The Promise of the Holy Spirit
John 14:15 – 25
I want to wish each and every one of you today, as part of the universal of the Christian church, a very happy birthday today. Today we celebrate the birthday of the Church, the day the Disciples were ordained and commissioned by the promised arrival of the Holy Spirit, to carry on the mission and ministry of Jesus Christ. As we read this morning in Luke’s account of that first day of Pentecost when the promised Holy Spirit arrived and came upon the Disciples. That event that we celebrate and recognize today was the completion and fulfillment of a promise that Jesus makes to the Disciples when they individually and collectively were at their lowest point in their ministry.
So, our message lesson for today comes to us not from Acts 2 with the actual arrival of the spirit but rather it comes to us in the Book of John. Jesus and the Disciples are in the still in the Upper Room just hours before He is arrested. We can remember that scene in our minds eye, can’t we? We can picture Jesus washing the feet of the Disciples, despite some push back from Peter. He tells Peter that Peter will not remain a part of Jesus’ ministry if he does not receive Jesus gracious act of humility. Remember that?
Jesus predicts to the group that He will be betrayed by one of their own, one of the Disciples. Do you remember Jesus giving Judas the bread of betrayal and Judas fleeing the room and the fellowship in order to do what he must do, betray Jesus? Can you imagine the shock and horror that the Disciples must have felt in that moment? Then Jesus goes on the implicate the most loyal of the Disciples as He predicts the multiple denials of Him by Peter. And worst of all Jesus has reminded the Disciples of His impending death. Do you remember that?
In our lesson today in John 14, we see that Jesus is reacting to the despair that the disciples were feeling. He seeks to console them with a directive that they should not let their hearts be troubled. But for every one of them their emotions are raw as they ponder the possibility that they are losing their teacher, brother, and leader. The one person that always seemed to have their back.
Jesus offers them words of assurance, that though He must go to fulfill His mission, He is not leaving them spiritually orphaned. He promises that they do not have to be without a divine presence that will be with them always, as He has. In this scripture from the book of John, Jesus introduces the Holy Spirit as an advocate for the disciples for the first time. Jesus says: “Do not be afraid because if you love me, if you keep my commands, I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever.
In these words, Jesus gives the Disciples an opportunity to mitigate the fear and loneliness that they are feeling. Jesus doesn’t command His disciples to simply love Him, He knows that they do, but rather He tells them that they must go above and beyond that, he also tells them that they have to obey Him.
We see that throughout the Gospel story love and obedience are closely connected and are directly linked throughout this passage from John because John’s use of “love”. Agape love simply isn’t an abstract emotion of the heart, but rather is something intensely practical, intentional, and personal that involves the desire to be consistent in intent, to be obedient. Friends, it is that purposeful and intentional devotion of each person, you, and me, through genuine love for Christ results in true obedience to him.
Jesus goes on to tell the disciples that if they do show their obedience to him, if they keep his commands, his precepts, his expectation for them, then they will receive an enormous blessing, and that blessing is another advocate, it is the Promise of the Holy Spirit. Jesus says I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate!
The Greek word that is translated as advocate is the word paraclete. The word translates to multiple English words all of which are embodied in what Jesus promises us simply for our love and obedience. The words for paraclete are Comforter, Advocate, Counselor, and Helper. What is clear from this scripture is that no matter how you want to translate the original Greek word, the Promise of Jesus is for God to send the Holy Spirit to those that love and are obedient to the commands of Jesus.
That Promise of the Holy Spirit was not for just for the Disciples in that time and place, but rather is a promise for a comforter, advocate, counselor, and helper for all Christians, in all times and places. So, how is the Promise of the Holy Spirit fulfilled and manifested in the lives of the mankind IF we love Jesus and obey His commandments?
There are several things about the Holy Spirit that we can learn in our scripture lesson today. Holy Spirit is a unique, distinct person, not simply a force, power, or an influence. Just as God and Jesus are distinct persons, so too is the Holy Spirit. Our God is triune, one in substance and yet three distinct in persons, God the Father, God the Son and God the Spirit. God is uniquely one yet uniquely divisible and individual in terms of ministry to His children.
The word paraclete it can be broken down into the two root parts “para”, which means “to come alongside”, and “clete” which means “to be sent”. Thus, the Promise of the Holy Spirit is someone “who is sent to come alongside of us” to be always with us and in all places. Friends the Holy Spirit comes alongside us, beside us, He encourages us, holds us up, picks us up, dusts us off when we fall, and gets us going again.
John also tells us that this paraclete would be “another” advocate for us. By this he means that the helper that is coming through the promise of Jesus, will be just like Jesus! In our lesson today Jesus was comforting His disciples by assuring them they don’t need to be troubled that He is leaving, because He was promising to send another advocate, another helper for them that is just like Him.
Jesus says the Holy Spirit will speak of the truths that I have given to you. He is The Spirit of Truthbecause He communicates, and bears witness to the truth of Jesus Christ. The Promise of the Holy Spirit is to teach us, to remind us of God commandments, to abide with us and to testify about Jesus. Jesus came to point us toward God, likewise the Holy Spirit is sent to direct us to the glory of Jesus. He comes to guide us into the truth manifested in the person of Jesus and explained fully and intentionally in the scriptures. The Holy Spirit will never guide us toward deeds, actions and beliefs that are outside or incongruent with the Holy Scriptures.
Hear the Good News my Friends………
Friends if we, you, and I, if we will fulfill the request of Jesus Christ to love and obey him, then he promises to send the Holy Spirit to be with each and every one of us. It is on this day that we celebrate the delivery, the arrival of the Holy Spirit into the world around us. We have discussed the things that the Holy Spirit can and will do for those that love and obey Jesus Christ with great intentionality and purposefulness, but the question is, are you allowing the Holy Spirit to walk alongside you when you need it most. When we find ourselves in dark and dismal times will we lean on and into the counsel and strength of the Holy Spirit? Can we feel the presence of the Promised Holy Spirit to abide in us and with us?
Friends we cannot, like the Disciples, allow fear of the things of this world and in this time, to remain anxious and afraid in this world, because faith empowered and renewed through the Holy Spirit releases to us courage and confidence found only through our Heavenly Father. Friends, faith in God is greater than any fear that might grip us.
The words “Fear not” appear 365 times in scripture, one for every day of the year. That’s probably how often we need to hear our Lord warn us about the mesmerizing and debilitating power of fear and doubt: Friends “Do not be afraid. Only believe” because we have the Holy Spirit beside us, within us, protecting us!
Certainly, on this Pentecost Sunday, “No Fear!” is the ruling command. In those days Jesus’ disciples rose up with courage they had never experienced as the Spirit’s presence with them encouraged and comforted them and steeled them against all challenges. The Apostle Paul, also, encountered life with and without the Spirit during his life, and notes the confidence gained when the Spirit whispers the foundations of faith into our hearts.
Dear ones avail yourself of that strength, of the awesome divine power that is yours for the asking simply by loving Jesus and obeying His and you too will receive the indwelling of the Promise of the Holy Spirit in your lives each and every day.
Our lesson today promises that through the Holy Spirit we will have the presence, comfort and power of Jesus that extends beyond the empty tomb, beyond Easter, beyond the ascension of Christ and beyond even Pentecost. As those that love and obey, we are guaranteed life with Jesus Christ through of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Amen
