The Holy Spirit

The Comforter

Jesus speaks of the coming Comforter in John 14.

And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 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. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. John 14:16-23

Jesus speaks of this Comforter in the third person, but in describing who this Comforter was, Jesus said, “you know him, for he dwelleth with you and shall be in you,” Jesus, in a personal, physical way, was the “Comforter” that was with them. (“…for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.” John 7:39)

He was to continue to be their Comforter, but now instead of them being able to see Him with their eyes, and hear Him with their ears, He would be seen in their minds, He would be heard by them in their thoughts. He confirms this in the next verse; 18, “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you,” verse 20, “I in you,” and verse 23, “my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.”

The Greek word used for Comforter in John 14 is parakletos, the same word used in 1 John 2:1, where it was translated Advocate and clearly refers to Christ.

Cumbered with humanity, Christ could not be in every place personally; therefore it was altogether for their advantage that He leave them, go to His father, and send the Holy Spirit to be His successor on earth. The Holy Spirit is Himself divested of the personality of humanity and independent thereof. Thus, no one could then have any advantage because of his location or his personal contact with Christ. By the Spirit the Savior would be accessible to all. In this sense He would be nearer to them than if He had not ascended on high.

Christ in You

We cannot all have the physical presence of Christ with us in all our various locations at the same time. But we can and must have the Spirit/Mind of Christ dwelling in us.

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:2

To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Colossians 1:27

That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith. Ephesians 3:16-17

The Mind Connection

It was a glorious morning. As I was washing the breakfast dishes, the words from a psalm that I had been memorizing filled my mind and an amazing sense of peace flooded me. I was interrupted when my husband called me to see an Email forward that had just come in. The pictures were of a huge dead bear and they were almost gruesome.

When I got back to the dishes I soon noticed that my mind was now filled with thoughts of the bear and hunter that had killed it, rather than the Word of God. And the peaceful atmosphere had broken. With an effort to train my mind back to the Word I prepared to make our bed. On the covers sat a booklet on the evils of Harry Potter. Being a reader, I picked it up. I didn't read much but the next thing I knew the words from the Psalm that I was meditating on were being mixed with words from Harry Potter.

This started me thinking about the role of the mind in the life of the Christian.

We have confessed our sins and given our hearts to Jesus. It is the daily walk that concerns us now ? how to grow into mature men and women in Christ. We want victory in our lives and freedom from sin. How? “Abide in me” Jesus said. “Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not.” 1 John 3:6 But how do we abide in Him and how does He abide in us?

Does the person Christ Jesus, come down from heaven to us and physically take up residence in our bodies? Does He 'possess' us in the way that demons did in the New Testament times? Speaking through our mouths and taking us where we don't want to go? Certainly not!

Indwelt by the Spirit

In John fifteen, where Jesus drew the illustration of the vine and told His disciples the importance of abiding, He explained His meaning in practical terms.

If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you... John 15:7.

Words convey thoughts. Christ abides in us and we in Him, by listening to His voice through His Word and taking them into our minds; meditating. It's all about the mind!

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Philippians 2:5.

The mind is the intangible part of the body ? you can't touch it, see it or handle it. What is it that dwells in the mind? Is it not the thoughts? And in words we have an expression of the thoughts. For, “out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh.” Matthew 12:34.

So we can say:

Let's look at a few texts in this connection.

That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith. Ephesians 3:16.

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Philippians 2:5.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. Colossians 3:16.

Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature. 2 Peter 3:4.

So we see that it is by God's promises (His thoughts, or words) that we become partakers of the divine nature. Thus, He dwells in us.

The Bible also speaks of our being in-dwelt by God's Spirit.

What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 1 Corinthians 6:19.

Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify. 1 Peter 1:11.

Having Christ dwell in us and having the Holy Spirit dwell in us are talking about the same thing.

The Nature and Spirit of Man

Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker? Job 4:17

Man is said to be mortal. So that we will not forget this fact, Paul speaks of God as the one “who only hath immortality.” (1Timothy 6:16) We only receive immortality as a gift through Christ.
But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 2 Timothy 1:10

Immortality is received at the “last trump,” when Jesus returns and resurrects those who sleep in Jesus.

Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 1 Corinthians 15:51- 53

This mortal “flesh and blood will not inherit the kingdom of God,” yet there is an immortal body, called a “spiritual body,” that will (1 Corinthians 15:50; also read verses 35-56). The righteous must be resurrected before going to heaven (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18) and the wicked must be resurrected before they are judged (Revelation 20:5, 13). Until the resurrection they are said to be sleeping.

For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring (Greek: “lead”) with him. 1 Thessalonians 4:14

These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep....Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. John 11:11, 14

After sin entered the world, mankind lost the right to eat of the fruit of the tree of life.

And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever... Genesis 3:22

Praise God that through Christ man can once again eat of the tree of life and have immortality.

Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. Revelation 22:14

The idea that man’s spirit can have a separate existence from his body is an idea borrowed from paganism. It is founded on Satan’s first lie, spoken to Eve in the garden, “ye shall not surely die.” (Genesis 3:4) The scripture testifies that when a man dies, “in that very day his thoughts perish.” (Psalms 146:4)

So we see that man’s spirit is not conscious without the body and therefore it is impossible to communicate with the dead.

The living know that they shall die: but the dead know not anything. Ecclesiastes 9:5

The two aspects of man, the tangible and intangible, we call the body and mind, or flesh and spirit.

They angered him also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses for their sakes: Because they provoked his spirit, so that he spake unadvisedly with his lips. Psalm 106: 32, 33.

The children of Israel did not hurt Moses’ physical body, but his spirit. It goes without saying however, that it was Moses himself that they provoked and not someone other than Moses.

We know that man was made in the image of God. (Genesis 5:1) And in writing to the Corinthians, Paul likens God’s Spirit to our spirit.

For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. 1 Corinthians 2:11.Two parallel Bible verses also witness to this connection:

By the prophet Isaiah the question is asked,

Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught him? Isaiah 40:13.

In quoting this Old Testament passage, Paul wrote,

For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? Romans 11:34.

So when inspiration speaks of God's Spirit, it is speaking, at least in part, of His innermost person ? His mind and emotions.

How does God pour His Spirit upon us?

Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you. Proverbs 1:23.

By making known (or giving us understanding of) His thoughts, and as we mediate on them and fill our minds with them and they become our thoughts, we become partakers of His Spirit.

This conversion is not immediate. Our heart is naturally evil and at variance to God, it is desperately wicked. Our thoughts also are naturally so different to Jehovah's that He tells us,

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:7, 8.

We need a new heart, a new mind, a new spirit. This, God has promised us. But we have a part to play of co-operation.

When Jesus was explaining this truth to a crowd at Capernaum, they were offended and many of his disciples left him. Let us examine this message of Christ’s in John chapter six that brought so much opposition.

We must eat His flesh and drink His blood to have life

Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Verse 53

He is talking about eternal life

Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. Verse 54

By this Christ is speaking of the ‘abiding.’

He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. Verse 56

What did Jesus mean when he spoke of eating his flesh and drinking his blood? We know he was not speaking of a literal cannibalistic meal. A little further on in the chapter He explains His meaning:

We abide in Him and He in us by having His word in us and living by it.

It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. Verse 63

I would like you to notice something here ? God's word contains a power and life that ours does not. When God speaks, things happen. There is creative power in His word. Just so, when we partake of His word and it becomes a part of us, it changes us. Christ's words taken into the heart have a power to recreate our carnal minds and stamp on us the impress of the divine.

The battle for our eternal life lies in our minds.

We have not only to put the Word of God into our minds, but also to watch what other input we are receiving. We are to painstakingly protect our minds.

Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. Proverbs 4:23.

How is it that God communicates with us? It is through our minds. But how will we ever hear that “still small voice” if our minds are always occupied? The experience expressed in the following verse needs to be ours.

Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5.

We need to train ourselves to think on heavenly things. Have you ever noticed how difficult it is to have quiet time with God immediately after watching television? Or to meditate on Scripture after reading the news?

There is a battle over our minds, and we must guard the entrance so that only the good will have a place there.

And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Philippians 4:7-8.

If we desire to partake of God's Spirit, we have our part to play. We must choose to listen to that “still small voice,” and not crowd it out with many other thoughts. We must choose to be in communication with God. We must choose to read His word and believe it. We must go where it is being spoken, praying that we might hear His voice through it.

Christ dwells in us when we choose to listen to that still small voice, and not crowd it out. Rather than reading His word to look for proofs to support our ideas or treating it as ordinary words on paper, we need to hear God’s voice speaking to us personally through it. We must choose to familiarize ourselves with it by meditation and memorization. And we must choose to trust His promises and obey them.

What means do we know of by which God communicates his Spirit, His thoughts and feelings with men?

The Agency of Angels and the Holy Spirit

Another term for being “moved by the Holy Ghost” is “inspiration of God.”

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. 2 Timothy 3:16.

For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. 2 Peter 1:21.

This inspiration/communication from God comes through certain channels.

The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John. Revelation 1:1.

God gave the revelation to Jesus who sent it by his angel to John. When the writers of Scripture were “moved by the Holy Ghost” or “inspired of God,” God was speaking through Christ and/or angels to men. The following verse is another example of this:

And it came to pass, when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision, and sought for the meaning, then, behold, there stood before me as the appearance of a man. And I heard a man’s voice between the banks of Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision. Daniel 8:15-16.

We need to become familiar with the ministry of angels, God’s ordained means of communication with man after his fall.

And he (Jacob) dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. Genesis 28:12.

Christ is represented by the ladder. He is the mediator, and the angels are the messengers.

And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man. John 1:51.

Angels are ministering spirits/messengers

But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool? Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation? Hebrews 1:13,14.

The Agency of Men and the Holy Spirit

When Christ sent His disciples out to preach the gospel, He gave them the promise that God would speak through them.

But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you. Matthew 10:19-20

Each one is given a measure of the Spirit, that he might be a blessing to others.

But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. 1 Corinthians 12:7

Each disciple is heaven’s appointed channel for the revelation of God to men. Angels wait to communicate through you heaven’s light to souls perishing in sin. And what if you refuse to be that channel? Then to that degree is the world robbed of the promised influence of the Holy Spirit!

It is not because of any restriction on the part of God that the riches of His grace do not flow earthward to men. If all were willing to receive, all would become filled with His Spirit.

There is nothing that Christ desires so much as agents who will represent to the world His Spirit and character. And there is nothing that the world needs so much as human examples of the Saviour's love.

Dear reader, turn your eyes on Jesus. Take time to fill your soul with His word and commune with him as you walk life’s pathways. As you look to Christ, He will draw near to you and ravish your heart with the joy and peace that comes with a sense of the abiding presence of Christ in the soul. As your thoughts are exchanged for His, you will be changed also and will reflect the beauty of His character.

Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. 1 John 4:13

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