POPULARITY
We all are being transformed by the Holy Spirit of the Lord, the Paraklete. The Spirit Awakens us to Christ and to the life of the spirit. The Spirit transforms us or conforms into the image of Christ.Referenced Verses:John 14:16 (KJV); Proverbs 18:10; Psalms 18:2; Isaiah 25:4Psalms 11:2; Psalms 11:1; Psalms 11:3Romans 6:4; 2 Corinthians 3:18Ephesians 4:13; Romans 8:29; Galatians 5:22-23John 10:28-29; John 15:10; 1 John 2:6; 1 John 2:10
Jesus tells us He will send us the Advocate when He leaves us and will not leave us orphans! The Paraklete is the one who Stands Beside another! The Holy Spirit was present at the beginning, during and will be at the end of time. You know what else was present at the beginning the end and with Jesus at the center of His ministry?--Motherhood!
If we were able to ask the Creator of the Universe where he would choose to live, where he would call home, it is not a place. It is you. He wants to live in you. The question is, do we want him to live in us? Because there is a cost. God's grace is free, but it's not cheap. If you want God to live in you, you have to love Jesus. This is not a condition or threat to us, it is simply a necessary condition if we truly want to accept his love for us. To be in a relationship with Jesus, we must love him. This is more than an emotional connection. Loving Jesus looks like obeying Jesus. We must want to obey him, trust him, and grow in our obedience to him. This is necessary for him to live in us. He doesn't expect us to do the work alone, he tells us we will do it together.Sermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/49018549 Prayer Requests: https://ccefc.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/2509/responses/new23.02.05
The Holy Spirit, the Holy Ghost, the Paraklete, the Advocate, all names given to the promised one to continue the work of Jesus in through the Church. Jesus tells his disciples of the role of the Holy Spirit. How the encouragement of the Advocate gives us the courage to speak into a world gone wrong.
In the previous devotional I highlighted that the Holy Spirit is our Helper. Jesus said: “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever…” (John 14:16, ESV) In Greek, the word is Parakletos. It's a word that is also translated as Counselor, Advocate and Comforter. J.I. Packer … Continue reading With the Paraklete you are plural
Audio recordingSermon manuscript:The greatest possibilities exist wherever the Word of God is heard. The Word of God has the ability to bring about righteousness where there is otherwise only sin. It can bring life where there is only otherwise death. It teaches us who we are and who God isWe may learn what is truly good and holy and God-pleasing for our lives—the way that we should live. The truths of God's Word are not just for this life, but carry on into eternal life. These are the most important things anyone could want to know. There's one more thing worth mentioning about God's Word especially on this day of Pentecost. The Word of God is the way that the Holy Spirit works. Don't look for the Holy Spirit apart from the Word of God. The Holy Spirit does not work in us apart from the Word of God. But in the Word of God the Holy Spirit is our paraklete. Paraklete is the Greek word that Jesus uses to describe the Holy Spirit. This Greek word can be accurately translated with many different English words. The translation we heard this morning used the word “counselor.” This would be akin to being a lawyer. Lawyers are called counselors. Lawyers represent and speak for their clients. Most importantly, lawyers are on the side of their clients. Another word that gets across the meaning of paraklete is “advocate.” An advocate is on your side. Older translations opted for the word “comforter.” Someone on your side speaks words of comfort. The main thing with the word paraklete is that the Holy Spirit sidles up to you. Let's say you're walking down the street. He sidles up to you and walks right along with you. And he is your friend. He's on your side. He helps. He speaks for you. The Word of God is rich and full of all kinds of blessings. It teaches wisdom and the way of salvation. But to my mind the greatest of all the things that God does through the Word of God is the giving of the paraklete, the Holy Spirit, who is himself God. This friend, this comforter, sidles up to you to bring you a message of victory and peace. God is for you in our Lord Jesus Christ. This is not dependent upon you in even the tiniest little bit. This is an objective, real, and universally applicable message: God is for you. This message is completely and entirely dependent upon the facts of God's saving work. God so loved the world that he gave his eternally begotten Son. God redeemed sinners through his Son, who became man in the womb of the virgin Mary. God did all that he did in Jesus for the benefit of sinners. Although sinners are hateful and disgusting, enemies of God, and seemingly irredeemable, Jesus suffered in their place, and there was not a single sin which was not redeemed by this great God-man, Jesus Christ. Although he is God, the crushing weight of our sin killed him. God did all of this because he is on our side. Jesus is the first-fruits of those who rise from the dead. Through his death and resurrection we are purified to live new lives together with God. The Holy Spirit, the paraklete, sidles up to those who hear the Word of God and testifies to you that this is for you. God has done this all for you. God is on your side. You might want to object: “But what about this or that? What about all the sins I've committed?” Your salvation is not dependent upon you. Your sins are not more powerful than God. God's power and grace are such that they be like an ocean and your sins are but a spark. Do you suppose that the ocean is able to put out a spark? Rest assured. Although your sins are awful, disgusting, and embarrassing, they are no match for Jesus's blood. So the work of the Holy Spirit is much better than that of a lawyer, a counselor, an advocate. Lawyers and advocates are great. They are on your side, and they fight for you. But there is no guarantee whatsoever that they are going to be able to win for you. Despite the best of intentions and the hardest work they lose cases all the time. This is not how it is with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit in the Word of God announces God's completed salvation in Jesus Christ and says that it is for you. The verdict has already been rendered by God. You just might not know it yet or believe it fully. The verdict is that you are not guilty because Jesus, who knew no sin, became sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him. This is what makes the sending of the Holy Spirit such a monumental event. The Holy Spirit announces what has already been done and accomplished. How different the message would be if only the possibility of salvation were announced: “If you play your cards right, if you don't screw it up, then you have a good shot at winning.” That would offer hope and despair to exactly the wrong people. It would offer some hope to those who are wrong about their own goodness and righteousness, but it would exclude hope for anyone who is honest about themselves. Those who know the truth, those who know their sinful condition, would have to believe that they are going to lose. They haven't played their cards right. The Gospel, however, announces that everyone wins. All have been forgiven by what Jesus has done. Therefore God will live in those who believe in Jesus, and we will live in God. We have been reconciled to him. But what about those who do not believe? One of the reasons why folks don't see Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit as being that great is because so many people don't believe. Our reason thinks that the way the story should go is that Jesus works our salvation, then the Holy Spirit should make everyone who hears the Gospel be saved. That, however, is not how things go. Some believe. Some don't. Some believe, are baptized, and saved. Some do not believe and are condemned. Why do some believe and some don't? Why is this one saved, but that one is condemned? This is the kind of question that is getting very close to God's majesty, which is far above us. Does a toddler need to understand the whys and how-comes of its parents? What would even this world come to if adults were constricted in their actions by what was understandable to toddlers? How, then, can God be constricted in his actions by what is understandable or acceptable to us? Toddlers might think that they are geniuses. Does that, in fact, make them geniuses? We might think that we know the difference between good and evil. We might think we know how God should act and what he should do, but is this actually the case? Do we know better than God? Indeed, thinking you are wiser than God's Word is the reason why people do not believe. They are blinded by the god of this age, the devil, who is an exceedingly proud spirit. Unbelievers, following the lead of their master, are so proud of their wisdom and reasoning that if anything should ever contradict their reasoning, then it has to go. If they can't understand anything and everything about God and his will, then that must be some kind of myth or fable. What matters, however, is not what I think is true, or what you think is true. We could both be mistaken. What matters is what is actually true. The truth of things is true totally independent of what I or you might think. For example, let's say I have a 100 dollar bill. It's perfectly authentic and legal tender. But for some reason I don't believe that it is true. Since I don't believe that it is true, I flush it down the toilet. That 100 dollar bill used to be mine. It was completely authentic and true. It would have bought whatever I would have wanted to buy with it. However, since I didn't believe that it was true, it came to be of no use to me. Now did my unbelief change the nature of the 100 dollar bill? Did my unbelief make the 100 dollar bill cease to be a 100 dollar bill? No. The 100 dollar bill continued to be as authentic and true as it ever was as it passed through the sewer pipes. However, my unbelief made that 100 dollar bill to be of no use to me. Let's use another example, this one from the Bible. God commanded Noah to build an ark in order to escape his waters of judgment upon the overwhelming sin of the earth. Noah and his family had God's promise. God said the ark would work. It would carry them through and save them. But let's suppose that one of those 8 individuals came to believe that the ark was worthless. The ark wouldn't save them. So they jump off the ark and perish in the water. Now whose fault would that be? Is that the ark's fault? Did it become somehow less salvific? No. The ark remained what it always was—God's salvation. So it is with God's salvation in Christ. God has completely and fully saved and forgiven all people through the wonderfully rich and effective blood of his own Son. God's grace and power is such that it is like an ocean, whereas the sin of the entire world is but a spark. God completely and totally triumphed over sin, death, and the devil so that the objective proclamation of reconciliation with God and eternal life in heaven may be made by the Holy Spirit. This proclamation is authentic and true. Nobody's belief or unbelief can change what God has done. However, a person's unbelief makes it so that this objectively true salvation is flushed down the toilet so to speak, or a person jumps off the ark into the waters of damnation. Why does a person do that? Because they believed lies. Who is the great liar? That liar and murderer, the devil, who particularly specializes in spiritual things. So how do we thwart the devil? This is a very important and practical question. The devil is our enemy. How can we not be taken in by his lies? The answer is by believing that the parakelet, the Comforter, speaks the objective truth about the forgiveness Jesus worked for all people. We must set aside our proud, toddler-ish thoughts, and believe that God knows what he is doing when he announces our salvation in Jesus Christ. Let God be true and every man a liar. Trust God more than you even trust yourself. It is an astounding thing that you have been given the message of God's sure and certain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. It is astounding that the Holy Spirit sidles up to you and testifies that this is yours. Though you are a sinner, you are not a sinner. Though you are mortal, you are immortal. Though you are God's enemy, you are God's beloved child. There is no doubt or chance in your salvation because God has done it all for you. This is a message that is of cosmic importance. It lasts eternally. No greater message could ever be given to any person. But how easily despised and disbelieved this message can be too. So it goes. A countless multitude lived at the time of Noah, but only eight souls in all were saved. Abraham pleaded for Sodom to be saved for the sake of 50, then 45, then 40, then 30, then 20, then 10. If ten could be found who believed, then Sodom and Gomorrah would have been saved. But only Lot and his daughters were saved. Jesus says that at the end of the world it will be like it was at the time of Noah and at the time of Sodom. People will be busy. They will be buying and selling, eating and drinking, making memories, but caring nothing for God and his Word. If this doesn't accurately describe the times that we are living in, then I don't know what could. That is why it is important that you do not despise God's proclamation of salvation or put God to the test. God has done this for you. It is true, even though none of us toddlers can completely understand it. Although our salvation is so profound that no one can completely understand it—not even the angels—nevertheless, even children and handicapped people can grasp it. The simplest and least clever people can understand that Jesus is their Savior. The spreading abroad of the Gospel that began at Pentecost and continues to this very day is wonderful. Do not be taken in by thoughts of your own cleverness or by demanding that everything is supposed to go how you think it should. What a wonderful thing it is that you have been baptized. What a wonderful thing it is to eat Christ's body and drink his blood. What a true and objective salvation is given to you by these things! Be at peace. It is for you.
None
As Christians today, we can fall into two dangers. It’s been said that Satan doesn’t care whether we fall into the ditch on the right hand of conservatism or the left hand of liberalism as long as we wander off the narrow pathway of following Jesus. On the right hand, we can ignore the work of the Spirit, we can acknowledge him theoretically but without any real personal life experience with him. On the left hand, we can obsess about the work of the Spirit and wrongly elevate him above the Father and Son in our understanding or functional pursuit of the Christian life. The solution is to staying on the path is listening to the biblical testimony. That's what we are going to do in this week's teaching as we meet (or get reacquainted with) the Paraklete, the Holy Spirit.
The post The Promise Of The Paraklete appeared first on Poplar Grove Baptist Church.
*Is Christ in you? Are you in Christ?* Text: John 14:15-20 (bulletin here) ( https://indd.adobe.com/view/2d3c1451-1b1b-487e-a07d-5f24e6a71671?fbclid=IwAR0WtJl1WRrLuwm9q1ciLshz8Bq_5kTM8hi0l27tg4zTx56UQtngXFBeoBk )
*Kristu ta den bo? Abo ta den Kristu?* Skritura: Huan 14:15-20 (buletin aki) ( https://indd.adobe.com/view/e69ce7ee-8ea3-4e11-b924-578d09e25649?fbclid=IwAR2rEIa5puMk8DO-8Na7PCYrvyP2JshKWFvSHCURxnKP7gcikcysOPSJ3Mo )
*Is Christ in you? Are you in Christ?* Text: John 14:15-20 (bulletin here) ( https://indd.adobe.com/view/e69ce7ee-8ea3-4e11-b924-578d09e25649?fbclid=IwAR2rEIa5puMk8DO-8Na7PCYrvyP2JshKWFvSHCURxnKP7gcikcysOPSJ3Mo )
The passage begins by Jesus saying that if His disciples love Him they will keep His commandments. And in response, the Father will give them a Helper, a Counselor, an Advocate, the Paraclete. Only those in Christ can receive this Holy Spirit. Jesus also states that loving Him means keeping His commandments, chief of which He had previously spoken, that is, to love on another as Jesus has loved them. And this means that “we” will come to them, indwelling them. And this Helps will teach them all things. He also states that He leaves them with His peace so that their hearts will not be troubled. Then He warns then that the “ruler of this world” is coming.
Here now is the 6th of Jesus’ “I Am” sayings. Here also Jesus summarizes His core teaching. He begins by stating that in His Father’s house is a place for them and He goes to prepare that place. He announces that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life and that no one comes to the Father except through or by means of, Him. The disciples press Jesus for more information. He wants them to believe in Him which is the same as believing in the Father. Here again we come upon the mystery of the Trinity. He ends this segment by saying that the disciples will do great works, even greater than He Himself, because He goes to the Father and that they can therefore pray to Him.
The Holy Spirit – The World – The Follower
NOTES AND COMMENTARY Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31 John 16:12-15 Psalm 8 Romans 5:1-5 VOICE IN THE WILDERNESS: Mason Parks Pastor, New Journey AME PSALMIST IN THE FIELD: Richard Bruxvoort Colligan Psalmimmersion.com @pomopsalmist Patreon SUMMARY It's Trinity Sunday. In the John text, Jesus promises the coming of the Spirit of Truth. We discuss the concept of the Paraklete, is it advocate or companion? Both descriptions are important, but incomplete. Romans 5 is an important passage in the history of the Church, and gives us a chance to examine the idea of boasting in suffering, and the source of our hope. Mason Parks shares a great word about wisdom, and Richard BC covers Psalm 8.
The Holy Spirit is the most enigmatic member of the Trinity. Jesus gives the gift of His Spirit to all Believers when they are Born Again and is therefore called “the paraklete,” which is Greek for helper or comforter. “Paraklete means “the one who is alongside.” The Holy Spirit is definitely a person in that we can grieve Him and we can delight Him. He points everyone to Christ and reminds us of everything Jesus taught. His main role is to glorify Christ by helping us live out the life that Christ calls us to live. We know He is at work within us by the fruit that we produce. Romans calls us to “walk in the Spirit” and not give into our natural, sinful, instincts. The Holy Spirit prompts us not only to avoid evil, but He guides us to do God's will, making us agents of God.
Join Host of Let's Get Radical Jody Padar and our partners AICPA and 1st Global as we broadcast live from the 2018 AICPA ENGAUGE Event at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Jody and her guests provide thought provoking discussion and insight into the world of technology for CPA'S and firms of the future in this rapidly expanding field.
Historical Jesus 14: Last Supper Why did Judas betray Jesus? What did Jesus teach his closest friends and followers at the last supper? Learn about the first “Lord’s Supper” or communion as well as what was on Jesus’ mind in his last hours before his arrest. He taught them how to carry on after he Read more about Podcast 38: Last Supper (Historical Jesus 14)[…]
Historical Jesus 14: Last Supper Why did Judas betray Jesus? What did Jesus teach his closest friends and followers at the last supper? Learn about the first “Lord’s Supper” or communion as well as what was on Jesus’ mind in his last hours before his arrest. He taught them how to carry on after he Read more about Podcast 38: Last Supper (Historical Jesus 14)[…]
Pastor Bryan Wolfmueller
Pastor Bryan Wolfmueller