Greetings!
As people grow older, they naturally spend more and more time thinking about the legacy they will leave behind. They begin to consider how they will be remembered, and what they will hand down to those coming after them. Like never before, they reflect on the heritage they have built over their lifetime.
On the financial front, many plan for the distribution of the wealth they have accumulated, wanting to make sure it goes to their heirs of choice, and not to the government or an unacceptable third party. Not surprisingly, addressing such concerns has become big business. There are innumerable estate planners, investment counselors, and attorneys offering means to accomplish people's differing objectives. Television commercials tout life insurance and exhort seniors not to burden their families with expensive funeral costs. Local bookstores are fully stocked with self-help books and computer programs dealing with estate planning. Special seminars are frequently offered on how to handle wills and trusts. All of this is predicated on people's desire to preserve their wealth and pass it on to the next generation.
Such concerns are valid. The Bible speaks of the importance of wise stewardship (cf. Prov. 27:23-27; Matt. 25:14-30; Luke 16:11), and assumes that people will leave an inheritance to those who come after them (Prov. 13:22; 17:2; 19:14; 20:21; Matt. 21:38; Luke 12:13; 15:11-12). But of far greater importance than the corruptible, earthly inheritance they leave others is the incorruptible heavenly inheritance God has for every child of His. That inheritance is "imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for [them]" (1 Peter 1:4; cf. Eph. 1:11). It is far beyond human understanding, prompting Paul to write,
Ephesians 1:18 (HCSB)
[I pray] that the perception of your mind may be enlightened so you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the glorious riches of His inheritance among the saints,
I pray you will be challenged, convicted, encouraged, and blessed by today's devotional to the glory of God.
THE LEGACY OF JESUS
JOHN 14:15-26
Part 5 of 5
LEGACY 4
THE PRESENCE OF THE TRUTH
John 14:25-26 (NASB)
"These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you.26 "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you."
Throughout His ministry, Jesus had been the source of truth for the disciples (cf. John 14:6). "These things" (the Father's word; John 14:24)," He reminded them, "I have spoken to you while abiding with you." But just as He would not leave them without a source of comfort, so also He would not leave the disciples without a source of truth. He would send the Holy Spirit, the "Spirit of truth" (John 14:17), to guide and teach them. Apart from the Holy Spirit's revelation, there is no way to know spiritual truth. Since "the world through its wisdom did not come to know God" (1 Cor. 1:21), fallen mankind is "always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth" (2 Tim. 3:7). It is only when people are "saved [that they] come to the knowledge of the truth" (1 Tim. 2:4).
Even the disciples, before Pentecost, found it difficult to understand all that Jesus taught them. According to John 2:22, it was not until after the resurrection that they understood His teaching in John 2:19.
- John 2:19 (NASB)
- Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."
Nor did they grasp the full significance of the triumphal entry until after Jesus had been glorified (John 12:16). Because of their obtuseness, Jesus told them,
- John 16:12 (NASB)
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"I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now."
They needed instruction, so Jesus promised them, "The Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name (cf. Acts 2:33) He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you" (cf. John 16:13).
- Acts 2:33 (NASB)
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"Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear."
- John 16:13 (NASB)
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"But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come."
The phrase, "in My name," means "on My behalf," as it also does in John 14:13.
- John 14:13 (NASB)
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"Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
Just as Jesus came in the Father's name (John 5:43), so also will the Spirit come in Jesus' name. As another Comforter like Jesus, the Spirit will always act in perfect harmony with Christ's desires, purposes, and will. Jesus would later tell the disciples,
- John 16:14 (NASB)
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"He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you."
In the divine plan, the Holy Spirit's ministry is to testify about Christ (John 15:26), not draw attention to Himself (cf. John 16:13).
- John 16:13 (NASB)
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"But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.
The Spirit is the believer's resident truth teacher (1 John 2:20,27); by illuminating God's Word to their understanding, He thus grants Christians the knowledge of God that leads them to spiritual maturity.
- 1 John 2:20-21 (NLT2)
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20 But you are not like that, for the Holy One has given you His Spirit, and all of you know the truth. 21 So I am writing to you not because you don’t know the truth but because you know the difference between truth and lies.
But Christ's promise that the Spirit would "bring to [their] remembrance all that [He had] said to" them was primarily a promise to the apostles of divine inspiration. The Holy Spirit's supernatural guidance granted them an inerrant understanding of Jesus Christ's person and teaching. The apostles (and their close associates) recorded that divinely inspired truth in the Gospels and the rest of the New Testament.
Peter described the process of inspiration in 2 Peter 1:20-21:
- 2 Peter 1:20-21 (NASB)
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But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, 21 for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.
The apostle Paul declared, "All Scripture is inspired by God" (lit., "God-breathed," 2 Tim. 3:13). The Holy Spirit inspired the very words of Scripture, not merely the thoughts of the writers (1 Cor. 2:13).
- 1 Corinthians 2:13 (NASB)
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Which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.
The Bible is therefore inerrant and authoritative, and thus the only infallible rule of faith and practice. It alone contains,
- Timothy 3:15b (NASB)
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The sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
For the redeemed, the Bible is "the sword of the Spirit" (Eph. 6:17) and,
- 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NASB)
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Is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
Armed with the truth and accompanied by the presence of God, the disciples and their contemporaries would soon be those who "turned the world upside down" (Acts 17:6 KJV). But in this moment of distress, just hours before the cross, the situation looked desperately hopeless. Aware of the disciples' distress, Jesus pointed them to the ultimate and only sure source of hope—the triune God. In the same way that the promise of God's presence heartened them two millennia ago, it should still bring confidence and courage to believers today, since it provides comfort both now,
- 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (NASB)
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Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
Compare:
- Psalm 23:4 (NASB)
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Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
- Psalm 86:17 (NASB)
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Show me a sign for good, That those who hate me may see it and be ashamed, Because You, O LORD, have helped me and comforted me.
- Matthew 5:4 (NASB)
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"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted."
And comforted forever.
- Isaiah 25:8 (NASB)
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He will swallow up death for all time, And the Lord GOD will wipe tears away from all faces, And He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth; For the LORD has spoken.
- Revelation 7:17 (NASB)
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For the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes."
- Revelation 21:3-5 (NASB)
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And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, 4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away." 5 And He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." And He *said, "Write, for these words are faithful and true."
2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 (NASB)
Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father,
who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and
good hope by grace, comfort and strengthen
your hearts in every good work and word.
Amen.
Proverbs 22:19 (NASB)
So that your trust may be in the LORD, I have taught you today, even you.
Amen.
