Page 150 - World Religions I - Islam

Comforter, the Spirit of Truth.
o "You KNOW him."
 It is quite obvious from this statement that the disciples knew the Spirit of Truth.
 Muhammad was born more than five hundred years later; therefore, the disciples
could not know him.
 How did the disciples already know the Comforter? He is a spirit who was in the
disciples' presence already...
o "He dwells WITH you."
 John 1:32 indicates that the Spirit was in Jesus himself, and so was therefore with the
disciples.
• Then John gave this testimony: 'I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a
dove and remain on him (Jesus).'" - John 1:32
o "He will be IN you."
 As the Spirit was in Jesus, so he would be in the disciples as well.
 The Greek word here is "en" and this means "right inside".
• Jesus was in fact saying, "he will be right inside you".
o Each time Jesus spoke of the Comforter, he was addressing his disciples.
 Jesus speaks directly to them: "You know him. He dwells with you. He will be in you."
• This clearly indicates that the disciples were to anticipate the coming of the
Comforter as a spirit who would come to them just after Jesus had left them
• Luke records the coming of the Holy Spirit to the disciples in the Book of Acts.
o "And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on them. And they were
all filled with the Holy Spirit." - Acts 2:3-4
 Jesus had told his disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the coming of the paracletos (Acts
1:4-8).
 This took place within ten days after the ascension of Jesus.
• Jesus made it clear that the coming of the Holy Spirit was necessary to understand spiritual Truth.
o "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 the truth." - John 16:12-13a
 The disciples could not bear Jesus' teaching at that time because they were ordinary
men devoid of power to comprehend or apply what he said.
 The Spirit of Truth was indeed in Jesus, but was not yet in his disciples, so they were
unable to follow the spiritual elements in his teaching.
 After the ascension they received the Spirit and could now communicate and
understand his teaching because the Spirit of Truth was in them as well.
o Once the disciples received the Holy Spirit, Peter linked the coming of the Spirit with the
ascension of Christ.
 "This Jesus God raised up and of that we are all witnesses. Being therefore exacted at
the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy
Spirit, he has poured out this which you see and hear." - Acts 2:32-33
o Paul tells us later in the New Testament that the Spirit had already been given.
 "What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has
prepared for those who love him, God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For what
person knows a man's thoughts except the spirit of the man which is in him? So no one
comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not
the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is from God, that we might understand the
gifts bestowed on us by God." - 1 Corinthians 2:9-13
 If the Spirit had not been given, it could not have been to any advantage to the

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