Holy Comforter

The subject of the Holy Comforter is taught in the book of John, chapters 14-16. The setting for this study is that the Lord had told the disciples that he was going to be crucified and would be leaving them. They of course were sad and also in denial. They did not want him to leave and their hearts were troubled by his sayings.

The Lord for three and a half years had been many things to the disciples. He had chosen them, called them, and sent them forth to preach the gospel. He had counseled them, taught them, guided them, admonished them, led them, given gifts to them and had spoken to them of things to come. However, the disciples were under the mistaken belief that Christ was going to set up a natural kingdom over the realm of Israel. His telling them that he was to depart had caused them to be troubled as they at that time did not fully understand the nature of the Kingdom of God that Christ was establishing.

With this setting as a backdrop, the Lord told the disciples in John 14:16 “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. 18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.” The Lord had been their comforter as we noted in the previous paragraph. Now the Lord promises to send another Comforter, even the Spirit of truth. Christ time on earth in his personal ministry in the flesh was very brief. However, the Lord promised that this other Comforter would be with the disciples “for ever.” Moreover, this other Comforter would not just be around, but he would be abiding with them.

The abiding of this Comforter would be restricted to spiritual born children of God. Those who are not born of the spirit cannot receive spiritual things: 1 Cor. 2:9 “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. 10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.” Because this is a spiritual kingdom being comforted by the Spirit of truth, the world cannot receive him, neither knoweth him: 1 Cor. 2:14 “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” To receive and know the Spirit of truth, a person must have spiritual eyes and spiritual ears, i.e., he must be born of the Spirit.
The Lord told the disciples that this Spirit of truth was already dwelling with them, that is he was dwelling in their hearts due to the spiritual birth. The Lord then promised that this Spirit of truth that was already dwelling with them would be in them. That is the Holy Spirit would be in the midst of them, just as Christ was in the midst of them.

Additionally the Lord promised that he would come to the disciples (“I will come to you”). The way the Lord comes to the disciples is that he comes to us in our hearts and minds via the Holy Spirit today.

John 14:25 “These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. 26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” In this passage, the Lord continued his promise of sending another Comforter. “These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you.” Of course, at the time of this discourse, the Lord was present with the disciples, and had spoken to them of these things, but even before this, he was present with the disciples and had spoken many things unto them. But the time of his physical presence was to come to an end and he is assuring the disciples that the Holy Comforter which the Father would send in Christ’s name would be present with them and as Christ had taught them, the Spirit of truth would teach them all things. We, as his disciples, still have this promise today and it shall continue until the end of this time world in which we are living.

The next part of the above promise was particularly applicable to the disciples of that day: “and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” From the time that Christ walked in the flesh upon the earth, until the various books of the New Testament were written was a period of several years. As we all know over time our memories fade and we forget details and often are prone to think we saw or heard things from years past that we did not really see or hear. However, Christ told the disciples of that day that the Spirit of truth would bring to their memories all things that Christ had spoken or done during his days in the flesh upon earth. This certainly was a great blessing to us today; as we are assured that the testimony that we have today is an accurate testimony.

The following two passages of scripture speak to us of the testimony of the promised Holy Comforter:

1. John 15:26 “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: 27 And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.”

2. John 16:13 “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come. 14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you. 15 All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall show it unto you.”

Based on these two passages it is apparent that the message of the Spirit of truth is not about the Holy Ghost but about Jesus Christ. The message of the Holy Spirit is to glorify Christ and show the things of Christ to the family of God. A gospel that spends more time speaking about the Holy Ghost than it does about Jesus Christ is at the very least a very misguided gospel. In addition to the Spirit of truth testifying of Jesus, Jesus said, “And ye also shall bear witness…” By reading the writings of the New Testament writers, it is abundantly clear that the central message and focus of those writings was about Jesus Christ and what he has done, what he is doing, and what he shall yet do. The writers were writing under the direction of the Spirit of truth.

Another lesson taught by the above passages is that the Holy Spirit is our guide unto all truth. It is a great blessing for us to know that we have a guide when we are reading, studying, and meditating upon the word of God.

Finally, we read about the Comforter dealing with the sin, righteousness, and judgment issues: John 16:7 “Nevertheless 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; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. 8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 Of sin, because they believe not on me; 10 Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; 11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. 12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. 13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come. 14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you.”

“He will reprove the world of sin…” The Greek word for “reprove” is “elegcho.” Elegcho also carries the meaning of “convict” or “convince.” The world under consideration is not all of mankind, but is the world of God’s born again children. When the Spirit writes the laws of God in the hearts and minds of the elect family of God when they are born again, He sets up a courtroom in their hearts and minds. Having done so, the Spirit begins to convict those who have in their hearts the laws of God so as to cause them to see and be convicted that they are sinners in the sight of God and worthy of being cast into the lake of fire forever.

Next, the Holy Spirit of truth begins to works on those individuals so convicted of sin to cause them to see that righteousness does not come by the law, but righteousness resides in the only perfectly righteous one, Jesus Christ.

Finally, we are convicted of judgment. Knowing that God is perfectly just, we know that every sin and disobedience is judged by God. Through the gospel we learn that God’s judgment of our sins rests in the atoning sacrifice of our substitute, Jesus Christ who suffered in our room and stead on the cross of Calvary in order to satisfy God’s wrathful judgment of our sins. While our sins were imputed to Jesus Christ on the cross, His righteousness was imputed to us so that before a just and holy God we now stand justified.