Sermon Tone Analysis

As we move through the Easter season, this Sunday is the first step into a different direction as we build up to the festival of Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit who would come to dwell in the disciples and all who believe.

In our Gospel text today from John 16:5-15, we see Jesus preparing the disciples for his departure.

The disciples will hear that Jesus will be departing “in a little while.”

But before Jesus goes, he wants to the disciples to know that his departure is good for them.

At the cross and the empty tomb, Jesus’ work in his condescension is accomplished.

Jesus’ mission was to be the pascal lamb, to be the scapegoat for the sins of the world.

By his blood shed on the cross, the sins of the world are carried away.

His work is done.

Jesus is now promising the Holy Spirit’s arrival and revealing His great mission to the world and the disciples.

We know from last week’s Gospel text — which is from this same chapter in verse 17 — that the disciples were focusing on nothing other than that Jesus said he was about to leave.

They weren’t thinking about where he was going or what it meant, only that he was leaving.

They were pinning for the good ‘ole days.

“Remember when all those people were fed with the bread and fish beside the sea of Galilee?”

“Remember when people were flocking from across Galilee to hear Jesus preach and to be healed?”

“Remember when he turned water into wine?”

“Remember when???”

While it is good to remember, Jesus is teaching the disciples and the church that we remember for a reason.

We don’t remember to relive the “good ‘ole days.”

We remember to keep God’s faithfulness in mind.

For the church, we don’t look back to “the good ‘ole days.”

For those who are in Christ, we look forward to the glorious eternity that lies before us.

Jesus is telling the disciples, the good ‘ole days will not continue.

But, good things lie directly ahead.

What is this?

The ministry of the Holy Spirit.

The Helper.

Or in the Greek, the Paraclete.

It is because of the coming of the Holy Spirit that Jesus’ departure is for the advantage of the disciples.

It signals two things.

1) That Jesus work is indeed finished, just as he declares upon the cross.

That means there is nothing else that needs to be done to win salvation.

The love of God has been completely shown forth and His love has accomplished the forgiveness of sins for all.

2) The second thing Jesus’ departure signals is a new epoch.

The great world-wide mission of the Holy Spirit follows the mission of Jesus.

The Holy Spirit’s mission is summed up very clearly in our text today.

It begins with...

The Holy Spirit Convicting the World

Verse 8, The Holy Spirit will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgement.

Before we look at these three aspects of the Spirit’s work, I want to quickly pause and point out an important detail.

Notice how Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit, “he.”

Not “it.”

“He.”

This gives us a small peak into one of the greatest mysteries of God.

There is one God in Trinity.

We believe in One God in Three Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

But think about this a moment.

“He.”

What does this mean?

Well, it means the Holy Spirit is not an “it.”

Therefore, he is not merely a force or a collective work of the church.

The Holy Spirit is not a movement.

The Holy Spirit is a person…

He is often called the third person of the Trinity.

Not because He is third in importance or majesty or authority.

He is co-equal in all aspects with the other persons of the Trinity.

We call him the third person because he is the third person listed in the command to baptize all nations in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Likewise, we believe the Holy Spirit is not merely a part of the Trinity.

He is not a part of God.

He is God in the same way the Father is God and the Son is God.

Yet, He is not the Father, nor the Son.

The Holy Spirit differs from the Father and the Son in how he is presented.

The Father is who begot the Son.

The Son is begotten of the Father.

The Holy Spirit is sent by the Father and by the Son.

The Holy Spirit differs in His personal work as well.

Jesus, the Son, died on the cross.

The Father did not die on the cross.

The Holy Spirit did not die on the cross.

And yet we can say that God died on the Cross because Jesus is God.

At Jesus’ baptism, the Father spoke and the Holy Spirit descended.

We worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in unity.

This is a great mystery of which God has revealed to us in the scriptures and yet it is a mystery, still.

The truth of it, however, is abundantly clear though we might struggle to comprehend it.

Back to the rest of the text...

The Holy Spirit will convict…

The Holy Spirit will Convict the World Concerning Sin

What does this mean?

Well, I’m convinced that the world knows something of sin.

Paul’s letter to the Romans chapters 1 and 2 make this abundantly clear.

By passing judgment on another, the unbelieving world condemns itself.

It knows of right and wrong and continues in that which is evil.

The world has exchanged the light of God and his created order for chaos, darkness, and abominable things.

They follow after the lusts of their hearts and dishonor their bodies, exchanging the truth for a lie and worship the creation instead of the creator.

But, like I said, there is knowledge of such sins.

They sometimes go by a different name than sin, but nevertheless, it is known.

The Holy Spirit does a few things with the conviction of the world concerning sin.

1st, He makes the knowledge of sin sharper.

The Holy Spirit specifies exactly what sin is according to God’s character, will, and command.

2nd, He also shows that sin is a universal malady of the human condition.

No one escapes the condemnation of sin.

3rd, He shows the outcome of sin — death, hell, and eternal torment.

The Holy Spirit accomplishes this through the preaching of the law.

The law drives those who hear it to contrition and fear over sin.

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Acts 2 - Peter’s Pentecost Sermon

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We see this in Acts 2, the 3000 people who became Christians on Pentecost.

They were convicted of their sin.

But this conviction over sin was not their death.

This conviction brought by the Holy Spirit drove them to ask, “How can we be saved?”

This is the fullness of what Jesus means when he says the Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin: The Holy Spirit shows the escape from sin.

That is the main question.