John 16:4-15: The Testimony of the Holy Spirit

Scripture Reading

Titus 3:4–7 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Intro

Would you rather have Christ beside you or the Holy Spirit in you?

I think most of us would say Jesus beside me.

How if we could just be right here, we know He could help.

But in one of the most shocking statements of the New Testament Jesus said 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.

To your advantage.

Jesus says it is better for us that He go away so that we might have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us.

And that’s because of the Spirit’s work in the life and heart of the believer to testify to us the glory of Christ and make Him known.

It is by the Spirit that you and I enjoy the blessings and benefits of Christ and know Him as our Prophet, Priest, and King… our Lord and Savior and have the joy of our souls fulfilled in seeing His glory.

It is by the Spirit that theology becomes hearts on fire with love and worship to God.

And so we are going to have two points today.

The first one looking at the great blessing and advantage we have in the Holy Spirit.

And the second… the testimony of the Spirit about the glory of Christ and His person and work… as our Prophet, Priest, and King to save us from all our sins.

Let’s start with point number 1…

I. The Indwelling Holy Spirit is a Great Blessing and Advantage to the Believer

John 16:4–6 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.

The these things that Jesus is talking about with the Disciples is that He was going away… that He was about to about to leave… He was going to go to the cross and then ascend to the Father (John 13:33).

And that while He was gone the Disciples were going to suffer the hatred and persecution of the world.

He said They will put you out of the synagogues… the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God… If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you (John 16:2, 15:20).

And because of these things Jesus says, sorrow has filled your heart.

But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, “Where are you going?”

This might seem odd because the Disciples had in fact asked where Jesus was going.

In John 13:36 Peter said “Lord, where are you going?”

And in John 14:5 Thomas said, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”

What is probably going on here is not that Jesus simply just forgot that the Disciples asked where He was going.

Its probably more along the idea that the Disciples were not really concerned with where Jesus was going but what it might mean for them.

Their questions weren’t about Jesus, they were about themselves.

Like when a young child is disappointed and says, “Dad, where are you going?”

They aren’t really asking where Dad is going. They are asking why Dad can’t stay and play.

Its all about them.

Great Joy

They were focusing on themselves and not about what Jesus was about to accomplish on the cross.

If they had, instead of sorrow they would have been filled with great joy (cf. Luke 24:52).

Jesus was going back to the one who sent Him.

He was going back to the Father and returning to the glory He had with Him before the foundation of the world (John 17:5).

The Disciples should have rejoiced that Jesus was returning to His proper place in the joy and glory of the Father.

But not only that, the Disciples should have rejoiced that Jesus was going to accomplish their salvation.

He said I am going to prepare a place for you… in my Father’s house there are many rooms (John 14:1-3).

I am going to pay for your sins and secure your way to the Father… reconcile you to God!

King and Priest

In returning to the Father and sitting down at His right hand Jesus would sit down as the King of kings and Lord of lords to rule and reign over all thing for His glory and the good of His Church.

And He would also pass through the heavens into the True Holy of Holies that the Lord set up not man to sprinkle His blood on the Heavenly and Eternal Mercy Seat and atone once for all for all our sin (Hebrews 8:1-6, 9:11-12, 24).

When Jesus sat down, He didn’t just sit down as King of kings… He sat down as our Great High Priest accomplishing all the Work the Father had given Him to do.

Hebrews 10:11–14 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. [Talking about the animal sacrifices of the Old Covenant]. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

Instead of sorrow, the Disciples should have rejoiced because Christ was going away to secure their eternal redemption through the cross.

He sat down because there was no more work to be done.

He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

It is finished… He has satisfied the wrath of God once for all for all our sins (John 19:30).

Jesus said If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father… I’m going to satisfy the wrath of God and pay for your sins once and for all… (John 14:28)

I am going to prepare a place for you… And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also… in the presence and glory of the Father (John 14:3).

But that’s not the only reason the Disciples should have rejoiced.

John 16:7 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.

This is one of the most shocking statements in Christ’s ministry.

It is to your advantage… it is better for us… that Christ go away… than to be right here.

I think all of us have longed to be with Jesus.

But He says I tell you the truth, its to your advantage I go away.

And then He gives us the reason why.

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 says it is better to have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, than Jesus right beside us.

Because through the Holy Spirit, Christ abides in us.

Paul said that it is through the Spirit… that Christ dwells our hearts through faith (Ephesians 3:16-17).

In this very conversation Jesus said If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we ill come to him and make our home with him (John 14:23, cf. Revelation 3:20).

How? The Holy Spirit. You know Him for he dwells with you and will be in you (John 14:17, cf. Romans 8:9-10).

Instead of Christ being in the world across the ocean… He’s right here.

Every believer is connected to Him as a branch is to a vine (John 15:1, 5).

We are never without Him… We are never far from Him.

He dwells in us and is with us by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit

1 John 4:13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.

It is to your advantage that I go away for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you.

The cross and Jesus’ glorification was necessary for the sending of the Holy Spirit.

The third person of the Trinity… God Himself… will not dwell in an unholy Temple (1 Corinthians 6:19).

Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple (1 Corinthians 3:16-17).

The finished work of Christ was necessary for us to be a clean temple for the Holy Spirit… He could not dwell in us without it.

And because He does dwell in us we know that Christ’s sacrifice was accepted by the Father and we are forgiven once for all for all our sin.

Advantage

So Jesus says that its to our advantage that He go away that we might receive the gift and grace of the indwelling Holy Spirit, so what advantage is that?

So what blessings and advantage do we have in the grace of the indwelling Holy Spirit?

1. The Spirit Seals and Applies the Finished Work of Christ

Number 1… we already saw… He seals and applies the finished work of Christ.

In John 7, Jesus said “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ”

And then John gives his commentary… 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 (John 7:37-39).

The Holy Spirit is the promised Holy Spirit who washes us clean and gives us the living water of Eternal Life.

He takes the finished work of Christ and applies it to us.

What’s the difference between someone who believes in Jesus Christ and someone that does not?

The work and ministry of the Holy Spirit.

You must be born again… unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter the Kingdom of God (John 3:7, 3).

Its the Holy Spirit who gives us the New Birth and applies to us all the blessings and benefits of Christ… washing… cleansing… forgiveness of sin… adoption as beloved sons and daughters in Christ (Romans 8:15).

2. The Spirit Seals Us for Eternal Life

Number 2… He seals us for eternal life.

In Ephesians 1:13–14 Paul says In him [That is in Christ] you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

The Holy Spirit doesn’t just give us eternal life… He seals us for eternal life as the down payment or guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it.

Because of the grace of the indwelling Holy Spirit you are eternally secure and cannot lose your salvation because you are kept by the grace and power of the Holy Spirit.

3. The Spirit Dwells in Us to Help us Live a Holy and Godly Life

Number 3… related to this… the Holy Spirit dwells in us to Help us Live a Holy and Godly Life.

In John 14:15 Jesus said, If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

We want to!… that’s the desire of every genuine, heartfelt Christian.

But we are all so weak…

We want to kill our sin, but we find that there is a war within us (Romans 7:15-25).

But that’s why Jesus said in the very next verse… And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth… You know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you (John 14:15-17).

The Holy Spirit gives us the grace and power to put our sin to death.

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh (Galatians 5:16).

So the Spirit Seals and Applies the Finished Work of Christ…

Seals Us for Eternal Life…

Dwells in us to Help us live a Holy and Godly life…

And Number 4…

4. The Spirit Teaches Us All Things and Communicates All the Blessings of Christ

John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

And John 16:13–15 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. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

The Holy Spirit inspired and illuminates Scripture to reveal the glory of Christ… and the promises of Christ… and the blessings of Christ… and makes that glory and those promises and those blessings sweet to us.

The Bible says The natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned (1 Corinthians 2:14).

Without the Holy Spirit you and I could not know or understand the things of Christ.

We could not know His great love or all the great blessings we have in Him.

But by the Spirit’s ministry, we have spiritual ears to discern the things that are spiritually discerned.

He takes the things of Christ and declares them to us.

And most importantly He makes them spiritually sweet to us.

When you grow in your love for Christ or you have that moment in your soul of deep thankfulness and gratitude for the grace of God… that is the work of the Holy Spirit in you.

It is to our advantage because it is by the Spirit that Jesus died on the cross become Jesus died for me.

Finally Number 5…

5. The Spirit Empowers Our Witness in the Great Commission

John 15:26–27 But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.

The immediate context of Jesus saying it is to your advantage that I go away is that the Holy Spirit will glorify me… that’s number 4 that we just looked at…

And that the Holy Spirit would empower the disciples witness as they carried out the Great Commission and endure the hatred and hostility of the world… bear persecution.

Without the Holy Spirit we would have no hope in the Great Commission because we don’t have the power to make dead men live.

But the Holy Spirit does.

He has the power to take our preaching and make it powerful and effective sinners, dead in their trespasses and sins alive again in the grace of the New Birth.

And as the Helper He comes alongside us to carry us and sustain us agains the persecution of the world.

It is to our advantage because without Him, we would have no hope to carry out the Great Commission but with Him we are clothed with power from on high (Luke 24:49).

Transition

It is to our advantage to have the indwelling grace of the Holy Spirit because…

The Spirit Seals and Applies the Finished Work of Christ…

Seals and Keeps Us for Eternal Life…

Dwells in us to Help us live a Godly life

Teaches us all things and communicates all the blessings we have in Christ.

And empowers us as the church in our witness.

These last two I want to really focus on for the remainder of this sermon because they are the two point most closely connected to the immediate context of Jesus’ promise of the Holy Spirit.

In the context of the Passage the Holy Spirit as the Helper does two things.

He will bear witness about me… in terms of helping us bear witness to the world.

And He will glorify me… in terms of taking what belongs to Christ and declaring it to us.

And then verse 8 tells us how.

When he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment (John 16:8).

This is how the Holy Spirit bears witness and glorifies Christ.

In convicting the world of sin and righteousness and judgment the Holy Spirit shows us who Christ is and what all He’s done to save us from our sin.

So that’s what I want to look at.

I want to look at the witness of the Holy Spirit and how that witness both convicts the world and bears witness to us of the glory of Christ.

And that’s point number 2…

II. The Holy Spirit Bears Witness to the Glory of Christ as Our Prophet, Priest, and King

John 16:8–11 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 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.

In these verses we have the witness of the Holy Spirit concerning the glory of Christ.

In convicting the world, He shows us that Christ is the only answer for our sin.

And for the elect, those that are being saved this witness is the aroma of life to life and for those that are perishing it is the aroma of death to death (2 Corinthians 2:14-16).

And you’ll notice that Jesus says the Holy Spirit will convict the world of three things… concerning sin… concerning righteousness… and concerning judgment.

And then gives a reason for that conviction that bears witness to the glory of Christ.

When Jesus says… because they do not believe in me… because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer… and because the ruler of this world is judged…

All three of this speak to the glory of the Person and Work of Christ as our Mediator… as our Prophet, Priest, and King.

The three offices Christ fulfills for us as our Redeemer to accomplish everything necessary for our salvation.

Number 1…

1. The Holy Spirit Convicts the World Concerning Sin

John 16:9 …concerning sin, because they do not believe in me…

So the Holy Spirit convicts the world concerning sin and specifically the sin of not believing in Jesus Christ.

Prophet

This speaks to the glory of Christ as our Prophet.

As our Prophet… Christ is the only way to know God and His will for our salvation.

I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me (John 14:6).

No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known (John 1:18).

As our Prophet, Jesus is the only way to know God the Father and to reject Him is to reject God Himself.

Jesus said Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. (John 5:23).

Why? Because Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature (Hebrews 1:3).

He is the Word of God and the Eternal Son of God made flesh.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:1, 14).

To see Jesus is, as Jesus said, to see the Father (John 14:9).

He is the image of invisible God and the only way we know God (Colossians 1:15).

That’s why Jesus was able to say Whoever hates me hates my Father also (John 15:22-24).

This is why rejecting Christ and not believing in Him is the epitome of all sin.

It is basically all other sin wrapped up in one because it says I would rather have my sin than ever give glory to God.

In John 3:19–20 it says The light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.

This verse shows us the sinfulness of our sin.

How much we would rather have our sin over the glory of God because the reason why people don’t come to Christ… believe in Christ… worship Christ… trust in Christ alone… is because they love their sin

They don’t want to come into the light because they don’t want their evil works to be exposed.

They don’t want to give it all up.

This is why John says Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God (John 3:18).

As Jesus said, Unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins (John 8:24).

Refusing to believe in Christ is what convicts us and condemns us in our sin because it is the definitive proof that we love our sin more than God.

By convicting the world of sin because they do not believe in Jesus the Holy Spirit reveals the glory of Christ as Prophet… the only way to know God and His will for our salvation.

To reject Him is to reject the Father and condemn us in our sin.

As Prophet, Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day. For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me (John 12:44-50).

The One True Prophet who reveals God and His will for our salvation.

Number 2…

2. The Holy Spirit Convicts the World Concerning Righteousness

John 16:10 …concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer…

The key here is when Jesus says because I go to the Father and you will see me no longer.

The Holy Spirit convicts the world concerning righteousness to show us that our righteousness is not enough and the only righteousness that can stand before God is the perfect righteousness of Christ.

We are all unrighteous in our sin.

Paul says None is righteous, no, not one…

Why? Because all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:10, 23).

Righteousness is right and perfect standing against God’s holy and righteous standard… God’s own Law.

To be righteous is to be righteous before the Law… to keep all the Law and not fail at one single point because God’s Law demands perfect and total obedience and the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men (Romans 1:18, James 2:10).

So we are guilty before the Law… unrighteous before God and deserving of God’s righteous wrath and judgment.

For the wages of sin is death (John 6:23).

So we have a problem, we are unrighteous before the Law and no amount of keeping the Law or living a life of good works can wipe away one single sin.

The Bible says our righteousness is like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6).

So the Holy Spirit convicts the world of righteousness to show us our righteousness is not enough and point us to the perfect righteousness of Christ.

Active Obedience

He lived a perfect and sinless life.

He fulfilled all the righteous requirements of the Law on our behalf.

He kept God’s Law perfectly, perpetually, and totally.

Passive Obedience

And having lived a perfect and sinless life He went to the cross and died in our place for our sins.

He laid down His life for us.

He offered Himself as a pure and spotless lamb to atone for all our sin.

On the cross all the wrath of God our sin deserved was poured out on Him (Isaiah 53:4-6).

So Christ fulfilled both the Righteous Requirements of the Law on our behalf and paid the Penalty of the Law our sin deserved that He might save us from our sin bring us to God (1 Peter 3:18).

God made him who knew no sin to become sin on our behalf so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21).

By grace through faith all of our unrighteousness is laid on Christ and His perfect righteousness is given to us… we are clothed in the perfect righteousness of Christ with dazzling white robes washed in the blood of the Lamb (Revelation 7:14).

By going to the Father… Jesus made a new and living way (Hebrews 10:19-21).

As our Great High Priest Jesus offered His life as a sacrifice for our sin to atone for our sin and draw us near to God.

Justification

This is what we call the doctrine of Justification.

In Christ we are declared righteous before God.

He went to the Father to make a way for us.

And He is the only way to the Father because He is the only Priest and only sacrifice who can atone for our sin and make us righteous before God.

It like we saw earlier, He went to the Father and sat down having offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins to declare us righteous once and for all (Hebrews 10:11-14).

By going to the Father and pouring out the Holy Spirit… the Holy Spirit testifies that Christ’s sacrifice was accepted.

He convicts the world concerning righteousness to say that true righteousness and the only righteousness that can draw near to God and be accepted by Him is the perfect righteousness of Christ freely given by grace through faith in His sacrifice as our Great High Priest.

Number 3…

3. The Holy Spirit Convicts the World Concerning Judgment

John 16:11 …concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged…

The Ruler of this world is Satan with world being fallen, sinful humanity in rebellion against God.

And by His death and resurrection Christ would destroy the evil one… bind the strong man… disarm and conquer the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame (Hebrews 2:14-15, Matthew 12:29, Colossians 2:15).

In John 12:31 Jesus said Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.

In convicting the world concerning judgment because the ruler of this world is judged, the Holy Spirit testifies by the death and resurrection of Christ that Satan is judged… thrown down… and defeated.

And if Satan is judged, then Judgment is coming for all those who follow Him.

Talking to unbelievers Jesus said in John 8:44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires.

Paul says unbelievers are dead in the trespasses and sins… following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience… carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and [are] by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind (Ephesians 2:1-3).

The ruler of this world is judged says that all evil and everyone associated with Him will be judged on judgment day.

Speaking of Judgment Jesus said For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment (John 5:26-29).

King

This is Christ Kingly Ministry.

He has the authority to Forgive and the authority to Judge.

This judgment speaks to the glory of Christ as King because He is our great King who defeats all our enemies and delivers us from judgment.

And Jesus promises that as our King all who believe in Him has eternal life.

He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life (John 5:24).

Conclusion

The Holy Spirit convicts the world concerning:

1. Sin

2. Righteousness

3. And Judgment

And bears witness to the glory of Christ as the only:

1. Prophet

2. Priest

3. And King

who can save us from all our sins.

Concerning sin, and righteousness, and judgment all point us to believe and trust in Christ.

He will glorify me.

The Spirit’s testimony all points to the glory of Christ as our Prophet, Priest, and King.

As Prophet He alone reveals God and His will for our salvation.

As our Great High Priest Jesus offered His life as a sacrifice for our sin and to give us His perfect righteousness

And as our King Jesus is our Champion and Conqueror who defeated the Devil and delivered us from judgment.

He will take what is mine and declare it to you. The Spirit testifies to the glory of Christ as our Lord, Savior, and Redeemer.

He is our Prophet, Priest, and King… the One True Mediator between God and man.

The only way to know God, declared righteous before Him, and saved from condemnation and judgment.

Let’s Pray