“I have much more to say to you, more
than you can now bear. But when he, the
Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on
his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to
come. He will bring glory to me by
taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the
Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and
make it known to you.
As Jesus – the Teacher - neared the end of His physical
ministry on earth – He seemed to speak about some very complex things. When you read through John 14-16 there is
some deep stuff in there. It made the
disciples scratch their heads and wonder what in the world Jesus was talking
about. They didn’t get it.
This shows us that teaching can be a difficult
thing. Even when you know the level of
your students and present everything in the clearest manner possible, they
don’t always get the point. Yet as
students we often recognize that the fault sometimes lies in the mouth of the
instructor as well. If he or she starts
at a level that we are not – we will be lost from the start. If he speaks in circles, we may not
follow. Then time is wasted going
through the motions with no progression of any type.
It is the duty of a teacher not to just present facts –
but to present them in such a way as to advance learning and understanding on
the part of the student. So he or she
can come to a deeper understanding of the topic and know about it without being
instructed from that point on. Jesus
spent much of His public ministry teaching – trying to bring His disciples to a
deeper understanding of whom He was and why He had come. This is why Jesus gave us the Word of God as
well. It is not God’s design for you to
remain at the same level of spiritual wisdom as you were ten years ago. It is God’s design and purpose for you to
grow, and as Christians we want to grow.
But sometimes we can be so eager to grow – so eager to know – that we get
frustrated over what we don’t know or understand. We’ll see that today on this Trinity Sunday
as we see that -
The Triune God Will Give You More
Our
text starts out with Jesus saying, “I
have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear.” To bear means to carry something that is
burdensome – that is heavy and difficult.
What was it that was so difficult for the disciples to bear? Well, let’s look at what Jesus was telling
the disciples in the verses prior to this.
Just earlier in John 14 he said that, “I am going away and will come back to you. . . I will not speak with
you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. . . . if they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. . . I
am going to (the Father).” In a
seemingly veiled and yet clear enough way, Jesus was saying that the devil was
coming – that Jesus was going to be persecuted – and that Jesus was also going
to leave this world and go back home to the Father.
We
all know how this was fulfilled, as Jesus was arrested, made fun of, beaten,
spat upon, and nailed to a cross to die.
We know how Jesus was buried in a tomb and then raised three days
later. He didn’t go into such grim
detail about what exactly would happen to Him or them, because the disciples
simply couldn’t bear to hear it. It was
all just too sad. It didn’t fit the
picture they had of the Christ. The
theology of the cross did not fit their theology of glory. When he did start revealing where He was
going and what He was doing – the disciples didn’t even ask Him about it, (John
16:5) because they probably just didn’t want to know. They wanted to stay ignorant and not hear
what Jesus was saying. So Jesus had to
hold off on much of the truth and just let them watch it happen.
The
crystal balls, the horoscopes, the palm readers, the Oiuja
boards are all attempts of man to know the future. Do you think it coincidence that most of
these only tell people what they want to hear?
Instead, we are to search the Scriptures – just like the Old Testament
apostles and prophets did in search of when the Christ would come. Within Christianity many pour over the books
of Daniel and Revelation time and again to try and determine the future. That’s fine – to a point. If you really think about it – even if the
crystal balls worked or the horoscopes were accurate – even if you had a Urim and Thummim
which could tell you exactly what was going to happen – would you really want
to know? How much of it would be more
than we could handle and lead us into utter denial and panic or even unbelief?
Do
you remember when a young man by the name of Samuel was given a vision from
God? He confirmed the
prophesy that all of Eli’s descendants would die in the prime of life
and that Hophni and Phinehas
– Eli’s two sons – would die on the same day.
Samuel was given this burden from the LORD, and he had the difficult
duty of relaying this confirmation of the future to Eli. Who would want to know such things? How would we prepare? How would we cope? Wouldn’t we in fact try to change God’s
edicts – try to rescue everything – questioning all of what was bound to happen
– and worrying about many things that were simply beyond our control. We would in fact try to play God. The sad fact is that many times in our
sinfulness we just can’t handle more.
So
God in His mercy doesn’t give us more than we can bear. He reveals His will in the Scriptures. He reveals things that are hidden to our
senses. As faithful Christians, we do
our best to read it, learn it, and figure it out. (If we don’t we’re just being lazy – which is
all too often the case). In the process,
He opens our eyes to what we need to know and when we need to know it. In the process He tells us to seek more
knowledge and to pray over it. Yet He
also says, “trust that the future is in My
hands.” He sometimes lovingly keeps us
in the dark – so we don’t know when we or our loved ones will die – or when the
next world war will come – or when the next hurricane will arrive. Most of the time we have no idea what will
happen to us or our family or when it will happen. That’s a loving thing – because He knows how
prone we are to worry and fear. He knows
how prone we are to try and control everything – to question His decisions - to
change the future to the way WE want it instead of the way HE wants it.
Even
though the disciples couldn’t handle the truth at the time, Jesus wouldn’t
allow them to live in ignorance forever.
When he, the Spirit of truth,
comes, he will guide you into all truth.
Here the disciples were – afraid to walk down the path of truth – to
poke and prod Jesus as to figure out where exactly He was going. They couldn’t handle the truth of the
cross. Yet they wouldn’t remain there
forever. The Holy Spirit – the Spirit of
truth – would guide them into all truth.
Think of walking into a historical museum. You walk into the front doors and don’t know
exactly where to start and where to end.
You stop and stare, tentatively not knowing which way to go. All of the sudden you have a nice and
friendly tour guide come up to you and say, “let me show you around.” This is what the Holy Spirit would do – He
would guide them into the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak
only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what
is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine.
That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to
you. Jesus said that the Holy Spirit
would “take what is mine and make it known to you.”
What
does Jesus have that we need to know about?
Why would it affect us or make a difference to us? When you drive by someone’s house it doesn’t
really what they have or don’t have – whether it’s a big screen, a whirlpool or
theater seats – it doesn’t do you any good.
At best it would only make me jealous.
But when the Holy Spirit takes us into the household of Jesus and shows
us what He has, it has makes all the difference in the world to us. As He opens up the pages of Christ’s life we
see a house full of righteousness, holiness, forgiveness and an eternal life
with God; enough for a world of people to enjoy; which He is willing to GIVE
away.
The
Holy Spirit was commissioned by Jesus to take this wonderful blood and
righteousness and make it known to us.
He did this by revealing to us the meaning of the cross and resurrection
of Christ. The prophecy of Isaiah was
revealed to the world through the Holy Spirit which said, “he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are
healed.” The Holy Spirit reveals to
us that Jesus came from heaven above to be God’s wrath catcher on the cross –
to take the punishment for our sins. He
did the same thing for the disciples. Knowing
what Jesus HAS makes a world of difference to us. For God says that, “salvation is found in no one else.”
Jesus also said in Luke 12:8, “I
tell you, whoever acknowledges me before men, the Son
of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God.” If the Holy Spirit didn’t open up what Jesus
had for us, we wouldn’t know Jesus as our Savior. If we didn’t know Jesus, then He wouldn’t
acknowledge us on Judgment Day, and we would be banished forever into the fires
of hell.
This
whole description of how we are brought to salvation somewhat reveals the
relationship of the Trinity. It’s rather
intriguing. The Father calls on Jesus
and says to Him, “be the substitute for the sins of the world. Be the holiness and righteousness of the
world. I am putting the salvation of
this world of sinners in your hands – on your cross and resurrection.” All
that belongs to the Father is mine. The
Father then puts the eternal judgment of the world in the Son’s hands. The Son did a wonderfully perfect job of
redeeming the world. He then
commissioned the Holy Spirit to go and tell us what He did for us. He
will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell
you what is yet to come. He will bring
glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. So the Holy Spirit’s calling is to take
from what is Christ – and give it to us.
Every time we baptize another soul – the Holy Spirit takes Christ and
pours that person with Christ. Every
time we read the Bible, the Holy Spirit works through that Word to reveal more
and more of Christ – so that the Christian can have a better understanding as
to what Jesus exactly gives him or her.
Throughout all of this working of the Son and the Holy Spirit – the
Father reaches out to His fallen world to bring us back into His fold. These verses seem to give us a unique insight
into the relationship and workings of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – our
Triune God.
Are
you getting it? This isn’t for
infants. When an infant grows up he
progresses in his eating. Gerber has
capitalized on this eating by developing different stages of food with numbers
from one an up; from liquid, to small and then larger chunks of food; whatever
the child can handle and progress to without choking. This relationship of the Triune God is a more
in-depth doctrine – it would be a higher number. None of us can fully comprehend it. Some of us may understand it better than
others. That’s ok. The beauty of faith in Christ is that it
saves no matter whether you get all of the ins and outs of it or not. Even an infant can believe in Christ – even
though he or she may have very limited intellectual ability. The faith of a child is praised by Christ
because of the simple trust which doesn’t question but just accepts what he or
she has been told. One of the most beautiful
songs you can hear are the simple words of a child singing, “Jesus love me this
I know, for the Bible tells me so.” The
words are not deeply doctrinal; revealing the inner workings of the Trinity or
the difference between the humiliation and exaltation of Christ; but they
convey the most basic and beautiful truth which saves. That’s a wonderful thing about faith.
Yet
that cannot be used as an excuse not to try and grasp more of the doctrines of
faith with your mind so that we remain infants.
Paul exhorts all of us to do this.
“I pray that you, being rooted
and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp
how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this
love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the
fullness of God. (Ephesians 3) Peter also says in 2 Peter 3:18, “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ.”
Therefore,
in His grace Jesus said He would send His Holy Spirit to guide us into this
truth so that we could understand it and grasp it. This is what He did with the disciples. When they finally experienced the cross, the
Holy Spirit then worked through these words and predictions after the fact so
that they could look back on what happened and grow in faith through it
all. It took longer than it should have,
but the Holy Spirit was able to put the cross and resurrection in their minds
so they could have a firm grip on the true Christ. They were then prepared to even be taught
more. This was the way God the Father
had designed it from eternity.
Do
you see how this section of Scriptures wonderfully deals with the doctrine of
the Trinity? It is not just some dry
doctrinal dissertation where the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the
Son. It reveals to us a wonderfully
gracious Trinity that works in Unity with Himself – in order to make sure that
we grasp our Savior and our saved. There
is no bickering within about who will do the dying, who will do the converting,
or who will do the calling. The Triune
God works together within Himself for one sole purpose – to save us filthy and
lost sinners. This complex God is
willing to come down into our world with a completely foolish and profound
message – and put it into our brains and hearts. He enables us to grasp it, trust in it, and
hold onto it for dear life. This is our
Triune God.
The
Triune God did this for the disciples – and He does it for us – to prepare us
for the future – no matter what may come.
Jesus said, “he will tell you what is yet to come.” When
the disciples were able to see God work His own death out for our salvation and
resurrection and eternal life, they would then be prepared for the future – no
matter what would come. When the Holy
Spirit promised prison and death for Paul in the future, with a hindsight on the resurrection he embraced it. When the Holy Spirit promises persecution and
wars for us, we embrace it in faith. As
our faith grows in a 20/20 hindsight of the cross and resurrection, we can then
look forward to the future through the blurry foresight of faith. We know that no matter what our Triune God
has planned for us; it is for our good; because that is the kind of God He is;
a gracious and loving and forgiving God who has nothing but our salvation in
mind. “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)
One
of the first times I ate with my father in law, we were enjoying a wonderful
meal of western
When
the Holy Spirit feeds us with the beautiful grace of the death and resurrection
of Christ – it tastes absolutely wonderful – completely quenching our hunger
for forgiveness and acceptance from God.
It is so good to taste and see the promises of a resurrection from the
dead to eternal life in heaven with God – all through faith in Christ. As the Triune God reveals to us His wonderful
plan of salvation – we want to know more.
We want to understand more of what He has planned and why He has planned
it so. It tastes like more.
Sometimes
the “more” doesn’t come as quickly as we would like. Sometimes God places more on our plate; but
they’re too hot for our mouths of faith to eat; or they aren’t what we were wanting to eat. Like
Job we get frustrated and demand for God to explain Himself now. It’s at this
time that we need to remember what God says.
Ecclesiastes 3:1 states, “There is a time for everything, and a
season for every activity under heaven.”
The farmer needs to wait for the due season for the crop to come
about. God determines the time and the
places. There are many things in life
that we would like to know, yet we have to understand that in our own weakness
there are times where we just couldn’t handle more. Be assured that in the time that is best for
us – the Triune God – the Perfect Teacher - will give us more – when we can
handle it. Even if we never get an
answer on this side of heaven, that’s ok.
As Paul said in 1 Corinthians