Trinity Sunday | Fr. Samuel Mbabaali - John 16:12-15

The holy gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John.

I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them

now. When the Spirit of truth comes,

He will guide you into all the truth.

For He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He

hears, He will speak. And He will declare to you the

things that are to come. He will glorify me, for He will

take what is mine and declare it to you.

All that the Father has is mine. Therefore I said that he will

take what is mine and declare it to you, the gospel of the Lord.

Let me tell you a story of a young Christian man who found

himself in a conceptual dilemma after drifting away from

childhood. Faith.

This young man was miraculously brought back to faith in Christ,

and by then this avid reader had broken into the library of a

local school where his mother worked, and he had stolen a

dozen of books. And though this wrongdoing was

unknown, he soon began feeling a conviction to return the stolen

books. And yet the fear of shame and

the possibility of facing consequences for this misdeed

and others kept him from acting upon this persistent in a call.

And the closest that he came to fulfilling this conviction was

packing the stolen books in a travel bag and dropping them at

his mother's house on the school premises and returning to his

rented apartment that was miles apart in another city.

But still the conviction remained because the prompting

was clear. He needed to return the books

directly to the school authorities.

So the reminder continued, starting in the heart of this

young Christian man. And on this fateful day, the

young Christian man had visited his mother and was scheduled to

work in the garden. And that morning he felt a

strong conviction, telling him that if you proceed with your

work before returning the books, you will encounter red ants or a

snake in the garden. But he resisted to the prompting

and continued on to go ahead and slash a bushy section of the

garden. And no sooner had he started

slashing that he stumbled on a colony of red ants.

And he said maybe they're here, change the spot and went and

tried another area, still the same story.

He comforted himself and tried another area, still the same

story. Red ants.

It was then that he recalled the morning caution that he had and

realized that something was was coming.

And his heart pounding, he scanned around for a snake says

with fear. He fled away from the garden,

and summoning all his courage, he took the travel bag, carried

it to the school headmistress's office, and with humility

expressed his regret, saying, I took these books from your

library, but something is telling me to bring them back.

Notice the usage of the words something, something has told

me. Doesn't this confession express

a conceptual dilemma? What is this something?

Could it be that the Holy Spirit was guiding this young Christian

man? In John 16/12/15, which I

request you to turn to in your bulletin, Jesus makes another

profound promise of the Holy Spirit, which remembered it

being fulfilled last Sunday on the day of Pentecost.

But in this passage, he offers us valuable insight into how the

guidance of the Holy Spirit can be recognized.

And in this and from these words of Jesus, we are able to

identify two general characteristics of how believers

can be able to recognize and be able to trust the Spirit is

leading. I invite you to reflect with me

on these two marks of the Spirit's leading.

First, the Spirit leads according to God's Word.

The Holy Spirit is consistent and trust what unfaithful for

the character of God as revealed in Christ and in Scripture.

To paraphrase this mark as well in a form over the spiritual

discernment anchor. The Holy Spirit always leads in

harmony with God's Word, never independently of it and never in

contradiction of it. As a Master teacher, Jesus

exemplifies the principle of aligning instruction with Lana's

stage of understanding. He recognizes that at this time

of His spiritual and physical journey with the disciples that

we are not yet fully ready to grasp some of the things He was

going to present to them, blessings like His suffering and

His resurrection and His ascension.

They were not yet ready to understand them fully.

Therefore He postponed these hardcore lessons to a later

time, and He assigned them to the teaching ministry of the

Holy Spirit. So He says when the Spirit of

truth comes, He will guide you into all truths.

Notice how the personality and the role of the Holy Spirit is

described in terms that are closely associating Him with

Jesus. He's referred to as the Spirit

of Truth, a title that mirrors how Jesus identifies himself

elsewhere in John. I am the way the truth and the

light and his ministry is described.

Using these words, He will guide you in all truths.

Similarly, all over the Gospel of John, Jesus is portrayed as

the bearer of truth. A couple of verses ago, in the

same chapter, verse 7, He says, I tell you the truth.

The truth bearing nature and the ministry of the Holy Spirit

indicates that he continues on the revelatory work of Jesus

Christ, making true known the God who Jesus had made known in

his actor ministry. The Holy Spirit is not something

that is revealing, something that is new, independent from

what Jesus was revealing. He's a continuation of the same

revelation that Jesus was disclosing, disclosing to us who

God is. His self disclosure aligns and

affirms with the truths that Jesus had already revealed and

as they are tested to in Scripture.

And as a complementary guide, the Holy Spirit enables the

believers or the disciples to freshly understand the words of

Jesus. He would illuminate the truths

that Jesus had presented, even those truths that the disciples

we are not yet able to grasp and understand.

The Holy Spirit will empower the disciples to understand these

truths. These teachings are new to also

enable them to apply the teachings of Jesus into new

situations and revealing new strategies and insights that are

parallel with the teaching of Christ.

Just as the Holy Spirit illuminated the lives of the

disciples to understand Jesus's word, he still acts today in our

lives, bringing clarity and wisdom and freshness into the

complex and evolving needs of human nature that around us.

I mean, it's challenging political, social and economic

issues that around us. The Holy Spirit empowers the

believers to be able to discern God is will to be able to know

what is Christ is teaching. How does it apply to my context

at the moment? And he offers us strategies to

remain faithful to the heart of the gospel as we address the

real issues that are around us. But according to the teaching of

Christ, and Jesus speaks clearly about the source of the Spirit

is guidance. He says, for he will not speak

on his own authority, but whatever he hears, he will

speak. And he already anticipates that

there might be an implied question asking for whom does he

then hear from? Jesus continues on in verse 15

to say all that the Father has is mine.

That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and

declare it to you. He reveals A promote A profound

truth in this statement because the message of the Holy Spirit

is not detached from the Trinity.

He does not act independently from the character of Christ and

the will of God the Father. His guidance is perfectly

aligned with the unified purpose and the truth of the trying God.

Speaking about the trying God on a Trinity Sunday like this, it

is a fitting moment to reflect on the work and ministry of the

Holy Spirit alongside the other persons of the Divine Head,

because it is only after the completion of His earthly

ministry Jesus returns into glory.

He ascends, which culminates into the out powering of the

Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost.

And after all those events, the disciples, we are now in at the

right time to understand the God in His God, in His trial nature.

They had seen the Son walk with him.

Now they had also encountered the Holy Spirit, but also they

had known of the God of their Father in all ages.

So now they were at this at the right moment to understand the

Trinity. That is why the events of the

Trinity we think about this on Trinity Sunday, because Trinity

Sunday follows after all those events of Christ ascending and

the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

Because at this time we presume that we are able to interact

with all the Persons of the Trinity, We celebrate Trinity

Sunday not just as a Sunday for us to think about the mysterious

concepts of the Trinity, but also to understand how the Holy

Spirit continues to work in salvation history.

He came as we remembered last Sunday, but also now we are

prepared to understand the Divine Trinity in all His

working. Because we have been able to

encounter the Son, we have seen Him, we have remembered all

those events, we have remembered how the Holy Spirit came, but

also we know that God the Father has always been working in or

ages. The Trinitarian origin of the

Holy Spirit is revelation offers us a vital question for

spiritual discernment. As we are designing the will of

God through the revelation of the Holy Spirit, We also ought

to ask ourselves, is this consistent with the character of

the Father and the Son? In other words, we might hear

something, we might hear voices speaking to us, but does that

reflect the heart of Jesus and the revealed will of the Father

in Scripture? We ought to hope, we ought to

ask ourselves a question, is this prompting or the word that

I'm hearing? Does it align with the nature

and the purposes of God as revealed in Christ?

When we faithfully answer those questions, we are able to

discern where whether the Spirit of God is speaking to us.

But also another close discernment question is, does

this align with the Scripture? In other words, is the word or

the prompting that I'm receiving or hearing?

Is it in alignment with the revealed truths in God's Word?

The Holy Spirit did not only enable the disciples to remember

the words of Jesus, but also He inspired them to write what we

know now as the New Testament, the words in the Scripture, the

New Testament. He inspired them to write all

those books. He continued on to give them the

self revelation of God which they wrote for us in the New

Testament. He not only inspired them to

write but also inspired them to apply.

He inspired them to interpret the teachings of the of the of

the ages which we know as the Old Testament.

They were able to interrupt it to them and to apply them a new

sometimes in places in the New Testament.

The Spirit of the Lord continues to inspire us to interpret and

to apply Scripture in our lives. Several times we encounter what

are called difficult passages in the Bible, and when we encounter

those, we feel we cannot apply them in our lives.

Some of these difficult Texas difficult passages are passages

because some of them are detached from our culture.

Some of them are written in a literary style that we are not

comfortable with. Some of them are written in a

historical context that is away from us and we feel they are

difficult for us to understand. What what do we do?

Sometimes we discard them. We say these are they don't

apply to me anymore. How about if we just surrender

because the Spirit of the Lord can enable us to interpret and

apply All scripture Is God breathed by the Spirit of God?

We can ask the Spirit of the Lord to enable us to understand

even the hard passages that we say those we are for that

culture, they don't apply to us. This is the word of God, how

does it apply to me? We should continue to ask the

Spirit of the Lord to enable us to freshly apply the Scripture

in our lives. Even those passages that seem to

be hard and difficult, the Spirit of the Lord can breathe

life into those passages, but also breathes life into those

passages when we study them. If we don't study them, they

don't have meaning, they don't have life, but when we study

them, they have life. Even those passages that you

feel that they are distant to me, they can't have life.

If you ask the Spirit of the Lord to breathe life into them

anew. But also the Spirit of the Lord

gives the ongoing prophetic gifting to the church, the

gifting that is revealed as forestalling and foretelling.

But also this remains subject to the authority of Scripture,

because even when the Spirit of the Lord is speaking

prophetically, he does not contradict.

God is revealed word in Scripture and through Christ.

So it also gives us another means of discerning whether the

Spirit of God is speaking. But he does read in harmony with

God is truth in His Word. Then secondly, the mark that I

can refer to as is the second general mark is the Spirit of

God who leads us to Jesus. This is what he says in verse

14. He will glorify me because it is

from me that He will receive what He will make known to you.

The Holy Spirit functions like a floodlight up there, above,

there, casting illumination not on himself, but on another.

Just as the floodlight is designed to cast light on a

building, on a scene, not on itself.

The floodlight does not shine on itself.

It casts light on the person speaking, not on itself.

It brings glory to another subject, not on itself.

The Spirit of the Lord walks like that.

Even Jesus himself worked like that.

He cast him he he brought glory to the Father.

He says that I have glorified you speaks to the Father.

The spirit is law is not self promoting.

He does not reveal in a way that he promotes himself brings

himself to be the one who is in the in the in the floodlight.

He reviews the presence of God, but without seeking the

spotlight for himself. This is what I would refer to as

the floodlight ministry of the Holy Spirit, which is a vital

litmus test for us to be able to design spiritual revelation but

also spiritual ministry. Passages like Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 13 · chapter mention

chapter 13 verse one to five teach us how the measure of us

of a prophet. How should we recognize that a

prophet has spoken in that verse?

It says even when there is accuracy, if a prophet leads you

to another God, then that is not the word of God, even when it's

an accurate word. Sometimes we look at prophets as

being if someone speaks and it comes to pass, but in determine

and other passages, even when it's accurate, if it's directing

you to another God, that is not the word of the Spirit of God

revealing to us that genuine spiritual revelation must lead

to glory to God. It should lead us to submission

to God through Jesus Christ. If the Spirit of the Lord is

leading, He leads us to see God. To see him through Christ,

through illumination into the spiritual realm is always marked

by exaltation of Jesus. It is not self exaltation, but

it's exaltation of Jesus. It is not just having emotions

of the Spirit is leading. If you have those emotions that

the Spirit is leading you, He should be leading you to Christ.

It is not just merely being fascinated with supernatural

revelation, but these should lead us to Christ.

Therefore, we should continuously ask ourselves a

central question. Does this magnify Jesus?

Is this deepening my love for Him, and is it increasing my

trust in Him? Does it lead me to greater

obedience? If it doesn't address those

questions, it is not the leading of the Spirit.

Even when it's prophetic and it's actually it in one way or

another, then Spirit empowered ministry is identified by its

focus on Jesus. A ministry that is truly led by

the Spirit of the road will exalt Christ, bringing

preeminence said to him and to Him alone.

It doesn't shed light onto the minister.

I've seen ministries that tend to, to to to put light onto the

charisma of the person ministering.

And then all people are drawn to the charisma of the person

ministering. Some of those people refer to

themselves as people of the Spirit, not even as servants of

Christ. But genuine Spirit LED ministry

evaluates not the individual and his experiences, but it

magnifies Christ. So this is caution for us as

spiritual leaders in whatever form, maybe as the pastors,

maybe as worship leaders, not to see to it that we turn the glory

of the Spirit for our own serves.

One of the people who were in the Bible who could have turned

the glory for himself was John the Baptist.

John the Baptist comes on sin after a time of prophetic

silence and when there was a lot of messianic expectation.

People are waiting for the Messiah, and then he comes on

the scene giving prophecy. But this is what he says.

He must increase that I must decrease.

He wants Christ to be glorified in all ways.

This is the confirmation that indeed this John the Baptist had

the Holy Spirit, even as we hear that from from Bath.

He had the Holy Spirit leading him.

He was able to be humble and submit himself to the leading of

Christ to give Christ the glory, not himself.

Of course, this principle of giving glory to Christ does not

only apply to Christian or church ministry, but also in

every city of life, even on other forms of leadership.

We should always strive to see that Jesus is given his

exaltation in everything that we do.

Even on the things we are feeling we are gifted.

Christ should take the glory even where we feel that we have

the talent. Christ should take the glory in

all those things that we do. By the way, I didn't finish the

story of the young Christian man, and the young Christian man

is yours truly. And despite my questionable

confession, the headmistress was moved by my honesty because she

knew how naughty I were. So she mercifully forgive me and

he she offered to that I can even keep some of the books,

those that I still wanted. And among the books that I kept,

I kept a commentary on the on revelation.

And it became dear to me that even it inspired my very first

summon that I preached. But if I were to go back today

and make that confession, I would revise my shallow wording

to sound like something like this.

I would edit that word. Something is telling me and I

would submit that with someone is telling me.

And this is how I would say I took these books from your

library. But the Holy Spirit God Himself

has told me to return them to you, friends.

Likewise, every believer should come to a point of growing in

recognizing the leading of the Holy Spirit because this

awareness is outstanding. This awareness begins by us

noting that the Holy Spirit is the person.

He's not a thing. He's the person.

And as a person, He speaks to us.

He interacts with us, He directs us, He commands us on what to

do. He even knows the future.

He is the person who I can relate with.

He's the person who relates with me, but after knowing that he's

a person, we are invited to remain teachable, to cultivate a

deep and an ongoing willingness to surrender ourselves to His

leading. We should adopt A posture of

humility and submission because the Spirit of the Lord wants to

reveal to us issues. But when we are submissive, if

we continue on in our heartedness, then we shall miss

Him out when He speaks to us. He led the disciples in speaking

to them about the truths of Christ.

He still wants to speak to us even at this time, but He speaks

to us depending on our spiritual maturity and our openness.

So I pray that as we think about the Holy Spirit on this Trinity

Sunday would allow Him to act as a person in our lives as we open

ourselves and we surrender to Him to lead us to Christ.

And according to the Word of God, let us pray.

Holy Spirit, we don't want to speak about you as a mere

concept in the Bible. We want to speak about you as a

person who we can relate with, We can speak to, we can ask

questions. We can wait upon a person who

can speak to us right now. We ask you to continue directing

our lives. Feel us anew.

We open our ears to hear from you.

The mysteries of the Trinity continue, leading us towards

knowing and understanding of the Father and the Son.

Pray all this in the name of the Father and of the Son and the

Holy Spirit. Amen.