The Holy Spirit My Best Friend

by Ernest Fink

We all know that the Holy Spirit is extremely powerful, but He is also a gentleman. He comes to do His work where He is acknowledged, recognized and invited. The moment anyone opens the door to the Holy Spirit, He magnifies Jesus. Smith Wigglesworth said that with the “power of the Holy Ghost, he was a thousand times bigger on the inside than on the outside! He is the greater one.” Paul’s prayer in Eph. 3:14-21 is that the believer is “to be strengthened mightily according to the riches of God’s glory in the inner man.” The Holy Spirit is not far from the believer—He is on the inside! He supplies strength to the things in your character that may be weak. He brings a change of voice and vision to the person who has a strong inner man. We must recognize Him living within. T.L. Osborn said, “The Christian can say what no other religion can say: ‘My God lives in me!’” Without the Holy Spirit, Jesus is only a historical figure, but with Him, Jesus is IN you! The Holy Spirit’s assignment is to take all Jesus has done for us and make it a reality in us.

THE COMFORTER
The word “Comforter” does not only mean consolation, sympathy in sorrow or distress. We are not talking about a big pillow or blanket. No, it means much more. The Greek word is “Parakletos.” William Barclay describes the Holy Spirit’s work in this way: “The function of the Holy Spirit is to fill a man with the spirit of power and courage; which would make him triumphantly to cope with life.” The narrowing of the word “comforter” has resulted in the undue narrowing of the work of the Holy Spirit. With the Holy Spirit’s help, you have a Comforter, someone to stand by you, and a Counselor, one who befriends you. Jesus didn’t leave us alone or as orphans, but when He sent the Holy Spirit (the Helper) He gave us a great advantage in life, in prayer and in direction. Dr. P.C. Nelson, who wrote the Bible doctrines for the Assemblies of God and was fluent in 32 languages, had this very informative note about the work of the Holy Spirit. Parakletos, the Greek word for Holy Spirit, means Advocate or Counselor, and He is called in for His excellence in three areas: 1) His exceptional knowledge 2) His expertise in protocol and procedure 3) His persuasive speaking ability. The Holy Spirit is the counsel for the defense. When He is working on your case you have a tremendous advantage because He has a reputation for winning cases. He is the Advocate—the one who pleads your case. Jesus is your Advocate in Heaven, where He is ever interceding for you, while the Holy Spirit is your Advocate in the earth. He never brings condemnation, but always reveals the blood of Christ. In John 16:7 in the Amplified Bible, Jesus called Him, the Parakletos, which includes Counselor, Helper, Advocate, Intercessor, Strengthener and Standby. The Holy Spirit comes to make you strong and to help you to stand.
I like what Smith Wigglesworth said, “God has put us in a place where He expects us to have His latest revelation, the revelation of that marvelous fact of ‘Christ in [us]’ (Col. 1:27) and what this really means. We can understand Christ fully only as we are filled and overflowing with the Spirit of God. Our only safeguard from dropping back into our natural minds, from which we can never get anything, is to be filled and filled again with the Spirit of God, and to be taken on to new visions and revelations.” Wigglesworth also said, “It is a luxury to be filled with the Spirit, and at the same time it is a divine command.” Thou shalt increase my greatness, and comfort me on every side. (Psalm 71:21) Remember, the Paraklete, the Helper, the Greater One is in you to cheer, defend and strengthen you. The comfort He brings will revive you and bring increase as you cooperate with Him. When Paul wrote Romans 8:26 he may have had this in mind, “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” The Holy Spirit takes hold together with us, against our weakness, to pray and breathes His life, His resurrection power and great strength through you to bring forth the will of God. David encouraged himself in the Lord; the Lord stood by Paul in a storm to tell him to be of good cheer or comfort. We are commanded to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.

FILLED WITH ALL OF GOD
When you are yielded to the Holy Spirit, many things take place. One thing is that you become a Body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself. All of you is filled with all of God. Paul’s prayer is that the church will become a Body, “wholly filled and flooded with God Himself,” Ephesians 3:19 (AMP). When you are filled with the Holy Spirit, revelation takes place. He comes to strengthen your inner man and transform your vision and your voice. One way to be strengthened is to build yourself up on your most holy faith, praying in the Spirit (Jude 20). Then you may be able to grasp all the dimensions of the love of God, becoming a Body, wholly filled and flooded with God Himself. When you are filled with God, you know what He has done in Christ. That is when you can experience the exceeding greatness of His resurrection power released to every believer.

Stay Blessed!

Ernest Fink