There are hundreds of statements in the Word of God which were spoken to specific individuals or groups. For example, when Jesus said to His disciples, “Let’s go to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray,” it was not something which we must literally obey. We don’t have to go to any garden in order to pray, and we don’t have to have prayer closets either. But on that occasion, it was important that the disciples join Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane. The context of every comment, exhortation and promise should always be kept in mind as we read. But that doesn’t mean when we find special circumstances or specific individuals, we can’t apply what God said to them to ourselves.
And what we have before us is an example of that sort of thing. The little sentence here in John 16:12 was not spoken to all Christians universally. This had a particular significance to the Lord’s first disciples. There was a context of time, which doesn’t apply to us. For those men, the Spirit had not yet come in His fullness and power. But for us the Holy Spirit has come. And yet the things which Jesus shared with the twelve still apply to us, despite the different context. There are implications and lessons here which ANY disciple – or ALL disciples – should learn. Pray that I will be able to adequately bring them out this evening.
Let’s begin by considering the verse itself within its context.
Go back to verse 1 – “These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended.” The word “offended” is “skandalizo” – scandalized – shocked – or you could say, “scared stiff.” The Lord had already been speaking to the disciples about some serious and shocking things. And then He added a few more things to consider: “They shall put you out of the synagogues; yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.” And, as Bro. Austin reminded us the other day, that is exactly what Saul of Tarsus thought. He was doing God a favor by persecuting these very people to whom Christ was speaking. In other words – this was real. Jesus’ words were not meant to shock them, but by their very nature, especially within the context, they did.
In the verse we are considering, Christ tells them He has even more to say, but they aren’t up to receive it. It appears to be beyond scandalizing information. Then, in the context, the Lord Jesus told the disciples that it was expedient for Him to leave them. While they were anticipating the Messianic kingdom, the Messiah told them that He was going away. But one of the results of His departure would be the enhanced ministry of the Holy Spirit. He said, “All that I can’t share with you right now, the Spirit will teach you. So be patient and wait for Him.”
Pulling our text out of its context, we can apply something which was specifically given to the twelve. Jesus said to them, “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.” Are there things which we, like those disciples, cannot bear? Are there things for which we must be prepared, before we can bear them? Does the Saviour ever say to us, as He did so kindly to the twelve, “Buckle up you weaklings, things are going to get a lot more exciting around here.”
What were the things Christ couldn’t share with those disciples?
Honestly, I don’t know because He didn’t share them. All we can do is try to guess. But I’m not sure that would be helpful or appropriate. We can’t know what Jesus was thinking in regard to those disciples. But what if we apply that verse to ourselves? Do you suppose there are things which might be beneficial to us, but we are not up to receiving them?
Could the Lord have been referring to even more things about the future of the disciples or of Christianity? Could He have been referring to the fact that the Millennium was more than 2,000 years into the future? Or was it 3,000 years away, and we have to wait a thousand years ourselves? Jesus’ general statements about future persecution could have been laid aside by those men. But what if Christ told Thomas about the day and manner of his death? “On such and such a day in your 32nd year, you will have your tongue cut out, then your ears will be cut off and your hands removed; all before you are crucified.” That information could have radically changed his ministry – unnecessarily. No one really needs that kind of assurance. Were there any doctrines which at this point were still unrevealed, and which might have derailed some of these men? Wasn’t it the Apostle Paul who was taught about some of the mysteries of the gospel and the mystery of the body of Christ? The Lord, knowing the hearts of all men, said that these few were not yet able to bear certain divine secrets. And again, I’m not going to try to guess those secrets.
And knowing my own heart, I am sure that there are tidbits of information that would hurt me, if I knew them. I am reasonably sure that most of God’s saints would have trouble with what the Lord could say unto us. “I have yet many things I COULD say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.” “I have many things I WILL say unto you some day, but ye cannot bear them AT THIS TIME.” You are far too weak and spiritually fragile to handle the truth.
We could probably pursue these mysterious things, but they’d only be guesses, and they are not my point.
More to our purpose is the question: “WHY couldn’t the Lord reveal those things?”
He tells us that those good people were not ABLE to bear them. They couldn’t CARRY them. It is not necessarily that they couldn’t UNDERSTAND them. They might have been easily understood, and therein might have been the problem. It is not that it would take too long to explain all the details. No. The Lord Jesus knew they couldn’t BEAR them.
Austin reminded us last Sunday that there are things we are not supposed to carry. We are to forget them. For example, we are to leave our past sins in the hands of the One who forgives those sins. We are to recognize that we are new creatures in Christ, and our old, murderous, persecutorial, adulterous, rebellious sins have been cast away as far as the east is from the west. They have been thrown, so to speak, into the depths of sea – the deepest part, like the Marianas trench. They are under the impermeable blood of the Saviour.
But implied in the Lord’s words here, there are other things we are supposed to carry, when we are ABLE. There are the light and wonderful things, like the joy of the Lord, the grace of God and the gospel of Christ. But apparently there are still others which for these men at that point in their lives, were too hard carry. Maybe they were too heavy. Maybe they were too prickly. Maybe they were too offensive. Again it is not my purpose to expose what the Lord has chosen not to reveal in this text.
But again, “WHY didn’t the Lord reveal them?” Because the disciples were not equipped to carry them. They could not bear them. But it wasn’t their physical strength that was in question. It wasn’t their stamina or energy. It wasn’t their willingness to try to carry them. Our omniscient God knows what we are capable of carrying, and despite our desire to glorify Him in our strength, that is not always His will. Even Christians need to acknowledge that the LORD is Lord. As Oswald Chambers often liked to say, “We need stop trying to be our own amateur providences.” It is not about our strength. We are not up to carrying many of the things of God in our own strength.
Okay then what was it those disciples needed in order to bear those things Jesus withheld from them?
“Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth.” “I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter (the Holy Spirit) will not come unto you.” But when He has come, and you permit Him to fill your hearts as He has filled your souls… When you submit to His leadership and His professorship, He will show you things to come. And He will guide you into all truth. And He will glorify Me.
Despite all the ways this scripture does not apply specifically to us, this point most definitely does. Without the Holy Spirit we will never be able to carry the things the Lord wants us to carry. Without the Holy Spirit we will never be able to forget the things we are supposed to forget. We will never be the tools and servants the Lord wants us to be. The point is, we need to make it our business to fuel up on the omnipotence of God the Spirit.
There is debate about the importance of eating a robust breakfast. Some do and some don’t. And Austin brought up the subject of carbohydrates in the diet of the competitive racer. How many carbs should someone have every day if he isn’t burning them off? That might be something open to discussion. But there is no debate about the necessity of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Christian who wants to do something for the Lord. The Lord is the breakfast we need in order to carry what we are meant to carry.
Who is to say that the Lord doesn’t have something really important to say to us? What if He wants us to move to a new field of service? “Speak Lord, for thy servant heareth.” What if He has a new gift to give us? What if a friend has a burden he needs to share, and it is God’s will that he share it with you. Sometimes we are not up to carrying the burdens of other people. And yet, burden-bearing is a God-commissioned task – Galatians 6:2 – “Bear ye one another’s burdens.” But if we endeavor to take that work seriously, we need some divine strength to get it done. The Lord may say, “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.”
One of my favorite groups of people in the Old Testament are the Nethinim. These were descendants of the people of Gibeon, who deceived and tricked Israel into a peace treaty. When Joshua found out they were Canaanite neighbors who should have come under his sword, he vowed to keep his word of peace toward them. But “Joshua made them that day hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation, and for the altar of the LORD, even unto this day, in the place which he should choose. “ They became known as “Nethinim,” and we read of them faithfully carrying Israel’s burdens well into history. You and I have been called to be Christian Nethinim – burden bearers. But are we able?
We have things to carry for God, but we cannot bear them, if we aren’t empowered by the Holy Spirit. We have the gospel to share with people who hate the gospel and hate Christ. We are not going to be effective… we are probably not even going to open our mouths… without the Spirit of Truth to share that burden with us. We have widows and orphans to assist; we have the weak and infirm we are to strengthen. We have the prayer requests, problems and burdens of our brethren which we are meant to carry. And sometimes, we are the only people meant to carry them. They aren’t for public knowledge. “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.” And when the Lord finally tells us we have that fatal disease, or even worse… When He tells us that our most precious earthly companion is going to die soon… Having the strength of the Spirit is going to be essential.
This Holy Spirit given ability is one of the things which set us apart from the lost person who has the same sort of burden. “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.” “Howbeit, when he, the Spirit of truth fills your hearts and souls, you’ll not only carry those burdens, but you’ll glorify me in the process.”