Let us turn to God's Word in
the chapter that we read, John chapter 14. And I want to direct
you to the words that we find here in verse 26. John chapter
14 and verse 26. But 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. We made some reference to that
scripture this morning when we were considering those words
at the end of Luke concerning the manner in which Christ spoke
to his disciples after his resurrection with regards to the scriptures
and their understanding of those things that were written, remember
the words that we looked at in particular, verse 45 of Luke
24, then openly their understanding that they might understand the
Scriptures. And in some ways it is true to
say that the text tonight is a parallel verse, as I trust
we shall see with the Lord's help, Christ said, but 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. And the theme
that we see in this particular verse of Scripture surely is
that of the teaching of the Holy Spirit, this is what Christ He
is promising the teaching of the Holy Spirit. Previously,
He has mentioned His coming, the great promise of His coming. Verse 16, I will pray the Father
and He shall give you another Comforter that He may abide with
you forever, even the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot
receive because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him, but
ye know Him, for he dwelleth with you and shall be in you. And as Christ speaks of him in
this fashion and promises him so in his coming he will appear
as the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ. I will not leave you
comfortless, he says at verse 18. I will come to you. And then if we go over to chapter
16 and verse 14, again speaking still of the Holy Ghost, Christ
says, He shall glorify me, for He shall receive of mine and
shall show it unto you. He very much comes in as the
Spirit of Christ. In a way His ministry is an extension
of the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the first thing
that I want us to consider, Albert. The Spirit's teaching is that,
as Christ's substitute, He shall teach you all things Christ says
here at the end of this verse. He shall teach you all things
and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have
said unto you. That's an extension of the ministry
of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is going
away. This is what He tells the disciples
in these discourses of course. He's preparing them for His departure. We see him here in his great
prophetic office as that teacher who has come from God and then
in chapter 17 of course we see him more particularly in his
priestly office as he prays to the Father and then subsequently
how as a priest he makes that great sacrifice. That was the
purpose of his coming. He's about to leave them but
he promises that he will send the Holy Ghost from the farthest
and he will come, as it were, in Christ's place, in Christ's
stead. However, although that's the
truth that we see here at the end of this particular verse,
we're not to lose sight of the fact that the great work of salvation,
that work that Christ is engaged in, is very much a Trinitarian
work. Look at the context. In the first
part of verse 26 Christ says the Comforter which is the Holy
Ghost whom the Father will send in my name. Isn't this one of
those great Trinitarian statements that we find so often throughout
the Bible. We see the three divine persons,
the three persons of the Godhead, the Father, the Son and the Holy
Ghost. The Comforter, says Christ, which
is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name. It's a Finitarian statement.
And of course we use it so often, that great benediction at the
end of 2nd Corinthians, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and
the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost. be with you
all, prays the Apostle concerning the Corinthians, but we use it,
I say, as a benediction, time and again, for the blessing of
the Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We have these various
scriptures that we can turn to, for example, in the 12th chapter
of 1 Corinthians, and there in verses 4, five and six, again
we see the three persons. As Paul is speaking here of those
spiritual gifts, he's having to correct many abuses that were
taking place in the church of Corinth, the church that was
so singularly gifted of God, and he deals with these matters,
he seeks to give some instructions, some correction, he rebukes them
at times in these chapters, but there in chapter 12 of 1 Corinthians
and verse 4 he says, Now there are diversities of gifts, but
the same Spirit. And there are differences of
administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities
of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in
all. And here again we have the three
persons, you see. The diversities of gifts, yes,
but the same Spirit, that's the Holy Spirit. The differences
of administrations, but the same Lord, that's the Lord Jesus Christ.
And then there's diversities of operations, but the same God,
that is God the Father. We could easily multiply these
various statements. Of course, in Ephesians chapter
1 we see so clearly that salvation is the work of the triune God.
We have the electing love of the Father and then we have the
great redemptive work of the Son and then we come to the sealing
work of the Holy Spirit. Read through Ephesians chapter
1 really carefully. Consider it. You see there, there's
a a Trinitarian structure to all
that Paul is saying with regards to the work of salvation. But we are particularly concerned
here with regards to the Holy Spirit whom the Lord Jesus is
promising in this particular verse, the Comforter, which is
the Holy Ghost whom the Father will send in my name. The Comforter, the Holy Ghost,
He is God, He is God the Spirit. And again there in that twelfth
chapter of 1 Corinthians we see something of the sovereignty
of the Spirit. All these workers, that one and
the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man separately as he
will, all the sovereign will of the Holy Spirit in the way
in which he is pleased to administer these gifts. all these worketh
at one and the selfsame spirit and the division, he says, is
according to his will. He is sovereign. Why? Because
he is God. He is God, the Holy Spirit. Now, here we read of him as the Holy Ghost, the Comforter,
which is the Holy Ghost or the Holy Spirit. The words Holy Ghost,
Holy Spirit, it's the same expression that is being translated in the
authorised version. Sometimes they use the word Ghost,
which is of course an Anglo Saxon words, sometimes they use the
word spirit as a Latin etymology. But it's the same words that
he's being used, translated either by ghost or spirit. The reference
is clearly then to him who we often refer to as the third person
in the guardian. Now I don't like to speak of
the first person and the second person and the third person,
because that seems to suggest some degree of priority or superiority. But we know that God the Father,
God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are co-equal as they are
co-eternal. But we often use the expression
the first person the Father, the second person the Son and
the third person the Holy Ghost because it's a convenient way
of speaking for us. But when we read here of the
Holy Ghost or the Holy Spirit what is the significance of this
name? Well the title Ghost or Spirit
is not an expression of the essence of the person of the Holy Ghost. But this title that is given
to him in the scriptures indicates to us his relationship with the
other persons. It's important that we understand
that. The names that are given to the
three divine persons in the one undivided Godhead. The father,
that name of course speaks of the relationship that he has
to the son. And the title son refers to the
relationship that the son has to the father. The father begets,
the son is begotten. And so again the title spirit
refers to the relationship that he has with the father and the
son. As a spirit he proceeds from
them. He is breathed forth, as it were.
There is a relationship, you see, between the three divine
persons. They are all equally gods. Three persons. Distinct persons. but there is a relationship.
This is why it's important that we contend still for the eternal
sonship of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is not simply a son by office,
but he is in his relationship to the Father, the eternal Son. And if there were no eternal
Son, there could be no eternal Father. But thinking particularly
of the Spirit, you see, what is His relationship? Well, He
proceeds from the Father. Chapter 15 and verse 26. When the Comforter is come, says
Christ, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the
Spirit of Truth, which proceeds from the Father, He is the Spirit
of Truth which proceeds us from the Father. As the Spirit, He
proceeds. The very title indicates that.
But as the Spirit, He is that One who is also breathed forth
by the Son. In chapter 20, the Lord Jesus, speaking to His
disciples there at verse 21, Jesus says to them, Peace be
unto you, as my Father hath sent me, even so I send you. And when
he had said this, he breathed on them, and said unto them,
Receive ye the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is breathed forth. He proceeds from the Son, just
as he proceeds from the Father. The title then that we have here,
the Holy Ghost or the Holy Spirit, reminds us of that relationship
that he sustains to the other two divine persons, three persons. But there is an inter-trinitarian
relationship between the three persons, but the three persons
are one God. It is a great mystery. And ultimately
we have to bow before that great mystery. In the Godhead the Holy
Spirit is co-equal, co-eternal with the Father and with the
Son. He is no less God than they are. But here, in this chapter, in
John chapter 14, we have to recognize the fact that the Lord Jesus
Christ, as he ministers to his disciples, is speaking in terms
of the covenant, the covenant of grace. And so he's speaking
here of that relationship between the three divine persons in terms
of the covenant, that covenant relations that we have here.
He's not speaking in terms of their relationship in the Godhead
where they are all co-equal and co-eternal, but he is speaking
in terms of that covenant. that God made before the foundation
of the world. Now in the Covenant, of course,
we know that the Lord Jesus Christ is the one who becomes God's
servant. Behold my servant, he says, whom
I uphold, mine elect, in whom my soul delights. He is God's
first elect. And in Ephesians chapter 1, all
the elect are chosen in him. And so, when we consider him,
you see, as God's servant, he can say, as we read here, at
the end of verse 28, my father is greater than I. My father is greater than I.
Why? Because in the covenant he is
the father, as it were, representative of the Godhead. And here he's
got the son, though, In the Godhead he is equal to the Father, yet
he willingly becomes the servant of God. And he comes, of course,
to do the will of God. Look at the last verse here,
verse 31. But that the world may know that
I love the Father, and as the Father gave me commandment, as
the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. He comes into the world as God's
servant. He comes to do God's will. My
meat is to do the will of Him that has sent me, He says, and
to finish His work. He has a work to do. Remember
what He says to His parents, even as a young boy. Wished ye
not that I must be about my father's business? He is ever conscious
that there is a work that he has to accomplish, that work
that he is engaged to undertake in the eternal covenant. And
so when we come to the prayer in chapter 17, how does he pray
to the Father as he comes to the end of his ministry? I have
glorified thee on the earth, he says, I have finished the
work that thou gavest me to do. all the days of his humiliation,
you see, as a man upon the earth. Being found in fashion as a man,
says Paul, he became obedient. Obedient unto death, even the
death of the cross. The Lord Jesus Christ was sent
by the Father. And this is the language that
the Lord is using in his ministry. to understand these chapters
in terms of the covenant. Now, as that is the case with
regards to God the Son, as he comes to serve the will of the
Father, so the Holy Spirit, who is equal to the Father and the
Son in terms of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit, is one who comes
to work the works of the Lord Jesus Christ. He comes as Christ's
substitute. The Comforter, which is the Holy
Ghost, whom the Father will send, He says, in my name. He is His authority, the authority
of the Holy Spirit in the Covenant. He comes in the name of Him who
is the appointed Saviour of sinners. In my name. He shall teach you all things
and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have
said unto you. There is His authority. It's
the authority of Christ, who is the servant of God, who has
done the will of God. There is the outworking of the
Covenant there. Yes, there's the coming of Christ,
there's the ministry of Christ, There is all that great work
that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished. He is the one who is the appointed
Saviour of sinners. But then there is also that blessed
work of the Holy Spirit. Now, these things of course are
not just suddenly revealed in the New Testament. These things
are also to be seen in the Old Testament Scriptures, in the
prophecies of the Old Testament. In Isaiah, in chapter 59 of Isaiah and verse
21 previously verse 20 we read of
the Redeemer the Redeemer shall come to Zion and then verse 21
as for me this is my covenant with them saith the Lord my spirit
that is upon thee and my word which I have put in thy mouth
shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed,
nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, except the Lord from henceforth
for ever. This is the word of God to him
who is the appointed Redeemer, who comes to Zion. My covenants,
says God. And what does he say in terms
of the covenants? My spirit that is upon thee and
my words which I have put in thy mouth shall not depart out
of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of
the mouth of thy seed seed. The Lord Jesus of course was
anointed with the spirit above measure. He has the Holy Ghost,
he is the anointed one, he is the Christ, that's what the very
name Christ or Messiah means, the anointed one. He is anointed
with the Spirit of God. But here is the promise, you
see, that that Spirit that is upon Christ will be upon Christ's
seed and upon His seed's seed. See the significance here of
the words of the text. It is that same promise, the
Spirit will come and they'll be anointed upon those who follow
after Christ, those who are the disciples of Christ. He says in his words at the 16th
verse, I will pray the Father and he shall give you another
comforter, that he may abide with you forever. He prays to the Father. He prays
to the Father for the Spirit. This is the outworking of the
Covenant. And again, is it not remarkable, that's a great Trinitarian
verse, verse 16. It is God the Son incarnate. God the Son in the state of His
humiliation, about to go the way of the cross. He is the one
who is speaking and He speaks of His prayer to the Father and
He speaks of the subject matter of His prayer. I will pray to
the Father. God the Son prays to the Father. And the Father shall give you
another comforter. Who is that other comforter?
It's the Holy Ghost. It's Trinity. Our whole salvation
is a Trinitarian salvation. It's the work of God. It's the
great work of God. Only those who are Trinitarians
are saved, ultimately. I'm not saying we're going to
be able to understand the great mystery of God. We cannot. It's
beyond our comprehension, but surely Hart is right when he
says that all true Christians, all true Christians, these can
boast. And what is it they boast? That their salvation is all together
of Father, Son and Holy Ghost. It's a Trinitarian salvation. But 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." Christ says He will pray to the
Father, and He knows when He prays to the Father, that the
Father hears Him. The Father always hears his prayer,
does he not say it when he's there at the grave of his friend
Lazarus? And he's about to raise Lazarus
from the dead and he groans within himself and he prays to the Father
and he says, I knew that thou hearest me always. All he has heard, his prayer
is not in vain, he's praying the Father that he will grant
to them this utter comfort, even God the Holy Ghost. And as the
covenant is worked out, so we see that it is the Lord Jesus
Christ who actually sends the Holy Ghost. He prays to the Father,
yes, for the Holy Ghost, but he is equal with the Father,
is he not? And when we come to the great day of Pentecost, when
the day of Pentecost is fully come, and we have that glorious
coming in state of the Holy Spirit, what does Peter say to those
Jews and those proselytes concerning the one who had been crucified
and was now risen from the dead and ascended, therefore being
by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father
the promise of the Holy Ghost? He has shed forth this which
ye now see and hear. What they are seeing, what they
are hearing, is what Christ has done. He is sending the Holy
Ghost. And this is the promise that
He is giving here in the words of our text. Whom the Father
will send in my name, he says. who will come in my name. He will come to bear testimony
unto me. These are remarkable discourses
of course. I know some years back now we
went through these three chapters 14, 15 and 16. Remarkable words. Look at verse 26 in the 15th chapter for example. He says there, when the Comforter
is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the
Spirit of Truth, which proceeded from the Father, he shall testify
of me. It is an interesting verse, a
most significant verse that. As I said already, at the end
he speaks about the Spirit of Truth proceeded from the Father. There we have mention of His
eternal relationship to the Father. As the Son is begotten of the
Father, so the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and from the
Son. And so the Son, remembering that
later chapter 20, breathes it out. But then, look at the beginning
of that Psalm 26 verse, or the middle of the verse, then the
comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father,
he says. Yes, he proceeds from the Father,
but I will send him unto you from the Father. The Spirit's
mission is by Christ, in the outworking of the covenant. It's
by Christ, but he comes from the Father. And that ministry
that he exercises as he comes is a self-effacing ministry. It's remarkable, really, the
ministry of the Holy Spirit. He's God. He's equal to the Father,
he's equal to the Son. And yet, as self-effacing is
that ministry that he exercises. He doesn't come to draw any attention
to himself. His ministry very much centres
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Again there in chapter 16 at
verse 13, 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,
and we see here, you see his personality, it's not a neuter pronoun the
Jews, it's a masculine he is spoken of not as it but he, I'll
be I'll be it when he, the spirit of truth is come he will guide
you into all truth for 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, says Christ, for He shall receive
of mine and shall show it unto you. All things that the Father
hath are mine, therefore said I that He shall take of mine
and shall show it unto you. The Blessed Spirit of God, God
the Holy Ghost, so self-effacing. He doesn't
come to speak of himself. His ministry centres in Christ
the Saviour. This is the great covenant. Again in that 26th verse of chapter
15, He shall testify of me, says Christ. When the comforter is
come, Whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit
of Truth, which proceedeth from the Father. What is his ministry?
He shall testify of man. How wrong are those who want
to speak of such a baptism in the Spirit, speak of themselves
as Spirit-filled and the like. That's not the ministry of the
Spirit. He doesn't call attention to himself. His ministry is to
glorify Christ. His ministry is to take up the
things of Christ and to show them to many He is the Spirit
of Christ. He comes in Christ's place. He is truly Christ's Vicar
upon earth. Remember the blasphemies of the
Roman Church, how the Roman Church speaks of the Pope as Christ's
Vicar. in Christ's place, that's what
vicar means of course we speak of a vicarious sacrifice Christ's
sacrifice is vicarious in the sense that he is dying in someone
else's place in the room and in the stead of his people and
when the Romish pontiff claims to be Christ's vicar what is
he doing? he is blaspheming the Holy Ghost it's the Holy Spirit
who is the vicar of Christ, who comes in the place of Christ. He comes very much to minister
then, in the name of Christ, with the authority of Christ.
We are going here in the text. 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." Oh, with
what authority he comes! And now, as he comes to bear
testimony of Christ, so he brings a sinner to cross. He makes the
sinner willing. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of Christ's power. What is the day of Christ's power?
Why, it's his gospel day. Now Christ has accomplished His
work, His humiliation has ended, He's exalted, the Prince and
the Saviour. He's at God's right hand. This
is the day of His power. And it is by the Holy Spirit,
you see, that sinners are made to bow down before Him, to believe
in Him. He comes in, in Christ's stead. He comes as Christ's substitute.
But let us secondly just say something with regards to his
teaching as the Holy Spirit. What I meant by that, his teaching
as the Holy Spirit, is that his teaching is very much a spiritual
teaching, a spiritual ministry. We have to take account of course
of the historical context. What do we have historically
here at the end of verse 26? Is it not the promise of inspiration. The Lord Jesus is speaking to
his disciples. And he tells them concerning
the ministry of the Spirit, He shall teach you all things and
bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you. Remember how in the Old Testament
the prophecy came. The prophecy came not by the
will of man, says Peter. But holy men of God spake as
they were moved by the Spirit of God. Those prophets in the
Old Testament, they didn't speak their own words, they were speaking
the words of the Holy Spirit. They were speaking as the Spirit
bore them along, carried them along. They were speaking divine
words. Time and again they cannot have
that formula, thus saith the Lord. That was the word of the prophet,
was it not? His own word, thus saith the
Lord. All scripture is given by inspiration
of God. All scripture is God breathed. Remember how the Spirit proceeds
from the Father, proceeds from the Son. He is breathed for.
Now is the scripture given, it's breathed forth, all scripture
is breathed forth. That's a very literal rendering
of the word that we have there, given by inspiration of God. The significance of the promising
is not to be lost with regards to divine inspiration, the inspiration
of the New Testament Scriptures, just as the Old Testament Scriptures
were inspired. These men, these men who are
going to be the human writers of the books of the New Testament, they are going to have these
things brought to their minds by the ministry of the Holy Spirit. They are not going to speak their
own words. They're going to speak all the words of Christ. You
see what I, again what I said this morning, you see why I don't
like red-letter Bibles, where you have the words of the Lord
Jesus in the Gospels in red letters. You see, these words are more
significant than other words. They're all the words of Christ.
It's all the word of Christ. Because the Spirit who gives
the book is the Spirit of Christ. Well that's the historical context
in the sense we have to take account of that. He shall teach
you all things and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever
I have said unto him. But surely there is also a more
general application here. Because all who are saved must
experience that gracious ministry of the Holy Spirit that the Lord
Jesus Christ is speaking of. We all need that selfsame ministry. That He should teach us all things.
And that He should bring to our remembrance the words of the
Lord Jesus Christ. He must take of the words of
Christ. Remember how Christ concerning those disciples, He opened their
understanding to understand the Scriptures. And we need the Holy
Spirit. He is the Spirit of Christ. And
what does Paul say? No man can say that Jesus Christ
is Lord but by the Holy Ghost. Oh, you can say the words, we
can mouth the words, but all the reality of them in our souls.
Jesus Christ is Lord, can only be by the ministry of the Holy
Ghost. John says you have an unction,
an anointing from the Holy One, and ye know all things, that
is all those things that are necessary to salvation. In the first epistle, 1 John
chapter 2 verse 20, then again the same expression in verse
27, But the anointing, or the unction, which ye have received
of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you.
But as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth,
and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide
in him. Oh, how we need, friends, that
gracious unction, that blessed ministry of God, the Holy Ghost. He teaches all those things that
are necessary to the salvation of the soul. Now, in concluding,
just two things I want to mention with regards to those orphans. The Holy Spirit comes as the
Spirit of conviction. That is part of His ministry.
The Holy Spirit comes to convince, to convince of sin. Look at chapter 16, verse 8,
when He is come, He will reprove. The margin says He will 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 sees me no more, of judgment because the prince of this world
is judged. All he convinces, he reproves. He reveals what sin is. He makes
sin an awful reality. in the soul of the sinner. How
does he do it? He does it by the law of God.
Paul can say in his own testimony in Romans chapter 7, we know
that the Lord is spiritual. He didn't know that once upon
a time when he was a self-righteous Pharisee and he thought in terms
of the outward aspect of the law. We know that the Lord is
spiritual. that I am carnal, soulless. His ministry, his teaching, you
see, is a spiritual teaching. He makes the Lord of God so real. He torments the sinner with it.
He makes the sinner see how far he has fallen short of the glories
of God. What is that Lord of God? Why
is it not ultimately a revelation of God? Do we not see that God
is the Holy One? the righteous one, the just one. And what does the law say? James
tells us that if a man should keep the whole law of God and
yet offend Him one point, he is guilty of all. The law requires
full, complete, entire obedience to every one of its commandments.
And every commandment to be kept in thought, in word and in deed. And you break one of those commandments
in any matter and you are guilty of all. And that's what Paul
came to realise. The spiritual nature of the Lord
of God. We know that the Lord is a spiritual Lord. Why? It's
God's Lord. It's part of that revelation, is it not? That He
is by the ministry of the Holy Spirit. He teaches all things. He teaches
what sin is. and what righteousness is, and
what judgement is. But he doesn't just come as that
spirit of conviction, he comes as the comforter. This is the
name that the Lord Jesus Christ repeatedly gives to the spirit
that is the Holy Spirit in these chapters. I will pray the Father, And He shall give you another
Comforter, He is another Christ you see, that He may abide with
you forever, even the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot
receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him, but
ye know Him, for He dwelleth in you and shall be with you. He is the Comforter. They are
the words Comforter, it's an interesting word. Sometimes it's just transliterated,
the Greek word. And when it's transliterated,
it's the word paraclete. Paraclete. We had it this morning,
when we sang Harrow in prize. We sang number 27. And there in the second verse,
cheer our desponding hearts, thou heavenly paraclete, give
us to lie with humble hope at our Redeemer's feet. And there's
a little asterisk that directs us to the foot of the page, telling
us that the word paraclete means the comforter. But the literal
meaning of the word paraclete is simply one who comes alongside.
It's one of those compound Greek words, it's made up of two words. referring to the one who comes
alongside. That's the ministry of the Holy
Spirit, he comes alongside, he comes to the sinner and he comforts
the sinner with his gracious presence. And how does he comfort
the sinner? Why? He takes of the things of
Christ as we've seen. He shall not speak of himself
Whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak. He will show
you things to come, he shall glorify him. For he shall receive
of mine and shall show it unto you. That's his ministry. To
reveal the things of the Lord Jesus Christ, he shall testify. But how do we need that ministry? Of ourselves, we're dead in trespasses
and sins. We have natural minds, carnal
minds. It cannot receive the things of the Spirit of God.
We have no understanding. This is why the Lord has to open
the understanding. We have no understanding. What man knoweth
the things of the Spirit of man, which is in him, says the Apostle. Even so, the things of the Spirit
of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God. The natural man
doesn't receive the things of the Spirit of God. They are foolishness
to him, says Paul. Neither can he know them because
they are spiritually deceitful. Boy, we need the Holy Spirit
to come to instruct us. And we can pray for Him. The
Lord Jesus says we can pray for Him. How much more shall your
Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask? You
ask for the Holy Spirit. You pray to the Holy Spirit.
How the bride in the song of Solomon prays, Awake, O North,
when come thou South. That's a prayer to the Holy Spirit.
The Lord Jesus prays to the Father concerning Him. I will pray to
the Father, He shall give you another comfort. Oh, we have
every encouragement then to look for this blessed ministry, this
gracious ministry of the Holy Spirit in the Gospel. In John
chapter 7 we are told that the Spirit was not yet given because
Jesus was not yet glorified. And when Christ is glorified
as he now is, the Spirit is given. But now we need that the Spirit
should come to us personally and make known to us these things
of Christ. 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." What are these words that he makes so
real in the soul of the sinner? Look at this that Christ goes
on to speak of. His glorious bequest, peace I
leave with you, my peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth,
give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled,
Neither let it be afraid. Amen.