Topic: Encountering the Holy Spirit
Text: John 16:5-16
Introduction
This entire month we are going through a series titled “Encountering the Holy Spirit.”
Today we are going to look at John 16:5-16
1.Jesus talks about “The coming of the Holy Spirit”
2. The coming of the Holy Spirit required the going away of Jesus
3. “Unless I go away, the counselor will not come to you but if I go, I will send him to you.” (v7)
The Disciples
4. The disciples are more upset about the going away of Jesus than excited about the coming of the Holy Spirit
5.It’s not even close!
6.Their loyalty is to Jesus first.
7.The disciples immediately view the going away of Jesus as a bad thing
Jesus picks up on this
“Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going? Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief.” (v5)
8.The disciples are filled with grief at the going away of Jesus
9.To the point that they don’t want to talk about it
10.“None of you asks me “Where are you going?”
11.The disciples are all men:
12. How do Men respond to bad news?
13.If we don’t talk about it maybe it might not happen
14.The wife says: The kids are not doing well, the bills are not been paid…
15.The husband says: Lets not talk about it and maybe nothing bad will happen.
16. Nothing would make the disciples happier than if Jesus never left them…
17.We’d rather have you stay and the Holy Spirit not come
18.Jesus says lets talk about it…I know you are not happy about this!
19.It’s for your good that I am going away (v7)
20.Here is the deal: Jesus is more concerned about our holiness than he is about our happiness
The dilemma (Then and Now)
21.Is it a good thing to be emphasizing the ministry of the Holy Spirit rather than the ministry of Jesus?
22.Some churches never mention the ministry of the Holy Spirit
23. If Jesus emphasized the importance of the ministry of the Holy Spirit then we should too
24.Jesus is not anti Holy Spirit
25. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is Jesus’ idea
Jesus said it is better for you that I go away and the Holy Spirit come. Certain things can only happen when the Holy Spirit comes.
John 16 is all about what the coming of the Holy Spirit will accomplish
The Coming of the Holy Spirit will accomplish two things
1. He will convict the world of guilt
“When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment;(v8)
Observe: There is too much guilt in the church and not enough guilt in the world
The Holy Spirit will convict the world of guilt in regards to three areas
Sin, righteousness and judgment
There is a deliberate progression here
First the Holy Spirit will convict the world of sin, then righteousness and finally judgment
Jesus elaborates on this in verses 8-10
A. He will convict the world in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me
•What is the greatest sin someone could commit?
•(murder)
•The greatest sin someone could commit is to not believe in Jesus
•The work of the Holy Spirit is to convict the world of this sin before it is too late.
•Where is the hardest place in the World to convict someone of not being a believer in Jesus?
•Right Here in America
•Every person in America thinks they believe in Jesus
•Do you believe in Jesus? Of course I believe in Jesus.
•That’s why we need the ministry of the Holy Spirit in America convicting people that thought they may know about Jesus that it is not the same as knowing Jesus.
•Is there a difference
•Hell is full of people who know about Jesus
•Heaven is full of people who know Jesus
•You can’t convict a person that they don’t have the right belief in Jesus without the help of the Holy Spirit
B. He will convict the world in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you will see me no longer.” (v10)
•The World’s definition of righteousness is not the same as Jesus’ definition of righteousness
•The world’s standard of righteous is very low
•All God asks is that you try your best
•Get to Heaven. God is going to ask you if you tried your best
•If you did- then that is good enough to get into heaven
•The Bible says: Man’s righteousness is like filthy rags
•Because God’s standard of righteousness is perfection
•In the sermon on the Mount
•Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect
•If perfection is the standard God demands then nobody is going to go to heaven
•One person did meet that perfect standard; that is Jesus
• When he finished his life on earth he said “I am going to the Father.”
•Again only the Holy Spirit can convict a person that they are not good enough to go to heaven
•Those who trust in Jesus as their savior are considered to have also met God’s standard of righteousness
C. He will convict the world in regard to judgment because the prince of this world now stands condemned. (v11)
•The Holy Spirit first convicts the world that they have sinned for not believing in Jesus
•The Holy Spirit secondly convicts the world that they have not met the righteousness of God
•Lastly the Holy Spirit convicts the world that they will be judged and condemned by a Holy God for not trusting in Jesus as their savior
•How do we know God will condemn those who do not trust in Jesus?
•Because He has already condemned the Devil
•You have to know you are lost before you can be found
•You have to know you are blind before you can see
•You have to know you are dead before you can be alive!
Summary
The Holy Spirit is the only one who can convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgment
Then the Holy Spirit has also a ministry to the believer
“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 truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.” (v12-15)
The Holy Spirit’s ministry to the believer
1.The Holy Spirit guides us into all truth
•He hears from Jesus and He then tells us what he hears
•He takes from what is Jesus and makes it known to us
•You and I can’t hear from Jesus without the Holy Spirit’s help
•The Holy Spirit is the exclusive revealer of God’s truth
If you are a believer in Jesus but you are not hearing from Jesus there is a simple reason why…
You are not letting the Holy Spirit help you to hear from Jesus
Questions?
Why do we need the Holy Spirit to help us to hear from Jesus?
Can’t we hear from Jesus without the help of the Holy Spirit?
To hear truth from Jesus you need the Spirit of truth living inside you
Just like the Father through the Son Saves us
The Son through the Spirit speaks truth to us
How does the Holy Spirit help us to hear from Jesus?
He will guide us into all truth
It’s a partnership
He will guide us only if we want to be guided
He will help us to hear from Jesus only if we want to hear from Jesus
It’s not the Spirit’s fault if we don’t hear from Jesus?
We don’t let the Spirit guide us
We resist the Spirit from guiding us?
We won’t read the Bible
We won’t pray
We won’t study the Bible with others
Why?
1 Fear
2.We don’t want to hear the truth
3.We don’t know what truth can do for us
4.Jesus said you shall know the truth and the truth will set you free
Conclusion
Is the Holy Spirit working in your life?
Is he convicting you?
Is he guiding you?
Prayer for the ministry of the Holy Spirit among us
