Vindication by the Spirit

Well go ahead and take your Bible this morning, turn to the Gospel of John. I think you know by now that that's where we will be. We'll be in John chapter 16. We'll cover verses 1 through 11. John chapter 16 verses 1 through 11. Although we will touch on the last two verses of chapter 15, but we will spend most of our time in verses 1 through 11. Now we are back in our series, Christ the Son of God, Believe and Live. This is our verse by verse study through the Gospel of John. I went back this morning and looked at some of my notes. We're almost three years in the Gospel of John and we got a little ways to go.

We're going to take our time and get all that the Lord wants to give us. Now it's been quite a while since we've been in our study of John. We took a break around Christmas and then we've had those messages from the pastor's heart here in the new year. But we were back in John on December the 3rd of last year which would have been 2017. Now when we left John, we left Jesus warning the disciples of great hostility that was coming their way.

In chapter 15 verse 18, Jesus taught them, "If the world hates you, you know that it has hated me." Then on down into verse 20, "Remember the word that I said to you, 'A slave is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.'" So you can accurately say that hatred and hostility and persecution was the sovereign destiny of the disciples. Church history tells us that all of the disciples died a martyr's death with the exception of the apostle John. Not only does church tradition tell us this, there are secular historians from today that do record their persecution and death.

Now other Christians throughout church history have experienced the same faith. I was thinking this week, I remember one of the first books I ever purchased, one of the first Christian books I purchased after I was newly saved was John Fox's book called The Fox's Book of Martyrs. It is an excellent source that records the persecution of many great figures throughout church history. John Huss is one of those individuals that Fox mentions. He was an early German reformer who lived from 1369 to 1415 and he was burned as a heretic because he desired to reform the Catholic Church. And then there was William Tyndall. He lived from 1495 to 1536.

Now Tyndall was an English reformer and he is primarily known for translating the Bible into English. And of course he lost his life for his efforts. So as we turn our attention to John chapter 16, we find ourselves back in familiar territory. The theme of chapter 15 was hostility and persecution and the theme of chapter 16 is the same. But there is a slight difference in the two chapters. In chapter 15, Jesus told the disciples what to do in persecution. But in chapter 16, Jesus tells them what he will do for them in their persecution. And of course this is all around the provision of the Holy Spirit of God.

Now that leads us to the title of the message. It's rather simple. Vindication by the Spirit. Vindication by the Spirit. Now you see how we will divide these verses. It's very easy for you to write down. We always challenge you to take notes, especially in our Verse by Verse series. You write those notes, take those notes and be faithful to study during the week because we want to learn all that the Lord wants to give us. We pray over what we learn because we want the Lord to form it in our own minds and hearts and lives. We will look at personal conflict. We will look at personal comfort and personal conviction.

Personal conflict awaits the disciples out of Verses 1 through 4. Personal comfort is coming for those disciples in Verses 5 through 7. And personal conviction from the Holy Spirit is coming. And of course, if you know those verses, this is for the world. We see that in Verses 8 through 11. Let's look at our verses. We'll read them together starting in Verse 1. These things I have spoken to you that you may be kept from stumbling. They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God.

But these things they will do because they have not known the Father or me. These things I have spoken to you that when their hour comes, you may remember that I told you them. And these things I did not say to you at the beginning because I was with you. Verse 5, "But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me where are you going. But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. And I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I go away, the Helper, which is the Holy Spirit, shall not come to you.

But if I go, I will send him to you." And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment, concerning sin because they do not believe in me, and concerning righteousness because I go to the Father, and you no longer behold me, and concerning judgment because the ruler of this world has been judged. Now you see how we will divide these verses, so let's dive off right into the message. Our first major truth is, personal conflict awaits. Personal conflict awaits these disciples. Now here at the beginning of verse 1, we see how the teaching of chapter 15 is connected to the teaching in chapter 16.

I'll read you that portion in the English Standard Version. I have said all these things to you. What is Jesus talking about? Everything previously in chapter 15. Now there are some Bible scholars, they think that the chapter division is incorrect. They see the need to keep this teaching together, this teaching on persecution from chapter 15 and chapter 16. Now we'll keep that together in our approach of these verses. Now the three observations I want to make out of verses 1 through 4. First of all, he gives them a warning. First he gives them a warning. Look at the second portion of verse 1, that you may be kept from stumbling.

In verse 2, they will make you outcast from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think he is offering service to God. And then in the beginning of verse 3, and these things they will do. Now this warning that Jesus gives the disciples, it has three sides. It has three sides. They were facing an internal struggle and they were going to face two external struggles. So I'm going to give you these struggles. Now first, Jesus warns them not to be caught off guard by this persecution. The English standard reads, "falling away" there in verse 1.

The new American reads, "stumbling." Go back to the verse, "that you may be kept from stumbling." Now in the original, the noun form of this word speaks of baiting a trap. So Jesus is warning them not to be caught off guard. He is telling them not to allow their persecution to bait them into the trap of discouragement and ultimately falling away. So this was an internal struggle that they could succumb to. And then second, this second warning, Jesus warns them that they could be outcast or would be outcast from the synagogue.

Verse 2, "they will make you outcast from the synagogue." This would be a lot more than being kicked out of the church. You could think about it like that. This is a lot more than being kicked out of the Jewish church. Since they lived in a thoroughly Jewish society, this meant they would be cut off from all aspects of Jewish life. This would include religious life. This would include economic life. This would include social life. And this would include family life. They would have been excommunicated in every way. They would be seen as apostates. They would even be counted as dead.

Jews in that day, if they had a son or a daughter, leave the faith. They literally would have a funeral and count them as dead. So this was an external struggle that they definitely would face. But notice the third struggle. Jesus warns them that they would face death. Go back to the verse. "But an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God." The Jews that persecuted these disciples would have seen their murder as service to God. Remember, they would have been viewed as apostates. So they literally would be killing these disciples in the name of God and a service to God.

I'll give you a great example. The Apostle Paul, prior to his conversion, his name was Saul. He persecuted the faith and took part in killing the Christians. Why? As a service to God. And this was the second external struggle that they would face. Now this is a warning. This warning was not for something that may happen. In the first portion of verse 3, what does he say? "And these things they will do." This indicates the certainty of this persecution. So you see how needed this warning is? Then our second observation is, he gives them the reason. Look at verse 3 or the second part of verse 3.

"Because they have not known the Father or Me." Here Jesus clearly helps the disciples see why the Jews will persecute them in this way. They simply do not know God. Their refusal to believe in Jesus proves that they do not know God. We saw this truth taught earlier in the study of John. John chapter 8 verse 19, Jesus said, "And so they were saying to Him, 'Where is your Father?'" This is the Jewish leadership. "And Jesus answered, 'You know neither Me nor My Father. If you knew Me, you would have known My Father also.'" So the reason for this persecution is simple. These Jews, these leaders do not know God.

And then our third observation, Jesus gives them preparation. Look at verse 4, "But these things I have spoken to you, that when their hour comes, you may remember that I told you them. And these things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you." Here Jesus gives them the reason for all of this preparation. He desires them to be ready. Now why? Why this preparation? What do we see in verse 1? They could stumble and fall away. Notice what else Jesus says to them. He tells them why He is giving them this preparation now instead of earlier.

All along, Jesus has been with them and He has taken the brunt of this Jewish persecution. But with His departure, the disciples will soon take all of the punishment and all of the persecution from the Jews. So what do we see here in verses 1 through 4? Jesus tells them that personal conflict awaits them. Personal persecution is coming that would cause them to succumb, to despair and failure and falling away. They needed to see that this persecution would come from their own people, the Jews. Jesus even wanted them to know that although they would do these things in the name of God, they did not know God.

He wanted them to be prepared in every way so that they could be victorious. Now a question. How well did the disciples do here? Well if you know your Bible, you know they failed miserably. Peter denied Christ three times. They all fell away and ran away at the crucifixion. Only John, he seemed to be somewhat faithful because he did go to the cross. But I like how John MacArthur describes their failure. And again, when I give you quotations, it's just when someone says something in a way that I can't. Notice what MacArthur says.

They have been given the resources they needed to stand firm and not stumble, including the warning that persecution was imminent. That they failed to utilize those resources and when the moment of truth came, they capitulated under the pressure and fled. Their failure in the face of the truth they were told was inexcusable. They blew it. Now an application. What can we learn out of these verses? We must see that struggles and trials are a part of the Christian life. Now if you've been here at NOLA for very long, you know that I have taught you this. We looked at this in our study of James.

This has been a theme of the teaching ministry here at NOLA Baptist Church because it is true. Trials and struggles are a part of the Christian life. And we must see that despair and failure and falling away even for a period of time is a trap. Now what I mean by falling away? I'm not talking about leaving the faith. I'm just talking about giving up. Also we must see that rejection can come from people, family, and friends in the name of God. Now we might not face persecution and death today. That day might change. We might not face persecution like these disciples, but we definitely can see and face rejection and hatred.

I'll give you some examples, specific examples that might help you. I've seen this happen many times in my ministry years. Sometimes someone will be converted in the life of the church and a lot of times there will be someone, maybe they would have been religious or maybe they had made a profession of faith earlier in their years. Now I do not believe that anyone loses their salvation. It's just that we've been inundated with decisionism and easy believism and a lot of time religious people will come to the place where they realize they've never been converted.

And I've seen people be converted and then they begin to stand up for real conversion and all family and friends can reject them. I've seen that. I've seen people literally be rejected and I've seen people even be hated and sometimes they will do this in the name of God. If you stand up for biblical truth, you might be rejected and hated. If you have your eye on the horizon in our culture, you know that homosexuality is being pushed down America's throat.

And listen, if you stand up for what the Bible say, there are people even who claim to know God and claim to believe in the same Bible that can reject you and hate you and even in the name of God. You know I've seen this apply to a church. When the church begins to reform according to God's Word and when the church begins to adjust itself to the true teaching of God's Word and they begin to adjust theologically and doctrinally and then in what they do and how they practice, listen, other ministers and churches can reject you. You can be called the quacky church. You don't want to get along with everybody else.

You can get gossiped about and accused and look they'll do all of this in the name of God and in the Word of God. What am I showing you? Let me revisit this trout. Let me revisit what Jesus says. Jesus says don't take the bait. Don't take the bait of falling to despair and failure and gloom and doom. And I'll tell you when I was studying that it reminded me of some of my childhood days. I remember all the time I used to spend with my grandfather.

I'd go stay with him during the summer and we would spend time on the property, the farm and in my younger years when I was 8, 9, 10 years old he always had some kind of chickens and things like that. But I'll tell you, boy, when a varmint got into that chicken coop and killed a few chickens he was on the hunt. He had a string of steel traps. As a matter of fact I've got them. And oh he would meticulously set those traps because it didn't matter if it was a bobcat or a raccoon or the neighbor's dog, he was going to catch whatever was getting his chickens.

And he would take those traps and he would put them a certain way and he would have bait. Why? Because he was expecting that bait to draw that varmint to the trout. And you see the trap here that was before those disciples? And look, when they let themselves come into despair and when they let themselves succumb to gloom and doom they were in the trout and they were not victorious. And I think that that speaks to us today. Let's look at our second major truth. Personal comfort is coming. Personal comfort is coming. We see that in verses 5 through 7. Now right here you could say things are pretty gloom and doom for the disciples. In they are.

This is the part where Jesus tells them what he is going to do for them. This is why chapter 16 is different from 15. Of course this does include Jesus' physical departure. We know that that is the cross and is the visual return to the Father. So things take a positive turn here. Three observations I want to make out of these verses. First notice the Lord's service, the first part of verse 5. But now I'm going to him who sent me. In this statement he is telling the disciples that change is imminent. Their circumstances were about to be abruptly different.

Jesus is telling them of his return to the Father because his service on earth is about to be complete. So his service is almost done on earth. Second observation, the disciples' selfishness. The disciples' selfishness. This is the second part of verse 5 and verse 6. And none of you asks me, "Where are you going?" Verse 6. "But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart." Now here we see the behavior of the disciples contrasted with the behavior of Jesus. Jesus had been totally selfless while the disciples are being totally selfish. Their eyes were fixed on themselves.

Now how can we know that their behavior is truthfully selfish? They were becoming more and more sorrowful. They were becoming more and more full of grief instead of being filled with anticipation and joy. Jesus had been preparing them for this time, yet they could not get past their anxieties and their despair. One commentator that I read this week said, "And when Jesus was taken from them, a sorrow would enter their hearts that would not cease until the Easter joy replaced it." So we see that the disciples had their eyes on themselves. Not joyful, not anticipating the work of Christ, and they were selfish.

Then in the third observation out of verse 7, the Lord's provision, verse 7, "But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper shall not come to you, but if I go away, I will send him to you." Here we see that their despair was definitely, definitely not needed. If they had believed what Jesus had been teaching them, they would have been joyfully anticipating the completion of Christ's redemption. They would have been joyfully anticipating the giving of the promised Holy Spirit. Look at what Jesus had taught them in chapter 15, verse 25. I go back and read those verses starting in verse 26.

"But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness of Me, and you will bear witness also, because you have been with Me from the beginning." There were many of the Scriptures besides this one that they should have remembered that would have brought them joy and anticipation. Listen to these verses. Back in John chapter 7, starting in verse 37, Jesus taught them that the Spirit of God would bring them eternal life. In John 14, starting in verse 16, Jesus taught them that the Spirit would indwell them.

In John 14, verse 26, Jesus taught them that the Spirit would instruct them. In John 15, starting in verse 26, which I just read, Jesus taught them that the Spirit would empower them. And then in those same two verses, Jesus taught them that the Spirit would activate all of God's promises for them. So here we see that Jesus promises them personal comfort even though they were floundering in a pit of selfish despair, doubt, and disillusionment. He promises them the gift which He has been speaking of all along, and that is the Holy Spirit of God. Now how might this teaching apply to us? We must see that we have the promised Holy Spirit.

We live on this side of the giving of the Spirit, which came in Acts chapter 2. We receive the Spirit when we are born again, when we are converted of God. Born from above, the Spirit of God enables us to be converted of God, and the Spirit of God comes to live within us. So if we are born again, we are converted of God, and the Spirit of God lives within us. And then also, we have the teaching of the Word of God. We have all that God wants to give us. Now we know these disciples, they were in the middle of this progressive revelation of God, but we have it all. But my question is, are we like the disciples?

Do we forget what God has taught us from His Word? Do you forget the verses and the chapters and the lessons? Do we forget what God has taught us from His Word? And I'll take that a little farther. Do we forget the works that God has done in us? See when we walk with God, listen, God works in our lives, and they are individual, personal, experiential works that God has done in us. And so my question is this, are we like the disciples? Do we forget the Word of God, and do we forget the works that God has done in us? And if that's the case, we can find ourselves just as selfish as those disciples. Yes.

Selfish in our Christian life, because we have our attention on us, and we are in despair, and we are disillusioned. Why? Because we're thinking about how we feel, and we have all these questions like why, why, why? We need to see that just as Jesus was giving them comfort, we have all the comfort we need in the Word of God, looking back at how God has worked in our own life, and listen, we can trust, trust, trust God. Let's move on to our third major truth. Our third major truth, personal conviction from the Holy Spirit. Personal conviction from the Holy Spirit.

Now up until now, Jesus teaching on the Holy Spirit has been centered on the Spirit's work in the disciples' lives. Of course, this would not take place until the giving of the Spirit at Pentecost. That's Acts chapter 2. But now Jesus is teaching them how the Spirit works in the world, which is the lost. Now three observations I will make here. First the Holy Spirit will come. Look at the beginning of verse 8, "And He when He comes." That is obvious, but here at the beginning of verse 8 we have a definitive statement, "When He comes." This is a repeat of chapter 15 verse 26.

So we see that Jesus affirms what He has been telling them all along, and that is the Holy Spirit will come. Do we not see that Jesus repeats Himself over and over for these disciples? But obviously they were not getting what Jesus was repeating. And then the second observation, the Holy Spirit's work. The Holy Spirit's work.

Let's go back to verse 8, "And He when He comes will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment, concerning sin because they do not believe in Me, and concerning righteousness because I go to the Father, and you no longer behold Me." And verse 11, "And concerning judgment because the ruler of this world has been judged." Now here within these verses we see the work of the Spirit. All along Jesus had been teaching them how the Spirit would work in their lives or the lives of other believers. John 14, starting in verse 16, John 14 verse 26, and John 15 verse 26 and 27.

These all speak of how the Spirit would work in the believer's lives. And now Jesus begins to explain how the Spirit works in lost individuals' lives, and He explains this in two ways. First, the Spirit He convicts. Go back to verse 8, "And when He comes He will convict." Now the King James, it uses the word "reprove," and that means the same thing. Now this word "convict," it is a judicial term, and it describes a judicial work. This is courtroom language. This echoes the voice of a prosecutor convincing a criminal of their guilt. That's the meaning right here.

In the end, those convicted will be sentenced by Judge Jesus to an eternal punishment in hell. But here, this conviction refers more to being convicted of sin and the need of salvation in Christ. The Spirit's purpose for the lost is to drive them or draw them to Christ, and this is conviction of the Spirit. That takes place here. And then a part of this Spirit's work, notice He convicts the world. Look at the end of verse 8, "And when He comes He will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment." And the end of verse 8 is connected to the rest of the verses. The rest of the verses just flesh out what is said in verse 8.

Now notice who is being convicted here. All of the translations use the word "world." And this is the only place in Scriptures where the Spirit is seen convicting the world. Now a question, who is the world? That would be sinners in general. One source I looked at this week said, "Men of the world, sinners in general." And the Holy Spirit convicts the lost in three things. And this is part of that drawing and driving them to Christ. One is first, He convicts them of their sin.

Look at verse 9, "Concerning sin because they do not believe in Me." Now this does not refer to sin in general, but the greatest sin of all, and the greatest sin of all is rejecting and not believing in Jesus. That's what this is speaking of. Then second, this is part of the Spirit convicting the world. He convicts the world of righteousness. Look at verse 10, "And concerning righteousness because I go to the Father and you no longer behold Me." This is the opposite of sin and refusing to believe in Christ. This righteousness is the righteousness of Christ as the Holy Son of God, deity.

And then still a part of the Spirit convicting the world. Third, He convicts them of their judgment. Look at verse 11, "And concerning judgment because the ruler of this world has been judged." This speaks of the erroneous judgments of the world. Look back at verse 11 with me, "And concerning judgment because the ruler of this world has been judged already." The world and its judgments are erroneous and evil, and they are convicted of their erroneous judgment and the judgment to come. So here we see the working of the Holy Spirit of God in the world, and the world is lost humanity.

The Spirit convicts them of their refusal to believe in Christ as Lord and Savior. He convicts them of God's righteousness and their erroneous judgment and the judgment to come. Now what can we learn out of these verses? Here we see how sinners are brought to Christ. I need to repeat that. You need to get that in your mind. You need to have that permanently fixated in your heart and your mind and your thinking. This is how lost sinners come to Christ. It does not matter what method we use today, but what must take place is the Spirit of God must do the work of God in the sinners' life.

And look, no man, no young person, I don't care where they are, will ever be convicted outside of this work. This is an education in how the Spirit of God births people into the Kingdom. And you know what's sad? Many churches have moved away from this. Many churches have moved away from depending on the Spirit because if you depend on the Spirit, you've got to pray and wait on God. We don't have instant results. What do we learn in John 3? When someone's born from above, oh, it's like the wind. We don't know where it's coming from. We don't know where it's going, but we see its results. And see, you can't harness the wind.

You can't dictate when the wind will blow. That's the same way when people are born into the Kingdom. And I'm sad to say many Southern Baptist churches will have certain programs where we can get, you know, the right amount of people down the aisle and into the Baptist tree and "in the Kingdom." Oh, when we look at our statistical information, that tells us that many of those, most of those are not truly converted. But when someone is born from above, born of God, this work takes place in their life. It doesn't matter if they're 8 or 18 or 88. It doesn't matter if they're educated or uneducated.

It doesn't matter if they don't know the difference between job and job. And we must have this fixated in our mind, and that is the method we depend on. That's why we weep for souls on Wednesday night and in our personal life. We're waiting on God to birth them into the Kingdom. We dare not get in God's way and try to do God's work our way. Now, as we move away from the passages, we move to the conclusion of the message. And I want to remind you of the title of the message. What do we see here? Vindication by the Spirit. Now, what do I mean by vindication? What does this mean?

First of all, by the giving and the working of the Holy Spirit, Christ was vindicated in the eyes of many. Now think back of what happened. The resurrection vindicated Christ. Oh, the ascension vindicated Christ. And the coming of the Holy Spirit in Acts chapter 2 on individuals to birth the church, that vindicated Christ and His redemption and all that He taught and His work. So the Spirit of God vindicated Christ. Then also, by the giving and the working of the Spirit, the disciples were vindicated. Oh, didn't those disciples need some vindication? Oh, because they were failures, especially by man's standards.

Their selfishness, their despair, and their disillusionment was turned into victory and power when the Spirit worked in their life and they were vindicated and the work of Christ in them was vindicated. And then, by the working of the Spirit and the lost, say we learned that there at the end of the verses when the Spirit of God drives men to Christ and draws them to Christ and they are birthed into the Kingdom of God, Christ is vindicated because men are redeemed. Men and women are born from above and they go from being in death and beat to being in life.

They go from darkness to light and listen, they are a trophy of grace and that vindicates Christ. So this whole thing is about vindicating the name of Christ and His people. Now a little more application for us and then we close. When we as a church and when we as individuals, when we walk in the Spirit, Christ live within us, we obey the workings of God in our lives, when we are walking in the Spirit, when we are obedient to His Word, when we know His Word and God personalizes His Word in our life and He shows us how He wants us to flesh that out and we know that and we obey it, when we are true works of God in the culture.

Listen, this is the victorious Christian life and look, that work vindicates us. It vindicates and proves Christ and it vindicates the church. Listen, when we obey and we become all that God wants us to be, it's vindication for the name of Christ everywhere. See John chapter 16 verses 1 through 11, still going back to chapter 15, looking at verse 26 and 27, tying all of this together. This is vindication by the Spirit, by the Spirit. And I pray that this work is going on in your life and in my life I pray, I truly do pray. Let's pray over the message.