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And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever\u2014 the Spirit of truth\u201d (John 14:16-17).

Last week, the church commemorated the Ascension of Jesus into heaven. This coming Sunday, we will celebrate Pentecost, the pouring out of the Holy Spirit upon the church. According to the Heidelberg Catechism this is the third benefit of Christ\u2019s ascension. The authors wrote it this way, [Jesus] \u201csends his Spirit to us on earth as a further guarantee. By the Spirit's power we make the goal of our lives, not earthly things, but the things above where Christ is, sitting at God's right hand\u201d (A49).

Jesus told his disciples that the Holy Spirit whom he would give is the Spirit of truth. The Spirit is not a sitter, He is a doer. We might say that He does truth. The Catechism offers us two ways in which the Spirit does truth.

First, the Spirit comes as the guarantor that everything that is promised us will be given. To use a biblical term, he is the first fruits of our redemption. This is put clearly in Ephesians 1, which in the Message, is paraphrased this way, \u201cIt\u2019s in Christ that you, once you heard the truth and believed it (this Message of your salvation), found yourselves home free\u2014signed, sealed, and delivered by the Holy Spirit. This down payment from God is the first installment on what\u2019s coming, a reminder that we\u2019ll get everything God has planned for us, a praising and glorious life\u201d (Ephesians 1:13-14).

Elsewhere, we are told that the Holy Spirit \u201ctestifies with our spirit that we are God\u2019s children\u201d (Romans 8:16). This is a beautiful reality. Throughout our lives on this earth, Satan, our enemy, tries to discourage us, causing doubts about our redemption to move us away from God. But the Holy Spirit is always speaking the truth to our hearts. Now, its true that the Holy Spirit rarely shouts, he is more of a whisperer. So, I invite you to quiet your heart and hear his words.

Life in this world can be difficult. We can spend our lives pursuing the Kingdom of God and see little movement, even within our own hearts. In such situations, we can become discouraged and wonder if it is all true. Then the Holy Spirit invites us to look ahead, to see what is to come. He calls us to live in hope, a hope that is confident that the future is guaranteed. The Spirit is just the beginning.

Second, the Spirit moves us into kingdom living. Like the Spirit, Christians are not sitters. We are doers. Now, understand, the first doing and the doing we keep coming back to is the renovation of the heart. When the apostle Paul calls us into the kingdom life he always begins with our hearts, our attitudes. Again, he puts it so clearly in Ephesians: \u201cI urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love\u201d (4:1-2). Or, as he writes elsewhere, \u201cSince, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God\u201d (Colossians 3:1).

Being Christian and being involved in Christ\u2019s kingdom is not first of all a matter of doing something out there. Its first receiving the mercy of God and secondly, taking on the attitude and character of Christ. As we pursue the character and attitudes of Jesus, the Spirit will propel us out into the world to live the kingdom in places where there are forces opposed to the kingdom. Don\u2019t deceive yourself, its still a battle ground. But victory is guaranteed. The Holy Spirit\u2019s presence is just the beginning.