The Spirit of Truth

And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you (John 14:16-17).

Jesus promised the disciples that, by His intercession before the Father, the Father would send another Comforter to them, One like Jesus, who would take His place in them. This stresses the fact that this Comforter would not be another physical, visible person, but rather the Spirit of Christ who would live in every believer. This makes every person who says he/she is Jesus Christ a false prophet (Sun Myung Moon, David Koresh, Sergei the Vissarion Christ, Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda, etc.). (Matthew 24:4-5,11,24-25 ) “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ’, and will deceive many . . . Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many . . . For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand”.

Jesus said the Father would send the Spirit of [the] Truth. What is ‘truth’? The ‘truth’ is what is real; the reality of things. It is not what a person says ‘truth’ is, it is what ‘truth’ is. Jack Dawson shouted “I’m the king of the world” while standing on the bow of the Titanic with Rose Dewitt Bukater, but in reality he was an artist and a 3rd class passenger on the ship. People can say they are male or female or neither, but if you want the truth, look at the DNA.

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of [the] Truth. The ‘truth’ is used with reference to the incarnate Word of God - Jesus Christ. I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me (John 14:6). As such, the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus Christ because He is allon, ‘another of like kind’ in reference to Jesus Christ. 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 depart, I will send Him to you (John 16:7). He is the Spirit of [the] Truth because He is here to glorify Jesus Christ. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you (John 16:14).

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of [the] Truth with reference to the written Word of God - the Bible. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth (John 17:17). As such, the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Word of God because He moved men to write the Scriptures, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21), and because He now interprets the Word of God to those who diligently study it, However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come (John 16:13).

Jesus was the Teacher, Advocate, Advisor, Counselor to the disciples, and has sent the Holy Spirit to be the same to us. He works in and through the Scriptures to complement that active, personal role in us. Amen.

Pastor