In the previous teaching, we saw how the mind is the place for illumination hence we cannot ignore diligence in receiving the word for a spooky adventure of getting insights ‘by the Spirit’. But then, here comes a sincere and honest seeker of truth, asking the question: ‘If all we need to do is to study and receive the word, what then is the role of the Holy Spirit?’ The bible has all the answers to this, so let’s examine this carefully, beginning with the ministry of Christ.
John 15:26-27; “But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me. “And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning.”
In the days leading to the bodily departure of Christ from the earth, He began to prepare the hearts of His disciples about the ministry of the Spirit. He describes Him and His particular ministry – He is the Spirit of Truth, and He Testifies of Christ. So, we know that the truth the Spirit would bear witness to is the Person of Christ. But if you look more closely at our texts, you’ll discover Jesus also defined the role of the Apostles – “He will testify of Me. “And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning.” So, the Apostles were going to jointly witness or testify with the Holy Spirit. As a matter of fact, their witness is the witness of the Spirit! Let’s see how Peter explains this:
1 Peter 1:12; “To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven; things which angels desire to look into.”
According to this text, the gospel was preached to us by the Holy Spirit through men. These men are the Apostles of Christ. Originally, the word ‘ambassador’ is primarily descriptive of the Apostles, before it applies to every believer – “Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.” (2 Corinthians 5:20). When Paul says, ‘We are ambassadors for Christ’, the ‘we’ specifically applies to him and his team who brought the gospel to the Corinthians, hence he says, ‘we implore you (the Corinthians) on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God’.
Note also that Paul says it’s as though God Himself were pleading through them. The word ‘ambassador’ is the Greek word, ‘presbeuō’ which means a representative. It’s one of those words peculiar to the Pauline Epistle, and Paul uses it primarily for his own ministry. The second and final use of the same word is found at Ephesians 6:20 where he spoke of himself as an ambassador in chains. This is not to say that we cannot use this word for any other believer; the point I’m making is that every other believer can refer to himself as an ambassador of the gospel ONLY when he receives the ambassadorship of the Apostles – they are the first ambassadors and delegates! See how the writer of Hebrews also puts it:
Hebrews 2:3; “how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him.”
Did you see the order? The gospel was first spoken by the Lord and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him. So, the testimony of the Apostles are as VALID, AUTHENTIC, and RELIABLE, as the testimony of the Spirit. In fact, that is the Spirit speaking through them. Let’s see another thing Jesus said about the role of the Spirit.
John 16:13-15; “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. “He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. “All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.”
These texts can be carelessly interpreted to mean that the Spirit will guide us all into all truth on a personal basis but that’s not the real application. Let me give you a little background to the state of the Apostles at this point: THEY WERE SPIRITUALLY DULL. In fact, the pretext says, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.” (John 16:12). The word ‘bear’ is the Greek word, ‘bastazō’, which was used for carrying something burdensome, especially for animals used to carry heavy loads. Metaphorically, it means to not have the capacity to understand a matter. In other words, the disciples were going to break under the weight of such revelation at that time because of their spiritually dull state, and also because they were yet living under the Old Covenant.
Now, what were those things they couldn’t receive then? The things mentioned in verses 14 and 15! “He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. “All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.”
Jesus was talking specifically about the knowledge of our inheritance in Him – ‘He will take of what is mine and declare it to you…all that the Father has are Mine.’ The revelation of the Spirit is about what belongs to the Father and the Son, which is extended to us by our identification with Christ. This revelation is what the natural man cannot receive. Paul explains this so well at 1 Corinthians 2:
1 Corinthians 2:12-14; “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”
The things freely given to us by God – things we have come to share in our union with Christ are things the natural man cannot relate with. He is obsessed with material things. Up until the time Christ died, the disciples had their minds fixated on earthly things. The thought about Him as King on earth, and they were lobbying for appointments (Mark 10:35-37). When He told them He was going away, they were sad (John 16:5-6). When He told them He was going to die and rise again, Peter rebuked Him (Matthew 16:21-23). He couldn’t fathom why the One who claimed to be the resurrection and the life would die or be killed! When He eventually died, they said “But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel.” (Luke 24:21). That’s because their mindset about redemption was like that of Moses who delivered Israel from physical bondage and slavery with staggering acts of power; they didn’t know Christ’s redemption would come not by shedding other people’s blood, but by shedding His own blood. Hence, even after the resurrection their concern was still about this life. Imagine this conversation: “And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; “for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” (Acts 1:4-5).
They were meant to respond with joy and rejoicing, right? Yes, but you are about to be disappointed. Here’s what they said: “Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6). They were still looking for an earthly kingdom! Their state of dullness and the fact that the New Testament was not yet enacted was the reason why Christ couldn’t tell them ALL THE TRUTH. That is, it wouldn’t make sense to be telling them ‘IT IS DONE’ when it was yet to be done. So, the gospel to them was primarily in the form of promises because the fulfillment was yet in the future. Now, the fulfillment is the ALL TRUTH THAT THE SPIRIT GUIDED THEM INTO when Jesus rose again. And guess how the Spirit did that? Through the ministry of Christ.
Luke 24:27; “And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.”
Jesus expounded to the Apostles in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself from the law and the prophets. This means the OLD TESTAMENT was a closed book to them until this time. The result of this teaching was that their minds opened up; they were illuminated. Luke 24:44-45; “Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.” And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.”
This took place for the space of 40 days after His resurrection! Acts 1:1-3; “The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.”
So, imagine this: The Apostles weren’t told to go and study to figure out the revelation; Jesus REVEALED IT TO THEM. This is the pattern for understanding the revelation of Christ. Hence, He gave instruction to His Apostles to teach all nations the same things they’ve been taught!
Matthew 28:18-20; “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, “teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.”
Note that He didn’t say, ‘teaching them to observe all things that I will command you’. Rather He said, ‘teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you’. This means the revelation He handed them is COMPLETE! He had handed the doctrine to them and they were to faithfully teach others. The revelation of Christ is what they taught and wrote in their letters. What I’m saying in essence is that, when you read the letters of the Apostles, you are reading THE REVELATION.
The Spirit has revealed the truth to the Apostles through the ministry of Christ. If we receive the Apostles’ doctrine, we are receiving the ministry of the HOLY SPIRIT. If we resist their message, we are resisting the SPIRIT. The revelation of the Spirit has been documented for us to understand. This is why the gospel itself is called ‘THE REVELATION’. At Romans 16:25 Paul says, God is able to establish us according to his gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began. He spoke of the same thing in three different ways: i. ‘According to my gospel’; ii. ‘the preaching of Jesus Christ’; iii. the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began’. So, the gospel is the preaching of Jesus Christ and it is the REVELATION OF THE MYSTERY. The reason why many do not understand the bible is because they’ve been distracted from the simple explanations of the Apostles. Somehow, the church has been infiltrated by people who cannot simply say what the Apostles have said, but would rather sound complex, complicated, and mysterious. That unfortunate reality has given rise to messages like:
12 keys to the Davidic Anointing
The Secret of Samson (After he told Delilah?)
Ankle Deep and Knee Deep Anointing
How to Access Portals and Dimensions
The Mystery of Jabez etc…
These are the kinds of things that neither Jesus nor His Apostles taught. You’d miss the revelation if you are looking for it outside the GOSPEL taught in the letters of the Apostles as handed down to them by Christ. We’ll further expound on the role of the Spirit and the Apostles in the next teaching in this series.
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