The Work of the Holy Spirit (John 16:4b-15)

Daniel L. Arter

The Gospel according to John • Sermon • Submitted 2 years ago

John 16:4–15

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Announcements

Don’t forget that we have Bible Study & Prayer every Wednesday at 7pm. We’d love to have you join us, we do provide dinner at 6pm for all that would like to join us.

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Prayer of Adoration and Repentance

Call to Worship (Psalm 40:11-17)

Our Call to Worship this morning is from Psalm 40:11-17. This is a continuation of our Call to Worship from last week with this week focussing more on giving thanks for God’s deliverance of the psalmist. Please stand and read with me Psalm 40:11-17—I’ll read the odd-numbered verses, please join me in reading the even-numbered verses.

Psalm 40:11–17 ESV

11 As for you, O Lord, you will not restrain your mercy from me; your steadfast love and your faithfulness will ever preserve me! 12 For evils have encompassed me beyond number; my iniquities have overtaken me, and I cannot see; they are more than the hairs of my head; my heart fails me. 13 Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me! O Lord, make haste to help me! 14 Let those be put to shame and disappointed altogether who seek to snatch away my life; let those be turned back and brought to dishonor who delight in my hurt! 15 Let those be appalled because of their shame who say to me, “Aha, Aha!” 16 But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation say continually, “Great is the Lord!” 17 As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God!

Congregational Worship

Come Praise and Glorify

O Great God

Speak, O LORD

Scripture Reading (Romans 8:18-30)

Our Scripture reading this morning is Romans 8:18-30, which has some verses that you’ll be familiar with. I’ve asked Tara to read it and as she comes forward, let me just give a bit of background information about Romans 8:18-30. Romans 8 focuses on the concept of suffering in this world, but Paul, who is the author, focuses his attention on the idea of suffering being utilized by God to make the believer more like Jesus Christ. Or in other words, he argues that our present suffering isn’t really worth dwelling on because what we’ll see in the future is so much greater; instead, we should understand that our present suffering will be used by God to make us more like Jesus. Tara please read Romans 8:18-30 for us:

Romans 8:18–30 ESV

18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. 26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

Sermon

Introduction

I’m not going to give a formal introduction this morning, because it’s sort of interwoven with the sermon itself. So, if you have a Bible with you please turn to John 16:4-15 and we’ll jump straight into Scripture.

John 16:4b–15 (ESV)

4b “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. 8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; 11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

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.

As we study this passage together, we’re going to break it into two parts: (1) Jesus will Send the Helper (4b-11) is Jesus’ promise to send the Holy Spirit. This isn’t the first time that Jesus mentions the Holy Spirit (in fact, this is the third time that he mentions the Spirit in the Gospel according to John), but this time, he provides more detail concerning the purpose and role of the Holy Spirit—he particularly emphasizes certain things that the Holy Spirit will do concerning all mankind in the first section. (2) The Spirit will Help Them (12-15) then narrows the focus onto what the Spirit will do to help the disciples. This passage will increase our knowledge of who the Holy Spirit is and will help us to see what the purpose of the Holy Spirit is. It’ll also help us understand what we should be asking the Holy Spirit to do for us today as we seek to worship Jesus, equip believers, and make disciples.

Prayer for Illumination

Jesus will Send the Helper (4b-11)

Our text for this morning starts a little unusually in that it’s actually the middle of vs. 4 and not the beginning of vs. 4. And really, this helps to remind us that this text is a continuation of the conversation that Jesus and the disciples were having (no part of Scripture stands in isolation).

Jesus tells the disciples in the latter half of vs. 4 that he didn’t say these things to them before because he was still with them.

This of course, refers to the whole conversation that we’ve been working through from John 13 and it includes everything that we’ll be talking about to the end of John 16.

And just logically thinking through what Jesus has said to them through these chapters leads us to an understanding of why Jesus waited until this moment to tell all of it to them—all of what he has been saying and what he’ll continue to say through this chapter are statements that they need to hear because he’s about to leave them.

He reiterates that point in vs. 4, that he didn’t say these things before this point because he hadn’t left yet and this reiteration emphasizes the fact that he knows that his departure is imminent.

Knowing that Jesus knows that his departure is imminent elevates the importance of all that he is saying—like I’ve said before, last words are meant to be lasting words.

Jesus says that he is about to leave them and that’s why he’s started telling them these things and he sort of confronts them because of their response to his initial statement that he’s about to leave. In vs. 5, Jesus says, “Now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ but because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.”

The issue that Jesus has with their response is that Jesus’ initial statement concerning his imminent departure should have prompted them to question where he was going, but instead it caused them to be sorrowful.

And quite frankly, we can understand this confrontation from Jesus concerning his disciples’ lack of response. It has been made clear through the text that Jesus’ departure is actually a good thing:

Even before this conversation, he had repeatedly told them that he wouldn’t always be with them—and no time when he made these statements did he make it sound like it was a negative thing for him to be away.

In the latter portion of John 13, he tells them that he’s about to leave and they can’t come with him yet, but they will eventually join him because in chapter 14, he tells them that he’s preparing a place for them—it’s good that he’s leaving.

John 14:16-17, Jesus promises a coming helper, because he is about it leave them, but he will not leave them as orphans—it is good that he’s leaving and it’s reiterated throughout John 14.

And he reiterates the point that the helper is coming in John 15:26-27, which was our text last week.

All said, Jesus has referred to the coming Holy Spirit twice and he has repeatedly assured them that the Holy Spirit’s coming is a good thing, but the Spirit won’t come until Jesus leaves.

What he’s pointing out in John 16:5-6 is that he keeps telling them that he’s leaving and it’s causing the disciples to be upset and sorrowful, but they’re missing the point and their sorrow reveals that they’re indeed missing the point.

So, the question here, is “what is the point that Jesus is driving at?” and he answers that question in Vss. 7-11. Vs. 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.”

This is the third time that Jesus refers to the coming Holy Spirit that has repeatedly been promised to them by Jesus. And Jesus is about to add to their knowledge of what this Spirit will do. I think it would be beneficial for us just to briefly consider all that Jesus has already told them about the coming Spirit:

The Holy Spirit has been mentioned in three different verses prior to this point. This is what Jesus has said about the Spirit so far:

John 14:16 “16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,”

John 14:26 “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.”

John 15:26 “26 “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.”

Thus far, we know that the Holy Spirit is referred to as the helper (and from the Greek word παρακλητος, which is where we get helper, we also know he can also be called the advocate and intercessor). This word alone tells us that the Spirit helps us, he advocates on our behalf, and he intercedes for us.

From John 14:16, we know that the Helper will be with us forever; from John 14:26, we know that the helper will teach us and will help us to remember what Jesus has said; and from John 15:26, we see that the Spirit will bear witness about Jesus (and from John 15:27, we know that the Spirit helps us to bear witness; to proclaim Jesus as Messiah).

And again in John 16:7, the emphasis here is that Jesus cannot send the Spirit until he leaves them, but when he leaves, he will send the Holy Spirit, which is advantageous for the disciples—it is good for them for him to leave.

In John 16:8-11, Jesus then tells us of something that the Spirit will do in a general sense for all people—he gives us the action itself in vs. 8 and then he expounds on it in vss. 9-11. Vs. 8 says, “When he comes, he [being the Holy Spirit] will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.”

It is important to differentiate between conviction and conversion. The Bible no where tells us that all people will convert as a role of the Holy Spirit, but the Bible in John 16:8 tells us that the Holy Spirit will convict.

You might ask, “what’s the difference?” Conviction doesn’t necessarily mean salvation because conviction doesn’t involve repentance. You can be convicted and not actually repent from what you’re being convicted for.

Conversion requires both conviction and repentance—the Holy Spirit convicts all people, but the Holy Spirit doesn’t necessarily save all people, though all people who are saved are saved because the Holy Spirit works within them.

Conviction doesn’t necessarily lead to repentance, but repentance always includes conviction—you don’t repent from what you don’t feel convicted of.

The Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit will convict the world, which is the Bible’s way of saying that the Holy Spirit will convict all people:

To convict in this context means to expose or reprove. The Holy Spirit has a specific role in revealing to all people something in particular and the Bible tells us what this something is—there’s actually three things that the Spirit will expose: sin, righteousness, and judgment.

And the idea that Jesus is coming with, concerning the Holy Spirit, is that the Spirit will show the world their sin and their lack of righteousness, and the impending judgment.

Put differently, the Holy Spirit will open their eyes.

And Jesus specifically tells us what about these three issues that the Spirit will expose in mankind in vss. 9-11. Let’s look at each issue individually.

John 16:9 “9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me;”—the first area of conviction that Jesus mentions is conviction of sin. We typically utilize the concept that sin is any action or thought that is displeasing to God—I like that definition, but I think it sometimes helps to hear a more comprehensive definition. John Piper, years ago in a sermon defined sin like this: “sin is: the glory of God not honored. The holiness of God not reverenced. The greatness of God not admired. The power of God not praised. The truth of God not sought. The wisdom of God not esteemed. The beauty of God not treasured. The goodness of God not savored. The faithfulness of God not trusted. The promises of God not believed. The commandments of God not obeyed. The justice of God not respected. The wrath of God not feared. The grace of God not cherished. The presence of God not prized. [And] the person of God not loved.” Sin is any rebellion against God with the greatest sin the failure to believe in Jesus. The Holy Spirit is necessary because the Holy Spirit convicts people of their rebellion against God.

John 16:10 “10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer;”—the second area of conviction that Jesus mentions concerns righteousness. In a general sense, this is a statement concerning the Spirit’s exposing of mankind’s unrighteousness, which makes sense because remember, the Bible is very clear in Psalm 14, that there is none righteous, no not one. When the standard is Jesus himself, it’s clear that there are none who match that standard. So, the Spirit exposes a general sense of unrighteousness amongst every person, but taking into consideration the second part of the verse, “because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer,” the implication is then put on a contrast between Jesus who is the only righteous person and the wicked who hung him on the cross. The Holy Spirit is necessary because the Holy Spirit convicts people of their unrighteousness.

John 16:11 “11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.”—the third area of the Holy Spirit’s convicting work concerns judgment. The Bible is very clear throughout its Scriptures that all people will be judged—unbelievers will be judged for sins; believers whose sins have already been forgiven will be judged for their good fruit. The Spirit does provide conviction concerning impending judgment, in the direct context of John 16:11, the focus is on Satan himself, “because the ruler of this world is judged.” We know that when the Bible speaks of the “ruler of this world” it is speaking about Satan himself; and what Jesus teaches in John 16:11 is that people who are living in open rebellion against God should take note that Satan himself, who is the chief rebeller and the great deceiver will be judged. No one can escape the judgments of God; and the Holy Spirit is necessary because the Spirit exposes the truth that there is impending judgment.

So, what we see in the first section is that the Holy Spirit has a specific role in what is to come and that Jesus is going to send the Spirit to do certain things. In a general sense, for all people, the Holy Spirit exposes sin, shows people their lack of righteousness, and reveals impending judgment; but Jesus doesn’t stop at describing what the Holy Spirit will do for the world, he narrows his focus on what the Spirit will do for them, in particular. Let’s re-read vss. 12-15.

The Spirit will Help Them (12-15)

John 16:12–15 ESV

Again, the last four verses expresses some more roles of the Holy Spirit, but in these four verses, Jesus focuses more on what the Spirit does for them individually as a helper or guide for them. And he starts these last four verses by qualifying what he’s about to say with this sentence, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.”

Or in other words, there’s more that the disciples were going to learn and be taught, but Jesus wasn’t going to tell them these things because they weren’t ready for them yet.

You might ask, “why aren’t the disciples ready for what else they needed to learn?” Typically our first response when someone isn’t ready to hear spiritual truth is to assume that the person is a bit hard-hearted. They aren’t ready to hear the truth because they’re still in love with their sin.

I think the context of this verse tells us something else though, remember that these are the remaining eleven disciples, with Judas Iscariot being sent away at a previous time. These are the same people who left their jobs, their homes, and in some cases their families to follow Jesus and learn from him and to be his disciples.

In some cases, there was issues of sinfulness, but they were typically repented from rather quickly, but in his context, we don’t really see the issue of sin being focused on. The issue that’s being focused on here is that Jesus keeps telling them that he’s leaving, but they’re not getting it—they don’t understand.

What we see in John 16:16-24, which is next week’s passage is that same sorrow that Jesus confronted at the beginning of our text this morning. Why can’t they bear additional teaching from Jesus?

It’s simple, they’re confused and they’re sorrowful.

We do see that as the New Testament progresses, the doctrine itself never changes, but there is an expounding of the doctrines that Jesus had taught directed by the Holy Spirit.

Or in other words, despite what some modern-day liberal scholars say, the progress of New Testament doctrine doesn’t change from the Gospels to the epistles and then to the Revelation of Jesus.

Paul’s writings don’t contradict anything that Jesus says, the Spirit just utilizes Paul to expound on what Jesus had said.

The Holy Spirit directs the apostles in sort of hashing out what Jesus had taught because the Spirit of truth had more to teach them.

And the Spirit of truth is going to do this in three ways that Jesus speaks of in vss. 13-14. “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. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” Let’s look at those three ideas separately:

The Spirit of truth will guide them: Jesus tells them the first thing that the Spirit is going to do for them is that the Spirit will guide them. Many of us have never quite experienced the need for a guide to show us the way, but I’m sure we’ve all seen movies or read books in which an adventurer required a guide to show them the right way. Those who have traversed the wilderness without guides have found themselves in desperate situations. In many of the more forested areas of Pennsylvania, to travel an unfamiliar place without a guide is foolish. The Word translated as guide here is used elsewhere in Scripture when Jesus speaks of the blind leading the blind in reference to the Pharisees.

The Spirit is intended to guide them, but this isn’t just speaking of a generic sense of the Holy Spirit leading them, what does the text say? The Holy Spirit “will guide [them] into all the truth,” which gives us a pretty strong impression that truth cannot be found apart from the Holy Spirit working within us. Without the guidance of the Holy Spirit, truth is simply missed and misunderstood.

The Spirit will lead them into all truth and this truth according to John 16:13 comes directly from Jesus and the Father.

The Spirit of truth will declare what is to come: many have suggested that this is concerning the eschaton, but that is truly just an assumption because the context itself doesn’t necessarily suggest that we’re speaking of the end times. A few have suggested that Jesus is telling them that the Spirit will help them understand that very moment leading up to the arrest of Jesus, but that doesn’t make sense, because Jesus says that the Spirit won’t come until after he departs; and we know from Acts 2, that the Holy Spirit doesn’t come until the day of Pentecost.

Let me suggest that what Jesus is saying here is that the Holy Spirit will help the disciples to make sense of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus and that by helping them make sense of that event, they’re then able to write and teach the truths of the New Testament.

Put another way, the Holy Spirit will help them to realize the repercussions of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection, which they then teach and write in the New Testament.

And the Spirit of truth will glorify Jesus: the last piece of information that we get from Jesus concerning the Holy Spirit is that the Spirit will glorify him, for he will take what is mine and declare it to them.

Just like Jesus’ ministry on earth brought glory to the Father; the Spirit’s ministry brings glory to Jesus.

Vs. 14 ties into vs. 15, which concludes John’s writing about the Holy Spirit with the sentence, “all that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”

Edwin Blum, “Because Jesus is the [Word], the revelation of the Father, all that belongs to the Father is also the Son’s. The Spirit of Truth brought glory to Jesus as He revealed to the apostles things pertaining to the person and work of the [Word]. The Spirit worked in the apostles’ minds so that they could perceive, understand, and teach about the Savior.”

The role of the Holy Spirit that Jesus is emphasizing in John 16:4-15 is that of a helper that is going to teach them. And what the Spirit is going to teach them is essentially the remaining truth, the remaining knowledge that they need from the Father to see, understand, and teach everything about Jesus.

Taken with everything that Jesus has already said about the Holy Spirit, we get a more complete idea of what the Holy Spirit was supposed to do to help the apostles.

And let me be clear that the primary message here is for the apostles, which means that the apostles were given the remaining message from the Holy Spirit to teach and to write all things pertaining to the Son.

The apostles were to rely on the Holy Spirit as their helper, their advocate, their intercessor (John 14:15-17). They were to depend on him for help because the Holy Spirit would continue teaching them and would remind them of all that Jesus had already taught them (John 14:25-26). They were to rely on the Holy Spirit as the Spirit testified about Jesus so that they could properly testify or bear witness about Jesus (John 15:26-27)

And now, from John 16:4-15, they are to expect the Holy Spirit to bring conviction to the world and to teach them the whole message, so that they can do what?

So, that they can teach the message to everyone who would listen to them. Going back all the way to John 14, the Spirit will teach them all the truth, so that they can bear witness about Jesus with all the information that they need.

Now, I’ve emphasized particularly in the last few minutes that what Jesus promises the apostles concerning the Holy Spirit in these verses is primarily for the apostles, which means a lot of what is being said is directly concerning the apostles themselves and their work, which will give us an application that concerns the Word of God itself. However, there are eternal principles here concerning the Holy Spirit that also applies to believers today—he isn’t teaching us any new truth, but he is teaching us, which gives us a secondary application as well. So, let’s look more in-depth at our application:

Application

When it comes to the apostles themselves, we really need to ask, what is their application concerning the coming of the Holy Spirit? And the best way for us to determine this is by taking account of all that Jesus has said concerning what the Holy Spirit will do for them from John 14-16.

We’re told that the Holy Spirit (the Helper, the Advocate, or the Intercessor) is coming, but he can’t come until Jesus leaves.

The word itself, which can be translated as helper, advocate, or intercessor gives us insight into what the Holy Spirit will do—the Spirit will help them, he will advocate on their behalf, and he will intercede in prayer for them.

This tells us that the Holy Spirit is someone that the apostles can rely on—depend on the Spirit because the Spirit will help you, will advocate for you, and will intercede on your behalf.

But Jesus has something more in mind when he says that the Holy Spirit will help them—yes, the Spirit will help them in a general sense, but when he speaks John 14, he has something more particular in mind.

And it’s this concept that the Holy Spirit will teach them all things and bring to their remembrance all that Jesus had taught them. Chapter 15, then tells them that the Holy Spirit is coming to bear witness of who Jesus is and that the Spirit will help them to bear witness as well. There’s a very real sense that when they do bear witness about Jesus, they’re going to be persecuted, so there’s an implied statement about the Spirit helping them to endure going into chapter 16.

When we finally get to our text, we already have developed the concept of the Holy Spirit at least a little, but now we’re told again, that the Spirit won’t come unless Jesus leaves.

But when Jesus leaves and the Spirit comes, the Spirit will convict all people for their sin, their lack of righteousness, and the impending judgment.

And the Spirit again, will guide them into all the truth, declare what is to come, and glorify Jesus.

Now, for the most part, everything I’ve already said about the Spirit during our application is cut-and-dry—he will help, he will advocate, he will intercede. He will convict people, he will declare what is to come, he will glorify Jesus, but there’s one part of what we’re told about the Spirit that’s a little bit vague in John 14-16.

It’s the questions of, “what is the Spirit teaching them?” and “what is this truth that the Spirit will lead them in?”

For those questions, we need to think clearly about what is to happen and what Jesus himself had just told them. He just told them that he has much more to teach them, but they can’t handle it yet. There’s more for them to know, but since they can’t handle it yet, the Spirit whom he will send, will teach it all to them.

And in John 18, we see Jesus being arrested and we see everything that leads to his crucifixion, his death, burial, and resurrection.

Is that what Jesus is talking about? That the Holy Spirit will teach them about the crucifixion? His death, burial, and resurrection? And what leads up to it?

Partly, but that’s not all of it, we know that because the Spirit doesn’t being teaching until Acts 2, which is after Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection; so his crucifixion isn’t all that the Spirit is teaching them.

So, consider, what did the Holy Spirit teach the apostles? Think of 2 Timothy 3:16-17 “16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

Everything that the Spirit taught the apostles were written in Scripture and breathed out by God, but you might have an objection, “didn’t the apostles themselves write the New Testament?” Yes and no, we can explain that with 2 Peter 1:16-21.

2 Peter 1:16-21 “16 For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” 18 we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. 19 And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, 20 knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. 21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

Or in other words, the apostles wrote the words of Scripture, but they didn’t make it up. They didn’t sit down one day thinking, “hmm, you know what would be cool? A fictional story about what all we did after Jesus died.”

No, what 2 Peter 1:16-21 teaches us is that all Scripture was written under direction of the Holy Spirit. That they didn’t record “cleverly devised myths,” but they recorded their eyewitness testimonies to what had happened.

That the Spirit taught them these things, that the apostles went and taught these things to the people, and when they realized that they were about to die, they wrote the words down so that future generations could have access to it—that’s why we only take for Scripture what was written by an apostle or a really close associate of an apostle. All else (even if it’s well-written, isn’t Scripture).

The apostles’ application to all this was that Jesus was about to leave them, but they shouldn’t be worried and scared—the Spirit is about to come, he will help them, and he will assist them in proclaiming Jesus and him crucified.

And because the Holy Spirit directed them to write these things down, we can read the New Testament and see what the Holy Spirit taught the apostles—and if you read the New Testament carefully, what you see is this:

The New Testament, records what happened during Jesus’ life in the Gospels; the book of Acts then records the beginning of the church; and then you get to a series of epistles by Paul, by Peter, and some of the other apostles. What are those epistles? They’re letters written by the apostles to Christians in local churches, and they each have a very similar pattern—that we believe in Jesus Christ—his death, burial, and resurrection and his ability to save us from sins. Since Jesus saved us, this is how we are to live. And they needed the Holy Spirit for this, because everything they wrote is new revelation from God.

Or in other words, if the Spirit of God didn’t teach them these things, we wouldn’t have them because God himself revealed it to them as they wrote them.

This is what the Spirit taught the apostles. What are the very real repercussions of the cross? And how do we live in light of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection.

Do you want to know what the Spirit taught them? Then read the New Testament. And this is where our application comes into play. Our application is two-fold—(1) concerns the reading of the New Testament; and (2) concerns the Spirit’s continued work even in us today:

If we want to know what the Spirit taught the Apostles, which I think we all do, then the only way that we can do so is to read the very words that they wrote.

How do we live in light of all that Jesus had done and what he himself had taught? Open up your Bibles and read it.

Dr. Royce Short used to say (and quite frankly, he’s still alive and I’m sure he would still say this), that God wrote one love letter to all mankind. For those who claim to believe in Jesus, the least we can do is sit down and read it.

The Holy Spirit was promised by Jesus to the apostles for them to learn what was left—what should we understand about the death, burial, and resurrection; how should we live in light of Jesus saving us?

And the Spirit was necessary for them because they were learning new revelation or in other words, what they wrote didn’t exist and God wasn’t just teaching them these things, he was teaching all mankind these things, that’s why they’ve been preserved in his Words.

So, our first application is actually really simple and I say it all the time, so you probably already know what I’m going to say—do you want to know what God says and how he thinks? Then read His Word.

Do you want to know the extent that he went to save your very soul? Then read God’s Word.

Do you want to know how you should respond to the Gospel? Read God’s Word.

Do you want to know how you should live now that you genuinely believe in Jesus? Read the Bible.

Your first application from John 16:4-15 is this, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to teach the apostles and they wrote down what the Holy Spirit taught them, so read it.

Now, you might think that the Bible is written in such a way that I can’t possibly understand it—let me confront that in two ways: (1) God wrote his word in such a way that the average person could understand it. Tyndale once said that the Bible was written in such a way that the plowboy working the fields could understand it. Anyone can read it and gain understanding from it.

It is basic enough that children can learn it and understand it, but I will admit, that certain parts of Scripture are difficult to understand. I can admit that because Peter himself says that—there are parts of Paul’s writings that Peter said were hard to understand (though I would argue that he probably means that in a “hard to digest” sort of way).

Nevertheless, there are parts of Scripture that are hard to understand, so what are we to do?

The Bible teaches us that all believers are indwelled by the Holy Spirit, the same Holy Spirit that wrote the Words that we have through the apostles.

And while Jesus isn’t giving anymore new revelation (we know that from Revelation 22, which specifically says that anyone who adds to Scripture will be cursed) and anyone who claims that they have new revelation from God is lying; the Holy Spirit still does work within us today.

You do realize that the same Spirit who directed the apostles to write the New Testament lives within you today, right?

That means, that the same Spirit helps you, he advocates for you, and he intercedes on your behalf. The same Spirit proclaims Jesus and helps you to proclaim Jesus. The same Spirit guides you and leads you.

The same Spirit teaches you, but not in the same exact way that the Holy Spirit taught the apostles. When the Holy Spirit taught the apostles, the Spirit was giving them new revelation from God.

There is no new revelation from God today because all the real apostles died in the first century (anyone who claims to be an apostle today is lying).

So, since there is no new revelation, how is the Holy Spirit teaching you?

The Holy Spirit teaches by revealing God’s truth in Scripture to us.

There is no such thing as new revelation from Jesus, but all that God has revealed to us is recorded in God’s Word—anyone who has repeatedly read God’s Word says the same thing, that no matter how many times they read it, they still learn from it when they read it again.

Why is that? Because the Holy Spirit is revealing God’s truth in Scripture to us and as we continue to mature spiritually, the Spirit reveals more truth to us.

The Bible is a record of what God taught his people and what God wants us to learn as well, but we aren’t going to learn it without the Holy Spirit working within us to reveal God’s truth to us, which is our second application—Rely on the Holy Spirit to teach you through God’s Word. This brings glory to God.

The Holy Spirit works in many different ways and through John 14-16, we’ve seen some of those ways—the Spirit helps, it advocates, it intercedes; the Spirit helps us to proclaim God’s truth. From this morning, the Spirit convicts the world of sin, their lack of righteousness, and the impending judgment. The Holy Spirit teaches. Much of this work is done without us even noticing and they’re works that we simply need to continue to ask the Spirit to do within us, but the teaching that the Holy Spirit does has a component that we’re responsible for as well and that’s the application that I’ve chosen to focus on this morning.

Put simply, John 16:4-15 shows us that the Holy Spirit teaches us through God’s Word. Our application is thus: (1) rely on the Holy Spirit to teach you (pray for guidance as you read God’s Word); (2) then actually read God’s Word seeking to understand it through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Depend on the Spirit of God to help, to advocate, to intercede; to help you proclaim God’s truth; to convict; and to teach. Apart from the Holy Spirit working within you, you will not learn and grow.

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Congregational Singing

In Christ Alone

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