Helper, Advocate, Guide

Dr. Robert Gorrell

May 9, 2025

Reading

If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 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.
John 14:15-17

Reflection

In John 14, Jesus is already preparing his disciples for life after his crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. In this passage about prayer, he tells them he will ask the Father to send a “Helper” who will be with them forever.

As Pastor Mark shared on Sunday, the original Greek word Parakletos, translated here as “Helper,” has no exact equivalent in English. Different translations use “Helper,” “Counselor,” “Comforter,” or “Advocate.” Each is a little bit right—and a little bit incomplete. The Spirit is all of those and more.

For example, Pastor Mark emphasized the Spirit as the revealer of truth. In this passage, Jesus calls the Holy Spirit the Spirit of Truth.

But what truth?

John Wesley believed the Spirit’s work was entirely focused on redemption—of both individuals and the world. To bring that about, the Spirit reveals the truth of who God is. But before we can receive that truth, we must come to grips with the truth about ourselves.

Wesley stood with Augustine, Luther, and Calvin in insisting that we are, by nature, totally corrupted—and as a result, subject to God’s judgment and wrath.

Sometimes that truth is difficult to receive…

But Wesley added another: All of us are offered the free gift of God’s grace—also revealed to us by the Holy Spirit.

He believed the Spirit seeks to create a deep conviction within us: that we are not yet whole, that our hearts are not fully purified, and that there remains within us a “carnal mind,” still opposed to God.

Yet to that conviction, Wesley attached a powerful word—inspiration.

The Holy Spirit, he believed, inspires us to accept the truth about who we are and to seek God’s grace. He defined “inspiration” as the inward assistance of the Spirit which helps our infirmities, enlightens our understanding, rectifies our will, comforts, purifies, and sanctifies us (John Wesley, The New Birth).

That phrase “sanctifies us” is so important. It reminds us that the Spirit works within us throughout our entire lives—revealing truth, inviting growth, and drawing us toward spiritual maturity.

Prayer
Dear God, today help me to be honest about my spiritual life. Let me open my heart and receive the word of your Spirit so that I might grow and become more like Jesus. Amen.