The Holy Spirit: Our
Comforter
Study Text: John 14: 15 - 17
Introduction:
- Jesus knew we needed the Holy Ghost, but He had to go away before the Spirit could come to us. John 16:7
- Jesus knew how important the coming of the Comforter would be to people, and you must understand that as well. You must seek Him, accept Him and yield to Him. Jesus ascended back to Heaven, He was the disciples’ comforter; but after He left, the Holy Spirit came as the Comforter who will never leave us.
- You must be very mindful of the Comforter and yield yourself to Him at all times so He can lead you into the whole truth and comfort you in all your afflictions. He will bring all things the Lord has said to your remembrance when you need them.
- The Comforter was sent because we need Him. This is an hour of many uncertainties; but even so, God’s children are to be the happiest people on Earth. Heaven came down to us so we could call Heaven any time we need more love, faith, strength or anything of God. The Holy Ghost is our promised Comforter, so we must recognize Him, receive Him and let Him take over. Acts 2:38,39
- The Comforter has come, so you must give Him place in your life and let Him be all He wants to be. He is on a divine mission to get a Bride ready for Jesus. If you want to be a part of that Bride, you must give the Holy Ghost freedom and let Him have His way. That is the only way you will be ready for Jesus return.
-. We shall be discussing the topic under three subheadings:
1. The Portrait of the Comforter
2. The Purpose of the Comforter
3. The Power of the Comforter
1. The Portrait of the Comforter
- Before Christ departed, He introduced to us the Comforter who was to continue His work, whom the Father would send in His name.
-. The heart in which the Comforter dwells will have all the traits of the Christ life.
-. From the Scriptures, we can get the true picture of the Comforter:
1. The Comforter is not an impersonal force or influence but a living person. John 14:26
-. An impersonal force or influence cannot accomplish the functions mentioned here of teaching and bringing things to remembrance. Only a person can do them.
-. The Holy Spirit is mentioned together with 2 other persons - the Father and the Son, Jesus who was speaking these words. And that means that the Holy Spirit must be a person as well.
-. The Holy Spirit is the 3rd person in the Holy Trinity, after God the Father and God the Son. From the rest of the Bible we know that there is only one God in 3 persons, and that all 3 persons in the godhead have always been working to accomplish the will of God.
-. All 3 persons - the Father, Son and Holy Spirit - are equal in nature and substance, and to be equally honoured and worshipped as God.
2. He was described as another Comforter
-. This is implying that there is already an existing Comforter, and this points to Jesus.
-. Jesus says that the Holy Spirit will be the same kind of Comforter as Him. This means that The Holy Spirit would be acting on behalf of Jesus to take over His work on earth - He is the same kind of Comforter as Jesus because He would be everything that Jesus was to the disciples.
-. He tells them that another Comforter who is like Him will come to abide with them forever. But this Comforter will dwell in them. This means that they will always have the Comforter with them everywhere they went. They would have all the comfort and help they needed through the Holy Spirit abiding in their hearts all the time.
- This is true now of every born-again Christian. We have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us forever. He never leaves us at any time.
3. The Comforter will always glorify Jesus.
-. It is not His work to glorify Himself, but to glorify Christ. John 16:14
- In fact the Holy Spirit glorifies Christ so much that He is called the 'Spirit of Christ' in Romans 8:9.
4. The Comforter can not be seen nor received by the World.
- There are two contrasting groups of people with regards to the Holy Spirit.
- The first is the unbelieving world. It cannot see Him, know Him or receive Him. John 14: 17-19
- The things of the Spirit are totally unintelligible to the world. That is why the Bible makes no sense to many people when they read it. To them, it is only a collection of sayings and stories.
That's how they will see it, without the Holy Spirit.
- Satan is the prince of this world who opposes Christ and keeps the people of the world under his control. 2 Corinthians 4:3-4
- Though he tried his utmost best to oppose Christ, there was no way that he could overcome Him.
- Only those who are true disciples of Christ will know and receive the Holy Spirit. And they do receive the Spirit at the moment they believe in Christ. John 7:38-39
2. The Purpose of the Comforter
- The Bible reveals to us the great mission of the Comforter as follows:
1. To Reveal Christ
-. He is to reveal Christ and make Him more real to us than He was to the followers with His bodily presence while in their midst.
- It is the wonderful work of the Holy Ghost to take the virgin birth, the shed blood and the death and resurrection of Jesus and make those facts which occurred nearly over two thousand years ago a living reality to our spiritual consciousness.
- To the great majority, Christ is just a being who once lived and died and went away, they do not know where. But God wishes to make Him known to us through the Holy Ghost, and benefit from the purpose of His coming. I Corinthians 12:3
- The Holy Ghost in the believer vitalizes all the fundamental truths, and makes them living realities.
2. To Dwell Within us for Empowerment
- The Comforter is to dwell within us and empower us to be and to do all that God wants us to be and to do.
- The Holy Ghost has always been in the world. When the earth was without form and void, and darkness brooded over the face of the deep, the Spirit of God brooded upon the face of the waters, and out of that chaos of desolation He brought forth beauty, order and a blissful Paradise.
- He inspired the prophets; He gave Isaiah a vision of the coming Christ from the manger to the cross; He illuminated Joel and let him see the approaching Pentecost and out-poured Holy Ghost. His presence, however, in the Old Testament was external, rather than internal, demonstrating the gifts rather than the graces of the Spirit.
-. But in the New Testament the Comforter unites and identifies Himself with the life of the believer, controlling his choices, affections and desires, and molding holy character.
-. So the Comforter takes up His abode in our spirits and shines out through our minds and bodies .
3. To Remind us of All Things
- The Holy Ghost is to bring all things to our remembrance.
- It is wonderful how the Holy Ghost can quicken the intellect and illuminate our eyes of understanding to grasp the spiritual significance of the truths of the Bible.
-. He will bring to our memory forgotten truths in the moment of need.
4. To Guide us into All Truths
- The Holy Ghost not Only wins us to Christ, but He proposes to journey with us, protecting us from the evil of the world, and to present us spotless to our Heavenly bridegroom.
- Divine guidance is one of the outstanding promises of the Bible.
- The indwelling Comforter makes the special providences of God to us an absolute certainty, so that we are confident that He is working all things in earth and Heaven for our good.
5. To Reveal Things to Come
-. The Comforter will show you things to come. That is, things that have to do with the future life.
- Too many live in the past; their little world dips so near to where they live that all they see in life is a struggle for a living. But the Holy Ghost deals with ages to come. The heart in which He dwells is filled with a buoyant, cheerful hope by the heavenly vision.
6. To Abide with us Forever
-. The Comforter is to abide with us forever.
- When we are popular or persecuted, when friends praise or foes abuse, at the wedding, or at the funeral, no matter what the change, the Comforter will ever abide.
3. The Power of the Comforter.
-. One of the most notable mission of the Holy Spirit is empowerment. Acts 1:8
-. All the supernatural manifestations of Jesus Christ when He was on earth were through the power of the Holy Spirit. Isaiah 60:1-4, Acts 10:38
- The Holy Spirit is our most essential partner in the journey of life. His core mission is to help believers through the journey of life. He is to make our lives meaningful, impactful and profitable through His power.
-. So, we need the Holy Ghost as our eternal Helper and His ministry, to make meaning out of our lives.
-. The Holy Spirit quickens our bodies, our minds and He empowers our spirits (Ephesians 3:16). Without Him, we are utterly helpless.
- The apostles were in hiding, until the Holy Ghost came. You need to desire an encounter with the Holy Ghost, to move forward in life.
- Our mission on earth is impossible without the Holy Ghost. Desire an encounter with Him, and your life will take a dramatic turn.
-. Recognize that life in the Kingdom is meaningless, without the help of the Holy Ghost.
-. We can engage the ministry of the Holy Ghost by praying in tongues. Jude 20
-. Praying in the Spirit keeps Him active in our lives. Romans 8:26
- The Holy Spirit helps us to pray in line with the will of God. We fan the fire of the Holy Ghost and keep it burning, by praying in tongues. That simply shows that we don’t just get baptized or get filled; we must learn how to engage the Holy Spirit to build up ourselves.
-. The Holy Spirit empowers us for effective Christian living and service in the following areas:
1. Power to Resist Temptation and Overcome Sin.
-. It is through the power of the Holy Spirit that we are strengthen to resist temptation and overcome falling into sin. James 1:12-14
-. We became a new creation through His power and we received the enablement to live the new life that Jesus offered to us.
2. The Power to Witness for Christ.
-. The number one mission, which is often neglected or ignored, is reaching out to the lost. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. Acts 1:8
- When the Holy Ghost came on the day of Pentecost, 3,000 people were saved (Acts 2:41). In Acts 4:4, 5,000 people were saved. Then in Acts 5:14, multitudes of men and women were added to the church. In Acts 6, the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly.
- His first major mission is to depopulate hell, and draw souls into the Kingdom of God. That is why the Holy Ghost leaves any church, where new birth is not promoted. He leaves, when He is not being engaged in soul-winning. If the Holy Ghost must not leave the church, we must remain tireless in our commitment to reaching out to the lost. This is His number one Mission.
3. The Power for Supernatural Manifestations.
-. Jesus spoke of the signs that should follow the believers. Mark 16: 17-18.
-. All these signs of miracles and supernatural manifestations are made possible in the lives of the believers through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.
-. We must believe God for His Words, and we must desire the flow of the power of the Holy Spirit in and through our lives.
-. In the true Church of Jesus Christ, the gifts of the Holy Spirit must be seen in operation regularly. 1 Corinthians 12: 1-7
4. The Power to Resist and Overpower the Devil.
-. Jesus spoke of the power He gave us over the Devil and all the powers of darkness. Luke 10: 19-20
-. This is possible for us through the power of the Holy Spirit that is given to us. This power not only gives us victory over the Devil, but also grant us divine protection from all attacks of the Devil and his kingdom.
5. The Power to Endure Afflictions and Difficult Situations.
-. It is the empowerment of the Holy Spirit that sustain s a believer in times of afflictions and difficult situations without compromising his faith. Romans 8:35-39.
-. He gives us comfort and hope in such situations, so that we are able to bear and pass through without denying our faith. 2 Corinthians 10:13
Conclusion:
-. Until you are filled and remain filled with the Holy Spirit, you cannot fulfill your glorious destiny.
-. Let us identify the great blessings of the Comforter in our lives and ministry and let us yield ourselves unto Him continually to enjoy the blessings maximally.
