Forever Friend | Holy Spirit Series

Well, let's jump in and let's look at our series we're in called Holy Spirit. We're walking through a series right now looking at the doctrine of the Holy Spirit and the person of the Holy Spirit. We're in week three, and today we're gonna talk about the forever friend, and we're gonna see the Holy Spirit as our friend and as our companion. So if you brought your Bibles, go with me to John 14. John 14 is where we're gonna be. How many of you, as you're turning there, would just lift your hand and say that you have friends in your life that you would consider like in a class of friend called best friends, or someone that you're just really, really close with more than others. Raise your hand if that's you. Some of you need a friend, apparently. Many of you have that. So those friends you don't talk about, like through the years, I've got friends in my life, and there's not, I guess, a ton of them, but I've got friends in my life that I know right now, like if it's three in the morning and the bottom drops out, I make that phone call, they'll be in my living room in just a matter of minutes. They're gonna be there for me no matter what. Friends that, if I fail, they're gonna be there to pick me up. If I need something, they're gonna be there

to come to my aid and rescue, and we all need friends like that. But I'll say this, my best friend in the world is my wife. My wife is, without a doubt, my best friend. She knows me better than anyone and loves me still. That's amazing. She knows the worst parts of me, the best parts of me, and her love has been consistent on both sides of that, both the best parts and the worst parts. She's a friend that, she probably knows what I'm thinking at times even better than I know what I'm thinking at times, and she's just been that friend. And here's why that's the case. Why she is my best friend is because I have spent more time with her than any other person in my entire life. We've been married almost 23 years, and we have a relationship that has history, and because it has history and there's authenticity, there is a depth in that friendship where I can trust her and she can trust me. And here's what I love about it. She's not going anywhere. She is in it to the bitter end, hopefully not bitter, but the sweet end maybe. I'm in it. It's always sweet with her. But we have that kind of friendship where, because of time and because of familiarity and because of authenticity,

there is a level of intimacy where I can tell her anything and I will let her speak into my life, even if it's hard to hear, and even at times if I put up my hands and go, I don't wanna hear it, I know that when she says it, I need to hear it, amen? All the wives should say amen in the room to that. But that's the kind of friendship we have. And here's what I wanna see this morning. I want you to see this morning that you can have a relationship like that with the Holy Spirit, that there is a friendship that he wants to have, that he is a person just like your best friend is a person, and you can know him just like you know them. And he knows you and wants that relationship where you commune with him, where you know, listen, he's the friend that's not going anywhere. He's with me and I can go to him no matter what. That's what I'm hoping to see this morning. And we're gonna jump into John chapter 14, where Jesus is gonna show us this about the Holy Spirit. John 14, if you're there, say the Bible is true. Start reading in verse 16, he says this, or verse 14 rather, he says this, and I will ask the Father and he will give you another helper to be with you forever. Even the spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him or knows him, but you know him for he dwells with you, and I love this last part, and will be in you.

Now here's what's happening in the passage. Jesus is preparing his disciples for his death, his burial, his resurrection, and ultimately his ascension. He is coming to the end of his earthly ministry where he is preparing them for the cross, and then for his departure back into heaven. And so in John chapter 14 through John chapter 16, there is this discourse that Jesus has with them, and the predominant theme of this is this is what life is gonna be like when I'm gone. This is what the Christian life is gonna look like when I ascend. Now in this, Jesus is gonna show them that he is not going away and leaving them by themselves, but he is gonna send them the Holy Spirit to be a companion. And what I wanna do this morning is I want us to look at what Jesus teaches us in a few verses here about the Holy Spirit, and I want us to see two truths, and then how these truths play out practically with the Holy Spirit's activity in our life. So here's truth number one about the Holy Spirit I want us to see this morning. Number one is this, listen to this. The Holy Spirit is a friend just like Jesus. The Holy Spirit is a friend just like Jesus. Look what he says in verse number 16. He says, and I will ask the Father, and he will give you another helper to be with you forever. The word another there, I'd encourage you to underline that.

This is a cool word here. The word another here is a Greek word that means this. It means another of the same kind. Another of the same kind. Another way of translating this word is, excuse me, another of the same essence. So what Jesus is saying here is this, is that I'm going away and I'm leaving you, but I don't want you to be disheartened or discouraged because I'm sending someone else who's just like me. I'm leaving, but the one that I'm sending is gonna be like me. He is of the very same essence of me. And he's showing us this, that just as Jesus was a friend to his disciples, that was a companion that walked with them, that the Holy Spirit will be a companion just like Jesus. Look what he says in verse 18. He says, I will not leave you as orphans. In other words, I'm not leaving you all by yourself. But rather, he says, I will come to you. So the question is this, if Jesus is ascending to the Father and going away, how is he gonna come to them? And the answer is, is through the person of the Holy Spirit that because the Holy Spirit is another just like Jesus, the same essence of Jesus, Jesus is saying, having the Holy Spirit is just like having me. Now this is important that we understand this.

So watch this. In the same way that Jesus taught his disciples, in the same way that Jesus walked with his disciples and encouraged his disciples and laughed with his disciples and at times lovingly rebuked his disciples, in the same way that he was patient with his disciples, in the same way that he demonstrated supernatural power with his disciples and in front of them, the same way that Jesus showed and revealed his love to his disciples, in the same way, that's what the Holy Spirit is gonna do for you and me. The Holy Spirit is going to continue the work of Jesus. So oftentimes, we think the Holy Spirit is weird, especially in the Baptist church. Like we treat the Holy Spirit like he's weird, like, okay, you're preaching on the Holy Spirit. This mean we're gonna start doing some weird stuff as a church? And this is our concept. We're unfamiliar with the Holy Spirit and so because we don't quite understand what he's like, we oftentimes will push him away and avoid his work and miss out on the greatest gift other than our salvation that God has given us, which is the Holy Spirit, the friend like Jesus. And this is the point that Jesus is making. The same ministry that Jesus did with his disciples, check this out, Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, now continues to do in his disciples. So when we hear, listen, when we hear this statement,

hear another helper, here's what that means. Jesus is wanting us to see, hey, just like I taught the disciples, I'm gonna teach you through the spirit. Just like I was able to minister and comfort the disciples, the Holy Spirit's gonna do that with you. In the same way that I was able to encourage and inspire and I was able to show them the things of the kingdom, that's what the Holy Spirit's gonna do for you. He is another just like me. This is huge here. Because what we're finding out here is this, is that a couple weeks ago when we opened up the series, I asked this question, how many of you ever dreamed or imagined a life where Jesus physically was present with you and how much easier life would be, like if Jesus was physically there? And we kind of went through the scenarios of how that would impact our daily life and here is the great news. Jesus is telling us this morning, is having the Holy Spirit in you is just like having me with you. He's a friend just like Jesus. This is huge here. So here's truth number two that goes along with this. So one is he's a friend like Jesus. Number two, the Holy Spirit is a helper that never leaves. The Holy Spirit is a helper that never leaves. Look what he says in verse 16.

This is a great, great statement here. He says, and I will ask the Father and he will give you another helper to be with you. How long? Oh, good Lord, help us here this morning. That should fire you up. How long is the Holy Spirit gonna be with us if we're in Christ? Forever, thank you so much for that. Like this is the greatest news ever. That the Holy Spirit is a friend that's a forever friend, that he's not going anywhere. The Holy Spirit will never leave us. This is one of the great securities of our salvation. People ask me the question all the time. Once a person is saved, can they ever lose their salvation? And here's what I would say to you based upon the word of God. Once a person is born again, you cannot be unborn. Once a person is saved, they are saved forever. And one of the ways that we know this is because the Holy Spirit is promised. Listen to this. When you respond by faith to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. Jesus and repent of your sins and trust in him. Here's what we said last week, you are born again. You are born of the Spirit of God. And the Holy Spirit, check this out, is a deposit that God the Father has made in your life

to verify that the work he has done through God the Son will be completed. That he's not leaving, he's not going anywhere. He is here to stay. So no matter where you are, if you're a believer, no matter what you're doing, no matter what season of life you're in, here's what I want you to know. You have a forever friend who never leaves your side. Your friends may abandon you, your spouse may walk out on you, your mom and dad may not give you the love that you deserve. There may be people that fail you time and time and time again and walk out of your life, but here is something you need to hang on to. The Holy Spirit will never leave you. Ever. And this should give us great confidence. Now, you say, well, what about when I sin? Well, listen, sin can affect your relationship with the Holy Spirit, but it does not, it can affect your fellowship with the Holy Spirit, but it does not nullify your relationship with the Holy Spirit. Does that make sense? So let me kind of illustrate it like this. Like when you sin, or we explain it like this. When you sin, sin will quench the work of the Holy Spirit in your life. Your sin will grieve the Holy Spirit.

Your Holy Spirit can cause the voice, your Holy Spirit, your sin can cause the voice of the Holy Spirit to go silent in your life. Your sin can cause the power of the Holy Spirit to be lessened or limited in your life. But your sin does not cause the Holy Spirit to leave your life. David prayed after he sinned against God and against Bathsheba and Uriah, he makes this statement. Do not take your Holy Spirit from me. I want you to understand, now that we are under the new covenant, it's a prayer that a believer never has to pray. The Holy Spirit is a forever friend. You say, well, how does this work then with my sin in my life? Here's something I think will be very helpful to you. We have gotta understand that when we sin, the Holy Spirit will speak into our life and will highlight the sin in our life. He will convict us of sin and he will woo us back to Jesus. Now, it's important because here's what I see in the life of a lot of believers. It's because when we sin, there are times when we hear the voice of the Holy Spirit convicting us and wooing us back to Jesus, but we also hear another voice and it's the voice of the enemy. And what I've seen through the years

is that believers sometimes will confuse the voice of the enemy with the voice of the Holy Spirit. You say, well, how do I know the difference between the voice of the Spirit and the voice of the enemy? So here's just an easy way for you to know it. The enemy will always speak to you like this. The Bible says he's the accuser, he's the deceiver. So the voice of the Holy Spirit will speak words of condemnation over you and your sin, but the Holy Spirit will speak words of conviction into your life. The enemy will say things to you that run you further from Jesus and into darkness to hide. The voice of the Holy Spirit will be wooing you back into the light to reunite fellowship by repentance once again. You see, the enemy will say things to you like this. Oh, a Christian wouldn't do that. If you're really saved, would really a saved person do that? You don't love Jesus. If you love Jesus, you wouldn't do that. You sure Jesus loves you? How can Jesus love you and you do this thing and you know he's disappointed in you right now, how you don't need to go to church, how you need to not talk to him right now. He's probably upset with you. He's not listening to what you have to say. You need to hide that, you need to conceal that because if anyone else found out about that,

not only is God gonna be disappointed in you, people around you are gonna be disappointed. That's the voice of the enemy. The voice of the enemy is gonna bring up your past and your failures. The voice of the enemy is gonna tell you that you're not worthy and that you're unlovable and that God can't use someone like you. So when we fail, he points his finger of condemnation and accusation. And listen, here's what you need to know. The Holy Spirit will never do that. The Holy Spirit will bring you to an awareness of your, now it will come with a burden at times. It will come with grief and sorrow in your soul. There will be times where you feel like, man, I feel like inside of me I'm being crushed because of the weight of my sin. That's the Holy Spirit showing you, hey, something's off, something's wrong. And here's what you're gonna hear as you press into that. The Holy Spirit's gonna say that Jesus loves you and he has a better plan for your life. And if you confess it, he'll forgive it and the fellowship can be restored. Listen. Holy Spirit will be that voice, that friend in your life that won't walk out when you fail. Here's what he'll do. He'll press in and pull you toward Christ.

The voice of the enemy will speak words of shame and guilt and condemnation. The voice of the Holy Spirit will be a voice of conviction, of repentance and restoration. He will not focus on your failure. He will show you that and he will focus your attention on the cross of Jesus Christ. And oftentimes, because we don't distinguish between those two voices, most of us, we deal with our sin on the basis of the voice of the enemy and not the voice of the Holy Spirit, your forever friend. What I wanna do now is walk you through how does the Holy Spirit do this? How does the Holy Spirit work in our life as this friend that doesn't leave us, that's here forever, how does he work in our life and how do we learn his activity so that we can respond appropriately to it? I want you to look at verse 16. Verse 16 says this. He says, and I will ask the Father and he will give you another helper. So there's a word here describing the Holy Spirit right here and the ESV is translated helper and it's another helper. So watch this. It's one just like Jesus. So the helper of the Holy Spirit is gonna be a helper in our life just like Jesus is a helper in our life.

So just as Jesus helped the disciples, the Holy Spirit is gonna help us. Now the word helper here is an interesting word. It's where we get the word periklet. It's the Greek word perikletos. It literally is translated one who comes along the side of another or one who is called alongside of someone. The picture is this. The word helper is this idea of a companion who walks with us, a companion who is there at our side to be an aid, to be a friend, to be someone who helps us on the journey. Now so that's what the Holy Spirit wants to do. And I think this is huge because most of us until just a few moments ago, we can't distinguish between the voice of the enemy and the voice of the Holy Spirit. So our concept of the Holy Spirit is that the Holy Spirit is the one that's out there to get us. That he just talks to us when we mess up. Like he just points the finger at us. He convicts us. Now the work of the Holy Spirit is to convict us but that's not all that the Holy Spirit does. The Holy Spirit convicts us and then he comes alongside of us as the helper. That's why I like the word helper as this translation. The Holy Spirit wants to be a friend

that walks with you and talks with you and that helps you along the journey. Let me illustrate it like this. Some of you have had this experience. You've taught your kids how to walk. Like teaching your kids. That's amazing. I was talking to a couple the other day about their little one who is just growing up way too fast and he's now starting to talk. So he babbles a lot and then he'll say words and then he's walking so he's into everything and I just told him the great mystery of parenting is that you spend the first 18 months trying to encourage them to walk and talk and then the rest of their life you're telling them to sit down and shut up. That's parenting in a nutshell right there. But what's interesting about this phase of parenting is that when a child is learning how to walk, parents get so excited. Like we got freaked out with every child because it's like they pull themselves up and their knees and their legs are wobbly and all of a sudden it's like you kind of reach down and you grab their hand or they grab your finger and then they take that step that's really not a step. They kind of just fell and you held them. But what do you do? You're like, oh my gosh, they're walking.

Like no, they're not really walking. They're just not falling right now. That's what they're doing. And so then you hold and you're kind of celebrating and then maybe they take that next one and just kind of move that foot out and it's like, oh my gosh, we just won the Super Bowl. This is the greatest day ever. And the baby doesn't know what you're celebrating but he's excited or she's excited, right? And so this thing's happening. And then eventually as they get a few more steps and a few more steps, a few more steps and they get stronger and they get more comfortable, eventually what you do is then sometimes you just kind of remove your hands. You're like, okay, you can do it, you can do it and then they fall flat on their face. Now in this process, here's something that, listen, no good parent will ever do. Like in this process, a parent who's trying to teach their kid how to walk, a parent doesn't walk up to the kid like, okay, can you walk all right forever? Praying out loud, can you take a step? Like no parent does it. No parent looks at their kid and is like, okay, okay, the foot in front of the other, can you not get this on your own? Okay, fine, you need my help, here's your help.

Okay, here are my fingers. All right, great, awesome. Wasn't quite a step but you're getting close. And then eventually you get your fingers away and they fall on their face. No good parent stands back and be like, are you kidding me? I got this like 30 years ago. It's not that hard. Stop your crying. Like no good parent does that, right? That's an awful parent. But that's how often times we see the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit inviting us into this Christian life only there to tell us when we mess it up. Only there to be frustrated when we don't get it right. Only there to remind us of our failure. And again, you're gonna fall again, really? This is the third time we've worked on this, right? And you can't get it now. That's not the Holy Spirit. Well, what is the Holy Spirit? Holy Spirit is a good parent. He's that friend like that mom and dad that'll get down on their knees with their child and they're like, come on, you've got this. You're just getting so close. And they hold and they celebrate the step and the other step and the next step. And eventually they fall and they go,

no, no, you can get this. And they pick the child up and they hold the child and they go, okay, let's try this again. And eventually they remove the hands and the whole time they're cheerleading them. And when they fall on their face, they're going, but you're doing so good. Let's get up, let's try it again until that child, and then they celebrate, right? That's what good parents do. And that is exactly what the Holy Spirit wants to do in your life as the helper. He is your biggest cheerleader. He is your biggest fan. He is your biggest encourager. He wants to help you learn how to walk with Christ. And so he's gonna hold your hands. At times he's gonna lead you into things that are more challenging and uncomfortable and you're gonna trip and you're gonna fall and you're gonna make mistakes and you're gonna go backwards rather than forward. And the whole time the Holy Spirit's saying, I'm not going anywhere, I'm gonna help you. Let me pick you up. Let me show you what you did wrong. And let's get back after this thing together. Don't give up. That's the Holy Spirit in your life. He's the helper who comes alongside of you.

You say, in what way? Let me give you three ways. Three ways the Holy Spirit walks alongside of us. And it all comes from this word perikalitos or perikalit. Go back to verse 16. He says, and you will ask the Father and I will give another helper. The word helper is a more of a general word for this. Other English translations of the Bible will use primarily three different words. Comforter sometimes is translated there. Advocate at times is translated there and counselor is translated there. And it's the same concept, this perikalit, same word. And it's translated in multiple ways because this word perikalit is hard to kind of adequately give a one definition to this. So helper, I like it because it's kind of an umbrella that implies all three of those. Let me show you this by looking at the other ways that this word is translated to help you see how the Holy Spirit is our helper. So if you're taking notes, write this down. The first thing I want us to highlight is this, is that the Holy Spirit is our comforter. The Holy Spirit is our comforter. So when we think about comfort, oftentimes we think about maybe someone who consoles us when we're grieving. Like if we lose a loved one

or if there's a relationship that breaks up and we're just devastated that someone comes along and they put their arm around us and they console us. And that's not necessarily what that word means. Now, consoling is part of what he does to comfort us. But a better idea of the Holy Spirit as comforter is the Holy Spirit wants to strengthen us. When we're weak, when we're grieving, when we're going through things that are difficult, when we're lonely or when we're uncertain about the future, the Holy Spirit wants to come alongside of us as our comforter and here is his goal. I wanna strengthen you to keep going. That's how he comforts us is to strengthen him. That's what this word implies here. See, what he'll do is he'll come alongside of us and he'll remind us of the promises of God. He'll allow his presence to give us peace that we didn't know that we could have. And that peace will give us strength. He'll send people into our life. He will speak words that he gives them and we'll be strengthened by those words of encouragement into our life. And that's what he wants to do. He wants to encourage us and to strengthen us by being our comforter. That means when you're weak, believer, or you're uncertain about the future, or you're afraid, or you're feeling lonely,

that you can go to the Holy Spirit and you can talk to him about those fears, about those anxieties, about the uncertainty, and here's what he wants to do. He wants to strengthen you in the middle of the season of life that you're in. He'll point you to God's word. In a moment we're gonna see he'll give you direction, but here's the whole goal. His presence strengthens us. Just him being there. You know, and that means that we have something that our brothers and sisters in the Old Testament didn't have. I want you to think about this for a moment when in the life of Joshua. Joshua is a very incredible leader in the Old Testament. And we see this as Moses is coming to the end. Moses has led the people out of the wilderness, 40 years, they're traveling, they're going to the promised land. Right before they go enter into this promised land, Moses at the end of his life, and God appoints Joshua to be the successor of Moses. Now I want you to think about this just for a moment. Joshua, think about the weight of this on Joshua's life. You're sending me to do what? This is a young man that is taking the reins of a multi-million person, people group, that has been journeying like nomads

through a wilderness for 40 years. They don't really understand their identity. They're about to enter into a land that was promised them where they're going to face enemies. They've not fought. They don't have warriors. They're not soldiers that are trained, but he's going to lead them into battle to go and take the land that God had promised them. And oh, by the way, he's not just replacing anyone. He's replacing quite possibly next to Jesus, the greatest leader that's ever walked the planet, Moses. That's pretty big shoes to fill. And so I could imagine in the life of Joshua, he's thinking, oh my, how am I going to do all this? How in the world am I going to lead these people who I've watched for 40 years do nothing but whine and complain and rebel against God? How am I going to fill the shoes of Moses? How am I going to orchestrate these battles that we're going to fight? And we know that he was weak, and we know that he was afraid. Why do we know that? Because time and time again, especially in the early days of Joshua's life, the most repeated phrase that God would give Joshua is this, be strong and courageous. Why would God tell him over and over again, be strong and courageous?

Because he was weak and he was afraid. You don't tell someone who's strong and courageous to be strong and courageous, they already are. You tell someone who's not strong and courageous to be strong and courageous because they need that if they're going to do the thing that God has placed in front of them. But I want you to notice the basis of this strength and courage that God told Joshua to walk in. Look what he says here in Deuteronomy 31, verse 36. He says, be strong and courageous and do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you. Do you hear the basis of the strength and the courage? Look at it. He said, be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or be in dread of them. For Joshua, you're a gifted leader with a lot of talents. Because Joshua, you can do this. You're awesome. Joshua, don't be afraid. Be strong and courageous. I want you to get in front of a mirror and I want you to say these phrases. You're good enough. You're strong enough and doggone it, people like you. That's not what he says. Listen, here's the command.

Be strong and courageous. How am I gonna be strong and courageous? For it is the Lord your God who is with you. You watch this and he will never leave you or forsake you. Can I tell you, we have something even greater than Joshua. Because here's what the Lord says to us. The comfort of the Holy Spirit says this. Be strong and courageous and do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes in you. The Holy Spirit doesn't just walk with a believer. He dwells in a believer. So we have something even Joshua did not. That is the very presence of the Lord through the entwining of the Holy Spirit with us and he's not going anywhere. And the Holy Spirit, as the comforter, wants to come into our life in those seasons and he just says to us, you don't have to be afraid. I'm here. And he strengthens us and says, keep fighting, keep running, keep hoping, keep walking, keep trying, because I am your strength. The Holy Spirit is our comforter. Number two, the Holy Spirit is our advocate. The Holy Spirit is our advocate. The word advocate here is a word that implies, it's like a legal term and it's the idea of an attorney defending the case of a defendant, going to the court on the basis,

or on the behalf, rather, of a defendant. So that's the picture here. There's someone who's interceding on behalf of another. They're advocating on behalf of another. And this is what the Holy Spirit does for us. He advocates for us. This is, by the way, a word that is used to describe Jesus. In 1 John chapter two, verse one, it's not on the screen, but the passage tells us that Jesus is our paraclete, he is our helper, he is our advocate. And because Jesus is an advocate who's constantly pleading our case before the Father, because the Holy Spirit is just like Jesus, the Holy Spirit also is an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He intercedes for us. He makes petitions for us. That's what he's doing. Right now in this room, this is an awesome thought. Right now in this room, there's some of you going through some stuff. Let me give you some encouragement today and comfort. in the Lord that'll strengthen you. Right now, as I'm preaching, the Holy Spirit is pleading your case with the Father. Some of you being in this room this morning is the evidence that God has been advocating your case through the Spirit because he knows there's something you need and you're here today because God wants to give it to you.

An encouragement, direction. Answers. This blows me away. The Holy Spirit is our advocate. He communes with the Father on our behalf because he knows us even better than we know ourself. I was thinking about that friendship. My wife, after all these years of marriage, like if we go out to eat at times, if I get in the restaurant and I go to the restroom and waitress or waiter comes over to order and I'm not there, I mean, nine times out of 10, unless we're at a brand new restaurant, she'll order for me. Like she'll just say, hey, he's not here right now, but here's what he's gonna wanna eat. And she nails it. There are times she's like, I'm picking up food, bringing it home for dinner, what do you want? I'm like, whatever you pick, I'll be fine. And she knows exactly what I like and what I need and what I want in those moments and because then what happens is, because of that, she's able to be an advocate for me at the restaurant. Does that make sense? The Holy Spirit knows exactly what you need. Better than you know what you need. He knows what God is doing in your life. He knows the future.

He knows your past. He knows your present. And one of the greatest works of the Holy Spirit is that he advocates because of that knowledge on our behalf. This is why I always instruct people when I'm teaching them how to pray at times, I'll say this phrase, staff have heard me say this a lot, pray before you pray and then pray until you pray. Pray before you pray and pray until you pray. So what in the world does that mean? Pray before you pray, here's what I mean. Oftentimes we jump into this thing called prayer where we just start talking at God, but we're not talking in concert and communing with the Holy Spirit. So we're just blabbering the things that are on our mind, not necessarily contemplating what is it that the Spirit, who is my friend, who is an advocate for me, knows that I need and can communicate with me on my behalf. Does that make sense? So I'll just use an illustration. So if I'm going to a hospital visit for the church, I can walk in, and I've done these 1,000 hospital visits over the years. I can walk in, kneel down, pray a hand. I can pray for healing, pray for the sickness to go away, pray for comfort, whatever is needed. I can just walk in and do that.

But then there are moments where if I'm wise, before I go in, I'll just say something like this. Lord, what are you doing in this room that I'm walking into? Holy Spirit, what are you doing in their life? Help me to know how to pray for them. I'm praying before I pray. Because then all of a sudden, here's what happens. The Holy Spirit is in that room, and he's advocating on their behalf. And now all of a sudden, the Holy Spirit can speak to me and work in me, where I can join the work he's already doing in that work of intercession. And now there's power in prayer. This is why on prayer meeting nights, we stop before we really do anything, and we say, okay, let's prepare our hearts. What are we doing? We're praying before we pray. Why? Because there needs to be a moment where we recognize if the Holy Spirit is my friend who advocates, then here's what I need to do. Before I just step into the throne room and start blabbering all the thoughts are in my head, what if I sat down and got quiet and asked the Holy Spirit, what do I need? What are you doing? What request can I make?

Here's what I'm feeling. What is the Father doing? What do I, and then now all of a sudden, this work that the Spirit is already doing, now I can join that, and now my prayers have power. And then I pray until I pray. What does that mean? I'm praying until I know that I'm in concert, lockstep with the Holy Spirit. Because I wanna join the work that the Holy Spirit is already doing. And sometimes we don't even know what to pray. Here's the great news. The Holy Spirit is our advocate. Look what Paul says in Romans chapter eight, verse 26. He says, likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray, for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes with us with groanings too deep for words. So watch what he's saying here. There are times when we don't know what to pray. Like we're so overwhelmed with our circumstances and situations, we're like, I don't even know what to say to God right now. How many of you, raise your hand, you've been in those seasons? Here's the great news for you. In that moment, the Holy Spirit will go to the Father on your behalf and he'll commune with the Father about the need.

needs of your life because he knows them better than you. How does he know them? Look what he says in verse 27. For he who searches hearts knows what is in the mind of the Spirit because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. So now here's what's happening. When I'm in that moment, I'm like, God, I don't even know what to say right now. I can rest with confidence knowing this. The Holy Spirit knows what I need and he knows the will of God and he is before the Father on my behalf and everything that I'm feeling but I can't put into words, he can put into words and he's saying them for me. Isn't that cool? And I'll just give you a couple of ways I've seen this happen and how God's done this. We've seen a couple of things at prayer meetings that are just God moments of intercession, of the Holy Spirit advocating for people. So at times on prayer meetings, we'll say something like this. Hey, listen, if as we're praying and as we're seeking God's presence, if you sense God's stirring in your heart and there's a testimony or a word, a scripture verse or some sort of word that you feel like is for the congregation, be discerning, pray about it and if that's the case, come to one of our elders

and let them know and share that with them and then we'll pray together and determine if that's for the congregation and if it is, when the appropriate time to share that is. We'll do that quite often. And inevitably, it's not every time but a lot of times, the Lord will give something as our people and there'll be someone that steps forward. A couple weeks ago, a young lady came and said, I just sense right now there's someone out there that's lost and they're fighting and they don't wanna surrender. They know a lot about Jesus but they haven't surrendered and so she shared a specific verse with a specific application and just said, I don't know who this is for but there's someone in the room. Right after the prayer meeting, someone grabbed a staff member and said, that was for me, I need to give my life to Christ. What was happening in that moment is the Holy Spirit is interceding for this person and then the Father is then sending the Spirit to speak to someone who then is gonna say, hey, this is what God is wanting to do in this moment. That make sense? We had a couple weeks ago, a cool situation where we had the same thing happen. Someone came forward and just said, man, the Lord has laid this passage on my mind and this is the specific application.

I just feel like it's for someone in the room and so we said, okay, great. It was Rusty Robinette, one of our elders who received it and so he was gonna be, he said, let me pray about when the right time to share this is and we'll have you share it. He talks with her, gets back to his spot. As soon as he stops, a young man comes to him and shares a burden in his life. Says, this is something, he's just in tears. This is what I'm dealing with. The very thing he was dealing with was exactly in line with what this scripture verse in this word was that God had just given this lady. So he recognized in this moment, this was not for the church, this was for him. So he says, hey, listen, do you mind, like this, and so he gets her to him. She shares what the Spirit shared with her to him. They hear the Spirit speaks to him and all of a sudden, he is encouraged and comforted and challenged in his faith because the Holy Spirit was an advocate on his behalf. Does that make sense? Praise God for that. That's awesome. How cool is that? Were you encouraged by that? Amen, amen. And listen, the Holy Spirit knows what you need

and check this out. He knows when you need it. He knows when you need it. Here's number three, number three. The Holy Spirit is our counselor. The Holy Spirit is our counselor. Counselor here is not implying therapeutic counseling. Oh, there's nothing wrong with that. It's just not, that's not the implication here. The counsel is more like legal advice, direction, guidance. He's gonna direct us, that's the idea. And this is a beautiful thing the Holy Spirit does. He knows our blind spots. He knows areas of our life that we don't see as clearly. He sees them clearly. How many of you have people in your life right now that they can call out blind spots in your life? Anybody have those people in your life? Could be coaches, mentors. If you don't have, by the way, if you don't have someone calling out the blind spots in your life, that is the blind spot in your life, I'm calling it out now, all right? We all need that. The Holy Spirit wants to guide us. And listen, the Holy Spirit is the greatest counselor, the greatest friend, the greatest guide you will ever know. So my wife and I, when we travel,

my wife is typically the co-pilot. I got 90% of the time I'll drive, not because it's a manly thing, it's just because I enjoy driving, she doesn't enjoy driving, so we're driving down the road and my wife is an amazing co-pilot. She sees brake lights like a mile in advance. It's amazing. Like, and she apparently has invisible set of brakes on her side of the car. And she has a built-in airbag, it's called her knees. She puts her knees up by her face. Pray that we never get in an accident. because she will not make it. And so, you know, we have this, it's a joke, but so when we have this kind of rhythm where when we go someplace, even without talking about it, I mean, she loads the GPS, puts it in the car, she has it with her, and here's why she does that. It's because she knows that as I'm driving, you know, I can see the map and all the deal, but man, my mind can wander, and I'm thinking about everything but what the map is saying here. And she'll say, hey, okay, don't forget, you got a turn in 0.3 miles up here, and she'll just remind me, and she'll tell me the turn, or I'll miss the turn, and she'll go, hey, you got to do a U-turn here,

you got to get rerouted, and because I just wasn't paying attention, or didn't listen, or didn't hear, and so the whole time, there's this guidance that she's pointing out to me so that we get to where we're going. And then there are times where we're merging, maybe we're coming off of the interstate, and there's a yield because there's oncoming traffic, and there's a blind spot where I can't see what's coming, I'll say, hey, listen, tell me what's coming, and she'll say, stop, and there's a car that comes, or she'll say, no, you got to go, and because there's nothing there, I can't see it, but she can. This is what the Holy Spirit wants to do in our life. He wants to give us counsel, wants to give us direction, he wants to guide us, he sees what we don't see, he knows us better than we know ourself, he knows our future, he knows the dangers that are around the corner, he knows the direction we should go, he knows where God's will is for our life, and here's the problem with most Christians, because we don't have a deep friendship with the Holy Spirit, and because we don't see him as our number one counselor, we will go to podcasts, we will Google on the internet, we will read the latest book, we will go to our friend, and here's what you need to know,

none of those things are bad, but they are full of flaws. Books will mislead you, friends will misguide you. Don't even get me started on the internet, all right? It's a lost cause. Let me tell you this, the Holy Spirit will always get it right. In fact, one of the words, the phrases that he uses in verse 17 is this, about the Holy Spirit, he calls him the spirit of truth, the spirit of truth, and this is, by the way, other than help or spirit of truth, is the title that Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit most in the scriptures, why? Because he's gonna guide you in truth. He's gonna lead you to the paths that God wants you to be on. So let me give you a couple of thoughts on this, about the guiding voice of the Holy Spirit. So how do I hear his voice? Well, sometimes it'll be a prompting in your heart, stirring in your heart. Just like, you know, some of the folks that were in the prayer services that felt like the Lord impressed upon them a testimony in a passage of scripture, who told them that the Holy Spirit pointed them to that passage, or may have said that to them. He'll stir in us. Other times, he'll use messages, sermons. Other times, he'll use a friend, maybe coming to us, that says something we've been praying for,

and the Holy Spirit impressed upon them, and they'll speak to us, and listen, that's all fine and good, but here's something you've got to understand about that. You always have to discern the stirrings in your heart, the voices of your friends, and the messages you hear, and you always have to compare that with the truth of God's word. Now, I was right here for a second. The Holy Spirit will never, never, everybody say never. The Holy Spirit will never lead you in a way that contradicts God's word, ever. Never. People say all the time to me, all the time. I've had people a number of times say to me something like this. Yeah, Pastor, my marriage is going so good, and God just, man, I feel like the Lord telling me to divorce her. I'm like, brother, I got news for you. Your spirit may have told you that, but it wasn't the Holy Spirit. I had someone one time tell me, I just feel like God's, I feel like God's, my relationship with my girlfriend is just growing. It's growing. I just feel like he's calling us to live together. No, brother, that ain't the Holy Spirit. God has a plan for marriage and life. The Holy Spirit will never call you into sin, ever.

So here's what we gotta do. We always have to weigh the impressions we get of the Holy Spirit, which we gotta listen to, and we gotta compare that to what the Scripture has revealed. Now, there are times where, like a couple weeks ago, I was down here, the Holy Spirit prompted me to give an invitation before I preached. How did I know it was the voice of the Holy Spirit? Honestly, I didn't. But I've recognized his voice enough to think that that probably is him. So I would rather err on the side of obedience. Why? Because it's not contradictory to God's word for me to call people to salvation. In fact, that isn't God's word. So the prompting in my heart was in line with something that was clearly, I got the green light on in Scripture. Now, if I got up here and it was a complete bust, it might have been God just telling me to get out of here. If it was a complete bust, it might have been God just testing my obedience and the voice of the Holy Spirit was and there was no harvest. Or I could see, like we saw, a number of people come to faith in Christ, which was the evidence that the Holy Spirit, in fact, did want me

to call people to salvation. But here's the thing. There are other times where I might have a sense in my heart where a desire, like I need to say this to this person. But when I think about it, I know that one, that's probably not gonna honor the Lord and it's probably not gonna be consistent with Scripture. That's my flesh trying to speak. And in those moments, those impulses, I have to reject because I've got a greater voice telling me that's not of the Lord. Who is that? That's the Holy Spirit. Does that make sense? So when it comes to the Holy Spirit, here are two things you'll always, when the Holy Spirit is your guide, watch this. When the Holy Spirit is your guide, the word of God, go to the next slide where I have the quote. When the Holy Spirit is your guide, God's word will be obeyed and Jesus, watch this, will be glorified. When the Holy Spirit guides you, God's word will be obeyed and Jesus will be glorified every time. So here's the challenge for you this morning. Give me your eyes just for a second. This is for believers. What is your friendship with the Holy Spirit like right now? You recognize him as a friend,

the helper who never leaves. Is he primarily where you go for comfort? You trust him as your advocate? Like when it comes to counsel and needing direction, do you find yourself through the day just stopping and going, Holy Spirit, I don't know what to do here. Like where do I go from here? Where do I go from here and listen and stop long enough for him to give you direction? Is that your relationship with the Holy Spirit? If not, listen, he desperately wants that with you. What would it look like if we began a fellowship with the Holy Spirit in this way? Here's what it is. Listen, it's the key to the abundant life that Christ called us to. This entire section of John 14 through 16, Jesus is preparing us for life after his ascension where our life would have fruit that remains. And he says, it is found in one place, you abiding in me and me abiding in you. How do we abide in Christ and Christ abiding us? By walking in fellowship with the Holy Spirit as our comfort, as our advocate, and as our counsel. And listen to me, believer. If you'll start this, here's what I promise you. It will begin, and it's a journey. You gotta learn to hear his voice and the more you obey his voice when you hear it, the more clear it's gonna be

and the more you're gonna understand. The more you dive into God's word, the more clear the voice of the Holy Spirit's gonna be. I promise you that, but listen to me. As you do this, the Lord will begin to show you life in Christ in ways that you never imagined. I just want you to imagine a life where you become in such fellowship with the Holy Spirit, one just like Jesus, where you begin to walk with confidence that I am never alone. He is always with me. And whatever I need, he will supply. Listen, that unlocks a whole new world of following Jesus. And that's my challenge for you this week. For those of you who are not certain of your salvation or your relationship with Christ, when our service is over, we'll have staff members right over here who would love to help you. If you're not certain that you're born again, that's where it starts. You can't have the Holy Spirit as your friend until Jesus becomes your Savior. And if you want Jesus as your Savior today and need to be born again, listen, we wanna help you with that. So right after this service is over, we'll be standing right over there.

We would love to pray with you and help you begin that new journey. But believers, listen, you got a forever friend. Go walk with him this week. Father, we love you. We ask that your word, God, would go forth. Thank you for the blessing of the Holy Spirit. May he convict, may he save, may he lead us in truth, in Jesus' name. God's people said, amen.