OUR INDWELLING HELPER

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on June 7, 2020 under 2020 |

Bethany Bible Church Sunday Message; June 7, 2020 from John 14:12-18

Theme: We should grow in our reliance upon the indwelling Holy Spirit as our Helper in the Christian life.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

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(Note)

At the beginning of the year, I presented what I called ‘Seven Resolves for Personal Revival’. It was a time for making resolutions; and these were personal resolves that I suggested for the coming year. They are key resolves concerning our own spiritual life; and they help to prepare us in our own personal prayers for ‘revival’ in our time. They were:

1. TO GROW IN MY RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS CHRIST.

2. TO GROW IN MY REPENTANCE FROM SIN.

3. TO GROW IN MY RELIANCE UPON THE HOLY SPIRIT.

4. TO GROW IN THE DAILY READING OF THE BIBLE.

5. TO GROW IN MY REGULAR ATTENDANCE AT CHURCH.

6. TO GROW IN THE RESTORATION OF RELATIONSHIPS.

7. TO GROW IN MY READINESS TO SHARE OUR FAITH.

I had promised that we would keep reviewing these throughout the year—taking the time to devote a Sunday morning to each one. And this morning, we’ll look at the third of these resolves—that is, to grow in our personal reliance upon the Holy Spirit.

And in considering this resolve, there isn’t a better place for us to go than to our Lord’s own words about the Holy Spirit as they are preserved for us from His upper-room discourse in the Gospel of John.

* * * * * * * * * *

It was during the final hours that our Lord had spent with his disciples before He went to the cross. They had spent the past three-and-a-half years with Him. They had given up everything to follow Him. He had become everything to them. He was their Lord—their Master—their Teacher—their Provider—their Counselor—their Savior—their Example—their dearest Friend. They had seen His miracles with their own eyes; and had heard His words of grace with their own ears. They had grown to recognize Him for who He truly is: the Son of God in human flesh—the promised Messiah. They knew that He was destined to reign as King of the Jews. They had grown to love Him with all their hearts. It’s true, of course, that they followed Him imperfectly—just as any of us would. But they had nevertheless followed Him; and as they did so, they had become utterly dependent upon Him.

And now, He was announcing to them—at the Passover meal—that He was leaving them. It’s hard to imagine how distressed they must have been.

But it was in the context of this distressing announcement that He gave them some words of encouragement. He told them that in His Father’s house were many mansions; and that He was going to prepare a place for them. He said that He would come again and receive them to Himself; so that where He would be, there they would be also. He told them that He was ‘the way, the truth and the life’; and that no one comes to the Father except through Him. He told them that he who has seen Him has seen the Father—and that if they know Him they also know the Father. What precious truths these are! We cling to them even today.

And it was in the context of passing these precious truths on to His disciples that He told them something very remarkable. In John 14:12-14, He said;

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it” (John 14:12-14).

The Lord Jesus may have been leaving them for a time. But He was not leaving them without an astonishing prospect for their future on earth. As His followers, they would go on to do the works that He had done—even greater works, in fact, than He Himself had done. And this was made possible by the fact that He was going away.

I wonder, when they heard Him say this, which of His many ‘works’ they would have thought about. Would they have wondered if they would be able to heal sick people as He had done? Would they cast out demons? Would they raise the dead? Those were, indeed, very great works. Would our Lord’s followers now do even greater works than those because He was leaving? As we read on in the book of Acts, we find that the apostles, in fact, went on to do many such works—many times over.

But I wonder if they would have also thought about the work that they had just seen Him do during the dinner. They saw Him rise up from the table, lay aside His garments, wrap Himself with a towel, and wash their feet. He rendered a humble act of service to them. For the Son of God to humble Himself as a servant like that was truly a great work. Did He mean that they would do even greater than that?—that they would perform even greater acts of humble service to one another than He had just done for them? And if we look at the history of His church, we see that—indeed—His followers have served each other in even greater ways than this.

I wonder too if another clue to what these ‘greater works’ might mean would be to look ahead to what the Bible tells us happened after the Lord Jesus ascended to the Father. The disciples preached to the people of Jerusalem in new power; and 3,000 people heard and believed on Jesus in just one day. Then, a few days later, Peter preached again at the temple; and another 2,000 heard and believed. In just a few days, the number of Jesus’ followers went from just a handful to several thousand. The tiny handful of Jesus’ followers in Jerusalem became a very large church in just a matter of a few days. And the number of His followers has been growing around the world ever since.

The winning of a soul to salvation in Jesus is truly a great work—even greater than healing, or casting out demons, or calming the sea. It’s a marvelous miracle that someone can be ‘born again’—brought from spiritual death to eternal life—by faith in our Savior. And because Jesus has gone back to the Father, that great work has been multiplying constantly over the past two-thousand years. Truly, because He went back to the Father, His followers have been involved in the great work of saving souls—and in an even greater way than when He walked this earth!

Think, too, of what He said about the power of our prayers. He told His disciples that He would do whatever they asked in His name. While He walked on earth with them, He didn’t do everything that they asked Him to do. As He sometimes had to tell them, their requests were wrongly-motivated and fleshly-focused. They sometimes asked Him to do things that He could not do for them. But now, He tells them that—because He was going back to the Father—they could ask anything in His name and He would do it. It would result in His Father being glorified.

To ask in Jesus’ ‘name’ does not mean that they could just add the phrase “in Jesus’ name” at the end of a prayer—as if it were a magic formula that guaranteed the answer that they wanted. Rather, it means to ask under His authority; and to ask what it is that He Himself would want to be done. Everything that Jesus did was to glorify His Father; and to ask in His name means to ask whatever would be in accord with His will to glorify the Father. And He was telling His disciples that if He left them, and went back to the Father, it would result in their being able to ask ‘in His name’ for that which would glorify the Father—and that He Himself would do what they then asked.

Now; how can all of this be? How can it be that if Jesus went back to the Father, it would result in our being able to do the works that He did—and even greater than He did? None of those things would be possible by His apostles—or by us—through strictly human power and resources. So how could it happen? No doubt, the disciples at dinner that night were asking the same thing.

Later on—in John 16:5-7—He said;

“But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. 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 depart, I will send Him to you” (John 16:6-7).

And so, it would be by the coming of the “Helper”—whom He would send to them—that they would be able to do all these greater works. And that’s when we come to a wonderful promise that Jesus left for us. Jesus went on to tell His disciples—and also us—these words in John 14:15-18;

“If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you” (vv. 15-18).

It would be by the power of the Holy Spirit that Jesus’ followers would be enabled to live so powerfully for Him. It truly is, then, to the advantage of all His followers that He has gone back to the Father and has sent the Holy Spirit to us.

Now; this promise is already kept. Jesus has already ascended to the Father. He has already asked. And the Holy Spirit has already been sent. The Holy Spirit came at Pentecost—as it is described for us in Acts 2; and His coming on that day gave birth to the church. He now abides in all those around the world who believe on the Lord Jesus. He is our ever-present; all-powerful, indwelling Helper while we live for Jesus on earth. It is by Him that we are made able to do the works on this earth than our Lord did—and even greater works than He did. It is by the Holy Spirit’s help that we are able to pray in Jesus’ name to the glory of the Father—and have our every prayer answered by Him. It is by this same indwelling Helper, dear brothers and sisters, that we are enabled to serve and minister to one another; so that we build one another up in the Lord Jesus, and are made able to pray together in His name, and are made His powerful witnesses on this earth for the salvation of others.

What a wonderful grace God the Father has shown us. He has heard the request of His Son, and has given us the Holy Spirit to minister to us while we wait for our precious Lord’s return. And this morning, I’m simply wanting to remind you that this promise has been fulfilled; and to encourage that—as a part of our personal resolve for revival—we should grow in our reliance upon the indwelling Holy Spirit as our Helper in the Christian life.

* * * * * * * * * *

You know; we very often frustrate ourselves in the household of faith. We think that we have to build up God’s kingdom, or fulfill the ministry of our church, in the power of our own resources. And the truth of the matter is that we never can. The Christian life is a supernatural life; and it was never meant to be lived apart from the help the Lord provides to us. We will never accomplish anything good if we try. Just a little while later, in John 15:1-5, the Lord Jesus told His disciples;

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:1-5).

We cannot live the life Jesus wants us to live—and we cannot do the work He calls us to do—in our own power and through our own human resources. We absolutely must remain connected to Jesus Christ. We absolutely must have our roots go down deep into Him, and continually draw our life and strength from Him, and let Him bear His fruit in and through us.

But how can we do that if He is gone from us? How can we abide in Him if He is at the right hand of the Father in heaven? The answer is that He has sent His Holy Spirit to be our indwelling Helper in His place.

Look at what Jesus tells us in verse 16. He says;

“I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper …”

In the original language, the specific word for ‘another’ that Jesus uses is one that means ‘another of the same exact kind’. When He promised that the Holy Spirit would be our Helper, He meant that the Spirit would be the same kind of help to us that Jesus Himself was to His disciples when He walked on earth with them. The remarkable thing, though, is that the Holy Spirit would be even more of a help to us. This is because the Lord Jesus was in a body, and could only be at one place at one time. But the Holy Spirit is able to abide completely in each of Jesus’ followers, all the time, all around the world.

Think of what Jesus was to His followers. Was He their teacher? He absolutely was. He was the greatest teacher that ever walked on the earth. And so long as He was with them, He taught His followers the great and glorious truths of the kingdom of God. Well; Jesus announced that He was leaving them; but He went on, in verses 25-26, to tell them;

“These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. 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 14:25-26).

Did Jesus bear witness of Himself? Yes, He did. And He even sent His disciples out to bear witness of Him in the world. They could be confident in their witness of Him, because He also bore witness of Himself. Well; Jesus was just about to leave them; and He told them in John 15:26-27;

“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. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning” (John 15:26-27).

Did Jesus bring conviction upon this world? He certainly did. He proclaimed the righteousness of God; and He called those who were prideful and arrogant in their sin to repentance. He also sent His disciples out, on His behalf, to tell people that they should repent. How can we open the eyes of hard-hearted sinners to their need for salvation and call them to repent today? Well; before He left, Jesus told His disciples that He would send the Holy Spirit in His place; saying in John 16:8-10,

“And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged” (John 16:8-10).

Did Jesus serve as the counselor and guide to His followers? Yes, He did. He taught them great spiritual truths; and showed them how to walk in the paths of practical living that please the Father. And before He left them, He said in John 16:12-13;

“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come” (John 16:12-13).

When Jesus walked on earth with His disciples, did He reveal His heart and His life and His glory to them? Yes, He did. He did not treat them as mere servants. He treated them as His dear friends and showed them everything. And now that He was leaving, He promised to send His Holy Spirit; and in John 16:14-15, He said,

“He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you”

As He walked on this earth, Jesus was everything to His followers. And this wonderful promise that He made to us—a promise that has been fulfilled—means that the Holy Spirit is ‘another Helper’ exactly like Himself. He has been sent by Jesus to minister to us in Jesus’ place. And He does so in every way that Jesus did—only, as Jesus Himself said, to an even greater degree in us!

* * * * * * * * * *

Now, it might have been that the disciples would have heard all this, and said to themselves, “That’s wonderful that a Helper would come. But I don’t know this Helper that Jesus promises. I love Jesus. I know Him. I want to be with Jesus.” It might be that some of us would even think that way, too. But we should never feel that the coming of the Helper means we will—in any way—miss out in full fellowship with Jesus Himself. One of the most wonderful aspects of the ministry of this divine Helper is that, through His presence in us, we have actual, real fellowship with Jesus.

Jesus sits bodily, right now, at the right hand of God the Father in glory. But in a mysterious and marvelous way, the Holy Spirit—whom Jesus sent to us in His place—actually ministers and mediates the very presence of Jesus to us. In John 14:16-17, Jesus promised that He would ask the Father, and the Father would give us this divine Helper …

that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you (vv. 16a-17).

Now; how could it be true that the disciples of Jesus could “know” the Holy Spirit, when He had not been sent to them yet? It was because they knew Jesus! The Holy Spirit so perfectly ministers the presence of Jesus to Jesus’ followers that by knowing Jesus, they would already be well-familiar with the Holy Spirit. In fact, Jesus could say that the Holy Spirit dwelt “with” them—but would soon be “in” them. Their familiarity with Jesus, while He walked on earth, was focused upon His presence and ministry and fellowship outside themselves. But now that Jesus has ascended to the Father, and the Holy Spirit has come in His place, the focus of Jesus’ presence and ministry and fellowship with us is now inside ourselves through the ministry of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

That’s what Jesus meant by those words that he spoke in John 14:18. He told His disciples,

“I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you” (v. 18).

This means much more than the fact that He would one day come back to earth. It also means that, until that time—for as long as He is waiting at the right hand of the Father for that day—He is with truly present us through the Person of the Holy Spirit. That is why at the end of the Great Commission—even though He was ascending again to the Father—He could say,

“and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).

* * * * * * * * * *

Dear brothers and sisters; this is a promise from the Lord Jesus that has already been fulfilled. Our Helper has come. He came two thousand years ago at Pentecost. What a difference His presence makes in the power we now have to live the lives that our Lord wants us to live! What a difference it makes in how we minister to one another! What a difference it makes in how we bear a witness for Jesus in this world!

And what should we do about it? I close with an invitation from the apostle Paul. He told us;

And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit …” (Ephesians 5:18).

It is a command to be obeyed; because the Holy Spirit has already come. We simply—in obedience to our Lord—yield ourselves, in an ongoing way, to His prevailing influence in our lives.

He is the Helper sent by Jesus. Let’s resolve, then, to grow in our reliance upon Him. Let’s never try to live the Christian life together without His all-sufficient help.

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^Note: This is the adaptation of a message preached at Bethany Bible Church on August 11, 2019.

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