◄ What Does John 16:13 Mean? ►

"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.

John 16:13(NASB)

Verse of the Day

It is hard to imagine the grief that must have flooded the questioning hearts of Christ's disciples when they started to face the reality that Jesus was going away. For over three years He had been their Teacher and Protector, and His wisdom and grace was acknowledged by all, yet there was so much more that they needed to learn from Him.

He had clearly told them that He was leaving them and was going back to the Father in heaven and yet, in His loving-compassion, the Lord Jesus reminded them that He would send the Spirit of truth to guide them into all truth: "And to disclose to them what is yet to come."

What a comfort to know that the good tidings of great joy, which spoke of the glorious gospel of Christ would not grind to a bitter halt at His departure, but that the Spirit of truth would come to guide them into the many truths that they were not yet ready to receive; truths that could not yet be manifest before the victory on the Cross had been finally won.

Many of those truths were yet to be revealed to the apostle Paul by the Lord Jesus Himself. Mysteries connected with the Body of Christ which is the Church; mysteries planned by God before the foundation of the world; mysteries which had been hidden from ages and from generations.

Just as Christ was one with the Father and only did those things that He heard from above, the unity of the Godhead is further displayed when we read of the Spirit: "He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to us what is to come." Neither Christ nor the Spirit are inferior to the Father, but frequently demonstrate the submissive nature that pleases God.

Our job is to listen to what the Spirit says to us, for the one that is submissive to the promptings of the indwelling Holy Spirit is that one who will be guided into the truth of the glorious gospel of Christ and be given godly wisdom and discernment in every aspect of our lives.

My Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank You for the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit. I pray that I may have ears that are spiritually attuned to hear His voice, eyes that are willing to see spiritual truths, a heart that is submitted to His guidance and correction, and a teachable spirit so that in His grace I may be guided into all truth. This I ask in Jesus' name, AMEN.