Examining JOHN 16
INTRODUCTION: In the previous chapter, the LORD told His disciples (that includes all of His disciples, including us): “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.”
Even moderate Christians who aren’t very active in sharing the Gospel or witnessing to the truth – because the darkness in society is getting deeper and broader, what little light they do shine will be glaring, and offensive to the children of darkness.
Persecution hasn’t struck the USA the way it has in Iraq, Syria, Nigeria, the Congo, North Korea and China – but as our society navigates further and deeper into spiritual darkness, it will surely arrive in this nation once founded upon Christ and the Bible. To what measure, who can say?
The Democratic Party has been hijacked by the Socialists, and since the ultimate goal of Socialism is Communism we can be assured that success for the Democrats will mean increased persecution of the church. This is an inevitability for the simple reason that we as Christians regard GOD Himself as the highest authority whereas in Communism, the State is the ultimate authority, and these two positions are irreconcilable.
Yet this is what Christ promised for His church – are we superior in any way to our LORD Who Himself was persecuted far beyond what any of us could fathom? But how can we endure such times? The same way our brethren are enduring persecution: with hope and joy – unfailing love for their LORD and even for their enemies: by the power of the Spirit of GOD!
MATTHEW 5:10-12
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 "Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. 12 "Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
JOHN 16:1-4
1 "These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble. 2 "They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. 3 "And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me. 4 "But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them. And these things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you.
The expression: “forewarned is forearmed” is quite applicable here. We can’t say that the LORD didn’t warn us! The first century church as well as the second century were bludgeoned ruthlessly by Satan who did his level best to stamp out the fire of GOD’s holy work, but the more he stamped, the further the fire spread!
Historically, persecution has never been an enemy of the church. On the contrary, persecution like any trials of life, has a way of purifying us, leads us to prioritize matters of greatest importance, burns away weaknesses and forges in us a strength and power born of GOD that can’t be achieved by most any other means.
For those who endure persecution and tribulations (small ‘t’) and are not offended and then turn away (MATT 13:20-21), they are blessed of the LORD (MATT 11:6). Even those that the LORD chose as apostles initially fell away (just as prophecy said they would; ZECH 13:7) when He was arrested (MATT 26:31,56).
What the LORD predicted in verse 2 happened as we see in the book of ACTS. But if you notice how the disciples responded, you’ll recognize the Spirit of Christ there and His command to pray for one’s enemies:
ACTS 4:29-31Saul of Tarsus no doubt fervently believed that in hauling in this strange faction of Jews to prison and death, he was serving GOD and preserving the Mosaic Covenant by destroying his brethren who worshiped (what he believed at the time) a false god in the person of Christ.
29 "Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, 30 "by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus." 31 And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.
The LORD points out that the people of the world will do these things because “… they have not known the Father nor Me.” (JOHN 15:21; 1 COR 2:8,14). This is why our prayers for persecutors is imperative. GOD needs to open the eyes of their understanding (EPH 1:18) so that they may understand the Gospel and be delivered from Satan’s POW camps, and to the kingdom of GOD!
ACTS 26:18Now here the LORD shares some news which the apostles believed was bad, but what the LORD knew was actually good!
'to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.' (See COL 1:12-14).
JOHN 16:5-7
5 "But now I go away 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 depart, I will send Him to you.
Without the indwelling Holy Spirit, we as Christians would be incapable of living the Christian life. As has been said before, the only one capable of living the Christian life is Christ Himself! – and those who have the Spirit of Christ in them through the spiritual rebirth (EZEK 36:26; JOHN 3:3,5; 1 PET 1:23):
COLOSSIANS 1:26-27Once Christ had completed His sacred mission, culminating in the quintessential offering for sin, He returned to His Father. Likewise, once we complete those good works that the LORD has prepared for us ahead of time (EPH 2:10), we no longer need to tarry in this dark world of sin and iniquity (I call it “Planet Rebyl” (pronounced ‘rebel’)). We get to go Home to our Abba, to the LORD Jesus, to the Holy Spirit and all the dear saints that we’ve loved and have gone ahead – as well as all the saints we’ve read about in Scripture, along with the saints of GOD throughout the ages since the beginning! Oh, and the angelic hosts as well – can’t forget about them!
26 the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations but now has been revealed to His saints. 27 To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory (see 2 COR 13:5).
Christ’s time of supreme sorrow and suffering was over once He resurrected from the dead, and His joy was no doubt overflowing when He was reunited with the Father. You might ask, “How can they be ‘reunited’ when they as members of the Trinity are already ‘one’? And for that matter, how could Christ be separated from the Father Who forsook Him while He bore our sins?”
Good questions! I wish I had good answers for you! Just goes to show, no matter how much knowledge of the Word we may have, we are far from being know-it-alls! The LORD Jesus Christ is the only Man that can make that claim – the rest are just Wanna-Be’s! Incidentally He’s also the only One to have all of his doctrine perfectly straight!
JOHN 16:8-11
8 "And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 "of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 "of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 11 "of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
Part of the Holy Spirit’s ministry in this world involves what the LORD stated above. He will convict the souls of this world of their sin; the primary one being unbelief (willfully refusing to believe in Christ and thus rejecting Him and His salvation; 2 THESS 1:7-9).
He will convict the world of righteousness, because of the perfect life that Christ lived, wholly holy and without sin (MATTH 4:1-11; MARK 1:24; JOHN 8:46). Were He a common-variety sinner like the rest of us, He could not have been resurrected from the dead (and die no more; those that Christ raised from the dead, like Lazarus, eventually died a second time – not so with Christ; ROM 6:9). The Spirit of GOD will reveal Christ as entirely pure and sinless and innocent.
The Holy Spirit will also render a just judgment on this world and the “god of this world” Satan. I like Albert Barnes commentary on this!
“The prince of this world: Satan (JOHN 12:31). The death of Christ was a judgment or a condemnation of Satan. In this struggle Jesus gained the victory and subdued the great enemy of man. This proves that God will execute judgment or justice on all his foes. If he vanquished his great enemy who had so long triumphed in this world, he will subdue all others in due time. All sinners in like manner may expect to be condemned. Of this great truth Jesus says the Holy Spirit will convince men. God showed himself to be just in subduing his great enemy. He showed that he was resolved to vanquish his foes, and that all his enemies in like manner must be subdued. This is deeply felt by the convicted sinner. He knows that he is guilty. He learns that God is just. He fears that he will condemn him, and trembles in the apprehension of approaching condemnation. From this state of alarm there is no refuge but to flee to Him who subdued the great enemy of man, and who is able to deliver him from the vengeance due to his sins. Convinced, then, of the righteousness of Jesus Christ, and of his ability and willingness to save him, he flees to his cross and seeks in him a refuge from the coming storm of wrath.”
JOHN 16:12-13
12 "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.
What “many things” did our LORD have in mind? I believe, at least in the majority, those things entailed further doctrinal truths that would reinforce Old Testament Scripture as well as the teachings of Christ.
Apostle Peter, commenting on the writings of Paul, esteemed them on the same level as holy scripture as recorded in the Old Testament (2 PET 3:15-16). The Scriptures themselves tell us that the writings of those who were granted special revelation were inspired by the Holy Spirit (2 TIM 3:16). These no doubt are the “many things” that the LORD Jesus referred to. “And things to come” – the spirit of prophecy is the testimony of Jesus (REV 19:10). All of prophecy revolves around the Person of Christ and His dealings with Israel primarily, and secondarily the Gentile nations. And these are “things to come” and things we are seeing even now!
When did the Holy Spirit actually indwell the disciples of Christ, thus bringing about the spiritual rebirth? It couldn’t happen during the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ:
JOHN 7:38-39It had to occur post-resurrection, and that’s exactly what we see here (note vs. 22):
38 "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." 39 But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
JOHN 20:19-22What is the three-fold relationship of the Holy Spirit with sinner and saint?
19 Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, "Peace be with you." 20 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 So Jesus said to them again, "Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you." 22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.
JOHN 14:17
Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it sees him not, neither knows him: but you know him; for he dwells with you and shall be in you.
The Spirit of GOD comes alongside sinners (and the spiritually unregenerate) as we reviewed just a moment ago, convincing them of sin. This is the parakletos aspect of the Holy Spirit. He does this in His persuasion of sinners of their sin and need of salvation. He also does this for the saint, who is in need of spiritual guidance, empowerment and strength.
Then there is the en aspect of the Holy Spirit, which is when He comes and indwells the believer who has repented, embraced the Gospel and receives justification in Christ. This brings about the spiritual regeneration through the rebirth, transforming sinner to saint, from a child of darkness to a child of GOD (ROM 8:9; JOHN 14:17)!
Then there is the third aspect of the Holy Spirit, the epi which brings Him in power (dunamis) upon the believer, as seen on the day of Pentecost. This is an overflow of the indwelling Spirit that affects not only the saint, but those that they are ministering to – that is to say, the anointing of the Spirit of GOD (LUKE 1:35; ACTS 1:8).
There are many (especially in Pentecostal and even more so, the Charismatic movement) that has an unhealthy preoccupation with the Holy Spirit, almost entirely ignoring the Father and the Son. Just as the LORD Jesus pointed to the Father, that He would be glorified, so too the Holy Spirit points to Christ with the intent that the Son would be glorified. And the Father over all who exalts the Son and directs the Spirit. This is NOT to say that we ought not to give the Holy Spirit His due – because as you can readily see in the book of ACTS, everything that the saints did was by the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.
All Three are members of the GOD-head; they are not “three gods” but One GOD represented in Three Persons that are so exactly identical that you can’t tell their character, their powers, their qualities and their hearts apart. They are indeed One in every respect except for the roles that they have: One being the Father, the Others being the Son and the Spirit.
For an excellent teaching on the Trinity, check this out by Chuck Missler!
JOHN 16:14-15
14 "He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. 15 "All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.
To “glorify” is to magnify:
PSALM 34:3Likewise when we are given the Spirit of GOD, coupled together with the Word of GOD, and as we engage in the worship of GOD, we likewise see the LORD more clearly, with greater detail and are able to study GOD (theology) and learn about Him!
O magnify the LORD with me and let us exalt his name together. (See also PSA 69:30; LUKE 1:46; ACTS 10:46). When you get a magnifying glass, a microscope or a telescope, you’re not actually making the object you’re looking at any bigger. It’s the same size whether you magnify it or not, but by using any of these instruments, your perspective changes – you see it as larger, clearer with greater detail, you can study it and learn about it.
And the Holy Spirit will glorify Christ so that we may know Him far better than we ever could using our paltry, finite minds!
Now this is something crucial to understand: Moses died and Joshua was to pick up where he left off in leading Israel. But how would Israel know that the LORD was truly with Joshua and that he wasn’t taking matters into his own hands? Well, there was an officiating ceremony where Moses deputized Joshua. Yet, the LORD also performed amazing miracles through Joshua just as He did with Moses. That authentication told Israel – just as you listened to My servant Moses, so are you to listen to My servant Joshua. The same sort of thing happened with Elijah and Elishah.
And then when the resurrected Christ ascended up into heaven, these eleven disciples – apostles were left behind. How would the church recognize that their authority was of the same quality as their LORD’s?
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