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Second Comforter
Presenter: Larry Kirkpatrick
Location: Northern Idaho Regional Campmeeting, Bonners Ferry, ID, USA
Delivery: 2011-06-08
Publication: GreatControversy.org 2011-07-10 03:43Z
Type: Sermon
URL: http://www.greatcontroversy.org/gco/rar/kirl-comforter2nd.php
Job’s Mistaken Paracletes
We commence this meeting with a Scripture from one of the oldest books in the Bible. Disaster has come to Job’s family. He’s been sitting in silence with some of his friends for a week (Job 2:13).
After seven days of their quiet, supportive presence, Job begins to talk. Each of three friends speak with him in turn. Their theory? Job must have done something wrong; he must have incurred God’s wrath; this is what is behind his suffering. Hours of discussion draw on but Job relentlessly affirms his innocence. There is impasse. Job declares to them, “Miserable comforters are ye all” (Job 16:2).
In the earliest translation of the Old Testament to Greek, the Septuagint, Job literally says to his friends, “you are all bad PARAKLEETEROS.” A PARAKLETE/PARACLETEROS meant one who appears in another’s behalf, a mediator, intercessor, advocate, or helper. Job’s three friends were, in the Greek, paracletes.
Perhaps you have heard this word before. John uses it some five times. We hear it on the lips of Jesus at John 14:15-18:
If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you (John 14:15-18).
“Another Comforter” here has reference to the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth. Jesus is going but the Holy Spirit is coming. When Jesus is crucified and lifted up to heaven, He sends another to continue His work. This has reference to the person of the Holy Spirit.
Think about the showdown so central to this book of Job. It is God versus Satan, more precisely, Jesus Christ versus Satan. Job becomes a test case. Will he remain faithful to God under severe testing? The book of Job gives the answer. That was then; this is now. What is the situation today? Still it is Jesus Christ versus Satan. And now, you and I become test cases.
Job overcame in spite of his friends—poor, misunderstanding, human paracletes. Our situation is so much better. We are to overcome with the help of the divine Paraclete, the Holy Spirit.
Thus it becomes essential for us to understand who He is, what He is, what His work is, and how He will help us. We ask Him to come. But if we do not understand these things, how will we know if we have the true Holy Spirit or a demonic one? In this hour when so many winds of doctrine are blowing, we need to have more clarity about the Holy Spirit.
The Paraclete Our Teacher
Let’s consider some helpful passages.
Open to John 14:25, 26:
“These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”
When our Lord began to describe the work of the Holy Spirit, He told His disciples that the Spirit’s work would be to repeat in their minds and hearts the teachings of Jesus; not only to call them to mind, but actually to teach the disciples these things. That is, Jesus would ask the Father, His father would send the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit would actually teach you and me the things that Jesus taught His disciples. It is not that we would hear these sayings audibly repeated in our head, or sit quietly contemplating them, but that literally we would make them our own and be changed by them. We would begin to live them. They would come up, off the pages of Scripture, and with the help of the Holy Spirit, God in person just as Jesus is God in person, would teach us in person.
Who is the Paraclete? He is the Holy Spirit, a literal, distinct Person as real as you and I. He is one part of the Godhead. The infinite God is manifest in three distinct persons. Not three Gods and not one person, but one God existing in three distinct persons. His work is to teach us, the followers of Jesus, who live in these last days.
The Paraclete Testifies of Jesus
Read now the words of our Jesus in John 15:23-26:
He that hateth me hateth my Father also. If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father. But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause. But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me.
Not only does the Holy Spirit come to us from the Father, but He testifies to us about Jesus. Although Jesus has gone to heaven, we do not forget about Him or stop learning about Him. The Holy Spirit continues teaching us. Everything that He teaches us about God and God’s ways is His teaching also about Jesus. The Holy Spirit testifies continually to us about Jesus.
The dislike some have for God the Father and Jesus may not be rational, but those who reject His work and choose to resist growing in grace, also reject the work of God presented through the person of the Holy Spirit. They resist the testimony of the Holy Spirit about Jesus. But Christians, who are continually open to and receiving the influence of the Holy Spirit, are continually receiving His testimony about Jesus.
We need this testimony all the time. We are up against so many influences, particularly today, at the end of the age. Continually we are inundated with information, some bad, some good. There seems to be a limit to what humans can and should receive within a given space of time. When we try to take in more than we are designed to, this immoderate behavior increases our emotional and spiritual stress. We become less rational, less capable of discerning, more distractable. Thus, even a desire to fill up with what is good can be turned against us. If we are paying attention to the testimony of the Holy Spirit about Jesus, we will be reminded that Jesus had much to do but was never in a hurry; He had much to say but tended to shorter presentations. He was content to trust in the Holy Spirit, who would continue His work after He was crucified and risen.
The work of the Holy Spirit is to testify about Jesus to the believer. He is sent from the Father to the believer for this purpose. God has built into His redemption plan a continuous testimony about Jesus to the believer. Jesus should never be far from our thoughts. If we are in communion with the Holy Spirit, we are being drawn especially to Jesus by Him.
The Paraclete Our Daily Guide
And now, a third text. The words of Jesus, this time at John 16:6-13:
Now I go my way to him that sent me; and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou? But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart. Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide 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. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
In the plan of God, certain things were necessary. Jesus must be sacrificed, the Father must receive His life given for us, and then ask the Paraclete be sent. The Holy Spirit helps us by bringing conviction to unbelievers. All around us they are present. Jesus wants each to become part of His kingdom if they will only stop resisting and choose Him. And so, He convicts. He leads them to understand that failure to accept Jesus is wrong, and that it is right for Jesus to rise and return to the Father, and that God’s judgment against Satan is just. These convictions are necessary and lead some towards choosing to become followers of God.
But this was not the limit of what Jesus had to teach His followers. There remained much more. Even so, Jesus was discerning of people’s limits, and refused to tell too much that was new on any one occasion. He was confident that the Holy Spirit would continue faithfully to guide the believer.
What does it mean to be guided into all truth? Does this mean that the believer will have a fully-formed doctrinal understanding? Will he be able to present 400 page-long theological dissertations on every belief in the list? Or, does being guided into all truth mean that the follower of Jesus learns how to live the life of a disciple? We are sure that his understanding is helped, but may not have thought very much about the implication that the Holy Spirit will work with us and that as we seek His help He will actually change our behavior. Being guided into all truth is not merely a rational thing; it touches the heart and changes the follower of Jesus. Now, what you do is what Jesus would have you do.
The Holy Spirit does not speak to us very much of Himself. His chief work is to speak to us about Jesus. Whatever truth we are able to receive, that He will present to us. Part of what He shows us is what is coming. His work is, yes, to teach us what Jesus taught, yes, to testify about Jesus, and more, to glorify Jesus. How does He do that? He receives from the truth that Jesus taught and delivers it to us in an understandable manner. Everything that the Father has belongs to Jesus, and whatever Jesus has, He gladly shares with His followers.
Jesus still had “many things” to share with His disciples, even after they had been with each other for three and a half years. They had the benefit of Jesus’ closest instruction. But still there were many things He knew that they needed in order to successfully pass through the tests they would face.
To glorify Jesus means to take the things of God and reveal them to the believer. Can we see how closely Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are working with each other and with us? Some have the idea that God is hiding things. The Bible becomes for them some kind of puzzle-oracle that we can understand if we use this or that private “system” of interpretion. But looking carefully at texts like these we find that, actually, God is longing to reveal Himself and His Son and His Spirit to us.
The problem comes when we think that having the Holy Spirit is like having a tube of toothpaste that we can use at our own discretion. God has given His Word. The Holy Spirit will use it to teach us more about Jesus but we must be listening; we must be watching; we must be waiting—not for God to fulfill our requests just as we insist, but for God to reveal the teachings of Jesus to us and bring them to life in our lives. Have we claimed to be in fellowship with Him but demonstrated indifference to His Word? If we would experience the revealings of Jesus given by the Holy Spirit, we need to be filling our minds and hearts with the Scriptures inspired by the same Spirit.
The Spirit of Intercession
The Holy Spirit teaches us, testifies of Jesus, and guides us. According to Paul, whom we now turn to, He also intercedes for us. Romans 8:26, 27:
The Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
The Holy Spirit helps us in our weaknesses. Anyone here with weaknesses? We know it. God knows it. God wants to help. Often we do not know precisely what particular help to ask God for. But the Holy Spirit intercedes for us. He does His Paraclete work. God, who searches our hearts, knows the mind of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit intercedes for us according to God’s will. Some think that somehow the Holy Spirit is obligated to intercede for them according to their will, but this is not the case. He intercedes according to God's will. Because of this fact, Paul can say that all things work together for good for those who love Him, and who are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).
The idea in this passage is to render aid in an emergency setting, as in coming upon someone hurt in the road—as in the story of the Samaritan helper in Luke 10. If we look at the context of Romans eight, there is much about Christian experience in a fallen world of suffering. Although we dwell here, indeed, the Great Controversy War will be fought to closure right here, the Holy Spirit is able to help us. The strength we need for life, not in a war zone but a cosmic war zone, is available. Jesus returned to the Father but He sent us another Comforter (John 14:16). He wants us to be successful in living for Him.
Adding these together, we have a Helper who teaches, testifies to us about Jesus, guides us, and intercedes to help us live for Christ while in a fallen world. But now, how does this help us?
Application
First of all, if we would have the presence of the Holy Spirit to help us, there is nothing magical. We are called to learn about Jesus in the Bible and to put those teachings into action. We are to live out the Christian life. If we really want it, the Holy Spirit will give it. He will actually teach us to be Spirit-led. But we won’t know what that means if we do not look into the life of Jesus which was Spirit-led (Luke 4:16). Being Spirit-led does not mean living according to the strange foaming of obscure impressions. It means becoming informed about God’s ways and the life of Christ. This is simple: are we reading our Bibles? Are we conforming to the Word of God?
Secondly, we are called Christians because He is Lord and we are patterning our lives after His life. We belong to Him. And so the Holy Spirit continually reminds us of this by testifying to us about Jesus. We can and should have this testimony at all times. The world opposed Jesus and the world will oppose us. Its ways cannot be reconciled with God’s ways, which are also our ways. “When the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me. And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning” (John 15:26, 27). The Spirit testifies about Jesus to us. We testify about Jesus to others. The disciples testified about what it was like for them in ministry with Jesus. So do we.
Thirdly, the Holy Spirit convicts the unbeliever of right and wrong, and for the believer He gives his guidance. Terrific trials were ahead for the disciples. Jesus, upon whom all their hopes were pinned, would be murdered on the cross. But He would send them another Comforter—one to strengthen them and encourage them when nothing else would. The Paraclete—the Comforter—would glorify Jesus. In a world of sin the times are always uncertain. Our need of correct guidance is especially great. The Holy Spirit has this guidance for us. But how does it come?
He sends it through Spirit-led persons, through His church. Jesus set up a new assembly, His church. He says that the church is the pillar and foundation of His truth (1 Timothy 3:15). If the Spirit is the Spirit of truth, and the church is the foundation of truth, then the Holy Spirit will be operational in the church. The gifts of the Spirit are given to the church. The Great Controversy War between good and evil is fought through in the church (Ephesians 3:10, 21). This is where the Spirit is needed and this is where the spirit is manifest.
We are often inclined to attempt to “do” our Christianity on our own. We chafe at working for God side-by-side with our fellow believers. We do not wish to submit to them or hear any word of counsel or correction through them. Or, we are satisfied to receive our Christian instruction at the end of a wire, on a television broadcast from far away where no one really knows us and we are not kept accountable to God in any concrete way. This is wrong. Serve God through your local congregation. Be accountable to fellow believers. The Holy Spirit wants to work with you, and will send insight through them—if you can hear Him through them.
Finally, we need to say one more thing about the way the Holy Spirit works. Why do strange doctrines multiply? Such teachings cannot develop unless there are those whose ears begin to seek for erroneous teachings. How does this mechanism of error work? Some choose teachers for themselves who teach them doctrines that have a subtle but carnal and divisive effect upon them. The people choose their own teachers, and unless deeply consecrated to God we will become all certain that our little select group of teachers are the teachers of truth and that all others are either deceivers or at least misguided. Either way, the help God might send us through such teachers is neutralized.
We choose for ourselves our own favorites. The result is distraction. Some lose sight of Jesus’ Three Angel Messages, and focus attention instead on tangents and novelties. And if someone tells you that your emphases are distractions, how will you respond? In our minds, our own interests, our priorities, are justified. The basic problem is how we value things; are we counting as valuable that which is a mere sidetrack? Have we compromised our interest in Jesus and His Present Truth for different interests? Have we stopped listening to those in the church with whom we disagree? Have we forgotten that God works through our brothers and sisters, and that He gives gifts to His church?
If we are too sure of ourselves, it will be very difficult for us to hear God speaking to us through voices that He might choose to use.
We are hanging up on God.
The solution is more humility, more reading the Bible and absorbing and living-out Jesus’ teachings, more echoing the life of Jesus, more testifying about Him, more involvement in the church of the living God, more listening to what the Spirit does through her, more accountability, less novelty. Which is all to say, more being actually Spirit-led.
If we have the divine Paraclete, then we will be good comforters, good human paracletes. Unlike Job's friends who meant well but misrepresented God, this last generation wil lrightly represent Him and Jesus will be glorified.
And so, we need to understand the work that God does through “another Comforter,” that is, the second Comforter, the spirit of Truth, the Holy Spirit. May He come down to us and lift us up to Jesus. GCO
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