March 12, 2021
John 16:12-13, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.”
Yet another aspect of the Holy Spirit is explored here. Jesus had just declares that the Spirit would convict the world of sin and also reveal to us what real righteousness looks like. Now Jesus is showing that the coming Holy Spirit will be a teacher. The Spirit will “guide you,” and yet will not speak on his own authority, but rather will speak in unison with the Father and with the Son. There is no hierarchy within the Trinity, but there is order. You might have heard it said that The Spirit proceeds from the Son, while Jesus is eternal but begotten of the Father. This are not words of rank, but of purpose. The Spirit applies all of God’s truth to the heart of the believer, so he did not operate in the heart of believers until that appropriate time - after redemption was accomplished at the cross. Likewise, the role of Jesus is Savior, and this is why you don’t find the name Jesus in the Old Testament. He was there and always has been, but he comes on the scene when it is his time, to accomplish redemption for the family of God.
This is also helpful in knowing how the Spirit will teach. If he is not speaking on his own authority, but in concert with Father and Son, then all that the Spirit teaches will be in line with the revealed will of God by the Word (Jesus the Son; John 1) and in the Word (2 Tim. 3). Like the apostle Paul says, “test the spirits” (1 John 4:1), when you gain some new information or hear of some teaching - test it against the Word of God. There won’t be anything revealed by the Spirit which is against something God has already said. The Spirit as teacher will rather illuminate the endless ocean of God’s truth as already given in his Word. You won’t exhaust its riches, that’s why it’s so beautiful - and yet the gospel is so simple that even a child can understand it.
Prayer: Holy Spirit, teach me something today. Teach me something that I kind of knew in God’s Word, but make it like a steady rock in my mind, and let that truth comfort me. Make me wise to understand more of what God has shown, and help me to trust you more. Let me not lean on my own understanding, but instead, God, help me to acknowledge you in all that I do. Amen.
40 Days of Joy: Old Hymns. Check out these spectacular words in this old hymn by Anne Steele, “Reflections on a Winter’s Evening.” Great lament - extraordinary hope. https://hymnary.org/text/stern_winter_throws_his_icy_chains
