STUDIES IN THE GOSPEL OF JOHN- PART 87

                           August 5, 2007

 

Chapter 16, verses 13-15- When Jesus speaks of how the Holy Spirit will

“guide you into all truth”, it is likely He is specifically referring to the work

of divine inspiration of scripture that the apostles (and their associates) will

produce in the years to come.  Then, in a general way, we acknowledge that the Spirit guides all who seek truth to see Christ as Messiah (see 7:17).

  Jesus alludes to the interaction of the Trinity with the remark- “He will not speak on his own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak”.  Then in vs.14 note “for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you”

as well as vs.15-“that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.”—

these emphatic repetitions are intended to make clear that the One who is to come has an intimate relationship and knowledge of the Lord Jesus, so that He

gives out information that He has received from Christ.  Not a single item of truth is lost or forfeited by the absence of the Lord Jesus.  Jesus makes clear that the Spirit is just as capable a teacher as He Himself is!

  The remark in vs.13- “He will tell you things to come”- this refers to the body of prophetic  material given to the apostles (and their associates) involving

such as:  

1) decay of the professing church –Acts 20:29-30; I Tim.4:1-2; II Timothy 4:3-4;  

    II Pet.2:1-2; conditions of 7 churches in Rev.2-3 showing decay & apostasy

2) rapture of the true church- Phil. 3:20-21;  Col. 3:4; I Thess.1:10, 2:19, 3:13,

   4:13-18, 5:4, 5:23; II Thess. 1:10, 2:1-2; Titus 2:13;

3) Examination of believers at Judgment Seat of Christ- Rom.14:10-12;

    I Cor.3:11-15; II Cor.5:10-11; II Tim.4:8

4) Fulfillment of Daniel’s 70^th week (7 yrs)- Rev. chapters 6-19; 

5) Conversion of national Israel- Rom.11:25-27, Rev. 7:1-8, 12:13-17, 14:1

6) Second Advent of Christ to earth- II Thess.2:3-8; II Pet. 3:3-10; Rev.19:11

7) the 1000 yr. reign of Christ- Rev.20:1-6 

8) Doom of the Antichrist and his system- Rev. 20:7-10

9) Doom of the unsaved dead- Rev.20:11-15

10) Establishment of New Heaven & New Earth- Rev.21-22

   Given this body of prophetic material yet to be revealed, Jesus is aware of the grave importance of this One that will “tell you things to come”.

In vs.14, Jesus makes reference to “He will glorify Me”—the primary focus

of the work of the Holy Spirit is to bring honor to Jesus Christ by affirming the magnitude of the words and work of Jesus.  This may be observed simply by  reading through the NT documents.  Their focus is on the importance of the person and work of Christ, while showing why He is important through supporting data.   The result is a greater love and attraction by believers to

the Lord Jesus Christ in the form of worship and obedience.

  

 

 

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  Since evangelism of the unsaved is the ongoing work of the church era,

the Spirit of God also continually affirms and supports Jesus Christ as the solution and remedy to man’s problem of sin.  Such work is global and is accomplished through the omnipresence of the Holy Spirit.  In reaching the unsaved, the Holy Spirit does many things:

1) speaks to me through the general revelation of nature- Psa.19

2) makes aware of the presence of a Creator- Rom.1

3) imparts a sense of sin and ungodliness- Rom.2 & John 16

4) illuminates the gospel of Christ as means to freedom- II Cor.4:4

5) regenerates those who believe on Christ- John 3

  In vs.15, Jesus again shows His intimacy with the Father by saying, “all things that the Father has are Mine”- the possessions of the Father are also

possessions of the Son.  This is another item in the list of that which is mutually shared between Father & Son.