Convicting and convincing power of the Holy Spirit
John 16:5-16
Good morning everyone, Glad you are here with us this.
Please turn to John 16-
We have been in a series talking about the importance of the Holy Spirit working in our lives.
We began the series with desiring to be a pure container that the Lord can use. A vessel used by God and giving honor and glory back to God by our obedience and allegiance to Him.
The last time we were together we talked about Jesus after the resurrection and having to leave this earth so that the comforter or Holy Spirit of God can come and dwell within us to make us who we are suppose to be.
John 16:5-15 Read from the bible clearly
Jesus says…I am going so the comforter or Holy Spirit may come.
When the Holy Spirit comes, Jesus says He will convict the world about sin, righteousness, and judgment.
Sin because they have not believed in who Jesus is and what He has done on the cross.
Righteous, because unrighteous and sinful people cannot be holy without a right relationship with Jesus. We need to be in a right relationship with Jesus because in ourselves we are not righteous but unrighteous or sinful because of our sin in our life.
Judgment because to be without Jesus is to be eternally lost and separated from Him.
I like verse 12- it is powerful
“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear…but when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth.”
The Holy Spirit of God will always bring honor and glory to Jesus!
The Holy Spirit will always make known the things of God to those who are seeking the truths of God.
John 15:26-
“When the comforter comes, whom I (Jesus) will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.”
Testifying Power of the Holy Spirit
I know that there are people who can go door to door and present the gospel in a positive way. It is a hard way to evangelize. It is cold turkey evangelism.
One pastor has expressed that as a new believer he was told that he needed to go spread the gospel in that way…door to door. He said that he hated it! He said that hate was not too hard of a word because he did in fact hate it. He loved Jesus but hated doing evangelism in that way.
The truth of the matter is this-
You cannot truly witness without the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit of God.
The Holy Spirit of God loves to talk about Jesus. So when we partner with the Holy Spirit and He is allowed to speak through you because He is in you. It is natural and simple instead of hard, forced and difficult.
Acts 1:8- Jesus told the disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the power of the Holy Spirit.
“But you shall receive power, after the Holy Spirit is come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth.”
Before the day of Pentecost, the disciples were like a lot of Christians today.
They were without power.
Instead of advancing and speaking to the lost with a message of Christ, they are hiding behind closed doors of their homes and churches.
Jesus uses several words to describe the Holy Spirit- Spirit of truth, counselor, and comforter. King James Version says Holy Ghost!
Counselor conveys the helping, encouraging, and strengthening work of the Spirit.
Spirit of Truth points to teaching, illuminating and reminding work of the Spirit.
Comforter is the peace, never abandoning work of the Spirit.
Holy Ghost is just a powerful way to say that the Holy Spirit is alive and well in every part of our lives if we let Him.
In the last moments of Jesus being with the disciples, (1) He warned them that they would be persecuted for their faith.(2) He told them Where, when, why He was going. (3) Assured them that as He left, the Comforter would come and not leave them abandoned.
Jesus knew what was ahead for the disciples and He knows what is ahead for us and that is why He has sent the Holy Spirit to be in our lives to help us and guide us through the tough times that are ahead of each one of us.
Saul, who became Apostle Paul with the authority of being a high priest went through the land hunting down and persecuting Christians. Paul was convinced before being converted to Christ as Lord that what he was doing was not only right but that he would be rewarded by God himself for doing it.
Although Jesus spoke a lot about Him leaving, they did not understand Him. They did not know the meaning of his leaving would play in their lives.
They were hearing but not listening.
They were only thinking about themselves.
If Jesus left, what would become of them?
Unless Jesus did what He came to do, there would be no gospel.
If Jesus did not die, He could not remove our sins, he could not rise again and defeat death.
If Jesus did not go back to the Father, The Holy Spirit could not come. Christ presence on earth was limited to one place at a time.
His leaving meant he could be present to the whole world through the Holy Spirit.
In Jesus own words…Not believing in Him is sin!
Verse 9- “In regard to sin, because men do not believe in me”
The truth into which the Holy Spirit guides us is the truth about Jesus.
The point is the fact that the Holy Spirit testifies about Jesus- He will reveal truth about Jesus- As believers filled with the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, We must also testify of Jesus. Amen. Amen. All Gods people said Amen.
THE HOLY SPIRIT TESTIFIES ABOUT JESUS AND SO SHOULD WE AS BELIEVERS.
In Acts chapter 2 we begin and the disciples began to understand and comprehend the power of the Holy Spirit empowering their lives because of His presence in their lives.
They literally broke forth into Jerusalem and began speaking the wonderful works of God in other languages.
In languages that these different people from different backgrounds could understand.
We as believers cannot lean on our own understanding. We must rely on the testifying power of the Holy Spirit to work through us because He lives and dwells in us! Repeat.
We must rely on the testifying power of the Holy Spirit to work through us because He lives and dwells in us!
II. Convicting power of the Holy Spirit
“And when He is come, He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.”
Why were the disciples to stay in the city of Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit has come upon them?
Because we are limited by our own strength and talents if we do these things on our own without the Holy Spirit.
The Greek word for reprove is Elegcho. (El-leg-co) It means to expose, to convict, or to cross examine for the purpose of conviction.
The Holy Spirit begins to work on the heart of an unbeliever.
According to Renner- By the time the Holy Spirit is finished, that lost soul will feel exposed and convicted. As the Holy Spirit enables that person to hear the Word of God for the first time, the razor-sharp sword of the word will penetrate his soul until he feels as if he has been cross-examined on a witness stand. Finally, the court will be adjourned, the verdict announced, and he will know on the inside that he is guilty of sin.
It is amazing how long a person lives without conviction of sin until the Holy Spirit of God shows up in their lives.
Numb until the Holy Spirit convicts and brings to their attention the problem with sin in our lives.
The bible says that sin makes a heart hard, spiritually blind to the things of God.
But when the Holy Spirit shows up he exposes the sinful nature and the wrong condition of the heart. He exposes sin and reveals the need for a spiritual awakening to take place in the person’s heart.
Jesus says “No man can come unto me, except the Father draw him” John 6:44
Jesus reminds us when he said “And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin”
Without the work of the Holy Spirit to expose our sin, we would continue to be in darkness and eternally lost without the Lord.
A person can be in sin, even understand that sin is bad, and still fail to realize the consequences of sin. Maybe even while being in church, hear about sin, acknowledge that sin is bad, acknowledge that what he/she heard in the sermon is true and still leave the church without making a commitment to Christ and His saving power.
How can that be!
Because until the Holy Spirit pulls the scales off our eyes and we truly see the need for a savior, we make bad choices.
Once the Holy Spirit has brought that person to the place where he finally sees the truth for themselves, THE PERSON THEN HAS A CHOICE TO MAKE-Will he/she stay in sin, or will they repent and turn towards the Lord for themselves.
It is so hard and frustrating to share Christ with family and friends and hit a wall!
The bible teaches clearly that lost people are dead in trespasses and sin. Ephesians 2:1
One preacher said it this way
How do you make dead man see?
How can you make a dead man feel?
How do you convince a dead man that he needs to change?
Only through the convicting power of the Holy Spirit
Lastly very quickly`
Convincing Power of the Holy Spirit
I don’t know about you but I did not have to be told that I was not righteous- I knew that I could not measure up to a holy God. I struggled with God loving me enough to count his righteousness to my account.
When we understand the work of the Holy Spirit working in our lives- WE WILL NOT TRY TO BECOME RIGHTEOUS AND WE WILL NOT BE DISCOURAGED BECAUSE WE ARE NOT RIGHTEOUS, We will rest in the fact that Jesus has declared us righteous because of what He has done for us on the cross and will allow the Holy Spirit of God to work on us.
We will stop struggling with being righteous – a state that we cannot achieve in ourselves. Once we see that we are declared righteous because of no one else but Jesus…it will change the way we pray, how you feel about yourself, and how you carry yourself. You have worth in Jesus and when you realize that, you will act like a person who has been declared righteous in Jesus.
AMEN!!!!!!!!!!! PRAISE THE LORD
Jesus died on the cross- you didn’t
Jesus was resurrected- you did not help Him
Jesus sent the Holy Spirit- He declared believers righteous in Jesus
When you believe that, you will start modeling more of Jesus in your life.
When we start believing we are new creations in Christ, 2 Corinthians 5:17, we will act like new creations in Christ.
The bible say s that we are…his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus! Ephesians 2:10
We as believers are a product of a wonder working God that has provided a way of empowering us to be new creations and that is by having the Holy spirit of God not only walk along side of us but dwell within us to help us everyday of our lives.
He does not give up on us- He will continue to try to convince us of who we are in Jesus and if we let Him, We will become and act more like Jesus.
As we close-
If you do not know Jesus as your savior and Lord, that is the first things that you need to surrender to Him is your life and let Him change you from the inside out. Surrender your life to the One who loves you and can save you from your sins.
If you are a believer and you struggle with self worth and your self-image, you need to allow the Holy Spirit of God to convince you that you are worthy enough. That Jesus Christ died for you and your value is in Jesus as declared by Jesus Himself righteous in Christ Jesus.
Prayer-
