But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he shall testify of me:
Read Chapter 15
Augustine of Hippo
AD 430
As if He said, Seeing Me, they hated and killed Me; but the Comforter shall give such testimony concerning Me as shall make them believe, though they see Me not. And because He shall testify, you shall testify also: And you also shall bear witness; He will inspire your hearts, and you shall proclaim with your voices. And you will preach what you know, Because you have been with Me from the beginning; which now you do not do, because you have not yet the fullness of the Spirit. But the love of God shall then be shed abroad in your hearts by the Spirit which shall be given you, and shall make you confident witnesses to Me. The Holy Spirit by His testimony made others testify, taking away fear from the friends of Christ’s, and converting the hatred of His enemies into love. DIDYMUS. The Holy Spirit He calls the Comforter, a name taken from His office, which is not only to relieve the sorrows of the faithful, but to fill them with unspeakable joy. Everlasting gladness is in those hearts, i...
1. The Lord Jesus, in the discourse which He addressed to His disciples after the supper, when Himself in immediate proximity to His passion, and, as it were, on the eve of departure, and of depriving them of His bodily presence while continuing His spiritual presence to all His disciples till the very end of the world, exhorted them to endure the persecutions of the wicked, whom He distinguished by the name of the world: and from which He also told them that He had chosen the disciples themselves, that they might know it was by the grace of God they were what they were, and by their own vices they had been what they had been. And then His own persecutors and theirs He clearly signified to be the Jews, that it might be perfectly apparent that they also were included in the appellation of that damnable world that persecutes the saints. And when He had said of them that they knew not Him that sent Him, and yet hated both the Son and the Father, that is, both Him who was sent and Him who ...
When He says that both He Himself and His Father were hated by the perverse Jews, this hatred of theirs being gratuitous and without justification, He with good reason makes mention of the Spirit. He thus at once adds to the Word the completion of the Holy Trinity, and also shows that it was dishonoured, to the intent that the spectators of His miracles, who were guilty of insult against the Son, might also be convicted of treating with contumely the power which so far excels every substance, not only by refusing to accept Christ, even though He had worked great marvels to convince them, but also by their actions against Him. For they treated Him with an impiety which is shocking even to think of; and yet one might say, O senseless Jew, Christ was a worker of wonders before you far exceeding the glory of Moses and the glory of every Saint. For the saying of the Lord, If I had not done among them the works which none other did, brings back a thought before our minds. While then you crow...
Whom I will send. The Holy Spirit is sent by the Son: therefore he proceedeth from him also, as from the Father; though the schismatical Greeks think differently; (Bristow) otherwise, as Dr. Challoner says, he could not be sent by the Son.
He shall be worthy of belief, for He is the Spirit of Truth. On this account He called It not Holy Spirit, but Spirit of Truth. But the, proceeds from the Father, shows that He knows all things exactly, as Christ also says of Himself, that I know whence come and whither I go John 8:14, speaking in that place also concerning truth. Whom will send. Behold, it is no longer the Father alone, but the Son also who sends. And ye too, He says, have a right to be believed, who have been with Me, who have not heard from others. Indeed, the Apostles confidently rely on this circumstance, saying, We who ate and drank with Him. Acts 10:41 And to show that this was not merely said to please, the Spirit bears witness to the words spoken. Acts 10:44
The disciples might say, If they have heard words from Thee, such as none other has spoken, if they have seen works of Him, such as none other has done, and yet have not been convinced, but have hated your Father, and you with Him, why do you send us to preach? How shall we be believed? Such thoughts as these He now answers: But when the Comforter comes, Whom I will send to you from the Father, even the Spirit of Truth which proceeds from the Father, He shall testify of Me.
He calls Him not the Holy Spirit, but the Spirit of truth, to show the perfect faith that was due to Him. He knew that He proceeds from the Father, for He knew all things; He knew where He Himself came from, as He says of Himself above, I know whence I came, and whither l go (John 8:14). He does not say, from God, or, from the Almighty, but, from the Father, because though the Father and God Almighty are the same, yet the Spirit of truth properly proceeds from God, as the Father, the Begetter. The Father and the Son...
And for this asked of the Father that He might be the teacher of truth;.
Or if, again, (the pseudo-prophetic spirit) has been eager to affect this (sentiment) in accordance with "the Spirit of truth"
Elsewhere He says that the Father sends the Spirit; now He says He does: Whom I will send to you, thus declaring the equality of the Father and the Son. That He might not be thought however to be opposed to the Father, and to be another and rival source, as it were, of the Spirit, He adds, From the Father, i.e., the Father agreeing, and taking an equal part in sending Him. When it is said that He proceeds, do not understand His procession to be an external mission, such as is given to ministering spirits, but a certain peculiar, and distinct procession, such as is true of the Holy Spirit alone. To proceed is not the same as being sent, but is the essential nature of the Holy Spirit, as coming from the Father.
