The Role of the Holy Spirit and Persecution Foretold

Posted by Yong Joo Park on 28 October 2024 in Deuteronomy, Isaiah, John | ∞

John 15:26–16:15 (NKJV)

The Promise of the Holy Spirit

²⁶“But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me. ²⁷And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning.

16 “These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble. ²They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. ³And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me. ⁴But 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.

⁵“But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ ⁶But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. ⁷Nevertheless 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. ⁸And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: ⁹of sin, because they do not believe in Me; ¹⁰of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; ¹¹of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

¹²“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. ¹³However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. ¹⁴He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. ¹⁵All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.

Message

I. Two Additional Witnesses of Jesus (26-27)

See v26-27.

There are five witnesses of Jesus as we learned in Section II of The Testimony of Jesus Is Always True. They are

Jesus (John 5:31, see John 8:14-18)
Baptist John (John 5:33-35)
The works that the Father has given Jesus to finish (John 5:36)
The Father (John 5:37-38)
The Scriptures (John 5:39)

We find two more witnesses in v26. They are

Holy Spirit (=the Helper, the Spirit of truth) (26)
The Disciples of Jesus (27)

Jesus promised them to send the Helper, the Spirit of truth (=Holy Spirit) in v26 and also in John 14:16-17 NKJV, John 14:26 NKJV. Jesus tells them more about the Holy Spirit in John 16:7-15 NKJV.

II. Persecution Foretold (1-5)

See v1

¹“These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble.

These things I have spoken to you (1) may be John 15:18-25 (The True Believers Hated By The World Without A Cause) and Section I (26-27). However, everything Jesus said after the Last Supper (John 13 ~ 15) may help them not be made to stumble:

John 13:1-17 (Humility and Servanthood of Jesus)
John 13:18-30 (Jesus Predicts His Betrayal and Highlights Representation)
John 13:31-38 (Jesus’ Glorification, the New Commandment, and Peter’s Denial Foretold)
John 14:1-11 (Jesus’ Assurance of Paradise, the Only Way to the Father, and His Unity with the Father)
John 14:12-31 (Jesus’ Promise of Greater Works, His Manifestation, and the Gift of Peace)
John 15:1-8 (Pruning of the Vinedresser, The Father and Abiding In The True Vine, Jesus)
John 15:9-17 (Abide in Christ’s Love and Love One Another: A Call to Friendship and Obedience)
John 15:18-25 (The True Believers Hated By The World Without A Cause)
John 15:26-27 (Section I of this message)

See v2.

²They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service.

Jesus mentioned about persecution in John 15:18-25. The persecution may result in their martyrdom (2). So, Jesus prepared them by telling them as written between John 13 and 15 that they should not be made to stumble (1). See v3.

³And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me.

Jesus has already said that they would persecute the believers because they did not know Him who sent Jesus (John 15:21). See Section I (John 15:18-21) of The True Believers Hated By The World Without A Cause (John 15:18-25) for more details. See v4^a.

⁴But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them.

The prophets in the Old Testament could foretell the future because they received the messages from God. Whether a future event foretold by a prophet comes to pass or not is how to distinguish whether the Lord has spoken it, or the prophet has spoken it presumptuously (Deuteronomy 18:20-22 NLT). When what Jesus said is fulfilled, the disciples of Jesus can know what Jesus said is from God, the Father and strengthen their faith in Jesus. See v4^b.

“And these things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you.

Jesus tells them why He didn’t tell them earlier. It was because Jesus was with them. So, it was too early to tell them what would happen after He left. But Jesus knew it all from the beginning.

III. The Helper (5-15)

See v5.

⁵“But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ ⁶But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.

This question of “Where are You going?” was raised when Jesus said, “Where I am going, you cannot come” in John 13:33. This question was asked by Peter in John 13:36 and by Thomas in John 14:5. Jesus answered Peter in John 13:36-38 and Thomas in John 14:6-7. When Jesus answered Thomas, Jesus said He was going to the Father and Jesus was the only way to the Father (John 14:6). So, they didn't have this question in their mind, but sorrow filled their heart. See v7.

⁷Nevertheless 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.

Jesus tells them that it is for their good that He goes away. It is because the Helper (the Spirit of truth, the Holy Spirit) will not come to them unless Jesus does go away. But if He departs, He will send the Helper to them. See v8-11.

⁸And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: ⁹of sin, because they do not believe in Me; ¹⁰of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; ¹¹of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

When the Helper has come, He will convict the world

of sin because they do not believe in Jesus. If they admit their sins and believe in Jesus, their sins are forgiven. The greatest sin is not believing in Jesus.
of righteousness because Jesus goes to the Father and they see Him no more. The righteous deeds of the ungodly are nothing but filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). The world should put down their self-righteousness and accept the righteousness of God, Jesus.
of judgment because the ruler of this world is judged.

The above things have been happening in the world because the Helper has come. See v12-13.

The Spirit of truth guides us into all truth because He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He speaks (13^a). This is how Jesus spoke (John 12:49, see John 5:30). The Spirit of truth is the representative of Jesus (John 14:26 NLT). Just as Jesus foretold the future, the Helper also will tell things to come (13^b). See v14.

¹⁴He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.

V14 is similar to what Jesus has already said in John 14:26 NKJV. The Helper, whom the Father will send in the name of Jesus, will teach them all things and remind them of all things Jesus said to them (John 14:26 NKJV).

¹⁵All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.

When Jesus said, “He will take of what is Mine”, ‘Mine’ includes all things that the Father has.

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