Peter Barnes | John 14:16-17
SERMON NOTES
ANOTHER HELPER WILL COME
(John 14:16-17; see Romans 8:1-11)
On the last night, Jesus refers to the Spirit on five occasions (cf. 14:16-17, 26; 15:26; 16:7-11, 12-15).
1. The Holy Spirit is a divine Person like Jesus.
– 14:16-17. The ESV has ‘another Helper’, KJV ‘Comforter’, KKJV ‘Helper’, NIV ‘Counsellor’, Calvin even suggests ‘Patron’. Probably ‘Advocate’ is probably the best word and this is the translation in referring to Christ in 1 John 2:1.
– ‘another’ i.e. what Christ is, the Spirit is.
2. The Holy Spirit remains with His people forever.
– 14:16. Christians can grieve the Holy Spirit (Eph.4:30) and we are to seek to be filled with the Holy Spirit (Eph.5:18). But the Spirit remains.
3. Only Christ’s people, not the world, can know Him.
– 14:17; the world cannot grasp this (Rom.8:8-9; 1 Cor.2:14; Jude 17-19). Hence the frustration that can come with evangelism.
– the Spirit is the Spirit of holiness and the Spirit of truth – 1 John 2:27.