The Coming of the Comforter (John 14:15-17)

We have considered recently two of the three features that Jesus indicated would be the marks of his true disciples. These two features are prayer in the name of Christ and obedience to the commandments of Christ. In this sermon, we will consider the third essential feature of true discipleship, which is the presence of the Holy Spirit. Spurgeon began one of his sermons by saying, ‘The unspeakable gift of the Son of God was followed by the equally priceless gift of the Holy Ghost,’ and that is a good perspective for us to have.

Thinking about the Holy Spirit today is complicated by the influence of the Charismatic Movement on Christian thinking. That movement has stressed certain activities as indicating the presence of the Holy Spirit, such as speaking in tongues, and the excesses connected to it may cause us to ignore the work of the Spirit in our own lives. Of course, this would be a mistake because the New Testament makes clear that we need to experience the workings of the Spirit in our souls.

As we think of the coming of the Spirit, we are not to think that he was not active in the world prior to this time. The Old Testament mentions several of his activities: for example, his involvement in creation, his striving with sinners before the Flood, his speaking through God’s servants, his restoring fallen believers (Psalm 51); and his contribution to the humanity of the Saviour.

Since we are thinking of a divine Person, obviously there is a great amount that can be said about the person and work of the Spirit. Indeed Jesus, throughout John 13-16, will return to various aspects of the Spirit’s work. We will focus on some of his these aspects as we work our way through the remaining material in this section of the Gospel.

Purchased by Christ

The first point for us to notice is that this bestowal of the Spirit is connected to the request of the Saviour. He informs his disciples that he will ask the Father to give the Spirit. This is a reference to the divine arrangement or contract or covenant, made before Jesus came into the world, in which the Father promised to give to Jesus the reward of the Holy Spirit if he completed the work of redemption. So we can say that the coming of the Spirit was, in addition to being the outcome of the promise of the Father, the consequence of the redemptive work of the Son.

These words of Jesus predict or illustrate what will be one his great concerns when he returns to the glory of heaven. When he reaches there, he will remember his disciples still on earth. He will not be like the restored official in Egypt who forgot about Joseph and left him lying in prison. This concern of Christ is not limited to the apostles; instead it embraces each of his people. As we think of the attitude of Jesus towards us, we should remind ourselves that his concern is that we, too, should have the Spirit.

Another detail that can be deduced from the words of Jesus is the contribution of each person in the Trinity towards the salvation of believers. The Father, the Son and the Spirit share in the working out of the plan of salvation. Each fulfils his particular role with desire, delight and determination. We can select any of these specific activities and see this is the case. In order to illustrate their attitudes, we can think briefly of some of these roles.

The Father adopts each of his children with desire, delight and determination. He desires to have them in his family, he rejoices that they are in his family, and he will never exclude them from his family. Similarly, the Father expresses these features of desire, delight and determination in the way that he disciplines his children: he desires that they become Christlike, he rejoices in their developing Christlikeness, and he is determined that each of them will be Christlike.

The Son displays desire, delight and determination in his roles as well. As the Redeemer, he eternally desired to set us free, he delighted in coming to set us at liberty, and he persevered during his work on the cross until the price had been paid. As the prophet of his people, he desires to teach his people, enjoys teaching them, and perseveres in teaching them. We could also explore the way he displays these attitudes as a priest and as a king.

The Spirit also displays the attitudes of desire, delight and determination in all that he does for his people. Think of his work in his people before conversion. Gladly he came to convict us of our sins; how he delighted in the expressions of repentance that arose in our hearts; how he persevered with us until he brought us to the foot of the cross. Or think of his work in sanctification. The Spirit rejoices to work in our sinful lives, reforming our characters into the image of Christ. He desires that we enjoy his blessings, he delights to give them to us, and he will not cease his sanctifying work until we are totally conformed to the likeness of Jesus.

It would be a good spiritual exercise today for us to think of various roles of the divine Persons and meditate on the way each of them shows desire, delight and determination in fulfilling these functions.

Precise substitute

Jesus informs his disciples that the Holy Spirit will minister to them in a manner similar as to how Jesus would if he remained with them. This similarity is seen in the word translated ‘another’ in the description of the Spirit as ‘another Comforter’. In Greek there are two words that are translated by the English word ‘another’. One means ‘another’ in the sense of a different person or thing; the other means ‘another’ in the sense of another of the same kind. Although the New Testament does not always maintain the distinction, the two words are used in Galatians 1:6-7: ‘I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another [different] gospel: which is not another [of the same kind]; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.’ The term that Jesus uses in John 14:16 means another of the same kind.

Privileged possession

Jesus tells his disciples that the world cannot have the Spirit in this new way because it does not see him or know him. Jesus does not mean that they could not see an invisible Being because in that sense his disciples do not see the Spirit either. Instead he means that they cannot sense the Spirit at work. The ancient world had many wise people, for example, philosophers and poets and politicians. In all their discoveries of how the world works and in all their descriptions of reality, they missed out on a basic factor, the presence of the Holy Spirit. The words of Jesus indicate that the basic problem of the world is materialism, the things that can be touched or seen by them.

It is different for the disciples of Jesus because they recognise the presence and activity of the Holy Spirit. They see him in creation, as did the Psalmist in Psalm 104. Reflecting there on the various aspects of the created order, he eventually says in verse 30, ‘When you send forth your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground.’ 

Disciples also see him in the scriptures. The Bible is his composition, therefore when they read it they look for the meaning that the divine Author intended, which is to bring the readers to Jesus. The disciples also see the Spirit in the activities of God’s people because they know that he is working in each of them; his presence gives them hope for all his people, even for those who are backsliding. 

Again, they see the Spirit at work in their own lives. They recognise that it was him who caused them to think of Jesus and they are grateful. As they reflect on their spiritual journey, they learn more and more that they need the Holy Spirit. To lose the Spirit is the biggest disaster they could experience.

Permanent companion

In addition to saying that the Spirit will be given as a result of Christ’s purchase and the Father’s promise, Jesus also says that the Spirit will be given to them permanently. The Spirit will be with them and will be in them. What does he mean by this imagery? It suggests that they will have the Spirit in an external way and in an internal way. Externally, he will be with them and, internally, he will indwell them. These images suggest constant protection and increasing intimacy for us.

In what situations is the Spirit present with us outwardly and inwardly? The answer to this question is his presence in any form of Christian fellowship. For example, as we gather in church today, the Spirit’s presence is both external and internal for each Christian. He is external in the sense that he is present in the lives of other believers and in that he is present in the preaching of his word. He is internal in the sense that he continues to stimulate within us the bond we have with other believers and in applying the word to our hearts. Paul refers to these areas of fellowship in Philippians 2:1 under the phrase ‘fellowship of the Spirit’.

Here is the wonderful reality that every believer has fellowship with the Spirit. This is what we anticipate when we mention the various items of the Benediction. The most common one is found in 2 Corinthians 13:14: ‘The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all.’

Precious title

We know that many titles are given to the Holy Spirit in the Bible as well as many images from the natural world in order to help us appreciate his person and his work. He is the Spirit of God, which indicates his deity; he is the Spirit of Jesus, which points to his mission as the ambassador of Christ. He is likened to fire, which stresses his purity; to a dove, which emphasizes his gentleness; to a fountain, which denotes his ministry of refreshment. Each of these titles and images give us insight, and therefore they are all precious to believers.

Jesus, here, uses another precious and beautiful title for the Holy Spirit when he says that he is the Paraclete. Various words are used by different translations to convey its meaning: comforter, helper, counsellor being some options. The term itself literally means ‘one who comes alongside to help’ and it was used of various individuals in the ancient world. For example, it was used of a person who defended another person in a court of law. We find this idea in the well-known statement of 1 John 2:1: ‘My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.’ The term translated ‘advocate’ is ‘Paraclete’.

Jesus, in these verses, also calls him ‘the Spirit of truth’, which indicates that in his ministry as the Paraclete the Holy Spirit will always tell the truth. One obvious way in which he will function as a counsellor occurs when he convicts us of our sins. What is conviction of sin but the Spirit telling us the truth about ourselves. Yet he is doing this as one giving helpful counsel by pointing out to us our dangerous state by nature. And he convicts us in order to show to us our need of Christ.

Then we can think of how the Spirit uses the truth to defend us as our Advocate. In our inner lives as Christians we can be accused by the devil or by our own conscience concerning our sins. We know that the accusations have a basis and our response can be very weak, even when we remind ourselves of God’s forgiveness. In such a situation we should cry to Jesus to send the Spirit to defend us. When we sin, Jesus is our Advocate in heaven, presenting his representative life and atoning death as the basis of refuting the accusations made against us. Similarly, our Advocate on earth, the Holy Spirit, takes the same means to refute our earthly accusers. He brings comfort to us when we repent of our sins.

The Spirit also helps us by working in our lives according to God’s plans. These plans are the ultimate truths that exist. The Spirit was privy to them and knows them in exact detail. All he does in our lives is according to that standard of truth.

Again, he works in our lives according to the truth contained in the Bible. He brings about the answers promised in the Bible to our prayers. When we pray for spiritual blessings, he brings them to us. When we need guidance, he provides it. There are many ways by which he works according to the truth of the Bible.

It is good for us to have such a Paraclete. We should give thanks to God the Father for promising the Spirit to Jesus, and give thanks to Jesus for procuring the Spirit for us by his work of redemption. And we should thank the Spirit for coming to us gladly and lovingly to fulfil in us the great plans that God has for us.