He Will Convict The World of Sin, And of Righteousness, And of Judgment (The Holy Spirit - Part 4)

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts.

Morse Corner is a non -denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist

D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

If you'd like more information, visit our website, morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message.

Look at verse 14. But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them,

Men of Judea, and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words.

For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day.

But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel. And it shall come to pass in the last days, says

God, that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh.

And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. Your young men shall see visions.

Your old men shall dream dreams. And on my menservants and on my maidservants,

I will pour out my spirit in those days, and they shall prophesy.

So this is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. And a lot of people would assume, okay, the spirit comes then.

That means he wasn't around before. Is that true? No. Again, the Holy Spirit is the spirit of God, and God is omnipresent.

So the Holy Spirit has always been present. But now things are changing because God is pouring out his

Holy Spirit upon all flesh. Everybody. Back in the

Old Testament, you had certain men that were filled with the spirit and did great exploits for the

Lord, right? Men like Samson. Men like David. Now God is pouring out his spirit on everybody.

Every believer now has gifting from the Holy Spirit. So this is the change.

And if you take notes, write this down. Before, he gave temporary strength.

In this age, the Holy Spirit gives permanent strength. Anyone who has ever studied the

Bible or just attends a good Bible -believing church and pays attention, you know that the ministry of the

Holy Spirit has changed from Old Testament to New Testament. In the

Old Testament, the spirit would come upon someone, and then he might depart from someone.

Case in point, I think of King David and King Saul. Two men that were empowered by the

Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit came upon both men, didn't he? He left one. He didn't leave the other.

The Holy Spirit departed from Saul, and then Saul became possessed or at least afflicted by an evil spirit.

Even David, a man who fell into great sin when David committed his adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband murdered.

You remember what he prayed in Psalm 51? Take not thy Holy Spirit from me.

God didn't take the Holy Spirit from David. But David knew that the Lord might. That's not the way it is in this age.

You can grieve the spirit, but the spirit will never leave you. How do we know? Jesus promised, I will never leave you nor forsake you.

Now, the Lord might discipline you. He might chase you. He's never going to leave you nor forsake you. So that's the way it was back then.

The spirit would come. The spirit would depart. He would strengthen, but it might be temporary.

Starting in the New Testament, the Holy Spirit comes to permanently gift, to permanently assist, and to permanently indwell.

If you want further study, I think the best sermon I've ever heard on this subject is about the spirit's change of ministry.

Or I would say the Holy Spirit's ministry has evolved. You know, as evangelical

Christians, we don't really like the word evolve too much. Honestly, though, the

Holy Spirit's ministry did evolve throughout. Well, God doesn't change.

He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. Right, yeah. God doesn't change, but what he does changes from time to time.

So the Holy Spirit's ministry evolved. If you want more on this, a great sermon you can find online. I know it's on YouTube.

It's by Dr. R .C. Sproul. It's titled Undervaluing Pentecost.

So I would highly recommend you listen to this. Undervaluing Pentecost by Dr. R .C.

Sproul. Because this is a subject that's worthy of deeper study.

But there has been a change. There's been an evolution from Old Testament to New Testament.

Here in John chapter 16, there's a change going on. There's a transitioning happening right now.

A transition happening. Jesus had been with the disciples for three and a half years. Now over the next two months, everything is going to change.

Jesus continues. He says, In these things I did not say to you at the beginning because I was with you.

Verse 5, But now I go away to him who sent me. And none of you ask me, Where are you going?

But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. 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. So Jesus did not need to say these things earlier.

Why? Because he was right there. He was with them. But that time is now coming to an end.

After he is crucified and risen, Jesus remains on earth for how many days?

40 days. So 50 days after his resurrection is the day of Pentecost.

Pentecost means 50. So 10 days after his ascension is the day of Pentecost when the

Holy Spirit is poured out. But as of this moment, the disciples hear the persecution that Jesus is going away.

They're shaken to their core. They don't know what to do. And you know, there might be some of you this morning that you're going through something.

You found yourself in a situation you never thought you would be in. Maybe you're facing health problems, marital problems, emotional problems, whatever it is.

If you believe in the Lord, just as the disciples faced things they couldn't even fathom.

They couldn't even imagine having to deal with this. How are we going to get through this? God gave them the power.

He gave them the strength. He's promised to do that to all who call upon his name through the assistance, through the power of the

Holy Ghost. Now here's the statement. I know we're running long, but I'm not quenching the spirit this morning.

This clock, I'll just turn it around. Here's the statement.

Jesus says in verse nine, and when he has come, he will convict the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment.

So what does that mean? Well, Jesus gives an explanation, doesn't he? He says of sin, because they do not believe in me.

Of righteousness, because I go to my father and you see me no more. And of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

And some of you are still, what does that mean? You wish that Jesus gave an explanation for the explanation.

This will help. It's translated convict, or King James is reproved, right?

The spirit will convict. The word can also be translated convince. I think if you put it that way, he will convince.

I think it clears it up a little bit. So the Holy Spirit convinces the world of sin.

Jesus says why? Because they do not believe in me. So rejecting the grace of God offered through Christ, the

Holy Spirit will convince a person that that is the sin of all sins. Of all the things that people do, the worst thing a person can do is reject the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And if a person ever changes their mind, and that's what the word repent means, to change your mind, it's the

Holy Spirit that has convinced a person to do that. So rejecting

Christ is the sin that prevents people from going to heaven. Scripture says there is none righteous, no not one.

All have come short of the glory of God. The Holy Spirit is the one who convinces you that Christ is your only hope.

It's true people can feel guilty for a variety of different reasons, and you don't need the Holy Spirit to feel guilty.

Some people feel guilty when they shouldn't feel guilty. But it's the spirit who convinces a person about rejection of Christ as being the sin of all sins.

And when he has come, he will convict or convince the world of sin and of righteousness.

Jesus says of righteousness, because I go to my father and you see me no more.

So Jesus, nobody's seeing Jesus today. He has departed to heaven.

The spirit is now here doing the work, convicting people of sin.

And closely associated with that is his work of convincing people about righteousness.

That all your righteousness is what? Yeah, it says filthy rags, and it's probably not even that good.

All your righteousness amounts to nothing. The spirit convinces a person about the righteousness of Christ.

And how we can receive the righteousness of Christ only by faith.

Hebrews 11, 6 says without faith, it is impossible to please God. And you know it's true.

Most people don't believe that. They need to be convinced. Most people think they're pretty good. If there's a heaven,

God will accept me because I'm a pretty good person. Well, Jesus says there's none good but God. People don't believe that in the world today.

If somebody believes it, it's because the Holy Spirit has convinced them. Word and spirit, that's all we need for ministry.

Word and spirit. And then this last statement of judgment.

Why? Because the ruler of this world is judged. Who's the ruler of this world? Who's the prince of the power of the air?

The God of this age? Right? The whole world is under the sway of the wicked one.

1 John 5, 19. On the cross, that appeared to be

Satan's greatest victory. People standing there watching. This is the greatest victory for the kingdom of darkness.

And yet, it sealed his fate forever. Satan's kingdom is built on what?

What is he? He's the father of what? The father of lies. His kingdom is a kingdom of lies.

I listened to my dad's sermon from last week and he said, Satan, he has no kingdom.

His kingdom is a swamp. Is that what you said? Is that correct? Did I get that right? Satan's kingdom is a swamp.

Hey, drain the swamp, amen? No, but his time is coming to an end.

He knows he's a defeated foe. He knows he has only a short time left.

If you look at the world today, you think Satan is having his way and things are never going to change.

It's the Holy Spirit that convinces a person, no, his time is coming to an end.

And that time will come where Jesus will return. His kingdom will be destroyed.

Eventually, he's going to end up in the lake of fire and God's kingdom will rule.

Jesus will rule with a rod of iron for a thousand years and it will go on throughout eternity.

Nobody believes that except those who have been convinced by the Holy Spirit. So this is his work, to convince the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment.

But in conclusion, going back to the first, why did he come? What was the promise? That he will be the comforter.

He will be our helper. He comes to give us strength. Are you relying on the power of the

Holy Spirit this morning? Let's pray. Lord, I just ask that if someone here has never been convinced that they're a sinner, that your spirit would do that perfect work and convince them that Jesus is the only savior and that he is the only door to heaven.

And Lord, if there's someone here who has believed that, but they've been trying to live the Christian life in their own strength, trying to figure out these situations they're going through.

How do I get out of this? How do I fix this? And they're coming up with worldly solutions or carnal solutions to a problem that really only has one fix.

And that's what your word tells us and what your spirit tells us. So Lord, I just pray that we would all receive this strength.

We would be willing to receive your wisdom found in your word. And Father, comfort those who need it.

Those who are suffering, those who feel down, those who are going through things that they don't share with others.

Lord, you know, and I pray that you would be their helper. The Holy Spirit is our helper.

And all God's people said, Amen. Thanks for listening.

I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Morris Coronet Church. If you'd like to listen to the complete message, or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website, morriscoronetchurch .com.

And we'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett. Until next time, may the grace of God be with you.