:15-17 - “If you love me, you will obey my commandments. Then I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever– the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept, because it does not see him or know him. But you know him, because he resides with you and will be in you.”

John 14:26 - But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and will cause you to remember everything I said to you.

John 15:26-27 - But when the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning

John 16:7-11 - But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I am going away. For if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you, but if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong concerning sin and righteousness and judgment– concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.

John 16:12-15 - “I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. For he will not speak on his own authority, but will speak whatever he hears, and will tell you what is to come. He will glorify me, because he will receive from me what is mine and will tell it to you. Everything that the Father has is mine; that is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what is mine and will tell it to you.