Sermons from the Gospel of John

THE ADVANTAGE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

JOHN 16:4b-11

MARCH 24, 1996

I want to know how I can live the Christian life, don't you? I want to know how I can witness effectively for my Lord, don't you? Certainly, all of us have this same desire as believers. But sometimes you, like me, struggle in fulfilling the deepest desires of obedience and faithful witness. You may even face frustration and despair when considering the massive demands of the Christian life compared with your performance.

May I pass along to you today that there is help, my friend! Yes, you and I face an incredible task of trying to live faithfully for Christ and to effectively proclaim the gospel to the world. But unless there is divine assistance and I mean, lots of it, you and I just cannot get the job done!

We must keep in mind what was taking place in this great passage. Jesus was preparing the disciples for going on in their walk and work without Him being bodily present. They were accustomed to running to Christ, asking His counsel, calling on Him to bail them out of every difficult situation. Now Jesus begins to press home to the disciples that He was actually leaving them. He would be going back to the Father and they would be without His constant presence in their midst. Just when they thought they were functioning well with Christ among them, He would be leaving.

Consider what must have been going on in their minds. They surely wondered how they would be able to live with the same kind of distinction that was their practice while Christ watched their every step. They wondered how they would be able to continue on with the ministry which they had been involved in carrying out under His watchful eye. Christ had to some degree shielded the disciples from the intensity of persecution since most of the persecution thus far had been focused upon Him. Now the disciples faced the intensity of persecution while also facing the demands of carrying on the work of the gospel. How could they go on in obedience and confidence?

We, too, face the question of how to go on in obeying Christ in our walks, handling the opposition of the world, and being faithful witnesses of the gospel. How do you do these things without Jesus Christ standing bodily beside you? That is a legitimate question which the disciples needed answered and which, I trust, you want answered too. And there is an answer! It is found in the words of Jesus Christ which we have read in our text. We can walk the walk and talk the talk of the Christian life because of the God-given advantage of the Holy Spirit. You're not at a deficit, but at an advantage by the Holy Spirit. Our Lord states in our text that all who follow Him have been granted a distinct advantage by the coming of the Holy Spirit. Let's see what this means and how it applies to us in our daily lives.

I. The Holy Spirit and the believer

You need to see that Jesus is giving a solution to the sorrow which had invaded the hearts of the disciples. Sorrow was so real to them at that moment that they could not see past their grief and recognize that Christ was giving them a divine solution. Perhaps you find yourself overcome at times by some perception of life so that sorrow or despondency overwhelms you. You cannot see beyond it to find a solution. Then, my friend, take heart! Christ Jesus the Lord has spoken! And what He has said can give you courage to press on as a believer.

It is important to see that this text naturally divides into two parts: in the first we will see a portion of the relationship of the Holy Spirit to the believer and in the second, we will see the Holy Spirit's work upon the unbeliever.

Much of the New Testament epistles speak of the Spirit's role in empowering us in both walk and witness. Obviously, we cannot look at all of these passages, but we will see a sampling as we consider the implications of verse 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." What Jesus spoke may have seemed strange to the disciples at that point, but the truth of it became the well-spring of faithful Christian living in the days ahead. We need to...

1. Understand the divinely given advantage

If something is to your advantage then it means that it is in some way profitable to you or helpful to you or it gives you a unique edge. This is precisely what our Lord was getting across to the disciples. Though they felt that having Jesus Christ walking with them in the flesh was a magnanimous advantage, Jesus tells them that an even greater advantage is found in the coming of the Spirit.

When we consider the earthly ministry of Christ, we must recognize that He was a man as you and I are, while retaining His deity. As a man, Jesus Christ had all the physical limitations and needs which we have. With this, Jesus could only be in one place at a time. Do you remember that occasion when Jesus was on the mountain with His inner circle and they witnessed His transfiguration? While Jesus was on the mountain, the rest of the disciples were trying to deliver a young boy from his demonization. They could not do it. They needed Jesus to be present so that He might help them. As soon as Jesus came down the mountain, He saw the commotion, and was appealed to that He might deliver the boy from his demonized state. Jesus rebuked the disciples and reminded them that He would not always be with them. In this instance, Jesus came to the rescue and bailed out their inadequate ministry. But He pointed to the day that He would not be bodily present to take care of such situations.

We would all agree that it was a wonderful advantage to have Jesus standing with you in your work of ministry! Yet, Jesus tells us that there is an even greater advantage when He returns to the Father as our greater Intercessor and High Priest and sends to us the Holy Spirit. What are these advantages?

(1) The Holy Spirit indwells us permanently as believers. "However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him" (Romans 8:9). The Apostle Paul interchanges the designations of the Spirit in this verse, the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ. This is not a reference to two Holy Spirits, but to one Spirit who is the other member of the Godhead. For the Spirit to indwell you is to have Christ in Spirit indwelling you. This is why Jesus could point to the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit would come to permanently indwell believers and state, "In that day you shall know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you" (John 14:20). If the Spirit does not live in you, then you are not a true believer. But because He dwells in you, you will face no demand without God Himself in all His adequacy facing that demand within you.

(2) The Holy Spirit is never bound by time or space relations. Jesus, while on earth, was in one place at one time as we saw illustrated in the mount of transfiguration scene earlier. He willingly submitted Himself to the physical laws of nature. But the Spirit knows no such boundaries! He is just as powerfully with me right now as He is with Rick Funderburk in Sierra Leone 7,000 miles away. The Holy Spirit never takes a break, never needs rest, never falls asleep, never is distracted, nor is He ever over-taxed by your needs so that He is inadequate to work in my needs. The promise Jesus made at the end of the Great Commission, "And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age," finds its fulfillment in the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Jesus is not bodily with us or simply mentally with us. He is actually with us in the Divine Person of the Spirit.

This divinely given advantage is also seen when we...

2. Recognize the Holy Spirit's work in the believer

My brethren, the Holy Spirit is a Worker! He is not simply some atmospheric force that makes things a little better. He is actively working in our lives, fulfilling the promises of God, and bringing us to the full measure of sonship in Christ.

Let's take a quick look at some of the works of the Spirit in the life of the believer.

(1) The Holy Spirit is the one who regenerates you and births you into the family of God. Jesus said, "Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God" (John 3:5). Ezekiel prophesied of this in that wonderful chapter that tells of the Valley of Dry Bones. The word of the Lord came to Ezekiel as he surveyed the valley of bones that were 'very many' and 'very dry'. "Again He said to me, 'Prophesy over these bones and say to them, 'O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.' Thus says the Lord God to these bones, 'Behold, I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life. And I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin, and put breath in you that you may come alive; and you will know that I am the Lord" (Ezekiel 37:4-6). It is the Spirit of God that has brought us out of deadness into life just as He did the dry bones. He has quickened our dead minds and brought us into a glorious and saving understanding of the gospel. He has birthed us into God's family.

(2) The Holy Spirit gives us an internal witness that we are truly saved. "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God" (Rom. 8:16). We don't have to depend upon some other person to assure us of our salvation, that would be a mistake. God the Spirit Himself comes to us in a unique way and breathes assurance into our bosom that we are His and He is ours.

(3) The Holy Spirit baptizes us into the body of Christ so that we become partakers of all the privileges of being children of God. "For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit" (I Cor. 12:13). We cannot place ourselves into the Body by our own self-effort. But the Spirit of God Himself sets us apart unto Christ and fixes us securely for eternity into Christ's body.

(4) The Holy Spirit seals us in Christ. If the keeping power of salvation depended upon us and our performance, we would fall away the first day we were saved. But the Spirit seals us in Christ. "In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation--having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory" (Eph. 1:13-14). A seal in the ancient world was usually a mark of a signet ring made in hot wax to give a document authenticity, security, and authority. When a king sealed a letter with his signet ring, then that unbroken seal showed the security of the contents, its authenticity of being from the king, and its authority in conveying the will of the king. For us to be sealed by the Spirit shows that we really do belong to Christ and that He really will secure us for all eternity! That's why Paul adds in this same verse that the Spirit is a 'down payment' of more to come. God has so invested His saving work in you that He has come to you in the Holy Spirit to assure you and secure you for the eternal inheritance that is yours in Christ!

(5) The Holy Spirit sanctifies you in the ongoing process of the Christian life. "But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth" (II Thes. 2:13). Sanctification is a definite act of the Holy Spirit whereby we are made holy in Christ and brought more into conformity with the divine image. The Spirit begins this work immediately in our salvation and continues it until we stand complete in Christ.

(6) The Holy Spirit empowers you as a witness of Jesus Christ. "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth" (Acts 1:8). My brethren, God does not command us to do anything as Christians that He has not already given us the power through the Spirit to do! This does not mean that we are androids or robots. We must discipline ourselves. We must labor hard. We must endure hardships. But the Spirit, right in the midst of all our labors, comes to give us power to bear witness of Jesus Christ. It is this Spirit-empowered witness that lodges in the minds and hearts of unbelievers and brings them to the Savior. This is why Paul testified to the Corinthians, "And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God" (I Cor. 2:4-5).

(7) The Holy Spirit fills us that we might be under His control in life and ministry. "And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit" (Eph. 5:18). That passage continues and shows how the Spirit's filling affects our ministry to one another, our worship, our attitude of thanksgiving, and even our submission to one another as brethren in Christ. He controls what He fills, so that what He has filled might bring glory and honor to Jesus Christ.

We could go on, but I believe this will suffice for the moment in convincing us that the Holy Spirit is working in every believer. This is a distinct advantage you have over every unbeliever. What I have said concerning the Spirit's work in the believer is not true of the unbeliever.

May I say, with all reverence concerning what Christ said, you are better off with the Spirit dwelling in you than Jesus walking with you bodily. Please understand, that is not in anyway slighting our wonderful Lord. Instead, it is simply applying what Christ has spoken in this verse. You have the glorious advantage of God dwelling in you continually and not just being with you some of the time due to the permanent work of the Holy Spirit.

My friend, be encouraged! The Spirit has come and He is at work in you both in walk and witness.

II. The Holy Spirit and the world

But there is a different relationship between the Holy Spirit and the unbeliever. You will notice that verse 7 refers to "you" and "your" (the disciples and us), while verse 8 points to the Spirit's relationship with the "world." Our Lord says that the Spirit's activity toward the world is to "convict."

There are many debates among scholars as to the precise meaning of "convict." I believe, after studying this text, that it refers to the work of the Spirit in "shaming the world and convincing it of its own guilt, thus calling it to repentance," as Don Carson puts it [The Gospel According to John, 537]. The term is often used in a legal sense and that may add to our understanding of what our Lord is saying in this text. The Spirit does such a work of exposing, convincing, and convicting the world that it feels, sees, and understands its guilt and is thus brought to the only legal satisfaction for sinners, the blood of Christ.

Before we see what the Spirit does in convicting, we need to consider how He does this. Is this something that He does completely apart from some type of instrumentation? Certainly, the Spirit is capable of doing what he does without any sort of instrumentation and perhaps there are times that He indeed does this. But He chiefly uses two instruments: (1) the Word of God and (2) the life and lips of a believer.

The Word of God reveals God to us and testifies to us of the divine requirements for all men--the law of God. And the Word tells us of God's redemptive work through His Son, Jesus Christ. The Word is a sharp, two-edged sword that pierces to the depths of a man's being and reveals what is inside him--his sin. But it also is a light that focuses upon the glories of the cross and the way of salvation in Christ. The Spirit uses the Word, written and spoken, to pierce the hearts of sinners and point them to the saving work of Christ. This is one reason why we give much attention to the reading of the Word in our worship services and it is why we must learn the Word to effectively proclaim it in our gospel witness.

But the Spirit also uses the life and lips of believers. I mention both life and lips because if the life does not demonstrate the gospel it is hard for an unbeliever to listen to the lips speaking of the gospel. A holy life has the capacity to either infuriate or melt the stony heart of an unbeliever when used as the Spirit's instrument. The Spirit also uses our lips to speak forth the life-changing message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of Christ" (Romans 10:17). Paul told the Thessalonians, "For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction" (I Thess. 1:5). It is not our words that convict but the Word of God through the Spirit. It is not our cleverness that saves sinners, but the power of God through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

This is not a digression, for we need to understand that when Christ spoke of the Spirit's convicting work He was continuing to explain to the disciples the advantage of the Spirit coming for their walk and work. They were to carry on the work of evangelizing. Our Lord tells them clearly how this can be accomplished only when the Spirit is empowering them in the work. So, the Holy Spirit is using those whom He indwells as instruments to bring other sinners to the Savior.

Now, what kind of work does the Spirit do through the instrumentality of the Word and the life and lips of believers?

1. Convicting concerning sin

The basic problem of our estrangement from God is our sin. Until an unbeliever is gripped by the sinfulness of his sin and the blackness of his heart, he will not see the need for seeking God. This is why a sinner will not seek Christ apart from the work of the Spirit. His heart is too hard, his sensibilities to spiritual things are too dead, his nature is too depraved to even consider that he does need a Savior because he is lost.

"And He...will convict the world concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me." The root essence of man's sin problem lies in his own unbelief toward Christ. To really believe in Christ is to acknowledge that my sin is of such an infinite problem that only God coming to earth to redeem me can deliver me from it. To acknowledge in faith Jesus Christ is to admit that the reason for Christ coming is to satisfy the justice and righteousness of God that demands the eternal wrath of God toward me as a sinner. To believe in Christ is to admit that at my very best I cannot save myself nor can any of my fellow sinners. Calvin states it clearly, "In short, with these words He condemns the corruptions and depravity of human nature, lest we should think that there is even one drop of uprightness in us without Christ" [Calvin's NT Commentaries, 117].

Frankly, a sinner will not admit to such things without the work of the Spirit! Oh, he may acknowledge that he has done some bad things in life, but he will not recognize the infinite consequences of his sin unless the Spirit convicts him.

The primary way the Spirit works in convicting us of our sin is through the law of God. Paul told the Galatians that the law is "our tutor to lead us to Christ, that we may be justified by faith" (Gal. 3:24). The law holds up the divine standard. The Spirit then opens our eyes to see the divine standard and our own woeful condition in light of it. The law condemns all law-breakers. We may claim to have obeyed most of the law, but even the slightest provocation of the divine-moral law demands that we face its full consequences. James wrote, "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all" (Jas. 2:10). We must never hesitate in our witnessing or gospel presentations to make clear the demands of divine law upon all humanity.

Let me give you some helpful quotes by some men of God that helps us see this truth which the Holy Spirit drives home to unbelievers:

"The law is the first message of the cross....If you do away the Ten Commandments, there is no such thing as sin....If there is no sin, the cross is not necessary" (Ernest Reisinger).

"The Law must be laid upon those that are to be justified, that they may be shut up in the prison thereof, until the righteousness of faith come--that, when they are cast down and humbled by the Law, they should fly to Christ" (Martin Luther).

"Men are ever to be prepared for the gospel by the preaching of the Law" (Theodore Beza).

[All the above quotes are from Today's Evangelism, Ernest Reisinger, pp. 16-18]

2. Convicting concerning righteousness

"And He...will convict the world...concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you no longer behold Me." There seems to be a two-fold implication in this phrase. First, the Spirit enables a sinner to see the inadequacy of his own righteousness for salvation. One of the things that Jesus did so often was to expose the unrighteousness of the self-righteous. Whenever a man thinks that he has something within himself to commend himself to God, he is self-righteous. There are plenty of self-righteous people in the world. They are the ones who compare themselves to others, boast either openly or in their minds of their supposed inherent goodness, and smugly commend themselves to God. The story of the Pharisee and the tax-collector praying in the temple illustrates this clearly. Though the Pharisee addressed God, he was really speaking to himself and to anyone who would listen. He gave his litany of good deeds and neglected to see his own wretchedness before a holy God. The tax-collector could only see his sinfulness in light of the righteous demands of God and so cried out for mercy. So, a sinner must see that his own righteousness will not stand up to the demands of God. "Because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight" (Rom. 3:20).

Second, and most important, the Holy Spirit shows the sinner through the gospel that the only sufficient righteousness to stand before God is the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Jesus, the only truly righteous Person, has gone back to the Father. So the Holy Spirit speaks the gospel of Christ's righteousness to sinners. This is the whole message of justification by faith alone. Christ fulfilled the demands of the Law on behalf of sinners to meet the moral obligation of the Law. But He also satisfied the requirement of God's justice toward those who have broken the Law by His atoning, propitiatory death. "But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested,...even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe" (Rom. 3:21-22). "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes" (Rom. 10:4).

All this talk of the cross makes no sense until the Holy Spirit convicts of righteousness: the sinner's lack of righteousness and the Savior's plentiful righteousness. That is why we can resound with the Apostle Paul: "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (II Cor. 5:21). That is the work of the Spirit through the Word and believers proclaiming this Word.

3. Convicting concerning judgment

"And He, when He comes, will convict the world...concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged." There is a beautiful paradox in this verse. The world wrongly judged Jesus Christ and put Him to death. Jesus had already rebuked the religious leaders by stating, "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment" (John 7:24). But the judgment of the world is always unrighteous. The Holy Spirit exposes the wrongness of man's judgmental attitudes toward Christ. I think of C.S. Lewis who ranted against Jesus Christ and the gospel until the Holy Spirit exposed his heart and false judgment of the gospel. The very Savior he chided became the One he worshiped and adored.

But this verse also points to the defeat of Satan. It is interesting that our Lord does not use a military term of overpowering Satan, but a legal term to show that Satan has been defeated and it was done in a just manner. Leon Morris wrote, "We are saved in a way that is not only powerful but right" [Expository Reflections on the Gospel of John, 545]. The work of the cross was the most powerful act that ever took place in this universe. But it was not simply a greater power crushing a lesser power. It was the righteousness of God being vindicated in the salvation of sinners by applying divine justice to Jesus Christ on behalf of sinners.

The Holy Spirit does this convicting concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment. He uses His instruments, but the power of conviction comes from the Spirit at work in the unbelieving world.

Conclusion

We have been discussing both in Sunday School and in our worship services lately of how we are "ambassadors for Christ" to this unbelieving world. As you see the work of the Holy Spirit, first applying His gracious power to us, then to the world, can you find fresh strength to press on in your walk and witness? God never intended you to live the Christian life apart from the Holy Spirit's constant work in you. And you never can, for even when you do not realize it, the Spirit is at work.

Will you take fresh courage in knowing that our Lord has given you a divine advantage through the Holy Spirit? Quit complaining and start depending upon the Holy Spirit who indwells you.

Will you who are unbelievers realize that this uncomfortable feeling you have concerning yourself is no strange thing, it is the work of the Spirit showing you that you are a sinner in need of the righteousness of Jesus Christ? Flee to Christ, for He is ready to save you!

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