Our Helper

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered at Pilgrim Reformed Church on Sunday morning, the 19th of May, 2024 - Pentecost Sunday.  A recording of our service should be available on our YouTube streaming channel: 

https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams.

Additional note:  I'm not sure why, but this tool will no longer let me change the text color.]

Family, today is Pentecost Sunday.  The word “Pentecost” comes from the Greek work meaning 50th, and the Pentecost is celebrated on the 50th day of Easter.  And as I mentioned a couple weeks ago, this would be on the 10th day of Jesus’ ascension into heaven after His resurrection.

We all remember what happened on Pentecost, when God’s Holy Spirit came down onto the disciples still gathered in Jerusalem.  This was the gift that Jesus had promised.  He reminded them many times that the Spirit would come to them, including after His resurrection, when He told them, “I will send you the One My Father has promised, but you must stay in the city until you are given power from heaven.”  That was recorded by the Apostle Luke in chapter 24 verse 49 of his Gospel account.  “Stay in the city, stay in Jerusalem, and the Holy Spirit will come upon you and dwell within you.”

For this morning, I’d like to look at one of those times, not quite at the end of His ministry on earth, when Jesus promised the Holy Spirit would come to them.  And then we’ll take a brief glimpse at when that event actually occurred.  I believe this answers some questions that people still ask today, if not out loud then at least in their minds and hearts.

Our scripture reading this morning will be a little different, as it comes from two separate sources, and two slightly separated timelines.  The first comes from a Gospel account and occurs – like I said - while Jesus is still alive and going about His ministry, and the second comes afterwards, on the 50th day of His defeat of death and rising from the grave.  This might seem a little strange and disjointed at first glance, but I think you’ll see how well it fits together as we read it.

Please listen and follow along as I read from chapter 15 verse 26 to chapter 16 verse 15 of the Apostle John’s Gospel account, and then verses 1 through 4 of the 2nd chapter of the Apostle Luke’s Book of the Acts of the Apostles, and I’ll be reading from the Contemporary English Version of our Holy Bible this morning.  We start out with Jesus speaking to us…

J15:26 "I will send you the Spirit who comes from the Father and shows what is true. The Spirit will help you and will tell you about Me. 27 Then you will also tell others about Me, because you have been with Me from the beginning.

16:1 "I am telling you these things, so that you will not turn away. 2 You will be chased out of the synagogues. And the time will come when people will kill you and think they are doing God a favor. 3 They will do these things because they don't know either the Father or Me. 4 I am saying this to you now, so that when the time comes, you will remember what I have said.

"I was with you at the first, and so I didn't tell you these things. 5 But now I am going back to the Father who sent Me, and none of you asks Me where I am going. 6 You are very sad from hearing all of this. 7 But I tell you I am going to do what is best for you. This is why I am going away. The Holy Spirit cannot come to help you until I leave. But after I am gone, I will send the Spirit to you.

8 "The Spirit will come and show the people of this world the truth about sin and God's justice and the judgment. 9 The Spirit will show them that they are wrong about sin, because they didn't have faith in Me. 10 They are wrong about God's justice, because I am going to the Father, and you won't see Me again. 11 And they are wrong about the judgment, because God has already judged the ruler of this world.

12 "I have much more to say to you, but right now it would be more than you could understand. 13  The Spirit shows what is true and will come and guide you into the full truth. The Spirit doesn't speak on His own. He will tell you only what He has heard from Me, and He will let you know what is going to happen. 14 The Spirit will bring glory to Me by taking My message and telling it to you. 15 Everything the Father has is Mine. This is why I have said that the Spirit takes My message and tells it to you."

A2:1  On the day of Pentecost all the Lord's followers were together in one place. 2 Suddenly there was a noise from heaven like the sound of a mighty wind! It filled the house where they were meeting. 3 Then they saw what looked like fiery tongues moving in all directions, and a tongue came and settled on each person there. 4 The Holy Spirit took control of everyone, and they began speaking whatever languages the Spirit let them speak.

--John 15:26-16:15; Acts 2:1-4 (CEV)

Let us pray…  Heavenly Father, we thank You for all the many gifts and blessings You pour out on us!  You gave us Your Son Jesus to redeem us of our sin and You gave us the faith to believe in Him and follow Him.  And You even gave us Your own Holy Spirit after Jesus returned home; Your Spirit, to live in us and guide us through this life.  Sadly though, Father, not everyone believes, so not everyone receives Your Spirit and they have only the world’s devices to depend on.  Satan is working hard to keep people away from You and away from Jesus.  Please help us reach out to the non-believers of the world, sharing the Good News as John and Luke and the other apostles did.  Help us spread the message of salvation through Jesus and show Your love to all we encounter.  And please forgive us when we hesitate to serve You and our Lord, even though we know we should.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit within us and better understand Your message today.  Thank You for Your Spirit of peace and reconciliation.  Help us make the best use of this great power by sharing the Gospel with all the world.  This we pray in the precious name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

Gordon Brownville's book, Symbols of the Holy Spirit, tells about the great Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, the first to discover the magnetic meridian of the North Pole and to discover the South Pole.  Brownville writes, “On one of his trips, Amundsen took a homing pigeon with him.  When he had finally reached the top of the world, he opened the bird's cage and set it free.  Imagine the delight of Amundsen's wife, back in Norway, when she looked up from the doorway of her home and saw the pigeon circling in the sky above.  No doubt she exclaimed, ‘He's alive! My husband is still alive!’

“So it was when Jesus ascended.  He was gone, but the disciples clung to His promise to send them the Holy Spirit.  What joy, then, when the dovelike Holy Spirit descended at Pentecost.  The disciples had with them the continual reminder that Jesus was alive and victorious at the right of the Father.  This continues to be the Spirit's message.”

While our scripture reading this morning gives the physical appearance of the Holy Spirit as looking like “fiery tongues”, Mr. Brownville describes Him as being “dovelike”.  This is in reference to the baptism of Jesus at the River Jordan by His kinsman John, when it is said that the Holy Spirit descended upon Him like a dove.  Doves and pigeons are closely related, being of the same family of birds and very close in appearance.  And both are mentioned in our Bible.

In my little illustration, Amundsen released a homing pigeon to let his wife know he had reached his objective, and in our Bible, Noah released a dove to let him know that God had reached His objective.  God sent His own Holy Spirit to descend upon each of us like a dove.  Let us use that great power to achieve the objectives God and Jesus gave us.

At the start, I said I thought these two chunks of scripture fit together nicely.  In the first, Jesus not only promises that the Holy Spirit will come upon His followers, but He also shares with us what the Spirit will do, what He will mean to us, and the relationship the two have with each other.  In our New Testament, we often read of the relationship between Jesus and His Father God, but this is one of the few times we see what the Spirit means to Jesus, how close the two are.

And in the second passage the Holy Spirit comes, not like a dove lightly descending from heaven, but on the wings of a mighty wind, looking like fiery tongues, which to me describes streaks of lightning blazing through the house and striking each believer.  Rather than knocking them dead, the Spirit speaks through them, praising God in languages that all witnesses could understand.  This is the Power Jesus described, the Power He promised, the Power God delivered.

Of course, this isn’t the first time – and certainly not the only time – that Jesus told His disciples the Holy Spirit would come to them.  A little earlier in His ministry, not too long before the first part of our scripture reading, we are given the following in John’s Gospel account, chapter 14, verses 15 through 17…

15  Jesus said to His disciples:

“If you love Me, you will do as I command. 16 Then I will ask the Father to send you the Holy Spirit who will help you and always be with you. 17 The Spirit will show you what is true. The people of this world cannot accept the Spirit, because they don't see or know Him. But you know the Spirit, who is with you and will keep on living in you.”

--John 14:15-17 (CEV)

“If you love Me, you will do as I command.”  God has given us the faith to believe in Jesus, but we have to put that faith into action.  There’s more to believing than just acknowledging that Jesus existed or even that He is the Son of God – the demons and Satan believe that but they are certainly not saved nor given the Holy Spirit.  If we truly believe in Jesus, we will follow Him, we will love Him, and we will do as He commands.  And so God’s Holy Spirit will dwell within us.

Now the Spirit is the bringer and giver of life, but He also gives us hope, comfort, help, guidance, reassurance, company, and constant companionship.  He is everything to us, a wonderful gift from God, given because we love Jesus and try our best to do as He commands.

Our Lord doesn’t ask much of us, only that we love others and go out making disciples.  But our personal prejudices and hatreds sometimes keep us from doing the first, and our fear and temerity hold us back from doing the second.  We must overcome these somewhat natural human tendencies so that we can better serve our Lord.

And Jesus promised the Spirit will help us do this.  The Spirit will show people the truth, that they are wrong about sin, that they have no faith, and that they are wrong about God’s justice and judgment.  The Spirit speaks for Jesus and carries His message.  And He will speak that message through us so that others may come to know the truth.  We just need to let the Spirit speak and do His work.

One last point…  Earlier I said that I thought our scripture passage could answer some questions still being asked today.  That answer comes in verses 5 through 7.

While Jesus is still with them, He tells His followers that He will soon leave them and return to His Father in heaven.  He’s tried to explain this before, and He will again, but this time He gives them the reason why, why He will be leaving.  So that the Holy Spirit can come.

While He is still here on earth, incarnate, in the flesh, the Holy Spirit cannot come.  There is no need for Him to come while Jesus is here.  But once Jesus leaves, He can send the Spirit to take over for Him.

And here’s the thing…  This is what is best for us.  Jesus did what is best for us by leaving us so that the Holy Spirit could come and be with us always.  Jesus left us because it was for our own good, because it had to be done.

And this is the answer I spoke of, the answer to many of the questions people still ask today.  Some things happen the way they do because they just have to, because it is ultimately for our own good.  Why did Jesus suffer and die?  Because He had to, so that He could atone for our sin.  Why is there so much wrong in our world today, so many wars, so much crime, so much hatred and distrust and division?  Because our Bible tells us these things must happen before Jesus returns.

We cannot see the future, but God can.  We don’t often know the reason behind the occurrences and events of the day, but God does.  He is working all things together to the good for those who love Him and are the called according to His purposes.  It is enough for us to know that God loves us, Jesus loves us, and they gave us the gift and the power of the Holy Spirit to be with us and help us for as long as we draw breath.

God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

Believe in the Son, obey the Son, love the Son.  And cherish the gift of the Holy Spirit dwelling within us.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus, the one true Son of God, who came in the flesh to redeem us, who was raised from the dead into flesh and returned to heaven, and who is coming again to judge us all.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God, thank You for loving us so much that You not only sent Your only Son to die for us and atone for our sin, but then You sent Your own Spirit to live within and be our constant helper and companion.  With Him inside us, we are never alone.  He guides us, if we let Him, and He speaks for us when we can’t find the words.  Thank you for caring this much about us.  And thank You for working all things to the good for us, even if we can’t understand what is happening all the time.  Sometimes though, Father, we let doubt creep into our hearts because we just can’t reconcile what we see all around us with what we think You would want to see.  And then it makes us even more hesitant to share our belief and our faith with others.  We are too timid, or too scared, to approach someone, especially a stranger, and try to tell them about Jesus.  Please forgive us these times, Father.  Help us share the Gospel message.  Help us take up the work Jesus gave us.  And as we do so, please help us be more forgiving, more merciful in our dealings with others.  And Father, guide us around any pitfalls in this life and strengthen our spirits to do Your will.  And please help us do a better job of sharing Jesus with others so that they too may be saved by Your mercy and His sacrifice.  

Father, please shield us from Satan as he attacks our faith, trying to make us his own.  Help us be better servants, glorifying You in all we do so that the world can see You in us, through our deeds, in how we live.  And help us remain strong, faithful, and true to You in all things, no matter what the world throws at us or holds out before us.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your commands, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, You left us to return to heaven so that God’s Holy Spirit could come to be with us for the rest of our lives.  This had to be; this was for our good.  As we walk through this life, please help us see what happens around us as being part of God’s plan.  Help us work for change in those areas You want us to work, and help us accept the things that You have deemed must be as they are.  Help us be more understanding, more merciful, more giving and forgiving of others, knowing that this is our Father’s will for us.  Help us reach out to the non-believing world with the Gospel message, showing Your love through our love.  Give us the words to say, show us what to do to help bring the lost to You.

Lord Jesus, please shield our minds and our hearts from Satan’s lies and the world’s empty promises.  Guide us around all the devil’s traps and snares.  Help us see though his temptations and all the false teachings.  Help us fend off his attacks.  Please help us be faithful and true to You, putting all our trust in You, all our hope in You.  Heal the hurts that separate and divide us one from another.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this life might offer.  This we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.