“I Will Send You Another . . .”
John 14: 15 – 17, 25, 26; 15: 26; 16: 7 – 15
Introduction: Jesus sends us a baby-sitter!
1. When as children our parents had to go away, they got us a baby-sitter (or maybe now you act as a baby-sitter!)
a. The baby-sitter is supposed to look after the children in the absence of the parents.
b. The baby-sitter’s job is to remind the children of what their parents have taught them (especially about how to behave!).
c. Our parents, of course, come back. Our having a baby-sitter is just a temporary situation.
2. At this point in John’s Gospel, Jesus is preparing his disciples for his departure (his death, resurrection, and ascension to the Father). Very soon he will no longer be physically present with them. Jesus tells his disciples in 13:33: “Little children, I am with you only a little while longer.” His disciples did not understand what he meant. They did not understand that he had to die. One writer expresses the situation very well: “Jesus’ death and departure thus presented the disciples, and the church, with a crisis far greater than simply the loss of their teacher and friend. Jesus’ death and return to God marked the end of the incarnation. If the revelation of God is lodged in the incarnation, what happens when Jesus is gone? Was Jesus’ revelation of God possible for only the first generation of believers? Was Jesus’ revelation of God thus limited to one particular moment in history, or does it have a future?” In other words, how would Jesus’ work continue? And how would his disciples manage without him?
Another “Parakletos”
1. Why do Jesus and the Father send the Spirit?
a. Jesus does not leave us alone. Because Jesus does not want, nor does he intend, to leave us alone. He tells his disciples: “I will not leave you orphaned.” Jesus is going away, and he knows that we need help – divine help – if we are going to be his disciples in his “absence.” The Spirit is the “Helper” he is going to send.
b. Jesus’ work must continue. Jesus also sends the Spirit because his work must continue. While the incarnation – the time of the Word made flesh dwelling with us – is ending here, the work that was begun is not going to stop. Jesus even says that what will happen when he leaves and sends the Spirit will be even greater than what has happened while he was with them: “Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.” Can you believe this? We are, as Jesus’ disciples, able to do greater works than those of Jesus when he was physically present on this earth! This is why he says: “It is to your advantage that I go away” (16:7).
2. What does Parakletos mean?
a. Jesus uses the Greek term parakletos (verses 14: 16, 26; 15: 26; 16: 7) to describe the person and work of the Spirit. This word is translated different ways: counselor, comforter, helper, friend, and advocate. Translated literally it means “one called alongside.” Use the Chuck Colson illustration about the repair man.
b. Jesus calls the Spirit another paracletos – implied here is that Jesus is the other paracletos and has been that for his disciples. The Spirit will take up where Jesus left off. The word for “another” means “another of the same kind.”
c. So just as Jesus is our comforter, counselor, advocate, helper, and teacher, so the Spirit also has this role, expressly to continue to work of Jesus.
The Ministry of the Spirit
1. The indwelling ministry of the Spirit – If Jesus is “God with us,” then the Spirit is “God within us.” Jesus tells his disciples “he will be in you (14:17).” The Spirit is as close to us as possible. The Spirit is also with us forever. There is constancy to the ministry of the Spirit’s presence. He never leaves us. We don’t have to pray like King David in Psalm 51: “Take not your Holy Spirit from me.” The Spirit isn’t fickle-hearted like us; he is faithful and will remain with us and within us. The Holy Spirit has taken up residence within each one of us. This is a truth all of us can cling to and take joy in. This isn’t something only some or a few of Jesus’ disciples get to experience; when you accept Christ in faith, you receive the Spirit as the indwelling presence of God in your life.
2. The teaching ministry of the Spirit – Jesus also tells his disciples that this Advocate – the Holy Spirit – will teach them – and us – about all the things that he has said and taught. Jesus says, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth.” The Spirit, as Jesus also says, “will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.” So our Scripture says that the Spirit will remind Jesus’ disciples of all that he said to them, of all that he taught them. The Holy Spirit is our teacher – and in this way continues the teaching ministry of Jesus.
We have examples of this. Turn to John 2:22 – when Jesus cleansed the temple and spoke about tearing the temple down and raising it in three days. What does it say there? “After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.” And in 12:16 when Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey it says: “His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written of him and had been done to him.”
These passages are examples of the Holy Spirit reminding the disciples of what Jesus had said and taught. These passages are examples of the Spirit leading the disciples into truth that they could not bear before Jesus left. We see right in the Gospel of John examples of the teaching ministry of the Spirit. They didn’t remember because of their own natural capacity to recall Jesus’ teachings. No, Jesus explicitly told them that the Spirit would remind them of all that he said. He explicitly told them that the Spirit would lead them into all truth – in other words they would actually understand what he meant by what he said. There’s no point in remembering without understanding. It’s like the Spirit would say, “Psst, hey, remember when Jesus said this? Well, this is what he meant by that.”
Preacher Charles Spurgeon once said: “The Holy Ghost does not reveal anything fresh now. He brings old things to our remembrance . . . The canon of revelation is closed, there is no more to be added; God does not give a fresh revelation, but he rivets the old one. When it has been forgotten, and laid in the dusty chamber of our memory, he fetches it out and cleans the picture, but does not paint a new one. There are no new doctrines, but the old ones are often revived.”
And I think that another aspect of the Spirit guiding the disciples into all truth is that we have Scripture. In 2 Timothy 3:16 we have this well-known verse: “All scripture is inspired by God.” Another way of translating “inspired” here is to say that “all scripture is God-breathed.” The Greek word for breath is pneuma which can also be translated Spirit. It was God through the Holy Spirit who gave us our Scriptures. The words of the disciples and apostles and writers of Scripture are not simply human words – but God spoke through these men to give us our inspired – God-breathed – Scriptures.
It’s also true that the Spirit continues to be with us today in this way. The Spirit still leads us into the truth, still enables us to apply the Scriptures to our lives – to find ways of making what was written nearly two-thousand years ago still relevant and vital today. “The Paraclete [the Spirit] thus will proclaim the teachings of Jesus to them [and us] in the new and changing circumstances of their lives.”
3. The witnessing ministry of the Spirit – Jesus also says this of the Spirit: “He will testify on my behalf.” The Spirit testifies to Jesus. Just like John, who pointed away from himself and to Jesus, the Spirit also points away from himself and to Jesus. The work of the Spirit is to witness to Jesus. The Spirit is also called here the Spirit of truth – and we know that in John 14:6 Jesus calls himself “the way, the truth, and the life.” Jesus is the truth. Calling the Spirit the Spirit of truth is virtually synonymous with calling the Spirit the Spirit of Jesus.
The Spirit also testifies against the world: “And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment.” It’s as though on the one hand the Spirit is our legal defense attorney and on the other hand he is the prosecuting attorney when it comes to the world. Mention watching the TV show “Law & Order. And I believe that primarily the Spirit does this through us. Jesus also says “you also are to testify.” In Matthew 10:19, 20, where Jesus is telling his disciples that they will be persecuted, we read these words: “When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you at that time; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.”
4. The Christ-centered ministry of the Spirit – Throughout all of this there is one crucial thing to keep in mind and that is the Christ-centered ministry of the Spirit. Use the spotlight illustration. In several places in our Scriptures today we see this. First, the fact that the Spirit is another Advocate of the same kind. Jesus also tells us that the Spirit will teach you and remind you of all that he’s said. The Spirit has nothing new to tell us. The Spirit will testify on behalf of Jesus, not himself. Jesus tells us that the Spirit “will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears . . . He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”
Many churches and Christians will spend a lot of time perhaps focusing on the Spirit but there are two things we need to be aware of in light of the Christ-centered ministry of the Spirit that we see in John’s Gospel. Preacher George Sweeting says to “watch out for any ministry or person who claims to be led by the Holy Spirit but acts contrary to the Word of God. And beware of any movement or group whose focus is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit points not to himself but to Jesus Christ."
John tells us in his first letter: “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God (1 John 4: 1 – 3).”
The Holy Spirit and Us
1. So, the Holy Spirit is the indwelling presence of God in our lives; the Spirit is our teacher and the one who leads us to understand more fully the revelation of God in Jesus; he is the one who enables us to be witnesses and testify on behalf of Jesus; and he is the one who enables points us to Jesus continually, reminding us that Jesus ought always be the center and focus of our ministry.
2. I have quotes here regarding the Holy Spirit from famous preacher D.L. Moody that I would like to share. They speak to the importance of the Holy Spirit in our lives:
“You might as well try to hear without ears, or breathe without lungs, as try to live a Christian life without the Spirit of God in your heart.”
“I believe firmly that the moment our hearts are emptied of pride and selfishness and ambition and everything that is contrary to God’s law, the Holy Spirit will fill every corner of our hearts. But if we are full of pride and conceit and ambition and the world, there is no room for the Spirit of God. We must be emptied before we can be filled.”
Once asked why he urged Christians to be filled constantly with the Holy Spirit. “Well,” he said, “I need a continual infilling because I leak!” He pointed to a water tank which had sprung a leak. “I’m like that!” he said.
A Little Lesson in Greek
This last quote from Moody, about being leaky, reflects the truth we read of in Ephesians 5:18: “Be filled with the Spirit.” The verb we translate “be filled” is a present passive imperative. The present indicates that this is an ongoing reality – we could translate it “be being filled with the Spirit.” Or “keep on being filled with the Spirit.” This isn’t referring to the indwelling presence of the Spirit; this is referring to the continual need for us to be filled each and every day. The passive voice indicates that this is not something we can accomplish. Only God can fill us with his Spirit – he wants us to ask! In Luke 11:13 it says “how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” And lastly the imperative mood tells us that this is a command. This is not an option. It is imperative that we are filled with the Spirit. Otherwise we cannot really live the Christian life.
In fact, all of the different aspects of the ministry of the Spirit – with the exception of his indwelling presence – depend on this last point, that we be filled with the Spirit.
I once heard someone say that “every Christian has the Spirit but the Spirit does not have every Christian.”
Let me close with a poem:
“No Distant Lord”
No distant Lord have I, Loving afar to be.
Made flesh for me He cannot rest,
Until He rests in me . . .
Ascended now to God,
My witness there to be,
His witness here I am because His Spirit dwells in me
