Farewell and Welfare


Sermon by Wiley Lowry on March 7, 2021 John 16:4b-15

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Let’s look together at John chapter 16. We are continuing our study in Jesus’ farewell discourse that’s found in John chapters 13 to 17. We took a slight break for our Mission Conference, but actually, our missionary last week preached on the overarching theme of this farewell discourse of Jesus in John chapters 13 to 17. And I, for one, was convicted and challenged to listen more carefully to what Jesus is saying here in these chapters and to commit more seriously to Jesus’ command to, “Go and make disciples” and to “bear fruit” for the kingdom of God. And we can’t do that without the work of the Holy Spirit. As the ESV translates it, “the Helper.” The Helper is the Holy Spirit. And it’s because of the gift of the Holy Spirit that Jesus’ departing, as He talks about in these verses, is actually to the advantage of His disciples. It’s better that He goes away. So His farewell is actually for their welfare. And that will be our outline tonight – farewell and welfare.

Before we read God’s Word, let’s ask that the Holy Spirit would provide His blessing and help as we read and understand it tonight. Let’s pray.

Our Father, we praise You for Your Word. We praise You for gathering us together morning and evening in these passages that seem to carry a special weight and gravity to them. We do not come to them lightly and we don’t assume to understand them perfectly or to do them perfectly. And so we need Your help. We ask that Your Spirit would open our hearts and our eyes, our minds, to understand Your Word, to hear it rightly and to apply it and to work in our lives to equip us to live out, in all that we do, for Your glory. Would You give us boldness as we take Your Word and take it from here and speak it to others. Speak, O Lord, for Your servants listen. We pray this in Jesus’ name, amen.

John chapter 16. We’ll start at the last part of verse 4:

“I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. 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. 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. 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; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”

The grass withers and the flowers fall but the Word of our God endures forever.

Farewell

John Barry’s book, The Great Influenza, about the 1918 flu pandemic, was written close to 20 years ago and it experienced a bump in interest and in sales for obvious reasons over the past year. And it’s strange to read through the book and hear terms and lingo that we’ve become so familiar with that I would have had no category for just several months ago. Things like social distancing and N-95 masks. And because of Barry’s research and writing in that book, he has been asked over the last decade or so to be involved with preparedness committees and with groups that deal with what are called “risk communication.” Now Barry said in this book that he doesn’t care for the term, “risk communication,” and this is why. This is the line that really stuck with me. He says, “Risk communication implies managing the truth. You don’t manage the truth; you tell the truth.” In fact, that’s what he said was the number one lesson from 1918, was to tell the truth.

And we’ve seen that we didn’t learn that lesson very well because so often we’ve asked ourselves over the last year, “What is the truth?” and “Who can we believe?” And of course when Barry talks about telling the truth he’s talking about facts and information. But even so, truth can be inconvenient for some. Truth can be divisive. Truth can be controversial. When we come to truth in John’s gospel, truth is bigger than just facts and knowledge and information. Truth is a major theme throughout John’s gospel. In fact, the word related to truth, the Greek word that is translated as “truth,” words related to that word in John’s gospel show up 48 times in the gospel of John. Now compare that to only 10 times in Matthew, Mark and Luke combined. John is interested in the truth.

In fact, we read about truth three times just in these verses that we read tonight. For John, truth is personal. Truth is the ultimate revelation of God in the person of Jesus Christ as the only way of salvation in life. Truth, for John, is related to God’s covenant faithfulness that is fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ. And we read it throughout the gospel of John. In fact, in the very beginning he says, “In the beginning, the Word” – “In the beginning was the Word. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” Jesus says that He is seeking those, later in the gospel, He is seeking those who will worship the Father “in spirit and truth.” And of course we all know what Jesus says in John chapter 14. “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through Me.” Jesus, you see, is truth in the flesh. So truth is personal.

But truth also divides, and we find that in John’s gospel – that truth is divisive. Remember the context for this farewell discourse that Jesus is imparting to His disciples. Jesus is on His way to the cross. In fact, from chapters 12 to 20 of John’s gospel deal with the week leading up to and right after the cross. Nine out of 21 chapters of this gospel are about one week. That’s almost half of the gospel focused on the events surrounding Jesus’ death and resurrection. In fact, one writer says in an exaggerated way to make the point, he says that “the gospels, including John’s gospel, are not so much biographies about Jesus but they are, rather, passion narratives with an extended introduction.” You see, the gospel writers are trying to direct us and take us to see Jesus and the cross and His resurrection. And in the farewell discourse, Jesus is hours away from His own betrayal, His arrest, and His crucifixion.

By the time we get to chapter 18, Jesus is already officially on trial. One commentator says that that trial to which Jesus is headed is a part of an overall theme in John’s gospel he calls “the cosmic trial motif.” Now I’m sure that’s what they talked about in our children’s Sunday School today – the cosmic trial motif in John’s gospel! But what he’s saying is that everything in this gospel has been about who Jesus is and everything is leading up to His trial and His condemnation. But what we find when Jesus goes on trial, that it’s not actually Jesus on trial. You see, the truth, the truth is not on trial. No, it’s the world that is on trial. It’s Pilate and the Jewish leaders and the crowds that are gathered around. They are the ones that are being put to the test as Jesus is being examined. How will they respond to Jesus? Everyone must respond in one way or the other to Jesus. It’s either, respond in faith for salvation and life, or it’s to respond in rejection leading to judgment and condemnation. Jesus is the one who is the truth and He is the one who is in trouble, but He’s not the one on trial. That’s the context of the farewell discourse.

Now think about the message that Jesus has been teaching to His disciples in these chapters. He has been saying that for them, they have the same prospect for them as He has coming up for Himself. That they also will face trouble. Throughout all of these chapters in this discourse, Jesus is saying to His disciples that He is going away and that because He is going away the disciples will face trouble. He’s saying to them, “You will be hated for My name’s sake. Because they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. In this world, you will have trouble.” That’s why, as we read in verse 6, “sorrow has filled their hearts.” Why are they sorrowful? Why are they full of grief? It’s because Jesus is going away and trouble is heading their direction.

The word for “sorrow” in verse 6 can be translated as “pain” or “deep grief.” Now this may be a trivial illustration but I think dads know something of this feeling when moms go away or when mom goes down and everything falls on dad. Pain and grief is not too strong of a word in that sense! I was talking to a friend of mine whose wife had been sick for a week recently and he said, “That week was the longest month in my life!” That’s a trivial illustration, but it’s something of what the disciples are feeling – a sorrow and a grief of all that’s coming towards them now that Jesus is going away.

And we know, don’t we, how the disciples felt about that. We know how much they wanted to avoid the things that Jesus is saying is heading towards them. Think about Peter. What did Peter say? Peter said, “Lord, I will give up my life for You!” And yet when the time came, he wouldn’t even give up his reputation before the lowest members of society and he denied that he ever knew Jesus. And when Jesus was arrested, the disciples scattered. At the cross, they’re viewing Him from afar. They’re keeping their distance from Jesus. That’s the trouble that comes to Jesus’ disciples when He departs from them and it’s terrifying. It’s terrifying to them and their natural instinct is to flee from it. And I think it’s the same for us as well.

Welfare

But here is Jesus’ promise. Jesus makes a promise to them in verse 7. He says, “It is to your advantage that I go away.” Even though He’s leaving them and even though trouble is coming, Jesus guarantees the welfare of His disciples. And you see what Jesus is saying? That for those who believe in Him, for those who have embraced the truth, even when trouble comes to them like it came to Him, well just like for Him they are not on trial either. The world is on trial. And what Jesus is calling for instead is to depend upon the Holy Spirit while speaking and witnessing to the truth and living for the truth no matter what trouble may come their way. Let’s look again at verse 7. He says, “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. But if I go, I will send Him to you.” And Jesus has already talked about the Helper in this discourse, in the teaching that’s surrounding this in this final message to them.

And if you remember what Cory said to us several weeks ago about the Helper, it’s the Greek word “parakletos” or “paraclete.” It means something that the Spirit is the one who comes alongside or who is called alongside to help and to sustain them. In fact, the Amplified Bible, which oftentimes takes the Greek words and just expands it and shows what all exactly the word means, it translates verse 7 like this. It says, “It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper, Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor, Counselor, Strengthener, Standby will not come to you.” That gives you some idea of the work and the identity of the Holy Spirit. You see, Jesus’ ministry to them was in a sense limited physically to His being with them, and He could not be in two places at the same time. But with the Holy Spirit, Jesus’ ministry now extends to His disciples wherever they go and will always be at work in them and for them.

The Holy Spirit Convicts

And there are two things in these verses that we are told the Holy Spirit does; the work of the Holy Spirit. Number one, the Holy Spirit convicts. And number two, the Holy Spirit directs. The Spirit convicts. Verse 8 says, “When He comes, He will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.” Okay so here’s Jesus. He is sending this fearful and grief-filled group of disciples into a hostile world to bear witness about Him. And there’s nothing that they can do; there’s nothing that they can say to convict people of sin or to convince people to change and to trust in Jesus Christ for salvation. And it’s the same way for us. There are no right words or right method or right qualifications that will change people’s hearts. And we are usually just as fearful as the disciples were in this time. But it’s not up to the disciples. It’s not up to us. It’s the Holy Spirit that will convict the world, will convict the listeners of sin and righteousness and judgment.

John Stott would say, I read recently John Stott would say that when he was preaching or teaching in an evangelistic setting, to a group largely of unbelievers, that he would remind himself before he stood up to speak, that he would say, “I have their consciences on my side.” What he’s saying is that there is something in the listener, an awareness, a built-in awareness of right and wrong, an awareness of the existence of God. And their conscience is on my side as I speak to them about these things. And I’m sure that Stott would add to that and say just as truly that as he speaks in those sort of circumstances that the Holy Spirit is on his side and that the Holy Spirit is at work to convince people of their sin and to convince them of the goodness and grace of Jesus Christ and to lead them to faith and repentance.

Do you see what Jesus’ promise does in really flipping our perspective on evangelism? As He promises the work of the Holy Spirit in speaking and witnessing to the truth about Jesus, it really brings an incredible encouragement to us because when we think about telling other people about Jesus, when we think about sharing an unpopular message – and remember what Paul says. Paul says that the Gospel is a stumbling block to the Jews and it’s folly to the Gentiles. When we teach or share that message, it’s an unpopular message and we think that we are going to be judged because of it; we are actually on trial as we share the truth about Jesus. But that’s not it at all. Instead, the listener is on trial and the Holy Spirit is at work to convict them. The Holy Spirit is at work to convict them of what verse 9 says, of sin and of the reality of their sin and of their need to repent and believe in Jesus. Verse 10 says the Holy Spirit convicts “of righteousness.” The Holy Spirit is at work to convict unbelievers, the world, that their righteousness is insufficient and that the only righteousness that has gone to the Father and that is acceptable in the Father’s eyes and is in fact a delight to the Father is the righteousness of Jesus. And that is where Jesus has gone. Verse 10, the Holy Spirit convicts of judgment because the ways of this world and the ruler of this world, they have been judged at the cross and Jesus has been raised in victory over the world and over the devil. And the Holy Spirit is working in the witnessing of the truth, in the sharing of Jesus Christ, to convict the world of those very things.

One commentator says this. “Jesus, through the Holy Spirit’s witness, confronts the world with the true character of sin, the true meaning of righteousness, and the true place of judgment. Through the Spirit of God, the human heart is summoned to repentance and then offered the salvation which is life indeed.” Do you see how that should give us a boldness with the truth, a boldness beyond anything that our natural temperaments can give us? And do you see how that should amaze us to see and to believe how Jesus can work through our simple witness, our simple speaking of Jesus to convict and to bring about change and salvation and life and the glory of God through our feeble tongues? That’s the amazing gift and promise that Jesus is promising of the Holy Spirit’s ministry in the life of His disciples. The Spirit convicts.

The Holy Spirit Directs

We also see that the Spirit directs. Verse 13, “When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth.” What Jesus is saying there is that the Spirit will tell them what to do. The Spirit will bring to them the revelation from God. He will declare to them the things about Jesus, the things which glorify Jesus. In other words, the Spirit is going to reveal to the disciples the things that we have written down in the Scriptures of the New Testament and Jesus will pray for His disciples, He will pray for us in chapter 17 of this gospel. He says, “They are not of the world just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth. Your Word is truth.” Jesus is praying that His disciples will be sanctified in the truth. Sanctified by the Word of God. And what the ministry of the Holy Spirit is doing is revealing the will of God and leading them in the way of truth. The Holy Spirit is there to lead us and set us apart in the way of truth. To sanctify us, to sanctify us to a way of life that is different from the ways of the world; a way of life that glorifies God and not ourselves.

And which, I think, is another part of the Spirit’s work of conviction in the ways of the world. Because you see, the lives of believers – not just the message of believers but the lives of believers – are to provide a testimony of the goodness of God and of the goodness of His Word and of His wisdom and of the blessings of His salvation in such a way that the world recognizes the folly of sin and the folly and the despair of life without God. The life of a believer should do that just as much as the word of a believer. The witness of a disciple is both word and deed, what we say and the way that we live. And yes, a life that is different from this world will lead to judgment and criticism; it will be costly, sacrificial even. But again, a godly life is not on trial. No, a life that is shaped by the truth and a life that is directed towards the glory of God will be a compelling witness and testimony against the futility and the despair of sin and it will be a compelling argument for the hope and the joy and the freedom and the peace that comes only through faith in God and by the work of the Holy Spirit through us.

In Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography there’s a funny and also sad section where he talks about his friendship with the great evangelist and preacher, George Whitefield. George Whitefield was a powerful preacher and one person, a contemporary of Whitefield said he would give 100 guineas if he could just say, “Oh,” like George Whitefield said, “Oh”! And Benjamin Franklin was a friend of Whitefield’s and he spent much time around him and Whitefield was a preacher of the Gospel but he also worked in ministry to raise funds and to build orphanages, especially in Georgia. And at one point, Franklin talks about how he thought the orphanage should be built in Philadelphia instead of Georgia and so he committed not to give to the cause of building the orphanage. And then he says this, as he listened to one of Whitefield’s sermons. He said, “I happened to attend one of his sermons in the course of which I perceived he intended to finish with a collection. And I silently resolved he should get nothing from me. I had in my pocket a handful of copper money, three or four silver dollars and five gold coins, and as he proceeded, I began to soften and concluded to give the coppers. Another stroke of his oratory made me ashamed of that and I determined to give the silver. And he finished so admirably that I emptied my pocket wholly into the collector’s dish, gold and all.”

He was moved by Whitefield’s preaching, even if he wasn’t converted by it. But what I found interesting was what he said about Whitefield’s character. He said there were those in that day that were enemies of Whitefield and they would say that he was taking the collection and using it for his own profit. And this is what Franklin wrote in his autobiography. He said, “I never had the least suspicion of his integrity, but am to this day decidedly of the opinion that he was, in all his conduct, a perfectly honest man.” You see, Whitefield was guided by the Spirit. He was led by the truth. And even a skeptic and unbeliever like Franklin couldn’t help but be moved and impressed by Whitefield’s life and message. There was something different about George Whitefield and Franklin saw that.

You see, that’s what the Helper, the Holy Spirit, is to do in the lives of believers – to lead us into the way of truth; to guide us into the way of truth, to bring about a blessing to the witness of disciples both in word and in deed. A ministry that brings glory to Jesus, even in the midst of trouble and opposition and persecution, especially in the midst of opposition and persecution and trouble. And this is Jesus’ encouragement to His disciples in these verses. It’s His encouragement to us in times of trouble and trial – that the ministry of the Holy Spirit is with you there and for you there and that the Holy Spirit is with you always and forever, to convict and to direct, to compel and to guide, so much so that Jesus says it’s actually to your advantage that I go away for the Spirit to do that powerful work in your lives. That’s the encouragement and the promise that Jesus is giving to His disciples, to us today.

Now the question, though, that I want to finish with and leave us with tonight as we come to an end of these verses – these verses about the truth and about trouble and about the Holy Spirit – the question is this, for us. “What don’t we face trouble? Why are we not more familiar with the opposition of the world?” And I mean in a disruptive and a personal kind of way. Could it be that the answer is that we relegate the truth in our lives, the place of truth in our lives for the sake of avoiding trouble? In other words, does the avoidance of trouble surpass the priority of truth in our lives? These are the questions I ask myself as I come to the end of this passage. Is the absence of trouble in my life due to an absence of boldness with the truth of the Gospel, a lack of telling others about Jesus?

If you heard our mission charge last week, Paul Forester said something along the lines that he was scared to death that God would call him to be a missionary. And there was sort of an awkward and a knowing laughter from everybody there; sort of a “a-huh-a-huh!” We know what he was talking about. I’m afraid enough to bear witness to my neighbor, much less to be a missionary. And I wonder how much of us are the same way. Are we quiet in order to avoid trouble? And are we willing to disadvantage ourselves socially for the sake of an upright and a Christ-like life? Do we love the things of this world – things like food and drink and sex and politics and sports and entertainment and vacations – more than we love the things of God’s kingdom – things like worship and obedience and truth and self-denial, generosity and service to others? Those are questions I ask myself and I think this passage asks us as well. And it’s saying to us that a message and a lifestyle that is different from the world will bring about trouble and judgment from the world, but it also brings about the blessing of the Holy Spirit. And I wonder if in our avoidance of trouble, do we quench the Spirit and do we miss the blessings of the Holy Spirit that Jesus talks about in these verses – the blessings of the ministry of conviction and guidance that we so desperately need?

And I wonder even if we miss the impact and the power of this farewell discourse because of the lack of trouble in our lives, avoiding trouble? Jesus is saying to us that the things that we try to avoid, the disciples tried to avoid – things like Jesus’ departure and the opposition that was coming their way. Those things actually bring about their blessing, their benefit, their advantage as the ministry of the Holy Spirit comes in them and through them to convict and to guide them into the ways of truth.

And it’s such a blessing tonight as we come to the Lord’s Supper and we have presented to us, not only in word but in sacrament, in sign, in a tangible way, that Jesus took the opposition of the world, He took the affliction of the cross. Truth was rejected at the cross. And yet Jesus overcame the world and He overcame the rejection. He overcame death by His resurrection. The Table reminds us that Jesus has overcome the world. He has defeated sin and death and He has now sent His Spirit to minister to us, to minister His presence to us, to strengthen our faith, to embolden us, to know that because He has overcome the world, we will overcome the world. And we can speak the truth and we can live the truth in order to bring glory to God’s name and to enjoy Him more fully, to enjoy Him more than we could ever imagine.

So that’s our challenge today as we hear God’s Word and as we come to this Table – to speak the truth and live the truth because Jesus, yes, came trouble, but He overcame the trouble. And in this world you will have trouble, but He has overcome the world. Let’s go to the Lord in prayer.

Our Father, we praise You that through Your Spirit You have inspired these words to us that all Scripture is God-breathed, is profitable for our teaching, our rebuke, our correction, and our training in righteousness that we may be equipped for every good work. And so we pray that You would, by Your Spirit, continue to work in our hearts. Give us a greater love for You, a greater love for Your ways, and a greater love for Your kingdom. And would You equip us to serve You with joy and with gladness and with boldness, that we would be amazed at what You would do. Would You receive all the glory for it. Not unto us, not unto us, but to Your name give glory. We pray this in Jesus’ name, amen.

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