The Holy Spirit: A Believer’s Best Friend

If you are a born-again believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, the best friend you will ever have on this earth is the Holy Spirit. Jesus said,

And I will pray the Father; and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you (Jn. 14:16–17).

God the Father and the Son sent the Holy Spirit, “another Comforter,” to take the place of Jesus on this earth. He comes in Jesus’ name: “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you” (v. 26).

The Holy Spirit is to be to us what Jesus Himself was to the disciples when He was in the flesh here on Earth. Jesus walked, talked, and fellowshiped with them; He guided, instructed, and protected them. He said, “I’m going away, but I’m sending Another to walk with you, befriend you, and be with you.”

The Holy Spirit took Jesus’ place on Earth. Jesus wants you to come to know the Holy Spirit—to love, trust, and believe the Holy Spirit who lives in your heart—to become personally acquainted with Him and give Him the royal place He deserves.

The Holy Spirit is a person. Don’t refer to Him as an “it.” We are to treat Him as we would treat Jesus if Jesus were here in the flesh. You would honor and reverence the Lord Jesus. Do the same for the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit ministers to us in so many ways.

The Holy Spirit Convicts Us. “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me” (16:7–9).

Without the convicting power of the Holy Spirit, you would never have seen your need for the Savior. No one would willingly give up his sin and turn his back on this world in genuine repentance—except when the Holy Spirit puts His finger on the heart and convicts him of the hurtfulness and the hellishness of sin and shows him that he is under the curse of God, doomed and bound for hell.

The Holy Spirit Draws Us. “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him” (6:44).

Do you think it was your idea to come to God? No. You were running from Him. If He had not run you down, you never would have been saved.

There are those who study church growth who advise holding “seeker-sensitive” services. They say we must be sensitive to all those people seeking the Lord. Truthfully, none of them is seeking the Lord! He is seeking them: “There is none who seeks after God” (Rom. 3:11). We never would have come had He not caught us, brought us, and taught us.

The Holy Spirit Teaches Us. “Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul” (Acts. 16:14).

He opens your understanding to the gospel. Who brought Lydia to an understanding of the gospel? The Holy Spirit. Think about a time where you’ve witnessed people come to Jesus. Who did that? Was it a choir? A preacher? No. The Holy Spirit opened their hearts so they could understand the gospel. Without the Holy Spirit, people can’t understand spiritual things: “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor. 2:14).

The Holy Spirit Seals Us. “In whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise” (Eph. 1:13).

The ministry of the Holy Spirit does not cease after you get saved. He seals you into the body of Christ: “Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: ‘The Lord knows those who are His’” (2 Tim. 2:19). The seal is a stamp of ownership, a finished transaction. When you get saved, you’re signed, sealed, and delivered by the Holy Spirit of God.

The Holy Spirit Indwells Us. “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God?” (1 Cor. 6:19).

Some people think a church auditorium is where God dwells. The church is not the sanctuary. God doesn’t dwell in temples made with hands. He comes to live in us. When you get saved, every place is a holy place. Every day is a holy day. You are not your own; you’ve been bought with the priceless blood of Jesus Christ to glorify God in your body. You are the temple of the Holy Spirit of God.

The Holy Spirit Comforts Us. “And I will pray the Father; and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever” (Jn. 14:16).

Once the Holy Spirit seals you into the body of Christ and indwells you, He then carries you through life. From the smallest sorrow to the deepest heartache, He gives you comfort no one else can give.

The Holy Spirit Guides Us. “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come” (Jn. 16:13).

God never intended you to be stumbling in darkness, fumbling around like a ship without a rudder on a dark, stormy night. No! You can walk in the light as the Holy Spirit opens your understanding, guides you, teaches you, instructs you, and leads you through this world.

The Holy Spirit Empowers Us. “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me” (Acts 1:8). Thank God for the power of the Holy Spirit, who energizes us!

The Holy Spirit Intercedes For Us. “For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered” (Rom. 8:26).

He is the Spirit of prayer and intercession. We have a dear friend in the Holy Spirit. He is to us what Jesus Christ was to the disciples. And we are to be to Him what the disciples were to Jesus. How blessed we are to have a Friend like Him!