But when *he* is come, the Spirit of truth, he shall guide you into all the truth for he shall not speak from himself; but whatsoever he shall hear he shall speak; and he will announce to you what is coming.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
He shall glorify me, for he shall receive of mine and shall announce [it] to you.
Jesus tells His disciples what the Helper will do when He comes: the Spirit will make much of Christ, not of Himself. That raises two questions — what does the Spirit take from Christ, and how do we know when He is really at work?
The Spirit reveals truth, speaks what He hears, and shows things to come. All of it serves one purpose.
"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.
The Spirit does not invent. He takes what already belongs to Christ, and the next verse says how much that is: everything the Father has.
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."
The Father and the Son hold all things in common. So hearing what belongs to Christ is never less than hearing what belongs to the Father.
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.
The showing is present tense. Believers are not left waiting for heaven before they can know where Christ is and what is His.
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!
The Spirit's object is Christ. That gives us a test for anyone who claims to speak by Him.
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.
The reverse also follows. Where little is said of Christ, something has gone wrong.
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.
This ministry shows itself in an appetite for Christ. And it works through a definite means.
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.
- Aim. The Spirit's whole ministry has one centre — making Christ great. He exalts Him, not Himself.
- Source. He takes what is Christ's; He does not invent it. And what He takes has no limit, because everything the Father has belongs to the Son.
- Reach. Knowing Christ's things means knowing the Father's things too — the two are held in common, so nothing is lost to us.
- Test. Any claim to the Spirit's power is measured here: does it exalt Christ, or a man, or a church? Power alone proves nothing.
- Result. Christ becomes food for the soul, and Scripture is the treasure house the Spirit draws from to feed us.
All things that the Father has are mine; on account of this I have said that he receives of mine and shall announce [it] to you.
The Lord has just told His disciples that the Spirit of truth would take what belongs to Him and announce it to them. Verse 15 gives the reason. It opens a window into what the Son owns and what the Spirit hands over.
Notice which way the sentence runs.
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."
Elsewhere in this Gospel the Father gives all things into the Son's hand. Both statements stand, and holding them together guards who He is.
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."
A ministry limited to what is Christ's might seem to leave the Father out. The Lord's therefore answers that.
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.
The Spirit works by receiving and reporting, and He has one Person to glorify.
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.
Because the Son owns everything the Father owns, there is no shortage in what the Spirit has to draw from.
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.
If Christ has become precious to you, someone has been at work, and He uses a particular instrument.
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.
Left to ourselves we would look at Christ and see very little.
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!
- Owned — The sentence runs one way only: the Father's things are the Son's. That order is His pre-eminence, and it reaches into the full glory of the Godhead.
- Given — As Man He received all things into His hand; as God the same things are His own. Hold both, and you guard His glory.
- Therefore — The Father and the Son share the possession, so a ministry of what is Christ's loses nothing of the Father. In knowing Christ's things, we know the Father's.
- Announced — The Spirit came to glorify Christ, not the Church and not man. He does it by receiving what is Christ's and reporting it.
- Enjoyed — The resources open to Him are immense, and He uses the word of God to make Christ the food of the soul. Christ's preciousness to you is His work.