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But When the Comforter Is Come . . .Preached at St. Barnabas Church, Bellville, TX Whitsunday, 2010 by The Rev. Stephen E. Stults
John
14:16
And I will pray the
Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, “Ho hum, just another Sunday,” says the World. “Just another Sunday to read the morning paper, perhaps go out for breakfast, or just plain luxuriate in bed. Just another Sunday.” This is the opinion of many today. This is the opinion of many, and it is just plain wrong.
This is NOT just another Sunday. It is not just another day. It is, in the history of the world,
one of the most momentous, one of the most important and one of the most
meaningful days of the year.
These are pretty big words. How can this be? How can we say such a thing? To the unspiritual, or to the unchurched, it is not true. To those who view every day the same, it is the same. There is no difference. But to those who see Creation through the new eyes of the redeemed, to those whose eye is single and thus full of light, this is a momentous day. It all comes down to a matter of spiritual perspective. Just as Christmas is a wonderful day to a Christian, whether or not he receives any gifts, and just as Easter is a day blessed beyond measure, so it the glorious feast of Pentecost to us Christians. The reasons are manifold. First and perhaps foremost, this is a direct fulfillment of the prophecy of the prophet Joel, where he said that God would pour out His Spirit on all flesh. It is thus a complete testimony of God keeping His word through the prophets. This is wonderful, but let’s face it, to the ordinary Christian, it may or may not mean that much. In that case, let’s try a second reason. How about a direct fulfillment of the words of Christ as told by the Apostle John, when Christ plainly told His disciples that he needed to go away in order for them to receive the Comforter, also known as the spirit of Power? Well, now, perhaps we’re getting somewhere. In that case, let’s try one more. How about the fact that on Pentecost God Himself, in the form of the Third Person of the Holy Trinity, came to live with us in a real and personal way. Permit me to repeat a point made last Sunday, when we said this: “He is not just some 'feeling' of good will from God, or some vague sense of the presence of God, but the Third Person of the Holy and Blessed Trinity, come to tabernacle with us, forever.” Amen to that! On the surface, one might say, “How nice…” and leave it at that. Many people do, we suppose. Let us not do that, beloved. Let us delve into this fact for what it really means. It means that God Himself, in the most transcendent manner possible, has chosen to live with us, in fact, to indwell us, if we are willing. Let that thought resonate for just a second…
Consider what that means. God Almighty, the Creator of
Heaven and Earth, the Ancient of Days, has consented to bond with you in
a very real and intimate fashion.
If you have any spiritual orientation at all, if you yearn
for the ultimate in any way, this should be incredible to you. Yet, it
is true. According to Christ’s promise, He has sent the Comforter to us.
He has sent Someone who knows you better than you know yourself.
Christ tells us in today’s Gospel that if a man love him
and keep his commandments, He will “manifest” himself to him. Christ
promised not to leave us comfortless, but to come to us. This He did, both bodily in his Resurrection, where He walked
with the disciples forty days before the Ascension, but also in the
coming of the Holy Ghost.
Judas asked him how this could happen, to which Christ replied that a
Christian’s love for him would result in the Holy Ghost, and thus
Christ, to “tabernacle,” or to indwell him. We saw this plainly in Acts 2 today, as Christ keeps his promise to His disciples. Thus, the Bible is true to itself, as
Christ’s prophecy in John 16 comes true in Acts 2. God is always true to His own promises. This is wonderful and glorious, indeed.
A question remains, however. Is the Holy Ghost “merely” a New Testament phenonmenon? Did God keep his Spirit under wraps until the time of Christ,
then
“unveil” Him to humanity? What do you think?
There are many people, well-meaning Christians, especially
those of the Dispensational variety, who feel that this may be the case. They think that God has literally created time periods when He
“dispensed” his Spirit and His Grace to mankind. This view, while appealing in its simplicity and neatness, is
incomplete, inadequate, and may actually limit the sovereignty of God. Why do we say that?
Once again, this is appealing in its simplicity. It is most certainly true in that Christ is the fulfillment of
the Old Testament Law and Prophecy, but to cast away the Old Testament
is a grave mistake. This is
true because the Old is constantly foreshadowing the New and allows us
to see the completeness of God’s Vision for mankind. As the old adage
goes, “In the Old the New concealed, in the New the Old revealed.” Both Testaments are part of the seamless cloth of salvation God
meant to cover mankind.
We see an excellent example of this in our reading from
Numbers today. God tells
Moses to take seventy of the elders of Israel with him to the Tent of
Meeting, the Tabernacle, where He would meet with them. God tells Moses, “And I will come
down and talk with thee there: and I will take of the spirit which
is upon thee, and will put
it upon them; and they shall
bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear
it not thyself alone” (Numbers 11:17).
What is this Spirit? Is it not the same Holy Spirit that moved over the
waters of Creation in Genesis? Is it not the same Spirit that empowered Elijah to call down fire
from heaven and consume the pagan sacrifices of Baal? Is it not the same Spirit that caused Balaam the enchanter to
bless the Host of Israel, despite the pleas, entreaties and rewards of
Balak the son of Zippor, who wanted them cursed? Finally, is not this the same Spirit who overshadowed a young
Jewish girl in first-century Palestine, implanting her with the
immaculate Seed of God?
The answer is yes, yes and yes. It is the same, Almighty, eternal Sprit of God Almighty come to
tabernacle with us.
This wonderful and blessed Sprit will
teach us all things as we read God’s Holy Word and worship him in the
beauty of holiness. He will
lead us into greater fellowship and knowledge of Him as we seek to love
Him more and more. He will
also guide us in our daily lives as we continue to seek His Will in all
things.
So, what does this really mean to us? Does it mean that we are never really alone? Yes. Does it mean
that we always have Someone watching over us and guarding us? Yes. Does it mean
that we have an endless source of comfort in times of tribulation and
sorrow? Yes. It means all of these things and more. It means that we have an eternal Friend, Lord, and Brother walking
with us, in us, at all times. We are truly always in fellowship with Him.
There is a catch, however. That is, we
only have this Friend, this Comforter, this Guide, as we continue to
seek God and to love him.
God does not tabernacle with those who do not love Him, nor those who
ignore His sayings. After
all, why should He? Is it
even possible for God to dwell in a hostile heart? Of course it is if
God wills it, for nothing is impossible with God. It just seems that He is unwilling to do so, preferring to live
with those who welcome, love, and cherish Him. Thus it is that the Holy
Ghost will “manifest himself to us and not unto the world” in the words
of Judas, not Iscariot. The
other traitorous Judas would have already been dead, having taken his
life by his own hand. This faithful Judas is told that the blessed Holy
Spirit will come to those who love God and keep His commandments.
Christ leaves His Disciples with a word of hope. He
tells them, “Peace I leave
with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto
you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27). Christ is returning to his Father to reign in Heaven. He has accomplished His great mission of salvation and now sits
on high with God the Father, until such time as He returns, with glory,
to judge the quick and the dead. Until that time, we are not alone. We are not friendless. We are not powerless. Instead, we have the powerful alternative to all of these things Instead of sadness, we have joy. Instead of confusion, we have certainty. Instead of weakness, we have strength. Instead of eternal oblivion, we have salvation. We are not as orphans, but rather, through the Spirit of God, we are the Children of God. John 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. AMEN |
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The answer lies in how one views Scripture and thus, the
revealed Will and Word of God. Some, as mentioned, feel that there was clearly an Old Testament
Dispensation, where the God of wrath and judgment gave His unyielding
Law to an ancient people, the Jews. This harsh, even judgmental, view of God continued until the New
Testament era, where God poured out His Grace on mankind through Jesus
and of course, the coming of the Holy Spirit. Thus one, in their view, no longer needs the Old Testament, since
the advent of Jesus. After
all, He is the fulfillment of all the Law and Prophets, isn’t He?.
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