John 16:5-11
The Gospel According to John • Sermon • Submitted
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PRAY
PRAY
Let’s pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this morning. We ask that you bless our time in your Word. May it be fruitful and may it be used of your Spirit to cause us to walk more faithfully in our lives for the glory of Jesus Christ. It’s in his name we pray, Amen.
SETUP
SETUP
Today, we are looking at part two of this mini-series we have been in concerning the Holy Spirit. Last week we looked at the “witness” of the Spirit; that he testifies concerning the person and work of Christ. And we saw that the purpose of this “testifying” has everything to do with preserving the disciples and causing them to persevere through the hardships and trials and tribulations that lie ahead of them after Jesus is physically gone from their sight. Today we’re examining the “work” of the Holy Spirit in the world. What is his mission in the world? What is his goal and purpose for the world? We are of course aware of what that is given what was just read a minute ago from verse 8. But before dig into that, let’s remember, in a broad sense, what is going on here with the disciples. We read these words in John 16:4b-7.
But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you.
“I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. 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. 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 go, I will send him to you.
Jesus is in his final days, likely his final hours of earthly life before he is brutally murdered. The disciples have left everything to follow Jesus and now he’s telling them that he is going to leave them. Not only that, but they’ve also observed that the Jewish religious authorities and the majority of the Jewish society of this day, rejected Jesus and have, on many occasions, tried to assault, arrest, and even kill him. Then, Jesus tells his disciples that because the world hates him, as his representatives- they are to expect that it will hate them as well........So what they’re hearing from Jesus, in other words, is basically this- “I know you left everything for me but I’ll be gone here in a minute......oh and by the way......it’ll go very badly for you..........good luck!” Which is why, understandably so, Jesus points out in V6 that “sorrow has filled [their] heart”. They are faced with the daunting realization of what’s coming.....and who won’t be there with them when they face it. But, in addition to hearing these sobering and dreadful words.....they have been hearing INCREDIBLE words of promise......specifically concerning God the Holy Spirit. That he will be with them, he will help them, he will remind them of Jesus and his work, he will never leave them and (as we noted last week) he will sustain them through everything they will endure to the very end of their lives....Which is why he says in verse 7, that it is to “their advantage that [he] goes away......” because if he doesn’t go away, the Spirit of God, the one who’s to help them in their mission and in their trials ahead, will NOT come. And so, Jesus is telling the disciples that he needs to go so that he can send the Spirit to them because it is to their advantage that the Spirit will come......and not just to their personal advantage.....it is to the advantage concerning the preaching of the gospel that the disciples will endeavor to do. And the Spirit of God will come and help them accomplish this mission of gospel proclamation. By what means? This brings us to John 16:8.
And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:
One of the unfortunate literary tragedies in the world today is the understandable, yet misguided, mistake of confusing the idea of conviction with the idea of feeling bad. People mistake the work of the Spirit with merely the idea of “feeling bad”. And, of course, part of the work of the Holy Spirit is to use guilt that people rightfully feel because of their sin for his purposes. But the conviction of the Holy Spirit is not merely synonymous with the feeling of guilt. You see, anyone or anything can make anyone and everyone feel guilty.
What does an Arminian preacher, food calories, and your mother have in common?
They all can make you feel guilty…they can make you feel bad about yourself. But, friends, none of them can convict you. At least, not in the sense that we find here in our text this morning. To put simply- the work of the Spirit is to “convict” the world. Conviction is something that no one else can bring about except through the work of the Holy Spirit. Which, of course, brings us to the question of what “conviction” really is. If it’s not merely feeling bad over your sin.....then what is it exactly?
WHAT IS CONVICTION?
WHAT IS CONVICTION?
The word “convict” or “conviction” in the Scriptures has a variety of Gk. words that are used to describe what it means. But, in this section of Scripture the Gk. word “convict” here is the specific word “elencho”. Which means to “expose; reprove; or to prove the guilt of someone”. And it’s use here is not in a subjective and internal state of the person sense.....it is not describing the inner-state of the heart here......the word is more understood with respect to a legal setting. To expose or convict someone in this sense is to make them legally proven to be guilty. In other words......the word “convict” can be used synonymously with the word “indict”. It could read, “and when he comes, he will [indict] the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment....” That begs the question ofcourse as to what it means to be “indicted”..... I think the word “expose” is a good word to use here because it gets at the idea of being laid bare.......or being naked.....the realization that perhaps Adam and Eve had in the garden immediately after they rebelled. Or perhaps the same realization King David had when the prophet Nathan came to indict him concerning his sin with Bathsheba. You remember the story- He takes another man’s wife [adultery], then, when he learns that Bathsheba is with child, he conspires a plan to get her husband Uriah killed so that he wouldn’t be exposed for his sin in taking another man’s wife [we call that premeditated murder]......when Nathan comes to him, he indicts him in a very impactful and significant way by means of telling a story- he says this in 2 Samuel 12:1-6.
And the Lord sent Nathan to David. He came to him and said to him, “There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor. The rich man had very many flocks and herds, but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. And he brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children. It used to eat of his morsel and drink from his cup and lie in his arms, and it was like a daughter to him. Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was unwilling to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the guest who had come to him, but he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.” Then David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die, and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.”
He gets David to be so infuriated, feeling the rightful anger at injustice, before he flips the tables on him by saying the following words- 2 Samuel 12:7-10.
Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. And I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your arms and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if this were too little, I would add to you as much more. Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’
What David experiences here is nothing short of “elencho”......the realization of being exposed and indicted to the point of being completely and utterly WITHOUT excuse concerning his sin… In other words, David was “convinced” concerning his guilt and standing before God. It wasn’t merely about feeling bad..... it was the realization that there absolutely IS NOT WAY OUT of this......no excuse, no explanation, no justification, no reason or rationale that can perhaps give him a way out.....NONE. He was “convicted”......he was “convinced”.......because of the overwhelming evidence of his guilt. He was indicted.
So, going back to our text, in John 16:7-8. Look back at what Jesus says again...
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 go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:
The advantage that Jesus is talking about that the disciples will have because of the coming of the Spirit is that the Spirit of God will indict the world....He will lay the world bare......through the means of their proclamation of the gospel. In fact, that’s what happens in Acts 2 at the very moment when the Spirit of God shows up......what happens? Look with me in Acts 2:14-37. During the Pentecost, after the gift of tongues was poured out on the 12 disciples (the original 11 and Matthias), which, by the way......is itself an indictment against the “Jewish Leaders” aka the “world”......in what sense? The Jewish leaders were to be guides to the pagan gentile nations concerning the promises of God and the salvation of God......and instead, they botched their responsibility of loving their gentile neighbors and instead they hated them.....And here at Pentecost....you have 12......Jewish......men......speaking in what? 12 different pagan......gentile......languages......that will be used to proclaim the gospel message to the Gentile world.....And what happens next? After the Jews accuse the disciples of being drunk.....Peter stands up and says the following words....
But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:
“ ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams;
even on my male servants and female servants
in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.
And I will show wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke;
the sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood,
before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day.
And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’
“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. For David says concerning him,
“ ‘I saw the Lord always before me,
for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken;
therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced;
my flesh also will dwell in hope.
For you will not abandon my soul to Hades,
or let your Holy One see corruption.
You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’
“Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says,
“ ‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
until I make your enemies your footstool.” ’
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, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
They experience the same thing David himself experienced......they were “cut to the heart”....because Peter told them to what? “KNOW FOR CERTAIN......that God has made him [that is Jesus] both Lord and Christ [Messiah/savior]....” And it’s on the basis of this certainty.....that they experience conviction.
So the the work of the Spirit is that he will expose the world.....he will convict the world........and he will convince the world........through means of the disciple’s preaching of the gospel. Of course this leads us to the issue of “convicted” concerning what? Convinced and indicted concerning what?
Concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment… very succinct and clear points that have a significant meaning. Let’s look at each one.....starting in John 16:9.
concerning sin, because they do not believe in me;
Now, notice. Not sin in general. Not a “general feeling of guilt over general sinfulness and feeling bad....” Jesus says, concerning sin because of what? Because they do not believe in me....This is the very premise of indictment. Unbelief. The theme of unbelief runs thick all throughout the gospel of John. In fact, there’s this ironic crescendo that takes places throughout the book concerning the “world” namely, the “Jewish religious authorities” and Jewish people.....with respect to their unbelief. Jesus proves, from lesser to greater degrees, that he is in FACT the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God. Sign after sign. Miracle after miracle. Beginning with the wedding in Cana......all the way to the tomb of Lazarus......He proves that he’s God come in the flesh to rescue his people. And when he does this.....there are two responses- Faith and unbelief.
Every soul is on one of these two paths-
“The same sun which melts wax hardens clay. And the same Gospel which melts some persons to repentance hardens others in their sins.” - C. H. Spurgeon
People, in response to hearing the gospel, either believe or disbelieve….
And it’s not a casual checkbox
“I believe….”
“I disbelieve….”
The gospel does not leave people indifferent. Not for long it won’t.
Eventually, it will bring about one of two results:
Those who believe will actually BELIEVE.
Their lives will be transformed
Their hearts changed
They will long for and hunger and thirst for righteousness
They will be so ever-increasingly consumed with the glory of God
Every thought being held captive to his will
Every sin being mortified and put to death
Every motivation and desire kept in check and submission to the Lord Jesus Christ…
Every evil deed - whether caused by themselves or the world - grieved over and lamented in sorrowful repentance and anguish and longing of redemption
Every good deed - celebrated in grateful and selfless praise of GOD and his PROVIDENCE.
Loving the things that God loves and hating the things that God hates
But then those who disbelieve….
They will not remain indifferent
Progressively- their hearts will become hardened. More and more…
They will become disinterested in God
Then calloused towards him
Then frustrated with the “good news”
Then infuriated with it’s constant reminder
Leading them to a level of bitterness, resentment towards God that inevitably brings them to the point of no return…
Resulting in a disdain and disgust of God and his people…….solidifying a heart so impenetrable that no amount of prodding or pleading will break its cemented hatred of God.
This is the trajectory of the Pharisees and Sadducees in John’s Gospel. This is how their fate unfolds. They continually reject Christ and his offer. So much so that they murder him....and when Jesus talks about the conviction of sin concerning their unbelief......he’s saying that through his death, burial, and resurrection......they will have absolutely no excuse for their unbelief. They will stand indicted by the evidence and will be left exposed on account of their sin....
But that’s not the only thing-
concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer;
concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.