The Holy Spirit Reveals Truth

I call your attention to the words that we have just sung. I hope and pray you can sing those words truthfully. Oh, to see you, Jesus, I can hardly wait. We really are honest. We would have to admit that song is only out of the heart of the redeemed. There are a lot of people that we know, a lot of people and our families who cannot sing that song truthfully. I believe it was A.W. Tozer who said our people in our churches don't tell lies, they sing lies. I hope and pray we've not sung that or you've not sung that telling a lie. That is my heart more and more as I live for the Lord. I want to see Him. I think that's very fitting.

I'll take your Bible this morning. Go ahead and turn with me to John chapter 16. I know I mentioned at the welcome that we would be in John chapter 16. If you're keeping up faithfully with where we are, you know we are in verses 12, starting in verses 12. And we'll go on down to verse 15 this morning. Of course, we're back in our verse by verse study through the Gospel of John. We took a break from our study in John. We took a break during Christmas. We took a break during the first of the year when we were in that running series, messages from the pastor's heart.

And of course, last week we jumped right back in the Gospel of John when we covered verses 1 through 11 here in chapter 16. Now, our last three messages, you will see that we have dealt with hostility and persecution. This great persecution that the disciples would face. Now, this subject has been within a portion of Scripture that Bible scholars call the farewell discourses. It's been a while since I have mentioned that to you. But the farewell discourses are chapters 14 to chapter 17. Those are the events between the Last Supper of the Passover meal and the arrest of Jesus.

Everything that Christ did in these chapters can be summed up in chapter 13, verse 1. Listen to what Jesus said. Jesus, knowing that his hour had come, that he should depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own. Well, who was his own? These disciples. Having loved his own, who were in the world, he loved them to the end. See, that's what he's doing here in these farewell discourses. He's preparing them for everything that is around the corner. Now, chronologically, everything after chapter 13, it took place after the supper, that night after the supper, before his arrest in chapter 18.

So there's a lot going on in that one short period of time. Now, part of this loving them to the end out of chapter 13, verse 1, was preparing them for the cross and his ultimate departure. Part of this loving them to the end was teaching them many things that he knew that they needed to know. Teaching them on the soon to come Holy Spirit was part of this preparation. In chapter 14, verse 18, Jesus tells his disciples, "I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you." Previously, in verse 16, Jesus told them, "I will ask the Father, and he will give you another helper, that he may be with you forever." That is the spirit of truth.

So within the farewell discourses, Jesus is teaching them of the Holy Spirit. Now, when we look at this teaching on the Holy Spirit, we see that there are five separate teachings on the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Helper. This is first seen in chapter 14, verse 16, and it is last seen in chapter 16, verse 13, which is where we will be this morning. And then ultimately, at the end of the message, we will revisit all five places where Jesus teaches on the Holy Spirit. Now, I'll go ahead and give you the title of the message. It's very simple. It comes right out of the verses, "The Holy Spirit Reveals Truth." The Holy Spirit Reveals Truth.

You can see how we will divide the verses. It's rather simple. The disciples and their great need out of verse 12. The future revelation by the Holy Spirit out of verse 13, and the purpose of this revelation by the Holy Spirit out of verses 14 through 15. We always encourage you to take notes. If you ever need help with that, you're welcome to ask for our notes. I'm glad to share those with you because it is our desire that you study during the week and read over your notes, pray over the verses, so that the Lord would impress upon your heart and your mind all that He wants to teach us.

So let's look at our verses this morning, starting in verse 12. Jesus says, "I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now." Verse 13, "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth, for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears He will speak, and He will disclose to you what is to come. He shall glorify Me, for He shall take of Mine, and shall disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you." So let's dive right off into the body of the message.

I want us to look at our first major truth, and that is the disciples and their great need. The disciples and their great need. This is all out of this one short verse. Verse 12, "I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now." Now all along the way, we have seen very great needs in the lives of the disciples. To be honest with you, this is a very big understatement if you've paid close attention to the disciples. They have needed to hear what Christ has been teaching them. They have needed to obey what Jesus has taught them. They have needed to keep their eyes on Christ instead of their circumstances.

Last week we learned that they were prone to despair and disillusionment, and ultimately this was selfishness. That might have surprised some of you. So we can simplify this by saying they were just very weak and they were needy. Now I want to explore this need in the lives of the disciples. I want to make two observations out of this verse. First, I want us to see the desire of Christ to give them more. The desire of Christ to give them more. Verse 12, "I have many more things to say to you." Now this could seem strange to some. Some might think about how much Jesus has taught them already.

Jesus spent some three years pouring into them many great and deep truths concerning the kingdom. If we carefully read all four of the Gospels, we see just how much Jesus had taught them. As far as teaching goes, Jesus has filled their plate full for three years. No man taught as Jesus did, and they had a front row seat to the master teacher that is Jesus. And they even had what the crowds did not have. They had these private teaching moments with Jesus. But we see here that He had many more things that He wanted to say to them. So Christ had this desire to give them more. Then our second observation, notice the disciples, their inability.

Verse 12, "Again, I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now." Now if you look at the first part of verse 12, it's positive. But we see a "but" here in the verse. Go back, "I have many more things to say to you." But with that word "but," the passage swings into the negative. The disciples could not take what Jesus wanted to give them. Jesus tells them that they could not bear the teaching that He had on His mind and on His heart. In the original language, this word "bear," it can mean figurative or it could be literal. Now here in this situation, this is literal. This is a literal bearing.

A couple of good Scripture references that will help us see this. In John chapter 10, verse 31, there were the Jews, and the verse says that they took up stones against Jesus to stone Him. They literally bore stones. They took up stones to stone Jesus. This word is also used in John 19, verse 17, when Jesus bore His cross. We can accurately say that He carried His cross. So we see that the disciples, they could not bear, they could not carry, they could not take or receive what Jesus wanted to teach them right here in this particular time. So what do we see just out of this one verse? The disciples were in great, great need.

They could not receive what Jesus wanted to give them. And I will add to this, they could not receive or embrace. Let's ponder over that word. They couldn't receive or embrace the many things that Jesus wanted to give them. It was more than receiving, it was embracing what Jesus wanted to give them. They just could not handle it. So we see their weakness, and again, this really shows us their great need. Now, there's two words I want to pull out of this verse, and I'd like you to write these two words down. We see humanity and we see timing. We see humanity and we see timing. We see the disciples in their great humanity.

Isn't that what we see in their weakness and their disillusionment? And their despair? They were just men. They were sinners and they fell short many, many times. So we see their humanity, but we also see their timing because a lot of what Jesus is talking about is in the future. Many things that he wanted to give them, they were not ready for. So in time, they would receive what he wanted to give them. Now in application, I want to ask us two questions. First, is there more that Christ wants to teach us? Have you ever thought about it like that? Is there more that the Lord would like to teach us?

Is there more that Christ would like to give us? Have you ever thought about it like that personally? The second question is, is there weakness in us that makes us unable to embrace, to bear what Christ wants to teach us? Is there weakness in us that makes us unable to embrace what God wants to do in us and through us? Could we be far more like the disciples than we know? Could we be wallowing in our humanity and weakness? And could the Lord desire to give us more and teach us more and work in us in a new and unique way so as to use us? Now we know the rest of the story.

We know that when the Spirit comes and works in their lives, they will be empowered to do great kingdom things. So my question for us is, could the Lord want to teach us more and give us more and in that teaching work through us to use us in a greater way? And could our humanity be holding back what the Lord wants to do in us? Now let's move on to our second major truth. You have that before you. Number two, the future revelation by the Spirit. The future revelation by the Holy Spirit. That's out of one verse as well, verse 13.

But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own initiative, but whatever he hears, he will speak and he will disclose to you what is to come. Now here in verse 13, we see an obvious allusion to the future work of the Spirit. At this point, the Spirit has not been given to the disciples. Of course, we know the Spirit comes after the crucifixion, the resurrection and ascension of Christ. This takes place in Acts chapter 2 on the great day of Pentecost. So these events spoken of here in verse 13, they will take place in the future.

That's why I call it the future revelation of the Holy Spirit. Now the three observations I want to make out of this verse. First, the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth. It's verse 13, but when he, the Spirit of truth, comes. Here Jesus calls the Holy Spirit the Spirit of truth. And it is important for us to see how the Holy Spirit can be called the Spirit of truth. He can be called the Spirit of truth because he is God. Being fully God, the Holy Spirit knows fully the truth of God, therefore he can accurately be called the Spirit of truth. This truth is taught in John chapter 14 in verse 16 and 17.

"And I will ask the Father and He will give you another helper, that He may be with you forever." See, if the Spirit is with us forever, He is God. That is the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive. We learned that last week. Because it does not behold Him or know Him. But you know Him because He abides with you. See, Jesus is equating Himself to the Spirit and He will be in you. So the Holy Spirit, it will be with them only because He is fully God. Therefore, He is the Spirit of truth because He knows all truth. Now the second observation, the Holy Spirit is the God.

Verse 13, "But when He the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth." This is the same Spirit which is called the One who comes alongside. Going back to chapter 14 verse 16, "And I will ask the Father and He will give you another helper." Now this word "helper" can be translated "the One who comes alongside." Now this word "helper" can be difficult to translate. It literally means to come alongside, but there is a lot more that is implied in the meaning. That's why some interpret this word as counselor, comforter, helper, encourager, intercessor, and advocate.

One commentator calls them a legal friend or legal representative and that is true. Here it seems that Jesus is adding to the Spirit's work in their lives. He would be their God, but more specifically, He would guide them into truth and that is God's truth. The third observation, the Holy Spirit is One with Jesus and the Father.

The end of verse 13, "But when He the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth, and He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak, and He will disclose it to you what is to come." Now notice the verse reads, "He will not speak on His own initiative, but what He hears." Now Jesus never spoke or acted on His own. Jesus spoke and acted on exactly what the Father desired. So it is with the Spirit of God. He only speaks what He hears. He only discloses what is to come according to God's Word and God's purposes.

Just as Jesus is perfectly One with the Father, the Holy Spirit is One with Jesus and One with the Father. He is God in every way while being the Holy Spirit in every way. So what do we see right here in verse 13? We see the expounding role of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the disciples. He would come alongside to help them. We learn in chapter 14. And now we see that He will guide them into truth. But notice that this is futuristic in two ways. First, this works takes place in the disciples' lives. When? In the future. Verse 12 tells us that they cannot bear this work now.

We know that this takes place later when the Spirit comes in Acts 2. But second, the Spirit will disclose to them what is to come or future events. Now this leads us to a question. What are these future events? Now there are two opinions here as to the meaning of this portion of verse 13. Now there are some that say that this is the Holy Spirit predicting the future for the disciples at a later time. While there are others who say that this is the Holy Spirit disclosing to the disciples this Christian system which will unfold before them. Now which is it? It is the latter.

The Holy Spirit will reveal to them this Christian system of the church and kingdom work. And He will do this to them. The Holy Spirit will reveal to them this Christian system, the advent of the church and the declaring the gospel around the world because they will participate in this work. So right here we see that the Spirit will guide them into God's truth. And this truth pertaining the kingdom work which is to take the message of Christ around the world and the building of the church. They were not ready for this news. They were not ready to embrace this work. Now an application.

We need to see that we have the Spirit of God, the God, the one that guides us in the truth, living within us. Now for them these events had not happened yet. That's why it's futuristic. But when we are converted that same Spirit of God comes to live within us. And if that's the case what happens? The Spirit of God guides us into God's truth. Now for them the Spirit of God was revealing the truth because we believe in what's called progressive revelation. The New Testament was not written. But we have the revelation of God. All that God has wanted to say, He has put it in our hands in the copy of His Word.

And we must see that that Spirit that lives within us guides us into what? God's truth. And also He will guide us into what? His work. Isn't that what He did for the disciples? He guided them into the truth of God because He knew God's truth because He was God. And He guided them into the work of God because He was God. And this was the unfolding plan of God. And He does the same thing for us. He guides us into the truth of God. And He guides us into the work of God, kingdom work. And let me tell you the end of all kingdom work is what? The church. The church. Now I want you to see how He does this. Yes, He does it individually.

But we cannot disconnect individual work from corporate work. There are a lot of people that make that mistake. God does this work in us, yes. But it is within the body of believers, the New Testament local church. So Jesus does for us now what He was going to do for them in the future. I guess plain to see. Let's move on. Let's look at our third major truth. Our third major truth, the purpose of revelation by the Spirit. The purpose of revelation by the Holy Spirit. An easy way to answer this is to ask the question why? Why will the Holy Spirit do all this which we have seen just in these verses?

Well the answer to answer that question, we must see the motivation of all the Holy Spirit's work and why the Holy Spirit does what He does. Now the three observations I want to make out of these two verses. First, the Holy Spirit will glorify Christ. Look at the beginning of verse 14. "And He shall glorify me." Here we see the familiar theme of glory. All throughout this gospel, the gospel of John, the glory of Christ has been revealed as He is revealed as God in the flesh. Now notice how this theme has been seen all through the book. Jesus' glory has been revealed, how? In the Incarnation.

We've learned that in John chapter 1 verse 14 and in John chapter 2 verse 11. Now think about it. When God became man in the form of Jesus, the glory of Christ was revealed. Then in Jesus' earthly ministry, He brought glory to who? The Father. We see that in John 7 verse 18 and John 12 verse 28 and John chapter 17 verse 4 as Jesus participated in the ministry that God had marked out for Him on this earth, He brought glory to the Father. And then in Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection and then ultimately His glorification, what do we see? He brought glory, God brought glory to the Son. In John chapter 12 verse 23 we see this.

Chapter 13 verse 31 and 32 and in chapter 17 verse 1 and 5. So what am I showing you? The theme of glory is seen all through the gospel of John. Now how does this relate to the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit's job is to bring glory to Christ. Go back to the verse. He shall glorify me. That was the Spirit's job. He never has nor will He ever bring glory to Himself. One commentator I read said, "His ministry is built upon and is the necessary sequel to that of Christ." It's all about Christ. The second observation I want us to see is the Holy Spirit will reveal Christ. We see this in the second part of verse 14 and the second part of verse 15.

He shall glorify me for He shall take of mine and shall disclose it to you, disclosing Christ. Then in verse 15, "All things that the Father has are mine. Therefore I said that He, the Spirit, takes of mine and will disclose it to you." So here we see that the Spirit's primary purpose is to make Christ known. He does this in two ways. First by revealing the truth about Christ. As the Savior of men, the Son of God, the one who came and died on the cross, simply He is revealing the Person of Christ. And that brings Christ's glory. Second, He does this by revealing what Christ taught. That would be the teachings of God's Word.

So in all that the Spirit does, He reveals Christ. And then the third observation quickly, the Holy Spirit is one with Jesus and He is one with the Father. We see this at the end of verse 13 and we see this alluded to in verse 15 as well. The Holy Spirit is one with Jesus and He is one with the Father. They are one, but yet they are distinct. So what do we see here in verses 14 and 15? We see the why of what the Holy Spirit does. Why does He do what He does? His purpose is to glorify the Son in all that He does. He reveals Christ as a person, therefore bringing Him glory.

And He reveals Christ in the truth of His Word as He reveals the Word and He guides His believers into the Word bringing Christ's glory. So in application, we must see that any work of God in our lives does what? Brings glory to Christ. Now I want to help you in an error here. We automatically, a lot of us, think of this as an individual work first and that can be an error. Let me explain what I mean. When I say that we must see that any work of God in our lives is to bring glory to Christ, we automatically think about it in an individual context first and that is an error. We should think of the work of God in our lives first corporately.

Because when God saves us, He unites us with the body of Christ, the brothers and sisters, we're called to pour our lives into the church and any experience with Christ that we have is meant to be expressed and lived out in the church. We must not make the mistake of thinking about it individually first. Now is it an individual work? Yes. Is it personal? Yes. But God desires to do that work in our lives, if I can use this language, right in the center aisle of the church.

The work that God wants to do in your life is for His glory and He wants to do it for all of the brothers and sisters to see and all of the sisters, brothers and sisters to learn from and He will get glory from that work in the church. Now I want to move on from the body, the verses that we're dividing, I call it the body of the message and I want us to examine these Holy Spirit statements. I mentioned earlier that there were five. Now I normally don't do this but I'm going to ask you to turn a couple of pages back in your scriptures and I want you to put your eyes on these verses in your own copy of God's Word. Maybe note them.

The first one that we learn or the first Holy Spirit statement is in John 14 starting in verse 16. Again, He's preparing the disciples for all that is around the corner. What does He say? "And I will ask the Father and He will give you another helper that He may be with you forever." This is the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, the one that's come alongside to counsel and to teach and to comfort and to be that legal advocate before God. So we see here this first statement about the Spirit. Then we see the second statement about the Spirit on down in Chapter 14 in verse 26.

"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things and He will bring to remembrance all that I said to you." So now this Helper comes and He teaches the disciples and He reminds them of all that He has taught them in that three-year period. And then the third instance is in Chapter 15 verse 26.

"And when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness of me, and you will bear witness also." So here we see the Spirit comes to bear witness of Christ to them and will enable them to bear witness of Christ to the world. And then fourth is in Chapter 16 verse 7. "But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away." This is something they really could not get. They were disillusioned by this statement. "For if I do not go away, the Helper shall not come to you." There's that Helper, that one to come alongside.

Isn't He repeating Himself over and over and over? "I will not leave you alone. The Helper will come." And then our last statement is in verse 13. "But when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth." Occasionally I will ask you to take a few steps back with big picture. And I want to ask you a question. What is the context here? We have Jesus and we have the disciples. They have celebrated that last Passover meal together. Judas has revealed himself as the traitor. He's gone from their midst. We have the 11 and we have Jesus.

And He is desiring to give them all that He can give them, preparing them for that hostility and that persecution and the fact that He is leaving them. So that is the context. He is teaching them and preparing them for the future. And it was not too positive. Persecution, hostility, and death. Now I want to wrap this up. I ran across a good way. A Bible commentator puts all this together. I'm going to add to it. Many times I do that. Again, I quote commentators because they're saying something in a way in which I just can't say it. And I always want to give them credit. But notice what this commentator says.

The disciples, he says, "They will not escape the wilderness of hostility and persecution." I like that word "wilderness." Jesus was about to leave them. They would be all alone in this wilderness of persecution and hostility and death. But they will have another paraclete. That is the Greek word for the one that would come alongside and help them. The one that would comfort and counsel that close legal friend. Then the one who will teach them. We've learned that he will take all that Jesus has taught them and teach it back to them. And then the one who will witness with them.

He will witness to them about Christ and enable them to witness for Christ. And then one who will serve as their attorney, their judge in the world, and before the Father. And then the one who will guide them automatically in the truth of God because the Spirit of God knows all of the truth of God. And this same Holy Spirit lives in us if we are born again. If you are born again, no matter what wilderness you may face, no matter what valley you go through, you have one to come alongside to be the exact representation of Christ. He is there to teach us. He is there who will witness of Christ to us.

He is the one that will serve as our attorney and judge to the world and before the Father. And he is the one that guides us automatically into the very truths of God. Unless, unless you're not a child of God. Now I don't have this in my notes, but I can't help but think about it like this. Those of us who are born again, although we are in a wilderness, Christ is with us. And oh, the ones who are outside of Christ, how lonely life is, how lonely it is to live life without Christ. In religion won't help, Bible knowledge won't help, coming to church won't help because in the end it is so empty.

And I'm so glad that no matter what wilderness, no matter what valley or mountain top I may go over, I have one that Christ has given. The Holy Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit of God. And I guess as I conclude the message, my prayer is that we may be as victorious as the disciples ultimately in the future will be. Let's pray that together. Lord, we may be weak in disillusion, but Lord,