The Strategic Advantage of the Spirit Text: John 16:5-15
Introduction: A Sorrowful Miscalculation
The disciples are in a state of bewildered sorrow. The Lord Jesus, their master, their friend, their hope, has just told them plainly that He is leaving. For three years, their entire world has revolved around His physical presence. They have walked with Him, eaten with Him, listened to Him, and watched Him work wonders. Now, He is going away, and a fog of grief has descended upon them, so thick that it chokes out the very questions they ought to be asking. He says, "none of you asks Me, 'Where are you going?'" Their sorrow has made them spiritually inert.
This is a common affliction. We often evaluate our circumstances based on what we can see, and what we can see is our immediate loss, our present pain. The disciples see an empty chair, a silenced voice, a devastating subtraction from their lives. And because this is all they see, "sorrow has filled your heart." They have made a profound miscalculation. They believe that Christ's departure is a net loss. But Jesus is about to tell them that it is, in fact, the greatest possible strategic advancement for them and for the mission of the kingdom. He is trading His localized, physical presence in one corner of the Roman empire for a global, internalized, omnipotent presence in the hearts of His people everywhere, through the Holy Spirit.
This is not a consolation prize. This is not a "plan B." The coming of the Holy Spirit is the fruit of Christ's victory, the masterful next phase of God's invasion of the world. What Jesus is describing here is a tactical upgrade of cosmic proportions. He is explaining why it is better to have God within you than to have God walking beside you. This passage is the battle plan for the age of the Spirit, the age in which we now live. It is the job description of the Advocate, the divine prosecutor who comes to press God's case against a rebellious world and to lead God's people into all truth.
The Text
"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. But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.
I still have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak from Himself, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you."
(John 16:5-15 LSB)
The Divine Advantage (vv. 5-7)
Jesus begins by diagnosing their spiritual paralysis and then delivers the shocking corrective.
"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. But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you." (John 16:5-7)
Their sorrow is a form of unbelief. It is a failure to trust the wisdom of God's plan. They are so fixated on the perceived loss that they cannot grasp the promised gain. Jesus has to cut through their emotional fog with a sharp declaration: "I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away." This is not hyperbole. The word for advantage means it is profitable, expedient, better for you. How could this possibly be?
The reason is tied to the coming of the Advocate. The word is Parakletos, which means one called alongside to help. It carries the idea of a legal advocate, a counselor, a comforter, and an encourager. While Jesus was on earth, He was their Paraclete. But His work was not finished until He had died, risen, and ascended. The ascension was not a retreat; it was an enthronement. And from His throne, as the victorious king, He would send another Paraclete, the Holy Spirit. His departure was the necessary precondition for the Spirit's arrival. If the king does not take the throne, he cannot dispatch his royal emissary to the provinces. The cross had to happen, the resurrection had to happen, and the ascension had to happen. Only then could Pentecost happen.
This is a glorious upgrade. Christ's physical presence was limited to one place at one time. The Holy Spirit's presence is universal and internal. He would not just be with them; He would be in them. This is the fulfillment of the New Covenant promise, to write the law on our hearts. The power that raised Christ from the dead would now take up residence in every single believer, equipping them for a global mission.
The Great Prosecutor (vv. 8-11)
Jesus then outlines the primary work of the Holy Spirit in relation to the world. He comes as a divine prosecutor to press God's lawsuit against fallen humanity.
"And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment..." (John 16:8)
The word "convict" means to expose, to reprove, to bring to light the true nature of something. The Spirit's job is to rip the mask off the world's self-righteousness and expose its true condition before a holy God. He prosecutes this case on three counts: sin, righteousness, and judgment.
First, "concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me" (v. 9). The fundamental sin of the world is not this or that particular transgression. The root sin, the sin from which all other sins grow, is the rejection of Jesus Christ. It is unbelief. The world thinks of sin in terms of murder, theft, or adultery. The Spirit comes and says, "No, the ultimate sin is that the Son of God stood in your midst, and you refused Him." He presses this point home to the conscience. All evangelism is simply coming alongside the Spirit's work of prosecution.
Second, "concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me" (v. 10). The world has its own standards of righteousness, usually based on outward performance or comparing oneself to others. The Spirit exposes this as fraudulent. The one true standard of righteousness is Jesus Christ Himself. His ascension to the Father is the ultimate proof, the divine vindication, that He alone is righteous. The Father received Him into glory, testifying that His life and work were perfectly pleasing. The Spirit confronts the world with this absolute standard and shows how all human righteousness falls short. Our righteousness is not found in what we do, but in who He is and where He is, at the right hand of the Father.
Third, "concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged" (v. 11). The world operates under the delusion that it is getting away with its rebellion. But the Spirit announces that the verdict is already in. The decisive battle has been fought and won at the cross. When Christ died, He disarmed the principalities and powers. "The ruler of this world," Satan, has been judged. His doom is sealed. The Spirit's work is to announce this verdict to a world still living in occupied territory. He declares that the usurper has been deposed and that judgment is coming for all who remain in his kingdom. This is not a threat; it is a news announcement of a past event with future consequences.
The Spirit of Truth (vv. 12-13)
Jesus then turns to the Spirit's role in relation to the disciples, to the Church.
"I still have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth..." (John 16:12-13)
The disciples were not yet ready for the full counsel of God. They needed the cross, the resurrection, and the Spirit to make sense of it all. The Spirit's ministry is not to deliver brand new, independent revelations. He is the "Spirit of truth," and His job is to take the truth that Christ has already embodied and spoken and to guide the apostles into its fullest meaning. This is a direct promise concerning the inspiration of the New Testament. The Spirit would lead them to write the Gospels and the Epistles, ensuring that the Church has an infallible record of Christ's revelation.
Notice the careful qualification: "for He will not speak from Himself, but whatever He hears, He will speak." The Spirit is not a rogue agent. He speaks in perfect concert with the Father and the Son. His ministry is to illuminate, not to innovate. This is a crucial guardrail against all forms of mysticism and false prophecy that would claim "new" words from the Spirit that are untethered from the written Word of God. The Spirit's voice is heard when the Scriptures are faithfully preached and understood. He also "will disclose to you what is to come," which He did through the apostolic gift of prophecy, now recorded for us in the Scriptures, particularly in the book of Revelation.
The Christ-Glorifying Spirit (vv. 14-15)
Finally, Jesus reveals the ultimate purpose of the Spirit's work. It is relentlessly, unswervingly Christ-centered.
"He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you." (John 16:14-15)
This is the litmus test for any supposed work of the Holy Spirit. Does it glorify Jesus Christ? The Spirit does not draw attention to Himself. He is like a spotlight operator, whose entire job is to shine the beam on the main actor. The Spirit's work is to take the things of Christ, His person, His work, His words, His glory, and reveal them, disclose them, make them real to us. When the Spirit is at work, people are not fascinated with the Spirit; they are fascinated with Jesus.
And here, Jesus gives us a breathtaking glimpse into the inner life of the Trinity. "He will take of Mine," Jesus says. Then He adds, "All things that the Father has are Mine." This is a staggering claim of equality with God the Father. The Father and the Son share everything. There is a perfect unity of essence, possession, and purpose. Therefore, when the Spirit takes what is Christ's and shows it to us, He is showing us the very things of God the Father. To know Christ through the Spirit is to know the triune God. The entire plan of salvation is a Trinitarian work. The Father plans, the Son accomplishes, and the Spirit applies. And the goal of it all is the glory of the Son, which is simultaneously the glory of the Father.
Conclusion: The Empowered Church
The disciples were filled with sorrow because they thought they were being abandoned. Jesus corrects them by showing that they were actually being equipped for global conquest. The departure of Christ was the necessary step for the arrival of the Advocate. And with the Advocate comes everything we need.
He is the divine prosecutor who convicts the world, making our evangelism possible. He is the Spirit of truth who inspired the Scriptures and illuminates them for us, making our discipleship possible. And He is the Christ-glorifying Spirit, who takes the things of Jesus and makes them our own, making our worship possible.
We are not orphans. We are not left to our own devices. The sorrow of the disciples was based on a false premise. They thought the action was ending. In reality, the action was just beginning. The same Spirit who was sent at Pentecost is the same Spirit who indwells the Church today. He has not lost any of His power. His brief is still the same: to convict the world, to guide the church, and above all, to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ. Our task is to live and speak in confidence, knowing that the Advocate is not only with us, but in us, pressing the crown rights of King Jesus until every foe is vanquished and Christ is all in all.