THE HOLY SPIRIT PART 4 THE PROMISE OF THE SPIRIT PART 2

THE HOLY SPIRIT PART 4 THE PROMISE OF THE SPIRIT PART 2

. John 14:12-15, I go to the Father and greater works than these he shall do, because I go to the Father whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. John 14:16, I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Paraclete, that He may be with you forever. In John 14:26, the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to remembrance all that I said to you. In John 15:26, When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me.

The relationship between the members of the Trinity is personal, gracious, and loving. Jesus asks the Father to give the Paraclete (John 14:16). He does not demand it. Jesus taught us to ask for the Holy Spirit also (Luke 11:13). We should not come into His presence demanding the Spirit, or expecting His service. We should ask humbly and respectfully. The ministries of the church, the atmosphere of worship services, and the preaching of God s ministers, should not be arrogant, flippant, or presumptuous. We, like our Lord, must ask. - Reuther

Advantage for them that Jesus goes away; then they can receive the Spirit. If He stays, the Spirit will not come- 16:7. Advantage for the world that the Spirit comes; then He will convict the world concerning sin, righteousness and judgment-16:8-11. Advantage for them because the many things that He wants and needs to say to them can be said, but through the Holy Spirit-16:13, Advantage for them because the Spirit will disclose Christ to them- 16:14-15.

The Holy Spirit is thus called Paracletos: Advocate, or Helper, because He transacts the cause of God and Christ in us, explains to us the nature and importance of the great atonement, shows the necessity of it, counsels us to receive it, instructs us how to lay hold on it, vindicates our claim to it, and makes intercessions in us with unutterable groanings. As Christ acted with His disciples while He sojourned with them, so the Holy Spirit acts with those who believe in His name. - Clarke

He is represented as the Advocate, the Counsel, who suggests true reasonings to our minds and true courses for our lives, convicts our adversary the world of wrong, and pleads our cause before God our Father. (Plummer) It may be relevant to notice the frequent references to keeping the commandments in the context, at any rate of the first sayings (14:15, 21, 23, 24). This is to be understood in the light of the fact that judgment is one of the great themes of this Gospel. A high standard is set before Christians, one that they do not meet. Precisely because of the standard expected and the certainty of judgment, they need a paracletos. Leon Morris

Advocate: He is our Spokesman- He prays for us when we cannot pray He bears witness- He bears witness to us and He enables us to bear witness He is our Defender- He pleads our cause before the Throne of grace. He defends us against accusations.

Helper: He is our Friend- Jesus called us friends. His Spirit befriends us. He is our Guide- Help requires direction so that we will go in the right way on the journey He is our Counselor- Counsel involves reasoning and working through issues

Comforter: He speaks Truth- Real comfort is found only in the truth. God s love reveals what we need and does not conceal. He grants Assurance- Assurance is part of the witness of the Spirit. Assurance is confidence and certainty. He gives Consolation- This is peace for trouble and grief. It is rest through the Spirit.

. John 14:16-17, I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever. That is, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive. John 14:26, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. John 15:26, When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me. John 16:13, But when He, the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth

The Spirit will glorify Jesus. The principle is that Jesus draws us to the Father; the Spirit draws us to Jesus. Jesus spoke of the Father; the Spirit speaks of the Son. He takes of the things of the son and discloses those things to the disciples. John 16:15 says: All things that the Father has are Mine, therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you. This is similar to the Trinitarian union and communion that Jesus speaks of in His prayer to the Father on this same night in John 17:21-24

This however is a description of the unity of God in the revelation of His truth. Ultimately, the Spirit of Jesus is the One who brings the work of revealing the Father to its completion. He takes of Mine (which are the things of the Father), and will disclose it to you. - Reuther

There is a way of thinking and speaking of the Holy Spirit which banishes this vagueness and makes it perfectly clear why the apostles spoke of the gift of the Holy Spirit as being given only to Christians. If we think of this gift as the gift of the Spirit which dwelt in Jesus Christ, in the man Christ Jesus of whom the Gospels speak, instantly the title becomes clear and definite. We cannot confound the Spirit which inspired Jesus Christ with the Spirit which dwelt in Confucius or the Buddha. We have only to compare Jesus Christ with Confucius or with Buddha to see the difference. We know quite well what sort of Spirit animated Him. We can read and see

If I say by the gift of the Holy Spirit I mean that Spirit, no one doubts my meaning who is familiar with the Gospels. The Spirit revealed in Jesus Christ, that is what we men need; that is what we see given to the Apostles. - Roland Allen

Christ s words in John 14:17 have puzzled many interpreters, and produced a variety of interpretations. Perhaps a major problem consists in taking these words too literally. It would seem that the sense of these words may be best understood in the light of an earlier passage where John explains that The Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified (John 7:39)

The divine outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost cannot be separated from the Great Commission. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be My witnesses (Acts 1:8) said Jesus. If their witnessing mission could not begin until Pentecost was a reality in the lives of the disciples, then the Christian Pentecost could not become a reality in their lives until the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost

Nor is there any indication in Christ s words, He abides with you, and will be in you (John 14:17), that the Holy Spirit had not become the vital principle of their new lives in Christ. Rather, the utterance is a prediction of that fullness of the Spirit which they were about to experience on the Day of Pentecost. Chadwick says, with profound insight, The change from with to in marks the transition from one dispensation to another.

It is indeed the difference between the personal, physical presence of Christ with His disciples and what His spiritual, inward, abiding presence through the person of the Holy Spirit would be as a result of the divine effusion at Pentecost. - Charles Carter

This baptism with the Spirit is the baptism with the Spirit of Jesus. It is like the double portion of the spirit of Elijah given to Elisha. We are the ones who have been baptized with the Spirit of Jesus. But the New Testament doesn t speak of a double portion; it speaks of the fullness of the Spirit given to us; that is far better. - Reuther

THE JOHANNINE PENTECOST So Jesus said to them again, Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you. And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained. John 20:19-23

THE JOHANNINE PENTECOST It was their first sight of Christ since their denial of Him and defection from Him, and their first sight of the resurrected Christ. They were closed up in a room because they were afraid of the Jews Jesus appeared to them with an announcement of peace. Jesus showed them His pierced hands and side The disciples rejoiced at what they were seeing Jesus restated His commission to them.

THE JOHANNINE PENTECOST Our Lord cannot have meant that the disciples were now to receive the Holy Spirit for the first time cannot have meant that the disciples were now to receive the Holy Spirit for the purpose of working miracles and speaking with tongues Our Lord, in my opinion, must have meant Receive the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of knowledge and understanding. He must have meant that He now conferred on them a degree of light and knowledge of divine truth, which hitherto they had not possessed

THE JOHANNINE PENTECOST They had been greatly deficient in light and knowledge up to this time receive the Holy Spirit, open your eyes, and see all things clearly. In fact I believe the words point to the very thing which, Luke says, our Lord did on this occasion: then He opened their understanding that they might understand the Scriptures (Luke 24:45) Our Lord was re-commissioning His first ministers, and sending them out to carry on His work. - J.C. Ryle