The Commission of the Holy Spirit - Part 7: To Tell of Things to Come

​​REVIEW
 
Now today, we will continue our look at the Holy Spirit’s commission in our lives by studying another particular assignment that He has.
 
Last week, we looked at John 16:13 where Jesus told us that when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide us into all truth. So, we looked at this in detail and the first thing we learned is that when Jesus starts off this verse by saying “however,” He was pointing them ahead to the ministry of the Holy Spirit coming in His place and picking up where He left off. So, while they could not handle the spiritual truth that Jesus desired to show them because they were still unregenerate and unspiritual, the Spirit of truth’s soon arrival would unlock all of these truths for them. What this shows us is that the Holy Spirit is our key in being ushered into spiritual things. Therefore, without Him, we will be severely limited in understanding these spiritual things.
 
But since Jesus called Him the Spirit of truth and said that He would guide us into all truth, we know that the Holy Spirit is obviously an expert in the truth. So, we looked at what truth is. And we saw that truth is “that which is not hidden, which makes God known” (A Holy Spirit given definition to me). And we saw how this definition certainly coincides with a couple of other things that God’s Word teaches us is “truth.”
 
Number one, we saw that Jesus is the truth because it says in John 14:6 that “I am the way, the truth, and the life…” Secondly, we found that God’s Word is also truth because in John 17:17, Jesus said, “Sanctify them by your truth. Your Word is truth.” 
 
Therefore, we learned that the Holy Spirit’s commission to “guide us into all truth” means that He will guide us into all of Jesus, as He is the Truth. But it also means that He will guide us into all of the Word, as His Word is truth as well.
 
But we also saw that one could also say that the “truth” that the Holy Spirit guides us into is the opposite of the “lie”—meaning, if we are walking in the truth, we are not walking in a lie. Therefore, the truth we are being guided into is the LIGHT itself. Yes, the Holy Spirit guides us into the light at all times.
 
So, we looked over at John chapter 11 and saw how Jesus was guided by the Holy Spirit when it came to His friend, Lazarus. No, He did not let him die so He could receive more glory for it, like so many teach. That would be like someone kidnapping a child and then if a reward was offered for anyone that could find the child and bring him home, that person who kidnapped him brought him back and collected the reward. That wouldn’t be right, would it? Well, God is not doing that either—He is not stealing life and then giving it back so He can get the glory. Amen? 
 
But then we learned how the Holy Spirit does this guiding: We saw that Jesus does not say that the Holy Spirit will “drive” us into all truth or “drag” us into all truth. No, Jesus said He will “guide” us into all truth, which carries more of the idea of Him leading us. On top of that, we saw that you cannot guide something or someone that is not already moving!
 
Therefore, like a boat, you can turn the rudder one way or another, but if the boat is not already moving it will not make a difference in the direction that the boat goes. Yes, you can turn a rudder as far as it will turn, but if the boat never leaves the dock, it will remain pointed in the same direction. Likewise, we have to be “moving” in order for His guidance to become effective. What do I mean by “moving?” I mean that there must be cooperation on our part because some of the responsibility has been given to us. Say, for instance, if we desire to know the truth of God’s Word. Well, we can’t just sit back and do nothing and expect the Holy Spirit to guide us into the truth of His Word. No, we must seek the truth through reading, studying, and meditating God’s Word. When we get our “boat” started in that direction is when the “Rudder”—Holy Spirit—can guide us through teaching us and bringing things to our remembrance.
 
We looked at a good example of this in Acts chapter 8 from the life & ministry of Philip the Evangelist. In this story, we saw Philip obeying the Great Commission to go into all the world and preach the gospel and then the Holy Spirit was able to guide him “from Samaria to Ethiopia.”
 
So, we learned that we don’t need to be “mulish”—that is, hard to be moved and stubborn—but we are to be “rein-trained” to where we are easily guided by the Holy Spirit when He gives us that slightest tug.
 
Therefore, the Holy Spirit’s job is to guide us into all truth—which includes all of the Word (for His Word is truth), all of who Jesus is (for Jesus Himself is also the truth), and also everything else that we need His help in guiding us into. He is our Guide and He has the light that we need!
 
So now, this week, let’s look again at John 16:13 and pick up where we left off last week. Shall we?
 
DOES THE HOLY SPIRIT SPEAK OF HIMSELF?
 
Again, Jesus says, "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.”
 
So, after telling His disciples that the Holy Spirit will guide us into all truth, He goes on to tell them why this is the case… “for (or, because) He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak…”
 
Now the NKJV says, “for He will not speak on His own authority,” but notice that the word “authority” is italicized here. The reason for that is because it was added by the translators. Therefore, it was not in the original text that the New Testament was written in.
 
And to add even more confusion to this phrase, the original King James version translates it like so— “for He shall not speak of himself.” Now this particular translation has led many to believe that the Holy Spirit never talks about Himself because it says He shall speak “of” Himself. Thus, the reason you have many churches not ever talking about the Holy Spirit. Church, that is not what Jesus was saying in this verse.
 
When Jesus said that He would not speak “of” Himself, the word “of” comes from the Greek word apo which literally means “away from” and denotes “from the place of origin.” So what Jesus was saying here is that the Holy Spirit will not speak “from” Himself, or the things He says do not originate from Him. In other words, as Jesus was known to say Himself, He only said what He heard the Father say and He only did what He saw the Father do (see John 5:19, 8:28 & 12:49)—which shows us how the Holy Spirit is here on the earth doing things just like Jesus did them, not speaking by His own authority.
 
Therefore, I believe the translators of the New King James version correctly translated this phrase by indicating that the Holy Spirit does not speak out of His own authority. But notice what Jesus goes on to say— “but whatever He hears He will speak...”
 
Now a good question to ask here is— Why is it important for us to know that the things the Holy Spirit says do not originate from Himself? Well, why did Jesus essentially say the same thing? It was because the people needed to know these were not just His words, but He was both speaking & operating from a higher authority. So, that is what I see Jesus was saying here about the Holy Spirit—that He is not speaking by His own authority, but the entire Godhead is backing Him up.
 
You see, we need to understand that when the Holy Spirit says something, it is really GOD saying it—that is, the entire Trinity. The Holy Spirit is not some subservient form of God, but is doing and saying the things that He does because God the Father and God the Son are inspiring Him to. This is why I believe it is not always black & white as to which member of the Godhead is talking to us at various times. Sometimes it sounds like it’s Jesus talking to us, but that might just mean it’s Jesus speaking through the Holy Spirit. Likewise, in some cases it might sound like God the Father, but it might just be the Holy Spirit that the Father is speaking through. We need to understand that they are One, and that when one speaks, the others are speaking the same thing. 
 
But I digress. I want us to camp on what Jesus said next in John 16:13…
 
DECLARING GREAT THINGS
 
Notice how Jesus ends this verse by saying, “and He will tell you things to come.” The original King James version uses the word “shew” (or, show) instead of the word “tell.”
 
Now the Greek word for “tell” or “show” means “to declare, report, or to announce.” In fact, this same word is used two more times in John 16:14&15 when Jesus went on to describe the Holy Spirit “declaring” certain things to us. So, we need to understand that this word means to verbally “say” more than it means to visibly “show.”
 
We see this same word used in various places in describing how people “told” others about the great things the Lord had done and the things that they needed to know. One of my favorite instances is found in the demoniac of the Gadarenes. After this man’s deliverance, Jesus told him— “Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you.” (Mark 5:19).    
 
So, when we compare these other instances of the word used for “tell,” we can see how the Holy Spirit’s assignment is likewise to tell us what great things the Lord will do for us since He will tell us things to come. Amen! 
 
Saints, I’ll “tell” ya 😊… The Holy Spirit desires to show you and I all the good things that God has prepared for us in Christ Jesus! Yes, He wants to tell us about all of those great things that God has, is, and will do for us! Amen! Sure, He knows the plans He has for you—those plans that are good, full of peace, and contain a glorious future of hope (Jeremiah 29:11)—but the He wants us to know those plans too! And that is the Holy Spirit’s assignment—to tell us of these great, good, and glorious things that are to come! 
 
You see, people like to quote passages like First Corinthians 2:9 which say, “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” But we need to read the following verse. These awesome things that the eye has not seen, nor the ear heard, nor has even been conjured up in man’s heart which God has prepared for us who love Him are not supposed to stay that way for the believer. The apostle Paul goes on to say in verse 10— “But God has revealed them to us (How?) through His Spirit.”
 
So, the Holy Spirit is specifically commissioned to reveal to us the wonderful things that we have to look forward to in our lives here on the earth and the glorious things we have to look forward to for all eternity (see Ephesians 1:18)—and this certainly includes our heavenly inheritance (We will discuss this in more detail next week).
 
TO PREPARE US
 
But not only does this particular ministry of the Holy Spirit show us the wonderful things that God has prepared for us; it also prepares us for other things as well…
 
You see, the Holy Spirit desires to tell us of what’s ahead even in this life—thus preparing us for those things. Therefore, this illustrates the prophetic commission of the Holy Spirit. You see, His being a member of the Godhead and working together with the Father and the Son, has complete omniscience and is willing to reveal to us future events. This has several different applications. It can range anywhere from revealing to us tough times that might be ahead so that we can be prepared for them to revealing certain traps of the enemy so that we can avoid them altogether.
 
You see, The Holy Spirit’s commission is to share with us His invaluable foreknowledge of upcoming disasters and hindrances so that we can always stay one step ahead of the devil. You see, if we will just learn to develop a high level of intimacy with the Holy Spirit, we can partake of this miraculous and beneficial commission of His. This is one of the many reasons why walking in communion of the Holy Spirit is so vital to the life of a Christian. There have been many Christians who have suffered or even died prematurely simply because they did not take advantage of this commission of the Holy Spirit to show them things to come. 
 
So, like I said, there are a variety of reasons why the Holy Spirit shows us things to come. In some cases, it is to encourage us with the good things that lie ahead. It is also to prevent danger from the bad things that are ahead. In other cases, it is simply to tell us what is going to happen so that we can be prepared for it and not be caught off guard by it.
 
A good example of this is in Acts 11:27-30, where we have the account of a prophet named Agabus who “showed by the Spirit that there was going to be a great famine throughout all the world” during the days of Claudius Caesar. So, by the Holy Spirit showing them things to come, it enabled the disciples to go ahead and send relief to the brethren in Judea (verse 29). This reminds me of Joseph and the dreams that the Lord gave him which was used to propel him into his place of leadership in Egypt. Therefore, in both of these cases, they were prepared for these tough times and by being forewarned, were able to help their loved ones.
 
So, we can see from these two examples that the Holy Spirit tells us things to come in a variety of ways—such as through a prophetic word like we see with the Prophet Agabus and also through dreams like we see in the life of Joseph. However, the Holy Spirit will also show us things to come simply by speaking to our hearts. So, we simply need to be open to the variety of ways that the Holy Spirit will perform this ministry of His in our lives.
 
Now do you suppose the Holy Spirit will do that for us today? If there was an economic crash coming in the world tomorrow, will the Holy Spirit tell us about it? Sure, He will! How about if there was traffic jam on the interstate? Will the Holy Spirit give us a heads-up about that? Absolutely! And sometimes God is waiting on us before things are fulfilled. God has something planned for us, but we are not ready to walk in it yet. We need to prepare ourselves, seek Him, and walk in what we know so far.
 
No, saints, there is nothing too big or too small that the Holy Spirit will not prepare us for by telling us about it beforehand. We just need to open up our hearts to receive this invaluable ministry He provides for us. Then we can have the faith to receive it.
 
DID PAUL MISS IT?
 
Another good biblical example of how the Holy Spirit tells us things to come is found in the life of the apostle Paul. We see several times in the Book of Acts that Paul was warned of what was going to happen to him if he went back to Jerusalem.
 
Now there are those out there who whole-heartedly believe that Paul missed it in taking that last trip to Jerusalem that led to his arrest and final imprisonment. And I am not here today to convince you one way or another. I personally am not thoroughly convinced myself, but I think that these Christians possibly make a valid point because of one verse we see in the Book of Acts. So regardless of what one’s opinion is, I believe we can learn some good lessons by considering the prospect that Paul missed it.   
 
But let’s look at that verse that people use to make the point that the apostle Paul was disobedient in going to Jerusalem: In Acts 21:1-5 notice this: “Now it came to pass, that when we had departed from them and set sail, running a straight course we came to Cos, the following day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara. And finding a ship sailing over to Phoenicia, we went aboard and set sail. When we had sighted Cyprus, we passed it on the left, sailed to Syria, and landed at Tyre; for there the ship was to unload her cargo. And finding disciples, we stayed there seven days. They told Paul through the Spirit not to go up to Jerusalem. When we had come to the end of those days, we departed and went on our way; and they all accompanied us, with wives and children, till we were out of the city. And we knelt down on the shore and prayed.”
 
So, notice that during the voyage they came to the ancient city of Tyre, which is north of Palestine. And there they looked up certain disciples who, through the Spirit (as Luke records) told Paul that he should not go up to Jerusalem.
 
Now that is clear and to the point, is it not? And notice that it was not just these disciples’ desire that didn’t want him to go up to Jerusalem; they told him not to go “through the Spirit.” Therefore, it was Holy Spirit inspired direction.
 
Now, first of all, let me say that one of the reasons that it is difficult for us to even swallow the prospect of Paul missing it here is because of our tendency to put these great saints of God on pedestals and not see their flaws & mistakes. But the fact is, men like Abraham, Moses, Elijah, Peter, etc. made mistakes! They were not perfect. The only one who never made a mistake in regard to obedience to God’s commandments and being led by the Holy Spirit was our Lord Jesus Christ. So, it should not be an odd thing to consider whether the apostle Paul made a mistake here—albeit, a noble one. But the fact is that it is certainly hard to believe that Paul would ever deliberately disobey the Holy Spirit, but we have a verse that seems to indicate that the Holy Spirit was giving him direction which the apostle chose to ignore.
 
Other reasons that people do not believe that Paul missed it here is because the Lord Jesus said that Paul would stand before kings and give his testimony, and that it was the fact that he was a prisoner which finally brought him before kings. But this does not mean that Jesus was saying it was necessary that he come before kings in chains. And another point people make is that it was from this prison experience that Paul wrote some of the finest epistles that we have. However, arguably two of the greatest letters from his pen, his epistles to the Galatians and the Romans, were not written while he was in prison.
 
On top of that, didn’t the Lord Jesus, when he first called Paul on the Damascus road, say that he was going to suffer great things, which provides us with an important point—that sometimes the Holy Spirit shows us negative things that are going to happen because it will help us to know about them beforehand.
 
You see, one of the reasons the Holy Spirit tells us about the things that are coming is because we need to be mentally prepared for it. Like, for example, when it comes to rough sailing being ahead, if we know it is coming, it won’t surprise us and create that negative emotional response. Therefore, it is good to know when some things are on the horizon because we won’t get caught off guard and can know that the same one who forewarned us is the same one who will get us to the other side of it. Amen?
 
So, in Paul’s case, I’m sure it was very helpful for him to know about the persecution & suffering that he would incur going into his ministry. Likewise, it is helpful for us to have information beforehand so that we can be mentally prepared for any difficulties that we might face. And I believe the Holy Spirit will tell us of these things if we will open ourselves up to this ministry of His.
 
But the Road to Damascus was not the only place that the Lord communicated to him about the difficulties that he would encounter. Let’s consider something that Paul said before Acts 21. In Acts 20:22-23, he said, “And see, now I go bound in the Spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me.”
 
So here, we see the that the Holy Spirit was bearing witness in every city that he went through that chains and tribulations awaited him in Jerusalem. Now this Scripture by itself certainly seems to indicate that Paul was in the will of God in going back to Jerusalem because he said that he was going to Jerusalem because He was “bound in the Spirit.” Therefore, all of these times that the Holy Spirit was telling him what lied ahead there, look to be things simply to prepare him for those chains and tribulations. 
 
Also, in Acts 19:21 we see another instance somewhat contrary to this notion that Paul was not supposed to visit Jerusalem. When he was in Ephesus, we see that “when these things were accomplished, Paul purposed in the Spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.”
 
So, that phrase “purposed in the Spirit” seems to indicate that his plan to go to Jerusalem and then go see Rome was a Holy Spirit-inspired plan. And perhaps it was at that point. We don’t necessarily know. However, it is also possible that Paul had “purposed” and planned this himself because the phrase “in the Spirit” could also be translated “in spirit”—that is, in his own spirit because he had set his own mental disposition in that direction. Which is likely because in Acts 20:16, we see Paul’s deep desire to go there. Notice that it said— “For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he would not have to spend time in Asia; for he was hurrying to be at Jerusalem, if possible, on the Day of Pentecost.”
 
So, just assuming that Paul did indeed miss it in ignoring these warnings of the Holy Spirit, can you see why? It was because his desire was to be at Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost. Therefore, he was “hurrying” to get there.
 
Church, most of the time, when we are “hurrying” to get somewhere or do something, it is not the Holy Ghost. In case you haven’t noticed, the world tries to get us to hurry all of the time. For example, when we are buying a car, the car-salesman is trained to do what? “HURRY now! This is a limited time offer! Don’t you want to get it today!” And, of course, this appeals to people’s fleshly impulses to act before we think. Another good example is with some of the cons and fishing techniques of criminals out there. Some of them will prey on the elderly, calling them and telling them that they are with the IRS or the Police and if we don’t give them our social security number or send them some money RIGHT NOW something bad is going to happen. Hurry, hurry, hurry! That’s all this is. But very rarely will the Holy Spirit ever lead you to hurry and He will certainly never put pressure on you.
 
And why do you suppose Paul wanted to be in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost? This answer is found in his epistle to the Romans. In Romans 9:1-5, he unfolds to us something of the urgency of his own heart concerning his people: “I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises; of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.”
 
So, do you see Paul’s heart here? As we know, he was a Jew, and, as a Jew, he loved his nation. He loved their heritage, their background, and their possession of the promises of God. And he longed to reach them. His heart was broken as he saw their bitterness and frustration, and the hostility and opposition to the cause of Christ which came from his own people, Israel. So, he knew that at Pentecost there would be a gathering of Jews from all over the Roman Empire, and he had in his heart a great hunger to be there at that time. So, his own desire was for his people to know their Messiah. And there is nothing wrong with that. The problem occurs when our own desires do not align themselves with God’s will for us.
 
You see, Paul was not called to his fellow countrymen. He was called to the Gentiles. This was obvious. In fact, when you study his life, you find that his biggest problems occurred when he tried to minister to his brethren. Yes, it was his own countrymen who caused him the most grief and problems. So, one could make the case that the bulk of his afflictions were a result of him trying to minister to the Jews and not to the Gentiles.
 
But it’s like what many of us have been guilty of doing with our own family members. We desire so much that they be saved, that we overstep the Holy Spirit and come on a little too strong and provoke a negative response from them. This is what I believe the apostle Paul did to some degree. If he would have just run his race (to the Gentiles), and trusted that the Lord had some other able vessel to minister to his brethren (i.e. Peter), then he could have avoided some of the difficulties he endured. 
 
So, after all of these things, we see a rather painful scene that followed: At Caesarea, they came into the home of Philip the evangelist (You remember—that man who led the Ethiopian eunuch to Christ?) (see Acts 21:7-14). There Agabus, a well-known prophet of the Lord and who we just referred to, took Paul's belt from around his waist and bound his own feet and hands, and said, " “Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt, and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’”
 
So, taken in connection with the verses we referred to earlier in Acts chapter 21, it is clear that this was the last effort made by the Holy Spirit to awaken the apostle to what he was doing. Agabus was joined in this by the whole body of believers. The whole family present urged him not to go, Luke said. We read, "When we heard this, we and the people there begged him not to go up to Jerusalem." Now we don’t know whether or not they were Spirit-inspired in pleading with him not to go. It certainly could just be their own desire in not wanting him to suffer and die. However, it could be that they did not believe it was God’s perfect will for him and they were against him going for that reason.
 
But notice Paul’s response— He said, “What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” While we certainly can find no fault with the bravery and courage expressed in those words, it is possible that Paul had a martyr complex because, based on Acts 21:4, it was not necessary for him to go, and the Spirit had told him so.
 
Then we see that when Paul refused to be persuaded his friends said, "(Well) may the will of the Lord be done." Church, that can be what you say when you do not know what else to say. That can be what you pray when you do not know how else to act. So, they might have simply been saying, "Lord, it is up to you. We can't stop this man. He has a strong will and a mighty determination, and he's deluded into thinking that this is what you want. Therefore, you will have to handle it. May the will of the Lord be done."
 
OUR CONCLUSION?
 
Now, as we have seen, the Spirit of God, as he was with Paul, is always faithful to forewarn us of things. We need not stumble blindly into the enemy’s traps, any more than Paul needed to, but what this shows us is that we must be very careful to be obedient to the Spirit's voice. When he gives us a check, red flag, or a more spectacular warning like a prophetic word, dream, etc., we need to listen. Otherwise we can open ourselves up to unnecessary heartache, unnecessary limitation and restriction, as the apostle Paul might have done here.
 
Lord, help us to learn this—that if even a man of God can fail in listening to the Spirit at times, we are certainly capable of making that same mistake. May this serve as a lesson to us that we need to take advantage of this wonderful ministry of the Holy Spirit to show us things to come so that we can be led & guided into not just the good and acceptable, but the perfect will of God. 
 
Church, it has been given to us to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God—for we are His disciples! On top of that, we are friends of God and not just servants of God. Therefore, the Holy Spirit will not keep from declaring to us all things that the Godhead tells Him. Even better, since we are more than just disciples & friends but are sons of God, how much more are we to know what lies ahead?     
 
Jeremiah 33:3 says, “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” All we have to do is, call. Call on the Holy Spirit today and let Him show you the things you do not know. Amen.