The Holy Spirit, the Helper, is also called the Comforter in certain Bible translations. This is definitely one of His most needed virtues in today’s hectic and unstable world. When those without Christ are reeling from the noise and chaos around them, believers in Christ can have the peace that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7) that flows from Christ through the Holy Spirit, who is the Comforter and Helper.
The scripture reveals the atmosphere of God’s Kingdom as righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans14:17). The Helper is the One who permeates heaven with these qualities and does the same on earth where Christ is exalted. When Jesus taught His disciples how to pray, He directed them to pray, “Our Father in heaven…Your Kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:9-10)
The blessings of righteousness, peace, and joy are already ours, but we must set our attention away from the distractions that are constantly bombarding us and set our minds on things above where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God and upon the things of the Spirit.
This is a discipline and one we will constantly have to learn as we mature in the Lord. It is not something that comes naturally for any of us. However, the Helper will aid us as we yield to Him, listen to His voice, and discern His leading.
Jesus said everything the Father has was His, and He in turn gives us access to the riches of God’s grace and blessings, but it is mostly up to us how much of these blessings we will walk in and enjoy. The apostle Paul said, “to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” (Romans 8:6)
We have a part to play in our experience of what God has provided in Christ. We must access these benefits, and blessings by faith, which requires us to be intentional about following the Lord as we surrender to His ways.
The Holy Spirit is the One who bears witness (evidence, proof) of Jesus and God’s Word (1 John 5:6-8). He will only bear witness to the truth, and Jesus is the ultimate Truth (John 14:6). He is also the One who bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. (Romans 8:16)
Another aspect of the Helper is His ability to lead us into all truth (John 16:13) because He is the Spirit of Truth and reveals divine truths to us as we walk with the Lord. Just as He bears witness to Jesus, He bears witness to all that points to Christ and His Word. He bears witness to the Father’s plans and purposes. He is the witness in heaven and earth because He proceeds from the Father and Christ (John 15:26) and has been sent to aid us in our service to God.
A friend of mine says when making major decisions, he will stop and consider three possibilities. He will pray in the Spirit and in his mind go through each choice. If the first choice does not bear witness in his spirit, he moves on to possibility number two. If that does not sit right in his spirit, he goes to choose number three. The option that feels right in his spirit (not his mind) is the one he goes with because it is the one the Holy Spirit agrees with, or bears witness to out of the three.
This may seem foolish to those who are carnally minded (1 Corinthians 2:14) but the scripture tells us we are to be led by the Spirit (Romans 8:14) and that leading takes place in our spirit (Proverbs 20:27) before it reaches our understanding. We will try to cover this topic in more depth in a future post.
Here is a partial list of the Holy Spirit’s functions in our lives.
• He helps us testify of Jesus (Matthew 10:20, John 15:26, Acts 1:8)
• He gives life to our mortal bodies (Romans 8:11)
• He facilitates our adoption into the family of God (Romans 8:15)
• He reveals things freely given to us of God (1 Corinthians 2:12)
• He indwells us (1 Corinthians 3:16)
• He empowers us (Acts 1:8)
• He leads us (Romans 8:14, John 16:13)
• He brings liberty (2 Corinthians 3:17)
• He unites us with the Father (Galatians 4:6)
• He imparts power, love, and soundness of mind (2 Timothy 1:7)
• He is the Spirit of grace (Hebrews 10:29)
• He confesses that Jesus Christ came in the flesh (1 John 4:2)
• He imparts spiritual gifts to the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:7)
• He is the seal of our salvation (Ephesians 1:13
• He is the guarantee of our inheritance (Ephesians 1:13)
As mentioned above, one important function of the Holy Spirit is the impartation and manifestation of spiritual gifts through the Church. This is one of the churches’ great needs for this hour, because a powerless church is no match for the schemes of the devil.
Someone once said, “You can’t defeat a full-time devil as a part-time Christian.” That statement is correct, so we must have the power of God working through our lives in a dynamic way to to accomplish this and to walk in victory. This is a matter of continued prayer because most of our churches do not even remotely look like the early church… not only in signs and wonders, but also in boldness to preach Christ in the face of opposition and persecution.
If you have not been filled with the Holy Spirit, I appeal to you to seek the Lord for an infilling of this Wonderful Person of the Holy Spirit. The Helper will help you through life’s difficulties and enable you to fulfill God’s purpose for your life. Jesus said, “...you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me....” (Acts 1:8) We cannot live the type of Christian life we are called to live, without the power of the Holy Spirit. He is our Helper!
The apostle Paul admonished the church at Ephesus to be filled with the Spirit and not to be drunk with wine. He was saying, they did not need to depend on some intoxicating substance to give them a short-lived thrill or sense of false security, but to be filled with the life and power of God through the Holy Spirit.
"And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit...." Ephesians 5:18
The warning here was not so much against drinking wine (which, in my opinion, is not a bad idea) but against being drunk with wine. The apostle Paul, by revelation of the Holy Spirit, reveals the difference of being inebriated with the continual infilling of the Holy Spirit, versus the counterfeit euphoria of drinking wine in excess.
He went on to say the result or outcome of being filled with the Holy Spirit would be:
“…speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ….” Ephesians 5:19-20
This is the polar opposite of being drunk with an intoxicating drink, which usually leads to depression, anger, lust, violence, irresponsibility, disease, pain immorality, and destruction.
The Holy Spirit is not a temporal substance, He is the full representation of the Godhead. He loves us and wants to live in us to stimulate and inspire us to live godly and fruitful lives for Christ.
To build your faith and prepare your heart to receive the infilling of the Holy Spirit prayerfully read these passages over and over again. (Acts 1:8, 2:1-4, 8:14-17, Acts 9:17, 10:44-47, John 7:37-39, Luke 3:16, and Ephesians 5:18)
There is much more we can say about this Wonderful Helper, the Holy Spirit. Hopefully, you will take time to look at the scripture references I have included in this study, as they will expand your appreciation for His ministry and role in your life as a child of God.
As we close this series, let me leave you with the benediction found in Paul's second letter to the Corinthians.
"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and
the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen."
2 Corinthians 13:14
We will begin a new study next time. Until then, may God our heavenly Father richly bless and keep you.
James Brown
01/22/2023