Counselor, Teacher, and Guide

My home city is an automobile manufacturing center, so when I graduated from high school, I went to work in a car factory. I was given the job of pushing car bodies from one assembly line to another. The job needed two men, but the foreman was trying to cut expenses, so he said I would have to work alone.

Some of the big sedans were almost impossible for one man to push, and at the end of the day l was ready to quit. I had decided that the next day would be my last, but the next morning the foreman came by with a big, strong man and said, “Meet your new helper.” All of my problems were over.

When Jesus came to the end of His earthly ministry, His few faltering disciples faced the impossible task of carrying on without His help. All their hopes seemed to die with Him when He was crucified. They were discouraged and went back to fishing. After His resurrection Jesus appeared to the disciples again and repeated His promise to send them another Helper.

There was no disappointment when the day finally arrived that the Holy Spirit came to be their Helper! He was everything they needed to help them fulfill the commission of Christ.

He Convinces

The first work of the Holy Spirit in a person’s life was explained by Jesus when He told the disciples He was sending a Helper to them. Here are His words:

It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned (John 16:7-11).

The world has set up its own list of standards of sin and righteousness, and it would like very much to ignore God’s warning of judgment. Only because of God’s great love for humanity has He sent the Holy Spirit to convince sinners that they are wrong. The Holy Spirit works in the unbeliever’s heart to cause him to turn to the Lord, but He uses believers to testify to unbelievers about Jesus and live a holy life before them. Thus we might say that it is through the believer that He will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment. He is our Helper in bringing the world to Christ.

Of Sin

When I gave an altar call in one of our evangelistic services, a beautiful little eight year old girl responded. She knelt at the altar with tears streaming down her cheeks and cried out, “Oh God, I’m such an awful sinner!”

I doubt that she had committed any of the sins that the world might label “awful,” but the Holy Spirit had shown her the beauty of Jesus, and she was expressing her need of salvation. The world seldom considers the real sin of unbelief in God and disregard for the supreme gift of His Son, and yet it is the greatest of all sins. It was the Holy Spirit who revealed to the little girl her sinful state. Only the Holy Spirit can bring a person face-to-face with his condition and his rejection of Christ as Savior. Only the Holy Spirit can convince an unbeliever of his need to come to Christ in repentance and find forgiveness for his sin. Many times the Holy Spirit convicts sinners as they listen to the anointed preaching of the gospel (Acts 2: l4-4l). On other occasions, conviction comes as a sinner hears the Spirit-anointed testimony of a believer who has accepted Christ as his Savior.

Of Righteousness

Jesus said the Holy Spirit would convict (or convince) the world of righteousness because He was going to the Father.

Jesus’ return to the Father was proof that everything He had said about Himself was true. If He had not been righteous, He would have died for His own sins, not ours. He would have remained in the grave and decayed like other sinful people. But He was righteous, He did pay the price for our sins, He arose from the dead, and He returned to the Father! That is why Peterset forth these truths so forcefully to his contemporaries on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:14-41).

The apostle Paul tells us in Romans 1:4 that Jesus “through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead.” It is the Spirit of holiness who bears witness of the righteousness of Jesus Christ. He brings glory to Christ by making the things of Christ known to the world (John 16:14).

Of Judgment

The judgment that the Holy Spirit would use as an example to convince men of the certainty of judgment would be the judgment of Satan. His complete defeat at the hands of Jesus, and Christ’s victory over hell and the grave, should be all that is needed to prove that there will be a final judgment.

Unless the preaching of judgment carries with it the love and concern of the Holy Spirit and emphasizes the victory of Christ, it will only turn men away from God. Jesus grieved when He warned Jerusalem of that was coming, and He showed no satisfaction whatever that those who would reject Him would be punished (Matthew 23:37-38).

We find many examples in the book of Acts of how the Holy Spirit used the apostles to convince people of sin, righteousness, and judgment. Peter spoke in prophetic utterance on the Day of Pentecost (Horton, 1976, p. 127). Here’s what happened:

1. There was conviction of sin because of what their unbelief did to Jesus (Acts 2:22-23).

2. There was conviction of righteousness as the people recognized that God did not allow His Holy One to decay, but raised Him up to sit at His right hand (Acts 2:27, 30-33, 36).

3. There was conviction of judgment “With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, ‘Save yourselves from this corrupt generation”’ (Acts 2:40).

4. The result was that the people at first began to despair. Then they repented and accepted Peter’s message. About 3000 were added to the number of believers that day. Other examples are found in Acts 3:14-21; 4:10-12; 10:39- 42; and 13:27-41.

The Holy Spirit is still our Helper today to bring the message of salvation to the world. He will use us to convince men of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment.

He Regenerates

In a later lesson we will more fully discuss the Holy Spirit’s work of regeneration. It is mentioned in this lesson to show the progression of the Spirit’s ministry as our helping Friend from that of conviction of sin, righteousness, and judgment to that of constant Companion, Teacher, and Guide. Before we can experience the help of the Comforter in our daily lives, we must experience regeneration.

By regeneration we mean “rebirth.” This is what happens when we turn from our sins and receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. It is the Holy Spirit who acts on behalf of the Father and the Son to impart spiritual life to the repentant sinner (John 3:3- 8; 6:63; Titus 3:4-5).

At the moment of regeneration, the Holy Spirit indwells us; that is, He dwells within us and is ever present to help us (John 14:16-17).

Having brought us to spiritual life, the Holy Spirit sets up residence in each believer. As He indwells us, He is God’s seal or pledge—the down payment or deposit, which guarantees our future spiritual inheritance:

And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possessions—to the praise of his glory (Ephesians 1:13-14).

The seal of the Holy Spirit represents the security that we have in Him as He controls our lives. It also testifies to our sonship, which means that we will share in the inheritance of our heavenly Father (Romans 8:15-17; Galatians 4:6).

Thus, the Holy Spirit initiates spiritual life in us in the new birth experience. As He indwells us, He is in a position to control the course of our lives. His presence brings confidence to us. He makes our sonship meaningful by 1) testifying to its reality (Romans 8:16), 2) inspiring hope in us as we look to the future benefits which sonship guarantees for us, 3) praying and interceding for us so that we pray according to the will of God (Romans 8:26-27), and 4) reminding us that His activity in our lives is a pledge or seal of God’s presence that brings daily assistance to help us maintain an acceptable spiritual life.

He Teaches

Communicating truth to believers is one of the important ways the Holy Spirit is a helping Person. This is why Jesus called Him the Spirit of truth in the same sentence in which He called Him the Counselor or Comforter (John 14:16-17). Teaching and counseling are closely linked in the ministry of the Holy Spirit. We will discuss three aspects of the Holy Spirit’s teaching ministry. Remember that this ministry is to the believer.

Instructor

Just as Jesus came to make known the nature and will of the Father, so the Holy Spirit comes to make known the nature and will of Jesus (John 14:20-21, 23-26). One way He did this in times past was to inspire Jesus’ followers to record the Master’s life and ministry. This is the record of the Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

How would the Holy Spirit teach? First, He would glorify Christ. He would not teach an entirely new and unrelated body of knowledge; rather He would take the things that Christ taught, shed additional light on them, and enable the hearers to grasp the desired truth. As believers grow and develop in spiritual maturity, they are able to shoulder more responsibility. They change from a milk diet to that of solid food (1 Corinthians 3:2 and Hebrews 5:11-14). While the spiritual diet changes, the subject, Jesus Christ, remains the same.

The Comforter leaves out nothing that is important for you to know about Jesus Christ. “He will teach you all things” Jesus promised (John 14:26). You may wonder, “Doesn’t He care about my job, my family, my financial status?” Yes, God does care! Jesus, however, taught us to recognize our priorities: “But seek first his [the Father’s] kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things [your material, physical, social, and vocational needs] will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33). The Holy Spirit teaches us how to order our lives appropriately in the spiritual realm, and then with Him in control of our lives, He leads us appropriately in other areas of life. It is the Holy Spirit who reveals to us the deeper things of God and helps us to understand spiritual things (1 Corinthians 2:10- 15). In all of this, His purpose is to glorify Christ. Stanley M. Horton says, “The Holy Spirit always reveals Jesus as all the Bible says He is” (1976, p. 121).

Second, a knowledge of future events was included in the things the Holy Spirit would teach. “He will tell you what is yet to come,” Jesus said (John 16:13). This promise became much clearer when the apostle John was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day and was given the revelation of Jesus Christ (Revelation 1:10). John was told that these were things which must soon take place. The revelation included a record of events which would occur from the first century after Christ until the time of the New Heaven and the New Earth (Revelation 21). Under the same inspiration Paul spoke of the Lord’s appearing (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18), the conditions surrounding His appearing (1 Thessalonians 5:1- 11), God’s judgment on unbelievers (2 Thessalonians 1:5- 12), and the appearance of the man of lawlessness (2 Thessalonians 2:1-12). Peter also spoke under the Spirit’s anointing about the coming Day of the Lord (2 Peter 3:1-13). The common element we see in all these events is the coming revelation of the glory of Jesus Christ.

As the Gospels were written, the Holy Spirit began His ministry of interpreting them. The apostle Paul was the one chosen to explain the gospel in detail to the church. His Epistles to the church make up the greatest part of the New Testament Scriptures following the four gospels and the book of Acts. Other apostles and New Testament believers were also inspired by the Holy Spirit to take the things of Christ and make them known (John 16:14). How did this occur?

Second Peter 1:20-21 and 2 Timothy 3:16 reveal the mechanics of biblical revelation. These Scripture references disclose the fact that the Holy Spirit inspired men to record God’s Word as it was given to them. The human writers did not initiate the process; rather, they spoke and wrote faithfully God’s message as they were enabled by the Holy Spirit. The serious student of the Word of God will notice that while the message is God’s, it is recorded in the individual style and with the unique vocabulary of each writer, and in some cases, the writer’s background experience is clearly evident.

The writers were not simply mechanical robots; they were sensitive to God’s Spirit and recorded precisely the message God intended, lending their own faculties to this process.

Although the canon of Scripture has been closed, and all that God intended to reveal has already been recorded in the Bible, the Holy Spirit continues His ministry of interpretation. He takes the things that have been written and illuminates them (makes them clear) to the hearts and minds of believers.

The best way to understand any book is to ask the author what he meant when he wrote it. The problem is, not many authors are available to us, but the Holy Spirit is! All the human writers of the Bible died centuries ago. What comfort it is to know that the divine Author is with us forever! Every time you open your Bible, your personal Helper is by your side to help you understand it.

Spokesma

The Comforter would be God’s spokesman after Jesus returned to His Father in heaven. A spokesman is one who speaks as the representative of another. Jesus had been a perfect witness and speaker for God, but He had finished the work the Father had given Him to do. Jesus told His disciples that when the Spirit of truth came, He would speak (John 16:13).

Jesus, as the Father’s spokesman, had said, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from Him who sent me” (John 7:16). The same would be true of the Comforter: “He will speak only what he hears” (John 16:l3).

The difference would be that Jesus spoke through His own physical body, while the Comforter would speak through believers. When we speak for Him, it is usually a message the Holy Spirit has given us as we have studied God’s Word. He enlightens and anoints us as we study, and we become spokesmen for God. In this way, God can have spokesmen all over the earth at the same time, because our Helper is omnipresent. He can speak through each of us as we listen to Him and allow Him to speak through us.

There will be those times also, as we will study later, when the Holy Spirit speaks directly through us by the gifts of the Spirit. We actually do the speaking, but He is giving us the words to Speak at the time the gift is in operation. Any believer can speak for God, but only as he receives the message from the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:1-10).

He Counsels

In thinking of the Holy Spirit as our Counselor, the meaning seems to be that of a friend who appears as an intercessor, guide, or comforter. All of these aspects of the Holy Spirit’s personal ministry to us fit in well with the idea of one called alongside to help. How can we apply these ministries to our personal lives?

Intercessor

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will (Romans 8:26-27).

The apostle Paul refers here to the Spirit as our Intercessor (one who prays or petitions in behalf of another). In our times of weakness, we don’t know what to pray for and how to pray. In our times of weakness, we often fail to understand what we really need and how to seek appropriate solutions. We may want to please God and do His will above all else in our lives, but we don’t know how to reconcile present difficulties with God’s larger purpose of bringing us to spiritual maturity. At such times, the Spirit comes to our assistance and intercedes for us with groans that cannot be expressed in words. God the Father knows what is in our minds and what is in the mind of the Spirit. Since there is perfect communication between the Father and the Holy Spirit, there is no need for words. Because the Spirit knows the Father’s thoughts and will, we can have confidence that He intercedes according to the will of God. This knowledge should help us believe that our prayers will be answered in God’s way and in God’s time.

I have experienced times in prayer when the burden was so great that I did not know how to express it to God. I have actually sensed the presence of the Spirit within me, making known to God my petition which I was unable to put into words. How precious it is to know that we have a helping Friend who takes up our petition when we don’t know how to pray!

A missionary friend was very ill in Africa and was rushed to a hospital for surgery and the premature delivery of her son by cesarean section. At the very moment that her crucial time began, the father of a dear friend in America was awakened from sleep with a heavy burden to pray for Marie. He prayed through the night, and throughout the next day he continued to pray, refusing food or rest. On through the second night he prayed. The morning of the second day he rose from his knees and reported, “God has answered my prayer!” Later that day his daughter received a cablegram from the missionary friend in Africa which said, “Our son was born yesterday. Marie and baby doing fine.” It was the Holy Spirit, our Intercessor, who impressed upon this godly man the need to pray and intercede for a friend thousands of miles away.

The Holy Spirit also helps our intercession by reminding us of the things that are ours in Christ and assuring us of the things God wants to do for us (1 Corinthians 2:12). Without His help our prayers would be an empty form.

Guide

What career shall I choose? Whom should I marry? Where should I live? You are faced with important decisions every day, and you need a reliable guide. Your success will depend on the kind of guidance you follow.

There are many voices offering advice, each claiming to be the best. There is only one Counselor who is completely safe to follow. He is the Counselor Jesus promised to send. When you must decide between truth and error, He will lead you in the path of truth, because He is the Spirit of truth. His guidance always leads to true success (1 John 4:1-6).

“Live by the Spirit”—that is, walk in the Spirit, be led by the Spirit (Galatians 5:16,18). “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit”(Galatians 5:25). To keep in step with Him, we must be willing to let Him guide our steps. He will direct us as we live in accordance with Him and desire what He desires (Romans 8:5). As we acknowledge His sovereign leadership, He will guide us progressively into all truth (John 16:13). He will also direct us, as He did the early church members, into favor with other people. He will undoubtedly provide for us also as He did for them: economically, vocationally, and spiritually (Acts 2:42-47).

In addition to His function as our guide into truth and in the practical direction of our daily lives, the Holy Spirit also reveals the serious nature of our misdeeds—the behaviors associated with our old, unregenerate nature (compare Ephesians 4:20-32 with Romans 8:12-14). Moreover, besides revealing the pitfalls of the path that lies ahead of the one who tends to come under the control of the old self, the Spirit also helps him put to death any conduct that is inconsistent with the new self. Or, the Spirit may simply check us on occasion from following a course of action that is not consistent with God’s will at the time. It was not sin for Paul and his company to desire to evangelize in Asia; it was just not God’s time (Acts 16:6-10), Later, this check was removed and Paul had a tremendous ministry in this province (Acts 19:10). These functions of the Holy Spirit as our guide are important to us in our spiritual development.

We have seen that the Holy Spirit not only gives us what we should do (decision-making, appointment, and direction) but He also guides us in what we should not do, forbidding us to move ahead of Him or to act in ways that are inconsistent with our status as sons of God (compare Romans 8:12-16 with 1 John 3:2-3). We must look to Him for guidance and obey His voice.

Comforter

As we have said, the word Paraclete is sometimes translated as Comforter. The Holy Spirit is our Comforter in the sense of One “called alongside to help.” The comfort of the Holy Spirit is not divine pity. He knows the sorrows of life and does have compassion, but His comfort is much more than sympathy.

Among other characteristics with which He graces our lives, the Holy Spirit produces peace (Galatians 5:22). His peace is the product that results when our lives are surrendered to His control (Romans 8:6). As we become increasingly aware of His control over our lives, we become aware of our spiritual sonship—that we belong to God. This produces a feeling or sense of belonging which the Spirit reinforces. This knowledge should give us a tremendous sense of security and peace.

His comfort includes hope. No matter how dark the night, the Comforter, who knows the future perfectly, lets you know there will be a morning, and that the promise of Jesus, “I am coming back to you,” will be fulfilled (John 14:28).