You Comforter - Your Helper

Unique to John is the designation of the Holy Spirit as "Comforter" or "Helper" (John 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever), literally "one called alongside." He is "another Helper," namely, one of the same kind as Jesus, thereby extending the ministry of Jesus to the end of the age. It would be a grave error, however, to understand the Spirit's purpose merely in terms of one needed in predicaments. On the contrary, John demonstrates that the Spirit's role encompasses every facet of life. In regard to the world outside of Christ, He works as the agent who convicts of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8-11 8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 11 of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged). The experience of being "born of the Spirit" is descriptive of New Birth (John 3:6 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit). Because God in essence is Spirit, those who worship Him must do so spiritually, that is, as directed and motivated by the Holy Spirit (John 4:24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth”). Further, in anticipation of Pentecost, the Spirit becomes the divine enabler for authoritative ministry (John 20:21-23 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” 22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained").

The Holy Spirit also fulfills a definite function in relation to Christ. While the Father sent the Spirit in the name of Christ, the Spirit never draws attention to Himself, nor does He speak in His own authority. Instead, His mission is to glorify Jesus and to declare Christ's teaching to the disciples (John 16:14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you).

John reveals the function of the Holy Spirit in continuing the work of Jesus, leading believers into and understanding of meanings, implications, and imperatives of the gospel, and enabling them to do "greater works" than those done by Jesus (John 14:12 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father). Present-day believers in Christ may thus view Him as their contemporary, not merely as a figure from the distant past.

I pray you let the Spirit be your guide in everything you do. Everything!

AMEN