October 14 – Gone For Our Advantage

“But 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 go, I will send Him to you.” – John 16:7  (NASB)

The disciples of Jesus are with him in a second-floor room observing the Passover. Jesus is just a few hours away from the time he will be taken by the Jewish leaders and put on trial. It will be an illegal trial but the Jews must keep it quiet for a bit longer. Jesus is telling these followers and close friends that soon He will go away. They do not yet understand His purpose although He has been telling them he is approaching the moment for which he has come. He promises them and so He promised us that going away was necessary but they were not to be left alone. He also tells them that soon, just a little while they would see Him no longer – this is His accession to heaven that they will witness. But they will soon after see Him – when the Holy Spirit, the promised Helper is sent to abide in them. Now we who believe have Him abiding in us and us in Him. Jesus was emphatically claiming that the Spirit and He are one. Christ dwells in all faith believers through the Holy Spirit—in that sense we see Him.

 

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March 6 – A Helper Helps

“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 that I have said to you.”  -John 14:26  (ESV)

We can find in the Gospel of John the words Jesus spoke during their last Passover together. Jesus was giving his last words with hope and blessing to the disciples.  One of the precious promises is that He is going to ask God the Father to give them another Helper (John 14:16). A Helper who will be with them forever.  Jesus was leaving after being with them all this time for three years. This Helper, the Holy Spirit, will take Jesus' place as a constant companion. He is given only to those who know and believe in Jesus as the Son of God. In our verse Jesus promises the Holy Spirit, sent from the Father in the Son’s name will teach them all things.  He will bring to their remembrance all Jesus had taught them and all Jesus had said and done. For three years they had listened to Jesus with no minutes taken down to record every word.  But now, as they will go forth and will be the ones to write the God-breathed books of the New Testament (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Jesus is promising the Holy Spirit will inspire their recollection accurately of all they are to write. 

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February 29 – Asking, Sending, Helping, Abiding

“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.”  -  John 14:16-17 (NASB)

Chapters 13-17 in the Gospel of John are a watershed of promises. Jesus poured out his heart and love for his disciples and His prayer (John 17:20 NASB) establishes that Jesus included all believers in these promises. Today our promises are given by Jesus first to the eleven disciples left with Him.  Satan, having entered Judas Iscariot, is exposed sent out to do his evil deed.  Jesus first ‘asks the Father’ and with this began His priestly and intercessory work on our behalf.  He asks and promises to send to them ‘another’ Helper and the Greek word means “another of the same kind.”  Someone like Jesus Himself who takes His place to do His work. Jesus promises this someone will be a ‘helper.’ This is a kind of helper that is called “alongside to help, to encourage, to exhort.” He promises this helper will be with us forever as he come into us to dwell and abide.  'Abiding' has to do with God's Holy Spirit having permanent residence in all believers. This means Jesus gives us Himself. A powerful promise that God is not only with us, He is in us permanently – that is what ‘forever’ means. 

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April 8 – Helpful Counselor and Teacher

“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 that I said to you.”  John 14:26 (NASB)

When Jesus spoke these words it was during the last Passover supper He had with His disciples.  It was not long before He was crucified and He had just told them of how one of them would betray Him (13:21).  He had told them that He was soon going to leave them and they could not yet follow Him (13:33). Let's think about what He said now as we will be thinking about His crucifixion and His resurrection at Easter time. Jesus knew that because He would soon be leaving His disciples and going back to heaven, His followers would need help and so in  our verse He was promising to send the Holy Spirit as a helper, a counselor and teacher to help them.  We're so glad that the Holy Spirit came and He stayed on to help each of us even today.  Yes, the Holy Spirit was to come to remind the disciples of Jesus about His teachings and this same Holy Spirit is with each of us even today.  He is reminding us of the eternal truths, helping us to understand what God's will is for each us. It is good and valuable to be sure we are paying attention to His teachings each day.   

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