"When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning."
"All this I have told you so that you will not go astray. They
will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when anyone who
kills you will think he is offering a service to God. They will do such things
because they have not known the Father or me. I have told you this, so that
when the time comes you will remember that I warned you."
As humans we have a tremendous privilege and blessing in the ability to simply use our tongues to communicate. Above all the animals of God's creation - we can use our mouths to intelligibly cconverse with one another. On top of this, we live in a country that proudly proclaims to have many freedoms, especially the freedom to worship and the freedom of speech.
This power and this freedom of speech also calls for responsibility. Just because you have the ability and freedom to say whatever you want, doesn't mean that you should exercise that freedom. James warned in James 3:6 that, "The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell." Just recently Don Imus, Al Sharpton, Opie and Anthony all found out what trouble their tongues could get them into. Having the freedom to speak doesn't mean that you should. You and I know how difficult it is to keep our big mouths shut when we should. We also have the problem of not saying what we should. Like James said, "no man can tame" it. It is impossible for us to do - and so we earn hell with our tongues a hundred times over.
What a contrast it is then - to listen to our LORD speak. He who gave us the ability to speak words - describes Himself as THE WORD who was made flesh and dwelt among us. Out of all the ways He speaks to us - in nature, conscience and the Bible - the most precious is the clear Word of God. His Word stands out because is it living and active. It is able to cut through to the very soul and fiber of a man's being. It is a living and breathing thing. When the LORD speaks, He never needs to apologize. His words are golden and true.
It shouldn't surprise us then that one of the most major festivals of the Church Year revolves around the spoken Word being proclaimed at Pentecost. It shouldn't surprise us either that the chief role of the Holy Spirit - the third member of the Trinity - is to make sure that the Word is spoken. This is so essential to us - because even with Creation and even with Redemption - these would be absolutely meaningless to us if they were not communicated to us through the Word. This is the purpose of Pentecost - to get the Word of redemption - the Word of Christ - out. Jesus showed us how central the Word is in His prediction of Pentecost.
Pentecost is About the Proclamation
of the Word
I. The Holy Spirit "counsels" with the
Word
In today's text Jesus calls the Holy Spirit the "paraclete." The NIV translates it as a "Counselor" and the KJV uses "comforter." It literally means to "call to one's side." It's kind of an interesting picture when you think about it - to call to one's side. In order to "call" - you need to have a voice and use a voice. Today's counselors are sometimes infamously renowned for simply putting their arm around you and saying empathetically, "I feel your pain" - but then saying nothing to resolve the problem. In a world of political correctness there is such a fear of saying anything "offensive" that many fear saying anything at all. Yet in contrast to that stereotype the most famous counselors of today are Dr. Laura and Dr. Phil, two hard hitting "counselors" who like to "tell it like it is." They use their voices to give straight forward counseling. If you listen to them, however, their counseling is all law. They know how to cut through all of the garbage and condemn the excuses; then tell them what they "should be doing" so that they "do the right thing." When Luke calls the Holy Spirit a "paraclete" it is different from either of these ideas.
Let's look at the name "paraclete" means again - "calling to one's side." Look also at what Jesus said this "paraclete" would do. "He will testify about me." Think about how the Paraclete worked at Pentecost. As Peter was inspired by the Holy Spirit He told the Jews who had come for the Passover, "Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him." (Acts 2:22-24) He then continued with the plea, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." (Acts 2:38)
Notice how the Holy Spirit both "counseled" and
"comforted" those terrible sinners who had crucified Christ. First He
terrified them with their sins. He was straight forward with them - telling
exactly what they had done wrong - crucifying Jesus. He "counsels" us
in the same way. He doesn't sugar coat what we are. His Word declares that we
are born rebels, sinners, people deserving nothing but God's condemnation. Even
our finest works are nothing but filthy rags in God's sight when compared with
His holiness. But then the Holy Spirit offered them comfort with the promise of
forgiveness in baptism. Think about what happens at baptism. Out of all of the
sinners on the way to hell - the Holy Spirit calls to you in baptism. With the
inspired Word and command of Jesus He enters your soul through the water and
promise of baptism. He puts the name of God on you. He covers you in the blood
of Christ. He testifies to you that the blood of Christ is yours - and He
continues to do this every time you hear the Word of the Gospel. He continues
to do this every time you take the Lord's Supper. This is more than just
calling you by His side. This is a calling where He actually enters you and
makes His home with you. He has us climb inside the pierced side of Christ and
find our refuge in Him. The Father and the Son send the Holy Spirit to do one
thing - to testify about Christ. This is a completely unique way that the Holy
Spirit counsels and fulfills His role as the "Paraclete"
- calling us to His side.
II. The Holy Spirit bases His choice on the Word
What a gracious calling it is. Jesus did not tell his disciples that they
had to pray for the Holy Spirit. He didn't tell them that they need to reach a
certain spiritual status - nor did they need to climb up
Yet human nature always wants to find the human element in the working of the Holy Spirit. "Why did the Holy Spirit choose these men?" If you were to give any reason as to why the Holy Spirit decided to work through these men and not others, the answer still points outside of THEM. "You also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning." The only reason that God chose them to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit was because they had been connected with Christ from the beginning of His ministry.
Think about this some more. The connecting factor between the testimony of the Holy Spirit and the choice of the disciples is in two little Greek words that glue these two actions together in an inseparable manner. The Holy Spirit would testify "about me" - that is Christ - and the disciples had been "with me" - that is Christ - from the beginning. That is no coincidence. It shows us how important the WORD is. The glue that connected the Holy Spirit to the disciples and the purpose of this marriage revolved around and focused on Christ - the Word made flesh. The purpose of filling these disciples with the Holy Spirit was not to talk about the "experience" of having the Holy Spirit - or the ability to speak in different languages - or how to live a "Christian life" - but to simply lead people to repent of their sins and believe in Christ - who had been crucified for their sins and raised from the dead. There was no Holy Spirit apart from Christ. There was no working of the Holy Spirit without the message of Jesus.
Even afterwards in Acts chapter 4 you see the same thing happening. The apostles were arrested after they cured a man who had been crippled from birth. While under arrest and on trial before the Sadducees God's Word says in Acts 4:8-13 -
Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: "It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. He is "'the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone. Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved. When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.
The message of the disciples and the working of the Holy Spirit through the disciples was bound to their experience and knowledge and proclamation of Christ crucified and risen.
Whenever we speak about the Holy Spirit working through people - it might
seem somewhat scary to you. We don't focus on the Holy Spirit much. We don't
talk about Him much or how He works. We are led by many Pentecostals to believe
that He is some sort of feeling or fervor - perhaps like an intoxication that
takes over the mouth and the soul. So as we sit in the pew we are led to wonder
to ourselves, "do I have the Spirit"? We are
led by the hyper-spiritual world to ask ourselves, "if
I cannot speak in tongues, do I really believe?" When we don't find
ourselves jumping up and down for Jesus or going to
Yet what we tend to forget is where the Holy Spirit promised He would be. It
isn't something you can feel or touch or bring about by climbing a mountain.
God simply promises that when water is poured on you in the name of the Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit - He will come. The very simple act of simply saying,
"Jesus is Lord" is already a speaking in tongues - an ability that none of us would have without the working of
the Holy Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:3) Simply ask yourself - "do I believe
I was a lost and condemned sinner? Was I baptized in the name of the triune
God? Do I believe that Jesus died for me? Do I believe I too will rise from the
dead because I know Jesus rose from the dead?" If you can answer yes to
these, then the Holy Spirit screams to you from the Scriptures - "Stop
doubting whether you have Me and believe! For I am connected to baptism. I work through the Lord's
Supper to bring you Christ! I am in Word and I am connected to that faith! Feel
it or not - this is where I am! If you have faith in Christ, you have me."
III. The Holy Spirit will work through you
The Holy Spirit worked exactly how Jesus predicted. Jesus told his disciples well ahead of time, And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning. Why was this gift of the Holy Spirit so important? "All this I have told you so that you will not go astray. They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God. They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me. I have told you this, so that when the time comes you will remember that I warned you." In the face of great danger and imprisonment, the disciples would be tempted to remain quiet. So Jesus warned them of the danger to come - and reinforced the awesome responsibility that He was giving them - to tell people about Him. They had to. On Pentecost the disciples did not sit around as the Holy Spirit spoke through the tongues of fire. Although the disciples were completely helpless in bringing the Holy Spirit into their mouths - they were not helpless as they Holy Spirit spoke through their mouths. They spoke in different languages. They spoke of sin and grace. They spoke of Christ.
This is what happens to those who have been anointed with the Holy Spirit.
When you recognize who Jesus is and what He has done for you, you can't help
but sing praises to him and tell others about him. When you recognize what a
terrible punishment hell is, you have to. Do not underestimate the powerful
working of the Holy Spirit in the simple things you are doing. You may not be
out preaching in the city squares of
If you cannot speak like angels, if you cannot preach like Paul,
you can tell the love of Jesus, you can say he died for all.
The Holy Spirit is working through your mouth and working through your life. It may not be as flashy as you would like. It may not feel as good as you expected, but He is speaking through you. In a hidden and yet powerful way - He is with you. He committed Himself to you in your baptism. He pledges to continue with you in the Lord's Supper. He keeps on living in you soul through the Word of God spoken and read. He is here.
Do not forget this, because the times will get more and more dangerous. In a world that is becoming more and more heathen, you will need to be more and more courageous. It is interesting that Jesus warned the disciples about people like Paul - who in killing Christians thought he was doing something favorable in God's sight. The threat grows worse today. Extremist Muslims - in the name of Christ - think they are doing God a favor by going on suicide missions. Liberal Christians think they are doing God a favor by attacking conservative Christians - calling them unloving and judgmental. Atheism and Paganism is growing in their hatred towards what we believe. In the midst of these accusations and dangers - it is hard to know what to say and frankly quite frightening to proclaim the Word.
Yet in the midst of this - Jesus encourages us to proclaim Him even more. The same powerful Holy Spirit who worked through the baptism of fire on the disciples at Pentecost - will work through us. As we remember out baptism, we will be assured that He is with us. As we take the Lord's Supper - we will be assured of our faith in Christ. As we continue to listen to the Word, the same Paraclete who enabled them to speak in different languages, will enable us to proclaim sin and grace - to proclaim Christ crucified no matter what the consequence. We will not be afraid to tell our children about Christ, our neighbors about Christ, or our friends about Christ. We will respond as Peter and John in Acts 4:20, "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard."
When the 4th of July comes many will go out to their parks and backyards to look at the fireworks. They'll watch in amazement as things blow up and fly through the skies with magnificent colors. It would be interesting to me to take a microphone and a camera into the cloud and ask some of the spectators, "why are they lighting off these fireworks?" I would venture to guess that many do not even know the answer to that question. Many will not know of the historical significance of Independence Day.
Pentecost could be the same way if we aren't careful. We can talk about the flames of fire. We can talk about the gift of speaking in different languages. Yet the bigger meaning behind Pentecost and the purpose of it was to get more people to repent of theirs sins and believe in Christ. The heart and core of the Holy Spirit's work - the purpose of Pentecost - is to proclaim the Word of Christ. This is how the Holy Spirit entered us and why the Holy Spirit entered us - so we would be willing to abandon everything we have on earth and focus us all of our lives on Christ crucified and risen for the sins of the world. The fire burns on as the Holy Spirit continues to speak through the Word. It must continue on - through our testimony. Do not be ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. This is the purpose of Pentecost. It all revolves around the Word. Amen.