How is the Holy Spirit helping you?
John 16:7 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.
Shortly after God created man in His image and likeness, Adam was seen in the presence of God.
When God planted the garden in the east, in Eden, He put the man there. Every kind of tree that was pleasing to the eye and good for food was planted by God in the garden. The LORD brought all of the beasts of the field and birds of the air to Adam so that he may give them a name. It was a time when the man and God had a degree of fellowship that has not been known since, until Christ came down and walked among us. Throughout the remainder of the Old Testament, no one experienced such an open relationship with God.
For 3 ½ years Jesus walked, talked, and provided extensive help and care for His disciples.
During that time, the disciples came to rely heavily on Christ’s wisdom, power and guidance. They learned what it was like to walk, talk and fellowship with God. They were being taught a lifestyle of sensitivity to God’s will and voice. They saw this in the Lord’s life, prayer, and ministry. They heard and witnessed Jesus’ intimate fellowship with the Father in heaven. They witnessed the power and influence of a life that is directed by the Holy Spirit. Whenever they faced situations they could not handle, they would bring it to Jesus. Should they face a storm or situation that brought fear, doubt, or trauma, they would bring it to the LORD for resolution. When they were unable to cast out a demon or deal with an evil or overwhelming situation, the LORD was able to help them. No lack of food, challenging need, or difficulty was beyond the LORD’s ability or power. The Son of God could look into and know their innermost secrets and thoughts. He was their Comforter and Helper. He was their LORD and Master.
Now, Jesus was telling them that He was going away and they could not go with Him.
Ultimately, they came to understand that He was going to be crucified and would die. After His resurrection and for a period of forty days, Jesus revealed Himself to be alive with many infallible proofs. They were thinking that things had returned to what they had enjoyed before the cross, but Jesus made it clear that He was going back to the Father in heaven.
John 16:7 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.
Christ’s going away would be to their advantage.
After He would go away, the Helper, the Holy Spirit was going to come to them in a new and dynamic way. They had witnessed the manner in which the Holy Spirit worked in and upon the Lord. Jesus always walked, lived and ministered with an unhindered sensitivity to the Father and Holy Spirit. Jesus had told them that the Holy Spirit was with them but when He went away, the Holy Spirit would take up residence within them. After breathing on them and telling them to receive the Holy Spirit, Jesus continued to prepare them for the work and advent of the Holy Spirit.
John 14:25-26 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 14:27 NKJV Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
Jesus repeated the message that the Holy Spirit is going to be sent to you and that He is the Spirit of truth that testifies of Christ, (John 15:26). He wanted His disciples to know that they were about to receive help and comfort to make it through the remainder of their lives. He wanted them to enjoy the same sensitivity and openness to the work and presence of the Spirit of God. As they were meeting with Jesus one of the last times, Jesus told them He was going away.
John 16:7 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.
The dynamic of their life and access to God was about to change dramatically. It would be hard to believe that it would be more advantageous for Jesus to leave. The LORD was introducing the change that happens when the Helper, the Holy Spirit, comes and takes up residence in you. Throughout the years of ministry with them, they had witnessed the impact of God with them. In all of that time, they were not able to take in everything that Jesus wanted to give them.
John 16:12 NKJV I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.
They were not able to take in everything that Jesus wanted to tell them. The LORD had a deep desire to unveil some secret things of God and the future that they were not able to receive. This verse covers a multitude of emotions and deep spiritual truths that they could not bear. They would need to know some things that had been hidden from them. Rather than leaving them with a great disadvantage, Jesus said the Holy Spirit is coming to help you. When He comes, things would change.
John 16:13 NKJV However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.
John 16:14-15 NKJV He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.
Most of us want to develop a greater sensitivity to the Holy Spirit so that we can hear what He says and walk under the influence of His guidance.
How is the Holy Spirit helping you?
John 14:16-17 NKJV 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.
What the Lord has given you is much more than an influence or power. He has given the person of the Holy Spirit to “dwell with you and will be in you.”
A quick review of the Holy Spirit’s titles and names reveal a wealth of who He is and what He does.
Through these, we find the influence of the Holy Spirit in believers lives. Not only does He do all of those things, He also equips us with gifts and talents that enable and equip us to successfully fulfill our mission and God ordained purpose. Jesus said, When the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all truth and reveal the secret and hidden things of God. The wealth of influence, power and help that the Holy Spirit brings into you is phenomenal. He is another Helper that is called to one’s side to help, guide, and teach. He is an advocate who intercedes for us to the Father with groanings that cannot be uttered. He is the Spirit of adoption by which we are enabled to cry “Abba Father,” (Romans 8:14-17). By the work of the Spirit we come to realize that we are indeed a child and heir of God. He is the Spirit of glory and of God that rests upon us, (1 Peter 4:14). The Seal of the Holy Spirit guarantees our inheritance until the time of the redemption of our bodies, the resurrection of the church, (Ephesians 1:13-14). The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made us free from the power and domain of the law of sin and death, (Romans 8:2). The life giving Holy Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead will quicken and give life to our mortal bodies, (Romans 8:11). He is the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God, (1 Corinthians 2:10-12). Consider the power of the Holy Spirit that was moving over the face of the earth generating and bringing to life God’s creation, (Genesis 1).
How can you receive the Holy Spirit?
Luke 11:13 — your heavenly Father will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!
Acts 5:32 tells us, “the Holy Spirit is given to those who obey God.”
In John 14:17 Jesus said, Keep my commandments and I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, who will abide with you forever — the Spirit of truth … for He lives with you and will be in you.”
Acts 2:38-39 NKJV Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”
If you genuinely trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior, He promises to send you the Holy Spirit.