Awaken The Dawn

AWAKEN THE DAWN!

about “the Helper” that would come to them when He Himself had gone. Since He Himself had known the comforting, strengthening assistance of the Holy Spirit, He gave an enthusiastic endorsement to the Father’s plan of filling each of them with the same Spirit. Jesus relied on the Holy Spirit to help Him, and He knew that the dis- ciples could too. He was pleased that their prayer life would be empowered by the Helper. Jesus was silent on this subject until His last supper with the disciples. Five times in His message He tells of the Coming One who will replace Him as their Helper. 18 The King James Version uses the term “Comforter.” The Amplified Bible draws in additional, meaningful terms to help us understand the Holy Spirit’s function: “Counselor,” “Helper,” “Intercessor,” “Advocate,” “Strengthener,” and “Standby.” It seems that “Helper” is probably the best way to translate this wonderful word. 19 Jesus now reveals the secret of His power: it is the Holy Spirit. Notice how closely He associates prayer with the Helper’s activities. Six times, in His message to the disci- ples, He tells them to “ask” in prayer. 20 This intertwining of thoughts, the promised Helper and prayer, is too obvi- ous to be overlooked. Jesus Himself has been a Comforter/Helper to His disci- ples. He has walked with them, slept with them, gotten wet in the boat with them, put His arm around them, etc. These actions, however, have been on the outside. The new Helper will come and replace Jesus’ physical “out- side” presence with a Spiritual “indwelling” presence. The Comforter (Holy Spirit) will actually be the person of the old Comforter (Jesus) in a new, closer relationship. 52