John 14:16-17
“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.”
Have you ever seen the tv game show, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Large cash prizes are offered for correctly answering a series of multiple-choice questions of increasing (or, in some cases, random) difficulty. If you make it to the final question and get it right, you win $1,000,000! Pretty cool, but the questions can be quite challenging, and many contestants choose to use their “Lifeline”—a chance for help. You can choose “50/50” (eliminates half the answers), “Phone a Friend”, or “Ask the Audience”. Wouldn’t that be a nice feature for our lives in general?
It certainly is.
The Holy Spirit is a Believer’s lifeline to Godly wisdom and discernment, but unlike the gameshow, you are allowed unlimited use of this Helper. Additionally, He is a helper that most people don’t even know about or understand—unbelievers “neither see him nor know him.” And, perhaps most importantly, your Helper is your gateway to Truth. The Holy Spirit enables you to understand God’s Word. He enables you to see God’s Truth when it shows up in society and conversely, He highlights the lies of the world and the devil when you encounter them. Do you look to your “Lifeline” on a regular basis? You should.
Of course, in order to fully understand our Helper, we need to be conversant in his primary language, which is the Word of God. Knowing the Word gives you the ability to know the Truth, and when that Truth jumps off the page or out of any given situation, your Helper is speaking to you…guiding you…enabling you. The Full Armor of God (Eph. 6) is held together by the Belt of Truth! We are given spiritual life (birth) through the Truth (Jas. 1:18). The Truth sets us free (Jn. 8:32). Most importantly, Jesus came into the world to “testify to the truth” (Jn. 18:37). None of these truths are attainable for any human without the power of the Holy Spirit…our Helper.
Finally, I think it’s important to note how today’s passage begins. Jesus describes a very personal encounter between him and God— “And I will ask the Father…”. It’s a glimpse into the heart of our Savior as he seeks assistance for us. He was about to leave the earth but did not desire to leave us alone. He knew that his disciples would need help to carry on the work…and he knew that we would, too. Knowing the Bible is one thing but having the very presence of God within us is another. It’s much deeper. More personal. Far more powerful. It was the direct result of Jesus’ request, made on our behalf, and for our good. That touches my heart, deeply. I hope it touches yours, as well.
