One thing wonderful about the Holy Spirit is that He shows many things that are totally "care" instead of "teaching." He made us park in front of a tire shop when our tire blew up. He just now helped me find my mouse. It's everything, big and small. Never without help, never desolate. In Him we move and live and have our being.
Jesus says He is the Teacher and the Helper. We fail to see His help everywhere. 🙏
✦ Care — Not Just Teaching
Taylor today teaches us that the Holy Ghost is the best preacher and the Scriptures the best sermons. That is the teaching side of the Spirit. But Le sees the other side — the side Taylor's chapter does not cover: the care.
The tire blew. The motorhome was already parked in front of the tire shop. The mouse was lost. The Spirit helped Le find it. The same Holy Spirit. The same care. The big and the small. The tire is not too large for His attention. The mouse is not too small for His concern. The Spirit who inspired the Scriptures also inspires the parking spot. 🙏
"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 things that I said to you."
"Mais le consolateur, l'Esprit-Saint, que le Père enverra en mon nom, vous enseignera toutes choses, et vous rappellera tout ce que je vous ai dit."
Jean 14:26 · Louis Segond✦ Teacher and Helper — The Same Person
The French says le consolateur, l'Esprit-Saint... vous enseignera toutes choses — the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, will teach you all things. One verse. Two titles. Teacher and Helper. The Comforter who consoles is the same Spirit who teaches. The Teacher who instructs is the same Spirit who parks the motorhome at the tire shop.
Le sees both: He is the Teacher and the Helper. Taylor today writes about the Teacher. Le today testifies about the Helper. And together they reveal the whole Spirit — who teaches through Scripture and helps through the details of the day. 🙏
"The word of God is all those commandments and revelations, those promises and threatenings, the stories and sermons, recorded in the Bible: nothing else is the word of God that we know of by any certain instrument.
The good books and spiritual discourses, the sermons or homilies, written or spoken by men, are but the word of men, or rather explications of, and exhortations according to, the word of God; but of themselves they are not the word of God."
✦ The Mentor Points Away from Himself
Taylor does something extraordinary here. The mentor who has taught Le for weeks — about time, intention, presence, faith, hope, love — now points away from himself. My words are the words of a man, Taylor says. The Scripture is the Word of God. The sermons and the books — including this one — are explications. The Scripture is the source.
Taylor, Guyon, Spurgeon, Jowett, James Smith — every mentor in the journal is what Taylor calls an explication. They explain. They exhort. They illuminate. But the light they illuminate by is the Scripture — and the Scripture's author is the Holy Ghost. 🙏
"1. The Holy Ghost is certainly the best preacher in the world, and the words of Scripture the best sermons.
2. All the doctrine of salvation is plainly set down there, that the most unlearned person, by hearing it read, may understand all his duty...
3. Good sermons and good books are of excellent use; but yet they can serve no other end but that we practice the plain doctrines of Scripture."
"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work."
"Toute Écriture est inspirée de Dieu, et utile pour enseigner, pour convaincre, pour corriger, pour instruire dans la justice, afin que l'homme de Dieu soit accompli et propre à toute bonne œuvre."
2 Timothée 3:16–17 · Louis SegondThe French says toute Écriture est inspirée de Dieu — all Scripture is inspired by God. Inspired — breathed into. The Scripture is not the opinion of men. It is the breath of God on paper. Taylor's good books and good sermons serve one purpose: that we practice the plain doctrines of what God Himself breathed. 🙏
✦ We Fail to See His Help Everywhere
Le's sharpest word today: we fail to see His help everywhere. Not: His help fails. Our seeing fails. The help is in the parking spot. The help is in the found mouse. The help is in the road that opened from Caldas to France. The help is in every chapter of Taylor that arrived on the exact day Le needed it. The help is everywhere — and the failure is only in the seeing.
Taylor's presence chapters taught: God is present in all places. God is especially present in the hearts of His people. And Le today adds the proof: the Presence is not theoretical. The Presence parks motorhomes and finds mice. 🙏
"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble."
"Dieu est pour nous un refuge et un appui, un secours qui ne manque jamais dans la détresse."
Psaume 46:2 · Louis SegondThe French says un secours qui ne manque jamais dans la détresse — a help that never fails in distress. Never fails. Jamais. Not when the tire blows. Not when the mouse disappears. Not when the transition stretches long. A very present help — present in the trouble, not arriving after it. 🙏
"For in Him we live and move and have our being."
"Car en lui nous avons la vie, le mouvement, et l'être."
Actes 17:28 · Louis SegondLe's anchor verse returns — from August 29 in Jarnac-Champagne to September 22 in Scrignac, Brittany. En lui nous avons la vie, le mouvement, et l'être. In Him — the life, the movement, the being. And the parking. And the finding. And the reading. And the walking. All in Him. 🙏
"Jesus says He is the Teacher and the Helper. We fail to see His help everywhere."
Le · Scrignac · The Holy Ghost is the best preacher · Care, not just teaching · Never desolateThe Best Preacher
The Holy Ghost is the best preacher. The Scriptures are the best sermons. Good books are explications — valuable, but the Scripture is the source.
Care, Not Just Teaching
He parked the motorhome at the tire shop. He helped find the mouse. The Spirit who inspired Scripture also inspires the parking spot. Big and small.
We Fail to See
The help is everywhere. The failure is in the seeing. The Presence is not theoretical. It parks motorhomes and finds mice. A help that never fails.
Jeremy Taylor on the Word of God. And Le — from the heart of Brittany — on the Spirit who cares.
The mentor points away: Taylor now says: my words are the words of a man. The Scripture is the Word of God. The Holy Ghost is the best preacher. The great teacher's greatest lesson is to point to the greater Teacher.
Le completes Taylor: Taylor writes about the teaching Spirit. Le testifies about the caring Spirit. Together they reveal the whole Person. John 14:26 — the Helper who teaches. Teacher and Helper — the same Spirit, the same verse, the same Person.
We fail to see: Le's sharpest insight. The help is not absent. The seeing is absent. The Spirit who answered Le's thought about hope (September 15) is the same Spirit who parked the motorhome at the tire shop. The help is everywhere. The eyes need opening.
Acts 17:28 returns: Le's anchor verse — from Jarnac-Champagne to Scrignac. In Him we live and move and have our being. The verse has traveled with the pilgrim from the Charente to Brittany.
Arrived in Brittany: Le is in Scrignac — deep in Finistère. Finistère means the end of the land. And at the end of the land, the Spirit is still teaching and still helping. Never without help. Never desolate. In Him we move and live and have our being. 🙏