OPEN: A woman was taking her mother for a drive, and whenever she went over the speed limit… her mother would give her a hard time. Well. she dismissed her mother’s advice; but it wasn’t long before a State Trooper pulled her over and gave her a ticket. As the policeman was walking away, the woman complained to her mother that the officer could have at least let her off with a warning. Her mother turned to her said “Honey, I gave you the warning. He gave you the ticket.” (Reader’s Digest September 1993)
In our text today, Jesus tells us that part of the Spirit’s job is to give us a warning! Jesus said “I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will CONVICT the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.” John 16:7-11
Now 1st, I want you to notice WHO Jesus said the Spirit was going to convict. WHO is the Holy Spirit supposed to convict? (the world). Jesus isn’t talking here about the Spirit convicting us – the followers of Christ. I mean, it’s not that the Spirit wouldn’t do that; it’s just that that’s not His focus. The Spirit was sent to convict THE WORLD - to convict the lost. He’s come to convince the world of their need for Jesus - their need to be saved!
Now… why is that important?
ILLUS: Well allow me to share an experience from when I first became a preacher, I was a ball of fire. I knew my Jesus, I knew my Bible, and I knew what was at stake. I was determined to SELL Jesus to anyone who would listen, and I was good at it! I was good at selling Jesus! But then, a few months into my ministry there, I worked for a long time with a young couple and I got them baptized into Christ (PAUSE) and I NEVER saw them again!!!
Now that really upset me. I’d worked hard to get those people to make a commitment to Jesus and they just walked away. That shouldn’t have happened! But then I read THIS passage out of John 16 “when (the Spirit) comes, he will CONVICT the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment” (John 16:8) and then I realized why I’d failed. It had been all about ME up that point. I was the one trying to the convicting. I didn’t need the Spirit’s help I could do it all by myself. I KNEW how to sell Jesus, I KNEW how to manipulate people. I mean, I’d been in sales for a couple years before entering the pulpit and I knew how it was done.
But once I realized what the Spirit’s job was, I changed. I began to relax. From that time on, I did the witnessing, and I let the Spirit do the convicting. Convicting the lost is not my job! My Job (and yours) is make sure that people know how important Jesus is to us. Our job is to make people jealous of what God has done for us and what He means to us.
Of course, the question is… how does that work? How do I let the Spirit do HIS thing, and then I do MINE? Well, let’s break it down.
1st Jesus said that The Spirit would convict the world concerning SIN. That means: I don’t have to lecture people about their sin - that’s the Spirit’s job.
ILLUS: The Barna Group (they do religious surveys) did an online survey back in April 2011, and they found that fully 1/3 of US adults felt “held back or defined by something in their past”. And about the same number of American adults reported dealing with unresolved emotional conflict or “conflict in life,”
In other words, a lot of people out there knew their SIN is damaging them. They didn’t need your help (or mine) to be told their lives are a mess - they already know that! What they don’t know is how to FIX that!
Now, if someone asks you: is homosexuality a sin? You can reply, “Yeah, the Bible says that.” Is living together without marriage a sin? “Yes.” Is cursing a sin? “Yes.” Is deceiving others and hurting others a sin? “Yes.” You can tell people stuff like that.
But it doesn’t do us any good to NAG non-Christians about their sins. That’s the Spirit’s job. God did not save us to play God and condemn others. Our job is to witness to them. not condemn them. Condemning folks is not your job! (or mine)
Think about it – if someone was constantly NAGGING you about something you’re doing (or not doing), how likely would you be to change? Well… you might change (at least while they’re around) just to get them off your back. But once they’re gone you’re not going to care because you didn’t WANT to change to begin with. And their NAGGING just made you want to dig in your heels.
ILLUS: It works that way on Facebook, MeWe, other social media too. A lot of Christians say mean and hateful things about politicians and other people they don’t agree with, and it makes them FEEL good that they’ve taken a stand for “righteousness.” I watch in wonder as - in their opposition to sin - they nag the world with hatred and spite to declare their disgust with such stupidity.
But God says that’s not going to work. God says “The wrath of man does NOT produce the righteousness of God.” (James 1:20) So, if you’re posting mean spirited stuff on FB, etc. STOP IT! You’re not doing God any favors. You are dragging the name of Jesus through the mud so you can feel better about yourself. It’s not your job to do this kind of thing - it’s the Spirit’s job to convict people of their sin… not yours.
2ndly – “the Spirit came to convict the world “concerning righteousness.” Now people sense the need for personal righteousness anyway. But their standard of righteousness is mostly based upon their own righteousness. And they hope they can get God’s approval through their “SELF-righteousness.”
But Christian morality is based upon Jesus’ righteousness. That’s why so many people oppose Christianity - because Christ’s standard of righteousness is so much higher than theirs. And that truth makes them uncomfortable. In John 3:20 we’re told: “everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.”
And so the Spirit’s job (and ours) is to point to Jesus’ righteousness (not our righteousness).
ILLUS: I once heard story of a preacher who advertised a special invitation to a meeting at the church building. He offered critics a chance to air their objections to Christianity. Apparently, over 1,200 people showed up and many of them were given a chance to come to the mic and voice their criticisms. One man said, “Church members are no better than anybody else.” Someone else said “The preachers are all crooked.” “The church is full of hypocrites.” “The church is only interested in your money.”
There were 27 objections to Christianity in all, and the preacher wrote them all down on a sheet of paper. When the critics were through, the preacher stood up and read the entire list… THEN he tossed the paper aside and said “Friends, you have objected to preachers, to church members, and to bad congregations. But you have not said one word against my Master! Let me tell you about my Jesus.”
AND THEN HE BEGAN TO PREACH ABOUT JESUS. He spoke of Christ’s love and His righteousness, and he spoke of Jesus being the Faultless Son of God. Then he offered the invitation… 49 people responded.
Now, what was that preacher’s point? His point was this: He was not going to focus on the righteousness of Christians or preachers or churches. Instead, he was determined to focus entirely on Jesus and His righteousness.
You see, that’s a major part of what the Spirit strives to do - to point people to the righteousness of Christ. Once people realize how righteous Jesus is, they realize THEY’RE not righteous enough, and they need to be forgiven of sins.
Lastly - The Spirit’s job is to convict the world that there’s a coming Judgment. There will come a time of reckoning. Thomas Jefferson – who was not a particularly Godly man, said: “I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, and that His justice cannot sleep forever.”
Even Thomas Jefferson felt the conviction of the spirit on this! Even he knew there was going to be a coming judgment!
Notice, the Spirit’s job is NOT to make people FEEL good about themselves. Instead, He focuses on convicting people - that they are 1) Sinners, 2) they’re not righteous, and 3) they will face judgment.
Now the question is this: where do we fit in?
Well, you and I are critical in this. Romans 10:14 “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching (someone telling them)?”
Now notice, Romans isn’t saying folks will believe because of the Spirit (that’s not His job). What it IS saying: sinners will believe because YOU told them! If you don’t tell people about Jesus Christ, they’re not likely to know about Jesus – and they will go to hell.
You see, we have a JOB to tell people about Jesus, but we’re not doing it alone. Jesus says the Spirit is our HELPER. The Spirit’s job is to HELP US by “setting people up” for you to witness to. The Spirit primes the pump for you and I to share about our Jesus!!!!!
Now, how does the Spirit do that?
1) Well, sometimes He convicts people… through Scripture. In Acts 8, God sent Philip to witness to a government official from Ethiopia (we know him as the Ethiopian Eunuch). As Philip approaches the Eunuch, guess what this guy is reading? SCRIPTURE. “Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’” Acts 8:30
And the Eunuch responds: “NO! How can I unless someone explains it to me?”
Now, do you think it was an accident the man’s reading the Bible? Of course not. The Spirit had already been at work in this man’s life setting the man up for Philip to witness to. And notice – Philip just asks “Do you understand it?” Now, Philip’s been to Sunday School! He knows how to answer the man’s question and he sits down beside the Eunuch to explain what Isaiah had been talking about. And right in the middle of this Bible Study, the Eunuch sees some water off by the side of the road and cries out “Look! There’s water. What prohibits me from being baptized?” And so Philip and the Ethiopian make their way down into the water and the Eunuch is baptized right out there in the middle of nowhere. And when its all done, the Ethiopian and goes on his way rejoicing.
2) Sometimes, the Spirit sets people up for you through circumstances. In Acts 16, we read that Paul and Silas have been being arrested for preaching and were thrown jail. They spend the night praying and singing praising to God when, all of sudden, there’s an earthquake – and all the jail doors swing open. The Jailor rushes into their cell, falls on his knees and asks what to do to be saved! The Spirit used his CIRCUMSTANCES to convict him of his need and he knew who to turn to for his answers. Well, Paul and Silas been to bible study, and they knew exactly what to tell him! And when they were through teaching the man (about midnight), both he and his entire family were baptized into Christ.
3) And sometimes, the Spirit sets people up for us by convicting them of their sin. In Acts 2, there’s a huge crowd gathered for a feast called Pentecost in Jerusalem, and Peter gets up and begins to witness to them about Jesus. And Peter tells them all about Jesus – how He’d been sent by God to be their Messiah… they’d crucified the Him!
Then Acts 2:37 tells us “when they heard (what Peter was saying) they were CUT to the heart (convicted) and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’” Well, Peter had spent time with Jesus… and so he knew what to tell them: “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38) And 3000 people were baptized into Christ that day!
Could you imagine what it must have been like to have been Peter that day? Can you imagine what it must be like to tell people about your Jesus and then have a huge crowd respond like that? That would be cool!!!!
CLOSE: Now here’s my point… it is OUR job to witness about Jesus. It’s through OUR witness that people will go to heaven – and you are crucial in this. But you don’t have to do it alone, you have a HELPER – the Spirit of God - primes the pump by convicting people of their sin, their need of righteousness, and the fact that there’s a coming judgment. When you realize you’re not in this alone… then it’s easier to start looking for opportunities.
ILLUS: A minister friend of mine told how his brother Jim who never wanted anything to do with church. Jim preferred to "enjoy" life, party, drink... and drink... and drink. He was a salesman for "84 Lumber" and not only did he drink at meetings and at the bar, he also had his home well stocked.
One day, as Jim was in a fast food restaurant, he was approached by a seedy looking man in a long black trench coat and scraggly hair. He just knew it was a beggar looking for a handout. But instead, it turned out that the stranger asked if he could give him something. Taken back, he said "sure." Out of his trench coat, the stranger took a witness Bible and said "read this."
Quietly, Jim took the Bible… and later - at home - he began to read it. And he became convicted by what he saw in its pages. The Bible had notations in the columns that advised him to turn from one page to another to read the underlined scriptures. But it was the final reference shook him. It was found on page 84 of the Bible – and he himself worked at 84 Lumber. He poured all of his booze down the drain and never touched another drop. And he was soon baptized and became faithful to Christ.
INVITATION.
