The Gospel of John Chapter 16
Lesson in Empowerment
As we begin the 16th Chapter of the Gospel of John
The disciples are troubled.
Jesus tells them that they will face persecution
John 16:2 (NLT)
For you will be expelled from the synagogues, and the time is coming when those who kill you will think they are doing a holy service for God.
And Jesus tells them that he won’t be there with them.
John 16:5 (NLT)
“…now I am going away to the One who sent me,…”
That news was frightening to the disciples.
It is not what they expected.
They had been taught that the Messiah would set all things right.
Liberate all of Israel from foreign oppression.
Restore the Davidic Dynasty
Return Israel to its former glory.
What Jesus tells the disciples is counter what they expected.
They are bewildered.
The scripture says they were filled with grief. (v. 6)
John 16:7 (NIV)
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.
The Counselor—
Others have translated the title as the Advocate (NLT) the Helper (NCV) the
Friend (MSG) or the Comforter (TLB)
But now after Pentecost, the birthday of the New Testament Church we call this
One whom Jesus will send to His disciples, the Holy Spirit.
Today we are going to consider the work of the Holy Spirit in the world and in the
lives of Jesus disciples.
We are going to discover that it is the Holy Spirit within that
empowers disciples to live their lives to the full.
In the Gospel According to Matthew, that Apostle records Jesus words
Matthew 28:20 (NIV)
“…surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Jesus is with every one of His disciples through the presence of the Holy Spirit.
I must confess I don’t have a handle on the metaphysical stuff.
I don’t understand how God can be One in Three Persons.
Yet the confession of the Church down through the centuries is that:
We believe in one God, Triune in nature, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
We must let the statement stand in faith.
For it has remained a mystery as to how this can be.
God in three persons—Blessed trinity.
What I want to do is back up just a little and recall what the Apostle John has
preserved for us concerning the Holy Spirit
John 1:32-33 (NIV)
Then John [the Baptist] gave this testimony: "I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, 'The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.'
During the time of the Old Testament the Spirit of God did not remain.
In the book of Judges we read where the Spirit came upon an individual and
empowered them to perform a certain task and when that task was
over the Spirit would leave. (Judges 3:10) (1 Sam 16:14)
The prophets longed for a day when God would pour out His Spirit on everyone
and the Spirit would remain. (Joel 2:28)
Now here is John the Baptist testifying that Jesus is the one who will baptize
people with the Holy Spirit.
We can assume that what God the Holy Spirit did in the Old Testament
He will do for the disciples of the New Testament.
To be baptized with the Holy Spirit is to be empowered to
accomplish the will of God.
John records these words of Jesus for us:
John 14:15-18 (NIV)
If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever-- the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
A couple things here I want you to see.
Jesus says that the Holy Spirit will be His abiding presence in you and
The Holy Spirit will fill the same role that Jesus filled in the life of
His disciples when Jesus walked this earth.
Mentor, Guide, Protector
Jesus spoke Aramaic,
Someone took John’s original and wrote it in Greek,
The Greek word does not have an English equivalent
So translators have difficulty identifying the name Jesus
actually identifies with the Holy Spirit.
The NIV translators chose Counselor—
While others have translated as Advocate (NLT),
the Helper (NCV) the Friend (MSG) or the Comforter
(TLB)
All descriptive names of what the Holy
Spirit does for the disciple.
Then Jesus adds—the Spirit of Truth
The Holy Spirit reveals truth.
The Holy Spirit will reveal the Truth
—which is whom Jesus called himself.
The Holy Spirit will reveal to us the truth about ourselves.
The Holy Spirit will reveal to us the reality of our situations
So the Holy Spirit will empower you to know the truth,
Again Jesus is teaching His disciples and says:
John 15:26-27 (NIV)
When the Counselor 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.
The Holy Spirit will not only make things clear about Jesus,
Help the disciple understand spiritual things,
But the Holy Spirit will also empower disciples to tell others about Jesus.
The Holy Spirit will help you know Jesus
Empower you to know the Truth
Empower you to accomplish God’s will
And Empower you to evangelize—telling others about Jesus.
What we learn up to this point is that the Holy Spirit would bring an uninterrupted
fellowship for ever with Jesus; and would empower the disciple to be
effective in all they do. —Barclay's Daily Study Bible (NT)
Now lets add to our understanding what is revealed to us in the 16th chapter of the
Gospel.
Video Presentation of John 16
John 16:7-11 (NIV)
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. 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; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.
Jesus tells us that the Holy Spirit will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin
Healthy guilt is the feeling we feel when we realize that we have done
something wrong.
So the Holy Spirit is going to reveal our spiritual condition to us.
For those who do not believe their spiritual condition is one of sin.
Recall our definition of sin:
Sin is anything that deters, damages or destroys right relationships.
The Bible reveals to us the human predicament.
Created in fellowship with God,
Human kind choose to unwittingly destroy a righteous
relationship with God.
We call that event original sin.
The result of original sin is an estrangement between God and Humanity.
Everyone is born into this world relationally estranged from God.
The scripture also reveals that because of this we have a sin nature—
Humanity has a propensity, a tendency, an attitude,
For deifying self.
We want to make our own rules,
Be our own authority,
Be our own judge over right and wrong,
Good and evil.
In my teaching I have called this sin nature, this attitude by the Greek
name that the Apostle Paul gave it, the sarx, which I define as
egoism.
Sin is a three pronged problem.
Because we are tainted with original sin, estranged from God.
Because we have a tendency to sin, a sin nature,
We do things that deter, damage and destroy right
relationships.
Those things we can call actual sins.
The Holy Spirit will convict people of their sin.
Convict means to prove or declare someone guilty of an offense.
So one job of the Holy Spirit is to help people realize that they
are not right with God.
Jesus tells us that the Holy Spirit will convict unbelievers that there is a standard
of righteousness.
I like to think of this as the Holy Spirit revealing to people how once
they realize the sin problem they have how they can become
righteous.
How to become rightly related to God.
Our modern word righteous comes from the Middle English term
Right wise, which means to be properly aligned.
The Holy Spirit will reveal to a person how to be reconciled to
God.
So the Holy Spirit convicts humanity of sin and convinces us of our savior.
—Barclay's Daily Study Bible (NT)
And not only will the Holy Spirit convict an unbelieving world of sin and
righteousness, the Holy Spirit will also convict the world of judgment.
There is a day of accounting for every human being.
A day of justice, where one stands before God and are judged
according to what they have done.
Revelation 20:11-15 (NIV)
Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
The Holy Spirit will convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgment.
Jesus continues:
John 16:12-15 (NIV)
"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. 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.
Jesus tells us that the Holy Spirit will guide the disciple into all truth,
The Holy Spirit will bring understanding.
The Holy Spirit will bring guidance.
The Holy Spirit will make the Father’s will known to you.
The Holy Spirit will use you to glorify Jesus.
The Holy Spirit is God with in you.
Now I want to leave the Gospel of John and venture into the other writings in the
New Testament to clear up a little confusion about the Holy Spirit that I
keep running into.
1. When you first believe you are sealed with the Spirit.
Ephesians 4:30 (NIV)
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
It’s the presence of The Holy Spirit in you that makes you spiritually alive to the
Father.
Re-birth, regeneration—becoming a new creation in Christ is because
of the presence of the Holy Spirit in you.
2. As a disciple you can be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 5:18 (NIV)
Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.
To be filled is to be empowered to live a life of holiness,
Think of holiness as that love motivated obedience.
There is only one sealing, one baptism in the Holy Spirit,
But there are many fillings.
In the Church of the Nazarene we believe that it is a normal part of spiritual growth
to mature in the faith to a point where we are ready to deal with our sin
nature problem.
When you are sealed with the Spirit,
when you first believe your actual sins
are forgiven and that original sin problem is reconciled
Your slate of sins, that you with intent committed, is cleaned
And your estrangement in your relationship with God is
reconciled.
Yet there is another sin problem that remains—
You are a believer, you are living the ABC of the faith,
You are learning to be a disciple.
But you come to a place in your spiritual growth where you realize
that there is a battle going on inside you.
It’s a battle for ultimate loyalty.
The sin nature, the self-centered on itself, egoism—is constantly
motivating you to do life the way you see best,
obey God when its convenient,
do what you want when its not convenient.
The Holy Spirit is constantly motivating you to be a fully devoted
follower of Christ 24 7 365--
To be 100% obedient to God;
To love God with all your heart, mind, soul and
strength.
So there’s a tug of war going on inside.
That tug of war can have an end.
In the Church of the Nazarene we call it entire sanctification,
My brother-in-law who is an assembly of God pastor
Calls it baptism in the Holy Spirit.
When my good friend Bruce Garner at Cross Point
Baptist speaks about this experience he calls it
total dedication to Christ.
Eric Long who used to be one of the kids in my youth
Group, back in the day, became an Episcopal
Priest and he calls the experience
confirmation.
Keith Green who was one of my favorite song writers
called it being bananas for Jesus.
It doesn’t matter what you call the experience,
The result is the same—
God fills you with the Holy Spirit crucifying the sin
Nature
The result is that the loyalty issue is resolved.
You are going with God.
You want to be obedient 24 7 365
You may be tempted to do your own
thing but you do what God wants.
Love motivates you to obey,
instead of the sarx motivating you to disobey.
The experience is what the God foretold through the prophet Ezekiel
Ezekiel 36:26-27 (NIV)
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
This experience, this infilling of the Holy Spirit radically changed my walk with
Christ.
I had been a Christian for a number of years,
I would go to church, then go out drinking with the guys.
I would be reading the bible one minute and laughing at
someone’s dirty joke the next.
I tried to keep the rules
Don’t smoke, don’t chew, don’t go out with the girls that do.
Had a hard time with all of that.
I felt guilty all the time.
I felt like giving up—the whole God thing just not working for
me.
I was living a totally compromised Christian life.
My relationship with God was real fuzzy.
I did what I wanted too and was totally miserable.
I was a hypocrite.
I was grieving the Holy Spirit with whom I had been sealed.
I was the seed sown amongst the weeds,
The world was choking the life out of me.
I was the branch the produced no fruit.
It was roller coaster Christianity for me.
But God is faithful even when we are not.
I learned that I did not have to live this way.
That I could live a life of no compromise.
That God could fill me with his Holy Spirit and crucify
my sinful self.
I didn’t know any of the names to call this second gift from God.
All I know was I cried out to God to end the war,
I remember saying God if you will forgive me for the umpteenth time
I will serve you, but you have to change whatever is messing
me up on the inside.
Later I learned that
When we recognize our problem with the sin nature.
When we realize that God can rectify the motives of our heart
When we are willing to do anything we must to live the Spirit
Filled life.
God does another miracle in our lives,
the Apostle Paul described it like this:
Galatians 2:20 (NIV)
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Throughout the book of Acts we read that the Apostles laid hands on believers and
Believers were filled with the Holy Sprit.
If you recognize your problem with the sin nature.
If you realize that God can rectify the motives of our heart
And If you are willing to do anything we must to live the
Spirit Filled life.
I can see no reason why as a sign of intent I shouldn’t lay hands on you and
pray that God will fill you with the Holy Spirit.
God my choose to do so in an instant
God may choose to wait to see if you are truly sincere.
But I don’t want to pass up this opportunity if
This is the desire of your heart.
Ephesians 3:16-19 (NIV)
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.