Our Precious Helper

“But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning” (John 15: 26-27).

As He prepared His disciples for life and ministry after His departure, Jesus warned and comforted them. He exhorted them to obey and proclaim His word and do the kingdom-building work of God and He warned them that the world would reject and persecute them for it. He followed that warning with a word of encouragement. He promised them a Helper. He offered some very encouraging truth about this precious Helper. The Helper would come as a personal gift, sent by the Son from the presence of the Father. He would be called the Spirit of Truth. He would empower the disciples as Christ’s witnesses by bearing witness about Jesus to them and through them, to the world around them. For diligent disciples in every age who seek an intimate walk with Jesus and to share Him with the hostile world, the Spirit of Truth is indeed our precious Helper.

How is your relationship with the Holy Spirit? Do you feel His presence? Do others see the fruit of a growing, maturing fellowship with Him in your life? Are you aware of His leading? Are you sensitive to His convicting work? Are you growing in your knowledge of God’s word as He leads you into its truth? If you’re like me, a little reminder of just how indispensable this Helper is for maturing disciples will encourage you to become more familiar with and dependent on this precious gift of God.

Jesus taught that the Holy Spirit is sent by the Son from the Father. Jesus taught in another place that God loves to grant the gift of the Holy Spirit to His children liberally… “Everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?  If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:10-13). Notice, the only conditions for receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit are that we must be born again as God’s children… “Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’” (Galatians 4:6) and we must ask… “I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Luke 11:9). Exercise your faith and ask God to fill you every day with the gift that He’s already given you, His Holy Spirit… “Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18).

Jesus called the Holy Spirit our Helper. The Greek word translated Helper here is paraklētos and it means intercessor, consoler, advocate, and comforter. Jesus knows that diligent disciples will need this kind of help as we live and share the gospel with inhospitable unbelievers every day… “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Jesus called Him the Spirit of Truth. Jesus knows how much we need the Helper to lead us to and guide in God’s truth as we seek to live for Christ in this hostile and deceived world… “The great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him” (Revelation 12:9). Finally, Jesus taught that the Helper will bear witness about the Son through disciples who strive to bear witness through a close, life-long walk with Jesus Christ… “We are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him” (Acts 5:32). In those difficult witnessing moments when we don’t know exactly what to say or we don’t have the courage or strength to do what we need to do, our Helper, the Spirit goes to work in and through us to reveal Jesus Christ… “The Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth” (1 John 5:6).

As we grow up into Christ living for and sharing Him we are ever more thankful for the gift of…

Our Precious Helper.