John 16:5-15
5 “But now I am going to Him who sent Me; and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ 6 “But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. 7 “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. 8 “And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; 11 and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. 12 “I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. 14 “He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. 15 “All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.
I received my instruction in Pastoral Theology at L.I.F.E. Bible College which was at that time located in Glendale, a suburb of Los Angeles. It is the school of the Foursquare denomination, founded early in the last century by evangelist, Amiee Semple McPherson.
Now, by God’s grace and calling, and I might add, by His placement, I am a Southern Baptist pastor of the finest congregation in all of Christendom.
Owing to my strange and diverse history I have been in position to hear and be a part of all the debates and arguments that rage around the doctrines of the Holy Spirit.
Now every believer, of course, should have studied and prayed and come to a conviction concerning the doctrine and theology of the third Person of the Trinity, just as every believer has a duty to know what they believe and be able to articulate what they believe on all the essentials and even the more peripheral positions of Christianity on the knowledge of God and the Scriptures.
But I can’t help feel grieved in my spirit over the debates that have raged over the Spiritual Gifts and the operation of the gifts, specifically tongues for some reason, and all the time and energies that have focused on those debates rather than focusing on the Person of the Holy Spirit of God whose commission from Jesus is to point us to Christ and to lead us into all truth concerning Him. That’s all important! And we so often miss it.
So let’s just get to the text and find out what Jesus told us about the Helper He would send, and what was important in His mind for us to know; more specifically, for His Apostles to know as the time drew near for His departure.
THE ADVANTAGE GAINED
The end of this earthly fellowship is near and Jesus is speaking to them very clearly now. There are things He wants them to understand because He knows that very early on following His departure the persecution is going to be aimed at them.
The world hated Christ and so it should not come as a surprise that the world hates those who are His, and the more identified His followers are with Him the more they will be treated exactly as He was. Do you think the martyrs of the ages are great because they were martyred?
No. They were martyred because they were great for Christ in the first place.
If there seems to be no troubles in your life and you’re sailing along fine and your personal goals are being met and your finances and your health are good and there’s hardly a wrinkle in your life as the days go by, and you think it is all a reward of sorts for being a good Christian, think again.
Jesus told them they would be ousted from the synagogue, that they would be killed, and that the ones killing them would think they were doing God a favor.
Now they’re kind of bummed.
In chapter 13 when Jesus talked about leaving Peter asked Him where He was going. In chapter 14 when Jesus talked about leaving Thomas asked Him where He was going.
Now here He is once more speaking of going to the One who sent Him and they’re all so busy worrying about their own future they don’t have any questions for Him. Might be just more bad news. Don’t ask.
Once more they don’t understand. They are saddened and confused. But Jesus has good news, the immensity of which they will not understand until the promise is actually fulfilled.
It is to their advantage that He goes away, says Jesus.
In a New Age mimic of truth, which is all the New Age philosophies can do, is imitate truth and twist it, in the first Star Wars movie Obe Wan Kenobe is fighting his final battle with the evil Darth Vader. He is old and he is loosing to the younger man, but he tells Vader that if Vader kills him he will only make Kenobe more powerful than he can imagine.
Well, he does kill Kenobe, and Obe Wan then becomes a part of the Force, where all who are on the good side of the Force become sort of a part of the whole. It is a sort of energy that fills all things so now the ‘spirit’ Obe Wan Kenobe has all the power of the Force at his disposal, since he is now ‘one’ with it.
As I say, the thought is a twisted mimic of truth. Where it fails however, is that Jesus in dying and going back to the Father was able then to send the third Person of the Trinity of God, the One we call the Holy Spirit, to live in every believer.
He wasn’t absorbed into some cosmic energy. He deliberately completed the work He was sent to do, and then He went back to the Father and sent His Spirit.
Now this was an advantage to them and to every believer since, because each believer, being indwelt by the Spirit of Christ can minister Christ to people.
And I want you to notice that He said, the “Helper will come to you”. He didn’t send the Holy Spirit into the world like some impersonal ghost floating around. He sent Him to believers.
Someone has pointed out that when Jesus came into the world He needed a body, and when He sent the Spirit into the world the Spirit needed a body to work through.
So He works through the body which is the church, and He works through the individual body of the believer. On the day of Pentecost it was Peter and the others who came out of the Upper Room preaching the message that saved thousands, and that is how the Holy Spirit works. Through believers.
It was to their advantage. Remember how they were before He came. Sad, confused, wondering, weak, ineffectual. So are we, without the help and empowerment of the Holy Spirit of God.
This goes back to my opening statements. You Baptists hearing this (or reading it later), you need to seek to have the power of the Holy Spirit in your life. Ask Him daily to fill you to overflowing. Remember He is a Person. Seek to know Him more. He is God. Acknowledge His presence in and with you and listen for His voice. Look for His leading.
It was for your advantage that He was sent. No church and no Christian can bear fruit for the Kingdom of Heaven apart from Him.
He is your helper. He is your advantage.
Now let’s talk about how His coming relates to the world, the believer and to Christ.
THE WORLD CONVICTED
How the Spirit’s coming relates to the world
Acts 2:22, Rom 1:4
The very presence of the Holy Spirit in the world convicts the world of sin. Now I’m talking about a very specific sin. The sin of unbelief. The sin of rejecting God’s Messiah.
I say the presence of the Holy Spirit in the world convicts the world of sin because if the world had not rejected Christ He would be here still, reigning as King. Since the world did reject Him He has now returned to the Father and the Holy Spirit has been sent to live in every believer.
People outside of the church like to say that we Christians have no right to judge them, and in truth we aren’t to be judgmental; that is, condemning; but the fact is that our very presence in the world as we walk in obedience to God is a testimony against them because they still hate Christ.
Men cannot say they did not know. The sin of unbelief is always deliberate. Jesus wasn’t rejected in ignorance. Those of His generation were the very ones of whom Peter spoke, and to whom Peter spoke when he said,
“Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know— (Acts 2:22)
They are the ones Paul wrote to when he said in verse 4 of Romans 1 that the resurrection of Jesus declared Him to be the Son of God, and that it was according to the Spirit of holiness; that is, by the power of the Holy Spirit that He was raised.
And today, this very day, while people are praising themselves for their tolerance and understanding and acceptance of others and willingness to ‘let it be’… ‘hands across the water’ ‘why can’t we be friends’ you know what I’m talking about; the age of political correctness and apparently everyone has a right to their beliefs and one guy’s value system is as good as the next guy’s…
In the face of all this is still the unchanging truth that God sent His only Son into the world to be the light of the world and the world rejected Him because they preferred the darkness because their deeds were evil. That’s a paraphrase of John 3:19. And it is still true today. And Christian, the presence of the Holy Spirit in the world in you convicts them, and they have no excuse; no defense. (Jn 15:22)
They are ruled by the spirit of this world, and that is the spirit of anti-Christ, and that is why all of this tolerance and acceptance is for everyone but Christians.
The world is convicted. No one can raise a hand and say, ‘not guilty’. Not one.
Next, and these two points will be shorter, the Holy Spirit in the world convicts the world of righteousness. Not unrighteousness, but righteousness. Because Jesus was completely righteous. He was without sin, without guilt, yet He went back to the Father because they crucified Him; the only One who never deserved death.
Finally, the presence of the Holy Spirit in the world convicts the world of judgment. This is not a reference of the judgment to come, but as Jesus said in John 12:31, the ruler of this world, Satan has been judged and the world itself has been judged. They only await sentencing.
Christian, when you witness the gospel message to a person the Holy Spirit is convicting them of unbelief and of their guilt in the role they played in the death of God’s Son and of the fact that they are judged and have no hope unless they turn from sin and believe the good news of Jesus Christ.
Now were you listening closely to that? This is why I constantly harp on the need to give all the necessary information in witnessing and not just some weak-willy ‘Jesus loves you’ sort of invitation to church.
The Holy Spirit convicts of sin, so we need to tell them about sin and their need to repent.
The Holy Spirit convicts them concerning righteousness, so we need to tell them that the Righteous One was crucified and died to pay for their sin.
The Holy Spirit convicts concerning judgment, so we need to tell them that an eternity separated from God is their certain future unless they die to sin and let Christ give them His resurrection life.
That’s why it’s important that we pray and ask God for divine appointments and to give us just the right words for each person we talk to. Because while we’re talking the Holy Spirit in us is convicting them and calling them to Christ.
THE TRUTH REVEALED
How the Spirit’s coming relates to the Christian
I have told the story in the past of when I was going through the Police Academy and sharing a hotel room with a guy who was hired and sent to school at the same time.
One night just before turning out the lights he asked me some question about the Bible. To my shame I don’t even remember what the original question was now. But it was my big chance to share with someone who had not previously been open to hear.
So I started telling him all about the Exodus out of Egypt and what all the types of Christ were that could be found there, and it must have been about 20 minutes in when I could see that his eyes were glazing over.
But I couldn’t stop! I was getting so close to the end and he really needed to hear it all, so I just plowed ahead and by the time I was done I think he was ready to jump out the window.
The Holy Spirit is not like that. He was sent to the believer to guide him into all truth. Guide. Not push. And do you know what, Christian? You will never know more of Christ than you’re willing to let the Holy Spirit teach you.
You can learn nothing of Christ apart from Him, and He will always show you just the right amount of truth at the right time; no more and no less. But you should know that you can hinder Him by your unwillingness to go deeper.
I think we’re all guilty of that. We realize that we’re saved and we’re going to Heaven. We know how to pray just in case something really important comes up. We know how to witness just in case someone stops us in the grocery store because they read our shirt and they want to know more.
But we’re pretty comfortable now, and if we surrender more, if we invite more, if we really commit ourselves to the operation of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we might get shaken out of our comfort zone. And frankly, we’re just not willing.
“What if God changes my plans? Leads me to a different job? Interrupts my life?”
WHAT IF?
When I was in the Air Force I was working the main gate on a midnight shift with one other guy. We got into a discussion and he admitted that he didn’t want to be a Christian, because he wanted to be a scientist and he was afraid if he became a Christian God might want him to do something else.
Sounds a little silly, doesn’t it? At least he was honest. I’m hoping to see him in Heaven some day. I just have a feeling the Holy Spirit continued to work on him.
Now when Jesus said He, the Helper, will not speak of His own initiative but whatever He hears, He didn’t mean that the Holy Spirit is less than God and is just a spiritual messenger. He didn’t mean that the Helper somehow has a different mind than the Father or the Son but won’t speak for Himself out of some sense of loyalty.
He was expressing the truth that as the Son came from the Father to do His will, so the Spirit comes forth from the Son to testify of Him to the world and to the believer.
He will speak, said Jesus, and He will disclose what is to come.
By that Jesus may in one sense have been telling the Apostles personally that the Holy Spirit would reveal future events to them. He certainly did to John through his revelation he received and wrote down. And we have prophetic passages of the New Testament epistles that talk about the last days and the second coming of Christ that only could have been revealed to the writers by the Holy Spirit.
But I also think what Jesus was saying was that in a more general sense the Holy Spirit in every believer would help them understand what they were seeing and experiencing as events transpired in their lives.
This is why, Christian, you never have to fret over what is in your future and you needn’t despair over what’s happening now. By the Holy Spirit’s witness to you and the truth He discloses you can know that God is in control and you are safe in His hands. You can know and understand that the promises of His Word apply to you and that He is able to preserve you through whatever may come.
When you need to know His will the Holy Spirit will disclose it to you as needed when you ask.
When you need assurance concerning His promises the Holy Spirit will give you peace as you search out His Word.
When you need wisdom for the moment He will illumine the mind of Christ in you so that you will know what to do; what to say; what action to take.
To the world the Holy Spirit is convictor. In you He is your Helper, Comforter, Truth revealer, Friend.
THE CHRIST GLORIFIED
How the Spirit’s coming relates to Christ
“He shall glorify Me…” As the Son glorified the Father by revealing Him to men, so the Holy Spirit’s office and mission is to glorify Christ by revealing Him to men.
Believer in Christ, listen to me.
When men claim to minister in the name of Jesus but they are getting the glory and attention they are lying to you.
When people say they are exercising the gifts of the Spirit but their actions are drawing attention to themselves they are lying to you.
When men debate and fight over doctrinal issues pertaining to the Spirit and criticize other churches and other Christians for their involvement or lack of involvement in the exercise of the gifts of the Spirit they are not led of the Spirit as they do it; because He doesn’t draw attention to Himself. He glorifies Christ. That which does not bring glory to Christ is not of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus said that all that the Father has is His and the Spirit takes of those things and discloses them to us.
It amazes me how simply Jesus said things that if we stop to let them play with our brain a little bit they just rock us. Too profound. Too deep.
This is a clear teaching on the Trinity of God that just goes beyond us.
One God, but clearly three Persons working individually but in perfect accord. Each One glorifying the other.
How black is our sin; how deep the mire of our wretchedness, that in contrast to the God of Creation, the Lord of all there is, we seek attention for ourselves; seek to glorify ourselves, feel hurt and abandoned if we don’t get affirmed and patted on the back once in a while?
God the Father glorifies the Son and the Son brings glory to the Father and the Spirit takes and discloses to us the things that are of the Father and the Son so that He might glorify and reveal to us the truth that pertains to Christ.
That is the secret - which is really no secret at all but I think very few Christians ever come to realize it - that is the secret that was discerned by every man or woman of God in the history of the world who is remembered for their Godliness and eternal fruit.
That once they knew they belonged to Him they knew that their entire existence was for the purpose of bringing glory to His name.
1 Corinthians 9:16
16 For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel.
When Jesus appeared to Paul on the Damascus road and commissioned him into service, Paul understood that to mean his former life was gone. It was over. He was no longer his own, therefore he no longer had the right to make his own plans, seek his own goals, demand his own rights or comforts, or question his orders.
He was always saying things like, “you are not your own, you are bought with a price”, and “Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves”, and “I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision”, and he was finally able to go to the Lord from this earth saying, “I have fought the fight, I have finished the race”.
Why? Because from the moment he saw a risen Savior and heard his call he had only one goal, one plan, one driving desire for every breath he took; to glorify God.
Christians, we have an advantage. The Holy Spirit of God came into the world and He convicts the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.
But for us and in us He guides us into all truth concerning Christ and by so doing He glorifies Christ and He discloses the things of God to us.
The advantage we have in knowing this is that we are given by example of the Triune God the secret to the Kingdom of Heaven. It is to engage the mind of Christ which is in us, truly reckon ourselves dead to our past, dead to our self and dead to sin, and live in the power of the Spirit for the plan and purpose of bringing glory to Christ.
Is that a high calling? A challenge too great to attain? Dreaming the impossible dream? Reaching for the unreachable star?
No. Because we can’t do it. We can’t bring glory to Christ. We can only die and yield and ask to be daily filled and let the Holy Spirit fulfill His office and His mission in and through us.
“What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits toward me?” asked the Psalmist (Ps 116:12)
What indeed? I wonder; does He have any left in 21st century Christendom who dare to ask that question in earnest and then be prepared to pay the vow?
Because what He asks for is ourselves.
What plan of yours, what personal goal, what comfort or what material thing can you hold up and say ‘Oh, but this is more important’?
What shall you and I render to the Lord for all His benefits toward us?
