“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 depart, I will send Him to you.” John 16:7.
Folks often think to themselves, “I wish Jesus was right here with me. Then He could instruct me on what to do in my situation.”
The disciples may have felt the same way, especially after having actually had Him by their side and having been able to ask Him any question. But the Lord tells them that they are better off!
The Holy Spirit is God the Spirit, a real person, not a concept, an it, or a thing. And Jesus told them, “I will send Him to you.” So then, we have the Father (John 14:16) and the Son sending the Spirit to dwell in the believer, but it also says of Christ.
“For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.” Colossians 2:9-10.
“But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the [your] body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” Romans 8:9-11.
If then, the Lord Jesus is the fullness of the Godhead bodily, it follows that the Holy Spirit being a part of the Godhead, possesses the same qualities.
“In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.” Ephesians 1:13-14.
“…the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.” John 14:17.
The thing that we must grasp is that Jesus is with us continually, closer than our next breath for He dwells within us in the form of the Holy Spirit.
The difference between this and having His bodily presence is that we have His full attention at all times and anywhere, whether in a palace or a dungeon.
The Lord Jesus could not be everywhere at once bodily, and so He was limited in the area He could cover on earth.
Once the Spirit could work through His disciples and all those who believe, the possibilities have become limitless. And indeed it is, the gospel was spread throughout the known world within a matter of years and within three centuries nearly every pagan temple in the Roman Empire was closed.
You know something; it is possible to do that again today, here in pagan America, Rome was far worse. But Christians must decide that it is something worth praying fervently for and working for.
As for our personal relationship with Jesus through the Holy Spirit, it too is limitless and personal; Christ with you and Christ in you. We are the limiting factors.
We set the limits by the thoughts and intents of our heart. We have things that we dwell on that are not good, we too have sins that we do not want to let go of.
Things like this vex the Spirit and cause a rift in our communications with Him. The result is that we feel alone, when we are not alone at all.
Another limiting factor is that we simply do not listen for His voice, and if we do we do not listen to Him because He is not saying what we want to hear.
One way to learn how to listen to the Spirit of God is to set apart some quiet time of reading, praying, and just thinking about the things you have read – even throughout the day.
Often, as you think about them, the things you have read will begin to touch on the very problems and questions that are on your heart.
It is when these things that would not ordinarily come to mind answer your question or your problem that you realize that it is the Holy Spirit who has brought them before you. We have Jesus right here with us; we do not need to wish He was here.
“And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.” John 16:8-11.
The Holy Spirit will convict the world “…of sin, because they do not believe in Me.” This does not mean of sins, it means of sin, and the reason given is that, “…they do not believe in Me.”
The sin here is the rejection of the Lord Jesus Christ as their savior; the only means of salvation, the only way to heaven.
“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’” John 14:6.
There is no doubt that a heathen in the remotest darkest part of the world has a sense of sins. Murder, adultery, theft, idolatry, and many other things are imbedded in the collective memory of mankind so as to convict a person of their sins.
“…because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.” Romans 1:19.
Read all of Romans 1:18-32, which has often been quoted in these studies. So it is not sins as we see here but sin; though the Spirit often speaks to an individual of their sins.
In fact I feel that if the Holy Spirit ever screamed into someone’s ear, it would be to those evil men who flew airliners into the Twin Towers on 911.
“DO YOU REALLY BELIEVE THAT YOU WILL BE REWARDED WITH 72 VIRGINS AND RIVERS OF HONEY FOR MURDERING 3,000 INNOCENT PEOPLE?”
I have read that the number of workers in the towers at peak hours was 50,000 souls, not counting another 20 or 30 thousand, clients, customers, and service people. Those murderers were out to kill upwards of 80,000 people, not just 3,000.
Still, the passage we are considering uses the word sin and the worst sin one can commit is the sin of the rejection of Jesus as their savior, it is terminal and it casts the unbeliever into the lake of fire for eternity.
Perhaps this illustration will clarify what is being said here.
A man walks into a restaurant and orders a hamburger, fries, and a soda. As he sits there eating, a man approaches him and says, “I have been blessed with a great deal of money. I wonder if I may pay for your lunch.”
The other man looks up from his lunch and says, “Thank you very much for your offer, but I prefer to pay for my own food.”
With a smile and a nod the other man walks away.
Now, when the man finishes his lunch, what happens?
The answer is that he goes to the cashier and pays for a hamburger, fries, and a soda. Except for the extreme gravity of the situation, that is exactly what happens on Judgment Day.
“And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.” Revelation 20:12.
“And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” Revelation 20:15.
The scene here is a sentencing not a trial, the small and the great spoken of have been torn out of the belly of hell, only to be cast into the lake of fire.
The books that are opened have an account of the debt run up during each unsaved individual’s lifetime (hamburger, fries, and soda, so to speak).
Those who have accepted Christ’s payment for their sins will not stand before the great white throne nor would you find their sins written in the other books. They have been expunged, to be remembered no more.
The Book of Life has the names of everyone who has accepted Christ’s payment for their sins, while those standing before the great white throne of judgment will have had their names blotted out of the Book of Life.
The Holy Spirit will convict the world, “…of righteousness”; the righteousness described here is the righteousness of Christ.
That is what is meant by His statement, “…of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more…” It is the resurrection and ascension of Christ that confirms that Jesus lived a sinless and righteous life here on earth; making Him the only perfect sacrifice for sin.
God put His confirmation and stamp of approval on the sinless life of Christ by raising Him from the dead and seating Him at His own right hand in heaven.
Referring to the righteousness imputed to Abraham for his faith in God, the Apostle Paul also speaks of those who, having the faith of Abraham, put their faith in the sacrificial death of Christ for our sakes.
“Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.” Romans 4:23-25.
The resurrection and ascension of Christ is physical proof that Jesus lived a righteous life and is Savior of the world, the Holy Spirit can point this out to the unbeliever and convict him of his unbelief because Jesus is the only person in all of history who rose from the dead not to die again.
The unbeliever can either believe this or reject it. But if he rejects it, it is a willful rejection of Christ’s sacrifice, making him or her responsible.
“…of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.” John 16:11
The ruler of this world is Satan, and he was judged at the cross; sin was expunged for those who accept Christ and judgment awaits the followers of Satan just as surely as he has been judged.
“Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.” John 12:31.
It was Satan who brought sin into the world by tempting the first Adam; his arms have been broken by the last Adam, Christ.
“We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.” 1 John 5:19.
“But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.” 2 Corinthians 4:3-4.
“Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. And the devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” Revelation 20:7-10.
The rest of Revelation chapter 20 concerns Judgment Day which follows right after this last rebellion; judgment for those writhing in hell right now and for the rest of time will come, seemingly, too soon.
This event will be even more horrific than anyone’s worst nightmare, but it will be real. More real than you or I have ever seen through mortal eyes.
As though it were a thunderclap and the rumbling that echoes on afterward, so will be the removal from hell to a far worse place, the lake of fire. The sacrifice of Christ has made it so that absolutely no one need go to hell – zero population growth.
“And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!” Luke 12:4-5.
“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.” John 16:12-13.
The events to come in the few days before the Lord’s resurrection are so heartbreaking that He certainly could not go into them at this time.
After Jesus’ ascension to heaven the Holy Spirit is sent to indwell believers, enabling them to search the Scriptures and learn far deeper things than one would have thought imaginable.
But these things will have a special impact on the disciples because through the Spirit’s guidance they were able to set up the church and give an even greater revelation of the Christ and His work.
Not only has the Spirit taught the truths found in the Old Testament concerning the Christ but He also dictated the New Testament to those who wrote it, including prophecies in it and the book of Revelation; “…He will tell you things to come.”
“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17.
It is of interest that the Spirit speaks only as He hears, “…for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak”; just as the Lord Jesus often said, that He said only the things that the Father told Him to.
More than anything this confirms the unity of the Godhead, not that everyone needed permission to speak, but that everything that was spoken was the consensus, the total agreement of the Godhead.
“He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.” John 16:14-15.
The glory comes from the confirmation that Jesus is God the Son and as such is co-equal with God the Father, and for that matter God the Spirit.
We have a Man seated at the right hand of God the Father as part of the Godhead, and we have God who became a Man and humbled Himself before His creatures even to the point of being treated despicably by them unto death. The glory is also that Jesus is.
“The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” John 1:29b.
Spirit of Truth, John 16:7-15 taken from godisrevealed.com posted on 4-27-13, updated on 3-5-18.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version, copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission, all rights reserved.