John 16:5-15: “Jesus Tells His
Disciples That It Is To Their Advantage That He Go Away For He Will Send The Comforter
To Them”
By
1.
INTRO:
1.1.
In our last study we looked at verses 18 of chapter 15
through verse 4 of chapter 16.
1.1.1.
In this Upper Room
Discourse by Jesus to His disciples on the night before His crucifixion, we saw
that it was with great compassion and mercy that Jesus now began to explain to
His disciples the fact that what awaited them was persecution and even
martyrdom for having followed Him. We
saw that there is a saying, “To be forewarned is to be forearmed.” It is much easier to endure something if in
fact you know that it is coming.
1.1.2.
We saw that persecution is
something that not only happened to Jesus’ disciples, 10 of whom were martyred
for their faith, or in the history of the early church at the hands of the Jews
and also Rome, but it is also a real occurrence in the lives of all who live
their life for the Lord, just as Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 3:12, “12 Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will
be persecuted.”
1.2.
In our study today, we are going to be looking at
verses 5-15 of chapter 16.
1.2.1.
In this teaching, given on this night of His Upper Room
Discourse which occupies John chapters 13-19, Jesus will next speak to His
disciples further about His plan to send the Comforter (Holy Spirit) to them
after He has left them and gone to the Father, and He tells them that it is to
their advantage that that He go away for if He does not go away then the Holy
Spirit cannot be sent to them.
1.2.2.
Jesus tells His disciples that when the Holy Spirit is
sent to them that He (the Holy Spirit) will convict the world concerning sin,
righteousness, and judgment. We will
discuss what Jesus meant by this and how it is worked out in people’s lives.
1.2.3.
Jesus tells His disciples that He has more to tell
them but that they cannot bear it now.
1.2.4.
In verse 13 of this chapter, Jesus again refers to the
Holy Spirit as “The Spirit of Truth,” and it is foundationally
imperative in understanding what Jesus is saying in this study to realize that
the groundwork that the Holy Spirit performs in this world and the lives of men
is illumination of the truth, as Dr. C. Matthew McMahon (Taken in outline
form from J. Buchanan's "The Office and Work of the Holy Spirit”) has written :
“The illuminating work of
the Holy Spirit may be said to be the groundwork of all His other
operations. It is through the truth (which must be known and believed) that the Spirit
fulfills all the functions of His office in the minds of men. By enlightening the mind, He lays the
groundwork for the conviction of conscience.
He is the enlightener of God’s people, and imparts spiritual
illumination to their minds. This
obviously implies a previous state of spiritual deadness and darkness, which is
the natural state of all men. 1
Corinthians 2:14 says, “But the natural man does not receive the things of the
Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because
they are spiritually discerned.” This
darkness is universal to all men born as progeny of Adam. This darkness is not just the absence of
light, but also a blindness of mind.
When men are converted, the veil of darkness is taken away (1 Cor.
3:14-16) and the glorious light of the Gospel of Christ shines upon their minds
(2 Cor. 4:3-4).
As
the “enlightener of the soul”, the Holy Spirit is the revealer of truth, and
the Author of the Scriptures which are used as the instrument of His work. The efficacy of the Word depends completely
on the work of the Spirit, and His gracious actions upon men. He seeks to enlighten, quicken and invigorate
by the light of the Word of God. The
subject of these operations is the conscience.
This moral faculty is arrested by divine truth to the reality of its
sinful state and need of saving grace.
This is the direct operation of the Spirit’s use of the law. The law is the schoolmaster that brings the
sinner to Christ (Gal. 3:24). Sin, then,
becomes vile in the mind of the enlightened conscience. The Spirit convinces of the fact of sin, that
we have done this or that; of the fault of sin, that we have done ill doing on
account of sin; of the folly of sin, that we have acted against reason and our
true interest; of the filth of sin, that by it we become odious to God; of the
fountain of sin, the corrupt nature; and lastly of the fruit of sin, that its
end is death.”
1.2.5.
Jesus
tells His disciples that when the Comforter (Holy Spirit) comes that He will
guide them into all the truth. The Holy
Spirit reveals all truth to men and women.
2.
VS 16:5-6 - “‘But
now I am going to Him who sent Me; and
none of you asks Me, ‘’Where are You going?’’
But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your
heart’.” - Jesus tells His disciples
that He is now going to go to the One who sent Him and that He knows that
sadness has filled their hearts because He has said these things to them
2.1.
Jesus’ disciples would be inquisitive at this point, asking
Him where He was going, however, they are presently very troubled and sorrowful
of heart that their Lord is going away from them. Jesus has come to mean everything to His
disciples by this point in their relationship with Him. Their interaction with Him was always so
fresh and filled with awe, and their hearts were always basking in the totality
of peace that exists only in the presence of The Almighty.
2.2.
No human teacher would ever compare with the One the
disciples had come to know, and I have to believe they would trade no thrill or
pleasure in life for one day to leave from the presence of the Lord. For them, only heaven itself could top
spending time in the presence of Jesus in the flesh.
2.3.
For these reasons Jesus knew now that His disciples’ hearts
were filled with sorrow.
3.
VS 16:7 - “‘But
I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper shall not
come to you; but if I go, I will send
Him to you’.” - Jesus tells
His disciples that it is to their advantage that He goes away from them because
if He does not go away from them then He also can’t send the Helper to them
3.1.
Jesus tells His disciples that even though He has
meant everything to them up to now in their lives, there is something that is better
that they will experience if He goes away.
Thus, it is to their advantage that Jesus leave them.
3.2.
First of all, though Jesus does not say it in this
verse, He is going to go away to the Father via the cross of
3.3.
As wondrous and wonderful as it was being in Jesus’
presence, knowing the salvation which Jesus brings through the filling and
power of the Holy Spirit will be much greater.
3.4.
Secondly, if Jesus goes away it will be to His
disciples’ advantage because they themselves will come into a new relationship
with the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus calls in chapters 14-16, “The Comforter”
or “Helper.” Each one of the
disciples will become a ‘temple’ where the Lord dwells. The Holy Spirit will dispense gifts and
reveal truth to their inner man which continuing in Christ’s physical presence
would never equal.
3.5.
Thirdly, it will be to their advantage if He goes away
because the work which they will be entrusted will be helped as He begins to
convicts the world concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment.
3.6.
We Christians ought to be overflowing with
thankfulness because of the blessings which we inherit as believers. As a result of all the facets of the
salvation which we have inherited, plus all of the blessings of knowing the
Comforter who dwells within us, we ought to realize how blessed we really
are. And we ought to take full advantage
of what the Lord has given us through the Comforter who dwells within us.
4.
VS 16:8 - “‘And
He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin, and righteousness,
and judgment;’” - Jesus tells
His disciples that when He sends the Holy Spirit to His disciples that the Holy
Spirit will convict the world concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment
4.1.
The threefold work of the Holy Spirit in this world is
to bring conviction, or convince, the world concerning sin, righteousness, and
judgment.
4.2.
Ray Stedman in a devotion that I read on the internet has
written the following about how that concerning this verse the church often is
confused and thinks that Jesus is saying that the Holy Spirit is going to be
sent to the world, when Jesus is really saying that that the Holy Spirit is
going to be sent to the disciples (the church) :
“Most
of us read this as though the Holy Spirit is going to come into the world and
work directly upon the hearts of unbelievers and convict them of sin,
righteousness, and judgment. But if you read it in that way, you have not read
this verse correctly. Read it again, together with the preceding verse, and
emphasize a keyword. And I want to take that same word and insert it in a place
in verse 8 where it does not occur but where the context makes clear it
belongs. Jesus says, "It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I
go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to
you. When he comes [to you], he will convict the world... of sin and
righteousness and judgment" (John 16:7-8).
The Holy Spirit is coming to you, to the
church, to the Christian. And when He comes to the Christian, this will
convince the world of sin and righteousness and judgment. Therefore He does not
come to the world; He comes to us. But when He comes to us and operates in us as
He intends, He will have this effect upon the world.”
4.3.
The Bible Exposition Commentary agrees with the
assessment that these words of Jesus concerning the Holy Spirit refer to the
objective work of the Spirit in this world in bringing men to salvation, “The
key word here is reprove (John 16:8). It is a legal word that means “to
bring to light, to expose, to refute, to convict and convince.” It could be
translated “pronounce the verdict.” The world may think that it is judging
Christians, but it is the Christians who are passing judgment on the world as
they witness to Jesus Christ! Believers are the witnesses, the Holy Spirit is
the “prosecuting attorney,” and the unsaved are the guilty prisoners. However,
the purpose of this indictment is not to condemn but to bring salvation.”
4.4.
The “Moody Handbook of Theology” includes the
following about the Holy Spirit’s work in this world of convicting, “He
convicts the world (John 16:8–11). The work of convicting (Gk. elegxei) is the work of a prosecuting
attorney whereby He seeks to convince someone of something. The Holy Spirit
acts as a divine prosecutor, convicting the world of sin because of its refusal
to believe in Jesus; He also convinces the world of the righteousness of Christ
because of His resurrection and ascension; and He convinces the world of
judgment because Satan was judged at the cross…The Spirit convicts. John 16:8 declares the future ministry of
the Spirit would be to “convict the world.” “Convict” (Gk. elegcho) means to “convince someone of something;
point something out to someone.” The Holy Spirit acts as a divine
prosecutor in convicting the world concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment.”
4.5.
The work
of the Holy Spirit referred to by Christ here in this section of John we are
studying is not so much the work that the Holy Spirit performs internally in
the consciences of men in bringing them to conviction of their sins and to
salvation, but rather it is the work that He will perform externally in the
world through the atonement of Christ and defeat of Satan, and the inspired
witness of the church, as Arthur Pink describes in this quote, “The atoning
work of Christ was necessary to make it consistent with the Divine government
to bestow on men these spiritual blessings which are necessarily connected with
the saving influence of the Holy Spirit.
All such blessings from the beginning had been bestowed with a reference
to that atonement; and it was fitting
that these blessings, in their richest abundance, should not be bestowed till
that atonement was made.” (Mr. John
Brown) “’Unless I go away,’ that is
unless I die, nothing will be done—you will continue as you are and everything
will remain in its old state: the Jews
under the law of Moses, the heathen in their blindness—all under sin and death. No scripture would then be fulfilled, and I
should have come in vain” (Mr. Martin
Luther).
4.6.
If Jesus
departs to the Father then through the Holy Spirit whom He will send to the
church, Jesus will no longer be relegated to one physical location. He will then be able to minister to people
simultaneously all over the world through the working of the Holy Spirit. Plus, the disciples will be totally
transformed into new creatures, with all things becoming new to them, when they
have received the Holy Spirit (2 Cor. 5:17).
4.7.
The Holy Spirit’s job is to bring people under
conviction of sin, it is not our job as Christians to do that work. We must work in personal evangelism as He
convinces them and they come under His persecution. We must never try to convict people
ourselves, otherwise all we ever end up doing is pushing them away from the
Savior altogether. We must work as
partners with the Holy Spirit in people’s lives but never allow ourselves to be
the Holy Spirit in someone else’s life.
This is the mistake that many Christians make in trying to win their
spouse, child, or other family member to the Lord. They see that conviction of sin has to occur
before anyone comes to the Lord, and since the Holy Spirit doesn’t seem to be
doing enough of that work they undertake that work themselves. They often do more harm than good
however. It is the Holy Spirit who does
the work of convicting those in the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment.
5.
VS 16:9 - “‘concerning
sin, because they do not believe in Me;’” -
Jesus tells His disciples that the world will be convicted of their sins
because they do not believe in Him
5.1.
There is no sin which is not accompanied by unbelief
in Jesus. Paul wrote to the Romans that,
“whatever is not of faith is sin”, Rom. 14:23. Unbelief is the great cause of sin!
5.2.
Spurgeon, the great English preacher of a century and
a half ago once preached the following about the great sin of not believing in
Jesus mentioned by Jesus in this verse, “The Holy Spirit dwells upon one point
in particular: “of sin, because they believe not on me.” None
see the sin of unbelief except by his light. For a man thinks, “Well,
if I have not believed in Christ, that is a pity, perhaps; but still, I was
never a thief, or a liar, or a drunkard, or unchaste. Unbelief is a matter of
very little consequence; I can set that square at any time.” But the
Holy Spirit makes a man see that not to believe in Christ is a crowning,
damning sin, since he that believeth not hath made God a liar: and what can be
more atrocious than that? He who believes not on Christ has rejected God’s
mercy, and has done despite to the grandest display of God’s love; he hath
despised God’s unspeakable gift, and trampled on the blood of Christ. In this
he has dishonored God on a very tender point; has insulted him concerning his
only-begotten Son. How I wish that the Spirit of God would come upon
unbelievers here, and make them see what they are and where they are with
regard to the one and only Savior. How shall they escape who neglect so great
salvation? It will not matter how feebly I speak this morning if the Spirit of
God will only work by the truth, you will perceive the greatness of your crime,
and you will never rest until you have believed on the Lord Jesus, and found forgiveness
for your high offense against the bleeding Lamb.”
5.3.
The Holy Spirit convicts the world of their unbelief,
and convinces those who are willing to be convinced that they should believe in
Jesus and in God’s word.
6.
VS 16:10 - “‘and
concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you no longer behold
Me;’” - Jesus tells His disciples
that the Holy Spirit convicts the world of righteousness because He goes to the
Father and they will no longer behold Him
6.1.
In “The Training Of The Twelve,” A.B. Bruce has
written the following about what Jesus refers to when He is in this passage of
the Holy Spirit convicting the world concerning ‘righteousness’ : “What righteousness does Jesus allude
to,—His own, or that of sinners? Does He mean to say that the Spirit will
convince the world, after He has left the earth, that He was a righteous man?
or does He mean that the Spirit will teach men to see in the Crucified One the
Lord their righteousness? Our own opinion is, that He means neither, and both.
Righteousness is to be taken in its undefined generality: and the idea is, that
the Spirit will make use of the exaltation of Christ to make men think
earnestly on the whole subject of righteousness; to show them the
utterly rotten character of their own righteousness, whose crowning feat was to
crucify Jesus; to bring home to their hearts the solemn truth that the
Crucified One was the Just One; and ultimately to put them on a track for
finding in Jesus their true righteousness, by raising in their minds the
question, Why then did the Just One suffer?”
6.2.
The Holy Spirit convicts the world that Jesus was the
spotless lamb without sin, the only sacrifice worthy to wash away all of our
sins. And He also convicts the world
that, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”, Rom.
3:23.
6.3.
The Holy Spirit convicts those who are willing to be
convicted that they can be made justified, total acceptable to God, by Christ’s
righteousness. Christ is the Christian’s
righteousness. This all happened because
Jesus went to the Father.
7.
VS 16:11 - “‘and
concerning judgment because the ruler of this world has been judged’.” - Jesus tells His disciples that the Holy
Spirit will convict the world of judgment because the ruler of this world has
been judged
7.1.
Vines
Expository Dictionary has the following definition of this Greek word that is
translated ‘judgment’ here : KRISIS (κρίςις , (2920)) primarily denotes a separating, then, a
decision, judgment, most frequently in a forensic sense, and especially of
Divine judgment.
7.2.
Bible Exposition Commentary states, “Jesus was
referring to His judgment of Satan that was effected by His death on the cross
(John 12:31). Satan is the prince of this world, but he is a defeated prince.
Satan has already been judged and the verdict announced. All that must take
place is the executing of the sentence, and that will occur when Jesus returns.”
7.3.
Jesus overthrew Satan upon the cross, and thus Satan’s
power over men has been removed. Satan
always retreats at Christ’s command.
Satan has been judged and will be thrown with all of his cohorts into
the
7.4.
Those who do not receive Christ will also be judged
for not believing in Christ, and thus they too will end up in that
7.5.
Of this future judgment the Holy Spirit brings
conviction to the people of this world, and all because Jesus went to be with
the Father. The Holy Spirit began to
judge the world right after Jesus’ resurrection, and He continues that work to
this day.
7.5.1.
Some have commented that perhaps the reason why the
three hundred years of the fiercest persecution occurred after Christ’s resurrection
was because the world was brought under personal conviction of sin and not
believing in Jesus.
8.
VS 16:12 - “‘I
have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now’.” - Jesus tells His
disciples that He has many more things to say to them but that they cannot bear
those things now
8.1.
In chapters 13-16 of John, Jesus is revealing to His
disciples what is to come and to befall them, but without the coming of the
Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, they can only understand a very little of
truth.
8.2.
Also, they can only handle so much further revelation
from Jesus with the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus is gentle with them as He reveals only that which is essential
from them to know at this period of time, that which will forewarn them of what
is to come.
8.3.
We can trust the Lord with our lives and let Him have
complete control because He is a God who only gives us what He knows we can
handle at any point of time.
9.
VS 16:13 - “‘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’.” - Jesus tells His disciples that when the Holy
Spirit (Spirit of Truth) comes that He will guide them into all the truth for
He will not speak on His own initiative
9.1.
It will be necessary for the disciples to have the
Holy Spirit come into their hearts and for them to be baptized in Him in order
for them to understand all the deeper truths of God. Jesus foretells to the disciples the day when
the Holy Spirit whom He calls the, “Spirit of truth,” will come upon
their lives.
9.2.
Jesus promises that the Holy Spirit will not reveal
just a little of truth, but rather that He will reveal “all the truth”
everything that is important for them to know in order to face their impending
trials in this world and be fruitful in their ministries.
9.3.
The Holy
Spirit will reveal the prophetic truths concerning the future which are in the
word of God, for Jesus says that the Comforter will reveal ‘what is to come.’ Many believe that the book of Revelation is a
book that is too complex or mysterious to understand yet its very name means, “an
unveiling.” The Holy Spirit will
help us to even understand the prophecies in the book of Revelation.
9.4.
Jesus also tells them that the Holy Spirit will not
come to reveal His own things, but rather He will not ‘speak on His own
initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak.’ We have already seen that the Holy Spirit’s
job is to reveal and glorify Jesus Christ in this world, not Himself, even
though He is the third person of the Trinity.
9.5.
Two things are very
clearly revealed about the Holy Spirit in this verse.
9.5.1.
One is that the
Holy Spirit is to be given primarily to reveal the things of Christ and of
salvation, and to empower and enlighten the Church to carry its Great
Commission in this world.
9.5.2.
Secondly, it is very
clear that the Holy Spirit is a person. He
hears, He speaks, and He discloses what is to come.
9.6.
We Christians need to look to the Holy Spirit to
reveal truth to us concerning what is real in this world, the decisions which
we make, as well as what is contained in God’s word. We need a guide into all that is truth, and
He is to be our guide. Thus, we must
pray for His enlightenment and learn to wait upon Him to reveal truth to
us. Jesus promises that whatever is
necessary or important for us to know, that the Holy Spirit will reveal it to
us. We can rest in His peace because He
will reveal all that we need to know!
10.
VS 16:14 - “‘He
shall glorify Me; for He shall take of
Mine, and shall disclose it to you’.” - Jesus tells His disciples that the Holy
Spirit shall glorify Him and that He shall take of His and shall disclose it to
them
10.1.
Jesus tells His disciples that the Holy Spirit’s task
is to glorify Him. Jesus says that the
Holy Spirit will take of His work and message and would then reveal that truth
to them.
10.2.
If Christ is not being lifted up and glorified by any
church group or at any church meeting, then no matter how the Holy Spirit’s
work is emphasized, it is not a work of God that is transpiring.
11.
VS 16:15 - “‘All
things that the Father has are Mine;
therefore I said, that He takes of Mine, and will disclose it to you’’ -
Jesus tells His disciples that all things that the Father has are His
and that the Holy Spirit will take of His and disclose it to them
11.1.
Jesus is either equal with God the Father or He has
blasphemed, for He declares that everything that the Father has are His
possessions.
11.2.
Jesus next says that because all that the Father has
belongs to Him that the Holy Spirit will take of His and disclose it to
them. Jesus Christ is God’s revelation
of Himself to mankind. Jesus is the
full, complete, and final revelation of God to us, as Paul writes to the
Hebrews in chapter 1 of that book.
12.
CONCLUSIONS:
12.1.
Since it is the Holy Spirit’s job to convict the world
of sin, righteousness, and judgment, lets all of us who are Christians be
careful not to try to help out the Spirit in other’s lives or try to do the
Holy Spirit’s work. Give the Holy Spirit
the opportunity to work in people’s lives and then work in partnership with Him
under His leading. You need to pray for
sensitivity as to whether or not people are open to sharing the gospel with
them and not try to kick open those doors but rather pray for discernment in
whether or not the doors are open. When
the door is open, share the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit. When the door is closed wait for another
opportunity.
12.2.
Realize that the people of this world need the
illumination of the Holy Spirit before they will ever understand truth of any
sort, and that for this reason we must be so careful to be pray for this work
of illumination in the hearts and minds of those whom we minister to and share
the gospel with.