Soar Like Eagles (Part 32)
The Power of the Holy Spirit - John 16:1-33

Before looking at the message of this chapter, we need to remember
where it appears in this Gospel.
Following twelve chapters of largely public ministry, chapters 13
through 17 are filled with intimate exchanges between Jesus and His
twelve disciples. He was deeply concerned about them as His death
approached.
As a result, the teachings in these four chapters were largely devoted
to preparing the disciples for His departure from them. By the beginning
of our text, chapter 16, Jesus had washed their feet, Judas had left to
betray Jesus, Jesus had told them He was "going away," and He had
warned them about the persecution that would come.

Saying good-bye is never easy, whether it's at an airport, a family
reunion, or the deathbed of a loved one. The single, most important
message Jesus wanted to communicate was that His presence would be
replaced with that of the Holy Spirit.
At that last supper Jesus ate with His disciples, He had many things
to say. But mainly He wanted them to know two secrets -- one about
Himself and the other about themselves:

- The secret of His victorious life.
Time and time again throughout the Upper Room discourse Jesus referred
to the vital union He had with the Father. He wanted to impress upon the
disciples that the Father was in Him and that He was in the Father.

- The secret of their victorious life.
Jesus' relationship with the Father was to serve as an example to the
disciples of their new relationship with the Spirit. Just as Jesus had a
vital union with the Father, so the disciples were to have a vital union
with the Holy Spirit.

Having made clear that the hatred of the world was inevitable to the
disciples if they followed Him, Jesus proceeded to make more vivid what
that hatred would mean.
Expulsion from the synagogue, as in the case of the blind man (9:22,
34), and even death would be their lot. Such treatment they were not to
regard as abnormal! Saul of Tarsus' murderous mission to Damascus is an
example of this (Acts 9:1ff). Shocking as it was, it was justified by the
Jews on the ground that the Christians were blasphemers and. therefore,
worthy of death (Acts 6:13; 7:57).

""All this I have told you so that you will not go astray. {2} They
will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when anyone
who kills you will think he is offering a service to God. {3} They will
do such things because they have not known the Father or me."
Chapter 15 closed with several positive reasons why persecution will
occur, and the proper response by God's children. We should rely on the
Holy Spirit and also stand firm and boldly testify of our faith in
Christ.
Negatively, we should not stumble (16:1) and we shouldn't forget (vs.
4). The Greek word for "stumble" is "skandalizo," from which we get our
word scandal. When you stumble, your walk is interrupted, and that is
what the Lord is trying to prevent.
And we are certainly guilty on occasion of remembering what we ought
to forget and forgetting what we ought to remember!
There is no reason for the Christian to stumble when the world stokes
up the furnace of persecution. He should expect persecution, if only
because his Lord told him it was coming.
Furthermore, they must not stumble when this persecution comes from
religious people who actually think they are serving God.
For three years, Jesus had been with them to protect them from attack;
but now He was about to leave them. He told them this earlier in the
evening (13:33), and Peter had asked Him where He was going (13:36).
However, Peter's question revealed more concern about himself than about
the Lord!

"I have told you this, so that when the time comes you will remember
that I warned you. I did not tell you this at first because I was with
you. {5} "Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me,
'Where are you going?' {6} Because I have said these things, you are
filled with grief. {7} 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 phrase "your good" or "advantage" means "profitable" in the
original Greek language. It's hard to imagine that Jesus' absence could
be profitable or advantageous for the disciples, but it's true.
The major reason, of course, is that the Holy Spirit might come to
empower the church for life and witness. As long as Jesus was on the
earth, He was limited to being in one place at a time by His physical
body. Also, the ascended Savior would be able to intercede for His people
at the heavenly throne of grace.
The Spirit would guide the apostles into all truth and the kingdom
would not be established until the Lord returned to heaven and took His
seat on David's throne at the right hand of God (Acts 2:29-36).
The Holy Spirit works through the people in whom He lives. When the
Holy Spirit came at Pentecost, He empowered Peter to preach; and the
preaching of the Word brought conviction to those who heard.

"When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt[1] in regard to sin
and righteousness and judgment: {9} in regard to sin, because men do not
believe in me; {10} in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the
Father, where you can see me no longer; {11} and in regard to judgment,
because the prince of this world now stands condemned."

Three specific functions of the Spirit convict the world through the
Christian:

- Concerning sin.
The Spirit uses the faithful, loving Christian as a visual aid to convict
the unbeliever (see 1 Cor. 7:12-14). If Jesus is the Son of God, as this
Gospel declares Him to be, then rejection of Him is the greatest and most
fatal sin of all. It is the deliberate refusal of God's will.
In order to define sin there must be a standard. There can be no
transgression where there is no law, no darkness when there is no light,
who sin where there is no holiness.

- Concerning righteousness.
The Christian should have a standard, or lifestyle, foreign to the
unsaved person. Since the world can no longer see the righteousness of
Jesus, they can only see it reflected off us.
- Concerning judgment.
Whenever sin and righteousness meet there must be judgment. When unsaved
people see the Christian's free and unfettered life, the Holy Spirit
shows them that their ruler has no power over the saint.
The key word in these verses is "convict," which is a legal word that
means to "bring to light, to expose, to refute, to convict and convince."
The world may think that it is judging Christians, but it is the
Christians who are passing judgment on the world as they witness to
Christ!
The Holy Spirit convicts the world of one particular sin: the sin of
unbelief. After all, it is unbelief that condemns the lost sinner (John
3:18-21).
The Spirit also convicts the sinner of righteousness, not
unrighteousness. Whose righteousness? The righteousness of Jesus Christ,
the perfect Lamb of God.
The Spirit of God reveals the Savior in the Word and in this way
glorifies Him: ""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 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 bring glory
to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you."

Three aspects of the Holy Spirit are marked in the three main verbs:
- He...will convict (vs. 8)
- He...shall guide (vs. 13)
- He...shall glorify (vs. 14)
The first two are qualified by the temporal clause, "when He is come,"
which indicates that these relate to the work of the Spirit in times as
it affects the world and the disciples.
The third aspect indicates the relation of the Spirit to Christ, who
is the source of the Spirit's teaching.

Discussion about the Holy Spirit today is often confusing and
divisive. While this passage does not say everything that can be said
about the Holy Spirit, it does describe the Spirit's mission: to lead the
followers of Jesus into all truth.
For Christians today, all truth is to be evaluated in light of what
the Spirit revealed to the apostles when He guided them "into all the
truth." We are also to remember that the purpose of the Spirit is not to
draw attention to Himself, but to glorify the Son. Every teaching about
the Spirit must be consistent with these two truths.

* LET THERE BE JOY (16:16-33)
This final section of the chapter concludes the Upper Room discourse
and deals primarily with the emotions of the disciples. They were
sorrowing, they were confused about some of Jesus' teaching, and they
were afraid.
Jesus made many statements that we easily understand today, but which
thoroughly confused His disciples at the time He made them. Such is the
case in 16:16-22. Jesus told them that in the coming days they would not
see Him, but that "after a while" they would see Him again (16:16, 17).
The death, burial, and resurrection of Christ are subjects Christians
constantly talk about and the events they remember and celebrate each
Sunday as they observe the Lord's Supper. However, this was an
unthinkable idea before the cross. To the disciples it seemed that Jesus
was speaking in impossible riddles.
Jesus continued to prepare the disciples for His departure; because no
matter how confused the disciples were on that night, Jesus knew they
would be even more confused the next day when He was crucified.
Therefore, He pressed on with His message concerning what was about to
take place. He told them that they would weep while the world would
rejoice; yet He said that in a short time, the world would weep while the
disciples rejoiced (16:20-22). We can see that this is what took place in
the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, but the disciples were
unable at that time to grasp this important truth.
One of the recurring themes in this section is joy. The 11 were
certainly not experiencing much joy that night! But what Jesus said to
them eventually made a difference in their lives, just as it can make a
difference in our lives today.
Tenderly and patiently, our Lord explained how His people can have joy
in their lives.

- There is a Principle to Grasp (16:16-22).
In the upper room, Jesus has mentioned impending sorrow and inevitable
persecution several times. Now He wants to clarify that this isn't the
end of their relationship.

""In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little
while you will see me." {17} Some of his disciples said to one another,
"What does he mean by saying, 'In a little while you will see me no more,
and then after a little while you will see me,' and' Because I am going
to the Father'?" {18} They kept asking, "What does he mean by 'a little
while'? We don't understand what he is saying." {19} Jesus saw that they
wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, "Are you asking one
another what I meant when I said, 'In a little while you will see me no
more, and then after a little while you will see me'? {20} I tell you the
truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve,
but your grief will turn to joy."

The disciples would go through incredible pain and sorrow, but their
grief would not last forever.
To illustrate, Jesus draws a homespun analogy:
"A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come;
but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that
a child is born into the world"

No matter how intense, once that tiny, priceless life is laid in your
arms, the pain is forgotten. The comparison is clear. "So with you: Now
is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and
no one will take away your joy."
The principle is simply this: God brings joy to our lives, not by
substitution, but by transformation. His illustration of the woman giving
birth makes this clear. The same baby that caused the pain also caused
the joy!
Jesus did not say that the mother's sorrow (pain) was replaced by joy,
but that the sorrow was transformed into joy. Verse 16 talks about the
soon-to-occur events in connection with His death and resurrection.

Instead of asking Jesus to explain His words, the men began to discuss
it among themselves, almost as though they were embarrassed to admit
their ignorance.

- There is a Promise to Believe (16:23-28)
Jesus continued to comfort and prepare the disciples by telling them
how their situation would actually be better once He ascended to the
Father.
Although they could not understand how that could possibly be true,
Jesus assured them that when He returned to heaven, unspeakable spiritual
power would be released into the world: His blood that was about to be
shed for the sins of the world and the Holy Spirit who was about to come
and take His place were two forces that would bless the world in
unimaginable ways!
Jesus had spoken to them in figurative language, because that is all
they were prepared for at the time. However, they would soon understand
"plainly" what He had meant (16:25). He assured them that when thy asked
in His name, they would receive the answers to their prayers (16:26-28).
Just as a violent storm turns the desert into a bed of wildflowers, so
the sorrowful storm to pass over the disciples would bloom joy in
abundance. But this flower has deeper roots, as unearthed in verses
23-24: "In that day you will no longer ask me anything. I tell you the
truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. {24} Until
now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive,
and your joy will be complete."
Having broached the subject of prayer, Jesus clarifies the issue of
God's accessibility: ""Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time
is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell
you plainly about my Father. {26} In that day you will ask in my name. I
am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf."

There will come a time when the disciples will have direct access to
the Father. And what will bring about this new relationship? Love! "No,
the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed
that I came from God. {28} I came from the Father and entered the world;
now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.""

The central theme of this section is prayer: "ask, and you will
receive, and your joy may be full." "That day" refers to the time after
the coming of the Spirit.
Jesus knew they wanted to ask Him some questions (vs. 19). He assured
them that a day would soon come when they would not ask questions.
Instead, they would pray to the Father and He would meet their needs.
This was the promise they desperately needed to believe: that the
Father loved them and would hear their requests and meet their needs.
While Jesus was with them on earth, He met all their needs. Now He would
return to the Father, but the Father would meet their needs.
The purpose of Bible study is not simply to understand profound truth,
but to get to know the Father better (vs. 25). If our reading and Bible
study falls short of this, it does more harm than good.

"Then Jesus' disciples said, "Now you are speaking clearly and without
figures of speech. {30} Now we can see that you know all things and that
you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us
believe that you came from God." {31} "You believe at last[1]!" Jesus
answered. {32} "But a time is coming, and has come, when you will be
scattered, each to his own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am
not alone, for my Father is with me. {33} "I have told you these things,
so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble.
But take heart! I have overcome the world.""

The disciples' response to Jesus' words of comfort was to confess
their faith in Him. Again, we recognize the importance of the word
"believe" in the Gospel of John. Belief in Jesus as God's Son is the goal
of this Gospel (20:30, 31). We are reminded that John used "believe" in
many ways. In some verses it means that a person accepted a claim as
true. In others it means that someone accepted Jesus as the Son of God.
Sometimes it means "going public" with one's faith in Jesus, while at
other times it means "standing firm" in one's commitment to follow Jesus.
In 16:30 the disciples were saying that they accepted the claims of Jesus
to be true; they believed that He "came from God."
Jesus challenged their statement of faith, for He knew that they were
not yet prepared to sacrifice for their convictions (16:32). He told them
that they would all leave Him alone. At this point, we see Jesus looking
outside the events in the Gospel of John and challenging us in our claims
to believe in Him today.
Do we really believe? We say we trust that He is the Son of God, but
will we stand up for Him when doing so may mean suffering? The Gospel of
John is not just the story of the disciples' faith; it is the story of
our faith as well!

If Jesus' teachings in chapter 16 come together in one central theme,
it must be the message of verse 33.
All the warnings, all the predictions, all the promises were for the
purpose of giving the disciples peace at the most tumultuous moment of
their lives!
Jesus never promised His disciples that their lives would be free from
trouble, but He did promise them the peace of God even in the middle of
trouble: "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have
peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have
overcome the world" (16:33).
"I" is emphasized here. In many ways the next twenty-four hours would
cause the disciples to think that the world had won and that evil had
triumphed. Jesus prepared them for this by confidently affirming that He
had overcome the world. It is also significant that "have overcome" is,
in Greek, in the perfect tense. Therefore, it carries the sense of "I
have already overcome the world, and the result of My overcoming is
alreay present!"
While the cross would not literally take place until the next day,
Jesus expressed His confident assurance to the disciples that all was
going as planned, and that they would be blessed by the events that would
shortly take place.

CONCLUSION
These final verses show the disciples making a tremendous
affirmation of faith:
- first, they claimed to understand what He had been teaching them,
although this claim was probably presumptuous, as their subsequent
actions proved
- they also affirmed their faith and assurance

The final verse is the climax of the Upper Room message! In Christ,
there is peace; in the world, there is tribulation. Every believer is
either overcome or an overcomes.
Although our circumstances may seem, at first, to be far removed from
those of the disciples who first heard the comforting words in this
chapter, is our world really so different?
Like them, we face unexpected troubles, are tempted to lose confidence
in God, claim that we believe only to see ourselves denying our
confession of faith, and desperately yearn for peace in this often
chaotic world.
Jesus wanted the disciples to be prepared for the intense struggles
they were about to face. Surely, His words serve the same purpose in our
lives as they prepare us for whatever we may face tomorrow. "Expect
trouble, and be prepared" is Jesus' formula in John 16 for maintaining
the peace of God in hard times.
In June 1995 Captain Scott Francis O'Grady, a pilot in the United
States Air Force, was shot down while flying a mission over
Bosnia-Herzegovina. He was able to parachute safely to the ground, buthe
knew that the people who had shot him down would come searching for him
to take him prisoner.
Putting into practice his years of intense Air Force survival
training, O'Grady was able to remain hidden from the enemy soldiers for
six days before he was finally rescued by Marines. During that time he
survived by collecting rainwater to drink and eating bugs.
When he was interviewed about his ordeal, O'Grady credited all of his
survival training with saving his life. The Air Force had taught him to
anticipate trouble, so he was ready when it came.
Jesus does not want His disciples today to worry about all the
terrible possibilities in life (Matthew 6:25-34), but He does M;ant us to
know that trouble is part of the disciple's life. Knowing this, we can be
prepared, so that we will not be destroyed spiritually when trouble
comes.
This chapter suggests that many times we need to hear what we do not
think we need to hear at the moment.
People sometimes complain about a Bible class or a sermon, "It has
nothing to do with where I am right now." The truth is that we often need
to hear lessons about "where we are not right now."
That is, we need to hear about where we may eventually be, to be
prepared for situations we may face in the future. The disciples
certainly did not enjoy what Jesus said in chapter 16, but Jesus knew
that they needed to hear it. In the same way, we need to hear the
complete message of the Scriptures.



JOHN 16 IN REVIEW
The disciples could not understand why Christ had to leave them, so He
showed them that His return to the Father made possible greater blessings
because of the coming of the Spirit. The Christian life cannot be lived
in the energy of the flesh. We need the Spirit of God if we are going to
live lives that glorify Christ. Our Lord described how the Spirit works
through the believer.

I. The Spirit Convicts the World (16:1-11)
The world is no friend to the Christian. Christ warned His own of coming
persecution, lest when it came, they should stumble and fall. Paul, in
his unconverted state, is a good picture of the kind of person talked
about in v. 2. The reason Christ did not tell them this fact sooner was
because He was with them to protect them. Now that He was going to leave
them, He gave them this Word to encourage them. Of course, Christ had
already spoken to them about persecution (Matt. 5:10-12), but had not
explained the source (religious people) and the reason (the ignorance and
hatred of the world).

He now explained the work the Spirit will do in the world through the
church. The very fact that the Spirit is in the world is an indictment
against the world. Actually, Christ should be in the world, reigning as
King; but the world crucified Christ. Keep in mind that the Spirit does
not come to the people of the lost world (14:17) but to the people of
God. His Spirit is here, reminding mankind of its awful sin. There is a
threefold conviction of the world by the Spirit:


A. Of sin (v. 9).
And this is the sin of unbelief. The Spirit does not convict the world of
individual sins; the conscience must do this (see Acts 24:24-25). The
Spirit’s presence in the world is proof that the world does not believe
on Christ; otherwise Christ would be here in the world. The sin that
condemns the soul is unbelief, the rejection of Christ (see John
3:18-21).

B. Of righteousness (v. 10).
Note that this is not the same as unrighteousness, that is, the sins of
lost souls. Christ is speaking of the Spirit’s conviction of the world,
not of individual unbelievers, although there is a personal application.
The Spirit’s presence in the world is proof of the righteousness of
Christ, who is now returned to the Father. While on earth, Christ was
accused of being a lawbreaker and a sinner, as well as a counterfeit. But
the fact that the Spirit is present on earth is proof that the Father
raised the Son and received Him back to heaven.

C. Of judgment (v. 11).
Do not confuse this with Acts 24:25, "judgment to come." Christ is
speaking here of the past judgment at the cross, not a future judgment.
He had spoken of judging Satan and the world (12:31-32; see also Col.
2:15). The presence of the Spirit in the world is evidence that Satan has
been judged and defeated; otherwise Satan would be controlling this
world.

You may apply these three judgments to the individual unbeliever. The
Spirit uses witnessing Christians and the Word to convince the unbeliever
of his sin of unbelief; of his need for righteousness; of the fact that,
since he belongs to Satan (Eph. 2:1-3), he is on the losing side. There
is no salvation without Spirit-led conviction, for the Spirit uses the
Word to convict lost souls.

II. The Spirit Instructs the Christian (16:12-15)
The disciples must have felt their ignorance of the Word, so Christ
assured them by explaining the teaching ministry of the Spirit. He had
mentioned this in 14:26 and 15:26. "Not speak of Himself" (v. 13) does
not mean that the Spirit never talks about or calls attention to Himself.
He wrote the Bible, and there are hundreds of references to the Spirit in
its pages! This phrase means that the Spirit will not teach whatever He
pleases, but will get His leading from the Father and the Son.

The Spirit teaches us truth from the Word, and in so doing, glorifies
Christ. Guy King suggests three ways in which the Spirit glorifies
Christ: (1) He wrote a Book about Him; (2) He makes a believer like Him;
(3) He finds a bride for Him.

Any Christian who surrenders to Christ can be taught by the Spirit. Read
Ps. 119:97-104 to see how God can teach the humble Christian. It is not
age, experience, or education that counts so much as a willingness to
learn and live the Word.

III. The Spirit Encourages the Christian (16:16-22)
The disciples were greatly disturbed and discouraged because Christ was
going to leave them. Verse 16 seems to be a paradox: "You will see Me,
because I go to the Father" (NKJV). Christ seemed to be saying, "Because
I am going away, you will see Me again!"

There is a twofold meaning here. First, they would "see Him again" after
His resurrection from the dead; but they would also "see Him" when the
Spirit came to dwell with them. They would exchange physical sight for
spiritual insight. Today, believers "see Jesus" (Heb. 2:9) through the
Spirit’s teaching of the Word of God.

Christ compares the events of His suffering to the birth of a child:
travail is followed by joy. Isaiah 53:11 states, "He shall see of the
travail of His soul." The disciples did weep and lament, but their sorrow
was changed to joy. We today have sorrow and suffering; but when Christ
returns, it will turn to joy. Christ gives the kind of joy that the world
cannot take away.

IV. The Spirit Helps the Christian Pray (16:23-33)
"In that day" refers probably to the day when the Spirit would come and
begin His ministry among them. While Christ was on earth, the disciples
were accustomed to taking their questions and needs to Him personally.
When Christ returned to heaven, He sent the Spirit to assist them in
their praying (Rom. 8:26-27), and instructed them to pray to the Father
personally. Bible prayer is to the Father, through the Son, in the
Spirit. It will not be necessary for Christ to beg the Father on our
behalf (v. 26) because the Father is willing to answer our requests (v.
27).

Prayer is a tremendous privilege! Consider these other words of Christ
about prayer: John 14:13-14; 15:7; 15:16. As the believer allows the
Spirit to teach him the Word, he grows in his prayer life, for prayer and
the Word go together. Jude 20 commands us to "pray in the Holy Ghost."
Too much praying today is in the flesh, asking for things that are not in
the will of God (see James 4:1-10).

It is wonderful to allow the Holy Spirit to burden us with prayer
requests (Rom. 9:1-3). The Spirit knows the mind of the Father and can
lead us to pray for those things God wants to give us. It has well been
said that prayer is not overcoming God’s reluctance; it is laying hold of
His willingness.

The testimony of the disciples must have gladdened Christ’s heart, but He
warned them of their coming failure (v. 32). Even the Father would
finally forsake Christ on the cross! What a blessing to hear the Lord
say, "Be of good cheer!" (v. 33) He was about to be arrested and
crucified, yet He gives peace and joy to His followers! He promises them
His victory: "I have overcome the world" (John 16:33).

The Spirit has a special ministry in our lives. Are we allowing Him to
have His way?

Last modified: April 18, 2006