[Machine transcription]
Christ is risen.
He is risen indeed.
Hallelujah.
In the name of Jesus,
Amen.
Dear Saints of God,
Jesus knows that it is best for us if we are Christians. He knows that it is best, that this is the best way to be alive, the best way to be a human being, and that is to be a follower of Jesus, to believe in him, to trust in him. Jesus knows. In fact, he knows that that’s why he’s doing everything that he’s doing, that’s why he’s dying on the cross for us, that’s why he’s bearing our sins, that’s why he’s raised from the dead and sits on the throne even now and rules and reigns all things for the sake of his church. He knows that he is our only hope in life and in death, that for sinners there is only one way to heaven and that is through his blood, through his sacrifice and through his suffering. So Jesus knows that the best thing for you is to believe in him. The best thing for you and for me is to trust him. The best thing for all people in all of the world is to follow him. Jesus knows that.
But Jesus also knows that following him comes at a cost. He also knows that to be a Christian is difficult. He knows that difficult times will come to all people, but specifically that difficult times will come to the Christian. In the text that we’ve been considering in the last few weeks and in the weeks to come from John 14, 15, 16, he has his eyes specifically on this problem. He looks at the disciples who are gathered there, whom he loves, he looks at them and he knows all the things that are going to happen to them. He knows all the suffering that they’re going to endure because of his name and because they are preachers of his name. He knows Peter is going to be thrown in prison and crucified upside down and Bartholomew is going to be boiled and have his skin flayed off. He knows about the prophets, he knows about the deaths, sorry, the martyrs and the deaths that they will die for his sake. He knows about you and your suffering in his name, your persecution, your affliction. He knows that when he baptized you, he marked you with a target for the devil and all of his assaults and all of his anger. He knows that when he transferred you from the kingdom of darkness into his kingdom of light, that he made you an enemy of your own flesh and of the world around you. Jesus knows that following him means bearing the cross.
And so, he goes in this sermon to prepare us for that, to prepare his disciples, to prepare his church, and to prepare you and I for the weight and the burden and the difficulty of being a Christian. So, Jesus says, “If you love me, you’ll keep my commandments, and I will ask the Father, and he will give you another helper to be with you forever.”
Who is this helper? Therefore Jesus tells us, “even 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 in you.” Jesus promises to give us, for our Christian life, for our comfort and peace. And so that we would endure the troubles of being his disciples, he promises to give us the Holy Spirit.
And he gives in this text, the Holy Spirit, this most precious name or title. Helper, he’s called. Sometimes you might remember in the old versions, it said comforter. The Greek word here is the word “paraclete.” It seems like we’ve been talking about it a lot in Bible class last Wednesday in our evening study, we were talking about this word. I know already—paraclete is the Greek word, and it’s a technical term. The paraclete is the one who would come alongside of you in court. So if you were arrested or brought before the judge or the magistrate or ruler or whatever, you’re brought before them, and now you have to argue, you have to stand there to be your defender. And this is tough, but if someone would come alongside and stand there next to you in court and argue on your behalf, they were your paraclete, your advocate, your defense attorney.
Now I think this is one of the most marvelous words in all of the scriptures. It’s used as a title only for two people: here for the Holy Spirit and in first John for our Lord Jesus Christ himself. John says we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous one. The picture is that Jesus, when he ascended into heaven, stood before the throne of God and offered there to God the Father the evidence of his sacrifice, his blood. He brought his blood as evidence for your innocence and for mine, and that evidence is received in the heavenly court, and we are declared to be holy and perfect and righteous in every way, so that we are acquitted, justified. And then Jesus, from that throne, from that court, sends the Holy Spirit down into the courtroom of our own conscience where he preaches there the same thing that Jesus preaches in heaven: that Christ has died, that his death is sufficient, that he has tasted God’s wrath in our place so that we are declared holy, we are declared perfect, we are forgiven of all of our sins.
Now, the Holy Spirit does a lot of other things. The Holy Spirit strengthens us for works of love and service. The Holy Spirit gives us patience to suffer and endure and carry the loads and afflictions of this life. The Holy Spirit teaches us to pray, and even when we don’t know what to pray, the Holy Spirit prays for us with words that cannot be understood. The Holy Spirit teaches us to want and to desire new things. The Holy Spirit changes our idea of what is beautiful and true. The Holy Spirit is always working in our hearts to cause a repugnance with sin and a delight in what is good, but the chief work of the Holy Spirit, as Jesus gives it to us here, is this: He is our advocate, the one who presses through our ears and into our hearts and into our consciences, this final work of Jesus, his death on the cross in our place.
So Jesus, looking on his disciples and looking on us with sympathy, knowing that this life is going to be tough, knowing that to be a Christian makes it even tougher, says, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will send another helper to be with you forever.”
God be praised that in the midst of this tumultuous life, in the midst of these dark days, in the midst of the burden of this life, and the burden of being a Christian in this life, God be praised that we have the Holy Spirit who is our helper and our comforter and our advocate. There’s no more precious gift. Amen.
And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
