Finally able to pick up my order ** The Helper

John 16: 4-11

⁴ But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you. “I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. ⁵ But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ ⁶ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.

⁷ 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.

⁸ And when he comes, he will convict the world ⁹ concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; ¹⁰ concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; ¹¹ concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. (ESV)

It is easy just to let our eyes run over these verses and not really take anything away from it.

But I want to urge you to think about what Christ is telling us here…

Christ says that he must die, because the Holy Spirit will not come to us until he has ascended into heaven.

Then He says that the Holy Spirit (or the Comforter, or Helper depending which translation your reading) will convict (or judge) the world in regard to sin, and righteousness, and judgment.

How then does the “Comforter” come to judge the world?

The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin because the world does not believe in Christ.

But the Holy Spirit has been sent, to dwell within us…

Now this is not about us judging the sins of unbelievers, but that we are able to know whether our own actions are sinful or righteous.

Jesus is telling us that the Holy Spirit will judge righteousness because Christ is no longer on the earth to tell us what is right and wrong,

You see, we are unable to judge right and wrong without Christ.

According to our scriptures today…The ruler of the world has been judged.

As Verse 11 says: …. concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged…

Where sin and righteousness meet, judgment follows.

Satan is the ruler of this world and he was judged at the cross (John 12:31).

At the cross, Satan’s doom was sealed.

He still roams about, carrying out his evil schemes. But the sentence has been passed, both for him and for his subjects.

John 3:18 states, “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

Please keep in mind, that the most deceptive force that pulls us away from God is when we try to rationalize our own sinful actions.

Every one of us will try to make excuses to justify our actions… …It’s human nature…

But, the power that can defeat these rationalizations is the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit tells us right from wrong and he leads us away from self-justification, and blindness to our sin.

He comforts us, because only by knowing our sin can we be freed from it.