We look now to the Lord for His blessing, for His help. We turn again to John chapter 16. We can read together at verse 8 down to verse 11. John 16 at verse 8. We may read verse 7 along with it to bring out exactly what the Savior is saying. Nevertheless, He says, verse 7, I tell you the truth. It is expedient for you that I go away. For if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you. But if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. Of sin, because they believe not on me. Of righteousness, because I go to my Father and ye see me no more. Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. Especially verses 8-11, I'm sure these words are quite familiar to us. For one reason or another, we read through the Gospels and we come across some of the things that our Lord said, different points in His ministry. But sometimes some of the Saviour's sayings, parts of His teaching, can in a sense go somewhat unnoticed. It is very interesting that from chapter 13 to 17 of John's account of the Gospel, the Saviour is with the twelve in the upper room. And we read in John's account things that the other three, Matthew, Mark and Luke, don't tell us. It is very interesting because there is never any contradiction at all between the Gospel records. You might prefer to think of it in terms of viewing the same thing from different points of view. Certain gospel writers have certain emphases that the others don't have. The outcome is a very balanced picture of the Lord's ministry, the Lord's work, and indeed through both of these, His ministry, His work, His person itself, who He is. John is quite clear here in chapters 13-17, as the Lord is coming to that time in his ministry where he is about to offer himself a sacrifice, laying down his life for his people, John emphasizes certain things that the Lord said that the others don't record the Saviour as having said. And it's interesting that the Saviour, in all that he said and the way he said it, was a very profound, a very deep, very deep teacher. The other Gospels, you'll notice the emphasis in our Lord's teaching is by way of parable. Jesus would compare what he was saying to certain things in order to illustrate and bring the truth home. But when you read through John, you find the emphasis in the Saviour's teaching is in the form of straightforward discourse. And these verses 8 to 11 here that we look at, they come in such a form. The Savior is sitting in the upper room with the twelve, and he's telling them that in a very short space of time he's about to go, to go to the cross in the first place. But secondly, and more particularly for our purpose today, he's to go to his Father. He's going to depart from them. He's coming to the world from the Father, and he's soon to leave the world and go back to the Father. He doesn't illustrate any of this. He just relates it as plain fact. And it's one characteristic of John's Gospel. You even go way back to the beginning, the opening verses. You find John's emphasis, for all his simplicity and other parts, his emphasis is very deeply theological. How does he begin? In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God. You go to chapter 3 and he speaks with Nicodemus about the new birth. Our Lord, according to John's representation, was a very profound teacher. He taught very deep things. And for you and I, friends, the teaching of Jesus is something that, if we're Christians, will feed our souls. The Savior didn't say these things just in order to inform His disciples' minds. Everything that he was saying to them would have a bearing on their own lives and on the life, the existence of the world itself at large. Because what he's referring to here in verses 8 to 11, we'll take 7 with it, is the coming of the Holy Spirit into the world. And this wasn't said to the disciples for their own benefit alone. It had a primary reference to them in the first place. The context here would have us believe that. If I don't go away, he says, the Comforter will not come to you. Now here the Holy Spirit has been spoken of in his capacity or his role as Comforter. He is the one who will come specifically to the followers of Christ and who will be to them the spiritual presence of Christ. I'm going from you, he says. But I will send the Comforter, another Comforter, he says, chapter 14, that he will be with you forever. He is to be to them the presence, the spiritual presence of Christ. So it has a primary reference there. The first instance, Jesus is saying, when I go back to my Father, I will send the Comforter and he will be with you, my disciples. He will comfort you in my absence. And he'll be with you forever. But the second emphasis where we come to more particularly, verses 8-11, is the reference to the world. Those who are outside of the church. Or maybe more specifically, those who aren't Christians who may even be in the church. Notice he says, when he has come, verse 7, he'll come as a comforter, but verse 8, he'll come to reprove the world of three things, of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. So in these verses 7 to 11, the Holy Spirit is brought before us by Christ in two distinct ways in which He was to work after Christ would go back to the Father. It is the second we are going to look at. But notice from the chapter some of the things the Lord tells us about the Holy Spirit. Sometimes He doesn't figure very much in our thinking as believers, and that's not wrong as far as emphasis goes. There is a very real sense in which we should always be Christ-centered. Always. But there is possibly a danger of being imbalanced as far as our thoughts, our meditations, our worship. concerns both the Father and the Holy Spirit, we can tend even at times to think of the Holy Spirit as an influence. We could be misled at points when we read even of the Holy Spirit as it. You've maybe come across that kind of thing. There's a point in Romans 8, the Spirit itself. That's another question, but the way comes across there, you could be misled into thinking that the Holy Spirit itself, who bears witness with our spirit, who makes intercession for us, is somehow an impersonal spirit. It's an it rather than a he. But the Savior brings it out very clearly as we look. The first thing, this reprover, who is it that will reprove the world? What does Jesus say of him? Well, he says he's not simply an influence. Some power exerted by God, who has no personality of his own. See what he says in verse 13. The Holy Spirit, he says, the Spirit of Truth, when He has come, He will guide, He will speak, and He will show. Now, these are things, they are what you would call personal properties, things that belong to a person, not to an influence. An influence cannot guide. or speak, or show. It's only a person who can do that. But further than that, in verse 14, Jesus tells us, He will glorify Me. He does something in relation to Christ. He will glorify Me, for He says, He will receive of Mine and will show it unto you. The Holy Spirit In His capacity, in His operation, He takes everything that belongs to Christ and shows it to His people. Only a person can do that. The Holy Spirit, friends, is not an influence. You know that. But if someone was to come to you and ask you, well, how do you know He's not just an influence? How do you know that it is actually a person, that He is Well, Jesus makes it clear here. Not only do we find Jesus speak of the reprovers' person, also his nature. And this is where the teaching of Jesus becomes, in one sense, very profound. We know from the rest of the Bible that between each of these, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, there is absolute equality. One is not above the other, one is not inferior to the other, one is not in the middle. We must never think in these terms when we say Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In an absolute sense, within God Himself, there is absolute equality. The same in substance, equal in power and glory. But there is another sense in which the Bible represents God. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And that is in the sense of their operations, the things they do in the world. And there is a kind of order spoken of where the Father seems to be spoken of first, the Son seems to be spoken of second, and the Holy Spirit third. John has that emphasis throughout his Gospel. The Father sends the Son. The Son comes as the one sent by the Father. and the Son then sends the Holy Spirit. Father sends the Son, the Son comes, and then the Son sends the Holy Spirit. There's no inequality, though, whatsoever between these persons. And yet, within their operations, what the Holy Spirit does, He doesn't, Jesus tells us, speak. of Himself. Though He is equal with the Son and Father, it is not Himself that He is showing to the world. It is Christ. He will not speak of Himself. He will glorify Me. It is as though the Holy Spirit is purely deflecting all the glory to Christ. He magnifies Christ. So friends, where the Spirit of Christ is present and active in a life, in a church, Christ will be central. Because the Holy Spirit is pointing everyone, all praise and honor to Christ. That's the mistake with some churches where the emphasis is all on the Holy Spirit. If that is all that's emphasized, even in the town of Stornowie, friends, If it is nothing but the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit, or the Holy Spirit is taking a primary place in any ministry, that is not a ministry in which the Holy Spirit is active. Where the Spirit is present, it is Christ who will be magnified. So we see Jesus speaks of his person, but also of his nature, and then he speaks of his coming. Verse 8, when He is come, He will reprove the world of sin, of righteousness and of judgment. We would be mistaken to think that the Lord is here saying the Holy Spirit wasn't in the world at any point or in any degree up until what He refers to here as when He is come. Jesus isn't saying in an absolute sense, the Holy Spirit hasn't come yet. but there is a very clear, a very real sense in which he is saying the Holy Spirit hasn't come. What is he referring to? Well, the answer must, of course, be the day of Pentecost, the day that came, the experience of the New Testament church, when the Holy Spirit was poured down upon the church to a degree and in a way that he had never been poured down before, the days that Joel had prophesied many years before, that the Holy Spirit would be poured down on the church. That happened on the day of Pentecost. Jesus is here, in other words, saying, when the day of Pentecost comes, when the Holy Spirit comes in all the fullness of His grace, of His power, then He will reprove the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. Do you see Jesus in relating things? He's telling them so much. He's giving them so much information. And He's giving you and I so much information. Food for our souls, friends. When He has come. There is the reprover. There is the one who will reprove the world. The world is to be reproved by the Spirit. Who is this, the world? Well, there is a sense in which the Bible has different meanings when it uses the word world. And even within, especially in John's writings here in the Gospel and elsewhere, he can use the word world in different senses in the same verse. You think even of the beginning, chapter 1, he was in the world, the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. You see the difference? He was in the world as the place, the world was made by him as the universe, and the world knew him not, the people who inhabited the world. So what world here is Jesus referring to when he has come He will reprove the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. Well, it must be the world to whom the gospel comes. That part of the world, those men and women, young people, who hear the gospel. Because it is through the preaching of the gospel that the Holy Spirit works. You know, in Romans 10, where Paul quotes the verse from way back from Joel again. Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. But he says, how shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? How shall he preach except unless he is sent? But Paul is there emphasizing is that the result is calling on the name of the Lord and being saved. But unless the Lord is preached, they won't call on Him because they haven't heard of Him. You see what he's saying? There's a logic in the Bible, friends. When the Gospel is preached and where the Gospel is preached, Christ is held out and men and women are summoned to call upon his name. And it is through the preaching of the gospel that the Holy Spirit works through the Word. When he has come, he will reprove the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment through the preaching of the gospel. We'll go back to this in a minute to make it as clear as possible. Just for the moment to say, if you read the book of Acts, which opens chapter two with the day of Pentecost, what happens when the Holy Spirit comes? How does he reprove the world? Through the preaching of the gospel. So the world here that are reproved must be those men and women who hear the gospel preached. That means you, friends. It means me. when we hear the gospel. But there's something more than just hearing the gospel. There is this reproving through the gospel by the Spirit. What does this mean? Jesus says the reproving has three parts. Or rather, you might want to say that he will reprove the world of three things. Of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. Now on the surface, these three things are very general. And it would be possible just to take these words and to say, well, the Holy Spirit convicts of this sin, this sin, this sin, and this sin. And then to say that he will convict the world of, or reprove the world of righteousness in this sense, this sense, and this sense, and then of judgment to come, he will reprove in this sense and this sense. There could be a general unending way in which you could apply these words, were it not for the fact that the Lord here makes it very specific. He makes His teaching on the reproving by the Holy Spirit watertight. When He has come, He will reprove the world of sin, because they believe not on Me. Because they believe not on Me. So, this is the sin of which the Holy Spirit will convict the world. They believe not on Me. of righteousness, because I go to my Father and you see me no more. So there is a connection between true righteousness and Christ's ascending to heaven. And then the third thing of judgment, because, he says, the prince of this world is judged. Let's look at these things as we are able to. When he has come, he will reprove the world First of all, of sin, because they believe not on Me. If someone was to ask you today, describe sin in its most grave degree, what would your answer be? Maybe you would think, go through the Ten Commandments and list out Every single one of them. You might think of the thieves, you might think of the adulterers, you might think of the liars, all of these things. And you know, there's a sense, of course, in which that's true. Every form of sin is wickedness in the sight of God. So much so that you read, Paul writing to the Corinthians makes it so clear that, and again John in the Revelation, that there are certain catalogues of sins, they tell us lists of things. Those who do these things, they say, will never inherit the kingdom of God. If people live sinful lives, they'll never be saved if they die in that state. But why is it that Jesus doesn't list a whole number of sins like Paul and John do? Why is it that Jesus singles out one unbelief? Because from this one sin, every other sin, in a sense, will flow. Think of it like this. The carnal or the fallen mind is enmity against God. In other words, sinners hate God for what He is. And wherever God is then revealed most clearly, sinners will hate Him more and will reject Him more. Now, where is God more clearly seen than in Christ? He is the supreme revelation of God to the world. And when the world sees Christ, they reject Him. They see nothing in Him. that they want. But there's something more. There are only two sins in the Bible, as far as I know, two sins in the Bible that are unpardonable. One is maybe the most obvious, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. The second, is final unbelief, dying as an unbeliever. If Jesus said, You believe not that I am He, you shall die in your sins. You shall die in your sins. In other words, friends, final unbelief, dying as an unbeliever, is unpardonable. Some people would say that unbelief in a general sense is unpardonable, but that of course can't be true. Because unbelievers, by the work of the Spirit, are born again and become believers. Why does Jesus single this out? Many people here today who are believers lived lives, some maybe notoriously, in many sins. All these sins have been pardoned. But dying in our sins in unbelief will never be pardoned. The Holy Spirit, Jesus says, will reprove the world of sin because they believe not on Me. And you know what this comes to. If you, friend, today are rejecting Christ, if you refuse, if you will not believe in Christ, you are committing one of the two greatest sins in the world. You look at people all around you, and you might think, this man is a notorious drunkard. What about this woman? living in our sins. What about this family, the most ungodly? Look at me, I come to church, I read my Bible, I pray, I do all these things. If you're an unbeliever, you're no better. The most morally upright unbeliever is no better than the most abandoned, unbeliever. You might ask, well, what does it mean to believe in Jesus? If this, not believing in Jesus, is the greatest sin, next to blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, what is it all about? Well, you could be complicated about things, but John makes it very simple. He says again in chapter 1, he says, as many as receive him. To them He gave power to become the sons of God. Those who don't receive Jesus are unbelievers. Those who do receive Him are believers. Very simple, friends. There's a lot involved in faith. But when you think of it like that, it's very simple. Have you received Christ as your Savior? Or are you receiving Him not? If you're not receiving Him, if you haven't received Him, if you're rejecting Him, there's only one end before you, friends. No matter how clean you try and keep your slate, if you die an unbeliever, you'll be lost forever. Think of it, friend, going to death with your Bible in your hand as an unbeliever. and going to hell. You must believe in the Lord Jesus Christ if you're to be saved. The Holy Spirit will convict the world of sin. He'll reprove the world of sin because they believe not on Me, because they're rejecting Me. But He will reprove the world also of righteousness Because Jesus says, I go to my Father and you see me no more. What does this mean? It's a bit of a complicated connection, it seems. What it basically means, I understand, is that the Lord is saying here, the Holy Spirit will show the world what righteousness really is. The whole context, the surroundings of the Lord's ministry was in a hostile Jewish environment. These church men and women of the day believed that they were righteous. Righteousness very basically. So being acceptable to God in our lives, in our persons, and being accepted by Him on that basis. The Jews thought that they were accepted by God because He was pleased with their lives. They kept the law, they thought. They did everything that Moses prescribed. They did it outwardly. They didn't do it from the heart. They were self-righteous. And this was brought to its clearest degree when the Son of God, Jesus Christ, came into the world, who was righteousness. incarnate, God manifest in the flesh, the true revelation of what righteousness really is. What did they do? They crucified him. They blasphemed him. They told him he has a devil. They went to Pilate and they said, by our law, this man ought to die. They didn't have a clue what righteousness really was. When Christ came, they hated him for his righteousness. So, Jesus is here saying, but when the Holy Spirit comes, He will reprove the world. He will show the world what righteousness really is. He will vindicate me. How did that happen? First of all, it happened in the resurrection. Romans 1. He was declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. Declared by who? By His Father. to be the Son of God with power through the resurrection. The Father was saying to the world, this is my Son, when he raised him from the dead. But more than that, when Christ ascended to heaven and he received in this world all power in heaven and earth, he ascended to heaven, he received the Holy Spirit. The letter to the church in Sardis, Revelation chapter 3. Thus, Jesus says, saith he that hath the seven spirits of God. Jesus in heaven has received the Spirit of God. And he says in this chapter again, verse 7, I will send him unto you. Jesus was raised from the dead ascended to heaven, received the Holy Spirit. But the ultimate thing that was to show the world what righteousness really was, was the sending of the Holy Spirit into the world. The greatest illustration of this, friends, is the day of Pentecost, Acts chapter 2. There you have Peter standing up among a great multitude, great congregation, thousands of Jews, And he preaches Christ from the Old Testament. He reproves them for their sin. He shows them that they were guilty in crucifying the Lord of Glory. He vindicated who Christ really was, all that He did. What was the outcome? They were convicted of their sins. Men and brethren, they said, what must we do? Peter made it clear. You crucified Him. You took him with your own wicked hands. You nailed him to the cross. You who thought you knew what righteousness really is, you crucified the righteous one, the just one. They were convicted of it. We are guilty. The Holy Spirit came. You see it through Peter's preaching. And he vindicated Christ. The outcome was this, righteous one, the Son of God was righteous indeed and we are the sinners. Have you found that, friends? Has the Holy Spirit shown you this? He only is righteous. I am the sinner. But the last thing He will reprove the world of judgment because the prince of this world is judged. The connection between the Holy Spirit forewarning judgment and the judgment of Satan himself might seem like another difficult connection to make between the two. But the crucifixion, friends, This really was Satan's masterpiece, in a manner of speaking. This is what Satan wanted all along. It's interesting, you read the Old Testament, even into the New Testament gospel records, time and time again you're seeing Satan trying his utmost to stop Christ coming into the world. Even there in Matthew, the slaughter of the infants, even in the temptation of Christ in the wilderness. He's doing everything in His power, firstly to stop Christ coming, and secondly to stop Him going to the cross. But He knows at the same time that He can't stop Him. So what do you find at the cross? It's Satan doing his utmost. It's like his masterpiece. flooding the hearts, the minds of these unbelieving Jews there, who are nailing Him to the cross, the Romans with them, the Jews especially, and putting Christ to death, there is Satan most active. Do you think Satan ever thought he had won the battle with Christ? Do you think that Satan for one minute thought, when Christ was hanging on the cross, I've got him now." I don't think Satan was deceived in that point at all. But he certainly did his best to inflict the worst that he could upon the Son of God. Satan had seen God in all his glory before he fell. He knew who he was up against. And he knew when Christ came into the world, like the devils as well, they said, didn't they, when they were cast out of legion, didn't they come before they were cast out and say, are you come to torment us before our time? They were terrified of Christ. James tells us that devils believe and tremble. So surely Satan, you find, that Christ was delivering in a very clear way His own death sentence on the cross. Though Satan did all that he could, all that he could, but Christ has made the very wrath of Satan to praise Him. He's turned this all on His head. It's interesting we read in Hebrews that through death Christ destroyed him who had the power of death. That is the devil. It's wonderful, friends. We read in Colossians that having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them. A public display. A spectacle like in the arena. Here's like the gladiators triumphing over their enemies. Here is Christ on the cross. Triumphing over Satan. Triumphing, friends. He was never the victim. in Satan's hands. Never for one minute, for one second, he was the lamb, triumphing as the lion of the tribe of Judah. The prince of this world is judged. This took place on the cross. What did Jesus say before this? Well, he said, This is your hour, didn't he say? And the power of darkness. But also, he said, now is the judgment of this world. Now shall the prince of this world be cast out. Satan was about to be cast out through Christ going to the cross. When you read the book of Revelation, you come to chapter 20. You read about the millennium. Don't get confused with what time frame or period has been spoken of. Take the Bible as a whole and read what Jesus says about His triumph over Christ. Now is the judgment of this world. Now shall the prince of this world be cast out. You read Revelation chapter 20. What do you find? Satan is then bound for a thousand years. Something took place on Calvary that bound Satan. He was cast out. Christ triumphed over Satan on the cross. So when you come to the millennium in Revelation 20, see Calvary at the very beginning. And it will save you from a lot of headaches. and inconsistencies. Christ triumphed over Satan. The victory of Christ over Satan, the judgment of Satan by Christ, is something the Holy Spirit reproves the world of. He's saying, in effect, just like Satan was overcome and judged, so will you be. if you carry on going the way you are. How many thousands of years Satan was given? Free reign in a sense, not in an absolute sense, but his time came. He was judged. We read in the Revelation that he's now come down with great wrath because he knows his time is short. Satan today knows he's going to hell. He knows it. And all his hosts with him, and they're terrified because they know what's coming. What of you, friend, today? If you're an unbeliever and you're still rejecting Christ, the same is coming your way. Are you harder than Satan when you face that fact? Is Satan more frightened of hell than you are? Do we care at all about our souls? Why does the Holy Spirit reprove the world of sin, righteousness and judgment? Is it just to scare people? Is it just to make people feel uneasy? It's that they might be saved. There is, of course, a general sense in which the Holy Spirit reproves everyone who hears the gospel. And sometimes you can be listening to the gospel for years and a time comes when it begins to trouble you. You're like Felix. When Paul reasoned with him of temperance, righteousness, temperance, judgment to come, Felix trembled listening to this man, Paul. He was terrified. He knew that what Paul was saying was real and that it was concerning him, not the man or woman beside him, but it was himself and God, that he had to prepare to meet his God. The Holy Spirit was reproving him. It was real. It was powerful. They'd have shake in his seat, but it didn't save him. Again, think of the multitudes before the flood. The Holy Spirit striving with him. It's the same thing as reproving. Striving, friends! And they went to hell. There is a general sense in which the Holy Spirit will reprove at some point or other nearly everyone who hears the Gospel. And if you today can look back on your life and remember a time when that was happening, And if you're sitting here today and you're saying, that's gone, be afraid. Don't despair, but be afraid. If the Lord has stopped striving with you, be afraid that he's giving you over. And go home, friends, and read Romans chapter 1. How many times Paul says God gave them over to a reprobate mind. confronted as they were with His revelation in the world, God gave them over and they refused to listen. And as well, if you're finding this reproof of the Holy Spirit in your own heart, if you can feel the searching, the reproving, the conviction of your sins, don't stop there. It's not an end in itself. It's to bring you to Christ. It's that you might be saved, and you'll only be saved if you have Christ. You might be sitting here wondering, well, how can I know if what's happening to me is just general? How can I be sure that what's happening to me is this specific saving work of the Holy Spirit in me? Don't ask that question. Go to Christ, and then you'll know. When He has come, He will reprove the world of sin, of righteousness, of judgment to come. Of sin, because they believe not on Me. Of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more. Of judgment, because the Prince of this world is judged. Friends, how we need the Holy Spirit. Even if we had a Spurgeon here in front of us today, it wouldn't change a heart. But when He comes, there's no telling what He can do. And may Christ send His Spirit into this congregation, that every pew would be filled with sinner-seeking Christ. And may He come, friends, and may He bless you mightily. Let us pray. Gracious God, we do thank Thee for this disclosure that was given us, that we know the Holy Spirit has come into the world. He's come into Thy church, that our very presence here as Thy people is proof of the fact that He is still with us. But how we crave this mighty outpouring, this clear evidence that He is working and reproving and convincing sinners and bringing them to Christ. Be glorified, Lord, in working in this congregation and in every congregation of Christ. And bless Thy servants who go out in weakness and use thy word, and make it not return void. For thy great glory and name's sake. Amen.