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The Work of the Holy Spirit: Advocate
John 7:37-39 (NIV) "On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, 'If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.' By this He meant the Spirit." To have the Holy Spirit living and working within us is a powerful thing.
In these verses in John 7, (NIV) Jesus encourages us to drink from the rivers of life: the water from which we will never thirst again. There is not a list of 10 things we must do first or what obstacles we must overcome. It simple says, "if you are thirsty, come and drink!" This is the message of the Gospel. You don't have to be perfect, free of sin to receive salvation. It is salvation that makes you clean. You don't have to be perfect in order to receive the Holy Spirit. Rather it is the Holy Sprit that gives you the power to press on to be more like Christ. As you press on, the character of Christ will be revealed in your human nature.
In Ephesians 5:18 (NIV), Paul commands us, "Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit." This is not optional but obligatory for every believer that we be full of His Holy Spirit working through our lives. Being full is not something we can do for ourselves but a continuous work the Holy Spirit has to do within us. What great potential each of us has when the Spirit is at work within us.
So what does it mean to be "full of the Spirit"? Yes, there are gifts of the Spirit and the experience of the baptism in the Spirit, but I want us to focus today on the person of the Holy Spirit, the third person in the Trinity, and how He is at work within us and why He lives and dwells within us.
The Holy Spirit is an Advocate for Jesus. Jesus referred many times to the person of the Holy Spirit as a Counselor. In John 16:7 (NIV) when He said to His disciples, "But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you." John 14:16 (NIV) gives another example of this: "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Counselor, that he may abide with you forever. This word counselor in Greek means paraclete or advocate. It is the same word we find in 1 John 2:1 (KJV) "My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." Jesus is the one who represents us and intercedes on our behalf when we are in need.
In these verses in John, the Holy Spirit is also referred to as a Counselor, an advocate. However, He is not our intercessor in heaven; rather He is in the heart of every believer. When we accept Jesus Christ as Lord, He forgives us of our sins, and the Holy Spirit enters our lives and lives with us. If the Holy Spirit is therefore an advocate, whom is He the advocate for? He is not the advocate interceding on behalf of the believer; no that is Jesus Christ who is seated at the right hand of our Heavenly father. The Holy Spirit is the representative on behalf of Jesus. Yes, He is the advocate for Jesus! The Holy Spirit goes with us, protecting the investment Jesus has made in our redemption. This is what Jesus was saying in John 16:14, (KJV) when he said "He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you." In other words, the Holy Spirit is the Ambassador for Jesus. He reveals to us who Jesus is: His grace, His mercy, His love, His forgiveness and, most importantly, our continual need of Him in our lives.
Through the revelation of the Spirit, we see our sin and our failures. The purpose of the Holy Spirit in our lives is to continually move us in the direction that Jesus Christ Himself may be glorified in us. Jesus lives in us by the power of the Holy Spirit. Your pastor cannot walk with you 24 hours a day to make sure you are going to stay on the right track and make all your decisions correctly, but the Holy Spirit, the ambassador of Jesus, is walking with you and living and working in you. I encourage you today, be full of the Spirit! Allow Him to represent the work that your Savior Jesus Christ has done in your life. Jesus Christ gave His all for you and you are a worthy investment. May we be attentive to the leading and voice of the Spirit that through Him we may daily grow in Christ's likeness.
Prayer:
Father, thank you that you gave me a counselor in your Holy Spirit. Help me today to be more aware of the Spirit's leading within my life. Help me to listen more attentively so that I may daily grow to be more Christ-like in my nature. Your son Jesus Christ has saved me, redeemed me, and set me free. I desire more each day to be what He wants me to be. If I am led by your Spirit dwelling within me, then I will, step by step, be who you have designed for me to be. Let me be full of your Holy Spirit. I want to hear when your Holy Spirit speaks to me and obey His leading. Forgive me of any hindrance I have been and the times I have not listened to the Spirit's leading. I come before you today as an empty vessel and say, "Lord, fill me anew with your Spirit." Amen.
Copyright © 2008-2015 Melinda Henderson
Reader Comments...
| 2011-03-03 15:44:27 "Could you advocate the great Holy Spirit/Counselor to do God's will in his office as prejudice and bias are not a part of the kingdom of God...Well, then pray that the Holy Spirit decends upon the minds and hearts of government officials..Please pray that Human Rights Commission in Fairfax County developes a conscience for all humans not just the ones they want...as Staley v. Frito-Lay has been stalled for two years...Pray for these people at Human Rights Commission of Fairfax County...they really need our prayers....I forgive them...but, I don't know if God will." - Rose |
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