Introduction:
We’re in Week Two of our seven-week series on the Doctrine of the Holy Spirit. And last week we looked especially at the Person of the Holy Spirit. We said that he is fully divine and shares in all the attributes and the glories of the Godhead. We stated our agreement with the Nicene Creed, which says,
“We believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified.”
And as we look at John 16 this morning, we want to see that the Holy Spirit has one very specific role (among other many other roles) within redemption, which is to make much of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ who seeks to glorify Christ in the hearts of his people. How does he do that? We can see from John 16 that the Spirit Guides, the Spirit Declares, the Spirit Glorifies.
I. The Spirit Guides
In the context, Jesus is reassuring his disciples that once he has suffered for the sins of his people, once he’s been buried and raised from the dead, and once he’s ascended up on high to the right hand of the Father, the Holy Spirit is going to come. V. 7 is so counter-intuitive to our minds: “Nevertheless, 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.”
That Helper, the Spirit of truth (v. 13), will come. Now, that’s not to say that the Spirit was inactive throughout redemptive history. Rather, it’s to say that when Jesus ascends, the Spirit of God will assume a more central role in guiding Jesus’s disciples. Well, look at least two ways in which the Spirit guides these disciples:
First, he will guide their understanding. Jesus says, “He will guide you into all the truth.” These disciples are going to be given specific leading and guidance by the Spirit. He’s going to guide their understanding of truth.
Second, notice he will guide them into all the truth. When Jesus says the Spirit is going to guide the disciples into all the truth, he’s not talking about subjective guidance. One commentator says, “The notion of guidance in all truth has nothing to do with privileged information pertaining to one’s choice of vocation or [a spouse].”[1] The truth into which the Spirit will guide the disciples is all the implications of divine truth, the revelation, intrinsically bound up with Jesus Christ.[2] He’s going to guide them to the full revelation of Jesus Christ, who is the image of the invisible God.
You have to understand that what Jesus is promising here is the precursor to the apostles writing Scripture. Jesus is going away, he promises them the Spirit, the Spirit is going to so guide their understanding so that when Matthew writes Matthew or John writes John, the Holy Spirit is going to guide their understanding, and he’s going to make everything in their books all about Jesus. How do we know that? Well, not just because in v. 14 Jesus says, “He will glorify me.” But because of what Jesus called himself back in chapter 14: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” So when Jesus promises to his disciples that the Spirit will guide them into all truth, he’s promising that the Spirit will guide them into all the implications of divine revelation, bound up in the person and work of the Son of God.
Friends, do you realize what you’re holding in your hand this morning? Your Bible is the fulfillment of the promise Jesus made in John 16. It is the result of the Helper, the Spirit of Truth, guiding the apostles’ understanding, and thus our understanding, of God’s self-disclosure in the person and work of Jesus Christ.
Second, the Spirit Declares.
II. The Spirit Declares
Look at what Jesus says next: “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.” Notice a couple of things here:
First, notice that the Spirit declares what he has heard. When Jesus says that the Spirit will not speak on his own authority, he’s making a similar claim that he made of himself in John 5:19, “Truly truly I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.” Jesus is saying that he’s not a competing deity with the Father. And so likewise the Spirit, is not competing with the Father and the Son, but will ensure the unity of God in divine revelation.
Second, notice what the Spirit declares: “He will declare to you the things that are to come.” The things that are to come is simply the death, burial, and resurrection of the Son of God, the triumphant inbreaking of the kingdom of God into this present age as a result. The Spirit is going to declare these things to the apostles, as he guides them into all the truth. As he guides the apostles in their writings, as he guides their understanding of the gospel and its implications, he’s going to declare to them again and again and again the central event in the storyline of redemption, the Death, Burial, Resurrection and Inaugurated Rule of Jesus Christ. Again, the ministry of the Holy Spirit is all about the person and work of Jesus Christ.
The Spirit guides us to the gospel and the Spirit declares to us the gospel. What is the gospel? Well, the gospel is all about God and his glory. By the word of his power, God created all that exists. And every time God made something, he called it good. I love how the Jesus Story Book Bible tells it, “God saw all that he had made, and he loved them; and they were lovely because he loved them.” All the universe was in perfect harmony with its Creator. Until sin entered world through Adam. Through Adam’s rebellion against God, sin entered this world and we are all under a curse because of it. The Bible says that we all fell in Adam, and because of this all mankind is at war with God. And because God is holy and just and righteous, he cannot let sin go unpunished. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, sent his Son who willingly came to become our sinless substitute for our sins. God’s perfect Son, Jesus Christ, lived a life of perfect obedience, in perfect conformity to God’s perfect standards. He died on the cross in our place, and by dying in our place he satisfied God’s wrath against sin once and for all. He was buried and was raised again by the power of God. He did all this for anyone who would place their faith in him and repent of their sins.
This is the gospel that the Spirit guided the apostles to and declared to them. And this is the gospel that the Spirit is guiding us to and declaring to us again and again and again. Why? Because we’re sinners, and being sinners we are so prone to trusting ourselves, our own merit, our own goodness, our dedication to religion – we rely on all of that to make us acceptable before God and to “get us into heaven.” But do you know what all your goodness and all your own righteousness amounts to? I’ll tell you: A hill of dung. It’s worth less than nothing. The only thing that makes you acceptable to God is not your faithfulness, not your obedience, not your merit, not what you’ve earned in this life. What makes you acceptable to God is the righteousness of Christ applied to you by faith alone. There is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. And the ministry of the Spirit is to strip you of your self-righteousness, the damning notion that you can earn God’s love or merit God’s love, and to apply the favor of God in Christ to your soul.
That’s what the Spirit declares.
III. The Spirit Glorifies
Jesus himself tells us that the central aim of the ministry of the Holy Spirit is the glorification of the Son. Look at v. 14: “He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” In other words, the ministry of the Holy Spirit is to make much Jesus Christ.
Pretend you walk into a cathedral built by an architect that is known for lining the perimeter of his cathedrals with beautiful stain-glass windows. And to highlight the beauty of these stain glass windows, up in the ceiling he’s placed spotlights that shine down on these windows to expose full spectrum of colors contained in them. And let’s pretend that as you walk in, you hear someone say, “Man, that’s the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen. I just love those spotlights.” And the reason why you would look cross-eyed at that person is because they are completely misunderstanding the plan of the architect. The mission of the spotlight is not to shine on itself but to expose the beauty of what is before it. The ministry of Holy Spirit is not to shine a light on himself, but on Christ, who is the expressed image of the Godhead and the exact imprint of his nature. It is the glory of the Holy Spirit to give glory to the Son, who is our access to the Father.
So, the Spirit glorifies the Son. How does he do this? Let me give you four ways:
First, as we’ve already seen, the Holy Spirit glorifies the Son in Scripture. Scripture, as the Apostle Peter tells us, was not produced by the will of man, “but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” And the entirety of the Bible is the disclosing of what Paul calls the mystery of Christ – “the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints” (Col. 1:26).
Second, Holy Spirit glorified the Son in his humiliation. The Bible tells us that the Spirit came upon Mary as a virgin and created out of her substance the human nature of Christ. Christ in his divine nature still assumed to himself his human nature (Phil. 2), but it was the Spirit who created from Mary’s substance the human nature of Christ. John 3 tells us that Jesus received the Spirit without measure. All the miraculous and glorious works Jesus did in his earthly ministry he did by the power and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Whether he preached, or performed miracles, or offering up himself on the cross, Christ did all these things in the power of the Holy Spirit, and thus it was by the power of the Holy Spirit that Christ, according to his human nature, displayed his own glory on earth.
Third, the Holy Spirit glorified the Son in his exaltation. According to Romans 8:11, it was the Holy Spirit (along with the Father and the Son) who raised Christ from the dead, and it was the Spirit who transformed and glorified Christ’s earthly body at his resurrection.
Fourth, and most significantly, the Holy Spirit glorified the Son as the firstfruits of redemption. The Holy Spirit’s work in the hearts of men, from the moment of regeneration to the day of resurrection, is entirely dependent upon Christ’s enthronement and intercession as the triumphant prophet, priest, and king. If Christ had not had faith, his people would remain in unbelief; if Christ had not been vindicated by the Spirit (I Tim. 3:16), adopted (Ps. 2:7; Rom. 1:4), sanctified (Rom. 6:9-10; John 17:19), and glorified (I Cor. 15:35-49), none of his elect would receive these blessings. The Holy Spirit causes these blessings of redemption to fall upon the church only because he first caused them to fall upon Christ.
Therefore, whatever is true of Christ’s people must first be true of Christ himself.[3]
Now, lest we think that’s just abstract theology, lest we think that’s just useful information for our next theology exam, let me show you why this is so precious a truth for our souls.
Since whatever is true of Christ is also true of his church, you have every reason to rejoice. Let me tell you why:
Are you discouraged? Jesus was discouraged. And the Spirit who indwelt him who brought him through all his discouragements also indwells you. And he will bring you through your discouragements.
Are you tempted by sin? Jesus was tempted, yet without sin. How do you think he resisted that temptation? The Holy Spirit, who was the power of Christ’s ability to resist temptation, can also bring you through of yours as well.
Do you have trials and hardships? Jesus had them too. And the same Spirit who brought him through every one of those trials and hardships is the same Spirit indwelling you.
Believer, *Are you tired? Are you weak? Have you been mocked? Have you been misunderstood? Are you lonely? Are you sad? Has your reputation been slandered? Are decisions weighing heavily on you?
Do you need guidance? Do you need comfort? Do you need to be upheld because you’re constantly confronted with your weakness? Do you need strength?
The Holy Spirit guided, comforted, upheld, and strengthened Christ in his ministry, temptations, obedience, and sufferings. Now, do you think he’ll do any less for those for whom Christ shed his own blood? Do you think he’ll do any less for those who are united to that Christ?
You see, whatever is true of Christ is also true of his church, because his church is united to him.
And speaking of our union with Christ, the Puritans, more than anyone else, explored this aspect of our union with Christ as it relates to the Holy Spirit. They used to say that the Holy Spirit has become the bond of union between the believer and Jesus Christ, so that you can now relate to the Father through Jesus Christ. In other words, the agent of your union with Christ is the Spirit. Believer, that is immensely comforting, and here’s why:
Because of the Spirit, you are united to Christ. And because you are united to Christ, how the Father sees you is in Christ. That means no matter what you’ve done, the Father sees you as he sees Christ. No matter how bad you think you are, the Father sees you as he sees Christ. No matter how unforgiveable you think you are, that’s not how the Father sees you. Because the Spirit is the bond of union between you and Christ, the Father looks upon you and is pleased with you because it’s as though he is looking upon his beloved Son.
“But I didn’t pray enough this week!” Because of the Spirit, the Father sees you in Christ.
“But I messed up really badly this week!” Because of the Spirit, the Father sees you in Christ.
“But I fell into that same old sin that I swore I wouldn’t do again.” Because of the Spirit, the Father sees you in Christ.
“But I don’t feel like God hears my prayers.” Because of the Spirit, the Father sees you in Christ; and when you pray, because of the Spirit, the Father hears Christ pray. And he always listens to his Son.
“He will glorify me,” says Jesus. Has he not done so? And isn’t Christ glorious?
[1] Carson, The Gospel of John, 540.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Joel Beeke, A Puritan Theology, 423-24. Isaac Ambrose writes, “In Christ there is a compound of all the graces of the Spirit…. He received the Spirit [beyond] measure; there was in him as much as possibly could be in a creature, and more than in all other creatures whatsoever.”
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