The Spirit's Role

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning, the 29th of September, 2019 at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Look for the video of our services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

We’ve been talking about God’s Holy Spirit the last few weeks now.  We took note of His presence and His part in the creation of the universe and all within it.  We’ve looked mostly at how He has interacted in the lives of mankind.  We saw how He touched specific people as directed by God to help them in the tasks God assigned them.  And we celebrated in His coming to live within all believers, to be our ever-present Guide and Companion.

But today I want us to understand what I think is the greatest role the Holy Spirit plays.  Please listen and follow along to the Gospel account of the Apostle John, chapter 16, verses 7 through 15, and I’ll be reading from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible…

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 depart, I will send Him to you. 8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 11 of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 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. 14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. 15 All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.”

--John 16:7-15 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, Your Holy Spirit has played a crucial role throughout the history of our universe.  From the creation on, He has helped us, guided us, led us in our tasks serving You.  And now, Father, He even lives within those who believe in and follow Your Son Jesus.  Please help us to not only recognize Your Spirit within us, but to do as He directs us.  Please help us to glorify Jesus just as does Your Spirit.  Speak to us now, Father, through Your Spirit, with the message we need to hear this morning.  Show us Your will for our lives, and the role You would have us fill.  This we pray in the blessed name of Your Son Jesus, our Lord.   Amen.


James Packer, in his book Your Father Loves You, describes the Holy Spirit's distinctive role in relation to Jesus as that of being a floodlight.  Packer wrote: "When floodlighting is done well, the floodlights are placed so that you do not see them; in fact, you are not supposed to see where the light is coming from; what you are meant to see is just the building on which the floodlights are trained.  The intended effect is to make it visible when otherwise it would not be seen for the darkness, and to maximize its dignity by throwing all its details into relief so that you can see it properly."

Packer continues: "It is as if the Spirit stands behind us, throwing light over our shoulder on to Jesus who stands facing us. The Spirit's message to us is never, 'Look at Me; listen to Me; come to Me; get to know Me', but always, 'Look at Him, and see His glory; listen to Him and hear His word; go to Him and have life; get to know Him and taste His gift of joy and peace.'"


Isn’t that a great way to describe the role of God’s Spirit?  Shining a spotlight on Jesus.  We tend to consider the Spirit to be our Helper, our Companion, our Guide through this life.  But even in those roles, He is showing the way to Jesus, highlighting Jesus, calling attention to Jesus.

In this regard, I think we – all who profess Jesus as Lord -  we should all try to be more like the Holy Spirit.  We should make it our primary role and duty to shine a light on Jesus, to show the way to Him and the salvation He offers, to let others see Him in us and in our actions, in our love.  We should gladly proclaim, “Look at Jesus and see His glory!  Listen to Him and hear His word.  Go to Him and have life.  Get to know Him, and taste His gift of joy and peace.”


One thing people often wonder is why did Jesus have to suffer and die.  Last week we answered part of that.  He had to sacrifice Himself so that His blood could atone for our sins and bring us God’s forgiveness.  But in our scripture reading this morning, we see another reason.  Jesus tells His disciples that He must return to His Father in heaven so that God’s Holy Spirit can come to all believers.

In the first part, Jesus relates a crucial task the Spirit will carry out.  He will convict the world – the entire world, all mankind who do  not believe Jesus is God – of sin and righteousness.  He will judge the world because the world’s ruler – Satan – is judged.  In the second part, Jesus shares what the Spirit will do for us – guiding us, helping us, revealing some of God’s mysteries to us as we are able to grasp them.

Then comes the part that James Packer described in my little illustration at the start.  The Holy Spirit glorifies Jesus.  He shines all the light, all the attention, on Jesus.  He does nothing on His own but acts only under the authority of God Almighty.

And in verse 15, Jesus says that everything our Father God has – which is indeed everything – also belong to Jesus, and that the Spirit will take from what is His and make it available to us.  In other words, all that the Spirit does for us – the guidance, the strength and power, the instruction and comfort – all of this first belonged to Christ Jesus and is now given to us through the Spirit!  And that is a very humbling thought, that we have been given what God gave His Son.


This isn’t the only time Jesus told us of the Spirit’s coming, nor even the first.  In chapter 14 of John’s Gospel account, verses 25 and 26, Jesus told His disciples, and us…

25 “These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. 26 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 (NKJV)

Note what Jesus said there: the Holy Spirit will teach us and remind us of all the things that Jesus said to us.  The Spirit will be focused on Jesus, not Himself.

And again, a little later in John’s account, chapter 15 verse 26, Jesus reminds us…

26 “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 (NKJV)

The Spirit of truth, who comes from God.  He will bring the truth, will speak the truth of Jesus, will testify of Jesus, be a witness for Jesus!  The Spirit glorifies Jesus; shines all the light on Him.


There’s one last piece of scripture I’d like to share with you, and one which is important for us to grasp.  This comes from the Apostle Luke, written in his Book of the Acts of the Apostles, from the book’s opening in chapter 1, verses 4 through 8…

4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; 5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” 6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 

--Acts 1:4-8 (NKJV)

Most of us have been baptized by water.  It is our outward sign of our inward commitment to Jesus, or the sign made for us by our parents.  But we have also been baptized by God’s Holy Spirit, when we committed ourselves to serve our Lord, when the Spirit came to dwell within us.  We have received the power of the Holy Spirit, the power that belonged to Jesus.

And here’s the kicker…  Now it is up to us to be witnesses to Jesus, in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.  Just as does the Holy Spirit, we are to glorify Jesus, shine the floodlight on Him.  We are to testify to Him, witness to Him, by our words and our life.

By our service and our love we can give our testimony.  Be a floodlight, be a witness, glorify Jesus.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, You have given us Your own Holy Spirit to live within us, to guide us and help us and be our constant Companion.  Help us, please Father, to emulate Your Spirit, to do as He does and glorify Your Son, our Lord Jesus.  Help us to follow the direction Your Spirit leads us so that we too can testify to Jesus to all the earth.

Please hear us now, Father, as we come to You in the silence, speaking from our hearts, promising to turn from our disobedient ways, seeking Your forgiveness and Your help…

Lord Jesus, You had to leave us so that the Spirit could come.  Thank You, Jesus, for so great a gift, and for the wonderful opportunity to serve You by shining a light on You, just as the Spirit does.  Please help us to glorify You, Lord, and only You.  Help us to be a better witness for You, in our actions, our deeds, and our words.  Help us to serve You as the Spirit serves.  This we pray in Your glorious name, Christ Jesus our Master and our Savior.  Amen.