I want you to open your Bibles
now to John 16, the scripture which Brother Tate
read a moment ago. And I'd like to begin our Bible
study tonight with verse 7, in which the words of our Lord
caught my eye and encouraged me to bring this
Bible study this evening, he said to his disciples in verse
7, nevertheless, I'll tell you the truth. I'll tell you the
truth. In this day of so much that's
not the truth, how refreshing to read those words, I'll tell
you the truth. What is the truth that he tells
them, first of all? There are several things here
that that I'm going to show you this evening, but the first truth
is this. He said, I'll tell you the truth.
It is expedient. It is absolutely necessary, essential
for you that I go away. It's absolutely essential for
you that I go away. Where's he going? Well, he said
in John 14, I go to prepare a place for you. I go to the cross to
atone for your sins. That's essential. That's absolutely
necessary. I go to the cross to remove the
curse of the law. The scripture says, Cursed is
everyone that continueth not in all things written in the
book of the law to do them. And our Lord came to lift that
curse, redeem us from the curse, and he was made a curse And that's
where he's going. He said, I go to the cross to
remove the curse. I go to the cross to death, suffering,
to enable the father to be just and to justify the ungodly. I go to the grave, your scapegoat,
bearing your transgressions, like the scapegoat of old that
bore Israel's iniquities out in the wilderness. Our sins were
laid on Him, and He bore them away. I go and take your iniquities
with me, and I rise as your justifier. It's essential. I tell you the
truth. It's necessary that I go away.
I go to the Father as your mediator, as your advocate, to open for
you the way into the holiest. You may come boldly before a
throne not of judgment, but a throne of grace, and find mercy and
grace to help you in your need. The Son of Man must be lifted
up. I'm telling you the truth. It's absolutely expedient, essential,
and necessary that I do this. I go to prepare a place for you.
I go away. And he says, If I do not go away,
I'm telling you the truth now. For if I go not away, the Comforter
will not come unto you. Who is this? Well, back here
in chapter 14, verse 16, you know when he told them, I go
to prepare a place for you a little later in verse 16, he said, I
will pray the Father. And he'll give you another comforter.
And that word comforter means counselor, consoler, interpreter,
comforter, counselor. He'll teach you. He'll console
you. And he'll interpret. John Bunyan
talked about the interpreter's house, where Pilgrim sat and
listened. to him teach the scriptures,
the interpreter. And he said, I'll send you, he'll
give you another comforter, teacher, interpreter, counselor, consoler,
that he may abide with you forever. Even the spirit of truth, whom
the world cannot receive, because the world seeth him not, neither
knoweth him, but you know him. This Comforter, the Holy Spirit,
for He dwelleth with you and shall be in you. Look at verse
25 of that same chapter, 14. These things have I spoken unto
you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, the Interpreter,
the Consoler and Counselor, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father
will send in my name, He'll teach you all things and bring all
things to your remembrance. Whatsoever I've said to you,
He'll bring those things back to your remembrance. That's the
Holy Spirit. Now He says, go back to my text,
chapter 16. I'm telling you the truth. It's expedient for you that I
go away. I came from the Father, I go
back to the Father. For if I go not away, if I don't
go to the cross, to the grave, to the right hand of God, the
Comforter will not come. Well, there wouldn't be any use
for Him to come if Christ does not go to the cross. There'd
be no gospel to reveal. There'd be no righteousness to
give. There'd be no blood to sprinkle.
There'd be no washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost.
There'd be no elect to quicken. There'd be no promises to fulfill. There'd be no comfort for the
comforter to administer. There'd be no glory to bestow. For other foundation can no man
lay than that which is laid, Christ the Lord. There's none
other name unto heaven given among men, whereby we must be
saved, and I'm telling you the truth," he said. I'm telling you the truth. It's
necessary, it's expedient for you that I go to the cross, and
to the tomb, and from the tomb to the right hand of the Father.
For if I go not away, the Comforter will not come to you, but if
I go, I'll send him to you." And then look at the next thing,
verse 8. He said, I'll tell you the truth.
This is all part of the truth he's telling them. And when he
has come, he will reprove. That word is
convict and convince. When he has come, he will convince
the world Not everybody, but the world of believers, the world
of the elect, the world of the sheep. You see, the sheep are
lost. The elect are also blind and
deaf and cannot understand. They're
dead in trespasses and sins. But when he comes, he will convince
and convict the world of believers of sin. You see, before a man
comes to know the Savior, that man has got to learn he needs
a Savior. Before a man savingly embraces
Christ and believes on Christ, that man has got to be taught
and to realize that only Christ can help him. Only Christ can
lift him out of his misery. Only Christ can meet his need.
That there's no other mediator between God and men but the man
Christ Jesus. Before a man rests in the personal
work of Christ, he's got to learn something of the glorious person
and the redeeming work. And this is a powerful operation. This is a traumatic work of the
Holy Spirit called conviction. I go to prepare a place for you.
It's essential for you that I go. If I go not away, the Comforter
won't come. But if I go away, I'll send Him,
and He will cross your path, you believers, and He'll quicken
you. And He'll convince you of sin.
He'll convince you of sin. Your sins. There's plenty of
them. Your sin. Your sin and your sins. He'll convince you. He'll absolutely
convince you of your sins. And He'll convince you of righteousness.
But you don't have any of that. Of sins, we have plenty. Of righteousness,
we have none. And therefore, He'll convince
you of judgment which awaits those who have sins and no righteousness. He'll strip you. This Holy Spirit
will convince you and convict you. And this Holy Spirit will
reprove you of your sins and of your lack of righteousness
and of judgment that awaits because, you see, a man must be lost before
he's found. A man must be dead before he's
raised. A man must be naked before he's
clothed. A man must be humble before he's
exalted. If you miss this conviction,
you're going to miss repentance. And if you miss repentance, you're
going to miss faith. Because there's no faith without
repentance. There's no turning to the living
God unless we turn from our idols. No man can serve too much. And
if you miss faith, you're going to miss the object of faith,
Christ. And if you miss Christ, you'll perish. He said, if you
believe not that I'm He, you die in your sins. I tell you
the truth. It's expedient that I go away.
If I don't go away, He won't come. But if I go away, He'll
come, and He'll cross your path, and He'll convince you and convict
you of sin. Look at this. And when He's come,
and when He's come, He will. It's His work. It's not my work. It's His work. It's not your
work. It's His work. He's the only one that can strip
a sinner, lay bare a sinner's heart, Our weapons are not carnal
means and methods and entertainment, but they're mighty through God
to the pulling down of strongholds and refuges and exposing and
laying bare souls and hearts, piercing even to the dividing
asunder of bone and marrow. Only God can do that with His
Word. When He comes, He'll convince. He will convince. It's His work. And it's an effectual work. What
does He say? And when He's come, He'll try
His dead level best to show you your loss. No, He won't either. He'll do the best He can to convince
you of sin. No, He won't either. He will
convince you. He will. He will strip you. He will He that hath begun a
good work will complete it. And if he completes it, he will
begin it. And watch this. This conviction
of sin. Now, listen carefully to me.
And most everybody remembers when they stole that watermelon
and feel real bad about it. But that's not the issue between
you and God. Most of us worry about things that are not the
issues. We used to have Bible conferences here, and before
we bought this house back here, there was a lady that lived there
that had two apple trees in the yard. And my boys, and Drew Garner's
boys, and a few other preachers' boys used to go over there and
steal apples. Every June, they had a June apple. And that's
one of the things they liked to come to the Bible conference
for. I said, go out there and steal that lady's apple. I shook
the tray a time or two for him, too. But that ain't the issue. That's not the issue. This conviction
of sin has to do with a person. Has to do with a person. Let
me show you now. Let me tell you something. When
he's come, he'll convince this world of sin, of righteousness,
and of judgment, of sin, because they believe not on me. That's the issue between a sinner
and God. What he thinks of Christ. That's the issue. That's the
root of all sin. That's the granddaddy of all
sin. That's the chief offense between man and God. He was in the world, and the
world knew him not. He came into his own, his own
received him not. As many as received Him. That's
the difference. He's the difference. If you believe not that I am
He, you die in your sins. Israel could not enter in because
of unbelief. And that's where God's conviction,
mighty, powerful conviction and conversion takes place. in a man's soul and heart with
regard to the person and office and work and glory of the Son
of God." When that eunuch wanted to be
baptized, what was the question that Philip asked him? He said,
here's water, what does keep me from being baptized? He said,
if you believe with all your heart you may, what do you believe? That man said, I believe Jesus
Christ is the Son of God. That's the issue. Who is he? What did he do? Why did he do
it? Where is he now? He's going to convince you of
sin because you didn't believe on me. Now I do. He'll convince you of righteousness
Because I go to my Father at the cross, the Lord Jesus Christ,
among the words that He said were these, My God, why hast
Thou forsaken Me? My God. Not my Father. My God. There He hung between
heaven and earth, bearing our shame and our guilt, God deserted
him, forsook him because of these sins. But then, before he closed
his eyes in death, he said, My Father, into thy hands I commend
my spirit. This man, Jesus Christ, who was
bearing our shame and filth and guilt, is now going into the
presence of God with complete, perfect righteousness. And that's
the only way you and I can go into the presence of God, is
in Him. In Him. He is our righteousness.
Who shall ascend into the... Who shall stand in the presence
of God? Who shall ascend into His hill? He that hath a pure
heart and clean hands. And this man said, into thy hands,
I commend my spirit." And the Father said, come up here and
sit down at my right hand. Righteousness. I go to my Father,
and He is our righteousness. Oh, I look at the next one, and
of judgment. It won't convince us of judgment,
because the Prince of this world is judged. I tell you, when Satan
came to the first Adam, he fell. When Satan came to the second
Adam, he met the enemy and defeated him. If you'll turn to John chapter
12, let's look, hear what our Lord said about this prince of
the world. In John chapter 12, verse 31,
listen to it. He said, Now is the judgment
of this world. Now shall the prince of this
world be cast out. Now. And the eye, if I be lifted
up from the earth, will draw men unto me." Turn to John 14,
verse 30. Hereafter I will not talk much
with you, for the prince of this world cometh and hath nothing
in me." The Spirit of God comes and convinces us that we are
sinners because we have not believed God. God comes and convinces us that
Christ is our righteousness because the Father accepted Him. I go
to my Father and He accepted us in Christ. And the Spirit
of God comes and convinces us that there is no judgment in
Christ. No judgment. Because the Prince of this world
has been met and conquered and destroyed. And that's what Peter
preached at Pentecost. Turn over to Acts 2 and let me
show you that. In Acts chapter 2, this is the
exact thing that he preached at Pentecost. Of sin, because
they believe not on me. Of righteousness, I go to my
Father. Of judgment, because the prince
of this world is judged and Christ is the King. Look at Acts 2 verse
22, Peter at Pentecost. Now listen. Ye men of Israel,
hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man, approved
of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which
God did by him in the midst of you, as you yourselves also know. Him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken, and by wicked
hands have crucified and slain." That's what we did. Peter is
preaching this, convinced you of sin because you didn't believe
on Christ. Now believe on Him. Now watch,
of righteousness, look at verse 32. This Jesus hath God raised
up. God raised Him up. God raised this Jesus up. Well,
we are all witnesses. Therefore, being by the right
hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise
of the Holy Ghost, He has shed forth this which you now see
and hear. This is Christ we are talking about. He said, David
is not ascended into the heaven, but the Son of David has. And
David himself wrote, the Lord said to my Lord, sit thou on
my right hand, until I make thou foes, thou put'st to. He is at
the right hand of God, the man, Christ Jesus. Our righteousness. That's where he is. That's what
Peter told that crowd at Pentecost. Now listen, in verse 36, Therefore,
that all the house of Israel know that God hath made that
same Jesus, whom you crucified, Lord. He's my Lord. He's taken from me the captivity
of sin, delivered me from the bondage of Satan and sin, and
Jesus Christ is my Lord. And that matter is settled, absolutely
settled. All right, back to our text,
John 16. I'll tell you the truth. I go away. I go to prepare a place for you,
and I'll send the Holy Spirit. I'll tell you the truth. He'll
convince you. He'll convict you. You'll see
how that Christ is the fulfillment of all of these things. He put
away our sin with the sacrifice of Himself. Right hand of God,
He's our righteousness. And He reigns as our Lord. He
conquered Satan. crushed his power, put him away.
The kingdom is delivered into the hands of the conqueror, victorious
redeemer. Now then, I'll tell you the truth,
verse 12. I have yet many things to say
to you. He's talking to these disciples.
But you cannot bear them now. Now here's what he's saying.
He's saying that you're saved, you're redeemed, You're children
of God. I am and you are. But when a
person is truly redeemed and the Holy Spirit dwells in him,
that Holy Spirit performs an office and a work in him and
upon him, and he grows, and he grows. I have many things to
say to you. You can't bear them now. How
be it? Listen. When he, the Spirit of truth,
is come, He'll guide you into all truth. See what He's saying
here? Our Lord is speaking to His elect,
His disciples. He's telling them. They've been
with Him three years. And He's telling them when the
Holy Spirit comes, He's going to bring back to your mind the things
I've said to you. He's going to guide you into
all truth. He'll not speak of Himself. It won't originate with
Him. He'll say what the Father taught
Him to say. Whatsoever He shall hear, that
shall He speak. And He's going to show you, show
you things to come. And He's not talking about showing
you who the horse is and the revelation and who the beast
is and all this sort of thing. He's going to show you. He's
going to take the things of mine and show you. He's going to show
you those things that Paul wrote about in 1 Corinthians 2 when
he said, "...I had not seen, and the ear had not heard, neither
had it entered the heart of man the things that the Lord has
prepared for them that love him." But He's revealed them unto us
by Spirit. That's the things He's going
to show you. That's the things He'll show you. Things to come. Justification, sanctification,
redemption, glory, resurrection. The things of Christ. He'll show
you things that don't come. He'll glorify me. He shall receive
of mine and show it to you. You're going to learn from the
Holy Spirit. He's going to be your interpreter, your counselor,
your teacher. Christ is not speaking here of
any new doctrines that the Holy Spirit is going to teach them.
Turn back to John 15. John 15, verse 15. That's right
across the page, isn't it? Listen, listen to this. In John
15, 50, he just told them a little while before, "...henceforth
I call you not servants. For the servant knoweth not what
his Lord doeth. For I have called you friends.
For all things I have heard of my Father I have made known to
you." I've made known to you. Look
at John 17, what he said in that high priestly prayer. Now watch
this. In John 17, verse 6, I have manifested your name already
to the men you gave me out of this world. Thine they were,
thou gavest them me, and they have kept thy word. Now they
have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee,
and I have given them your words which thou gavest me. And they
have received them, and they know surely I came out from thee,
and they have believed that thou didst send me. Our Lord is saying this to His
disciples here in telling you the truth in John 16. He said,
I have many things to say to you. You can't bear them now. He's not speaking about a new
truth. He's speaking of things concerning Himself and His church
and His kingdom and His glory and our hope. These things are
going to be with the Holy Spirit clarified. amplified and experienced. That's right. And Peter tells
us that over here in 2 Peter. Turn over there. 2 Peter chapter
1. This is so important here. I've
made a statement here that my message has not changed one iota
in 46 years. I'm preaching the same gospel. I learned that gospel in 1950. It was settled and confirmed
in my heart. And I haven't changed that message
when I owed it. But there's a lot of things about
me God's changed. There's a deeper understanding,
a deeper experience, a stronger faith. I know more of Him. Things I couldn't grasp then,
had to grow into these things. The Holy Spirit taught these
things as the years went by, and as I grew in grace and you
in the knowledge of Christ, we learned these things. And that's
what He's saying to Peter there and to the rest of them. He says,
I gave you the Word of God. He said, Father, I've given them
the Word of God, and they've received it, and they know who
I am, know who you are, know what I'm doing. But they've got
to grow. They've got to grow. He said
to Peter one day, Peter, when you're converted, that didn't
mean when he saved, he said when you're changed. When you're changed,
when you're converted, when you get straightened out. Well, the same truth that he
saved him will straighten him out. You see what I'm saying?
Not a new truth. It's learning the depth. and
the length and the breadth and the width of the old train."
See what I'm saying? And I watched Peter. Watch him
here in 2 Peter 1. 2 Peter 1, verse 4, "...whereby
are given to us exceeding great and precious promises, that by
these promises ye might be partakers of the divine nature." having
escaped the corruption that's in the world through lust. And
besides this, giving all diligence, add to your faith. You mean something
can be added to faith? Oh, bless your heart, ever grace
grows. That's right, grows. Children grow. God's children
grow. Add to your faith. Virtue. What is that word? That's excellence
in character. in conduct. That's the fruit
of the Spirit. Virtue. And add to your virtue
knowledge. What's that? That's wisdom. Understanding. Intelligence in the scriptures,
in the words. Study to show yourself approved
unto God. Add to your knowledge temperance.
What's that? Self-control. The old man brought
in the subjection. Daily crucify. Control the old
man, this old nature. Add to your self-control are
your temperance. Add to that patience, that steadfastness,
perseverance. Learn to wait on God. Learn to
stand, and having done all, stand. And add to your patience godliness. Be not conformed to this world,
but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind. Godliness,
piety in conversation, in character, godliness. And add to your godliness,
kindness, brotherly kindness. A world of harshness we're living
in, we need some gentleness and kindness. a word of encouragement. Be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted,
and add to your brotherly kindness just plain old love for one another. Brotherly love, love as I've
loved you. And if these things be in you,
they're not in you the day you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
Oh, Peter, he believed on Christ. He said, Lord, you know everything.
You know I love you. Boy, he was a rough diamond, wasn't
he? He needs some polishing. I've got some things to say to
you, Peter. But there's no way in the world
I can tell you now what you're going to know in ten years. A lot of times people make professions
of faith and they say, Pastor, I want to meet with you and get
all this straightened out. Oh, my. Well, I tell him this. I say, why don't you just sit
there and let's read the Word and let God straighten it out,
you know, in His own time. And it takes a long time. It
takes a lifetime. Two lifetimes. Maybe three or
four. But that's what he's saying over
there. He's, I tell you the truth. I'm going. He's coming. He's going to strip and cut and
convict and convince. And then he's going to start
teaching you, molding you, putting you in the furnace and standing
there while you burn. And then he'll pull that gold
out. He's going to do it. And if these
things be in you, look at Peter in verse 8, and abound. If they're in you and they abound,
they'll make you that you won't be barren and unfruitful in the
knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we've sure been like that
a whole lot, haven't we? What a bare fruit. And like convicting of sin, He'll
do this. I said a while ago, this thing
of conviction of sin is His work. The Spirit, He will convince
you of sin and of righteousness and judgment. And then He says,
I've got so many things to teach you and show you and for you
to experience. It's not new doctrines and new gospels. It's the same
gospel. But He takes that gospel and makes you experience it along
the road. Take one step and go back two
sometimes. But that's all in God's good
purpose and plans. And watch verse 13, let me read
to it. He says, "...He, the Spirit of
truth, guide you. He won't drive you. He'll guide
you. In two, truth. And He'll not speak of Himself.
He's like the Master. His words come from the Father,
the Father and the Son. They can't be separated. Whatsoever
He hear, naturally speak, and He'll show you things to come. Those things that the natural
man does not see. And what's this? He'll glorify
Me. Not the gifts. Not the miracles, not the church,
not the preacher, not himself. He'll glorify me, for he shall
receive of mine and show it to you. That's just the work of
the Spirit, is to glorify Christ and bring you to grow in grace
and the knowledge of Christ. And all things that the Father
hath of mine, Christ said, therefore said I, he'll take of mine and
show it to you. Everything in heaven and earth
belongs to Christ, in redemption belongs to Christ, in the future
belongs to Christ. I tell you the truth. I tell
you the truth. And then verse 16, one more and
I'll close. And he says, a little while and
you'll not see me, and again a little while and you shall
see me. Because I go to the Father. What's
He talking about there? Well, He's going to die on the
cross and be buried. You see me, a
little while you're not going to see me. I'm gone. He's dead. But He rises. Then you're going
to see me again. And I died and He put me in a
grave And the world rejoiced. We flew with that Jesus. Those
Pharisees were happy. He's dead! He is dead! The Pharisees were happy, and
the disciples were brokenhearted. But He said, I'll be back. And
then your sorrow will be turned to joy. Read it. Let me show
you. Then said some of the disciples, verse 17, among them, said, What
is this that he saith to us, A little while ye shall not see
me, and again a little while ye shall see me? And because
I go to the Father, that's why. They said, Therefore what is
this that he saith a little while? We cannot tell what he saith.
And Jesus knew what they were desirous to ask him. And he said
to them, Do you inquire among yourselves of that? I said, A
little while, and you shall not see me? And again a little while,
you shall see me? Verily I say unto you, You'll
weep. and you'll lament, and the world will rejoice. You shall
be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned to joy." A woman, when she's in travail,
bearing a child, she has sorrow because her hour has come. But
as soon as she's delivered of that child, she remembers no
more the anguish for joy that a man is born into the world.
And you now therefore have sorrow, but I see you again, and your
heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man take it from you."
Now that applies to us too. And Peter wrote about that in
2 Peter 3, and we'll look over there and read it in closing. I'm saying that applies right
now. The Lord is coming back. He went away, but He's coming
back. He went to the Father. It says
in 2 Peter 3, verse 3, and the world is mocking. The world,
in verse 3 of 2 Peter 3, knowing this first, there shall come
in the last days scoffers walking after their own lusts, and saying,
where is the promise of His coming? Where is your Jesus? Where is
your God? Where are the promises fulfilled? Since the Father fell asleep,
everything continues as it was from the creation, the beginning
of the creation. Where is this kingdom that you
are preaching about? The world is rushing on its mad
way of laughter and mocking and scoffing, and we spend a lot
of time in sorrow and unhappiness and frustration. disappointments. And we're so few. Isaiah said, who believes my
report? To whom his arm of the Lord revealed. Well, look at
verse 13 of this 2 Peter 3. Nevertheless, we, according to
his promise, look for a new heaven and a new earth, wherein dwelleth
righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that
you look for such things, be diligent, that you may be found
of him in peace, without spot, and blameless. And account that
the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation, even as our beloved
Paul, also according to the wisdom given unto him, hath written
unto you." He's coming back. And I'll tell you then, like
he said to these disciples, then, He said, you sorrow now, but
I'll see you again. And your heart will rejoice.
And when that day comes, that joy no man take from you. I'll tell you the truth.