Scripture Introduction
I have wondered (and maybe you have also) what it was like to see Jesus walk on the earth. It would have been thrilling to watch him multiply the bread, exciting to hear him teach, so comforting to feel his touch or experience his blessing of little children. Such was the case for the apostles. They lived with the bodily presence of the Christ! But now he says: “Good-bye.”
This troubles their heart. Their friend and Rabbi, the prophet whom they expected to redeem Israel, the Messiah they thought would ascend the throne – the one in whom they placed their hope was leaving. So, though they had seen God in human flesh, even touching him with their hands (as John will later say), they wonder and worry what will happen now.
The surprising answer (as we will hear) is: it will be better that he goes away. It is to our advantage that God incarnate ascend to the right hand of the God the Father. Let’s hear Jesus explain that, as we read John 16.4b-15.
[Read John 16.4b-15. Pray.]
Introduction
The book of Acts narrates the advancement of the gospel after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus. Today I want to show you something amazing about the way the good news spreads. This truth is everywhere in Acts, but let me introduce it through the events in chapter 11.
Until this time, the apostles preached mainly to Jewish people. But God shows Peter that the Gospel is for non-Jews also, “Gentiles” (as most of us would have been called, since few of us are of Jewish descent). At the same time, God prepares a specific Gentile, Cornelius, a Roman centurion, to hear the message of grace.
Now, note what happens. To get Cornelius saved, God sends an angel to him. The angel stands in his house, but does NOT preach. Instead, he says, “Send to Joppa and bring Simon who is called Peter; he will declare to you a message by which you will be saved, you and all your household” (Acts 11.13-14). Did you notice something strange? An angel comes to Cornelius – an angel. And he comes to this Gentile. We are watching the beginning of the spread of the Gospel beyond the Jewish people – to every tribe and every nation, to every language and every people. The glory of Christ as the Savior all peoples, not Jews alone, turns on this event. Surely (I would think) this message ought to be delivered by an angel – and one is there! But then the angel insists that Peter come and preach the message of salvation. How significant is that?
Now if you know some of the background in Acts, you might observe that Peter was involved because God is doing something in his life also. Peter’s provincialism had to be broken by his witnessing God’s powerful salvation coming upon these Gentiles. So we might think: yes, Peter is brought in – even though an angel would have been an apt messenger for this sermon – Peter is brought in to teach him something. And if this were the only place where the message of salvation is delivered by a real, live, person, then we might think this account of little other significance.
But the book of Acts narrates the advancement of the gospel through human preaching and witnessing. In Acts 2, Peter preaches and thousands are saved. In Acts 3, Peter preaches and a lame beggar comes to know Christ. In Acts 4, the apostles give “their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.” In Acts 5, the apostles perform signs and wonders, then speak in prison and the public square. In Acts 6, the deacon Stephen performs miracles and preaches Jesus as the Righteous One. In Acts 8, an angel gets Philip, so that Philip can explain the Gospel to the Ethiopian who is reading Isaiah. Even Paul, who, in order to be the special Apostle to the Gentiles saw Jesus after his ascension, even the great Apostle Paul, after being blinded on the road to Damascus, is not converted, healed, and baptized until after Ananias tells him of the Lord Jesus.
Here is my point: God spreads his good news through the faithful witness of his people. The most important story ever told, the words of eternal life, the good news of reconciliation between God and mankind, the Gospel which all of space and time and creation exists to bring about and broadcast – must be delivered by you and me.
Now Jesus is explaining that very fact to his disciples in John 16. And lest they grow discouraged or overwhelmed by the size of their task or the significance of the responsibility, Jesus promises that the Holy Spirit will help in the work. Neither these apostles, nor you are left alone. Jesus will not be bodily beside you when you witness at work, or serve in mercy ministry, or engage in an evangelistic conversation over the backyard fence. But you will not be alone – the Helper comes and his ministry is profound. In fact, so great is his work that Jesus insists: “It is to your advantage that I go away.”
Jesus describes the benefits of the work of the Holy Spirit under two headings: 1) We Benefit from the Spirit’s Work In the World; and 2) We Benefit from the Spirit’s Work in the Church.
1. We Benefit from the Spirit’s Work In the World (John 16.4b-11)
Last week Jesus told us that faithful followers of the Suffering Servant will sometimes suffer at the hands of a world that does not know God. After explaining that, we might say to him: “Then what hope have we?” Jesus answers that very question: you have every hope because the Holy Spirit goes before you to performing three wonderful works.
First, he convicts the world concerning sin, because they do not believe in Jesus.
In John 6, some men ask Jesus, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” (John 6.28-29).
Jesus was crucified because the Jewish people did not believe that God sent him. So were the Jews correct, and Jesus was a lunatic? Or were the apostles right – Jesus is Lord? The resurrection is central to the Gospel message, precisely because it proves God did send Jesus. That is why Peter preaches, in Acts 2, “ ‘This Jesus God raised up, and of that we are witnesses…. Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.’ Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart….” The Spirit worked in their hearts and minds, convincing them that their great sin (singular) is not believing that Jesus is God’s Messiah.
God the Holy Spirit continues that work today. Most people admit that they are not perfect, that they have committed some sins. But if you have ever shared the gospel, you know how much the unconverted heart resists the idea of a sin nature, that they are God’s enemies, that they need to believe in Jesus’ work in place of their own. We get to witness to the truth, but the Spirit alone can win an argument with the soul. Only he can convince that a lack of faith separates them from God. But do not be discouraged – he does just that!
Second, he convicts the world concerning righteousness, because Jesus goes to the Father, and we see him no longer.
When people think about righteousness, we automatically assume a relative scale. The crook in jail probably has only 5% righteousness – he is mostly bad. The boss at work does some good, yet has some selfishness and pride issues – he is maybe 40% good. Your cousin Vinny does some things wrong, but he has a good heart and tries sometimes – we give him 70%. You mother, of course, is 80 or maybe 90%.
God, then, must accept people into his heaven on some kind of sliding scale. The convict is out; the boss is questionable; Vinny and mama are in.
But Jesus defines a different standard, a level of holiness which none can attain. When people realize who Jesus is, they fall to their knees and say with Peter, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” Jesus does not ascend to the Father because he is relatively good when compared to Pontius Pilate or Judas Iscariot. God welcomes Jesus into heaven because he is perfect – and all unlike him are rejected.
The Apostle Paul understood. Philippians 3.6-9: “As to righteousness under the law, [I was] blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ…. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.”
None believe in a perfect righteousness credited to flawed sinners unless the Spirit convicts! But do not be discouraged – he does just that!
Third, he convicts the world concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
I have read that in the days of the pioneers, a prairie fire could be deadly because not even the fastest horses could outrun it. Those who try to escape could die while fleeing its fierce flames. There was a way to survive, however. As soon as you saw the blaze coming, you start a fire of your own, and burn the grass out around you. Then you stand in the middle of this blackened spot, this place where all the fuel had already been expended, and they would be safe from the approaching fire. The key to surviving, of course, is knowing that you cannot escape judgment; you must face the flames with an alternative to running.
That is an apt metaphor for the world’s opinions about judgment. People refuse to accept that there will one day be a reckoning, that life here is a snap of time, that eternity will be entered through the door of God’s judgment. So the Holy Spirit convinces people that Jesus judged his enemies by his victory at the cross.
Colossians 2.13-15: “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in it [the cross].”
“We preach Christ crucified” (1Corinthians 1.23). At the cross, Jesus proved that the great sin is not believing the Father sent him to be the Messiah. At the cross, Jesus proved that he was the perfect righteousness necessary to know the Holy God. At the cross, Jesus proved his judgment and victory over Satan and his rebels. And the Holy Spirit goes with you to convince and convict the world, so that they might hear the truth and believe and be converted.
2. We Benefit from the Spirit’s Work in the Church (John 16.12-15)
I think two promises are in this paragraph: the promise of a perfect Bible, and the promise of a Helpful interpreter.
First, Jesus guarantees a perfect Bible. The Holy Spirit guides the apostles into all the truth; he even teaches them the future, things yet to come; and he leads them to declare everything about the Messiah. There are a couple of other places in the Bible which expand on this same idea.
2Peter 1.3: “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence.” Surely one of the things pertaining to life and godliness is the Scriptures.
Peter goes on to talk about that later in the chapter: 2Peter 1.16-21: “For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,’ we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”
Paul agrees. 2Timothy 3.16: “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness….”
We have a perfect Bible because the Holy Spirit gave it through these apostles.
But then, second, Jesus also promises us a Helpful interpreter. None of us receives infallible revelation; none of us understands the truth perfectly. But that does not mean you are alone.
J. C. Ryle: “The promise is for our sakes, no doubt, as well as for theirs. Whatever we need to know for our present peace and sanctification, the Holy Spirit is ready to teach us. All spiritual truth that is really profitable, and that our minds can comprehend and bear, the Holy Spirit is ready and willing to guide us. Then let us never forget, in reading the Bible, to pray for the teaching of the Holy Spirit. We must not wonder if we find the Bible a dark and difficult book, if we do not regularly seek light from him by whom it was first inspired. In this, as in many other things, ‘You do not have, because you do not ask’ (James 4.2).”
At seminary, when they teach Bible interpretation, the first step is always prayer. This living Word must be taught by the living God. And the Holy Spirit is the one who does so. Jesus sends him to help, so we will be faithful witnesses to his gospel of grace.
3. Conclusion
R. A. Torrey in his book The Holy Spirit tells how the elders and deacons of Moody Church met every Friday night for supper and to go over the church rolls to see which people needed attention. At one meeting, an elder expressed a concern:
“Brethren, I am not at all satisfied with the way things are going in our church. We are having many professed conversions, and many [members], but I do not see the conviction of sin that I would like to see. I propose that, instead of discussing business matters any further tonight, we spend the time in prayer, and that we meet on other nights also, to cry to God to send his Holy Spirit among us in convicting power.”
Everyone consented, and they spent not only the rest of that evening in prayer, but a number of the following nights, asking for the Spirit’s convicting power. Not long after, as Dr. Torrey preached one Sunday night, he saw to his left a professional gambler, the man’s eyes riveted on him. After the service, a church officer brought the gambler to Dr. Torrey. The man’s opening words were, “Oh…I don’t know what’s the matter with me. I feel awful.”
He went on to explain how, that very afternoon, he saw an open-air meeting while he was out walking. He stopped and listened a bit, then went on his way. But after he had walked several blocks, he felt moved to return. After the meeting he was invited to church. Again he said to Dr. Torrey: “Oh, I don’t know what’s the matter with me. I never felt like this before. I feel awful.” He trembled and groaned.
Torrey said, “I’ll tell you what’s the matter. The Holy Spirit is convicting you of sin.”
Right then and there that hardened sinner fell onto his knees and cried out to God for mercy. He left shortly afterwards with the joyous realization that his sins were all forgiven.
If you are a true Christian, then you long to be a faithful witness, an ambassador for the King of kings, an proclaimer of the greatest news ever told. Fear not, little ones, for it is the Father’s pleasure to give you the Holy Spirit in increasing measure for his glory and your joy. Amen.
