John 16:8

8. When he is come This gift is not a mere fluid or emanation shed off from the divine essence or person; it is a He, the essence or person himself. It is not an influence shed from the Spirit, but it is the influencing Spirit. It is not a vapour, but a living Being and Person. The qualities, actions, efficiencies of a living agent are, through the whole passage, ascribed to this Comforter. There is no alternative left but either to pervert the passage, or to acknowledge herein the presence of the third person of the adorable Trinity.

Will reprove Will demonstrate, (so the word signifies,) so that the conscience and mind cannot but more or less clearly perceive the truth. By this Spirit’s power responsibility is made possible. The inability, natural to the human heart, either to perceive or obey divine truth, is more or less dissipated. The Spirit shows to the soul the things of Christ; salvation is brought within its reach, and condemnation for rejection becomes just.

The world The world viewed as apart from the redemptive scheme; the race as it is left in Adam without Christ. This is a fallen world, and it is the purchased Spirit that comes to reconstruct it. Over this world a prince (John 16:11) has usurped a dark despotic rule, and the aim of Father, Son, and Spirit is that he be judged, cast out, (John 16:31,) and finally sent to the bottomless pit. This, however, is not to be done by immediate force, but by the conviction which the Holy Spirit may work by his gentle dealings with the free volitional spirits of men.

Sin… righteousness… judgment These are the three great topics presented by the Holy Spirit to the human conscience and intellect.

Sin, from rejection of Christ; righteousness, through the ever-living intercession of Christ; judgment upon persistent sin, executed by Christ.