“And
I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He
may abide with you forever.” -John 14:16 (NKJV) These
things I have spoken to you while being present with you. But the
Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He
will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things
that I said to you.” –John 14: 25-16 (NKJV). “Nevertheless
I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if
I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I
will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the
world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment…However, when
He, the Spirit of truth has come, He will guide you into all truth…He
will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to
you.” -John 16:7-8; 13-14 (NKJV).
Jesus
knew his earthly time with his disciples was drawing to a close, that
his death was imminent. Within the fifth discourse of Jesus given in
the Gospel of John, Jesus draws his disciples aside and teaches them
many things, reinforcing some He had previously taught, and giving
them new promises.
In
this intimate discourse, Jesus assured the disciples that He was
praying to the Father that He would send a Helper to them, One that
would be with them forever. This presence was paraclete,
the Greek word for
“one Who walks beside,” the Comforter, the Helper. This third
person of the Trinity has the power to indwell each believer and to
make possible spiritual work of the highest magnitude in and through
believers. The Spirit will be Teacher, helping the believer to study
and understand the Word of God. The Spirit will stir up the gift of
remembrance in the believer, so that when words for witnessing or
teaching are needed, they will be brought to the mind of the
believer. The Spirit will be Convictor, showing the world the
condemnation of sin, and stirring those who will respond to turn to
righteousness. He will guide believers into truth. But always He
will glorify the Lord Jesus Christ.
The
Helper is the third person of the Trinity, the Triune God: God the
Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. Jesus knew that without
the Spirit present in believers, they would not be able to function
as His followers in a world gone awry with sin. We are to walk in
the Spirit (Galatians 5:16), worship in the Spirit (Philippians 3:3),
and witness in the Spirit (Acts 1:8). These references teach us a
very important doctrine about the Holy Spirit. He works through
believers in whom He lives. A very important true illustration of
the Spirit at work is on the Day of Pentecost when Peter was
empowered to preach and over 3,000 people were convicted of sin and
accepted the new and glorious Truth of salvation through faith in
Christ. One of the main ministries of the Holy Spirit is to
enlighten us with God’s Truth. He is Teacher, but He is also
Comforter, Helper, and Friend. He empowers us to do the work Jesus
left for his followers to do.
“I
will not leave you comfortless,” Jesus promised us in John 14:18.
That Comforter comes in the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.
The doctrine of the Trinity is hard to explain and much mystery
surrounds it still. Although we can grasp in part the concept of God
the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, one in Three, yet
One God, monotheistic, because the persons of the Trinity are in
complete harmony working to bring the highest of God’s created
order to a restored relationship with God in whose image we are made.
May we take time to consider the wonder, majesty and power of the
Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and open anew our hearts to the work of
the Holy Spirit to convict, to judge, to empower, to comfort, to
teach, to enlighten and to motivate. Ethelene Dyer Jones
03.22.2015
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