Another Helper

And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you (John 14:16-17).

Jesus called the Holy Spirit ‘another Helper’. Confusion abounds as to the Person and work of the Holy Spirit, especially today with the plethora of false doctrines preached and taught by false prophets. 

First, the Holy Spirit is a gift from God the Father based on the intercessory work of Jesus. Second, the Holy Spirit is called ‘another Helper’. The word ‘helper’ is paraklaytos: ‘para’, meaning ‘along side’, and ‘klaytos’, meaning an ‘assistant’ or ‘advocate’. Arthur Pink observed, “A comforter is one who stand alongside of one in need, to strengthen,” citing the Latin definition of ‘comfort’: ‘com’, meaning ‘along side of’, and ‘fortis’, meaning ‘to strengthen’. A.T. Robertson cites the ancient Greek definition of the term as being a “legal assistant, pleader, advocate, one who pleads another’s cause.”

The word ‘another’ is allon. It means ‘another of the same kind; of like kind’. Because the Holy Spirit is ‘another of the same kind’ as Jesus, we must realize: (1) He is a Person, as Jesus is a Person. The Holy Spirit is not a divine cosmic ‘force’. (2) He is God as Jesus Christ is God. (3) He is of the same essence, nature, character, and purpose as the Father who sent Him, and Jesus Christ Whom He has come to take the place of in our lives. As such, the Holy Spirit will conduct Himself in us as Christ did among the disciples.

So, the Holy Spirit is One who is sent by the Father, through the intercession of Jesus Christ, to come along side every follower of Jesus Christ, to be Christ in us just as Jesus was to His disciples.

(Romans 8:26-34) Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Amen.

Pastor