Too often when we think about the work of the Holy Spirit and pray for the Spirit's power in our own lives, we think of emotional experiences. However, we must look to Christ before we look to the fruit of seeing Christ. Don't look to joy, peace, and obedience without first looking to Christ exalted for satisfying justice on your behalf. The Spirit shows us Christ.
The Lord Jesus Christ has given us the Holy Spirit to minister Himself to us. He says in John 14:16, "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever." The Holy Spirit is not prayed down by the power of man. Instead, the Lord Jesus Christ prayed the Father and through His intercession, the Spirit has been given to us. Christ prayed as the Redeemer of His people, and He was heard according to the merit of His shed blood and the Father's promise in the covenant of grace. Therefore, the Holy Spirit comes down to sinners, which have no personal merit of our own, entirely through the mediation of the Lord Jesus. God the Father, in rewarding the obedience of His Son, has given us the Spirit.
The Holy Spirit comforts us by showing us our rightful inheritance in the family of God (John 14:19). Every one that is taught by God knows concretely that you have no rightful place in God's family by your works. We are by nature the children of wrath (Eph. 2:3); we have sinned ourselves outside of God's favor; and our consciences will never be satisfied until we see God justified for calling us His sons (Rom. 7:14-25). Therefore, the Holy Spirit shows us that we have been predestinated for adoption back unto God through Jesus Christ the Lord (Eph. 1:5). We lost our natural sonship in the first Adam, but the Last Adam is our ground for adoption. God has looked upon chosen sinners and said, "I will accept you because I've found a Perfect Man". In the first Adam, we disobeyed; but the Last Adam, our Lord Jesus Christ, obeyed for us. He endured temptation for us, He kept the law for us, and He redeemed us from the curse. We've obtained full acceptance through His Person and work. Therefore, the Holy Spirit assures our hearts that we may rightfully cry out, "Abba, Father (Gal. 4:4-7)". Even as the Lord Jesus vowed, "I will not leave you orphans: I will come to you (John 14:19)."
The Holy Spirit also comforts by showing us our union with the Lord Jesus Christ. We see Him, and we know that since He lives, we live also (John 14:19). Our Lord promised, "At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you (vs. 20). " Christ is in the Father because He deserves to be there. His Human Nature is perfectly united with His Divine, there has been no compromise of God's indescribable holiness, and having accomplished eternal redemtion, He has returned to the Father. Secondly, we are in Christ and made acceptable in Him according to God's purpose of grace. He chose us in Christ that we should be holy, and the shedding of Christ's blood has guaranteed our unblameable condition (Eph. 1:4). Thirdly, Christ is in us. He abolished the Law through His death and created us a new man, which is God's habitation through the Spirit (Eph. 2:15, 22).
The promises in John 14:15-21 are given to you that believe, and who by faith, love the brethren (I John 3:23; John 13:34-35). Christ said, "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him (John 14:21)." You that believe are guaranteed to see more and more clearly the faithful love of God in Christ. You may have feeble faith, and your faith may lack present comfort, but the Holy Spirit will manifestly comfort you in due time. Therefore, don't judge the Holy Spirit's work by anything except the gospel revelation of Jesus Christ. Keep believing. As long as you see Christ's merit to give you the Spirit, your joint-inheritance, and your union with Him, the Holy Spirit is working mightily. Yes, there will be many seasons where you won't see Him clearly, and they will be trying. Yet, according to His promise, He shall manifest His love to all of the believing. "Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; for he is faithful that promised. And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works (Heb. 10:23-24)."
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