Latest / Reformed Thinking / “It Is to Your Advantage”: Christ’s Departure and the Spirit of Truth (John 16:7–13)

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“It Is to Your Advantage”: Christ’s Departure and the Spirit of Truth (John 16:7–13) · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to Reformed Thinking, the deep dive designed to bring
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clarity and depth to essential Christian doctrine.
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Today we're immersing ourselves in a single remarkable statement
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from Christ. A statement that really just
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flips our human notions of loss and gain completely upside down.
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Yeah, exactly. We're in the upper room
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discourse, John, chapters 13 through 17, and the air is just
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charged. Oh absolutely.
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The events of the cross for the disciples, They aren't abstract
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theology. They're an hour away.
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And that tension is, I mean, that's the central narrative
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driver here, isn't it? It is, if you just imagine
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yourself as one of those men, your entire view of the future,
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of the Kingdom, of redemption, of your Messiah, it's all based
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on the physical presence of the King sitting right across the
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table from you. They're facing what we call the
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crisis of absence. Yeah, and their hearts are
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filled with Lipey, which is this heavy, overwhelming sorrow.
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And it's important to understand their sorrow isn't just grief
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over losing a friend. It's a profound theological
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crisis. Right.
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They're stuck. They're stuck in a political,
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visible messianic expectation. They believe the only way the
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Kingdom works is if the king stays, takes the throne, and
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visibly restores Israel. So when Jesus starts talking
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about going away, they hear the total collapse of the whole
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project. They are essentially clinging to
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the the flesh of the incarnation.
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That's a great way to put it. They see the vehicle of God's
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presence, the physical body of Christ, as the only necessary
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component for success. They're trapped.
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Completely. It's a redemptive historical
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limitation. They're living pre Pentecost, so
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they can only conceive of God's dwelling as, you know, localized
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like it was in the temple or now localized in Christ's physical
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body. So for them, absence means
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abandonment, period, right? And so we arrive at the central
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idea of the text. Jesus has to correct this
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misconception. He has to, he asserts, the
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absolute necessity of his bodily departure to inaugurate the
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administration, the Holy Spirit. And this new administration
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serves a dual function it. Does it vindicates the sun
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before the world, and it establishes and guides the
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people of God into completed truth?
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Which brings us to what is maybe the most counterintuitive
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proposition in all of Scripture. It really might be.
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In John 16.7, Jesus looks at his heartbroken followers who are
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convinced they are about to be left destitute, and he says, I
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tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away.
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How can the greatest moment of loss be the greatest moment of
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gain? That paradox is the theological
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gold we need to extract today. OK, let's start by really
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drilling down into that word advantage.
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As you said, this isn't some feel good sentiment.
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No, Jesus isn't saying you'll feel better later.
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He's making a claim about redemptive profit.
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The Greek word is sumpharai. Yeah, and sumpharai is key
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because it speaks to utility and net gain.
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It means it is profitable, or maybe even better, brings things
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together to a beneficial end. So it's a calculation of
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surplus. It is.
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Jesus is basically arguing, almost mathematically, that the
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theological profit of the Spirit's arrival is so enormous
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that it far outweighs the immediate, tangible and
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emotional deficit of his physical absence.
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The disciples we're seeing in a 0 sum.
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If Christ leaves, the game goes to 0.
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And Jesus says no, the game accelerates exponentially.
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I think we need to linger on that redemptive historical
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limitation you mentioned. What exactly was the boundary?
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You know, the limitation imposed by the Incarnation that made it
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so necessary for Christ to leave?
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The limitation was spatial finiteness.
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The Incarnation, as glorious and absolutely necessary as it was
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for the Atonement, bound the Son of God to the physical laws of
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space and time. Think about it practically.
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Right. If Jesus was physically walking
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the streets of Jerusalem, he could not be simultaneously and
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gallantly. If a believer was in Rome, they
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couldn't access him directly. His presence was singular, local
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and external. Exactly.
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While the disciples were with him, only a few could be with
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Him at any given moment. So the very success of the
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Kingdom, which is meant to be universal, spanning all nations
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and time, is fundamentally constrained by a physically
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present Messiah. It is.
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If Christ had remained, we would have a localized religious
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center, a historical shrine maybe, but not a global living
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body. And this is the radical shift
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marked by the Spirits administration.
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A huge shift. We're talking about the coming
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of the paracletos, the helper, the advocate.
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The Spirit is not bound by space or matter.
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The Spirit is omnipresent. He is.
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When Jesus ascends, he unleashes a divine presence that is not
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just with the disciples externally standing next to
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them, but in them. Fulfilling the deepest promise
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of the New Covenant. Of the Law written on their
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hearts. Jeremiah 31.
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Ezekiel 36. All of it.
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That distinction, external master versus internal power,
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that's everything. Yeah, it is.
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The advantage is moving from having an instructor who has to
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physically stand next to you to having the full, unconstrained
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divine power of the Godhead resident within your own heart
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and mind. He is simultaneously available
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to every believer everywhere across the globe.
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The physical absence is the prerequisite for spiritual
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omnipresence. And spiritual strength.
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The Church could not become the universal Organism it was
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designed to be until Christ vacated the local presence and
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commissioned the universal presence.
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It's the difference between having the King's ambassador in
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one distant court. And having the King's authority
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and nature resident in every citizen of the Kingdom, no
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matter where they are. But let's address the rigidity
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of this necessity. Because Jesus phrases this as an
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if then clause, it seems to lock the entire event into a kind of
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covenantal. Order.
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Oh, it does for. If I do not go away, the helper
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will not come to you. It sounds like a non negotiable
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step in the redemptive plan. It absolutely is.
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The Spirit's arrival is not some arbitrary event.
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It is directly tied to the completion of the Atonement in
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Christ's subsequent exaltation. So if Jesus does not go away, it
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means the work is not finished. Or not accepted this is.
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Where we need to get into the High priest analogy right to
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connect the dots for the listener.
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Yes, walk us through that Old Testament typology that dictates
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this sequence. Consider Yom Kippur, the Day of
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Atonement. The high priest had to perform
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this elaborate set of rituals. But the critical point is this.
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He couldn't just stand outside the veil and declare the people
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cleansed. He had to go in.
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He had to enter the Holy of Holies with the blood.
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Sprinkle the mercy seat. And only after the Father, as it
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were, had accepted the sacrifice, could the high priest
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re emerge and pronounce the blessing upon the people.
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So Christ, our great high priest, had to perform the
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atonement on the cross, His body being the veil that was torn.
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That's the sacrifice. But the work isn't fully secured
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until he passes through the heavenly sanctuary.
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Exactly. Hebrews 9 tells us Christ
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entered the heavenlies not with the blood of goats, but with His
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own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.
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He had to present his finished work not just in the historical
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event of the Crucifixion, but in the heavenly court of the
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Ascension. And only upon his full
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glorification, which John 7.39 says was necessary.
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Could the Spirit be poured out? Acts 2.33.
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The Spirit is the official, verifiable seal of God's
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acceptance of the sacrifice. This is a heavy theological take
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away. Then to wish for Christ to have
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remained on earth, dwelling permanently among us without the
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ascension, is functionally to wish for an incomplete
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salvation. That's right.
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We would have the sacrifice, but not the seal of acceptance.
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We have a Savior who died, but we would lack the assurance that
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the Father accepted that death as sufficient payment.
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The Spirit is the down payment, the guarantee, the airborne of
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our inheritance. And that payment can't be
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dispersed until the purchase price Calvary is fully paid and
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the transaction accepted by God the Father in Heaven.
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The spirits arrival proves the ascension was successful.
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It does, and this framework gives us a vital safeguard
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against theological drift, because it defines the Spirit's
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mission as utterly christological.
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Right, Jesus says, I will send him to you, which reinforces the
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unity of the Godhead, often discussed through the Filioc
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doctrine. That the Spirit proceeds from
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the Father and the Son. And why does that matter to the
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average believer? Because it ensures the Spirit
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doesn't arrive with some unrelated agenda.
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He doesn't show up to start a new religion or speak of
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himself. His entire ministry, both to the
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world and to the church, is focused on testifying to and
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applying the finished work of the Sun.
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The Spirit is set by Christ to speak about Christ, apply
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Christ's merits, and glorify Christ.
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So that structure anchors the church against seeking novel
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experiences or supposed fresh revelations that are detached
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from the historical Jesus. Or detached from the established
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scriptures. If someone claims the Spirit is
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telling them something new or contradictory or something that
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diminishes the Sun, they're fundamentally misunderstanding
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the Triad mission. The Spirit is the spirit of the
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ascended Lord. His function is defined by the
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victory of the Sun and directed by the Sun's authority, now
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established at the right hand of the Father.
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So the ascension wasn't a retreat, it was a deployment.
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That's it. It placed Christ in the position
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of supreme authority from which He now directs the infinite
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universal ministry of the Spirit for the growth and expansion of
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the Kingdom. We weren't abandoned.
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We were equipped. So the necessity of Christ's
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departure gives rise to this incredible universal ministry of
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the Spirit. But when Jesus defines what the
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Spirit will do, he doesn't start with comfort.
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No, he starts with confrontation.
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We move from the intimacy of the Upper Room to a divine courtroom
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drama played out across the face of the earth.
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And that shift is jarring. The Spirit is not introduced
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here primarily as a gentle counselor, but as a fierce
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divine prosecuting attorney. The language is unequivocally
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forensic. The governing verb is Alexei.
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I know that verb is often translated softly as convict,
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but that word just doesn't carry the punch of the Greek, does it?
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It does not. Alexei means to cross examine,
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to expose, to refute with irrefutable evidence, or to
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bring to light the error of 1's ways such that they are left
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without defense. The Spirit's mission is to
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prosecute the cosmos. Not just the physical earth, but
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the organized system of rebellion against God, the anti
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God establishment of human culture and governance.
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Which is the ultimate reversal of fortunes just days before the
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Cosmos, represented by the Sanhedrin and Pilots Court,
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presumed to judge Jesus and condemned him as a malefactor.
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Right. And the Spirit arrives on the
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scene to reopen the case and demonstrate that the world, not
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Christ, stands condemned. The world is the defendant.
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The Spirit dismantles the world's self justification,
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proving it fundamentally wrong on three essential counts, sin,
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righteousness and judgement. OK, let's start with count 1,
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sin defined, and verse 9. This is where the Spirit focuses
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his legal firepower concerning sin.
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Because they do not believe in me.
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Now wait a minute. If the Spirit's work is
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conviction, why doesn't he focus on obvious moral failings?
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Murder, theft. Greed.
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Because that lets the world off the hook for generalized
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corruption. How so?
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Well, that is exactly the point that shatters natural human
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moralism. The world is perfectly happy to
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acknowledge sin in the form of ethical lapses.
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It feels good to denounce a corrupt politician or a violent
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criminal. Natural conscience can grasp
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those things of. Course, but the Spirit ignores
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the symptoms and goes straight to the singular root offense,
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the cosmic treason, the rejection of Jesus Christ.
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So the indictment is singular. It is the Spirit exposes that
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the worst sin, the damnable from that is not that you
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occasionally lie or cheat, but that you have refused to bow the
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knee to the Son of God and accept his redemption.
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This exposes the depth of human depravity, which is what
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reformed theology understands as total depravity.
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Exactly. Unbelief is not an intellectual
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struggle or a lack of evidence. It is a moral refusal, a willful
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rebellion against the truth revealed in Christ.
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So the self-righteous man who says I am a good person, I
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donate to charity. I just don't think Jesus is
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necessary. He's the primary target of the
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Spirit's prosecution. He is the Spirit strips away the
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illusion of neutrality. There is no middle ground.
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You are either covered by Christ's righteousness or you
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are guilty of the singular sin of rejecting Him.
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The Spirit's conviction is the necessary law work that must
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precede grace. It's the divine hammering that
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reveals that self justification, self-made morality, and
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self-reliance are all futile attempts to avoid the judgment
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rendered against unbelief. And the implication for the
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Church's methodology here is huge.
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Massive if the Spirit's job is to indict on the basis of
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Christ, the church's job is to preach Christ plainly refusing
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any pragmatic approach that tries to sidestep this
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fundamental confrontation. We have to preach Christ and his
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claims, trusting the Spirit to apply the indictment of
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rejection. That's our job.
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OK, now we move to count 2 righteousness established in
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verse 10 concerning righteousness because I go to
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the Father and you see me no more.
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The world operates on a completely internal standard of
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righteousness. If I feel good about my actions,
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I must be righteous. How does the ascension radically
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redefine that? Well, the world thought they had
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defined righteousness by executing Christ.
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They believe their system, their law, their consensus was right
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and Jesus was wrong. But the ascension is the
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father's public definitive verdict overturning the world's
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judgment. It is the Father received Christ
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into glory as the spotless. 1 The acceptable substitute.
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The only truly righteous man, The righteousness that matters,
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is defined by Christ's position at the right hand of God.
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So the standard shifts instantly from human performance to
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Christ's completed performance. It has to.
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The Spirit uses Christ's exaltation to prosecute the
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world by proving that human righteousness is non existent,
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futile and unacceptable. Romans 3.1 in.
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That is the conviction if the only truly righteous person is
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the one seated in heaven. Then you, the defendant, possess
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no inherent righteousness. The Spirit forces the world to
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see that all human attempts at morality are insufficient to
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stand before a holy God. So this indictment prepares the
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Sinner for the doctrine of justification.
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It does. We are convicted of having no
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righteousness of our own, which drives us to seek the only
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available alternative, the alien righteousness of Christ imputed
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to us by faith. Exactly.
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The Spirit convicts us of the need for an external
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righteousness. And notice that clause, and you
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see me no more. Yes, that emphasizes that the
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basis of our standing is secured in heaven by faith, not by
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sight. Not by physical proximity or
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rituals. We stand righteous because of
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the status of our advocate in glory, whom we cannot see, but
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whose righteousness is credited to us.
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The Spirit testifies that the standard has been set and only
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Christ meets it. Let's move to the final count.
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Count 3, Judgment executed, Verse 11 Concerning judgment.
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Because the ruler of this world is judged, the common conception
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of judgement is a distant future event.
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The final day. Right, but the Spirit testifies
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that judgement is already a historical fact.
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This is critical for understanding spiritual warfare.
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The world operates under the illusion that Satan, the ruler
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of this world, is a free agent, powerfully directing events and
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potentially winning the war. But the spirit arrives to
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declare the verdict has already been rendered.
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The decisive judicial moment occurred at the cross.
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Colossians 2.15 says Christ disarmed the rulers and
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authorities and triumphed over them by the cross.
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So Christ's death was not just an atonement for humanity, it
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was the legal condemnation of the devil.
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Yes, and the Spirit's job is to testify to this accomplished
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fact. He shatters the world's illusion
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of autonomy and spiritual power. If the Prince of Darkness is
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already judged, disarmed and cast out, then his subjects,
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those who operate under the cosmos, cannot possibly escape.
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They can't. The inevitable future execution
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of that judgement is certain. Judgement is not coming.
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It has arrived in principle and its final application is
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certain. This conviction is designed to
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be severe, but it's also salutary.
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Of course, it drives the desperate center to flee the
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sinking ship of Satan's Kingdom. If the captain is already
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condemned, the vessel is doomed. And for the church, this
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conviction brings immense courage.
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It does. When we experience hostility
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from the cosmos, we interpret it through the lens of Christ's
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finished victory. The enemy rages not because he
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is strong, but because his time is short and his defeat is
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sealed. The Spirit reminds us that our
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fear should not be of a condemned enemy, but of the one
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who holds the keys of death and Hades.
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So to synthesize this section, the spirits ministry to the
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world is relentless and judicial.
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He unveils reality as God sees it, forcing the world to answer
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to Jesus Christ regarding sin, righteousness and judgement.
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He dismantles every pretense of self righteousness or
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neutrality. So, having established the
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Spirit's outward prosecutorial ministry, we now pivot to his
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inward pedagogical work specifically toward the
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apostles. Right.
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This is the process by which Christ's witnesses are
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stabilized, equipped, and finally instructed with the full
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scope of new covenant revelation.
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And Jesus begins with this remarkable statement of merciful
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restraint in verse 12. I still have many things to say
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to you, but you cannot bear them now.
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This is Christ the Great Teacher, holding back the
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curriculum because the students just weren't ready.
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It wasn't a flaw in their character.
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It was, again, a limitation of redemptive history.
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They lacked the interpretive key.
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The context of the empty tomb and the ascended king.
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Exactly. Imagine trying to explain
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justification by faith alone, the abrogation of the ceremonial
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laws, or the unity of Jew and Gentile in the Church before the
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cross had even happened. Those doctrines would have made
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absolutely no sense to men who were still operating under the
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assumption that the Kingdom would be an earthly, visible
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Jewish monarchy. Defined by temple law and ritual
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adherence, right? The truth was too heavy, brain
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and Greek too substantial for their confused and sorrowful
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shoulders. So the Spirit's coming was
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necessary not just to emotionally support them, but to
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complete the revelation. Turning the raw events of the
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Passion, Resurrection and Ascension into the authoritative
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completed doctrine of the New Testament.
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That brings us to the pivotal promise in verse 13.
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When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the
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truth. The Greek verb hodaga say
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implies active leading, like a shepherd leading sheep along a
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specific mapped path. And the object is Pasanton,
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Aleithian. All the truth or the whole
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truth? The use of the definite article
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is crucial here, isn't it? It is.
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It points to a specific finite body of revelation, the
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definitive new covenant mystery. The Spirit is not leading them
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endlessly. He is leading them to the
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destination, the completeness of the Apostolic witness.
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And this is the argument for the unique Commission of the
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apostles. It has to be.
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This wasn't a blanket promise for every subsequent believer to
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receive new, authoritative information.
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This was an assurance that the foundation of the church would
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be laid completely and securely. Absolutely.
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We rely on Ephesians 2.20, which says the Church is built on the
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foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself
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being the cornerstone. The apostles were the
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foundational organs of divine revelation.
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They didn't invent A theology after Jesus left.
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No, they were guided by the Spirit of truth to interpret
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Christ's person and work with divine authority, thereby
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producing the New Testament Scriptures.
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Which leads us directly to the doctrine of the sufficiency of
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Scripture and the cessation of the revelatory gifts.
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It does. If the Spirit guided the
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apostles into all the truth, what does that say about anyone
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claiming to receive new authoritative truth today?
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It says the Canon is closed. If the body of revealed truth is
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complete, then seeking new revelations or fresh prophecy
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implies that the Spirit failed to deliver all the truth to the
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apostles. Or that God's redemptive plan is
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somehow perpetually unfinished and requires continuous updates?
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Exactly. We stand on the conviction,
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stated clearly in the Westminster Confession, that the
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former ways of God's revealing His will unto His people have
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ceased. So the spirits ministry today is
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not revelatory. It doesn't give new content to
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Scripture, but it is illuminative.
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Right. It helps us understand and apply
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the old truth already given. We are not living in an age of
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perpetual uncertainty chasing subjective impulses.
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We stand on a stable, complete and authoritative foundation.
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The stability is essential for the church's witness, and Jesus
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immediately provides the critical guardrail against
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subjectivism in the rest of verse 13.
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He will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he
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hears, he will speak. This is the theological fail
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safe. How does this safeguard the
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Church against mysticism, where people claim personal guidance
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detached from the written word? It ensures the Spirit operates
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entirely within the unified economy of the Trinity.
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The Spirit is not an independent voice competing with the Sun or
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generating private innovations, or contradicting the historical
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revelation given through the Sun.
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Whatever the Spirit speaks must be consistent with and
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reflective of the mind and will of the Father and the Son.
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So if a supposed spiritual impression contradicts the
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Apostolic word, it is immediately disqualified.
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The Spirit binds the Church to the authority of Christ, not
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away from it. That point cannot be overstated.
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The proof that the Spirit is at work is conformity to the
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revealed Christ. And furthermore, the Spirit will
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declare to you the things that are to come.
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This isn't just immediate direction.
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It points to the great arc of salvation history.
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This encompasses the full unveiling of the mystery of the
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Church, the union of Jew and Gentile, and the comprehensive
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eschatological revelations found in books like the Apocalypse of
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John. The Spirit ensures the Church is
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anchored in the certainty of future victory by giving a
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prophetic road map. He guides them not only through
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the immediate doctrinal challenges, but through the
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entire sweep of the consummation of the ages.
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The Spirit secures the stability of the Church by delivering
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Pasana and Taikalian, securing the finished cannon, and
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protecting it from internal drift toward novelty.
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OK, so we have meticulously traced the argument from the
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necessity of Christ's absence to the precision of the Spirit's
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work as prosecutor and guide. Now we have to translate this
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high theology into our daily lives.
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What does this deep dive demand of the learner?
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Let's apply these truths to our intellect, our affections, and
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our actions. Head, heart, and hands.
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Good. Let's start with the head
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believing the sufficiency of Scripture.
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The duty here is intellectual discipline.
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If we genuinely believe the Spirit guided the apostles into
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all the truth, our mind must be convinced that the Canon is
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closed. We have to reject the modern
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craving for continuous extra biblical revelation and the
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subjective impulses that lead people astray like winds of
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doctrine. That means actively fighting the
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desire for novelty. We must stop treating the Bible
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as an insufficient or incomplete guide.
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How can believers practically fight that temptation toward
23:00
mysticism in their search for God's will?
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It requires A theological conviction and a practical
23:05
routine. The conviction is this.
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God has spoken fully in His Son. Hebrews 1.2.
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There is no more authoritative word to be heard than the word
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already written. In the practical routine.
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Is to prioritize the systematic, careful study of the faith once
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for all. Delivered to the Saints from
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Jude 3. We have to recognize the
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spirits. Illumination today happens
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through the written word, not independent of it.
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So when seeking guidance, the first, second and third question
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must be what has scripture already revealed on this topic?
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We trust the objective word over our subjective feelings.
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That clarity grounds our thinking.
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Now let's move to the heart, loving and finding comfort and
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security. The ache of Christ's physical
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absence is real. It is we are human, we desire
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sight and tangible proof. We feel that light be the
23:53
disciples felt. And we must discipline those
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feelings with the truth of John 16.7.
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It is to your advantage. The Spirit's presence is
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superior to the physical presence we desire.
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We have to cultivate gratitude for the indwelling Spirit, the
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resident God. The security is profound because
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you were never alone. The Paraclete is within you,
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always available, always counseling, always guiding,
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always convicting. This truth also liberates the
24:17
believer in witness and evangelism.
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If the Spirit is the cosmic prosecutor, what does that
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freedom look like for the fearful St.
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It removes the paralyzing anxiety that the success of
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conversion depends on our personal eloquence or
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manipulative techniques or our persuasive skill.
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We are freed from relying on worldly strategies.
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Completely. We are not the prosecutors.
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We are merely bailiffs. Reading the divine indictment,
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the gospel. We state the charges of sin,
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point to Christ's righteousness, and declare the certainty of
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judgement. The Spirit sovereignly and
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mysteriously does the convicting work.
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We rest in his sovereign ability to break the hard heart and
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Pierce the conscience. Our task is faithfulness, not
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results. That is a massive paradigm
25:01
shift, moving the focus entirely from human effort to divine
25:05
action. So finally, let's address the
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hands. Doing this requires a
25:09
reformation of methodology, both in our individual lives and in
25:12
the corporate church. For the unbeliever, the
25:14
application is urgent. Agree with the Spirit's verdict.
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The indictment is clear and singular unbelief.
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Don't strive for moralism. Don't try to clean up your life
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first or prove yourself worthy. Exactly.
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The Spirit has exposed that righteousness is found only in
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the exalted Christ. Your duty is to repent of the
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specific sin of rejection and plead guilty, trusting entirely
25:34
in the alien righteousness of the Advocate Jesus Christ.
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And for the corporate church, we must reject pragmatism entirely.
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We must. The modern church often defaults
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to the philosophy that if it works, if it attracts crowds, if
25:47
it increases our budget, it must be true.
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That pragmatism is a direct affront to the Spirits Defined
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ministry. It is the Spirit is defined here
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as a prosecutor and a guide into truth, not a patron of
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entertainment or therapy. The temptation is to replace the
26:03
hard work of prosecuting sin, calling unbelief cosmic treason,
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with palatable social activism or therapeutic advice to make
26:10
people feel good. But Jesus gave the Spirit for
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conviction, not comfort of the unconverted.
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Therefore, right obedience demands return to the ordinary
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means of grace. Absolutely.
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The Church must rely on the means.
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The Ascended Christ instituted the reading and preaching of the
26:26
Word, the right administration of the sacraments, and prayer.
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These are the channels to which the Spirit illuminates and
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applies Christ's work. Lord's Supper is a tangible
26:34
example. It vividly acts out the truth of
26:37
this deep dive. We proclaim His death and
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departure until He comes again, while simultaneously
26:43
participating in His spiritual presence and nourishment through
26:46
the Spirit. Our methodology must reflect
26:49
that we trust the Spirit to work through the written word, not
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through human innovation. This brings us back to the
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ultimate test of the spirits activity found in verse 14.
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He will glorify me, for He will take what is mine and declare it
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to you. The spirit is defined by his
27:03
modesty. He intentionally draws attention
27:05
away from himself. So a truly spirit filled church
27:08
is not marked by chaotic emotionalism or novel doctrines
27:12
or loud claims of personal authority.
27:14
It is marked by a place where Scripture is opened, sin is
27:16
exposed by the law, and Christ is exalted, clearly presented as
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the only righteousness for condemned sinners.
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The Spirit's entire operation is designed to apply the redemption
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purchased at Calvary, making the historical Christ a present
27:29
effectual reality for His people.
27:32
We began with the disciples heavy sorrow and have finished
27:34
with the church's immense advantage.
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Christ's departure was a necessary strategic advance,
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securing a fuller spiritual and omnipresent reality for His
27:43
people. And we understand the precision
27:45
of the Spirit's ministry. He is the ruthless prosecutor of
27:48
the rebellious world, securing conviction on the three great
27:51
fronts of sin, righteousness, and judgement.
27:54
And he's a reliable guide of the Church, ensuring the completion
27:57
and security of the authoritative candidate of
27:59
Scripture. And that security leaves us with
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this final thought. We live in a world that demands
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tangible evidence, sight and worldly proof.
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We are tempted daily to rely on human persuasion and pragmatic
28:10
strategies to grow the Kingdom. But if the Spirit's work is
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sovereign, if he has already exposed the futility of the
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world's self justification, and if he has already sealed the
28:20
doom of the ruler of this world, what practical, tangible steps
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does the learner need to take this week to align their witness
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in their life solely with the inevitable verdict of heaven?
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What must you stop relying upon What human method or strategy to
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truly trust the invincible sword of the Spirit, which is the
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sufficient Word of God?