Jesus was giving His disciples some of His final lessons and words of encouragement. He wanted to prepare them for what was about to happen. He knew His death was imminent and they would be tested and tried by Satan. He reminded them of the intimate relationship that He had with them and how that relationship would continue to provide a fruitful life. Then He commanded them to love one another as He loved them. He informed them that obedience to His commands would draw them into a deeper love and fruitfulness. He warned them that the world would persecute them even if they did good and walked in obedience to His commands. This is an important warning because they were about to face some of the greatest trials of their faith.The fourth section of His message was given to remind them that, “He would not leave them comfortless.”
John 14:15-18 NKJV “If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—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. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
Jesus is introducing the great ministry of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers. By sending the Holy Spirit, Jesus is continuing His ministry and fellowship with believers.
John 15:26-27 NKJV26“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. 27And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning.
The introduction of the Holy Spirit secures the continuation and fulfillment of Christ’s ministry. What Jesus accomplished during His earthly ministry is manifest through the testimony of the Holy Spirit and believers.
The Gospel of John presents diverse functions of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit brings the new birth to the believer.
John 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. John 6:63 It is the Spirit Who gives life.
The Holy Spirit facilitates or makes possible the new life that Jesus has purchased by His sacrifice. It is the Holy Spirit that brings new life.
Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit after His ascension.
John 14:16 NKJV And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—
The function of the Divine Helper is crucial for the believer.
John 14:26 NKJV 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.
He is the Helper who generates life, purpose, and the connection with the Father and the Son. The word Helper is parakletos.It is a compound word —para means “beside,” and kaleo, “to call,” hence, called to one’s side. Parakletos appears five times in the New Testament. It is translated as “comforter” four times and “advocate” once. The word indicates varied functions of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has been sent as an Intercessor, Comforter, Helper, Advocate, and Counselor.
Jesus said: “I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper…” (John 14:16)
The Holy Spirit is called beside the believer.
In non-biblical literature, a parakletos was an attorney who appears in court for someone else. He was a legal assistant or advocate. The Holy Spirit has been sent to intercede and plead for believers. He has been called alongside to help, comfort, and instruct. The Holy Spirit has been sent to work the works of Christ in us.
The Holy Spirit’s ministry is indispensable to the believer.
John 16:13 NKJV 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.
Do you notice how important the Holy Spirit is in your life? He knows what is in the mind of God the Father and the Son. He is able to guide our lives by God’s wisdom and knowledge. When He speaks, He speaks with the full knowledge of God.
In addition to general help and guidance, He gives the strength to endure the hostility of the world system.
Hebrews 13:5-6 NKJV For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we may boldly say: “The Lord is my Helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”
In Hebrews 13:6, “helper” is the word boethos (bo-ay-thos/): From bo-ay, “a cry for help,” and theo, “to run.” Bo-ay-thos is one who comes running when there is a cry for help. He is a very present help in the time of need. Here is an unexpected blessing. Jesus said, “I will pray the Father and He will give another Helper…” The Lord knows that we need help and He has asked the Father to send the Holy Spirit to rush relief to His children.
So, another Helper has been sent at the call of Christ.
Why do we need the Holy Spirit?
Jesus knew that we would need help. Believers would not know how to apply everything that Jesus provided.
Jesus said He would send another Helper, the Holy Spirit.
Jesus knew we would need the help of the Holy Spirit. Why would we second-guess the Lord? Are we able to do more on our own than what He thought we were capable of doing?Jesus spoke about the Holy Spirit to the seven-fold church in the Revelation. Seven times Jesus said, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. (Revelation 2:7; 2:11; 2:17; 2:29; 3:6; 3:13; 3:22) Revelation 13:9If anyone has an ear, let him hear.
One thing is obvious, the Lord wants His Church to hear the Holy Spirit. He wants the whole church to develop a sensitivity to the voice of the Holy Spirit. According to Jesus, the Holy Spirit is absolutely necessary for us to know and do the things God desires to accomplish. Even born again believers are unable to do God’s work without the Holy Spirit’s help. The things of God can only be known by the power and wisdom of the Holy Spirit.
It is natural for man to know the methods and ways of man.
1 Corinthians 2:11 NKJV For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.
The “SPIRIT OF MAN” is our natural inner thoughts and intuition. After God formed the man of the dust of the ground, He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. The “spirit of man” was God’s gift that brought natural life to that form. When we die, the dust will return to the earth, and the spirit will return to God who gave it, (Ecclesiastes 12:7).
God has given each of us the ability to have and know our own thoughts. We have our own personal ingenuity, resourcefulness, and creativity. The “spirit of man” is the source of all of our own ingenuity, creativity, and resourcefulness. God instilled within Adam and Eve resourcefulness and intelligence. From human resourcefulness, we can send a satellite into space and land on a distant planet. We can communicate with a robot on Mars. We are very accomplished. We are able to do many complicated things.
Why do we need the Holy Spirit?
Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to be a Helper. The Lord knows something that we don’t know.
Listen to what is said about Jesus and the Spirit of God.
- Jesus was conceived by the Spirit, Luke 1:35.
- He was filled with the Spirit at His baptism, Luke 3:44; John 1:32.
- He was empowered of the Spirit, Luke 4:14.
- He cast out demons by the Spirit of God, Matthew 12:28.
- The Holy Spirit works with the Father and Son in achieving the divine purpose of the kingdom of God.
God’s kingdom is not only the reign of the Son, but also the reign of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit and the Son share in the reign of the Father. Jesus ministry and life was Spirit empowered and helped.
Some of the Lord’s last words that were spoken to His disciples was after His resurrection and just prior to His ascension.
]Acts 1:4-5 NKJV And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
Acts 1:8 NKJV But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Acts 2 shows the beginning of the fulfillment of this prophecy.
Acts 2:1–4 NKJV 1When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
When this happened a multitude of people came to the place where they were assembled. These people from every nation heard the sound from heaven and the disciples speaking in other tongues. They heard the disciples speaking about the wonderful works of God. Since they did not know what this could mean, Peter stood up with the eleven and spoke.
Acts 2:14-18 NKJV 14But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. 15For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. 16But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 17‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. 18And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy.
After the Holy Spirit was given and received, the ministry of the Church was energized and given power.
Acts 2:38–39 NKJV 38Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”
There was a tremendous response and thousands of new believers became witnesses of God’s grace by the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit has been sent to help.
- He guides into all truth.
- He speaks whatever He hears in heaven.
- He speaks with authority.
- He glorifies Christ.
- He does not just present His own ideas.
- He tells what He has heard.
- He tells about the future.
- He brings glory to Christ by revealing whatever He receives from Christ.
Jesus said: “All that the Father has is Mine; this is what I mean when I say that the Spirit will reveal to you whatever He receives from Me.”
Paul’s teaching about the Holy Spirit harmonizes with the accounts of the Spirit’s activities in the Gospels and Acts.
- The Holy Spirit enables believers to confess that Jesus is Lord, (1 Corinthians 12:3).
- Through the same Spirit, various gifts are given to ensure its richness and unity, (1 Corinthians 12:4-27).
- The Holy Spirit leads the way to Jesus Christ the Son (Romans 8:11) and to the Father, (Romans 8:14-15).
- He bears witness with our spirit that we are children and heirs of God, (Romans 8:16-17).
- He “makes intercession for us with groans that words cannot express,”(Romans 8:26-27).
- The Holy Spirit also reveals the deep things of God to Christians, (1 Corinthians 2:10-12).
- He also reveals the mystery of Christ, (Ephesians 3:3-5).
- The Father and Son have established, anointed, and sealed us by giving the Holy Spirit as a guarantee of our salvation, (2 Corinthians 1:21-22).
- By the Holy Spirit, we walk and live, (Romans 8:3-6)
- We abound in hope by the power by the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:13).
- We are given the fruit of the Spirit, (Galatians 5:22-23).
We have this fruit of: “love joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.”
The Holy Spirit dispenses and provides the power of God that is being expressed on earth.
Without the Holy Spirit, we cannot show the power of God. The function of the Holy Spirit is indispensable.
Christian liberty is a result of the work of the Holy Spirit.
2 Corinthians 3:17 “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”
This is a progressive work and ministry of the Holy Spirit.
2 Corinthians 3:18 explains: “Beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord,” we are “being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”
The Holy Spirit constantly takes us from one level to another level of glory. The Holy Spirit is God’s Gift sent from heaven. He is the Promise of the Father and has been sent at the request of the Lord Jesus’. He will guide into all truth and give you power. He is present to help you.
