Peter Barnes | John 14:25-26
SERMON NOTES
The Holy Spirit and the New Testament
2 Samuel 23:1-7; John 14:15-31
– 14:25; see 15:11; 16:1, 4, 6-7, 25, 33. Have you ever wondered how the New Testament came about?
1. The person of the Holy Sprit.
– 14:26. He is called the Helper (ESV, NKJV) or Counselor (NIV, Holman), the Paraclete. In a sense, Jesus is the emissary of the Father, and the Holy Spirit is the emissary of the Son. Hence, the Holy Spirit of God can also be called the Spirit of Jesus – Phil.1:19.
– ‘He’, not ‘It’.
2. The Holy Spirit inspired the New Testament.
– 14:26. J. C. Ryle says that Jesus is speaking to all Christians but firstly it is to the apostles.
– see John 2:18-22; 12:12-19 for examples. That is how we have received our New Testament.
– John 17:20
3. The Holy Spirit used human eyewitnesses to write the New Testament.
– 2 Sam.23:2; Neh.9:20; Matt.22:43-44; 2 Pet.1:20-21.
The New Testament has 27 books, but only nine different authors (counting Hebrews as not from Paul). But behind all of them was the Holy Spirit. God.