The Conviction of the Spirit -- John 16:7-11

Sunday, March 17, 2013

THE CONVICTION OF THE SPIRIT

John 16:7-11

            Read John 16:5-11...

But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, 'Where are You going?' 6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. 7 Nevertheless 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 depart, I will send Him to you. 8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 11 of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

            Jesus said that the Holy Spirit, whom He would send, would glorify Him.  We must ever keep before us that the Spirit will glorify Jesus.  That is exactly what we see when Jesus sent the Spirit to that group of 120 disciples on the day of Pentecost.  When they were filled with the Holy Spirit, they began to proclaim the wonderful works of God in words that could be understood by people of all different languages.  When there was need for an explanation of this miracle, Peter stood up and preached unto them Jesus, whom God had made both Lord and Messiah.  On that day Jesus was greatly glorified by the Holy Spirit.  Praise God that the same Spirit continues to glorify Jesus unto this very day and will continue to do so.

            During the last three messages I have repeated a statement something like this:  "If I have been baptized in the Spirit, as Jesus promised, then where's the power in my life?  Where is the power in our lives?"  Before we get into this passage, please allow me to make some clarifications.  Both firsthand and secondhand, I have encountered two reactions to that statement.  The first goes something like this:  "If the power of the Spirit isn't on your life, then there is no hope for me."  The second might be phrased:  "If you don't have the power of the Spirit, then how can you lead us as a pastor?"  I think those reactions are fair, and I want to take a moment to deal with them.  I trust it will be a good introduction to what we are going to look at this morning.

            First of all, I confess that if I were the pastor I should be, you wouldn't have to ask those questions at all.  The simple fact is that I am a man whose failures are numerous.  Some of them you have seen, others are seen only by the Lord. 

            When I say that I look at my life and say, "Where is the power of the Spirit," I suppose I should qualify that statement.  It won't make sense unless you see it in the same context in which I see it.  Am I conscious that God has used my life?  Yes, just as I have seen Him use many of you.  Though not perfectly by any means, but I have preached the Word of God faithfully through the years.  I can say that I have loved the people of this church with a love that is beyond my own.  There have been times when the Lord has given me wisdom in difficult situations.  I can say that when there have been problems and I could have justified myself in moving to greener pastures, the Lord has given me the grace to stay where He put me.  Did that require the power of the Spirit?  Yes.  I cannot deny that the Spirit of God has worked in my life both personally and in ministry. 

            Some of you are thinking, "Then why didn't you just say that?"  Well, I have not deliberately been deceptive.  When I said, "I don't see the power of the Spirit in my life," I wasn't playing games or trying to be cute; I was being honest.   I haven't been all the Lord wants me to be as a pastor to you; I know that.  Nevertheless, I do believe the Lord put me here to be an undershepherd. 

            When I say that I don't see the power of the Spirit in my life, I am speaking in the context of the scriptures.  When I read the New Testament and see the work of the Spirit in the lives of believers, I see a great lack in my own life.  I don't want to compare my life with those around me; I want to examine myself in light of the scriptures.  Jesus said, "When the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you shall receive power and you shall be my witnesses" (Acts 1:8).  In that context, when I say, "Where is the power in my life?" I am not evaluating my role as a pastor; I am longing for the fullness of the power of God's Spirit.  Some of you will ask, "Then why didn't you just say, 'I need more power of the Spirit?'"  Though I did not think about it at the time, I do believe what I said was honest and from the Lord.  If I say, "I need more power from the Spirit," most of you simply translate it to mean:  "Oh yes, so do we."  You don't so much as raise your eyebrows.  It's similar to when I used the terms "violent togetherness" and "radical fellowship."   We are so entrenched in our little world that a radical shock  is needed to wake us up.

           

I.  Introduction to John 16:8-11

            Now let's come to John 16.  Chapters 13-17 are full of the words of Jesus.  All of these chapters are set in the context of Jesus' last night on this earth, as He related to His apostles.  On several occasions Jesus has spoken of His own death, but His followers never seemed to get it.  They could not conceive of their Master dying, especially in His prime.  Remember that Jesus was only 33 at this time.  Why should He who could command the winds and the waves worry about death?  Nevertheless, on this last night, Jesus has repeatedly made reference to His going away.  It is here in chapter 16 that He speaks most clearly.  Let's read it again in John 16:5-6, "But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, 'Where are You going?' 6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart."  The fact that they are being overwhelmed by sorrow is a clear indication that these men are beginning to understand that Jesus will indeed be leaving them.

            Now we come to verse 7, "Nevertheless 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 depart, I will send Him to you."  We looked at these words in depth, emphasizing that we are better off having the Helper, the Spirit, than having Jesus in the flesh.  Have you forgotten that truth?  Let's allow this truth to impact us again.  Jesus said it is to our advantage that He go away and send us the Spirit.  That is as true for us as it was for His apostles. 

            And that brings us to verses 8-11.  We have read these words and alluded to them from time to time, but we haven't spent much time looking at the truth contained here.  So let's read John 16:8-11, "And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 11 of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged." 

            Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would convict the world of sin.  Consider that word "convict."  The KJV translates it "reprove."  Some translations render it "convince," while a couple expand it to "prove the world to be wrong."  Just as the English word "convict" can have several shades of meanings, the same is true of the word it translates.  It could mean that the world is clearly shown to be wrong, even as a criminal is convicted in a court of law.  But it could also mean that the criminal is inwardly convinced of his wrong and brought to sorrow because of it.  It might even mean that a criminal was convinced of his sin before he got to court and openly confessed it.  We will come back to these ideas.

            What about the term "world."  Is Jesus speaking of all people in the world, as in John 3:16 (For God so loved the world...), or is he referring to that worldly system that opposes God and everything He stands for, as He most often does?  While perhaps neither can be totally ruled out, let's begin with that sense that is normally emphasized -- the world system that is made up of those who oppose God.  Notice that in the immediate context Jesus had spoken of the Jewish religious leaders who would oppose Jesus' followers.  John 16:1-3, "These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble. 2 They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. 3 And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me." 

II.  The Spirit Convicts of Sin

            So of exactly what would the Holy Spirit convict the world?  Jesus speaks of three things, all very closely connected.  First, when the Holy Spirit has come, He will convict the world of sin.  That shouldn't be surprising, since every person who has ever walked on the face of this earth is sinful.  There are no exceptions.  Rom. 3:10, "As it is written:  'There is none righteous, no, not one.'"  When we think about the universality of sin, we see that the meaning of world can just as well refer to all the people in the world, for all are guilty of sin.  The Holy Spirit will convict the world of sin.

            Upon what basis will the Spirit bring this conviction?  "Because they believe not on Me."  Who is the Me?  It is Jesus, the One who is speaking.  The Spirit will convict the world of sin, because they do not believe on Jesus.  Is that the only sin there is?  Of course, not.  We could spend all morning naming individual sins.  Nevertheless, Jesus says that the Holy Spirit will convict the world of "sin," not "sins."  And the sin specified is not believing on Jesus. 

            Now let's make this personal this morning.  There are some of you here this morning who do not believe on Jesus.  That is not to say that you don't believe He exists, or that He died on the cross for sins, but it means that you have not put your trust in Him.  You must understand that this is the sin that stands above all sin.  The only way that your sins can be forgiven is by coming to Jesus through repentance and faith, that is, to believe on Jesus.  If you do not believe on Jesus, there is no forgiveness of sins.  In that sense, to fail to believe on Jesus is the ultimate sin that will condemn you. 

II.  The Spirit Convicts of Righteousness

            But allow Jesus to tell us why it is such a crime not to believe on Him.  The Spirit will not only convict the world of sin because they do not believe on Jesus, but He will also convict the world of righteousness.  But on what basis?  " Because I go to My Father and you see Me no more."  At first, that may sound a bit strange, but think about it.  Where was Jesus going first?  He was going to the cross.  He had told His disciples that time and again.  And what kind of men were put on crosses?  The most unrighteous of all.  And that is exactly what the Jews were saying about Jesus.  They accused Him of blasphemy against God.  The presented Him as one guilty of unrighteousness, and the Romans substantiated their claim by inflicting the most humiliating and excruciating penalty they knew -- crucifixion.  The world regarded Jesus as the unrighteous one.  It seemed that the One who had raised such great expectation among the Jewish crowds ended in shame and humiliation.  When He was dead, Jesus was buried in the ground, just like all the others who were taken down from the cross.

            But up from the grave He arose!  Crucifixion and burial did not tell the end of the story.  Jesus went to the cross, but now He went somewhere else?  And where did He go?  He went to His Father.   After spending 40 days confirming His resurrection to His apostles and giving them instructions, before their very eyes He ascended to the Father.  It was His resurrection and ascension that declared His righteousness.  I remind you of Psalm 15...

LORD, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your holy hill? 2 He who walks uprightly, And works righteousness, And speaks the truth in his heart; 3 He who does not backbite with his tongue, Nor does evil to his neighbor, Nor does he take up a reproach against his friend; 4 In whose eyes a vile person is despised, But he honors those who fear the LORD; He who swears to his own hurt and does not change; 5 He who does not put out his money at usury, Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved.

            What man stand in the presence of God?  Only the man who meets this standard.  Who can say that He always does righteousness and speaks the truth in his heart?  Jesus can say that.  And God can say that about Jesus.  Otherwise, He would not have received Him into His presence.  Only a perfect person can be in the presence of the holy God.  The Holy Spirit will convict the world of the righteousness of Jesus Christ, because He is now in the Father's presence. 

            Go back to Jesus' resurrection and His 40 days on earth afterward.  Yes, He did give some instructions to His apostles, but it went far beyond that.  Go back to the book of Acts and see how it talks about the apostles bearing witness to the resurrection of Jesus.  As a matter of fact, in chapter 1 when they chose a replacement for Judas Iscariot, there was a very interesting statement about what the new apostle would do.  Acts 1:21-22, "Therefore, of these men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 beginning from the baptism of John to that day when He was taken up from us, one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection."  Do you see it?  The new apostle would join the others in being a witness of the resurrection.  Then Acts 4:33, "And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all."  The apostles bore witness, and the Holy Spirit drove home the truth of their testimony.

III.  The Spirit Convicts of Judgment

            Are you getting the picture?  The Holy Spirit convicts men of their sin and of Christ's righteousness.  But that isn't the end.  There is one more factor.  When the Holy Spirit comes, He will convince the world of judgment.  On what basis?  Because the prince (the ruler) of this world is judged (literally, "has been judged").  Who is the ruler of this world?  Satan.  He is also called "the god of this world" in II Cor. 4:4.  But how could Jesus say that Satan had been judged?  Hadn't he successfully put Jesus on the cross?  He was the very one who entered into Judas and led him to betray Jesus.  Don't you think the devil was excited and overjoyed when he heard the crowds shouting, "Crucify Him!  Crucify Him"?  But remember what Jesus said:  The Holy Spirit will convince the world of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more."  The resurrection and ascension of Jesus was the reversal of what seemed to be His judgment.  Yes, it seemed that Jesus was the One who was judged, but in reality, it was Satan who was judged.  The cross and resurrection was his undoing.  He thought that he had derailed Jesus' purpose of coming to seek and to save the lost, when in reality he furthered that purpose.  Yes, he was a pawn in the Father's hand.  Satan was judged at the cross.  It was there that the oldest prophecy of Jesus was fulfilled; it was there that the seed of the woman bruised the serpent's head.  That's why we say he is a defeated foe.

            But what does that have to do with convicting the world of judgment.  That was the judgment of Satan, not the world.  But remember, he is the ruler of this world.  All the world is in his sway.  As Satan opposed God, so every person in this world has opposed God.  If you are not in Christ, then you are on his team.  And if God had the power to judge the leader of the rebels, what will He do with the rest of the rebels.  If you are outside of Christ, then Satan's judgment will become your judgment. 

            Please think with me.  You are guilty of sin because you do not believe on Jesus.  And your sin is more wicked than you can ever imagine, because you are rejecting the only Righteous One who ever lived.  And your sin is absolutely deadly because you are refusing the only One who can bring you into the presence of God.  Jesus died in your place to do away with your sin, even the sin of rejecting Him.  But if you refuse Him who died and rose on your behalf, then you have signed the deed of your own destruction.

            Nevertheless, that very defeated foe, Satan himself, will try to lead you to believe that maybe you will be able to slip through the cracks somehow.  Maybe it isn't true.  Maybe you will wake up and find that all of this is a dream.  Maybe God will kind of forget you in the shuffle on judgment day.  After all, there will be billions there.  Listen.  The Holy Spirit comes to convict you of judgment.  If God judged Satan, rest assured that He will judge everyone on Satan's team, and you have absolutely no chance of escape.

            Now come back to that idea of conviction.  Ultimately, for those who reject Jesus, conviction will come in the sense of condemnation.  In an ultimate sense, God will pronounce you GUILTY and sentence you to hell itself.  But even now the Spirit is convicting you in the sense that He is proving your guilt.  No matter how you protest, you are sinful and Jesus is righteous, and if you refuse the Righteous One, you will be condemned.  Whether you acknowledge it or not, the Holy Spirit is bringing that truth to you.  But praise God there is another aspect of that term "convict."  The Spirit can so convict you that you see your sin clearly, your heart is broken, you repent, and run to Jesus.  While most of humanity will refuse to yield to the truth the Spirit brings, you don't have to follow them.  You can let go of your stubborn independence and fall at the feet of Him who loves you and died in your place.  God made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him (II Cor. 5:21).  When you own up to the depth of your sin and turn to the Savior, then His righteousness becomes yours and you will never face judgment, because you will have passed from death unto life!  I beg you this morning:  Yield to the conviction of the Spirit and run to Jesus.

Conclusion

            Brothers and sisters, those of us who are in Christ, this is wonderful news for us, just as it was for the apostles.  Jesus had just told them (chapter 15) that the world would hate them, because they hated Him.  He became even more specific when He said that some of them would be killed, and the killers would actually think they were serving God in the process.  How could there be any good news in that?  In between the message of being hated by the world and the possibility of actually being killed, Jesus said, John 15:26-27, "But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me. 27 And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning."  I wonder if they were thinking, "That's nice, but if they hate us that much, how are they going to hear our message?"  "Good news--the Holy Spirit will not only empower you to proclaim the truth, but He will also bring a deep conviction of that truth to those who hear you."

            Praise God that the Holy Spirit works in us and He works on them to whom we are sent.  Jesus' message is true for us.  As we follow Him, the world will hate us.  The world will not be a safe place for us.  The majority of the world will reject us and our message, but praise God there are some in whom the Spirit will work and they will turn to Jesus.  What a glorious promise this is for every believer.  This is one reason why we can speak and live the truth of Jesus with confidence.

            Before we leave this passage, there is one last question we might ask.  So does this conviction of the Spirit have any direct application to the believer?  Since we who are in Christ are no longer part of the world system that opposes God, does that mean that the Spirit does not convict us of sin, righteousness, and judgment?  I challenge you to be thinking on that.  Lord willing, we will come back to it, perhaps next week.

            I don't know how we could speak the gospel any more directly that we have this morning.  The conviction of the Spirit parallels the gospel message of Jesus Christ.  How long have you rejected Christ up to this point?  For many of you, you have done it for years.  You figure you still have time.  This sin of rejecting the Righteous One is unparalleled.  You could never think of anything worse.  Murder?  You could never do anything to a human being that would equal rejecting the Son of God.  Understand that it is Almighty God who declared Jesus to be righteous. 

            But why is Jesus righteous?  Because He did the will of His Father.  And the central feature of the Father's will was that He die on the cross for sinners.  "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins" (I John 4:10).  Can you reject the One who came to save you?  Can you look at Him who bore your sin and say, "No"?  If you do, understand that you will not escape the judgment.  You will spend etenrity in the very hell that was prepared for the devil and his angels. 

             I want to pray for you this morning...