The Spirit of Truth

Introduction: The Good, The Beautiful, and the True

The Greek Philosopher Plato built his philosophical system around the pursuit of three ideals…he attempted to answer the questions:

What is good?

What is beautiful?

What is true?

These are three important questions. So important, that God addresses these questions in the very first book of the Bible. We see in the biblical account of creation - that everything God created was beautiful and good. When God created mankind, Adam and Eve, he placed them in the beautiful garden of Eden and tasked them with working and keeping the garden, to be fruitful, and to multiply, and subdue the earth and to fill it with his glory.

God revealed his truthfulness, ultimate truthfulness, by establishing the nature of their relationship by making a covenant with them. Creator and Creature wedded together by the promise of God - God promised eternal life for obedience and eternal death for disobedience - the one command had to do with a tree that was forbidden, their mouths were never to taste of the fruit of this tree or else they would die.

When the serpent comes to tempt Eve, with Adam in her presence, he attacks with his clever tactics of deception, the nature of what is good, beautiful and true - the tree that God established as a symbol of covenant fidelity was instrument of death and destruction to the one who would disobey, but now to Eve, it became the answer to these three questions.

Listen at how Scripture describes Eve’s thinking about the forbidden tree:

Genesis 3:6 “6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.”

Why do I start the message here?

The Ancient Serpent, the Devil, the Bible says has been a liar from the beginning, a great deceiver. And he wants your mind to have a distorted view of what is good, what is beautiful, and what is true.

Because our first parents, Adam and Eve fell into sin, we are all actually born with foolish hearts..darkened hearts that are unable to rightly distinguish between good and evil, the beautiful and the profane, between truth and falsehood.

Romans 3:10–12 “10 as it is written: “None is righteous,(the good) no, not one; 11 no one understands(the true); no one seeks for God.(the beautiful (glory) 12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.””

If our natural disposition is to turn aside from the good, the beautiful, and the true…how do we rediscover them? These are concrete ideals and realities that are found in God and in the things that he has made and in the purpose he has given to things - whether you realize it or not, you will spend your life pursuing these ideals…but to truly discover them…we need a guide, we need the one who was there at Creation, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Truth, to guide us in the truth, to renew our minds, to create in us a new heart that seeks what is truly good and beautiful rather than falling for the same old deceptions.

In our passage today, John 16:12-15, Jesus promises his disciples the Spirit of Truth. This Spirit, the Holy Spirit, is the one who guides us into all truth, who helps us reclaim the God given ideals of the good, the beautiful, and the true.

vs 12 - Jesus Understands Our Weakness and Infirmity

Jesus had laid a great deal of truth at the feet of his disciples, much of which they really did not yet grasp fully. Now there hearts were heavy with the news that he was leaving them, so Jesus, understanding the frailty of their condition, tells them that there is so much more for them to learn from him, but they are not in a frame to receive it or even bear it.

Here we see how gracious Christ is with his followers, he doesn’t expect us to be mature all at once, but to grow up into him by degrees. There are some truths a new Christian cannot bear at first, but will grow up into. There are some truths people are not ready to receive now, but will be ready a bit later…this shows us how we are to patiently bear with one another in matters of doctrine that we would follow the example of Christ.

But even more pertinent to the subject of the text, we need to see ourselves as weak and needy of the mercies of Christ. If you think you know all things, you will likely remain ignorant of truth. The man and woman who have a lowly view of themselves, who seek to learn all they can from their master. The prideful learn at no ones feet.

I’ve always been inspired by the end of 2 Timothy,Paul is in prison, he has reached the end of his days, soon to be executed in Rome.

In 2 Timothy 4:13 “13 When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments.”

Here the great Apostle Paul, even in his last days, wants his books, we know he read widely and could quote openly from poets, greeks, jewish writers…and he wanted the parchments, the paper that likely contained his writings and for his making of notes. He was a continual learner.

Jesus would slowly and progressively reveal more and more of the truth to his disciples…in turn they were to teach the church all that he had commanded....therefore our task is that of humble learners.

You may be listening this morning and you are almost completely ignorant of the Scriptures and what it means to be a follower of Jesus. The subject matter may be like someone trying to understand a baseball box score without having any knowledge of the game.

But I would say directly to you…please do not shut your mind off because you can’t understand everything…the same devil that tempted Adam and Eve and distorted what is good, beautiful and true…wants you to remain in ignorance of Jesus and what he came to accomplish. You need to be guided into the truth.

For the Christian - never tire of engaging biblical truth - engage your mind and heart, give yourself to this task. You can never have too much knowledge of God and his revealed truth in Scripture.

vs 13 - Jesus Promises to Send the Spirit of Truth to Guide Us Into All Truth

Now this promise is directly to the disciples, the chosen apostles of Jesus who will establish the church and author the Scriptures. He promised them that the Holy Spirit would guide them into all truth…every single aspect of truth that was necessary for God’s people would be revealed to them. This was essentially the promise that through them and their authorized agents all the final 27 books of the Scriptures would be written, inspired by the Holy Spirit and without error.

We know that the Spirit was not given for personal, secret, or private knowledge. Jesus promised them in Acts 1:8 “8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

In Acts 2:14–21 Peter declares that the proclamation taking place after the Spirit came was the fulfillment of prophecy....the Spirit of Truth unleashes the truth of the gospel into the world.... “14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. 15 For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. 16 But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: 17 “ ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; 18 even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. 19 And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; 20 the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. 21 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be sa…”

2 Peter 1:19–21 “19 And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, 20 knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. 21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

The Holy Spirit guides all of God’s people into the truth through the apostolic witness and the inspiration of the Scriptures…the Spirit is our personal guide, only in such manner as he illuminates the Scripture to us through the preaching of the Word, the teaching of the church, and through our personal study of the text.... he is speaking to us by the WORD OF GOD.

We are guided by the Spirit into all truth by the Word of God - so I encourage you that if you do not want to be deceived like Adam and Eve were deceived…then you must give yourself to the word of God. The world has many guides, but only the Spirit will guide you into all truth.

This is why we preach, we teach, we sing, we pray…its all word drenched…the word is God speaking…guiding us by the Spirit into truth and away from deception.

This means that God’s Word is sufficient for you to know what it means to follow Jesus and to live a life that is pleasing to God…this doesn’t mean that we don’t learn anything from general revelation - but it means all knowledge must act in submission to the Scriptures.

Vs 13b-15 - What Is the Chief Aim of the Holy Spirit?

The Chief Aim of the Holy Spirit is to glorify Christ - John 16:14 “14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”

Why does the Spirit glorify Jesus? It is because Jesus was sent to humanity as the pinnacle of divine revelation - in Jesus God gives all humanity the true picture of the good, the beautiful, and the True.

Jesus speaks in our passage of the way the Spirit operates to glorify Jesus:

The Holy Spirit does not speak on his own authority - this does not mean that he doesn't possess authority, it means that he speaks on behalf of the entire trinity - no person of the trinity acts on his own. So when he speaks, he speaks about all those things God has decreed for the salvation of his people.

The Holy Spirit will declare the things that are to come. This means the Spirit is going to help the disciples understand the significance of the death and resurrection and ascension of Jesus. Remember what happened to Adam and Eve…in their deception they fell into sin and the punishment was eternal death. The spirit showed the disciples how the death and resurrection of Christ eradicated the curse of death for all who believe.

The Spirit showed them how Jesus is the only good and righteous one.

The Spirit showed them how Jesus is the truth - every promise of God is fulfilled in Jesus. Everything Jesus said and everything he did vindicates the truth and shows that God keeps every single one his promises…there is no deception in him at all.

The Spirit showed them how Jesus is beautiful…he is the image of the GLORY of God…the exact representation of his nature.

The Pslamist wrote - Psalm 19:1 “1 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.”

Jesus is the glory of God - all the beauty in the night sky is just a shadow of the beauty in Christ…John 1:14 “14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Now why couldn't the disciples see this on their own? T

The cross momentarily casts a shadow on the beauty of Christ and in casting this shadow over Christ it revealed the deception of Eden…Galatians 3:13 says, “cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.” The cross revealed the lies that Satan told Adam and Eve - the cross shows that the tree was not good, it was not beautiful and it was not true....it ushered in evil, and despair, and unleashed the vileness of sin and death upon humanity - and when Jesus died upon the cross he became that curse…he looked unholy, ugly, and false - but when he rose from the dead, he demonstrated that he had defeated the curse, he rose is glory, righteousness, and truth!

If we are all striving to answer these questions - to truly answer them we have to arrive at Jesus!

Every Single Word of Scripture is the Word of Christ

Everything the Spirit speaks and reveals and illuminates was decreed by the Father and given to the Son…The Spirit takes what belongs to the Son and declares it.

God is working in perfect unison in his being…the father, the Son, and the spirit - to save a people for himself…the spirit is the one who guides us into the truth of who Jesus is and what he has done to rescue us from our sin.

So scripture is not primarily an instruction manual for life, it is not a leadership text, or even a book of moral philosophy.

It is a book that tells us what Jesus has done to rescue sinners...its a book about Christ.

Conclusion: So what is good, beautiful and true?

I want to encourage you to find that answer in God’s Word.

Do you really think the answer is in you?

Do you think hollywood has the answer? Washington? the University? Youtube? TicToc?

Pursue the answer! Pursue it from the Scriptures, sit under the preaching of the word, discuss the Bible with your friends, read solid books, devour the Scriptures.

Look on Christ - you aren't good but he is, your heart is not trustworthy, but he is the truth, we are naturally profane, but Christ is beautiful - and for all who will trust in him, surrender to him - he puts the truth into our hearts, he gives us his goodness, and he takes the profane and makes it beautiful.

Look at the cross - because there we see who we are and what we deserve for our sin.

Look at the resurrected Christ in all his glory - because in Him we see all that he promised to do for those who turn from their sin and trust in him - he rescues from God’s Wrath and Raises Us From the Dead to Eternal Life!