The Person of the Holy Spirit
John 14:16-17
May 26, 2013
At this point in John’s gospel,
Jesus and His disciples are in the upper room.
• Jesus has washed His disciple’s feet
• Judas has gone out to betray the Lord
And upon Judas’ exit, Jesus realizes that
The ball has been officially set in motion.
John 13:31-33 “Therefore when he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him; if God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and will glorify Him immediately. “Little children, I am with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’”
Jesus is again revealing his death.
And incidentally, the disciples knew He was talking about death.
Notice Peter’s response a few verses later:
John 13:36-37 “Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, where are You going?” Jesus answered, “Where I go, you cannot follow Me now; but you will follow later.” Peter said to Him, “Lord, why can I not follow You right now? I will lay down my life for You.”
Peter seemed to understand the implication.
Jesus was going away, and according to Him
None of the disciples could yet follow.
One can only imagine the faces in the room at this point.
I’m sure you could see remorse, sadness, even worry, begin to creep upon all the faces of the disciples who sat and heard what Jesus said.
Jesus was leaving.
They would be on their own.
As long as they had Jesus, they could do anything.
• Sickness wasn’t an issue,
• Lack of food wasn’t an issue,
• Demonic spirits were no threat,
• Even the wind and waves couldn’t stop them.
Jesus was the difference.
For three years in Galilee, Jesus was their ace in the hole.
And now He is leaving.
That helps John 14:1 make a whole lot more sense.
John 14:1 “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.”
Certainly their hearts were troubled, they may have even been afraid.
What will we do without Jesus?
Jesus said, “Don’t be afraid, just believe”
Now, there is a more to the discussion, and some valuable verses, but it doesn’t change the fact that the disciples are now perplexed because they are about to be on their own.
It is during this time of loss and confusion
That Jesus reiterates that great promise.
(16-17) “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.”
Jesus promises “another Helper”
Those are two very important words.
ALLOS PARAKLETOS
ALLOS translates “another”
It means “another of the same type”
Had Jesus used the word “HETEROS” it would have been
“another one who is different”
What Jesus is promising here is someone of the same mold as Him.
And then He uses the word PARAKLETOS
It is actually a verbal adjective.
In other words, His name describes who He is.
And PARAKLETOS literally means “called to one’s side”
It refers to being called to another’s aid.
This phrase was used in the court of justice to denote a legal assistant,
Or the counsel for the defense. It was an intercessor or an advocate.
The King James translated the word “Comforter”
The NASB (which I read) went for the generic term of “Helper”
Jesus said, The Father will give you a Helper the same type as Me.
In other words, Jesus is leaving, but the disciples would not be alone.
“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper”
And this Helper, “will be with you forever;”
WHO IS HE?
(17) “that is the Spirit of truth”
• Now, you will also notice that the world cannot receive Him.
• The reason of course because the world won’t accept what it can’t see.
• But believers not only have “the Spirit of truth” with them, they have Him “in” them.
And we’ll talk more about those concepts later.
But this morning I want us to settle in who “the Spirit of truth” is.
We are now in the middle of a study on the Holy Spirit.
I have told you from the beginning of this study
That I was moved to begin this study mainly out of a conviction
Of the lack of power in the life of the church.
I have heard too many stories of defeat.
• “Why can’t I beat this temptation?”
• “Why am I so timid in evangelism?”
And the answer in Scripture is obvious.
Defeat occurs when believers walk according to the flesh
And not according to the Spirit.
After all Paul put it very clear:
Galatians 5:16 “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.”
That certainly seems like an easy enough solution.
Just walk by the Spirit and the flesh won’t win.
And yet, it seems like we sure see a lot of the flesh winning today.
SO I ASKED WHY DON’T PEOPLE WALK BY THE SPIRIT?
1) They don’t know who He is (and so they don’t trust Him)
They think He’s some kind of strange force that makes you handle
snakes and speak gibberish and fall down and flop in the aisle.
2) They don’t know how
They think it’s some sort of mystical thing, or some ecstatic thing, more
like levitating or being hypnotized.
And because of that, genuine believers just leave the Holy Spirit all together and are relegated to lives of powerless failure.
And hence our study.
We want to find out who the Holy Spirit is.
We want to find out how to walk by Him.
Last time we talked about this, we saw “The Promise of the Spirit” and saw how He was to be the answer to human weakness and failure.
• Israel was being removed from their land, they had failed in their required obedience, and now Babylon was about to destroy Jerusalem.
• In that dark hour, through Jeremiah, God revealed the new covenant.
• A covenant in which He would write His laws on the heart of His children and cause them to be obedient.
• And according to Ezekiel, the agent of this change would be God’s Spirit.
Ezekiel 36:27 “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.”
He would be the answer to human failure and weakness.
He would be the reason God’s people
Would be able to walk in righteousness.
And Israel looked forward to the promise of His coming.
And I told you then that the Holy Spirit is not someone to dread,
But rather someone to anticipate and cling to.
Well hopefully today we can begin to flesh that out a little
And show you why you want Him.
I want to show you who He is in nature.
(We’ll get to what He does later, but for now just who He is)
Well Jesus said a mouthful there in John 14
When He called Him ALLOS PARAKLETOS.
When Jesus called Him another of the same type that really says a ton.
When we talk about the Holy Spirit we are talking about God.
He is the third person of the trinity.
And yet how many times do we hear the Holy Spirit referred to as “It”.
He is treated like some sort of cosmic force – like something off of StarWars
But He is not an “it”, He is a He.
He is God.
He is Omnipresent just like God.
Psalms 139:7-12 “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me. If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, And the light around me will be night,” Even the darkness is not dark to You, And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You.”
He is Omniscient just like God.
1 Corinthians 2:10 “For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.”
He is Omnipotent just like God.
Luke 1:35 “The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.”
• Scripture says He speaks
• Scripture says He grieves
• Scripture says He prays
• Scripture says He teaches
• Scripture says He testifies
• Scripture says He guides
Those are attributes of something that is alive.
The Holy Spirit is God.
He is not strange, He is not different.
The God you know and love in the Father
Is the same God you will know and love in the Spirit.
This is perhaps one reason we are frightened by the Holy Spirit,
Because at times He is portrayed as someone different.
I told you before He has sort of become the “fall guy”
For all sorts of erratic behavior.
People claim to do all sorts of wild things under
“the direction of the Holy Spirit”
Some things people claim are even direct violations of Scripture.
(This is especially true among false prophets)
And when we hear that we begin to assume that
Although the Holy Spirit is real, He is just a little strange.
And we would rather stick with the Father, the Son, and the Scriptures.
But friends the Holy Spirit is One with the Father and the Son.
He is God like them.
(READ JOHN 16:7-15)
When you read that, He sounds just like the God we know and love.
1) HE ABSOLUTELY HATES SIN
In fact, He will convict the world concerning sin.
2) HE DESIRES GOD’S WILL
That is why He is guiding you into the truth.
3) HE PASSIONATELY LOVES JESUS
That is why He continually seeks to glorify Him.
There is nothing strange about that.
There is nothing strange about Him.
So rest assured the Holy Spirit is not working contrary to God,
They are step in step, stride for stride.
And I tell you that again because I want you to realize that you
Can Trust Him, and you will Love Him, and should Worship Him.
But Jesus revealed even more to us
Than just that He is God, of the same substance.
Jesus specifically gave Him a descriptive title.
I suppose His name would be “the Holy Spirit”
Or “the Spirit of truth”
But in John 14 Jesus gave Him a descriptive title.
Jesus called Him the PARAKLETOS
“The Advocate” “The Comforter” “The Helper”
And this reveals to us a great deal.
If we wanted to do a study on God, the Father.
We could very easily center that study around a study of His name.
• Jehovah Jireh – “the Lord Provides
Jehovah Nissi – “the Lord is my banner”
• Jehovah Tsidkenu – “The Lord our righteousness”
• Jehovah Shalom – “the Lord is peace”
• Jehovah Shammah – “the Lord is there”
• Jehovah Rohi – “The Lord is my shepherd”
• Jehovah Rophe – “The Lord who heals”
• Jehovah Mekadesh – “the Lord who sanctifies you”
If we wanted to do a study on who Jesus is,
We could study the analogies that He used to describe Himself.
• “I am the bread of life”
• “I am the light of the world”
• “I am the doorway of the sheep”
• “I am the Good Shepherd”
• “I am the resurrection and the life”
• “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life”
• “I am the true Vine”
Well, we are afforded the same tools when studying the Holy Spirit
We get both descriptive names and descriptive analogies.
I want to look at them this morning
And see if I can’t help you better understand who He is.
LET’S START WITH THE NAME.
PARAKLETOS – “The Helper”
• What does that mean that He is our helper?
• What does He help us with?
I would suppose a better question would be, what do you need help with?
Let’s start with an obvious one.
EVANGELISM
• Anyone in here ever wish they were better at sharing their faith?
• Anyone in here get discouraged that either they don’t know what to say, or are too timid to say it?
• Anyone in here wish they could have someone help them?
Well, you’re in luck.
The Holy Spirit is the Helper
In fact testifying about Jesus is one of the things He loves to do.
John 15:26 “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me,”
He is a testifier, and He will help you.
Matthew 10:19-20 “But when they hand you over, do not worry about how or what you are to say; for it will be given you in that hour what you are to say. “For it is not you who speak, but it is the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.”
Luke 12:12 “for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”
In fact just to let you know how good at this He is.
Read through the Old Testament and find a passage where Scripture says that “The Spirit of God came upon” someone.
More times than not, do you know what that person will do next?
They prophesy.
(Speak boldly)
Was that not what Joel said would happen
When the Spirit of God was poured out?
Joel 2:28 “It will come about after this That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and daughters will prophesy, Your old men will dream dreams, Your young men will see visions.”
The wisdom of what to say and the boldness to say it
Comes from the Holy Spirit.
How about another area?
TEACHING
The Great Commission said that to make disciples we had to go to them, baptize them and what?
“teach them to obey all that I have commanded you…”
• I know evangelism can be intimidated, but is anyone intimidated by the concept of teaching others?
Those headed to Sanyati this summer,
Are about to spend the afternoon learning about
All the different teaching opportunities they are going to get.
• Does that intimidate you?
• Would you like help?
That is what the Holy Spirit promises.
In fact, He is a teacher.
John 14:26 “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.”
Have you ever wondered how Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were able to write the gospels?
The Holy Spirit brought it to their remembrance.
The Holy Spirit taught them what to teach.
And He has done this throughout the ages.
2 Peter 1:20-21 “But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”
He is the teacher.
I tell people this all the time,
But the key to being a great teacher is to be a great learner.
WHY?
Because the Holy Spirit first teaches you, so that you can teach others.
• 1 Corinthians 2:12-13 says He will teach you “the deep things of God”
• Mark 13:11 says He will teach you “how to answer”
• Isaiah 30:12 says He will teach you “how to walk”
HE HELPS.
He helps in evangelism, He helps in teaching.
LOVE
Now, I know love is easy – WRONG
• It’s easy to love the loveable, but it’s hard to love those who aren’t.
• Love is the sacrifice of self for the good of another, and that is hard.
Anyone in here ever struggle with love?
Want some help?
Romans 5:3-5 “And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
And that isn’t soap opera love.
That is “the love of God” AGAPE love.
The Holy Spirit will help you exercise it.
In fact, “love” is one of His attributes.
Galatians 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”
Love is what He produces.
JOY
Ever struggle with joy?
I’m not talking about happiness.
There are things in life that just shouldn’t make you happy.
There are things that don’t make God happy.
And I’m not even talking about a “mood” necessarily.
Love is not an emotion and neither is joy.
Joy is a deep seeded contentment
In who God is and in what He has done.
WANT HELP?
1 Thessalonians 1:6 “You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit,”
The Holy Spirit helped the Thessalonians
Be joyful even in the midst of tribulation.
Romans 14:17 “for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”
The Holy Spirit helps believers have joy.
HOPE
There is a tough one in our world.
It’s easier to nail jello to a wall than hold hope on your own.
• This world is too bad.
• There is too much suffering, there is too much pain.
• And there is definitely not a feel that it is getting better.
Hope is hard to come by.
But we need it.
• We need hope when the doctor says, “Cancer”
• We need hope when the job is lost
• We need hope when a son or daughter is shipped over seas
• We need hope in all sorts of areas
Want help with it?
The Holy Spirit is the helper.
Romans 15:13 “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Galatians 5:5 “For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness.”
Are you beginning to see a little better who the Holy Spirit is?
He’s not some strange cosmic force
Who orders chaos and makes you do strange things.
He is the Helper who comes along side you
To help you in the areas where you struggle most.
• He helps you in your quest for purity
• He helps your ministry
• He helps you exercise the attributes you want to display
He is not working against you, He is there to help you become like Christ.
And just like we learn a great deal about God from the titles He is given,
We learn a great deal about the Holy Spirit through the title He is given.
But He is also given more than just a title.
Jesus was described by analogies.
So is the Holy Spirit.
Can I show you some of those?
WATER
John 7:38-39 “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'” But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”
We don’t have to carry out the analogy to its fullest, but you understand it
Water is cleansing
Water is nourishing
Water is refreshing
But perhaps the main issue Jesus spoke of here
Was that water is abundant life.
Good luck having life without water
Jesus explained the Holy Spirit as “rivers of living water”
Remember that woman at the well?
She wanted living water.
That is what the Holy Spirit is, never ending, all satisfying,
Fully abundant life.
That doesn’t sound like someone to avoid.
He’s also described as:
FIRE
Acts 2:3 “And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them.”
Why fire?
Fire is purifying.
Isaiah 4:4 “When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and purged the bloodshed of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning,”
That may not at first sound pleasant, but think it through.
• Do we not mourn over the sin in our lives?
• Do we not hate it when we fail?
• Do we not grieve like Paul in Romans 7; “wretched man that I am, who will set me free from the body of this death”?
It is the Holy Spirit that works that purifying work in our lives.
He helps to make us clean.
He helps to remove the dross.
That is a good thing.
WIND
John 3:8 “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Acts 2:2 “And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.”
The idea there is that of being powerful and independent.
You saw first hand this week what wind can do.
Now that was destructive in nature.
Go to work with Romeo to the wind farm some day
And see how efficient the power of wind can be.
That is the Holy Spirit, He is powerful accomplishing great things.
He is described as:
OIL
You may remember the parable of the 10 virgins.
10 had lamps, but only 5 had what? Oil.
Matthew 25:2-4 “Five of them were foolish, and five were prudent. “For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps.”
5 had religion, 5 had the Holy Spirit.
5 had the show, 5 had the substance.
And throughout scripture oil is unique.
• It is called “the oil of gladness”
• It is comforting and refreshing as a healing agent.
When the good Samaritan stopped to help the man in the ditch,
the good Samaritan poured oil and wine on his wounds.
• Oil was an illuminating agent like the parable of the virgins.
• Oil was also used to anoint and consecrate.
Isaiah 61:1 “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because the LORD has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners;”
It was far more than just oil that made a king a king,
It was the anointing of God.
When Saul fell out of favor it was then that the Holy Spirit departed and an evil spirit came to torment him.
That is why after David sinned with Bathsheba he prayed:
Psalms 51:11 “Do not cast me away from Your presence And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.”
Through the Holy Spirit we have that anointing
And consecration from God.
1 John 2:27 “As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him.”
The Holy Spirit is like the oil of gladness setting you apart for ministry.
He is your anointing from God.
He is also pictured as:
A DOVE
Matthew 3:16 “After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him,”
A dove was gentle
A dove was innocent
Didn’t Jesus tell us to be “shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves”?
That is the Holy Spirit.
He isn’t violent or rude
One of the things we love about Jesus is His meekness.
Matthew 12:18-21 “BEHOLD, MY SERVANT WHOM IHAVE CHOSEN; MY BELOVED IN WHOM MY SOUL is WELL-PLEASED; I WILL PUT MY SPIRIT UPON HIM, AND HE SHALL PROCLAIM JUSTICE TO THE GENTILES. “HE WILL NOT QUARREL, NOR CRY OUT; NOR WILL ANYONE HEAR HIS VOICE IN THE STREETS. “A BATTERED REED HE WILL NOT BREAK OFF, AND A SMOLDERING WICK HE WILL NOT PUT OUT, UNTIL HE LEADS JUSTICE TO VICTORY. “AND IN HIS NAME THE GENTILES WILL HOPE.”
Jesus wasn’t a bully, or a squawker or an intimidator
And neither is the Holy Spirit.
People have this fear of Him that if you get too close,
He’ll seize control of your body
And force you into all sorts of mindless activity.
No, He is gentle, like a dove.
Jesus never forced His will on anyone, and neither does the Holy Spirit.
He is a helper, but He won’t hold you hostage.
One more:
SEAL
Ephesians 1:13-14 “In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation — having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.”
Ephesians 4:30 “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”
He is a protector and a guarantee.
• He is what lets your heart know that heaven is for real and causes you to long for it.
• He is where assurance comes from.
• He is the One who testifies that you are in fact a child of God.
He is not an accuser, He is an advocate.
Satan is the accuser, He is the one attacks you and belittles you
And seeks to humiliate you.
And his false spirits working in his false messengers will do the same.
But that is not the Holy Spirit.
He is here to Help you.
With evangelism, with teaching, with love, with joy, with hope
He is here as WATER to refresh you, FIRE to purify you, WIND to empower you, OIL to anoint you, a DOVE to gently guide you, and a SEAL to protect you.
That’s who Scripture says He is.
You don’t have to fear Him.
You certainly should never avoid Him.
He is the answer for an absent Jesus.
Jesus said He was leaving, but not to let your heart be troubled, “I will ask the Father and He will give you another Helper”
Don’t let some TV preacher scare you away from the Holy Spirit.
Listen to who Scripture says He is.
He is to be SOUGHT, He is to be LOVED, He is to be TRUSTED,
He is to be WORSHIPED, He is to be FOLLOWED.
Galatians 5:25 “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.”
