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The Holy Spirit Given to Teach Us, June 14
When he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth.
John 16:13
.
Before offering Himself as the sacrificial victim, Christ sought for the most
essential and complete gift to bestow upon His followers, a gift that would bring
within their reach the boundless resources of grace. “I will pray the Father,” He said,
“and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; even
the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither
knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will
not leave you orphans: I will come to you” (
John 14:16-18
, margin).
Before this the Spirit had been in the world; from the very beginning of the work
of redemption He had been moving upon men’s hearts. But while Christ was on
earth, the disciples had desired no other helper. Not until they were deprived of His
presence would they feel their need of the Spirit, and then He would come.
The Holy Spirit is Christ’s representative, but divested of the personality of
humanity, and independent thereof. Cumbered with humanity, Christ could not be
in every place personally. Therefore it was for their interest that He should go to the
Father, and send the Spirit to be His successor on earth. No one could then have any
advantage because of his location or his personal contact with Christ. By the Spirit
the Saviour would be accessible to all. In this sense He would be nearer to them if
He had not ascended on high....
At all times and in all places, in all sorrows and in all afflictions, when the
outlook seems dark and the future perplexing, and we feel helpless and alone, the
Comforter will be sent in answer to the prayer of faith. Circumstances may separate
us from every earthly friend; but no circumstance, no distance, can separate us from
the heavenly Comforter. Wherever we are, wherever we may go, He is always at
our right hand to support, sustain, uphold, and cheer....
The Comforter is called “the Spirit of truth.” His work is to define and maintain
the truth. He first dwells in the heart as the Spirit of truth, and thus He becomes the
Comforter. There is comfort and peace in the truth, but no real peace or comfort
can be found in falsehood. It is through false theories and traditions that Satan gains
his power over the mind. By directing men to false standards, he misshapes the
character. Through the Scriptures the Holy Spirit speaks to the mind, and impresses
truth upon the heart. Thus He exposes error, and expels it from the soul. It is by the
Spirit of truth, working through the Word of God, that Christ subdues His chosen
people to Himself (
The Desire of Ages, 668-671
).
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