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[0:00] But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away. For if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you.

[0:13] 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. And so on. Of course, Jesus has been telling his disciples that he's going to go away from them.

[0:30] It's been very much at the heart of what we've been looking at in this last while, really, in all that he's saying. And what we look on as the upper room discourses. And we notice that the disciples are very slow to understand what it is that he's saying to them.

[0:49] But Jesus is here giving us, as it were, his farewell speech. Now, it's all, it's partings are never easy. Whether it's a short-term parting or a long-term parting or a parting forever, it's never easy.

[1:06] And in fact, we quite often afterwards we say, oh, I didn't do that very well. Or sometimes say, I didn't get the right words.

[1:17] Quite often, when you part from somebody, you say, I wish I'd said this, or I wish I'd said that. I wish I'd done that better. But that's certainly not true of Jesus.

[1:28] Because although he said to them, there are many other things I would like to say to you, but you're not ready for it. You can't bear it. But what I'm telling you just now, these are things that you will, even if you don't understand them just now, you will later on.

[1:43] But Jesus certainly, here, as he's parting with them, he is saying some absolutely wonderful things to them. Now, there are two things that Jesus has been emphasizing over and over.

[1:56] And the first of these things that's emphasizing so strongly is that he came into this world for a particular purpose. Jesus didn't come into this world for, as we would say, for a long life.

[2:09] It wasn't the idea of coming into this world and wanting to live here as long as possible. Jesus always knew that it was short term. And Jesus never lost sight of the fact that he was on a mission.

[2:23] And that his mission was ultimately to die. All the time he was aware that he was on a mission to do the will of the Father. And it was love that motivated a love to the Father and a love to us.

[2:37] So, Jesus never lost sight of that, that it was a short term mission that he was on into this world. But the other thing that Jesus, in this part and just off and on right throughout, he's mentioning to them how important it is that he does go back to the Father.

[2:58] Because it's going to work out to their advantage. Because this is what he tells them in verse 7. He said to them, Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away.

[3:11] For if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. And so, Jesus is here talking about the coming of the Holy Spirit. Now, of course, when it talks about here, when Jesus talks about the coming of the Holy Spirit, we're not to think that the Holy Spirit only came into the world at the time of Pentecost.

[3:34] That we have that amazing time. We read about it in the Acts of the Apostles, when the Holy Spirit came in power upon the Apostles.

[3:44] And we're not to think that that was the first time that the Holy Spirit came into this world. Right from the very beginning, the Holy Spirit has been involved in everything that's been going on in this world.

[3:57] We've always got to remember that the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Godhead. There are three persons in the Godhead. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Equal in power and glory.

[4:09] You must never lose sight of that. So, the Holy Spirit has always been working in this world. In fact, every Old Testament believer came to faith through the work of the Holy Spirit in the very same way as you and I come to faith through the work of the Holy Spirit.

[4:32] They were believing, the Holy Spirit helped them to believe in the Savior who was to come. The promise that was held out before them.

[4:44] That's why it says of Abraham, Abraham saw my day and rejoiced. Because sometimes people won't say, how on earth could Abraham see the day of Jesus Christ and rejoice when Jesus had never come into this world?

[5:00] Because the Holy Spirit helped all the Old Testament believers to see the promise that God had given of the one who was going to, the Messiah, who was to come into this world to save.

[5:16] So, every Old Testament believer, whether you talk of Abraham or Isaac or Jacob or whether you think of Ruth or David or Daniel or Mary, the mother of Jesus, all these people believed in the promised Messiah, the one who was to come.

[5:35] And it was the Holy Spirit who helped them to believe. In the very same way as the Holy Spirit helps us to believe. If you're a believer today, you're a believer because the Holy Spirit has helped.

[5:48] You're not, that's the one thing, somebody here might be saying, oh, I can't be a Christian because I'm not aware of the Holy Spirit doing that within me.

[6:00] No, that's the thing, we're not aware. We don't, we're not analyzing, we're not trying to work it out and say, no, that's the Holy Spirit. No, we come to this place where we, where we bow down before the Lord, whether it's gradually or whether it's suddenly, and ask the Lord, Lord, please come into my, come into my heart, into my life.

[6:22] Many people can never pinpoint a day. You can never tell. You can only say, you know, maybe over a period of time, things began, I began to understand.

[6:34] Things are just, they meant nothing to me before. Now, all of a sudden, they're beginning to, I'm beginning to see something. I used to be in a total fog. Now I'm beginning to, it's kind of patchy. I'm beginning to see bits here and bits there.

[6:47] Things are beginning to make sense. That's the work of the Holy Spirit, opening our understanding, helping us to see. So we're not analyzing it.

[6:58] It's just, this is what, this is the way God works within our heart. So the Holy Spirit has always been here. He has been part of the whole work of salvation from the very beginning to right now.

[7:11] However, side by side with that, after, at this particular time, as Jesus says, that when the Holy Spirit comes, he's going to come in power.

[7:22] And what we mean by that is the impact is going to be far greater. Before the time of Christ, it would appear the Holy Spirit, as he worked, was only working in a small part of this world.

[7:38] Now the spread of the gospel is global. All over the world. So the influence and the scope and the range in which the Holy Spirit is working, he works all over this world.

[7:54] And millions and millions and millions of people are coming to faith all over the world. So that's when our Lord talks about the coming of the Holy Spirit.

[8:05] And so Jesus then goes on to say there, It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the helper will not come to you.

[8:22] Now, the Holy Spirit is often spoken of in different terms. It all depends on the context in which you find. But the basic meaning, the kind of the meaning that you'll find in all the different words, is someone who comes alongside to help.

[8:40] And that's what he does. The Holy Spirit, he comes alongside to help. Sometimes he is called the helper.

[8:51] Sometimes the advocate. Sometimes the counselor. Sometimes the comforter. There are all these different descriptions given to us of the Holy Spirit.

[9:02] And that kind of defines, it's that kind of definition of what he's doing, the different roles. But it's always with this idea of coming alongside to help. And that's what the Holy Spirit, he does.

[9:15] He works within us. Opens our mind. Challenges us. Rebukes us. Leads us. Guides us. Reveals to us. Reveals to us.

[9:27] We'll look at that in a moment. Ourself. But also reveals to us Jesus. And let me say, if today, if you were to be here and you're not a Christian, you're really missing out.

[9:39] To think that you do not have this ministry going on. Because it's the most amazing thing. Where the Holy Spirit is softening.

[9:51] Maybe right now you are undergoing that work. It might be a while down the road before you realize and say, I hadn't realized. That's exactly what's been happening to me. I pray that for everybody in here, you will know this work, the work of the Holy Spirit.

[10:07] Now again, when the Holy Spirit, in many ways, he is the hidden part of the Godhead. When you think of God, somebody says, right, think of God.

[10:20] A lot of people will automatically think of God the Father. That's where your mind will go. And you will think of God the Father as a great, authoritative, powerful, mighty, majestic God.

[10:34] Some of you will automatically, when you say, think of God, will think of the second person of the Godhead. And you will think of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who came in our nature.

[10:45] And who died on the cross for our sins. And who rose for our sins. And ascended up into heaven. But how often do we automatically, when we think of God, think of the Holy Spirit.

[11:00] Who is as much God as Father and Son. But who has a much more, as it were, hidden ministry. But is so influential in all that we are.

[11:13] And so Jesus tells us that the Holy Spirit is to come. And who is going to minister. And first of all, it seems to be in relation to the world.

[11:25] And when he comes, he will convict the world, we see, concerning sin and righteousness and judgment. So the very first thing that this Holy Spirit does is he convinces or convicts us.

[11:38] That's what he does. Convicts the world. Convicts the world. The world is almost kind of a legal sense to it. It's like a prosecutor in a courtroom.

[11:49] Who is prosecuting. And saying, hey, I'm trying to establish the guilt of this passion. Can you not see this passion is as guilty as can be?

[12:02] And that's good. That's the idea that we have here in this particular world. That the Holy Spirit is pushing right into us. Convincing us and convicting us of our sin.

[12:17] And that's what the Holy Spirit does. Because he comes into our heart. And reveals to us things that we never knew before. And sometimes it's painful.

[12:30] You know, if you take the lid off. If you go to a septic tank or something like that. Everything is fine until you take the lid off.

[12:42] And you look in. And just say, oh. Everything. The dirt and the mess and everything like that. Oh, you want to put the lid back on. You don't want to be looking into there. Well, in a sense, that's almost like what the Holy Spirit does with us.

[12:55] He lifts the lid. And helps us to see in a wee bit of just what we're really like. And sometimes we want to just close the lid down and say, oh, I don't want to.

[13:07] Because there's not one person in here who would put their hand up and say, I'm perfect. Not one of us. But we're often not aware just of what sin really is. Of what we are before God.

[13:21] And that's part of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Where he shows us really what we're like before God. And that can be painful. It can be disturbing.

[13:32] It can be difficult. Oh, Lord, you've searched me and known me. You know everything. And you'll find David very often in the Psalms. That he comes to this discovery of who he is.

[13:44] And the pain in his heart when he comes to realize just what a sin that he is. So when we come to see our sin and we're disturbed by it, that in itself is an evidence of the Holy Spirit working within our heart.

[14:03] Because that's what we're told he does. He comes to convict us of our sin. Now, again, I say this reverently. But in a sense, we might find it a wee bit strange that this is the work of the Holy Spirit.

[14:15] Because every time we come across the Holy Spirit and the Word of God, he is always gentle. The picture we have is somebody who is dealing in tenderly, gently, lovingly.

[14:30] But convicting of sin is a very painful thing. It's something that pushes right down. It hurts. It disturbs. So we might find it almost strange that this is really what the Holy Spirit does.

[14:48] Because in the Bible, we read about the wrath of God. We even read about the wrath of Jesus. We're told in Revelation about the wrath of the Lamb. But we're never told about the wrath of the Holy Spirit.

[15:03] But here is his work. Because every time we look at the Holy Spirit, we see him as somebody who is described as refreshing water or anointing oil.

[15:14] Or somebody who is so sensitive, like a dove, so gentle. But here his work is to convict and to convince. And I think there's a lesson here for us.

[15:26] Because sometimes people will say, right, when I come to church, I only want to hear things that are good. I don't want to come to church and be in any way disturbed. I only want to hear a message that brings calmness and peace to my soul.

[15:41] Well, at one level, that is part of the wonder of the gospel. You know, the gospel is called good news. And it certainly is. Glad tidings.

[15:53] As AV calls it, glad tidings. Which shows us it's something that makes us happy. Something that fills our heart with joy. And that is true.

[16:05] But also, there is the other side to it. It's where we face up to the realities of who we are. God wants to show us. He doesn't want to show us who we are in order to mess up our lives.

[16:17] He doesn't want to show us who we are to bring us into despair. He wants to show us who we are in order to save us. Because unless we see we need a saviour, let me tell you, you'll never look for a saviour.

[16:30] If you don't think that you in any way need Jesus as your saviour, you will never look for him. You will never search for him. You'll just say, oh, I can forget about that.

[16:43] But once you say, hey, I actually need to be saved. Then, that's the Holy Spirit's next job, next work, is to lead you on to see Jesus.

[16:56] So, part of coming to church is coming under the word in its reading, in its preaching, in its singing, in order to show us who we are.

[17:09] So that we can see something of what we are. If you saw, often used to illustrate, you can use it in many different ways. If you saw a blind man on a sunny day walking towards a cliff, it wouldn't be any kindness to say to that man, oh, I don't want to disturb him.

[17:26] He seems to be so enjoying that walk. It looks to me like he's enjoying the sun beating down on his face. And just there's a smile on his face. And he's obviously in a really good mood.

[17:37] I don't want to go and disturb him. Even although he's now only feet away from that cliff. It would be an awful thing just to turn your back on him.

[17:48] You would run over and warn him and say, hey, by the way, there's a cliff there. Try and point him in another direction. So it is with the gospel. That's what the Holy Spirit is saying.

[18:02] Look, it's all very well saying peace, peace. But there's no point saying peace, peace when there is no peace. But there is peace in Jesus.

[18:13] So first of all, the Holy Spirit convicts us that we're sinners. Next thing the Holy Spirit does, and that's what we're told, when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and then concerning righteousness.

[18:29] Now, I think it's maybe at two levels here. First of all, he will convict and convince the world of the righteousness of Jesus.

[18:40] In other words, he convinces us that everything Jesus said is true. Everything Jesus is is true. That's part of what the Holy Spirit does.

[18:51] You know, we come to the word and we believe it with all our heart. I know this is true. How do you know it's true? And I believe it's because the Holy Spirit has convinced you it is true.

[19:04] And this is by faith. And you know, I would say that if you today are 100% convinced of the absolute truth of everything that is written here, that this is God's word, I would say this is a great step along the way to faith.

[19:22] Because this is, I believe, part of the work of the Holy Spirit is convincing us of the absolute truth and rightness of everything that God sees.

[19:35] And that the righteousness, when it convinces us of righteousness, convinces us, I think, also with regard to righteousness, that only the righteousness of Jesus Christ will do.

[19:47] That our own won't. There is only one righteous. And it's not us. But this is a great thing about the gospel. Because God is saying in Jesus Christ, I'll make you righteous.

[20:01] That's what I want to do. I want to put a cloak over you, a clothing over you, Jesus's. So that when I look at you, I will look at you through the perfect work of Jesus.

[20:15] And that's what God does. That is why there is now no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus. So this is the Holy Spirit first convincing us that we're sinners and need a Savior.

[20:28] Then convincing us that Jesus is that Savior and that he will set you free. And then the third thing convinces us is concerning judgment.

[20:42] Now, I think again it's twofold. First of all, he does convince us that there is going to be a day of judgment. I think even this very world itself would say, hey, there has to be a righting of the wrong.

[20:54] There are so many evils. There are so many injustices. You say to yourself, it would be totally, totally unfair. And totally, totally wrong.

[21:06] When you look at some of the horrors and injustices within this world, if you were to say to yourself, there's never going to be a judgment. But there is.

[21:17] And that's part of where we're convinced there's going to be a judgment. And everybody is going to have to give an account one day before that judgment seat. But I think in its context here that when we go to verse 11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged, that here specifically it is talking about Jesus' judgment of Satan.

[21:42] Because prior to this, Satan held the world in his grip. He has been termed in the scripture the God of this world. And Jesus says, I am coming to take Satan on.

[21:53] This is the fulfillment of that promise given way back in Eden, where God promised that he was going to send one that would destroy the power of the devil.

[22:06] But in the process that he himself would be bruised. The one who was going to destroy would be bruised. And of course, that's exactly what happened to Jesus.

[22:16] And so, we know, excuse me, we know that, as it tells us in Colossians, for instance, that Jesus destroyed principalities and powers.

[22:30] Oh yes, the devil rages. Rages today. He's raging all over the world. And I think he's, I think you look at the, when you look at the state of the world today, And maybe it's always been like that.

[22:43] I don't know. I suppose today we live in a day where news travels so quickly. And the power of the media and its ability to get in everywhere, where you can send even great reports through mobile phones and things like that, that we're able to see what's going on in the world at a level which, even 20 years ago, we couldn't.

[23:07] There's loads of things happening today. Probably these things happened, but we weren't aware of them to the level that we are today. But it's just because the whole social media way, it's opened up the world in a way that it had never before.

[23:23] But the fact is that when you look around the world, the atrocities, the horrors, the evil, and always behind it, there is a power of darkness at work.

[23:34] And it's like Satan knows his time is short. It's limited. His time of being in power is very limited.

[23:45] And that's why it seems it's almost as we approach, I get that impression that the closer that we get to the return of Jesus, the worse Satan is going to be in his attempt to really get at God.

[24:00] He knows his time is short because his power has been broken. It's still powerful, but he is a defeated foe. He's still an enemy, but he's defeated.

[24:12] And that's what Jesus is talking about here. And then we find here that in connection to all this, that Jesus again is talking about witnessing.

[24:22] And we must not lose sight of this, that this is part of what the Holy Spirit is going to do. Because back in the previous chapter and the earlier section there, we find that in the face of all the opposition and all that this world is, that the Christian is somebody who is going to have to testify and witness to who Jesus is and what Jesus has done.

[24:49] And maybe you're saying to yourself today, well, you know, I don't feel that I'm much of a witness. I don't know how to witness. I don't know how to speak to people.

[24:59] Well, we've always got to remember that people have different abilities and different gifts. Some people will find it very, very, very difficult to go and speak to people about Jesus Christ.

[25:12] It's just they're shy, they're retiring. But the thing is, the Lord will give us different ways and different opportunities. And, you know, one of the most effective witnesses sometimes is our life.

[25:25] Not so much about what a person says as what a person is. Sometimes the people who have the most profound impact on others are those who maybe didn't say very little, but their life was a living testimony to the grace of God.

[25:42] But the Lord will always help us to pray, even if we cannot actually go and speak to somebody. We can always pray. If we can't speak to them, we can speak about them. And speak about them to God and ask the Lord to bless them.

[25:58] And to open their heart. But the one thing that I've got to say, and I'll say to everybody here today, is, you might be saying to yourself, I wish the power of the Holy Spirit was really working within my heart.

[26:10] Well, let me tell you, the Lord is keener for that to happen to you and for you than you are even yourself. Because he gives a wonderful promise in Luke.

[26:21] Remember where Jesus said, That's it.

[26:40] How much more? If we are ready to provide and to give to our children, Jesus is saying, Let me tell you, your heavenly Father is far more willing to give the Holy Spirit to everyone who asks.

[27:00] Will you ask today that you will know the ministry and the power and the help and the strength and the guidance of the Holy Spirit working within your heart?

[27:14] Because the Lord says, You do that. And you will get, This is a prayer. The Lord will never, The Lord will never turn away from that. Your heavenly Father won't turn away and say, No, I'm not going to answer that.

[27:27] He's promised. He said, I will. So, you can see how important that is. And if today, in conclusion, I say, if you're living a mundane Christian life, In other words, Where you're struggling, And you're just not, Not really enjoying being a Christian anymore.

[27:49] Maybe you get little moments here and there. Ask the Lord, Lord, Please, May your Holy Spirit minister. Because, Notice what, What the Holy Spirit loves to do.

[28:02] Verse 14, He will glorify me, This is speaking of the Spirit, For he will take what is mine, And declare it to you. Holy Spirit, This is part of his ministry.

[28:15] He's going to take, Remember, The Holy Spirit's part of Father and Son. And he's going to take this, Take of Jesus, And reveal him to you.

[28:27] Open my eyes, Lord, That I might behold wonderful things. You know, We shouldn't be, You know, We shouldn't be, Sort of struggling along, And sort of trudging along, Our way to heaven, And saying, Ah, You know, I've got nothing.

[28:41] If we have nothing, Why do we have nothing? We should, The resources haven't gone. God hasn't changed. Maybe it's us.

[28:52] Are we really seeking, For the full blown ministry, Of the Holy Spirit, Within our heart, Within our life. And if you're not a believer today, But you're interested, Again, This prayer, You've got to pray it.

[29:09] Lord, Please, Put your spirit within me. Help me to see, Help me to understand, Help me to believe. Because this is what, This is what the Holy Spirit loves to do.

[29:19] This is what he loves to do. Is to come into people's hearts, Show them their need, And then point them to Jesus, And say, There's the answer. And help you, To close in, With Jesus.

[29:33] Let us pray. Oh Lord, Our God, We give thanks for, The word, And all that it teaches us. Forgive us Lord, For when we're slow to understand, And sometimes slow to believe.

[29:45] But help us, Oh Lord, In all our own weakness, To discover your great strength. Watch over us all, We pray, And guide us, And lead us, And be with those who are in need, Those who are in hospital, Those undergoing treatment, Those who feel weak.

[30:01] Lord, We pray for those who've had surgery, And waiting for it. We pray, Lord, For all, In all the different situations. We pray for the aged, Those who have their strength failing.

[30:13] We ask, Lord, To be with them. Watch over us, We pray. Bless the cup of tea, In the hall afterwards, And may your blessing, Remain upon us, Throughout this day, And indeed, Throughout our lives.

[30:26]  Forgive us our sin, In Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Ama ja-