comforter

Our Indwelling Intercessor

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26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. – Romans 8:26-27 ESV

In the preceding verses, Paul encouraged us to wait eagerly, hopefully, and yet patiently for the final stage of our adoption as sons and daughters of God and for the redemption of our bodies. There is a day coming when we will be freed from these bodies of death, as Paul called them (Romans 7:24). We will be given new bodies and the long-awaited opportunity to live in perfect, unbroken fellowship with God, fully enjoying our position as His children and all the benefits that come with being heirs of His Kingdom.

In the meantime, we must continue to deal with the ongoing presence of our sinful natures and struggle against the persistent attacks of Satan and the temptations of this present world. In verse 17, Paul told us, “we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.” Our glorification is coming, but in the meantime, we sometimes suffer as a result of our faith in Christ and our restored relationship with God. And as we suffer as God’s children, we naturally call out to Him as our Father. We find ourselves, at times, too weak to handle all that is happening to us and around us in this world. We are constantly experiencing and witnessing the effects of sin. So, in our weakness, we cry out for help.

But there are times when we don’t know what to pray. Our circumstances leave us uncertain as to what we even need from God. And occasionally, when we do pray, the answer to our request never seems to materialize.

In our present condition, our needs are constant, but Paul assures us that the help of the Holy Spirit is constant as well. He helps us in our weakness. As we patiently, eagerly, and hopefully wait for our final adoption and redemption, He comes alongside and assists us during this time of suffering. Paul says we “groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies” (Romans 8:23 ESV). In Greek, the word “groan” means to sigh or pray inaudibly. As we attempt to live holy lives in this increasingly unholy world, we find ourselves struggling with our own sin and the constant emotional bombardment from witnessing sin’s damaging influence all around us.

So we pray; we call out, and when we do, we typically ask God to remove the cause of our struggles. We beg Him to remove sickness from our loved ones. We ask Him to provide us with resources when our bank account is low or our pantry is bare. We plead with Him to remove our pain and restore our strength when we are weak. And when He doesn’t seem to answer those prayers, we can become defeated, confused, and, at times, even bitter and disillusioned.

But Paul reminds us that we have an advocate, a helper who assists us in our times of weakness. When we don’t know what to pray, how to pray, or how to get what we pray for, the Holy Spirit intercedes on our behalf.

…we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. – Romans 8:26 NLT

The truth is, we don’t know what we need. Paul claims that we don’t know what to pray for. Like little children, we tend to ask for the obvious. Driven by our fallen human natures, we ask for what we want, instead of what we really need. If we have pain, we want it removed. If we experience sickness, we can think of nothing better than having it healed. Paul provided us with a personal testimony regarding this very thing.

…to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.

Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. – 2 Corinthians 12:7-9 NLT

Whatever the “thorn” in Paul’s flesh might have been, he prayed repeatedly for its removal, but God had other plans and a higher purpose. He was protecting Paul from becoming conceited, proud, and arrogant over his position as God’s spokesman. Paul pleaded for the removal of the thorn, but the Holy Spirit interceded and turned those self-centered, comfort-based requests into prayers that matched the will of God.

We are children of God, and, like all children, we rarely know what we truly need. But the Spirit does, because He knows the heart and mind of God. If you ask a small child what he or she wants for dinner, they are likely to respond, “Ice cream!” That is what they want, but that is not what they need. And a loving parent would not give in to their request, no matter how eagerly or enthusiastically they voiced it. Instead, loving parents would provide them with what they truly need, even if the child may feel their “needs” are not being met.

The difference between our prayers and those that the Spirit prays on our behalf is that He “intercedes for the saints according to the will of God” (Romans 8:27 ESV). I don’t always know the will of God. I don’t always know what is best for me, but the Spirit does. And He is constantly taking my sighs, moans, and silent prayers, and turning them into requests that align with God’s will for my life as His child. So when His answers come, I may not always recognize them, but I can trust that they are just what I need.

I have a prayer partner who intercedes on my behalf. Yes, He knows the desires of my heart, but he also knows the will of God, and how the two can become one. Like any loving Father, God is not interested in giving us all that we want, but He is determined to provide us with all that we need for life and godliness. And His Spirit helps us pray within His will so that we can always know that we are receiving the right answer at just the right time.

Father, to be honest, I find prayer difficult, But I’m not telling You something You don’t already know. It’s just that prayer can sometimes feel unnecessary because You already know what I need before the need arises. You are sovereign and all-knowing, so there is no reason for me to inform You about anything. Yet, You have commanded us to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17), to make all our requests known to You (Philippians 4:6), and to continue steadfastly in prayer (Colossians 4:2). You state that the prayers of a righteous person have great power and produce wonderful results (James 5:16). So, despite my struggle with prayer, I pray. But it is so encouraging to hear Paul’s reminder that the Holy Spirit intercedes on my behalf when I do pray. He takes my feeble, half-hearted prayers and transforms them into powerful pleas that align with Your will for me. He acts as my intercessory interpreter, making my jumbled and sometimes selfish requests make sense. As Paul told the Corinthians, “No one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us” (1 Corinthians 2:11-12 NLT). Thank You for sending the Holy Spirit to serve as my prayer interpreter and intercessor. And thank You for faithfully meeting my needs even when I pray for my wants. Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.22

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

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1 “I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. 2 They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. 3 And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. 4 But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you.

“I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. 5 But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. 7 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 go, I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; 11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.” – John 16:1-11 ESV

It must have pained Jesus greatly to watch His disciples struggle as they tried to take in all He was telling them. He knew their hearts were troubled and their minds were reeling from all that He had shared with them. Jesus was fully aware that little of what He had told them made sense to them. His announcement that one of them would betray Him had stunned them. His repeated mentions of His coming death had left them depressed and disillusioned. And His warning that, in His absence, the Jewish religious leaders would turn their attention and anger on them, must have petrified them. It had all been more than they could handle. But Jesus assured them that He had told them these things for a reason: “so that you won’t abandon your faith” (John 16:1 NLT).

It’s difficult to comprehend exactly what Jesus is trying to convey to His disciples. The Greek word is skandalizō and it has a variety of meanings. It is a verb that typically refers to someone’s reaction to an unexpected event or circumstance. It is often translated as “offended.” If a person accidently stumbles over a rock or other unseen impediment, they they may react with anger, frustration, or resentment. Their response may even result in sin.

Jesus knew that the events of the next few days were going to be difficult for His disciples. And He did not want them to be taken by surprise. So, He was going out of His way to bring them up to speed on what to expect. Even so, there was a good chance that they might respond in anger and resentment, regretting their decision to have followed Jesus in the first place. One of the other meanings of the Greek word skandalizō is “to cause a person to begin to distrust and desert one whom he ought to trust and obey.” This seems to be the very thing Jesus is trying to prevent.

And once again, in an effort to remove any possibility of surprise, Jesus tells them exactly what is going to happen to them once He is gone.

“For you will be expelled from the synagogues, and the time is coming when those who kill you will think they are doing a holy service for God.” – John 16:2 NLT

With Jesus out of the way, the Jewish religious leaders will simply refocus their hatred onto His disciples. Remember, these men had been willing to murder Lazarus, just because he had been raised from the dead by Jesus. So, the disciples were going to find themselves facing the full brunt of the irrational and unrelenting anger of the Sanhedrin. It would begin with their excommunication from their local synagogues. They would be ostracized as heretics and prevented from gathering with other Jews as they had done since they were little boys. But Jesus warns them that their persecution will not end with their physical removal from the synagogues. They will likely suffer the same fate as their Lord and Master.

Jesus pulls no punches. He is brutally honest with His disciples about what they can expect in the days, weeks, and months ahead. Their continued relationship with Him would cost them. These men were going to become outcasts and social pariahs, even facing death at the hands of their fellow Jews. And “the world” – the unbelieving and unrepentant Jewish population out of which they had been called – will think they are doing God a favor by killing the followers of Jesus. This is exactly the attitude that Paul had before He came to faith in Christ. In his former life as a Pharisee, he had persecuted the followers of “the Way,” rounding up Christians and putting them in prison – all out of His zeal for God. His own testimony provides insight into the mindset Jesus is trying to describe.

“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, and I was brought up and educated here in Jerusalem under Gamaliel. As his student, I was carefully trained in our Jewish laws and customs. I became very zealous to honor God in everything I did, just like all of you today. And I persecuted the followers of the Way, hounding some to death, arresting both men and women and throwing them in prison. The high priest and the whole council of elders can testify that this is so. For I received letters from them to our Jewish brothers in Damascus, authorizing me to bring the followers of the Way from there to Jerusalem, in chains, to be punished.” – Acts 22:3-5 NLT

And Jesus informs His disciples that this intense hatred will not be motivated by love for God, but will stem from their ignorance of Him. The Jews will think they are doing God a favor but, in reality, they will be opposing the very will of God. Like their ancestors, they will end up resisting the sovereign will of God by putting to death those who have been by God with His message of repentance and salvation.

You can almost hear the disciples asking, “Why didn’t you tell us this earlier?” They had to have been shell-shocked by these last-minute revelations from Jesus. And He answers their unspoken question by telling them, “I didn’t tell you earlier because I was going to be with you for a while longer” (John 16:4 NLT). As long as Jesus was physically with the disciples, there was no need for them to know this information. His main focus over the last three years with them was to reveal His identity to them. He had spent all His time manifesting His glory to them through His miracles and messages, so that they might believe Him to be the Son of God.

Now, it was time for Him to manifest His glory one final time. The hour had come for Him to fulfill the will of His Father by offering His life as a ransom for many. He was about to lay down His life for the sheep. And when His work was done, He would be restored to life by the power of the Holy Spirit and glorified by His Father by returning to His rightful place at His side in heaven.

But the disciples are filled with sorrow. Nothing they have heard Jesus say has left them with any sense of hope. And He is fully aware of their inability to see the light at the end of the tunnel. So, He reminds them of His earlier promise concerning the coming Holy Spirit.

“…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 go, I will send him to you.” – John 16:7 ESV

Once again, the words of Jesus must have left the disciples scratching their heads in confusion, wondering how He could possibly think His death could be to their advantage. But what they didn’t yet realize was that His leaving would make possible the Holy Spirit’s coming. And as Jesus had told them earlier, “He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth…he lives with you now and later will be in you” (John 14:17 NLT). They were going to experience a new and profoundly different relationship with God the Father and Jesus Christ, His Son. The Holy Spirit of God would take up residence within them, providing them with the permanent manifestation of God’s power and presence. And while they couldn’t fully comprehend that news, they would soon discover just how life-transforming and world-changing the Spirit’s coming would be.

And Jesus provided them with a brief synopsis of the Holy Spirit’s coming ministry.

“…when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment. The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in me. Righteousness is available because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more. Judgment will come because the ruler of this world has already been judged.” – John 16:9-11 NLT

When the Holy Spirit takes up residence in the followers of Jesus, He will empower them in such a way that their lives will end up convicting the world of sin. Their very lives will become evidence of the truth. They will be lights shining in a dark world, reflecting the glory of God as they share the good news concerning salvation by grace along through faith alone in Christ alone. These men were going to become God’s messengers, preaching the truth that a right standing with God is only available through a relationship with His Son. By preaching the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus, the disciples would force the world to make a decision. They would have to choose belief over unbelief. With His death and resurrection, Jesus would make a restored relationship with God available, but it would require belief in Him. And the disciples were going to become the main purveyors of that redemptive message. Through the indwelling power and presence of the Holy Spirit, they would become ambassadors for Jesus, taking His message of salvation to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Message (MSG)Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

Comfort and Affliction.

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Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

To the church of God that is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort. – 2 Corinthians 1:1-7 ESV

Obviously, as the title of this letter indicates, this is a second letter that Paul wrote to the believers in Corinth. Some time between the writing of the first letter and the receipt of this second one, Paul had been able to visit Corinth. But evidently, things had not gone well. His visit had ended up being a painful one for both Paul and the Corinthians (2 Corinthians 2:1). There were still those in Corinth who opposed Paul and questioned his apostleship and, therefore, his authority. Later on in this second letter, Paul deals directly with those who stood against him. “This is the third time I am coming to you. Every charge must be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. I warned those who sinned before and all the others, and I warn them now while absent, as I did when present on my second visit, that if I come again I will not spare them—since you seek proof that Christ is speaking in me” (2 Corinthians 13:1-2 ESV).

It would appear that Paul wrote a third letter, now lost, that he sent to the Corinthians some time before writing 2 Corinthians. He refers to this lost letter several times.

I wrote as I did, so that when I came I might not suffer pain from those who should have made me rejoice, for I felt sure of all of you, that my joy would be the joy of you all. For I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you. – 2 Corinthians 2:3-4 ESV

For even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it—though I did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while. As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. – 2 Corinthians 7:8-9 ESV

So Paul wrote 2 Corinthians to encourage the congregation there and to continue his efforts to refute the accusations of an influential minority who were questioning his authority and undermining the work there.

But before Paul deals with the issues going on in Corinth, he spends some time reminding the Corinthians of just who he is and what he has had to endure as an apostle of Jesus Christ. His journey has not been an easy one. His ministry to them and to the other churches he helped found has not been without its problems. But Paul is not complaining. He is simply stating the facts and letting them know that he is grateful for having had the opportunity to serve them and for being able to receive comfort from God Himself. In verses 3-7, Paul will use a variation of the word “comfort” ten times. He will refer to “affliction” or “suffering” seven times. And each and every time he is applying these words to himself and the other men who minister alongside him. These opening verses are an autobiographical look into the life and ministry of Paul as he faithfully ministered the gospel, in keeping with the commission he had received from the risen Christ.

Paul refers to God as “the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4 ESV). First of all, God is compassionate and merciful. But He is also comforting. The Greek word Paul uses is paraklesis and it means consolation, encouragement or refreshment. Notice its similarity to the Greek word used for the Holy Spirit: paraklētos. Before His crucifixion, Jesus told the disciples, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever” (John 14:16 ESV). He refers to the coming Holy Spirit as an advocate, comforter, and intercessor. The Holy Spirit, as the third member of the Trinity, has the same nature as God the Father and Christ the Son. And Paul has experienced this comforting presence in his life as he faced the trials and afflictions that accompanied his gospel ministry.

Paul had learned to expect opposition and affliction. It came with the territory. But he had also learned to rejoice in it because it brought with it the comfort of God.

…we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. – Romans 5:3-5 ESV

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known… – Colossians 1:24-25 ESV

Paul saw his sufferings as reflective of his relationship with Christ and a tangible expression of the bond he shared with his Savior. “For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too” (2 Corinthians 1:5 ESV). Paul’s sufferings were not the result of sin, but because of his obedience to the will of Christ. He was suffering as Christ did, for doing the will of the Father. The affliction he endured was due to obedience to Christ, not disobedience. And therefore, he could rely on the comfort and mercy of the Father. This included the rejection of his apostleship by those in Corinth. As long as he was doing the will of God, Paul knew he would face opposition and experience difficulties. But he also knew he would receive the comfort and encouragement of God, which he willingly passed on to others. “ If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort” (2 Corinthians 1:6 ESV). Paul suffered. So would they. He was comforted by God. And he passed that encouragement on to the Corinthians.

Jesus told His disciples, “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world” (John 16:34 NLT). And just after Paul was converted on the road to Damascus, Jesus told Ananias to go and anoint him, saying, “Go, for Saul is my chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as to the people of Israel. And I will show him how much he must suffer for my name’s sake” (Acts 9:15-16 NLT). Suffering is an inevitable and unavoidable part of the Christian life. But so is the comfort of God. And that should bring us courage. As Paul told the believers in Rome, who were facing persecution and affliction:

We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. – Romans 5:3-5 NLT

We serve the God of all comfort.

 

By This We Know.

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By his we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us his Spirit. – 1 John 4:13 ESV

How do you know that you’re truly saved? What gives you the rock-solid assurance that you have placed your faith in Christ and that God has accepted you as His child? John gives us one, very reliable proof: The presence of the Holy Spirit within us. “And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us” (The New Living Translation). John had already talked about this matter once before back in chapter three. “Those who obey God’s commandments remain in fellowship with him, and he with them. And we know he lives in us because the Spirit he gave us lives in us” (1 John 3:24 NLT). Our very ability to obey God’s commands is due to the presence of the Spirit of God within us. We would be unable to live obediently without Him. When we sinned, we would experience no conviction without His help. It is the Holy Spirit who provides us with the assurance of our salvation. Paul described Him as a kind of down-payment or guarantee of things to come. “It is God who enables us, along with you, to stand firm for Christ. He has commissioned us, and he has identified us as his own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first installment that guarantees everything he has promised us” (2 Corinthians 1:21-22 NLT). This was a favorite theme of Paul’s. He said the very same thing to the church in Ephesus. “The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him” (Ephesians 1:14 NLT). In his letter to the believers in Rome, he added a slightly different twist: “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Romans 8:16 ESV).

By THIS we know. It is the Holy Spirit within us who should provide us with an overwhelming since of peace and confidence that we belong to God. The very fact that He lives in us and is constantly attempting to guide, convict, comfort, and transform us, should let us know that God is in us and we are in God. The Holy Spirit provides us with the ability to understand the truths of God. Paul told the believers in Corinth, “we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths” (1 Corinthians 2:13 NLT). Then he went on to explain the sad, but true facts concerning those who don’t have the Spirit of God within them. “But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means” (1 Corinthians 2:14 NLT). Concerning the Holy Spirit, Jesus told His disciples, “The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you” (John 14:17 NET). He promised His followers that the Holy Spirit would take up residence within them. And His indwelling presence would make it possible for them to understand the words of Christ in ways they never could have before.

The Spirit provides us with assurance that we are in Christ. He lets us know that we are God’s children. But it is possible to live as if He does not exist. We can treat Him as if He is not there. When we sin, we grieve Him, because we are refusing to rely upon His strength and listen to His voice in our lives. When we attempt to live the Christian life in our own strength, we quench Him. We effectively tell Him we don’t need Him. And when we do, we lose all sense of assurance. We begin to doubt. We wonder why we don’t seem to see any transformation in our lives. Paul saw the believers in Corinth doing the very same thing and told them, “Dear brothers and sisters, when I was with you I couldn’t talk to you as I would to spiritual people. I had to talk as though you belonged to this world or as though you were infants in the Christian life” (1 Corinthians 3:1 NLT). They were not acting like Spiritual people. Yes, they had the Spirit of God within them, but they were not allowing Him to do what God had sent Him to do. They were resisting Him. They were ignoring Him. And they were living their lives as if He didn’t even exist. Their lives looked more like those who who are lost and lack the Spirit altogether. Not exactly a rousing endorsement from the apostle Paul.

One of the ways we can tell if someone belongs to God is how they respond to the truth of God as found in the Word of God. When it is preached, they respond favorably. The Spirit within them either convicts or comforts them. John said that his teachings came from God and those who had the Spirit of God living in them were able to hear his words with spiritual ears. “But we belong to God, and those who know God listen to us. If they do not belong to God, they do not listen to us. That is how we know if someone has the Spirit of truth or the spirit of deception” (1 John 4:6 NLT). Spiritual people, those who have the Spirit of God living in them, are able to accept spiritual truth. It makes sense to them. They may not always accept it or obey it, but they get it. They have a choice to listen to it and allow the Holy Spirit to use it to transform their lives, or they can simply choose to act as if they never heard it. But they know what they heard. They know what the Spirit has said. So even in our disobedience we know that He is there. And that too, should give us assurance. Conviction should be comforting. It should remind us that God is there, in the form of His Spirit. By this we know that we are His children, because He has placed His Spirit within us, to comfort, convict, guide, empower, help and teach us.

Hopefully, Eagerly Waiting.

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And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. – Romans 8:23-25 ESV

While we live in this world, we find ourselves praying for the healing of those who are sick, the restoration of marriages that are broken, and the salvation of those who are lost. We long for peace in the world, an absence of pain, the presence of joy, and the removal of all sorrow. But we must understand that while we might get a glimpse of some of these things in this life, they are reserved for the life to come. Paul says, “we groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons.” He is insinuating that we lack sonship in this life, but that the final stage of our adoption will take place when we receive the inheritance that has been reserved for us.

Like the prodigal son, many of us demand our full inheritance in this life. We want it all now. And while Jesus did promise us abundant life, life to the full, He did not say that we would receive the full measure of our promised resurrection life right here, right now. In these verses, Paul describes us as having the “firstfruits of the Spirit,” He is NOT saying that we are firstfruits of the Spirit, but that we have received the firstfruits of the Spirit. He provides us with a foretaste of future glory. The Holy Spirit within us gives us glimpse of what our glorification will be like. Paul is not telling us we have only a part of the Holy Spirit. But as he told the believers in Corinth, the Holy Spirit is a kind of down-payment or earnest money, the first installment on all that is to come. “Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come” (2 Corinthians 1:21-22 NIV).

Paul mentions two aspects of our future glorification that should grab our attention. The first is the completion of our adoption by God as His sons and daughters. In an adoption, the paperwork can be completed, the financial transactions finalized and the child official status as an adopted son established, but the process is not really complete until the child and the parent are together. So it will be with us. Paul wrote to the Galatian believers, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God” (Galatians 4:4-7 ESV). We have been adopted, but we are not yet with our heavenly Father. We have yet to receive our full inheritance as sons and daughters. And that brings us to the second aspect of Paul’s emphasis: “the redemption of our bodies.” We are still living in these bodies of flesh, what Paul elsewhere described as “tents”. “For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands” (2 Corinthians 5:1 NLT). He goes on to say, “we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life. God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit” (2 Corinthians 5:4-5 NLT).

Our finalized adoption and the redemption of our bodies. We should long for that day – eagerly and hopefully. In fact, Paul tells us “For in this hope we were saved.” That is the true purpose for our salvation in Christ. Not our best life now, but His perfect life later. In these bodies we groan. In this life we face trials and troubles. “We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing” (2 Corinthians 5:2 NLT). We should long for our adoption and the redemption of our bodies. And while we most certainly enjoy the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, the day is coming when God will make His dwelling among us. We will be with Him and He will be with us. I love the words of the Apostle John in his first letter. “Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is” (1 John 3:2 NLT). “Now we see things imperfectly,” Paul writes, “like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely” (1 Corinthians 13:12 NLT).

The presence of the Holy Spirit within us gives us a glimpse of our future glory and should provide us with an incentive to live lives of holiness now. He is a constant reminder of what is to come. He is our comforter. But the day is coming when we will no longer need to be comforted. There will be no more tears, sorrow, pain, disease, suffering, sin or death. We will have new, resurrected bodies. We have unbroken fellowship with God, our Father. We will enjoy fellowship with Jesus in an atmosphere of perfect righteousness and justice. Can I explain it? Can I fully comprehend it? No. But I can hopefully, eagerly hope for it. “So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever” (2 Corinthians 4:18 NLT).

Gone, But Not Forgotten.

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These things I have spoken to you while I am still 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 that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, “I am going away, and I will come to you.” If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. – John 14:25-28 ESV

As the time for His crucifixion drew near, Jesus began to ramp up the intensity of His teaching to the disciples. In an attempt to prepare them for all that was about to happen, He inundated them with increasingly more detailed specifics regarding the events surrounding His arrest, trials, death and resurrection. He broke the news to Peter he would end up denying Him. He told them He was going to prepare a place for them and would one day return for them. He claimed to be the way, the truth and the life; and the only way of access to the Father. Then He dropped a bombshell by telling them “whoever believes in my will also do the words that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father” (John 14:12 ESV). That pieces of news had to have left the disciples’ heads spinning. And that was followed up by the promise of “another Helper” – the Holy Spirit – who would live in them. Taking in all of this information had to have been like drinking from a fire hose for the disciples. It was information overload. And in the midst of it all, Jesus told them, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me” (John 14:1 ESV).

Their belief in God was to be focused on His promise of the Messiah. They needed to believe that Jesus was the One for whom they had long been waiting. But they also needed to believe Jesus and take Him at His word when He promised to be with them, even though He was leaving them. They needed to believe that Jesus was going back to the Father and would be preparing a place for them, and that the Father would send another Helper to not only be with them, but live within them. It was essential that they believe the reality of the coming Holy Spirit and understand His function. Jesus said, “he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (John 14:26 ESV). Jesus would be gone, but far from forgotten because the Holy Spirit would provide the disciples with a perfect recall of all of His teachings from the last three years. But not only would they remember all that Jesus said, they would understand, probably for the first time. When we read the gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, it would be easy to wonder how they could have recalled so well what Jesus had said. I doubt very seriously that they were taking copious notes during their time with Jesus. But Jesus’ promise that the Holy Spirit would supernaturally energize their memories explains a lot. They would be given a Spirit-empowered capacity to recall the teachings of Jesus and to understand them. The result of this would be peace. Jesus said, “Peace I have with you; my peace I give to you” (John 14:27 ESV). Their ability to enjoy peace in the midst of all that would take place in the days after Jesus’ death and resurrection would be the direct result of the Spirit’s presence and His instruction regarding the words of Jesus. Paul reminds us that the fruit of the Spirit are “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,  and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23 ESV). These are the characteristics of Jesus. As the Spirit teaches us about Jesus, we see His character produces in our lives. He is gone, but far from forgotten. He is absent physically, but with us spiritually. Jesus said, “In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you” (John 14:20 ESV). When the Holy Spirit came, the disciples realized that the very Spirit of God had taken up residence within them. Not only did they have the Holy Spirit present with then, they had the indwelling presence of the entire Godhead – Father, Son and Spirit. Jesus clearly said, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him” (John 14:23 ESV).

Jesus left. He returned to the Father. But He did not leave us alone. The very Spirit God Himself lives within us. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit have made their home with us. Paul tells us, “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him” (Romans 8:9 ESV). The Godhead, in all its triune glory, lives within each and every believer. Can I explain it? No. But I believe it. We have the full essence of God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – living within us. And that formidable presence allows us to understand the Word and the will of God, as well as the commandments of Jesus. And not only do we have the capacity to understand them, we have the Spirit-empowered strength to obey them. So that we can increase in our knowledge of God (Colossians 1:10) and grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18).

Day 123 – John 16:1-15

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Better Off Without Him.

John 16:1-15

“But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocatewon’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment.” – John 16:7-8 NLT

The more Jesus talked about His coming death, the more confused and depressed the disciples seemed to get. Jesus saw it and commented about it: “But now I am going away to the one who sent me, and not one of you is asking where I am going. 6 Instead, you grieve because of what I’ve told you” (John 16:5-6 NLT). And it made sense. They had just spent the last three years of their lives following this man and now He was telling them that He was going to die. Their concept of death, like ours, was permanent. In their understanding of things, once Jesus was dead, He was gone. In spite of all His talk about coming back. That part was a mystery to them. So Jesus somewhat muddies the waters by telling them, “it is best for you that I go away” (John 16:7 NLT). That had to have sounded so strange to the disciples. How in the world could His leaving them be best for them? But Jesus knew something they didn’t know. He knew that when He ascended back to heaven, God the Father was going to send the very Spirit of God to be with the disciples. And that could not happen until Jesus left. For the last three and a half years they had enjoyed the presence of God in the form of Jesus. He was God in human flesh. He had lived with them, talked with them, done miracles among them, and taught them the truth of God on a daily basis. But when the Holy Spirit came they would not only have God with them and among them, but in them. They would be empowered by the very Spirit of God. This was going to be a game-changer for the disciples and for the world, mainly because of the three things Jesus said the Spirit would do when He arrived.

The NET Bible translates verse 8 this way: “And when hecomes, he will prove the world wrong concerning sin andrighteousness andjudgment.” The very presence of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers would be proof that the world’s view of Jesus was wrong. It was their rejection of Him as Messiah that was their most condemning sin. The Holy Spirit would also convict the world about righteousness because He would only indwell those who had placed their faith in Christ and not on their own self-righteousness. In other words, the Spirit proves that man’s righteousness before God depends not on his own efforts but on Christ’s atoning work for them. Finally, the Spirit would convict the world concerning judgment, because His very presence would prove that Jesus had conquered sin and death by His resurrection and glorification. The Spirit’s presence in the world in the lives of believers would be proof that Satan had already been defeated. His was a lost cause. And the fact that the Spirit of God only lives within the people of God, is a daily judgment on all those who refuse to believe in Jesus. The presence of the Holy Spirit is our guarantee of salvation and as Paul puts it, our down payment on the future promises of God. “…and he has identified us as his own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first installment that guarantees everything he has promised us” (2 Corinthians 1:22 NLT).

So when Jesus told the disciples that they would be better off once He was gone, He knew what He was talking about. Jesus was limited to the restraints placed upon Him by a human body. He could not be everywhere at once. He could not indwell His disciples. He had all the limitations we suffer from as humans. His coming to earth was for one purpose and that was to act as the perfect sin substitute. He came to die. But the Spirit came to indwell, empower, convict, and teach. Jesus told the disciples, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future” (John 16:13 NLT). He would teach them, enlighten them, encourage and empower them. They would perform miracles in His power. They would preach and teach in His power. They would spread the Gospel around the world by His power. Not only would the disciples be better off when Jesus returned to the Father, the world would be too. The rapid expansion of the Gospel message immediately after the Holy Spirit’s coming at Pentecost is proof of this fact. Thousands would come to Christ daily and the Good News of Jesus Christ would spread around the world like wild fire. We, as modern believers, are the beneficiaries of the Holy Spirit’s convicting presence in the world. We should be grateful Jesus came, but also thankful that He left and sent the Holy Spirit to live within us. His presence and power are proof of Christ’s resurrection and the reality of our own salvation.

Father, what more can I say than, “Thank You for the Holy Spirit”? I would not be who I am without Him. I would not have proof of what Jesus has done for me without the presence of the Holy Spirit within me. Thank You! Amen.

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org

Day 120 – John 14:15-31

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The Advocate.

John 14:15-31

“But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative – that is, the Holy Spirit – he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.” – John 14:26 NLT

In the midst of all the doom and gloom that Jesus seemed to share during His last days with the disciples, there was a bright light. A very bright light. Not only was He going to return, but the Father was going to send them an advocate. The Greek word Jesus used is paraclete and it can be translated, “comforter, helper, counselor or assistant.” All of these words have limitations and do not do the original Greek word justice. But the basic idea is that Jesus is promising the disciples that, even though He will be leaving them, He is not going to leave the alone. The Father will send the Holy Spirit – the very Spirit of God – to not only be with them, but live in them. Jesus makes it clear that the Holy Spirit had been there all along. “But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you” (John 14:15 NLT). The Spirit of God is the very presence of God with us. The disciples had witnessed His presence through the life of Jesus, on whom the Spirit of God descended at His baptism in the Jordan. The Spirit of God had been guiding and directing Jesus from that moment forward. The Holy Spirit had been active in and around the disciples all through the years they had been with Jesus. But Jesus was letting them know that with His departure, the presence of God would remain with them, in the form of the indwelling Holy Spirit. This should have been good news to them. But as usual, the disciples probably did not fully understand the magnitude of what Jesus was telling them. They had no real context on which to base what Jesus was saying.

But Jesus lets them know that the Spirit, when He comes, would lead them, teach them, and remind them of all that Jesus had taught them over the years. All those obscure, difficult to understand truths encapsulated in the parables of Jesus would become clear for the first time. They Holy Spirit would help them connect the dots and make sense of all the madness that surrounded those last days of Jesus’ earthly life. He would teach them and remind them all that Jesus had told them over the years. As a result, the Holy Spirit would bring them peace of mind and heart. His presence, the very presence of God Himself, would result in peace, even in the midst of the storm. And Jesus told them that this gift of the Spirit would be permanent. “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you” (John 14:16 NLT). The Spirit of God would be a permanent presence in their lives. He would never leave or abandon them. His presence would be a constant reminder of Jesus’ love for them. The apostle Paul would later refer to the Holy Spirit as a “down payment” from God. The Greek word “denotes the first payment or first installment of money or goods which serves as a guarantee or pledge for the completion of the transaction” (NET Study Bible notes). The Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives reminds us that there is more. His presence in the midst of this earthly life should remind us that we are spiritual beings who have a spiritual future ahead of us. Paul says, “For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee” (2 Corinthians 5:4-5 NLT). While we live in these earthly bodies, we will suffer trials and difficulties, but the Holy Spirit lives with us, providing us with power and assurance of the love of God. He is not done yet. There is more to come. The Spirit provides us with the peace of mind we need to live in this fallen world without giving in to despair or becoming distracted and losing our focus. We have an advocate, a helper, comforter, teacher, friend, counselor and source of divine power that sets us apart from all those who do not believe. His presence in our lives is what sets us apart from the rest of the world and proves that what we say we believe is true. The greatest evidence of the reality of Jesus’ message is the life-transforming presence and power of the Holy Spirit. He is our guarantee that the message of Jesus was real and the promises of Jesus are completely reliable.

Father, I can’t thank You enough for sending Your Spirit to live in my life. I know I don’t always listen to Him or obey Him. I know I often ignore Him and refuse to take advantage of the power He makes available to me. But I know He is there, guiding me, teaching me, strengthening me – because I feel His presence each and every day. He reminds me that what I say I believe is true. Amen.

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org