(1) THE PROMISE.
John 14:15-17, 26; 15:26-27; 16:7-1515If ye love me, keep my commandments. 16And 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 14:15‑17)
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: 27And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning. (John 15:26‑27)
7Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. 8And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9Of sin, because they believe not on me; 10Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; 11Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. 12I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. 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. 14He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you. 15All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall show it unto you. (John 16:7‑15).
THE fact that our blessed Lord said so much about the Holy Spirit as recorded in these chapters must at once impress us with the immense importance of this subject. If we note a few outstanding points it may assist us in our consideration of it.
(1) THE HOLY SPIRIT IS A DIVINE PERSON.
The way in which the Lord speaks of Him makes this abundantly clear. Have we not to ask ourselves, to what extent do we realize the fact that just as there was a divine Person in the world when our Lord Jesus Christ was here, so there is a divine Person in the world now? The difference being that Christ was seen and heard; whereas the Holy Spirit is not seen, therefore He is not received nor known by the world. (14:17.)
We next observe that He was to be (a) sent by the Father; (b) sent by the Son; and (c) would come. (14:26; 15:26; 16:13.) This, on the one hand, establishes His deity; and, on the other hand, sets Him forth as coming here to be the Servant of the Godhead in connection with Its interests in this world during the absence of the Lord Jesus.
(3.) Three times does our Lord speak of Him as
“THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH.”
He had said of Himself in the familiar and precious words of 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.” Think of those loved disciples listening that night to Him who was; who is; and who ever shall be the “I AM.” How they must have been thrilled as they heard Him say, “I AM THE TRUTH.” Not the unfolder of the truth, nor the expression of the truth; but He, who was with them in the fashion of a Man, was, and is, “THE TRUTH.” We can understand then that the Holy Spirit is “the Spirit of truth.”
(4.) All this makes the promise of the Holy Spirit more wonderful the better we apprehend it. Our wonder increases as we discover how intimately associated with us He should be. Three things we indicate in their reverse order for it is thus that we receive them.
(a) “Shall be in you” (14:17). (b) “Dwelleth with you” (14:17). (c) “Shall abide forever” (14:16). Every true believer is indwell by the Holy Spirit. If we grasp this great fact we will not pray for the Holy Spirit because He indwells us; and we will allow Him so to order our lives that we shall give pleasure to the One who indwells us, bring glory to God, and exalt our adorable Lord. He has come to dwell with us. Not a lodger; not a passing visitor; but to find His home in our heart. Knowing this we cannot pray that He may not be taken from us. David might pray, thus, (Psa. 51:1111Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. (Psalm 51:11).) and the Old Testament saints could say “Amen” to such a petition. In those days the Holy Spirit in the exercise of His divine sovereignty took possession of whom He pleased, not always good men at that—, e.g. Balaam. (Num. 24:22And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel abiding in his tents according to their tribes; and the spirit of God came upon him. (Numbers 24:2))— used them for a particular purpose, and then came upon some other person. Now He has come to stay, and in the body of the believer He finds His dwelling place. How precious the assurance “that He may abide with you forever.” Never will He leave us; and always will He minister to us.
(5.) His offices are plainly stated. (a) Comforter. Just here we must turn aside to, consider the peculiar circumstances in which these words were spoken. It was the night in which our Lord was betrayed. His last words to the world are recorded in chapter 12, He decided to spend the closing hours before His death with His disciples. They were in the seclusion of the upper room. Outside, the world clamored for His death. It was a black night for those eleven men. They were about to lose their beloved Lord and Master, and there seemed not a ray of light to illumine the darkness. He sought to cheer them by telling them that He would come again; that the Father’s house should be their home; and that they would have Himself once more, never again to part.
We could imagine those disciples saying, “That is good, but what about the in between! Who will care for us, protect us, and carry us through in face of all the opposition that we may expect from the world?” just then He gave them this priceless promise, “I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever” (14:16). This word we find four times in these three chapters, and once the same word in the original is translated “Advocate.” (1 John 2:11My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: (1 John 2:1)). It is said that the word, solicitor, expresses the meaning. One who looks after our interests. The Lord Jesus seemed to say in effect, “While I have been with you I have been your Comforter. I have relieved you of anxiety; I have protected you from the foe; I have ministered to your needs spiritual and temporal; I have looked after you in every possible way. When I have gone you shall have another Comforter, whose interest, whose life, whose power, and whose care shall not be less than Mine.” Hallelujah! What a Saviour! How well cared for are we now!
We have the Lord Jesus looking after our interests in the presence of God, the Holy Spirit looking after our interests down here, and both in constant communication as to the promoting of our greatest blessing and spiritual prosperity.
(c) He is the power for fruit-bearing or witnessing (15:26, 27). These words also are, in the first instance, for the apostles. We have been left here however to bear fruit, and to witness for our absent Lord. We can do this only as we are enabled to do so by the Holy Spirit and as we are subject to Him in all things.
(d) The Holy Spirit’s presence here brings demonstration to the world of its rejection of Christ. (16:8). He is here because Christ is not here, and Christ is not here because the world has refused Him. He is also here to guide us into all truth. (16:13). Can we conceive the greatness and the grandeur of this? Let us try to think of the vast, illimitable range of truth that lies open before us. That which the natural man, however great, or distinguished, or learned, cannot receive, but into which the Holy Spirit would guide the simplest believer. His further work is to show us “things to come.” In it all to glorify Christ; to set before us the great expanse of all the things that belong to the Son because they belong to the Father, and to give us to know that love that
“Gives, not as the world, but shares
All it possesses with its loved co-heirs.”
Have we not to challenge our hearts here? Must we not ask ourselves—how much of this “all truth” do we know? What is the extent of our acquaintance with “things to come”? Just how much do we enjoy being divinely instructed in the things of the Father and of the Son? Do we not feel how miserably poor is our apprehension of these things and our delight in them.
Let us sum up. The Holy Spirit has taken possession of us in order that He may look after our interests, and that as a result we may be taken up with the interests of Christ. His normal work is to teach us; to fit us to be witnesses; to guide us into all truth; to show us things to come; to glorify Christ; to communicate to us things that neither angels in heaven nor natural men upon earth could understand, but only those whom He indwells and whom He teaches.
Let us again ask ourselves. “How much do we know?” Is it possible that the things of earth have such a place with us, or that there is the allowance of that in our lives that hinders the Holy Spirit in His much-loved work? If so, shall we here and now pray that every hindrance may be removed, that every barrier may be broken down, so that He may be able to work in us, as Comforter, Teacher, Power, Guide, and all else that will conduce to the glory of Christ, and our present and lasting blessing?
May our souls be stirred! May our hearts be exercised! And may we place ourselves unreservedly at the Holy Spirit’s disposal to work in us and through us as He will.
W. Bramwell Dick.
To follow. (D.V) THE HOLY SPIRIT (2) His Advent and Operations.