“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.”
John 16:12-14 NIV
It was preparation time for the disciples. Jesus would soon leave them. They needed to know what equipment He would give them to carry out their mandate of reaching the world with His message. A task so enormous needed someone like Him to guide and empower them, and that is exactly who Jesus promised would come.
Unlike a worldly “locum”, who would fill in temporarily while the CEO was away, Jesus Himself would come to them in the person of His Spirit. He and the Holy Spirit were so closely connected that the Spirit’s presence would be the perfect representative of His person and mission. The Holy Spirit’s work would be to be Jesus in them.
Jesus is the truth! The same truth that Jesus is, the Holy Spirit is…so Jesus identified Him as the “Spirit of truth”.
“But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth.”
Whatever Jesus said and did the Holy Spirit would say and do. As Jesus only spoke the words of the Gather, so the Holy Spirit would accurately represent Jesus’ words.
“He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.”
Similarly, as Jesus continually reflected the Father’s glory, so the Holy Spirit would shine the light on Him.
Could there ever be a person more fully eligible to take Jesus’ place when He returned to the Father! Did you notice that the role of the Spirit in the disciples was not to give them experiences of any kind but to carry on Jesus’ work of doing the Father’s business. Just as Jesus was about the kingdom of God, so the Holy Spirit would have exactly the same purpose, to establish God’s rule in the hearts of those who believe in Jesus.
The Holy Spirit would raise the spiritually dead to new life, transfer them into the kingdom of God and transform them into sins of God.
“Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.”
John 3:5 NIV
The Holy Spirit would empower God’s people to overcome the old nature…
“So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”
Galatians 5:16-18 NIV
…and reproduce the character of Jesus in His followers…
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
Galatians 5:22-23 NIV
The Spirit would convince Jesus followers that they are righteous because Jesus represents them to the Father…
“…of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more;”
John 16:10 NKJV
…and witness that they are no longer slaves of sin but children of God…
“The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.”
Romans 8:16 NIV
All this and more is the work of God’s Spirit in the believer for one purpose alone…
“On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”…But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.””
Acts 1:4-5, 8 NIV
All other functions of the Holy Spirit for and in the believer only contribute to this one main purpose…to equip and empower the believer to bear witness that Jesus is the Son of God, and Lord, the supreme authority in God’s kingdom.
“Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Philippians 2:9-11 NIV
To be continued…