Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 14:17
[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.
17. the Spirit of truth ] This expression confirms the rendering ‘Advocate.’ Truth is much more closely connected with the idea of advocating a cause than with that of comforting. Comp. Joh 15:26, Joh 16:13; 1Jn 5:6. The Paraclete is the Spirit of Truth as being the Bearer of the Divine revelation, bringing truth home to the hearts of men. In 1Jn 4:6 it is opposed to the ‘spirit of error.’ Comp. 1Co 2:12.
the world ] See notes on Joh 1:9-10.
it seeth him not ] Because the Spirit and ‘the things of the Spirit’ must be ‘spiritually discerned.’ (1Co 2:14). The world may have intelligence, scientific investigation, criticism, learning; but not by these means is the Spirit of Truth contemplated and recognised; rather by humility, self-investigation, faith, and love.
for he dwelleth ] Because He abideth: it is the same Greek word as in the previous clause. Comp. Joh 14:28.
and shall be in you ] A reading of higher authority gives us, ‘ and is in you.’ All the verbs are in the present tense. The Spirit was in the Apostles already, though not in the fulness of Pentecost.
Note throughout these two verses (16, 17) the definite personality of the Spirit, distinct both from the Father Who gives Him and from the Son Who promises Him. Note also the three prepositions (in Joh 14:16-17): the Advocate is with us for fellowship ( meta); He abides by our side to defend us ( para); He is in us as a source of power to each individually ( en).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The Spirit of truth – He is thus called here because he would teach them the truth, or would guide them into all truth, Joh 16:13. He would keep them from all error, and teach them the truth, which, either by writing or preaching, they were to communicate to others.
The world – The term world is often used to denote all who are entirely under the influence of the things of this world – pride, ambition, and pleasure; all who are not Christians, and especially all who are addicted to gross vices and pursuits, 1Co 1:21; 1Co 11:32; Joh 12:31; 2Co 4:4.
Cannot receive – Cannot admit as a Teacher or Comforter, or cannot receive in his offices of enlightening and purifying. The reason why they could not do this is immediately added.
Because it seeth him not – The men of the world are under the influence of the senses. They walk by sight, and not by faith. Hence, what they cannot perceive by their senses, what does not gratify their sight, or taste, or feeling, makes no impression on them. As they cannot see the operations of the Spirit Joh 3:8, they judge that all that is said of his influence is delusive, and hence, they cannot receive him. They have an erroneous mode of judging of what is for the welfare of man.
Neither knoweth him – To know, in the Scriptures, often means more than the act of the mind in simply understanding a thing. It denotes every act or emotion of the mind that is requisite in receiving the proper impression of a truth. Hence, it often includes the idea of approbation, of love, of cordial feeling, Psa 1:6; Psa 37:18; Psa 138:6; Nah 1:7; 2Ti 2:19. In this place it means the approbation of the heart; and as the people of the world do not approve of or desire the aid of the Spirit, so it is said they cannot receive him. They have no love for him, and they reject him. Men often consider his work in the conversion of sinners and in revivals as delusion. They love the world so much that they cannot understand his work or embrace him.
He dwelleth in you – The Spirit dwells in Christians by his sacred influences. There is no personal union, no physical indwelling, for God is essentially present in one place as much as in another; but he works in us repentance, peace, joy, meekness, etc. He teaches us, guides us, and comforts us. See the notes at Gal 5:22-24. Thus, he is said to dwell in us when we are made pure, peaceable, holy, humble; when we become like him, and cherish his sacred influences. The word dwelleth means to remain with them. Jesus was to be taken away, but the Spirit would remain. It is also implied that they would know his presence, and have assurance that they were under his guidance. This was true of the apostles as inspired men, and it is true of all Christians that by ascertaining that they have the graces of the Spirit – joy, peace, long-suffering, etc. they know that they are the children of God, 1Jo 3:24; 1Jo 5:10.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 17. The Spirit of truth] The Spirit, or Holy Ghost, whose essential office is to manifest, vindicate, and apply the truth. The Gospel of Christ may be thus called, because it exposes falsity, removes error, and teaches the knowledge of the true God-shows the way to him, saves from vanity and illusive hopes, and establishes solid happiness in the souls of those who believe.
The world cannot receive] By the world, St. John means those who are influenced only by the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eye, and the pride of life, 1Jo 2:16. Now these cannot receive the Spirit of the truth, because they see him not, have no spiritual discernment, attend to nothing but the dictates of their corrupt passions and affections, and will admit of no influence but what can be an object of their senses. Hence all the deign and irreligion in the world. God, in the operation of his hands, and in the influences of his Spirit, is found every where except in the perverted passions of men. In these alone do men of corrupt minds seek him; here only he is not to be found, and therefore they become infidels and atheists.
But ye know him] Ye have already received a measure of the truth, and ye believe in this Spirit. Probably our Lord refers to the knowledge which they should afterwards attain: in this sense the passage has been understood by the Vulgate, Nonnus, and two copies of the Itala, which read, Ye SHALL know him.
For he dwelleth with you] Or, as the AEthiopic, Vulgate, Nonnus, and six copies of the Itala read, he shall dwell with you, (see above;) and this, it is very evident, is the meaning of the evangelist, who not unfrequently uses the present for the future tense. It is certain the Holy Spirit was not yet given to the disciples so as to dwell in them; this St. John himself assures us, Joh 7:39. And it is evidently of that Spirit and its influences, which was not given till the day of pentecost, that our Lord here speaks.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
He here explains himself, and tells them, that by that other Comforter, mentioned Joh 14:16, he meant the Spirit; whom he here calls the Spirit of truth, either because he is a Spirit that declareth and revealeth the truth, as in 1Jo 5:6, or because he teacheth us truth, 1Jo 2:27, he guides us into all truth, Joh 16:13; or in opposition to the lying spirit of the devil, 1Ki 22:22. Most probably the Holy Spirit is here called
the Spirit of truth, because of the efficiency be hath as to it. It is he who hath revealed all the truth contained in the Scriptures to the world. Holy men wrote as they were inspired by him, Act 1:16; 2Pe 1:21. It is he that more particularly and specially revealeth truth to the particular soul, 1Co 2:12; hence persons enlightened, are said to be made partakers of the Holy Ghost, Heb 6:4. He leadeth his people into truth, Joh 16:13; he sealeth and confirmeth truth to the soul: hence we read of the demonstration of the Spirit, 1Co 2:4. This Spirit of truth, the world, that is, men of carnal hearts, that are of the world, and in whom worldly lusts predominate, 1Jo 2:16; Joh 17:9; this world, through natural impotency, 1Co 2:14, through wisdom, 1Co 1:21, through lusts and passions, cannot receive, that is, be made partakers of; because it neither seeth him, who is not to be seen with mortal eyes, nor knoweth him affectionately and experimentally; he being not to be known by men whose hearts are carnal and full of lusts:
but ye know him believingly, experimentally, affectionately, savingly; for he dwelleth in you by a mystical union, Rom 8:11; 1Co 6:17; and he shall abide with you, by his dwelling in you, and influences upon you.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
17. whom the world cannot receive,&c.(See 1Co 2:14).
he dwelleth with you, andshall be in youThough the proper fulness of both these was yetfuture, our Lord, by using both the present and the future, seemsplainly to say that they already had the germ of this greatblessing.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive,…. These words explain who is meant by the Comforter, “even the Spirit of truth”; the true Spirit of God, the dictator of the Scriptures of truth, who leads men into the truths of the Gospel, confirms them in them, and gives boldness and freedom to own, and confess them before men:
whom the world cannot receive; the men of the world, who are as they came into the world, carnal and natural men, can neither receive the Spirit nor the things of the Spirit, the truths and doctrines of the Gospel; they can neither receive them into their understandings, nor into their affections; and indeed, because they cannot understand them, therefore they do not love them, but despise and hate them:
because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him; the world, and the men of it, can neither see him with their bodily eyes, because he is a “spirit”; nor know him with their understandings, because he is the “Spirit of truth”, which they are ignorant of, for want of a spiritual discerning.
But ye know him; as a spirit of illumination, regeneration, and conversion:
for he dwelleth with you; he is an inhabitant in your hearts, he has taken up his residence in you as his temples:
and shall be in you; as a Comforter, when I am gone from you; and as a spirit of truth to guide you into all truth, to stand by you, and assist you in preaching it, and to enable you to bear a faithful and glorious testimony for it.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The Spirit of truth ( ). Same phrase in John 15:27; John 16:13; 1John 4:6, “a most exquisite title” (Bengel). The Holy Spirit is marked by it (genitive case), gives it, defends it (cf. 1:17), in contrast to the spirit of error (1Jo 4:6).
Whom (). Grammatical neuter gender () agreeing with (grammatical), but rightly rendered in English by “whom” and note masculine (verse 26). He is a person, not a mere influence.
Cannot receive ( ). Left to itself the sinful world is helpless (1Cor 2:14; Rom 8:7), almost Paul’s very language on this point. The world lacks spiritual insight ( ) and spiritual knowledge ( ). It failed to recognize Jesus (1:10) and likewise the Holy Spirit.
Ye know him ( ). Emphatic position of (ye) in contrast with the world (15:19), because they have seen Jesus the Revealer of the Father (verse 9).
Abides (). Timeless present tense.
With you (‘ ). “By your side,” “at home with you,” not merely “with you” (‘ ) “in the midst of you.”
In you ( ). In your hearts. So note (16), , .
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
The Spirit of Truth. “A most exquisite title,” says Bengel. The Spirit, who has the truth, reveals it, by knowledge in the understanding; confers it by practical proof and taste in the will; testifies of it to others also through those to whom He has revealed it; and defends that truth, of which ch. 1 17 speaks, grace and truth…. The truth makes all our virtues true. Otherwise there is a kind of false knowledge, false faith, false hope, false love; but there is no such thing as false truth. ”
The world. See on 1 9.
Shall be in you. Some editors read, ejstin, is in you.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1 ) “Even the Spirit of truth;” (to pneuma tes aletheias) “The comforter or paraclete is the Spirit of truth,” Joh 16:13-14, the one who continuously abideth not only in individual believers, sealing them as children of God forever, but also abiding as the comforter, vice-gerent of Christ in and to empower His church forever, Eph 4:30; Luk 24:49; Act 2:4; Joh 5:26; Eph 3:21.
2) “Whom the world cannot receive,” (ho kosmos oudunatai labein) “Which one the world order is not able to receive,” the unregenerate of humanity, Joh 15:18-19; 1Co 2:14. A world out of harmony with God, in darkness and sin, does not comprehend God, except as it yields to the light of His Word and His call through the Spirit, Joh 6:44.
3) “Because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him;(hoti ou theorei auto oude ginoskei) “Because it (the world) observes not, nor even knows him,” being spiritually ignorant, void of him, and at enmity with my Father, Eph 4:18; 2Co 4:3-4; Rom 8:7-8.
4) “But ye know him; (humeis ginoskete auto) “You all know him,” have experimental knowledge of Him, as believers, disciples, a chosen company of my followers, from the beginning, Joh 15:16; Joh 15:27; as Paul knew Him, and as John knew Him, 2Ti 1:12; 1Jn 3:14; 1Jn 4:7; 1Jn 4:13, whom to know is eternal life, Joh 17:3; 1Jn 5:18.
5) “For he dwelleth with you,” (hoti par ‘humin memei) “Because he (the spirit of truth) remains along with you all,” personally, for “if any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of His,” Rom 8:9; Joh 3:5; Joh 6:63. To be quickened (made alive) in Christ, by the Spirit, through faith in Christ, is to be a possessor of the Spirit who seals one in Christ unto the resurrection, Eph 1:13-14; Eph 2:1; Eph 2:5; Eph 4:30.
6) “And shall be in you.” (kai en humin estai) “And in and among you all (as my church, my disciples) He will be or exist,” Joh 14:26, continue to dwell, in a special guiding and empowering manner, in harmony with the Word of truth, Joh 16:13-14; Luk 24:49; Act 1:8; Act 2:4; 1Co 2:8-14.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
17. The Spirit of truth. Christ bestows on the Spirit another title, namely, that he is the Master or Teacher of truth. (68) Hence it follows, that until we have been inwardly instructed by him, the understandings of all of us are seized with vanity and falsehood.
Whom the world cannot receive. This contrast shows the peculiar excellence of that grace which God bestows on none but his elect; for he means that it is no ordinary gift of which the world is deprived. In this sense, too, Isaiah says, “ For, the darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the people, but the Lord shall arise on thee, O Jerusalem!” (69) For the mercy of God towards the Church deserves so much the higher praise, when he exalts the Church, by a distinguished privilege, above the whole world. And yet Christ exhorts the disciples, that they must not be puffed up, as the world is wont to be, by carnal views, and thus drive away from themselves the grace of the Spirit. All that Scripture tells us about the Holy Spirit is regarded by earthly men as a dream; because, trusting to their own reason, they despise heavenly illumination. Now, though this pride abounds everywhere, which extinguishes, so far as lies in our power, the light of the Holy Spirit; yet, conscious of our own poverty, we ought to know, that whatever belongs to sound understanding proceeds from no other source. Yet Christ’s words show that nothing which relates to the Holy Spirit can be learned by human reason, but that He is known only by the experience of faith.
The world, he says, cannot receive the Spirit, because it knoweth him not; but you know him, because he dwelleth with you. It is the Spirit alone therefore, who, by dwelling in us, makes himself to be known by us, for otherwise, he is unknown and incomprehensible.
(68) “ A scavoir qu’il est Maistre ou Docteur de la verite.”
(69) “ Sur toy, O Jerusalem !”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(17) Even the Spirit of truth.Comp. Joh. 15:26; Joh. 16:13, and 1Jn. 5:6. He is called the Spirit of Truth, because part of His special office is to bring truth home to the hearts of men, to carry it from the material to the moral sphere, to make it something more than a collection of signs seen or hearda living power in living men.
Whom the world cannot receive.The Holy Spirit can be received only by those who have the spiritual faculty. It cannot be otherwise. The unbelieving world, caring only for things of the senses, has lost its spiritual perception. It has no eye to see and no heart to know spiritual things, for they are spiritually discerned. (Comp. Note on 1Co. 2:14.)
But ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.The better text is,. . . . and is in you. The verbs are in the present tense, describing the receptivity of the disciples as opposed to the moral blindness of the world. They had, during our Lords work and teaching in their midst, exercised and strengthened their spiritual faculties. They had in part received the Spirit, and by that reception were prepared for the fuller gift. They knew Him. He was in their midst. He was then, and therefore should be in the future, a living power, dwelling in their inmost life.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
17 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.
Ver. 17. For he dwelleth with you ] Next to the love of Christ in dwelling in our nature, we may wonder at the love of the Holy Ghost, that will dwell in the dark dog-hole of our defiled souls; and be there as those two golden pipes, Zec 4:12 , through which the two olive branches empty out of themselves the golden oils of all precious graces; which are, therehence, called “the fruits of the Spirit,” Gal 5:22 ; “yea, the Spirit,” Joh 14:17 . God also in giving us his Spirit, is said to give us all good things, Mat 7:11 ; cf. Luk 11:13 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
17. ] . . ., not ‘the true Spirit,’ but ‘THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH;’ the Spirit Who is truth , 1Jn 5:6 , of Whom all truth comes, and who alone leads into the whole truth , the truth of God, ch. Joh 16:13 .
= , 1Co 2:14 , those who live according to the desires of the flesh and the mind, and have no receptivity of the things of God.
sometimes = , but not here, as being separated from it by : ‘ recognizes not in His operations (obj.) nor knows (subj.);’ has neither sight nor knowledge of.
present, but spoken of their state as disciples opposed to the world, and proleptically, as before. They were even now not of the world (ch. Joh 15:19 ), and are therefore viewed in the completion of their state as opposed to it.
(not as Vulg. and some other vss.) is rightly explained by De Wette to be future in signification , as any present predication of permanence must necessarily be; abideth, as , ch. Joh 8:35 . Euthym [195] understands . of the Spirit abiding in Jesus , Who was among them: but wrongly.
[195] Euthymius Zigabenus, 1116
] This was perhaps corrected to the future, because, though their knowledge of the Spirit proper to their complete state, and His dwelling, remaining, among them, had in some inferior sense begun, His dwelling in them had not. See Hare, Mission of the Comforter, ii. note I. With the reading , the prolepsis is still stronger.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
the Spirit of truth = the Spirit (App-101.) of the truth. The definite article in both cases.
world. Greek. kosmos. App-129.
cannot = is not (App-105) able to.
seeth. Greek. theoreo. App-133.
with = beside. Greek. para. App-104.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
17.] . . ., not the true Spirit,-but THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH;-the Spirit Who is truth, 1Jn 5:6,-of Whom all truth comes, and who alone leads into the whole truth, the truth of God, ch. Joh 16:13.
= , 1Co 2:14, those who live according to the desires of the flesh and the mind, and have no receptivity of the things of God.
sometimes = , but not here, as being separated from it by : recognizes not in His operations (obj.) nor knows (subj.);-has neither sight nor knowledge of.
-present, but spoken of their state as disciples opposed to the world,-and proleptically, as before. They were even now not of the world (ch. Joh 15:19), and are therefore viewed in the completion of their state as opposed to it.
(not as Vulg. and some other vss.) is rightly explained by De Wette to be future in signification, as any present predication of permanence must necessarily be; abideth, as , ch. Joh 8:35. Euthym[195] understands . of the Spirit abiding in Jesus, Who was among them: but wrongly.
[195] Euthymius Zigabenus, 1116
] This was perhaps corrected to the future, because, though their knowledge of the Spirit proper to their complete state, and His dwelling, remaining, among them, had in some inferior sense begun,-His dwelling in them had not. See Hare, Mission of the Comforter, ii. note I. With the reading , the prolepsis is still stronger.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Joh 14:17. , the Spirit of truth) A most admirably-chosen appellation: ch. Joh 16:13, When He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will show you things to come. The Spirit, who has the truth, reveals it, namely, by giving knowledge in the understanding; confers it by experimental proof and taste in the case of the will; testifies of it to others also through those to whom He has revealed it; and defends that truth, of which ch. Joh 1:17 speaks, Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. For which reason He is also called the Spirit of grace in Heb 10:29, where there goes before the blood of the Testament, viz. the New Testament [which is attested by the Holy Spirit; the grace and the testimony of the Spirit being thus joined together]. It is the truth that makes all virtues in us true and real. Otherwise (without it) there is a kind of knowledge that is false, faith that is false, love that is false, hope that is false: but there is no such thing as truth that is false.- , which the world) Along with the first mention of the Holy Spirit begins the distinction between believers and the world, a distinction which repeatedly recurs. The Son is said to have been sent into the world: but not so the Holy Spirit. The world sees not the Holy Spirit, according to this passage, and shall not see Jesus hereafter, according to Joh 14:19, Yet a little while, and the world seeth Me no more.- , cannot receive) Although God is willing to give to all.-, because) There is a kind of Epanodos.[350] The world doth not receive, BECAUSE it doth not know; ye know, BECAUSE ye have Him. Therefore to know and to have are so conjoined, that not to know is the cause of not having, and to have is the cause of knowing. Comp. ch. Joh 4:10, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is, etc., thou wouldest have asked of Him, and He would have given thee living water. The world doth not know; therefore it doth not ask; therefore it cannot receive: whereas to others God does give.- , seeth Him not) Do believers, then, see Him? They see Him in His operations. Unbelievers also see Him in His operations; but they do not perceive that it is He, and that He is the Spirit of truth; wherefore they cannot receive Him: whereas believers not only see Him, but also perceive that He is the same Spirit.-, ye) This is the emphatic word in the sentence.-, ye know) This denotes an event immediately about to take place.-, because) From the indwelling of the Spirit comes the intimate acquaintance: Joh 14:21-22, He that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him and will manifest Myself to him. Judas saith-How is it that Thou wilt manifest Thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus said, If a man love Me, etc., we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.- – , with you-in you) These particles differ: In is something more than with.
[350] Repetition of the same words in an inverted order: Gal 3:21. See Append. on this figure and this passage.-E. and T.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Joh 14:17
Joh 14:17
even the Spirit of truth:-The Spirit whose special mission is to guide them into all truth, to call to their remembrance all things that Jesus had taught them, and to enable them to record and teach all truth to the world. He is hence called the Spirit of truth. He approves all truth, rejects all falsehood.
whom the world cannot receive;-The disciples who kept his word could receive this Spirit, but the world, as distinguished from the disciples or who rejected that truth, could not receive this Spirit. [He cannot enter into men of the world as distinguished from the church, and all theological theories that teach the opposite contradict Christ. Because ye are sons [not to make you sons], God sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. (Gal 4:6).]
for it beholdeth him not, neither knoweth him:-[The reasons why the world cannot receive the comforter: It does not observe him, does not give that sympathetic attention to him which results in knowledge; it had treated Jesus with contempt who was the only one through whom the Holy Spirit could be seen and known. Some had even ascribed his miracles to Beelzebub. Such a world was incapable of receiving him.]
ye know him; for he abideth with you,-[Present tense. It is something which they then have, and yet something less than they are yet to receive. It refers to Jesus being in their midst, he being filled with the Holy Spirit.]
and shall be in you.-[Ultimately they are to have what Jesus then has. They, too, are to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and the beginning of the fulfillment of this was on the following Pentecost, and in this they were but the representatives and forerunners of all those who love Jesus and keep his commandments.] The Spirit up to this time had not, as representatives of God, abode with his servants on the earth. He had made visits and revelations to men, but had not entered into and remained with them. But he would come to them after Jesus ascended to his Father. (Verse 20). In Christ the disciples would enter into a closer relationship to God than his servants had ever held toward him. They would become sons of God, and the measure of the Spirit that pertains to a son would enter in and abide with them.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
world
kosmos = world-system. Joh 15:18; Joh 15:19; Joh 7:7. (See Scofield “Rev 13:8”).
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
the Spirit: Joh 15:26, Joh 16:13, 1Jo 2:27, 1Jo 4:6
whom: Pro 14:10, 1Co 2:14, Rev 2:17
but: Joh 14:16, Joh 14:23, Isa 57:15, Isa 59:21, Eze 36:27, Rom 8:9, Rom 8:11, Rom 8:13, Rom 8:14, 1Co 3:16, 1Co 6:19, 2Co 6:16, Eph 2:22, Eph 3:17, 2Ti 1:14, 1Jo 2:27, 1Jo 3:24, 1Jo 4:12, 1Jo 4:13
shall: Mat 10:20, Rom 8:10, 1Co 14:15, 2Co 13:5, Gal 4:6, Col 1:27, 1Jo 4:4
Reciprocal: Exo 29:45 – General Psa 25:14 – secret Psa 68:18 – received Isa 11:2 – the spirit of wisdom Dan 2:11 – whose Hag 2:5 – so Luk 24:49 – I send Joh 7:39 – this spake Joh 16:7 – the Comforter Act 10:41 – Not Eph 1:13 – holy Eph 1:17 – the spirit Eph 4:21 – as Tit 3:6 – through 1Jo 5:6 – the Spirit that
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
THE INDWELLING CHRIST
The Spirit of truth shall be in you.
Joh 14:17
How is it that so many well-meaning people are content to live according to a low standard of religionto live on year after year as though, like the disciples at Ephesus, they had never so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost?
I. It is often from want of thought, that fruitful source of so much evil in this life. From the mere force of habit regular attendants at church come to repeat their belief in the Holy Ghost without seriously thinking what they mean, and without allowing their professed belief to have the slightest influence on their daily lives.
II. The worlds religion is regarded by many as more comfortable and as giving less trouble, whereas the indwelling of the Spirit of Truth always interferes with the indulgences of sin, entails self-sacrifice, and brings those who follow His guidance along a toilsome road. Thus the Holy Spirit is not followed by those who think the worlds standard of religion sufficient for their spiritual needs.
III. Some of you may wish for this indwelling of the Holy Spirit when you are in Gods House, and find when you return to your homes that the devout feeling has passed away. But remember this: He Who is the Light of the World will not always knock at the door of your hearts. As the inspired writings of the old prophet Micah teach us, the work of the Holy Spirit is to make us obedient to the will of God, however much it may be opposed to our worldly desires. The indwelling of Christ leads the Christian to say from the heart
Thy way, not mine, O Lord,
However dark it be.
But if you harden your hearts and turn a deaf ear to the voice of your Saviour, you run the terrible risk of being cut off in the midst of your sins, unrepentant and unforgiven. Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near.
Rev. W. S. Randall.
Illustration
Many years ago it was the custom in this country for people to rise early on the morning of Whitsun-day that they might go out and pray at the moment the sun appeared above the horizon. There was a superstition that God would grant any prayer offered at sunrise on this particular daythe birthday of the Church. It is to be feared, however, that there was more of superstition than devotion in this old custom, for we know that the rest of the day was observed in anything but a fitting manner by those who professed to keep it as a festival of the Church. The Whitsun ales and merry-makings were formerly kept on this day, and in the midst of feastings and amusements there was great danger of the origin of the festival being entirely forgotten.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
7
It was called the Spirit of truth because it was to guide the apostles into all truth (chapter 16:13). Whom the world cannot receive. None but the apostles were to receive the Holy Spirit in baptismal measure (except the special case of the household of Cornelius, which was temporary), and no one else was ever promised it in any measure until after he had come out of the world into the family of God (Gal 4:6; Act 5:32). Seeing him not. The world does not exercise its mental or spiritual eyes, by which only anyone could see the Holy Spirit.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
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.
[The Spirit of truth.] Let us but observe how the whole world at this time lay in falsehood and error: the Gentiles under a spirit of delusion; the Jews under the cheat and imposture of traditions: and then the reason of this title of the Spirit of truth will appear; as also how seasonable and necessary a thing it was that such a Spirit should be sent into the world.
Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels
Joh 14:17. Even the Spirit of the truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it beholdeth him not, neither learneth to know him: ye learn to know him, because he abideth with you, and is in you. What this Advocate is, is now explained more fully. He is the Spirit of the truth, the Spirit whose essence is the truth, and who is the medium by which the truth comes to men. This Spirit the world cannot receive, because it has no perception of the things with which He deals, no sympathy with them, no adaptation to them. As it cannot hear Gods words, because it is not of God (chap. Joh 8:47), so it cannot receive the Spirit of the truth, because it has no eye for the spiritual and invisible, and no growing apprehension of them. The Spirit comes to the world, and would stay with it; but it will not have Him for a guest, and it never attains to that experimental knowledge of Him which is alone worthy of the name. But the disciples are of the truth; they welcome the heavenly Guest; He abides with them; He is in them; they advance to ever deeper knowledge of what He is and does. How much by these words abideth and is is the analogy between the presence of Jesus and of the Spirit with us brought out. No two words of the Gospel are more characteristic of the former.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
14:17 [Even] the {g} Spirit of truth; whom the {h} 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.
(g) The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of truth by reason of that which he does, because he inspires the truth into us, because he has the truth in himself.
(h) Worldly men.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Jesus now identified the Helper as the Spirit of truth (cf. Joh 15:26; Joh 16:13), that is, the truthful Spirit who would bear witness to and communicate the truth (cf. Joh 14:6; Joh 1:32-33; Joh 3:5-8; Joh 4:23-24; Joh 6:63; Joh 7:37-39).
"To be filled with the Spirit is the same as to be controlled by the Word. The Spirit of Truth uses the Word of truth to guide us into the will and the work of God." [Note: Wiersbe, 1:352.]
The unbelieving world cannot receive Him because it cannot see Him and knows nothing of Him. The disciples, on the other hand, knew Him because He empowered Jesus. He had been with them in this way as well as strengthening them occasionally as they needed help when they preached and performed miracles. However in the future, after Jesus returned to the Father, the Spirit would not just be with them but in them. This is another distinctive ministry of the Spirit in the present age. He indwells believers (Rom 8:9; 1Co 12:13). That ministry began on Pentecost when the church began (Act 2:4; cf. Act 1:5; Act 11:15). [Note: See Johnstone G. Patrick, "The Promise of the Paraclete," Bibliotheca Sacra 127:508 (October-December 1970):333-45.] The Spirit does have a ministry to the world, but Jesus explained that later (Joh 16:7-11).