John 16 - Lesson 19 Outline

 

I.          The Gift of the Holy Spirit (VV. 5-12).

 

A.        Chapter 16 continues Jesus' instructions to His disciples in the Upper Room.  In this chapter He talks to His disciples about the coming of the Holy Spirit who would take His place.  He prefaces His revelation with two things.

 

1.            The disciples were more concerned with their own loss and future than in the future of Jesus (V. 5).

 

2.            In V. 7 Jesus says that if He doesn't go away the "Counselor" (the Holy Spirit) will not come to them.  In John 14:16 Jesus said that He would ask the Father and the Father would give them another Counselor to be with them forever.  The New Testament clearly identifies the first paraclete as Jesus Himself.

 

B.        Defensive Roles.  John has written that the world cannot know the Holy Spirit because it does not know or love God (14:16-17).  In a hostile world, the Holy Spirit will defend believers, strengthening their witness (15:26-27) and their memory of the things Jesus has taught them (14:26).

 

C.        Offensive Roles.    As if in a court of law, the Holy Spirit "defender" now becomes prosecutor and judge  (VV. 8-11).  Gary Burge (NIV Application Commentary - John) says that this is precisely the role of Jesus in John's Gospel.  He has been on trial, asked to defend His signs and His words, and in the end will judge His accusers.   These verses list three errors of the world.

 

1.            Sin.  The Holy Spirit will expose the sin of the world.  The rejection of Jesus is at the root of all the world's sin.   Warren Wiersbe says that it is unbelief that condemns the lost, not the committing of individual sins.   See John 3:18.

 

2.            Righteousness.  The Holy Spirit will also reveal the righteousness of Jesus while exposing the unrighteous or false justice of the world. 

 

3.            Judgment.  Earlier Jesus said that the world's ability to judge was perverse and darkened (7:24; 8:16) and therefore it cannot make correct decisions about God.  In Chapters 12 and 14 Jesus identifies the source of this inability as "the prince of this world.  Satan was judged and defeated at the cross.  His sentence will be carried out when Jesus returns. 

 

"If the church talks about the Holy Spirit only in terms of the emotional healing it may bring or the praise and worship it may generate, the church has missed part of the Spirit's work.  Charismatic gifts, healings, and signs and wonders are only part of the Spirit's mission.  The Spirit is also engaged in the prosecution of the world.  The Spirit is likewise about battle and struggle and winning so that the kingdom of God described by Jesus will begin to emerge like a mustard seed, whose shrub stands visibly on the landscape."  (Gary Burge)

 

II.         The Person of the Holy Spirit (VV. 13-15). 

 

A.        A Person.   In VV. 13-15, Jesus says: "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."  

 

"The Bible calls us to 'believe' in the Holy Spirit.  We are baptized into His name as well as the name of the Father and the Son.  The Spirit is an object of prayer….The apostolic benediction in the New Testament includes reference to fellowship and communion with the Holy Spirit (II Corinthians 13:14)….The New Testament exhorts us not to sin against the Holy Spirit, not to resist the Holy Spirit, and not to grieve the Holy Spirit.  He is set forth as a person whom we may either please or offend, who can love and be loved, and with whom we can have personal fellowship."  (R. C. Sproul - The Mystery of the Holy Spirit)

 

B.        Deity.    There are numerous references to the deity of the Holy Spirit in both the Old and the New Testaments.

 

1.            The Holy Spirit is omniscient.  He knows everything.  (I Corinthians 2:10-11)

2.            The Holy Spirit is omnipresent.  The Holy Spirit is everywhere.  (Psalm 139:7-8)

3.            The Holy Spirit is eternal.  There never was a time when the Spirit of God did not exist.

4.            The Holy Spirit is omnipotent, all-powerful.  We see in Scripture that the Spirit performs the kind of works that only God can perform.

 

III.        The Work of the Holy Spirit (VV. 13-15). 

 

A.        To Glorify Christ.  James Montgomery Boice in Foundations of the Christian Faith says that as important as the Holy Spirit is, he is never to pre-empt the place of Jesus in our thinking.  On the other hand, wherever Jesus is exalted, there the Holy Spirit is at work.

 

"The Father draws near to us to draw us near to himself so we can praise the Son the way he does.  The Son draws near to us to draw us near to himself so we can worship the Father the way he does.  And the Spirit?  The Spirit comes upon us to fill us with his passion to see the Father and Son glorified."  (Darrell W. Johnson - Experiencing the Trinity)

 

B.        By teaching about Christ.  The Holy Spirit glorifies Jesus by teaching about Him in the Scriptures.  John's gospel suggests three aspects of the nature of the Holy Spirit's revelation.

 

1.            The revelation is historical.  John 14:26 tells us that "He will teach you all things, and will remind you of everything I have said to you."    John 16:13 says that the Holy Spirit "will guide you into all truth."   See the gospels and the book of Acts. 

 

2.            The revelation is doctrinal.  V. 15 says that the Holy Spirit "will take from what is mine and make it known to you."  Again John 14:26 says that "He will teach you all things." See  the book of Romans.

 

3.            The revelation is prophetic.  The Holy Spirit will provide supplementary revelations that the disciples have not yet heard.   V. 13 says that "he will tell you what is yet to come." The results of this prophetic revelation are scattered throughout the New Testament, and particularly in the book of Revelation.

 

C.        By Drawing People to Christ.  Without the work of the Holy Spirit, no one could see, know or receive spiritual things and therefore there would not be a single Christian in the world. 

 

D.        By Reproducing Christ's Character.   According to Dr. Boice, the Holy Spirit does this in three ways: (1) by leading us to victory over ourselves and sin, (2) by interceding for us in prayer and teaching us to pray and (3) by revealing God's will for our lives and enabling us to walk in it. 

 

E.        By Directing Christians to Serve.    The Holy Spirit directs Christ's followers into Christian service and sustains them in such service.  He was to direct the disciples in the future in the same way Jesus had directed them in the past.  It is also true for us today. See Acts 13:2-4.

 

IV.       Joy (VV. 16-33).

 

A.        The rest of Chapter 16 deals primarily with the emotions of the disciples.  They were sad at the thought of Jesus' leaving them, they were confused about some of His teaching and they were afraid.   In V. 16 Jesus says that "in a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me."  Jesus has referred to "a little while" seven times in this chapter.  The time element puzzled the disciples. 

 

B.        Jesus then compares their parting to the painful birth of a child which, when over, brings joy.  Jesus has again referred to the imagery of the Old Testament prophets (Isaiah 26:17-21; 66:7-8; Jeremiah 22:23; Hosea 13:13-15).  In His resurrection the grief of the disciples would be turned into joy because He had returned to them.   

 

C.        VV. 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.  Until now you have not asked for anything in my name.  Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete."  These verses use two different words for "ask."   After the Holy Spirit comes (i.e., "in that day") , the disciples would not ask questions of Jesus as one of their number but would pray to the Father in Jesus' name.

 

 "To experience the meeting of our needs in answer to our prayers in Jesus' name is also a source of supreme joy, because it assures us that the Father loves us."    Bruce Milne (The Bible Speaks Today - John)

 

D.        The disciples have not understood the meaning of images Jesus has used: the Shepherd and the sheep, the Vine and the branches, the washing of their feet, the "Father's house," the pain and joy of childbirth.  Jesus' hidden teachings will become plain when the Holy Spirit comes to them.

 

E.        Jesus summarizes His message to the disciples in V. 28: "I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the word and going back to the Father."   Gary Burge calls this verse "a terse summary of John's doctrine of Christ.  His origins are divine and he comes from God.  He was sent on a mission to the world; he will return to the Father after completing his work.  This is the essence of the Christian faith, distilled to its most essential form."

 

"It is only when His hour is completed, His journey of descent and ascent is finished, that the disciples can welcome the Paraclete and know complete union and joy with Jesus.  Then Jesus will speak to them 'plainly' about the Father and they can pray in His name."  (Roger L. Fredrikson - The Preacher's Commentary - John)

 

F.         The disciples will leave Jesus to face the ordeal of His trial and crucifixion alone.  Yet Jesus ends on a triumphant note. 

 

1.            He says that the Father is with Him.

2.            He gives the weak, confused disciples a word of triumphant hope.  In Jesus they will have peace, even though in the world they will experience hatred and persecution.

3.            He says that He has overcome the world.  Jesus' triumph over the world is our triumph by reason of our faith in Him.    

 

"This is the great departure of Christianity from every other religious faith.  It does not simply set out an ideal or a moral code; it offers a means of achieving it.  Christianity is the offer of God to live in his followers and achieve in them the victory demonstrated in his Son Jesus Christ.  And in that indwelling, an indescribable peace will be ours despite the fury and foment of the world around us."  (Gary Burge)

 

G.        In summary, Jesus shares three kinds of joy with His disciples.

 

1.            Their sorrow and grief at his leaving them would be turned into joy when He returns to them after His resurrection.  "And so it is in the Christian life: God takes seemingly impossible situations, adds the miracle of His grace, and transforms trial into triumph and sorrow into joy."  (Warren Wiersbe)

 

2.            There is joy in prayer, in praising, worshipping and petitioning our heavenly Father who loves us and cares for us.  There is joy and encouragement  in receiving answers to prayer. 

 

3.            There is joy in sharing Jesus' victory over the world.