Chapter 12

THE OTHER HELPER

          It was John, the former fisherman, who was selected to divulge the information about the coming of the Spirit as "the other Comforter," as promised by Jesus. In so doing he reached the summit of revelation as to God's provision for His children during the absence of Jesus from the earth. Of course, John did not divide his record into chapters and verses. That feat was probably accomplished by the French editor Robert Estienne, and legend has it that he did it while fleeing on horseback from Paris to Lyons, in 1549.

     Regardless of who did it, or when, the way we now have it divided leaves chapters 14-16 a "Cape of Good Hope" for the sailors on life's turbulent sea. It is the answer of Jesus to troubled hearts. It is the compassionate provision for those who cannot "go it alone." It was originally spoken to the apostles, who were disconsolate at the announcement that Jesus would soon leave them and that where He was going they could not go. Because of this there are those who limit to the apostles what was said of the Spirit.

     All such overlook the fact that these men were disciples as well as apostles, and before they were apostles. What Jesus promised them in their role as apostles applied only to them, but what was promised as disciples belongs to all disciples until the Lord returns. Just as certain blessings of the Spirit were required by the apostles to enable them to fulfill their mission as apostles, so other blessings are required by disciples, or followers of Jesus, to enable them to live meaningfully as disciples. The power of the Spirit is enabling power, and whatever God requires of us He supplies the power to perform it. It is a tragic error to restrict the possession and indwelling of the Spirit to the apostles alone.

     Jesus said, "I will not leave you desolate, I will come to you" (John 14:18). The word He used which has here been translated "desolate" is the Greek orphanos. It literally means "without a father." But, among the ancients it was also used of students or disciples who had lost a master by death. The relationship of a master to his disciples was very close and real. Often they lived in the same abode, ate at the same table, and shared their lives. The master did not conduct formal classes but talked with his followers as they walked along the road, or sat down in the marketplace. To lose a beloved teacher was like being bereft of a father.

     I do not think Jesus was talking about his resurrection when He promised to come again to them. If He was the promise was good only for the forty days He was with them before His ascension, and then they were desolate again. I think He was speaking of the coming of the Holy Spirit who was to dwell in God's children forever, that is, during the age when Jesus was absent. When the Spirit dwells in one it is the equivalent of having God and Christ move into his life to make their home with him. Immediately after saying that the Spirit will dwell with those who love Jesus and manifest their love by obedience, He says, "If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him" (John 14:24).

     It is a sad commentary on what has happened to the faith that so many who claim to love Jesus are frustrated, frightened and forlorn. Many who attend what we designate "religious services" regularly are lonely and empty. They are sick and scared. They not only are unable to love their enemies but they entertain festering hostilities and bitterness toward those with whom they meet. They act as orphans who have been cast adrift with no hope and no one to care.

     What has happened? The answer appears obvious. We have been betrayed by those who seek to maintain and perpetuate their systems into substituting public ritualism for personal relationship. It is difficult to be loyal to a system because the very acts by which one seeks to express his allegiance become mechanical, stereotyped and routine. The frenzied attempts to pump life into them prove exhausting and discouraging.

     There is a vast difference between the act of arising on Sunday to drive to a "holy place" to watch "acts of worship" performed by skilled professionals trained in the art, and coming together as a Spirit-filled family around the thanksgiving table set by a loving Father, to share experiences and recount victories. The difference was brought home to me recently when I was scheduled to speak one night in a "religious" structure. The song director went through all kinds of contortions, and engaged in all kinds of pleading, cajoling and clowning, to get the people to loosen up and smile. He did manage to get a few of them to grin embarrassingly but it was quite apparent they were just smiling on the outside.

     The next evening our whole family gathered at the home of our son. Three generations sat down together at the table. Heads were bowed in fervent prayer as one of our number expressed in non-stilted fashion our deep appreciation to a benevolent Father whose gracious providence had preserved and kept us unto that moment. After we had dined, one of the group dug out a pile of old hymn-books and we began to sing as we used to do when the children were little. For two hours we continued until our throats became husky and our voices were strained and we had to cease. It was spontaneous, effervescent and joyous. We loved every minute of it, and even when we had to say our farewells and leave we were still humming the refrains as we drove along the highway.

     There is a feeling expressed by many in our day that we ought to abandon what we refer to as "the church." They regard it as dead and feel that it should be buried. I disagree. This attitude reflects a kind of cynical viewpoint which seems to underestimate the power of God. Certainly there are a lot of forms, fixtures, methods and traditions, which need to be cleared out. They have no relevance to our age or what we are called to do in it. They are barnacles which need to be scraped off the hull of the Ship of Zion. But even a dead body can be raised to life, and if "the church" has been wrapped in its graveclothes as was Lazarus, it needs to hear a voice calling "Come forth!"

     Actually, our problem is quite simple. Under the impact of western culture we have been deluded and seduced into becoming a corporate structure consisting of shareholders whose right to vote is spelled out in the company by-laws. We are a legalistic institution with a judiciary consisting of elders and preachers interpreting statutes in the light of precedents established by our fathers and now incorporated as principles from which there can be no variance except at the cost of excommunication, excision and boycott. We should not bs surprised that many of our meetings are as cold as a stockbrokers convention before the cocktail hour.

     We have no consciousness of being a community of the reconciled and consequently no realization that we are a reconciling community. In fact "members of the church" often fight harder and more frequently than others in an area, and while the "pagans" are uniting to support causes of public concern the Christians are dividing and assaulting each other verbally and openly. There is often as much gossip, enmity, strife, jealousy and selfishness manifested among those who never miss a meeting as among those who have never "darkened the door" of a religious structure. This leads to the conclusion that Satan probably does not care how many "join the church" provided they act like many of those already in it. They do not fight him any more in the church than they did in the world!

     To imply there is a simple solution to this is to lay oneself open to the charge of being an irresponsible dreamer. But we have made our situation more complex and aggravated by seeking sophisticated answers. We have talked about "the psychology of this and that" and argued about "the theology" of one thing and another until we have become bogged down in a welter of conflicting ideas, none of which touch the basic issue. The church is not an organization but an organism. It is not a business but a body.

     A body without the spirit is dead. To revive a dead body the spirit must again return to it. It is not enough to arrange the limbs in a different fashion, or to rouge the cheeks. It will still be a corpse. Putting a Bible in the hand of a dead man will not revive him. Nothing that is done externally will restore life. It may make a more beautiful or attractive corpse but it will still be a corpse. Jesus knew this and He promised the Spirit with His life-giving power.

     I may be mistaken when I suggest that the only way the Holy Spirit dwells in the spiritual body is by dwelling in those who are members of it. It was to these the Spirit was promised, for only these could be orphaned by the return of Jesus to glory. He said, "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever" (John 14:16).

     Jesus could not abide with us through the age which began with His coming. He said, "I tell you the truth, it is expedient for you that I go away, for if I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you" (John 16:7). From a human viewpoint, it would appear that it would be much more profitable and beneficial to the disciples that Jesus remain with them in the flesh. But God knew better. If Jesus thus remained He would suffer the limitations of time and space. The Holy Spirit knows no such restriction. He can dwell in God's people universally.

     When Jesus was on earth those who wanted to see Him had to travel to where He was. But the Spirit comes to us wherever we are. Speaking of His works, Jesus said, "Greater works than these shall you do, because I go unto the Father." The Spirit could not come until Jesus was glorified. That glorification was the final act of validation of His Sonship. The coming of the Spirit was confirmatory proof it had occurred and the Good News was ready to be heralded to the whole world. The coming of the Spirit was more expedient than for Jesus to remain in the flesh. A realization of this will silence every tongue which would speak derogatorily of the Spirit and His impact upon the disciples.

     The Holy Spirit came as a result of prayer to the Father by His Son. In reality, the Spirit always comes, not only by the will of God, but by the action of God. Jesus recognized the sovereignty of the Father by petitioning Him to send the Spirit, yet He participated in the action for He said, "If I go away I will send him unto you." One who possesses the Spirit possesses a gift of God and His Son. To honor the gift is to honor the givers. That we have been made the recipients of the Holy Spirit while in the flesh is a marvelous and astounding thing. It is the ultimate in human adventure.

     In announcing the advent of the Spirit Jesus used a term which is almost untranslatable by any single word in our western vocabulary. The word parakletos literally means to call another to stand beside one for the purpose of aiding or assisting him in resolving a difficulty or in dealing with a problem. In an attempt to capture the general implications of the word, modern translators have resorted to various English terms such as Comforter, Helper, Advocate or Counselor. All of these are too feeble to portray the scope of the influence of the Spirit upon the life of the believer.

     The translators appointed by King James adopted the word "Comforter." In 1611 it may have been the best word available for their purpose. Now, by a turn of those circumstances which constantly affect the languages of mankind the term has altered in meaning until it no longer conveys the meaning which the translators thought to express. In the days of King James a Comforter was one who came to lend strength and reinforce the will to resist. The word "fort" which is contained in it gives some indication of its meaning. It is from the Latin fortis, strong. A fortress is a stronghold.

     In our day a comforter is ordinarily regarded as one who extends sympathy in times of grief or sorrow. He may make a telephone call or send a card of condolence to one who has lost a loved one by death, or he may visit the mortuary and express his concern and sign the register of those who attend a memorial service. All of this is good, and we should all do these things more often than we do. But this has little relationship to a parakletos, which has been translated to become "paraclete" in English. Accordingly, the word "Comforter" is now a misleading term.

     To understand the function of the Holy Spirit as a paraclete we must seek the meaning attached to the word in the days when Jesus was upon earth. It is obvious that His purpose was to enlighten and not to obscure. When He employed the word it conveyed a certain mental image, or set of images, to His hearers. If we can recapture those mental images we can grasp the meaning He sought to convey. What did the Greek world think of when the word paraclete was used by a public speaker?

     The word was used to describe the act of a porter who stood beside one of his fellows on the dock and helped him shoulder a burden which he could not lift alone. Sometimes he would walk beside the man and steady the huge pack with his own hand. The Holy Spirit is a burden-bearer who walks with us and helps with our loads which are too heavy for us to carry alone.

     The word was used to describe an attorney or counselor-at-law who pleaded the case of one who was accused. Such an intermediary gave advice to a client, pleaded for mercy in his behalf, and interceded for him. Such a lawyer was called an advocate in English jurisprudence. That is the reason why this word is used to translate parakletos in the only instance in which it is applied to someone other than the Spirit. John is the only writer who uses the word and he writes, "But if we sin we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." The Holy Spirit is one of two intercessors pleading for mercy to be extended because of our weakness. One who does not have the Holy Spirit is left to plead his case alone and the conclusion is foregone. But those who have the Spirit have an intercessor living in themselves and another seated at the right hand of God.

     The word was used to describe a tutor or guardian entrusted with the education and discipline of the child. Frequently this was a faithful slave who had constant care of a child until the father willed that he had attained maturity. The success of the guardian was determined by the character of the child. Greek schools were rigorous and stringent. The permissiveness we know today was wholly unknown in the Greek world. Often the guardian stood beside his youthful charge pointing out his mistakes in calculation and helping him to correct his errors. The Holy Spirit helps us find the solution to our problems and come up with the correct answers.

     It is very difficult for many of us to accept the fact of the personhood of the Spirit. The very word "spirit" increases the difficulty. We tend to think of a spectral mass, an influence or a pervading atmosphere. We live in a pragmatic age which wants to see tangible evidence of everything. If we cannot examine it under a microscope or get a computer print-out on it, we assume it does not exist. Perhaps one of the saddest things to happen is that we walk by sight and not by faith. There is a very grave possibility that what we think of as real may be unreal, and vice versa.

     We seem to have no difficulty recognizing the personality of the Father, although we are plainly told by Jesus "God is a Spirit" (John 4:24). The very promise of the Spirit as made by Jesus indicates His divine personhood. "I will pray the Father and he will send you another Comforter (Paraclete)" In the rich and versatile language of the Greeks there are two words for another. The word heteros meant "another of a different kind." The word allos means "another of the same kind." That is the word employed here. Jesus was a Paraclete (1 John 2:1). The Spirit was to be another Helper like Jesus. It is true that Jesus came in a body while the Spirit dwells in our bodies, making of them His temples (1 Corinthians 6:19). But He is no less real while dwelling in our flesh than was Jesus while in His physical body.

     The word "forever" merely means "through the age." One cannot determine the extent of time involved by simply looking at the word. To do that he must determine what age is under consideration. What did Jesus mean when He declared that the Spirit sent by the Father would abide with the disciples forever? He had just been talking with them about His departure from them. He had informed them that He could remain with them only a short time more, and that it would be impossible for them to come where He was going. He told them that He spoke about the Spirit while He was yet with them, but that He was going away to be with the Father.

     It would seem that the age of the Spirit's abode with the saints was that in which Jesus was absent. The purpose of sending the Spirit was to guard against their being left desolate or alone. Forever is the age in which the indwelling Spirit abides within us, and we are in that age by the grace of God. We should never feel forsaken. We should never be lonely. We need not succumb to feelings of depression. The promise He made that, "I will never leave you orphans," is ours to claim, to enjoy, to exult in.

     Jesus identifies the Spirit as "the Spirit of truth." This is not intended to suggest that the other helper is a mere essence or quality of abstract truth or verity. He cannot be limited to a characteristic. We speak of "a spirit of compassion" or "a spirit of boldness." These are traits exhibited by certain individuals. But the Holy Spirit is reality personified for truth is correspondence with reality.

     The world cannot receive the Spirit. The world is that vast domain which does not recognize the sovereignty of God. It is in rebellion. It stands under the judgment of God. It serves a prince who is doomed to be cast out (John 12:31). The world imposes a way of death under the guise of life. It is composed of those who live in the passions of the flesh, following the desires of the body and mind. It is constituted of sons of disobedience, the children of wrath (Ephesians 2:3). The world cannot see the Spirit. "In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ." The world cannot know the Spirit, that is, cannot experience the Spirit. Alienation from God shuts one off from the gifts of God.

     Only the disciples of Jesus can experience the transcendent relationship with the Spirit, for to "know" in a Biblical sense means much more than to be intellectually aware. To know the Spirit is to enter into a warm and intimate kinship with Him, expressed by the words, "He dwells with you and shall be in you." The Spirit is not a passing visitor. He is not a transient guest. He does not ask for overnight lodging. The little girl whose grandmother had come to stay in her home was asked by a neighbor, "Is your grandmother visiting with your family?" Her reply was, "No, she didn't come to visit, she came to live with us." The Spirit does not regard my body as a motel, but as a purchased possession.

     The Holy Spirit has taken up residence in my heart. His new address is my body. You can say the same thing if you are in Christ. My inside apartment is no longer vacant as it once was. It has a new occupant who has moved in, swept down the cobwebs, cleaned out the trash and opened up the windows to let the sunshine in. The Spirit shall be with you--companionship. The Spirit shall be in you--possession.

     Lives may literally be changed by contact with a new personality. This was apparent in the case of a couple of my acquaintance. They had but one son, a brilliant teen-ager who was killed in a frightful automobile accident in which his body was burned beyond recognition. The mother virtually lost her sanity. The father withdrew from all social contact. The two of them wreaked out an existence which became ever more wretched. Then two of their neighbors were killed in an accident which left a little Korean girl whom they had adopted, an orphan for the second time.

     The couple who had lost a son grudgingly gave the ten-year-old girl a place to stay until the welfare authorities could locate another set of adoptive parents. The child, who had endured enough suffering to completely break one, was so bright and cheerful, and so hopefully inquisitive that she literally stripped the mask of selfish grief from the faces of those who had reluctantly accepted her. The woman began to smile again for the first time in several months. The man caught himself whistling a cheerful tune on his way to work.

     The Creator who made us knows our need for fellowship with the divine. The statement, "It is not good for man to be alone," has a much wider application than our need for marriage and physical companionship. Man has a need for communion outside of and beyond the fleshly realm, and that need can only be satisfied by the indwelling Spirit of God. It is this need which makes one a human. Left unsatisfied man is doomed to be less than human, a stalk cut off from its roots, a tumbleweed carried about by the wind.

     No organization with which one is allied can ever fully supply the deep craving or thirst which gnaws at the inner being. Calling it a church will not alter the situation. In fact, working for the church without a sense of genuine partnership with Jesus can become a chilling, killing experience. Church secretaries become sick of the daily grind. Preachers become harried and worn trying to hold on to "a job." All of us have known men designated as good "church administrators" who have little warmth and affection. They are experts in business but Christ is not manifest in their lives. Men tend to forget that it is not what one is in, but who is in him that makes the difference.

     It is easy to become so involved with "church work" that we have neither the time nor inclination to do God's will. The priest and Levite who passed by the Samaritan lying bruised and naked by the side of the highway to Jericho may have been on their way to a "men's luncheon" or a "congregational retreat." By the time one attends all of the meetings on "the church calendar" there will be little time remaining to serve God. One who measures faithfulness by how many sessions of Sunday school he has attended has been handed a different yardstick than the one which Jesus uses.

     The Holy Spirit dwells in us to shake us to the foundations of our being. He did not move in to make us satisfied with things as they are but to enhance our dreams of things as they ought to be. The Holy Spirit creates pioneers and not settlers. No one, under His influence, thinks he has arrived, but rather, pauses for a moment before passing on. Death is merely the closing of the physical eyes that the spiritual eyes may be opened on the expanse of a "far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory."

     How does the "other Helper" really help? What does the Spirit actually do for me that I could not do for myself, if I ignored His presence and power? To answer such a question fully would require an analysis of every love letter to the saints written by one of the chosen instruments of the Spirit. I shall therefore limit myself to one area of the impact and influence of the Spirit so essential to my own spiritual well-being. It is appropriate to discuss it because the apostle distinctly says, "the Spirit helps."

     The statement occurs in a chapter of comfort and assurance which looms up like a lordly peak towering above a mountain range of startling beauty. The entire letter written "to all God's beloved in Rome" is a monumental treatise on the magnificent theme of justification by faith in Christ Jesus, a concept of righteousness so unique as to challenge the most profound thinkers of all ages. As I read the letter it seems to me that every chapter becomes a campsite at a higher altitude until I stand at last on the summit represented by the eighth chapter.

     This is a glorious revelation by the Spirit and about the Spirit. Every line is a rich treasure, every sentence a blessing of incomparable worth. It will bring cheer to the sorrowful, faith to the doubting, and comfort to the bereaved. It is bread for the hungry soul, a garment providing warmth to the freezing, a source of power for the weary and fatigued. And immediately following a blessed revelation regarding hope, in which we are to wait with patience, there comes a glowing announcement, "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness" (verse 26).

     The particular area of weakness introduced is that of prayer. The apostle writes, "For we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words. And he who searches the hearts of men knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God"

     All of us have problems with prayer. Sometimes our prayers become stereotyped and stagnant. We get into a rut and slip into a routine and before we realize it we engage in vain repetition. Sometimes we postpone our prayers, making them matters of convenience, tailored to fit our schedule, so they will not interfere with other things to which we assign priority. There is ever a danger that we will pray to be heard of men rather than God. Those who do so have their reward as soon as their petitions register upon the ears of men. They need not expect anything from God.

     We do not know how to pray as we ought because of our ignorance of what tomorrow holds. The apostle who wrote these words told the elders of the church at Ephesus, "I am going to Jerusalem, bound in the Spirit, not knowing what shall befall me there." Little did he realize that, while on a mission of mercy, he would be arrested and made a political pawn of political appointees for two years before being sent to Rome as a prisoner awaiting trial. How different our prayers would be if we could but see into the future.

     We do not know how to pray as we ought because of our ignorance of what is best for us. Our very anxiety for something may be a symptom of doubt and littleness of faith. The pain from which we seek release may be needed to teach us the art of patient endurance. We may pray to live when death would be a welcome respite, or we may pray to die when we are on the brink of a great victory in life. "We do not know" sums up the predicament of the whole human family. "We do not know how" is an apt statement of universal shortcoming. "We do not know how to pray as we ought" is applicable to every child of God.

     We are feeble but not forsaken, helpless but not hopeless. It is precisely because of our limitations the Holy Spirit was given to be with us and to dwell in us. The end of our strength marks the beginning of His power in our lives. The Spirit himself intercedes for us. The term intercede means to present the plea or need of another as an attorney is an intercessor before a court of law. The Spirit is aware of our need since He lives within us, but He is also intimate with the Father who sent Him. I can be certain that my very best interests are in good hands.

     Actually the Holy Spirit takes the deep yearnings of my inner being and transmits them to the Father. Language is a means of communication by which one person makes his thoughts known to another. It employs sounds arranged in combinations called words, and which create mental images in the mind of the other. But there are longings and desires for which there are no words in our vocabulary. There are feelings and emotions which I cannot articulate. I can but groan and sigh because of my inadequacy. But the Spirit is unlimited and infinite. He can translate my agonized concern into a plea too deep for words.

     The Father searches the hearts of men. He is not unaware of the inner striving for understanding. He knows the burden which weighs down upon me. But He also knows what is the mind of the Spirit. The unselfish portrayal of my need, the unrestrained advocacy of my cause, the untiring intercession in my behalf, all of these are but a part of the "other Helper" who came from heaven to live in my tabernacle of clay and transmute it into a temple "fit for the Master's use."

     The Spirit intercedes for the saints. If there was no other reason for becoming one of "the called out ones" this alone would be sufficient to motivate every thoughtful person to commit himself to Jesus as Lord of his life. The thought of a "hot line" to heaven manned around the clock by a sympathetic hand is a mind-boggling thought. In every crisis, in every moment of need, in every time of distress, a saint has access to the throne-room of glory. The saint is never alone.

     I have a friend who lives in a rude cabin in a Canadian wilderness area. He was a rather successful salesman in a large eastern city who came home one time to find a note from his wife informing him that she was leaving and would prefer that he never even try to contact her. Caught up in a state of inner turmoil he lost his selling touch and suffered from one blow after another. In this state he decided to leave what he called "the veneer of culture" and return to a primitive way of life. His nearest neighbor is now twenty miles away and can best be reached by a canoe on the river.

     In the occasional letters I receive from him he tells me about the long cold winters in which he can look out of his windows and see the wolves trailing through the snow. But it was during the first of these winters the Spirit of God became real to him. Having become a Christian as a lad in Virginia he attended church, as we so quaintly and incorrectly phrase it, but it was not his life. It was merely a phase of existence reserved for the weekends and attended to as a necessary sacrifice of time and effort.

     One evening while reading by the light of his kerosene lamp my friend became tired of the fiction book he held in his hand. He reached up and took the Bible from the shelf and began to read. It had been a long time since he had opened it, but now, for the first time in his life he became immersed in the words of revelation. All around was a pervading silence broken only by the crack of wood from the fire in the stove, or the sharp crack of a limb from the cold outside which covered his windows with a heavy coating of frostly rime. On and on he went through chapter after chapter. Suddenly he began to feel the sense of another presence. It was so persistent that he became fearful he was cracking up and suffering from an illusion.

     He closed the Book and closed his eyes in meditation. He knew that his inward self was being purged. As he put it in a letter to me, he could feel the chunks of rottenness and putridity being dug out of his soul and a healing taking place. He forgave his wife and experienced a deep love and understanding for her as a person, unaffected by sexual craving or passion. He felt delivered from the "dog-eat-dog" tactics of the marketplace which resulted in sharp rivalries bordering upon hostility in the selling game. Suddenly, he realized that the Holy Spirit was beginning to bear the fruit of love, joy and peace in a life which had been barren. At three o'clock in the morning he blew out the flame of the lamp and lay down under his Hudson's Bay blankets. He slept twelve hours and awakened a new man. From that day on he never forgot that the Holy Spirit was dwelling with his own spirit in what he calls "my mud house."

     I do not think one has to abandon crowded thoroughfares to become aware of the intercessory companion. No two of us are alike. We differ in intellectual ability, physical strength, emotional depth, and general temperament. Some of us grow gradually to an appreciation of the Spirit. Others are confronted with His abiding presence in a time of crisis. But none of us will attain the joy that transcends every human thrill, or possess the peace that passes understanding until we become conscious of the Holy Guest within. It is tragic to see men try to explain away, or deny His presence, and thus impoverish their lives. One who prefers to light a candle to pressing the switch and flooding his house with light will always live in the shadows and stumble over the furniture.

     The Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. We are ignorant. We do not know what to pray for as we ought. What God has in store for us during the next hour or the year to come we cannot tell. We are warned against the pride of boasting about making plans to move into a city and set up in business for a year to buy and sell and make a financial killing. We are reminded that we do not even know what will happen the next day. We are cautioned that we ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we shall live and we shall do this or that" (James 4:15).

     We are to pray. The Holy Spirit is not a substitute for our prayers. He assists us in our weakness. He supports us in our ineptitude. We are to be always aware that we are made under the will of God and we should constantly say, "Thy will, not mine be done." But we do not know the specific will of God for our lives and we cannot frame our petitions in the light of what we do not know and cannot know in the flesh. The Holy Spirit is not subject to our restricted vision. He knows the will of God and intercedes for me in full awareness of the mind, intention and design of God. One who is led by the Spirit can never offer a prayer displeasing to God. And one may pray most powerfully in the divine estimation who is unable to utter a single word.

     Let us never confuse the spirit of adventure with the adventure of the Spirit. The first may create daredevils, but the second enables us to dare the devil to do his worst. So long as my body is a citadel of the Spirit and the walls are manned by the other Helper I can defy hell and challenge Satan. Jesus said, "In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). It was John who wrote those amazing words, "Little children, you are of God, and have overcome them; for he who is in you is greater than he that is in the world" (1 John 4:4).

     Will you accept that? Will you trust in it? Will you commit yourself to it? If so, you are in the ranks of the overcomers! Some people are undertakers while others are overcomers. Undertakers are sometimes taken under by circumstances, but nothing can overcome an overcomer! The overcomer is victorious. He is a conqueror, not by his power, but by the power of God. His motto is "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." As someone put it, "Great people are just ordinary people with an extraordinary amount of determination." That is good but there are no ordinary people in whom the Holy Spirit dwells. When the extraordinary moves in the ordinary moves out. Do not sell yourself short! You are great!

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