There is a Reason the Holy Spirit is Called “The Comforter”

“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. (John14:16-18)

When we deal with this evil called domestic abuse and with the great harm done by RASNs (revilers, abusers, sociopaths, narcissists), we often find ourselves wishing that we had a huge supply of money and resources so that we could immediately rescue the victims of these evildoers. But we don’t have a huge supply of money. We don’t have houses for the victims to move into or other paths to freedom.

But we know Someone who does, and that of course is the Lord Jesus Christ.

If you are a Christian, if you have been born again through faith in Christ, then you are a temple in whom the Spirit of God dwells. This is what Jesus was talking about in the Scripture quoted above – I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you.” He meant, of course, that He would come to each of His people in the Person of the Holy Spirit.

The Spirit of God is called the Comforter. The Helper. His names tell us what He does – especially when His people are in the midst of the fire. In those times, He comforts. He helps. He does what Paul spoke of here:

and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. (Romans 5:5)

Last week I announced to you that I would be reading a crucial sermon by Martyn Lloyd Jones on this very Scripture, and I did so during the morning service. I sent out the link and HERE it is once more. The subject is this extremely important and comforting doctrine – the Holy Spirit pours out God’s love for us in our hearts. He immediately and directly communicates to us that God loves us and that He is with us in the fire –

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, Nor will the flame burn you. (Isaiah 43:2)

There is no greater assurance or comfort possible. No matter how great the trial, when the Spirit of God pours out this immediate sensation of the love of God for u s, nothing else matters.

Have you asked the Lord for this when you are in the fire? This is not some kind of “second blessing” as if we do not have the Spirit and somehow we need to “get it.” No. This is the Spirit of God who dwells in you, actively pouring out this sense of God’s love for us. This is not some imagination of man – the Scripture here says it plainly – the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

And this is better than a mountain of cash or a powerful team of lawyers to get us through trials and sufferings from which their so often seems to be no escape.