The Helper

Christianity’s Power

George Smeaton, who wrote one of the foremost books on The Holy Spirit opens his work with a convicting and important thought, “Wherever Christianity has become a living power, the doctrine of the Holy Spirit has uniformly been regarded, equally with the atonement and justification by faith, as the article of a standing or falling church. The distinctive feature of Christianity, as it relates to man’s experience is the work of the Spirit.”

Why is the Holy Spirit so easily neglected today:

Some segments of the Charismatic movement have traded the doctrine of the Spirit for an unbiblical emotionalism and sensationalism. The Holy Spirit does not cause people to roll around on the floor laughing or to speak in obvious gibberish…these false manifestations have led to a hesitancy to speak often of the Spirit.

Our culture has been weaned on materialsm, the philosophy that matter is all that exists, there is no supernatural realm. When the culture talks about the supernatural its normally refers to ghosts or evil spirits.

Empiricism - it is much easier to focus on what is right in front of us that we have to deal with in the world we see and experience with our eyes.

vs 4-7 - Jesus hints at the disciples’ focus on the hear and now…sorrow has filled their hearts rather than comfort. This is because they did not inquire into the supernatural aspect of what Christ has been speaking. They have not asked, “Where are you going?” In the sense of being truly interested in significance of the death, resurrection and future session of Jesus.

We must understand the importance of the supernatural elements of Christianity:

We worship a transcendent God who created all things - transcendent means that God is not a part of the natural order he created. He by definition is supernatural.

In Jesus, God took on human flesh. God entered into his created order and took on humanity. He diid not subtract any of his deity to take upon himself a human nature. This is why we relate to Jesus as a man…he become one of us, a perfect one of us…but in relating to Jesus we must not forget that God is a supernatural tri-unity - Father, Son, and Spirit.

The Father sent the Son, the Son accomplished the work of redemption, the Son sends the Holy Spirit, the Helper to his people - the supernatural holy spirit, fully God, is essential to Christianity - Christ died and rose again to accomplish redemption - but there would be no salvation if the Spirit did not work in you supernaturally.

vs 7 - Jesus tells them that they will have an advantage when he leaves - because he is going to send the Helper to them.

How is the Holy Spirit, the Helper to our advantage?

It doesn’ seem like an advantage - the God-Man we relate with easily is leaving and now we relate to a Spirit…but Jesus says it is a great advantage.

Jesus came to fulfill all of the Old Covenant promises and by his blood he ratified the New Covenant. Jesus was God who came to tabernacle among his people - John 1:14 “14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

The divine presence of Jesus was manifest to all regionally, but experienced especially by his followers. The disciples were obviously fixated on the human presence of Jesus with them ,but Jesus presses the importance of the divine being present among God’s people. He says that when he goes to the Father, he will send the Helper. The Helper can only be sent when Jesus accomplishes his mission and returns to the father. But God’s people will never be left without his presence again.

Ephesians 2:17–22 (ESV)

17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

3. In the beginning the Garden was the theater of God’s presence among his people, then the tabernacle, and then the temple, and then God’s presence departs until Christ returns and is the true presence of God among his people....after his redeeming work is complete - all of his followers, the company of the redeemed become a holy temple indwelt by Holy Spirit.

The Helping Ministry of the Holy Spirit

Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as the Helper

The ideas of a helper can refer to many various degrees of help

- there is the little helper in the car...stop, green, sss, watch it, turn - unnecessary help

- the helper that is like an assistant who does delegated tasks, real, necessary help, but menial

- then there is help that means, if you don’t get help you are going to die, or your task is not going to be accomplished.

If I need to anything handy at the house the requires any skill whatsoever, I need a helper, meaning someone to do it for me.

If you are trapped your house with the house on fire, you need a helper, you are not getting out on your own....you need help.

If recently watched a movie called the Covenant about the use of Afghani Interpreters in the war against the Taliban...we literally get nothing done without those men - helpers.

This is why Jesus says - it is to your advantage that I go away - Jesus was sent by the Father to fulfill a particular mission, and now the Holy Spirit is necessary to apply the work of Christ to those the Father has given him out of the world. The Spirit is the kind of helper that is of absolute necessity - there is no way that disciples of Jesus fulfill the great commission without the ministry of the HELPER - The Holy Spirit.

Applicaton - everything we do for Christ in this world - the ministry of the Helper is of absolute necessity

You are never alone, you are never without divine power, you never speak the gospel without the power of the Holy Spirit at work - prayer is our acknowledgment of the necessity of this power.

In prayer - God is not the butler we call to serve us, in prayer the Spirit is the power that is of absolute necessity to accomplish anything spiritual.

Acts 1:8 “8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Romans 8:13 “13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”

Gal 5:16 “16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”

Eph 5:18 “18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,”

Gal 5:22-23 “22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

The Spirit’s Application of the Work of Christ to Sinners (8-11)

Jesus outlines the absolute necessity of the Spirit’s help for his disciples - those with him then and all of his disciples presently. We need to understand the futility of the Great Commission without the ministry of the Spirit.

The Holy Spirit Convicts the World of Sin

In the proclamation of the gospel the Holy Spirit convinces sinners of their unbelief.

Hebrews 3:12 “12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.”

You may be thinking of someone that needs Christ and they are involved in some heavy patterns of sin…you need to know that only the Holy Spirit can cause them to see their sin for what it is and to hate it enough to turn away from it and to Christ.

He keeps us believing!

The Holy Spirit Convinces the World of the Righteousness of Christ

A sinner must be brought to the end of himself. He must come to realize there is nothing good in him and he needs the righteousness of another. The Spirit bears witness with the sinners inability and reveals to them that the only obedience God accepts in the perfect obedience of Christ.

Saving faith is a reliance on the blood of Christ to wash away your sins and the obedience of Christ so that you can stand in the presence of a holy God both cleansed of sin and clothed in righteousness.

‘Keeps us striving

The Holy Spirit Convinces the World that Jesus is King.

Every single human being on this earth worships either satan as lord or Jesus as Lord.

They may not say satan is the Lord - but if you are not a christian you are a satanists, plain and simple.

People like to think they are nothing at all - they like to think they are irreligious, tolerant, unaffiliated, they call it atheism, or agnosticism, or paganism, or humanism - I dont care what ism someone embraces…if its not Christ, it is of the world and if it is of this old fallen planet it is Satanism.

People like to think they are religious - some are hindu, or buddahist, or muslim, or Jews, or liberal christians who reject the jesus of the bible - well you can be whatever you want to be, but if you reject christ as your risen king - you belong to Satan and his kingdom… it is a losing kingdom, a kingdom in decline, and kingdom on the run, because the ruler of this world has already been judged, defanged, and dethroned - his has no real power, real authority, or real territory - he is prowling around on borrowed time…but if the Spirit doesn’t convince you of this and that Jesus is LORD - then you will remain with Satan.

Romans 10:8-10 “8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”

But you can’t see the kingdom of Jesus without the work of the Holy Spirit - John 3:3-8 “3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.””

keeps us trusting and treasuring Christ’s sovereign rule

DA Carson writes, This convicting work of the Paraclete is therefore gracious: it is designed to bring men and women of the world to recognize their need, and so turn to Jesus, and thus stop being ‘the world’.

Consider the Purpose of Our Helper

I want us to consider something so very important…this gets so lost in our age. Jesus saves us to send us....Jesus saved you to send you. He sends us into the world, to rescue people out of the world, to call out his sheep out of the world…but he sends us with supernatural power.

Jesus is telling his disciples - I am going away so that I will send the Spirit to you…the presence of God will dwell with you as you fill the earth with his glory by making disciples…and this is impossible without the Spirit.

This is God’s grace - he makes his redeemed people vessels of the Spirits presence and power!

When you think about the mission God has given you - don’t think of it as a legal mission in which participation earns you merit- NO think of it as a gracious assignment - Christ died to make me his own and to give me his Spirit to accomplish his work in the world - By God’s grace, I experience the power of the Holy Spirit at work through me…I am enabled to rise above the natural order and experience the greatest miracle - the Spirits converting work!