Do you remember what is said in the second verse of the Bible, in the account of the creation of the world? We are told, “The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.”
There has always been the Holy Spirit. He has been written of many times in Scripture. But the Lord Jesus told the men who believed in Him that when He was returned to heaven the Holy Spirit would come to live in them. Jesus spoke of the Spirit as a person saying “He,” but not an earthly person, nor in a body, as the Lord Jesus took.
Unseen Person
The Lord called Him the Spirit of truth and the Comforter, which meant one to counsel and to defend us. The Lord had before told of the Spirit as being like the wind, saying, “The wind bloweth where it listeth (pleases), and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, nor whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit” (John 3:88The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. (John 3:8)).
We cannot see the wind, yet we feel it and know it is here. We can see what it does. It is a great force in the world. So the Holy Spirit, who is a person, acts like a force or power. He is greater, of course, than any power here.
And what the Lord Jesus told of the Holy Spirit (called also the Holy Ghost) was what the Spirit would do. First we are told what the Spirit would do for the disciples. He would “bring all things to your remembrance” whatsoever Jesus had said to them. He would teach them all things, guide them to all truth, tell them things to come, and abide or stay with them forever (see John 14:16-17,26; 15:26; 16:1316And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 17Even 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. (John 14:16‑17)
26But 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. (John 14:26)
26But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: (John 15:26)
13Howbeit 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 show you things to come. (John 16:13)). “He will reprove the world of sin ... because they believe not on Me.”
Reproof
“To reprove” means to speak against wrong. The Spirit would speak God’s words believers to show unbelievers their sin. The Son of God came in love to save sinners. The greatest sin anyone can do is to not believe Him.
“He will reprove the world ... of righteousness because I go to My Father.” Because the Lord Jesus was righteous, God raised Him and He is in heaven. The Spirit tells men to believe that.
“He will reprove the world ... of judgment ... because the prince of this world is judged.”
Satan was the first to lead to doubt and unbelief of God’s words (Gen. 3:44And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: (Genesis 3:4)) and has ever since tried to lead people to unbelief. The penalty for sin is death and to be apart from God. Christ took that punishment on the cross, and the Spirit tells of judgment for Satan and all who follow him. These facts are explained more afterward, as the Lord said they would be. Read Hebrews 2:1414Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; (Hebrews 2:14).
After the Lord was gone to heaven, the Holy Spirit came (Acts 2). From that time the men who loved the Lord Jesus, but had been afraid of those who did not believe, spoke with power by the Spirit. They preached that Christ came to die for sinners, that God raised Him, and that there was judgment for all who did not believe Him (see Acts 4:8; 5:29-328Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel, (Acts 4:8)
29Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men. 30The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. 31Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. 32And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him. (Acts 5:29‑32)).
Further Meditation:
1. Why is the Holy Spirit compared to the wind?
2. What other verses in the Word of God show that the Spirit of God is part of the Trinity with the Father and the Son?
3. The Holy Spirit: His Person, His Coming, His Operations by H. E. Hayhoe would give you a brief and easy-to-read introduction to Bible truths about the Holy Spirit.