The Helper 3/21/99
“And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever;” (John 14:16).
“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you” (John 14:26).
Jesus Christ has left you a legacy. He has provided a very special gift, a heritage, for all who commit to Him.
On the eve He was ending His earth walk He shared news of this gift with those who shared this walk for three years. In the upper room He related the nature of the gift. He said:
“I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever” (John 14:16).
His reference was to the coming of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus Christ came to earth to seek and to save. He planted His flag of victory at a place called Calvary. There He won for us a victory. Our future is secure. Because our future is secure we can throw ourselves into the present. Death for the believer is behind us only life eternal is before us. Though the spiritual victory has been won there are still mopping up battles to be fought. To guide us into victory Christ has left us His Commander-in-Chief, the Holy Spirit.
We live in a spirit world. It is strange that there has never been a time when people believed more in the spirit world than today. Nor has there been a time when there has been more Biblical ignorance regarding it. The growing new age movement is based on belief in the spirit world. Satanism is predicated on it. Books on angels are among the most popular sellers. The entertainment fields of TV and movies thrive on it. The world of evil spirits has the most rapidly growing holiday in our era, Halloween. Yet, the church with the greatest heritage of belief in the Spirit world is basically mute on the subject.
There is a Spirit dimension to life. Though unseen it is as real as the physical world we see. Let me illustrate!
Most persons adhere to the long standing belief that there are four dimensions to an object: height, depth, width, and breath. Now physicists are telling us there may actually be as many as 26 physical dimensions to any object.
Along comes Mr. and Mrs. Flat and they see everything in one dimension —- flat. Therefore, they don’t see and consequently don’t believe in what is right above or below them. They don’t believe in height or depth. That doesn’t change the fact there is height and depth. They just miss out on it. Likewise, unfortunately many people are missing out on the spirit aspect of life. Christ said:
“But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me” (John 15:26).
The ministry of the Holy Spirit is to call attention to Christ not to Himself. In that sense our mission is like His. If a person has an experience that leaves him or her talking more about the Holy Spirit or the experience than about Christ it is not of the Holy Spirit.
Such an experience is of the spirit, but it is not the Holy Spirit. “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God” (I John 4:1). There are evil spirits in the spirit world that counterfeit experiences in order to confuse and deceive. If you were going to make a counterfeit $20.00 bill what would you make it look life? You would want it to look as identical to a $20.00 as possible to deceive. Satan causes some persons to be deceived by counterfeit spiritual experiences.
The mission of the Holy Spirit is to glorify Christ, not us, our experience, or Himself, but Christ.
The word translated “Helper” in some translations and “Comforter” in others is PARAKLETOS. It is a compound word one of which means “to cry [for help]” and the other means “to run.” The word pictures the Holy Spirit as one ready to run to help us when we ask for help.
The word was also used in a court of law to denote a legal assistant, the counsel for the defense, and advocate. It is used for one who pleads the case of another.
The reason modern translations use the familiar word “Helper” it the term PARAKLETOS literally means, “one call to assist another, one present to provide beneficial service.”
If you are a Christian you have already received this wonderful gift of the Holy Spirit whether you know it or not.
When Christ’s righteousness is imputed to the believer the Holy Spirit is imparted. Get this —-
It is not our attainment but because of Christ’s atonement that we have the gift of the Holy Spirit.
The fact every believer has the Holy Spirit is contrary to some teaching by some churches, therefore, it must be sustained by Scripture in order to be accepted. Consider:
“Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His” (Romans 8:9).
If you are His, you have received the gift of the Helper.
In dealing with a matter of belief Paul asked persons in Corinth: “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” (Acts 19: 2). When they answered no Paul ascertained they had believed in John not Jesus. The test for them and for us is if you have believed on Christ as Savior you have the Helper.
The Holy Spirt was Christ’s birthday gift to the church. It is His birthday gift to every believer on the day of their new birth.
When we rely on organization we get what organization can do.
When we rely on education we get what education can do.
When we rely on eloquence we get what eloquence can do.
When we rely on the Holy Spirit we get what God can do.
(A.C. Dixon)
Unfortunately, if the Holy Spirit were to die 95% of the churches would go right on like they are. So would most believers.
The issue isn’t how much of the Holy Spirit we have. We have all of Him. The issue is how much of us does the Holy Spirit have.
Dwight L. Moody was the Billy Graham of his day. When as a young man he visited England he heard Henry Varley say, “The world has yet to see what God can do through a man who is fully consecrated to the Holy Spirit.”
Moody reasoned: “He said ‘a man.’ He did not say ‘a great man,’ nor ‘a rich man,’ ‘nor a wise man,’ nor ‘an eloquent man,’ but simply ‘a man.’ I am a man, and it lies within a man himself whether he will or will not make that entire and full consecration. I will try my utmost to be that man.” Moody did and was used of God in a wonderful way.
When Moody was at his height a group of ministers met in Philadelphia to consider inviting him to preach a revival in that city. A number favored the idea and shared what great things God had done through Moody. Finally, one who opposed the idea spoke up and said, “To hear you talk, one would think D.L. Moody has a monopoly on the Holy Spirit.”
A wise minister responded, “We did not intend to create that impression, but I do believe the Holy Spirit has a monopoly on D. L. Moody.”
Every believer is the recipient of the Holy Spirit. Does He have a monopoly on you?
“For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body…” (I Corinthians 12: 13).
In considering this text it is important to note one little word first. It is the word “by.” It is not “of” or “with,” but “by.” Often persons of a certain persuasion will ask if you have been baptized “with” the Holy Spirit or if you have been baptized “by” the Holy Spirit. The Scripture does not use those words. It is the Holy Spirit who does the baptizing into the body of Christ.
“All” refers to every believer. Therefore what is spoken of here is universal among all Christians.
“All” were “baptized into one body.”
The word “baptized into” means identified with.
Matthew 10: 2 speaks of being baptized into Moses referring to those who followed him who became identified with him as a follower.
The “one body” refers to the “body of Christ,” as reference to the community of believers.
There is an obvious fact here. If this act is for all, that is, it is universal, it has to be initial. That is, at the moment of salvation.
To understand this consider all in this room were saved at 10:00 AM one morning. At that moment one segment of the crowd was baptized “by” the Holy Spirit, that is, received the Holy Spirit. Another segment didn’t receive the gift of the Helper until 6:00 PM that same day. That means part of the group was without the Helper for eight hours. The Scripture says “all” have the Helper.
Instant replay: If the act is universal it has to be initial.
The Helper is perpetually with you. He is there in one of three states. You alone determine which. Preferably:
I. YOU ARE FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT
“And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18).
Everybody is full of something. Some are full of football, some of bull. At this time of year some wives are “fed up with” basketball.
When drunk a person is under the influence of alcohol. The expression “filled with the Spirit” means to be under Christ’s controlling influence. The Helper is His advocate Who indwells every believer to advocate Christ’s cause in life.
Three things need to be noted regarding this text:
1. It is a command. It is in the imperative mood meaning do it. Anything short of being filled is sin, it is disobedience to the Word of God.
2. It is continuous action. It is in the perpetual present tense meaning “keep on being filled with the Spirit.” Let your continuous norm be being filled with the Spirit.
3. It is in the passive voice, meaning this is something God does for us but we must let Him.
You can tell if you are Spirit filled by whether you are bearing the “fruit of the Spirit” spoken of:
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law” (Galatians 5:23).
Are these traits characteristic of your life?
Observe the word “fruit” is singular and the result plural. The old English word “fruit” was used to speak of harvest. Therefore, there is one harvest and all of these traits are the crop.
We are commanded to be “filled with the Spirit.” One person responded “I can’t hold much, but I can overflow a lot.”
We are called to be consistent in Christ, constantly being filled. We are not to be spiritual chameleons. A chameleon is a lizard that changes colors depending on the color of the surface on which it is. If on green it turns green. If on brown it turns brown. Supposedly a chameleon crawled on a piece of plaid and exploded trying to conform. Many Christians do the same.
Are you living a Spirit filled life? If not there are only two reasons. One is:
II. YOU ARE GRIEVING THE HOLY SPIRIT
“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30).
“This is not a promise to be claimed. This is a command to be obeyed” Charles Spurgeon.
We grieve the Holy Spirit when He is leading us not to do something and we do it. Remember, He is Christ’s advocate. He is constantly advocating Christ’s cause in our lives. If He advocates us not doing a particular thing and we do it we grieve Him. He does not leave us. He is still in us but not being allowed to fill us, therefore, He is grieved.
Attitudes which we must put away in order not to grieve the Holy Spirit are identified for us.
“Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice” (Ephesians 4:31).
Monitor yourself. If any one of those exist in your life you are not a Spirit filled believer. You are presently grieving the Holy Spirit. You can never be filled, that is controlled by the Holy Spirit, until you get all of these out of your life.
It is He who seals us “for the day of redemption.” That means He keeps us once we are saved. A seal was used by a monarch. When placed on an item that meant the item was
The POSSESSION of the King. Believers are Christ possessed.
It meant it was the PROTECTORATE of the King.
III. YOU ARE QUENCHING THE HOLY SPIRIT
“Do not quench the Spirit” (I Thessalonians 5:19).
We grieve the Holy Spirit when He is leading us not to do a thing and we do it.
We quench the Spirit when He is leading us to do a certain thing and we don’t do it. “To quench” means to “put out, cool down, or subdue.”
In either and both states He does not leave us. He is with us but not in control of us. When He is out of control we are out of control of Christ.
Let’s have a rerun on one phase of this message. If you are not living a spirit filled life you are disobeying the Lord. Isn’t this a wonderful time to begin to obey Him.