The Who of Encouragement
John 14:16-18, 26; 15:26
Intro
Paul emphatically says in Romans 15:5, “God gives…encouragement.” First Peter 5:7 says, “He cares for you.” God cares in all types of situations. He is the God of encouragement. His nature is fully revealed in his Son, Jesus Christ, who also had a ministry of encouragement. And when Christ left the earth, he left his ministry of encouragement in the care of the Holy Spirit. Now, for believers, the Holy Spirit is the “who” of the ministry of encouragement. How does the Holy Spirit encourage us?
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I. The Holy Spirit encourages us through his person (John 14:16-17, 26)
a. The Holy Spirit is a person, though some prefer to use the pronoun it as though he were a thing.
i. The word translated “spirit” is the Greek word pneuma.
ii. It is neither male nor female, but the personal pronoun he is always used to refer to the Spirit.
b. The Holy Spirit acts as a person
i. He does things a person does.
ii. He dwells, guides, speaks, and teaches.
iii. He witnesses, hears, and knows.
iv. He works, loves, glorifies, and gives.
v. All of these are personal acts.
1. The Holy Spirit reacts as a person.
2. He can be grieved, blasphemed, and sinned against.
3. People react to him as a person.
4. He may be received, resisted, insulted, glorified, and quenched.
c. Although the King James Version translates pneuma by the word “host,” that word today is not appropriate for an accurate translation of the Greek word.
i. The word ghost refers to the returning spirit of a dead person.
ii. The Holy Spirit is not a ghost, he is a person, the third person of the Trinity.
II. The Holy Spirit encourages us in his presence (John 14:16)
a. He is to us all Jesus was to his disciples in fellowship and service.
i. The presence of Jesus was powerful, stabilizing, and encouraging.
ii. In Mark 4:35-41, Jesus stilled the storm on the sea and the storm in his disciples’ hearts.
iii. In John 6:16-21, the disciples were frightened, and Jesus came walking on the sea, speaking words of encouragement: “Do not be afraid”
iv. Wherever we see the words, “do not fear” or “be not afraid”, they are powerful words of encouragement.
v. In John 21 the disciples fished all night and caught nothing.
vi. When Jesus came they made a great catch; his presence encouraged them greatly!
vii. Now we experience the presence and encouragement of Christ through the Holy Spirit.
b. John 14 is important for understanding the Holy Spirit.
i. In the New American Standard Bible the Holy Spirit is called “the Helper” (v. 16)
1. In the King James Version, he is called “the Comforter” (v. 16)
2. He is also called “the Spirit of truth” (16:13)
ii. Each word in these verses is important in understanding the Holy Spirit.
1. The personal pronoun “I” (John 14:16) is emphatic.
2. “I [myself] will ask the Father.”
3. He prayed, and the Father answered his prayer.
4. He sent the Holy on the day of Pentecost.
iii. In verse 17 “world” refers to those who disregard God.
1. They cannot receive the Holy Spirit, they do not know him by experience, not do they see him.
2. But the disciples knew him – form the moment they first believed in Jesus Christ.
3. We, as believers today, know him.
4. He dwells with us and in us.
5. We do not have to pray for him to come.
6. He has already come
7. We already have the Spirit.
8. We just need to surrender control of our lives to him
iv. The Greek word for “another” in verse 16 means “another of the same kind.”
1. So the Holy Spirit is another just like Jesus.
v. The word “comforter” is the Greek word paraclete, which means “one being called to one’s side, to one’s aid.”
1. It describes a lawyer who is called to stand with a client in court, especially a defense lawyer.
2. It is a word used in a court of justice to denote a counsel for the defense, an advocate.
c. We have two advocates – the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ
i. Christ intercedes in heaven before God, and the Holy Spirit intercedes for us, sometimes with groanings too deep for words, according to the will of God.
d. Our response to their intercession is vital.
i. We cannot hinder or help Christ’s intercession for us, because his intercession continues without ceasing.
ii. We can facilitate or frustrate the Holy Spirit’s intercession in us by our cooperation or resistance.
iii. We are the object of Christ’s praying; we are the subject of the Holy Spirit’s praying, so that he can pray through us.
iv. He prays for us to enable us to pray.
e. The Holy Spirit is an incredible precious gift.
i. All that Jesus had been to his followers during his earthly ministry, the Holy Spirit has been since and will continue to be in the future.
ii. Jesus’ walked alongside his disciples; the Holy Spirit dwells in us.
iii. Jesus spoke to them through their ears; the Holy Spirit speaks to our hearts.
iv. Jesus’ followers could not always be with him; but we are never away from the presence of the indwelling Spirit.
v. Are you aware of the Holy Spirit’s presence in your life?
III. The Holy Spirit encourages us in our praying (Romans 8:26-27)
In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and he who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
Romans 8 is a chapter about the Holy Spirt and his work. One way he encourages us is
that he helps us to pray.
a. The key word in these verse is “helps”
a. This is a verb in the Greek language that expresses the idea of facing someone who has a burden too heavy to lift alone, taking hold of it with the person, and lifting it together.
b. The word is used only one other time in the New Testament.
i. In Luke 10:40, Martha, speaking of her sister, said to Jesus, “Tell her to help me,” or tell her to get under part of the load.
b. Are you burdened about something?
a. Is it hard to pray about it?
b. This is how the Holy Spirit “helps” our praying.
c. We are on one side of the burden, and he says, “I will get on the other side. Let us stand facing one another and each take hold of it. Together we can lift your burden – our burden – up to the Father.”
d. Have you ever lifted a load and groaned under it?
e. Well, the Holy Spirit does our groaning for us as he helps us!
c. Notice another thing: “our weakness.”
a. Paul is not just referring to weaker Christians, or to Christians young in the faith, or to spiritually immature.
b. He is including himself.
c. The point is, all of us are weak, and we always will be.
d. We are weak so that we may be dependent on the Holy Spirit.
e. We are to rest in our weaknesses instead of striving in it.
f. To rest is faith; to strive is works.
g. One is of the Spirit; the other is of the flesh.
h. This weakness, therefore, leads us to depend on the Holy Spirit.
i. He helps our weaknesses as we cooperate with him so he can do for us what we could never do for ourselves!
IV. The Holy Spirit encourages us with his peace (John 14:26-27)
a. Jesus promised the gift of peace, and he gives this peace through the Holy Spirit.
i. His peace is not the absence of trouble; it is an attitude of a calm heart and mind in the midst of trouble.
ii. Two artists portrayed their concept of peace. One painted a scene of a sunny meadow beside a small lake. A tree, with not a leaf stirring, was located in the center of the meadow. There was not a ripple on the lake. Standing in the shade of the tree was a cow contently chewing her cud.
iii. The other painted a rugged mountain scene. Black clouds split with lighting heralded and approaching storm. The trees were bent before the wind, To one side was a high waterfall that hit the rocks far before. At the of the waterfall, lots of spray suggested the roar of water and the force with which it hit. It was a scene of wild turmoil, but on ledge behind the waterfall was a little bird, its throat bursting with song.
b. The Holy Spirit encourages us with that kind of peace.
i. Whatever your storm is, or whatever the climate of your circumstances, the Holy Spirit is eager to give you peace if you will let him.
Closing
We need a fresh awareness of the Holy Spirit in our lives and in the church. The Holy Spirit encourages us in the Christians life, and we can appropriate his encouragement as we acknowledge God’s Word and apply it to our lives. Be encouraged!
