He Left Us With His Holy Spirit [John 16]
5"But now I am going to Him who sent Me; and none of you asks Me, 'Where are You going?'
6"But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.
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 will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.
8"And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment;
9concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me;
10and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me;
11and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.
12"I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.
13"But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.
14"He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you.
15"All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.
Jesus recognized that the words He was telling His disciples in the upper room was causing them sorrow. They did not want Him to go away to the Father, they wanted Him to stay with them. They could not believe that it would really be to their advantage if He went away. Didn't Jesus just say how great it was going to be to abide with Him?
What they didn't understand was while Jesus was on earth, He could only physically be in one place at a time. When He was with Peter, James and John, He was not also with the others. He was limited in presence. What He wanted them to know was that it was going to be a greater benefit to them to have His Spirit living in them than for Him to stand among them. "...or if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you." What is the Helper (One who comes alongside to help) going to do?
For God's children the Holy Spirit:
He is the Spirit of truth
He will guide you into all truth
Whatever He hears from Jesus (which is also from the Father) He will disclose it to you
He will glorify (give the correct estimation) Jesus because He will take what is His and declare it to you (disclose it, minister it to your heart) (v. 14) because He still has many things to tell you (v. 12)
For the world the Holy Spirit:
He convicts the world concerning sin ("concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me")
He convicts the world concerning righteousness ("because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me")
He convicts the world concerning judgment ("because the ruler of this world has been judged.")
Father, we praise You for sending Jesus to earth to make it possible for us to become Your children. We praise You that You loved us so much that You did not leave us stranded, as orphans. You gave us Your Spirit of truth who will lead us into all truth. We are asking that You cause us to abide with You as we listen to Your Spirit in us.
To read another devotional on this passage by John Eldredge click here.
Verna McCrillis, 12/18/2010