Guide Me O Thou Great Redeemer

Submitted by Lactantius Jr. (United Kingdom), Jan 4, 2016 at 17:12

To Mansee Musa

I greet you in the precious life-giving, life-saving Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Prince of peace, the author and distributor of peace, the sinner's all-sufficient Saviour, and I pray that you may come to experience His peace,"that peace which the world cannot give" John 14:27

John 16:12 says "I have yet many things to say to you" is not concerning the main doctrines of the Gospel, for everything of this kind He had made known unto them, and John 15:15 ; but what concerned the rejection of the Jews, and the calling of the Gentiles, the abrogation of the Mosaic economy, and settling the Gospel church state, which were to come to pass after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the sending of the Holy Spirit: "but ye cannot bear them now" because of their prejudices in favour of their own nation, the law of Moses, and the ceremonies of it, and the setting up of a temporal kingdom.
John 16:13 "When He is come He will guide you into all truth" which is very necessary to be known, useful to men, profitable to the churches, even the whole counsel of God; what relates to worship, the nature, form, and spirituality of it, as well as doctrine. He is as a guide, he goes before, leads the way, removes obstructions, opens the understanding, makes things plain and clear, teaches to profit, and leads in the way men should go, without turning to the right hand or left, which, without such a guide, they would be apt to do.
John 16:14 "He shall glorify Me" In the ministration of the Gospel, which is "the ministration of the Spirit", 2 Corinthians 3:8 ; and asserts Christ to be God over all, to have all that the Father hath, to be possessed of all divine perfections, to have the fulness of the Godhead dwelling in Him; ascribes the same works and worship to Him as to, the Father; and holds Him forth to be beheld as the brightness of His glory, and His glory to be seen in it, as the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth: the Holy Spirit declares Him to be the only Saviour and Redeemer of lost sinners, that justification is solely by His righteousness, pardon by His blood, and atonement by His sacrifice; and which ministration the Holy Spirit makes effectual to the bringing of many souls to Christ to believe in Him, profess His name, and expect life and salvation from Him, by all of which Christ is glorified. Moreover, the Spirit of God glorifies Christ in the experience of the saints, by leading them to Him for righteousness, peace, and pardon, for grace, and fresh supplies of it, for wisdom and strength, for food and rest, for life and happiness; and by enabling them to live by faith on Him, on Whom the Holy Spirit has encouraged them to venture, and to whom they have committed their all; and by instructing them to glory in Christ, as their wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption; and by ascribing the glory of their salvation to Christ, and by making continual application to Him, under His direction and influence; by leaning on Him, and expecting every good thing from Him both for time and eternity. The particular instance in which he glorifies Christ, follows,
"for he shall receive of Mine, and shall show it unto you;" which is to be understood not of gifts Christ received from His Father, and which He gives to men by His Spirit; nor of internal grace, as faith, love which the Spirit from Christ works in the hearts of men; but either of the doctrines of the Gospel, the deep things of God and Christ, which the Spirit searches, and reveals in the ministration of the word. Christ received it from the Father, the Spirit received it from Christ, the apostles received it from the Holy Spirit, and the churches of Christ from them in succeeding generations: or this may be understood of the blessings of grace held forth in the Gospel, such as justification, pardon, adoption which are in Christ; and which the Spirit from Christ takes and shows to the saints, and witnesses their special and particular interest in, and so comforts them, and glorifies Christ.
John 16:7 For if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.

As you rightly say Mansee, the Holy Spirit had in in some sense come, before the death of Christ; He had appeared in the creation of all things out of nothing, as a joint Creator with the Father and Son; He was come as a spirit of prophecy upon the inspired writers of Scriptures, and others; the Old Testament saints had received Him as a spirit of faith; He had been given without measure to Christ as man, and the disciples had been partakers of His gifts and graces; but He was not come in such a manner as He afterwards did; as the promise of the Father, the glorifier of Christ, the comforter of His people, the spirit of truth, and the reprover of the world: there are reasons to be given, why the Spirit of God should not come in such a manner before, as after the death of Christ. The order of the three divine persons in the Trinity, and in the economy of man's salvation, required such a method to be observed; that the Father should first, and for a while, be more especially manifested; next the Son, and then the Holy Spirit: besides, our Lord has given a reason Himself, why the Spirit "was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified", John 7:39 ; And the coming of the Holy Spirit as a comforter, and the spirit of truth, was to be through the intercession, and by the mission of Christ; and therefore it was proper He should go away first, in order to send the Holy Spirit; add to all this, that if Christ had not gone away or died, there would have been nothing for the Holy Spirit to have done; no blood to sprinkle; no righteousness to reveal and bring near; no salvation to apply; or any of the things of Christ, and blessings of grace, to have taken and shown; all which are owing to the death of Christ, and which show the expediency of it: the expediency of Christ's death for the mission of the Spirit to Jesus' disciples, is very conspicuous; for hereby they were comforted and supported under a variety of troubles; were led into all truth, and so furnished for their ministerial work; and were made abundantly successful in it, that being attended with the demonstration of the HolySpirit and of power.

Thank you for asking these questions Mansee, in the Lord Jesus Christ, we have a Saviour Who encourages us to, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. Matthew 7:7

You're going to live forever Mansee, please choose your address, come on home to the Lord Jesus Christ, the sinners all-sufficient Saviour.

With kind regards and all good wishes

Lactantius Jr.

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