‘I will’ never leave you
“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 for ever … I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me” (John 14:15, 18-19).
Just before the Passover Feast, Jesus revealed to His disciples that He was not going to be on this earth much longer. We are told He “knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father” (John 13:1). He washed His disciples’ feet before He would leave to show them an example in love and humility.
After this Jesus gave the unexpected news, “Yet a little while and the world will see me no more.” The news that Jesus was about to leave them came as a great surprise to His disciples. Who was going to be their new leader? Would the work now collapse? Could they even consider carrying on the ministry without Jesus being with them?
If Jesus should leave and never return it would be a great loss to His disciples. However, when Peter asked where He was going Jesus replied, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterwards” (John 13:36).
Jesus assured them that though He was leaving them, it was only for a while. He promised that He would return for His people, and that they would live with Him forever.
The Promise of someone to help us
Jesus comforted His disciples by letting them know that He was not going to forget them. He was going to leave them, but would send the Helper to be with them. Notice to whom this statement was addressed – it included Peter, who would soon deny knowing Jesus, and also Thomas, who would express his doubts about Jesus’ resurrection.
Jesus further explains who this Helper is and why He will come. Jesus said, “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (John 14:25-26).
When Jesus was describing the activity of the Holy Spirit, He used the Greek word “Parakletos” -“para” means “alongside of,” and “kletos” means “called.” Taken together, the Holy Spirit was described by Jesus as “one who is called alongside of.”
The King James Version translates “Parakletos” as “Comforter” because of the close connection of the English language with Latin. It is derived from the Latin word “comfortis,” which consisted of a prefix (com-, meaning “with”) and a root (fortis, meaning “strong”). It is the combination of two Latin words to mean “strength”.
Today, we understand the word comfort to mean, “to be at ease and have encouragement in the time of trouble.” But its original meaning was different. Originally the word carried the meaning “with strength.” Therefore, the King James Version translators were telling us that the Holy Spirit comes to Christians to strengthen them in their hour of need.
Sometimes sympathy does not help or strengthen us. When someone says pleasant words and we are told to cheer up and go on – that is meaningless and does not help or give any comfort. The comfort that gives us strength comes when God sympathises with us. God gives the strength that we need. A true comforter is one who is with us in order to strengthen us.
The word “paraklytos” as used in John chapter 14, is a picture of one who comes alongside to help. Suppose a little girl is standing at the side of a busy road waiting for an opportunity to cross, when a friendly policeman comes, takes her by the arm and helps her across. He is one who comes alongside to help.
Surely, this is why the apostle Paul could say, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13). For Paul, the Holy Spirit was a very real person who gave His assistance and support. Paul is saying, “In the midst of my trials and burdens, God came and strengthened me to such an extent that I was able to praise Him.”
Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would come alongside to strengthen and help us. He is always with the Christian. Jesus says that when the Spirit is given, “He will be with you forever” (14:16). A few verses later, Jesus says, “I will not leave you” (14:18).
In 1 John 2:1 we are told, “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” The word translated “advocate” is the same word “paraklytos”.
When Stephen, the first martyr, was being stoned we are told, “But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:55). What a great comfort for Stephen as Jesus the “Advocate” was there to welcome him.
We are also told in Romans 8:34 how Jesus is “at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.” As a result no accusation against us can ever be used to condemn us and no one can separate us from the love of Christ because Jesus is our “Advocate” (paraklytos).
Commenting on this verse, Charles Spurgeon writes, “It is a delightful truth that the Spirit of God always dwells in believers; not sometimes, but always … At no single moment is the Spirit of God gone from a believer.”
Jesus was able to comfort His disciples and give them strength for the days that lay ahead with the words and promise, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you for ever.” Those must have been re-assuring words for the down-hearted disciples.
The Greek language uses two words which are commonly translated “another”; “Heteros” and “Allos”. The “Heteros” refers to another but of a different kind, while the “allos” refers to another of the same kind or nature. In referring to the Holy Spirit, Jesus called Him “allos” – “another One of the same kind”, thus stating that the Holy Spirit would be exactly like Himself. So the Holy Spirit is exactly like Jesus.
If I am using a teaspoon and ask for another spoon using “allos”, I am seeking another teaspoon, the same as I am using, but if you bring me a wooden spoon I might complain that I did not say “heteros” – another spoon of a different kind. Jesus says that the Holy Spirit is “another” Helper; and the word that is used is “allos”; that is, He is another Helper sent in place of Jesus on this earth.
The Amplified Bible translates “allos parakletos” as “another Comforter (Counsellor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener and Standby) that He may remain with you forever.” All seven words translated from the Greek “Parakletos” shows us how wide the ministry of the Holy Spirit is in our lives.
While on this earth Jesus was everything that His disciples needed. He taught, protected, led and provided for them. He taught them how to pray, and gave them instruction in many things. If they were confronted with a difficult situation, He solved it for them. If they were fearful, He comforted them. If they were helpless and weak, He empowered them. In fact Jesus was their Comforter, Counsellor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener and Standby.
Now Jesus is about to leave them, but before He goes, He promises to send another Helper who is like Him, in His place. And that’s what the Holy Spirit is to the followers of Christ on this earth! He is ‘our Helper like Jesus’; who leads us where we are to go, teaches us what we need to know, and empowers us for what we need to do.
The promise that God will never leave us
The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Jesus says that when the Spirit is given, “He will be with (us) forever” (14:16). A few verses later, Jesus says, “I will not leave you as orphans” (14:18).
In His Sermon on the Mount Jesus promises us the Father’s care when He says, “But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all” (Matthew 6:30-32).
There is no person excluded from God’s care for He knows all our needs. It would be a tragedy if God knew our needs but did not care about our circumstances or was unable to do anything about them. He does care and He is able to help in each and every situation.
God can provide for our personal and emotional needs at a time of loss. Jesus had entered into the home of two sisters named Mary and Martha to comfort them upon the death of their brother Lazarus. There Jesus transformed the darkness of that experience when he said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die” (John 11:25-26).
When Jesus said “I will never leave you”, He was promising to come alongside, to strengthen and to always be with us. I will never leave you is a promise that has been proved many times in Scripture and in history.
1. Take for example the case of Jacob
In Genesis 28:15 we read, “Behold I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” Jacob lay down to sleep with a stone for his pillow and the heavens above him, and as he slept friendless and alone, God said to him, “I will not leave you.”
Jacob was guided to Paddan Aram and he settled there; Laban deceived him, wickedly and wrongly many times; eventually he fled with his wives and children from Laban. On the way Jacob wrestled with God seeking His blessing. Later, Jacob saw Esau approaching with four hundred men, which caused Jacob to divide his children among Leah, Rachel and the maidservants. However, there was a happy re-union when the two brothers met and embraced each other.
Many years later, after Joseph, the son of Jacob, had been sold by his brothers to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt, he became the Governor of Egypt. When Joseph’s brothers came looking for food, Joseph demanded that they bring their youngest brother Benjamin, to him. Jacob was greatly upset when he was told about this, and he said to them, “You have bereaved me of my children: Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and now you will take Benjamin. All this has come against me” (Genesis 42:36).
God had not left him and many years later, Jacob was able to go down to Egypt and be united with his son Joseph. God had said to Jacob, “I will not leave you” and throughout his long life God was surely with him through all his experiences to the end.
2. Take the case of Moses
In Deuteronomy 31:6 we read these words, “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will never leave you or forsake you.”
Here God is speaking to a company of people through Moses. They were to drive out the giants from the Promised Land, and also the men who had chariots of iron. The Lord said He would never leave them, and neither He did, till from Dan to Beersheba they possessed the Land.
Here is a message for us – no matter what giants, opposition or difficulties we face, we can undertake any action because God has promised, “I will never leave you or forsake you.”
Scripture provides many examples of how the presence of God enables the Christian to live for Him. One of the most powerful of these is found in the life of Moses, who was convinced that without God’s presence in his life, it was useless for him to attempt anything. When he spoke face to face with the Lord, he said, “… If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here” (Exodus 33:15). He was saying, “Lord, if your presence is not with me, then I am not going anywhere. I will not take a single step unless I am assured you are with me! ”
Moses knew it was God’s presence in Israel that set the people apart from all other nations, and the same is true of the church of Jesus Christ today. The only thing that sets us apart from unbelievers is God being “with us” – leading us, guiding us, working His will in and through us.
Here is how God answered Moses’ bold statement: “… My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest” (verse 14). What an incredible promise! The Hebrew word for “rest” is “a comfortable, quiet rest”. God was saying, “No matter what enemies or trials you face, you will always be able to find a quiet rest in me!”
In spite of all the situations Moses faced with the children of Israel, God’s promise to be with him did not fail.
3. We have the example of Joshua
In Joshua 1:5 the Lord said to Joshua, “No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will never leave you or forsake you.”
As Joshua set out to enter the Promised Land, time and time again he proved the help and strength of the Lord. There were times he would have gone back in defeat, if it were not for the faith and confidence that this promise gave him. As this promise was good for Moses and Joshua so it is an encouragement for us.
A few years ago, there was a Nigerian studying at Belfast Bible College, and left his wife and family at home. As they had no means of income, things were very difficult financially. In Nigeria his wife was waiting for money to buy food but it did not come. Eventually all the food was finished and there was no money to buy anything for the family to eat. At night time the young children were hungry and the mother sent them to bed with an empty stomach, but assured them that tomorrow they would have something to eat for they trusted God to supply their needs.
In the morning the children got up, but there was no food, however, the mother gathered her children together and gave thanks for the food they would receive that day. Shortly after this a man arrived at their home to visit the family, who knew nothing about their need. The mother did not say anything but as he left he gave her enough money to buy food for five days. It was only some time later that the man heard what the need had been in that home. Would we have faith to give thanks for food that was not there, because God promised, “I will never leave you or forsake you”?
Look at the word “never” in our text. It is a powerful word! God will never leave you! He will never forsake you. We cannot fully appreciate this promise nor grasp what it would be like to be forsaken of God.
Many people have been forsaken by family, friends, and loved ones, but only one man could cry out to God to say that he was utterly forsaken of God! When on the cross bearing our sins Christ knew what it was to be forsaken of God. He cried out with a loud voice, saying, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46).
We can never know true happiness until we have trusted everything to Christ. Sometimes we might not live for God as we ought to, but God will never leave us, that is why we can say, “The Lord is my helper”. We are His possession for He has bought us with His own blood. He will never leave us as He has promised
Some reasons why God will never leave us
The Lord will not, and cannot leave His people, because of His relationship to them.
1. He is our Father
Will our heavenly Father leave us? Absolutely not. Sadly fathers sometimes walk out of the home and leave wife and family, but Jesus said, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you” (John 14:18). There are many orphans in the world and some people may not have a good father figure in their lives, but we all have a Father who is strong and ever-present and does not disappoint us. Jesus taught us to pray to “our Father in heaven” (Matthew 6:9). He told us that when our daily needs confront us – food, clothing, shelter and protection (Matthew 6:v. 31) – “your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Matthew 6:8).
We have a Father who is always there. Night or day, whenever the going gets tough, we can trust that He will never abandon us. He has promised to care for us, and He knows better than we do what we need. The Bible says that God is love and He wants to lavish His love on us. He wants to be in a relationship with us, not because we deserve it but just because He made us, and is seeking to adopt sons and daughters for His kingdom.
While we were still alienated, God the Father made a way for us to get to heaven by sending His only Son, Jesus Christ, to earth two thousand years ago to take care of the “sin” issue that had kept us separated. In obedience to His Father, Jesus bore upon Himself the punishment for our sin on the cross.
And then again in Isaiah 49:15 we read, “Can a mother forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.”
The Psalmist gives us this picture, “Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation” (Psalm 68:5).
“I will be a Father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty” (2 Corinthians 6:18). God our heavenly Father will not forget us or leave us as orphans.
2. His honour is at stake
His honour binds Him never to forget you. In 1 Samuel 12:22 we read, “The LORD will not forsake His people, for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the LORD to make you a people for himself.”
We find God’s reputation described by the term “name” in many places in the Bible. One noteworthy instance occurs in the record of Joshua. When Israel was defeated by the men of Ai, Joshua pleaded with the Lord. He said, “O Lord, what can I say, when Israel has turned their backs before their enemies! For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it and will surround us and cut off our name from the earth. And what will you do for your great name?” (Joshua 7:8-9). Joshua was concerned that God’s reputation might be ruined. And so should we!
When we see a house half-built and left we say, “The man began to build and was not able to finish the house.” Could this be said of God that He could not bring our salvation to perfection? He said, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, no one can snatch them out of my hand” (John10:28).
We are reminded that, “God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfil it?” (Numbers 23:19). God’s honour is at stake when He says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
3. God loves and will not forget about us
God loved us before were born, “even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will” (Ephesians 1:4).
The most amazing truth in Christianity is that God loves us enough to seek us out even before we start trying to find him. In Luke 19:10 Jesus said, “…the Son of man (referring to himself with the term reserved for the Jewish Messiah) came to seek and to save the lost. “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person – though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die – but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5: 6-8).
When someone questions God’s love or His care for them, all we can do is point to the cross where Jesus, His own Son, died willingly for the whole world. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). In this verse we find no conditions placed on God’s love for us. God does not say, “as soon as you clean up your act, I’ll love you;” nor does He say, “I’ll sacrifice my Son if you promise to love Me.” In fact, in Romans 5:8, we find just the opposite. God is Love, and His love is very different from human love.
God wants us to know that His love is unconditional, so He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for us while we were still unlovable sinners. We did not have to clean up our lives, or make any promises to God before we could experience His love. His love for us has always existed, and because of that, He did all the giving and sacrificing long before we were even aware that we needed His love. Would someone who loves like that, then turn around and abandon the very ones He died for?
The apostle Paul reminds us, “We are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:37-38).
Our fears for today, or worries about tomorrow or where we are – high above the sky, or in the deepest ocean – nothing will ever be able to separate us from the love of God demonstrated by our Lord Jesus Christ when He died for us.
4. God will not leave us in eternity
The apostle John wrote, “And I heard a voice from heaven saying, ‘Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord’” (Revelation 14:13).
We may say death is a bad thing and death is the great unknown, how can a voice from heaven proclaim “blessed are the dead”? The apostle Paul wrote, “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:54-55). Death does sting and can be very painful. Jesus Himself experienced the pain of death when His friend Lazarus died. Scripture tells us that “Jesus wept.”
Here we have the answer, blessed are the dead “who die in the Lord”. There are many reasons why this is the case. Death has brought relief from pain and suffering. Scripture tells us, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4).
They are also blessed because they literally see Jesus face to face. Scripture tells us that those who die in the Lord are blessed, because they will have rest from their labour.
Here we have proof once again that the children of God cannot perish. The righteous are safe and secure, and of this we can be sure, the Lord will not leave nor forsake those who put their faith and trust in Him.
The apostle Paul said, “We are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:37-38).
What a wonderful promise we have been given for the present and the future, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” Let us go forth with that promise to encourage us in every situation we meet.