But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them. “And these things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you. “But now I go away 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 depart, I will send Him to you.
John 16:4-7
Jesus doesn’t tell us everything when we first meet Him. He is with us and takes care of the difficult until we are ready to hear it. Jesus did not begin to tell His twelve disciples that they would suffer or that He would die until after He had known them for over two years. When He did tell that things were changing He told them He was changing the situation for their advantage. The advantage would be the Holy Spirit coming to them to teach and guide them.
Jesus has already told them they would suffer for Him because of religious people who would attack them in God’s name. He chose this time to reveal it to them so they would not be surprised when these things happened. He also began to explain the Holy Spirit’s function after Jesus resurrection. He would come to tell us the things we need to know as we are ready to learn from Him in our need.
The Spirit would come to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. The conviction concerning sin is because they do not believe in Christ as Savior, so they need to feel the weight of debt they owe for their personal sins to turn them to Christ for Salvation. The conviction concerning righteousness because Jesus had lived the righteous life and been resurrected to live with the Father in heaven where He could intercede for us. The Spirit also convicts in the area of judgment because the enemy of our soul has already been judged by his failure to destroy Christ even in death.
As the Holy Spirit convicts our friends in the world we need to be ready to share the good news with them. Remember it is not our job to convict them. We have to be ready for some anger from those who don’t know Christ. We have to have a good relationship with the Spirit so that He can share Christ’s things with us to share with them. I pray that the Holy Spirit leads and guides Christ’s people into all truth so that we can show it with grace to those we love who haven’t met Him.
Seeking His Spirit,
Pastor Jason
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