THE TWO PARACLETES THE SON OF GOD AND ANOTHER COMFORTER
In the Gospel of John 13 to 16, we have the record of the ministry of the two Paracletes in behalf of the saints of God. Let us note the words of Christ in John 14:16-17, “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; Even the Spirit of Truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.”
“Another Comforter.” The Greek word translated “Comforter” is “Paracletos (Paraclete)”. Jesus Christ the Righteous is in God’s presence to appear for saints. Hebrews 9:24. Now note Hebrews 7:24-25, “But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.”
Christ is in God’s presence in Heaven representing the believers. He is the believer’s Priest, Intercessor, and Advocate. Christ ever lives to make intercession for saints.
Now note Romans 8:26-27, “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.” Here we note the wonderful intercessory work of the other Paraclete. Each Paraclete has a very definite ministry for the child of God.
Note Ephesians 1:13-14, “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the Gospel of your salvation: in whom also, after that ye BELIEVED, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.” The indwelling Holy Spirit is the believer’s guarantee of his inheritance, the earnest, until the redemption of the purchased possession.
CHRIST WASHING HIS DISCIPLES FEET
Now let us note the word of the believer’s Advocate in John 13:1-11, “Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him; Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God; He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. After that he poureth water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded. Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, LORD, dost thou wash my feet? Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter. Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. Simon Peter saith unto him, LORD, not my feet, only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all. For he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are not all clean.”
“He loved them unto the end.” With this let us read Philipians 1:6, “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”
Now, we call your special attention to two statements of Christ in connection with the washing of His disciples’ feet, “Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.” John 13:7. “Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all.” John 13:10.
“Thou knowest not now.” “Thou shalt know hereafter.” Two different Greek words translated “know.” The second one means to understand, that is, after Christ’s resurrection from the dead His disciples would understand the real meaning of the washing of their feet. This cleansing spoke of Christ’s work as the believer’s Advocate. “If we sin we have an Advocate with the Father.” 1 John 2:1.
“He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit.” Again we have two different Greek words translated “wash.” The first has the meaning of a washing all over; the other a subsequent cleansing. First the believer comes to Christ on the cross, the propitiation for the sins of the whole world. There the believer is cleansed all over and there he becomes the child of God. His relationship is established by the once for all work of Christ. At God’s right hand Christ continually intercedes for the redeemed and maintains their fellowship.
Let us remember His words in Luke 17:3-4, “Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. And if he trespass against thee seven time in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.”
And now look at, Matthew 18:21-22, “Then came Peter to him, and said, LORD, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.”
Certainly Christ would not expect one of His disciples to do more forgiving than He Himself would do. Let us remember that 1 John was addressed to believers and that 1 John 1:9 is for God’s children, “If we confess our sins, he is Faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9.
CHRIST INTERCEDING
Now carefully read and study John 17, for it is one of the greatest chapters in all the Bible. There we have Christ as Priest, interceding. Note John 17:9, “I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.” Now note Hebrews 9:24, “For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.”
Christ, in heaven, appears, NOT for the world of unbelievers but for those who have been washed by His precious blood. Note John 17:15-24, “I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are NOT of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.” “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word.” “Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.”
If these petitions of the Son of God speak of the present intercessory work of the LORD Jesus Christ in heaven, we can understand the why of the uttermost salvation in Hebrews 7:25, and we can understand Hebrews 6:19-20.
“Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” Hebrews 7:25. “Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the vail; Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made a high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.” Hebrews 6:19-20.
CHRIST AS PRIEST IN JOHN 17
John 17:11, “And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to Thee. Holy Father, keep through Thine own name those which Thou hast given Me, that they may be one, as We are.”
John 17:14, “I have given them Thy Word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.”
John 17:15, “I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil.”
Christ said, “I pray not for the world.” John 17:9. The believer is in the world but not of the world.
In 1 John are found these words, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” “And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.” 1 John 2:15.
Christ’s desire for His disciples was that they would touch the world but that the world would not touch them. Note again John 16:33, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” We read in Hebrews 11:38 concerning God’s men of Faith, “Of Whom the world was not worthy.”
CAIAPHAS’ PROPHECY
“Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation should perish not. And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation; And not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad.” John 11:50-52.
It was expedient that Christ should die for His own Nation Israel and also that the children of God should be gathered together. Note the words of Christ in John 10:16, “And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.” Also note Christ’s words in John 12:31-33, “Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This he said, signifying what death he should die.” Also note Christ’s words in John 3:14, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up.”
Christ must be lifted up. He came to be the rejected King and the Corn of Wheat. “For this cause came I unto this hour.” John 12:27. As Moses lifted up the brazen serpent in the wilderness (Numbers 21:6) that the Israelites who were dying with the bite of the serpents might look, believe and live, so the LORD Jesus Christ was lifted up and nailed to Calvary’s cross, that Jews and Gentile descendants of the first woman and man beguiled by the serpent in Eden might be saved from sin. “I, if I be lifted up”...“Signifying what death He should die.”
ISRAEL’S BLINDNESS AND UNBELIEF...THE GENTILES OBTAINED MERCY
We learned in John 1:11-12, that Christ’s own rejected Him, but as many as received Him and believed on Him were born of God. We learn a most important truth in Romans 11:30, “For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief.”
Note again Romans 11:15, “For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?” Here we learn that the unbelief and casting away of Israel brought mercy and reconciliation to the Gentiles. After this Divine truth is stated, note the words of the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul in Romans 11:33-34, “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the LORD? or who hath been his counsellor?”
What shall we Gentiles say? “Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in.” Romans 11:19. Before we quote again from John 12, let us note Romans 11:7-8, “What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear) unto this day.”
Now look at John 12:37-40, “But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him: That the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, LORD, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the LORD been revealed? Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again, He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.” And here we might say again the words of Romans 11:33-34, “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the LORD? or who hath been his counsellor?” Therefore Israel could not believe.
Here we think again of Acts 2:22-23, “Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain.”
When Israel, with wicked hands, slew Jesus of Nazareth, when the rulers crucified the LORD of Glory (1 Corinthians 2:6-8), when Israel’s rulers killed the Prince of Life (Acts 3:14-15), the Son of God was delivered according to the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. If Christ was God’s spotless Lamb foreordained BEFORE the foundation of the world (1 Peter 1:18-21), and if His death was in fulfillment of Scriptures (Acts 13:29), then we say that Christ’s death was not only inevitable but Christ had to die at the time that He died and in the manner that He died by the hands of His own Nation.
But even so, God did not minimize or excuse the guilt of the men who had Christ put to death. Note Acts 7:51-52, “Ye stiff necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers.” And, 1 Thessalonians 2:14-16, “of the Jews: Who both killed the LORD Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men: Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill up their sins always.“
By carefully reading Acts 3:12-26, we learn that God was willing to forgive Israel for their terrible crime if they would repent. To those murderers the message was, “I know that through ignorance ye did it” (Acts 3:17). But when they refused to repent the crime was charged against them. But note what they did when they killed Christ, “For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.” Acts 4:28.
THE KING AND THE CORN OF WHEAT
“On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet Him, and cried, Hosanna, BLESSED IS THE KING OF ISRAEL THAT COMETH IN THE NAME OF THE LORD. And Jesus, when He had found a young ass, sat thereon; as it is written, FEAR NOT, DAUGHTER OF SION: BEHOLD, THY KING COMETH, SITTING ON AN ASS’S COLT.” John 12:12-15.
“And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast: The same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying, ‘Sir, we would see Jesus.’ Philip cometh and telleth Andrew: and again Andrew and Philip tell Jesus. And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, That the Son of man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” John 12:20-24.
In the twelfth chapter of the Gospel of John, the LORD Jesus presented Himself to Israel. “Blessed is the King of Israel.” He did not present Himself to the Greeks but sent word to them that like the corn of wheat must abide alone or die, so He must die and be buried to bring forth much fruit. About twenty years later, note what happened, “And it came to pass in Iconium, that they went both together into the synagogue of the Jews, and so spake, that a great multitude both of the Jews and also of the Greeks believed.” Acts 14:1. The few Greeks were not permitted to see the King of Israel, but the multitude of Greeks were SAVED by BELIEVING that the Corn of Wheat had died and risen again.
WILL DRAW ALL MEN
When Christ said, “I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto Me,” He most assuredly was not saying that all men would be saved. The doctrine of universal salvation or universal reconciliation is repudiated by many Scriptures such as John 3:36, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth NOT the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”
When Christ was on earth, He uttered these words, “And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.” John 5:40. And remember His words of warning in John 8:24, “If ye believe not that I am, ye shall die in your sins.”
God’s will in this matter is expressed in 1 Timothy 2:4-6, “Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is ONE God, and ONE mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time.”
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In Ephesians 1:13 the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul declares that men are saved and sealed by hearing and BELIEVING the Word of Truth, the Gospel of your Salvation. Therefore, here, now, is declared unto you the Word of Truth, the Gospel of your Salvation: "that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures" 1 Corinthians 15:3-4. BELIEVE today. The time is short.
So There You Have it!
Spread this message to everyone you know, far and wide.
Grace be to you and peace, from God: our Father, and The LORD Jesus Christ.
In The LORD Jesus Christ,
The Lion and Lamb Ministry
Pastor David Picos, D.D.
Minister and Ambassador for Christ in the Ministry of Reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18-20)
