❖ Video

❖ Audio (Message)

The Holy Spirit Guides Us Into God’s Love

John 16:5-15

Mari Yoshino

Today we continue with the Gospel of John, reading from the latter half of verse 4 through verse 15 of chapter 16. Both Japanese and English Bibles title this passage “The Work of the Holy Spirit,” as it is where Jesus explains the work of the Holy Spirit to His disciples. Today’s message notes are designed so that by following Jesus’ explanation, we can understand the work of the Holy Spirit. “A. In place of the invisible Jesus,” “B. Unveiling the meaning of the Cross,” “C. He guides us into God’s unchanging love.”—that is the Holy Spirit. Let’s read it. First, verses 4b through 7.

A. In place of the invisible Jesus, (4b-7)

I did not tell you this from the beginning because I was with you, 5 but now I am going to him who sent me. None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6 Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things. 7 But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.

The word translated as “Advocate,” as I mentioned before, refers to a friend who defends us in court, and here it signifies the Holy Spirit. Jesus is foretelling to His disciples that His arrest and death are near, and He promises to send the Holy Spirit to them after He departs. The primary work of the Holy Spirit lies precisely here: to defend and guide us in place of Jesus, who has become invisible.

Though it may be a bit sneaky of us, let us first ascertain what results the Holy Spirit’s work brought about and what changes it caused among the disciples. First, consider the disciples before the Holy Spirit descended, at the scene of Jesus’ arrest. Mark 14:50 states:

Then everyone deserted him and fled. (Mark 14:50)

Next, the disciples after the Holy Spirit descended. Acts 5:41-42.

The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah. (Acts 5:41-42)

Unlike the disciples, we never saw Jesus with our own eyes from the beginning. Yet, just like them, without the Holy Spirit’s help, we too would easily lose sight of Jesus and be overcome by anxiety and sorrow. To put it another way, the reason we can feel the invisible Jesus so real, rejoice in Him, and desire to share Him with others is because the Holy Spirit is at work within us. This transformation is the same dramatic change that occurred in the disciples—a change we could never bring about by our own strength. The Holy Spirit gives us an irresistible desire to share Jesus’ love with others, liberating our hearts from fear and sorrow and setting us in motion.

If you feel that you cannot sense Jesus’ presence beside you now and feel no hope, ask for the Holy Spirit’s help. Even if our circumstances remain unchanged, the Holy Spirit will teach us individually to understand that Jesus is present within them and never forgets us.

Now, Jesus says something a bit puzzling here. It’s in the latter half of verse 7: “Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you.” I believe this means the work of the Holy Spirit is based on the events of Jesus’ death and resurrection. This is further explained in verses 8–11, so let’s read on.

B. Unveiling the meaning of the Cross, (8-11)

8 When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 about sin, because people do not believe in me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11 and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

Well, I think it’s a difficult phrase that feels both like you understand it and don’t quite grasp it. So, I’d like to think about it a little more carefully. First, regarding verse 8. It says the Holy Spirit will prove the world to be wrong. What exactly is the world wrong about? It’s said to be wrong about sin, righteousness, and judgment. In other words, our understanding of sin and righteousness is wrong, and the Holy Spirit reveals this. So, how exactly are we wrong about each of these?

First, verse 9—“about sin, because people do not believe in me”—can be rephrased as people not believing that Jesus is God Himself. Not recognizing God as God, or making something other than God into God—that is the sin the Holy Spirit reveals in us. In Jesus’ time as in ours, society defines sin as harming another’s life, property, or reputation. But the sin the Holy Spirit teaches us about concerns something far more fundamental to how we live.

Next, verse 10—“about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer”—I believe this refers to Jesus returning to heaven after His death on the cross and resurrection. That this is “righteousness” or what is right means that only Jesus’ cross is the basis for the forgiveness of our sins. None of us could ever perfectly correct our self-centered way of life, which makes anything other than God our god, by our own strength. To think we could is our conceit and arrogance. The Holy Spirit reveals that we have no power to save ourselves in this way and teaches us to trust solely in the love of Jesus’ cross. Our “righteousness” (what is right) is not within us; it is only through Jesus’ cross that we are made righteous.

Psalm 51 says this;

My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart
you, God, will not despise. (Psalm 51:17)

Finally, verse 11 states, “about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.” The “ruler of this world” refers to the one who opposes God—the Satan. That Satan has been judged means that, though it seemed Satan had triumphed over God by killing Jesus through human hands on the cross, in reality, it was Satan himself who was judged. By sacrificing His own life, Jesus forgave the sins of all people and liberated everyone from the dominion of sin and the Satan. This means He granted us forgiveness of sins and unconditional love, opening the way for us to be freed from the control of sin and the Satan and to come under the dominion of God’s love. This too is an unseen reality of this world, invisible unless the Holy Spirit works within our hearts.

In this way, the work of the Holy Spirit is to reveal God’s heart to us based on the events of Jesus’ cross. It can also be seen as an expression of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—the God of the Trinity—seeking to reveal His love to all people. This is evident from the final verses, 12-15. Let’s read them.

C. He guides us into God’s unchanging love. (12-15)

12 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the 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. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”

The Holy Spirit is also called the Spirit of Truth here, and it is said that He guides us into all the truth. While it says “all the truth,” a literal translation means “all things concerning that truth,” which I believe refers to everything concerning Jesus and His work. That is to say, as we have discussed before, it concerns the meaning that Jesus is God Himself who created this world, and that He offered His own life on the cross.

In verse 13, it says, “He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.” This means that the Holy Spirit has been one with God and Jesus from the beginning, and comes to reveal God’s plan of salvation to us. From the beginning of the world, God has existed as one God in three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—and has loved us, desiring to live with us. Jesus’ cross was the salvation plan based on that love and desire of God. The Holy Spirit reveals the entirety of that plan to us.

But this world is so far removed from God’s love and will that without the Holy Spirit’s help, we quickly lose sight of what God’s truth truly is. We must continually confirm through the Holy Spirit that the only unchanging truth in any circumstance is found in Jesus’ cross. Even as the world situation changes and our hearts waver, the truth of God’s love proven by Jesus’ cross never changes. If we try to find evidence of God’s love within our individual circumstances, it would be very unstable and unreliable, and would likely vanish quickly. Let us continually seek the Holy Spirit’s help so we can stand more firmly in the conviction that the truth we must stand on is found only in Jesus’ cross, and so that through it, even in weakness, we can become strong.

(Prayer) Lord, pour out Your Spirit upon us. Holy Spirit, come to us. Our hearts thirst for You. Pour out Your strength and help us, that we may be freed from anxiety and fear and continue to press on toward the truth of Your love. Strengthen us so our hearts never lose sight of You, but keep looking toward the path we should take. Please teach us once more, clearly, that we stand upon the love of Jesus’ cross. We know this love will never waver, no matter how the world changes, no matter how our hearts may be shaken. Lord Jesus, we pray in Your name. Amen.

Summary

The Holy Spirit, acting in place of the invisible Jesus, guides us into God’s unchanging love, unveiling the meaning of Jesus’ death and resurrection. It is entirely through the help of the Holy Spirit that we can understand that Jesus, who died on the cross, is actually God Himself, the Creator of this world, and that this God gave His own life for us. We are to confirm repeatedly through the help of the Holy Spirit the truth that this world is under the rule of God’s love, even in a world that seems dominated by human sin and Satan. 

For Discussion

1) Share your experience of the Holy Spirit.
2) How does the Holy Spirit teach us about God’s love?