<p>16:13 -see on 1 Jn. 4:1; Jn. 14:12.</p><p><em>However, when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he shall guide you into all the truth. For he shall not speak from himself; but whatever he shall hear, these shall he speak- </em></p><p>&quot;The Spirit of truth&quot; is in reality &quot;the spirit of Christ&quot;, making His presence near and real just as if He were literally with us. So &quot;the truth&quot; is again a reference to the Lord Jesus personally, the truth of Him who is &quot;the truth&quot;, rather than a reference to the academic 'truth' of a particular set of theology. &quot;All truth&quot; would be going far too far if it refers to intellectual truth, for nobody could ever claim to have &quot;all truth&quot; in that sense. It makes little sense to talk of being &quot;in&quot; truth in the sense of theological truth. The language is far more appropriate to a person, the Lord Jesus.</p><p>&quot;Guide&quot; is the language of a Rabbi teaching or guiding his disciples by teaching (s.w. Mt. 15:14; 23:16; Lk. 6:39; Acts 8:31; Rom. 2:19). The disciples were concerned that their Rabbi was leaving them and they would be without a teacher (see on 14:18). The Lord is assuring them that His teaching presence would continue amongst them through the presence of the Spirit, the Comforter.</p><p>&quot;He shall not speak from himself&quot; recalls the Lord's claims that &quot;I speak not from myself&quot;, but from what He heard from the Father (7:17; 8:28; 12:49). The Comforter is personified and spoken of in exactly the terms of the Lord Jesus because He wished to emphasize the idea that the presence of the Spirit would be as if He personally was with them, teaching them as He had done as their Rabbi on earth.</p><p><em>And he shall declare to you the things that are to come</em>- There could be a reference here to the giving of the book of Revelation, but the hour to come in John's Gospel, the even &quot;to come&quot;, is clearly the Lord's death. The meaning of that would be declared to them by the Spirit. They did not then understand what the Lord was doing, but they would do so afterwards- when the Spirit revealed it to them.</p>