01 - Chapter 01

CHAPTER I.

"Paracletos" defined as the Holy-Helper and more than "The Comforter," ax the word translated in the English Bible.

Jesus said in John 16:13, "When he the Spirit of Truth is come, He shall guide you into all truth" And the fair inference from this passage is, that the Holy Spirit in his alliance with the human soul, becomes its aid in the acquisition of every specie* of useful knowledge." "He will lead you into all truth." Why not? Is He not interested in the entirety of our welfare? Is there anything which affects our growth, our usefulness, or our happiness, beneath His notice? Has He not numbered the hairs on our head? And has He not gone below us to feed the sparrows, and deck the flowers of the field? We are expressly told that He inspired Bezaleel and his fellow-workmen, with skill in constructing and decorating the Tabernacle in the Wilderness, and also, that He called and qualified the Judges of Israel who from time to time were raised up to guide the Lord’s people and deliver them from their enemies. And did He did not go forth with their armies and help them overcome their foes*? Nor can we doubt that when David invented his stringed instruments for the Sanctuary Service, the Holy Spirit as truly aided him then, as when he wrote the Psalms they were intended to accompany. Nor have we of this nineteenth century, reason to doubt the influence of the Holy Spirit, in the wonderful and almost miraculous inventions and discoveries which have been made since its commencement, and especially during its latter half. It is as if an unseen hand had touched the springs of human thought and inspired" them with an activity unknown before. And that these wonderful inventions are designed for a purpose, over yonder, better >and grander than ever entered the inventor’s thought! Solomon represents the Holy Spirit (so we think) as saying "I wisdom dwell with prudence and find out the knowledge of witty inventions, rejoicing in the habitable parts of the earth; and my delights are with the sons of men." And is not this variety in the Holy Spirit’s work in instructing the human soul, that which is represented in Revelation 12:6, as "the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth?"

We are not therefore quite satisfied with the rendering the translators gave in our English Bible to the Greek, word. "Paracletos." They translate it "the Comforter." But it literally means, one "called upon," "kala," to call, and "para," for or upon. Perhaps we should say "The Called Upon." One who has come into our world to help needy humanity, and stands ready, at every human door, to help those who want his assistance and ask for it. If, for example, we are in sorrow, and ask for sustaining grace, and He comes and wipes away the tears; then He is our Comforter. If in perplexity, and know not what to do or whither go, and He takes our hand and leads us out, then He is our Guide. If we are sorely tempted and feel our feet sliding and call for help, and He comes to the rescue and delivers us from our strong enemy, then He is our Deliverer, the Captain of Salvation. If as a student, I need stimulus and illumination, to acquire the mental discipline and knowledge I am in pursuit of, and He comes to my aid, then He is my Teacher. If I feel my soul is polluted and unfitted for His Holy residence, and I call on him to come and cast out the unclean thoughts and desires, which like unclean spirits cling so fondly there, and he comes and drives them away, then He is my Sanctifier.

If the book of God is largely sealed to me, and fails to give comfort as it should, and He comes and breaks the seals, and makes it luminous, then He is the Interpreter. In short, the Holy Spirit fills so many offices, beside that of Comforter, that we prefer the more general term of Patron or Helper, as more fitly expressing the work He does for men. And yet a more literal-rendering still of Paracletos, is, as suggested above, that of The Called Upon. A distinguished Greek scholar, a learned Professor in a Theological Seminary, when asked to translate Paracletos in a single word, replied, "I cannot. It would take a dozen strong English words to give the full meaning, so extensive are the aids properly covered by it!"

It is as if in some city, there were some one, so given to help all who are in any distress, or need of help of any kind, and so able to help, and so successful in helping, and so absorbed in the work of helping, that it seems to constitute the only business of his life. Great multitudes go to him asking for relief and not one that is worthy is sent empty away! Crowds throng the streets which lead to his house by day, and many are the applicants who call upon him after the sun has set and some during the small hours of the coming day; Yet unwearied, he is ever ready to hear the plea, and rise and give the worthy applicant as much as he shall need. At length he comes to be known as "The Called Upon!" Such is the Bible designation, of that great being, whose work in this world, and especially among Christians, it will be the object of the following chapters to describe. "The Called Upon!" How suggestive, reader, of what you have done a thousand times! Of what millions more have done and are doing still! Indeed, is there a being on the earth or has there ever been, whose mind has opened wide enough to take in the idea of God, but has felt his brooding sympathy at times, has been taught the better way, and has been helped by a hand unseen? "Thou art the confidence of All the ends of the earth and of them that are afar off upon the sea." So says the Psalmist’ And such we believe will be the confession of all our race, when before the throne in the coming judgment, the nations kneel and confess before God the facts and experiences of life.

"We need thee every hour, Stay thou near by; Temptations lose their power, When thou art nigh!"