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The Lord Jesus in His farewell address (John 13-16) uses the word Father more times than it occurs elsewhere in the whole of the Gospels; perhaps oftener than it is used in the New Testament; but this I have not verified. If you begin at John 13 and underline the word Father on to the end of chapter 17, you will be surprised to find how very frequently the word occurs.
When our earth passes through a part of her annual journey round the sun, she comes into a region bright with the constant darting of spots of light―the region of the shooting stars―they are there in great abundance, and not clustered together in any other part of its course. So we find this portion of John's Gospel especially bright with the clustered frequency of the word "Father."
The Lord is introducing “his own” to the Father who had given them to Him; and in chapter 17 He addresses the Father about them, committing them to the Father's care since he cannot remain longer with them to shield them beneath His sheltering wing. When it is the Son and the Father He simply says, “Father.” When He commits the disciples to the Father in the midst of evil he says, “Holy Father;” and when He casts a glance at the world that had refused Him―and hated both Him and His Father―He says, “O Righteous Father, the world hath not known Thee, but I have known Thee.”
Why not say, “Heavenly Father,” here? Because in John's Gospel He is the Only Begotten. Son, who is in the bosom of the Father. Consequently he could say, as the Incarnate Son, “The Son of man who is in heaven.” It is the Son and the Father in John. In Mathew it is Jehovah and Jesus, and He presents Himself as Messiah, according to the Old Testament prophecies. Having been born King of the Jews in Bethlehem and among the people in the land of Israel, He says, “My Father, which is in heaven,” (Matthew 10:32-33) and “My heavenly Father” (Matthew 15:13). “Every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted up.” Here we have distance and earth as his sphere―“the land of Israel”―all so different from “the Son of Man, who is in heaven” in John’s Gospel.
We are not standing in the Jewish position of servant―at a distance, but, as believers in the Son, we are in Christ Jesus, made nigh through the blood of Christ, for “by Him we have access by one Spirit unto the Father.” We have now the same position, as we have the same nature, as the glorified Son of God, and He has ascended to His God and Father; and by grace we who believe in Him are brought to God our Father in Christ where He is in the heavenlies. So, being in conscious relationship to the Father, the Spirit of adoption giving us a sense of His love and of our nearness to Him, being in the light as He is in the light, in fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ, we do not say “Heavenly Father,” but simply “Abba, Father;” Being in the enjoyment of the filial relationship, and being in the Spirit, and to faith “in the heavenlies in Christ,” we are where the Father is, “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the children of God.” “Beloved, now are we the children of God.” In the presence of our God and Father in Christ we should not say “heavenly Father” as if there were all the distance between earth and heaven between us.
My children do not address me as at a distance, but simply say “father,” for they are with me under the same roof in this city; but if they were in a foreign land it would not be improper for one of them to write and use the name of the city in connection with the word “father.” We have the spirit of adoption whereby we cry, “Abba, Father.”
Praying to the Holy Spirit
As to the Holy Spirit, He is never the object of prayer, but He is always spoken of in the Word as the medium and power of prayer, praise and fellowship, as also of suffering and service. Yet in some hymns we find Him addressed as the object of prayer. If this is right in the Christian dispensation, why is there no instance of this in the Christian Scriptures? It is because He is here on earth and in the saints. “The Spirit is life.” He identifies Himself with the saints and is the divine source, energy, originator, and power of their spiritual thoughts, affections, feelings, and emotions.
Then, “praying in the Holy Ghost” is, “according to the Scriptures,” not praying to the Holy Spirit. Adoringly do I own the Holy Spirit as one of the Persons in the Godhead; and when I pray to God of course it is as Father, Son and Holy Spirit―but then this is in regard to Godhead. But when it is the several Persons in the Godhead in connection with the work of redemption and the church, we never find any example of prayer to the Holy Ghost, nor do we find any directive to pray to the Holy Spirit. He is in us. “What! know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which ye have of God?” And again, “The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost given unto us.” Strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man, He causes Christ to dwell in the heart by faith; and seeing that He now characterizes the new life which He imparts, we never find that He in us is the object of address in praise, prayer, or worship, for this would lead to pray to a power in ourselves, and to be occupied with His work in us instead of with Christ, who is the object of faith and whom the Holy Spirit delights to glorify.
In Romans 8, the Holy Spirit is the power of life in the Christian, though also there clearly seen as distinct from the believer. He is not only a living force within us, but the living God as well. Hence there is a moral propriety in not praying to the Holy Ghost; but what commands our faith and practice is that in the Scriptures there is neither precept nor example for praying to the Holy Spirit. Yet we find this done both in prayer-meetings and in hymns by unintelligent saints and poets. But Scripture is wiser than our hymn-writers: and it never tells us to invoke the Holy Spirit. “But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, PRAYING IN THE HOLY GHOST, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord. Jesus Christ unto Eternal life.” Jude 20-21.
This article, from “The Bible Herald” Volume 5, 1880 (lightly edited), has long been credibly attributed to C. Wolston.