The Spirit of Truth

When Jesus was preparing His disciples for His departure from this earth, He made a strange pronouncement. He told them, “It is to your advantage that I go away.” (John 16:7) That statement by itself would be hard to justify. What could possibly be better than having God in the flesh walking by your side? What He said next, though, explains why this would be true. He explained, “For if I do not go away, the Helper shall not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.” A few verses later He further explained that “when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth, for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.” (John 16:13) In other words, Jesus, when He was here on Earth could only be in one place at a time, but when the Holy Spirit came He could be with every believer always and forever, constantly teaching and guiding them.

          Jesus' statement in the verse above is a powerful one. Can you imagine being able to hear what God is speaking through the Holy Spirit who dwells within you? That is the kind of life that is promised to a believer. How exciting this is! Now, I am not saying that we always know exactly what God is saying to us, but we learn to hear His voice as we walk with Him. Also, as we read the scriptures, the Holy Spirit gives us insight to be able to understand them. The Holy Spirit trains our spiritual ears to be able to hear His voice. Jesus also told us “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32) So, as believers, we are promised the infilling of the Holy Spirit who will lead us into all the truth and disclose to us all the things God wants to tell us. What more could we possibly ask for? (see I John 2:27) Now we know why Jesus told His disciples that it would be to their advantage if He went away.

On the night Jesus was arrested He had a last Passover meal with His disciples. At that time He told them some important things they needed to know before He left. What He told them is recorded in John, chapters 14-17. One of the things He talked to them about was the importance of the role of the Holy Spirit in their lives. In John 14:16-17 He says, “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you, and will be in you.” So, the conclusion we can reach from Jesus’ words is that we, as believers, should have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us (I Cor. 3:16 NASB), and this is even better than having Jesus walking beside us in the flesh. The Holy Spirit will be our Teacher, and He will guide us into all the truth.

After Jesus was resurrected, He appeared to His disciples over a period of forty days, speaking to them about the kingdom of God, “And gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, ‘Which,’ He said, ‘you heard of from Me; for John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.’” (Acts 1:4-5) In Luke 24:49 He instructed them, “And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you, but you are to stay in the city (Jerusalem) until you are clothed with power from on high.” Also, in Acts 1:8 Jesus told them, “but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses…”  Jesus knew it was essential that His followers be filled with the Holy Spirit. Nothing has changed in that regard. We, His followers today, must be filled with His Spirit in order to fulfill the role He has for us on this Earth.