Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXIMaclaren, Alexander
Religion
Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI
Maclaren, Alexander
Bible. John -- Commentaries
Be that as it may, mark only, for the last thought here about the
details of this great promise, that wonderful phrase, twice repeated in
our Lord's words, and emphasised by its verbal repetition in the two
clauses, which in all other respects are so different--'from the
Father.' The word translated '_from_' is not the ordinary word so
rendered, but rather designates _a position at the side of_ than an
_origin from_, and suggests much rather the intimate and ineffable
union between Father, Son, and Spirit, than the source from which the
Spirit comes. I touch upon these things very lightly, and gather them
up into one sentence. Here, then, are the points. A Person who is
spoken of as 'He'--a divine Person whose home from of old has been
close by the Father's side--a Person whose instrument is the revealed
truth ensphered and in germ in the facts of Christ's incarnation and
life--a divine Person, wielding the truth, who is sent by Christ as His
Representative, and in some sense a continuance of His personal
Presence--a divine, personal Spirit coming from the Father, wielding
the truth, sent by Christ, and at the side of all the persecuted and
the weak, all world-hated and Christian men, as their Champion, their
Combatant, their Ally, their Inspiration, and their Power. Is not that
enough to make the weakest strong? Is not that enough to make us 'more
than conquerors through Him that loved us'? All nations have legends of
the gods fighting at the head of their armies, and through the dust of
battle the white horses and the shining armour of the celestial
champions have been seen. The childish dream is a historical reality.
It is not we that fight, it is the Spirit of God that fighteth in us.
II. And so note, secondly, the witness of the Spirit which fortifies
against the world.
'He shall bear witness of Me.' Now we must especially observe here that
little phrase, 'unto you.' For that tells us at once that the witness
which our Lord has in mind here is something which is done within the
circle of the Christian believers, and not in the wide field of the
world's history or in nature. Of course it is a great truth that long
before Jesus Christ, and to-day far beyond the limits of His name and
knowledge, to say nothing of His faith and obedience, the Spirit of God
is working. As of old He brooded over the chaotic darkness, ever
labouring to turn chaos into order, and darkness into light, and
deformity into beauty; so today, all over the field of humanity, He is
operating. Grand as that truth is, it is not the truth here. What is
spoken of here is something that is done in and on Christian men, and
not even through them on the world, but in them for themselves. 'He
shall testify of Me' to you.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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