The Spirit of Truth

The Spirit of Truth

John 16: 12-13- “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit 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 shew you things to come.”

I recently taught on the Spirit of Truth and thought I would share a little on my blog today.

If you are familiar with this portion of John, then you know that Jesus is about to be crucified. As a matter of fact, He has engaged in the Passover with His disciples and are giving them final instructions.

In verse 12, He actually tells the disciples that He had some more things that He wanted to share with them but they were not able to hear it yet. Why? I can well imagine that they are on overload. Jesus has already revealed the betrayer to them, He’s told them of His soon crucifixion and therefore, departure. He has told them of some things that would even happen to them after He left; therefore, He senses that they can’t handle anything more at the moment.

But then He tells them that He will send the Spirit of Truth!

Now the interesting point about the Spirit of Truth is that this is the third time in this long discourse with the disciples that Jesus mentions the Spirit of Truth. And every time He mentions the Spirit of Truth, He tells them a little more about Him. He really wants them to recognize Him when He comes.

In John 14:17-18, Jesus states the following in regards to the Spirit of Truth: “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever-the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you And will be in you.”

So Jesus starts His description of the Spirit with this simple truth:

• The Spirit of Truth is another Helper
• He will abide with us forever
• He cannot be received by the world
• He dwells with us and will be with us

In chapter 15, at the end of the chapter He mentions the Spirit of Truth again:

“But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning.”

• Jesus tells them the Spirit of Truth proceeds from the Father
• The Spirit of Truth will testify of Him (Jesus)
• And that we will also testify of Him

In Acts 1:8- Jesus told the disciples that the Holy Spirit would enable them to be witnesses! So the Spirit of Truth has a lot He will be doing on behalf of the disciples or in assistance to the disciples.

In our key text, the Spirit of Truth will:

• Guide us into all truth
• Speak what He hears
• And reveal things to come!

We can certainly understand why at this time Jesus would mention that the Spirit of Truth would guide the disciples into all truth! He is truth, and therefore, will guide us into all truth! Some things are crystal clear in the logos (written word) of God; but some things we need the Spirit of Truth to guide us in. And Jesus didn’t have time to tell it all to us, or help us through it, so the Spirit of Truth used Paul and others to write some things out for our learning.

People are still arguing today, if there be any Holy Spirit! And does He still operate as He did in Jesus’ day! Yes and yes!! But those of us who understand this truth had it revealed to us; and those who don’t, yet have a need!

People are still arguing about tithing! Do we tithe or not? How much is the tithe? For me, and so many others who have had this truth revealed to our hearts, this is a silly argument. But the Spirit of Truth has assisted us in understanding the truth!

What questions do you have? Does the logos make sense to you? Are you still arguing about the Word of God? Well, I have some great news for you! You can stop arguing! The Spirit of Truth has come to guide you into all truth! Jesus has much to say to you and to me, but He isn’t talking to us -as a rule – one on one. He’s talking through His Word by His Spirit! It’s time to open our hearts to hear what the Spirit of Truth hears as He reveals to us “things to come!” Wonderful Jesus!