What Do You Call The Holy spirit? Comforter - Counselor - Advocate

 What Do You Call The Holy spirit?Comforter - Counselor - Advocate 

Introduction: The Holy Spirit is Probably the least understood person of the Trinity, among the myths and the mistaken concepts that are shared, he has been described as a force, a ghost, and a second class or replacement god. He is confused with the manifestations themselves, and has even been presented as an incidental figure that appears momentarily. Nothing could be further from the truth, it is Vital for the Church to know the Spirit, know his names, learn to relate to him, and understand how he manifests himself.

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My name is Emily Strattward, the only child of Rev and Mrs Strattward, am a serving Nun in one of the biggest catholic Church here in England ( St George's Cathedral) I clocked 28 just some few days back, I have always loved to be a Nun, my whole life has been that of purity, I love God with my whole heart.

Sister Emily, Francesca called me while I was attending to some teenagers at the teenage department, the reverend father would like to see you, I turned and gave her a sign that I would be with the reverend father shortly.

When I entered the reverend fathers office I met a whole family but what got my attention the most was the fragile young girl I met with them, Sister Emily the reverend welcomed me to his office, I want you to meet Mr and Mrs Edward and here is their daughter Victoria, the reverend pointed to the fragile girl I noticed immediately I entered the office, I extended my greetings to the family and smiled at Victoria who didn't look too pleased to see me, I introduced myself to them as the head of the teenage class, and so any new teenager that wants to join the Church are assigned to me for monitoring and mentoring, I love mentoring teenagers, I love listening to every of their wild and unimaginable stories, I love answering their questions and I was told Victoria wasn't too keen to join the Church.

The next day I had to quickly wake up early cause I had a prayer meeting with the teenagers that morning, I said to myself that I would have a chance to chat a bit with Victoria Edward before she proceeds to her school for her lectures that morning. As I stepped into the dinning hall, I saw Victoria carrying her tray of food, she was alone and so I decided to join her, I sat just across her seat, immediately she saw me, she frowned, I looked at her and smiled, Victoria is just 18, she just got admission into one of the State University, but her Parents wants her to stay in the church hostel rather than the school hostel, I figured Victoria preferred to stay in the schools hostel, I asked her if she didn't mind me sharing the table with her she shyly answered and said it was ok, I started a conversation with Victoria and all I see is a very brilliant girl that wants to explore (not necessarily in a bad way) she wants to find out things by myself she isn't someone to believe things by just hearing, she wants facts to prove her points, she is extremely inquisitive and after our chit chat she became more relaxed with me and surprisingly she even gave me a hug before she left the dinning hall.

After the prayer meeting that morning all the teenagers went to their various schools and by evening they would all return for some minutes with the word of God.

That evening the topic I had to discuss with them was on the HOLY SPIRIT, who is the Holy spirit? Everyone was present at the hall that evening, except Victoria, I wondered where she was when I looked around and didn't see her, I told someone to help me check her in her room, probably she slept off.

I started my teaching by asking all the teenagers who they think the Holy spirit is, Ethan, one of the boys in the male hostel raised up his hands and said, " The Holy Spirit is God, there is only one God, people can't understand this fully when indoctrinated with the idea that God is divided in pieces, there are no "Pieces" there are no "persons" God is God. The holy spirit is God's presence here on earth, relating to and working within humans that allow him. The whole idea of God being separate beings, with separate names and identities and lives is blasphemous and insulting to God, it opposes the whole concept of Monotheism and the scriptural oneness of God.

A round of applause for Ethan I had told the whole class, I loved the explanation Ethan gave, Victoria walked in while the class was going on, she sat quietly at the back.

I continued from where Ethan stopped and asked "Who is the Holy spirit" I emphasized on the fact that it is "Who" and not "What" because the Holy spirit is not a thing or force, like fire or energy, rather, the Holy spirit is a divine person who does personal and relational things like speaking, thinking, feeling and acting, he teaches (John 14:26), Speaks (Acts 13:2) gives Spiritual gifts (1Cor 12:11) and intercedes for us (Rom 8:26) He can be lied to (Acts 5:3-4) grieved (Eph 4: 30) and worshipped as God (Matt 28: 18-20) These are personal actions and reactions, so sure, the Holy spirit is a distinct person from the father and the son, yet all possess the same divine nature. He is distinct from the father and the son by his name, his relation to them as the one who eternally proceeds (or is sent) from them both, and in the works that the bible appropriates (or Ascribes) particularly to him.

Therefore we can say with confidence, the holy spirit is the third person of the Trinity, equal in nature, power and glory with the father and the son, and is to be worshipped together with them.

As I spoke, I noticed someone raising her hands at the back seat, and it was Victoria, yes dear I looked at her as she stood up to ask her question, she asked what name can we call the Holy spirit, we know God has several names, we know Jesus has several names, is the Holy spirit just called the Holy spirit or are there names we can call him aside the Holy spirit?

I was glad she had an interest in the discussion and so I asked if anyone had answers to her question, Deborah raised her hands and signalled to me that she would love to answer the question,I told her to go ahead, she stood up and said the main names of the Holy spirit are Counsellor, Comforter, Baptizer, Advocate, Strengthener, Sanctifier, Spirit of truth, Spirit of Grace, Spirit of mercy, Spirit of God, Spirit of holiness, Spirit of life, while Deborah spoke I saw Victoria walk towards the front seat and sat quietly listening attentively, when Deborah finished, I continued by telling them that the Holy spirit is called a lot of names.

In Nicene Christianity, the Holy spirit, otherwise known as the Holy ghost, is the third person of the Trinity, in Judaism, the holy spirit is the divine force and influence of the unitary God over the universe or his creatures. In Islam, the Holy spirit acts as an agent of divine action or communication. In the Bahai faith, the Holy spirit is seen as the intermediary between God and Man and "the outpouring grace of God and the effulgent rays that emanate from his manifestation.

The Holy spirit is the power that brings holiness and purity to believers, for God hath not called us unto uncleaness, but unto holiness, he therefore that despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his Holy spirit (1st Thes 4:7-8), The Holy spirit is called the Spirit of Truth, Even the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seek him not, neither knoweth him, but ye knew him not, neither knoweth him, but ye knew him, for he dwelleth with you and shall be in you John 14:17, He is called the Spirit of Truth because it is impossible for him to lie or be in error, his ministry has its foundation squarely on the truth of Gods word since he is it's Author.

Victoria raised up her hands to speak again and when she spoke the depth of her knowledge of the Holy spirit amazed me, she said the Holy Spirit is also called the comforter, a name of endless mercy, it means the one who is called to our side or one who is ever ready to stand by us, to take our part. The paraclector or comforter is the one who gives solace and is called to stand by the side of a person in difficulty, he counsels, pleads, entreats, exhorts and strengthens so that a person can gain victory over his opponents. And I will pray the father and he shall give you another comforter, that he may abide with you forever (John 14:16)

Victoria was the last to speak and I was convinced I had nothing to worry about, she does have the Holy spirit residing in her regardless of my earlier assumptions about her.

At the end of the class, everyone gave a name each they could call the Holy spirit from Comforter, Counselor, Advocate, Convicter of sin,Deposit, seal, Earnest, Guide, In dweller of believers, intercessors, revealers, Spirit of truth, Spirit of God, Spirit of Life, Teacher, withness etc

I gave almost all my teenagers a big hug before we all left the hall that night, and I was glad, the Holy spirit did manifest himself in their midst, while I turned to exit the hall, I saw someone walk up to me, it was Victoria, she hugged me so tight I wondered why, then when she pulled off, she told me thank you, I wondered for what and she said that Topic has been on her mind for a while now cause she feels she connects with the Holy spirit alot but she still wanted to know a lot about him, as we stepped outside the hall, I told her I would walk her to her hostel while we spoke a bit more about the Holy spirit.

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We see the Holy spirit working across the entire bible, from it's first pages to it's last, he is present in the first pages at creation, "Hovering over the face of waters ( Gen 1:2) He speaks in the last page with all those who know God by inviting many to know and partake in Christ gift of salvation ( Rev 22:17) and between them, we see him do so much more.

In the old testament, the Holy spirit primarily acts by empowering the people of Israel to accomplish specific tasks, some examples include isreals judges (Judges 3:10) Kings (1Sam 16:13) and prophets (Micah 3:8) The Holy spirit constantly guided and taught countless Isrealites,not merely isreals leaders, as they waited for the promised day an unprecedented work of the Spirit would occur under the New Covenant (Joel 2:28-29)

In New Testament, we see the Spirits work with even more clarity, After Jesus Christ lived, died, rose from the dead, and ascended to heaven, the father and the son sent the Holy spirit to live with and in the people of God at Pentecost (John 14:17) in his coming, the Holy spirit applies the atoning work of Christ to those dead in sin by uniting them with Christ in his life, death, and resurrection (Romans 6:3-5) The Holy spirit washes believers clean from sin (Titus 3-5) gives them new life (2Cor 5:17) adopts them into Gods family (Romans 8:14-17) the Holy spirit also teaches, Speaks, gives Spiritual gifts and intercedes for believers.

Therefore we can say in confidence that the Holy Spirit is sent from the father and the son to apply Christ saving work to all who trust in him. The Spirit applies Salvation by giving life, granting faith, uniting us to Christ, sanctifying, Preserving and glorifying all followers of Christ.

In Conclusion many have forgotten about the Holy spirit, we are more in tune with God the father, God the Son but we tend to look at the Holy spirit as not important whereas he is as important as God the father and God the son, many know the different names of God and the different names of Jesus but we struggle to give the different names of the holy spirit, we were able to take a look at the names of the Holy Spirits, his true identity, so that we can know how to relate to him truly and rightly, He is God, he is the third person of the Trinity. He is across the bible, from Genesis to Revelation. He empowers people for action. He indwells Christians today. He applies Christ work of salvation to the Church,and he continues to sanctify us in this life, let us see him, hopefully one little bit better today.