"When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, He will testify about Me. And you must also testify, for you have been with Me from the beginning." - John 15:26-27
But I tell you the Truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. When He comes, He will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in Me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see Me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned. - John 16:7-11
That word for Counselor, translated Comforter in the King James Version, is parakletos. It doesn't really mean counselor, not as we use the word today, like a psychologist or psychiatrist, and it doesn't really mean comforter either. In the legal world, a parakletos is a person who pleads another's cause before a judge. Don't think of this necessarily like the defense attorney, because that misses the mark, but instead think of someone who is helping you navigate through the legal world. For example, if you were disabled, you might be entitled to Social Security disability, but you would need to make it through the legal system for payouts to begin. A parakletos would help you do this. Expand this idea to someone who doesn't just help you in the legal world, but in all of life, giving sound counsel, helping, obtaining aid, assisting you in any way they can, and you are getting to the real meaning. That is what the Holy Spirit is.
Now these two passages give a specific role of the parakletos: it testifies to the world about Christ. If you are taking notes, you could write as a heading "The Holy Spirit" and write as number one, provision given to help people come to faith in Christ. That's what it says. "He will testify about Me" and "He will bring conviction."
Now, Jesus also talks about the Holy Spirit in a conversation with a Pharisee of Pharisees, a member "of the Jewish ruling council" named Nicodemus. Jesus confounded him by saying that no one could see the kingdom of God unless they were born again. After Nicodemus asked how this could be,
Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at My saying, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." - John 3:5-7
At the moment of salvation, when we turn our lives over to Christ, we are truly "born again." By analogy, you could say that we have new, spiritual hearts planted within us, pumping spiritual blood and giving spiritual life. The cause of this is the Holy Spirit. At salvation something new is born within us, birthed by the Spirit. This something new doesn't want to keep on sinning and defying God, but instead it wants to live for Him. In gratitude it desires to love God and worship Him forever. This something new wants to be like Jesus, gladly taking up its cross and following Him. This something new is willing to die for the sake of God, for the sake of the gospel.
The Spirit gives birth to spirit. This something new is just like the Spirit, and it is the Spirit. I am reminded of the scene when the Spirit was on Moses and then was taken of him and placed on the 70 elders. The Spirit then "gave birth" to spirit and the spirit was Spirit. And just as you can never tell just how the wind will carry along a leaf, you can never tell just how the Spirit will spread from believer to new believer, spread by the gospel and by individuals repenting and putting their faith in Christ.
By the way, another verse that speaks of this new life is the following:
On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." By this He meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not yet been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified. - John 7:37-39
The implications of the Spirit birthing spirit life is brought out in Romans 8. Here is just one verse from the passage:
And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you. - Romans 8:11
In other words, this something new helps us to walk in victory here and now, making our mortal bodies do what we wish. Our bodies are bent to sin, but this something new gives us the power to serve God in holiness rather than giving in to the temptations of sin, which leads to death. This something new gives life to our mortal bodies. And as the chapter goes on to sa, the Spirit helps us in our weakness - Romans 8:26. So to summarize, you could call this point #2: Provision to live victoriously given at birth of faith in Christ.
Now let's tackle some passages that have caused many people much confusion.
"And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come. - Matt. 12:30-32
"I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin." He said this because they were saying, "He has an evil spirit." - Mark 3:28-30
"I tell you, whoever acknowledges Me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God. But he who disowns Me before men will be disowned before the angels of God. And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. - Luke 12:8-10
Blaspheming against the Holy Spirit - just what is this, exactly? It is important that we know, right? We don't want to accidentally do this! Well, I don't think you need to worry about "accidentally" doing this. In all three passages, the context is that Jesus has done miracles, and people are saying He did them by the power of demons. In Matthew, Beelzebub is mentioned specifically. Notice too that the Mark passage was very specific as to why Jesus said this: He said this because they were saying, "He has an evil spirit." So this blasphemy against the Holy Spirit consists of someone accusing Jesus of being demon-possessed rather than Spirit-possessed. More generally, I do think there is an unforgivable sin, and it does involve a sort of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.
We all know John 3:16; for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. A little later in the chapter, we have this: Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him. Rejecting the Holy Spirit's promptings to turn to Jesus, and continuing to do so until you die, is an unforgivable sin; to get yourself there you have in fact had to do a kind of blasphemy of the Holy Spirit; you have had to reject His promptings to turn to Jesus, and in fact, you have had to "steel yourself" against His call.
In fact, aren't these really the exact same thing? You have the Holy Spirit saying, "Turn to Jesus. He is the Son of God. He loves you. He died for you." And in response, in your spirit, you reject this. You refuse to listen. In effect, you tell the Holy Spirit to shut up and go away. To blaspheme the Holy Spirit is to reject Jesus, to reject God's only means of redemption and salvation. So our third point is this: No provision given for those who persist in denying Christ.
Now let's look at a passage that compares the Holy Spirit to fish and eggs.
"So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened ot you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!" - Luke 11:9-13
From an Old Testament perspective, this is remarkable, shocking. In the Old Testament, we saw how the Holy Spirit was on only at most a few people at a time; a prophet or two here, a judge or king there. Yet here Jesus is saying that the Holy Spirit will be eagerly given to all who as; God the Father will absolutely agree in doing this, even more than an earthly father wouldn't even think twice about giving his child the humble food he requests, like a mere fish or an egg.
Now if you look at the context of this verse, I think it makes more sense to understand as referring to the daily filling or refilling of the Holy Spirit, rather than the initial sealing, or "born again" experience of the Spirit. What is the context? Well, the disciples ask Jesus to teach them how to pray. Jesus proceeds to teach them what we now call the Lord's Prayer. An absolutely key piece of this prayer is the idea of daily provision - "give us each day our daily bread." And in the passage itself, Jesus uses an analogy the child's requests of daily provision as well - food, in the form of a fish or an egg.
So the plain, natural way to understand this provision of the Holy Spirit is in the same way. Jesus is saying, you want to be filled with the Spirit? Pray. Ask. Each day. And of course, the Father will delight to do this! So our fourth point is this: Daily provision (refilling) given upon request.
I find this idea of daily provision in this passage as well:
The Counselor, 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. - John 14:26
Teaching all things, reminding you of things - these are ongoing, daily activities. Again, we have the parakletos, a helper, continually there to assist you.
Now I want to look at three passages that I have frequently heard misapplied - in my opinion - stretched beyond what they are truly saying.
"Be on your guard against me; they will hand you over to the local councils and flog you in their synagogues. On My account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of yoru Father speaking through you. - Matt. 10:17-20
"You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of Me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them. And the gospel must first be preached to all nations. Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit. - Mark 13:9-11
"When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say." - Luke 12:11-12
It is pretty clear what Jesus is saying in all three passages. Certain people (who Jesus calls "you") will be arrested, presumably because of their faith in Jesus. Who? Just the original disciples? I don't think so. In fact, in the Mark passage, it says "the gospel must first be preached to all nations." so that would seem to apply that it is talking about disciples at the very end times. I think that when you look at the contexts of all three passages, it seems that the "you" here applies to Jesus's original disciples, to the disciples at the very end times, and to every disciple in between; that is, it applies to you and me.
Now another question to be asked is whether you have to be arrested and flogged for the Holy Spirit to give you the words to say. Well, the Luke passage doesn't specifically mention arresting or flogging, if that makes you feel better. I think what Jesus is saying is that if you believe in Him, you can expect persecution. It might not happen - it doesn't happen to every single discipel of Jesus, but you should not be surprised when it happens. And as you know, there are many different levels of persecution. Many of us have in fact experienced the more subtle forms. They may not compare to flogging, but they are every bit as real. But the point is that we should not be surprised; as Jesus says in John 16:33, in this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.
Now I do think it is possible to take this verse further than it is meant to go. It certainly isn't a promise that, when you are under severe persecution, the fact that the Holy Spirit will give you the words to say will mean that you will convince your hearers. And throughout the history of the church, the blood of the countless martyrs proves that this is not the case. But if you read a book like Foxe's Book of Martyrs, it becomes equally clear that so many normal people became extraordinary when asked to recant their faith and deny Jesus. Knowing full well that they would experience death by unimaginably horrible methods, rather than growing weak and denying their faith, they became bold and testified powerfully of Jesus in their last moments. What enabled them to do this? The Holy Spirit!
And I have shared this before, but it bears repeating. Over the 2000-year history of the church, when the church has grown the most, when it has been the healthiest, is precisely when it has been the most severely persecuted. IN those times the power of the Holy Spirit is evident, and faith becomes deep, and hypocrisy goes away.
Now perhaps you have experienced moments when sharing the gospel you have been able to remember verses you thought you never knew, or God helped you to make a powerful and clear presentation of the gospel. How many of you have experienced this?
Was this the work of the Holy Spirit? Yes. But - and I believe this is important - as wonderful as that is, that is not what these passages are talking about. Why is this important? Because these verses are promises. They promise that if you get into a trial-type situation, a flogging-type situation, the Holy Spirit will help you to speak boldly and testify of Christ.
When you and I go share the gospel, the Holy Spirit may help you or He may not. The promise does not apply to these more everyday situations. And in fact, I think the Holy Spirit may deliberately choose not to help us sometimes. Why would He do that? Because we are weak in the faith. Because we don't really deeply understand the gospel. Because God thinks it more important that we grow first. We have a responsibility, as Christians, to become able to share our faith, anytime, anywhere. This requires effort and preparation and practice on our part. I Peter 3:15 says always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the ope that you have. This verse wouldn't make any sense if the Holy Spirit always gave us the perfect words to say. Why would we need to be prepared?
And so my fifth point is this: Special provision in severe circumstances.
Now we come to what may be my favorite verse on the Holy Spirit spoken by Jesus:
I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever - the Spirit of Truth. The world cannot accept Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him, for He lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see Me anymore, but you will see Me. Because I live, you also will live. - John 14:16-19
What do I love so much about this verse? One little word: forever. The Holy Spirit isn't just going to be with us here in this life. And in this life, as we do things that grieve the Spirit, as we get caught up in the business of everyday life and ignore His promptings and leadings, as we "run on empty" and forget all about the idea of being filled and refilled, we totally underestimate how awesome it really is that the parakletos is in us and with us. I have memories of special times where I was just overwhelmed with the Spirit's presence. I hope you have had these times too. It is easy to forget about them. But what will it be like in heaven? The Holy Spirit will still be with us and in us. But we won't be distracted by the world. We won't be tired. We won't sin. We will continually enjoy the full power of the Spirit's presence, more than we have ever experienced in this life. We will be in the presence of God the Father, fully beholding His un-beholdable glory; we will be worshipping the Lamb who was slain and who loves us like a brother; and we will be filled beyond bursting with the undiluted power of the Holy Spirit within us. How awesome is that?
So my sixth point would be this: Eternal provision in heaven beyond imagining.
And one final verse, one final instance of Jesus speaking of the Holy Spirit:
"I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all 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. He will bring glory to Me by taking from what is Mine and making it known to you. - John 16:12-14
What I most love about this verse is the phrase, "He will bring glory to Me." That is the role of the parakletos. He is there, always ready to help us, guide us, teach us, but it is not to bring glory to us. It is to bring glory to God. When we rely on the Spirit, when we heed Him, when we allow Him to change us, we bring glory to God as well. And when we do this, we will find that we become parakletos as well - do you remember what Jesus's great command for us was in John 15, surrounded by verse after verse about the Holy Spirit. It is to love one another. When we do this, we bring glory to God and become parakletos for Him.
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