John 16:12–15

So the disciples, favoured as they were, were far from knowing all that the Lord wanted for them. He would have told them if their state had allowed it. They could enter into all the truth only after redemption was accomplished, Christ was raised from the dead, and the Holy Spirit was given — not before.

It was not that they were lacking in intelligence. They could not bear or understand the truths that He wanted to tell them, because they had not yet received the gift of the Holy Spirit... Only after He had come could every believer have the power and the potential to understand every truth put before them. No Christian should be ignorant of the mind of the Lord. It is not a question of natural ability. It is a question of being in a moral condition, with a teachable mind and a desire to learn. Then the indwelling Spirit gives the power to understand and learn the truth of God.

The Spirit, when given, was to supply what the disciples in their state at that time could not bear... The Lord truly had many things to say, kept back for the Holy Spirit. They waited for the time when the disciples would have their consciences purged and could come near with boldness into the holy places, and when a Man glorified in heaven gave the fitting occasion for displaying all that is in God.

Many things He had to say to them, but then they could not bear them. He would not therefore press on them what they were not in a condition to receive. Would they lose by that? Should they afterwards have to speak of an opportunity they had not used, lost for ever? No. He would provide against that. The Comforter sent by Him would come, and guide them into all the truth.

His disciples could only understand so much. So in His teaching the Lord was limited to making known what was only partial. But when the Spirit came there would be full revelation. No longer partial teaching, but open communication from the Father and the Son, through the Spirit — and so unlimited fullness for us.

These words show that truth is revealed as God's people are in a position and state to take it in. Before redemption was accomplished and the Spirit given, the disciples could not receive the truth which the Lord later ministered through the apostles by the Spirit. They also show that the revelation of truth reaches its finality when the Spirit comes, since He guides into ALL truth. This agrees with Paul's word that it was given to him "to fulfil [or, complete] the Word of God" (Col. 1:25). He does not mean the completing of the collection of Bible books — apparently John did that — but the completing of the subjects of revelation, the whole circle of revealed truth.

This is how the Spirit guides into all truth without giving new revelations. He opens and applies His own writings to meet the needs of the church.

So we see that the Lord recognised spiritual growth in His hearers. On one occasion He had many things to say, but the apostles were then unable to bear them (John 16:12). When, however, the Spirit of truth came at Pentecost they were led forward into all truth. But in the Epistles, as in the Gospels, we find that the ministry of the truth took each person's progress into account. Paul fed some with "milk," and others with "meat" (1 Cor. 3:2; Heb. 5:12).

"He will glorify me," says the Lord. Here the main purpose now becomes clearest — whether He is revealing the truth, speaking what He hears, or showing things to come. This is the centre around which all His roles and all His work find their full operation… We never read of the government or rule of the Holy Spirit. The reason seems to be that the Spirit is making good the lordship of Christ: He is exalting Him, not glorifying Himself. So He acts among the saints to exalt Christ before our eyes.

What are "the things" that "are Mine"? We have spoken of Him in His varied glories, but this surpasses them all. Think of His days on earth, or of Him raised to heaven. Think of His moral glory, His official glory, or His glory as Mediator. This goes beyond them all, to the things that are His together with the Father, in the deep blessedness of the full glory of God… It does not say, "All that I have is the Father's," but "All that the Father has is mine."

He says the Spirit takes "what is mine". This shared possession, as in everything else, is the very blessing of the Church. If it were not so, then in receiving or hearing Christ's things we might not have known or received the Father's. But when we know His things spiritually, we know the Father's.

We already know, by the Holy Spirit, the things that belong to Jesus where He is now… We do not wait until we are glorified to know where Christ is today, what things are His, and our part in them. May we know more and more of the resources of Christ, for by the Spirit all the riches of God's glory are available to faith!

For what does the Spirit do? He is glorifying Christ. This is always the true test. The power of a thing is not the test of it. Suppose a man talked a great deal about the Spirit, and at the same time was serving sin and not Christ. Who could trust him? … A man may make the most extravagant claims that the Holy Spirit's power is at work in him or in the church. But how am I to know the claim is real? … The great criterion is just this — the Holy Spirit always exalts Christ. The object is not to make much of the Church or a minister.

This shortage of the ministry of Christ is clear proof that the Holy Spirit is grieved and quenched. And nothing grieves and quenches Him more than making Him and His work the main subject of ministry instead of Christ.

Is Christ the food of your soul? Is He precious? Then you know to whose gracious ministry this is due. "He will take what is mine and declare it to you." May nothing hinder the blessed Spirit in His holy work of feeding our souls with the things of Christ. I might remark in passing that the word of God is the treasure house of all this wealth. The Spirit uses that to bring home to our hearts the things of Christ.

What are "the things" that "are Mine"? We have spoken of Him in His varied glories, but this surpasses them all. Whether in His life on earth or ascended on high; whether morally, officially, or in any way tied to His work as Mediator — this goes beyond them all. It reaches the things that are His with the Father, in the intrinsic blessedness of the full glory of the Godhead. In the passage before us we see His pre-eminence. It does not say, "All things that I have are the Father's," but "All things that the Father has are Mine."

John 16:15 gives our Lord pre-eminence from His own lips. Not of Person or relationship, which are both eternal, but of possessions. "All things that the Father has are Mine." Place beside it the words of John 3:35, and we get a most precious distinction. "The Father loves the Son and has given all things to be in His hand." If all things are given to Him as Man, the same "all things" are HIS OWN as God. The Spirit always guards the glory of HIM who stooped to become Man, and here He guards His pre-eminence in the "all things."

In revealing and declaring things to come, He glorifies Christ, for He is declaring Christ's things. But in this there is no separation from the Father, for it is as "all things that the Father has" are Christ's. He says "receive of Mine"; and this unity of possession, as in all else, is the very blessing of the Church. For if it were not so — and it must be so — the Church, in receiving or hearing Christ's things, might not have known or received the Father's. But in knowing, spiritually knowing, what is His, we know what is the Father's.

Christ's own glory, now on high, is the direct object; and this in every way. He is sent down to glorify not the Church but Christ, and He does this by receiving and reporting what is Christ's (and all the Father has is His), not by exaggerating man's importance or allowing the will of man.

In verse 15 we have a most wonderful statement — "All things that the Father has are Mine." This would show the immense resources which are available to the Spirit in His ministry to the saints.

But notice again how the Spirit is linked with our blessed Lord. Is Christ the food of your soul? Is He precious? Then you know to Whose gracious ministry this is due. "He shall take of Mine and show it to you." May nothing hinder the blessed Spirit in His holy work of feeding our souls with the things of Christ. The word of God is the treasure house of all this wealth. The Spirit uses that to bring home to our hearts the things of Christ.

Apart from the Holy Spirit, what would any one of us see in Christ? Think for a moment of a little snowdrop. The ordinary person looks at it and admires it, but to them it is just a simple little flower. Now let a botanist take it up and examine it. He knows its intricate structure and beauty, and he shows us each tiny part in its perfection under the microscope. The more he shows us, the more we say, "How glorious!" So it is with the Holy Spirit. He unfolds to us the beauties of our Lord, seeking to captivate our hearts with what is in Him. How important that we should make use of His ministry!