The Witness

Did you know that Jesus is the Comforter?

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 with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: [Emphasis added are mine]

John wrote, in this scripture above, that we have an "advocate" with the Father - Jesus Christ the Righteous. Looking into the original Greek for "Advocate" we find that it is the same word used in John 14 (below) when Jesus spoke of the "Comforter" that would come.

"Comforter" and "Advocate": (Greek παράκλητος, paraklētos, pronounced par-ak'-lay-tos): "An intercessor, consoler: - advocate, comforter" (Strong's #G3875)

There is a total of 5 occurrences of this word in the King James Version of the Bible. Four of them were translated "comforter" [John 14:16, John 15:26 (2), John 16:7] and once it was translated "advocate" [I John 2:1]. Interestingly enough, it was solely John the apostle that used this term for Jesus Christ. What we need to take note is that John never changed the Greek word used in all 5 occurrences. The word he used in the Greek was paraklētos. He did not differentiate. So Jesus Christ is the Comforter, Advocate, or Paraclete that was recorded to be spoken of by Jesus in John 14.

The Comforter is defined as one who consoles, guides, and intercedes.

John 14:12-26 - Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 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. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me. These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. [Emphasis added are mine]

In this passage, Jesus is speaking prophetically that whoever trusts in Him will do the works that He did and greater. Why? Because Jesus would go unto His Father. Then He goes on to say that He will give us another Comforter. He said was I will send you another Comforter, known as the Spirit of Truth and known as the Holy Spirit in this passage. Jesus was acting as the present Comforter to the disciples at that present time, which is why He says another Comforter will come. But Jesus says that the Comforter abides with you, referring to Himself at present, and shall be in you, referring to His Spirit that was to come later, which indwelt them at Pentecost. We must remember, and Jesus says so Himself in this passage, that the Father was in the Son (I Timothy 3:16), or in other words God manifest in the flesh.

Notice verse 18 says: I come to you. This statement is now linked to His previous statement that the Father would give them another Comforter and that the Holy Spirit is sent in the Father's name. This signifies that it would be Jesus. The scriptures reveal that He sent Himself, the Holy Spirit, to abide with us, being in us, forever.

Read the condition in verse 20 and 21. It says, "At that day ye shall know…" What day is He referring to? The day He sends the Comforter. The day He pours out His Spirit. But what will we know? We’ll know that Jesus is in the Father, and the Father in Him and Jesus in us. We will know that they are one, and that we will be too, with Him. This action brings us into oneness with Himself, by His Spirit. The condition being that Jesus will only manifest himself to those who love Him. He qualifies that by saying that those who love Him are the ones that have His commandments and keep them.

The revealing of Jesus to an individual is now intertwined with the receiving of the Comforter that will abide with us to the eons. To have his commandments is to know them. To keep His commandments is to do them and walk in them. Once you know His will, you determine to do it His way and no other. He is ever watching over His own word to perform it (Jeremiah 1:12). So when we do it His way, then He ensures that His promises come to pass.

In verse 23 and 24, just to be more clear, He says that He and the Father are looking for people that love Him, the way He defined it. And if they find that person, Christ and the Father will come to that person and make their abode with him. He says whoever does not love Him does not guard His words, and that the words that He, Jesus, speaks are not His but of the Father who sent Him. He says this while still abiding with the disciples, in the flesh. He was with us (with the disciples), but not in us, just yet.

The Holy Spirit will teach us all things and remind us of whatever Jesus said. In the same way that Jesus only said what the Father said and only did what He saw the Father do, the Holy Spirit will do the same in us and through us. He will relay what Jesus says and have us do whatever He does. That's easy because it's Jesus' Spirit.

John 15:26 - But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of Truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: [Emphasis added are mine]

There seems to be a contradiction here. Did you catch it? In John 14:26, Jesus said the Father sends the Holy Spirit. Now Jesus says, "I will send." If you take the notion that God is 3 distinct persons, then yes, that would be a contradiction, and you would question who is doing the sending. But if you remember Deuteronomy 6:4, "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:" who is doing the sending? Jesus was God, manifested in the flesh. Not another god, 2nd and distinct from God. Whether He says I send or the Father sends, He is referring to Himself. The disciples didn't have that revelation, yet, but when they received Him, by the Spirit, then they understood.

If Jesus were to come right out and say to the Pharisees and the people that He is God they would have stoned Him dead right there. Reading through John, Jesus is continually alluding to that truth, which is one of the reasons the Pharisees are so agitated with Him because they understood what He was really saying. However, they could not control or deny the power that manifested and witnessed of the truth of His words. In the Jews perspective, no mere mortal man could have done what He did, unless he were God. Later, we read in John 10:30 that He says it, "I and the Father are one."

John 1:1 – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (or God was the Word) [Emphasis added are mine]

It says later in this very same chapter (verse 14) "And the Word became flesh...". In other words, the infinite, invisible God, who is Spirit, manifested (revealed) Himself in the flesh (body) of Christ. God enrobed Himself with flesh. That is the great mystery of godliness and without revelation from Jesus cannot be comprehended. So the body of Christ, conceived of the Holy Spirit in Mary, was the human vessel that God used to manifest (reveal) Himself to humanity.

Now let’s find out what happens when Jesus does go away (unto the Father).

John 16:7-15 – Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you. [Emphasis added are mine]

It’s very important to point out here that unless Jesus (in the flesh) were to go away, the Comforter would not come or be sent to indwell the people of God. It’s a conditional statement. He needed to leave, so that He would release His Spirit to be within us, just as He spoke in the previous chapters of John. The Spirit would guide us into all truth. Up to that point they could not bear any more truth without His Spirit. Notice the exact same anointing that Jesus had, so does the Spirit. The anointing to reprove concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment. Whenever Jesus said or did something it was because that is what He saw and heard of the Father. Jesus was using these words to describe that it was the Father, in Him (His body) that said and did these things because the man was completely yielded to the Spirit of God within Him. Remember, Jesus had the Spirit without measure (John 3:34). In other words, in the man Jesus Christ, dwelt all the fullness of God in a human body (Colossians 2:9).

The Comforter is also known as the Spirit of Truth in John and the Spirit of Prophecy

Revelation 19:10 – And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. [Emphasis added are mine]

Now some say, being a witness means that you testify of Jesus and all that He has done for you in your life. In a sense, that is true. But here, scripture clearly defines the witness to be the Spirit of prophecy and that the Spirit of prophecy was in John the apostle and upon John the Baptist for they both witnessed concerning Him. That is why they are witnesses. Not because they testified of Him, but because they did so by Spirit of prophecy, the Holy Spirit. If that is so, then we who have received the pouring out of the Spirit (of truth), which is the Spirit of prophecy, which is the Comforter that Jesus spoke of in John, are also witnesses.

John 15:26,27 - But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of Truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning. [Emphasis added are mine]

With this understanding Acts 1:8 becomes all the more revealing.

Acts 1:8 - But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. [Emphasis added are mine]

We become witnesses, only after, we receive His anointing, His power, and that only comes by receiving His Spirit. Then, and only then, is when we become witnesses of Jesus Christ, having been born again, which is also known as being born of the water and the Spirit (John 3:3,6). We are witnesses only by the Spirit, for without Him we cannot witness concerning Him. Jesus did not take a witness from any man, including John the Baptist. Even John the Baptist's testimony of Him was useless to him.

-continued in part 2-