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Tag: help

  • He will give you another Helper – the Holy Spirit

    He will give you another Helper – the Holy Spirit

    “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

    John 4:23-24 NASB

    The Messiah Jesus has been with His Apostles for three years. Now only John and ten others remain in the room after Judas left to betray the Lord.

    Are the very lives of the Disciples not also at great risk in the Jerusalem which hates righteousness? How will they survive once Jesus is killed?

    The Apostles must have wondered, ‘where will we find HELP after our Lord goes to His mortal death?’ It would be literally the day after tomorrow.

    The Three Helpers

    He will give you another Helper sets the scene from John 12 of Jesus and the Disciples returning to Jerusalem for Jesus’ triumphal entry.

    After Judas left

    Only the eleven chosen remain in the room with Jesus as the Lord reassures them concerning what must now take place to fulfill all righteousness.

    Perhaps the comfort of Psalm 38 came to mind as Jesus tells them He will no longer be with them.

    Psalm 38:

    And those who repay evil for good,
They oppose me, because I follow what is good.
Do not forsake me, O LORD;
O my God, do not be far from me!
Make haste to help me,
O Lord, my salvation!

    38:22 ח֥וּשָׁה לְעֶזְרָתִ֑י אֲ֝דֹנָ֗י תְּשׁוּעָתִֽי׃

    The Lord God, from whom Jesus received all Authority and power is God the Father.

    Because of the Lord Jesus, the Disciples now have a new relationship through their Master and Teacher to God the Father.

    We continued with the scene of the Last Supper in He will give you another Helper – Jesus’ promise, observing how Jesus promised that He Himself, the Messiah of the Lord God, would return to HELP the Disciples.

    Now we return to this same scene so full of promise. Listen closely as Jesus promises that the Holy Spirit will help them.

    John 13:

    31 When he [Judas Iscariot] had left, Jesus said,

    “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once.

    “I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

    John 13:34-35 CSB – In case you missed it, Church..

    John 14:

    15 “If you love me, you will keep my commands.

    And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever. He is the Spirit of truth.

    The world is unable to receive him because it doesn’t see him or know him. But you do know him, because he remains with you and will be in you.

    Trinity – Father, Son and Holy Spirit

    John has already witnessed the Power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus previously taught teachers of Israel about spirit (of man and living things) versus flesh, as well as of the Holy Spirit of the LORD.

    We touched on this from early in John’s Gospel in Life in the Holy Spirit.

    Although we could explore many mysteries of the Trinity in more detail our only purpose here is to introduce a NEW relationship of the Holy Spirit. J

    Prior to His crucifixion, resurrection and later return to the Father, Jesus now assures the Disciples:

    18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you.

    Do you feel like an orphan isolated from your brothers and sisters of your local church?

    (I do. But Jesus assures His disciples of good counsel.)

    25 “I have spoken these things to you while I remain with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you.

    He will remind you

    Even though Jesus returned to the Disciples in the flesh after His resurrection, He gave the Holy Spirit of God to those who loved Him in spirit and in truth.

    The Holy Spirit, Who IS with us, reminds disciples of everything the Son of God has taught us.

    Helper, Counselor, Comforter

    26 “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me…

    ‘When the Helper comes’ or ‘When the Counselor comes,’ or from the KJV, “Comforter” — παράκλητος parakletos, the ‘summoned’ One, Jesus assures, will be called to your side to plead your case.

    All point to the Holy Spirit, from the greek “πνεῦμα” pneuma – the Spirit of truth, defending you in truth.

    Pilate will soon ask rhetorically, “What is truth?”

    Jesus has already told them:

    “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

    John 14:6 – the words of Christ Jesus

    Now the Lord Jesus guarantees this same comforting truth through the Holy Spirit.

    —the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father—he will testify about me. 27 You also will testify, because you have been with me from the beginning.

    16:1 “I have told you these things to keep you from stumbling.

    1 John: Comfort to the Church

    Later the Apostle John will confirm this in letters to the Church read by saints who like us had never seen Jesus in the flesh and Spirit.

    4: Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. (If true in the first century, certainly many more false prophets have gone into the world of the 21st century.)

    By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God;

    1 John 2-3a

    … this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.

    What comfort for Christians in the Spirit to have such help — discernment of truth to recognize antichrists and false prophets. By this the fellowship of believers lives in the love of the Lord Jesus Christ.

    parakletos from the Father through the Lord Jesus.

    παράκλητος, an intercessor, consoler:—advocate, comforter.

    Help for the saints

    John 16:

    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

    8 And He [the Holy Spirit], when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment…

    The saints of the church, having the Truth of the Spirit present, will know the Lord’s conviction of sin, failure to righteousness and judgment of transgression. (Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.)

    9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.

    When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth. For he will not speak on his own, but he will speak whatever he hears. He will also declare to you what is to come.

    John 16:13 CSB – the promise of Jesus to the believer

    Behold, the hour cometh

    One last encouragement from Jesus increasingly more comforting to a 21st century church.

    32 Behold, an hour is coming, and has already come, for you to be scattered, each to his own home…

    … each of you will be scattered to his own home, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone…

    Think of it: Jesus tells the Eleven that they will be separated from each other in their own homes AND that his Disciples will leave their Lord and Master Jesus alone.

    The Lord Jesus, alone at His trials; alone in His punishments by the world — yet what does Jesus assure us?

    “… and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.

    Does it help to know by the Holy Spirit that the Father is in Him and He in the Father? Will the Holy Spirit sent to the one who believes not comfort, counsel and HELP you in your hour of need?

    Jesus tells His disciples,

    33 I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace.

    Do you in Him?

    You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous!

    Do you suffer for Jesus

    Courage, beloved brother; hold to your faith, dear sister.

    OR do you just suffer?

    “I have conquered the world,” Jesus assures the saint.

    For the sinner in death has only suffering.

    But the church joined to Jesus though separated to our own homes has eternal hope, eternal life and a Helper in Christ Jesus.

    ‘So remember what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent. Therefore if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you.

    The Revelation of Jesus Christ to John 3:3 to the messenger of the church of…
  • He will give you another Helper – Jesus’ promise

    He will give you another Helper – Jesus’ promise

    תהילים 42

    5 אֵ֤לֶּה אֶזְכְּרָ֨ה׀ וְאֶשְׁפְּכָ֬ה עָלַ֨י׀ נַפְשִׁ֗י כִּ֤י אֶֽעֱבֹ֨ר׀ בַּסָּךְ֮ אֶדַּדֵּ֗ם עַד־בֵּ֥ית אֱלֹ֫הִ֥ים בְּקוֹל־רִנָּ֥ה וְתוֹדָ֗ה הָמ֥וֹן חוֹגֵֽג׃

    Why are you in despair, O my soul?
    And why have you become disturbed within me?
    Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him
    For the help of His presence.

    Psalm 42:5 NASB

    The Issue is HELP

    “ He will give you another Helper

    explores a continuing ascent to a personal help from the Lord God.

    {click Page 2 to continue}

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  • Lazarus – HELP from the grave

    Lazarus – HELP from the grave

    Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of Your name;
    And deliver us and forgive our sins for Your name’s sake.

    עָזְרֵ֤נוּ אֱלֹ֘הֵ֤י יִשְׁעֵ֗נוּ עַל־דְּבַ֥ר כְּבֹֽוד־שְׁמֶ֑ךָ וְהַצִּילֵ֥נוּ וְכַפֵּ֥ר עַל־֝חַטֹּאתֵ֗ינוּ לְמַ֣עַן שְׁמֶֽךָ׃

    Psalm 79:9 – NASB, Masoretic Text

    Where does my help come from?

    I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.

    My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.

    Psalm 121:1-2 KJV
    map from Bethany ascent to city of Jerusalem

    Each year as the festival crowds approached Jerusalem, weary and faithful Jews making the pilgrimage would pause to rest in places nearby before their walking ascent up the hill leading to the Temple.

    Bethany would have been one of these places – a town where Jesus would stay with a good friend and later perform a sign the He IS the Messiah of Israel.

    John 11:

    Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany…

    John’s Gospel begins by mentioning the village along with details of Mary and Martha which do not happen until later, but of course have already happened by the time John writes his Good News to the churches and unbelievers.

    Although we have just read of a story from the festival of Hanukkah where Jesus may have also stayed over at Bethany (we cannot be certain), I remind us that John’s Gospel is not strictly chronoligical.

    The importance here relates to the characters – the real people of this family living in the village of Bethany outside Jerusalem. And what we are about to witness is not only a miracle and sign of Jesus, but the human love of true friends of this family by the Lord.

    A messenger asks Jesus to help a friend

    3 So the sisters sent a messenger to tell Yeshua, “Lord, your close friend is sick.”

    These friends knew where to find Jesus, where He was preaching.

    Jesus most likely had already been in this part of Judea, but departed for Samaria and other distant places as was His custom traveling from town to town preaching the Good News.

    4 When Jesus heard it, he said, “This sickness will not end in death but is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

    John gives us an important background to their friendship without providing specific details of where Jesus was teaching, but he tells us something important about this family in Jesus’ earthly relationships.

    5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.

    John 11:5

    It is the same description John uses so often to describe the Incarnate Lord Jesus – ἀγαπάω – agapaō – ‘of persons to welcome, to entertain, to be fond of, to love dearly.

    Christians are to love the world in this same way Jesus loved Mary and Martha and Lazarus. For John uses this same word to describe how God ‘loved’ humans made in his image.

    “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

    John 3:16 NASB – agapaō

    Yet the messenger might have thought Jesus’s response to be somewhat dismissive. “This sickness is not to end in death…”

    6 Yet, when Yeshua heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was for two more days. Then, after the two days, Yeshua said to his disciples, “Let’s go back to Judea.”

    What do we fear?

    Even in the unexpected crisis of these last days what does man fear most?

    Death!

    It was the death of their brother Mary and Martha feared. And the Apostles also fear capture and death due to several previous attempts by Jerusalem’s religious officials to kill their friend Jesus. The Disciples fear death even though Jesus had demonstrated His power over nature time and time again.

    8 The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, not long ago the Jews wanted to stone you to death. Do you really want to go back there?”

    9 Yeshua answered, “Aren’t there twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day don’t stumble, because they see the light of this world. However, those who walk at night stumble because they have no light in themselves.”

    Jesus again assures His own Apostles that He is the Light of the world and reminds that Jerusalem’s leaders have no light of God in their actions.

    Lazarus

    … and after that He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I go, so that I may awaken him out of sleep.”

    Of course the Apostles continue in their regular banter questioning the Lord as to His motives. Yet before we proceed to Jesus’ sign, let’s take a closer look at His friend Lazarus.

    Λάζαρον –

    Λάζαρος
    Lazaros – Lazarus = “whom God helps” (a form of the Hebrew name Eleazar)

    Jesus also tells a parable of another man, Lazarus, a poor beggar who died and God helped.

    אֶלְעָזָר

    el·ä·zär’  – same meaning in Hebrew was the name of Aaron’s son, also a Levite Priest, as well as several others in this Bible.

    Clearly, if Jesus is going to help Lazarus it is God who helps the man close to death.

    Lazarus is dead

    Jesus has not spelled it out in His first mention to the Apostles as they attempt to convince the Lord not to return to Judea.

    12 Then the disciples said to him,

    “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will get well.”

    (The Disciples certainly do not care to risk returning to Bethany near Jerusalem.)

    14 Then Yeshua told them plainly,

    “Lazarus has died, but I’m glad that I wasn’t there so that you can grow in faith. Let’s go to Lazarus.”

    How does Jesus know these things?

    Can a mere man know such truths?

    Of course the Disciples had witnessed such knowledge possible only from God before. Yet like us, they lack faith that Jesus can take authority over the situation as it involves their mortal lives.

    16 Thomas, who was called Didymus, said to the rest of the disciples,

    “Let’s go so that we, too, can die with Yeshua.”

    Isn’t that how we feel when confronted by death?

    How will Jesus help us, we ask ourselves?

    Can the Son of Man HELP a man already dead?

    That’s the question lurking in the back of our minds when we pray to God.

    Can God help me even though I am dead? Will the Lord keep me from death?

    Jesus returns to Bethany and eventually Jerusalem to answer the immediate questions of Lazarus’ death, the soon-to-be asked questions about the Disciples’ deaths due to following Jesus and most importantly our eternal questions about death appointed to each mortal man and our only hope of resurrection to the Light of eternal life.

    To be continued, God-willing...
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