Jesus spoke in John chapter 14:
15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments.
16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever—
17 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.
18 I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.”
The Holy Spirit Who is our Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor, Counselor, and Strengthener, was destined to take the place of Christ with the us (after Jesus’ ascension to the Father), to lead us to a deeper knowledge of the gospel truth, and give us Divine strength needed to enable us to undergo trials and persecutions on behalf of the Divine Kingdom. Had Jesus not gone on to take His place at the right hand of FATHER, we would be looking to Him in an external fashion for all our direction. We would simply attend the next meeting to get needed revelation. How much better is it to have The Holy Spirit residing on the inside of us and expressing to us FATHER’S Love and HIS pure and perfect Will.
Jesus was the “external” comforter to the disciples in that He expressed the Divine Intent of FATHER and strengthened the disciples with His physical presence. He interceded for them as well as counseled them in the Kingdom principles. Do you think The Holy Spirit will do any less? Jesus further stated in John chapter 16:
7 “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.
8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
9 of sin, because they do not believe in Me;
10 of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more;
11 of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.”
12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.
13 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.
14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.
15 All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.”
I received the baptism of The Holy Spirit in the fall of 1971 with the evidence of speaking in other tongues. This event changed my life and I attribute a greater sensitivity to hearing FATHER because of it. The disciples received the same empowerment in Acts chapter 2 as Jesus instructed and revealed to them:
1 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.
3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
This prepared them to preach the Gospel and bring forth the Kingdom. They now had a trusted inner witness to guide them into all Truth. Before, they relied on their external senses to hear the Words of Jesus for their guidance as did all of those who preceded the Day of Pentecost. Paul wrote by THE SPIRIT in 1 Corinthians chapter 14:
18 I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all
All of the disciples were filled with The Holy Spirit as they went about preaching The Gospel. Their epistles we study today are a result of them being guided into all Truth. We don’t need the Urim and the Thummim of the Old Testament to receive an answer from FATHER if we have The Holy Spirit operating in our lives. We don’t need signs to lead us and guide us as though The Holy Spirit is incapable of leading us in a more excellent manner.
We must trust the Words of Jesus spoken to each of us in the above passage. He did not need any external assistance in His ministry or else the disciples would have instructed us in a similar manner. External methods of seeking answers are soulish and will distance you from the pure Word given too you by The Holy Spirit. We must learn to trust the directives of The Holy Spirit just as we trust the Words of Jesus. If we do, we will stay on the correct path known as The Way and will be guided into all Truth allowing us to show others the true Kingdom.