The Comforter and Spirit of Truth

“When He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He shall guide you into all the truth . . .” said the Lord to His disciples. “The Comforter”—a Person as truly as Jesus Himself was. Another who would “fill His place.” One called in to defend, support, advise, help, comfort. All this we rejoice in, for we need a “Comforter” in this world of sorrow. But we tend to forget the additional name the “Comforter” is given by the Lord Himself, which defines and limits the meaning of the word Comforter. The name “Comforter” therefore depicts His work, but His name “Spirit of Truth” describes His essential character; therefore, that which He does in and for men as the “Comforter” He must do in accordance with His character as the Spirit of Truth. If He is “called upon” by any believer, to “defend, support, advise, help and comfort,” He can only act in all these ways as the “Spirit of Truth,” defending, supporting, advising, helping and comforting, in accordance with truth, and truth alone.

What is the supreme evidence of a man being filled with the Spirit? We ask. Some say “power,” whilst others say “love”; but if we carefully consider the question in the light of the Word of God, we shall see that truth is before power, or even love, and that for power and love to be truly of God in the believer, it is necessary to have Truth as the groundwork. For love and power can be hypocritically simulated by the evil one, as an angel of light, but truth cannot be simulated by means of a hypocritical counterfeit. This is surely true of the Spirit of God, for He is the Spirit of Power, and He is the Spirit of Love, but He is first and foremost the “Spirit of Truth” proceeding from the Father, through the Son, into the world of men. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in Me, and I in you. In the Lord’s last words to His disciples before His Cross and Passion, He very clearly defined the work of the Spirit of Truth, when He should come to dwell among men. This may be briefly summarized as follows: When He dwells within the believer, He guides the believer into “all the truth.” (John 16:13). Not only truth about God, but truth concerning all things as they are in the viewpoint of God—the condition of man, the exceeding sinfulness of sin, the truth concerning the arch-enemy of the Son of God—in short, the truth about us and in us as seen by the God of Truth. For man in his lost condition is permeated with the spirit of untruth—i.e., the spirit of Satan—who once knew the truth but did not stand in it. John 8:44. We have generally thought of a “lie” as an act of speaking what is untrue, but we have not fully understood that Satan’s nature is the embodiment of untruth, as Christ Himself; not only in act and in word, but in nature, was, and is, truth. The Lord made this clear in His words to the Pharisees when He said of Satan: “There is no truth in him,” (John 8:44); therefore, “when he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own nature, for he is a liar, and the father (speaking of his nature) of lies.” If the whole world lies in the grip of evil one, then the world of men breathe in, so to speak, the very air of lies. “What is truth?” asked Pilate, and “What is truth?” men continue to cry, whilst they are still blinded and unable to distinguish between truth and lies. Hence the world is full of men believing untruths about God, themselves, and Satan—yes, even believing untruth to be the truth, by the subtle blinding of the archenemy. The Spirit of God, therefore, comes into a world enveloped in a miasma of lies, as the “Spirit of Truth” to reveal the truth and bear witness to the truth, just as God sees it—for this alone is truth. How men, even religious men, can be unconscious of the truth, we see exampled in Jesus’s conversation with the Pharisees. “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free,” said He who is the Truth. How the web of lies enveloped them despite their knowledge of the Scriptures was evidenced in their quick reply, “We . . . have never been in bondage to anyone!” “He who commits sin is the bondservant of sin,” said the Lord, who knew the truth about sin, and their true condition. These religious men lived and acted day by day believing a lie. They thought they were righteous and had never been in bondage; yet they were all the time “bondservants of sin.” The vital thing, then, for us all is that we should know the truth, as revealed by the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of Truth. He alone can lead us into all the truth; and this He can only do as we recognize our need of the truth hour by hour and day by day, as we admit that our nature is so poisoned by the spirit of a lie that it has no truth in it, and that truth as God means truth can only come to us continually by, and through, the Spirit of Truth. For we need every moment to be guided into all truth, and help to steer clear of any by-paths which look right and yet lead from the truth of God. The supreme evidence, therefore, of the Spirit of God possessing and filling a believer is the presence in him of the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of Truth, making him love the truth, desire the truth, seek the truth, obey the truth, witness to the truth, and suffer for the truth. It is very clear that the characteristic of the Divine nature imparted to a believer by the indwelling of the Spirit of Truth, leaves deep and impressionable marks in their wake. They have the same keen insight into what is truth, and the same obedience to the Spirit of Truth, “speaking the truth in love,” and also compelled by the Spirit of Truth in him to recognise and share this with others. It was the same way in the life of Paul. “For . . . we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you,” he wrote to the Galatians. Paul knew that it is purest love to tell the truth for the salvation of the soul, even as he did to the Galatians, though he ran the risk that they who had once been ready to “pluck out their eyes” to give him, had it been possible, now would think him an “enemy” because he told them the truth, “speaking the truth in love”. “We can do nothing against the truth, but only for the truth,” wrote the apostle to the Corinthians. Truth recognises Truth in another. The Spirit of Truth in a believer cannot but recognise and unite with the same Spirit of Truth in another. The truth is the truth everywhere and carries conviction of truth to all who know the Spirit of Truth. It is this fact which the apostle John describes in words that seem very strong and yet are reasonable in the light of the indwelling of the Spirit of Truth, which he knew so fully. “We are of God. He who knows God listens to us,” i.e., any man that knows God will be able to recognise God in us, and recognise the truth; “He who is not of God doesn’t listen to us . . . By this we know the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.” 1 John 4:6. The Lord Himself said: “Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” John 18:37. Truth is truth, and truth will conquer all things opposed to it. It will command recognition by the co-witness of the Spirit of Truth. “By manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God,” wrote the apostle. A man’s conscience acknowledges truth. It needs no argument; no defence; no upholding. It requires only witnesses—God will do the rest! Let the Spirit of Truth, then, lead us into all truth, by revealing truth, by our desiring truth, by our obedience to truth, by our walking in the truth, and speaking the truth, until the Spirit of Truth so breathes the truth through us that He can convict and reveal truth to others seeking the light of truth.

There are powers and authorities that try to hinder our growth and do everything to shut us out from the hearts of others; but these powers and authorities no longer have power over us; their power is broken; for Jesus appeared as the victor over them on the cross! It is only a matter of stepping in and taking our place in faith, as those who have victory over them in Christ Jesus. When we think about all these powers, our faith becomes weak; but when we truly consider our Master’s victory over them all, then we gain courage and move forward in His strength as the victorious one. But it was on the cross that He triumphed over them, and only there can we triumph! How miserable, despised, and forsaken He hung there! He did not look at all like a victor, as people imagine it—someone who consciously stands tall in the fulness of his strength. Had He not stood tall in the fulness of His strength? Yes, indeed, more than any victor on this earth. But not in the eyes of natural men! Was He not superior in all things, when the guard came against Him with spears and swords and asked for Jesus of Nazareth, and He said: “It is I.”—Yes, so mighty was He, that with those words He struck them to the ground! Had He not had the right to stand tall, so that all these people would fear Him, He who knew who He was? Yes, indeed! But He poured out His soul unto death! The Lion of Judah was the Lamb who bore! Never had powers and authorities raged against Him as they did when He, as the patient Lamb, hung on the cross, and never has such a great battle been won as He won there as the Lamb! How did He triumph over the powers; what weapons did He use? Surrender! What drove Him to it? Love! He surrendered Himself into the hands of His enemies; and His spirit He gave to God! His body was the grain of wheat that died, He poured out His nature, and the Spirit was quickened thereby! He was led by the Spirit; therefore, He was able to give His body into the hands of enemies! The body was earthly; therefore, it had to die; but the Spirit was alive, ten thousand times stronger; therefore, life had to come forth from the grave, and the body, which had always been presented for service, had to follow the leader here as well—this is why it did not see decay or destruction. “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another!” (1 John 4:11). Surrender into the hands of the living God, be like the grain of wheat that falls into the ground and dies, and the Spirit is quickened and breaks bonds and chains! Love paves the way; with it as the driving force, powers and authorities shall be kept in their place, and we in ours! May we be found faithful to Him who shall come and transform our lowly body (the earthly) so that it becomes like His glorious body (the heavenly), according to the power by which He is able to subdue all things to Himself. (Philippians 3:21).