¹⁷ “… that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.”

Helper is synonymous with truth. That is the One the Father will be sending (in our case, has already sent), the Spirit of Truth. Used 26 times in the Gospel of John, the first mention of Truth is found in John 1:14, “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Jesus certainly taught truth, but He proclaimed that He was “the Truth” (John 14:6). He is what is real, there is no falsehood about Him. The same, now, can be said of the Spirit. God does not lie, nor is He ever mistaken. Paul put it this way, “… Let God be found true, though every man be found a liar, as it is written … ” (Rom 3:4).

A number of things pertaining to the Spirit are enunciated here. The world cannot receive Him, similar to its inability or refusal to accept Jesus: “He [Jesus] came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him” (John 1:11). The world does not see or know the Spirit, just as with Jesus. “The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it” (John 1:5). Even the disciples had a hard time really knowing Jesus: “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? … ” (John 14:9). Yes, the Spirit is very similar to Jesus, the third person of the Trinity is similar to the second person.

However, unlike Jesus who was soon to be leaving the disciples, the Holy Spirit would come and abide in them and be with them. The previous verse indicated that the Spirit would be with them forever (John 14:16). This was to be permanent. What was going to be oblique to the world would be manifest to the disciples. He would become very real to them.

While the disciples had grown quite fond of Jesus, even loyal to the point of giving up all to follow Him, it was going to be the Holy Spirit who would be with them forever, and never leave them. The physical presence of the Godhead, incarnate in the person of Jesus Christ, would soon be leaving them, but the spiritual presence of God, in the person of the Holy Spirit will always be with them…and with us. There is no room here for a theology that allows for being abandoned by the Holy Spirit. We do not need to pray the prayer of David, “Do not take Your Holy Spirit from me” (Ps 51:11).

Lord, thank You for Your Holy Spirit, who has secured me and all other true believers with His presence for all eternity.