Today’s passage: John 16:4-15
Helpful thoughts:
- Jesus points out the disciples were more interested in how things were going to be for them than they were concerned for Jesus. But then tells them this was all to their advantage.
- Jesus promised to send the Helper, the Holy Spirit.
- The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, righteousness and judgment. There will be people from the world (As we were) who come to a knowledge of these things, repent, and believe.
- The primary sin we need to be convicted of is unbelief.
- Jesus had been the perfect representation of righteousness to the world, now that He was going, the Spirit would pick up that role.
- The Spirit would also move in people’s understanding that the resurrection of Jesus proved the defeat of Satan.
Questions to consider:
- In what way was it to the disciples advantage (And ours) to have the Holy Spirit actively ministering as He does now in the New Covenant? With whom does the Spirit minister today? Where does the Spirit minister today? What is the limit of His reach?
- Who does the work of convicting a sinner and bringing them to repentance? How can this encourage us to continue to preach, teach and share the truth of Christ and His gospel? With whom are we partnering in the work every time we share Christ with the lost?
- How does the promise of verse 13, given directly to the apostles, give us confidence in the accuracy, truthfulness and authority of the New Testament writings? (2 Peter 1:21)