the sixteen chapter of the Gospel of John John's Gospel chapter sixteen I would like to be in Jesus in at verse seven if you please and read down through verse fifteen the precious words of the Lord Jesus were in a section of Scripture in which the Lord Jesus was alone with his disciples in the upper room before he rendered his way to Gethsemane and Calvary. Those blessed scriptures from John thirteen through John seventeen, they are very precious. They are full of the greatest truth that you could ever find for the soul and the heart of a believer to enjoy. But tonight we want to read from verse seven of chapter sixteen through verse fifteen concerning the blessed words of the Lord Jesus in relation to one of the great persons of the Godhead. I'm sure that most, if not all of us today, right now are very familiar with the truth. There is God the Father. And there is God the Son, and there is God the Holy Spirit, revealed to us in the Scriptures the truth. The Old Testament may particularly emphasize the oneness and the unity of the Godhead, but the New Testament particularly revealed to us in much greater detail. the separate persons of the Godhead, God the Father, God the Son, as well as God the Holy Spirit. I would suggest to my beloved fellow believers to recognize the progression from the beginning of the Bible to the end of divine revelation in relation to God. May I humbly but gratefully say, The greatest subject of study that you could ever enjoy or seek after is to know God. One made the statement in the past century, to know this mighty being as far as he may be known, is the noblest aim of human understanding. My fellow believers, to you as well as to my known heart, I speak to say, frankly and firmly, our greatest need and our greatest objective should be to know God. More and more, it will be our objective and our consideration through all eternity. Let's look at God the Holy Spirit. I'd like to emphasize, as we read our chapter, recognize his personality. He is a person. He is just as real as a person as you are and I am, and even as God the Father and God the Son. Co-equal, co-eternal in the Triune Godhead with the Father and the Son, but generally a person. It is often misunderstood that the Holy Spirit is only an influence. Don't ever think that. He is a person. He has and possesses a personality. God the Father never took upon him humanity. Neither did God the Holy Spirit take upon him humanity. Only did the Son of God. But nevertheless, each one of them, they are persons. More in reality a person perhaps than you think you and I may be, but a genuine person. But listen to the words of the Lord Jesus, every depart to Gethsemane in Calvary. Verse seven, nevertheless, he says, I tell you the truth. It is expedient that for you that I go away. For if I go away, the comforter, which is another name for the Holy Spirit, characterly, will not come unto you. But if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will convict he will rebuke or recuse the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment and of sin because they believe not on me and of righteousness because I go to my father and you see me no more and of judgment because the prince of this world is judged and then follows the words of the Lord Jesus, saying, I have yet many things to say unto you, but she cannot bear them now. How be it when he, the spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth. He shall not speak of or from himself, But whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak. And he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me. For he shall receive of mine and shall show it unto you. all things that the Father has to mind. And therefore said I, that he shall take of mine and show it, shall show it unto you. May the Lord bless the reading of this section of his words. May I repeat again, I want humbly but faithfully to exalt the person of the Holy Spirit as he should be, and recognized and confessed by God's dear children today. You cannot read the Word of God from the beginning to the end, but recognize that in every divine undertaking, the Holy Spirit participated. From the book of Genesis, chapter one, down to the end of the book of the Revelation, you'll find plenty of evidence in the participation of the Holy Spirit in all the divine decrees and undertakings of God, even beginning with creation. Going down in the days of the antediluvian period, he is spoken of in the days of the patriarchs. By the Holy Spirit they believed in God, as well as you and I, and all the way through the Old Testament he is spoken of, and revealed in his word. The Holy Prophet could not and did not speak without the power and the energy of the Holy Spirit. But when you come to the New Testament, how precious to realize The divine Godhead, the triune Godhead, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are more clearly revealed. First of all, it was the Son that revealed the Father. Let me quote the words of Matthew, verse twenty-seven. When Jesus said, No man knoweth the Son but the Father. Neither knoweth any man the Son, or the Father, rather. and he to whom the Son will redeem him. Let me quote John chapter one and verse eighteen. No man has been daughtered any time. He only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, has revealed or declared him. And we humbly say faithfully, no man knows the Father unless he first knows the Son. What did it say? Do you say no man cometh unto the Father but by me? But we also rejoice, and particularly in the Gospel of John, as well as throughout all the Gospels, for particularly the Gospel of John, how it magnifies the Son in the writings of John the Apostle. But also the Lord Jesus in the Gospel of John reveals the Father, and he reveals the Holy Spirit. and concerning the Holy Spirit. He had much to say just before he left for the glory above. Now notice in the scripture that we have read, he refers to the person and the work of the Holy Spirit during his absence from the earth. Verse seven thousand, he declared it is expedient, meaning it is profitable for you. Then I go away. For unless I go away, the comforter, the Holy Spirit will not come unto you. But if I go away, I will send him unto you. So may we recognize the Blessed Lord Jesus declares, I will send the Holy Spirit to you. And then if we read the chapter, that portion that we have covered in reading, you find a twofold work. for the Holy Spirit to do upon the earth. First of all, as we read from verse eight through with verse eleven, a work of conviction in relation to the world that is unsaved. Can I repeat it? I know this very carefully in prayer tonight. There was intercession for loved ones, for dear ones in our own families that perhaps are not yet saved. And there are many others we pray for to be saved in the great gospel of our Lord Jesus we preach. But the work of conviction and the work of bringing them to conversion is the work of the Holy Spirit. And may I give the encouragement that when you pray for your dear ones to come to Christ, the promise that the Holy Spirit is the great conviction and the great converter. For humbly I say but faithfully there needs to be true conviction of sin, righteousness, and of judgment so that so he seeks to win and rule for the Lord. Notice the three things he does. He will convict a sin. He will convict of righteousness. He will convict of judgment, said the Lord Jesus. Take the words in very carefully and thoroughly to convict or recoup of sin, righteousness, judgment. They are important subjects in the Word of God, and they are important in their relationships of the world. Please note first of all, he will convict the sin and particularly note the special sin which he would convict the unscathed with. A sin because they believe not on me. Let me faithfully declare. The greatest sin in the world is the rejection of Christ. You can name every wicked sin that can be named. Of all forms and differences of iniquity. But the greatest sin of the human race. The greatest sin of our boys and girls that are not yet saved. And our fellow companions and our families who have not come to grace. Christ. Their greatest sin. They've not believed on the Lord Jesus. I remember in Sunday school many, well, I would say maybe sixty years ago, maybe more, giving the children an object lesson by presenting to them an object of a bag from the book of Job, a text saying, Thou stowest mine iniquity, thou putest mine sins in and my transgressions in a bag, and stowest up mine iniquity. And they gave... The illustration that when God forgives sins, he seals them up, never and yet again to be sealed. But I had names of various sins in that bag, of which I talked to the children, stealing, murder, hate, lying, and various sins, and spoke to the children of the enormity of these special sins. But last of all, I had one card on which I had this name written, unbelief. And then I asked the children in the Sunday school, how many of you, who can tell me why this sin of unbelief is the greatest of all sin? A dear young boy put his hand up. I said, Eddie, go and tell me. Go ahead. And that young boy answered me, just as I was delighted to hear it. Mr. Bramall, God can forgive all those sins that you've named. But he cannot forgive that one. I said, you're right, and he said, the sin of unbelief. That's the world's greatest sin. They proved it at Calvary. The world nailed into the cross, staying away with this man, will not have this man to reign over us. But not only convicting a sin of righteousness, by righteousness, he and. because I go to my Father and you see me no more. Where is the Lord Jesus at the right hand of God? He is now a Savior at the right hand of God and righteousness for the sinner can only be found in him at the right hand of God. Paul writing to the Corinthians says concerning Our Lord Jesus, he became sin. That we through him, he became sin for us. He who knew no sin, that we through him might be made the righteousness of God in him. And my beloved, the only righteousness of the sinner can found to clothe his soul with and her soul is Christ, the risen Christ, the glorified Christ, the Savior that has died and provided him by his death upon the cross. You'll never find righteousness for the soul upon the earth. You'll have to come to him. My beloved, I'm sure every one of us who came to him looked back at that moment. Who did we come to? No man on the earth. There's a man in the glory. who had been on the earth and did the worst for our soul's redemption. But there's a third thing, he said, he will convict the world out. Not alone sin, not alone of righteousness that is only found in me above. But judgment. For the prince of this world, which is none other than Satan is judged. The prince of this world, mind the lover, we know this. If our dear ones do not trust the Lord Jesus Christ as their sin offering, as their righteousness, they will be exposed to eternal judgment in the day of God's judgment. But that's the work of the Holy Spirit. Please, may I say, and I say it to my no-no. I cannot preach the gospel in my own power. I cannot convict a soul of sin. I cannot prove to a soul that you must have Christ as your righteousness. I cannot prove to a soul of his or her danger of judgment. The Holy Spirit, I think. Oh, how important. His work. His person. And then as you read on, For brevity's sake, let me go on to say, from verse thirteen of Azur, or rather from verse nine and ten, and on through verse fifteen, you have his other words, for the church, for the souls that belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me hurriedly go down the line of them, and he mentions, and of how precious they are. In verse twelve, he says, I have Yet many things to say unto you, but you cannot bear them now at the time he spoke to the disciples. They were not ready. They were not prepared to hear what he had to say. My beloved Lord, he goes on to say, and please know what he follows with in saying. He, how be it when he, the Spirit of truth, is come. He will guide you into all truth. May I very reverently look at those words with you for a brief moment. How be it when He, and of whom is He speaking, the Spirit of Truth, when He has come, He will guide you into all truth. May I firmly say, I cannot understand the truth of God in the word of God without the Holy Spirit teaching me. Dependence upon him as the teacher is absolutely imperative. And the Lord is Jesus is saying and calls him the spirit of truth. Listen, he'll always teach you the truth. I remember sitting with a dear old saint of God, a servant of God, and when I was a young man, asking him that advice. I mean, he gave me this advice. He said, boy, you'll never have a better teacher than the Holy Spirit. May I put it in this particular manner? No matter whether you go to a Bible school or never go to a Bible institution. Whether you do or whether you don't. You'll only learn the word of God rightly by the Holy Spirit teaching you. It's not by human reasoning that we, the Holy Spirit is the teacher of the truth. When convenient, read first John, chapters four, verses one through six. And John speaks. of the Spirit of Truth and the Spirit of Error. In the world you've got two lines of teaching, you've got the Spirit of Truth, and that's the teaching of the Holy Spirit through the Word of God. But you have a lot of teaching of error called the Spirit of Error, which is magnified today, multiplied exceedingly. But the Spirit of God He is the spirit of truth. But nobody adds. He will guide you into all truth. May I give you the encouragement? Take your Bible under the teaching of the Holy Spirit. Whether you're listening to a brother or whether you're doing your own Bible study. He's the divine teacher of which we would like and hope we can later on see more of it. But please know what the Lord goes on to say about him as you go to verse, as you go to the same verse, verse thirteen. When he comes, he shall not speak of himself. Can I pause for a moment on that expression? I'd like to give just a little warning. There are some blessed people of God today. who speak more of the Holy Spirit than they do the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me carefully, with no apology, there is a danger today that is being put unfortunately followed by many believers. They are magnifying the person of the Holy Spirit. By what they claim is the evidence of it that they manifest. But here's the love, Lord. He's not going to speak of himself or even from himself. No word he says. He shall glorify me. My beloved, may I say humbly, and I say it from the depth of my heart, my greatest desire when I see is that by the Holy Spirit I will glorify Christ. And may I go further, even though I may not see results, I am still responsible in my ministry to glorify Christ. No matter how it's received, or who receives it and who doesn't. Well, I think of a dear old Scott's brother that said, the truth is better felt than felt. Think it through. And the purpose of the Holy Spirit in regard to the ministry through the church to glorify Christ. Not that. And the joy of knowing. Let's close by following it through as he goes on to say as you have it in verse fourteen. He shall glorify me for he shall receive of mine and shall show it unto you. Do you want to know more about the things of Christ? You're dependent upon the Holy Spirit. Let me repeat it. You're not dependent on me. Or any other brother. On each one of us. If we're going to know more of the things of Christ, it's the Holy Spirit who must be the teacher. and fight God for him. And he will take of mine, said the Lord Jesus, concerning me and show it unto you. And then he goes on to say, all things that the Father has, are mine. And he will show them unto you. You know, you've got a lot to learn. Let me ask you the question. How much does the Lord Jesus have? He says, all things that the Father has. How much does the Father have? Let me ask you, how much does God have? You can't even penetrate it. May I repeat a statement I made at the beginning? To know this mighty being as far as he may be known. It's the noblest aim of human understanding. But you're dependent, and so am I, on the Holy Spirit of God. He's the world. You're dependent upon him in your ministry to the loft. and you're dependent upon him in his ministry to the church, whether individually or even collectively. Like the love of me, I say again, the burden is on my heart. We do not give the Holy Spirit his proper place in our lives as we should. First Corinthians chapter six, you can read it sometimes. The Corinthians forgot the Holy Spirit. Beloved, we can be in the same danger. But may I repeat again, look, I reverently bow in worship and humility that these playlists could have the privilege of speaking of a divine person in the great Godhead. And when you and I consider it, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, this is the confirmation of all knowledge in knowing God. So may God the Holy Spirit, or may I remind you again in closing, he is a person. He is subjected to what persons can do to him. They can grieve him, as even believers. They can vex him. They can quench the spirit. And he's affected by it. He's a real person. And my beloved is just as much a person as God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the co-equal and co-internal. But you know what? As you may have read in John XIV, if you ever read it, We who were believers said to the Lord Jesus, He shall abide with you forever and shall be in you. Now may I close by this statement. No one in the Old Testament ever had the Holy Spirit abiding in them. Came upon them. You cannot find a scripture where the Holy Spirit took us abode with it. to you, come to the words of the Lord Jesus in this present age. He shall not only abide with you, said the Lord Jesus, he shall be in you. And upon believing, you and I were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. Oh, may God help us to honor his person, a divine person, I'm not God. No, I could never say that, but thank God. He took up his abode by the Spirit, for God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your heart, whereby ye cry, out of Father, shall we pray? Oh, blessed Father, oh, we would know thee more. Blessed Lord Jesus, we would know thee more. Blessed Lord, we pray that by the Holy Spirit, these hearts and lives of ours will be more filled with his conscious presence, teaching us, using us, blessing us, and helping us to do what he came to do. Glorify Christ. Blessed Father, we thank you for the prayers tonight that are offered for this purpose. that we might glorify the Lord Jesus in our lives. And we humbly bow tonight as we close. May the Holy Spirit have his way. With every one of us, we ask in the precious name of our Savior and for his glory. Amen. Thank you for listening to this, old man. But I hope you heard the voice of God.