Charles Spurgeon Commentary John 16:7

"Nevertheless I tell you the truth: It is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I go, I will send him unto you." — John 16:7 (ASV)

Nevertheless I tell you the truth: It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

It is a better thing for us in this world to have the Holy Spirit in us than to have the corporeal presence of Christ with us. We are better helped by the Holy Spirit than we should have been if Jesus had remained on earth.

Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away:

It is for your profit to lose my personal presence, precious as that has been to you.

For if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

The word "Comforter" might just as well have been translated "Advocate." The Holy Spirit is that Divine Advocate who pleads the cause of God in us, and for us, and so comforts us. It is He who is now with Us. If Jesus Christ were still on earth in the flesh, he could only be in one place at one time. If he were in this assembly, he could not also be in Jerusalem or in New York; but the Comforter can be in all the gatherings of the Lord's people, and with each individual believer, the wide world over.

Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away.

"It is better for you that I should be absent than that I should be present." Their Lord was their joy, their Leader, their Teacher, their Comforter. He is going away, and he tells them that his absence will be a gain to them. "It is expedient for you that I go away."

For if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

Now, it is better for us to have the Comforter than to have Christ here in bodily presence; for if Christ were here tonight, in this Tabernacle, where could we put him so as to be equally near each one of us? I should certainly want him up here on the platform; and you, up there in the top gallery, would say, "Well, we are a long way off; why should he not come up here?" You see, if it is bodily presence that is enjoyed, some must be near, and some must be far off; but now that Christ has gone up to heaven, his Spirit is here.

Where is that Spirit? On the platform, I hope, and everywhere else.

Any of you who desire it may have the Holy Spirit's presence. The Lord says, I will put my Spirit within you. Better than the bodily presence of Christ is the real, though spiritual, presence of the Holy Ghost.

Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away:

"It is not merely for my own glory that I am going away, but my absence from you will be better for you than my continued bodily presence with you could possibly be."

For if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

"And he will be of more service to you than I could be even if I were to remain with you." The presence of the Spirit of God in the Church is better for the present dispensation than even the bodily presence of Christ would be.

Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

And the Comforter is better for us than the personal presence of Christ. We do not always think so; but it is true. It is better for the Church to have the Holy Spirit in the midst of her, than for Christ to be here in the bodily presence on the earth.