Intro. Jesus basically has been telling His disciples that it is going to be rough. You are to take the gospel into all the world, but the world is going to hate you, persecute you, and for the most part not receive your words. The servant is not greater than his Lord.
I. THE PROMISED HELP. "BUT WHEN THE COMFORTER IS COME."
A. The Greek word parakletus, which literally means one who comes alongside to help.
1. You do not have to go it alone, I am sending someone alongside of you to help you.
2. We could never make it apart from the help of the Holy Spirit.
B. This is the third mention of the Comforter in this discourse with His disciples.
1. In 14:16, He said that He would pray the Father and He would give them another Comforter, to abide with them forever.
2. In 14:26, He said, "But the Comforter which is the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance that I have said to you."
3. Here the Comforter is mentioned in the context of sharing the truth of Jesus with a hostile world.
4. In 16:8, it is said that when He comes He will reprove the world of sin, righteousness, and of judgment.
5. In 16:13, He is said to be the guide into all truth.
a. Of things to come.
b. He will glorify Jesus.
II. THE ONE SENDING THE HELP. "WHOM I WILL SEND TO YOU FROM THE FATHER."
A. "And I will pray the Father and He shall give to you another Comforter."
1. But the Comforter which is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name.
2. Here He said that He would send Him.
3. Again in 16:7, He said that He would send the Holy Spirit. If I depart, I will send Him unto you.
B. This as might be expected has created a division in the church. The Roman Catholic church and the Eastern Orthodox church is divided over this issue.
1. Did the Father send the Holy Spirit, or did Jesus?
2. What difference does it make?
3. To me it only further demonstrates the unity of the Godhead.
C. He is called here the Spirit of truth.
1. Three times in this discourse He is referred to as the Spirit of truth.
a. 14:17.
b. 16:13.
c. In I John he speaks of the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
d. It is recognized by the teaching concerning the divinity of Jesus.
2. He is said to proceed from the Father.
D. When Peter was explaining to the wondering crowd on the day of Pentecost just what was happening, he said, that God had raised Jesus from the dead and therefore being exhalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has shed forth this which you now see.
1. So that the Holy Spirit has come to us from the Father through the Son.
E. Jesus said, "He will testify of Me."
1. When He reproves the world of sin, it is the sin of not believing on Jesus.
2. When He testifies of righteousness, it is pointing to the righteousness of Jesus that is the necessary requirement to entering the kingdom of heaven.
3. His testimony of judgment is that the prince of this world has been judged by Jesus at the cross.
4. When we are told to test the spirits to see if they are from God, we are told that every Spirit that testifies that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God.
5. The Holy Spirit is not here to exhalt Himself, or to testify of Himself, but of Jesus.
6. I imagine that when He sees these big banners or advertisements of a Holy Ghost Revival, that He must feel that He has failed in His task to point men to Jesus.
III. THE RESULT OF THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. "AND YOU ALSO SHALL BEAR WITNESS OF ME, FOR YOU HAVE BEEN WITH ME FROM THE BEGINNING."
A. When Peter spoke of the necessity of appointing someone to take the place of Judas, one of the requirements was that they needed someone who had been with them from the beginning.
1. This must be the reason that Peter made this requirement.
B. When Jesus promised that the gift of the Holy Spirit to be given to the disciples, He said, "But you will receive power after the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto Me."
1. One of the main purposes of the Holy Spirit is to give us power to be effective witnesses of Jesus Christ to this doubting world that hates Him and hates you because you are bearing witness of Him.
2. We see the fulfillment of this in the book of Acts.
3. On the day of Pentecost when Peter addressed that vast throng of people, He courageously witnessed to them about Jesus Christ.
4. After the miracle of the healing of the lame man, when they were arrested and began to experience the hatred and persecution for their witness of Jesus Christ, they realized the need of more power, so they prayed that God would give the boldness to speak His word.
5. When they were through praying the place was shaken, and received sort of a recharge of their batteries, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.
Verse-Reference
Square — [Jhn 1:1 KJV]
Abbreviate Books
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