The Holy Spirit & You
By Senior Pastor Prince
Guneratnam
John
Translators have difficulty
in finding an adequate English word for the Greek word Parakletos.
The King James Version
translates it as “Comforter.” The J.B. Phillips Version says “Advocate” and “Helper”.
The Amplifier Version says “Counsellor.” All these version try to express what the word Parakletos means. Each of the concepts is included in it.
In the New Testament, Parakletos refers
to the Holy Spirit
In the New Testament, you
will find that the word Parakletos refers to the Holy
Spirit. Read through the New Testament and you will find that it is used
particularly as a reference to the Holy Spirit except for one, which is in 1
John 2:1 – “And if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus
Christ the Righteous One.” Only in this instance do you find that it is a
reference to Jesus; at all other times it refers to the Holy Spirit.
“Now the Holy Spirit was Promised”
1.
Luke 24:29 – The Promise of the Father.
“I
am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until
you have been clothed with power from on high.” These were the last words of
Jesus to His disciples. He was commissioning them to tarry at
2.
John
Roses
are beautiful flowers. Some roses are white, pink, yellow or red, but all roses
are the same kind; they have the same nature – the things inside them that make
them roses. The Bible says, “I will pray to the Father and He will give you
another Counsellor.” He is not talking about a different kind of Counsellor – “another” is one of the same kind. He said, “I am now with you physically but I will go
away and another just like me, identical with me, will come, and He will come
not only alongside but He shall come and abide with you. Another
of the same kind, just like me when I fed the multitudes, did many miracles and
healed the sick.”
The
disciples were very fearful. They asked, “Jesus, are you going away?” he said,
“Yes.”
How
many of us wish Jesus stayed so that we can see and touch Him and then when we
have little food in the house we can say, “Jesus, take the little and multiply
them.” You see, we think with our finite minds – therefore we lack the full
knowledge of things.
3.
John
Another
translation says, “I will not leave you comfortless. If I go, don’t for a
moment think that I will leave without any assistance or help, I will not leave
you as orphans because I am going to send someone just like me.”
I
think they said to Him, “Jesus, please don’t go,” but Jesus replied in John
16:7: “It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counsellor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send
him to you.”
Can
you imagine what would have happened if Jesus had stayed? We would all be
pulling on Him. Malaysians would say, “Jesus, come to
“So
it is important that I go because when I go, I will send the Holy Spirit, the
third person of the Trinity.” The Holy Spirit like God is Omnipresent. We can
all have the Holy Spirit wherever we are. Otherwise all Calvarites
will say to Jesus, “Come to
Jesus
said, “I tell you the truth, it is important that I go and if I go, I will send
Him and He is just like me except He does not have a body.” He is the third
person of the Trinity and He will come in the Spirit. He is Omnipresent. He is
everywhere at the same time. So, we do not have to quarrel or fight as to where
Jesus will be. He is another just like Jesus, unlimited in His presence and
power.
What is the purpose of the coming of the Holy Spirit?
Why did Jesus say I will send Him to you?
He has come to help you to
be Godlike in your character. He brings out the new nature because now you are
a new creature in Christ. The Holy Spirit comes; He comes to guide, to teach
and to show you how you can be like Him. The Bible says we are being transformed
into the image of His Son, Jesus Christ and the only way that we become
transformed like Him is through the Holy Spirit. You need the Holy Spirit. You
need to recognize the Holy Spirit in your life. Many of us struggle to be an
over-comer and to do what is right. But do not have the strength. That is why
Jesus said the Holy Spirit has come to give you power to be a witness and a
testimony for Him.
Church, you need the Holy
Spirit. It is not positive thinking, nor the strong will that make you
successful believer nut it is the recognition, the
acceptance and your willingness to let the Holy Spirit flow through you. Give
Him room and place in your heart and mind.
John 16:15 says, “All that belongs to
the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine
and make it known to you.”
Who is He? He is the third
person of the Trinity. He has come to take the place of Jesus. All that Jesus
was to the disciples, the Holy Spirit is to you and more. It is the Holy Spirit
that shows you the truth and makes them real in your life. The Holy Spirit will
show you what is right and how to do the things that are right. He will help
you.
How many of you have tutors?
You go to school but you have someone to personally show you and teach you at
home. My friend, you need the Holy Spirit because Jesus said everything that
the Father has given me, the Holy Spirit will take it and reveal it to you and
show you and make it known to you and the result will be a changed life in
character and lifestyle. Welcome the Holy Spirit, let Him abide in you; give
Him room. Say to Him, “Holy Spirit, I give myself to you” and do as Romans 6 tells
us. We will begin to bear the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Gal.
Has any of you ever seen a
fruit tree eating and enjoying its own fruits? Fruit trees bear fruits for
others to enjoy. Strange isn’t it? But it’s true. You will begin to bear fruits
and others will begin to taste the fruits that are within you, and they will
see and say, “Look at that man or woman, what is so special about him or her?”
It is the Holy Spirit’s presence – the Holy Spirit helping you, tutoring you.
How many of us have been frustrated trying to live for God and obey Him. We try
very hard to do what the Bible says is right but then we fall flat on our face
and we ask, “What’s the use? I am born this way. I can’t do it.”
You see, the Bible is an
instructor, much like a school teacher. The Bible shows you what is right and
what is wrong. Because of the Bible I know God is holy and I am a sinner. The
Bible cannot make me good; it only tells me who I am and what I must do.
My father was a school
teacher and I never liked writing to him. Every time I wrote him a letter, he
would send it back to me and show me my mistakes. There would be so many red
marks on my letter along with his reply. You see, a school teacher always tells
you what is right and what to do. Spiritually, you know you need to stop sinning
but you lack the power and ability to do so, and that is when you need the Holy
Spirit to help you.
2 Corinthians 9:8 – “And God is able to
make all grace abound to you so that in all things at all times, having all you
need, you will abound in every good work.”
We must understand that God
has given all things to Jesus. The only way that the grace of God is going to
flow through you and your life is through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will
teach you, show you and make it applicable in your everyday living.
2 Corinthians 3:5-6 – “He has made us
competent as ministers of a new covenant – not of the letter but of the Spirit;
for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” Verse 17 – we are able. Our sufficiency is not in
you strength nor our ability. But through the Holy Spirit, He will teach us and
show us so that we can be what God wants us to be.
No wonder Jesus says, “It is
expedient that I go. If I go, I’ll send the Holy Spirit to you and He comes not
only alongside but inside of you to help you to live, to become people of signs
and wonders.”
It is very interesting to
note an incident in Peter’s life, before and after the day of Pentecost. Or Paul, in fact any of the disciples and saw the change in their lives
and personality after the infilling of the Holy Spirit. For one moment
Peter was afraid of the maid who questioned his relationship with Jesus and
then on the day of Pentecost he stood up and lifted his voice to preach resulting
in about 3000 people receiving Christ.
It is the Holy Spirit that
gives you the dynamics to become what Jesus says we can be and wants us to be.
Do not lean on your arm of flesh, or your own ability or your own strength and
natural wisdom but say to the Holy Spirit, “Have your own way in my heart and
life.”
I remembered vividly one of
my art classes. I was in primary school and not very good in art. But I
remembered the teacher giving us a big sheet of paper and some crayons and she
told us to draw anything we liked. I started to draw and all I could draw were
lines here and there. The teacher went round the class and eventually came to
me. She gently leant over and took my hand and added to the lines and then
added more lines and drew a tree out of those lines that I had drawn. I turned
to my friends and said, “Hey, I can draw a tree!”
The Holy Spirit wants to
take our hands, tongues, feet, minds and heart. He comes to fill your life and
to give you the right kind of desires. Today and everyday, let the Holy Spirit fill
you.
Issue No.13, July –
September 1991