Let us turn once again to God's
Word and we turn to the end of that portion that we were reading
in John chapter 15 and directing your attention now to verse 26
John 15 26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto
you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth which proceedeth
from the Father, he shall testify of me. And I want us to consider
then what is stated here concerning the coming of the Holy Ghost,
the coming of the Holy Ghost, but when the Comforter is come. Now in the context previously
we see how the John has actually been speaking very much of the
hatred of the world. At verse 18, if the world hates
you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were
of the world, the world would love its own, but because you
are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world,
therefore the world hateth you. And then again at verse 23, He
that hateth me, hateth my Father also. If I had not done among
them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin. But now they have both seen and
hated both me and my Father. For this cometh to pass, that
the world might be fulfilled that is written in their law,
They hated me, without a cause, but, and how significant is that
little word at the beginning of our text, but, when the Comforter
is come. Throughout this day, this Gospel
day, this day of grace, there will run these two things concurrently. There will be the hatred of the
world manifested towards the people of God, But at the same
time there will be that gracious help that comes by the ministry
of the Holy Ghost. These two things, they stand
together. If she be reproached for the
sake of the Lord Jesus Christ, Peter says, happy are you. for the Spirit of Glory and the
Spirit of God resteth upon you. On their part He is evil spoken
of, but on your part He is glorified. or the ministry of the Holy Ghost. It's very much the subject matter
that the Lord is speaking of in these discourses through chapters
14 and 15 and 16. He speaks of going away, the
necessity of that going away, for if you go not away, the Holy
Ghost will not come. And so that's the subject matter
really that I want to try to address with the Lord's help
this morning. The coming of the Holy Ghost. But when the Comforter is come,
whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of
truth which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me. dividing what I say into two
principal parts. First of all, to say something
of his name, that name that the Lord is giving to the Holy Ghost
here. He is the Comforter. He is the
Spirit of Truth. And then secondly, to say something
with regards to his offices under the Gospel. First of all, the
name, the name that is given to him. He is the Comforter,
as I said, and he is the Spirit of Truth. Now, at the outset
we do need to make a very important distinction. It's essential that
we understand at least two things here. First of all, there is
that eternal relationship that there is between God the Father
and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit great doctrine of the
Trinity that's essential that eternal relationship there is
between those three distinct persons God the Father, God the
Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We have to observe that on the
one hand, and then on the other hand, we have to come to consider
something of the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the outworking
of the covenant of grace. The Spirit's part in the execution
of that great work of redemption and salvation, the God purpose
from before the foundation of the world. Remembering then those
two basic truths, there is an eternal and an essential relationship
between the three divine persons, they're all co-equal, there's
no superiority or inferiority. they are co-equal as they are
co-eternal. But then when we come to consider
the work of salvation, we see how that each of those persons
has a particular and a specific work to accomplish. Now, with
regards then to the name that is here given to the Holy Ghost,
He is the Comforter. He is the Spirit of Truth. In
many ways what we have in this verse is a declaration of the doctrine
of the Trinity. You will observe that each of
the three persons are present here, because we also read twice
of the Father, and of course the one who is speaking these
words is none other than God the Son, God incarnate. The Lord Jesus says, when the
Comforter is come, whom I will send on to you from the Father,
even the Spirit of truth which proceedeth from the Father, he
shall testify of me. The Lord is the one, the I and
the me, that is speaking. And he makes reference to the
other persons, to the Father and to the Holy Ghost. Now, this great doctrine of God,
of course, is something that was very much hammered out in
the early years of the Christian era, and we have certain great
statements of faith from those early years. These great creedal
statements, the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed, the Atonation
Creed. Let me just quote briefly from
the latter, the Atonation Creed. It says, There the Godhead of
the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost is all one, the
glory equal, and the majesty co-eternal, such as the Father
is, Such is the Son, and such is the Holy Ghost. A truth that
I just said that we must always recognize that the three persons
are co-equal. Each is truly God. Now when we think of God the
Son, and it's God the Son of course who is incarnate, It's
not the Father or the Holy Spirit. No, in the fullness of the time
God sends forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law. And we see something of the glories
of the Lord Jesus Christ in what John says in the opening chapter
of this Gospel. He speaks of the Word. You are
familiar with the opening words of this Gospel. In the beginning
was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. And then he says, "...the Word
was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory, the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth." Here is His glory. He is the Only Begotten, He is
the Eternal Son of the Eternal Father. The Eternal Generation of God the Son. That's what John
says is the glory that belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ. And we've often referred to those
words in the 8th chapter of the book of Proverbs. When there
were no depths, I was brought forth. When there were no fountains
abounding with water before the mountains were settled before
the hills was I brought forth. or the wisdom of God, the Lord
Jesus Christ, the wisdom of God, the Word of God, that one who
was brought forth from all eternity, the only begotten of the Father,
full of grace and truth. And that's His glory. And now,
all the Jews understood that. That was the reason why they
crucified Him. They said He was a blasphemer.
Why was He a blasphemer? because he said he was the son
of God. John 19 and verse 7, remember here before Pontius
Pilate, the Jews say, we have a law, by our law he ought to
die because he made himself the son of God. Or they understood
that when he called himself the Son of God, he was declaring
his equality with God the Father. They sought the more to kill
him because he not only had broken the Sabbath day, but said that
God was his Father, making himself equal with God. But we're thinking
more particularly of the glories that belong unto God the Holy
Ghost, the one that the Lord Jesus is speaking of here in
the text, the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth. When the Comforter
is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the
Spirit of Truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify
of me. What is the glory of the Holy Ghost. The glory
of the Son is that He is the only begotten of the Father.
The glory of the Holy Ghost here is that He proceedeth from the
Father. Paul when he writes to the Corinthians
in 1st Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 12 says that He is the
Spirit which is of God He is the Spirit which is of God. He
is the Spirit of Truth which proceeds us from the Father. But this same Spirit is the one
that the Lord Jesus speaks of later in chapter 20 and verse
22 when He says to His disciples, or we read of Him there, how
He breathed on them. This is after His resurrection
from the dead When He appears to them as a proof of the truth
of His resurrection, He breathed on them and said, Receive ye
the Holy Ghost. He breathed on them. He proceeds
also from the Son. He is in fact the Spirit of His
Son, the Spirit of God's Son, just as He is the Spirit of God. Oh, this is the relationship
that he has with the Father and with the Son in that he proceeds
from them, he comes forth from them. And that is the glory that
belongs to him. And this is what the Lord Jesus
Christ is declaring here in the words of our text. the Spirit of Truth, he says,
which proceedeth from the Father. And in this verse it's important
that we take careful account of the tenses. What does the
Lord say? He speaks of something that is
going to take place in the future. The Comforter is not yet come,
When the Comforter is come, He says, Whom I will send on to
you from the Father, all that's something that is going to happen
in the future. He will send Him from the Father. The Lord Jesus Christ is that
One who is to die, and after His death He will be raised again,
He will ascend to Heaven, and then he will send the Spirit
and we have it of course and we'll come to that presently
we see it on that auspicious day, the day of Pentecost the
great outpouring of the Spirit this is what the Lord is speaking
of I will send him unto you he says and it's a future tense
but then what follows is in the present tense even the Spirit
of Truth, he says, which proceeds from the Father. That's not something
future, that is something that is present, that is something
that is always present. That is that natural possession,
just as the Lord Jesus Christ is the Eternal Son, so the Holy
Spirit is that one who eternally proceeds, the eternal aspiration
of the Holy Ghost, is what the theologians call it. And how
we see him here, such an auspicious person. He's a person. What does
the Lord say? He uses the masculine pronoun
here at the end of the verse, He. He speaks of the Comforter,
He speaks of the Spirit of Truth, and he uses that pronoun, he,
and it's a demonstrative pronoun, it's that one. God is someone
highly significant. This is none other than the third
person in the Godhead. This is God, the Holy Ghost that
he is speaking of, the one who proceedeth from the Father, the
one whom the Son also breathes forth, he proceeds from the Son
also. And all of this is indicated
really in His name, He is the Spirit. The Son is that one eternally
generated, the Spirit is that one eternally aspired, proceeding
from the Father and from the Son. And I labor that point because
it is so important that we're clear with regards to that doctrine,
the doctrine of the Trinity. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
three persons in one undivided Godhead. All true Christians
this may boast, the truth from nature never learned that Father,
Son, and Holy Ghost to save our souls are all concern, how important
it is. We are Trinitarians, our very
salvation is rooted and grounded in the doctrine of God. And so in the second place, I
want us to turn to consider the Spirit's offices, the ministry
of the Spirits, as he exercises that ministry in the outworking
of the covenant of Christ. What is the work that the Spirit
is to accomplish in this day of Christ? Two things I want
to mention this morning. He comes first to convince, to
reprove, to convict of sin. We might say in a sense that's
the negative part of his ministry. He makes the sinner aware of
what he is. He shows the sinner himself. But that's not all his work.
There's also a positive work. He comes also as that one who
is the comforter. And we have this remarkable word
in our authorized version. as the Lord Jesus in these chapters
we refer to these three chapters 14 and 15 and 16 significant
ministry of the Lord Jesus as he speaks of the coming of the
Holy Ghost and constantly he uses this particular word which
we have in our authorized version as the Comforter. He always comes
to comfort sinners to console sinners to reveal salvation to
sinners. But first of all, how we need
to take account of that work of conviction that he does. See
how the Lord speaks of him here as the Spirit of Truth. Oh, he
bears witness to the truth. That truth as it concerns the
Lord Jesus Christ. Ultimately, he comes to testify
of the Saviour. but what ministry can the Savior
exercise towards men and women if they have no awareness of
their need of salvation the Lord Jesus comes not to call the righteous
but sinners to repentance and so when the Spirit bears witness
to the truth He also bears witness to the truth of what we are by
nature This is an important aspect of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. He, of course, as the third person
in the Godhead, is the Holy One. Always not the Lord referred
to in the Old Testament as the Holy One of Israel. And remember
the experience of the prophet Isaiah there in chapter 6 where
he recounts his call to be the Lord's servant, the Lord's prophet
and he is favored with that remarkable vision in the very year when
the king Uzziah dies he's in the temple and he has this vision
of the glory that belongs unto God, he sees the throne of God
and he sees the angels, the burning ones, the seraphim those holy
pure creatures round about the throne of God, and what is their
song? Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts, heaven and earth
are full of thy glory. Thrice holy, holy Father, holy
Son, and holy Spirit. And so, it's not surprising that
this one that we're reading of in our text, who is the Spirit
of Truth, the Holy Spirit Himself, when He comes to men, He will
reveal to them what they are, He will reprove them, He will
convince them, He will convict them of their sins. And doesn't the Lord go on to
say as much later in chapter 16, Verse 8, when He is come,
He will reprove, the margin says convince the world of sin and
of righteousness and of judgment. Of sin because they believe not
on me, of righteousness because I go to my Father and He see
me no more, of judgment because the Prince of this world is judge. And do we not see that when we
come later to consider the second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles?
And that great day, the Day of Pentecost and the outpouring
of the Spirit. And what does the Spirit do? Well, you know the account there,
you're familiar I'm sure with with Acts chapter 2 and the ministry
of the apostles and the preaching in particular of Simon Peter. Well, how the Spirit takes that
ministry and applies that ministry. What was the outcome of the preaching
of Peter? Well, we're told, are we not,
when they heard these things, there were all those gathered
together at Jerusalem. It was a great Jewish feast,
similar in many ways to the feasts of Passover and Tabernacles. It was a feast of Weeks or Pentecost. There were Jews and there were
proselytes, there were Gentiles who converted to the Jewish religion
and they gathered together there at Jerusalem for that great feast.
There was a great concourse of people and here is Peter preaching
to them. When they heard these things,
it says, they were pricked in their hearts and said to Peter
and the other apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do? Oh,
that was the work of the Spirit. That was the work of the Spirit
convicting them. What had Peter been preaching? He had been preaching
the Lord Jesus Christ. He had spoken plainly of Christ
in his work. He's going about doing good. They had rejected him and crucified
him. They'd slain the Lord of Glory.
God had vindicated him. God had raised him from the dead.
He'd been preaching the Lord Jesus Christ. and the Spirit
is there as the Spirit of Christ and he comes to reprove them
reprove them of sin because they believe not on me they were convinced
and convinced they're not by the law the law brings conviction
into the soul of the sinner that's true enough but I often think
of the words of that hymn I know I quote it many times Lord and
terrors do but harden all the while they work alone, but a
sense of blood-bought pardon soon dissolves the heart of stone. All these men are touched in
their hearts, they're pricked in their consciences, they're
convinced of their sin. This is the ministry of the Holy
Spirit. Of sin, because they believe
not on me of righteousness. because I go to my Father and
ye see me no more." How Peter also preached the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. How Peter declared also how Christ
had been vindicated in the resurrection from the dead. This is the message
that we see Peter so faithfully proclaiming there. Look at the
language that we have. In Acts chapter 2 at verse 22
he says, Ye men of Israel, hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth,
a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs
which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also
know. Him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God ye have taken and by wicked
hands have crucified and slain. whom God hath raised up, having
loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should
be holden of him." All we preach is Christ as that One who is
risen, and not only risen, but now ascended on high, that righteous
man. Why death could not hold Him? It's possible that death could
hold Him forever. He was a holy man, a righteous
man. And there was no cause of death
in him. He dies for the sins of others. But on the third day
he rose again. You see what Peter is proclaiming
to them. And now he has ascended on high,
entered heaven itself. Again, remember the language
that we have, the prophetic language that we find in the book of Psalms,
the words of Psalm 24, where David puts that question, who
shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Who shall stand in
his holy presence? He that hath clean hands and
a pure heart. That's the Lord Jesus Christ.
Clean hands, a pure heart, this is the man. That holy, that righteous,
that just man. that has now ascended into heaven
and the Spirit bears his testament. That is coming, how those words
of the Apostle Peter are taken by the Spirit and so graciously
applied to those who were present. All such an awakening in the
souls of sinners witnessed on that day. He reproves, he convinces
of sin, of righteousness, of judgment. Because the Prince
of this world is judged. Remember all judgment has been
committed to the Lord Jesus Christ. The Prince of this world, the
reference here is to Satan himself. Has not the Lord vanquished sin
and Satan? Or was he not by his death silenced, that great enemy of
Saul's? What can Satan lay to the charge
of that sinner whose trust is in the Lord Jesus Christ? The
sinner can answer, Satan himself, Christ is dying, Christ is risen. He's a defeated foe, the Lord
has judged and vanquished him. And ultimately it will be seen,
of course, in that great dying. As I said, the Father has committed
all judgment into the hands of the Son. And the Lord speaks
of these things previously here, in chapter 5, verse 22, the Father judges no
man. but hath committed all judgment
unto the Son." Verse 26, "...as the Father hath
life in Himself, so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself,
and hath given Him authority to execute judgment also, because
He is the Son of Man." We will be seeing ultimately When the
Lord returns in power and great glory, He is that One who has
been exalted. Look at the language again of
Peter there in his sermon, Acts 2, 36. Therefore let all the
house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same
Jesus whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. For He
is Lord, He is Christ, He is exalted. and then in the Acts
of course we have the record not only of Peter and Peter's
preaching we have the record of other sermons we have the
record of the ministry of the Apostle Paul we see him there
in chapter 17 of that book preaching at Athens and what does he say
to all those men who consider themselves to
be wise, schooled in all the philosophy of the Athenians and
the Grecians. In Paul's bold preaching, what
does he say? Look at the language there, Acts
17.31, Because God hath appointed a day in the which he will judge
the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained,
whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath
raised him from the dead all is raised Satan is judged and
there will yet be that great day of reckoning of judgment
because the prince of this world is judged this is the office
of the Holy Ghost and he comes and he comes to testify of Christ all that Christ is, all that
Christ has done, all that will yet come to pass in that great
day which will bring in the consummation of all things, in the end of
the day of grace, with the coming of the terrible day of judgment. But as I said, this is but one
part of His office. He doesn't just come to convince
sinners. He also comes as that one who
is the Comforter. When the Comforter is come, whom
I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth
which proceedeth from the Father, He shall testify of me. Now, these words, as I said,
It's a precious word as we find it here in our authorized version
and all that it speaks to us of the consolations that come
by that gracious ministry of the Holy Ghost, the Comforter.
But it's a word well worth examining as we have it in the original
here. It's made up of two words. In fact, we get our English words
paraclete from it. And of course, I'm sure you're
aware that we find it sometimes in some of the hymns. I think
in particular of that lovely hymn 29. Descend from heaven
celestial dove, with flames of pure seraphic love our ravished
breast inspire fountain of joy. Bless paraclete, warm our cold
hearts with heavenly heat and set our souls on fire. And that word paraclete is simply
a transliteration of the Greek word that we have here. Here
it's translated for us as comforter. It might have been simply transliterated
and taken over directly from the Greek into our English when
the paraclete is come. Now, what does the word mean?
As I say, it's two words. And it literally means to be
called to come beside another. It's a calling to be beside. And that's the ministry of the
Holy Spirit. And we see, you know, the Holy Spirit has a remarkable
ministry throughout the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. He
is there He is beside the Lord Jesus Christ. He is ministering
to the Lord Jesus Christ. Of course, the Lord Jesus Christ
is that One who is the Anointed. And last Thursday at the prayer
meeting we were considering those words in 1 John 2, 20. He hath an unction from the Holy
One, as ye know all things. We looked at that as a text,
the unction. In verse 27 the same word is
used, but it's translated the anointing. The anointing which
teaches you all things. And we said then that the unction,
the anointing, is a reference to God the Holy Ghost. And when we think of Jesus of
Nazareth, how is he the Christ? Well, he's the anointed one.
Christ simply means the anointed. And how is the Lord Jesus Christ
anointed? He is anointed by the Holy Ghost. At his baptism, as he comes up
out of the water, the Spirit descends upon him in the form
of a dove. And there, at the end of John
chapter 3, we are told how God giveth the Spirit not by measure
unto him. Oh, he has an immeasurable outpouring
of the Holy Ghost upon Him, the Lord Jesus, He is the Anointed
One. The Spirit is there anointing Him, the Spirit is there beside
Him. And how we see it in so many
aspects of the coming of the Lord Jesus and His ministry,
think of His conception. How is that human nature conceived
in the womb of a virgin? How is it? that a virgin, who
knows not a man, can be with child. But the angel says, the
Holy Ghost shall come upon thee. The power of the highest shall
overshadow thee. Therefore also that holy thing
that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. That
human nature is conceived in Mary's womb by God the Holy Ghost. how vital His ministry is. And
then again, as we've said, when the Lord begins His public ministry,
when He is baptised, that marks the beginning of that public
ministry, He comes forth now to minister, and at His baptism
the Spirit descends upon Him again in the form of a dove. And then when He comes to preach,
After that baptism he is led of the Spirit, remember, into
the wilderness. Always under the leadings and
directings of the Spirit of God. The Spirit is beside him, the
Paraclete, one called to be alongside. Leading him into the wilderness,
tempted there of Satan after 40 days and 40 nights. He returns
in the power of the Spirit and goes to Nazareth. He's in the
synagogue. It's the Sabbath day. and the
minister there gives him the book of Isaiah and the Lord turns
to the language that we find in Isaiah 61, the Spirit of the
Lord is upon me. These are the words that the
Lord reads. The Spirit of the Lord is upon
me because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.
Or we can read it there in Luke 4 verse 16 following. This day is this scripture fulfilled
in your ears, he says to that congregation. The Spirit, you
see, He serves the Lord Jesus Christ constantly. Not only in
His preaching, in His miracles. What does He say to the Jews? If I cast out demons by the Holy
Ghost, then is the Kingdom of God amongst you. How does he
cast out the demons? By the Holy Ghost. When he comes to die, is not
the Holy Spirit there? There in Hebrews 9 we read, through
the Eternal Spirit, offered himself without spot to God. Now, the
commentators aren't altogether agreed, With regards to their
exposition of that verse, the Eternal Spirit, many say that
the reference is to the divine nature of the Lord Jesus Christ. Through the Eternal Spirit, you
see, He is the God-Man. He is making the great sacrifice,
the one sacrifice for sins, forever. But how can God die is God, and
He's never anything less than that, the eternal Son of God. Well there we have a reference
to His divine nature that is altogether sanctifying that great
offering. But as I say, the commentators
debate the matter in seeking to expand Hebrews 9.14, but can
we not say that there is a reference also to God the Holy Ghost who
through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spots to God
we know the Spirit is there in the resurrection being put to
death in the flesh says Peter but quickened by the Spirit or
the Spirit is there ministering then to the Lord Jesus Christ
throughout is earthly ministry and it is a profitable exercise
as we read through those gospel accounts to notice the references
to the ministry of the Holy Spirit in terms of Christ's own earthly
life. He is the paraclete, he is called
to be alongside the Savior. And of course here we see him
as that one who will bear testimony to Christ. He shall testify of
me, says the Lord. Back in chapter 14, in verse 26, he says, The Comforter,
which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name,
he shall teach you all things. and bring all things to your
remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you." How significant
is that verse? When we think of the New Testament
and the writings of the Apostles there in the Gospels, in the
Epistles, how is it that they're able to record all these things?
It's by the Holy Ghost. He shall teach you all things
and bring all things to your remembrance. whatsoever I have
said unto you, or the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, is
that that the Holy Ghost takes up and reveals again to these
men and causes them to remember all the wondrous things that
He declared. Oh, He bears such a testimony
to Christ. He doesn't just come to reprove
and to convince and to convict. No, He comes to reveal Christ. Verse 13 in chapter 16, O be
it when He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into
all truth, for He shall not speak of Himself. Oh, that's a word,
is it not? He is God. He's God the Holy
Ghost. And yet His ministry is so self-effacing. This is the
outworking, you see, of the great work of salvation, that that
was purposed in the eternal covenant, it was God the Son who became
a man, it was God the Son who humbled himself and became obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross, it is God the Son
who is the Saviour of sinners. Now the Holy Ghost himself will
speak of Christ, he shall not speak of himself. but whatsoever
he shall hear that shall he speak and he will show you things to
come he shall glorify me for he shall receive of mine and
shall show it unto you now there was always a ministry of God
the Holy Ghost from the very beginning of time all those who
knew anything of the salvation of God in the Old Testament could
only know it by the ministry of God the Holy Ghost it is his
to apply that great salvation and doesn't David cry out there
in all the conviction of his sin in Psalm 51 take not thy
Holy Spirit from me oh he felt he had grieved the Spirit of
God and he's fearful that the Holy Ghost might be taken from
him. But then we have that word here in in John 7 39 the Holy
Ghost was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified. You see there is something very
significant with regards to Christ completing his work Dying, rising
again, ascending on high, there's something most significant there
with regards to the subsequent ministry of the Holy Ghost, the
ushering in of the great day of grace. Oh, there was such
a coming in state of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost. Yes,
He was there in the Old Testament, but now what a mighty outpouring!
The Holy Ghost was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified. What do we have in Acts chapter
2? We have Jesus glorified. He has
ascended now. He's returned to the glories
of heaven. He's at the Father's right hand,
being by the right hand of God exalted. Having received of the
Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, He has shed forth this
which He now see and hear. Oh, that's the preaching of the
Apostle Peter. As he speaks of the Spirit, you
see, he comes as that one who will bear his testimony to Christ. He shall testify of me. He shall take of mine and shall
show it unto you. But what of us friends? Or do
we know him? Do we know him as that one who
is our comforter? That one who is called to come
to be beside us, to minister to us? Do we feel our need of
that gracious help of the Spirit? Or we want him to be our instructor?
We want him to be our guide? We want him to be that one who
is constantly revealing Christ to us? are we those who are there
forever looking to Him. I referred to that 29th hymn
where He is spoken of as the Paraclete. I think of the third
verse, Conduct, blessed guides, thy sinner train, to Calvary
where the Lamb was slain, and with us there abide. Let us,
our loved Redeemer, mate we pour his pierced hands and feet and
view his wounded side and we need that ministry of the Holy
Spirit to be our guide never to bring us to Christ to bring
us to the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ and to see there in the
shedding of that precious blood all our sins blotted out peace
with God reconcile through the blood of the cross justified
in the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is
His ministry. Yes, He is God. He is equal to
the Father, He is equal to the Son. He is that One eternally
proceeding from the Father and from the Son. But what a ministry
He exercises in the Covenant and the outworking of it. such
a self-effacing ministry. When the Comforter is come, whom
I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of Truth,
which proceedeth from the Father, He shall testify of me. May the Lord bless His word to
us.