We are living in confusing times, and for many are moving ahead with little hope. In the midst of our confusion, there is God. God loves you so much He gave you Someone to comfort, strengthen, and love you in ways you and I cannot imagine. You have a tremendous ally in the Holy Spirit.
The Bible says if you could go back in time before there was anything made, you’d have God, the Father, God, the Son, and God, the Holy Spirit. If you peel back everything, there’s only the Trinity. The Holy Spirit was there from the very beginning of time. So in the beginning, there were Three in One.
Now, the Bible shows us a progression in the history of redemption with three major divisions where each of the three persons of the Trinity has the spotlight, if you will. Before Jesus’ coming, the spotlight was on God, the Father. During the days of Christ’s earthly life, you witness the prominence of God, the Son. And since Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father, we see the spotlight on the Holy Spirit. You and I are so blessed to live in a time when we know about all Three working.
You and I are so blessed to live in a time when the Spirit is blowing through our lives to accomplish the Father’s will.
Now, in our study of Ephesians, we arrive at this verse: “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30).
The Bible tells us we can grieve the Holy Spirit as I might disappoint you. I can grieve the Holy Spirit as I might grieve you. Secondly, we are told that the Spirit seals us until the day of redemption. Yet, I want to step back in this message and get a better handle on the Holy Spirit.
Has your kid ever gotten your phone and played a game for hours only to have 35 apps running in the background? Paul is assuming you know things in Ephesians. There are so many layers to Ephesians, and there’s some background. I want to bring the background to the foreground for the next few minutes.
I want to introduce the Holy Spirit to all of us. If you and I were together at a ballgame and we met someone I knew, but you didn’t, I would take a minute to say, “Jay, do you my friend, Javier?” Again, I want to introduce the Holy Spirit to all of us. For many of you, this will be a reminder. I want each one of you to personally experience the Holy Spirit.
So put a bookmark in Ephesians 4:30 and go to John 14 with me if you will. God loves you so much that He not only gave you His Son for your salvation, but He also gave you the Spirit for your transformation.
Truth #1: He’s a Jesus Substitute
“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever” (John 14:16).
1.1 My French Substitute
All of us have had a substitute in school before. Students love substitutes! Substitute teachers are almost as good as a snow day! In my sophomore year of high school, I was taking a French class. I didn’t hate French; I loathed French. I was in so much trouble with my parents overdoing poorly in French. And every so often, the regular teacher was gone, and we would have a substitute. I thought, “Thank God. Theirs is no way they’re going to find anybody that knows English in my little hick county, much less French.” But somehow, they parted the Red Seas and found a French-speaking substitute. And to my embarrassment and horror, she not only knew French, but she also insisted that everything we say in class was in French! Talk about a successful strategy to shut me up. I was illiterate in English, much less French! Again, everything you said in the class had to be French when this substitute was there. So I learned the only French phrase I still remember to this day: “Je ne sais pas.” Every time this substitute filled in for our teacher, that’s all I would say: “Je ne sais pas.” The lady would ask my name, and I would have this look on my face like she’d asked me how to split the atom. I would respond back, “Je ne sais pas.” I know we have a lot of teachers in our church family, and yes, this wasn’t my finest moment. So, almost everyone loves a substitute.
1.2 The Spirit is Jesus for Us Today
Again, Jesus calls the Spirit “another Helper” in verse 16. Key in on the word “another” in verse 16. Jesus is your first “Helper” and the Spirit your second “Helper.” The Spirit does the very same thing Jesus did so long ago. He’s a Jesus Substitute. Wouldn’t you like to have Jesus with you as you go along your day? The Holy Spirit is to be to you today what Jesus Christ was to the disciples so long ago. Let me say that again: What Jesus Christ was to those disciples, the Holy Spirit is to be to you today. You are to treat the Holy Spirit as those disciples treated the Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit is to be your Lord; He is to be your guide; He is to be to your Director, your Friend, and your Advocate.
1.3 Another Helper
Jesus calls the Spirit “another Helper” in the English Standard Versions of verse 16. If any of you are reading along if you brought your Bibles, you’ll find that depending on your translation, a different word may have popped up. Some of you might have been reading along, and you read Jesus Christ says, “I will send the Holy Spirit, the Counselor.” Others of you found the word “Comforter.” Others of you found the word “Advocate.” Whenever you take a look at 5-7 different translations, and you find six different words translating that particular Greek word, what you know is the Greek word has such a richness that you just can’t convey it. A single English word can’t carry all the freight.
The Greek word behind the word “Helper” is the Greek meaning a legal advocate. Jesus tells us to think of the Spirit as a legal advocate. Don’t think of a lawyer but think of someone who shows up to support you when you have to go to court. You have a good friend who shows up in the gallery when you appear at court day after day. You have a good friend who says, “Yes, I’ll be a witness for you. I’ll sit there and tell everyone the truth on your behalf.” Jesus says the Holy Spirit is your “Helper” or your parakletos. The word parakletos was someone you called for help. An advocate is someone who stands right alongside of you and says, “What do we have to do?” You can think of a social worker in one sense as an advocate—the Spirit advocates on behalf of powerless people. The Spirit rushes to your aid when the chips are down.
1.4 I Don’t See It
You say, “You don’t know my life, pastor. My life is hard. I don’t have enough money. Every time I come home, I get a hot tongue and cold shoulder. My boss is on me all the time.” “I don’t think I have this Holy Spirit helping me. I don’t see any evidence that the Holy Spirit is doing any paraklet[ing] in my life!”
Look back at the front end of verse 16 with me again: “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever” (John 14:16). Jesus says, “I will ask the Father.” Look who’s doing the asking. Jesus Christ is asking God, the Father. Jesus is God’s favorite Son.
1.4.1 John Fogerty “Fortunate Son.”
John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival sings, “It ain’t me, it ain’t me, I ain’t no fortunate son.” Fogerty’s song was written because people with power and money saved their sons from the Vietnam War while the poor men’s sons went off to die. Fogerty told Rolling Stone he was inspired to write the song when he saw, “Julie Nixon was hanging around with David Eisenhower, and you just had the feeling that none of these people were going to be involved with the war.”
Fogerty may not be the favorite son or the fortunate son, but I can guarantee you that Jesus is God’s favorite Son. God, the Father, would never turn down His Son at such a request. Don’t you call Jesus a liar by thinking for a minute that the Spirit isn’t in the world today. Don’t you think for one minute the Spirit of God is not in you to assist you.
He’s your Comforter, your ally, your Advocate, and your parakletos. You can be absolutely sure that God, the Father, answered the favorite Son’s request. You can be absolutely that the Spirit is moving in your life at every turn. There’s no way the Father is turning down such a request from His favorite Son!
But you say, “Pastor, my life is so difficult.” The problem is most believers are not taking advantage of the resources offered to them. You look like a fool if you are on a broken-down bus, and you get out to push when Clark Kent is sitting inside of you all along. You are attempting to cut down trees with a chainsaw without cranking the thing on. We’ll share with you more on this in the moments and weeks to come. Yes, for many of you, your problem is you are not taking advantage of the Spirit.
Truth #1: He’s a Jesus Substitute
Truth #2 & #3: He’s Jesus in You
Here are the second and third truths you need to know about the Holy Spirit: “even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you” (John 14:17).
The first truth: The Holy Spirit is Jesus’ substitute. The second and third truth is this: The Holy Spirit is Christ in the Christian. Two truths in that one sentence: The Holy Spirit is Christ in the Christian. Let me spell them out: the Holy Spirit is God, and the Holy Spirit is in you. Two truths in that one sentence: The Holy Spirit is Christ in the Christian. If you’re a child of God, if you’re born again, the Holy Spirit of God is in you.
The Holy Spirit God and the Holy Spirit dwells inside the believer. Let me say that again: The Holy Spirit is Christ in the Christian. Are you feeling me?
2.1 The Holy Spirit is Christ in the Christian
The Holy Spirit is Christ in the Christian. Jesus goes away in bodily form, but Jesus comes again in spirit-form to live inside us. Have hope because the Spirit is in you! Don’t despair - you don’t have to fight your spiritual battles alone. The Spirit of God is in you!
Don’t be despondent - you don’t have to fight temptation of the world, the lusts of your flesh, and the roaring lion of Satan all by yourself. The Spirit of God is in you!
The Holy Spirit has taken up residence in the believer’s heart! The last enemy will be defeated! I will stand perfectly before God, the Father, one day because the Spirit is in me!
You’re not alone in this life! Your spouse may have divorced you. Your parents may have left you. But you are not alone if you are a believer in Christ!
See, God knows you cannot do the Christian life on your own. So He places Himself in you. He places the Holy Spirit in you! Remember, it’s foolish to push the bus when Clark Kent is sitting inside of it.
He didn’t place an angel inside of you. He placed God inside of you. He didn’t place a saint inside of you. You don’t have the spirit of your godly grandmother in you. You have the Spirit of God in you! The “the Spirit of truth” in verse 17 is the same as “another Helper” in verse 16.
God didn’t send His secretary. He sent God Himself to do the job! Most believers don’t know who is sitting inside of them! Just as air enables a horn to sound or wind enables a sailboat to move, the Holy Spirit enables the spiritual life to work. Without the power of the Holy Spirit, there will be no spiritual progress. And the Spirit is God in you! All the intellect, all the emotions, all the credentials of God Himself in you. And with God in you, do you think Satan stands a chance? With God in you, do you think the confusion of our day reigns in the last day?
Again, verse 17 says: “You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you” (John 14:17b). “In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you” (John 14:20).
Jesus says I am going to send you another of the same kind, and He is going to come alongside, and He is going to be to you what I would have been to you, had I still been here.
2.2 Afghani Believers in Peril
The Spirit is our Advocate and our Helper in times of need throughout our lives. The fall of Afghanistan has been all over the news the past week or so. Much of the focus is on how embarrassing this is to the United States and how we spent so much money over 20 years, and this is the disappointing results. But think about this: there are Christian believers in house churches in Afghanistan. Being a believer in the Taliban-run country of Afghanistan is as bad as being a woman or a child. Even when our US military was there, it was listed as the second-worst place to be a Christian in the world. Persecution is only very slightly less oppressive than in North Korea with the US military, so imagine what it is now. I know a few Americans personally who went there to help believers in past years. The Taliban was reported as saying to a house church leader in a letter, “We know where you are and what you are doing.” This is a believer is now in hiding. Your heart breaks for these believers. Now how do we help these believers? Certainly, we can pray for these believers, and I ask you to do this. Jesus says to His disciples as He’s about to be crucified: “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live” (John 14:18-19). This isn’t to say, “Don’t worry. Nothing to see here. Keep moving.” Yet, the Spirit of God is with our believing friends in Afghanistan. The Spirit is God’s gift to every believer, American or Afghani.
2.2.1 Farewell Discourse
John 14- 16 is known as the Farewell Discourse. It’s an odd name, but it simply means that Jesus says all this to His disciples on the night before He’s crucified. John 14- 16 is Jesus’ farewell before He’s killed the next day. If you knew you were going to be killed tomorrow, you would have some pretty important things to say the night before. Only hours before His death, Jesus mentions the Holy Spirit a bunch in this speech. If Jesus can say to His disciples on the night of His crucifixion, “I’m not leaving you as orphans. I will come to you…” then certainly every single believer around the globe can experience the comfort of the parakletos no matter what they are facing.
2.2.2 No Orphans
The Spirit is God’s way of saying, “You’re not an orphan. I’m with you. I care about you.” In fact, Jesus goes so far as to say, “Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me” (John 14:19a). Jesus isn’t confused here. He says, on the one hand, “I’m going away.” Then, on the other hand, “I’m coming to you.” No, Jesus isn’t confused. He says I am leaving you right now because I’ve got a job to do preparing you for eternity and ruling from heaven. Jesus is so confident in the Spirit He can say, “I’m coming to you.” Did you catch that?
The Spirit is such a Jesus substitute that Jesus Himself can say, “but you will see me” when He’s gone and the Spirit is there. The Spirit is a highly competent substitute. He has all the intellect, all the emotions, all the credentials, and all the goodness of Jesus. We can pause and give thanks that the parakletos is with our believing friends even in persecuted places. We should do more than this, but we cannot do less than this. The Spirit is a Comforter extraordinaire to believers everywhere.
2.2.3 Martyrs
Again, this is Jesus’ Farewell Discourse. Nearly every one of those 12 disciples went on to die a martyr’s death because of their allegiance to Jesus. Every one of these died because they refused to believe anything other than Jesus rose again.
2.2.4 The Spirit with You
Yet, even when Peter is being crucified, the Spirit of God is with him. And when our Afghani believers are being killed and tortured by Taliban forces, the Spirit of God is with them. And when you face your most challenging days, the Spirit of God is ready to aid you like no others. Yes, these are difficult days we are living in and living through. But if you could but see into the throne room of Heaven to witness all the Spirit is doing to counteract the evil in our day, it would peel the paint of your walls. If you could be a fly on the walls of Heaven’s throne room, then you’d be amazed at the love the Spirit, the Son, and the Father have for His children. Christ will never leave you as an orphan, my believing friend! Remember, the Son asked the Father for you, and the Father isn’t “never ever” going to turn down such a request from the Son.
The Holy Spirit is Christ in the Christian.
Truth #1: He’s a Jesus Substitute
Truth #2 & #3: He’s Jesus in You
Truth #4: He’s Explains Jesus to You
“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 have said to you” (John 14:26).
The Holy Spirit is described as a teacher of truth. This will be a really quick point. There are two halves to this truth.
4.1 Disciples
First half: for the disciples (also called apostles), this is a promise of inspiration. One of the questions people have about the Bible is how can we trust what men wrote: Maybe they corrupted it; maybe they just didn’t understand things. This promise shows you that Jesus promised supernaturally to guide their minds as they wrote.
4.2 Illumination
The Holy Spirit is described as a teacher in His own right: “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come” (John 16:13). The Spirit of God takes the truth of God and turns it into understanding for you. We should pray that the Holy Spirit would give us his illumination and thereby help us understand rightly when we study Scripture or when we ponder situations in our lives (1 Corinthians 2:14-15).
Truth #1: He’s a Jesus Substitute
Truth #2 & #3: He’s Jesus in You
Truth #4: He’s Explains Jesus to You
Conclusion - The Spirit is Your Forever
“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever” (John 14:16). Everyone say the word “forever” with me, will you? Once the Spirit is in you, He will never ever leave. He’s yours forever. Your marriage is going to end one day. You’ll say goodbye to your classmates and even your best friends. Your kids will move off, and your grandparents will die. But the Holy Spirit is yours FOREVER. A thousand millennia after you enter into eternity – you will have the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God came down from heaven as a dove on Jesus, and He’s never gone back again!
