The Coming of the Holy Spirit
When I was a young Christian at university, some people said to me,
“If you haven’t spoken in tongues then you probably don’t have the Holy spirit in you. Doesn’t Scripture say in Acts 2:4, ‘All of them were filled with the holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Holy Spirit enabled them.’”
I was confused. Is this how I can know that I have the Holy Spirit in me. I should have asked them what language they speak so that foreigners could understand the gospel in their own language as that is what Acts 2 tells us. I have now come to understand that making ecstatic noises is not evidence for the Holy Spirit’s presence. Such practices may be seen in many religious groups throughout the world.
Anyone who wants to learn about the Holy Spirit is wise to start with the following passage from John’s gospel. Then they will be much less likely to be blown off course by experiences or new teachings.
7 But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 about sin, because people do not believe in me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11 and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.
12 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the 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. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.” John 16:7-17
Please note that Jesus always calls the Holy Spirit ‘he’.
“When he comes . . .” John 16:8
“When he, the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth.” John 16:13
‘He’, ‘his’, is the emphasis because he is the Spirit of God the Father and the Spirit of God’s Son, Jesus. So no-one should call the Holy Spirit ‘it’.
Jesus said, ‘When the Holy Spirit comes . . .’, so when did the Holy Spirit come? Although he is mentioned in the Old Testament as being given to a few special individuals, this clearly refers to Pentecost when the Holy Spirit would be given to every Christian. Consequently, as we look at what Jesus says in John 16, we can interpret it by what took place at Pentecost. This will help us to a right understanding.
Another important preliminary question is to determine who Jesus is talking to. Who is the ‘you’ in verse 7, 12 and 15? There can be no doubt that Jesus is addressing his disciples at a special time in history. Jesus will guide his disciples ‘into all truth’, Jesus has more he wants to say to his disciples in verse 12. Although specifically spoken to his inner circle of followers what he says has much significance for us.
One of the lessons Jesus has already taught is that he would force a division in the world. Jesus had just told his disciples,
“Remember the words I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also . . . But now they have seen these miracles, and yet they have hated both me and my Father.’ John 15:20-24
Jesus was hated because of who he claimed to be and because of his judgements. As Jesus’ followers testify to Jesus, repeat his claims and pass on what he teaches we will be persecuted too. Yet that is clearly the reason why those disciples had been selected by God. Later we are taught that this is also a major reason why all christians have been chosen.
“When the Counsellor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.” John 15:26-27
Jesus now divides what he says about the Spirit’s work into two sections. The first is the subject of this chapter.
The Spirit’s Work in a Hostile World
“Unless I go away, the Counsellor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of sin and righteousness and judgment.” John 16:8
This is the only place in the Bible where the Holy Spirit is spoken of as working in unbelievers although the story of Pentecost illustrates that that is a major part of his work. He will act a the ‘Counsellor’. The Greek word for ‘Counsellor’ is ‘parakletos’, which literally means ‘one called alongside to help’. In the Authorised Version this word is translated ‘comforter’, and in the English Standard Version ‘helper’. However in one of John’s letters the same word is given a legal flavour, here he is an advocate or barrister.
“But if anyone does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defence.” 1 John 2:1
He is our counsel against the charge of God against us because of our sin.
However in John 16:8 he is the counsel for the prosecution - he is out to convict people.
“When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgement.” John 16:8
Some years ago I was involved in a trial in the High Court in London. How grateful I was for a brilliant barrister who was on my side and clearly highlighted the wrongs others had done to me. He made them look and feel embarrassed at how they had behaved. I needed him. Similarly the holy Spirit prosecutes those in the world because of their sin - he makes people realise how badly they have behaved towards God.
When Peter spoke to the crowd at Pentecost, the Holy Spirt was clearly at work. As Peter spoke of Jesus to a large group of self-righteous people, they were cut to the heart. They felt bad and said, “What shall we do?” That is the work of the Holy Spirit.
“He will convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and judgement.” John 16:8
Jesus explains this in the following verses.
Sin
Does we all know the difference between sin and sins? Sin is the root problem. It means to live in God's world and yet take no notice of God, - to ignore him. Sins of those symptoms that result from sin. Hating, lying, cheating, lust, sex outside marriage, not loving others-these are examples of sins. Verse nine makes this clear. Sin is the underlying rejection of God’s rule, a rejection of God’s son.
“. . . in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me.” John 16:9
I was recently giving a talk to a local group of atheists. One said,
“It is my opinion that there is no God.”
Another went further, saying,
“As there is no God, I can behave as I like!”
God always scoffs at such sinful thinking, saying many centuries earlier,
“Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? Kings of The earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One (Messiah). . . ‘Let us break their chains’ they say ‘and throw off their fetters.’”
The one enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. Then he rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath saying, ‘I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill.’” Psalm 2:1-6
That King, or Messiah, is the Lord Jesus and men refuse to acknowledge him at their peril. That is sin according to Jesus. Earlier in John's Gospel we read,
“This is the verdict - ‘light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because there deeds were evil.” John 3:19
It is because people want to live in the dark that they are willing to take a leap in the dark-into a selfish, meaningless existence. God asks us to take a reasonable step into the light.
It is not enough to say, “Oh, I believe in God.” That can mean anything. Saving faith is to trust Jesus as God incarnate, to belong to him, to live for him and to want to tell others about him.
Righteousness
“In regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father.” John 16:10
In a conversation with some overseas students recently, one said,
“I try to live a good life - so won’t God accept me?”
No, he won’t on the basis of your moderately good life! Righteousness is only found in Jesus. The Bible is very clear, our righteousness is nothing like good enough for God. A lady who was dying in our local hospice had become a Christian two weeks earlier. Wanting to give her confidence as she faced death I wrote a name on a piece of paper and in a Bible and said,
“Let this Bible represent the Lord Jesus. When God looks at you now - he doesn't see your sin but Christ's righteousness.”
Those Muslims who have gone on killing sprees sincerely think they are serving God. The Jewish people in Jerusalem thought the same when they handed Jesus over to be crucified. But God had a different opinion. He had handed Jesus over to them so that he could become our righteousness by dying as our substitute. The proof of this is that God raised Jesus from the dead.
How can a sinful person ever hope to be accepted by the righteous God. It is only through Jesus, by accepting his righteousness as ours. Jesus himself had said,
“I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6
So the Holy Spirit convicts the world of both sin and righteousness.
Judgement
“ . . . And in regard to judgement because the Prince of this world now stands condemned.” John 16:11
What does this mean? Jim Packer reminds us that,
“The Bible is it own interpreter.”
A few chapters earlier John had said,
“Now is the time for the judgement of this world: now the prince of this world will be driven out. But when I am lifted up from the earth, Will draw all men to myself.” John 12:31
It is clear that that day when Jesus died on the cross was God’s day of judgement. The verdict has been given. Sin, rebellion against God, leads to death - eternal separation from God.
At Pentecost, Peter was his listeners that sin has been judged.
“With many other words he warned them, he pleaded with them, ‘Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.’” Acts 2:40
All who live by the spirit of this world are doomed eternally. A decision must be made. It is the Holy Spirit who prompts us to repent and turn to Christ for forgiveness. This is the work of the Spirit in sinful world. He is evangelistic. It is a work that all of us who have Christ's Spirit in us are committed to.
Without the Holy Spirit at work, convicting people of sin, righteousness and judgement, our efforts will be hopeless. This is why we must pray that God will convict others as we share with them the message about Jesus. This gives rise to an important question. If the Holy Spirit is an evangelistic Spirit, is evangelism at the top of my agenda. We can so easily lose this desire. As we become older, we can lose that boldness and fire that Jesus and his apostles showed. We must never forget that everything we do in this life echoes in eternity.
In verses 5-11 Jesus has been talking about the work of God's spirit in the world. The spirit always points people to Jesus.
v. 9 “in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me;”
v.10 “in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father.”
v. 11 “in regard to judgement“ - it was on the cross that Jesus condemned Satan.
Jesus now moves on to talk about the work of the Holy Spirit in his church, his kingdom. We must remember that Jesus is speaking to the 12 disciples, who will become the foundation of the Church.
Towards the end of John’s book of Revelation, which describes how the church will be treated before Jesus' second coming, Gods kingdom is portrayed as the new Jerusalem,
“The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the lamb.” Revelation 21:14
How are Christ's apostles the foundation of the Church? It is surely through their teaching. They passed on the teaching of Jesus accurately and the Spirit ensured that this was faithfully recorded. To have a writing or letter recognised for inclusion in the New Testament, it had to be authenticated by an apostle.
God’s Truth is taught
An apostolic church is one that holds the apostles’ teaching as authoritative. This is precisely what Jesus promised - the apostles would be able to recall this through the work of the Spirit in them.
“But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth.” John 16:13
The phrase ‘all truth’ is so important. Because of the work of the Holy Spirit in God’s apostles we are assured that God has informed us of everything we need to know. In other words the Bible is ‘sufficient’ for us in answering all spiritual questions. This places the Bible above all other authorities. This is why the medieval church reformer, Martin Luther, when confronted by church authorities who were teaching ideas that were not in Scripture, stood up boldly and referring to Scripture said,
“Here I stand, I can do nothing else.”
The Holy Spirit is therefore the source of all the information given to us in Scripture. Inspired Scripture is simply written revelation.
“He (the Holy Spirit) will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is to come.” John 16:13
This reiterates what Jesus had said a little earlier,
“But the Counsellor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” John 14:26
So when the apostles tell us what is going to happen in the future, this is more certain to be true than recorded history.
"Scripture is not only man's word, but also, and equally God's word, spoken through man's lips or written with man's pen"
Papias was an early leader of the church in Hierapolis, which is now Pammakale in modern Turkey. He was born around 70 A.D. and had been taught by the apostle John himself. He said that he had enquired diligently from reliable authorities concerning the truth about Jesus. These authorities included the apostle John, who was then living in nearby Ephesus, and Aristion, a church leader at nearby Smyrna; they had both heard Jesus first-hand. Some think Aristion may have been one of the seventy two disciples of Jesus. Papias wrote,
“I shall not hesitate also to put into ordered form for you, along with the interpretations, everything learned carefully in the past from the elders and noted down carefully, further truth of which I vouch. For unlike most people, I took no pleasure in those who told many different stories, but only in those who taught the truth. Nor did I take pleasure in those who reported their memory all someone else's commandments, but only in those who reported their memory of the commandments given by the Lord do the faith and proceeding from the truth itself. And if, by chance, anyone who had been in attendance of the elders arrived, I made enquiries about the words of the elders, what Andrew or Peter had said, all or Thomas or James or John all Matthew all any of the Lord's disciples and what ever Aristion and John the Elder, the Lord's disciples, were saying. (But I did not think that the information from the books would profit me as much as information from a living and surviving source.)
When discussing the authority of Mark, Papias cites John the elder, the apostle.
“The Elder used to say ‘Mark, in his capacity as Peter’s interpreter, wrote down accurately as many things as he recalled from memory, though not in ordered form, all the things said and done by the Lord. For he neither heard the Lord nor accompanied him, but later, as I said, Peter, who used to give his teachings in the form of ‘chreiai’, (a ‘chreiai’ was a brief, useful anecdote about a particular character - from the Greek word ‘Xpeia’ which means ‘useful’), often beginning ‘on seeing’ or ‘on being asked’, but had no intention of providing an ordered arrangement of the ‘logia’ of the Lord. Subsequently Mark did nothing when he wrote down some individual items just as he related them from memory. For he made it his one concern not to omit anything he had heard or to falsify anything.’”
Christ is always pointed to
Jesus now makes a remarkable statement about his relationship with the Holy Spirit.
“He (the Holy Spirit) will bring glory to me (Jesus) by taking what is mine and making it known to you.” John 16:14
‘Glory’ is a very significant word in the Bible. It signifies the very presence of the ruler and Lord of the universe. When Ezekiel had a vision of God’s kingdom, he saw,
“ . . . on the throne was a figure like that of a man. . . This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. When I saw it, I fell face down . . .” Ezekiel 1:26-28
Jesus is saying that the Spirit will enable people to recognise who Jesus is through the teaching of his apostles.
The next verse confirms that this is precisely what Jesus means. His heavenly Father has shared everything with Jesus and the Spirit will make all this known to the apostles who will pass it on to us.
“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 16:15
This is one of the many passages in the Bible where the Father, the Son and the Spirit are all given the status of God, though the Spirit always points people to Jesus who himself has been given the authority of the Father. Thus the Christians armour includes,
“ . . . the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Ephesians 6:17
The words of God are be central to the Christian’s life. Jesus said,
“My sheep listen to my voice, I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.” John 10:27
“If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be given you.” John 15:7
This is why it is vital that the words of Scripture are inspired by God and therefore authoritative. Any rejection of this teaching will inevitably undermine the church. There was a devastating survey undertaken by sociologist Jeffrey Hadden in the United States where he asked 10,000 clergymen (of whom 74% replied) their views on whether the Scriptures are the inspired and inerrant word of God in faith, history and secular matters. These were the results,
95% of Episcopalians said ‘No.’
87% of Methodists said ‘No.’
82% of Presbyterians said ‘No.’
77% of American Lutherans said ‘No.’
67% of American Baptists said ‘No.’
This is in marked contrast to what the apostles taught.
“But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. All Scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:14-17
B V Palmer
