[2026. 8. 23.] When the Holy Spirit Comes (John 16:1–15)

[2026. 8. 23.] When the Holy Spirit Comes (John 16:1–15)
Sermon by Rev. Jinkook (Danny) Sohn (Hope of Heaven Baptist Chuch) 

 

2026. 8. 23. 주일예배 설교- 요한복음 강해 45
본문: 요한복음 16:1–15
제목: 성령이 오시면

설교자: 손진국 목사 (하늘소망교회)

 

Right before Jesus carried the cross, He spoke extremely important words to His disciples. The disciples had followed Jesus and witnessed His power. They saw the sick healed, they saw Lazarus raised from the dead, and they saw five loaves and two fish feed five thousand people. As long as Jesus was with them, everything felt secure.

But now Jesus tells them that He is leaving. Hearing that Jesus would depart must have filled the disciples with great fear and worry. Knowing their hearts, Jesus says something unexpected: that His departure would actually be better for them. The reason is that the Holy Spirit would come.

[Verse 7] But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.

Through today’s passage, Jesus teaches us what the Holy Spirit does when He comes among us. Let us consider this together.

 

1. He keeps our faith in the midst of suffering.

Jesus first spoke to His disciples about suffering.

[Verse 1] All this I have told you so that you will not fall away.

Here, “fall away” does not mean simply feeling hurt. It means stumbling in faith and turning away from Jesus. We see people around us who once believed in Jesus and lived faithfully, but at some point stopped attending church and even said they could no longer believe in Jesus. They have fallen away.

Jesus knew that soon the disciples would face tremendous shock. He would be arrested. He would be crucified. The disciples would scatter. And they would be persecuted simply for believing in Jesus.

When such things happened, the disciples would think, “Why is this happening even though we believed in Jesus?” To this question, Jesus speaks beforehand: “I am telling you this so that you will not fall away.”

Beloved saints, remember that the life of faith does not mean a life without suffering. We often think, “If I believe in God well, shouldn’t difficulties disappear?” But Jesus never said that. Instead, He told us in advance that suffering can come even to those who believe.

Therefore, when suffering comes, we do not need to think, “Has God abandoned me?” Nor do we need to think, “Is my faith wrong?” What matters is not losing faith in the midst of suffering.

Look at Peter. Peter believed he loved Jesus more than anyone. He said, [Matthew 26:33] Even if all fall away on account of You, I never will. But when Jesus was arrested, Peter denied Him three times. Peter, who trusted in his own faith, collapsed.

But when the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost, Peter changed. He boldly proclaimed Jesus even before those who killed Him.

[Acts 4:20] As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.

This was not the same Peter who feared being mocked, beaten, or arrested like Jesus. He was bold.

What changed Peter? Was it a change in personality? No. It was because the Holy Spirit came upon him.

The Holy Spirit turns fearful people into bold witnesses. He leads those who once lived for worldly success to lay those things down and live the life God desires. The Holy Spirit enables us to live by faith.

Corrie ten Boom, who hid Jews from Nazi persecution during World War II, was arrested and taken to a concentration camp, where she endured unimaginable suffering. Yet she held tightly to God. Her autobiography The Hiding Place records the grace she experienced in the midst of the Nazi camp. She later confessed:

“There is no pit so deep, that God is not deeper still.”

Yes. No matter how deep our suffering is, it cannot be deeper than God’s grace. No matter how great our despair is, it cannot be greater than the Holy Spirit’s power to sustain us.

[Application] Is there an area where suffering is causing me to doubt God or drift from faith? Am I only praying for solutions, or am I praying for the Holy Spirit to keep my faith in this suffering?

 

2. He convicts of sin, righteousness, and judgment, leading us to repentance.

Jesus says that when the Holy Spirit comes, He will convict the world.

[Verse 8] When He comes, He will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment.

A major work of the Holy Spirit is to reveal sin.

But in today’s passage, Jesus defines sin very clearly. We usually think of sin as stealing, harming others, or committing fraud. Those are sins. But Jesus reveals the most fundamental sin:

[Verse 9] About sin, because people do not believe in Me.

The root of sin is rejecting Jesus.

When the Holy Spirit comes, something changes within us. What is it? We begin to see ourselves. What do we see? Our sin.

When the Holy Spirit is not working, we easily see others’ faults: “Why is that person like that? It’s their fault. They’re the problem. Because of them, things don’t work.”

But when the Holy Spirit shines into our hearts, we begin to see something else: our pride, our greed, our hatred, our unforgiveness, our desire for recognition, our selfishness.

And before God we confess, “Lord, I was wrong.”

This is the work of the Holy Spirit. He does not reveal sin to condemn us. His purpose is not to drive us into despair. He reveals sin so that we may repent and return to Jesus.

Seeing our sin is painful, but it is grace. Because we must know our sin in order to repent. We must know our wounds to be healed. We must know our sickness to be treated. Likewise, we must know our sin to cling to the grace of the cross.

Jesus also speaks about righteousness and judgment.

First, righteousness:

[Verse 10] About righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see Me no longer.

What does this mean? Jesus died on the cross. The world judged Him as a failure and a criminal. But God raised Him from the dead and brought Him to the heavenly throne. Because of Jesus’ resurrection and ascension, the world no longer sees Him—but this proves that God declared Jesus righteous.

Jesus’ resurrection and ascension are God’s declaration that Jesus is perfect righteousness.

Then judgment:

[Verse 11] About judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

Who is the “prince of this world”? Satan, who opposes God and rules the world. Jesus says Satan “now stands condemned.” When? At Jesus’ death and resurrection. The verb “stands condemned” is in the perfect tense—meaning judgment is not future but already completed. Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, Satan’s judgment is finished. The cross looked like Jesus’ defeat, but it was Satan’s defeat. And to a world that thinks there is no judgment, the Holy Spirit reveals that God’s judgment is real.

The Holy Spirit reveals who Jesus is, what sin truly is, and who ultimately wins.

John Newton, who participated in the slave trade in his youth, repented deeply after encountering the gospel. He wrote the hymn Amazing Grace, confessing:

“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.”

He could praise God’s grace so deeply because he knew his sin.

If we think our sin is small, grace will seem small. But when we realize how great our sin is, we also realize how amazing the grace of the cross is.

The Holy Spirit shows us our sin, but He also turns our eyes to Jesus’ cross.

[Application] What sin or wrong attitude has the Holy Spirit recently revealed in my heart? As I repent, what action must I change today?

 

3. He leads us to know Jesus more deeply.

Jesus describes the work of the Holy Spirit:

[Verse 13] But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth…

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth. Therefore, His guidance never leads us away from God’s truth. Instead, He leads us deeper into truth.

And in verse 14, Jesus clearly states the purpose of the Holy Spirit:

[Verse 14] He will glorify Me because it is from Me that He will receive what He will make known to you.

One of the Holy Spirit’s most important works is to reveal Jesus. When the Holy Spirit works, Jesus becomes greater in our eyes. The cross becomes more precious. Jesus’ words become more important. Jesus’ love becomes deeper.

Ultimately, being filled with the Holy Spirit means becoming more like Jesus. We must not think of the fullness of the Spirit merely as an emotional or supernatural experience. When the Holy Spirit works, our lives change. We forgive those we once hated. The proud become humble. The self-centered begin to serve others. The easily angered become gentle. The impatient become patient.

Why? Because the Holy Spirit forms the character of Jesus within us.

[Galatians 5:22–23] But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

When the Holy Spirit works within us, the fruit of Christlikeness appears.

The Holy Spirit’s guidance comes through the Word. He leads us into truth. Therefore, if we desire His guidance, we must stay close to God’s Word.

As we read Scripture, we should pray, “Holy Spirit, through this Word, help me understand what God is saying today.” And we must practice what we understand. The Holy Spirit does not merely give us information—He enables us to live out the Word.

Nick Vujicic was born without arms or legs. As a child, he believed his life had no purpose and experienced deep despair. But after encountering God and understanding the gospel, his perspective changed.

In his book Life Without Limits, he describes how he discovered purpose in God and how God used his life to bring hope to others.

The important thing is that his environment did not change first—his heart and perspective changed. When the Holy Spirit leads us into truth, our circumstances may not change immediately. But the way we see our circumstances changes.

For example, when something happens, instead of asking, “Why is this happening to me?” we begin asking, “Lord, what are You saying to me through this situation?”

Instead of asking, “Why did God allow this?” we begin asking, “How can I reveal Jesus in this situation?”

This is how the Holy Spirit leads us into truth.

[Application] How closely am I staying to God’s Word in order to receive the Spirit’s guidance? What part of my life needs to be transformed into the character of Jesus?

Let us summarize. Beloved saints, Jesus told His disciples before the cross, “You will face difficulties.” But He did not end there. “The Advocate will come.” Jesus left, but He did not abandon His disciples like orphans—He sent the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit still works among us today.

Therefore, beloved saints of Heaven Hope Church, when problems arise, rely on the Holy Spirit. When sin is revealed, do not reject His conviction—repent. When you do not know how to move forward, wait for the Holy Spirit to guide you through the Word.

Above all, when the Holy Spirit works within us, let Jesus become greater. The purpose of the Holy Spirit is not to make us famous or to display our abilities. It is to reveal the glory of Jesus.

May the Holy Spirit work fully within us so that we do not fall away in suffering, so that we recognize our sin and repent daily, and so that we walk in truth and become more like Jesus. I bless you in the name of the Lord.

 

 

하늘소망교회(담임 손진국 목사)는 뉴질랜드 오클랜드 북부 실버데일에 세워진 한인교회로 '하나님의 마음으로 사람을 살리는 교회'입니다.

Hope of Heaven Baptist Church (Senior Pastor: Rev. Jinkook Sohn) is a Korean church established in Silverdale, Auckland, New Zealand. It is a church that saves people with the heart of God.