The Advocate

In 2003 I distinctly remember the feeling of being completely alone. I had never really felt as alone as I did that fall. My best friend had just moved to Virginia to begin a masters program. I had just broken up with my boyfriend of 2.5 years. And I had just put my family on an airplane bound for Thailand and I was returning home to my apartment to get ready for my morning classes. That’s when I was pulled over. I had always vowed to never cry when I got pulled over, I planned to fess up and own up to my mistake. But as the officer came up to the window I completely broke down. He didn’t know what to do with me so he apologized and let me off with a warning even though I told him I’d be more than willing to take the ticket and pay the fine. I then drove to my apartment feeling foolish and alone.

In the next couple of weeks God began to show me why He had intentionally stripped those people out of my life. I had learned to rely on them more than I relied on Him. I cared more about their approval than I did His. I ran to them when I was happy or sad instead of running to Him. That season taught me so much about the relationships in my life and how to correctly prioritize them, and about where life truly comes from!

While Jesus was teaching His disciples in the Upper Room, He was ultimately preparing them for a time when they would not be able to see His physical body. After three years, they had grown accustom to having Him around. They had grown beautiful friendships with Him. They could sit around a campfire and enjoy conversations with Him every night. They could follow wherever He led with ease because His physical feet were blazing the trail ahead of them. They could be confident in the supernatural work of His ministry because they had witnessed His hands healing people. They didn’t have to fear the Evil One because He had demonstrated authority over Him by casting out demons. While Jesus was physically present, the disciples didn’t have anything to worry about. It was in those moments when Jesus wasn’t physically with them that they realized they were just men and women who sometimes didn’t get it right.

Pastor Frank taught on the Transfiguration a few weeks ago. Peter, James, and John were chosen to go up the mountain with Jesus, and there they saw Him in His full glory! They were amazed at the sight and didn’t quite fully understand its significance. When they came down from the mountain, they found the other disciples in a heated debate with the teachers of the law. A father had brought his demon-possessed son to see Jesus but what he found was a group of Jesus’ followers. Jesus was nowhere to be found. The disciples tried to cast the demon out of the boy but they were unsuccessful. When Jesus came back down to the crowds and found this scene He was quite disheartened. He responds to them by saying in Mark 9:19-29,

“You unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.” So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.

21 Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?”

“From childhood,” he answered. 22 “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”

23 “ ‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.”

24 Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

25 When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the impure spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.”

26 The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.

28 After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”

29 He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer.”

This was a lesson for the disciples and for the father. The father lacked faith while the disciples lacked power. Neither of them were prepared to go up against the powers of hell. In a way Jesus had been their commanding officer in the war against the enemy. They were eager to come up behind Him and fight with Him, but when He stepped aside, they crumbled. And they crumbled because they weren’t fully equipped for the battle.

1. Jesus spent all of His ministry on earth preparing His followers to ultimately usher in a new Kingdom.

The problem was, the King in this new Kingdom was not going to be physically present in the physical form of a man. While Jesus was preparing them for this Kingdom, they were more concerned about how they would survive without Him leading the way.

John 16:1-6 “All this I have told you so that you will not fall away. 2 They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God. 3 They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me. 4 I have told you this, so that when their time comes you will remember that I warned you about them. I did not tell you this from the beginning because I was with you, 5 but now I am going to him who sent me. None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6 Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things.”

The disciples were completely nearsighted in regards to the coming Kingdom. They believed that the Kingdom Jesus was establishing would resemble the kingdoms of the world. Even though they were exposed over and over to the Kingdom of God, they had never seen this type of kingdom framework before. The upside down Kingdom where the King wasn’t physically present on earth, seated on a earthly throne, commanding an earthly army, conquering earthly territory. The idea that Jesus wouldn’t be with them scared them. How in the world were they supposed to do everything Jesus had commanded them to do without Him being present?

Jesus goes on to say, “7 But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.”

How could Jesus say that it was good that He go away? He had had a front row seat to the catastrophe of the demon possessed boy. He had reprimanded His disciples on more than one occasion for not having enough faith. He had spent days upon days, months upon months healing crowds of people while His disciples watched. But He knew something that they didn’t quite fully comprehend.

2. Everything that Jesus did was empowered of the Holy Spirit and He knew that when He ascended into Heaven, the Holy Spirit would be given to all who believed.

People wouldn’t have to travel to see one man because there would be multitudes who would function with the same power, authority and love as Christ had. The Advocate that Jesus is referring to is the Greek word, parakletos, which means “one who appears on another’s behalf.” Other words that are used to describe the Holy Spirit are mediator, intercessor, helper, comforter, and counselor. Each time this Greek word is used, it is used in an active sense. One who is actively involved in a believer’s life.

And the beautiful thing is, it is a gift from God and it is given to anyone who believes in Jesus as their King, their Lord, and their Savior! We can take great comfort in knowing that the Holy Spirit was given to the disciples and those who gathered in the Upper Room while they were still broken, imperfect sinners. Eleven of the disciples who gathered around Jesus in the Upper Room would be recipients of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, the same disciples who fled from the Garden of Gethsemane, the disciple who denied Jesus three times, the disciple who doubted Jesus’ resurrection, and the disciples who went into hiding after the crucifixion. This gives us great hope that we too can be given the gift of the Spirit even though we are imperfect human beings.

Some here may wonder why the gift of the Spirit is so important. Jesus gives us the answer in John 16:8-11.

8 When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 about sin, because people do not believe in me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11 and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

These verses can be a little confusing for us to decipher, so I am going to try my best to help you understand what Jesus is teaching us about the Holy Spirit.

The first job of the Holy Spirit, according to this passage, is to convict people of sin. What a religious word that is! Many feel uncomfortable when it is uttered. Most feel the ramifications of sin but many never feel the conviction of sin. Satan is very good at condemning us of our sin and many times he is successful in keeping us entangled in sin. C.S. Lewis said, “Human history is the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy.” This, in a round about way, is what Jesus is saying. When we lack the faith that He is all we need, and we cease to believe in Him as our ultimate hope, we are living in sin. And that is when the Holy Spirit comes to convict. But how does He convict the world?

Jesus spent a lot of time teaching about the Upside down Kingdom of God and most notably in the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew 5-7 is filled with Kingdom theology! When believers are filled with the Spirit, they will operate in a completely different way from the people of this world. And the only hope we have in living out these Kingdom mandates is if we are filled by the Holy Spirit.

Gregory A Boyd says it this way, In the Sermon on the Mount, “Jesus is giving us a way by which we can keep from being defined by those who act unjustly towards us. When we respond to violence with violence, whether it be physical, verbal or attitudinal, we legitimize the violence of our enemy and sink to his level. When we instead respond unexpectedly- offering our other cheek and going the second mile- we reveal, even as we expose the injustice of his actions, that our nemesis doesn’t have the power to define us by those actions. In a sense we serve our enemy, for manifesting God’s love and exposing evil (the two always go hand in hand) open up the possibility that he will repent and be transformed.”

Choosing to live differently than those who are in this world has the potential to bring about deep conviction when they wrong us, mistreat us, or malign us. That’s the work of the Spirit in us and through us. When we are mistreated, or our reputation is slandered, our first reaction will be to retaliate. That is the way of this world. But many times, the Spirit will give us the wisdom and self-control to keep quiet. Not to defend ourselves, not to tear the other person down. And in doing so, the Spirit is revealing His power in our life as well as heaping coal on our enemy’s head. Keeping us from sinning while proving them wrong by the way we live. Or when the enemy brings chaos into our lives, which is his MO, the Spirit dwelling in us gives us the ability to stay calm, speak peace into the situation, rebuke Satan, and remain focused on Jesus who is our ultimate Prince of Peace. This can unknowingly bring conviction on others’ and remind them to turn to Jesus when they feel panicked.

Just in case we ever feel like we can bring conviction by any other method, let us remember Jesus’ perfect embodiment of those Kingdom mandates. He never forced conviction, He never made people feel condemned, instead He walked in humility and grace, letting the Spirit do the work in Him and through Him.

We choose to do the same, living out of humility, knowing that our righteousness is completely due to Christ’s redemptive work on the cross.

Finally, the Spirit proves the world wrong about judgement because the prince of this world, Satan, now stands condemned! When the Spirit invaded the lives’ of Jesus’ followers the entire battle changed! No longer was it a battle to establish a physical nation, fighting off physical enemies. It was now a Battle between the kingdom of this world and the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus ultimately defeated the prince of this world and established His Kingdom and reign through every person who believes in Him and functions in the power of the Spirit. But we have yet to see the fullness of His reign. So we are still here, living in the kingdom of this world but operating as citizens of Heaven.

The Spirit equips us for this battle, “which is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” We go to battle against evil, while simultaneously humbly serving and loving others into a relationship with Jesus.

I can love and support my friends who are pre-believers, all while praying for them and storming the gates of hell on their behalf. I can love those who persecute me, all while praying for them and rebuking satan’s work in their lives.

The disciples experienced the mighty wind in the Upper Room that filled them with the Spirit. It equipped them to go out and make disciples of all nations, inaugurating the Kingdom of God on earth. Almost all of them were also killed for their faith by the kingdoms of this world because they refused to live by worldly mandates and instead embraced their Kings directives. Directives to be peacemakers, to be meek, to hunger and thirst for righteousness, to be merciful, pure in heart, and to love to the point of death.

3. The Holy Spirit wants to fill us so we can be people who faithfully, humbly, lovingly and powerfully expand His Kingdom here on earth.

Sometimes we may feel alone, but we must always remember that we are NEVER alone, we have the Spirit actively at work in us who will be our constant advocate, comforter, helper, mediator, and intercessor.

In the Old Testament there is a story in Ezekiel about the valley of dry bones. Israel had been conquered by Babylon and were currently exiles living in enemy territory. Ezekiel 37:1-10 says, “The hand of the LORD was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. 3 He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I said, “Sovereign LORD, you alone know.” 4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! 5 This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’ ” 7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’ ” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.”

We may feel like these dry bones today. After being bombarded by all the world is going through right now. Feeling helpless to make a difference in our nation or for the future of our children. We may feel scared for what the future holds and the sense of hopelessness has taken over more than we’d like to admit. If you feel this way I’d like you to stand up. No judgement, no condemnation, no fear of judgement.

God wants to breath His Spirit into us today, in this place, and raise up an army for the Kingdom of God. Our army will be different because we will bring life wherever we go, we will push back evil, and we will continue to love others until we see our King face to face.

Let’s pray.