At the end of His life, Jesus said something astounding. He was speaking with His disciples on the night that He was betrayed, and He said, “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away” (John 16:7). Can you imagine Jesus saying that? An advantage for Jesus to leave. Really? What in the world could be better than having Jesus in His first coming? Jesus answers this: “for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you” (John 16:7). So what is more advantageous for the disciples of Jesus than having Him in the flesh? Having the Spirit of God to live inside us! Jesus knew that without the indwelling of the Spirit, we would be completely incapable of living the Christian life. With this as a backdrop, I want to quickly highlight four things that we cannot do without the help of the Holy Spirit.
We Cannot Read the Scripture
“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (John 14:26). Anyone who can read can read the Bible, but to read God’s word effectively, we must have the Spirit of God to teach us and bring all things to our remembrance. Jesus says later that, “when the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth” (John 16:13). We need God’s Spirit to guide us into the truth, God’s word. Without the Spirit searching the deep things of God (1 Cor 2:10-12), we are hopeless to understand.
We Cannot Evangelize
“But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning” (John 15:26-27). Do you see that? Jesus says that the Spirit of truth bears witness about Christ, and following that, His disciples will also bear witness. It is the Spirit who convicts the world of sin, and righteousness, and judgement (John 16:8), and it is the disciples who need to be filled with power from on high to be witnesses to the end of the earth (Acts 1:8). Apart from the witness of the Spirit we can never effectively share Christ.
We Cannot Glorify God
“He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you” (John 16:14). What is our created purpose? It is to glorify God (Isa 43:7)! And this is the work of the Spirit. The Spirit is the One who glorifies Christ. Without the Spirit we are unable to fulfill our most basic created purpose.
We Cannot Do Anything
“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). Ok, this might be cheating, but really, we cannot do anything apart from the Spirit of Christ dwelling in us. We cannot produce holiness (Gal 5:22-25). We cannot pray (Rom 8:26-27). We cannot be born again (Titus 3:5). In other words, anything I hope to accomplish for God must be in and through the power of the Holy Spirit.
And what a glorious reality that Christ did go away, and He did send the Helper. Praise God that He has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts to cry, “Abba, Father” (Gal 4:6). Therefore brothers and sisters, let’s walk by the Spirit and not by the flesh (Gal 5:16). Let’s rejoice that He did not leave us as orphans. Let’s be humbled and encouraged to walk more faithfully with God as He empowers us by His Spirit.
Jacob Crouch 2025