run proves of consequence, the moral element which
ultimately determines all else.

II. The second consolation and encouragement the Lord gave them was that
they would receive the aid of a powerful champion--_the_ Paraclete, the
one effectual, sufficient Helper. "When the Paraclete is come, whom I
will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which
proceedeth from the Father, he shall bear witness of Me: and ye also
bear witness, because ye have been with Me from the beginning."
Inevitably the disciples would argue that, if the words and works of
Jesus Himself had not broken down the unbelief of the world, it was not
likely that anything which they could say or do would have that effect.
If the impressive presence of Christ Himself had not attracted and
convinced all men, how was it possible that mere telling about what He
had said and done and been would convince them? And He has just been
reminding them how little effect His own words and works had had. "If I
had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: ... if I had
not done among them the works which none other did, they had not had
sin: but now have they both seen and hated both Me and My Father." What
power, then, could break down this obstinate unbelief?

Our Lord assures them that together with their witness-bearing there
will be an all-powerful witness--"the Spirit of truth"; one who could
find access to the hearts and minds to which they addressed themselves
and carry truth home to conviction. It was on this account that it was
"expedient" that their Lord should depart, and that His visible presence
should be superseded by the presence of the Spirit. It was necessary
that His death, resurrection, and ascension to the right hand of the
Father should take place, in order that His supremacy might be secured.
And in order that He might be everywhere and inwardly present with men,
it was necessary that He should be visible nowhere on earth. The inward
spiritual presence depended on the bodily absence.

Before passing to the specific contents of the Spirit's testimony, as
stated in vv. 8-11, it is necessary to gather up what our Lord indicates
regarding the Spirit Himself and His function in the Christian
dispensation. First, the Spirit here spoken of is a personal existence.
Throughout all that our Lord says in this last conversation regarding
the Spirit personal epithets are applied to Him, and the actions
ascribed to Him are personal