(This sermon page was last updated on the 29th May 2009) MEDITATION TEXT “I will ask the Father and He will give you another Counsellor to be with you for ever, the spirit of Truth” John Newton, the converted slave trader once said, that there were some books which he could not read;—they were good and sound enough; but, said he, "they are books of halfpence;—you have to take so much in quantity before you have any value; there are other books of silver, and others of gold; but I have one book that is a book of bank notes; and every leaf is a bank-note of immense value." This one verse from John 14:15 is a great bank note, in fact a wad of bank notes. This text, “I will ask the Father and He will give you another Counsellor to be with you for ever, the spirit of Truth” Jesus said if I do not go to the Father, the Spirit can not come. The Holy Spirit is a Person, a person in His own right, not simply another name for the Father and Son. Yet He comes in Christ’s Name with Christ’s authority. He comes from the Father and the Son. Yet He is not the Father and Son. But he is more than another partner in the firm. He has the Family identity, because He is one of the intimate members of the Family. Another name for Counsellor is Comforter. But the word comfort has lost its meaning over the years. The word is to strengthen. In the Bayeux Tapestry there is a section which depicts William the Conqueror’s soldiers landing on the beach at Hastings and a Bishop is prodding them in the back with a spear to push them further up the beach .to fight. The caption reads “Bishop Odo comforteth the soldiers”. We would think in the same situation this would be far from comforting but we might find it strengthening! He is an Advocate. What he hears the Father saying He speaks as does Jesus. His purpose is to point the way to Christ, “The Way the truth and the life” His purpose is to glorify Jesus. No one can say truly that “Jesus is Lord” without the help of the Holy Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12: 3) But His main purpose is to bring the word of God alive in our hearts and minds, reminding us of the things that Jesus has said to us. The Holy Spirit is a foretaste, a “seal”, a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession. (Ephesians 1: 14.) We walk and live in the Spirit. He is the abundant life promised by Jesus. 
© CJG 2002
|
click here