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It is easy for Christians to feel outnumbered and outmaneuvered by the world. God chooses His people from the world and the gateway to life is narrow. Not only does the world appear to overload the culture, the world hates Christian disciples. Jesus has been telling His men about the hatred they were about to encounter since halfway through John 15. That said, He wanted them motivated not by fear but by joy. Jesus explains that the advantage is theirs.

The disciples undoubtedly did not feel the advantage as Jesus spoke to them. That’s largely because a few crucial things hadn’t happened yet, two of which Jesus was in the process of telling them about here. Those crucial things are history to us, yet we probably do not appreciate our advantage in the world either. These verses (John 16:8-11) and the next paragraph (verses 12-15) give us great reasons for bold, hopeful, and joyful witness.

Why do we feel not just outmanned, but also outgunned? We are the minority, a subculture, but we have the copyright on the David and Goliath story. We hold the patent on mustard seed sized mountain moving faith. We feel outgunned because our faith is in big things and favorable circumstances rather than in God who gives big favor in the mess.

Our feelings of discouragement are often weighted down by all the depravity we see. Men keep on sinning and lying about what or why they sinned. Kids grow surly. Congress behaves worse than kids. Foreign countries battle like siblings. Women gossip. Men murder. Presidents perjure. Bosses embezzle. So do employees. Parents whine. Pastors preach error, sometimes on purpose. Or act like sissies. Christians bicker. Husbands abandon wives or abuse them. Wives subvert. Doctors overcharge. Watch the news; it’s bad.

How can we be helpful to people in this degeneration? Most men don’t want to hear what God has to say about their sin even if they could see their sin. Many even argue that they are good people, that they live righteously, especially compared to their neighbor. How can we convince the world that hates us that sin results in their judgment? That kind of convincing, convicting work is impossible, except for the Holy Spirit. He’s all over it.

We Reformed types dwell more on the reality of depravity and less on the potency of efficacy when the Spirit calls men to life. It’s ironic how much we resist the confidence that the doctrine of irresistible grace conducts. Four out of five Calvinists recommend paying more attention to the Third Person’s power to regenerate and preserve men by grace. The Helper begins by granting repentance and faith, and Jesus wants His men to connect to the strength of this spiritual hotspot.

The disciples were still glum about Jesus leaving. Not only was He about to depart, He was describing the hatred that they would confront, hatred that might cause men to kill them “for God.” He called the disciples to abide in Him, to love one another, then to be hated. Jesus tells them why He’s telling them these things now and how it’s all to their advantage. We’ll step into the context of the conversation and then consider the three things that the Spirit does that makes a world of difference.

I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. (John 16:4b–6, ESV)

Jesus summarizes the preceding again using these things , probably referring to the same “these things” as in the first half of verse four. Jesus brought up that they had been with Him from the beginning in 15:27 because that qualified them uniquely as His witnesses. Here He brings up the beginning as a contrast to what things would be like from now on. From the start I was with you . Any trouble He provoked He also absorbed. It wouldn’t be that way much longer.

But now I am going to him who sent me . That’s enough to discourage them that their deflection fence was saying farewell. More than the disciples being upset, Jesus was: and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart . In other words, “You guys are still preoccupied with you guys.”

Strictly speaking the disciples had asked some questions about Jesus leaving already. Jesus seems to be saying that they didn’t bother listening to the answer, they didn’t bother to care about it. If they had cared, the implication is, they would not be so dispirited.

Nevertheless, 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 go, I will send him to you. (John 16:7–8, ESV)

The almost oath-like understatement returns. I tell you the truth , or, “Depend on this, your advantage is tied to My leaving.” How could it be the case that Jesus’ physical absence was their advantage? To ask the question is to need the benefits of the Helper’s ministry explained.

Here is the fourth announcement about the Helper on Jesus’ final night. Up till now Jesus explained that the work of the Helper would primarily be in the disciples, reminding them and teaching and bearing witness about Jesus. But the presence of the Spirit wasn’t a minor benefit for a few men. The coming of the Spirit signaled the coming of a new era, an era promised in the Old Testament as a time of God’s blessing. It may be hard for us to look around and see vast blessing, but we should, and a few specific reasons are coming up.

The Spirit is a sign of promise fulfilled (think Ezekiel 36:24-27). The Spirit is also a sign of God’s saving character. That the Spirit could not come until Jesus had gone is not a metaphysical, space-time conundrum. The issue is not dimensional occupancy; “This planet isn’t big enough for the both of us.” In fact, the Spirit was already in the world and working before and during Jesus’ ministry. He wasn’t outside the ring waiting for the Son to tap Him in.

The unique, indwelling ministry of the Spirit was part of God’s saving plan and intended for effect after the death, resurrection, and ascension of the Son. After the Second Person finishes His earthly mission, He passed the redemptive baton to the the Third Person who begins His ministry in a fuller way. Now He had something purchased to apply.

This is good for us not only because we have the Spirit but because the arrival of the Spirit affirms the saving purposes of God as much as the arrival of His Son. The current work of God is empowered by God for God. We have the advantage because we have a saving God.

Now we come to how the Spirit begins His difference making work in the world. Verse eight includes the three ways and verses 9-11 unfold each work.

And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: (John 16:8, ESV)

The key verb is convict , translated a variety of ways such as “reprove” (KJV), “convince” (RSV), and “bring demonstration” (DRBY). It appears to describe the work of exposing something unseen and also applying the pressure so that they would repent; “to bring a person to the point of recognizing wrongdoing” (BAGD). Though this set of convictions isn’t explicitly followed by believing, when combined with John 3 and 15:26, I think we’re to expect that conviction will lead to many conversions.

Here are the Helper’s areas of work in the world.

He Convicts concerning Sin (verse 9)

This is the first part of the Spirit’s convicting work: He exposes the world.

[He will convict the world] concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; (John 16:9, ESV)

Sin is ἁμαρτίας, often defined as missing the mark, a failure to meet the standards. All men are sinful so all men sin. The Spirit presses that reality upon them. Without the Spirit, men may be ignorant of the standard, they may willfully ignore the standard, or they may even know it and deny that it applies to them. The Spirit goes heart-to-heart in telling men that they are sinners.

Jesus exposes the particular sin: because they do not believe in me . Unbelief is a two-fold problem. Unbelief is sinful because Jesus is true. Failure to acknowledge and trust Jesus is a failure to acknowledge and trust God. Unbelief in the true God means belief in a false god. That denial is sinful itself. Unbelief is also a problem because the only way to be forgiven is to believe in Jesus. Not to believe keeps a man in sin, including the sin of disbelief.

The Spirit bears witness to Jesus (15:26) and convicts men of their rejection and regenerates them to believe for sake of eternal life. Exposing the unbelief of the world is the work of the Spirit.

He Convicts concerning Righteousness (verse 10)

Here is the second part of the Spirit’s convicting work: He humbles the world.

[He will convict the world] concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; (John 16:10, ESV)

In what way is righteousness an issue? One possibility is that the righteousness of God will be vindicated by the Spirit. When Jesus rose again from the dead and ascended to heaven, this verified that He was right. The world got it wrong.

Another possibility is that the world’s variant of righteousness is no good. They think they are doing good deeds, they think they are pleasing God, they think they are serving Him even when killing disciples (let alone Christ Himself). These are the worst sort of persons to talk to about sin, the least teachable and most resistant to guilt. How do you argue the point with a blind man convinced he can see?

You can’t do it by natural means. It requires the Spirit. Supernatural work is required for conviction and regeneration, especially among men who present menstrual cloths as their pure offerings (Isaiah 64:6).

Jesus adds because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer . This could affirm God’s acceptance of Jesus’ righteousness, but the seeing here seems more to focus on visible representation of righteousness here on earth. No one made the righteousness of the Pharisees look so poor as Jesus did. Now that imaging work belongs to the disciples since Jesus won’t be visible.

He Convicts concerning Judgment (verse 11)

Here is the third and final convicting work of the Spirit: He warns the world.

[He will convict the world] concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. (John 16:11, ESV)

Jesus says that the current ruler of the world has been judged (the verb is κέκριται and it is in the perfect tense, so a past action). Jesus spoke of His death and resurrection as so certain that the devil and his ways are already declared judged. If he is judged, then all those under him who follow his ways will not escape judgment either. To follow the world’s system is to follow a broken and defeated system.

Conclusion

In light of this paragraph of promise we ought to consider our:

Options: We will be judged and hated by the world or we will be judged and condemned by God. Jesus does not put a third option on the table.

Perspective: It is very possible for believers to desire something wrong. The disciples wanted Jesus’ earthly presence and Kingdom but in a way that went against the advance of Jesus’ Kingdom. Their expectations eviscerated their own encouragement. “If he [Christ] do not appear to us according to our desire, we contrive for ourselves a ground of despair” (Calvin, 136).

Love: The whole law can be summarized as love God and love your neighbor. If the Spirit convicts the world of sin and righteousness, the Spirit convicts the world about love. No wonder they hate us when we love because our love is frontal conviction.

Witness: Jesus said what the Spirit would do, not how He would do it. The Spirit doesn’t mainly convict through immediate, private impressions. He does not mainly convict through sunsets and starry skies. He mainly works through disciples who proclaim the good news of Jesus, disciples who wrote (and now read) about the things of Jesus, and disciples who love one another just as Jesus loved them.

Advantage: We continue witnessing to Christ today and we have the advantage—at least when we live by faith in the Spirit helping us and convicting the world. We live in exciting times when supernatural things are happening in the world like never before. We’re not looking for magic but for conviction. And we don’t bring the power; we have none. We are clay pots carrying the treasure and the surpassing power belongs to God through His Spirit.