©Kris Gerbrandt
Chapter 16:5-15 (ESV) - “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. 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. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”
Question to consider: What does Jesus say is the role of the Holy Spirit in the world?
We don’t know exactly where the disciples were when Jesus said these things. Maybe it was as they were leaving the upper room, or perhaps it was on the way to the Mount of Olives or at the Mount of Olives before He would pray in the garden of Gethsemane. This wasn’t the first time Jesus had said He would be turned over to the religious leaders and put to death, but at this point sorrow had filled their hearts, for these events were imminent.
Now that the Holy Spirit has come, we have the benefit of the truth and insight that He gave to the disciples as prophesied here by Jesus. If you went through my study in Acts, I pointed out that the prophecy in Joel which was announced by Peter at Pentecost was fulfilled in the first generation of the church, for the judgment at the end of that passage came about in AD 70. Once we had the complete revelation of God, the foundation of the church had been laid, and now we look to the apostles and prophets who lived in that day rather than those who profess to be prophets today.
The Charismatic movement over the years has attributed all sorts of strange behavior and experiences to the Holy Spirit, but Jesus very clearly told the disciples exactly what the role of the Holy Spirit would be: to convict people of sin, to declare the righteousness of Christ and bring glory to Him, and to proclaim victory over the one who professes to be ruler over the world’s system. There is no indication that He would have people speak gibberish, convulse on the floor in the assembly, make people bark like dogs or laugh uncontrollably, or have people acting as if they were drunk in the Spirit. In declaring what was to come, the Spirit of God gave prophetic utterance to the apostles and early church, but it was all for the sake of the glory of Christ. It was not to have self-proclaimed prophets prognosticate over someone’s personal business ventures or act like they are part of the Psychic Friends Network.
The tongues that were spoken in the early church were to extol the glory of Christ in the languages of the nations, for not only was the gospel going out to the Hellenistic Jews from around the world, but to the Samaritans and Gentiles who through them would realize that the good news of Christ’s righteousness was meant for them as well. At the point in which I've gone on to be with Christ, if I discover that angels say things like, "should of bought a Honda but I bought a KIA," I guess I will owe them an apology.
Today, we have people proclaiming to channel the Holy Spirit while they remain completely ignorant of God’s revealed word and focus entirely on the things of this world that are going away. Instead of lifting up Christ, they make a celebrity out of the so-called prophet and turn their churches into stadiums of people who are addicted to the manic highs of a manufactured spiritual mountaintop.
If I sound harsh in these things, it is because people have abandoned the faith for an experience. At best it is a distraction, and at worst it leads people on a path to hell.
Dear heavenly Father, please give us a hunger for Your revealed, written word that contains the faith once for all delivered to the saints. Thank You for giving us Your Spirit who sanctifies us and conforms us to the image of our Lord. We look forward to the day when our faith is fully realized in Christ, and we can enjoy You forever. Amen.