Help of the Holy Spirit | Dennis Burke
Recap
We had the pleasure of being ministered to by guest speaker Dennis Burke. He began his message, “Help of the Holy Spirit” by declaring, “I believe over the next few minutes, the Holy Spirit’s going to deposit something into your life.” Really, that’s why we come to church. We come to church to make ourselves available to the Holy Spirit in order for Him to deposit in us things that are life changing! One word from God “can truly revolutionize something in your life.”
Dive Deeper
Some people view church as a social event, a time to visit with people. There is nothing wrong with being social with people while at church. But church is really all about the Spirit of God making deposits into our lives, stirring up things is us that are life changing.
One word from God can revolutionize our lives. That’s what we expect. Dennis said, “I’m expecting in the next few minutes some simple things from God’s Word to have an impact. God’s Word is not just information. It’s a real revelation of how God designed His kingdom to function. And it is literally an impartation of the Spirit of God.”
Ronald Reagan said one time, “The nine most terrifying words in the English language: I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”
Dennis said, “I’m not here to talk to you about the government. There’s nothing wrong with talking about the government, but that’s not our assignment here today. I do want to talk to you about the help, not the help the government brings, but the help that God brings and how that help comes.”
In John 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17, Jesus talked about the help that comes from the Holy Spirit. Jesus began to teach the disciples about what was about to transpire, that the disciples were about to step into a whole new era of the New Covenant.
Jesus was preparing them for this transition by giving them insight, revelation, ideas about how they were going to be functioning and what they will have access to by the Holy Spirit.
Dennis focused specifically on John chapter 16:7, “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.”
Jesus first words were striking: “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth…” Jesus never lied. Never deceived. Never stretched the truth. Never exaggerated. But here He found it necessary to say to the disciples that what He’s about to say to them is the truth. What He was about to tell them would be shocking and it would be something they never ever imagined. What He was about to say was the truth, and He wanted them to hear it with that in mind.
He said, “It is to your advantage that I go away.” What a statement!
They lived with Jesus being accessible to them for over three years. They had listened to His teachings. They had followed His examples. They had been changed and rebuked and taught and instructed. They had participated, even in some of the miracles He did. They had watched the most dramatic things happen. And now He says “It’s going to be to your advantage that I go away.”
What would be more advantageous than having access to Jesus the way they did?
Jesus then began to tell them how it would be advantageous to them for Him to go away. The advantage is that the Holy Spirit was coming. Jesus explained to them, “For if I do not go away, the helper will not come to you. But if I depart, I will send Him to you.”
The Amplified Bible takes that word “helper” and amplifies it: “The counselor, the helper, the advocate, the intercessor, the strengthener, the standby…” It’s indicative of how vital it is to understand how help comes, and that help comes by the Holy Spirit.
The Passion translation takes that word and translates it as the “divine encourager.” That the Holy Spirit is all about encouragement. He is not the condemner. He is not the accuser. He doesn’t use shame. He doesn’t use the tricks of an enemy in order to influence us. He encourages us. And that’s part of how He brings help into your life.
Jesus helped them to realize the importance of what was about to take place when He departed. It’s going to be better and to your advantage.
For present-day Christians, that means that it is better that we have the Spirit of God in His role today than if we had walked with Jesus as the disciples did. We have the advantage! Our advantage is that we have the Holy Spirit dwelling on the inside of us.
The Holy Spirit would shift into a new responsibility, an entirely new way of influencing people. In the same way that Jesus had taken on flesh and become as a man, the Holy Spirit was about to take on flesh Himself. Not the flesh of Jesus, but the flesh of a believer.
The Holy Spirit’s new role would be to dwell on the inside of a person that made Jesus the Lord of his life. He would be infused into the inner man of a person that is created in the image of God. Jesus wanted the disciples to be ready for what was coming in just a few short hours from when He told them this.
In verse eight, Jesus said, “When he has come, he will convict the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment.”
Those three concepts are vital in understanding what the Holy Spirit is all about in our life even now. This depicts so many things about the ministry of the Holy Spirit. And Jesus was introducing the disciples to that idea.
Read About It
John 16:7, “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.”
John 16:8–11, “And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 11 of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
Discussion Questions
Jesus said in John 16:7, “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.” What did He mean that it was to their advantage that He depart?
What advantage did believers have when the Holy Spirit came?
What was the new “era” that Jesus said would come after His death?