All right, so John 16, 4b, I did not tell you this from the beginning because I was with you. He didn't tell them what? What are these things that he says that he did not tell them? Any ideas? He said, I did not tell you this, this. What does this mean? I did not tell you this from the beginning because I was with you. Somebody? Well, likely it refers to the things he's just mentioned, right? It's a pronoun. It stands for what he's just talked about. He did not mention the persecution that was going to come previously. Why? Why did he not mention it? Well, he gives the answer. He says, because I was with you. So what does Jesus being with them have to do with him not mentioning everything that's going to come? Any ideas? Anybody up for a little interaction? No? Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. Good. Jesus, up to this point, has been with his disciples. So any wrong that people wanted to do, Jesus has been the lightning rod for that. He's been the recipient of it. People have been focused on Jesus, and he, in a way, has been protecting his disciples up to this point. So there really wasn't the same need to tell them, hey guys, things are going to get super bad. He's warned them previously that persecution will come, but he hasn't warned them in such great detail, telling them, hey, you guys are gonna be dragged before synagogues, this is gonna happen, this is gonna happen. He hasn't needed to tell them because up to this point, he's been with them. He's been the lightning rod that received this persecution. But note that Jesus' followers are just that, his followers. So that means that along his path, they are following in the persecution that he too will suffer. But even after that, we as his followers, yes, we may follow him in his persecution, but will we not also follow him in his glorification and his vindication? And this word vindication is going to be key to what I'm going to talk about this morning that arises out of this passage. Who can give us a good working definition of vindication? There will be a day that Jesus's followers will be vindicated, just like Christ himself was vindicated. That might be a little strong. Yeah. Yeah. Justified. Yeah. Declared to be in the right. Vindicated just means, hey, no, you're right. Yeah, you were right all along. You're right. It's basically just saying to prove somebody to be in the right. And we're going to see how Jesus was vindicated. This is getting a little bit ahead of ourselves. It's key to what we're going to talk about. So keep this term in your mind, vindication, and a good working definition might just be to be proved to be in the right, to be shown to be in the right. So vengeful is perhaps a little bit, goes beyond just proving to be in right, but says, I'm right, you're wrong, I'm going to do something about it. But it's good. I like where you're going with that. But notice here, isn't this peculiar? Jesus says, I did not tell you this from the beginning because I was with you. Was with you. Well, has he already gone? It's a bit peculiar who talks that way. That's a bit strange Surely because I am with I've not told you these things because I'm with you I've been with you up to this point. I'm with you No, but he says I was with you and here again Jesus is already thinking about the events that are about to take place It's as good as happened. Why? because it's God's plan that he's working out in his story of redemption and it's as good as taking place and it won't be thwarted by any purposes of the devil. Verse five, but now I'm going to him who sent me. None of you asks me, where are you going? Him who sent me. It's key. Jesus was sent by the Father and will send the Spirit. But now I am going to him who sent me. Jesus doesn't just roll up on the scene arbitrarily doing good works, looking a bit like a hippie at a place. No, he is sent on a very specific mission, the mission of the Father. And the things that God does, he does as Trinity. It's Trinitarian. God's mission in the world isn't Unitarian. And what I mean by that is we so often speak of what God's doing in the world and what God has accomplished in the world as strictly taking place in and through Jesus. But that's a really oversimplified version of the gospel story. And indeed, it makes us sound more like Unitarians. We're just focused so much on Jesus that, hey, but what about the sending of the Son by the Father? The Son showing up on the scene is just one movement in God's grand symphony of His purposes in the world. And so what we see in this passage later is, as the Father has sent the Son to accomplish His purposes, The son in turn with the father will then send the spirit. And it's in this way, it's as God operates as three in one, as the three operate together, that God accomplishes his purposes. So don't stop the gospel short at saying, well, Jesus came, died and was resurrected. And that's the gospel. No, the gospel is that from the very beginning, God had purposed to send the son and the son accomplished redemption, which the spirit is now applying. So the fact that you're sitting here this morning and if you confess to be a believer means that the work that Christ did on the cross years and years and years ago The Spirit has today applied to your life. That's the ongoing work of the Spirit. That's still a part of the same mission God has to make all things new in the world. So let's not boil the gospel down to just what Jesus is doing, but no, it's Jesus accomplished it, which the Spirit is now applying to our hearts. So if you this morning can confess that Jesus is Lord, that's only because the Spirit has worked a great work in your heart to bring about that confession in you. And so we might avoid analogies of the Trinity, like water or whatever else you've heard, and I think it's a lot more helpful to speak about the three in oneness of God in terms of redemption. The Father sent the Son, the Son accomplished the work, and the Spirit applied it. I think that's the best way to talk about the Trinity. Why? Well, because that's how the Bible talks about it. And don't we as Christians want to model our wills and our life and how we speak after the Bible. And I think this is the clearest and easiest way to talk about the Trinity, not with water analogies, not about like an A or whatever, you know, where things get really murky. But in redemption, think about how you are saved. OK, and it's that it's where that three in one this arrives. But Jesus says, none of you asks me where you are going. Hold up Bible contradiction, right? Where are you going? You know, when we when I gave you the context of John 14, just a bit ago, we saw that Thomas asked, where are you going? Philip asked him. Asked to see the father. Oh, and Peter asked as well, where are you going? What's going on, Jesus? This looks a whole lot like a Bible contradiction. Is that the case? Who said no? Yes. Why not? Are you reading a study note tell me tell me from your heart Don't read a study note From my heart, it does apply within my current state of self. So when you read something that looks like that, obviously you need to dig a little deeper and read the study. Thus we're back to the inspired study note. I was thinking of that. You were thinking of that? I had a thought, maybe. Is it a study note? No. But if this has all been given at the same time, Maybe their cup is getting a little more full and they're overwhelmed. It's like, how dare we speak now? He's given us all this. Have we not learned anything? Right. Yes. I like that. We'll go with that. Yeah. I think after four chapters of it, I might keep my mouth shut. Yeah. Yeah. Perhaps you should write a study bible. No, I think that's right. And I think that any problem or any appearance of a Bible contradiction could just simply be alleviated by saying, none of you are asking me right now. I mean, it's in the present tense. None of you are asking me right now where you are going. That's because they've asked it before. They've, you know, keeping their mouth shut. And as Jesus will say in the next verse, rather, you know, anytime something just doesn't seem to make sense in scripture, probably the best bet is to keep on reading. So verse six, rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things. So they're not asking because they're filled with grief. I mean, if if somebody just looked at you in the face and said, hey, I'm going on a trip and I'm going to be gone. While I'm gone, some people are going to rob your house and beat you up and take your stuff and take your car and throw eggs in your mailbox. Nobody does that. Put a stink bomb in your mailbox. That's better. And if you heard that, you'd be like, um, I'm not the happiest. I mean, you would just be like, what? And you wouldn't really, you know, say much. So, yeah, Jesus tells, says very plainly that they are filled with grief. And, um, I mean, what further reason do you have not to speak? So we went to England for Christmas, we were there for two weeks, and just on Wednesday, my in-laws dropped us off at the airport. And I think this is a good illustration of not talking when you're in grief, because what happened was they went as far as they could, right up to the security thing where you gotta have a boarding pass, and we're all saying goodbye, we're chatting, we're just having such a good time. But what happens as soon as you realize that, hey, we're about to say goodbye? And I mean, we won't see these family again till the end of the year. But what grief fills your heart kind of in that moment. And I kind of watched as my mother-in-law hugged my wife. She didn't say anything. You know, there's just tears. It was obvious. you know, patent grief in her heart, didn't say anything. She came to me just crying. And, you know, we hugged and no words were said and nobody had to ask, where are you going? No words were exchanged because in that case, grief had filled our heart. So perhaps it's a bit like this for the disciples there. Jesus has been with them at every point up until this stage. So for him to say, all right, I've got to the security checkpoint. I've got to go through here and you guys can't come any further. I mean, that's going to fill their hearts with grief, just like saying goodbye to family. at an airport. Verse seven, but very truly I tell you, it is for your good, for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the advocate will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. How in the world can it be better? How in the world can it be for their good? How in the world can it be for our good that Jesus goes away? Can I speak from my heart after I'm done here? Sure. Sure. Because then Jesus will be able to, through the Holy Spirit, speak to everybody in the world instead of just being at one place and teaching. Alright, so what you're saying is Jesus was, during his earthly ministry, was in one place. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. So geographically speaking, this morning, which church would Jesus choose to be in? Ours, of course. But what about the four other sinners gathered this morning trying to worship God? Where, you know, Jesus would be with us? I like that. That's from the study note and your heart. We'll take that as long as it comes from the study note through your heart. Well, let's talk briefly. Well, I've got a whole list here of them, so it's not going to be so great. Let's talk about the benefits of Christ's ascension, the ascension. We like to talk about the benefits of the cross. We like to talk about the benefits of the resurrection. But what about the benefits of the ascension of Christ? When's the last you heard a sermon on the ascension of Christ? No, because it can get kind of strange. You know, you get to first Peter three and we're kind of talking about and it's like, what? Preaching to spirits in hell, you know, like what? But here, let's talk about some benefits. How many do I have? One, two, three, four, five. By his ascension, he has opened the way to heaven. John 14, 3, if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. So what is Jesus doing? He's blazing a trail and he's opening a way to heaven, a way that previously is shut to fallen mankind. Jesus is paving the way. He's blazing the trail for us. First benefit of Christ's ascension. Because he ascended in body, Paul writes, and God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. Because Jesus ascended bodily into heaven, We too have been raised up and seated with Christ in the heavenly realms. If you are in Christ and Christ is in heaven, then guess where you are? Somebody's good at logic. Yes, yes, we are in Christ and because he's been raised up, we have been raised up with him. Number three, as much as Christ resides with the Father, he is our advocate. And this is Hebrews 7, 24, 25. Because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore, he is able to save completely those who come to God through him because he always lives to intercede for them. So Jesus, as well as the Holy Spirit, whom he left in his place, is an advocate for us as well. But what is an advocate? Your translation, if you're reading the KJV, it might say, does it say paraclete or something? No? Comforter, yeah, that's a possible translation. So possible translations that we get for this word that we often see as advocate is paraclete. Oh, that was an older translation called the Douay translation. Or we see, sorry? Helper, yes, we do see helper in newer translations. We see comforter in the KJV and we see counselor in the RSV. But very, just strictly speaking, this word implies one who is called in to help or intercede in legal matter. So I think like comforter, thinking about his comforter kind of cuts off kind of the more legal advocacy role of it. I mean, comforter, I mean, comforters might just give you a hug. They might not stand up in a court scene and shout out on your behalf, you know, so. Perhaps it's best to stay as broad as the term in the original does as well with something like advocate, which helps us get a little bit of the legal domain of the word. But as an advocate, Jesus turns the Father's eyes to his righteousness to avert his gaze from our sins. So Jesus, as our advocate, stands in our place in heaven so that when God looks at us, he looks through Jesus and sees us as forgiven, sees us as righteous as Jesus is. And this is part of what it means for him to intercede with us. All right, number four. When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people. That's Ephesians 4a. That can be a little bit of a tricky passage when you're reading through Ephesians 4. You think, what? And some people try to use that as support that Jesus descended into hell between his death and his ascension. And I don't think it necessarily means that. When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people. It's a quote from the Old Testament. But I think it very plainly means that he conquered the enemy and he empowers his people with gifts. So when as Christ has ascended, it's a symbol of his victory, rising from the grave. This is his victory. And he's not only taking captives, he's not only stomped on the enemy, but he's also given gifts to his people. And what better gift has Christ given us than by sending the spirit? I was going to read that but it's too long. then the end will come when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority, and power. For he must reign until he has put all enemies under his feet." So that Jesus has ascended is a very clear indication that he is resurrected and he is now reigning. He is seated at the right hand of the Father. And that's one other benefit of Christ's ascension is that he's now ruling and And we know that all things are under his feet. And the last one that clearly arises from this passage is that with Jesus's ascension, the benefit is that he has sent the spirit to empower his people. And we see this played out in Acts 2. And this is I would invite you later if you're just itching for something to read on your Sunday afternoon, read Acts 2 and see about the sending of the spirit. And as you get towards the end of Acts 2, there's really an interesting section. OK, so Peter stands up. They say you're drunk. He says, no, I'm not. And then he goes into a big sermon. All right. Alright, so verse 32, God has raised this Jesus to life and we are all witnesses to it. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. So the sending of the Spirit is pictured as a pouring out and later as you read down through, or as you read this section, you'll see that that Peter is going all the way back to Joel, he's going back to Numbers where Moses was eagerly anticipating a day when God would pour out his spirit on all his people. But yes, as you pointed out, Jesus' presence is no longer confined by a body in a geographic location, but his presence through the Spirit, whom he poured out, now suffuses the entire cosmos, the entire world. But I want to give a word of caution here, and that has to do with how we often understand the role of the Spirit in the Old Testament. And I think too often we have too much discontinuity between the role of the Spirit in the Old Testament and the role of the Spirit in the New Testament. So when you think about Jesus pouring out the Spirit, don't think that it's a new thing that the Spirit is around. Don't think that it's a new thing that the Spirit is around, because even from the very first pages of the Bible, in Genesis 1, we see that the Spirit was hovering, the Spirit was there. So the Spirit is as eternal as the other members of the Trinity. And I think this thinking of, oh, well, you know, the Spirit didn't come till Pentecost. The Spirit wasn't there. I think it leads us down the wrong road. But rather, we need to think of the Spirit being present in a qualitatively different manner. Not that He's present, but that He's there in a different manner. And we'll see what that manner is. The Spirit came upon people to empower people for certain offices throughout the Old Testament. But we need not think that the Spirit wasn't present at the salvation of Old Testament believers. Because regeneration, however, at whatever time that somebody trusts in Yahweh to save them, that is still a work of the Holy Spirit. in their heart. Whether that's Old Testament or New Testament, faith is wrought in the heart of believers by the Holy Spirit. Old Testament and New Testament. So that's just a small word of caution there. So what's different about the New Testament and the role of the Spirit in the New Testament is that the Spirit ministers and testifies within in the power of the resurrected Christ. That's what's qualitatively new or qualitatively different about how the Spirit operates in the New Testament. Furthermore, while the Spirit just came on certain individuals to empower them for certain offices, you think of Moses or Joshua or whomever, the Spirit is now on each believer, you know, we call this the priesthood of all believers, that the Spirit now empowers each of us to fulfill the ministry that God has called us to do. All right, then we get to verses 8 through 11. This is a notoriously difficult section of Scripture. It's really funny that St. Augustine, as he was working through the Gospel of John, he just straight up skipped these verses. He says, I don't know. I'm going to skip them. So perhaps we can have some study notes as we go along. St. Augustine, that's what he needed. Needed some study notes. What's wrong, bro? But no, seriously, as as I read commentators on this passages on this passage, a lot of a lot of them said this is really difficult. I have no idea. But here here I'll have a go at it. So I think we can have a go to perhaps. Yes. All right. So verse eight, when he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment. When he comes, when the spirit comes in, this is new power. What will he do? He will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment. Now, your translation might say convict. It says convict. Yes. Yeah, I think I like the translation. He will prove the world to be in the wrong a little bit better because it sticks with this theme of vindication and convict. I think we've adopted has a special meaning in Christianese, in Christian speak, when I say, well, man, the Lord really convicted me of something, or if a friend comes to you and says, hey, you know, I'm really under conviction right now. I mean, that's a very specific work of the Spirit in somebody's heart that is, first off, the work that the Spirit does in somebody's heart to bring them to salvation in the first place, but also it's an ongoing work of the Spirit that convicts you of sin and these types of things. When you look at the use of the phrase, the world in the gospel of John, I think this phrase, I think to translate it will prove to be in the wrong about demonstrates it better because John isn't implied. We're not implying here that all the world will be convicted of their sin and will turn and trust Christ. We know that that won't happen, but rather in the resurrection of Christ, the spirit proves wrong those who have misjudged Jesus. If that makes sense, so You can you can kind of picture it as a prosecuting attorney bringing to light one's one's fault so if you have a court case and It's a trial and Jesus has been wrongly condemned here and they're having a court case to revisit the case of Jesus Well, the Spirit is going to come up and say you guys have misjudged Jesus completely and I'm going to show you why and first off because he has been resurrected from the dead the Spirit he was declared to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead And it couldn't prove them more wrong by him being resurrected. if this all makes some sense. Am I seeing quizzical looks? Yes? You're kind of going like that. Does that mean no, not really? Yeah? So to prove wrong simply means that the Spirit will, by raising Jesus from the dead, proves that people who called Jesus a blasphemer, people who called Jesus a liar, people who said Jesus was not who He was, the farce of a trial that Jesus went under, the Spirit rises up and ministers in the power of the resurrected Christ and says, you guys have got Him completely wrong. If He is who you said He was, He wouldn't have been resurrected and He certainly wouldn't be ascended. But because He was resurrected, because He has ascended, we know that He is who He said He was. So in this way, the Spirit proves the world to be in the wrong about their assessment of Jesus. And so when we look at verse 9, The Spirit will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin. In what way about sin? Because they did not believe in Jesus. Why? Because they rejected Jesus. And for John, this is fundamentally how John views sin. He sees sin not necessarily as a moral failure, not necessarily He doesn't see it as not measuring up to God's law, but he sees it as a rejection of Jesus. So how the Spirit ministers in the power of the resurrected Christ is to say, hey, you guys, by denying that He is the Christ, are in sin, because you do not believe in Him. So for John, not believing in Christ is sin. So the Spirit will lay this bare, will expose their fault for not believing in Him. about righteousness because I'm going to the Father. Here we see somewhat of an equation between going to the Father and righteousness. It's only because Jesus is completely righteous that he goes to the Father. Here again is moreover the theme of vindication. Because he is righteous, he ascends to the Father. So the Spirit will prove them wrong about this. and that the spirit will prove them wrong about judgment because the prince of this world now stands condemned. When we look at Revelation 12.12, we see that the ruler of this world, that Satan, is condemned already. That his assessment of Jesus, the work that he did to have Jesus crucified, has been judged and he's been condemned. In Revelation 12.12, Woe to you, earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short. And again, we see in Luke 10, 17 through 18, that after Jesus has sent out the 72 and they come back, what does Jesus say? He pretty much says that Satan is done. He said, the 72 returned with joy saying, Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name. And Jesus says to them, I saw Satan falling like lightning from heaven. Now, people try to take that as Satan's original fall that we often think of, all of the angel Lucifer, how he fell. But in this context, I think it's more accurate to see it as, no, the ruler of this world, Satan is falling because his power is being done away with. And this is the binding. and his condemnation that already rests on him that Nathan has talked about previously, well, a couple weeks back. So the prince of this world now stands condemned because his condemnation of the Son of God has been condemned in Jesus' resurrection. This is the theme of vindication. So the world will be proved to be in the wrong because of their assessment of Jesus, and Satan as well is proved to be wrong with his assessment of Jesus, all because Christ was resurrected from the dead and he ascended. Who's he proving this to? He's saying the believers, they're the only ones that are going to understand. Right, exactly, yeah, yeah, so that's good. Not to prove it to the unrighteous. Yeah, you're right, yeah, yeah. Sorry, did I say proving it to the world? I don't remember. Should we play back the recording? Yeah, should we play back the recording? No, you're exactly right, yeah. So Jesus is saying this to the disciples, and when viewed within the context of persecution, they're thinking, what's going on, we're going to be persecuted, and Jesus is saying, hey, you guys will be proved to be in the right, and the world will be shown to be proved in the wrong, yeah. That's Luke 10 17, but it's interesting only after he's sending out people to minister with the with the power of the gospel Does he see Satan fall? So as they come back and they're like, Jesus, the demons are being thrown out in your name. And this is the whole reversal of things in creation. That's a big theme is that the gospel is an undoing of the wrong that's been done by sin. And so what do we see? Demons are now infiltrating people's lives. Well, Christ is undoing that with his power by casting out demons and Satan's power is quickly diminishing. Verse 12, I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. Jesus could have spoken in more detail to them, saying, on such and such a date, you'll be thrown before these people and this, but they couldn't bear it. Now, here again, Jesus returns to the grief that the disciples must have been suffering. Then verse 13, when he comes, the spirit of truth, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own. He will only speak what he hears and he will tell you what is yet to come. So here we're way out of time. leading into all truth, I think, is the broadest statement of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. This is, if you wanted one phrase in your mind about the ministry of the Holy Spirit, it's that He guides in to all truth. And it's not just any truth, and it's not truth wherever it may be found, like in the sciences or in the natural world, but it's very specific truth about who Jesus is. So the Spirit's role is to make plain, to help people understand the events of Christ's life. And so that's what Jesus tells them now. He says, hey, there's a lot more to my story that you can't understand now. But when the spirit comes, he'll come in my power and he'll help you guys to understand this. And indeed, we see that fulfilled in the New Testament that the apostles, that the writers of the rest of the New Testament understood because they wrote about it because they were able to understand. And so when we get to 1 Timothy 3, 16, we see this phrase. Paul says, beyond all question, the mystery from which true godliness springs is great. And then he goes on to give a concise overview of the gospel. He says, Jesus appeared in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, and taken up into glory. I mean, that is the gospel in a very compact manner. But notice that he still calls it a mystery. He still calls it a mystery, which gets back to the idea that the Spirit was sent to help understand, to give understanding about the events of Christ's life. And that He will even tell them the things that are to come. You sometimes see this passage used in defense of ongoing revelation. Oh, well, Jesus didn't reveal to them everything, the Holy Spirit didn't reveal to the New Testament writers everything that he wanted them to write, so today the Holy Spirit is still giving new revelation on the scale of Scripture. And I think we can very simply reject that idea, given that the Spirit ministers in Christ's power. So if the Gospel is truly the story of who Jesus is, then the Spirit is going to minister in that power and reveal, is going to give understanding about those events that have already taken place, not give new information. So if the Spirit has, so if the Spirit is the author of the Bible, He's not going to go against His word, but He's going to minister according to His own word. Verse 14, He will glorify me because it is from me that He will receive what He will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what He will make known to you. Here again, we see the Trinitarian nature of God, that the Spirit isn't doing something on His own, Jesus isn't doing something on His own, but the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are operating together as one to accomplish the same purpose of making all things new in Christ for the glory of God. And God is now accomplishing that through the power of the Spirit, who He sent in Acts 2, as we saw, pouring out this new power to empower believers to live out to live out God's mission in the world.