The Holy Spirit's Ministry
Notes
Transcript
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4 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.
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 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.
8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:
9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me;
10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer;
11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.
13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.
14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
15 All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
The Promise of the Holy Spirit (v. 5-7)
The Promise of the Holy Spirit (v. 5-7)
Jesus had told his disciples that he was leaving them soon, and they were very sad that he wasn’t going to be with them any longer
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.
He has already made clear to them where he is going. Multiple times now he has said, “I am going to the Father.” But their hearts are full of sorrow because Jesus is leaving. It’s hard when anyone leaves us, but how hard must it have been for the disciples to say goodbye to Jesus — he’s the Messiah, the Son of God, the hope of Israel. He had finally come, and now he’s leaving. They had thought or assumed that he would stay.
This was like a shattered dream. All their hopes and dreams had been fulfilled when Jesus came. The Messiah was finally here! And not only that, he chose them to be his apostles, his closest followers. They had the privilege of walking with the Son of God for 3 years.
But now the dream seems like it’s turning into a nightmare. The last 3 years were a dream come true, and now it’s ending. Is there any hope for joy and fulfillment in life anymore? The promised Messiah came after thousands of years of waiting, and now he’s leaving after such a short time?!
We have the benefit of knowing the whole story. The disciples didn’t know how things were going to turn out. So they were very sad. They were grieving, because they were about to lose Jesus.
But Jesus encourages their hearts with the promise of the Holy Spirit.
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 go, I will send him to you.
Even though Jesus was leaving, there was something good coming. There was a reason for continued hope. All was not lost!
Jesus promised that after he left, he would send the Holy Spirit. He says that it is good for them, it is to their advantage that he’s going away so that he can send them the Holy Spirit.
They didn’t have the Spirit indwelling them yet. The Spirit did not yet dwell in all believers. This only began after the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus.
38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ”
39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
They needed the Spirit to indwell them and empower them in order to carry out the mission he gave them.
They were going to be witnesses for him, spreading the good news about Jesus all over the world. Jesus in his human nature was limited to one place at a time, like us, but the Holy Spirit could be in and with all of the apostles as they spread out all over the world doing his work:
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
And this was not just for the apostles, but the Holy Spirit would come to indwell every true believer in Jesus Christ. So even here, 2000 years later, we have the Holy Spirit indwelling us and empowering us just as he did for the apostles and the early church.
In this passage, Jesus tells us of two aspects of the Holy Spirit’s work: first of all, in v. 8-11, he describes the Holy Spirit’s Work in the World, then in v. 12-15, he describes the Spirit’s work in them and in all believers.
The Work of the Holy Spirit in the World (v. 8-11)
The Work of the Holy Spirit in the World (v. 8-11)
8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:
In v. 8, Jesus gives us an outline of the Spirit’s work in the world. It’s helpful to us to understand that the Holy Spirit will do these things through believers; he accomplishes these things through the words and actions of believers whom he indwells. While there may be some cases where He works in different ways, the Spirit primarily accomplishes these things through the preaching of God’s Word and the testimony of God’s people.
It tells us he will convict...
“Reprove” (KJV); “Prove the world wrong” (NLT, NIV, NET); “Show that the world is wrong”
This is how one of the best commentators on John (D.A. Carson) defines the word:
In common with other New Testament usages, elenchō means ‘to convict [the world]’ in the personal sense ... shaming the world and convincing it of its own guilt, thus calling it to repentance.
In other words, Jesus means that the Holy Spirit will demonstrate to the world who Jesus really is and thus show the world that it was wrong about Jesus and needs to turn to him.
It tells us he will convict the world
8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:
John uses the word “world” in a lot of different ways, so it’s important to understand what he means. For example, John says “God so loved the world” (John 3:16), but in 1 John he says “Love not the world.” Clearly there are different meanings in these 2 verses. One book I listened through said John uses the word “world” with 7 different meanings throughout his writings. Here’s a few:
“Everyone” (either literal or figurative - humanity in general)
“All nations” (not just Jews)
The planet earth
The universe
The system of human opposition and hostility toward God
So what does he mean here?
I think it’s pretty clear he intends the last meaning here: the system of human opposition and hostility toward God. The world system is opposed to God, which is why they rejected Jesus. This is why the Holy Spirit is coming to convict the world. And Jesus mentions 3 specific things He will convict them of:
Sin
Righteousness
Judgment
And he goes on in the following verses to explain each one:
9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me;
Jesus as the Light of the World had exposed sin in the world by the things he said and did and he called people to repentance.
The specific sin Jesus mentions here is rejection of Jesus and his message. In Peter’s message at Pentecost in Acts 2, the Holy Spirit used Peter to convict the Jewish people of their sin of rejecting the Messiah, and 3000 men repented and believed in Christ that day.
While there are other sins that God may expose and convict others of through our words and actions, the primary sin he convicts people of, the very first thing they must repent of is their rejection of Jesus Christ, unbelief in him. If they come to him and trust in him, the Holy Spirit will indwell them and continue to convict them of sin.
10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer;
The second thing Jesus says is that the Holy Spirit will convict the world of its guilt concerning righteousness.
Probably the best way to understand this is that righteousness refers to the world’s attempt to justify itself or attain a right relationship with God. Certainly this was the case of the Jews in Jesus’s day. They thought that by doing lots of good and right things and observing the law carefully they could gain God’s favor.
But the Scripture has told us in Isaiah 64:6 that our righteousness is like filthy rags to God. The best we can offer him is unacceptable.
20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
So the Holy Spirit will convince the world of its empty righteousness - He will show the world that even the best they have to offer God doesn’t meet his standard, and they must stop trying to work their way to God and trust in Christ instead. When you trust Christ he gives you his perfect righteousness so that God sees you as righteous, and he begins to work that righteousness in your life as well and makes you holy like him.
11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
Finally, Jesus says that the Spirit will convict the world of its guilt regarding judgment.
The kind of judgment Jesus probably has in mind is what he spoke of in John 7:24
24 Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”
They were making wrong judgments about Jesus because they did not really know him and they refused to come to him and believe in him. Though they thought they could see clearly, they were really blind.
The world needs to be convinced that it is guilty of having wrong ideas and opinions about Jesus. They need to be shown that they are wrong and repent of their wrong judgments.
On account of their wrong judgment of Jesus, they are headed for judgment by Jesus unless they repent.
So the Holy Spirit will convict the world that it is wrong about these things.
And the primary way that the Holy Spirit will accomplish this work is through us — Jesus’s followers. He lives in us and will speak through us and act through us to convict people in this world that they are wrong and need to repent and turn to Jesus.
So if you are a believer, know that God wants to do this through you; he wants to use you in your words and actions to expose sinful thoughts and actions of people in this world and turn them to Jesus.
He does this as we faithfully speak of Christ and seek to demonstrate his character in our lives.
The Ministry of the Holy Spirit to Believers (v. 12-15)
The Ministry of the Holy Spirit to Believers (v. 12-15)
We have already seen that the work of the Holy Spirit in the world is something that he does through believers.
Now Jesus explains that the Holy Spirit will also do something for believers.
12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.
Imagine if we had a full account of the life of Jesus. How amazing would it be to know every word he ever said and everything he ever did?
We have such a small portion of his words and works in Scripture, so that John says at the end of his Gospel,
25 Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.
But Jesus gave his disciples what they needed, and he gives us what we need.
They weren’t ready to listen and understand all he wanted to teach them. After his death and resurrection they understood much more, but there were still many things that Jesus could have continued to teach them and help them understand.
But Jesus was leaving again. And so the work of saying the things Jesus didn’t say fell to the Holy Spirit.
Jesus wasn’t going to continue with his disciples physically speaking to keep teaching them. Rather, the Holy Spirit would perform this ministry by indwelling them and communicating truth from Jesus to them.
13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.
The Holy Spirit would direct the apostles into all the truth — he would teach them everything they needed to know and understand, and he would lead some of them to write down these things for us. He led Peter, John, Matthew, and others to write the words he wanted them to, and by his grace we have those words nearly 2000 years later. This is the doctrine of inspiration. The Holy Spirit of God breathed out his words through the tongues and pens of the apostles and others close to them, and they have been written down and copied, and by God’s grace, his words have been miraculously preserved through the centuries for us today.
Jesus says that the Holy Spirit’s words are not his own, but the words that he has heard from Christ, who is the Living Word of God.
Jesus also promised his disciples that the Holy Spirit would declare to them the things that are to come.
This may refer to events that are still future to us, but more likely the emphasis is on what was still future to the disciples when Jesus spoke these words, namely the death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ. Jesus had told the apostles repeatedly of these coming events, but they did not understand. The Holy Spirit would help them to understand the significance of these things and make sense of them.
And the death and resurrection and ascension of Christ are some of the most common themes in the preaching and the writings of the apostles later on, precisely because the Holy Spirit declared to them and explained to them what it was that Christ had done and what it meant.
14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
Perhaps the greatest aspect of the Holy Spirit’s ministry is that He glorifies Jesus Christ. He exalts Christ.
One of the great problems of charismatic theology is that the Holy Spirit is exalted instead of Christ. If this movement were truly a movement of God’s Spirit, it would exalt Jesus and not the Holy Spirit. We know that the Holy Spirit is at work when Jesus Christ is exalted, when people see how great he is and worship him as the risen Savior and Lord and King of the Universe and greatest treasure.
Any teaching that does not exalt Christ is not of God.
On the other hand, as an overreaction to the excesses of the charismatic movement, many in our circles almost ignore the Holy Spirit and act as if he didn’t exist. We need to be careful to avoid both extremes.
If you see Christ as glorious and valuable, if you worship him as your Lord and greatest treasure, thank God for the Holy Spirit! The Holy Spirit revealed Christ to you and made you see how amazing and worthy he is. And the more that we see Jesus Christ high and lifted up, the more we will be like him. As one of my favorite preachers says, “Beholding is becoming.” As the Spirit opens our eyes to the beauty and desirability and value of Jesus Christ, we will behold him ever more clearly, and we will become more and more like him.
This is the work of the Holy Spirit — to show us and everyone else how amazing he is.
15 All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
And Jesus Christ is in fact glorious. He is the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the Sovereign of the Universe.
“All that the Father has is mine.”
All authority is given to me — Matthew 28:18
18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
In Psalm 2, the Father says to the Son,
7 I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you.
8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.
Hebrews says that the Son has been appointed the heir of all things.
2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.
Jesus is the one to whom every knee will bow.
9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,
10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
And when our knees bow to Jesus, God the Father is glorified, and we are satisfied, because we were made for this.
And this is the Holy Spirits’s work, to exalt Jesus, to show us how great he is, in order that we might bow before him and find everlasting joy in him.
This is what the world needs, and it’s what we as believers need, to see Jesus.
The desire expressed by some Greeks in John 12 ought to be ours as well:
Christian Standard Bible Chapter 12
we want to see Jesus.
And when the Holy Spirit shows us Jesus through the Word, our response like Isaiah should be,
Turning away from sin and toward Jesus
Give your life to serve him and his Kingdom.
Thank God for the Holy Spirit and the work he has done and will continue to do in our lives.
And let’s pray that he will work through us to bring others to Christ through our words and actions.