The Comforter (Holy Spirit)

There are plenty of jokes, most of them bad, about lawyers in Heaven. The reason why most of them are bad is because most of them are about the lack of lawyers in Heaven. I’m not one who tends to joke about who is (or who isn’t) in Heaven, but joking about lawyers in Heaven is something I really distain, largely because one of the finest Christians I know is a lawyer, and I sincerely hope that if I don’t see him again in this life, I’ll see him in the next.

One of the elders for the McRaven Road congregation in Clinton MS (where our family spent three years) is a gifted attorney. His practice focuses on helping people who have been harmed by others, such as in cases involving medical malpractice. He is a man who I have come to respect deeply because his life’s work is to come alongside people in need and help, support, advocate, and comfort them in their distress.

The Greeks had a word for this sort of person, and one meaning of the word is someone who in a legal setting would deliver a word of comfort, or provide evidence before a judge supporting the accused and stand beside them as their advocate. We would call them a “lawyer/attorney”: They called this person a [parakletos]: a compound word from “para” (close/beside, as in parallel lines), and “kaleo” (to call, name, or invite). We have a similar word in English: a “paralegal” is someone who is “beside an attorney”, one assists and supports an lawyer in their practice.

A ”paralegal” helps an attorney, and in Greek a [parakletos] is the sort of person who helps the accused in court. Now, why bring all of this up? Acts 9.31: “So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.”

That word, “comfort”, is [paraklesis], literally the sort of help, support, or comfort an attorney or a [parakletos] would provide to their client. In the text, this is provided to the church by none other than the Holy Spirit.

God, as Sovereign Judge over all mankind, has provided His church the greatest Advocate, the finest Helper, and the champion of Comforters, someone that comes alongside us in our Christian walk and stands with us before HIM, providing evidence on our behalf of our allegiance to Him. It is the very same Comforter that was sent to Jesus’ apostles according to His promises in John 14-16, and it is the same Holy Spirit Paul speaks of in Romans 8.

Now, that leaves us with a couple of important questions: 1. But what sort of comfort does the Spirit provide Christians today? (Does He lead us, lay things on our heart, etc.?) 2. Does the Comforter do for us today like the Comforter did for the apostles? (Direct revelation, spiritual gifts, etc.)

Let’s address these in reverse order, starting with the men who would become the apostles, the disciples with which Jesus engages in an extended discussion in John 14-16.

The Comforter and the Apostles (John 14-16)

Jesus promised to send a [parakleton] to assist His disciples: The “Spirit of Truth” (John 14.15-17)

Translations for the word [parakleton] range from “advocate” (NIV), “helper” (ESV, NKJV, NASB), “comforter” (KJV), or “counselor” (CSB, HCSB). You can see from these words the sort of official nature of this being, like a public defender appointed on behalf of the accused for trials today.

Notice Jesus says this would be “another Helper”: Jesus is their primary teacher/advocate. This exact same word [parakleton] is used in 1 John 2.1 to describe Jesus as our Advocate before the Father! “But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”

This “helper” would help in a different sense than Jesus did/would do, but the Holy Spirit would be a “helper” nonetheless.

Back to John 14: In v.3 Jesus has already told them He would not be with them forever in this role as teacher. They needed another helper going forward, a “Spirit of truth” to guide them after Jesus’ ascension into Heaven

The coming of the Spirit after Jesus’ departure is affirmed once again in John 16.7. This [parakleton] is the “Holy Spirit”, who would teach the apostle “all things” and bring to their remembrance Jesus’ teachings.

Notice next John 14.25-27. First, the Holy Spirit would teach the disciples “all things” There was much that the disciples would be responsible for teaching as Jesus’ official messengers, or “apostles”. It would be a combination of what Jesus had taught them during His time with them, as well as new revelation which would be recorded for the benefit of Christians going forward (There’s even a book called “Revelation”, which one of these men, John, would write decades later).

To this end, Jesus promises that the Holy Spirit would be sent in Jesus’ name to enable them to do these things.

Next, in John 15.26-27, this Helper/Comforter/Advocate would “bear witness” about Jesus, or stand as a reliable source of information regarding Jesus. Notice here that Jesus highlights the role the disciples would play moving forward: They would stand as witnesses to the truth about Jesus, just as the Helper would bear witness to them about Jesus. For confirmation of both ideas, consider 2 Peter 1.16-21.

Finally, The witness of the [parakletos] would “convict tthe world” (John 16.8-11). The message of this [parakletos} would not have a comforting effect on the world. This is the same evil world which would not receive the Holy Spirit (cf. 14.17)

Again, it is helpful to characterize the Spirit as their Public Defender, the attorney for the disciples’ defense, if you will. If the Holy Spirit, as their attorney, brings forth evidence that exonerates the disciples’ claims concerning Jesus, then what effect would it have for the other side? When it comes to Jesus, either the world or the disciples are wrong. Either the world or the disciples are in sin.

Now look back at the text of John 16: “Sin, because they do not believe in me…righteousness, because I go to the Father (i.e. Jesus is who He said He was)…judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged”

Because the Spirit would bear witness that Jesus was INDEED THE CHRIST, The Accuser, the “ruler of this world”, Satan, the lead attorney for the prosecution, will instead be condemned Himself, and the world along with Him.

If all this sounds odd, consider again what happened in Acts 2. There, the Spirit falls on the disciples, enabling them to speak in tongues and stand as witnesses to the truth of Jesus, which in turn condemned those who rejected and crucified Jesus. Peter’s indictment concludes in Acts 2.36: “Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” (Acts 2.36)

The indictment has been read. The divine decision regarding Jesus has been rendered. The disciples stand innocent, but the Jews (and the world at large) stands condemned. “Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?” (Acts 2.37)

What indeed?

They realized at that moment they needed an advocate, a helper, a comforter.

So, what does John teach us about the Comforter’s relationship with the disciples?

But where does that leave you and I, everyday Christians? We’re not the apostles. We must recognize that the promises concerning the Holy Spirit in John 14-16 aren’t for us: They were for the disciples present in that room with Jesus that day.

Does that mean we do not also have the Holy Spirit as our Comforter, Advocate, or Helper?

Not at all: The Spirit was also sent on your behalf, and mine. For example, the N.T. speaks of the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit on behalf of Christians. One such place is in Romans 15.15-16:
“But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.”

So then, the text says that we Christians are “sanctified”, made holy, set apart as God’s people to serve Him.

The first comfort we have from the Comforter is in the knowledge that we have a Comforter, an Advocate, a Helper! God has not left us alone in our fight, our quest toward Heaven.

But what comforts are provided by the Comforter? For this we’ll center next on Romans 8

The Comforter and the Christian

1. The Holy Spirit leads the Christian through His word. (Rom. 8.5, 13-14).

We just read in Rom. 15.15-16, where Paul has “written” to the Roman Christians that the “offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit”. How would the “offering of the Gentiles” (i.e. their service to God as Christians) be made acceptable and sanctified by the Spirit? By heeding the words of Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ!

In the same way that we are not converted by direct personal operation of the Holy Spirit but by the “word” of the Gospel message, we are not “led” by the Spirit in some way that is separate from God’s word! For the Christian, the inspired word of Scripture does not stop working on us at conversion, but continues to teach, reprove, and comfort us.

Consider the Spirit’s role in 2 Tim. 3.16-17, a well-known passage. If the Holy Spirit is how Paul was inspired to write these words, then who is teaching, reproving, correcting, and training us in righteousness? The Spirit!.

Consider now Romans 8.13-14. There is a choice to be made by these Christians: Live acc. to the flesh, or the Spirit. If we choose to be led by the Spirit, we are “sons of God”. David demonstrates this same choice in Ps. 143.10: “Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Let your Good Spirit lead me on level ground!

In Romans 8.5, the "setting of the mind" described by Paul is not done against our will: We must choose to “set our minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth” (cf. Col. 3.2) If we choose to be led by the Spirit by setting our minds on the things of the Spirit, then we will live according to the Holy Spirit!

LIke a good lawyer, the Holy Spirit comforts us with good counsel. Just as a good lawyer will direct their clients on how they must conduct themselves, the Spirit, through His inspired word, instructs us on how we must behave as Christians. This is a comfort to us, as we have not been left to ourselves to figure out what God would have us do. We are assured in God’s word that if we live according to the Spirit, our lives will bear the fruit of such leading, fruits which Galatians 5.22-23 identifies as “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control”.

2. The Holy Spirit bears witness before God on our behalf. (Rom. 8.16-17)

Satan is described often in scripture as the Accuser of God’s people. He stands and calls our faithfulness & our identity as a child of God into doubt. In Job 1.9-11, Satan challenges Job’s faithfulness before God – “But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.” (Again in 2.3-6 Similarly, in Rev. 12.9-10 Satan is called “the accuser of our brothers” who “has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.”

In the legal sense, Satan is the lead attorney for the prosecution against God’s people.

The Holy Spirit stands as our defender, our advocate, our [parakleton], bearing witness and presenting evidence before the Father that we are indeed God’s people. Consider Romans 8.16-17: The Spirit “bears witness” to what we ourselves are declaring before God, that we are His children. The claims of that witness are based on our faithfulness: “provided we suffer with Him”.

A person cannot claim to be a child of God without having died with Him in baptism (Rom. 6.3-4), or without taking up our crosses to follow Him (Mark 8.34), or without doing the will of the Father in Heaven (Matt. 7.21-23) But for those who do, we have an Advocate, a Helper, a Comforter that stands with us before the Father, and adds His testimony to our own!

Additionally, Eph. 1.13-14: "In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory."

Notice the progression: We’ve heard the word, “the gospel”, and “believed in Him” (which includes obedience to that word), we are “sealed” with the Holy Spirit. At that moment, the Spirit is dispatched as our Advocate, who will stand with us until the promised inheritance is given, to the praise of God’s glory!

Just as a good lawyer can comfort and re-assure their client that, according to the law, their case will be decided in their favor, the Holy Spirit stands with us and serves as our seal that we indeed have been established in Christ.

Consider 2 Cor. 1.21-22: “And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.” It is the Spirit that has declared to us God’s judgment for those who are faithful to Him though Christ Jesus, and through the Comforter’s word we can know for certain that God has guaranteed our safety!

3. The Holy Spirit Helps Us in Our Prayers

Christians can pray effectively (James 5.16) and the Spirit (via the Bible) teaches us all sorts of things for which we should be praying, such as Jesus' model prayer (Matt. 6.-11) or the entire book of Psalms.

But situations arise in which we have needs, pains that we can’t adequately express in words, or we are praying for things in which we don’t know for what we should pray. The Comforter comes again to our rescue: Romans 8.26-27: "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God."

Imagine yourself at a trial in which you are the defendant: Those of us not educated as lawyers don’t know the ins-and-outs of the system, for what we can and cannot ask, or even how to word such requests. No amount of watching “Law and Order” will prepare you for your own trial. A good lawyer knows when and how to “approach the bench” and intercede on behalf of their client because they know what sorts of motions, requests, or objections can be rightfully brought to the judge.

In this same way, the Holy Spirit understands the mind and will of God, He knows the rules, and He knows how to bring forward what we are trying to convey in prayer, even when we don’t know what to say or we hurt too much to say what we mean.

What a comfort to know that when we are racked with pain, sorrow, confusion, and fear the Holy Spirit stands as our intercessor before the Father and in a sense says “Hey, I got you, don’t worry, and don’t be afraid.”

Conclusion: How does one contact such a Comforter?

Most of the billboards, commercials, and online advertisements for lawyers involve dialing a certain phone number, or visiting a certain website, to make contact with the firm and explain your case.

Dialing a phone number or searching for a specific website requires a specific set of actions, done in order, to completion, to connect the call or lexecute an effective online search.

In the case of phone calls, you can’t dial just any number you want, or dial some of the correct numbers, or dial the correct numbers in whatever order you would like or dial most of the numbers correctly but leave off the last digit. In any of those cases you will hear: “This call cannot be completed as dialed. Please hang up and try again.”

Calling the lawyer doesn’t earn their services for you: Those services must be paid for, one way or another.

Your call to a lawyer is your cry for help, for support, & for comfort.

Obeying the Gospel works precisely the same way.

The steps as revealed in scripture are these: Hear the gospel message, believe Jesus to be the Christ based on that message, repent of your sins, confess that Jesus is the Christ, and be baptized in water for the forgiveness of your sins.

If you want the Holy Spirit as your advocate before God’s throne, you can’t do only the steps that you’d like, or do the steps in whatever order you prefer, or even do most of them but leave off the last step, baptism.

How tragic would it be to reach out to God in these sorts of ways and hear only: “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” (Matt. 7.23)

Your obeying the gospel does not earn you the Spirit’s advocacy: That price has already been paid in the blood of Jesus. He died so that you could be defended before the throne of God. He too stands as your advocate, having paid the price for your defense in His own body.

Your obeying the Gospel is your cry for help, for support, and for comfort.

There is at least one Lawyer in heaven. He can represent you before the Father. But you must make the call.

Will you make the call today? Or do you dare to stand and represent yourself before the Throne of God? Psalm 130.3: “If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?”

Who indeed?