Another Helper
John 14:15-17 (ESV)
July 4, 2021
Dr. Ritch Boerckel

15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
What a truth! We believe in God the Father. We believe in God the Son. We believe in God, the Holy Spirit. We believe in these three in one. We believe in the saint’s communion in God’s holy church. Isn’t it sweet to come together? This is sort of a new part in this journey that we’ve been on together as we have established a new schedule for Sunday morning. We’re praying that the Lord allows us to return back even today to what we call “normal.” We pray that normal is supernatural for Christ’s church. We pray that every one of us experiences the presence of God, but also that we are part of a family that is bigger than ourselves, the saint’s communion, and we’re part of encouraging each other. As we love each other and encourage each other, we look around and we recognize every one of us as brothers and sisters who are in Christ, we need each other. We need encouragement.

So as we begin this new sort of Sunday morning schedule, at 9:00 and 10:30, we have worship services. Then at 9:00, we also have a host of children’s ministries, Sunday school classes all the way up through college and young adults. Then also many adult Sunday school classes or ABC’s, we call them. During this service we have children’s church, again believing in the discipleship of children, that children can come to faith in Christ, teaching them the gospel early. What an opportunity we have! Then also, we have an ABC. We hope during this service as well, to offer some more equipping classes in September. Those are all being planned.

I say all that to share sort of an encouragement from myself and the elders. We talked about it last Sunday of considering Sunday 180. So from 9:00 until noon, there are 180 minutes. As we form some new habits related to our participation in the body of Christ here at Bethany, we believe that the Lord would bring great encouragement and joy to your heart, some deep impact through some relationships to be built. We pray that you would be used to strengthen the church of Christ. So we want to encourage you. We recognize that it’s not possible for everyone, but we want to encourage you to consider Sunday 180, of just saying, “I want to invest 180 minutes with my church family every Sunday morning, to either receive the benefit of the teaching of the church, the discipleship and encouragement of the church through being involved in some of the ministries that the church offers to help grow disciples. Or by also, not only receiving the benefit through one of the worship services, but by giving myself to ministries.” There are so many ministries in need; to children and other ways. We have a list of them for you to be involved with. But we believe everyone could use their gifts and really be used to strengthen the church.

One of the issues that has sort of come to the forefront on most of our hearts over the last 16 or 17 months is the preciousness of the church and the preciousness of gathering together. How important people are, brothers and sisters, of seeing one another and relating to one another and going deeper in relationship so that we together would go higher in our relationship with God. But also, sort of the darkness of the world, the hopelessness of the world, the despair of the world, the desperation of the world at having any answers for any of the big things. We know that the church of Jesus Christ is God’s instrument to bring hope, to bring life, to bring change for individuals and even communities. So as the church is strong, the work of God becomes strong. All of us have a part in that. It’s sort of a new restart here for us at Bethany. Consider how God might use you to strengthen His precious church for His glory.

A couple weeks ago I was with my 3 year old grandson eating breakfast at the Original Pancake House. Malakai loves the Original Pancake House. He gets an adult serving of waffles with strawberries and he eats the whole thing. So we were waiting for the waffle to come and he remembered that he left a toy in the car. He thought it would be great to have a toy because the wait is really long. So I asked if he would like me to walk out with him to get the toy. Yes. So we get out to the parking lot and as soon as we get into the parking lot, he reaches up and I grab his hand and we walk. I wasn’t exactly sure where my son had parked the car, so we kind of wandered around the parking lot a little bit and Malakai was directing me. I told him, “Malakai, it’s really great that you reached up to grab my hand. It’s really important for you to grab my hand or your parent’s hand every time you’re in a parking lot. Do you know why?” He nodded his head yes. I said, “Why is that?” He said, “Because I’m just a little guy.” I said, “That’s right. You’re just a little guy. Look at these big cars. They don’t see little guys, do they? They tend to see more big guys, at least, but even I want to be careful because a lot of people aren’t paying attention. So it’s really important that every time you’re in the parking lot, to grab onto a hand of a big guy.”

Today we open up our Bibles to John 14 where we discover that we are all little guys. We need God’s big hand to grab onto us and lead us through life. As little guys, we often encounter dangers that we’re not strong enough to overcome. As little guys, we often experience weaknesses that keep us from doing what we must do. As little guys, we often lose our way and we need help to find our way home. As little guys, we often get hurt and we need someone to patch us up. As little guys, we don’t often even understand what is real and we need someone to teach us what the truth is.

God knows that we are weak and we’re vulnerable and we’re dependent. In love, He sends us a Helper for the very purpose of having someone that we can reach up and He can reach down and He can grab us by the hand and guide us and protect us, encourage us and mend us, empower us and teach us every moment of every day. Just as with Malakai, it’s not enough for him to grab onto the hand of a big guy in the parking lot 75% of the time. It’s really important for a little guy to have a hand on a bigger guy 100% of the time when they’re in the parking lot. It’s really important for us to grab onto the hand of God’s Spirit and to walk with the Spirit every moment of every day. That’s our desperate need. The idea that we’re going to trace through this passage that Jesus teaches in John 14 is that the Father sends the Helper to every follower of Jesus. No one who follows Jesus is without Him.

We remember that this upper room discourse from John 14-17 is taught by Jesus on the night before He is crucified. He takes His disciples into an upper room in Jerusalem and Jesus tells the disciples, “I’m going away and where I am going, you cannot follow.” This message unnerved these disciples. It frightened them. They became super anxious. How would we possibly survive in this world without our Master, without the one who has taught us and led us and been our guide through these past three years?

Jesus encourages them first by telling them that this separation between Him and them is not permanent. He will return someday and He will take them to be with Him in His Father’s house. If you’re in Christ, that’s our future. Jesus will return and He’ll take us to be with Him. We’ll be with Him face to face and we’ll experience and dwell in the Father’s house forever and ever with Christ. What an amazing promise that Jesus will fulfill! As Jesus teaches this, undoubtedly they’re also asking, “That’s great that that’s our future. That’s really comforting. But what about right now? What about two days from now when you’re gone? What then?” That’s where Jesus teaches us in verse 16, this amazing message. He says, “I’m not going to leave you alone. When I go away, I’m going to send another Helper, another just like me. He’s going to be with you.” Jesus is going to teach them that this Helper is going to do more than He has done, even.
16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
If we skip forward to chapter 16, Jesus continues talking about this Spirit of truth, this Helper. He says
John 16:7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.

Right away these disciples had bunches of questions about this Helper. Who is this Helper? Why is it to our advantage that you go and that He comes? What will He do when He comes? These are necessary questions for the disciples to answer as they live out their lives after Jesus dies and ascends into heaven. This morning, if you’re taking notes, we’re going to look at six basic truths about the Holy Spirit that Jesus teaches us through these amazingly simple and yet profound verses. The first truth we discover is

Truth #1: The Father gives us the Spirit

16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper,
Notice Jesus reveals here the nature of the Triune God in this sweet, simple, powerful verse. The Bible is clear that there is only one God. This one God exists in three separate, distinct Persons. They are co-equal, co-divine, co-eternal Persons. Jesus is speaking for instance, of the second person of this Triune God when He says, “I will ask.” He’s speaking of Himself. He is God the Son and He says, “I will ask.” Then Jesus, speaking of the first Person of the Triune God says, “I will ask the Father.” So the Son asks the Father. Then Jesus, speaking of the third Person of this Triune God says, “I will ask the Father and He will give you another Helper.” He’s speaking of the Holy Spirit. How do we know that this “Helper” is the Holy Spirit? Well, let’s keep reading.

17 even the Spirit of truth,

John has already told us in John 3 that the Father loves us so much that He sent His one and only Son so that whosoever believes in Him wouldn’t perish, but would have eternal life. John wants us to know that we have a Father in heaven whose nature is so loving, so generous, that there is no end to His generosity toward His children. In Christ, we have a Father who loves to lavish good gifts upon us. Because we know that’s the character of God, we never fear that our obedience to such a Father would lead to our loss. That’s why verse 15 is sort of connected to this.
15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father,
“The Father, who has been amazingly generous, He sent me first and He is also going to send the Spirit to you, such is His generosity.” Our Father’s commands never keep us from what is good. They never keep us from His best gifts. Our Father’s commands rather, lead us to His very Person and keep us on the path of His very best gifts. I make that a point because we have to connect our knowledge of God to our ability to fight off temptation, because temptation teaches us the exact opposite. It teaches us that God is not good and He’s not that generous. So he has some really great pleasures over here that would really bring joy and really bring life to you, that he is actually prohibiting. So Jesus is saying, “No, no, no. Understand the heart of the Father. The demonstration of the Father’s love is me and what I’m going to do on the cross. But the demonstration of the Father’s love also is His sending of this amazing gift, the gift of the Spirit to you.”
I want you to compare two passages that are given under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God, to help us understand the heart of the Father. The first is in Matthew 7. Jesus is speaking and He is teaching His disciples about prayer. He says this.
Matthew 7:8-11 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven

You might underline these words.

Matthew 7:11 …give good things to those who ask him!

When my kids were growing up, I took great joy in giving them good gifts, gifts that I knew they would enjoy and use. I enjoyed giving them a tennis racquet and watching how they rejoiced in that new tennis racquet and then how they used it in playing on the team. I gave them a new Bible and I rejoiced when they read that new Bible. I gave them help with college tuition and rejoiced when they studied hard. I asked my son, Jackson, who is grown now, what gift he was most glad to receive from me. He recalled a gift that I don’t remember even giving until he mentioned it. He said, “Dad, you gave me a hat and on the hat it said ‘Daddy’s Little Buddy.’ That’s my favorite gift.” Isn’t that great? When I think of all the gifts, more than college tuition, it was the gift of a hat that said, “Daddy’s Little Buddy.” I think it’s because that represented at that time especially to him, how much I cared for him, how much I loved him. I still love giving good gifts to my adult sons. As they have moved into new houses, I’ve enjoyed giving like a set of storage shelves or some outdoor furniture. I enjoy even mowing one of my son’s lawns. I actually enjoy that. It’s just fun to be able to give a gift.

Now, I say all this not to communicate to you that I am amazing, because I’m not. I’m not amazing simply because I love giving my kids good gifts. Any decent dad loves giving good gifts to his children. That’s Jesus’ point. If we who are selfish and we who are sinful know how to give good gifts to our children, how much more does the God of creation, who can give anything and who loves us infinitely and who withholds no good thing, who has demonstrated His love in the most powerful way by not even holding back His own Son, but gave Him up freely so that we might have life, so that we might have forgiveness of sin. How much more does the Father who is in heaven give good things to His children when they ask Him!

One of the motivations that ought to place in our life is the motivation to pray. Do we need power to face temptations in our life? Yes. Let’s pray. We have a Father who loves to give. Do we need an uplift from the discouragements that we’re facing when this world is not a friend? Yes. Let’s ask. Do we need guidance for decisions set before us, a really important decision? We don’t know what the future holds. How could we? We don’t know then exactly what decision to make. Let’s ask the Father. He loves us. Do we need help for a relationship that is broken and that broken relationship crushes us? Let’s ask the Father who loves us. Do we need freedom from the guilt of some past sin, some shameful thing that we just can’t seem to shake? Let’s ask the Father. Do we need power to overcome some temptation that is sort of ruling over us? Let’s ask the Father. Do we need comfort for pain that breaks our heart? Let’s ask. If we who are evil know how to give good gifts to our children, how much more does the Father in heaven love to give good things to us when we ask Him! The point is that the Father’s generosity is unbounded toward His children.

Now we turn to Luke, and it’s on the screen for you. It’s a very similar passage, I believe, teaching us the same context, but with a little different detail. One is not wrong and the other, right. They’re both right. But it’s interesting what Luke includes here as we place these two passages side by side.
Luke 11:10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

Jesus is teaching us to pray, pray, pray. Ask, ask, ask. Seek, seek, seek. Knock, knock, knock.

Luke 11:11-13 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father

This is where you might underline this in your Bibles.

Luke 11:13 …give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Matthew records “give good things to those who ask him.” But Luke says “how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him.” The point is when the Father gives the Holy Spirit to us He gives us the fountainhead of every other gift. All the other good things that the Father would give to us are bound up in His Spirit. When we have the Spirit, every other gift is open to us, is possible to us from the Father. He gives us guidance and power and comfort and cleansing and freedom and blessing and provision all through the Spirit. The center of the Father’s kind provision for us is the gift of His Son and the gift of His Spirit.

If you are a child of God through faith in Jesus, please know this about your Father. He delights to give you the Spirit. The Spirit is not a gift for a few special believers who have learned some mystical prayer formula. “If you have the prayer formula, you’ll have the Spirit. If you don’t have the prayer formula, too bad.” That’s not the Father’s heart. He loves to give the Spirit to every child who has learned a prayer formula? Who has had some prophet lay hands on them? Who has received some extrabiblical revelation? No! What does Jesus say? He loves to give the Spirit to everyone who asks. For everyone who asks for the Son to be Savior, everyone who asks for Jesus to be Lord, included in this good news of salvation is the gift of God’s Spirit. To every single one of us! It’s amazing! The Father gives the Spirit.

Truth #2: The Spirit is like Jesus.

16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,

You might circle that word “another.” It’s really important. In the Greek language there are two words that are translated “another” in the English Bible. The first word is heteros. This word means “another of a different kind.” So for instance in Luke 16:13, Jesus is teaching. He says

Luke 16:13 No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, (heteros) or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. (heteros) You cannot serve God and money.”

So Jesus is placing these two masters side by side and He says, “Here is God. Here is money. You’ll either love the one or hate the other,” the heteros. These two are not of the same kind. They’re completely different from one another. That’s why He uses the word heteros, another of a different kind.

The second Greek word translated “another” is the word allos. The word means “another of the exact same kind.” Not long ago, I purchased a pair of black jeans. To my surprise, I really liked them. I hardly like any jeans that I ever try on. This one just seemed perfect. I wore them on the first day and really liked them, except when I sat down I suddenly noticed that there was a flaw in the fabric. There was a run right here in my knee. I thought I would just forget about it, but every time I looked down at my knee, there was the flaw. Finally, I decided I just have to take these back. I took them back to the store and I said, “I would like another pair of jeans.” They said, “Would you like another size?” No. I would like another pair of jeans. “Would you like a different color?” No. I want another pair of jeans. They said, “Would you like a different brand?” No. I want another pair of jeans. I said “I would like an allos pair of jeans, not a heteros pair of jeans,” and that cleared up everything for them. (Laughter!)

I was asking her for another of the exact same kind, and ultimately, I was able to receive another pair of jeans of the exact same kind, an allos. Jesus here says He will send you an allos Helper; another of the exact same kind as me. First, this means that the Holy Spirit is God of very God even as Jesus is God of very God. He is holy as Jesus is holy. He is eternal, all-powerful, gracious, true and good as Jesus and God the Father are eternal, all-powerful, gracious, true and good. Everything that God is, the Holy Spirit is. What an amazing gift!

Secondly, because Jesus is another of the exact same kind, the Holy Spirit is a Person even as Jesus is a Person. The disciples would not be encouraged by Jesus’ promise if the Holy Spirit were only some inanimate force. What exchange is that? We had a Person who we could talk to and relate to and have Him be with us and now we’re just getting an energy. That wouldn’t be an encouragement. He says, “When the Father sends the Spirit, He’s going to be another of the exact same kind. He’s going to be personal. There is going to be a personal presence that replaces my personal presence.”

Many modern followers of Jesus think of the Holy Spirit more as a Power than as a Person. From a practical standpoint, they consider Him to be like some divine energy source that we can tap into to bring sort of electricity into the house of our souls. The focus does not seek to be directed by Him or to relate to Him, but rather on connecting to Him, to tap into Him so that His power can be used by us. Why is it important for us to speak of the Holy Spirit as a “He” and not an “It”? When our thoughts about the Holy Spirit stray away from His personhood and move toward Him as a power, we become guilty of using Him.
It’s interesting because as I talk about Jesus with other believers, I have never had one person in speaking about Jesus, refer to Jesus as an “It.” Whenever they speak of Jesus, it’s “Him and He.” But often, when I’ve talked to orthodox people, again, people who understand the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, often when I talk to orthodox believers about the Holy Spirit, the pronoun moves to “it.” Why is that? Because somewhere in the back of our mind, we still have this idea of the Holy Spirit as not a Person the same way Jesus is a Person. “Jesus is a Person, but the Holy Spirit, I’m not sure how I would relate to Him as a Person.” Jesus is saying, “I am going to send you another allos Helper who is exactly like me, who is just as personal as I am.”

When we think of Him as a Him and not as an impersonal “it,” we will move away from the question, “How can I get more of His power?” and we’ll begin to move toward the question, “How can I relate more intimately, more deeply to Him? How can I honor Him? How can I listen to Him?” So the Spirit is like Jesus.

Truth #3: The Spirit helps us to follow Jesus.
We need help in this life of discipleship. Jesus has been the helper of these twelve, these eleven now, for three years. He’s leaving and they’re asking, “How can we follow God? How can we worship God? How can we continue this pursuit of a God-like life, being used by God to do the will of God? How can we do that without you?” He says, “I’m going to send you another Helper.” You might just underline the word “helper.”
Because the Holy Spirit is 100% God even as Jesus is 100% God, and because the Holy Spirit is a Person even as Jesus is a Person, the Holy Spirit helps us the same way Jesus helped His disciples. Everything that Jesus did in His ministry to the twelve, the Holy Spirit does for us in helping us. So if we want to ask the question, “How exactly does the Holy Spirit help me? What can I expect?” Well, let’s read the gospels and find out how Jesus helped His disciples. There is a direct correlation to the help of Jesus to His disciples while He was living in His finite, physical body, with the Holy Spirit’s help of us, who is able to dwell in every one of us at the same time in every place. Isn’t that amazing! So think of all that Jesus did to minister and to help the twelve.

Jesus explained to His disciples the true meaning of God’s Word in the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus challenged His disciples to faith, like when He called Peter to get out of the boat and walk on the water. Jesus rebuked them for unbelief, like when they thought they were going to die in the Sea of Galilee. Jesus convicted them of sin through parables like the parable of the Good Samaritan that says we need to love our neighbor and not hate our enemies. Jesus led them from place to place so that they would know where the Father wanted them to go each day. Jesus set them to work, like when He had them take hold of the bread and the fish and pass them out to the 5,000 and be part of the miracle that He was performing. Jesus comforted them in sorrow like in the upper room when He told them, “I’m going away.” Jesus prayed for their weak souls when Satan wanted to sift them like wheat so that they wouldn’t lose faith, so that they would hold on and persevere in the faith. All this Jesus did to help His disciples and so much more.
If we want to know how the Holy Spirit helps us, think of how Jesus helped His disciples. If Jesus gave words of encouragement when the twelve were afraid, the Holy Spirit does that for us. If Jesus gave correction or rebuke to the twelve when they wandered off track, the Holy Spirit does that for us. If Jesus gave guidance to the twelve when they were confused, the Holy Spirit does that for us. If Jesus teaches God’s truth to the twelve when they were ignorant, the Holy Spirit does that for us. If Jesus reassures the twelve of the Father’s love for them, the Holy Spirit does that for us. If Jesus intercedes on behalf of the twelve, the Holy Spirit does that for us.

Do you see why it’s such a great thing that we have the Helper? We need all of these ministries that the Holy Spirit brings into our lives. In fact, if we were to choose between being a follower of Jesus like the twelve when Jesus physically walked the earth, and being a follower of Jesus in the present age when the Holy Spirit indwells us, what would we choose? If we are wise, we’d choose living in the present age. Why? Because this is better. It’s more advantageous that the Holy Spirit dwells in us and is our Helper. If you don’t trust me, again, in John 16:7 Jesus says this.

John 16:7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.

You see, the Holy Spirit’s ministry is not confined to a finite body. The Holy Spirit’s ministry is able to indwell each one of us. Jesus says here in verse 17,
You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
That’s the present ministry that we enjoy now. Every true follower of Jesus immediately receives the Holy Spirit when they believe in Him. What a gift from God!

The name Helper ought to bring such joy to our hearts as we consider who He is and how He ministers to us. This term is a very interesting term. If we read very many translations of the Bible, we’ll recognize that translators throughout time have had a difficult time thinking about the best word that conveys this Greek word paraclete. One translation says He will send you another Comforter. Another translation says He will send another Advocate. Another translation says He will send another Counselor. I think the English Standard Version has it best, here. He will send another Helper. The Greek word is paraclete which literally means “to call alongside of” in order to assist.

Picture a person who is on this lonely road without cell phone or no cell coverage and they have driven into a ditch. There is no one coming to help them. There is not another car in sight. They get out. They put their car in neutral and they know they have to get their car out of the ditch. They get behind and they start trying to push and push. Their face is straining. They’re sweating and the car isn’t budging. Along comes a person with one of these huge Ford trucks with a tow package. He drives up and he sees the person in the ditch and he sees them straining. He sees that the car is moving not even and inch out of that ditch and he just keeps on driving. No, he doesn’t do that. He stops and what does he do? He says, “Hey, can I help?”
Now what does it mean to help in that case? It basically means to do the whole of the work and tow the person out. The person doesn’t just need some minor assistance. He doesn’t need just an extra nudge. He is completely dependent upon what this other person is able to do to help him to get the car out of the ditch. Now, he might still stand behind while the guy tows the car and he might push. So he might still participate in the work, but it’s the guy with the equipment, with the resources and the willingness to use those resources that comes alongside to assist. That’s the picture of the Helper.

When we think of the Holy Spirit, think of our lives being in the ditch. We’re trying to push our souls, push our lives into a positive direction and we’re just not budging. We’re not able to do it. Jesus comes and says, “I’m going to ask the Father to send you another Helper. He’s going to send you a Helper and this Helper is not just going to be with you, He’s going to be in you. He’s going to help you.” Help with what? Help with everything! The Holy Spirit is sent by the Father and by the Son to help us, and help is what we need. Do you ever need help? The answer is I’m just a little guy. I need help every moment of every day for nearly everything. We have a Helper.

Jesus knows that the path ahead for His disciples is not going to be an easy one. They’re going to be tempted to disobey God. They’re going to be tempted to deny God’s Word. They’re going to be persecuted. They’re going to suffer loss as a result of following Christ. They’re going to get discouraged. They’re human. They’re going to get downcast in their souls. They’re going to have friends who abandon them. They’re going to have foes who assail them. Knowing that this is the future for these weak men, Jesus says, “I’m going to ask the Father. You need help and I’m going to ask the Father. I know the Father’s generous heart. He’s going to give you another Helper and this Helper is going to be with you forever.” What a gift!

Truth #4: The Spirit gives us truth to live.

So He’s going to give you another Helper to be with you forever. Then He says

17 even the Spirit of truth,

Jesus gives us two names to describe the Holy Spirit in these sweet, powerful verses. He says the Holy Spirit is the Helper, so think of Him as the Helper. But the Holy Spirit is also the Spirit of truth. Both names teach us about the nature of the Holy Spirit and both teach us about a central ministry of the Spirit in our lives. How does the Holy Spirit act as the Spirit of truth? In this very message from John 14-17 Jesus is going to use the word “truth” in two different ways. Earlier in John 14:6, Jesus is going to declare

John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.

I’m going to send you the Spirit of truth. “That means the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of me. He’s going to magnify me. He’s going to communicate who I am. He’s going to continue to bring you to me. I am the way, the truth, and the life. This Helper is the Spirit of truth.” But then we move forward in John 17. Jesus is praying to the Father in this upper room discourse and He says

John 17:17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.

First, when we see the title “Spirit of truth,” we first know that means the Spirit makes much of Jesus who is the truth. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ Jesus, Philippians 1:19 says. The Spirit makes much of Jesus’ Person. In fact, Jesus is going to make this plain in John 16. He says

John 16:13-14 When the Spirit of truth comes,…He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

So wherever the Spirit is ministering, He is making much of Jesus. He’s making much of Jesus’ perfect, sinless life. He’s making much of Jesus’ death upon the cross, His substitutionary atonement for sin. He’s making much of Jesus’ power to overcome sin and death through His bodily resurrection. He is making much of Jesus’ present ministry of intercession for us. He’s making much of Jesus’ soon return, when Jesus will come in power and glory. Wherever we find the Holy Spirit, we find Jesus Christ magnified. Any experience with the Holy Spirit where Jesus is not magnified is not a true experience of the Spirit.

Can I say that again? So often when we begin talking and believers begin thinking about the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, it’s separated from the Person of Christ. He is the Spirit of truth, which means He is the Spirit of Christ who magnifies Christ. That’s His work. Any experience we have with the Holy Spirit that does not magnify Christ is not a true experience with the Spirit.

Secondly, because “thy word is truth” and the Spirit is the Spirit of truth, we know that the Holy Spirit moved the authors of sacred Scripture to write in such a way that the words that they wrote, the words recorded in sacred Scripture are the Spirit’s words. 2 Peter 1:21 tells us that.

2 Peter 1:21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

That’s how we got our Bible. The Holy Spirit writes a book and He fills it with what? Well, He’s the Spirit of truth. What would we expect for His book to be filled with? Truth! Another word for truth is doctrine. It is truth about God, truth about how God acts and what God has done. Then not only does He write the Book, but the Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit is the one who shines the light upon the Book so that we can understand the spiritual truth in the Book and that we can see God through the Book and we can listen to God’s voice through the Book. The Spirit is necessary for that ministry. The Spirit of truth is necessary for us to understand the Word that the Spirit wrote.

Not only did the Spirit write the Book so we would have truth, the Spirit interpreted and illumined the Word so that we could understand it. But also, the Spirit empowers us so that we can apply it. Both Jesus and the Bible tell us the truth about who God is and what God does and how the Bible commands us to live. All this truth has this wonderful title in Scripture that is simply called doctrine. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth. That’s to say He is the Spirit who creates sound doctrine and applies sound doctrine to our individual lives as well as to the church.

Sometimes I hear the question, “Why does Bethany focus so much on sound doctrine?” This question, I have to tell you, is always a puzzle to me when I hear it. First, because I don’t think we’re focusing on sound doctrine enough. I wish we could focus more. We need to focus more on what God has given us. But also, because sound doctrine is basic to the gospel, and thus, basic to our life in Christ. The question is a little bit like asking a physician, “Why do you focus so much on nutrition?” Or even “Why do you focus so much on these things called vital organs; you know, the heart, the lungs, the liver? That’s curious to me. Every time I come to visit, you want to find out about my heart. Why is that?” Because without a focus on that, we die.

Another way of putting this though in reference to the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, is why do we focus on sound doctrine? The answer is because we want to be filled with God’s Spirit! He’s the Spirit of truth. Without sound doctrine, without truth, we cannot be filled with the Spirit. He is the Spirit of truth. That’s what He does. That’s His ministry in our life. It’s a necessary ministry in our life. Jesus calls the Holy Spirit the Spirit of truth. He does not call Him the Spirit of emotion. He does not call Him the Spirit of mystical experience. He calls Him the Spirit of truth. Tragically, many believers are asking the Holy Spirit to give them mystical experiences or ecstatic emotion instead of asking Him to give them the truth.

Now, I am not against experiences. I’ve had many. I think I’ll have many more. I am not against emotions that are deep when we deal with God Himself. I have them. Sometimes I cry in front of the pulpit. Does that surprise you? I have some emotions. But in mysticism and in emotionalism, which focuses on these experiences and focuses on these emotions, we demand to be the medium through which God’s Spirit’s revelation flows. The Holy Spirit has made it clear that He has written a book that is living and active. It’s a book that is so powerful that it’s able to sanctify us. Jesus says

John 17:17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.

He’s written a book of which He says

2 Timothy 3:16 NKJV All Scripture is given by inspiration of God,

Scripture is inspired by God. It’s born along by God’s Spirit so that the words we read here are the Holy Spirit’s words. We’re not denigrating the Holy Spirit by looking in the Book. In fact, it’s the opposite. If we don’t look in the Book, we’re rejecting the ministry that the Holy Spirit has already done for our sake.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 NKJV All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

To be Spirit-filled is to be truth-filled. Being filled with the Spirit, again, is not a pursuit of applying mystical prayer techniques. Being filled with the Spirit is not a chase after some emotional experience. You’ll never find that in what the Spirit says about Himself or how to relate to God, how to live for God. Being filled with the Spirit is not a buzz that we feel when a church leader lays hands on us. Being filled with the Spirit is a reception by faith of the truth of the Gospel that the Spirit has delivered to us once and for all in such a clear manner, a powerful manner, a living manner. Positively, an interest in doctrinal truth of Scripture is an interest in the Holy Spirit. Negatively, a neglect of doctrinal truth of Scripture is a neglect of the Holy Spirit. Scripture couldn’t be more clear.

Truth #5: The world does not accept the Spirit.
17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him.
Friends, one of the marks of a Spirit-filled church is rejection by the world. Jesus is very clear that the world, those outside of Christ, cannot receive Him. Why? Because the world doesn’t see Him or know Him. The world doesn’t understand Him at all. That’s the issue. We must not be surprised nor moved by the world’s rejection of a Spirit-led church or a Spirit-filled person. We often are such feeble creatures that when their rejection comes to us, we often think, “Well, there must be something wrong against me. Maybe I did something wrong. Maybe we need to change. If the world hates us, maybe we need to change a person or change the church so that the world will love us more.” But Jesus wants His disciples to know that’s not true. You look to the Spirit to discover acceptance and approval of God. The world hates the Spirit. That’s why it hates the Spirit-filled church. Jesus is going to say this.

John 3:19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.

That’s the explanation Jesus gives. It’s interesting because the world accepts every other spirit, other than the Spirit of truth. The world praises the spirit of immorality. It praises the spirit of self-worship, the spirit of gender annihilation, the spirit of envy and jealousy, the spirit of rage, chaos, conflict, the spirit of divorce, the spirit of false gods, the spirit of works salvation, the spirit of compromise with truth, the spirit of killing babies, even, the spirit of drug and alcohol inebriation, the spirit of occultism, the spirit of blame and accusation. The world accepts every other spirit except the Holy Spirit. It can’t accept Him because it doesn’t know Him.

Truth #6: The Spirit dwells in us.
17 …You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
Wherever you go, if you are a believer in Jesus, He is there. Whatever you do, He is with you. He never leaves you and never forsakes us, not even in times we wish He would leave us. He is still there. He is working. He is relating. He never abandons. He never gives us over to the world. He never gives us over to sin. He will accomplish the work that He began in us.

Yesterday we had a funeral for one of our members, Nancy Marshall. What a sweet, dear lady. About a week before she died, I was able to ask her about her testimony again. She said that when she was a little girl, she heard the Gospel and she believed in Jesus. She recognized she sinned against God and she needed to believe in Jesus who died for her to receive eternal life. But then she said pretty early in her adult life some things happened and she turned away from God. She lived a good part of her adult life outside of God. But then she said, “But God didn’t give up on me. God kept pursuing me and God brought me back home.” I don’t know how many years ago, but it’s been years, because she’s been here at our church for eight or nine years. It was many years ago. I don’t know, maybe fifteen years ago God brought her back so that she began to live a life again where she was walking with God and she was serving Him. Her funeral was interesting because a couple people gave testimonies. Do you know what they told the group? They told about how Nancy shared the Gospel with them. One person said, “If you are ever around Nancy, she’s going to tell you that you need to repent and believe. That’s who she is.” That’s why. The Holy Spirit is not just with us, but He is in us and He is in us forever. What a gift!

Do you have the Spirit of God? The first step is just simply to say, “I’m just a little guy. I’m helpless and hopeless left to myself. I need Jesus Christ as my Savior.” If you believe in Jesus, God loves to lavish the gift of His Spirit upon us.