“When He Comes” [Matt's Messages] ~ Matt Mitchell

“When He Comes”

Life in Jesus’ Name - The Gospel of John

Lanse Evangelical Free Church

September 1, 2024 :: John 16:5-15

Jesus told His disciples that it would be better for them if He went away.

In this section of the Farewell Teachings, the Lord Jesus insisted to His followers that they will better off if He leaves them.

And that was very very hard for them to receive.

It’s the night that Jesus betrayed. Jesus has washed their feet and told them to love one another. Judas has slipped out in the dark to betray Jesus to the rulers. Jesus has told his closest followers that He is going away, and they are shaken to the core. He’s been comforting them and giving them big promises to sustain them while He’s away. But He’s also been telling them that it’s going to be hard.

Very hard. The world is going to hate them. That’s what we focused on last week. Jesus is going away, and the world is going to come after them. Jesus hadn’t said much about that because He’s been with them, but now He’s going away (v.4), so now He’s warning them.

And that has shaken them to the core. So much so that they aren’t even asking good questions about what this means this for Jesus or their future. Look with me at chapter 16, verse 5.

“Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, 'Where are you going?”

You aren’t even asking what this all means! Now, earlier this evening, Peter did ask Jesus where He was going (13:36), but he wasn’t asking for Jesus. Thomas did say, “We don’t know where you’re going...” (14:5), but he was focused on trying understand what Jesus meant by “You know the way...”

And they have probably left the upper room by now and walked through a vineyard on their way to the Garden of Gethsemane. And nobody is asking Jesus right now, “Where are you going?" They just can’t get over the fact that He’s leaving and how it makes them feel. V.6

“Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief.”

They are so distressed! Even more now because Jesus has said that the world is going to hate and attack them. How would you feel? How would you feel if Jesus said that He was going to leave you?

But there is kind of a rebuke here. Because Jesus has been assuring them that this is all part of His good plan. Not only are not thinking about Jesus and being concerned for what He is about to go through, but they are missing the bigger picture here.

Jesus is going to “him who sent” Him, and that will be better for the disciples and even for the world. Look at verse 7.

“But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.”

That is very important. Jesus says that it’s better for Him to go away, or they won’t get the “Paraclete.” NIV, “Counselor” also translated “Comforter” or “Advocate,” or “Helper.” We know Him by His main name in the Scripture, “The Holy Spirit.”

Here’s the plan. Jesus is going to die, come back from the dead, ascend to His Father, and ask His Father to send the Holy Spirit to be poured out in a special unprecedented way.

So the Holy Spirit will only come if Jesus goes away. Which is better? We sometimes get the idea that it would be better for us to have walked the dusty roads of Jerusalem with Jesus in the flesh. And that would have been awesome! But Jesus says that we have it even better now than they did then.

Because He went away, we got the Spirit! Because of the Cross and the Empty Tomb and the Ascension on high, we got Pentecost. And wildly, that brings Jesus even more closer to us! Because the Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus, so through the Spirit we have the presence of Jesus in our hearts. His leaving doesn’t really mean His absence from us, but in a deeper way, His presence with us! “And surely I am with you always...” And that’s why we can abide or remain or dwell in Him.

“It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.”

And He did! And in the next few verses, Jesus explains what the Spirit will do when He comes. That’s our title for today’s message. “When He Comes.”

And the “He” there is not Jesus and His second coming, but the Spirit and His coming in the book of Acts. What will happen with the Holy Spirit comes? I see at least three things.

When He Comes...

#1. THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL CONVICT THE WORLD.

Look at verse 8.

“When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment...”

What does that mean? We proclaimed it together just a few minutes ago when we did our Worship in Unity with Joe in Article 6 of our statement of faith. “We believe that the Holy Spirit...convicts the world of its guilt.”

When the Spirit comes, He is going to act not just like an Advocate but like a Prosecutor. He’s going to make a case about the world, and convict the world of its guilt.

Now, remember, that word “world’ in the Gospel of John isn’t just talking about the big blue Earth, but the humans of the world-system united together in sinful rebellion against God. The Spirit is going to come and prove that they are guilty.

It’s not 100% clear to whom that is being proved. It could be just convicted before God. The Spirit will prosecute the world before the righteous Judge of all the Earth, and the world will be rightly condemned. That’s true! That will surely happen.

But I tend to think that it’s also talking about how the Spirit convicts individual hearts of some in the world that causes their hearts to change. He shows those in the world where they are wrong, and they repent and believe in Jesus. Look what He says in verse 9.

“When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me...”

Which is the fundamental sin, isn’t it? Humans who do not believe in Jesus are in sin. And sin will keep you from believing in Jesus. The Spirit is going to point that out. Nobody who rejects Jesus will get away with it before the Judge. But, for some, the Spirit will so move upon their hearts that they will wake up and say, “Oh. I’m a sinner! I have failed. I have fallen short of the glory of God. I have been rejecting Jesus. What must I do to be saved?”

And that’s exactly what happened when the Spirit came. Acts chapter 2?

The Spirit came at Pentecost–as promised, a rushing wind, flames of fire over the disciples, speaking in unlearned languages. The Apostle Peter getting up in front of the crowd and sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And Peter ends his message:

“‘Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.’ [What happened then?]

When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’ Peter replied, ‘Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

.... Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer” (Acts 2:36-42 NIVO). The church was born!

None of that would have happened unless Jesus went away. The Spirit convicted the world of guilt in regard to sin. And in regard to righteousness. Verse 10.

“...in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer;”

Now, this is the only place in the gospel of John that uses the word “righteousness.” That’s more of a Matthew-word or Paul-word than a John-word. But John reports here that Jesus said that the Spirit will convict the world in regard to righteousness.

That could be Jesus’ righteousness. That the world will come to see that Jesus was righteous, after they had rejected Him all along. Or it could be the world’s righteousness. That they had been pursuing their own brand of righteousness. We might call it self-righteousness. Like the Pharisees. Thinking that their good works were sufficient to justify them before God. The Spirit will dismantle that kind of false thinking. Their righteousness will not cut it.

But I tend to think that it’s more than that. I think the Spirit will convict the world that they need righteousness. That they don’t have it. They will wake up and not only say, “I am a sinner,” but say, “I need righteousness.” I need more than forgiveness, with my slate wiped clean. I need some moral goodness put on my account.

This happened to me when I was in junior high school. I heard an Methodist evangelist named Earl Bailey share the gospel. And I felt my sin like I never had before. And I saw my sinfulness. I felt it. And I felt that I need covered with a righteousness that I could achieve on my own. And when Earl Bailey told us about Jesus and what He had done for us on the Cross, I responded and the next day I told a friend about it.

You know Who I believe was speaking that night to my heart? The Holy Spirit, of course. The Counselor. The Advocate. The Helper. I couldn’t see Jesus. Jesus wasn’t there in the flesh, but the Holy Spirit was. Look at verse 11 again.

Convicted “...in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longe...”

But the Holy Spirit will be there, and He can bring the conviction.

Is He doing it right now in this room? He’s here in this room. Is He convicting you of your sin, of your un-righteousness and your need for Christ’s righteousness to be put on your account?

Is He convicting you in regard to judgment? That’s the third one in verse 8 and in verse 11.

Convicted by the Spirit, (v.11) “...in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.”

Now that could mean the world’s judgment about Jesus. Because they have been judging Him wrong.

All through this book, we’ve seen how the world has been judging Jesus wrongly. They have not believed that He is Who He says He is.

He is not the Bread of Life.

He is not the Light of the World.

He is not the Gate for the sheep.

He is not the Good Shepherd.

He is not the Resurrection and the Life.

He is not the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

He is not the True Vine.

That’s how the world judges Jesus, and the Spirit is going to show that they are all wrong about that.

But I tend to think that’s it more than that. I tend to think that the Spirit is going to show those in the world that their judgment is coming.

They are sinners.

They are unrighteous.

And they are in trouble.

And if they don’t repent, they will face the same fate as the Satan is going to face.

“...because the prince of this world now stands condemned.”

That’s not how it seems. It seems like Jesus is going to stand condemned. In just a few hours, He will be condemned to death before Pontius Pilate. But He will not stay dead. That judgment will be overturned by the Great Judge through the resurrection. And He will ascend to sit at the right hand of the Majesty on High. And He will ask the Father, “Please send our Spirit.” And the Father will say, “Yes.” And the Spirit will come, and when He comes, He will convict the world in regard to judgment.

Is He doing it right now in this room? The Spirit is here. Is He pointing out your sin to you? Your unrighteousness? Your judgment that is awaiting if you do not repent and trust in Jesus? If He is, give in!

Isn’t good that Jesus went away so that the Spirit would come?! If He didn’t then we wouldn’t be saved. Nobody in this room would be saved.

And isn’t this good motivation to share the gospel with people out there in the world? Because we can’t save anybody. But the Spirit can. We can’t convince people on our own that they are sinners that need Jesus. But the Spirit can.

He can convince them that they have gotten Jesus all wrong up to till now, and that judgment is coming and coming soon. But Jesus took on the condemnation that we deserved so that we don’t have to.

The Spirit can drive it home in their hearts that “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (Jn. 3:16-17 NIVO).

That gives us great motivation to tell people about Jesus! Because it’s not all up to us. We just tell them. The Spirit convicts them when He comes.

Notice, by the way, that the Holy Spirit is a “He.” He is not an it. He is a Person not just a Thing. I’ve heard Christians refer the Holy Spirit as an “it” from time to time, and it’s understandable because He often does impersonal things. He is poured out. We are baptized in Him. Like He is water or something.

But the Spirit is not just an impersonal power like the Force in Star Wars. The Spirit is a Person. He is the Third Person of the Trinity. He is not just the power of God. He is a Person of God.

And He speaks. He is the Spirit of Truth. Look at verse 12.

“‘I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come” (vv.12-13).

He speaks. And He speaks the truth.

When He comes...

#2. THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL GUIDE THE CHURCH.

And He will guide them into truth.

Jesus wants to tell His disciples even more. He has so much to share with them. The truth of chapters 13, 14, and 15, as great as it all is, is not all there is. He’s got more. Lots more. But they can’t handle it right now. They can’t comprehend it. They can’t wrap their minds around it. They are too scared right now to receive it. It’s more than they can bear. They can’t hardly handle what they have just been given.

But that’s okay. Because the Spirit of Truth is on His way. And when He comes, He’s going to guide the disciples into the truth.

He’s not going to take them in some weird new direction. He’s going to remind them what they have already heard and make sure they know all the rest of the stuff they need to get. And both for now and the future.

Isn’t that good news?! Aren’t you glad that the Spirit came?

Because this is what He gave us. He gave us the Bible. He led these 11 scared men to write down what they had learned. And He guided the rest of the authors of the New Testament to write down everything we need for life and godliness.

And He continues to guide the church into all truth.

I think one of the most obvious applications of that is we should prayerfully read our Bibles. If Jesus went away so that the Spirit of Truth would come so that we could have our full Bibles, probably we ought to read them!

It’s amazing to me how many Christians think they can get along just fine without a regular diet of Bible. And then they wonder why they don’t understand what’s going on in their world. Often, it’s because they have not prayerfully read what the Spirit is saying to the church. The same Spirit who inspired the Scriptures wants to help us to read and understand them.

“[W]hen he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13).

And that will bring glory to Jesus.

When He Comes...

#3. THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL GLORIFY THE SON.

Look at verses 14 and 15.

“He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you” (John 16:14-15).

God the Spirit loves to shine the spotlight on the God the Son. He’s always doing it. That’s what we proclaimed in Article 6 of our EFCA Statement this morning: “We believe that the Holy Spirit, in all that He does, glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ.”

And, here He does it, by sharing what I call, “Trinity Truth.” The Spirit doesn’t take off on His own. He shares what belongs to the Son with the Church. Jesus says, “[He takes] from what is mine and [makes] it known to you.” What is that? In verse 15, He says that it’s what belongs to God the Father.

“All that belongs to the Father is mine.”

There is no daylight between them. They share everything! They are never at odds. They are always perfectly together. They are One God. There is only one truth of the one God. And that one God is triune. He is Three Persons. And what the Father has, the Son has, and the Spirit takes from that and shares it with us.

This is so mind-blowingly wonderful!!!! Think about truthful this truth is. God the Father knows all things, right? Including the future. God the Son says that He is the Truth, right? And God the Son says that He is going to send God the Spirit Whom He calls the Spirit of Truth. And that Spirit is going to take from the Father and the Son what is true and give it to...you and me???!!! How precious is that truth?!

Jesus told His disciples that it would be better for them if He went away. Because the Holy Spirit would glorify the Son by guiding the church into all truth. And even convict the world to leave the world and believe the truth.

When He came.

Glory be to God!