The Ministry of the Holy Spirit
At Heralds of Hope, Inc, we get lots of mail from people around the world. Some who write have questions about the Bible, and about living the Christian life. Some of the most frequent questions we receive are questions about the role and function of the Holy Spirit.
Because this subject is so large, there’s no way we can do justice to it in one brief message. But I want to give you some principles to help you discern the proper function of the Holy Spirit. Principles to help you answer the specific questions that arise about the Holy Spirit’s role and ministry in the church today.
Our text is John 16:7-15. Here, Jesus is instructing His disciples about the coming of the Comforter. The setting of this text is just prior to the crucifixion. It gives the most detailed information about the ministry of the Holy Spirit prior to Pentecost. Because He knows the coming events will be painful for the disciples, Jesus assures them His going away is necessary for the coming of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit’s coming would be the key to their doing greater works than He did.
Notice in verse seven, Jesus tells the disciples that it’s necessary for Him to go away. It is to their advantage that He go away, because, if he stays, the Holy Spirit cannot come. If He goes, He promises to send the Comforter, the intercessor, the consoler, to them. I’ve titled the message, “The Ministry of the Holy Spirit.”
In our text, we observe theministry of the Holy Spirit to Christians and non-Christians. In each of these relationships, we’re given three specific FUNCTIONS of the Spirit. I make the assumption that many of you listening today are Christians, so we will spend most of our time looking at the Holy Spirit’s ministry to the redeemed. But we do want to look briefly at His ministry to unbelievers as we begin.
1. The First Relationship is,
To Unbelievers (vv.8-11)
Notice the beginning of verse eight, “And when he is come, he will reprove the world…” Jesus had just finished warning the disciples about some of the things the “world” would do to them, in verse two. These are the ungodly, those who are part of the world’s system of doing things. All of us were part of the world. All of us were separated from God by our sin. We needed the Holy Spirit to bring us to a consciousness of our sin. This is the primary ministry of the Holy Spirit to unbelievers.
Let’s look at the three ways Jesus said the Holy Spirit would bring about that conviction.
A. Convince the world of sin
Jesus said the Holy Spirit will reprove, convict, or rebuke the world for their sin. What sin? Specifically, the sin of unbelief, according to verse 9. People refuse to acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God. That’s the sin of unbelief. In the immediate context of these verses, Jesus is referring to the Jews, but we also know this is true for the world at large; and especially for those who have heard and understood the Gospel. The Holy Spirit will convince unbelievers of the sins they’ve committed and of the guilt and condemnation that result from those sins.
B. Convince the world of righteousness
Jesus further stated that the Holy Spirit will reprove the world of His righteousness because He was going back to the Father. What do we make of this? The coming of the Holy Spirit validated the teachings of Christ and the claims He made as the Savior of mankind. Jesus was not an impostor, a magician, a lunatic, or a destroyer of the law as the Jews labeled Him. He was the Son of God. The coming of the Holy Spirit was dynamic proof that this sinless Son of God was put to death unjustly.
At Pentecost, many unbelievers came under the conviction of the Holy Spirit and repented of their former attitudes and actions. More than anything else, this dramatic change in the hearts of men testified to the righteousness of Christ. It proved that He was who He claimed to be. Today, those who follow Christ are a constant reproof to unbelievers. The ministry and witness of the Holy Spirit in your life is visible proof of the reality of Christ’s righteousness.
C. Convince the world of judgment
Last, but not least, we have the promise of judgment on the unbelieving. Those who reject Jesus as the only hope of salvation, those who reject the proof of His claims by divine revelation and the witness of transformed lives, will suffer eternal punishment.
This fact was spoken of by the apostles in their preaching after Pentecost. They spoke of the coming judgment; a judgment that could only be escaped by trusting in Jesus Christ for salvation. Part of this judgment will be the destruction of Satan’s power.
The coming of the Holy Spirit dealt a crippling blow to Satan. People no longer needed to depend on external controls to maintain holy living. Now, the Holy Spirit transforms the heart and lives there. He gives ongoing victory to all who would walk in obedience to His voice. The life of a victorious Christian is a constant reminder that Satan’s power has been broken.
Because all of us were at one time part of the world of unbelievers, we’ve experienced these aspects of the Spirit’s ministry. But now we are redeemed. And the Holy Spirit has a different ministry to those who are the children of God.
II. The Second Relationship is;
To Believers
Verse twelve introduces the shift in focus. Jesus told the disciples He had many things He wanted to tell them before His crucifixion. But, He said, you are not able to bear them now; you’re not able to understand them now. However, when the Holy Spirit comes, He will open your understanding. And He gives three specific ways in which the Spirit will do this.
A. Guide You into All Truth
What is the purpose of a guide? To show the way. The picture is of a father taking his child by the hand and leading the way. Jesus said the Holy Spirit will show the way, and guide us into all truth. That implies that we can’t find the truth by ourselves. We should know that from experience. Our sinfulness so affects our way of thinking that to pursue truth on our own will lead us away from God. But Jesus said the Holy Spirit will be a faithful guide. This guidance demonstrates to us that truth is knowable, not abstract. It’s objective rather than subjective.
There are two ways He will accomplish this task. First, “He will not speak of Himself.” Ignoring this truth has caused many to go astray. Some have elevated the ministry of the Holy Spirit at the expense of Jesus. That is directly contrary to what Jesus states here. The Spirit does not have a ministry that is independent of Jesus. Everything that He does or says is designed to validate the words of Jesus. To suggest or practice otherwise is to discredit the worth and value of Christ.
Mark it down, if someone says, “the Holy Spirit told me to do this,” and it is contrary to the truth revealed in the Bible, that person is deceived. The ministry of the Holy Spirit will never contradict the Word; the written Word or Jesus the living Word.
Once I was listening to a popular, Christian, call-in radio program, and a lady called in to talk about her boyfriend who she had caught viewing pornography on the internet. One of the first questions I would have asked her was, “does your boyfriend make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ?” If he didn’t, then the issue was not his behavior, but the fact she, as a Christian, had no business dating him! But you know, the host and his guest never asked that question! They gave her some advice, but I don’t remember what it was because I was thinking, how can the Spirit guide us if we have closed our eyes to the obvious teaching of the Word?
Our desire to have our own way often leads us to reject the clear teachings of Scripture even as we attempt to seek God’s will for a specific need in our lives. Perhaps you’ve experienced this. You’re praying for God’s direction about some detail of your life. The Holy Spirit reminds you that there is an area of need He’s been attempting to address, but you aren’t willing to obey. So what will you do? If you humble yourself and admit your pride and rebellion, and repent, you’ll experience the blessing of the Lord. I must admit I’ve been there.
Secondly, verse thirteen tells us the Holy Spirit will speak the things He hears. So, he will not speak of Himself, and, he will speak only what He hears from the Father and the Son. He does not have his own message; He does not have His own agenda. In John 14:26 Jesus said the Spirit will “bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” Jesus further stated in John 15:26, the Spirit “shall testify of me.” I cannot emphasize too strongly how important this truth is in our age of “spiritual experience.” So much of Christianity today is experience-oriented. Experience is good, but only if it is informed by biblical truth.
Are you experiencing the leading of the Holy Spirit in your life? Are you living in obedience to the revealed will of God? If you are, then you have the promise of God that you will be led by the Holy Spirit into an ever-deepening relationship with Him.
B. Show You Things to Come
According to our text, another function of the Holy Spirit is, to reveal the future things to us. In this context, we must understand that Jesus was at least referring to Pentecost and the signs and wonders that would accompany it. This was all new to the apostles. They did not have the benefit of hindsight as we do. They were in a transition period between the old covenant and the new. But I believe the truth goes beyond that limited scope.
It is interesting to note that Peter, in his Pentecost sermon, quoted from the prophet Joel, Acts 2:16 to 21. “But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: And I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Notice, some of these things apply to Pentecost, but some do not. Those conditions mentioned in verses nineteen and twenty are for a future time. And we have prophetic books like Ezekiel, Daniel, Zechariah, and Revelation that outline how these things will come to pass. And we can only begin to understand them as the Holy Spirit enlightens our minds.
The apostles, Peter and Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, unveil some things about the coming day of the Lord in their writings. But let it suffice to say, that unless the Holy Spirit opens our understanding of things to come, we don’t have the foggiest idea about how it will come about.
I believe there’s another facet to this idea of the Spirit showing us things to come. How many of you have ever made a decision, and later, as you experience the consequences of that decision, you wish you’d made a different choice? I believe the Holy Spirit can help us see the consequences of our decisions before we make them. He can give the wisdom to look ahead and visualize the outcome. In this way, He guides us into truth even as He shows us things to come. But that will only happen if we are open to hearing His voice and following His leading.
C. He Will Glorify Me
Here, Jesus states that the Holy Spirit will glorify Him by receiving His truth and announcing it to mankind. Again, we must remember, the ministry of the Holy Spirit is not to glorify Himself, but rather to lift up Jesus. The Spirit is the One who reveals the truth to us.
Jesus reminds the disciples, and us, that the things the Holy Spirit will reveal, belong to the Father. The Father and the Son are in full agreement and the Holy Spirit is in full agreement too. He will do nothing that is contrary to the Word or will of both Father and Son. This is another way we can discern whether or not the direction we perceive is truly from the Holy Spirit; does it bring glory to Christ or does it bring glory to me? It is God’s design that our lives glorify him, Ephesians 1:12 and 14. The Holy Spirit’s ministry is to help us fulfill that design.
If we commit ourselves to obey the Holy Spirit’s prompting in our lives, He will bring about changes in us that will glorify Christ. As those changes take place other Christians will be encouraged. Unbelievers will be convinced of the reality of our relationship with Jesus. And all will be drawn to Christ.
As we bring this message to a close let’s review the specific functions of the Holy Spirit relating to Believers.
First, “He will guide you into all truth.” Are you experiencing that guidance on a daily basis? Are you walking in obedience to those things you know are the will of God? If you are, then be assured, the Holy Spirit will guide you. But if there is an area where you are suppressing the Spirit, you cannot expect Him to guide you. Obedience is the key.
Second, “He will show you things to come.” Do you know what the future holds for you? Not necessarily the details, but the direction? Have you discovered God’s purpose for your life and are you fulfilling that purpose? Do you have the confidence that your future is secure?
Finally, “He will glorify me.” Is the ministry of the Spirit in your life bringing glory to the Father? Are your brothers and sisters in the body of Christ being encouraged as they observe His working in you? Are unbelievers convinced of the reality of Christ by what they observe in your life? I urge you today to live out the reality of “The Ministry of the Holy Spirit.”