In one of the old hymns of the church, there is a couplet which expresses this great truth in a forceful way. The hymn writer says, "O may no earthborn cloud arise to hide Thee from Thy servant's eyes." The clouds that hide the sun from our eyes are not our creation; but the clouds which hide our God from us are always clouds of our own making. It is impossible for our Lord to be hidden from us, except by some mist arising from our own hearts.
Every week men meet in legislative chambers, lodges and other meetings and, for some reason or other, offer a prayer. More often than not, the name of Jesus Christ is left out in order to avoid hurting the feelings of any who might be susceptible. But Jesus Christ says that those prayers do not go to God.
There are always smiles when small children are in the family. Some of the heartiest of these smiles come out of the common everyday occurrences of life. We had spent some time teaching the children that they were not to ask for what they wanted at the table, but were to wait quietly until they were served. Parents often have to tell their children a hundred times over, exactly what is to be done-a hundred times simply because ninety-nine times is not sufficient. Then we have hopes that the lesson is beginning to be learned.
Now why is this verse (John 14:17) put at this spot in the Gospel of John? The Lord has said, "I am going to heaven, and I'm going to send you another Comforter, whom the world cannot see." Why is this put here? It's put here in order to point out to us that the Church is not to expect fantastic triumphs. We are to be a despised and a persecuted people. You may be sure of the fact that anything that calls itself "church" and wants to wear fine robes and say, "Kiss my ring," or "You are Mr. Pope," or Mr. Bishop or Mr. Dignitary, is not of the Holy Spirit. The Lord Jesus Christ was meek and lowly, and He said, "If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you." (See John 15:18.)
Let's say you get into legal trouble. You go down the street and you see a sign that says: "Smith, Jones, Brown & Smith-Lawyers." You go in and you say, "Help! S.O.S." You've just called the lawyer alongside because you are in trouble. The lawyer is your paraclete. "Now," says the Lord, "I will send you another Advocate, another 'Strengthenerwither,' who comes alongside of you." Now we have two of these. The remarkable thing is that this word paraclete or comforter appears twice in the Bible. You only see it once in English though, because in 1 John 2:1 the same Greek word is translated by another phrase. "My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not." And if any man sin, we have an advocate"-a paraclete, a comforter-"with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." So the Scripture tells us that we have this advocate, this firm of lawyers, this partnership of magnificent attorneys, Christ and the Holy Spirit. And Christ is in charge of the branch in heaven and the Holy Spirit is in charge of the branch on earth.
