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KJV John 16:5 But now I go my way to him that sent me; and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou? 6 But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart. 7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. 8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 Of sin, because they believe not on me; 10 Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; 11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. 12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. 13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. 14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. 15 All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

Convicted of Unbelief

This is one of the most important Gospel texts in the entire church year. Some pastors complain about preaching from the one year historic texts, the same ones used by Martin Luther year after year, so these modern ministers with all the benefits of research, computers, Bible software, and the Internet, say they need a three-year cycle of readings, following the Church of Rome and ELCA. Of course, they often do not preach on these texts very adequately either. Many conservative Lutheran pastors want ELCA to do their homework for them and buy ELCA sermon books! That’s like asking the Mafia to explain the legal system – and following their advice.

Why is this text so important? This passage tells us in one verse what the Holy Spirit will do. The world is filled with books about the working of the Holy Spirit. Everyone seems to have an opinion without consulting the Holy Spirit Himself. The Gospel of John was written by the Apostle John, inspired by the Holy Spirit. To use the analogy of one pope, the Gospel has two natures, the human nature of the author and the divine nature of the Holy Spirit, and yet it is without error or contradiction. We should listen to these simple words with complete confidence that God is speaking to us through the Fourth Gospel, accurately transmitting the words of Christ about the future work of the Holy Spirit.

Also, if we have problems with the text, we should ask that the Holy Spirit inform our reason with faith in the Scriptures, and not judge the Word of God with our human reason.

These are the key verses:

8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 Of sin, because they believe not on me; 10 Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; 11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.

“Reprove” the world is a little old-fashioned. We are more likely to say “convict” the world. It is more than simply accusing or indicting the world. The Holy Spirit will bring judgment against the world for its unbelief.

I would like to digress on this topic a little. Notice that God Himself is judging on the basis of unbelief. Many false teachers and their fellow-travelers will say, “I do not believe all of the Scriptures, and I interpret them my way, but that is fine, because I am doing good work. Christians do not have the time and energy to agree on doctrine. It is better for them to work together and be tolerant of minor differences in belief.” This feeble excuse is nonsense. Man may say it does not matter if people deny baptismal grace, or the Real Presence, or the efficacy of the Word, but God does not tolerate and overlook doctrinal indifference.

The passage destroys any notion that the main issue in God’s judgment is whether we are good people. This plea is common among those who have no belief. For instance, in a Biography show about the Rat Pack, the head of the Atlantic City mafia was defended because “he was the nicest guy you would ever want to meet.” To be in the Mafia, he had to be a killer who also ordered the murder of opponents. Similarly, Frank Sinatra was also defended as someone who was kind and gentle, although he would “throw you out the window and over the roof if you were on his bad side.” Today we often hear that false teachers are “nice guys.” As more than one pastor has said, “He is not a false teacher; he is a nice guy.” The opposite of false teacher is “orthodox teacher” and not “nice guy.”

The movement called Pietism was very devious in getting people to measure others in terms of outward characteristics rather than upon what they believed and taught. We live in a country and an age largely defined this way and not according to God’s Word. The Pietists say, “We have to overlook his attacks against God’s Word because he works hard and he is a nice guy.” The proper attitude is, “We will overlook his human frailty because he believes in the Word and teaches only in harmony with it.”

Not surprisingly, the self-styled nice guys make sure that the orthodox are driven away, silenced, and shunned as lepers for being “unloving, divisive, and judgmental.” But here in this text, God does the judging and His judgment is final, even if man messes around for a period of time.

When the Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, because it does not believe, God is saying, “Give away billions of dollars. Work among the poor. Establish quotas. Endow foundations. All of this is sin without faith in Christ. The more upright you are in your own eyes, the more sinful you will be, even if the entire world admires you. However, if you believe in Christ, your sins will be erased and forgotten. Then everything done in faith will glorify God.”

The campaign against faith has been stepped up lately. In the secular world, all faith (Judaism included) is interpreted as hatred, insensitivity, and narrow-mindedness. In the visible Church, the same attitude prevails. Someone who persistently argues for the Word of God will find himself shunned as an unloving bigot.

Notice what a difference there is. In the eyes of the unbelieving world, excessive public charity is the only virtue, especially when it is trumpeted around through paid flacks. (Note to English user: flak is a hostile response, based upon the acronym for the German anti-aircraft “kanon.” A flack is a public relations professional.) The news media will never take notice of the woman who drives a school bus, cares for her mother with old age dementia, takes care of her children, and helps others. Nor should we expect unbelievers to honor what God honors. We should only smile that the most virtuous public servants of this age—Ted Turner and Jane Fonda—could barely remain on the same stage with each other, even though it was the love of their lives when they first married. Be silent with your doubts. No pair has done more for the United Nations, the Viet Cong, and cellulite than Ted and Jane. Ted lost his faith when his sister died of lupus, so he tells us. God’s Word teaches us that all of his public charity is a sin because it is done without faith.

Faith is not such a small thing, because God teaches us that only faith matters. Faith receives the power of God in His Gospel promises. Those promises are fruitful in the life of the believer. We do not need to measure or plan, only to enjoy the abundance of the Means of Grace.

Recently, a member (name withheld) said I was the strangest gardener he had ever seen at work. He said to a visitor, “He plants all kinds of seed altogether all over the place.” I admit to sowing seed according to Mark 4 rather than Martha Stewart. And yes, I carve a shallow row and throw all kinds of seed together. But now look at the results. I have hundreds of sunflowers blooming outside the chapel, zinnias in bloom all over the yard, scarlet runner beans climbing the pool fence, followed by warty gourds. This is exactly how a believer bear fruit in his daily life. In spite of all the problems that arise, faith in Christ yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness.

Fruit does not mean apple or orange in the Bible, but “yield”. A plant fruits when the flower gives way to the seed or seed pod. The fruit may be grain, vegetables, or rose hips. The Gospel promises always produce a yield that we can anticipate in some way but never determine for ourselves. We can be confident in the results coming along, but never in how God will apportion them or when He will distribute them. Missionaries have worked in pagan lands to convert one single person to Christ in a lifetime of work. Who are we to speed up results by telling unbelievers, as one Fuller professor of missions did, “You may not be able to believe or accept the atonement of Christ. And that’s ok.” (Why pay a supposed Christian to reinforce unbelief by teaching unbelief as a virtue?)

Therefore, when the Holy Spirit convicts someone of unbelief, (Law preaching), He is paving the way for the Gospel. This is what happened to the wife of the founder of Fuller Seminary. Mrs. Fuller was a proud, virtuous Unitarian. Her friend used the Word of God to slay her unbelief and plant faith in the Gospel. It happened all at once and it still gives me goose-bumps. If only the Lutheran graduates of Fuller Seminary could state their confidence in the Word alone as beautifully as Grace Fuller did.

"Mrs. Barnhill looked at me and said, with such a loving look in her gray eyes, 'Oh, Grace, Christ said, 'No man cometh unto the Father but by Me,' and, my dear, you have no way of approach to a holy God unless you come through Christ, His Son, as your Saviour.' "The Scripture which she quoted," Mrs. Fuller continues, "was the Sword of the Spirit, and at that moment Unitarianism was killed forever in my heart. I saw the light like a flash and believed at that moment, though I said nothing. She had quoted God's Word, the Spirit had used it, and, believing, I instantly became a new creation in Christ Jesus. She might have talked and even argued with me about it, but instead she just used the Word."

J. Elwin Wright, The Old Fashioned Revival Hour and the Broadcasters, Boston: The Fellowship Press, 1940, p. 54. [Old man Fuller founded the seminary. His son turned liberal while studying under Karl Barth. And now the school is as Unitarian as Grace Fuller was before her conversion.]

The second phrase seems to be strange and needs some study. I have to admit that I look this passage up every year, so I understand what Luther saw in the text. The Holy Spirit speaks very plainly and clearly to us, but there are just enough difficulties to make us study the text and become very sure of the Word in time, as long as we approach the Scriptures with humility and a willingness to learn.

Second phrase:10 Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;

Conviction still governs this phrase. In other words, the Holy Spirit is saying, “You thought THAT was righteousness. No, I tell you, THIS is righteousness.” So what is this righteousness – that Jesus is going to the Father and will be seen no more. As Luther explains, this phrase is a reference to the resurrection and ascension of Christ. The preaching of the resurrection of Christ was the foundation of the apostolic Church. The eyewitnesses of the crucifixion and burial of Christ said, “No, He is dead.” The apostles were those who witnessed the risen Christ. They said, “We have seen Him risen from the dead. He is the Savior and the true Son of God.” In this sense the resurrection of Christ was for us and not for Him. His empty tomb proclaimed to them and still teaches us that death has no dominion over the believer. So we see the complete meaning of Romans 4:24-25, which is often misinterpreted today by advocates of Kokomo justification (forgiveness without faith; the world absolved of sin without the Means of Grace):

KJV Romans 4:24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; 25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.

“If we believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead.” The righteousness of God is imputed or charged to our account if we believe in Him and His resurrection. There is a common test for this today. Most mainline or liberal theologians do not believe in the resurrection, deny its importance, and desire to teach us their wisdom. They do not receive forgiveness because they do not believe and work hard to murder souls through their false doctrine.

In contrast, whenever the resurrection of Christ is taught, people believe in Him and receive the declaration of forgiveness. Therefore, Jesus is raised for our justification.

The third phrase may also stump people a little - 11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.

We seem to hear two messages. One is that Satan is the prince of this world.

KJV Ephesians 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:

Satan is called the Prince of this world three times in John. He does rule over this world, but he is also condemned and defeated. A defeated and cornered army group can still fight back and do enormous damage. In fact, that has often happened at the end of a war, when the fighting gets more furious simply because the end is near.

Satan was defeated through the cross and resurrection of Christ, but he still has some time to work his will on earth before the end. To use an expression from Revelation, he is tethered, like a horse, on a short rope, but dangerous still. I knocked on a door when a guard dog was tied to a chain. I didn’t worry. The chain obviously did not reach where I was. The dog snarled madly nearby. But he also knew how to stretch the confining chain enough to connect with my leg. He was limited in his work but not harmless.

So we should take Satan, not as all powerful but still as ready and willing to capture a few more souls before his work is done. The fury and success of his work now should warn and comfort us. It is a warning that he will leave no believer alone. It is a comfort because his time is drawing to a close.

The Holy Spirit works to teach us these lessons in a clear, plain manner, so that anyone with an elementary reading ability can study the Gospel of John. At the same time, the Gospel is so profound that any scholar can spend a lifetime with the Gospel and never complete his learning from the Word.

KJV John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.