John 14:16-18 & 26-27 “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 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. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
Our Lord’s earthly ministry is about to be completed. Very soon, He will walk up Calvary’s hill and give His life a ransom for the sins of man. Being a compassionate Saviour, He gathers His disciples about Him to prepare them for His departure. In an effort to comfort them, He told them about a place He was preparing, “I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2), and a prayer He was praying, “And I will pray the Father” (John 14:16). Jesus tells us that He is in the process of preparing a place of abode for us and that one day we will join Him in the Father’s house; never to be separated again! But until then, He is praying to the Father in our behalf that He would dispatch a Comforter; the precious Holy Spirit to take His place.
While there are numerous things about the Holy Spirit that give comfort and peace to the hearts of the saints, I want to look at two. Jesus begins by telling them about the residence of the Spirit, “for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you” (John 14:17). Fearful of being orphans and abandoned; the disciples are comforted by knowing that the third person of the trinity is going to draw near and take up residency within them; “know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God” (I Corinthians 6:19). Jesus wants them to know that they will never be alone!
Secondly, Jesus tells them of the reason for the Spirit, “he shall teach you all things” (John 14:26) and “he will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13). The words “teach” and “guide” mean to learn by teaching and to show by way of teaching. We don’t have to be perplexed about God’s will; God has given us the precious Holy Spirit to teach us personally. When Jesus used the word “Comforter” in John 14:16; it means one called alongside to be a companion or guide. Using the Scriptures, the Spirit will be our tutor; He will teach us the ways of God as He guides us in the will of God.