“But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the
Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness
about me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from
the beginning.” (John 15:26–27, ESV)
These words may not have meant much to His disciples at the
moment. They still did not even understand what was about to happen. But Jesus
knew just how important they were and He said them. He knew He was leaving. He
knew He was about to be put to death and that this in itself would be a big
blow to them. But He also knew He was going to take His life back up again,
appear to them, and they leave them again until they met in eternity. All of
these things would soon come to pass, and Jesus knew that they needed to hear
these words, but more than that they needed to know the truth that they would
not be left alone.
They were not being sent alone out into the world to face
persecution and rejection while presenting the love of God to men. This was not
something that they were to do on their own in remembrance of Him who was once
with them. Rather, through the coming of the Spirit they would continue to know
Him alive and abiding in them. In the fullness of God’s plan when the Son
returned to the Father, the Father sent the Spirit. And while Christ was with
them in human form, the Spirit would be in them forever. And as we read in
Scripture the Father, Son, and Spirit are fully in each other. They are One.
With Jesus leaving the disciples were promised that God
would be fully present in them through the Spirit, and in the Spirit they would
be fully helped—enabled and empowered. The disciples, who in a unique way only
to themselves, were the ones who were with Jesus. They walked, slept, and ate
with Him. They knew Him in a way that no one else did, and when He left they
were the ones who could tell of Him to everyone else. They were the ones that
God would empower to build His church, and through the power of the Spirit they
would be given all that they needed in order to do so. Even the things that
they had been told, but did not put the pieces together concerning, the Spirit
would bring to their remembrance and shine the light of understanding on. These
are the men who would be there at Pentecost when the Spirit came upon all
believers. These were the men who would see the initial large numbers of people
come to faith in Christ. These are the men who would be the foundation of the church
in which Jesus is the chief cornerstone. And these are the men who would write
for us the Scriptures that we hold in our hands, as the Spirit moved through
them as the Spirit moved through the prophets before.
They personally knew and loved Jesus in a way that no one
else could claim, and from them the good news of salvation in Christ alone was
to be spread. This is a monumental task, and it is one that was made possible
because the Father sent the Spirit to forward what had been accomplished in the
Son. These men were truly to be the eyewitnesses that would change the world.
The incredible thing is that the work of the Spirit did not
end with them. Every single person who believes and is saved is at that time
permanently indwelt by the Spirit and gifted by God for His service. The Spirit
continues to open eyes so that people might be saved, and the Spirit continues
to grow believers once they are saved. We are vessels chosen by God for His
service.
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