Who Is The Holy Spirit? Series

WHO IS THE HOLY SPIRIT?

Text: Jn. 14:15-26

Introduction

1. Read Jn. 14:15-26

2. Illustration: Wilma had been a member of her church for many, many years. In her later years she needed the assistance of a cane to help in walking. As she was talking with her pastor, she would make points by lightly tapping him on the chest or shoulder with the handle of her cane.

One Sunday after the morning worship service, the pastor was standing at the back of the sanctuary and Wilma hobbled up to him and said, "That was a pretty good sermon." In true Christian piety he said, "Thank you Wilma, but it wasn’t me it was the Holy Spirit."

Without batting an eye she tapped him in the middle of the chest with her cane and said, "Oh no, if it was the Holy Spirit it would have been a lot better than that."

3. As Pentecostals, we talk a lot about the Holy Spirit, but I often wonder if we truly understand who He is and what He does.

Transition: Who is the Holy Spirit? First of all...

I. He Is Our Helper (15-16)

A. Another Comforter

1. Before we can understand who the Holy Spirit is we have to understand how we get Him in our lives. Notice that Jesus begins to talk about the Holy Spirit by saying "If ye love me, keep my commandments."

a. The word "keep" means "to obey; to give uncompromised attention to; to fulfill a responsibility.—Practical Word Studies in the New Testament

b. Obedience is not optional for believers. Jesus stated a simple fact that must be clearly understood.

c. He is saying that the man who truly loves Him will keep His commandments. To the believer, there is no option. He loves Jesus; therefore, he keeps His commandments.

d. Therefore, he diligently seeks Jesus, and he seeks to please Him in all that he does.

e. Heb. 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

2. The receiving of the Holy Spirit is conditional.

a. Note the conjunction "and." It is the person who loves Jesus who is given the Holy Spirit.

b. Note also that the Spirit is given because Jesus prays for us. He is our Intercessor, the One who pleads our case.

c. It is not that God is unwilling to give the Holy Spirit. That is not the point. The point is that Jesus Christ is our Mediator—our Intercessor—the One who makes it possible for us to receive the Spirit (cp. 1 John 2:1-2).

d. If a person truly loves Jesus, that person is given the Holy Spirit.

3. However, our focus in this message is who the Holy Spirit is and what He does. Notice what Jesus says about Him: "he shall give you another Comforter..."

a. The word translated "Comforter" means " one who helps, by consoling, encouraging, or mediating on behalf of —Louw & Nida: NT Greek-English Lexicon

b. There are several ways to translate this word, and translating it "comforter" can be a little misleading because it suggests only one very limited aspect of what the Holy Spirit does. —Louw & Nida: NT Greek-English Lexicon

c. It means one who is called; Bishop Samuel Hinds wrote that the call may be "for any purpose of need, whether to strengthen, to console, to guide, to instruct, to plead and intercede for, or otherwise to aid." - King James Bible Word Book

4. No matter how we translate the word, the job of the Holy Spirit is to help believers in all aspects of life.

B. We Need Help

1. Illustration: My wife know that if I am working on my computer and I go "ARRGH!" that I need help.

2. How many times in the Christian life to we feel like going "ARRGH!" ?

a. Seems like a day hardly goes by that we run into situations that we don’t know how to handle.

b. We run into circumstances were we feel helpless and out of control.

c. We often face difficulties that make us want to give up.

3. Rom. 8:26-27 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

4. When we don’t:

a. Know what to do, the Holy Spirit is there with us.

b. Know what to pray, the Holy Spirit helps us pray.