Focus: The Comforter

Text: Jh.14:26

"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."

1. Who do we have here?

The Holy Spirit is sent to be our Comforter by the Father and the Son, and He is here now as the third member of the Holy Trinity.

In John 14:16, Jesus calls Him Another Comforter, meaning that the Holy Spirit is not the only comforter. God, the Father, God, the Son, and God, the Holy Spirit are all Comforters. In Christ the believer experiences trinitarian comfort. In 2Cor.1:3, Paul describes the Father as the "God of all comfort." In Act.9:31, Luke tells us that the churches were "walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit." The word 'another' implies that the Holy Spirit was succeeding Christ as the Comforter. The Holy Spirit and Christ are comforters of a kind. Jesus says, "I will not leave you comfortless..." - Jh.14:18. He was Comforter to His disciples, and would upon His departure, send the Holy Spirit to continue from where He stopped. He ministers to us that same comfort of Christ - the same kind of comfort.

The word 'comfortless' is 'orphanos' in the Greek. The Spirit is sent or given to parent us. His presence in our lives is soothing, energizing and assuring. He imparts to us the spirit of family, so that we feel at home in His presence. With the Spirit in our space we never feel like orphans, because we are not at all. Indeed we are Spirit-born, Spirit-filled, Spirit-empowered and Spirit-led. In His presence we sense the present-ness of Christ. In the company of the Spirit we do not miss Christ.

Jesus says the Spirit would be with us forever. We are going to have Him for a very long time. He has come to stay. He is going to be with us at all times and seasons, in all places, and all through eternity.

The Holy Spirit is a person, not an impersonal force or influence. Give the Holy Spirit space to do His job in your life. His role in our lives is crucial, vital, and indispensable, and He has no substitute. If you let Him, He will not only be present, but also prominent and preeminent in your life.

Let me join Paul to ask you, "Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed?" (Act.19:2). The believer in Jesus Christ should possess the Holy Spirit in him and be completely possessed by Him.

The message continues tomorrow.

by Bishop Moses E. Peter