A Message From God

God’s people would, once again,
take their Bible and turn to John 16. John 16 is where we
picked up in our study of the Gospel of John. It’s where we
were last week, and we find ourselves there once again. Last Lord’s
Day, we looked at Jesus continuing instruction regarding the Holy
Spirit. He has introduced the Holy Spirit
on a number of different occasions and returns again to that great
subject in presenting to us the Holy Spirit’s ministry, particularly
to the world, that it was going to be a ministry of conviction. The Holy Spirit would convict
the world we saw concerning sin and righteousness and judgment. Concerning a knowledge and awareness
of their own sinfulness and the dreadful effects of that sin. Not only that, but their lack
of righteousness and their desperate need of the righteousness of
Christ. That they need to get out of
themselves and place their faith in Jesus Christ. And the third
thing in which he would convict them is of judgment. That God
is judge. God is a just judge. And if sinners will not lay hold
of the righteousness of Christ, there is judgment. and there is only one judgment. We pick up in this
particular passage, continuing in the subject of the Holy Spirit,
but now we see that whereas the Holy Spirit’s ministry to the
world was that of conviction, The Holy Spirit’s ministry to
the church is that of revelation. And we’ll see that momentarily
as we get into it. If you would, go all the way
back to verse five. And this day, I’m only going
to go to verse 22 just for time’s sake. Jesus said, but now I am going
to him who sent me And none of you asks me, where are you going? But because I have said these
things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. But I tell you the
truth, it is to your advantage that I go away. For if I do not
go away, the helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will
send him to you. And he, when he comes, will convict
the world concerning sin, and righteousness and judgment, concerning
sin, because they do not believe in me, and concerning righteousness,
because I go to the Father and you no longer see me, and concerning
judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. I have many more things to say
to you, but you cannot bear them now, 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. And He will glorify Me. For He
will take of Mine and will 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. A little while and you
will no longer see me. And again, a little while and
you will see me. Some of his disciples then said
to one another, what is this thing he’s telling us? A little
while and you will not see me. And again, a little while and
you will see me. And because I go to the father,
So they were saying, what is this that he says a little while?
We do not know what he’s talking about. Jesus knew that they wished
to question him. And he said to them, are you
deliberating together about this? That I said a little while and
you will not see me and again a little while and you will see
me? Truly, truly, I say to you that you will weep and lament,
but the world will rejoice. You will grieve, but your grief
will be turned into joy. Whenever a woman is in labor,
she has pain because her hour has come. But when she gives
birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because
of the joy that a child has been born into the world. Therefore,
you too have grief now, but I will see you again and your heart
will rejoice. and no one will take your joy
away from you. We spent time considering last
week this now third introduction of the Helper to Christ’s disciples. And this time he tells his disciples,
those who were going to be tasked with taking the gospel out to
the world and preaching the gospel and promoting the gospel, Jesus
tells them that the helper is going to be their helper. He
is going to be the one behind the scenes, as it were, convicting
men of sin. convicting men of their need
of righteousness, and convicting men of the idea, the reality
of judgment. These men were going to indeed
have help, not just internally, but in their respective ministries,
they were going to be blessed, their ministries were going to
be attended to by God Himself, through the power of the Holy
Spirit. That had to be a tremendous encouragement to these men, to
know that it didn’t rest on their own creativity, that they didn’t
have to come up with fancy outlines and titles for their sermons
and book covers that caught the eye. It wasn’t about creativity. It wasn’t about their own personal
efforts in converting others. It wasn’t about being unique
in their approach to ministry. It was about preaching the pure
Word of God. It was about sharing Christ and
letting God have His way with sinners. Entrusting the results
to Almighty God. Still is the case, isn’t it?
But in addition to the help that the Holy Spirit would render
to them as ministers of the gospel, as those tasked with preaching,
the Holy Spirit was also going to minister to them personally.
He was going to help them. After all, He is the helper. He is the called alongside one. He is the paraclete. He is the
one given by God to come, not just alongside, but to indwell
them and to lead them and guide them and instruct them. And so
we come, having seen the Spirit’s ministry of conviction to the
world, we come to the Holy Spirit’s ministry of revelation to the
church. Look, if you would, at verse
12, where we begin this morning, where Jesus says, I have many
more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. Now,
any one of us would have loved to be part of this 12-person
clan that walked with Christ daily for nearly three years.
John himself says that you couldn’t possibly, all the books in the
world couldn’t possibly contain all the things that they had
observed and heard from Christ. And yet, Jesus says there’s still
more. There’s many more things that
He could have said to them. In fact, in verse 15, chapter 15 verse 15, Jesus had
expressed to His disciples that up to this point He had withheld
nothing from them. Everything that they needed,
everything that the Father wanted Him to share with them, not everything
that there was to know about God, because that will take an
eternity, Everything that they needed to
know up to this point, Jesus had been faithful to uncover,
to reveal, to proclaim to them. Jesus had held nothing back from
them. He had given all. But as he looks
at them now, in this feeble moment, Jesus sees that there’s good
reason. There is a spiritual inability
for them to grasp any more truth. Their cups are full, even running
over. And so because of that, he says,
there is good reason for him to hold back, to refrain from
giving them any more spiritual truth. not only were there lots of troubles
in their midst, and we’ll look at those in a moment, but if
you realize that at this particular moment, they have not yet received
the Holy Spirit. They were not indwelled by the
Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God representative
in Jesus Christ was present among them in Christ, but he wasn’t
indwelling them at this moment. And so because of that, they
couldn’t bear any more teaching. The word literally means they
didn’t have the ability to lift it up and carry it away, to make
it their own. If they could even grasp the
significance of it, they couldn’t do anything with it. They didn’t
have the mental capabilities, the spiritual capabilities. The
word is used in its very literal sense in the New Testament on
a number of occasions. One of them was Judas. Judas criticizing said not because
he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief. And
as he had the money box, he used to pilferer what was put into
it. Literally, it says the things
that he was bearing. Because he was carrying the money
box, and because it was so heavy, he figured that he would lighten
the load. In John 19, the word is used
of Jesus himself carrying or bearing his own cross. So it
is used in a very literal sense of carrying something. But it’s
also used in a figurative sense not unlike what Jesus says here. That they were unable to bear
it. They couldn’t literally lift up spiritual truth. He’s using
it in a figurative sense and it’s used that way in scripture
as well. Luke 14, 27, whoever does not carry his own cross.
Now, God never tells us to pick up our own physical cross. There he’s talking about the
trials, the challenges, the particular troubles that we have in this
life because of our Christianity. It’s used in Acts 15 as well. Galatians, bear one another’s
burdens. He isn’t telling us to physically,
unless there is a physical project, what he’s telling us is to pray
for one another, to encourage one another, to be concerned
about one another, to come alongside one another, and if need be,
to physically lift up and bear one another’s burdens. The same
idea of this inability to bear spiritual truth is conveyed in
other terms in Scripture, 1 Corinthians 3. In 1 Corinthians, Paul is
writing to this fledgling and really troubled church, and he
says, brethren, I could not speak to you as spiritual men, but
as men of flesh, as to infants in Christ. This was a rebuke
Admittedly, a rather sharp rebuke. He says, you’re like so many
babies, I can’t even give you what you really need. Then in
verse two, he says, I gave you milk to drink, not solid food,
for you were not able to receive it. You couldn’t bear it. He
says essentially the same thing, the writer of the Hebrews in
chapter five of Hebrews. Concerning him we have much to
say it’s hard to explain since you become dull of hearing and
he goes on to say You just can’t handle it You can’t bear the
truth Why were these Chosen apostles, why did Jesus consider that these? We’re not ready we’re not able
Why were they not able to bear the truth well I? We know for
one thing that pride was in their midst, even in this very context. Jesus, you remember, at the very
outset of this upper room discourse, he washes their feet to rebuke
their pride. Jesus knew all about their pride
because in that same context, there was an argument, a dispute,
about which one of them would be the greatest. Pride was in
their way, so much so that they couldn’t receive any more spiritual
truth. Bewilderment. Not only pride,
but bewilderment. They were utterly confused. They
were beside themselves. They didn’t know what to do with
what Jesus had already shared with them. In John 13, Simon had asked, where are you
going? Remember, it issued forth that
series of questions. Where and when and how and why? They were utterly bewildered
as to the program of God with regard to Christ. Not only pride
and bewilderment, but sorrow. Sorrow. Remember, I mean, even
in the passage we just read, I’m going to Him who sent me,
and none of you asked me, where are you going? John 16, 5. But
because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your
heart. They’re proud men, they’re confused
men, they’re sad men, and they are men who within hours will
abandon Christ. John 16, 32. Later on in this same section,
Jesus tells them straight out. Behold, an hour is coming and
has already come for you to be scattered, each one to his own
home and to leave me alone. Matthew 26 recounts the same
thing as it’s happening. Jesus said you will all fall
away from me this night for it is written I will strike down
the shepherd and the sheep of this flock shall be scattered
So when you take that into view that here are these proud bewildered
sad men who are ready to abandon Christ we can understand when
Jesus says I have many more things to say to you But you can’t bear
them There’s no way that you could even contain them, much
less pick them up and carry them away and make anything effective
out of them. No wonder in ministry, we oftentimes are tasked with
the same thing of proclaiming truth. And yet we’re faced with
the same challenge in ministry, aren’t we? Even believers, even solid believers
are at times not able to digest, not able to take in, not able
to make sense of even basic teachings. Paul told Timothy, preach the
word, be ready in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke,
exhort with great patience and instruction. They’re not always
going to get it the first time. They’re not always going to be
able to grasp it. Pride will be in the way. Sorrow
will be in the way. Confusion will be in the way.
Even a lack of faith that’s ready to cash it in will be in the
way. And so we teach as people are
able to bear. I’ve always attributed this quote
to Whitefield, and I recently discovered it’s not Whitefield
who said it. Whitefield was quoting John Bradford. John Bradford
said this. Let a man go to the grammar school
of faith and repentance. Do you hear what he said? He
pictures faith and repentance, the basics of Christianity, as
the grammar school, the grade school. Kindergarten through
five, right? Let a man go to the grammar school
of faith and repentance before he goes to the university of
election and predestination. Here you have the same, you have
the same illustration within blocks of one another. There’s
a grade school within a half a mile of here, and there’s a
university. And he says, why would you go
to one when you really belong at the other? We don’t send fourth
graders to the university. There’s an inability to bear
spiritual truth at times. And when you think of the disciples,
just the idea of Jesus leaving was too much for them to bear,
let alone the fact that he was going to die on a cross, that
he was going to suffer, that it was going to be an inglorious
end. So the disciples, as they drew near to the cross,
Jesus knew that it was going to take some time, that he was
going to have to show patience to these men and to bear with
them because they just didn’t have the spiritual capacity to
lay hold of those things. Especially because of the fact
that they were not yet indwelled by the Holy Spirit. The whole
idea of the passion. was going to unfold before their
eyes. And at the moment, they would
not grasp it. Remember, they all would scatter.
And days later, even at the report that Jesus had risen, they were
slow to respond and even slower to believe in a risen Christ. And it would take months. It would take months for them
to begin to put together the idea of the resurrection, the
idea of the gospel, the idea of a substitutionary atonement. All of those things would come
in time and they would be the ones to teach them. That’s what’s
remarkable. But at this moment, at this moment,
they simply cannot take in any more truth. And Jesus knows it.
He knows their hearts. So Jesus points out that they were spiritually unable. And what we glean from that is
that the entirety of the Christian message is not contained in the
synoptic gospels, not even in all four of the gospels. That’s
what makes it beautiful, and we’ll see in a moment how divine
truth was slowly imparted, brick upon brick, line upon line, truth
upon truth, but not all at once. And so Jesus begins to tell them. that whereas the Holy Spirit’s
ministry was a ministry of conviction to the world, John 5 through
11, the Holy Spirit’s ministry to the church is one of revelation. Revelation. First of all, we
see that the Holy Spirit’s mission to the church is to explore Christ’s
redemption. I picked that word intentionally
and I’ll explain more in a moment, but it is as a guide going to
explore with a tag-along bunch. He’s not exploring for the first
time, but every visit to a particular place is a fresh opportunity
each time one visits. Look at verse 13. The Holy Spirit’s
ministry to the church is to explore Christ’s redemption. 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. This is a new thought that Jesus
is giving them regarding this paraklete, regarding this helper
that he had told them. He had told them that the Holy
Spirit would come as kind of the vindicator of Christ, the
helper of Christ. He would bear Christ’s witness
in chapter 15 verse 26. That as we just saw, he would
be the one convicting the world when these messages of the gospel
go forth. Conviction of sin and righteousness
and judgment. But here it’s a whole new role
that is attributed to the Holy Spirit. And it says that when
the Spirit of truth comes, which means quite clearly that he is
not present at this moment. He certainly doesn’t indwell
these men. But when he comes, and what a
thrilling moment this is going to be, not only for the church,
but for these men individually. God is going to infuse them.
God is going to indwell them. God is going to enlighten them
for usefulness they could not have even imagined. Look at what it says. When he,
the spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth. I have a friend who went hunting
some time ago. And even though he’s gone on
many hunts, he didn’t know where exactly to find a bighorn sheep. And so he secured a guide. Now, the guide could have said,
if you just go up over this couple of hills, there should be a sheep
over there. That’s not what a guide does. A guide leads the way. A guide
takes you to the place. A guide leads you to the particular
site. The word is used in exactly this
fashion. You know it. Matthew 15, blind
guides of the blind. If a blind man guides a blind
man, both will fall into the pit. You need a good guide. You
need a capable guide. You need a trained guide. What he does here, does Christ,
is to present the Holy Spirit in this illustration, this image,
if you will, of a guide, taking travelers through an unknown
country. He could give them a map. He
could point them the way. Jesus could have done that. Jesus
could have said, things are going to unfold just fine. Each of
you is going to have the opportunity to contribute, some through your
preaching, some through your writing. One of you is going
to lead an Ethiopian unit to Christ in the near future here. One of you is going to come across
a guy who is a persecutor of the church and you’re going to
lead him to faith in Christ and he’s going to become the greatest
pastor the church will ever know. Jesus could have done that, but
instead he promises them a guide. A guide that’s going to take
them like a trained expert takes a group through unknown territory. And in this case, spiritual wilderness. The spirit of truth was going
to take these very men, these 11. He was going to take them
and mold them and shape them and infuse them and use them
for the purpose of the church, little by little, just as they
had the capabilities that God had provided them, God was going
to take them and use them for the sake of the church. How did that happen? Well, if you look, first of all,
if you back up, back all the way up to satellite level and
look down on the history of the church, the first thing that
God began to do through these very men is to inaugurate and
then begin to spread the church. First, there as the opening pages
of Acts Tell us that the Holy Spirit was given they they were
indwelled by the Holy Spirit they began to realize capabilities
capabilities to preach capabilities to lead even capabilities to
write that they hadn’t ever even dreamed of The church was started
And the church began to flourish. We’ll see more in a moment about
the particular writings of the New Testament, but the completion
next, not only of the inauguration of the church, but the completion
of the writing of the New Testament. And then, having written the
New Testament, the process of canonization, the process of
recognizing which of these writings were legitimate and which weren’t.
The Bible didn’t float down to earth in a parachute. It was
written. It was written by men. Men infused
by the Holy Spirit. Indwelled by the Holy Spirit. Guided into all truth by the
Holy Spirit. And little by little, Those books
that were absolutely inspired by the living God, they were
recognized. The church didn’t bestow authority
on those books. They were recognized as having
God-given authority. But it was a sluggish process.
And the Holy Spirit was attending the entire way. Do you realize
that it wasn’t until A.D. 70 that there was even a collection
of books, 22 in all, 22 of our 27, that was even identified
as possibly part of the New Testament? In A.D. 303, there was an affirmation
of our 27 books of the New Testament, but do you know that it wasn’t
until the Council of Carthage in A.D. 397, that the entire
27 New Testament books were recognized. The Holy Spirit was attending
to it all. The Holy Spirit was attending when those first books
were written even as early as A.D. 52. So for almost 400 years,
the Holy Spirit was attending it all, guiding them into all
truth. Where else was the Holy Spirit?
What else was the Holy Spirit doing other than starting the
church and spreading the church and giving the church her body
of writings? There’s a little hymn that we
sing from time to time. The church is one foundation. Remember it? The third verse
says this. Though with a scornful wonder
men see her sore oppressed, by schisms rent asunder, by heresies
distressed. Yet, saints their watch are keeping,
their cry goes up, how long? And soon the night of weeping.
shall be the morn of song. The Holy Spirit has been in and
with guiding the church into all truth for centuries, for
2,000 years. You want to talk about being
sore oppressed? The church, the early church,
recounts at least 10 significant major persecutions of the church. Nero in 64 AD, that’s early church. It broke out very early and it
continued for 300 years. Domitian, Trajan, Hadrian, Marcus,
Severus, Maximus, Decius, all of them pouring out their hatred
upon the church. And yet the Holy Spirit superintended
and stewarded them through and preserved the remnant, preserved
the church and her writings. Not only did the Holy Spirit
preserve them through great difficulties, these persecutions, the Holy
Spirit superintended and guided them through doctrinal heresies
even to this day. Gnosticism right out of the chute
the church is having to deal with this idea of Gnosticism
that all matter is evil So our bodies are evil and food is evil
And so there came from them the very similar ascetics who wanted
to abuse the body and mistreat the body and There was another group called
the Montanists, not those from Montana. The Montanists, the
way I would describe them is just quirky, but they were troublesome
to the church. They had some good beliefs and
they had some really wacky beliefs. Arianism, the attack on the doctrine
of the Trinity. Apollinarianism, an attack on
Christology, the doctrine of Christ. Then came along the Pelagian
controversy, the idea that man is basically good. And all we
need to do is nurse the goodness out of man. And the Holy Spirit
attended to all of these. And the Holy Spirit raised up
men who dug into the scriptures, the God-given scriptures, and
shepherded them through these dark seasons. and doctrinal controversies
are not dead, they continue to this day, don’t they? Schisms,
splits, the Reformation, all of it, the Holy Spirit was guiding
them and guiding them into all the truth, spiritual truth. It was the truth about Christ
and the truth about the gospel, which is constantly under attack,
even in our own day. Correct? This isn’t talking about a gradual
release of scientific truth. Some understanding of geography,
the ability to chart and map the entire globe. That’s not
what it’s talking about at all. The guidance that’s spoken of
here is spiritual guidance. It’s God-given assistance to
the church. One pastor said it this way.
It is a promise belonging to the whole church in every age. It is that special office of
teaching by which the Holy Spirit illuminates, guides, and informs
the understandings of all believers. The minds of Christians are taught
and enlightened in a manner wonderful to themselves as well as others.
In other words, he says, other people can see it. As you lay
hold of truth, they see it. Enlightenment, he concludes,
is the gift of the Holy Spirit and the first step of salvation. You know that, right? He says, in essence, that primarily
this is talking about what we spoke about a moment ago, the
New Testament writings given by the Holy Spirit. But it’s
also, if you back away from it, it is our God-given ability to
understand those writings. I don’t have time to have you
turn there. Just listen. 1 Corinthians 2, right? To us, God revealed them through
the Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things,
even the depths of God. Do you realize that as a Christian,
if you’ve placed your faith in Christ, the Holy Spirit is dwelling
within you. You are given a God-given ability
to understand the depths of God. the deep things of God. For who
among men, Paul says, knows the thoughts of a man except the
spirit of a man who is in him? Even so, the thoughts of God
no one knows except the spirit of God. Now, we have received
not the spirit of the world, but the spirit who is from God,
so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which
things also we speak. Not in human words, not in words
taught by human wisdom, but those taught by the Spirit, combining
spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. But listen to this. But a natural man? And by that
he means a man who has not come to Christ, who has not placed
his faith in Christ, who is not attended and aided by the Spirit
of God, a natural man? does not accept the things of
the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him. And he cannot
understand them because they are spiritually appraised. But the one who is spiritual
appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. He says that the Holy Spirit
dwelling within the believer enlightens his understanding
of the Word of God. And what he points to, then,
is the entire body of redemptive revelation. We have the ability
to understand the New Testament. We have the ability to take up
the Bible and to see God’s plan of redemption from beginning
to end, from cover to cover. The Holy Spirit will guide men
into all truth. He will teach us and lead us
and guide us Look again at verse 13. 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. Now
the Holy Spirit, let’s be real here. He doesn’t have ears. It’s not as if he needed to sit
in on a meeting and have this unfolded to him. This is essentially
the same lesson that Christ over and over again reiterated, not
just to his friends, but even to his detractors. Listen, just
a quick review. John 5, listen. In John 5, 19,
the son can do nothing of himself unless it is something he sees
the father doing. For whatever the father does,
these things the son does in like manner. We are so aligned
that I can’t even move without the father. I wouldn’t if I could,
but I can’t. John 7, my teaching is not mine,
but his who sent me. It’s not that Jesus didn’t have
a mind. He didn’t have a mind of his
own. He didn’t have a mind to operate independently of his
father. John 8, the things which I heard
from him, these I speak to the world. I am so in tune with my
father that his message is my message. John 12, I did not speak
on my own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent me has
given me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak.
John 14, the words that I say, I do not speak on my own initiative,
but the Father abiding in me does His works. It’s almost as
if Christ says, I’m a conduit, and the Father and His words,
His thoughts are working through me. One more that we just came
across several weeks ago, all things that I have heard from
my father, I have made known to you, John 15, 15. So the spirit likewise always
acts in perfect harmony, not only with the father, but with
the son. They are all on the same precise page. The Holy Spirit’s leading is
always going to be consistent with the word that he has already
revealed. The Holy Spirit inspired the
scriptures, and he’s not going to run contrary to that, is essentially
what Jesus says here. This is This is almost a stamp
of approval, a stamp of guarantee on the Holy Spirit’s teaching.
He’s going to take God’s word. He’s not going to bring something
drastically and radically new. He’s going to lead men, walk
them through, and he’s going to use the teaching, the word
that he’s already imparted to the church. that just as the Father and the
Son are one in essence, likewise the Holy Spirit. Back, if you
would, to verse 13. But when He, you can’t bear these
things right now, 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.” In other words, the Holy Spirit
is going to uncover, he’s going to reveal, he’s going to impart
an understanding of things that up to this point they did not
have. This idea of reporting, declaring
what is to come. This is the work of the helper.
This is the work of the called alongside one, the paraclete.
And what it points to ultimately is the New Testament in its entirety. What it points to is what he
would reveal to these very disciples and through these very disciples. One pastor characterized it in
these terms. The New Testament encompasses
the entire sweep of history. From Pentecost to the eternal
state. As well as containing everything
pertaining to life and godliness. And so the Holy Spirit comes
along attending and revealing these things to the church all
in time. So that as we back away and look
at it, when it says that he will disclose to you what is to come,
he’s talking about the New Testament. He’s primarily talking about
the New Testament. We’ve already said that the Holy
Spirit is going to be indwelling and imparting to each believer
an understanding of those things. But I want you to take a moment
and think through with me. And I want you to realize that
the Apostle Paul isn’t even at this moment saved. Remember, he’s still cranking
up his persecution machine on the church. And so as Jesus looks
around, I mean, can you imagine what he has to work with? Can
you imagine him looking to Peter and saying, Peter, oh Peter,
When you get done with your idea of this fishing trip, would you
begin to take some notes on an epistle I’d like you to write?
I mean, can you imagine such? John. Let’s cross our fingers. Let’s be hopeful about John.
John, I want you to write a book about revelation and the end
times and lampstands and lambs and, hang on John, nevermind,
let’s put that project on hold. He’s talking to men that were
spiritual babies. But watch what happens. He gets
a hold of a man named Paul, brings him to faith, says, I will show
him how much he will suffer for my name’s sake, and then he puts
him to use. And in AD 51, most likely, the
very first epistle is written to the Thessalonians by Paul. This previously unknown, untaught heathen. that didn’t even submit
himself. He didn’t even submit himself
to go meet with Peter. God took him away privately and
instructed him. And so he writes this little
epistle to the Thessalonians. Do you know what his first message
is? Divine election. Chapter 1, 1 Thessalonians. Divine election. And then he
unfolds to them the way that the gospel worked in them and
among them. And the symbiotic cooperation
of the servants of the gospel and the churches that they serve.
an aggressive perspective on sanctification that we can’t
just sit and wait for our sanctification to come to us. We have to be
aggressive about our holiness. And then, inevitably, but right
off the bat, he addresses the end times. And then, as is almost
the case with every single epistle, he addresses life in the church
that had never been addressed. When the Holy Spirit says that
he will disclose to them what is to come, when Jesus says the
helper will tell you what you need to know, that’s exactly
what he’s talking about. And then Paul writes another
letter later that same year to the Thessalonians again to tell
them about persecution. How important was that for them
to know? And eschatology again because there were some that
thought the day of the Lord had already happened and that they
had been left behind. Cooperative prayer, more church
life, particularly to be watchful among the lazy in their midst,
those who would not work. Then he writes a letter to the
Corinthians, and another one to the Corinthians, and to the
Galatians, and to Romans. Sin, salvation, sanctification,
sovereignty, service. We said it was a simplistic outline
when we looked at Romans. It is simplistic, but it’s accurate.
Never before had they understood that the Jews were likewise sinners,
just like the heathens. They too needed Christ. They
too needed justification by faith. All of these things the Holy
Spirit was absolutely committed to unfold to them in time. And
He did. Paul would write many more letters
as we know. And so would Peter. And so would
John, and so would others that we don’t even know. And then
finally the Gospels came as kind of a capstone to the entire New
Testament, ultimately ending with the book of Revelation itself. When we are told that the Holy
Spirit’s mission to the church is to explore Christ’s redemption. It is to take us on this incredible
journey into uncharted territory called the New Testament. Where
the Holy Spirit is going to attend and enlighten and encourage. But that’s not the end of the
Holy Spirit’s ministry. Look at verse 14. Not only is
the Holy Spirit’s mission to the church To explore Christ’s
redemption, it is to exalt Christ’s person. Look at verse 14. He will glorify me. He, that is the helper, the spirit
of truth, the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, will glorify me, that
is Jesus Christ. He’s going to teach, He’s going
to lead, but He’s going to always point people to make much of
the Savior, Jesus Christ, to exalt His majesty, to uncover
and unfold and enhance His character in His work. It’s the virtues,
the character, the nature of Christ, and not to Himself. That’s the Holy Spirit’s ministry. One faithful shepherd said it
this way, like a spotlight which brings some object into brilliant
relief against the blackness surrounding night, but which
calls no attention to itself. The Spirit’s chief mission is
to make men conscious of Christ rather than of himself. That’s what Jesus said in John
14, isn’t it? The Helper, the Holy Spirit,
whom the Father will send in my name. He will teach you all
things. He will exalt Christ. He will
lift up Christ. As one pastor said, any religious
teaching which does not tend to exalt Christ has a fatal defect
about it. It cannot be from the Spirit.
And so any of these ministries where it’s Christ plus or Christ
without, anything that presents or suggests
that it’s led by the Holy Spirit of God and focuses on anything
but Christ is not the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Thirdly, the Holy Spirit’s mission
to the church is not only to explore Christ’s redemption and
to exalt Christ’s person, but he is to express Christ’s teaching. All three of these essentially
make the same point. This is the perpetual claim of
Christ throughout John’s gospel, isn’t it? That all authority
had been given to him. All authority had been given
into his hands. All divine attributes were Christ’s. John 17, 10, all things that
are mine are yours and yours are mine. There is a one-to-one
relationship with he and the Father. Colossians 119, it was
the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in
Him. There is a unity between Christ
and the Father. There is a unity between the
Holy Spirit and Christ. They do not act independently
of one another. They are not independent of one
another. All things that the Father has
are mine. Therefore, I said that he takes
of mine and will disclose it to you. Do you realize that’s
the third time in this little section he said that? The Holy
Spirit is going to disclose. The Holy Spirit is going to reveal. The whole purpose of the Holy
Spirit was to come and to open men’s eyes to the teachings of
Christ, to the redemption of Christ, to the glory of Christ. The Holy Spirit draws on the
information that is readily available to him and to him alone. It’s
the divine mind. And what he brings to sinners
is the truth about Jesus Christ. the instructions about Christ,
the redemption, the forgiveness that is in Christ and Christ
alone. Jesus says, not only does the
Holy Spirit have an incredible ministry to the world, a ministry
of conviction, bringing men to an awareness of sin and righteousness
and judgment, but the Holy Spirit has a ministry in the life of
the church as well. not only in the church greater
and collectively, but in the lives of the individual believers. Enhancing Christ’s teaching,
revealing Christ’s glory, and promoting Christ’s redemption. Would you examine your hearts
before Him? O Lord God, we do humble ourselves
before you and thank you so much as we step back and look over
the history of this world and to see what you have provided. That you have provided the Old
Testament that laid the foundation, that in time you provided mere
men, that mere men who had walked with you for many seasons, mere
men that were infused with the very Spirit of God that imparted
the deep things of the mind of God for our very purpose. Lord God, let us rejoice over
your word. Let us rejoice over your great
plan of redemption. And let us rejoice that Jesus
Christ alone is glorified. Lord God, we humble ourselves
before you and we thank you for your word. It’s in Jesus’ name
that we pray, amen.