There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true. —Soren Kierkegaard. "…truth is true even if nobody believes it, and falsehood is false even if everybody believes it. That is why truth does not yield to opinion, fashion, numbers, office, or sincerity–it is simply true and that is the end of it" – Os Guinness, Time for Truth, pg.39. “He that takes truth for his guide, and duty for his end, may safely trust to God’s providence to lead him aright.” – Blaise Pascal. "There is but one straight course, and that is to seek truth and pursue it steadily" – George Washington letter to Edmund Randolph — 1795. We live in a “post-truth” world. According to the dictionary, “post-truth” means, “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.” Simply put, we now live in a culture that seems to value experience and emotion more than truth. Truth will never go away no matter how hard one might wish. Going beyond the MSM idealogical opinion/bias and their low information tabloid reality show news with a distractional superficial focus on entertainment, sensationalism, emotionalism and activist reporting – this blogs goal is to, in some small way, put a plug in the broken dam of truth and save as many as possible from the consequences—temporal and eternal. "The further a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those who speak it." – George Orwell “There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.” ― Soren Kierkegaard
3 Continuing with rhetorical questions Bildad states his major premise: God never perverts [ʿiwwēṯ] justice or the right. The verb ‘iwwét means “twist, bend, make crooked”, e. g., to falsify a weight (Amos 8:5) or make a path crooked (Eccl. 1:15; 7:13). justice (mišp̄āṭ) is strict adherence to a standard, and the right (ṣeḏeq) is correct behavior. Justice is the basis of God’s rule (cf. Ps. 72:1–7; 99:4). An ancient poem says, “The Rock, his work is perfect; for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, righteous and upright is he” (Deut. 32:4). Since justice is the cornerstone of God’s relationship with humanity, any accusation that God is perverting justice is tantamont to accusing him of acting demonically. If the charge is true, then God is not God. Such a deity would be a devil, unworthy of a person’s devotion. Although Job has not explicitly said that God perverts justice, Bildad hears Job taking this step when he challenges God.[1]
8:3 / Bildad’s counterattack proper begins with parallel rhetorical questions upholding God’s essential justice: Does God pervert justice? Does the Almighty pervert what is right? The anticipated negative response to these questions establishes the foundation of unquestioned divine justice from which the rest of Bildad’s argument proceeds. If God is cleared of injustice, then Job’s loss and suffering must be understood in this light.[2]
8:3Does God pervert justice? Bildad’s rhetorical question clearly expects a negative answer. Distorting Job’s complaint against God in 7:7–21, Bildad implies that Job has maligned God’s righteous character and his rule (cf. Pss. 89:14–15; 99:4). Bildad is as much as saying that if God cannot do what is unjust, then Job necessarily must be sinful. From Bildad’s total commitment to retribution theology, only this could account for the divine punishment that Job has suffered. Toward the end of the book, Yahweh poses the same question to Job (40:8), but the divine assessment of Job is different from what Bildad alleges. Bildad indeed asks the right question, but he gives an incomplete answer to it.[3]
Ver. 3. Doth the Almighty pervert justice?—
Judgment and justice:—
These two words may be taken as expressing one and the same thing. If we distinguish them, judgment may serve to express God’s righteous procedure in punishing the wicked; and justice His procedure in vindicating the righteous when they are oppressed. Job is unjustly charged, and accordingly he vindicates himself.
1. Job’s maintaining of his own righteousness is not a quarrelling of God’s righteousness, who afflicted him. Job held both to be true, though he could not reconcile God’s dealing with the testimony of his own conscience, that did evidence his weakness, but not charge God with unrighteousness.
2. As for his complaints of God’s dealings, he was indeed more culpable therein than he would at first see and acknowledge; yet therein he intended no direct accusation against God’s righteousness. Learn—
(1) The justice of God is so uncontrovertedly clear in all His proceeding, whether He act immediately, or mediately by instruments, that the conscience of the greatest complainer, when put to it seriously, must subscribe to it; and all are bound to the defence of it, as witnesses for God
(2) Such as know God, in His perfect and holy nature and attributes, will see clear cause to justify God in His proceeding; and particularly they who look upon His omniscient power and all-sufficiency, will see that He can neither be moved to injustice by hope of any reward, nor hindered to be just by the fear of the greatness of any, or any other by-respect.
(3) Though God be unquestionably just, yet His dispensations may, sometimes, be such toward His people as they cannot easily reconcile His JUstice in His dealing, with the testimony of their own consciences, concerning their own integrity.
(4) The study of God’s sovereignty will solve many difficulties in the sad lots and sufferings of saints. (George Hutcheson.)[4]
[1] Hartley, J. E. (1988). The Book of Job (pp. 155–156). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
[2] Wilson, G. H. (2012). Job (W. W. Gasque, R. L. Hubbard Jr., & R. K. Johnston, Eds.; p. 73). Baker Books.
[3] Estes, D. J. (2013). Job (M. L. Strauss, J. H. Walton, & R. de Rosset, Eds.; p. 51). Baker Books.
Ecclesiastes 1:1 — Welcome to a new book in the wisdom genre! Today we’ll be getting a double dose of Solomon (Ecclesiastes as well as Proverbs)! What does the wisest man who ever lived (1 Kings 4:30) want to tell us about life? From Bob Utley:
Its main purpose was to show the futility of human existence apart from God. It is a tract to convert self-sufficient materialists or intellectuals.
Let’s look at the futility of human existence apart from God.
Ecclesiastes 1:4 — Generations come and generations go, but the sun goes up and the sun goes down (Ecclesiastes 1:5).
… whirleth about continually … This is a remarkable anticipation of the modern discovery of the world’s great wind circuits, in the global circulation of the atmosphere.
Ecclesiastes 2:1 — What did Solomon try for contentment? Pleasure (Ecclesiastes 2:1), wine (Ecclesiastes 2:3), building projects (Ecclesiastes 2:4-6), servants and possessions (Ecclesiastes 2:7), and silver and gold (Ecclesiastes 2:8).
Ecclesiastes 3:1 — The 1965 secular song from the Byrds “Turn, Turn, Turn” was based on this passage.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 — ”In His Time“, a gospel chorus, is based on this verse. Interesting that this verse talks about the capacity God has built within us.
Ecclesiastes 3:13-14 — Some call this book secular wisdom. But we know that God intends for us to enjoy His creation, and that His doings are far greater than our doings.
Ecclesiastes 3:17 — God will judge – there is a time we must give account.
Ecclesiastes 3:21 — Mark Lowry has humorously used Psalm 36:6 to say that dogs go to heaven. Unfortunately, his exegesis has skipped Ecclesiastes 3:21.
2 Corinthians 6:2 — There is no reason to delay salvation – now is the accepted time!
Psalm 46:3 — Did Shakespeare leave his mark on the King James Version? Kyle Butt says, “Yes!”
Proverbs 22:15 — Proverbs has much wisdom on child training. The point is not abuse but removing foolishness.
Share how reading through the Bible has been a blessing to you! E-mail us at 2018bible@vcyamerica.org or call and leave a message at 414-885-5370.
Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. (Ezekiel 36:25)
What an exceeding joy is this! He who has purified us with the blood of Jesus will also cleanse us by the water of the Holy Spirit. God hath said it, and so it must be, “Ye shall be clean.” Lord, we feel and mourn our uncleanness, and it is cheering to be assured by Thine own mouth that we shall be clean. Oh, that Thou wouldst make a speedy work of it!
He will deliver us from our worst sins. The uprisings of unbelief and the deceitful lusts which war against the soul, the vile thoughts of pride, and the suggestions of Satan to blaspheme the sacred name-all these shall be so purged away as never to return.
He will also cleanse us from all our idols, whether of gold or of clay: our impure loves and our excessive love of that which in itself is pure. That which we have idolized shall either be broken from us or we shall be broken off from it.
It is God who speaks of what He Himself will do. Therefore is this word established and sure, and we may boldly look for that which it guarantees to us. Cleansing is a covenant blessing, and the covenant is ordered in all things and sure.
Cyclonic Storm “Asna” forms in the Arabian Sea; Gujarat reports 32 dead, more than 32,000 evacuated The Saurashtra-Kachchh region of Gujarat has been severely impacted by heavy rains caused by a deep depression in the Arabian Sea since August 25, which intensified into Cyclonic Storm “Asna” today. The resulting floods have claimed 32 lives and forced the evacuation of more than 32 000 people. The severe flooding has also led to the unusual sight of crocodiles taking over parts of the city of Vadodara. Asna is the second named storm of the 2024 North Indian Ocean cyclone season.
Strong M6.0 earthquake hits off the east coast of Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia A strong earthquake registered by the USGS as M6.0 hit off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia at 04:24 UTC on August 30, 2024. The agency is reporting a depth of 27 km (16.7 miles). EMSC is reporting the same magnitude and depth.
Typhoon Shanshan turns deadly, brings 30 inches of rain to Japan with severe flooding Former Typhoon Shanshan, now a rainstorm, is moving slowly up the island nation of Japan, bringing feet of rain, triggering landslides and unleashing tornadoes. The storm is far from over, however, as flooding rain will continue to fall through Monday due to the storm’s slow trek across the island nation.
Two missing after severe flash floods in Italy’s Talanico Heavy rains affecting parts of central Italy since August 26, 2024, caused flash floods and landslides in which two people went missing. Firefighters and security forces have been mobilized for search and rescue operations.
Rare daylight fireball over Eastern Cape, South Africa, explosions heard over 200 km (120 miles) away A very rare daylight fireball was seen and heard over Eastern Cape, South Africa, on Sunday, August 25, 2024. Initially thought of as space junk, it was later confirmed to be a car-sized meteor that entered the atmosphere between 06:30 and 07:00 UTC (08:30 and 09:00 LT). Reports of the following sonic boom were heard more than 200 km (124 miles) away from the site of the original sighting.
‘God is dramatically answering Evangelical prayers for Israel’s safety’ With all the recent debate around Israel and the Gaza War, including questions about how much countries like the United States should support Israel taking place as part of the election cycle around the Western world, the issue of Christian support for Israel is once again being raised.
Leaked BioTeq Slides: Scarily Advanced Human Chipping Well Underway UK firm BioTeq partnered with Pfizer to develop microchip tags that have been tested in people, spread to all organs, can be spread to other people, and are activated with 5G. These leaked BioTeq slides are shocking! See for yourself.
US running out of ammo – Trump The US military is running out of ammunition because President Joe Biden’s administration has bled stockpiles dry to arm Ukraine and other nations, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has claimed. The GOP firebrand has pledged to turn the tide and make a “historic investment in rebuilding” the American military if elected.
OpenAI Agrees To Run GPT Models Past US Government To ‘Evaluate’ For Safety AI companies OpenAI and Anthropic have agreed to run their new AI models past the US government’s AI Safety Institute to evaluate their ‘capabilities and risks,’ as well as ‘collaborate on methods to mitigate potential issues.’
Extreme Gaslighting: Here Are 7 Signs That The Mainstream Media Is Flat Out Lying To Us About The Economy The level of gaslighting that we are witnessing right now is off the charts. Millions of Americans are sleeping in their vehicles, thousands of businesses are failing all over the nation, and most of the country now believes that the American Dream is no longer attainable. If this is what a “booming” economy feels like, I would hate to see what would happen during a “recession.”
The Stage Is Being Set For The Cataclysmic Wars Of 2025 While the mainstream media focuses our attention on the upcoming election, the stage is being set for the unthinkable. Chess pieces are in motion all over the planet, and global leaders continue to drag us in directions that we should not want to go. If everyone truly understood where current events were taking us, there would be massive protests in every major city right now. The comfortable lifestyles that so many of us take for granted are about to be shattered.
“[Trump] encouraged Putin to invade our allies.” —Kamala Harris
The BIG Lies
“Trump owns the Afghanistan withdrawal. He cut a bad deal with the Taliban to withdraw (he takes credit for it!), forcing Biden to clean it up and making a chaotic exit practically inevitable.” —Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT)
“I know the importance of safety and security, especially at our border.” —Kamala Harris
“We will pass a middle-class tax cut.” —Kamala Harris
Praetorian Guard
“This was not a radical convention. … [Kamala Harris] is not taking the positions of the far-left of her party.” —ABC News’s Jon Karl
Who Wants to Tell Them?
“Vance tries to tether Harris to Biden during Michigan rally.” —Politico
Theater of the Absurd
“[Democrats] are … trying to put forward male figures — Tim Walz being one of them, Doug Emhoff last night — who can speak to men out there who might not be the sort of testosterone-laden, you know, gun-toting kind of guy who wants to listen to Hulk Hogan and the kind of players that came out of the RNC.” —CNN’s Dana Bash
Sexism Bait
“It’s okay in 2024 to be a man comfortable in his own skin who supports a woman.” —Dana Bash
Village Idiot
“Kamala Harris’s proposed price-gouging ban might irritate academics, but it makes sense to everyone else.” —law professor Zephyr Teachout in an Atlantic op-ed titled, “Sometimes You Just Have to Ignore the Economists.”
Demagogues
“What I know this election can do is finally kill that [MAGA] strain of the Republican Party.” —Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ)
“I was concerned about a system that appeared to provide immunity for one individual [POTUS] under one set of circumstances when we have a criminal justice system that had ordinarily treated everyone the same.” —Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson
Non Compos Mentis
“If you cannot control when and how you choose to bring your children into this world … there is no American Dream.” —Oprah Winfrey
Belly Laugh of the Week
“[Harris has] been in office for the last three and a half years so she has a record of accomplishments.” —California Governor Gavin Newsom
Jordan Peterson has seemingly been on the cusp of repenting and believing for a long time, speaking glowingly about both Jesus and His Word. But past examinations of Jordan’s beliefs have shown him to be Jungian rather than Christian. So has anything changed?
Well, in late July he talked with John Rich, best known for being half of the country/pop duo Big & Rich. I only recently learned that Rich professes to be Christian (during his Tucker Carlson appearance) as the duo’s best known song, Save a Horse (Ride aCowboy), wouldn’t have you thinking so. But in a July 26 interview on Peterson’s podcast, Rich pressed Canada’s most famous psychologist on whether he is or isn’t a Christian. The video below hits the highlights, but if you want to listen to the whole 90-minute original, click here.
As John Stonestreet notes and as C.S. Lewis did before him (and as Jordan Peterson should consider – see above), you can’t call Jesus a good teacher if you don’t acknowledge Him as God.
“I’ll always remember summer 2024 as the first ‘real-world summer’ of my adult life—the summer I fundamentally changed how I interact with my smartphone. I left social media behind in 2022, but according to my screen-time reports, I was still spending around two hours a day on my phone. Two hours. I have a full-time job and two kids. Surely I could have been doing something else with all that time…”
Jonathon Van Maren reports on how egg-freezing for women employees is becoming a common thing, promising that they can first establish their career and then have children later. But it is a false promise.
Evolutionists predicted that much of our DNA would be junk – it was just the remnants of our long-ago evolutionary ancestors.
Creationists and Intelligent Design proponents made a very different prediction: we’d find functions for this “Junk DNA” since we are fearfully and wonderfully made.
Guess which prediction came true?
It’s important to note, too, that the secular assumptions discouraged inquiry – atheism stymied science, and an acknowledgment of a Creator furthered science.
Note: I apologize for the short News Weakly. It seems like it has been a slow news week. Or … apathy on my part?
False Alarm UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has issued a warning of a “worldwide catastrophe” from the rising sea level caused by global climate change. Mind you, NASA says sea level is up 105mm from 1990. That’s 4 inches. My wife and I are looking at mountain property — you know … at least a foot above sea level — just to be safe.
Bidenomics? Home prices have hit a record high — 5.4% higher than last year. Thanks, again, Mr. President. Do you suppose Kamala will freeze housing prices if elected?
Need We Say More? The Harris-Walz campaign has hired Rev. Jen Butler (yes, a female) to head their “faith outreach.” Butler is a “well-known liberal religious advocate” and not unexpected, but clearly the Harris-Walz campaign is not including actual Christianity in its “faith outreach.”
Oh, Really? This story is so obvious it’s painful. Apparently … get this … after so many states have legalized marijuana … the use of cannabis is at an all time high! Go figure! No, seriously … how is this a story? Of course if you legalize something like that, it will be abused more than ever. Did they think otherwise?
Going Down to Babylon (Bee) Harris and Walz have agreed to a joint interview (actual story). Or, as the Bee puts it, a “strong, capable woman asks a man to come with her to her job interview in case they ask any hard questions.” Right? An actually disturbing Bee story is about how pro-lifers are criticized for asking pro-life candidates to support pro-life policies. Too true to be entirely “fake news.” Finally, the Attorney General has reminded Americans that questioning the results of the 2024 election is illegal … unless, of course, Trump wins.
Fox News contributor Joe Concha and National Review senior writer Noah Rothman discuss the fallout from CNN’s interview with Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz. #foxnews
I like to follow the work of Megan Basham on Twitter and Daily Wire, because she takes the Bible seriously on moral and spiritual issues. So I was very interested to read her latest article evaluating Christianity Today. On the surface, Christianity Today presents itself as a Christian publication. But are their beliefs really consistent with what the Bible teaches? Let’s see.
The media has long framed Christianity Today, founded by Billy Graham in 1956, as America’s most influential Christian news outlet. The Washington Post, for instance, regularly describes it as evangelicalism’s “flagship” magazine,” as does The New York Times. A review of federal election records, however, indicates that the views of the magazine’s leadership and staff may be far out of step with ordinary evangelicals.
Between 2015 and 2022, nine Christianity Today employees made 73 political donations. All of them went to Democrats. This tally includes President and CEO Timothy Dalrymple, who gave $300 in two separate payments to failed Georgia Senate candidate Sarah Riggs Amico.
Amico’s platform, which includes protecting abortion “without exception” and repealing the Hyde Amendment to allow federal tax dollars to fund abortions, contrasts sharply with the views of evangelicals who overwhelmingly say abortion should be illegal in all or most cases. She is also at odds with traditional Christian beliefs when it comes to gender, sexuality, and religious liberty.
Along with declaring herself a “staunch LGBTQ ally,” Amico promised to support the Equality Act, a bill that The Heritage Foundation warns would threaten parental rights over children who believe they’re transgender. The conservative think tank has also said the bill would decimate conscience rights for medical workers and “cancel[s] religious freedom.” Southern Baptist Theological Seminary president Albert Mohler put the Equality Act in even starker terms, saying it “represents the greatest threat to religious liberty in the United States in our lifetimes” and would “totally transform the United States as we know it.”
Dalrymple was not the only member of the magazine’s executive ranks to donate to Democrats. Natalie Lederhouse, Vice President of Advertising and Partnerships, contributed $50 to the 2020 Biden Victory Fund. The Federal Election Commission has no records of any Christianity Today executive giving to the GOP since 1991.
You might remember the Equality Act discussed in previous posts on this blog. Basically, the legislation would have made it impossible for Christians to advocate for Biblical positions on sexual issues. Not only individual Christians, but Christian businesses and charities. They would all have had to comply with the secular left’s views on sexual issues.
Megan also found this about a former NEWS EDITOR at Christianity Today:
Between October 2019 and November 2020, news editor Daniel Silliman made eight donations to five different pro-abortion, pro-LGBTQ candidates, among them, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren’s presidential campaign. In addition to possessing a perfect voting score from Planned Parenthood and NARAL, Warren supported shutting down crisis pregnancy centers across the country, and her platform included requiring schools to admit biological men into women’s sports and single-sex spaces. She also pledged to allow a gender dysphoric nine-year-old to approve anyone she appointed as education secretary.
Silliman also donated to Renee Hoyos, Tennessee Democrats’ nominee to the U.S. House; Moe Davis, House candidate from North Carolina; Blair Walsingham, House candidate from Tennessee; and former Senator Doug Jones (D-AL).
As news editor, he would have been in charge of all of Christianity Today’s coverage of political stories.
More:
In another article in the run-up to the 2020 election, Silliman spotlighted President Biden’s Catholicism and quoted progressive theologian Richard Mouw opining that “[Biden] is viewed as having an authentic faith… when he talks about his faith, it rings true.” Silliman then tied Mouw to conservative Christian icons, Chuck Colson and J.I. Packer.
[…][Silliman] also covered the Fairness for All Act, a proposal that would have granted special privileges to people who identify as LGBTQ. It was opposed by conservative legal groups like Alliance Defending Freedom for “undermin[ing] human dignity by threatening the fundamental freedoms of speech, religion, and conscience.” Approximately three-quarters of Silliman’s report on the bill was devoted to those who favored the legislation.
You might remember that Mouw is one of these “evangelicals for Biden”. Now that we know the truth about Biden’s business dealings and connections to foreign governments, it’s easier to understand what sort of morality Mouw supports.
The new editor-in-chief of Christianity Today is Russell Moore, who seems more focused on promoting the Democrat party platform than with defending policies consistent with the Bible.
The root cause of the problem with these “evangelicals for Biden” is that they have never adopted Christianity on the basis of studying the evidence, and forming their own views. Progressive Christians form their views socially not intellectually. When they are young, they put on the cloak of Christianity as a way of seeming virtuous to their parents and those around them. They didn’t choose Christianity because it was the best description of reality. They were born into it. It’s not a worldview to them, it’s an act.
Progressive Christians don’t make a case for core Christian beliefs using evidence to non-Christians. They simply don’t know how to do it, because they didn’t do it in order to “become” a Christian in the first place. They don’t have any work to show, because they never did the work. And their policy views are the same. They don’t form their views based on reason and evidence. They don’t read scholars like Thomas Sowell, or John Lott, or Ryan Anderson, or Scott Atlas, or Robert George. They just believe whatever will make people like them – just like they did when they were children.
A trader rubs his eyes as he works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange September 29, 2008.Brendan McDermid/Reuters
John Hussman says the US economy could be on the brink of recession.
He highlights manufacturing output versus demand and labor market indicators.
Whether or not a recession occurs, he said current stock valuations likely mean poor returns ahead.
There’s been plenty of talk about recession indicators over the last couple of years.
The Sahm Rule is in the hot seat after it triggered in early August. There’s also the Treasury yield curve, which officially inverted in early 2023. And The Conference Board’s Leading Economic Index. All of them have perfect track records and signal trouble ahead for the US economy.
On Thursday, John Hussman, the president of the Hussman Investment Trust who called the 2000 and 2008 stock market crashes, added two more indicators to the mix that show “economic conditions hovering at the threshold of recession.”
The first is a composite index measuring manufacturing output against business demand. When orders for goods outpace manufacturing output, it’s a sign of a healthy economy. At the moment, the ratio is floating right around zero. The only times it has dipped into negative territory have been during the last eight recessions.
Hussman Funds
The second indicator examines the labor market and compiles 10 employment gauges, including the aforementioned Sahm Rule, growth in new and continuing unemployment claims, the 6-month change in the number of hours worked, and more.
The index sits right at five, a level reached only during the last six recessions.
Hussman Funds
While Hussman said there is not enough evidence yet to declare a recession, he also doubts that incoming rate cuts will substantially help the economy avoid a downturn.
The same goes for rate cuts’ impact on stocks. Hussman’s proprietary gauge of “market internals,” essentially investor sentiment measured by market breadth, signals a weak investor outlook at the moment. When that’s the case, even when the Fed is easing, stocks have performed poorly, as shown by the orange line below.
Hussman Funds
Outside the macro picture, Hussman also sees poor returns for stocks in the coming decade simply based on current valuation levels.
His preferred metric is the total market cap of non-financial stocks-to-total value added of those stocks. It’s at its highest-ever level, exceeding peaks in 1929, 2000, 2008, and 2022.
Hussman Funds
This suggests the S&P 500 will average negative yearly returns over the next 12 years, Hussman has warned, and implies that the market would have to drop significantly to get back to levels where one could expect 10% annualized returns over the following 12 years.
“At present, that potential loss (not a forecast) is about -70%,” Hussman wrote in a note on Thursday. “In practice, these losses often emerged in the first three years following a valuation extreme, but it’s essential to understand that valuations are not timing tools and can remain elevated for extended periods of time (which is why market internals are important as well).”
Hussman Funds
Hussman’s track record — and his views in context
Recession risks have come more into focus over the last month following the Sahm Rule triggering and the large negative payroll revisions for March 2023-March 2024 released last week by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The Federal Reserve itself seems wary about the prospect of a downturn, with Chairman Jerome Powell signaling last week that the central bank would start easing policy.
“The time has come for policy to adjust,” Powell said in a speech in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. “It seems unlikely that the labor market will be a source of elevated inflationary pressures anytime soon. We do not seek or welcome further cooling in labor market conditions.”
With the unemployment rate steadily rising, it’s unclear if the Fed will be able to stop any “further cooling” with rate cuts.
With stocks at all-time highs, investors seem confident that a soft landing can be achieved. While some strategists see a minor pullback coming in the remainder of the year, Hussman’s view on potential downside is an outlier among major strategists.
For the uninitiated, Hussman has repeatedly made headlines by predicting a stock-market decline exceeding 60% and forecasting a full decade of negative equity returns. And as the stock market ground mostly higher, he persisted with his doomsday calls.
But before you dismiss Hussman as a wonky perma-bear, consider again his track record. Here are the arguments he’s laid out:
He predicted in March 2000 that tech stocks would plunge 83%, then the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 index lost an “improbably precise” 83% during a period from 2000 to 2002.
He predicted in 2000 that the S&P 500 would likely see negative total returns over the following decade, which it did.
He predicted in April 2007 that the S&P 500 could lose 40%, then it lost 55% in the subsequent collapse from 2007 to 2009.
However, Hussman’s recent returns have been less than stellar. His Strategic Growth Fund is down about 54% since December 2010, and has fallen 13% in the last 12 months. The S&P 500, by comparison, is up about 25% over the past year.
The amount of bearish evidence being unearthed by Hussman continues to mount, and his calls over the last couple of years for a substantial sell-off began to prove accurate in 2022. Yes, there may still be returns to be realized in this new bull market, but at what point does the mounting risk of a larger crash become too unbearable?
That’s a question investors will have to answer themselves — and one that Hussman will keep exploring in the interim.
According to a Gateway Pundit June report, new CBP data, over 1 million illegal aliens have been allowed into the US through what the regime defines as “legal” means. The Biden-Kamala admin has used the CBP One App and the CHNV program to allow illegals entry into the US. These numbers are not included in the millions of illegals that have entered the US under Joe Biden’s watch.
According to the statistics, over 636,000 illegals used the CBP One App to get into the US at ports of entry.
Over 462,000 illegals were flown directly into the US under the CHNV Parole program.
These are simply other tactics the Biden regime uses to bring future Democrat voters into the United States, paid for by your tax dollars.
This week the Biden-Harris regime announced it was restarting the controversial tax-payer funded policy after a brief hiatus.
According to Rebecca Santana the regime-friendly AP:
The Department of Homeland Security had suspended the program earlier this month to investigate the concerns but indicated that an internal review found no widespread fraud among sponsors.
“Together with our existing rigorous vetting of potential beneficiaries seeking to travel to the United States, these new procedures for supporters have strengthened the integrity of these processes and will help protect against exploitation of beneficiaries,” the agency said.
The program launched in January 2023 and is a major piece of the Biden administration’s immigration policies that create or expand pathways for legal entry while restricting asylum for those who cross the border illegally.
Of course, this is a disgusing fluff piece by the AP. We all know there are no policies in place that restrict asylum for illegal aliens who walk into the US. They are all welcomed by Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. There are NO deportations.
This is a purposeful program by Democrats to flood red states with illegal aliens – paid for by you the US taxpayer.
Joe Biden flew most of the illegal aliens in his secret migrant flight program to Florida and Texas – to punish the red states with a crushing amount of new illegal aliens.
Biden sent 90% of the illegals in the secret flight program to Florida and Texas.
At least 326,000 illegals in the program were flown into Florida. At least 21,964 illegals were flown into Houston, Texas.
Biden is importing a crushing amount of illegal aliens into the red states to crash their social welfare system.
Republican lawmakers are once again too weak to do anything about this purposeful destruction of America.
Some 347,959 migrants allowed into the secretive system fly directly to airports in Florida and Texas, with Florida receiving the vast majority at 325,995, according to an analysis of U.S. Customs and Border Protection numbers by the Center for Immigration Studies.
It is unclear how many of the immigrants fly on to other U.S. cities, though the government has said there are over 40 final destinations.
“This early evidence suggests that a great many of these inadmissible alien passengers, probably a majority, initially land at international airports in Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’s Florida,” said CIS, which reported that the program has let in 386,000 people since October 2022. “In fact, Florida turns out to be the top landing and U.S. customs processing zone for this direct-flights parole-and-release program, tallying at nearly 326,000 of the initial arrivals from inception through February.”
Vice President Kamala Harris finally sat down for an interview with a friendly journalist, CNN’s Dana Bash, but struggled to reassure voters who question her competence. She praised the controversial Inflation Reduction Act, not for reducing inflation but for fighting climate change by applying “metrics that include holding ourselves to deadlines around time,” whatever that means.
Harris followed up that underwhelming performance at a rally in Savannah, Ga., where she scolded Donald Trump for trying to terminate “the United States supreme, [incomphrehensible], the supreme land of our nation.” Before that, Harris addressed members of a high school band as if they were toddlers, praising them for being part of “one big team [and] understanding all of the different parts that fit together to create a team.”
There was much for Jim to present and for listeners to talk about on this edition of the Round-Up program. Here’s a selection of stories from the first half of the broadcast, some of which include audio clips:
–The Kamala Harris interview finally happened last evening. One CNN commentator said the optics were not looking so good for this.
–Harris, in her first interview as the Democratic presidential nominee, attempted to clarify her shifting positions on fracking and the border.
–Harris dodged the specifics as they pertain to what she’ll do on “Day One” if elected, was asked about her support for “Bidenomics” and why she hasn’t done the things she’s proposing already.
–Governor Tim Walz was asked about his stating that he had carried weapons into war.
–Senator Cory Booker said he wants to kill the MAGA strain of the Republican Party.
–The national Democratic party has approved its most pro-abortion platform ever.
–Vice presidential hopeful, Senator J.D. Vance, is sparking criticism for vowing that Donald Trump will not sign a federal ban on abortion.
–Lila Rose of Live Action presented her perspective on the J.D. Vance comments.
–A proposed amendment adding a right to abortion to the Arkansas constitution will not appear on the November ballot thanks to the Arkansas Supreme Court agreeing that its backers failed to properly file the necessary documentation with their petition signatures.
–Citizens in Missouri will vote on November 5th on whether the right to abortion will be codified into their state constitution.
–Nebraska citizens will vote in November on whether to amend the state constitution regarding abortion rights.
–The city council of Austin, Texas, voted August 14th to use taxpayer funds to pay for citizens to travel for out of state abortions.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a move geared toward clarifying her positions on important issues, a Kamala Harris campaign spokesperson announced that challenger Kamala Harris had agreed to debate incumbent Kamala Harris.
The debate was agreed upon by both Kamala Harrises after an intense period of negotiation, during which challenger Kamala Harris initially demanded unmuted microphones, a request that incumbent Kamala Harris adamantly refused to grant.
“This is a debate between two debaters,” challenger Kamala Harris said in a statement after the debate was announced. “One debater will debate the other, and both of them will debate. In a debate, things will be said. Questions will be asked. Questions will be answered in the context of questions being asked. And those answers to the questions will be answered by the people debating. I look forward to clarifying the changes in my positions and values, which have not changed.”
When reached for comment, incumbent Kamala Harris expressed confidence that she would have a strong showing. “I know my opponent well,” she said. “We have discussed these issues many times, from both sides. While I am proud of my accomplishments as the incumbent, my challenger has flip-flopped on multiple topics. I look forward to finding out where I stand on these issues now as a challenger and finding out how they have evolved from the positions I currently hold as the incumbent. Even though my values have not changed, I welcome the chance to hear how my values have changed.”
At publishing time, incumbent Kamala Harris had raised concerns that challenger Kamala Harris may receive the debate questions beforehand.
A Babylon Bee subscriber contributed to this report. If you want to pitch your own headline ideas to our staff, click here to check out all of our membership options!
Watch how a D.E.I. consultant magically turns a video game into… well, something else entirely.
While it is among our vital functions as Christians to be salt and light and to love our neighbor through our vote and our service, we must also always remember that the current political order is temporary. Kings and governments rise and fall. But God has made us to live eternally, and next to eternity, our present day is a mist, a vapor. So I want to ask you today—is your eternity secure? Do you know what will happen to you when you die?
The history of redemption is shaped by the covenants that God has made. But what is a covenant? In this message, R.C. Sproul delves into the biblical meaning of this important term and what it reveals about the Lord’s faithfulness to His promises.
“These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.” (14:25–26)
Throughout His ministry, Jesus had been the source of truth for the disciples (cf. v. 6). “These things (the Father’s word; v. 24),” He reminded them, “I have spoken to you while abiding with you.” But just as He would not leave them without a source of comfort, so also He would not leave the disciples without a source of truth. He would send the Holy Spirit, the “Spirit of truth” (v. 17), to guide and teach them. Apart from His revelation, there is no way to know spiritual truth. Since “the world through its wisdom did not come to know God” (1 Cor. 1:21), fallen mankind is “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim. 3:7). It is only when people are “saved [that they] come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4).
Even the disciples, before Pentecost, found it difficult to understand all that Jesus taught them. According to John 2:22, it was not until after the resurrection that they understood His teaching in verse 19. Nor did they grasp the full significance of the triumphal entry until after Jesus had been glorified (John 12:16). Because of their obtuseness, Jesus told them, “I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now” (16:12). They needed instruction, so Jesus promised them, The Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name (cf. Acts 2:33) He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you (cf. 16:13). The phrase, in My name, means “on My behalf,” as it also does in verse 13. Just as Jesus came in the Father’s name (5:43), so also will the Spirit come in Jesus’ name. As another Comforter like Jesus, the Spirit will always act in perfect harmony with Christ’s desires, purposes, and will. “He will glorify Me,” Jesus would later tell the disciples, “for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you” (16:14). In the divine plan, the Spirit’s ministry is to testify about Christ (15:26), not draw attention to Himself (cf. 16:13).
The Spirit is the believer’s resident truth teacher (1 John 2:20, 27); by illuminating God’s Word to their understanding, He thus grants Christians the knowledge of God that leads them to spiritual maturity.
But Christ’s promise that the Spirit would bring to their remembrance all that He had said to them was primarily a promise to the apostles of divine inspiration. The Holy Spirit’s supernatural guidance granted them an inerrant understanding of Jesus Christ’s person and teaching. The apostles (and their close associates) recorded that divinely inspired truth in the Gospels and the rest of the New Testament.
Peter described the process of inspiration in 2 Peter 1:20–21: “But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.” The apostle Paul declared, “All Scripture is inspired by God” (lit., “God-breathed,” 2 Tim. 3:13). The Holy Spirit inspired the very words of Scripture, not merely the thoughts of the writers (1 Cor. 2:13). The Bible is therefore inerrant and authoritative, and thus the only infallible rule of faith and practice. It alone contains “the sacred writings which are able to give [one] the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 3:15). For the redeemed, the Bible is “the sword of the Spirit” (Eph. 6:17) and is “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16–17).
Armed with the truth and accompanied by the presence of God, the disciples and their contemporaries would soon be those who “turned the world upside down” (Acts 17:6 kjv). But in this moment of distress, just hours before the cross, the situation looked desperately hopeless. Aware of the disciples’ distress, Jesus pointed them to the ultimate and only sure source of hope—the triune God. In the same way that the promise of God’s presence heartened them two millennia ago, it should still bring confidence and courage to believers today, since it provides comfort both now (2 Cor. 1:3–4; cf. Pss. 23:4; 86:17; Matt. 5:4; Acts 9:31), and forever (Isa. 25:8; 2 Thess. 2:16; Rev. 7:17; 21:4).[1]
The Holy Spirit As Teacher
John 14:25–26
“All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”
John 14:26 is the shortest of those sections of the final discourses dealing with the Holy Spirit, yet it is probably true that it gives us the fullest definition. The Holy Spirit is described as the “Counselor.” We have already seen what this means in our discussion of verses 16–18. He is described as being “holy”—the Holy Spirit. Finally, he is described as being a “teacher.” Here are three definitions: the Counselor, Holy One, and Teacher. Yet when the verse is looked at closely, it is undoubtedly the last of these, the fact that the Holy Spirit is a teacher, that is emphasized. The role of the Holy Spirit as Counselor is emphasized in the earlier verses. The matter of holiness is emphasized in 16:7–11. But here (as also at 15:26–27 and 16:12–15) the special ministry of the Spirit as teacher is brought forward.
When the Lord says that the Holy Spirit is to “teach you all things,” the reference is primarily to the apostles. These were those whom Jesus had chosen to be authoritative spokesmen for the truth he had revealed. They were to remember it and then record it in the pages of what has become the New Testament. Moreover, this teaching was to become normative for the church. This same idea is clear in that verse in which the Lord says, “When he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all [the] truth.” Jesus did not mean that all that could possibly be known would be revealed to them. All things that can possibly be known are known only to God. But he did mean that the Holy Spirit would reveal to them the full truth of the gospel centered in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. And this he did. This was a unique ministry of the Holy Spirit to the apostles.
At the same time, however, there is a secondary sense in which these words apply to Christians who are living today. The Holy Spirit teaches us as well, and the Holy Spirit is the One who brings these things to our remembrance.
Need for Teaching
We need to look at the disciples first, however. Clearly, here were men who needed to be taught. They had been with the Lord Jesus Christ for three years. One might think that they would have understood the essence of his ministry and the gospel. He had spoken to them about these things. But the truth is that, although he had spoken to them about this, nevertheless they had not understood him. It is significant that verse 25 says, “All this I have spoken while still with you.” He had spoken to them, but that is not quite the same thing as saying that he had taught them. Obviously he had tried to teach the disciples, and had taught them many other things, but they had not yet really learned the great truths of the gospel. Actually, they were confused men who needed the Holy Spirit’s teaching.
They also had a particular problem with learning in this instance, for the Lord had announced his departure to them, and this had so seized upon their minds that they were not really hearing what he was saying. He had spoken about another Counselor, but they were not interested enough in the other Counselor even to learn about him. All they could grasp was that Jesus was to be taken from them.
So the Lord tells the disciples, “You need teaching; you really do. You have heard a lot, but you do not understand it. You need to be taught. I am going. Nevertheless, the Holy Spirit is coming, and one of his roles (a very important role) is to teach you.”
The second interesting thing about the teaching of the Holy Spirit is that God himself earnestly wanted to teach the disciples. We see this in the fact that the entire Trinity is mentioned in this verse: “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you.” In other words, the Father in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ is sending the Holy Spirit to teach the disciples, so much is he interested in having them come to the knowledge of the truth concerning Jesus.
I suppose that if we had been the Lord Jesus Christ, we might have said at this point, “Oh, these dull, dull disciples!” We could even have boasted about the quality of our instruction. We could have said, “It is impossible to imagine a better teacher than they have just had. Furthermore, they have gone through an entire seminary course in three years and have combined formal teaching with on-the-field experience. They have had the advantage of a first-class example. So if they still do not get it, I will flunk them.” We might have said that. But this is not the attitude of God. The God who recognizes, on the one hand, that the disciples needed teaching, is the same God who, on the other hand, sends the Holy Spirit in order that they might be taught.
If we ask at that point, “Were they taught?” the answer is yes; of course they were. The proof of it is our Bible. Furthermore, once the Holy Spirit had come, they began to get it quickly, because on the day of Pentecost, Peter, who on an earlier occasion had said when the Lord announced his crucifixion, “Far be it, Lord, that such a thing should happen to you,” who did not understand Jesus at all, this same Peter stood up and announced with great understanding that what had occurred in Jerusalem six weeks before had been by the foreordination of God. In other words, the crucifixion of Christ had fallen out in accordance with God’s perfect plan and was the heart of redemption. Then Peter preached Christ to the very men who had crucified him, and the Holy Spirit blessed the message so that many came to faith on that occasion. The disciples did learn through the Holy Spirit. Moreover, the Holy Spirit guided them to write these things in the books that became our New Testament.
These books record what the Lord Jesus Christ said and did, explain it, and draw conclusions. In this sense the critics are right when they say that these books are not pure biography, that is, objective historical biography. They are biography with an interpretation attached. But the interpretation, as well as the biography, is that which the Holy Spirit gave.
Our Teacher Too
All this applies primarily to the disciples, but it also comes down to us in a much closer way. For we need to be taught also, and the Holy Spirit, who taught the disciples, is our teacher as well.
Paul writes about it to the Corinthians. He talks first of the fact that in ourselves we are unable to understand spiritual truth, even when it is recorded in the pages of Scripture. But he tells us in addition that the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, who inspired the Bible, speaks from its pages to bring us understanding. “As it is written, ‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him’—but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we many understand what God has freely given us. This is why we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spritiual truths in spiritual words” (1 Cor. 2:9–13).
Here the ministry of the Holy Spirit as teacher is explained. It was exercised, in the first instance, when God revealed truth to the apostles and they recorded it in what would later become canonized as the pages of the New Testament. It is then exercised, in the second instance, when this same Holy Spirit teaches us from the truths that they have recorded.
Remembering
The first part of John 14:26 speaks of the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit, but there is a second part that speaks of remembrance. “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have said to you.” Why, if they were taught all things, does anything need to be brought back to mind? As we begin to reflect on this word, we see that a ministry of the Holy Spirit in helping us remember is necessary because of what we are like and because of the inability of our minds to retain important teachings. It is possible to be well taught, even brilliantly taught, and still forget; or, in the disciples’ case, to be taught the meaning of Christ’s ministry but forget that upon which it is based.
The Lord’s emphasis on remembering teaches us two separate truths. First, it teaches us that the wisdom of God is not a new thing. It is that which God has revealed in the past and that is the same because he is the same. We have a tendency, especially in America and in our age, always to be inventing theology. Churchmen speak about “process theology” today. It means “evolving” theology. But this is not the outlook of the Scriptures. Some of our contemporaries seem always to be searching the Bible in the light of newspapers and popular books in order to come up with something that no one has ever heard before. When they do and when they write a book about it, they get a hearing. This is the nature of The Passover Plot, The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross, and some other popular religious books. People buy them and say, “We never heard that before! Therefore, it must be true!” But it is not true, nor is it a product of the Holy Spirit’s ministry. The Holy Spirit does not give us new doctrines. Rather, he brings old truths to our remembrance.
So what we preach is not new doctrine but the old doctrine once and for all delivered to the saints. It is the doctrine of man’s total inability to help himself spiritually, God’s grace in Jesus Christ, the ministry of the Holy Spirit who takes these truths and brings them home to our hearts and minds so that we understand them, and God’s unfailing perseverance with his people. We preach that God does not abandon us, that God who has begun to save us in such a marvelous way, giving us a new spirit and creating a new soul, will persevere to the end, at which time he will give us a new body and make us like the Lord Jesus Christ forevermore. These are not new doctrines. They are old doctrines. They are the doctrines that the Holy Spirit brings to our remembrance.
The second truth the word “remind” teaches is that we tend to forget these doctrines, even though we have heard them many times. The history of the church is the history of great blessing through the Holy Spirit, a time of reformation and revival, followed by a gradual forgetting of the message. This happens again and again; so one of the jobs of the minister is to remind the congregation of the old truths. One of the jobs of Christian people is to remind each other of them, and one of the jobs of the Christian church is to remind the world of these old doctrines, even though the world may reject them.
He Shall Testify of Me
This verse also says something else, and we do not want to miss that either. It says that the object of the teaching is Christ. This is true in this text: “He will remind you of everything I have said to you.” It is also true in the verses about the Holy Spirit in John 15 and 16: “When the Counselor comes, whom I well send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning” (15:26–27). “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you” (16:12–14).
We have a danger, even as evangelical people, of making the Scriptures an end in themselves. We study the Bible as we would a textbook. We memorize the data. But we are always in danger of forgetting that the purpose of the Scriptures is not to exist as an end in themselves, though they will endure forever—“heaven and earth will pass away, but my word will not pass away”—but to reveal Christ to the seeking heart and mind.
God’s Power
There is a final point that belongs with what we have been saying. The Holy Spirit is also the One who enables us to teach these truths to others. Teaching spiritual truths cannot be done in the power of the flesh. Paul writes about it in 1 Corinthians in the verses that come just before the ones cited earlier. “When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.… My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power” (2:1–2, 4).
Three things are necessary if God’s truth is to be properly communicated. First, there must be the revelation of the truth to the apostles by the Holy Spirit. This has been done. Second, there must be the teaching of the Holy Spirit to our hearts, so that, as we read their words, we come face-to-face with the Lord Jesus Christ about whom they wrote. Third, there must be the continuing work of the Holy Spirit to take our testimony concerning this Word and carry it home to the hearts of those who have not yet heard or understood it. Three stages!
But there can be error in each. There are some who do not begin with the Scriptures. They consider the Bible to contain the words of men rather than the very words that the Holy Ghost taught to the apostles. Having thrown out the base, they have nothing on which to stand, and their theology becomes mere speculation. There are others who accept the Bible as the Word of God but who do not allow the Holy Spirit to teach them. They study the Bible in an academic way. Although they may have a high doctrine of Scripture, they do not strive to see the Lord Jesus Christ in its pages. Then there are those who accept the Bible as the Word of God and who do meet with Jesus Christ, but they testify in their own power in a way that brings glory to themselves, and few are won.
We do a farmer’s work. First, we prepare the soil. Then we take a seed and plant it. We water it, and we wait for it to grow. But we do not give life to the seed. The seed already has life in it. Moreover, we can scratch a furrow and put the seed in it, but the ground must have the nutrients that God has placed there. And even then the work of God is not finished, for the seed will not grow unless the sun shines upon it. The Holy Spirit must be the sun in our witnessing. We must be faithful in scratching the furrows, watering, even pulling out weeds. But we must look to God to give life.[2]
26 The instruction of the disciples, however, will not cease. The Father will send the Holy Spirit to remind them of all that Jesus has said and help them understand the full meaning of his teaching. Apart from this teaching role of the Spirit, there never could have been a reliable gospel or, for that matter, a NT at all. As Peter put it, “Men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Pe 1:21).
The Counselor who is to be sent by the Father is the Holy Spirit. (Only here in John is the title in Greek given in its fullest form: to pneuma to hagion, GK 4460, 51). For the early Christians the title would emphasize the holiness of the Spirit rather than his might and power. In his vision of the exalted Lord, Isaiah saw the seraphs as they circled the throne and called out, “Holy, holy, holy [hagios, LXX] is the Lord Almighty” (Isa 6:3). As God is holy so also is his Spirit. Jesus says that the Holy Spirit will be sent by the Father “in [his] name,” i.e., his task will be in accord with the character of Jesus.
If we take the last two clauses of v. 26 as synonymous parallelism (so Brown, 651), the teaching work of the Spirit will be to “remind” the disciples of all that Jesus taught. It will not consist of new revelations. The Spirit will take the words of Jesus and make them known (cf. 16:13–15). He will help the disciples grasp the full meaning of what Jesus was teaching while he was with them in person. It is one thing to understand a statement as being true; it is something quite different to grasp the full meaning and significance of that truth. The Holy Spirit’s teaching ministry belongs in the latter category.
Calvin, 2:88, calls the Spirit “the inward Teacher (interior magister)” and points out that God has two ways of teaching: first, the words that fall on our ears, and second, the inward action of the Spirit. It is still the case that biblical truth may be heard and understood without its more profound meaning laying hold of the mind and heart of the listener. Theology as an academic discipline is not the same as truth about God understood from the heart. Obviously, the “all things” taught by the Spirit does not include matters irrelevant to God’s purpose in sending Jesus to be our Savior.[3]
26 This is the fullest description of the Spirit to be found in this Gospel. For “the Counselor” see Additional Note F, pp. 587–91. In the previous passage he was called “the Spirit of truth”; now he is entitled “the Holy Spirit.” This characteristic designation, found throughout the New Testament, does not draw attention to the power of the Spirit, his greatness, or the like. For the first Christians the important thing was that he is holy. His character mattered most of all. This verse shows him to be closely related to both the Father and the Son. He is to be sent by the Father, but in the name of the Son. In 15:26 he is sent by the Son from the Father. Probably no great difference should be put between these ways of putting it; John has a tendency to vary statements a little when they are repeated. What he is saying in both places is that the Spirit’s mission derives exclusively neither from the Father nor the Son. It comes from both. For “in my name” see on verse 13. Here it can scarcely mean that the disciples ask in Christ’s name. He may mean that he himself will ask (as in v. 16), or perhaps that the Spirit will be sent to continue the work of Christ, to be in his place (“if he is sent in Jesus’ name, he is Jesus’ emissary [not simply his substitute, contra Brown …],” Carson). The particular function of the Spirit stressed here is that of teacher. “All things” is comprehensive and probably means “all that you will need to know.” The Spirit is to be the guide and teacher of the church. This does not mean that he will make new revelations; rather he will bring back to the disciples’ memory all the things that Jesus had told them. John has made it clear that the disciples did not grasp the significance of much that their Master taught them. It seems likely that they let slip some of the things they did not understand. Jesus is now saying that the Holy Spirit will supply their lack. The things of which he will remind them are the things that Jesus has spoken to them. In other words, the Spirit will not dispense with the teaching of Jesus. The teaching to be recalled is his.[4]
25–26 “These things I have spoken to you while dwelling beside you,” Jesus continues, as if signaling an end to his speech, and an imminent departure (v. 25). He speaks as if the end is approaching, yet it is not quite here, for the expression “these things I have spoken to you” is one that he is quite capable of repeating again and again (see 15:11; 16:1, 4, 6, 25), before finally using it to conclude the entire discourse (16:33). He introduces it here to set the stage for a second glimpse of the “other advocate” he has promised (vv. 16–17). His reference to himself as “dwelling beside you” recalls that promise, particularly the words “it dwells beside you and is in you” (v. 17). What Jesus does for them now, “another advocate” will continue to do after his departure, for in spite of all he has said about mutual indwelling, the departure is real. With this, the “other advocate” takes on a definite identity, and with it a title, along with a job description (hence the capitalization): “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and remind you of all things that I said to you” (v. 26). Like Jesus himself, the Spirit is “sent” from the Father, but “in my name,” Jesus says, that is, in response to his intercession (see v. 16). The “he” and the “I” are both emphatic, framing the last clause. That is, “He [the Advocate] will teach you all things and remind you of all things that I [Jesus] said to you.” The effect of the “he” is to highlight the personality of “the Advocate,” corresponding to the personal “I” who speaks. The Advocate, moreover, will do things only a person can do, the very things Jesus has done from the start. He will “teach,” and his teaching will be a continuation of Jesus’ own, in that it will include “reminding” the disciples of what Jesus has already taught them. In contrast to Jesus, the Advocate will not be under time constraint, for he will teach them “all things,” and remind them of “all things” that Jesus ever said. While there is no evidence that the disciples themselves grasped the full significance of this promise, it helps the reader understand why, after Jesus was “glorified” or “raised from the dead,” his disciples “remembered” not just the words that he spoke, but what his words and his actions meant (see 2:22; 12:16). In this way, it gives authority to the text of the Gospel, implying that with the help of the Advocate the disciples—and by implication the Gospel writer—finally “got it straight,” whatever their limitations might have been during the course of Jesus’ ministry. The accent on “all things that I said to you” could even suggest that they came to know far more than they ever put into writing (see 20:30; 21:25).[5]
A revealing teacher who conveys the truth (vv. 25–26)
While most of the promises given to the disciples at this meal are applicable for all followers of Jesus Christ at all times, this particular promise was specific to the disciples who were there in that upper room. You can imagine their concerns—how are we going to remember everything he said to us? How can we tell others what he said? Jesus comforted them by telling them that one of the jobs of the Holy Spirit would be to remind them precisely and accurately of everything he had said. That accounts for the remarkable accuracy and consistency of the New Testament record. It was supernatural that various men could naturally and personally record the life and teaching of Jesus and at the same time be entirely consistent with one another.[6]
Vers. 25, 26. These things have I spoken unto you.—
The mission of the Holy Spirit:—
I. Its distinction from that of Jesus Christ. Both Christ and the Spirit were sent by the Father, and were sent to teach; but they differed in respect of—1. Character. Christ had been sent in the Father’s name as the Father’s representative; the Spirit was come in Christ’s name as Christ’s representative. 2. Purpose. Christ had been sent to furnish men with an objective image of God; the Spirit to give an inward apprehension of the same. 3. Duration. Christ came for a season; the Spirit for ever. 4. Results. Christ’s mission was imperfectly realized so far as it related to the enlightenment of men; that of the Spirit would attain complete success both in instructing and sanctifying.
II. Its fulfilment in the case of Christ’s apostles. 1. Scripture illumination. A wonderful light began to shine on the Old Testament, which enabled them to see its references to Christ which had previously been hidden (cf. Psa. 16:8–11 with Acts 2:25–28; 8:35; Psa. 110:1 with Acts 2:34; Psa. 2:1, 2 with Acts 4:25; Psa. 2:7 with Acts 13:33; Amos 9:11 with Acts 15:16; Zech. 9:9 with John 12:16). 2. Quickened recollection. A lively recollection of forgotten words of Jesus began to show itself. Examples: chap. 2:22; Luke 24:8; Acts 11:16; Act. 20:35. In particular, Christ’s utterances concerning His relation with the Father (chap. 8:28). 3. Further revelation. A gradual disclosure of truths which had been concealed in Christ’s teaching but not developed as, e.g., the doctrines of—(1) His Divinity (Acts 1:26). (2) His atoning death (Acts 3:19). (3) His exclusive Mediatorship (Acts 4:12). (4) Justification by faith (Acts. 13:39; Rom. 1:16, 17; 3:21–26; 5:1). (5) The Catholicity of the New Testament Church (Acts 11:17; Rom. 1:6–7; 2:11; Gal. 6:15; Eph. 2:14–16). In short, out of this flowed the New Testament.
III. Its relation to the general body of believers. 1. Negatively. It does not warrant the expectation that new revelations will be imparted to either the Church or individual—a pretension advanced by Rome, which places tradition on a level with the writings of apostles. 2. Positively. Christ’s language implies that the Church and the individual have to-day, as the apostles had, a Teacher qualified to lead them into all religious truth (1 John 2:20). Learn: 1. The high esteem in which the Holy Spirit should be held as the Father’s Commissioner, the Saviour’s Expositor, the apostles’ Remembrancer, the Church’s Teacher, the saints’ Comforter. 2. The great confidence which should be placed in the Holy Spirit, possessing as He does the twofold stamp and seal of the Father and the Son. 3. The sincere gratitude with which the Holy Spirit should be welcomed, since without His assistance the revealed Christ cannot be understood. (T. Whitelaw, D.D.)
The Teacher Spirit:—
I. The promised Teacher. 1. “The Comforter” means literally one who is called to the side of another, primarily for the purpose of being his representative in some legal process; and, more widely, for any purpose of help, encouragement, and strength. 2. This comforting and strengthening office of the Spirit is brought into immediate connection with the conception of Him as a Teacher. That is to say, the best strength that God can give us is by the firm grasp and the growing clearness of understanding of the truths which are wrapped up in Christ. 3. This Divine Teacher is the Holy Ghost. We might have expected, as indeed we find in another context, the “Spirit of Truth” as appropriate in connection with the office of teaching. But there is the profound lesson for us in this, that, side by side with the thought of illumination, there lies the thought of purity built upon consecration. (1) There is no real knowledge of Christ and His truth without purity of heart. The man who has no ear can never understand music. The man who has no eye for beauty can never be brought to bow his spirit before some gem of art. The scholars in Christ’s school have to come there with clean hands and clean hearts. (2) On the other hand, the truest motives for purity are found in that great word which is meant much rather to make us good than to make us wise. So, in this designation of the teaching Spirit as holy, there lie lessons for two classes. All fanatical professions of possessing Divine illumination which are not warranted by purity of life are lies or self-delusion. And, on the other hand, cold-blooded intellectuaism will never force the locks of the palace of Divine truth, but they that come there must have clean hands and a pure heart. 4. The Holy Ghost is “sent by God” in Christ’s name. (1) He acts as Christ’s Representative; just as Christ comes in the Father’s name and acts as His Representative. (2) He has, for the basis of His mission, and the sphere in which He acts, the recorded facts of Christ’s life and death, these and none other. 5. This Messenger is a Person. “He.” They tell us that the doctrine of the Trinity is not in the New Testament. The word is not, but the thing is. In this verse we have the Father, the Son, and the Spirit brought into such close and indissoluble union as is only vindicated from the charge of blasphemy by the belief in the divinity of each. That Divine Spirit is more than an influence. “He shall teach,” and He can be grieved by evil and sin.
II. The lesson. 1. Christ is the lesson book. 2. The significance of this lesson book, the history of our Lord, cannot be unfolded all at once. The world and the Church received Christ, as it were, in the dark; and, like some man that has got a precious gift into his hands as the morning was dawning, each fresh moment that passed revealed as the light grew new beauties and new preciousness in the thing possessed. Christ’s words are inexhaustible, and the Spirit’s teaching is to unveil more and more the infinite significance that lies in the apparently least significant of them. 3. If this be our Lord’s meaning here, He plainly anticipated that after His departure there should be a development of Christian doctrine. The earlier disciples had only a very partial grasp of Christ’s nature. They knew next to nothing of the great doctrine of sacrifice; about His resurrection; that He was going back to heaven; of the spirituality or universality of His kingdom. None of these things were in their mind. They had all been in germ in His words. And after he was gone, there came over them a breath of the teaching Spirit, and the unintelligible flashed up into significance. 4. If Jesus Christ and the deep understanding of Him be the true lesson of the Divine Spirit, then real progress consists, not in getting beyond Christ, but in getting more fully into Him. I hope I believe In the continuous advance of Christian thought as joyfully as any man, but my notion of it—and Christ’s notion of it—is to get more and more into His heart, and to find within Him, and not away from Him, “all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” All other teachers’ words become feeble by age, as their persons become wrapped in oblivion; but the progress of the Church consists in absorbing more and more of Christ, in understanding Him better, and becoming more and more moulded by His influence.
III. The scholars. 1. The apostles, in all this conversation, stand as the representatives of the Church. For this very Evangelist refers to this promise, when he says, addressing all his Asiatic brethren, “Ye have an unction from the Holy One, and know all things.” And, again, “The unction which ye have of Him abideth with you, and ye need not that any man should teach you.” So, then, every believing soul has this Divine Spirit for His Teacher. 2. But let us not forget that the early teaching is the standard. As to the first disciples the office of the Divine Spirit was to bring before them the deep significance of their Master’s life and words, so to us the office of the teaching Spirit is to bring to our minds the deep significance of the record of what they learned from Him. “If a man think himself to be spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.” Conclusion: (1) Let this great promise fill us with shame. What slow scholars we are! How little we have learnt! How we have let passion, prejudice, the babble of men’s tongue’s, anybody and everybody take the office of teaching us God’s truth, instead of waiting before Him and letting His Spirit teach us! “When for the time we ought to be teachers, have need that one teach us which be the first principles of the oracles of Christ.” (2) Let it fill us with desire, diligence, and calm hope. They tell us that Christianity is effete. Have we got all out of Jesus Christ that is in Him? Is the process that has been going on for all these centuries going to stop now? Ah! depend upon it the new problems of this generation will find their solution where the old problems of past generations have found theirs, and the old commandment of the old Christ will be the new commandment of the new Christ. Foolish men both on the Christian and on the anti-Christian side stand and point to the western sky and say, “The Sun is setting.” But that which sank in the west rises fresh and bright in the east for a new day. Jesus Christ is the Christ for all the ages and for every soul, and the world will only learn more and more of His inexhaustible fulness. (A. Maclaren, D.D.)
The teaching of the Holy Ghost:—
I. What the Holy Spirit teaches us. He teaches God’s people—1. All that they do. (1) There are some things which you and I can do naturally without any teaching. Who ever taught a child to cry? But you and I could not cry of ourselves till we had received “the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.” (2) Children have to be taught to speak. We, too, are taught to speak. We have none of us learned, as yet, the whole vocabulary of Canaan. “No man can say that Jesus is the Christ but by the Holy Ghost?” Those first words which we ever used as Christians—“God be merciful to me a sinner,” were taught us by the Holy Spirit; and that song which we shall sing before the throne will be His last lesson. (3) God’s people are taught to walk and act by Him. “It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.” To stray is natural; to keep the path of right is spiritual. (4) So with the higher efforts. The preaching of the gospel, when it be done aright, is only accomplished through the power of the Holy Spirit. So is it with sacred song. The wings with which I mount towards the skies in sacred harmony and joy are Thy wings, O Holy Dove! The fire with which my spirit flames at times of hallowed consecration is the flame of the Spirit! 2. All they know. We may learn very much from the Word of God morally and mentally, but spiritual things are only to be spiritually discerned. (1) He reproves us of sin. No man knows the exceeding sinfulness of sin, but by the Holy Ghost. (2) Next the Spirit teaches us the total ruin, depravity, and helplessness of self. (3) The character of God. God’s goodness and omnipotence are clearly manifested in the works of creation; but where do I read of His grace, mercy, or justice? These are only revealed to us in this precious Book, and so that we cannot know them until the Spirit opens our eyes to perceive them. (4) Jesus Christ. It is the Holy Ghost who manifests the Saviour to us in the glory of His person; the love of His heart, the power of His arm, the preciousness of His blood, and the prevalence of His plea. (5) Our adoption. Indeed, all the privileges of the new covenant, beginning from regeneration, unto the abundant entrance into the kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is the teaching of the Holy Spirit, and especially that last point, for “eye hath not seen,” &c.
II. The methods by which the Holy Spirit teaches. 1. He excites interest in the mind. He shows them that these things have a personal bearing upon their soul’s present and eternal welfare. 2. He gives to the man a teachable spirit. There be men who will not learn. Teach them by little and little, and they say—“Do you think I am a child?” Tell them a great deal at once, and they say—“You have not the power to make me comprehend!” The Holy Spirit makes a man willing to learn in any shape. 3. He sets truth in a clear light. How hard it is sometimes to state a fact which you perfectly understand yourself, in such a way that another man may see it. It is like the telescope; there are many persons who, when they walk into an observatory and put their eye to the glass, expecting to see the rings of Saturn, have said, “I can see nothing at all; a piece of glass, and a grain or two of dust is all I can see!” “But,” says the astronomer, “I can see Saturn in all his glory.” Why cannot you? Because the focus does not suit the stranger’s eye. By a little skill the focus can be altered so that the observer may be able to see what he could not see before. Now the Holy Spirit always gives the right focus to every truth. He sheds a light so strong and forcible upon the Word, that the spirit says, “Now I see it and understand it.” 4. He enlightens the understanding. ’Tis marvellous, too, how the Holy Ghost does teach men who seem as if they never could learn. I know some brethren whose opinion I would not take in anything worldly on any account. But those men have a deeper, truer, and more experimental knowledge of the Word of God than many who preach it, because the Holy Spirit never tried to teach them grammar, and never meant to teach them business, but He has taught them the Word of God, and they understand it. But I have perceived, also, that when the Spirit has enlarged the understanding to receive Bible truth, that understanding becomes more capable of receiving other truth. 5. He refreshes the memory. “He shall bring all things to your remembrance.” 6. He makes us feel its effect. You may try to teach a child the meaning of the term “sweetness;” but words will not avail, give him some honey and he will never forget it. So the Holy Spirit does not only tell us of Christ’s love; He sheds it abroad in the heart.
III. The characteristics and nature of the Holy Spirit’s teaching. The Holy Ghost teaches—1. Sovereignly. He teaches whom He wills, when He wills, as He wills. 2. Effectually. He never failed to make us learn yet. 3. Infallibly. We teach you errors through want of caution, over zeal, and the weakness of our own mind. 4. Continually. Whom once He teaches, He never leaves till He has completed their education. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The Teacher of the Church:—
I. Our need of such a Teacher. It is not enough to assume the necessity of the teaching of the Holy Ghost. All experience shows that an outward revelation of truth is inadequate. Our knowledge is always in advance of our inward conformity to it or our practical compliance with it. But even when men seem to receive and believe the truth, we must not always assume that they really understand it, or that they need no more light than it brings along with it in order to discern the fulness of its meaning. By nature man does not so easily apprehend spiritual truth.
II. The nature of His teaching. 1. As a Teacher, His work is in reality a continuation of the prophetical office of Christ. Jesus is the great Teacher; but the Holy Ghost is His representative on earth during His personal absence from His Church on earth. Thus we are reminded that the substance of His teaching was not a new revelation, distinct from that which had been already afforded, but an extension, completion, and application of that which had been given by Jesus Christ as His own words clearly show. He was not to speak of Himself, because He was not the Saviour in the exact sense of that word. The Holy Ghost was further to bring all things to the remembrance of the disciples of Christ which He had spoken to them. The words of the Son of God contained the germ of all Christian truth. But His work was not to be a mere helping of the memory. 2. And this work of teaching is carried on now in the Church of Christ by the Holy Ghost as truly as it was in the days of the apostles. The Holy Ghost no longer teaches us in the same manner in which He taught those who waited for His advent. No “cloven tongues as of fire” rest upon us who preach, or upon you who hear. (1) He teaches us now by the Word which He inspired the apostles to write. (2) So also, He teaches by the instrumentality of the Christian ministry (Eph. 4:8, 11, 12). (3) But the Holy Ghost also teaches us by inward illumination. He speaks to our hearts by His own personal influence, and casts the rays of His enlightening grace into the darkest recesses of our spirits. (4) And, ought we not to add, He gives us this teaching, whether with reference to things human or to things Divine, whether for our natural or our spiritual life, in answer to prayer. He is an infallible Teacher; and there is no other but He. He is an ever-present Teacher.
III. Finally, let me notice two errors lying in quite opposite directions, which are committed with reference to the teaching of the Holy Ghost. 1. The first is the error of those who profess to seek and receive the teaching of the Holy Ghost while they reject the means. 2. An error no less common, among you to whom I speak perhaps even more common, is the fault of those who forget the agency of the Holy Ghost in the use of the means of grace. (W. R. Clark, M.A.) And bring all things to your remembrance.—
The Holy Ghost a Remembrancer:—
I. The Holy Ghost teaches us, in a great measure, not at the moment, but in and by the memory. None of the faculties of the human soul have been given it in vain. Every endowment has its office; and in working out salvation, man may find his whole intellectual and moral nature brought into play. It is so with fear, with hope, with love; so also with memory. 1. There is a very remarkable instance of this in the case of the apostles. Nothing is clearer than that the twelve disciples, at the time, did not and could not comprehend the nature or the teaching of their Lord. When the Holy Ghost came down, then, as He revived in their minds the memory of all that Christ had done and said, they began to see, more and more, who He was. 2. And thus also is it with ourselves. We interpret God’s dealings with us, not at the moment, but as we go over them again in memory. Is it not the case that in every man’s life occur critical periods, upon which the whole after existence turns, and which yet at the time he understands not? The becoming acquainted with a certain individual, the going for a few weeks to a certain place, have often fixed a man’s whole after destiny. You knew not at the time how important the step was; but when you look back, you are able to discern in it the hand of God. It is in memory, that is, that you can trace God’s dealings with your soul. 3. In the history of Churches and nations, the same rule will be noticed. How frequently in the progress of a kingdom has the history of centuries turned upon an infant’s death, upon a bow drawn at a venture. “If the king had acted otherwise,” says the annalist, “the history of the country from that hour would have had to be written differently.” Yet to contemporaries it seemed of no consequence which course was taken. What a difference again does the moment of acting make. The same political conduct at one period stops, at another hurries on a revolution; yet the acutest human intellect at the instant discerns not the crisis. By and by a child can often appreciate the error, and trace its results. Nor is it hard to assign a reason why God should thus leave us blind at the moment, and allow us to be enlightened afterwards. It is evident that if, whilst an event was happening, we could see palpably God’s hand in it, our freedom of will would be interfered with.
II. Let us pass on to other illustrations. 1. It is a common observation, that argument does no good. All a man’s good opinion of himself is armed against you when you try to convince him that he is wrong. And perhaps if the truth is really on your side, there is yet another profounder cause why you are not heard. But you may also have noticed how in after years the same reasoning has made itself felt. When the excitement of the moment is over, the words of wisdom which we put from us will often return to the mind, and force conviction of themselves. 2. Take the case of a young man who laughs to scorn the remonstrances of a father, and pursues headlong his career of sin and self-pleasing. He has always an answer satisfactory to himself, if not to others. Life ebbs away, and those remonstrances seem to be wasted breath; yet not so. Again and again has it happened, that in distant lands and remote years, the reproof of a father and the sighs of a mother have echoed in the silent soul, and, like one risen from the dead, spoken with power. And what is this but the Holy Ghost acting upon the memory, to teach and convert the sinner. 3. And we may not pass over here the strange power which the dead possess in memory. Why should a person exercise an influence when departed out of this world which he did not exercise whilst alive? How many a wayward boy weeps bitter tears, as he recollects by a mother’s grave, her earnest longings for his well-doing, her prayers and warnings against sin, and vows amendment which is often the beginning of a saintly life. The meaning of this is the Holy Ghost using the power of memory to check man’s sin, and stir him to repentance. 4. And there is a darker hour yet, when the Holy Ghost turns the faculty of memory to a terrible yet blessed account, when He causes the dying man to see with a fearful distinctness all the lapses of his life past. Conclusion: 1. Memory has no power to convert. It only preserves or recalls the past. But God the Holy Ghost lays hold of man’s memory and turns souls unto righteousness. 2. It is on this peculiar working of God the Holy Ghost as a Remembrancer, that may be founded one main argument for early Christian education. “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” 3. There remaineth yet a nobler accomplishment of the promise than any yet seen below. The work of the Holy Ghost as a regenerating sanctifying Spirit, will be past and over; but His work as a Remembrancer shall never cease. For in the courts of the heavenly city there shall be a perpetual recurrence of the souls of the redeemed to all that Christ said unto them and did for them on earth. If the thunder of their song shall ever roll with a mightier volume at one time than another, it will be, methinks, as the Eternal Spirit brings to the remembrance of each saved soul, the wonders of the way in which the Lord God led it. (Bishop Woodford.)
The Divine Remembrancer:—
I. There is a gift of forgetfulness. What would this world be if it were not given us to forget—if the finger of time had no subduing, and mellowing, and obliterating touches. What a mercy is oblivion! There is not a more gracious revelation of Deity than this—“I will not remember thy sins.” It is among the best offices of the Holy Ghost that He can teach us to forget. There are many to whom the greatest lesson which they have to learn in the school of grace is to forget. You should not remember what God has forgotten. But here is our comfort—that if we will let the Spirit work in our hearts, He will secure at once the right memory and the right forgetfulness.
II. A gift of memory. 1. Who has not to lament over his religious forgetfulness? Sermons, conversations, which were so interesting and so useful; hymns once learnt; passages of Scriptures, impressions, thoughts and feelings, which seemed engraven upon the mind as with a pen of iron—how have they effaced themselves? What would it be if everything which once lived in our souls were living there now? And if it be really an attribute of the Holy Ghost to bring all these things back again, and not to allow anything to die which was indeed the voice of Christ, what a possession that Spirit must be! And yet, what else can these words mean? 2. There is no doubt that a strong memory is a natural endowment. And he that has it has a wonderful power. But it is a gift—he could not help it. But that with which we have now to deal is something different. It is the prerogative of the Spirit to help the memory on all sacred subjects. And if upon sacred subjects then on all. For if that faculty of the mind be strengthened and increased in one department, surely it cannot fail to be improved in every other, for all memory is one. (1) Did you never know a verse of the Bible, which had been lying dormant in your mind for a long time, awake and come to you with a power and a vividness which quite surprised you? And it, strangely appropriate, just fits the circumstances in which you find yourself, and the state of your own mind. If it had been made for you it could not have suited you better. What is this but the Holy Ghost fulfilling His own mission. (2) Or there is a passage in the Bible with which you are very familiar—but to-day it stands out in such a new light, and carries such a power, never felt before, that it strikes upon you like a new creation. And yet you have read it hundreds of times—no verse more common. Then why is it so salient now? It is memory illuminated by the Holy Ghost. (3) Or, it may be no written word at all. Years and years back, Christ spoke to you by an impression. The rough contact of ten thousand things in this rude world has long since trodden it out. You are now as if that good impression had never been. Why is it there again to-day so distinct and loud? Did you call it up? What has raised it from those sleeping places? I know but one answer—He who quickens all buried things, He who raises dead Christs out of the graves of our dull hearts is bringing back the things of Christ to you. (4) Or, it may not be even as much as this. Who has not felt the mysterious power of association? It may be the smallest possible thing that evokes it—a breath of wind, a colour, the scent of a flower, the accent of a note. But it will make you go through chapters of existence. And what if all these recovered links of being are the waftings of the Spirit’s wing, verifying the promise of Jesus. (J. Vaughan, M.A.)[7]
14:25, 26. These things I have told you while still remaining with you. Moreover, the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you everything, and will remind you of everything that I myself said to you.
Jesus seems to linger with his disciples as long as possible. Again and again he seems to bid them farewell; nevertheless, again and again he remains a little longer. There is a tone of departure in the words, “These things I have told you while still remaining with you.” Yet, the Master lingers. Cf. 14:31; 15:11; 16:1, 4, 25, 33. These things, in view of while still remaining withyou, which is surely very general, cannot be restricted to the words spoken that night, but obviously indicate all his teaching up to this very moment. Now Jesus draws a distinction (notice, he does not present a contrast; δε should here be translated moreover or and or now, not but) between his own teaching during the days of his humiliation, on the one hand, and his own teaching through the Spirit in the glory of his exaltation, on the other. The central idea of verses 25, 26 may be summarized as follows:
“While yet abiding physically with you I have given you certain teachings which after my physical departure from you I, through the Spirit, will make much clearer to you (cf. 1 Cor. 2:13). Moreover, I will then teach you everything which you need to know in order to perform the work of witnessing which is assigned to you.”
Note the names given to the third person of the Trinity: the Helper (παράκλητος); see on 14:16; the Holy Spirit, holy because, he is not only himself completely sinless and in possession of all the moral attributes in an infinite degree—which, of course, is true also with respect to the Father and the Son—, but also because it is he who takes the leading part in the work of making others holy (sanctification). He is also characterized as the One “whom the Father will send in my (Christ’s) name.” Cf. Acts 2:33. The sending of the Holy Spirit and also his work on earth is in complete harmony with Christ’s name, that is, with his self-revelation in the sphere of redemption. A comparison between 14:26, “whom the Father will send in my name,” and 15:26, “whom I will send from the Father,” makes it very clear that the historical sending of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost (see Acts 2) is ascribed to both the Father and the Son. Does not this historical effusion imply that also the eternal, super-historical procession of the Spirit must be viewed as an act in which the Father and the Son cooperate?
Note that the promise contains two elements, and that in all probability the first everything (or all things: (πάντα) is more comprehensive than the second. First, the Spirit will teach you everything that is necessary (not only for your own salvation, but here specifically) for the work of witnessing (cf. Matt. 10:10; 1 John 2:27). This includes certain things which Jesus had not specifically taught during the days of his humiliation, having omitted them for a very wise reason (see on 16:12). Secondly, the Spirit will remind you of everything that I myself said to you. As already indicated, by means of both of these Jesus Christ is fulfilling his prophetic office, first on earth, then from heaven.
The two everythings may be viewed as concentric circles, for also by means of recalling the old (“everything that I myself said to you”), the Spirit would be teaching the new. It must be borne in mind that between the time when Jesus uttered these words and the moment when the Holy Spirit was poured out there occurred the following significant events: Christ’s crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, and coronation. In the light of these great events the work of the Holy Spirit in reminding the disciples of the former teachings of Jesus would naturally imply new teaching, or if one prefers, it would imply the impartation of a deeper understanding of that which when it was first heard had hardly registered. As proof we offer the following passages: 2:22; 12:16. Even then, of course, the special guidance of the Spirit was necessary in order to convey to their minds the exact meaning of Christ’s words in the light of his atonement and glorification.[8]
[1] MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2008). John 12–21 (pp. 119–120). Moody Publishers.
[3] Mounce, R. H. (2007). John. In T. Longman III & D. E. Garland (Eds.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Luke–Acts (Revised Edition) (Vol. 10, pp. 568–569). Zondervan.
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