Why Did Jesus Say We Are Better Off Now?

Now, today I'm going to explain what it means for us practically that the Holy Spirit has come to be our paraclete. We'll begin by looking again at the passage where Jesus gave this specific promise. The passage is John 14 verses 16 through 18.

“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another counselor, paraclete, to be with you forever, the spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.”

You see that this is a promise only for believers, it's not for the world. And then Jesus concludes,

“I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you.”

Let me say a little bit more in explanation of that word paraclete, which is such a significant and important word. It's a word from a Greek source. In fact, it's just the word paraclete written over in English letters. It means literally, someone who is called in alongside, that's paraclete, to help you, to do something for you that you can't do for yourself.

Interestingly, the same word is used in the first epistle of John chapter two and verse one, where John says this:

“My little children, I am writing these things to you that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous.”

That word advocate, it's the same word, paraclete. If by any chance you're familiar with the Latin language, the word advocate is derived from Latin, and it means somebody called in, ad to vocatus called, advocatus, somebody called in. Interestingly, in almost all the languages in the world today derived from Latin, that word advocate in its particular form is the word for a lawyer. We have it in Arabic and abukat, avocat in French, and many other of the romance languages. So it's a very interesting word.

It means someone who speaks in our defense. I think we all know what an advocate or an attorney or a lawyer is in contemporary culture. So, look at the beautiful picture that the scripture unfolds. We have two advocates. On earth, the Holy Spirit pleads our cause. The things that we can't say right, he says for us. The things that we don't understand, he interprets for us. And then in heaven, Jesus is our advocate with the Father. He pleads our cause.

So just think, we have the two greatest advocates in the universe. We have Jesus Christ the Son at the Father's right hand, and we have the Holy Spirit on earth. My comment on that is, with two such advocates or attorneys, how could we ever lose the case?

Now, let me go on a little further and just amplify a little what Jesus said about this advocate, this paraclete, this attorney, this comforter, this counselor, this helper. We almost run out of words trying to explain what he really is. Let me go back to John 14 verses 16 through 18, comment on some of the things that Jesus said. He said the Father will give you another counselor. You have to understand the importance of that word another. As I've already said earlier, it indicates a person. Jesus said, I'm a person, I'm going away. When I go, another person will come, another helper. I've been your helper while I was here, but now I'm leaving, but you're not going to be left without a helper. There'll be another helper that will come.

And then he says, he will stay with you forever. Again, there's a contrast. He said, I've been with you three and a half years, I'm leaving you. But don't be heartbroken, because there's someone else coming in my place and he'll never leave you. He'll be with you forever. And then he says, he lives with you and will be in you. There's importance in that phrase in you. This advocate, this paraclete, this comforter, he's going to live in us. As I've said already, we're going to be his resident address.

And then Jesus said,

“I will not leave you orphans.”

By implication, if he'd gone away and made no provision for them, they would have been left like orphans without anybody to care for them or to help them or to explain things to them. And finally, he said,

“I will not leave you orphans. I will come to you.”

That's very important. Christ comes back to his disciples in the Holy Spirit.

You see, while he was on earth in his body, he could only be in one place at one time. He could only be talking to Peter or to John or to Mary Magdalene, but he couldn't be talking to all three of them, a different conversation at the same time. He was limited by time and space. But now when he comes back to his people in the Holy Spirit, he's free from the limitations of time and space. He can be in Australia talking to a child of God in need there. He can be in the United States anointing a preacher. He can be somewhere in the deserts or the jungles of Africa, strengthening or healing some missionary. He's not limited. So he's come back, but he's come back unlimited, no longer subject to the limitations of time or space.

I want to dwell just a little further on this theme of the exchange of persons, one person going, another person coming. It's so important that we see it. In John 16 verses 5 through 7, this is what Jesus says:

“Now I am going to him who sent me, that's the Father. Yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. 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, the comforter. But if I go, I will send him to you.”

That's very clear language. As long as I'm with you in person on earth, Jesus says, the Holy Spirit has to stay in heaven as a person. But if I go away as a person, then in my place, I'll send another person, the Holy Spirit. So you see, it's an exchange of divine persons. For a while, the Son as a person was on earth. Then he went back to heaven with his ministry complete. And in his place, the Holy Spirit came, another divine person, to complete the ministry that Jesus had begun.

And Jesus said it's for your good that I'm going away. Another version says it is expedient for you. This is an amazing statement. I want you to listen carefully. We are better off with Jesus in heaven and the Holy Spirit on earth than we would be with Jesus on earth and the Holy Spirit in heaven. Few people realize that. Christians always saying, if only I could have lived in the days when Jesus was on earth. But Jesus says you're better off now when I'm in heaven and the Holy Spirit is on earth. You have more now than you would have had then.

Let me interpret this in the light of the experience of the first disciples themselves. Let's notice what happened immediately the Holy Spirit came. I would say there were three immediate results. First of all, they understood the plan of God and the ministry of Jesus far better than they'd ever understood it while Jesus was on earth. It's a remarkable fact, they were very slow and very limited in their understanding. But the moment the Holy Spirit came, they had a totally different understanding of the ministry and the message of Jesus.

Secondly, they became extremely bold. Even after the resurrection, they still hid away behind locked doors for fear of the Jews. They weren't willing to stand up and preach and proclaim the truth. They weren't equipped. But the moment the Holy Spirit came, that changed. Peter stood up and boldly and straightforwardly told the Jewish people in Jerusalem the whole story of Jesus and laid at their door the guilt of his crucifixion.

And then thirdly, they had supernatural attestation. The moment the Holy Spirit came, miracles began to take place. It was just like Jesus being back with them in person. And that's what it really was. For Jesus said, when the Holy Spirit comes, I'll come back in him. I will be with you. I will not leave you as orphans.