The Spirit’s work in Jesus’ disciples - John 16:12-15
The spirit always points people to Jesus.
In John 16:5-11 Jesus has been talking about the work of God's Spirit in the world.
v. 9 “in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me;”
v.10 “in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father.”
v. 11 “in regard to judgement“ - it was on the cross that Jesus condemned Satan.
Jesus now moves on to talk about the work of the Holy Spirit in his church, his kingdom. We must remember that Jesus is speaking to the 12 disciples, who will become the foundation of the Church.
Towards the end of John’s book of Revelation, which describes how the church will be treated before Jesus' second coming, Gods kingdom is portrayed as the new Jerusalem,
“The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the lamb.” Revelation 21:14
How are Christ's apostles the foundation of the Church? It is surely through their teaching. They passed on the teaching of Jesus accurately and the Spirit ensured that this was faithfully recorded. To have a writing or letter recognised for inclusion in the New Testament, it had to be authenticated by an apostle.
God’s Truth is taught
An apostolic church is one that holds the apostles’ teaching as authoritative. This is precisely what Jesus promised - the apostles would be able to recall this through the work of the Spirit in them.
“But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth.” John 16:13
The phrase ‘all truth’ is so important. Because of the work of the Holy Spirit in God’s apostles we are assured that God has informed us of everything we need to know. In other words the Bible is ‘sufficient’ for us in answering all spiritual questions. This places the Bible above all other authorities. This is why the medieval church reformer, Martin Luther, when confronted by church authorities who were teaching ideas that were not in Scripture, stood up boldly and referring to Scripture said,
“Here I stand, I can do nothing else.”
The Holy Spirit is therefore the source of all the information given to us in Scripture. Inspired Scripture is simply written revelation.
“He (the Holy Spirit) will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is to come.” John 16:13
This reiterates what Jesus had said a little earlier,
“But the Counsellor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” John 14:26
So when the apostles tell us what is going to happen in the future, this is more certain to be true than recorded history. "Scripture is not only man's word, but also, and equally God's word, spoken through man's lips or written with man's pen" (J.I. Packer, in ‘The Origin of the Bible’, p. 31).
Papias was an early leader of the church in Hierapolis, which is now Pammakale in modern Turkey. He was born around 70 A.D. and had been taught by the apostle John himself. He said that he had enquired diligently from reliable authorities concerning the truth about Jesus. These authorities included the apostle John, who was then living in nearby Ephesus, and Aristion, a church leader at nearby Smyrna; they had both heard Jesus first-hand. Some think Aristion may have been one of the seventy two disciples of Jesus. Papias wrote,
“I shall not hesitate also to put into ordered form for you, along with the interpretations, everything learned carefully in the past from the elders and noted down carefully, further truth of which I vouch. For unlike most people, I took no pleasure in those who told many different stories, but only in those who taught the truth. Nor did I take pleasure in those who reported their memory all someone else's commandments, but only in those who reported their memory of the commandments given by the Lord do the faith and proceeding from the truth itself. And if, by chance, anyone who had been in attendance of the elders arrived, I made enquiries about the words of the elders, what Andrew or Peter had said, all or Thomas or James or John all Matthew all any of the Lord's disciples and what ever Aristion and John the Elder, the Lord's disciples, were saying.(But I did not think that the information from the books would profit me as much as information from a living and surviving source.)
When discussing the authority of Mark, Papias cites John the elder, the apostle.
“The Elder used to say ‘Mark, in his capacity as Peter’s interpreter, Wrote down accurately as many things as he recalled from memory, though not in ordered form, all the things said and done by the Lord. For he neither heard that Lord nor accompanied him, but later, as I said, Peter, who used to give his teachings in the form of ‘chreiai’, (a ‘chreiai’ was a brief, useful anecdote about a particular character - from the Greek word ‘Xpeia’ which means ‘useful’), often beginning ‘on seeing’ or ‘on being asked’, but had no intention of providing an ordered arrangement of the ‘logia’ of the Lord. Subsequently Mark did nothing when he wrote down some individual items just as he related them from memory.For he made it his one concern not to omit anything he had heard or to falsify anything.’”
Christ is always pointed to
Jesus now makes a remarkable statement about his relationship with the Holy Spirit.
“He (the Holy Spirit) will bring glory to me (Jesus) by taking what is mine and making it known to you.” John 16:14
‘Glory’ is a very significant word in the Bible. It signifies the very presence of the ruler and Lord of the universe. When Ezekiel had a vision of God’s kingdom, he saw,
“ . . . on the throne was a figure like that of a man. . . This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. When I saw it, I fell face down . . .” Ezekiel 1:26-28
Jesus is saying that the Spirit will enable people to recognise who Jesus is through the teaching of his apostles.
The next verse confirms that this is precisely what Jesus means. His heavenly Father has shared everything with Jesus and the Spirit will make all this known to the apostles who will pass it on to us.
“All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why i said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.” John 16:15
This is one of the many passages in the Bible where the Father, the Son and the Spirit are all given the status of God, though the Spirit always points people to Jesus who himself has been given the authority of the Father. Thus the Christians armour includes,
“ . . . the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Ephesians 6:17
The words of God are be central to the Christian’s life. Jesus said,
“My sheep listen to my voice, I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.” John 10:27
“If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be given you.” John 15:7
This is why it is vital that the words of Scripture are inspired by God and therefore authoritative. Any rejection of this teaching will inevitably undermine the church. There was a devastating survey undertaken by sociologist Jeffrey Hadden in the United States where he asked 10,000 clergymen (of whom 74% replied) their views on whether the Scriptures are the inspired and inerrant word of God in faith, history and secular matters. These were the results,
95% of Episcopalians said ‘No.’
87% of Methodists said ‘No.’
82% of Presbyterians said ‘No.’
77% of American Lutherans said ‘No.’
67% of American Baptists said ‘No.’
This is in marked contrast to what the apostles taught.
“But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. All Scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:14-17
