"Spirit Works: Comforter and Word"
(Sermon #4)

John 16:7-15  "Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter (parakletos, advocate, comforter) will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. [8]  And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:  [9]  Of sin, (hamartia, sin - not sins) because they believe not on me;  [10]  Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;  [11]  Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. [12]  I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. [13]  Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide (hodegeo, to lead into) you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. [14]  He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. [15]  All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you."

There was an old man who sat in the Temple of God day after day, watching, waiting. This old man carefully examined each Child that was brought to the Temple for dedication. He looked carefully, oh so carefully, for he Simeon was told by the Holy Spirit of God (Luke 2.25 ff) that he would not see death until he saw the Savior. So Simeon heeded that precious Spirit. He watched, he waited. He never made excuses on "why I can't get to Temple today" or spoke of "avoiding Temple because of the hypocrites that go there". No, Simeon was focused on the leading of the Spirit, because the Spirit told him that he would see the Day Star. Simeon needed the Day Star, needed the Christ, for his world was so dark. So he watched, he waited until he saw the Light and held it in his arms. He waited patiently, disregarding his own comfort, until he held the Salvation of the world in his arms, until he had touched the face of God. The Spirit told him that Messiah was coming, and Simeon trusted the Spirit more than he trusted his own sinful impulses, his own desires - and was rewarded for his faithfulness.

Some thirty-three years later God incarnate, our Lord Jesus Christ, knew that He was getting ready to go to the Cross. Jesus told His disciples many things. He told them that He had to go, and this filled their hearts with sorrow. They had followed Jesus for some three years, and had come to trust Him as they had never trusted anyone else. When they were in pain, there was Jesus, ready to ease the hurt. When their loved ones were sick and dying, there was Jesus, ready to heal, to resurrect, to make it better. When they tried to cast out demons or calm the storm and their faithlessness made it impossible, they need only call Jesus and here He came. Now Jesus told them that He was going away. Not only this, He told them that:

John 16:2  "They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service."

the world around them would persecute them and think that such persecution was righteous. The world would say that evil was good and good evil and the disciples who followed after Christ would be unjustly called evil. As He spoke these words I can imagine the disciples looking on in shock. "What do you mean, you're going? What do you mean, we'll be persecuted by our Temple? You'll not be with us?". Imagine an eight year old child being told the parents are going to leave, and that he must now feed, house, and clothe himself. Only if you can imagine this, can you imagine the fear that Jesus' words brought in the hearts of His disciples.

Yet this was not the end, but a glorious beginning. The word that the King James Bible uses for the Holy Spirit is "Comforter", and this is a very appropriate word to describe Him. However, the Greek word is actually "parakletos", which literally means "one who calls alongside so as to guide". The word "parakletos" can therefore be translated in all of three different ways, each just as valid as the other. The Holy Spirit, the "parakletos" is the Teacher, the Intercessor, and the Comforter. Let's look at each one of these definitions of the Holy Spirit and try to apply them to our lives.
 

- What are the three meanings of the title that Jesus gave to the Holy Spirit, “Comforter”?

John 16:7, 13-14  "Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient (sumphero, much more profitable) for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter (parakletos, advocate, comforter, intercessor, teacher) will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. [13]  Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide (hodegeo, to lead into) you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. [14]  He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you."
 

Jesus told His disciples a great truth, perhaps the greatest truth that mankind would ever receive. After warning them that He was getting ready to go, our Lord said that One would come in His place that would be better for us. Not better because this Teacher was a better teacher than Jesus. No, our Lord Jesus Christ was, is, and will always be God in the flesh, and He would teach as precisely as you would expect God to teach. But Jesus walked the earth as God in the flesh, and as being God in the flesh He was limited to teaching in one place at a time. God the Holy Spirit, however, is indeed a Spirit, and unlimited in His approach. He could and would indwell every one who accepted Jesus Christ as Savior and, upon taking up residence inside of the believer, begin a great personal teaching ministry.

This precious Spirit would glorify Jesus in His teaching ministry, and would teach as Jesus Christ Himself taught. Let me say that last bit one more time, because most people get it all wrong. Jesus walked the earth as a Master Teacher, a didaskalos, and the Holy Spirit came to be with us when He went to Heaven. The Spirit came to teach in Jesus' place, and this means that the Spirit will always teach just as Jesus taught. Let's explore that for a minute. Jesus, when He came, did not come preaching and teaching His own agenda. No, Jesus came teaching the written Word of God. Twenty-six times Jesus used the phrase "it is written" in His encounters with man, thirty-five times He referred to the writings of the Law, forty-three times to the writings of the writings of the Prophets.  Jesus as the Master Teacher came preaching and teaching the written Word of God, preaching and teaching the Messianic promises found in that Word of God, preaching and teaching His Father's Words. In fact, though Jesus presented Biblical truths in a way that was new to His disciples, our Lord said:

John 5:46-47  "For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. [47] But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?"

showing that His ministry was based on the written Word of God. When Jesus was attacked by Satan in Matthew chapter 4, not once did our Lord say "Well, I think this", or "It seems to me that". No, our Jesus responded over and over again "It is written", then quoted Scripture to defeat the enemy. Jesus' ministry was so intertwined with the written Word and with His Father's Plan that Jesus said:

John 14:9  "Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?"

The Spirit came to stand in for Jesus. Just as Jesus taught, so the Spirit teaches. Jesus taught using the Word of God, and since this is true then it is true that the Spirit can only teach using that same Word of God. Today in every Church of Christ throughout this entire world there are believers who do not understand this truth, this great truth concerning Jesus and the Word and the Spirit and the Word. Many believers never open their Bibles, yet expect the Spirit of God to speak to their hearts. Many believers come to the Church, the assembly of the Saints, and leave unsatisfied because they have neither opened the Word during the past week, nor paid attention to the Word preached in the service. Many Christians, because they have ignored the Written Word of God, have the Spirit inside but no contact with that same Spirit - for the language He speaks is the language of Scripture, not the language of the world.

John 16:13  "... when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide (hodegeo, to lead into) you into all truth"
 
Do you think that Simeon was sitting alone at home one day and God said, "Hey, Simeon, Messiah's coming. Get thee to the Temple and wait!". If Simeon had ignored the Word of God, the writings of the Prophets, then his response would have been "What is a Messiah?". Then God the Holy Spirit would have had to explain how sin entered the world, how He brought the sacrifices to Israel to teach them they needed Messiah, how Jesus was coming in the form of humanity - in other words, a simple command would have been turned into a complex set of directions. Further when the Holy Spirit called Simeon, Simeon would have said "Who is this?", then the Spirit would have had to convince him who He was. No, no, Simeon wasn't ignorant of the Scriptures. He had studied these Scriptures his whole life. Simeon had known the truth, the Written Truth, and one day while he was meditating on Biblical Truth the Spirit came to him. Perhaps he was reading a passage on the coming Messiah, thinking sad thoughts, and the Spirit came and said "Go to Temple and wait. The Messiah will come, the Day Spring will bring light, and you'll hold him in your arms before you die".

Oh, can you imagine the wonder of it?  What if you had been told that you could hold the baby Jesus in your arms? How your feet would have flown to touch that precious Flesh, to look into the eyes of Eternity. Consider that, then consider a Bad Thought: How many others had the Spirit spoken to, teaching them of the coming Messiah? How many others heard the Spirit guiding them, yet failed to follow because they refused to open the Word? How many today will miss blessing in the Spirit because, in the hardness of your hearts, you refuse to open that Word? How many will live their lives in pitiful states because the Teacher taught and the pupil would not listen, because the spirit of the age was followed instead of the Spirit of God?

The Holy Spirit, as a Master Teacher equivalent to Jesus, came to guide us into the truth, to guide us in the Word of Truth. Jesus prayed to the Father:

John 17:17  "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth."

The Spirit cannot guide you in the Truth if you'll not open the Truth. The Spirit cannot guide you at all if you choose to be guided by your own whims rather than by the Word of God. Many followed Jesus, few heard and applied His teaching because they knew not His Father's Word. If you want to be Spirit driven, like Simeon you must get on the same page he was on, the page of the Word. You cannot do as the Scribe, Pharisee, and liberal does and say "I know the Bible says ..." then explain it away, discount it, disregard it. If you do, you will never know truth.
 

- Why was it better that Jesus Christ go and the Holy Spirit come? - When Jesus taught, what was the basis of His teaching? Did Jesus teach His own agenda, or that of the Father? - How did Jesus respond to attacks against Himself and His ministry? - Since The Holy Spirit teaches as Jesus taught, what does this say about the Spirit's ministry? Must I study Scripture to be Spirit taught? Why or why not?

An old man said to a young stranger "the sky is orange." The young man smiled with a confused curl of his brow, and looked away. "The sky is orange," he repeated again with a glow in his eye, his gaze directed straight at him. The young man grew agitated.  "I believe it is blue, sir," the young man said, feigning politeness. Inside he questioned the sanity of the old man.  "I won't be like that," he emphatically stated to himself. "He's nuts," thought the stranger with disgust.  "The sky is orange," the old gentleman said again.  "It's not! It's blue," said the impetuous boy, as he grew angry at the old man.  "After all," he thought, "we all know the sky is supposed to be blue, and certainly we can remember it being blue numerous times. THE SKY IS BLUE!"  The old man stated again his peace: "the sky is orange." He said this without argument, or explanation, or emotion. He said it yet again: "the sky is orange."  "That's the exact opposite of the truth!" shouted the boy, "it's blue because of the atmosphere, because of light rays, and physics. Everyone knows the sky is blue, except you, you foolish old man....YOU ARE WRONG!" The old man smiled again-- a gentle smile...  The two stood in line together for sometime, waiting for something or other-- the boy clenched his teeth and ran through mental paces. The old man smiled softly, and murmured to himself in a manner that seemed a graceful anticipation. Time ticked on for what felt like an eternity for one and a moment to the other.  Then suddenly the old man shifted his body, turned about, and lifted his head to the sky. The young boy, alarmed, could not help but turn too. "the sky is orange," he said, as a deep breath escaped him. He grew quiet too. Facing westward together toward the remarkable sunset, they were united in awe. Someone grew even more humble, that day, and someone grew up.  (Copyright 2000 by Elizabeth Mullen, Life Coach)

John 16:7  "Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient (sumphero, much more profitable) for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter (parakletos, comforter) will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you."
 

Who can look at the ministry of Jesus and say that He was not Love in the flesh? The leper saw Jesus, and ran toward Him. Rather than running away or condemning him as unclean, Jesus opened His arms wide and received him to healing and eternal life. The children, disregarded by the parents, "seen but not heard", were never run away from the Savior by the Savior. No, Jesus always had time for the children, and loved them as if they were His own. Jesus is a loving Savior who always stands ready to comfort - and in the same way, the Holy Spirit is a loving Comforter.

If I'm in distress and a strange passer-by comes up to console me, to cheer me up, what good is this? This individual does not know me, but only comes to try his skill at comforting. His words run over me like oil over a marble slab, for he does not love me. But let Someone come who loves me. Oh, here's a difference. Just as Jesus has great Love toward you, the Holy Spirit has immeasurable love for you. How much love does the Spirit have for you? Take the mountains and weigh them, take the ocean's water and count each drop, count the sand on the seashore. How much does He love you? It would be easier to measure Heaven than to find the end of the Spirit's love, for the Spirit's love and Christ's love are one in the same. Someone Who loves with such power can certainly comfort you in your distress, if you'll only let Him. When others fail you, the Spirit of Christ will continue to comfort.

You may say, "I've sinned". So be it, so you have sinned. Still He loves you, and desires a love relationship with you. The Spirit loved you when He foreknew your sin, and doesn't love you any less now. Come to Him in faith:

1 John 1:9  "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

confessing, not justifying your sin. Tell Him that you are sorry you quenched Him, sorry that you grieved Him. He will forget your wandering and receive you to comfort. He will never deceive you. He will never leave you.

Furthermore, the Holy Spirit is a wise Comforter. Job suffered in a terrible way, and his "good friends" and "loving wife" gathered around him to "comfort" him. Job said:

for, rather than comfort him, they accused him and gave him the wrong treatment. When a doctor mistakes a disease and gives a wrong prescription, how terrible to suffer through that! Not so the Holy Spirit. He comforts without failure, never making mistakes. He does not justify sin - no, this would be the wrong kind of comfort, for it would be from the source of evil - but He goes to the heart of the problem and safely comforts. Some comfort in useless ways:

James 2:15-17  "If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, [16]  And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? [17]  Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone."

yet the Spirit never does this. His comfort is like that of Jesus' who, on seeing the multitude hungry, He was moved with compassion. With just a few fish and a few loaves Jesus fed the multitude because He was a true Comforter. The Holy Spirit, likewise, will provide for the children of God if we ask in Jesus' name. Are you comforted, or are you comfortless today? Heed the Word of God and His Spirit.
 

- What characterized Jesus’ earthly ministry? - If someone doesn't love me, can they truly comfort me? Does the Spirit love me?  - I've sinned, and I don't believe the Spirit will accept me back. What must I do? (1 John 1.9)  - Why is the Holy Spirit a wise Comforter? (Job 16.2;  James 2.15-17)

John 16:7-11  "Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient (sumphero, much more profitable) for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter (parakletos, advocate) will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. [8]  And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:  [9]  Of sin, (hamartia, sin - not sins) because they believe not on me;  [10]  Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;  [11]  Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged."

Who can possibly read how Jesus defeated His enemies time and time again with Truth and not see that God was at work? Consider the Pharisees who, following Jesus, sought to bring disrepute on Him through every twisting of logic they could muster.  Jesus, with so little effort, defeated them with the Word of God. In Matthew 12 Jesus and His disciples picked and ate corn on the Sabbath, and the Pharisees, seeing this, condemned our Lord for breaking that Law. Our Lord said:

Matthew 12:3-6 "But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungered, and they that were with him; [4]  How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shew bread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests? [5]  Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless? [6]  But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple."

and defeated these fault finding hypocrites. These same men dared Jesus to heal on the Sabbath, so great was their evil (Matthew 12.10), and yet Jesus still answered from Scripture and showed that it was lawful to do good on the Sabbath. Jesus interceded for His disciples, for the sick, for those under persecution, and in exactly the same way the Holy Spirit intercedes for the Christian worker.

Oh, what a great truth this is, without which I would not dare be a pastor. It is inevitable that every Christian worker will, at some time or the other, undergo false accusation. It is inevitable that every Christian worker will eventually be placed in a position of discomfort, or suffering, or pain. Even so it is good to know that we, like the disciples on the storm tossed seas, can ask the Spirit to intercede for us so as to calm the storm.

Matthew 10:19-20  "But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. [20]  For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you."

The Spirit of God intercedes in many ways. How could Paul, squeaky Paul, so ably plead the case of Christ before Felix and Agrippa? How could the Apostles, so recently hidden scared behind locked doors, go out with boldness and preach Jesus? How could a Church gain three thousand converts in a day, when to convert to Christianity was to bring a death sentence on yourself? How could Peter, brash Peter, on the one hand deny his Lord repeatedly, yet after Pentecost speak with such power and fearlessness? It was not men who built the early Church, but the Holy Spirit of God who worked through yielded Christians. It is not feeble men, nor a Pope, who did mighty things at the Church's foundation, but the Spirit of Promise who worked through those willing to give their lives to Him.

Oh precious Holy Spirit, plead the cause of Christ through me. Oh precious Holy Spirit, intercede in your Church and melt hearts so that lives will be submitted to You.

The Interceding Ministry of the Spirit moves through our Church today telling you three things:

The Spirit convicts of the one sin that will send you to hell, the sin of failing to believe in Jesus Christ as Savior. If you have not claimed Jesus Christ as Savior today, then this sin (note that this is singular) is what stands between you and God. The Interceding Ministry of the Spirit also tells you:

That righteousness can only come in your life by accepting Christ as Savior. You cannot work your way to Heaven, nice your way to Heaven, donate your way to Heaven. No, if you want righteousness, a righteousness that will fit you like a thousand dollar suit and cover your deficiencies, then you must accept Christ as Savior. Finally,

If you have rejected Jesus Christ as Savior, the Spirit is telling you today that Judgment Day Is Coming. Believe it brother! Hell is hot, and God has warned you. Satan has already been judged. He was judged at the Cross, and he was "weighed in the balance and found wanting". Listen:

John 3:18  "He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."

The Spirit intercedes today, telling you in your heart of hearts if you are condemned or forgiven. You know that, if you have accepted Jesus Christ as Savior, you are forgiven. The Spirit indwells you, assuring you of that salvation, because you know in Whom you have believed. Yet, if you have not accepted Jesus, that same Spirit woos you to give your life to Him today.

We who are advocates of the truth of the Gospel are often very poor pleaders. We spoil our cause by the very words we use, but it is a mercy that the Holy Spirit will intercede through us. Be still, listen to that Spirit. Be still, heed His calling while there is yet time.

One day Jesus will sift the people and determine who is wheat (believer) and who is chaff (unbeliever). Why wait until then? Judge within yourselves, and divide, divide. Life without Christ is comfortless, and well you know it. Life on the fence gives you a bruised backside and a shaky eternity. Some have said, "I want to enter Heaven, but not repent. I'd like to be saved but I want to be able to take whatever road I want". Yet only one Road leads to Heaven, the Way of Christ, the Way of the Spirit. If you want the Way of Christ, then the Spirit has shown you how black your sins are. The Spirit has convicted you that you cannot take yourself to Heaven, that you must come by Blood, you must come by Spirit. As Simeon came, you must come. Now Come!
 

- Enemies followed Jesus in His earthly ministry. How did He respond to their attacks? (Matthew 12.3-6)  - The Spirit intercedes for the Christian worker just as He did for Jesus. How? (Matthew 10.19-20) - What is the one sin the Spirit convicts of? - Am I condemned already if I reject Jesus Christ as Savior while the Spirit calls? (John 3.18)

In his autobiography, Just as I Am, Billy Graham tells about a conversation he had with John F. Kennedy shortly after his election: "On the way back to the Kennedy house, the president-elect stopped the car and turned to me. 'Do you believe in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ?' he asked.   " I most certainly do."   "'Well, does my Church believe it?'   "They have it in their creeds."   "They don't preach it," he said. "They don't tell us much about it. I'd like to know what you think."   "I explained what the Bible said about Christ coming the first time, dying on the Cross, rising from the dead, and then promising that he would come back again. 'Only then,' I said, 'are we going to have permanent world peace.'   "Very interesting," he said, looking away. 'We'll have to talk more about that someday." And he drove on.  Several years later, the two met again, at the 1963 National Prayer Breakfast. "I had the flu," Graham remembers. "After I gave my short talk, and he gave his, we walked out of the hotel to his car together, as was always our custom. At the curb, he turned to me.   "Billy, could you ride back to the White House with me? I'd like to see you for a minute.'   "Mr. President, I've got a fever,' I protested. 'Not only am I weak, but I don't want to give you this thing. Couldn't we wait and talk some other time?'   "It was a cold, snowy day, and I was freezing as I stood there without my overcoat.   "Of course,' he said graciously."   But the two would never meet again. Later that year, Kennedy was shot dead. Graham comments, "His hesitation at the car door, and his request, haunt me still. What was on his mind? It was an irrecoverable moment."