The Trinity; Father, Son, & Holy Spirit
A Sermon Series
“The Trinity Helps Us Understand Difficulty”
John 16:4b-15
Introduction
“Jesus’ departure from his earthly ministry to return to his Father is now at hand, and this is why he is telling his followers of the difficult days that lie ahead. They need to know not just of all the troubles that will soon fall on them but also of the help God (the Father) will send them to enable them to rise above the struggles. This help consists of the Spirit of Jesus as the presence of the Lord among them. He has just told them of the trials soon to arrive (15:18-16:4a), and now he wants to make them know of the coming Paraclete, who will empower them so they can be victorious.”[1]
Prayer
The Disciple’s Mission (vv. 4b-7)
“I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. 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.
And in all of the time that Jesus has been with them all of the animosity and anger has been directed at Jesus (because He was there among them). He is going away, and He wants to prepare them for all the difficulty that is coming. Jesus confirms again that He was sent from the Father, and “now I am going to him who sent me.”
We are going to see that Jesus is the standard of righteousness but how do we know that Jesus’ teachings are right, and the world’s teachings are wrong? Because, “But now I am going to him who sent me,” As the resurrected King of Kings, Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father, ruling and reigning over all of creation. His pattern of righteousness and the standard He set was accepted by God the Father – because He raised Him from the dead.
When Jesus says, “none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’” seems out of place because Peter had asked, “Lord where are you going,” and Thomas asked, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going.” But the verse is given in the present tense, “None of you asks me.” They had stopped asking him about the future, and seem to be overwhelmed with what is going on right then. They can’t see a way to continue forward without Jesus being with them.
They are filled with confusion, grief, and despair. But they are not considering what Jesus’ departure means for the mission that He is sending them on. He has been preparing them to continue His work, He wants them to stay focused on that mission (in spite of fear, grief, and despair).
(v.7) “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth,” – Jesus is saying that the only way for God’s plan to be completed is for the Son to return to heaven, and the Spirit is sent to take His place on earth.[2] “But his saving reign of God cannot be fully inaugurated until Jesus has died, risen from the dead, and been exalted to this Father’s right hand, returned to the glory he enjoyed with the Father before the world began.”[3] Why does the Holy Spirit have to wait until Jesus’ departure? It is because of where Jesus goes when He leaves, John 7:39 “Now this he (Jesus) 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.”
That plan also involves them being filled with the Holy Spirit, and telling others about Jesus (who now has completed His mission and sits at the right hand of the Father).
God’s plan for the salvation of the world
could not be completed If Jesus had stayed on earth.
Earlier in John, the word for the Helper (paraclete) was used as “one who comes and stands beside” as in Comforter, Advocate or Helper. But here the standing beside is still there, but it carries a judicial tone. The Holy Spirit is the Prosecutor – convicting sinful men of being in the wrong.[4]
(v. 7) Jesus says that “it is to your advantage that I go away,” – Earlier in John 11 the high priest Caiaphas uses this same word, “advantage, expedient” “So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” 49 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. 50 Nor do you understand that it is better (expedient) for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.”
The Holy Spirit’s Ministry (vv. 8-15)
The Spirit will have a two-fold ministry, convicting the world of sin (vv. 8-11), and strengthening the Church (vv. 12-15).
Convicting the World of Sin (vv. 8-11)
8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:
“Whenever sin and righteousness meet, there is judgement.”[5]
9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me;
(v. 8) “he will convict the world,” This is a word meaning “convicting by proof” by “missing the mark,” and how they have wronged God and other people. Without the working of the Holy Spirit men will not believe in Jesus because they will not understand the depth of their sin. In order to follow Jesus, you have to repent of your sin, ask Him to forgive you of your sin, to trust in His gift of sacrificial death on the cross and how that covers your sin. People have to understand sin, before they can understand who Jesus is.
10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer;
Righteousness is the opposite of sin, and after we are convicted of sin, we seek after this opposite. The Holy Spirit guides us to seeking after righteousness. “In order to define sin there must be a standard. There can be no transgression where there is no law, no darkness where there is no light, no sin where there is no holiness.”[6]
When Jesus was present, simply His presence would convict men of sin, and they could see perfect righteousness before them. John 1:4-5 describes it like this, “In him (Jesus) was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
In Luke 5:7-8 the men who eventually would become Jesus’ disciples are fishing and Jesus performs a miracle so that their nets are ripping because they are so full of fish, “They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. 8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”
Also, think of all the times the religious leaders in Jesus’ day thought that they were righteous because of their keeping the OT law (which they really were not). For the entire 23rd chapter of Matthew Jesus blasts the religious leaders, he says, “woe to you scribes and pharisees,” . . . vv. 1-5 “Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2 “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, 3 so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. 4 They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear,1 and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. 5 They do all their deeds to be seen by others . . .” The Holy Spirit shows us righteousness only comes through Jesus – not by works. So every time we start down that road of being self-righteous the Holy Spirit points us back to Jesus and His righteousness.
11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
“The word ‘judgement’ means an ethical decision; approbation of such qualities or acts as may be deemed good, and simultaneous pf such qualities or acts as may deemed evil. The vindication of Christ by the resurrection as the incarnate righteousness of God was at the same time God’s rejection of the prince of this world as the personification of evil.”[7] The Holy Spirit makes the world aware of this judgement by God.
Why does the Holy Spirit convict people of the coming judgment? Because “the ruler of this world is judged, or “now stands condemned.” If the world continues to follow this defeated foe of God, it too will have the same fate. Satan lost, Jesus won – sin and death have been defeated. Sin is shown as being evil, and righteousness shown as the good.
“The anti-Christian point-of-view (or anti-biblical), the principles which govern the actions of worldy men, have been once and for all discredited and condemned (12:31, 1 Cor. 2:8, Col. 2:15). The work of the Spirit manifested in the history of Christianity verifies the judgement that by Christ’s death evil has been condemned utterly; the Devil is fighting a losing battle.”[8]
There are many worldviews – but only one is from God.
Jesus proved it by His death, burial and resurrection.
It is the Holy Spirit’s ministry to convict people of sin in their lives (as defined by God),[9] He guides them toward righteousness and godly behavior, and there is a final judgment between good and evil. But sin, righteousness, and God’s judgement ultimately deals with an acceptance or rejection of Jesus.
Matthew 21:42 Jesus is talking to the crowd but He is aiming His comments to the religious leaders, “Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? 43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. 44 And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.” The cornerstone was used to determine true vertical and horizontal lines for a building, so that it would be level and plumb. Jesus is the measure of truth, The Holy Spirit confirms this truth, and to reject it is to face the judgement of God.
Matthew 12:22-32 “blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.”
Strengthening the Church (vv. 12-15)
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.”
(v. 12) Jesus has more to say about future judgment and how His death burial and resurrection all show the enemies defeat, but they just can’t handle any more right then, “you cannot bear them now.” They are so devastated by Jesus going away, they can’t take any more information in. It could also mean that as Christians there is information that they could know, but it is only with the guidance of the Holy Spirit that they could bear the implications of what it means. Jesus didn’t tell the disciples about the cross until well into His ministry with them. He teaches us, as we are able to bear it.
There is a weight that comes with certain knowledge,
that the Holy Spirit helps to carry.
But when the Holy Spirit comes, in spite of all the trauma and difficulty, 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.” The Holy Spirit will make sure that they know and remember what they need in order to complete Jesus’ work.
(v. 13) “he will guide you into all the truth,” When you have a guide that assumes a couple of things 1) you are on an adventure, a pilgrimage, you are going somewhere. 2) There is someone who knows the way that is leading (guiding) the way. As you are following God, He will reveal the truths of Scripture to you. There is an Old Testament background for the Spirit guiding believers in truth, Psalm 143:10 “Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground!” The Spirit continues the ministry of Jesus by explaining the Word of God.
“for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak,” – Jesus often used this same wordage; Jesus would say, what the Father told Him to say.[10] And now the Holy Spirit will say what Jesus has said, and will reveal new things (by Jesus) of what is to come in the future. “The disciples receive these truths on a trinitarian path from the Father to the Son to Spirit to them and likewise pass them on in their own teaching and preaching (2 Tim. 2:2).”[11]
2 Timothy 2:1-2 “You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, 2 and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.” There is a chain of truth that begins with God the Father, then the Son, then the Holy Spirit (Acts 13:2), then the apostles, then to faithful men, and on down through the generations (always guided by the Holy Spirit). So what you share is the Word of God, Spoken through the Son, and guided by the Holy Spirit.
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[1] Grant R. Osborne, John Verse by Verse, Osborne New Testament Commentary (Bellingham, Washington; Lexham Press, 2018) 373.
[2] John 7:39 “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.”
[3] D. A. Carson, The Pillar New Testament Commentary, The Gospel According to John (Grand Rapids, Michigan; William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1991) 534.
[4] Leon Morris, The New International Commentary on the New Testament, The Gospel According to John (Grand Rapids, Michigan; WM. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1971) 695.
[5] Merrill C. Tenney, John, The Gospel of Belief, An Analytical Study of the Text (Grand Rapids, Michigan; William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1982) 236.
[6] Tenney, 236.
[7] Tenney, 237.
[8] G.H.C. Maccgregor, The Gospel of John (Harper and Brothers Publishing, 1928) 298.
[9] Prevenient grace – “God’s grace given to all humans indiscriminately. It is seen in God’s sending the sunshine and the rain upon all. . . Since mankind is hopelessly dead in trespasses and sins and can do nothing to obtain salvation, God graciously restores to all men sufficient ability to make a choice in the matter of submission to Him. . . . Since God has given this grace to all, everyone is capable of accepting the offer of salvation . . .” Millard Erickson, Christian Theology (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Baker Academic, 2007) 932.
[10] John 3:34-35; 5:19; 7:16-17; 8:26, 28; 12:49-50; 14:10; 15:15.
[11] Osborne, 378.
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