The Pulpit Commentary — John — Volume 2 — Section 311

p08seseion were the Mm est of the liberation of the ransomed humanity, When the idols w<'rc abolished, the kingdom of error and of sin felt the blow. When worshippers of cruelty and lust transferred their homage to the holy Saviour, the contest issued in ,ictory for God. And every humRn aoul in which the Spirit has wrought the work of mlight,<>nment and enfranchisement is a new trophy won for Christ. 'l'he day shBll s11rely come when every foe shall be beneath the Master's feet, when "the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our God aud of his Christ."-T, Vers. 13, 14.-The guidance of the Spirit. In the preceding verses our Lord hae described the work of the Spirit in refe!"l'nce to the world; he here very fully, though succiuctly, declares what is the work of the Spirit on behalf of the Church. l. lT IS NOT THE OFFICE OF THE SPIRIT TO ORIGINATE AND EMBODY TRUTH, Thie is an error into which Christians of different (,'hurchee and different tendencies have fallen-an error sometimes designated "mysticism." Good men have often looked to the enlightenment of the Spirit for a manifestation of new truth. Light proceeds from a ,·isible object directly or by reflection, and by the light we see the object and its visible qualities; but the object must be there in order thnt the light may reveal it. So is it in the spiritual realm. The Spirit does "not speak from himself;" this is not his office. The truth is embodied in revelation, in the Law, the Gospel, especially in the Lord Jesus, who is "the Truth." If men turn away from the revelation and look to the Spirit alone for illumination, they will mistake their own tastes and prejudices for the truth of God. II. lT IS THE OFFICE OF THE SrmIT TO LEAD THE MIND TO RECOGNIZE AND APPBE• CU.TE Divn."E TRUTH. The words here used by Jesus concerning the Spirit are decisive upon this point; he will "guide" and "show." The truth exists in the revealed counsels of God, and especially in the character and the mediation of Jesus Christ. But for the ignorant, the untaught, the unspiritual, the truth is as though it were not. The work of the Spirit is to witness to the soul, i.e. to bring the soul into harmony with the Divine revelation, to remove the dulncss, the coldness, the sin, which would prevent men from realizing God's truth. A landscape in the dark midnight can afford no man pleasnre, however artistic and sympathetic he may be by nature; but when the sun arise.& and irradiates the scene, and pours the light, in all its power to reveal the beauties of form and colour, into the eyes of the beholder, then his pleasure is perfected. So is the case with the soul of man, which needs Divine illumination in order to value and enjoy Divine truth. IlL THE SPEOIAL OFFICE OF THE SPIBIT 18 TO BEVEAL AND THUS TO GLORIFY CHRIST HlllSELF, He knows the way, and guides God's people into it; he hears the truth, and repeats it in the spiritual hearing of the susceptible; he receives, and what he receives he imparts to those who are prepared to accept it. In these verses the sub- stance ol the revelation is represented in three different lights. There is the Persoo Ghrist,, only to be apprehended by the spiritual quickening which enables the mind to discover in him the Gift of God himself. '!'here is the truth, all gathered up in Christ, and ID3de in him an object of faith and delight to the soul. There are the things that are to come, the unfolding of the counsels of the Mediator in the growth of the Church and the nniversality of the kingdom.-T. Ver. 20.-Grief 0/fld gwdness. Our Lord gave his apostles to understnnd that he was no enemy to the emotions that are characteristic of humanity. By becoming his disciples men did not exempt themi;elves from the common sorrows, nor did they forfeit the common joys, of human life. But these emotions were to be excited by greater and worthier occasions than those met with in ordinary experience. 'l'o be a Christian ll! to know profounder sorrow, and to rise to loftier joy, than falls to the lot of the unspirituaL And our Lord's first disciples were to prove this at the very outset of their spiritual life. I. THE GRIEF OCCASIONED DY THE LoBD'B ABSENCE. Probably had the twelve been perfectly informed, perfectly sympathetic, and perfectly patient, they would not have undergone all the distress which came upon them when their Lord was seized, insulted, and crucifted, and whilst hie body lay in Joseph's tom b. But as it was, their experience was more like our O"\lJl, and therefore inore instructive and helpful. 1. The di.BcipJea en. xvi, 1-33.J 'l'Hrn GOSPEL ACCORDTNU TO ST. JOHN. 321