Who is the most important person in your life? Is it a husband, wife, father or mother, brother or sister, friend at church? Pick someone out.
Got someone in mind? Okay. Now imagine that they are gone – never to be seen by you anymore in this life. Some of you know what that's like already, don't you? You've lost a husband or wife, or someone else who is near and dear to you. And it hurts, doesn't it? - At least for awhile. Sadly, for some, the hurt never seems to go away and emptiness remains.
Thank goodness for our God and His Savior. Where would we be without Him for He plugs up the hole of our losses with Himself, and He fills up our emptiness with His presence and promises. True, we lose people in this life, people who are dear to us. But if they believe in the Lord Jesus as their Savior, we never truly lose them for we shall see them again in heaven. Gone for a time – yes, but we know that because Christ lives, they live, too, by faith in Him. And one day we shall be reunited with them and the whole company of believers in the mansions above. Gone? Yes, for a time from this world. But lost! Never – they're with the Savior!
And the Savior is with them. Now think of that. They are at the side of the Good Shepherd who holds them and cares for them eternally in ways that you and I never could. What better place could one be? In the arms of the Savior! Never Alone!
I. Never alone because we've got another Counselor with us.
Ask the disciples. They knew that there was no better place to be than with the Savior. They loved to be in His presence, hearing Him, watching Him, walking with Him; it's what they daily lived for. That's why they were so upset and fearful when Jesus told them He was going away. What! Left alone?
In our text He said, “Before long the world will not see me anymore.” He was leaving this world, going to the Father's House, like He said earlier. They were losing their dearest friend. And they were afraid, afraid to be alone without Him, stuck in the world by themselves.
That shouldn't be so hard for us to understand. Isn't that a big part of the sad feelings that we also have when someone leaves us? We feel alone, and because we're alone, we feel unloved. Alone, unloved - they go together. No one likes to feel that way. It makes us sorrowful and afraid.
For example, the story is told about a small group of soldiers who stopped at an orphanage at Christmas. All the children there had lost their parents to bombs. The soldiers – seeing no trees, no decorations, and no gifts – gave whatever they had in their pockets to the orphaned children. One soldier saw a small boy standing alone in a corner. He went over to him and asked, “Little boy, what do you want?” Turning his face to the soldier, the boy answered, “Please, sir, I want to be loved.”
Alone, unloved, afraid! That's how the disciples felt, too, on the night before Jesus' crucifixion. When they heard of His plans to go to Jerusalem to suffer, die, rise again, and go to the Father's House above, they were greatly troubled. Their minds couldn't take it all in, and their hearts were filled with sorrow because they didn't want to be left alone, helpless like orphans in an oft-times unfriendly world.
So it was that the Savior promised, “I will not leave you as orphans….I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever – the Spirit of truth….He will live with you and will be in you.”
Jesus ascended, but He never left us alone , dear friends. We've got another Counselor with us, one whom He specifically had the Father send to us – the Holy Spirit. He is a Counselor who speaks the truth. Now, what does a counselor do?
Well, students have guidance counselors; married couples meet with marriage counselors; people going to court meet with legal counselors, called attorneys. There are counselors for almost any need we might have in our day. They offer support, guidance, direction, and comfort for people.
And, you know, the same is true with the Holy Spirit. In fact He offers the best guidance and support of all, because He only knows and only speaks divine truth from the Lord Jesus and the Heavenly Father who have forgiven us for Christ's sake. He reminds us of all the promises the Savior taught us, and He's with us forever, especially in the sad and bad times to support us. He's there lifting you up even when you don't know it. Think of this Counselor's presence and work in your life this way. Have you ever tried to move a heavy sofa or a long table by yourself? It's not easy. First you take hold of one end and move it. Then you move to the other end and shove. After much grunting and groaning, you may get it done. But the job is made much easier and done more efficiently when another person helps you. This is the picture in the Greek words of what the Counselor, the Spirit of truth, does for those who in faith are missing the Savior. It appears that they are alone, struggling to move in life. But the Counselor is with them and in them to aid them. The Bible says, “He helps us in our weakness” (Ro.8:26) – literally, “He comes to our side and takes hold of the other end with us” to move the burden. And it is done! That's the promise here, dear friends. So, don't ever think you are alone with any struggle.
True, Jesus left His disciples through death's door. True, He left them a second time when He ascended into heaven. But in His place came another who will never, ever leave those who believe. Alone? Never! We've got another Counselor with us.
II . Never alone because we enjoy a wonderful fellowship with God
But really, has Jesus left us? Listen again to what He said, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me….On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.”
You see, sad and alone as the disciples might be tempted to feel, Jesus was still with them – “to the end of the world,” He promised. And He is with you, too, as you put your faith in Him.
“Jesus is with you.” That is what we often say to a fellow believer who is lonely, or sad, or suffering, or going on a trip, and so on. “Jesus is with you.” It's more than just a greeting or a wishful thinking; it's reality! He said, “I will come to you.”
Like a mother who soothes her tearful child when she has to go away for awhile, the Savior soothed the disciples' fears by saying, “I'll be right back.” And He was; they saw Him.
How many times after the crucifixion and the resurrection didn't they see Him? Once He even appeared to over 500 of them. The world, which had rejected Him, didn't see Him again; but they who followed Him did. Even after He ascended, His disciples continued to see Him – not with these eyes (physical), but with these (heart) – with the eyes of faith. And with those eyes, they enjoyed a wonderful fellowship with Him .
But it wasn't limited to the Lord Jesus; it included the presence of the Father with them. He said, “In that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.” If the Lord Jesus is in the Father, and the Lord Jesus is in His disciples, then the Father is in them, too.
One with the Father, one with the Lord Jesus, one with the Spirit - it's a special kind of fellowship that the triune God has with those who believe. He fills us with His complete presence. It is this wonderful fellowship with God that is the constant source of power, assurance, and comfort that comes to us throughout our lives. Dear friend, in faith make use of it.
The story is told of a pious old Scotsman who made use of this special fellowship with God in the following way. One day he was visited by the minister who had recently been called into the parish. After the pastor had seated himself by the old man's bedside, he saw a vacant chair pulled up on the other side of the bed. Evidently, it had been used just before he entered the room. Pointing to the chair, the pastor said, “Well, I see that I'm not your first visitor this morning.” Following the pastor's eye to the vacant chair, the old man replied, “Oh – that chair? Let me tell you about it.”
“Many years ago I found it impossible to pray when I went to bed. I often fell asleep on my knees; I was so tired. And if I managed to keep awake, I couldn't keep my thoughts from wandering. One day I spoke to the minister about it. He told me not to worry about kneeling down. ‘Just sit on your bed and put a chair opposite you. Imagine that the Lord Jesus is in it, and talk to Him just as you would to a friend who is with you.' I began doing that, and have been doing it ever since.”
It may not be possible or even desirable to cultivate the habit of the vacant chair, but how important that every one of us cultivate the practice of the Triune God's presence in our lives – for they are with us in a much higher way than even the Scotsman confessed. Never Alone we enjoy a wonderful fellowship with God.
So, dear friends, God help us each morning and night, by a conscious act of faith, to put our hand in His and entrust our lives to His care for even in the worst or saddest of times, the believer is never alone. Yea, though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death we will fear no evil for He is with us.