John 14:15–30 ‘But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you…’ (v26)
In the Upper Room Discourse, Jesus was speaking with His disciples about many things – including the coming of the Holy Spirit. He talked about ‘another advocate’ (v16) – One who is like Jesus.
This is the One who would ‘teach’ and ‘remind’ the disciples of Jesus’ words (v26). He would come when Jesus returned to His Father (John 16:7), who would ‘testify’ about Him (John 15:26) and convict the world of its wrongdoing (John 16:8).
The person and work of the Holy Spirit is explained here, and demonstrated throughout the book of Acts, where we see the promise of the Spirit sent to the first disciples, and Peter sharing with the crowd that the Spirit was promised long ago.
We have the indwelling Spirit to empower us to live for Christ. Just as Jesus came in the flesh, so the Spirit comes to live out the life of God
in us (Col. 1:27). We cannot live the Christian life without the Spirit.
It is important to ‘keep in step’ with Him (Gal. 5:25) and not grieve Him (Eph. 4:30). When we slip into criticism, gossip and slandering we grieve the Spirit.
We probably don’t realise how harmful our words can be at times; that’s why it is important to listen to good counsel, and to avoid joining in with the world’s often critical speech and attitude.
Anyone who loves Jesus will obey His teaching (v23), and we have our Advocate, the Spirit, to help us. He is always teaching us the things of God, and ready to encourage us in our discipleship.
A Prayer To Make:
‘Lord, thank You for the Advocate who has come to help me live for You. Help me to listen to His voice, and live to please You. Amen.’
An Action To Take:
Look at John 14:15–30 in other versions of the Bible. How should understanding the Spirit’s work affect our Christian walk – and talk?
Scripture To Consider:
Ps. 1:1–6 & 119:20–30; Acts 2:1–41; Eph. 1:15–23
