16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
17 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.
18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
19 Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.
20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.
21 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.
Key Observation:
We will get another Comforter who will abide with us forever.
Devotion:
Yesterday I learned that the Triune God is involved in answering prayer; I found verses which explicitly state that each part of the Godhead can be involved in answering prayer. Today Jesus begins to explain about the Holy Spirit, called here another Comforter. Now the Holy Spirit’s job here is to abide with me forever, which means I will have God in me for the rest of eternity.
As I look ahead to what Jesus teaches about the Holy Spirit, I find this:
1) He is the Spirit of truth, which the world cannot accept. (14:17)
2) He will testify about Jesus. (John 15:26)
3) He will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment.
(John 16:8)
4) He will convict the world of sin because of unbelief (John 16:9)
5) He will convict of righteousness because Jesus is going to the Father. (John 16:10)
6) He will convict of judgment because the prince of this world has been condemned.
7) He will guide us into all truth. (John 16:12)
8) He will bring glory to Jesus. (John 16:14)
9) He will take from what belongs to Jesus, and make it known unto us. (John 16:15)
Summing up, He will testify, convict, guide, bring glory, and take—that is He will:
1) testify about Jesus
2) convict the world of sin
3) convict of righteousness
4) convict of judgment
5) guide us into all truth
6) bring glory to Jesus
7) take from what belongs to Jesus and make it known to us.
Thus there seem to be seven definite things that Jesus is teaching that the Holy Spirit does for us. There may be more; yesterday I did point out that Paul teaches the Holy Spirit intercedes for us when we are in prayer. I do also remember that He is called the Restrainer (2 Thess. 2:7), and is evidently preventing Satan himself from working his power of lawlessness.
So I would not suppose the list to be exhaustive, but it seems to include all that Jesus does teach in the gospel of John. I thank God for deigning to put even His nature into me; because of that I am indeed a new creature, and even the gates of hell will not prevail against that which He has done.
Spirit of God, Descend upon My Heart
1. Spirit of God, descend upon my heart:
Wean it from earth, thro' all its pulses move.
Stoop to my weakness, mighty as Thou art,
And make me love Thee as I ought to love.
2. Hast Thou not bid us love Thee, God and King?
All, all Thine own, soul, heart and strength and mind.
I see Thy cross; there teach my heart to cling;
O let me seek Thee, and O let me find.
3. Teach me to feel that Thou art always nigh;
Teach me the struggles of the soul to bear
To check the rising doubt, the rebel sigh;
Teach me the patience of unanswered prayer.
4. Teach me to love Thee as Thine angels love,
One holy passion filling all my frame:
The baptism of the heav'n descended Dove
My heart an altar and Thy love the flame.
Lyrics: George Croly
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