TWO DIVINE PARACLETES
Pastor J. C. O’Hair
In John 14:16 we read: “And I will pray the Father and He shall give you another COMFORTER, (PARACLETE), that He may abide with you forever.”
Here the Lord Jesus, Who was going to leave His disciples, promised to send them another COMFORTER, the Holy Spirit. Both the words “another” and “Comforter” indicate that the Holy Spirit is a Person. Note Acts 13:2 - Acts 5:3 - Romans 8:26.
The word “Comforter” is literally “Paraclete.” Christ is one “Paraclete” and the Holy Spirit is another “Paraclete.” This is just what Jesus Christ the Righteous is called in I John 2:1: “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not, and if any man sin we have an Advocate (PARACLETE) with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous.”
“PARACLETOS” is from “para-kaleo” - to call near. Christ is called the believer’s “Advocate.” The word “ADVOCATE” is the same Greek word translated “Comforter,” in John 14:16. Read Hebrews 9:24 and Hebrews 7:25 and Romans 8:34.
In chapters thirteen to seventeen in the Gospel of John we have the work of the two “Paracletes” set forth. In chapters thirteen and seventeen, the washing of the disciples’ feet and the interceding of the Lord Jesus are recorded. In chapters fourteen and sixteen, we find the work of the Holy Spirit, another “Comforter,” the Spirit of Truth, Who is to guide the believers into all truth and to be the earnest of the believers’ inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession. (Ephesians 1:13 and 14).
The Lord Jesus Christ on the cross was the propitiation for the sins of the whole world. (I John 2:2).
The work of the same Lord Jesus Christ as “ADVOCATE” in God’s presence in heaven (Hebrews 9:24) is for those who have been redeemed by the precious shed blood of Christ.
Therefore, the believer should know the blessed truth of Hebrews 7:25 and Philippians 1:6: “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.” “Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will PERFORM it unto the day of Jesus Christ.”
The word “uttermost” in Hebrews 7:25 is the same Greek root as “perform” in Philippians 1:6, and both mean “all the way to the end.” “Panteleo” - “Epiteleo.”
The prefix before the word “end” in Hebrews 7:25 is “pan” meaning “all,” and in Philippians 1:6 is “epi.” The Greek root “end” is the same as John 13:1: “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.”
Christ loves His own unto the end. In John 17:24 and 25 Christ prayed that His disciples will be with Him in His glory. They will be. (Colossians 3:1 to 4). They are sealed by the Holy Spirit until the manifestation of that glory. (Ephesians 4:30).
If we have Scriptural right to speak of the carnal Christian (I Corinthians 3:1 to 4) as a back-slider, who has to come back to God, he must come through Christ at God’s right hand. It is because He is there that the believer has that sure and steadfast hope and anchor of Hebrews 6:19 and 20. Christ is in God’s presence to maintain the saints’ fellowship. He died on the cross to establish the believers’ relationship.
In John 13:4 to 12 we have the account of Christ washing the feet of His disciples and interpreting to them the meaning of that ministry. Note two different words “know” in John 13:7 and two different words “wash” in John 13:10.
When once a believer is washed all over by the blood of Christ, he needs only the work of Christ as Paraclete in heaven.
So after Christ was raised from the dead, Peter and others knew John 13:10. Compare Hebrews 10:22 and I John 2:2.
Posted By – Cecil Spivey
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