Our Helper, the Holy Spirit - Study 8/20/13
Our Helper, the Holy Spirit
Anybody need help? I do, seriously and now. You and I have help in the person of the Holy Spirit. We all cry out for help from time to time. God is our helper, and ever present help in time of need, trouble and at all times. We cannot live the life of Christ without His Holy Spirit. Don’t run on empty. Be filled with the Holy Spirit through His Word.
Jesus was leaving His disciples behind but He was not leaving them alone. Being the Son of God and one of the Godhead, Jesus made the greatest promise of all time to His disciples. Let’s examine what Jesus promised His disciples and what he said regarding the Holy Spirit. Jesus called the Holy Spirit, the Helper, the Comforter: “Summoned, called to one's side, esp. called to one's aid; one who pleads another's cause before a judge, a pleader, counsel for defense, legal assistant, an advocate; one who pleads another's cause with one, an intercessor; in the widest sense, a helper, succourer, aider, assistant” (Vines).
John 14
15 “If you love Me, keep[d] My commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. 24 He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.
25 “These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. 26 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 things that I said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you
John 15
26 “But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me. 27 And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning.
John 16:
5 “But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ 6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. 7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. 8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 11 of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. 15 All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.[c]
Let’s make some specific observations. First, Jesus said “He” referring to the Holy Spirit. Jesus did not say “it”. The Holy Spirit is a person of the trinity (the Godhead, Father, Son and the Holy Spirit). Contrary to the Jehovah Witnesses (or any other cult that teaches such) the Holy Spirit is not a “force” that gets things done. Neither is Jesus an angel, a created being for He created all things. Denial of the trinity is the ultimate denial of who God is. The implication is that if God did not come in the person of His Son and die for us and rose again; if God is not now present with us in the person of the Holy Spirit, then we are the most to be pitied on earth and our faith is in vain and there is no hope for us believers in Christ. Don’t let anyone knock on your door to confuse you with their error. Ask them, is Jesus God and is the Holy Spirit God?
Second is the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. “He will dwell with you and be in you”. Again “We will come to him and make Our home with him”. It is clear and obvious where the Holy Spirit lives or dwells. Also note that Jesus is setting the “math” straight. The Holy Spirit is not one third of God. The fullness of the Godhead (“We” ) is with us in the person of the Holy Spirit the same way the fullness of God was in the world in the physical presence of Christ (Emmanuel, God with us).
Third is the very nature or essence of the Holy Spirit. “The Spirit of Truth”. Who else said this of Himself? Jesus referred to Himself as the “The Way, the Truth and the Life”. It cannot be any clearer than this that He Jesus is referring to himself. Only the Truth sets us free and where He dwells, there is no lie or falsehood. When the father looks at you and me, He sees Himself, the Truth not our truth because we have no truth of our own. Through Adam, lie entered into us with all kinds of evil thoughts and actions. There is no good in us except the Spirit of God, the Truth. I thank God. We are a bunch of liars and lies without the Holy Spirit in us.
Fourth is the various works of the Holy Spirit which actually is a result of who He is – the Truth. He is a teacher of all things and at all times. He will teach us all things according to His Truth so nothing that we receive from the Holy Spirit will ever contradict the Word of God, the Truth of the Bible.
The Holy Spirit will also “testify” of Jesus. A testimony is founded on truth and that is why people sway in the courts to “say the whole truth and nothing but the truth”. Along with the disciples’ testimonies about Jesus, the Holy Spirit has even a greater testimony in our hearts. The Spirit bears witness in our hearts that we are His. “9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His” Romans 8:9. No one can call him Christ if the Spirit of Christ is not in him/her.
The Holy Spirit will convict the world of sin, of judgment and of righteousness. Have you been sweating like me to convict your friends and make them believe in Christ the savior? Sweat no more. Conviction is the work of the Holy Spirit. The conviction is that Truth, Jesus has come and He is the only “Way” and solution for sin to make us right with God. We have all sinned. People will perish forever in hell for the ultimate sin, “ 9 of sin, because they do not believe in Me” John 16: 9. People actually condemn themselves for not believing in Christ. 18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” John 3:18.
The Holy Spirit will guide us; declare the truth to us and tell us of things to come. In all of these, we see the promise of the New Testament Scriptures as we have it today. Apostle Peter, John, Paul and others were guided as they penned the Truth of God’s Word. We also see the living dynamics of the Holy Spirit in the daily guidance of the believers in Christ. That is why Paul would write and say, “18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, 20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another in the fear of God” Ephesians 5:18-21. Don’t run empty. Let His Word and Spirit fill our hearts.
We all know how those filled with the “spirit of alcohol” act and behave – they are not in control because the alcohol takes over. Likewise we are to allow the Holy Spirit control and direct our lives so that the Spirit is in total control. We can then be full of thanks, songs, preferring one another for Christ’s sake. Also check out Galatians 5 to see the fruit of the life controlled by the Holy Spirit –love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. The Christian life is life lived by Jesus himself and only the Holy Spirit can live this way in us.
On hindsight we read all these promises and make sense out of them. But when the promise was made, the disciples did not fully comprehend what Jesus was talking about. It was all a walk of faith until the inauguration in Acts 2, the day of the Pentecost when the fullness of the Spirit came and dwelled with and in the apostles. The Spirit has remained with believers of Christ since then and dwells in us. It is still a walk of faith for us because we cannot physically see the Spirit (that is why it is called the spirit) so we must believe and live by faith. The just shall live by faith always.
Finally, we are admonished not to grieve the Holy Spirit. “29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. 32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you”. Ephesians 4:29-32. Bitterness and refusing to forgive grieves the Holy Spirit because Jesus forgave us. Do you have any to forgive today? Please decide to do so by your will and not your feelings.
Aren’t you glad that Jesus left and went to heaven? “It is to your advantage that I go away”. Can you imagine all of us heading on a flight to Jerusalem to see Jesus in person? Many would have been crushed by the crowd. We can experience and dwell with our savior anytime, anywhere and forever. Lord thank you for giving me your Holy Spirit. Thank you for living inside of me. I cry to you for help and comfort today. I do not have to be afraid because you are always with me and you said you will never leave me nor forsake me.
Do you have any need right now and especially to know God? Then cry out to your Helper for help. Do you need comfort in your present circumstances? May the Comforter Himself comfort you in Jesus name, amen.
Anybody need help? I do, seriously and now. You and I have help in the person of the Holy Spirit. We all cry out for help from time to time. God is our helper, and ever present help in time of need, trouble and at all times. We cannot live the life of Christ without His Holy Spirit. Don’t run on empty. Be filled with the Holy Spirit through His Word.
Jesus was leaving His disciples behind but He was not leaving them alone. Being the Son of God and one of the Godhead, Jesus made the greatest promise of all time to His disciples. Let’s examine what Jesus promised His disciples and what he said regarding the Holy Spirit. Jesus called the Holy Spirit, the Helper, the Comforter: “Summoned, called to one's side, esp. called to one's aid; one who pleads another's cause before a judge, a pleader, counsel for defense, legal assistant, an advocate; one who pleads another's cause with one, an intercessor; in the widest sense, a helper, succourer, aider, assistant” (Vines).
John 14
15 “If you love Me, keep[d] My commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. 24 He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.
25 “These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. 26 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 things that I said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you
John 15
26 “But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me. 27 And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning.
John 16:
5 “But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ 6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. 7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. 8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 11 of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. 15 All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.[c]
Let’s make some specific observations. First, Jesus said “He” referring to the Holy Spirit. Jesus did not say “it”. The Holy Spirit is a person of the trinity (the Godhead, Father, Son and the Holy Spirit). Contrary to the Jehovah Witnesses (or any other cult that teaches such) the Holy Spirit is not a “force” that gets things done. Neither is Jesus an angel, a created being for He created all things. Denial of the trinity is the ultimate denial of who God is. The implication is that if God did not come in the person of His Son and die for us and rose again; if God is not now present with us in the person of the Holy Spirit, then we are the most to be pitied on earth and our faith is in vain and there is no hope for us believers in Christ. Don’t let anyone knock on your door to confuse you with their error. Ask them, is Jesus God and is the Holy Spirit God?
Second is the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. “He will dwell with you and be in you”. Again “We will come to him and make Our home with him”. It is clear and obvious where the Holy Spirit lives or dwells. Also note that Jesus is setting the “math” straight. The Holy Spirit is not one third of God. The fullness of the Godhead (“We” ) is with us in the person of the Holy Spirit the same way the fullness of God was in the world in the physical presence of Christ (Emmanuel, God with us).
Third is the very nature or essence of the Holy Spirit. “The Spirit of Truth”. Who else said this of Himself? Jesus referred to Himself as the “The Way, the Truth and the Life”. It cannot be any clearer than this that He Jesus is referring to himself. Only the Truth sets us free and where He dwells, there is no lie or falsehood. When the father looks at you and me, He sees Himself, the Truth not our truth because we have no truth of our own. Through Adam, lie entered into us with all kinds of evil thoughts and actions. There is no good in us except the Spirit of God, the Truth. I thank God. We are a bunch of liars and lies without the Holy Spirit in us.
Fourth is the various works of the Holy Spirit which actually is a result of who He is – the Truth. He is a teacher of all things and at all times. He will teach us all things according to His Truth so nothing that we receive from the Holy Spirit will ever contradict the Word of God, the Truth of the Bible.
The Holy Spirit will also “testify” of Jesus. A testimony is founded on truth and that is why people sway in the courts to “say the whole truth and nothing but the truth”. Along with the disciples’ testimonies about Jesus, the Holy Spirit has even a greater testimony in our hearts. The Spirit bears witness in our hearts that we are His. “9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His” Romans 8:9. No one can call him Christ if the Spirit of Christ is not in him/her.
The Holy Spirit will convict the world of sin, of judgment and of righteousness. Have you been sweating like me to convict your friends and make them believe in Christ the savior? Sweat no more. Conviction is the work of the Holy Spirit. The conviction is that Truth, Jesus has come and He is the only “Way” and solution for sin to make us right with God. We have all sinned. People will perish forever in hell for the ultimate sin, “ 9 of sin, because they do not believe in Me” John 16: 9. People actually condemn themselves for not believing in Christ. 18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” John 3:18.
The Holy Spirit will guide us; declare the truth to us and tell us of things to come. In all of these, we see the promise of the New Testament Scriptures as we have it today. Apostle Peter, John, Paul and others were guided as they penned the Truth of God’s Word. We also see the living dynamics of the Holy Spirit in the daily guidance of the believers in Christ. That is why Paul would write and say, “18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, 20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another in the fear of God” Ephesians 5:18-21. Don’t run empty. Let His Word and Spirit fill our hearts.
We all know how those filled with the “spirit of alcohol” act and behave – they are not in control because the alcohol takes over. Likewise we are to allow the Holy Spirit control and direct our lives so that the Spirit is in total control. We can then be full of thanks, songs, preferring one another for Christ’s sake. Also check out Galatians 5 to see the fruit of the life controlled by the Holy Spirit –love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. The Christian life is life lived by Jesus himself and only the Holy Spirit can live this way in us.
On hindsight we read all these promises and make sense out of them. But when the promise was made, the disciples did not fully comprehend what Jesus was talking about. It was all a walk of faith until the inauguration in Acts 2, the day of the Pentecost when the fullness of the Spirit came and dwelled with and in the apostles. The Spirit has remained with believers of Christ since then and dwells in us. It is still a walk of faith for us because we cannot physically see the Spirit (that is why it is called the spirit) so we must believe and live by faith. The just shall live by faith always.
Finally, we are admonished not to grieve the Holy Spirit. “29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. 32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you”. Ephesians 4:29-32. Bitterness and refusing to forgive grieves the Holy Spirit because Jesus forgave us. Do you have any to forgive today? Please decide to do so by your will and not your feelings.
Aren’t you glad that Jesus left and went to heaven? “It is to your advantage that I go away”. Can you imagine all of us heading on a flight to Jerusalem to see Jesus in person? Many would have been crushed by the crowd. We can experience and dwell with our savior anytime, anywhere and forever. Lord thank you for giving me your Holy Spirit. Thank you for living inside of me. I cry to you for help and comfort today. I do not have to be afraid because you are always with me and you said you will never leave me nor forsake me.
Do you have any need right now and especially to know God? Then cry out to your Helper for help. Do you need comfort in your present circumstances? May the Comforter Himself comfort you in Jesus name, amen.
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