Let’s begin by reading Luke 9:1-2, “Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases. And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick.” In this event, the power “over all devils, and to cure diseases’ was due to the Divine authority from Christ Himself. He empowered them during this journey, to perform miracles by curing all sorts of diseases. They were dependent upon Him to perform these miracles. We read in Matthew 17:14-16, “And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying, Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water. And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.” The Lord healed the young boy and then we read in verses 19-21, “Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.”

We read in Acts 1:4-5, “And (Jesus), being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.” It was on the day of Pentecost that the Holy Spirit fell upon all redeemed men and women and will abide with all believers until the rapture of the church. I encourage you to read of this miraculous event in Acts 2:1-12.

Let’s look now at the purpose of the Holy Spirit in the world today. The Lord Jesus told His disciples in John 14:16-17, “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.” We read further in John 16:13-14, “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.” We see in these verses the main purposes of the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit in all the believers today. He is our COMFORTER. He is the SPIRIT OF TRUTH. He will GUIDE US INTO ALL TRUTH. He will SHOW US THINGS TO COME.   He will GLORIFY THE LORD JESUS. He will take the precious things concerning the Lord and SHOW IT UNTO US. The purpose of the Holy Spirit is to exalt Christ.

Romans 8:16 tells us, “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.” It is the Spirit of God that convinces our spirit about who we are in Christ…we are the children of God.

Romans 8:26 says, “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 intercedes on our behalf in our prayers, leading us in our prayers to ask for those things that are in accordance with the perfect will of God.

The Holy Spirit may see fit to endue us with power at times to do miraculous things or to endure tremendous persecution. However, we need to learn the preciousness of having the Spirit indwell us on a constant basis for the rest of our lives. Romans 8:9 tells us, “Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.” But for those of us who are saved by faith in Christ Jesus, we are assured in Ephesians 4:30 that we are “are sealed unto the day of redemption.” That is, the redemption of our bodies. (261.2)