THE PROMISED HOLY SPIRIT

Noel K. Anderson   First Presbyterian Church of Upland

John 16: 1-11 New Revised Standard Version

1 “I have said these things to you to keep you from falling away. 2 They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, an hour is coming when those who kill you will think that by doing so they are offering worship to God. 3 And they will do this because they have not known the Father or me. 4 But I have said these things to you so that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you about them. 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, yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. 7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you, but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 about sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, and you will see me no longer; 11 about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.† 

The Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity—co-equal with the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit is God as the Father is God and as the Son is God. 

John calls the Holy Spirit by the word Paraclete, which is a legal term meaning advocate. The Paraclete was a witness for the defense—one who stands beside you in court when others are trying to impugn your character. This word for the Holy Spirit, Paraclete, occurs only in John. 

The New Testament does not say much about the Holy Spirit. Our text is as close as we get to a doctrine of the Holy Spirit. And yet, Christians have made much of the Holy Spirit and written freely between the lines in their understanding. 

We’re going to consider some of the popular manifestations of the Holy Spirit and then hold up what Scripture says. As always, people have added and elaborated things that never appear in Scripture. And we’re going to scrape off some of the barnacles.

Sensationalism

There is such a thing as sensationalism: mistaking emotionalism for the presence of the Holy Spirit. They used to call the Holy Rollers—our brothers and sisters in Christ who are very demonstrative in worship.

When I was a seminarian, one of my friends served a church on Sundays in Brooklyn that had developed a fascinating local tradition. During their altar calls, they encouraged people to let the Holy Spirit flow through them and hold nothing back. Speaking in tongues was expected, but, my friend tells me, they took it to an extreme. Men and women at the altar on all fours, speaking in tongues with such passion that they began drooling. The pastor said, “Let it flow! Don’t inhibit the Spirit!” Elders came and laid down napkins for them to drool on. The people shook, bucked their hips, and drooled freely. My friend referred to it as “foamin’ at the mouth!” His comment: “I thought the Holy Spirit was more intelligent than that!” 

A few years ago, evangelists held a wild crusade every night of the week at the Toronto airport. Hundreds and hundreds of people gathered and, under the influence of the Spirit, shook, quaked, laughed uncontrollably, and stumbled around as though drunk. I suppose they read in Acts 2 where the crowd thinks the Disciples are drunk because they are speaking in other languages and translated it to this practice. But this is sensationalism—Holy sensationalism because these people worship God in Jesus’ name—but sensationalism is all the same.

Sensationalism requires a lot of suggestion and cooperation. Perhaps you’ve seen footage of televangelists knocking people over with the wave of their hand and calling it “the power of God” as if that’s God’s interest. “So what does God do for you in worship?” “Well, he kind of knocks me over.” This is a kind of mass hysteria—harmless, except when the symptoms of hysteria are attributed to the Holy Spirit. 

By the way, faith-healing services, emotional conversion experiences, overwhelming feelings of power, and spiritual presence can all be duplicated by so-called mentalists and sideshow magicians. It isn’t divine magic; it’s just human psychology. 

Fasting and sleep deprivation can so traumatize the body that one experiences expanded consciousness and heightened awareness—but that is not necessarily the Holy Spirit—that’s just natural physiology playing out. 

Likewise, chanting—singing the same praise chorus two dozen times—can lead one into a trance-like state. The worshiper may go round and round until they feel a kind of head rush, then be encouraged to think “That’s God!” when it’s really just an altered mental state brought on by oxygen deprivation—or overload. 

We have to be careful here. Now be clear: God can touch anyone’s soul in any of a thousand ways—including all the above ways I’ve criticized. We all want that God connection—that sense of real communion with God—but we must remember that God is in control of things, not us, not our methods, and not our worship techniques. 

Special “words” from God

Some claim to receive particular “words” from the Lord, as in, “I have a word from the Lord from you.” Beware this. Just. . .beware. When someone claims to speak a word from the Lord, they mean to present you with a spontaneous utterance that you must respect as the Word of God. But let’s be clear: you do not have to respect what another Christian claims to be a word from God, ever. The Word of God is Jesus Christ—he is the Word made flesh. The Bible is the Word of God written—Scripture is the window through which God reveals Jesus, the Word of God. You should welcome trusted brothers and sisters to give you advice, share their impressions, or offer their best intuitions, but don’t let them sell it as a special act of the Holy Spirit. Instead, when a rather enthusiastic Christian, excited within themselves, tells you God is saying this or that to you, take it with a grain of salt—and let that grain of salt be larger than their overall credibility. 

This is not how God speaks to us. God speaks to us through Christ, and Christ through Scripture, and through the proclamation of the Word of God. 

Can God speak through a friend? Yes. Can God speak through a symphony or a brilliant novel? Yes. As Karl Barth put it: 

“God may speak to us through a flute concerto, a blossoming shrub, or a dead dog. We shall do well to listen to him if he does so.” 

But God speaks decisively to us through Jesus Christ, whom we meet through the Scriptures. The Bible is our authority, not someone’s immediate impressions of what they think God is saying. Scripture is God’s revelation to us, not the present utterances of charismatic personalities. 

Yet, if God speaks to you in a dream or through another church member, that is for you and you alone—it is not for the whole community of faith. The collective church is not bound to your dream or personal revelation; it is attached to the Word of God in Scripture alone. 

John’s Holy Spirit Doctrine

Verses 7-11 are John’s Holy Spirit doctrine. The first thing Jesus says is that it is the best thing for the Disciples that he go back to the Father. If he stayed, he could only be in one place at a time and could only talk with one person; but if he goes and sends the Spirit, he can be with all his people at once. He can listen to a million worshipers at once and comfort each with his presence. 

In verses 8-11, we hear of the Spirit’s three-fold work. The Spirit will, via the Church, show the world that it has been wrong about sin, righteousness, and judgment.

   1. Sin—What is wrong in the world?

   2. Righteousness—What is right in the world?

   And 3. Judgment— Who has won?

All three of these works of the Spirit are accomplished in the same way; namely, by pointing to Christ—Jesus himself is the answer to all three disputed questions. 

Verse 9 is about sin, and we are told the Spirit will testify—through the Church—to the greatest evil: which is disbelieving in Jesus. 

Verse 10 is about righteousness, and we are told that the Spirit will testify—through the Church—of the centrality of Christ and will trust in him even now in invisibility. 

Verse 11 is about judgment—who won—and the Spirit bears witness—through the Church—to Christ who has already definitively condemned and defeated the devil and evil through life, death, and resurrection.

All three functions of the Holy Spirit are utterly Christo-centric—they all point to Christ. And so, the ongoing sin, righteousness, and judgment of the world are directly related to Jesus. 

The basic sin is disbelief in Jesus. 

The Paraclete—the Holy Spirit—is the spiritual presence in the world of Jesus, who is with the Father. The Holy Spirit reveals Christ, which is our final point.

Revealing Jesus

The Holy Spirit reveals Jesus.

You may ask, “What about revealing the Father?” “What about the Holy Spirit revealing itself?” Jesus reveals the Father. The Father is mostly unknown and unknowable until Christ reveals the Father. We know who God is through Christ. Without Jesus, the Father is known partially at best and wrongly at worst. Jesus reveals who God is. We know God through knowing Jesus.

As to the Holy Spirit revealing itself—as we’ve already said, many Christians think that this is what the Holy Spirit does, but they may be serving their own ideas more than the clear word of Scripture. The Holy Spirit does not reveal itself, nor does it seek to. The Holy Spirit exists to reveal Jesus as Lord and Savior. The Holy Spirit never points to itself. 

Theologian Dale Bruner has written gangbuster commentaries on Matthew, John, and Romans, but decades ago, he set out to write the definitive work on the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. Not a monumental volume, but a slim paperback of 112 pages with the title, “The Holy Spirit—Shy Member of the Trinity.” 

When Bruner teaches, he sums up his book and doctrine of the Holy Spirit with one trick. He writes the name Jesus on a whiteboard. Then he steps behind the whiteboard, reaches around with his hand, and points at the name of Jesus. 

He steps out and says, “That is the Holy Spirit.” I couldn’t agree more. 

The Holy Spirit’s work is to reveal Jesus, who is the salvation of all humankind. 

The Holy Spirit is not interested in working party tricks and parlor games—but wants everyone everywhere to know that Jesus is Lord. Christ alone saves. Christ alone reveals the Father. If we believe it or are drawn to that truth, it is the only evidence of the Holy Spirit’s power and presence that matters. †

Questions

1. 1. Where are Jesus and the disciples?  What does the author mean by “all this”?
2. What will happen to the disciples?
3. And why does Jesus tell his friends these things? What would you do if you were a disciple?
4. How does grief or fear sometimes block our understanding?
5. Why must Jesus leave his friends?
6. Why does Jesus call the Holy Spirit the Counselor? 
7. What does the word “Counselor” mean to you? 
8. What does Jesus say is the Counselor’s work?
9. How have you experienced the work of the Counselor and how did it affect you?
10. In what ways do we experience or see the Spirit working in the world?