The Work Of The Holy Spirit

“The Work of The Holy Spirit”

John 15:26-27, 16:5-15

Because there are denominational groups who spend a great deal of time talking about the Holy Spirit, we sometimes become reactionary in that we don't like to talk about the Holy Spirit very much at all. But Jesus talked about the work of the Holy Spirit in no uncertain terms in the hours just preceding His death, thus teaching that this is a subject of preeminent importance for us to consider.

We have now come in our study to the evening just prior to the crucifixion. It is 10:30 or 11:00 p.m. on Thursday night. In just a few minutes Jesus will go to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. A few minutes after that Judas will kiss His cheek and set in motion the whole cycle of events that lead to the crucifixion.

To set the stage we want to return to what Jesus has said recorded in verse five, “But now I go away 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) Nevertheless, 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 depart, I will send Him to you.”

We need to remember that Jesus is talking to His Disciples on the night before He is crucified. The Disciples are heart-broken to hear that He is leaving. They are scared to death. They are shock-ed and confused. Their master, their Lord, the only begotten Son of God, is going to be taken away from them. Nothing about this makes sense to them. They literally huddle like scared sheep around their shepherd in the blackness of night. They are scared to leave Him.

Of course, the Lord knows all of this and moved by their distress He speaks to His grieving Disciples; He reassures His Disciples and speaks not only of the troubles the Disciples will face but of the resource they will have in the person of the Holy Spirit with which to face them.

You will recall that in John 14:16-18 Jesus made His first promise of the Holy Spirit when He said, “And I will pray the Father and He will give you another helper, that He may abide with you forever. (17) the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. (18) I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.”

They are waiting for an explanation. It was indeed necessary for the Lord to explain why it was important for them that He return to the Father.

In verse seven Jesus says, “Nevertheless 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 depart, I will send Him to you.”

Perhaps no words were ever harder to receive and believe for the Disciples. How could that possibly be true? How could anything be better for them than the physical presence of the Son of God? In their hearts they no doubt believed they would much rather have the Lord’s physical presence with them than the promise of an invisible Holy Spirit. In fact, I am fairly certain that if we took a vote and asked, “Would you rather have the Holy Spirit inside you or have Jesus sitting next to you?’, all of us would vote to have Jesus, the Son of God, right here so we could talk to him. That's understandable. We all think it's better to have the Son of God in our midst.

But Jesus said it is “to your advantage” or literally “it is expedient for you” that I should go away. But how could it possibly be expedient for them to lose their greatest source of support and hope? Jesus said, it is better for you that I should go because if I don't go I cannot send the Holy Spirit, but if I do go I will send the Holy Spirit, He will not only be with you but He will be in you. If the Lord remained with them as they desired, they would have His physical presence from time to time. But if He went through with the program and plans of the Father, then in due time the Holy Spirit would be given, and He would be with them without interruption. We still don’t understand completely why it was necessary for Jesus to go away in order for the Spirit to come. It is enough for us to know that this was so.