The Purpose Of The Holy Spirit

John 16:7-15

7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. 8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 Of sin, because they believe not on me; 10 Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; 11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. 12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. 13 Howbeit 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 shew you things to come. 14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. 15 All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

He Shall Glorify Me

Introduction

“He shall glorify me” it says in verse 14 of John 16, being the words of Christ respecting the Spirit that he shall send when he departs to the father. 

We see the Lord speaking of it first in the previous chapter, referring of him in verse 26 as “the Comforter”, and again in this chapter we see the same designation in verse 7.

But the ultimate purpose of the Spirit of God is seen in the purpose statement of verse 14; “He shall glorify me”.

In these last of days there are so many that have completely misrepresented The Holy Spirit and given to him a level of significance above that of Christ. 

The Purpose of the Holy Spirit is to glorify Christ. To point to Jesus, to reveal the Christ, the Saviour of the world. It’s what the gospel is all about and we see the two extremes of those whose ONLY focus is The Spirit and others who ignore his purpose completely.

To the one we have an inordinate focus, opposite to that which the Spirit has, to the other we have no consideration of the Spirit, opposite to that which the Bible teaches.

“He shall glorify me”

He doesn’t draw attention to himself.

Compare that to the multitude of ministers today who do.

Rather than speak of Jesus, it’s all “I, I, I, I”. There was a brother who told me he counted almost 20 “I” Statements from a pastor in the first few minutes and walked out. 

That is an indicator of those who, UNLIKE the Spirit of God, draw attention to themselves and not Christ our Lord.

If they had the Spirit of God in them, their PRIMARY DESIRE should be to bring Glory to Christ! 

It is of interest to know that Satan is the one who loves to bring glory to himself, that is his PRIMARY DESIRE;

Turn to Isaiah 14

What we shall see in this passage that you all know describes the fall of Satan, is his ultimate desire, HIS VERY OWN PURPOSE STATEMENT is revealed in two verses;

Isaiah 14:12–14

12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! 13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.

Is the purpose of Satan to lift up and help mankind?

Is the purpose of Satan to love and exalt man?

The purpose of Satan is to exalt himself, his love is for himself. The five “I Will’s” of the devil demonstrate the very purpose of his fallen existence and it astounds me how well we see him re-presented in the pulpits around the world today.

Pastors desiring to create a kingdom for themselves. It is plainly not the Holy Spirit working in them, for “he shall glorify me” said Jesus. If it were the Holy Spirit working in them, then they would glorify Jesus!

This is the work, the primary work of the Spirit of God. 

IT STANDS TO REASON therefore that those who are filled with the Spirit of God ONLY seek to GLORIFY JESUS. 

“He must increase but I must decrease” said John the Baptist!

So, this morning we will see four ways in the text before us, of how the Holy Spirit attends to his work in bringing glory to Jesus our Lord;

1/ Title of The Spirit the Spirit of truth,

2/ Teaching of The Spirit he will guide you into all truth:

3/ Testimony of The Spirit for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

4/ Tenor of The Spirit He shall glorify me:

Title of The Spirit, the Spirit of truth,

John 16:12-13

12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. 13 Howbeit 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 shew you things to come.

Here we have the very Title of the Spirit. Like Jesus however, it is not his ONLY title, we have already seen him referred to as The Comforter.

From Genesis 1 he is first introduced to us simply as the Spirit of God. He is the Holy Spirit, also the Holy Ghost. He is the Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit of Wisdom, the Spirit of Holiness, the Spirit of life, the Spirit of Christ and there may be a few more appellations that refer to him, but you get the point, each of these are titles of that Same Spirit.

The title as The Spirit of Truth is certainly not insignificant. You could say he is a contrast to the one that became “a lying spirit in the mouth of all” the prophets who deceived Ahab to fall at the battle of Ramothgilead in 1 Kings 22. 

He is certainly a contrast to the spirit of deception that seems to govern the days we are living in today. And he is a direct contrast to the Devil who is “a liar, and the father of it” (John 8:44).

Beloved, the Bible is an incredible book through which there are no single doctrines in the Bible that stand alone, and for us to obtain the most we can from the understanding and implications of a certain teaching of the Bible, we will need to consider how they affect one another, and depend upon one another. 

Many of the teachings in the Bible overlap, this is why you need to READ it cover to cover to gain the whole picture.

You could look at the Bible as an incredible tapestry woven together with a single thread by which every interaction is dependant upon the other and we do not know where it begins or where it ends. 

So, it is when we are speaking of the nature of the Godhead the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The incredible thing about God is that he is both comprehensible AND incomprehensible, he can be explained and known and yet he is also unknowable. God can be described, but he cannot be imagined.

The Bible speaks of God saying;

Acts 17:29

²⁹ Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device.

When giving consideration to the Spirit of Truth and the implication of his title, we also need to come to an understanding of how this title affects us personally. Why do you think that is?

Why does the very nature of the Spirit of God, titled here as “The Spirit of Truth” affect you and I who are saved by him?

Because he indwells us!

If you are born again, you are born of what?

John 3:5–6

5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Romans 8:9

9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

The doctrines of the Bible interact one with another and here we find in these two verses that the same Spirit through which you are born again is that same Spirit that indwells you and has, as one of his titles, The Spirit of Truth.

Having the Spirit of Truth dwelling within you has certain implications in our lives.

But know also of the contrast.

Those who are NOT born of the Spirit, also DO NOT have the Spirit of Truth indwelling them. This too has a potential consequence for them especially when we consider that it is the Spirit of Truth who is charged to guide you into all truth as we see in the midst of that verse.

You will find that names and titles are not given arbitrarily in the Bible. Every name and every title has a meaning and each meaning defines the one bearing the name and the title.

Jesus, who’s name means “Saviour”, spoke of himself in the first person saying, 

6 …. I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. John 14:6

When he was before Pontius Pilot he stated 

John 18:37

³⁷ … for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.

The incredible link that we see is that all those who have accepted Jesus as the truth, receive to themselves the Spirit of Truth as the gift of the New Birth. 

We have believed the testimony of Jesus AS TRUE, and are then given the Spirit of Truth, confirming that truth, and encouraging our hearts to preach the truth.

Those however who have rejected the Truth of Christ are often blinded to the truth, setting up a potential pattern of life that leads to further darkness. We see that in Romans 1 which we will touch on shortly.

You, who have the Spirit of Truth, should be easily able to discern the truth.

Those without the Spirit of Truth, find it much more difficult to discern what is true or false.

This beloved is the doctrine that is implicated by the Title of the Spirit of Truth.

It leads us naturally to his work.

Teaching of The Spirit, 

John 16:12-13

12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. 13 Howbeit 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 shew you things to come.

There is the purposeful work of the Spirit of Truth in all those who are born again. The passage tells us of the work of the Spirit of Truth to “guide you into all truth”. 

Earlier I mentioned that the doctrines of the Bible are like a Tapestry, many crossing and interlinking passages that thread their way through the scripture bringing out and confirming one teaching with another, the Bible is an incredible book. 

And here we have a passage that tells us a title of the Holy Spirit as “The Spirit of Truth”, who’s work and purpose is described by Jesus to “guide you into all truth”, and whom we are ALSO told in the Bible is the very person through which the Scriptures themselves were inspired.

In other words, the Spirit of Truth that indwells all who are born by the Spirit, now navigates us through the Word of Truth that he himself authored. 

Speaking of the Word of God, Peter wrote;

2 Peter 1:20–21

20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. 21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

The Bible testifies to us that the words spoken in the scriptures are the words spoken by the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Truth;

Jesus said King David spoke by the Holy Ghost;

Mark 12:36

36 For David himself said by the Holy Ghost, The LORD said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool.

When the Church began it was Peter who testified the same thing concerning the AUTHOR of the Scriptures;

Acts 1:16

16 Men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus.

Paul stated the same thing as he testified against the Jews saying;

Acts 28:25–26

25 …. Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers, 26 Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive:

We see this is the WORD of God and should we be surprised to see that it was AUTHORED by The Spirit of Truth?

Should we also be surprised to come to understand that the same who inspired the Book of Truth, will also Guide you into all truth?

O but what now are the implications of this doctrine that we see here? We are not half way into this message today and yet have already seen so much respecting the Holy Spirit and his work. The implications are so incredibly interlinked and we need to stop and summarise it.

Summary

• You, who are born again have the Spirit of Truth indwelling you.
• His work is to lead you into all truth, to teach you all things, particularly concerning Christ and  the Bible.
• He is also the one who authored the Bible.
• Therefore, it is the Spirit of God who’s charge it is to guide us into the truth of the Bible “all truth”.

WHAT ARE SOME IMPLICATIONS?

1. Those who do not have the Spirit of Truth in them cannot understand the Book of Truth, the Bible. 

Turn to 

1 Corinthians 2:12–14

12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. 13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

The things of the Spirit of God are “spiritually discerned”, they are not revealed by man’s wisdom, they cannot be comprehended by natural wisdom, natural wisdom in every way is darkness and not light. 

We have seen that everywhere we turn. Those who claim to be wise without God are in every way foolish. Natural discernment won’t cut it, the things of the Spirit of God must be “spiritually discerned”.

Romans told us that, in rejecting the reality of God, mankind…became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, Romans 1:21–22

A completely darkened heart will not comprehend the light of the truth.

John wrote 

⁵ … the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. John 1:5

Jesus said 

19 … light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. (John 3:19)

Turn to

1 Corinthians 1:18–21

18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. 20 Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.

So the first major implication is that without the Spirit of Truth we cannot understand the book of Truth. 

The Gospel may indeed be seen in the Bible, there is enough light in the word of God to reveal the truth of the Gospel to fallen man, but without the Spirit if Truth in man, the Bible becomes are very difficult book, an impossible book to understand. 

Isaiah referred to Gods words as “the words of a book that is sealed” (Isa 29:11) 

There is more to this that we need to be careful with but I don’t have time to go into. Care concerning a Christian form of Gnosticism is a natural but dangerous heresy that people who take this too far can enter into. 

There are a number of Christian Gnostics today who author books showing that they have SPECIAL KNOWLEDGE they alone can reveal to you today. Men such as Mark Biltz who authored books on the Blood moons, Jonathan Cann is probably the most obvious Christian Gnostic today who features on many programs and Authored many books in the Harbinger series. Such men teach a special knowledge only the Spirit of Truth revealed to them. It does not take long to see how much they contradict the Word of Truth.

The SECOND implication (My apologies for this lengthy point)

Does that mean therefore that those who have the Spirit of Truth in them cannot ever be deceived?

Not it does not, but the Bible indicates the deception of Christians, just like sin in Christians, is limited.

Turn to

1 John 4:1–6

1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. 2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: 3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. 

4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. 5 They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. 6 We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

A caution such as this is unnecessary if Christians could not be deceived. This teaches us that discernment in the truth is to be actively sought if it is to be taught.

Just as you cannot steer a parked car, you cannot be guided into all truth unless you are actively seeking it. If you are NOT READING the very SOURCE of TRUTH, you can fully expect to be deceived, even as a Christian. 

And there are MANY CHRISTIANS deceived today, probably in tune with as many Christians who are in sin today. 

BUT, just as there is strong hint to a limitation to sin in Christians (see 1 Cor 10:13), there is also a strong hint to a limitation of deception in Believers.

Turn to 

Matthew 24:24

24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

The clause “if it were possible” would be an unnecessary addition if it were possible to deceive the very elect those “great signs and wonders”!

Testimony of The Spirit 

John 16:12-13

12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. 13 Howbeit 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 shew you things to come.

It is interesting to me that the most typical pulpit in these days of apostasy have become silent to the truth and continue to teach heresy. When Bible colleges are actively destroying the faith of those who come to study the word of God, and when so many pastors are creating doubt in the Bible, we ALSO have the greatest SILENCE respecting PROPHECY, respecting “things to come”.

Pastors are also spending more time speaking of themselves than of Jesus.

for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak:and he will shew you things to come.

The Spirit of Truth “shall not speak of himself” and but many preachers don’t stop speaking of themselves. 

Jude has some strong words to describe such men saying;

Jude 16

16 These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men’s persons in admiration because of advantage.

They glorify men and not Christ. They lift up themselves and not the Lord. They continue to speak of themselves as if THEY are something we all need to admire. These are the pulpits of many today.

BUT, lest we get carried away with pointing our finger at others….if we have the indwelling Spirit of Truth in us, how are we permitting him to lead us? To work through us? 

Think of how much you may speak of yourself and compare that to what we see described as the spirit of God. for he shall not speak of himself;

We have far too many people today who think their lives need to be promoted for all the world to see. The promotion of Christ has given way to promotion of self. 

People who exalt themselves have a misplaced appreciation and affection and set themselves up ONLY for disappointment. 

Luke 14:8–11

8 When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him; 9 And he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room. 10 But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee. 11 For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

But if we speak of Jesus, if we exalt him, promote him, make HIM FAMOUS, then and only them do we do so in the likeness of the Spirit that indwells us. 

Indeed, the more we rejoice in Christ; the more we love him; the more we see his work in our lives, why would we speak of ourselves?

Certain therefore it is that the less we rejoice in Christ; the less we love him; the less we see his work in our lives, the more we exalt ourselves. We all naturally need a focus for our worship, some worship Jesus.

for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

Perhaps it’s not strictly referring to prophecy in this text, perhaps Jesus is referring strictly to the disciples concerning those things in the immediate future after Jesus ascends to the father, perhaps so.

But I do find it curious how so many preachers who have the same Spirit indwelling them have no desire to preach on things to come, particularly when we are so evidently living in days where the Bible is quite literally coming alive before our eyes.

I find it curious that this is also in line with a time of a great falling away, where the word of God is no longer of any value to many and so many are being blown about by every wind of doctrine. 

• The Spirit won’t exalt himself, but many who have the Spirit do, 
• The Spirit won’t speak of himself, yet many who have the Spirit do, 
• The Spirit of God that refuses to draw attention to himself, but many who have the Spirit love nothing more. This ought not to be.

The Spirit of Truth is given one purpose, one fundamental charge, ONE Tenor….

Jesus said, “He shall glorify me”

Tenor of The Spirit

 He shall glorify me:

John 16:13–14

13 Howbeit 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 shew you things to come. 14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

“He (The Spirit) shall glorify me”. The purpose, the tenor of the Spirit of God is to Glorify Jesus. 

Beloved, the Spirit of God has one fundamental purpose and charge and that is to Glorify Jesus. It is not to draw attention to himself, but to lift up and magnify the Son.

John “Saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove and abiding on Jesus” (Jn 1:32), a wonderful picture of where the Spirit of God wants all our attention to be drawn. He wants our focus to be on Jesus and not have our focus anywhere else.

False ministries have sprung up around the world over the last fifty years taking the Glory from Jesus and putting it anywhere but Jesus, many have ironically placed that Glory on the Spirit. All they do is talk about the Spirit of God whose very purpose is NOT to Speak of himself but to glorify the Son.

       We will touch on some of these “ministries” so-called next time when we look at the spiritual gifts and the false teachings that about today. 

We are called to none other than to preach Christ and him Crucified. 

We are commanded to preach the Gospel, the great commission is to “preach the gospel and to make disciples of men”. Satan loves the churches that are distracted from this focus, Satan loves when YOU take your eyes off Jesus.

When the 1st century Church had its focus on Jesus, before that century was out, within less than 50 years we have it recorded from Thessalonica, one of the most Cosmopolitan cities of the world at the time, rulers who cried out saying “These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also” (Acts 17:6).

Beloved, when Peter had all his attention on the Son of God, he walked on water (Mat 14:29). 

When Paul had all his focus on Jesus, he said he can do all things through Christ which strengthens him. 

When a minister has the purchased sheep of his congregation focused upon the Lord Jesus Christ, then and only then can he be truly LED BY THE SAME SPIRIT who’s charge it is to glorify the Son of the living God.

But when the focus is taken away from the Son to be placed on anything else, then will we like Peter, begin to sink. (Mat 14:30)

If our silence respecting Jesus and the gospel is the REAL reason why the world is in the mess that it is, what might happen if just a few of us would be truly led by The Spirit of Truth?

Look at the world today and consider it. As you see the world suffering and without hope, ask yourself if Christians have glorified Jesus or no.

Then ask yourself what would happen if as few as 12 men in this church did!

Jesus said. “He shall glorify me”.

Beloved, you will know if you do the work of the Spirit, if that is what you do!

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