FaithSearch International

Proclaiming the Gospel with Evidence to All Peoples Everywhere

Schedule an Event Today!

952-401-4501

  • Home
  • Events ▾
    • Events Calendar
    • Community Building ▾
      • FaithSearch Discovery
      • FaithSearch Origins
      • FaithSearch Destiny
      • FaithSearch Answers
      • Unmasking the Masquerade
      • Explore the Evidence Community Breakfast!
    • Church Training ▾
      • Friend to Friend
      • Growing Faith
      • Operation Armor: Youth Initiative ▾
        • Explore the Evidence Youth Camp
      • Explore the Evidence Holy Land Tour
    • Speakers ▾
      • Dr. Don Bierle
      • Adrian Van Vactor
      • Dr. Oleg Voskresensky
    • Event Reports
  • Questions ▾
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Amazing Discoveries
    • Paraclete: News and Evidence
  • Dr. Don’s Blog ▾
    • Happ-O-getics
    • Christmas
    • Origins
      • Creation
      • Evolution
      • Intelligent Design
  • About ▾
    • Our Staff
    • Meet Our Speakers
    • News from the Field
    • Statement of Faith
    • What People Are Saying…
    • What Leaders Are Saying…
  • Connect ▾
    • Schedule an Event
    • Feedback
  • Donate ▾
    • Give to FaithSearch International – Support Gospel Evidence Today
      • FaithSearch Policy on Donated Funds
    • Many Ways You Can Help
  • Resources ▾
    • Checkout
    • Cart
    • Browse Catalog
    • Resource Categories
    • My Account
  • Learning
    Center
You are here: Home / Paraclete / Another Paraclete: To Your Advantage

Another Paraclete: To Your Advantage

May 6, 2022 By Dr. Don Bierle

By Dr. Don Bierle, FaithSearch President

[Editor’s note: Again, we will provide the promised Part 2 of “Is 2022 the Beginning of the End?” after Pentecost, in our next issue.]

The night before His crucifixion, Jesus spent the evening with His apostles, preparing them for their coming crisis of faith, which they would face following His death. One of His primary provisions was the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit: 

And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of Truth… He abides with you and will be in you.

(John 14:16‑17)

“Another?” Who was the previous one? According to 1 John 2:1, it was Jesus Himself: 

My little children, I am writing these things to you that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate [παράκλητος (paraklētos)] with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 

(1 John 2:1)

“Advocate” and “Helper” are translated from the same Greek word, paraclete, from which we also take the title of this newsletter. It was used in the first century as a legal term – the one who is your representative in court, advocating for your cause. Jesus presently advocates for believers at the throne of God while the Holy Spirit is our advocate (paraclete) here on earth. 

God is clearly and constantly “pulling” for us. Jesus even went so far as to say, “it is to your advantage that I go away” (John 16:7) so He could send the Holy Spirit to be in every believer and provide help simultaneously. (See 1 Corinthians 6:19.) Besides, the Holy Spirit’s ministry is many-fold, including: inspiration of Scripture (John 16:13-15); gifting and maturing believers (1 Corinthians 12:4,11; 2 Corinthians 3:18); and assisting in our mission of reaching the lost by convicting people of their sin (John 16:8). 

Pentecost

Woodcut for Die Bibel in Bildern, 1860, by German artist Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld. “They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit…“ (Acts 2:1-4a)
(Public domain)

The Holy Spirit is typically identified with Pentecost which Christians celebrate fifty days after Passover. It is the occasion when Jesus’ promise of the indwelling Holy Spirit was fulfilled (Acts 2). In 2022, Pentecost is on June 5.

God established the physical Jewish feasts to have a remarkable anticipation of the subsequent spiritual meaning and understanding of the events. The first day of Passover was the Feast of Unleavened Bread since the Jews were required to purge their homes of leaven (identified with impurity). Subsequently, God revealed the spiritual meaning: 

Clean out the old leaven [sin from our lives], that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. 

(1 Corinthians 5:7)

Jesus is our “unleavened bread” on which we feast. His sacrificial death and shed blood on the cross are what purifies and renders believers unleavened, forgiven of their sins: our Passover (Luke 24:46-47).

The second day after Passover God had instituted the Feast of First Fruits: 

When you enter the land which I am going to give to you and reap its harvest, then you shall bring in the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. And he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord for you to be accepted; on the day after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.

(Leviticus 23:10-11)

The “day after the sabbath” was Sunday when Jesus rose from the dead as the sheaf of first fruits: “But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:20).  Our faith in the “sheaf of the first fruits,” Jesus Christ, which Christians celebrate on Easter, makes us acceptable to God. 

The expression “first fruits” anticipates a full harvest that will come later. Again, God instituted the Feast of Weeks fifty days after Passover when the Jews were to present another wave offering in thanksgiving for God’s faithfulness to fulfill the harvest (Leviticus 23:16). God was anticipating what He was going to do fifty days after Passover – Pentecost – when the Holy Spirit generated a spiritual harvest of 3,000 who were saved and added to the Church (Acts 2:41). 

Sealed and Pledged

Pentecost, then, was a very important historical event. Its spiritual meaning continues to have great significance. We read what accompanies our salvation: 

In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the Gospel of your salvation – having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise…”. 

(Ephesians 1:13-14)
The first fruits of the harvest were to be presented to God in thanksgiving for His provision of the land, rich in wheat and barley, grape vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil, and honey.

The Romans placed a seal on the tomb of Jesus to indicate their authority and ownership. Each person who repents and embraces Jesus through faith, He “seals” with the indwelling Holy Spirit to mark His possession. They belong to Him.   

Since Pentecost the apostle Paul says that the Holy Spirit is given to each of us “as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory” (v. 14). When purchasing a home, we are usually required to deposit earnest money as a guarantee that we will return at a future date to complete the purchase. The “pledge” in this verse is an earnest, except in this case the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit is God’s earnest. It is God’s guarantee that Jesus will return someday to claim His own and complete our redemption by taking us to be with Him forever.

Living Water

Jesus wanted His gift of the Holy Spirit to be extremely desirable. His invitation is like the discovery of an oasis in the desert by a quenched traveler: 

“If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him. By this He meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive”.

(John 7:37-39 NIV)

May we all drink deeply of Jesus’ free and precious gift!   

Filed Under: Dr. Don, Paraclete

Recent Paraclete Posts

  • It’s Time for (Another?) Pentecost
  • In the News, May 2023, #1
  • MN In the News, May 2023, #1
  • MN In the News, May 2023, #2
  • In the News, May 2023, #2
  • What’s In A Name? (Part 2)
  • In the News, March 2023, #1
  • In the News, March 2023, #2
  • What’s In A Name? (Part 1)
  • In the News, January 2023, #1

Download PDFs

2023, Volume 6

Volume 6, Issue 3:
May 2023

Volume 6, Issue 2:
March 2023

Volume 6, Issue 1:
January 2023
2022, Volume 5

Volume 5, Issue 6:
October 2022

Volume 5, Issue 5:
September 2022

Volume 5, Issue 4:
July 2022

Volume 5, Issue 3:
May 2022

Volume 5, Issue 2:
April 2022

Volume 5, Issue 1:
January 2022

See Complete Archive

What People Are Saying…

FaithSearch Discovery

I have appreciated your teaching.  (I have already begun using it to answer the questions of my daugher.)  Thank you!  Your teaching is well-organized and clear, and full of insights I needed to be reminded of.  I was challenged to share my faith with boldness, equipped to defend my beliefs.  Again, thank you!

--KB Participant Binghamton, NY

Read More Testimonials
Donate to FaithSearch

FaithSearch International celebrates over forty years of proclaiming the Gospel with evidence to all peoples everywhere. Thank you for considering being a prayer and financial … Read More >>

About FaithSearch – Our Promise

The mission of FaithSearch International is to "Extend the Gospel with Evidence to all peoples Everywhere." FaithSearch delivers the "Ah-ha!" moment in your church and community with an exciting, … Read More >>

Search our Site

Member of ECFA


FaithSearch is a member in good standing of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability® (ECFA).
All donations to FaithSearch are tax deductible to the full extent of IRS regulations.

Archives

  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • August 2020
  • June 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • September 2015
  • June 2015
  • April 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • September 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • December 2010

FaithSearch International

6750 France Ave. S., STE 270
Edina, MN 55435

952.401.4501

Office hours are Tu-Th, 9:00 AM-4:00 PM

Schedule NOW

Bring a Speaker to your Church

Main Events

FaithSearch: Discovery

FaithSearch: Origins

FaithSearch: Destiny

FaithSearch: Supernatural Exposed

About Us

Get to know FaithSearch

Terms and Conditions

Privacy Policy
Policy on Donated Funds
Return Policy
Terms and Conditions

Handcrafted with by The J3 Effect. Powered by the Genesis Framework.

Copyright © 2023