The Convicting Work of the Holy Spirit
John 16:1-11
Last week we looked at Jesus’ teaching that He is the TRUE Vine, the Israel of God, and that believers are the branches, pruned by God in order to produce good and Godly spiritual fruit. Today we continue to walk with Jesus from the upper room to the cross, according to God’s Word recorded in the Good News from John:
John 15: 23 He who hates me hates my Father as well. (YOU cannot separate the Son from the Father: if you hate the one, you hate the other.) 24 If I had not done among them what no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen these miracles, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. 25 But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: 'They hated me without reason.' 26 "When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. 27 And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.”
I.The Holy Spirit’s work is a ministry of TESTIMONY.
The Spirit of God, the Counselor, the Helper (Par-ak-letos), would be sent from Father God, and would proclaim the testimony of Jesus the Son to the world, through the witness of the believer. “Testimony” or “testify”, (Martureo) is used 71 times in the NT, 31 of those times in John. The Holy Spirit’s work is a ministry of TESTIMONY. The Holy Spirit is the genuine, authentic, reliable witness of God because he has been with the Father and Son for all eternity; He testifies to the deity, Person and Truth of Jesus Christ; those who have met Jesus will do the same: They will be reliable true witnesses to the testimony of the Person and Power of Jesus Christ, and of the deity of the Spirit and the Father.
John 16:1: "All this I have told you so that you will not go astray. (Skandalizo-comes from the word for the stick that held up a trap-so you won’t FALL AWAY- instead, you will be faithful and stay attached to the VINE… There are so many “traps” in which people become ensnared, and the NT is FULL of warnings to BE CAREFUL. Test the Spirits. Watch out! Don’t become entrapped and entangled in a different Gospel. Satan majors in deception and trickery, and yet people are enticed so easily. The WAY of the CROSS and following Jesus IS NOT EASY… LISTEN:)
2 They will put you out of the synagogue; (“Watch out: you’re gonna get “UNsynagogued“!) in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God.(THEY KILLED THE SON OF God and thought they were offering a service to God! Is it any wonder that people still do the same thing today. Remember when we did our Revelation study, in Revelation 12 we saw that Satan pulled out all the stops to try and ensnare the Messiah in His 33 years on earth and He couldn't get at Christ, so he took off after everybody that had anything to do with Jesus Christ. He’s still doing that so be prepared! Mention the name of Jesus and associate Him with His Person and Work and you’ll see how quickly you can make SOME people angry. WHY?)
3 They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me. 4 I have told you this, so that when the time comes you will remember that I WARNED you. I did not tell you this at first because I was with you.
5 "Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, 'Where are you going?' (They HAD asked this question in John 13 (the Cross) and 14 (the Way to the Father) and Jesus answered it in part as far as the PLACE: now He answers to the Purpose of the Holy Spirit.) 6 Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. 7 But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor (Comforter, Helper) will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.” (The Fruit of Christ’s life, death, resurrection, and ascension is the Holy Spirit of God.)
II. The Holy Spirit’s work is a ministry of power and COMFORT.
Jesus says: Here is the Work of the Holy Spirit, to walk beside you all the way, to be your helper after I am gone: The Holy Spirit’s work is a ministry of Power and COMFORT to believers, to those who remain in the Vine. “I won’t be here”, Jesus says, “but after I go back to my HEAVENLY Home, I’ll still be with you in the Person and Power of the Holy Spirit, living within you. I'm going to give you the Comforter and He'll energize you and empower you even though you are going to be rejected, defamed, persecuted, and even killed. Be aware and encouraged ahead of time. I will be with you in the Divine Almighty presence and power of the Holy Spirit of the Living God.” (Remember from our study of the Holy Spirit, that the Spirit is co-equal with the Father, co-equal with the Son, eternal God in every way but different in function! The SPIRIT can be everywhere at the same time; Jesus’ earthly presence was limited in time and space.)
Jesus did not want them to become disheartened, discouraged, disillusioned, or dismayed. He did not want them to fear…instead He wanted them to stay attached to the Life they had found in the TRUE VINE, with the hope of the HOLY Spirit after Jesus went back to the Father. Yet, when they came under attack, what did they do initially? Without the Spirit they got caught in denial and fear, and the sheep scattered without a shepherd.
The same thing happens to us: we run into problems and immediately we're afraid...we begin to doubt, even our salvation sometime. We fall into sin. We stumble. Why? Because we refuse to submit our personal wills to the will of God and the power and purpose of the Holy Spirit. We quench the Spirit; Staying in the vine, means we have life IN and FROM the vine, so we can LIVE in the Power and Strength of THE VINE. There is life and power in the Holy Spirit, but not in yourself: APART FROM ME you can do nothing.
III. The Holy Spirit’s Work is a ministry of Conviction.
Look at verse 8: When He (The Holy Spirit) comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; 10 in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11 and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.”
You see clearly the connection between the Father and the Son and the power of the Spirit in Salvation: The Holy Spirit’s Work is a ministry of Conviction. The miracles which Jesus performed did not persuade people of their sin: Eyes they had but they could not see. His Words fell on so many deaf ears because without the conviction of the Holy Spirit, there is no heart-change, no repentance, no life in the VINE. Ezekiel 36: “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.”
The Holy Spirit works to change men's hearts. He works to reverse the sin problem because He convicts people of their personal sin. Sin misses the mark of God’s intention for man. We have all violated God’s purpose for man. The Holy Spirit brings people to an inward transformation, beginning with the conviction that we have sinned against Holy God.
Verse 8 explains it: “in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me.” The word “sin” is singular in the text and the one sin that will send anyone to hell is UNBELIEF, the rejection of Jesus as Savior and Lord. All other sins are forgivable. And Jesus says once I've accomplished My work and I've died and I've risen again, I'm going back and the Spirit's going to come and He's going to begin to move through the world to convict men that I AM who I claim to be and He will show them that salvation is only in Me. Every person will either be convinced of their sin before a Holy God or convicted and condemned BY THEIR SIN. When the Spirit convicts of sin and unbelief, sinners realize their need for a Savior and without HIM, they will die in their own UNrighteousness.
Secondly, when the Holy Spirit would come, He would convict the world of guilt in regard to righteousness. Righteousness is HOLINESS (or WHOLEness). Apart from the Lord Jesus Christ we do not have a DROP of righteousness or holiness; that’s because you are either RIGHTEOUS or you ARE NOT. Everyone is conceived in SIN (Ps. 51:5: Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.) and so you NEVER have the slightest chance of being righteous in and of yourself. Sin hates righteousness, imperfection hates perfection, satanic things hate Godly things. But God so loved the world, that He sent Jesus to die, that whoever BELIEVES should not perish, but have forgiveness, and eternal life. God doesn’t take out His hatred upon sin by retaliation, but in offering redemption in the righteousness of Christ ALONE, the Righteous ONE. He gives Himself to pay the substitutionary price.
The Holy Spirit convinces the heart of unbelief that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, the Righteous One. His enemies accused him of being an ally of satan, but Jesus proved to be a righteous man, not a deceiver: The proof of Jesus’ righteousness is that Jesus returned to the right hand of God the Father! The HOLY God would never set a deceiver at His right hand! After His crucifixion, Jesus would no longer reveal himself as servant but as Risen and Ascended SAVIOR. The Holy Spirit not only shows us how bad we are, but He shows us how good Christ is! Praise His Holy Name. "He who knew no sin was made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." 2 Corinthians 5:21
So the Spirit convinces sinners of their extreme need for a Savior and then convicts them and then provides the righteousness of God in and through the Lord Jesus CHRIST. The ministry of the Holy Spirit in the world, is to bring men to the righteousness that is found in Jesus Christ. That is why I am calling us to a prayer fast: Lord God, through your Spirit and our very weak efforts to bring the Gospel, PLEASE break into people’s hearts and bring people to the Person and Work of our Lord Jesus as only you can do and as you have done in us. Show them the glory of THE SAVIOR.
Lastly, the Spirit convicts of JUDGMENT. Starting with the word “Counselor” in John 15:26, Jesus uses terms that are associated with legality. They are all legal terms: SIN means you miss the perfect mark of God’s law; Righteousness has to do with being innocent or guiltless; The word for JUDGMENT is associated with the exercise of justice or the proceedings and proclamation of the proceedings of A TRIAL.
There is a judgment day coming where everyone will give an account. There is a day when Jesus will sit as judge. Unbelievers will be judged for their unbelief, for refusing to believe in the testimony of the Spirit concerning Jesus the Savior, but that is not what Jesus is talking about here. He says: “the prince of this world (SATAN) now stands condemned." At the cross, Satan would be convicted and judged. Satan is slain at the Cross!
So what IS Jesus talking about here for believers? The word we would use to describe it is "liberty." The thing the world will learn by watching Christians is that HERE are people who have been set free from satan and the bondage of sin and of death by the power of the Spirit and the Living Word. The world will see what is means to be changed from the inside out and to live as Sons of the Living God- no longer bound by sin, but set free through the power of the Cross. We are set free to serve the living God.
Romans 8:1 testifies that “There is therefore NOW no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.” The Apostle Peter later put it this way, "Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a pretext for evil." (1 Peter 2:16) The Lord Jesus has come into our lives and into our very hearts in order to DIE in order to set us free from all the bondage of the past, and to empower us to live for Him, now and forever, to REMAIN IN CHRIST, sins forgiven, trusting in HIS Righteousness alone. And so we come to the table of the LORD FORGIVEN and set free! If anyone is in Christ Jesus, He is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold the new has come!
Outline:
I. The Holy Spirit’s Work is a ministry of Testimony. (John 15:18-27) The Spirit of God, the Counselor, the Helper (Par-ak-letos), would be sent from Father God, and would proclaim the true testimony of Jesus the Son to the world, through the witness of the believer.
II. The Holy Spirit’s Work is a ministry of Comfort and Power.
III. The Holy Spirit’s Work is a ministry of Conviction.
1. Convicts of SIN
2. Convicts of RIGHTEOUSNESS
3. Convicts of JUDGMENT.
Mark 16:16 "He that believeth not is damned."
