December 31, 2017

John 16:5-15: The Ministry of the Spirit

Preacher: Josh Tancordo Series: The Gospel of John: That You May Believe Scripture: John 16:5–15

John 16:5-15: The Ministry of the Spirit

Please turn with me to John 16. If you’re using the Story Bible we provide, that’s on page 747. We’re going to continue our series of messages going through the Gospel of John passage by passage. So wherever the text goes, that’s where we go. And this morning, the text takes us to John 16. John 16:5-15: 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. 

I don’t remember exactly how old I was, but when I was a young child, I remember experiencing something very frightening. I was in a department store with my mom, and she was going from rack to rack looking at clothes. And as she kept looking at more and more clothes for what seemed like an endless length of time, I began to get a little bored. So I wandered away a little bit and decided it would be fun to hide inside one of the racks. The racks were basically squares that had clothes on each of the four sides of the square, so in the middle of each rack there was a perfect hiding spot. So I picked a rack, jumped in the middle, and waited for my mom to find me. And then I kept on waiting. And finally I waited some more. But she never came. So I began to get a little nervous. I began to think that maybe hiding from my mom actually wasn’t such a good idea. And my anxiety grew greater and greater until I finally jumped out of the rack and anxiously started looking for my mom. Unfortunately, she wasn’t where I had seen her last, and so I went all over the store looking for her, but I couldn’t find her anywhere. Now by this time, I was in a panic. I wasn’t sure if I would ever see my mom again. But then, just when I was about to give up all hope, I heard an announcement over the loudspeaker. And the voice said, “Joshua Tancordo, please come to the front registers; your mother is here waiting for you.” So I ran up to the registers, found my mom, and was the happiest kid in the world. But I still remember how alone I felt before I heard that announcement. It was pretty frightening as a young kid. Without my mom, I felt like I was all alone in the world. I think that’s the best way to describe how I felt. Utter aloneness. 

And I think that’s similar to the way a lot of people feel with regard to God. God often seems so distant, so far-away and far-removed from the things we’re going through. And it often feels like we’re all alone in life. However, just because we feel alone, that doesn’t mean we are alone. And our text of Scripture this morning is a great reminder of that. Here in John 16, Jesus understood that his disciples were about to feel a lot like we often feel—forgotten and alone. And the reason they were about to feel that way is because, as Jesus announces in verse 5, he’s about to go back to the Father. He’s been with his disciples for three years now, living life together and doing ministry together day in and day out. But now, he’s about to go back to the Father. And Jesus anticipates the great loss and the great loneliness his disciples will feel when he does that. Even as Jesus is talking to them, he observes that “sorrow has filled your heart.” His disciples were already sorrowful as they anticipated his departure. And that’s understandable. Remember that these men had left everything to follow Jesus—their homes, their jobs, their whole way of life. And now they discover that he’s leaving them? That’s a difficult pill to swallow. 

However, Jesus says, “In reality, you won’t be alone. You’ll never be alone. Instead,” he says, “I’m sending you the Holy Spirit.” Verse 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.” So, Jesus says, “Me going away is actually to your advantage. It means that you’ll now get the Helper—the Holy Spirit—and he’ll do for you even more than I’ve done for you. You’ll actually be getting an upgrade.” And that’s the main thing to get from this passage. Jesus has sent the Holy Spirit to continue and even amplify his earthly ministry. Jesus has sent the Holy Spirit to continue and even amplify his earthly ministry. And there are three ways the Spirit does that, according to Jesus. And we’ll look at these in some detail. First, the Spirit helps us know. Second, the Spirit helps us show. And third, the Spirit helps us grow. 

The Spirit Helps Us Know

So first, let’s look at how the Spirit helps us know. And when I say that he helps us know, I’m referring to the way he brings about an awareness of some very important things. Look at verses 8-11: “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.” Now I know there’s a lot there, but I want you to notice first who it says is receiving the Spirit’s revelation about all these things. Jesus says, “He will convict the world.” “The world” is a phrase commonly used to describe people who haven’t become Christians yet. So the Spirit will convict people from all over the world who have yet to become Christians about these very important things. And he’ll “convict” them in the sense that he’ll help them see how true and how real these things are. And there are three things Jesus mentions specifically: sin and righteousness and judgment. Those are the things the Spirit’s going to convict people about. 

The first is sin. The Spirit will convict people about their sin. And the specific sin Jesus mentions in verse 9 is not believing in him, but I think it’s safe to say that the Spirit’s conviction extends to all the sins people commit. Part of the Spirit’s ministry is to bring those sins to people’s attention. Because the vast majority of the time, we’re blind to our sin. And even if we can identify a few sins in our lives, we often don’t think those sins are very serious. We think of them more as imperfections rather than acts of rebellion against God, and we don’t really view them as that big of a deal. I was going out for coffee with someone from the church this past week, and we got to talking about how everyone likes to view themselves as a relatively good person. The guy who prides himself in checking the boxes of external morality looks at the guy who cheats on his taxes and says to himself, “At least I’m not like him.” Meanwhile, the guy who cheats on his taxes looks at the guy who cheats on his wife and says to himself, “Well, at least I’m not like him.” Then the guy who cheats on his wife looks at the guy who rapes the women he dates and says, “At least I’m not like him.” Then the rapist looks at the murderer and says, “At least I’m not like him.” And finally the murderer looks at Hitler and says, “At least I’m not like him.” So basically, unless you’re Hitler, you’re able to think of yourself as a relatively good person. And just about everyone thinks of themselves in that way. But then the Spirit comes in, and he opens our eyes to the fact that we’re actually not a good person. He helps us see for the first time that we’re actually guilty and even vile in the eyes of a holy God. 

And that leads us to the next thing Jesus says that the Spirit convicts us of. He convicts us not only of sin but also of righteousness. And that refers, of course, not to the fact that we have righteousness but to the fact that we need righteousness. The Spirit shows us just how desperately we need righteousness. If we’re ever going to be reconciled to the God we’ve sinned against and if we’re ever going to escape God’s judgment for our sin and be with God forever in heaven, then we need a righteousness that we do not have. In fact, we need a righteousness we’re not capable of having—because God demands perfect righteousness. 

And since we don’t have perfect righteousness, there’s only one thing left for us: judgment. And that’s the third thing the Spirit convicts people of. If you look at verse 11, it says the Spirit convicts people “concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.” Now “the ruler of this world” is none other than Satan. He’s the world’s ruler in the sense that he has temporary power over this world. But Jesus says Satan’s judgment is so certain to come in the future, it’s as if it’s already happening. He “is judged.” And the clear implication there is that not only is Satan judged, but everyone who’s in a state of rebellion against God is also judged with him. Judgment is coming. And the Spirit helps people see that. He “convict[s] the world…concerning judgment.” 

Now thankfully, there is good news. The whole reason Jesus came to this world was to rescue us from this terrible situation. He came to provide for us that righteousness we so desperately needed and to rescue us from the judgment of God. And here’s how he did it. Jesus took our sins on himself when he died on the cross. All of our sins were placed on his shoulders as he died so that he suffered the penalty for them instead of us. And Jesus then rose again from the dead so that he’s now able to save us. That, my friend, is the good news of the gospel. And that’s our church’s central message. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says it this way: “For our sake [God] made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” “[God] made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” In other words, a wonderful exchange took place between us and Jesus. Jesus took our sin and in return gave us his righteousness. It’s a pretty good deal. And if you feel the Holy Spirit right now convicting you of these things and telling you that all of these things are true, don’t ignore that. Instead turn to Jesus and put your trust in Jesus for rescue, and that exchange of sin and righteousness can be true for you also.

The Spirit Helps Us Show

And if you’ve already done that—if you’ve already become a Christian and put your trust in Jesus—then your mission is to tell others how they can experience what you’ve experienced. God wants you to share the good news of the gospel with as many people as possible. And as you think about that mission, let me remind you that you’re not alone. The Holy Spirit is also working to accomplish that mission as he moves in people’s hearts and convicts them of gospel truths. And that leads us to our second point this morning. Not only does this passage teach us that the Spirit helps us know, it also reminds us that the Spirit helps us show. And when I say “show,” I’m talking about showing people the truths of the gospel. That’s another thing we get from those very same verses we’ve been looking at, verses 8-11. By convicting the world about these three things, the Spirit helps us show. 

Remember why Jesus is saying the things he’s saying in this passage. Jesus is telling his disciples that even though he’s leaving, he’s not leaving them alone. They’ll never be alone. The Holy Spirit will continue and even amplify Jesus’ earthly ministry. And honestly, I think we often forget that as we think about our mission. We may never say this, but we often act as if the success of the mission is riding entirely on our shoulders. It’s almost as if we’ve become naturalists. Typically, when we think of a naturalist, we think of a scientist who only believes in what he can test and measure. If he can’t test and measure it through the scientific method, he doesn’t believe in it. So of course, since he can’t test or measure God, he doesn’t believe in God. There’s no room for God in his naturalistic presuppositions. And, that’s the predominant view among the intellectual elites of our society. Go to any secular university or go to the Smithsonian museum of natural history, and that’s what you’ll find. I took my kids down to the Carnegie Science Center not too long ago, and I noticed a number of indicators there that naturalism is only view they have room for. They have absolutely no room for the supernatural. But as we observe just how steeped in naturalism our society has become, let’s not forget that we Christians also can sometimes act like naturalists. And like I said, we do that whenever we act as if the success of our gospel mission is riding entirely on our shoulders. So my prayer is that Jesus’ words here in John 16 will change us from naturalists into supernaturalists—that we would see that God hasn’t left us alone to accomplish the mission he’s given us. 

Take a moment and think about the people in your life who aren’t Christians yet—your neighbors, your coworkers, your friends, perhaps even your family. I’m sure many of you have a deep, deep desire to see those people saved. But maybe the thought of reaching out to them seems very overwhelming to you. If that’s something you struggle with, remember this: you’re not alone in the mission. Even now, at this very moment, the Holy Spirit is working in people all around you. He’s already at work in them. He’s softening their hearts and making them ready to hear the gospel. Jesus says that, even now, the Spirit’s convicting them of sin and righteousness and judgment. Your job is simply to join the Spirit in his ministry. God’s working all around you; join him in that work! That’s all he’s asking you to do. 

Think about what needs to happen before a farmer can sow his seed. Now I realize that I’m talking to a bunch of city folks and that most of us probably haven’t ever grown anything larger than a tomato plant. I get that. But hopefully most of us still understand that before a farmer can sow his seed in a field, he has to plow that field. He has to break up the dirt and make it loose so that the seed can actually penetrate the soil. If you try to sow seed on soil that’s packed down really tightly, you’re probably not going to see very much grow. Before you can sow, you have to plow—you have to prepare that dirt to receive the seed. And that’s what the Holy Spirit does in people’s hearts. He gets people ready to receive the seed of the gospel. So our task is to sow as much seed as possible with the confidence that some of that seed is going to fall into receptive soil. Sharing the gospel doesn’t have to be an overwhelming task. Just sow the seed with the confidence that the Holy Spirit (1) has been working to make sure that seed is received and (2) will continue to work to make that seed grow. You’re simply joining the Spirit in his ministry. And by the way, that’s definitely been my experience. In every single case when someone has come to faith through my witness, the best way I can describe it is that it’s been, in a sense, almost effortless on my part. It almost feels automatic. I just make sure I’m very intentional about praying for people and then I sow the seed, and God does the rest. So if you feel overwhelmed when it comes to sharing the gospel, let me just say that you’re doing it wrong. And if you feel self-confident in sharing the gospel, you’re also doing it wrong. Sharing the gospel the right way involves looking to the Holy Spirit both to precede our sharing and to follow our sharing so that people embrace the things we tell them. Jesus hasn’t left us to pursue this mission alone. He’s sent out his Spirit so that when we share the gospel, we’re simply joining the Spirit in his ministry. That should make you a lot more confident and a lot more optimistic as you share. 

The Spirit Helps Us Grow

Then finally, not only does the Spirit help us know and not only does he help us show, but he also helps us grow. That’s our final point. The Spirit helps us grow. Look at verse 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.” So after we’re converted, after we embrace the truth, the Spirit guides us even farther into the truth. He gives us deeper insight into the truth and shows us different facets of the truth and causes the truth to become more and more real in our lives. That’s what Jesus is talking about when he says the Spirit “will guide you into all the truth.” And the truth we’re talking about is the truth of Jesus. Remember, back in John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life.” So the Spirit guiding us into the truth means that he shows us more and more of Jesus. You might say that he makes Jesus more and more real to us. And here’s what I mean by that. 

Let’s use poverty in the nation of India as an example. I’m sure many of us know intellectually that there are a lot of people living impoverished lives in India right now. But even though we’re aware of that intellectually, we don’t necessarily think about it that much or truly grasp the extent of the poverty these people face. Their poverty isn’t very real to many of us. Now there are various ways it can become more real to us. I could share with you statistics about poverty in India. I could tell you that one out of every four people in India lives on less than $1.25 per day and that well over half of people in India live on less than $3.10 per day. Or, to make the poverty more real to you than that, I could show you a picture of some impoverished Indian children. Or if you want Indian poverty to become even more real to you, the best way to do that is to travel to India yourself and tour the slums and sit with the people and learn from experience what their lives are like. So there’s a big difference between knowing about poverty intellectually and really seeing it and grasping it so that it becomes real to us. 

And it’s the same way with the gospel. It’s possible to subscribe to the gospel with our mind without being gripped by the gospel and moved by the gospel and without really experiencing the fullness of the gospel’s power. And unfortunately, that’s probably the case with us far more often than we’d like to admit. But the Spirit helps us. Part of what it means for the Spirit to guide us into all truth is for him to make the truth of the gospel real to us so that it filters down to the deepest recesses of our hearts and transforms us from the inside out. The Spirit guides us into the truth by opening our eyes to see the beauty and the glory of who Jesus is. He opens our eyes to see the wonder and the magnitude of what Jesus has done. And the Spirit causes all of the gospel truths of Jesus to become more and more real to us. You need that, I need that, our church needs that. And that’s what the Spirit does. In verse 14, Jesus says, “He will glorify me,” speaking of the Spirit. “He will glorify me.” So don’t be content with dotting your theological “I’s” and crossing your theological “t’s.” Don’t let your Christianity merely consist of sound doctrine. Instead, cry out for the Holy Spirit to guide you into all truth. 

Conclusion

So if there’s one thing for you to get from the message this morning, it’s this: be a supernaturalist, not a naturalist. Look for the Spirit to do all the things we’ve been talking about—all the things Jesus says we can expect him to do. Look for him to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. Look for him to guide you personally into all truth. Look for him to be involved every day in every aspect of your life. Be a supernaturalist. There’s no reason why you can’t see God at work in and around you just as much as Jesus’ original disciples. After all, Jesus says, he’s sent his Spirit to continue and even amplify his earthly ministry. 

But if we want to see the Spirit move, there’s one thing that’s absolutely essential for us to do. Jesus doesn’t mention it in this particular passage, but he does mention it repeatedly in the passages before and after this passage. If you and I want to see the Spirit move, we have to be praying for him to move. It’s as simple as that. If we don’t pray, I don’t think we can have any legitimate expectation that the Spirit will do anything. Prayer is that important. Jesus has sent his Spirit to work on this world, but both Scripture and history tell us that—in virtually every situation—the Spirit only works in response to our prayers. So if you want to see the Spirit work in you and through you and all around you, that begins with you on your knees in prayer.

other sermons in this series