John 15:26-27
26. But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send to you from
the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceedeth from the Father, will testify
of me: 27. And you also will bear testimony, (or, are witnesses) because
from the beginning you are with me.
26. But when the Comforter is come. After having explained to
the apostles that the Gospel ought not to be less highly valued by them,
because it has many adversaries, even within the Church itself; Christ
now, in opposition to the wicked fury of those men, produces the testimony
of the Spirit, and if their consciences rest on this testimony, they will
never be shaken; as if he had said, “True, the world will rage against
you; some will mock, and others will curse your doctrine; but none of their
attacks will be so violent as to shake the firmness of your faith, when
the Holy Spirit shall have been given to you to establish you by his testimony.”
And, indeed, when the world rages on all sides, our only protection is,
that the truth of God, scaled by the Holy Spirit on our hearts, despises
and defies all that is in the world; for, if it were subject to the opinions
of men, our faith would be overwhelmed a hundred times in a day.
We ought, therefore, to observe carefully in what manner we ought to
remain firm among so many storms. It is because
we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which
is of God, that we may know the things which have been given to us by God,
(1 Corinthians 2:12.)
This single witness powerfully drives away, scatters, and overturns,
all that the world rears up to obscure or crush the truth of God. All who
are endued with this Spirit are so far from being in danger of falling
into despondency on account of the hatred or contempt of the world, that
every one of them will obtain glorious victory over the whole world. Yet
we must beware of relying on the good opinion of men; for so long as faith
shall wonder in this manner, or rather, as soon as it shall have gone out
of the sanctuary of God, it must become involved in miserable uncertainty.
It must, therefore, be brought back to the inward and secret testimony
of the Spirit, which, believers know, has been given to them from heaven.
The Spirit is said to testify of Christ, because he retains and fixes
our faith on him alone, that we may not seek elsewhere any part of our
salvation. He calls him also the Comforter, that, relying on his protection,
we may never be alarmed; for by this title Christ intended to fortify our
faith, that it may not yield to any temptations. When he calls him the
Spirit of truth, we must apply the term to the matter in hand; for we must
presuppose a contrast to this effect, that, when they have not this Witness,
men are carried about in various ways, and have no firm resting-place,
but, wherever he speaks, he delivers the minds of men from all doubt and
fear of being deceived.
When he says that he will send him from the Father, and, again, that
he proceedeth from the Father, he does so in order to increase the weight
of his authority; for the testimony of the Spirit would not be sufficient
against attacks so powerful, and against efforts so numerous and fierce,
if we were not convinced that he proceedeth from God. So then it is Christ
who sends the Spirit, but it is from the heavenly glory, that we may know
that it is not a gift of men, but a sure pledge of Divine grace. Hence
it appears how idle was the subtlety of the Greeks, when they argued, on
the ground of these words, that the Spirit does not proceed from the Son;
for here Christ, according to his custom, mentions the Father in order
to raise our eyes to the contemplation of his Divinity.
27. And you also bear testimony. Christ means that the testimony
of the Spirit will not be of such a nature that the apostles shall have
it for their private advantage, or that they alone shall enjoy it, but
that by them it will be widely diffused, because they will be organs of
the Holy Spirit, as indeed, he spoke by their mouth. We now see in what
way faith is by hearing, (Romans 10:17,) and yet it derives its certainty
from the seal and earnest of the Spirit, (Ephesians 1:13, 14.) Those who
do not sufficiently know the darkness of the human mind imagine that faith
is formed naturally by hearing and preaching alone; and there are many
fanatics who disdain the outward preaching, and talk in lofty terms about
secret revelations and inspirations, (ejnqousiasmou<v) But we see how
Christ joins these two things together; and, therefore, though there is
no faith till the Spirit of God seal our minds and hearts, still we must
not go to seek visions or oracles in the clouds; but the word,
which is near us, in our mouth and heart, (Romans 10:8,)
must keep all our senses bound and fixed on itself, as Isaiah says beautifully:
My Spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth,
shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor
out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed saith the Lord, from henceforth and
for ever, (Isaiah 59:21.)
Because you are with me from the beginning. This clause was added
in order to inform us that so much the greater credit is due to the apostles
on this ground, that they were eye-witnesses of what they relate; as John
says,
what we have heard, what we have seen, what our hands have handled,
we declare to you; (1 John 1:1)
for thus the Lord intended to provide for our welfare in every possible
way, that nothing might be wanting for a full confirmation of the Gospel.
CHAPTER 16
John 16:1-4
1. These things I have spoken to you, that you may not be offended.
2. They will drive you out of the synagogues; yea, the time cometh, that
whosoever shall kill you will think that he offereth service to God. 3.
And they will do these things to you, because they have not known the Father,
nor me. 4. But these things I have spoken to you, that, when the time shall
come, you may remember that I told you of them. And I told you not these
things at the beginning, because I was with you.
1. These things I have spoken to you. He again states that none
of those things which he has spoken are superfluous; for, since wars and
contests await them, it is necessary that they should be provided beforehand
with the necessary arms. Yet he also means that, if they meditate deeply
on this doctrine, they will be fully prepared for resistance. Let us remember
that what he then said to the disciples is also spoken to us. And, first,
we ought to understand that Christ does not send his followers into the
field unarmed, and, therefore, that, if any man fail in this warfare, his
own indolence alone is to blame. And yet we ought not to wait till the
struggle be actually commenced, but ought rather to endeavor to become
well acquainted with these discourses of Christ, and to render them familiar
to our minds, so that we may march into the field of battle, as soon as
it is necessary; for we must not doubt that the victory is in our hands,
so long as those admonitions of Christ shall be deeply imprinted on our
minds. For, when he says THAT YOU MAY NOT be offended, he means that there
is no danger, lest anything turn us aside from the right course. But how
few there are that learn this doctrine in a proper manner, is evident from
this fact, that they who think that they know it by heart when they are
beyond arrow-shot, are no sooner obliged to enter into actual combat than
they give way, as if they were utterly ignorant, and had never received
any instruction. Let us, therefore accustom ourselves to use this armor
in such a manner that it may never drop out of our hands.
2. They will drive you out of the synagogues. This was no light
offense to disturb their minds, that they were to be banished like wicked
men from the assembly of the godly, or, at least, of those who boasted
that they were the people of God, and gloried in the title of The Church;
for believers are subject not only to persecutions, but to ignominy and
reproaches, as Paul tells us, (1 Corinthians 4:12, 18.) But Christ bids
them stand firm against this attack; because, though they be banished from
the synagogues, still they remain within the kingdom of God. His statement
amounts to this, that we ought not to be dismayed by the perverse judgments
of men, but ought to endure boldly the reproach of the cross of Christ,
satisfied with this single consideration, that our cause which men unjustly
and wickedly condemn, is approved by God.
Hence too we infer, that the ministers of the Gospel not only are ill
treated by the avowed enemies of the faith, but sometimes also endure the
greatest reproaches from those who appear to belong to the Church, and
who are even regarded as its pillars. The scribes and priests, by whom
the apostles were condemned, boasted that they were appointed by God to
be judges of the Church; and, indeed, the ordinary government of the Church
was in their hands, and the office of judging was from God, and not from
men. But by their tyranny, they had corrupted the whole of that order which
God had appointed. The consequence was, that the power which had been given
to them for edification, was nothing else thorn a cruel oppression of the
servants of God; and excommunication, which ought to have been a medicine
for purifying the Church, was turned to an opposite purpose, for driving
away from it the fear of God.
Since the apostles knew this by experience, in their own age, we have
no reason to be greatly alarmed at the Pope’s excommunications, with which
he thunders against us on account of the testimony of the Gospel; for we
ought not to fear that they will do us any more injury than those ancient
excommunications which were made against the apostles. Nay more, nothing
is more desirable than to be driven out of that assembly from which Christ
is banished. Yet let us observe that, though the abuse of excommunication
was so gross, still it did not effect the destruction of that discipline
which God had appointed in his Church from the beginning; for, though Satan
devotes his utmost efforts to corrupt all the ordinances of God, we must
not yield to him, so as to take away, on account of corruptions, what God
has appointed to be perpetual. Excommunication, therefore, not less than
Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, must be brought back, by the correction
of abuses, to its pure and lawful use.
But the hour cometh. Christ dwells still more largely on this
offense, that the enemies of the Gospel lay claim to so much authority,
that they think they are offering sacrifices to God where they slay believers.
It is sufficiently hard in itself, that innocent people should be cruelly
tormented, but it is far more grievous and distressing that those outrages,
which wicked men commit against the children of God, should be reckoned
punishments justly due to them on account of their crimes. But we ought
to be so fully assured of the protection of a good conscience, as to endure
patiently to be oppressed for a time, till Christ appear from heaven, to
defend his cause and ours.
It may be thought strange, however, that the enemies of the truth, though
they are conscious of their own wickedness, not only impose on men, but
even in the presence of God lay claim to praise for their unjust cruelty.
I reply, hypocrites, though their conscience accuses them, always resort
to flatteries to deceive themselves. They are ambitious, cruel, and proud,
but they cover all these vices with the cloak of zeal, that they may indulge
in them without restraint. To this is added what may be called a furious
drunkenness, after having tasted the blood of martyrs.
3. And they will do these things. Not without good reason does
Christ frequently remind the apostles of this consideration, that there
is only one reason why unbelievers are so greatly enraged against them.
It is, because they do not know God. And yet this is not said for the purpose
of extenuating their guilt, but that the apostles may boldly despise their
blind fury; for it often happens that the authority which wicked men possess,
and the luster which shines in them, shake modest and pious minds. But
Christ, on the other hand, enjoins his followers to rise with holy magnanimity,
to despise their adversaries, who are impelled by nothing else than error
and blindness; for this is our wall of brass, when we are fully persuaded
that God is on our side, and that they who oppose us are destitute of reason.
Again, these words remind us, what a serious evil it is not to know God,
since it leads even those who have murdered their own parents to expect
praise and approbation for their wickedness.
4. That when the hour cometh, you may remember. He repeats what
he had already said, that this is not a philosophy fitted only for a season
of leisure, but that it is adapted to practice and use, and that he now
discourses on these matters, that they may actually demonstrate that they
have not been taught in vain. When he says, that you may remember, he enjoins
them, first, to lay up in their minds what they have heard; secondly, to
remember them, when they shall be required to put them in practice; and,
lastly, he declares that no small importance attaches to the fact, that
he utters predictions of future events.
And I told you not these things at the beginning. As the apostles
were still weak and tender, so long as Christ conversed with them in the
flesh, their singularly good and indulgent Master spared them, and did
not suffer them to be urged beyond what they were able to bear. At that
time, therefore, they had no great need of confirmation, while they enjoyed
leisure and freedom from persecution; but now he tells them that they must
change their mode of life, and as a new condition awaits them, he likewise
exhorts them to prepare for a conflict.
