17th June 2022 – John 14:12-17

12 "“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. 13 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask me for anything in my name, I will do it.

15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you for ever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you."

John 14:12-17

Held together, the two thoughts of advocacy teach that Christ's in heaven had to do with our standing before God, and the Spirit's in our hearts with our spiritual state. Our standing is unalterable and unchangeable; our state alters, but it may and can be consistent, for if we continue in obedience, the Spirit will lead us more and more into the truth that makes men free. Obedience is ever the touchstone of spiritual progress. And when we remember Who it is that dwells within us - the Spirit of power, Who helps our infirmities, the Spirit of holiness, assuring the life of holiness as a practical possibility, the Spirit of truth, Who takes of the things of Christ and reveals them to us - we realise just how centrally important our yieldedness to the Spirit's control is, in obedience to the divine will. We can hardly ask for more of the Spirit - He cannot be quantified in this way - but He asks for more of us. On the earthly, human level, a solicitor or advocate can deal with only as much as we commit to him; if we do not give him all the facts, if we withhold information, his hands are going to be tied, and it is we who have limited his help. It is so also in the spiritual realm - the more we commit to Him, the more His mighty advocacy proves effectual in us and for us.