In this critical moment, the disciples desperately needed a message of hope. And so do you! In this moment of distress, just hours before the cross, the situation looked desperately hopeless. Jesus was aware of their struggle. He had just informed them that He would be leaving them. Aware of the disciples' distress, Jesus pointed them to the ultimate and only sure source of hope—the triune God.
Jesus gave an amazing promise of the Paraclete. As last week’s blog points out His name comes from two words: Para = Alongside or beside and Kaleo = to call. He, the Holy Spirit, is the one who is called to walk alongside us. He is our advocate, comforter, counselor, strengthener, and helper. He is walking with us right now. For more information look for last week’s blog.
In this one great sermon of Jesus, He speaks of the Holy Spirit’s ministry three different times. Jesus taught us five different aspects of the ministry of our Paraclete. Four parts of His work take place primarily in the life of the believer. The third of five speaks of the Spirit’s focus in the world.
The first ministry of the Paraclete: He teaches us (John 14:26)
But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
1 Corinthians 2:10-11 “but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.”
The Spirit’s work in teaching us has been called illumination. He takes the Word of God and helps us understand the truth of God.
In the critical moments when we most need Him to do so the Spirit helps us grasp the truths God gave us. Do you need insight? Ask. Struggling to comprehend a spiritual truth. Trust Him to teach you.
The second ministry of the Paraclete: He Reminds Us of Jesus’ Teachings (John 14:26, 15:26)
26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
We often make a mistake in thinking the disciples had an easier path than us. We know that they were able to hang out with Jesus and learn from Him. Then they had to function while remembering what Jesus taught them.
In Jesus’ promise of the Paraclete, we come to understand that we have an even easier path. We must learn from Jesus. We do need to spend the time to memorize, meditate and learn His Word. Once we have learned from Him, we can rely on the Holy Spirit to remind us of the things we have done.
We have experienced this work of the Spirit. We found ourselves suddenly remembering some truth. He caused us recalling that Scripture just when we needed it. Do the work with Scripture and trust Him to help you remember it when you need it.
The third ministry of the Paraclete: He convicts us of sin, shows us God's righteousness, and announces God's judgment on evil (John 16:7-11)
7 But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 about sin, because people do not believe in me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11 and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.
Thankfully, we can rely on the Holy Spirit to do this work. He brings people to the awareness of sin, righteousness, and judgment. We have only to get the Word of God into the ears and hearts of those who do not know Jesus. It is the Spirit’s responsibility to take the Word of God from that place.
- He brings people to the knowledge that they have sinned. We do not have to make people feel guilty. Tell them the truth. He will do the rest.
- He shows people that there is a standard of righteousness. It is the Spirit’s job to show people what God expects. Thankfully, we do not have to show people that either.
- He convinces people that there is a coming day of judgment. The Spirit of God will show convince people that judgment is coming.
The fourth ministry of the Paraclete: He guides into truth and gives insight into future events (John 16:12-13)
12 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.
The Spirit will guide us. The word is hodegeo. It is only used five times in Scripture. It involves destination, assistance, time, and determination.
The Spirit specifically guides us into the knowledge of what is to come. He has the advantage of knowing the mind of God. He knows what the future holds and can guide us into that future. When you do not know what is coming, trust the Spirit to lead you.
The fifth ministry of the Paraclete: He brings glory to Christ (John 16:14)
14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.
The work of the Spirit is primarily to glorify Jesus. Everything else we learn about His work hinges on this one truth. Anything that is done MUST be done in a way that glorifies Jesus. If something is done that takes away from Jesus it is NOT from the Spirit.
This truth answers many of the bizarre practices done in the name of the Spirit. They will not be permitted if they fail to honor Jesus. Make this simple test your primary assessment of any truth you hear or action you practice. If it does not glorify Jesus, it is not from the Spirit.
