When Jesus announced to His disciples that He would soon be departing from them, great sorrow filled their hearts, for they assumed they would be left in this world without a Teacher, Guide, Power, or Comforter (John 16:1-5). But Jesus assured His followers that they would be better off after His departure than they were with His presence. How could this possibly be? Jesus sets forth the specific advantages that would occur:
- Jesus would prepare a place in heaven for His followers after His departure. “I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2). Many have thought Jesus went to heaven to build the place called heaven, using His great carpentry skills. No, primarily what Jesus meant was that He was going to Calvary (the Cross) to die for sinners that they might be forgiven and saved and made ready for the home in heaven. As the hymn says, “The Way of the Cross Leads Home,” and Jesus had to die before that home was ready.
- The Holy Spirit has come to be our Great Comforter by coming “alongside” of us under all circumstances. Jesus said “And I will pray to the Father that He send you another Comforter that He may abide with you forever” (John 14:16). The Greek word translated Comforter is Parakletos which means “called alongside to assist.” True comfort strengthens us to face life bravely and keep on going. The Holy Spirit does not rob us of our responsibility but enables us to stay in the race and not give up. Some translators call the Holy Spirit “the Encourager,” and I would call Him the “Great Encourager.” Also the “Great Remembrancer” (John 14:26).
- The disciples would experience Jesus in a more personal way after the coming of the Holy Spirit than they did before. “I will not leave you spiritual orphans: I am coming to you” (John 14:18). What Jesus meant was “My departure will not be like that of a Father whose children are left orphans when he dies. In the Spirit I am coming back to you.” The Holy Spirit reveals Jesus, glorifies Him, applies His blood and merits to the hearts of believers, makes His teachings effective in their lives. Hence, when the Spirit was poured out, Christ truly returned. Liberals, desiring to deny the Second Coming, have said the coming of the Holy Spirit is the Second Coming, but not true.
- The disciples would be enabled to “do greater works” than they had ever witnessed Jesus Himself doing in the days of His flesh. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father” (John 14:12). This would be possible, for after the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost every believer would have the presence and power of Jesus in them through the Person of the Holy Spirit. Prior to the coming of the Holy Spirit, Jesus was limited to one locale at a given time. After Pentecost He is present in every believer and every believer is to witness of His saving grace, resulting in multitudes being saved (Acts 2:41).
- Jesus went to heaven and sent the Holy Spirit to live in the heart of every believer, so that they might be powerful witnesses of His saving grace. “When the Spirit is come (to the church) He (the Holy Spirit) will convict the world of Sin, of Righteousness, and of Judgment. Of sin, because they believe not on me; of righteousness, because I go to my Father and you will see me no more, of judgment because the prince of this world (Satan) is judged” (John 16:8-11).
It is important that we note that the Holy Spirit comes to believers (the church) and not to the world. This means He works in and through you and me if we are born again. The Holy Spirit does not minister in a vacuum. Just as Jesus had a body in order to do His work on earth, so the Holy Spirit needs a body to accomplish His ministries and that body is His redeemed church. Our bodies are His temples and tools, and He wants to use us for His glory. Illus: Often we hear people pray, “Lord, send your Holy Spirit to speak to the lost.” Such praying sounds good, but is it biblical? Many think the Holy Spirit “floats” up and down the pews in a ghostly. No, the Holy Spirit works through His people in whom He lives. This does not mean the Sovereign Holy Spirit could never speak directly to someone, but it does mean that He speaks primarily through believers who are surrendered to Him. I sense very little of the Holy Spirit’s convictions in churches today. This means one tragic thing: Members of the church are not instruments through which the Holy Spirit can convict the lost.
What does the Holy Spirit do through believers? Jesus said “He convicts or reproves the world of three things” (John 16:8). The word “convict” means “to convict and convince,” or simply to pronounce the verdict. Believers are the witnesses, the Holy Spirit is the prosecuting attorney, and the unsaved are the guilty prisoners.
- The Holy Spirit convicts the world of one particular sin: The Sin of Unbelief. The conscience will convict men of their sins, but only the Holy Spirit can convict the lost of unbelief. After all, it is unbelief that condemns the sinner and sends him to hell (John 3:18-21), not the committing of individual sins. A person could “clean up his life” and quit his bad habits and still be lost and go to hell. Many seek to win the lost by seeking to persuade them to quit drinking, etc., never showing them that their damning sin is the rejection of Jesus as Savior and Lord.
- The Holy Spirit convicts the world of Righteousness, not unrighteousness. Whose righteousness? The Righteousness of Jesus, who returned and was received by His Father in heaven to show He was righteous. Men must see their righteousness as “filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6) and know that the only righteousness that will save is that of Jesus Himself.
- The Holy Spirit convicts the world of judgment. “Of judgment because the prince of this world (Satan) is judged.” Jesus is saying that just as Satan has already been judged and sentenced, so will the sinner who persist in unbelief and rejection of the true righteousness of Jesus.
In a word, there can be no true conversion without conviction of sin, righteousness, and judgment, and there can be no conversion apart from the Spirit of God using the Word of God through the witness of the child of God. Do you not see how Christians desperately need to understand and surrender to the Holy Spirit? Yet the fact is that most believers believe only that they need to accept Jesus as their Savior and are either totally ignorant or indifferent to the wonderful work of the Holy Spirit. But as D. L. Moody said, “You can eat without a tongue, breath without lungs, see without eyes, sooner than you can live the Christian life without the Holy Spirit.”
Illus.: As a young pastor I knew from reading the New Testament that the Holy Spirit was crucial in the Christian life, so I approached an “elder” statesman expressing my concern that we honor the Holy Spirit, and he replied, “Bill, don’t bother with the Holy Spirit; just preach Jesus,” not realizing that we experience the life of Jesus only through the Holy Spirit.
Illus.: When I was discouraged, tired, defeated, depressed, and ready to give up, the Holy Spirit joined me on the streets of Greensboro, assuring me of His glorious presence and helper for every need I had. That was the beginning of a new day in my personal life, my marriage, and my ministry.
THE HOLY SPIRIT PASSIONATELY YEARNS FOR YOU – James 4:5
One of the most amazing truths concerning the love of the Holy Spirit for every single child of God is hid away in the little book of James, chapter four, verse 5. “Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?” The key word in the verse is Lust, which is the Greek word, epipotheo, meaning an intense desire, a craving, hunger, a yearning, longing or pining for something. What does the Holy Spirit yearn for so passionately that the Bible would picture Him that way? He yearns that each believer give his time, devotion and total surrender to Him so that He may produce the life of Christ in Him. That should not surprise us. He is our life through the new birth, our Indweller, our Controller (filler), Sealer, Sanctifier, and Source of power. The word epipotheo (lust) means that the Holy Spirit wants all of us, or as one commentator observed, “The Holy Spirit can never get enough of us.” In Romans 12:1 God through the Apostle Paul is begging us to “present our bodies as a living sacrifice.” This verse does not say to whom we should present our bodies. However, we know it is not to God the Father who is heaven and needs no body; it is not God the Son, for He already has a body. So that leaves it to be the “Holy Spirit,” who has no body, except the bodies of born again individuals. Just think – you are the dwelling place, the residence, the home of the living God through the Holy Spirit. Thus the Holy Spirit is jealous to claim all of you for the glory of Christ, for whom He has come to glorify. Will you permit Him to do so NOW?