This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of “The Holy Spirit” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, February 18, 1996.
We are reading tonight from the book of Lamentations. Lamentations chapter 1. And we are reading at verse 12. the attention to God’s holy word. Lamentations 112. Is it nothing to all you who pass this way? Look and see if there is any pain like my pain, which was severely dealt out to me, which the Lord inflicted on the day of his fierce anger.
From on high he sent fire into my bones, and it prevailed over them. He has spread a net for my feet. He has turned me back. He has made me desolate, faint all day long. The yoke of my transgressions is bound. By his hand they are knit together. They have come upon my neck. He has made my strength fail. The Lord has given me into the hands of those against whom I am not able to stand. The Lord has rejected all my strong men in my midst. He has called and appointed time against me to crush my young men.
The Lord has trodden as in a winepress the virgin daughter of Judah. For these things I weep. My eyes run down with water. because far from me is a comforter, one who restores my soul. My children are desolate because the enemy has prevailed. Zion stretched out her hand. There is no one to comfort her. The Lord has commanded the concerning Jacob that the ones round about him should be his adversaries. Jerusalem has become an unclean thing among them. The Lord is righteous, for I have rebelled against his command.
Hear now, all peoples, and behold my pain. My virgins and my young men have gone into captivity. I called to my lovers, but they deceived me. My priests and my elders perished in the city, while they sought food to restore their strength themselves. See, O Lord, for I am in distress, my spirit is greatly troubled, my heart is overturned within me, for I have been very rebellious. In the street the sword slays, in the house it is like death. They have heard that I groaned, there is no one to comfort me.
All my enemies have heard of my calamity, they are glad that thou hast done it. O that thou wouldst bring the day which thou hast proclaimed, that they may become like me, that all their wickedness come before thee, and deal with them as thou hast dealt with me for all my transgressions. For my groans are many, and my heart is faint.”
And then, turning over to John’s Gospel, Chapter 16, reading from verse 7. John 16, 7. But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away. For if I do not go away, the Comforter shall not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.
And he, when he comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment, concerning sin because they do not believe in me, concerning righteousness because I go to the Father and you no longer behold me, and concerning judgment because the ruler of this world has been judged.”
Let’s pray together. Father, we would ask you for strength in our souls, that we would receive more than the milk of a word, rather that we would receive the meat of that word. Father, train us by our reading, by our hearing, Train us, even as we are part of your people and even of this assembly, that we would better apprise your word, grasp its meaning, and live in light of its truth. Bless us this evening, our Father, that your word may be proved to be very useful to us. O God, that it may be our very life. This we ask in Jesus’ name.
We have been working very hard of late during these recent Sunday evening messages to lay out the interests of John’s gospel, and particularly to lay out those interests in light of the focus that we have had for ourselves as we have concentrated on John’s testimony concerning the Holy Spirit.
Currently, we have been focusing our attention on chapters 13 through 20, a section of the Gospel which has been called by some the Book of Glory, and we have been looking at the references to the Holy Spirit in these chapters. Now, we have noted that the particular angle of vision in these chapters as it relates to the Holy Spirit concerns Jesus’ promise of the Holy Spirit to his disciples and by them to the Church. It is in this context that we have noted that Jesus speaks about the Holy Spirit as the Comforter, which has been the classic and traditional rendering of the phrase or the word Paraclete. The Holy Spirit is so identified as the Comforter or the Paraclete in John 14 verse 16, again in verse 26, chapter 15 verse 26, and in chapter 16 verse 7, which we have read this evening.
In a previous message, one on John 14, 16, we looked at Jesus in terms of the way in which he was giving, in terms of the way in which he was preparing for the coming ministry of the Holy Spirit. We noted that in that particular context, Jesus was suggesting to us something of a greater ministry for the Holy Spirit, a greater ministry for the Comforter than he had even given himself. We noted along these lines how in the Old Testament there were strategic figures in the history of salvation who gave way to others who in certain ways seemed to have a greater ministry than those who had preceded. We spoke of Moses, and we spoke of Elijah. You remember how Moses gives way to the ministry of Joshua, and how it could be said that Joshua’s ministry in some respects is greater than the ministry of Moses.
Moses was not permitted to enter into the Promised Land. He was not permitted to enter into the inheritance. That was given to Joshua. Joshua led the children of Israel across the Jordan and into the Promised Land. He made similar observations with regard to Elijah. Elijah, as you know, gives way to Elisha. And we are told that Elisha was given a double measure of the spirit that had been upon Elijah.
So we have in the Old Testament these figures who are prominent, but then they give way to others who seem to have a greater ministry still. As we come into the New Testament, we notice the figure of John the Baptist, the way in which he gives way to Jesus.
Certainly there is no argument here that the more superior ministry is the ministry of Jesus over that of John the Baptist. But now, as we consider Jesus himself, we note that his ministry in the flesh is going to give way to something far superior. We note that his ministry in the flesh is the source of the ministry of the Spirit, and that the Spirit’s ministry can be spoken of as if it were a greater ministry still. We might even say at this point that there is something deliberate going on in the vocabulary of Jesus in this regard.
For it’s almost as if he deliberately makes himself the lesser in the interest of the full and comprehensive ministry of the Holy Spirit. It seems to be in keeping with the way in which Jesus always conducts his affairs. He is seemingly the servant, and that to a fault. He is always making himself the lower in order that those around him might be exalted.
His ministry is such that he places himself at our disposal that we might receive the blessing. Even here, with regard to the Holy Spirit, His humility is magnified as he speaks in such a way that it seems that he is the lesser in the interests of the figure of the Spirit who comes with a full and comprehensive ministry.
Now, of course, as we speak of things as they relate to the Holy Trinity, we realize that all of the persons of the Trinity are the same in substance and equal in power and glory. But in this setting, as things are working themselves out, that if Jesus, in the interest of salvation and for the purpose of teaching us things concerning the way in which we should conduct our own affairs and look upon ourselves, makes himself the lesser, that the other may be exalted. So it is, then, that the full and comprehensive ministry of the Holy Spirit has come, and that through Jesus Christ.
We know, then, do we not, that our day is not a lesser day for the realization of and the appreciation of God’s blessings? We know that our day is not a lesser day for the enjoyment of God’s blessings to us. You know how the discussion ordinarily goes. We wish we would have been living during the time in which Jesus was alive on the earth in his flesh, and we are liable to think that we are in a sorry your condition, an impoverished situation because we are not privileged to live when Jesus actually walked upon this earth. Jesus has a different opinion altogether. He is telling us that ours is the glorious day and that that glorious day has come as a result of a ministry which he has rendered in the flesh which has given way to the greater, fuller, and more comprehensive ministry in the Holy Spirit.
Ours, then, is not a lesser day in the economy of God. Ours is the greatest day in the economy of God. It is at the present time that the fullest measure of God’s rich blessings are being enjoyed by God’s people. And truly, they should be being enjoyed by us, should they not.
So then, the Holy Spirit comes in the interest of that full, comprehensive ministry. And such a ministry that means then an abiding presence for us in the person of the Holy Spirit. Jesus is one who comes and then departs, but the Holy Spirit is one who comes and abides. So then, Jesus’ departure, as sad as it is, gives way to a day of unprecedented glory and blessing in the Holy Spirit for the people of God.
Now tonight, what I want to do is present to you something of a collation of Jesus’ message from these chapters here that we’ve noted this evening. A collation of Jesus’ message about the Holy Spirit as the Comforter, as the Paraclete. First of all, it is necessary for us to say something about the Comforter’s identity. In John 14, verse 16, Jesus calls him another Comforter, or another Paraphrase, which suggests, of course, that Jesus is the first. This means that the Holy Spirit, in terms of his identity, will follow in the pattern of Jesus’ ministry and is on a line with him. He is personal and equal to him.
John 14.7 finds Jesus calling the Spirit, the Spirit of truth, Comforter now here so identified, who in this context stands separate from the world. Now it’s important that we understand exactly what Jesus is driving at here, for it’s very, very important that we have a firm grip on the meaning of truth as it is used in John’s Gospel. You see, truth particularly relates to the realm of fulfillment, completion, and eternity in John’s Gospel. That means that truth does not so much stand over against error, as it does over against that which is incomplete and temporal, that which is partial, falling short of eternal reality.
The world then cannot receive the spirit of truth because it resists the intrusion of any testimony to its partial and temporary character. Do you get the point? Yes, the world is filled with evil. It is overrun with sin. It is overflowing in error and falsehood. But you see, paramount as to why the world will not receive the spirit of truth is because the spirit of truth brings with him the testimony concerning the partial and temporary nature of this world and existence here.
You may note that Jesus uses the title the Spirit of Truth again in these chapters, particularly chapter 16, verse 13, to the same effect. The interest is to contrast the eternal order with that which is temporary. That which is temporary, that which abides forever, and that which does not. It is also important for us to note that in John fourteen verse twenty six, the comforter is specifically and directly called the Holy Spirit.
And I say that this is important and useful because there have been those in the history of the church who attempted to separate the Holy Spirit from his post resurrection, post ascension descent to the church from a latter visitation of the parable.
Often the visitation of the parapleet, conceived of by some in the history of the Church, the visitation of the parapleet in a later day, has much to do with them personally in their own ministry. They become the embodiment of the parapleet, the counselor. They are the Holy Spirit or the fulfillment of this passage. That’s how they understand these texts.
But make no mistake about it, through plain reading, of the matter is that the Comforter is the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is He who came according to Christ’s promise, keeping with the blessing that was poured out upon the Church on the day of Pentecost.
Secondly, we have the fact But the coming of the Comforter is here in Jesus’ language presented to us as a new work of God. The coming of the Comforter is presented to us as a new work of God. Such is the distinctiveness of his ministry, so extraordinary is it, as if he were entering upon the plane of salvation history for the very first time. as if he were making his very first appearance. Now, of course, we all know that the Holy Spirit has been operative even from the beginning. We read of the Spirit’s activity in Genesis 1, verse 2. And many times throughout the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit is spoken of as central to various individuals, their service, the service that they render to Jehovah.
His appearance is so bound to the Father’s will and to the Son’s activity in the arrival of a new day of redemptive significance that it seems as if he is only now, for the very first time, coming on the scene. So fresh is he! In this introduction, it’s as if we are greeting him and meeting him for the very first time. So new is this day that it overwhelms us with its freshness. It is alive with the spirit of newness. Then again, he is just arriving in relationship to the accomplishment of the Son’s ministry, is he not? He comes only because, we are told, the Son departs.
Chapter 16, verse 7. He comes from the Father to impress upon Christ’s Church what Christ has said, chapter 14, verse 26. And the Father will both give the comforter at Jesus’ request, again chapter 14, verse 26, and in Jesus’ name, the same citation, all along. The same line, Jesus will, and along the same line, Jesus will send the Comforter upon his departure and the Comforter will bear witness of him.
All of these statements assume that a certain point in the history of redemption has now been reached. Only these things with respect to the Holy Spirit can be said. Only these things concerning the Holy Spirit can now be put in motion. Only now can the Holy Spirit be active in all of this, because a certain point in the history of salvation has been reached. It is time for a new work of God. Something new is taking place. It is utterly extraordinary. It is magnificent. It is wonderful beyond even what we can comprehend.
Third, in this respect, is the relationship the Holy Spirit has to the disciples. The disciples acknowledge the Holy Spirit. They greet him as it were. They understand him. They understand where he is coming from. They understand that he is coming from above, just as Jesus himself has come from above. They receive him as an abiding presence.
The Comforter becomes a teacher to the disciples concerning all those things that Jesus has taught them. He is not, of course, one who is giving instruction in biology and thermodynamics, but he is giving instruction in the content and meaning of Jesus’ ministry. Furthermore, after the Holy Spirit, the disciples bear witness of Christ. Holy Spirit is the source and pattern for their own witness bearing. So then we have the Spirit, the Comforter, spoken of in terms of his relationship to the disciples. Finally, we have his relationship also spoken of concerning the world.
The world, as we have already said, cannot receive or understand the Holy Spirit. Chapter 14, verse 17. The Holy Spirit will also confound the world’s mind to the effect that it will undermine its assessments of sin, righteousness, and judgment. Verses 8 through 11 of that 16th chapter. The world’s wisdom will always be foolishness before the Spirit’s scrutiny. So it is. We can summarize them in this way.
The Comforter, the Holy Spirit, the territory, comes to stand in the stead of the departed Christ. As one equal to the Christ, and as the Son is equal to the Father, so the Spirit is as well. In order to communicate the greatness of the Spirit’s person, he is even made to look greater than the Son, in contrast to the ministry. He comes specifically to further the Son’s ministry through reminding the disciples of Christ’s character, teaching, and orientation. His role is all-important in the establishment of the record of Jesus’ person and work. but he also serves as a consoling agent in lieu of Jesus’ departure.
Because of this context for his work, the Church has not hesitated to translate the word paraphrase, comforter, comforter in light of Christ’s departure. This designation as comforter is quite apropos and that particularly in light of the message that was preached here this morning. It is as if the exile and all of its attendant griefs will reach their end point in Christ’s crucifixion and departure from this world.
Just as God promises comfort to grieving Israel in keeping with the resolution of her forlorn state in the exile, so God now provides comfort in his own person in the Holy Spirit, and that’s the exalted state of redemption through Jesus Christ. The one recurring theme that we hear again and again, rising from the exilic period of the Old Testament, is that there was no one there to offer comfort. Did you notice it tonight in the reading from Lamentations? How again and again in that first chapter it is stated that there was no one there to comfort bereaving Israel. But now the eternal comforter comes. And not only does he come, he stays. And as it is his business to comfort, so he continues to comfort in keeping with God’s purposes and will.
As far as the Holy Spirit and the world are concerned, what might we say in summary concerning that matter? We do well to remember that the Holy Spirit orients us to an entirely different world altogether, which this world does not and cannot understand. But further, before we get too cocky, we should know that it is the Holy Spirit that convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment, not us. Our comfort is from God, in God himself, the Holy Spirit. The success of our ministry in and before the world is from God, in God, the Holy Spirit.
What I have just said makes so much pastoral counseling and evangelistic ministry utterly aggravating and trivial. Because so much pastoral ministry, pastoral counseling and evangelistic ministry is so thoroughly and completely transparently the work of men for the glory of men, not the work of God for his glory. The Holy Spirit, then, as presented here by Jesus in these chapters his promise to his disciples and through them to the Church of the Comforter. Yet this one in whom the great turmoil of the ages will be brought to resolution, the exile finally will be brought to conclusion, and where there has been no Comforter, now there will stand a Comforter for the people of God, and that perpetually, but comfort as well with regard to our position in the Church and before the world.
If we are to minister and if we are to serve the recognition that as Jesus Christ has gone before us, so also the Holy Spirit has gone before us, and all of our labors are empty and vain, even trivial, if in fact we do not realize that it is the Holy Spirit’s ministry that precedes us, and it is into that ministry we must enter if we are to be effective.
This is just another way of saying it is all a grace. Let us pray. We thank you, our God, for the diverse witness of your word. But we thank you, our God, too, for the common thread that runs through it. presenting to us your way of salvation. We thank you, our Father, for the service rendered to us, even as your word makes plain to us the way in which your program of salvation progresses.
So now, O God, we find ourselves in the age of experience, and this as a glorious age in which to be living, one in which the real and true and substantive benefits of glory are being communicated to us in the Holy Spirit, and one in which also, O God, we are being comforted. Formerly we were not comforted, but now we are. and that by the perpetual presence of your Holy Spirit with us. Formerly we lacked power and strength, but now in him we have power and strength, for he is the one who accomplishes our ministry before we even rise to be about it in any fashion whatsoever. Therefore, O God, may we glory in you Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and may we take comfort that we are not abandoned, that we are not left as orphans, but that we are blessed by your very presence, and that, Father, we are to live in the full radiance of that presence, even to the benefit of those about us even as we would stand before this world, even as we would be a glory to your name. Therefore, help us, O Father, and encourage us through your Spirit, who is present with us, to do just that. We ask it in Jesus’ name. Amen.
The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.