Crown Him with many crowns, the
Lamb upon His throne. Hark how the heavenly anthem
drowns all music but its own. Awake, my soul, and sing of Him
who died for thee, and hail Him as thy matchless King through
all eternity. Crown him the Lord of love, behold
his hands and side, rich wounds yet visible above, in beauty
glorified. No angel in the sky can fully
bear that sight But downward bends his wondering eye at mystery
so bright Crown him the Lord of life, who triumphed o'er the
grave, who rose victorious to the strife for those he came
to save. His glories now we sing, who
died and rose on high, who died eternal life to bring, and lives
that death may die. Crown him the Lord of heaven. ? One with the Father known ?
? One with the Spirit through Him given ? ? From yonder glorious
throne ? ? To Thee be endless praise ? ? For Thou for us hast
died ? ? Be Thou, O Lord, through endless days ? ? Adored and magnified
? You may be seated. All right, I'm gonna be reading
from Psalm 46. Psalm 46. I know Brother Joe was reading
from this Psalm just a few weeks ago himself, and blessed my heart
then, and I was looking at it today, and blessed my heart today. Psalm 46 is written to the chief
musician for the Sons of Korah, a song upon Alamoth. God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though
the earth be removed and though the mountains be carried into
the midst of the sea, though the waters thereof roar and be
troubled. Though the mountains shake with
the swelling thereof, see thou. There is a river, the streams
whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the
tabernacles of the Most High. God is in the midst of her. She
shall not be moved. God shall help her, and that
right early. The heathen raged, the kingdoms
were moved, he uttered his voice, the earth melted. The Lord of
hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge, Selah. Come, behold the works of the
Lord, what desolations he hath made in the earth. He maketh
wars to cease unto the end of the earth. He breaketh the bow
and cutteth the spear in sunder. He burneth the chariot in the
fire. Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the heathen. I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah. Let's go to the Lord in
prayer. Our gracious Lord, our good Lord,
we thank you, Father, for your grace, your love, your kindness,
your care and provision for us, especially, all of it, being
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, we thank you for this.
We thank you for your son, the Lord Jesus Christ, our Husband,
our Savior, our Mediator, our Substitute, our Friend. And Lord, we thank you for your
great wisdom and we thank you that He willingly went returning
to the Father to send the Spirit and to do and to accomplish everything
necessary that led up to the coming of the Spirit. Lord, we
thank you for this full salvation in Christ. Lord, we don't deserve
it. We don't deserve any of your
mercies, but it's all freely given in grace in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Lord, we are truly humbled as
we hear and learn and understand what we are by nature, what Christ
had to accomplish for us and what he did for us. And we thank
you for your spirit that reveals these things to us, making us
to know what we are and what Christ is, what he has done,
who he is, and what he's accomplished for us, and showing us that he
is everything. Lord, we thank you for this.
Lord, we pray for our brethren who are sick, those who would
be with us but could not. And Lord, we pray that you would
bless our brethren, Bless each one, where they are, what they
are struggling with, and the questions they have, and the
thoughts they have. Lord, you know everything. And
you're able to do all things. And Lord, you know the unspoken
things in our hearts and minds. And Lord, we ask that you would
answer these, that you would show us Christ in these and show
us the way of truth in these questions and thoughts that we
so often have about many things. Lord, we pray that you would
pour out your spirit upon us here. First, tonight, as we're
gathered here, that you would bless each one, here and listening
in, that you would bless each one of your children to hear,
to believe, the Lord Jesus Christ, to be blessed and edified and
comforted in him. And Lord, we ask that you would
pour out your spirit upon us, that this word would be established
here in this city, this part of the country, Lord, and that
you would gather together your people here to be fed, to be
encouraged and comforted in the Lord Jesus Christ. Help me, Lord,
to to preach the gospel of our Savior faithfully, clearly, simply,
in a manner that glorifies Christ and brings men to see their need
of Christ under the blessing, under the power and glory of
the Spirit of our Savior. And Lord, it's in His name that
we pray and give thanks. Amen. All right, let's take our
hymnals and turn to hymn 50. In 50, which is one of my favorites,
Ferris Lord Jesus. Ferris Lord Jesus, ruler of all
nature, O Thou of God and man the Son, Thee will I cherish,
Thee will I honor, Thou my soul's glory, joy, and crown. Fair are the meadows, fairer
still the woodlands, robed in the blooming garb of spring. Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer,
Who makes the woeful heart to sing. Fair is the sunshine, fairer
still the moonlight, and all the twinkling starry holes. Jesus shines brighter, Jesus
shines purer than all the angels heaven can boast. Beautiful Savior, Lord of the
nations, Son of God and Son of Man. Glory and honor, praise,
adoration, now and forevermore be thine. Let's be turning to John 16. John 16. I want to look at verses
5 through 11 with you. In this passage, our Lord is
speaking to his disciples. This is a message to the apostles
and it is for us also and he's speaking here of his departure
and that's going to lead to him sending the Holy Spirit who is
the Comforter of the Lord's people. Now in this passage what I want
to look at with you tonight is what our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ accomplished in his departing and what the Holy Spirit accomplishes
in his coming. What the Lord Jesus Christ accomplishes
in his departing and what the Holy Spirit accomplishes in His
coming. Our Lord says now in verses 5
and 6, But now I go my way to Him that sent me, and none of
you asketh me, whither goest thou? But because I have said
these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart. Our Lord
here acknowledges the sorrow of His people. Our Lord cares for you. He cares for you that are His
people. We may not always think that,
but the Lord is very tender, very kind, very good, very gracious. There's none good but God. God
is good. He's very good. And he acknowledges
their sorrow here. And you can imagine all the questions
that were filling their minds. They probably had a lot of questions
in hearing, Lord, you're going away. How then will the Kingdom
be established? When is the Kingdom going to
be established? We know they were expecting the
Kingdom to be established with a physical Messiah in that day
when Christ was there. They were expecting it then.
And they had many questions. Many questions. And think about
it also, their friend is going to depart. And I say that because
he called them friends, didn't he? Back just recently, and he
said, I call you friends. You're my friends. And they're
going to lose a dear friend, and they're going to be without
his presence. They're going to be without his
teachings and his comfort and explanations. He's not going
to be there. Every day they woke up and they
were with their Lord. And now he's departing from them. For three plus years they had
been with Christ and followed him. And our Lord mentions this
here where he says, and none of you asketh me, whither goest
thou? I think he's saying that they're
only thinking of themselves. When he said I'm leaving, all
they could think of is what are we going to do? What are we going
to do? They are only thinking of themselves
and so the Lord fills in some of the blanks in telling them
that another is coming. Look at verse 7. Nevertheless,
I tell you the truth. It is expedient for you that
I go away. For if I go not away, the Comforter
will not come unto you. But if I depart, I will send
him unto you. Now we know, we have a sense
of what the Lord is saying here. He's telling them that he's returning
to his father. This is implied in verse five
when he says, I go my way to him that sent me. And then he
says it plainly in verse 10, because I go to my father and
ye see me no more. But in this verse, there's an
emphasis here on his departure being expedient. It's expedient. Now that word expedient tells
us it means that it's good. It is good for you. It's profitable
for you that I go away. It's for your edification. It's for your good. And here
they are, all they can think of is themselves right now. They're
only thinking of themselves. What are we going to do? They're
not even asking them, where are you going, Lord? Or how are you
going, Lord? They're not asking him where
he's going. They're thinking of themselves. But in this, we
see the faithfulness of the Savior to think of them also. They're
thinking of themselves, and he's thinking of them. and he's caring
for them and providing for them. Here is his faithfulness as our
Savior, as our provider, as the shepherd of his sheep, because
he does always that which is profitable for his sheep. We know all things work together
for good to them that love the Lord, to them who are called
according to purpose, and your God has a good purpose for you,
His child. He loves you. He's called you.
He's gathered you. By His grace, under the preaching
of the gospel, He has gathered you. And He keeps you. And so He does what is for your
profit and what is for the good of all His people, all the people
of God. It's for their good that He's
going. It's for their good that He is
going. And it says, for if I go not
away, the Comforter will not come unto you. If I go not away
the Comforter will not come unto you, but if I depart I will send
him unto you." So there's many blessings, many blessings that
are packed in this coming of the Comforter. the coming of
the Holy Ghost. There's many blessings packed
in what our Lord is saying here. And what the Lord is, what I'm
saying is that there's a lot that is going to be accomplished
in Christ departing and the Spirit coming. There's a lot that's
going to happen between Christ leaving and the Holy Spirit coming. And he says, none of you asketh
me, whither goest thou? Meaning, where are you going? Where was Christ going? Where
was he going? He's talking about what he must
accomplish. in order to return to his father.
You think about that. He's going to the father. There's
a lot still to be done. There's a lot to be done from
where he is and to his going to the father. There's a lot
that's going to be done that's going to be packed into these
next few days. And his return to the father
and then the sending of the comforter to his people. And so no one's
thinking about what our Lord is soon going to endure. They're not thinking about what
he's going to endure in order to make it, his departing expedient
for them and for you, his children. No one's thinking about that.
No one's asking him, where are you going, Lord? How is this
going to be expedient or good for us? Well, let me just go
through. This is where Christ is going.
This is where, in order for him to go to the Father and to send
the Spirit, this is where Christ is going. First of all, they
all know that He came from the Father. They've confessed, Thou
art the Christ, the Son of the Living God. They've made that
confession, and yet none are asking, where goest Thou? We know from reading the Gospel
that Christ is soon, that very night, going to be arrested. He's going to be arrested, and
in his arrest, he thinks and provides for his sheep, saying,
take me, but let these go. let these go their way. And they
did. They were let go. Only Christ was taken. So he
would be arrested and then following his arrest he would be taken
to the Jewish Sanhedrin and there put on a mockery of a trial. All night long, they would have
a mock trial going on in order to try and justify their condemnation
of Christ. And then their mock trial would
be followed by another mockery of a trial by the Gentiles, by
the Roman government. So we see both Jew and Gentile
judged him and rejected him. They rejected him. And then,
following that trial, he will be condemned to die. and he'll
be hung on a tree, not for any crimes that he has done, but
he'll be hung on a tree. And Pilate puts up a sign on
his cross that says that here's the king of the Jews, the king
of the Jews. And you think about the power
of what that means for us. Because a king, a good king,
a true king, a mighty king is a deliverer of his people. He's a provider for his people.
He's a sustainer of his people. That's the kind of king you want
to have, and how few have that. But the Lord, all that are the
Lord's people, they have that in King Jesus. He is the King
and here is the King of the Jews, the Deliverer of His people. That's what the Lord's declaring
and having Pilate put that up there. He's the Deliverer for
the true Jews, all true Jews, Jew and Gentile. And he's going
to be sacrificed on a tree bearing that sin. the sin of his people,
the curse of his people, as their substitute, as their shorty,
come to pay their debts. He's going to make full satisfaction
to holy God for the sins, the crimes, the filth, the rebellion,
the sicknesses and the diseases, all that pollutes us and corrupts
us and destroys us and has ruined us, Christ bears all that in
his own body on the tree as the Lamb of God to forever put it
away. He's going to bear that holy,
just, almighty, fierce wrath of God being poured out upon
him in the place of every one of His sheep, given to Him, to
His care, committed to His redemption before the foundation of the
world. And so He bears it, and He dies
on the cross, making full atonement, having accomplished the deliverance
of His people from that wrath. which is coming upon the inhabitants
of the earth." There's a wrath. The wrath of God is coming upon
the inhabitants of the earth. And Christ has delivered his
people there on the cross from that coming wrath. And he'll
be wrapped. He'll die there on the cross.
And he'll be taken down, his body wrapped, and he'll be put
into a tomb. And a great stone that takes
many men to move it will be rolled in front of that entrance. But
Christ will rise again the third day, just as he spoke, according
to the sign of the prophet Jonas. He shall rise again the third
day, and he is going to show himself to his brethren for a
witness unto them, declaring that he has accomplished the
very promised salvation that God made in the beginning and
throughout all the scriptures. that he shall save his people
from their sins. And so when the Lord raised Christ
from the dead, that resurrection from the dead, God was testifying
that everything that was necessary has been done and accomplished
by the Lord Jesus Christ. He's done the whole thing and
he's declaring that this one is the very Christ of God. He
is the Christ of God, our Lord and our Savior, our King, our
All. And then after these things,
after he appears to the brethren and shows himself to the brethren
for witness, to strengthen them, to encourage them, he's going
to be taken up into the clouds, ascending up into heaven, back
to his Father, and there he'll be coronated King of Kings and
Lord of Lords. And he'll be seated on the right
hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens, ruling and reigning,
doing all things according to the will of God, taking that
book and opening the seals of the book, because he is worthy. He is the king. And so from henceforth,
while he's doing that, henceforth expecting till his enemies be
made his footstool. And so the securing of all these
blessings of His grace, that occurs between right now when
He's there speaking to His disciples, telling them of the Comforter,
from that point all the way to the time when the Comforter comes,
that's what Christ is doing. That's where He's going, and
no one's asking Him where You're going, Lord. What do you have
to do to go to the Father? What do you have to do to return
to the Father? I've got to make full satisfaction for you, my
child. I've got to put away all your
sin and provide a covering for your sin to make an atonement
with my own blood, my life for your life, that you should be
righteous in me. and be accepted of holy God,
my Father, and dwell with me forever and ever and ever, kingdom
without end. And so that's all occurring. And he says, when I depart, then
I'll send to you the comforter. And so what our Savior did was
selfless. It was selfless. It was for us.
Yes, he is glorified. But He did it for the good of
His people. It is expedient for us that He
departed. And that's not being grasped
by them, but we understand now that it is good. It is for our
good. When you read in the scriptures
that God is good, that's what we see he's provided everything
for for us and it's only the flesh that questions and doubts
and wonders what God is doing or doubts what he's doing that's
only the flesh that's only our corruption because truly according
to the witness of the scriptures and the witness of his spirit
the preaching of the gospel we know Christ our God is good and
it is expedient for us what he did for us and we have much to
be thankful for in him. Now that's what Christ accomplished
in his departing and now we look at what the Spirit accomplishes
in his coming. John 16 verse 8 and when he has
come He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness,
and of judgment. Now, this word reprove is a legal
word. It's what a lawyer would do in
a court of law in order to bring a conviction. He would prove
beyond a shadow of a doubt the crimes committed by the defendant. He would answer every question.
He would satisfy any inquiry that might be made. He would
satisfy it fully so that there was only one conclusion. That
man is guilty. He's a sinner. He is the sinner.
He has committed the crime of which he is accused of. And so it's a legal word, and
it means to overwhelmingly convince beyond a shadow of a doubt. And there's three things that
he does this with regards to his children, his sheep scattered
throughout the world. It's in regards to sin, and of
righteousness, and of judgment. And he's going to do this for
the lost sheep scattered throughout the world. It says when he comes
he will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and
of judgment. He doesn't fail. He's effectual. His call is effectual. That world
means exactly what it means, which is it's
not limited to the Jews only. It's for Jews and Gentiles, whosoever
they are, they are the Lord's people whom He chose, scattered
throughout the world. And so the Spirit of God will
take of this word, and He'll use the preaching of the Gospel,
but the Holy Spirit is the one that teaches each child, each
one chosen of God, He teaches them in the heart. Many are called. Many come and hear the preaching.
Hopefully, they're hearing the preaching of the gospel. How
few really do hear the preaching of the gospel. But even under
the gospel, the sound of the gospel, many are called, but
few are chosen. And it's the Holy Spirit that
convicts. It's the Holy Spirit that attends
that word and blesses that word and makes his children to hear
that word, to receive that word, and to believe that word so that
he effectually opens the heart And he applies that word to his
children and convicts the sinner in spirit and in truth. In spirit
and in truth. Because the Father seeketh such
to worship him in spirit and in truth. Now, we're going to
look at these three things, sin and of righteousness and of judgment.
The scriptures tell us that all that is required for salvation
has been satisfied in Christ. What he did in departing, he
provided everything for salvation in his departure. And the scriptures
tell us that all that's required for you that are sinners, for
you that have no righteousness of your own, and know that God
is holy and perfect, and your works are stinky and vile. They are not good works, and
they will not save you. They will not deliver you from
the wrath of God. But the scriptures teach us that all that is required
is faith, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. He says in the scripture,
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. It never speaks of what else
you have to do, what you have to know, what you must be taught,
what knowledge you must have. It just says believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. Thou shalt be saved. Now
turn over to Romans 10 and let's look at verses 9 through 13. I just want to reiterate this
point here that faith is required for salvation. I have a point. In verse 9 there, that if thou
shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe
in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou
shalt be saved. And so, that's faith. It's faith
which believes that Jesus Christ is the Savior. He is the salvation
of God. Faith lays hold of that. For with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation. So that you believe and you confess
that which is in your heart by faith looking to Christ. You
confess that He is salvation, that He is your righteousness,
He is your hope to stand before Almighty God. For the scripture
saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. You shall not come short of that
which you seek in Christ. You will never come short of
it. You won't be ashamed. You won't go away empty. You
shall be satisfied. You shall be received of the
Father. That's his promise to you. For there is no difference
between the Jew and the Greek, for the same Lord over all is
rich unto all that call upon him. And that's what we see in
the scripture. There's no universal salvation,
but there is a universal Savior in the sense that there is but
one Savior. There is but one name under heaven
given among men whereby we must be saved. There's one salvation.
the Lord Jesus Christ. That's it. One salvation, one
Savior. And whosoever shall call upon
Him, upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved. You see that? So, the only thing
that the Scriptures tell us that's required is faith. It's faith. The faith which the Lord gives
you. Now, having said that, you're
going to know Christ. You're going to know Christ and
know about Him and what He's done through the preaching of
the word and through the work of the Holy Spirit, making that
word effectual to your heart, to your understanding that Christ
is the Savior. You're going to know it. He's
going to convince you of it. He will make sure that you know. Only faith is required however
we always see the work of the Holy Spirit convicting His people
of sin and righteousness and judgment. The scriptures say believe, that's
all we see, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, but the Holy Spirit
is always there to make that effectual and to manifest, reveal
that faith in your heart which looks to the Lord Jesus Christ
and believe on Him. And so, wheresoever the Holy
Spirit conviction is, there will be faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. He does not fail. He is effectual
in what He comes to do for every lost sheep of the Lord Jesus
Christ. You shall be gathered. You shall
be gathered. You shall believe. You shall
be kept. Believe Him. Trust Him. Don't
go by feelings. Feelings have no part. You can convict somebody and
feel bad about it, but they broke the law. There's a conviction
to be made. Well, the Holy Spirit doesn't do it with feelings.
He convicts you and shows you, Lord, you're just, and you'll
take sides with God against yourself, knowing, God, you are just and
right. You're perfect and holy. Now,
verse 9. He convicts of sin. He reproves
of sin because they believe not on me. This will be a little
bit longer of a point than the next two. They have sinned because
they believe not in me. When Christ came, his very presence,
his teachings, his works, when he came doing what he did and
saying what he said, and they responded saying, never any man
speak like this man. This, wow, I've never heard this. And when he came and spoke what
he spoke, which was the words of the father, the father gave
him to speak, and what he did was what the father gave him
to do. Those works and those words were of the father, and
Christ did them faithfully, perfectly, as the man of God, as the son
of God, as the Christ of God. And he showed, it revealed that
As men and women, we don't know God. We don't know Him. We're
in darkness. We don't know who God is. They
were laboring under the law thinking that was their righteousness,
thinking that they could honestly please God by their filthy, polluted
works. And now Christ is departing,
that one who showed us the true and living God, who showed us
the Father, who made us to know, I don't know what I'm talking
about. Now he's departing. Now He is going away and man
is not going to believe that He is the Christ except the Spirit
come and make Him known to us, convince us that He is the Christ. Convincing me that I cannot save
myself and God has provided all my salvation in Christ. Everything needed perfectly in
Christ. in the goodness of our Savior. Now all belief, all unbelief
is sin. Whatsoever is not of faith is
sin. And faith is believing God. Not
that God exists. That's a given. Even the devils
know that God exists. But rather faith looks to the
Savior. Faith believes the promises of
God. Faith receives what God has said
that everything is given to us and provided to us and all the
spiritual blessings of God and every blessing we have is in
the Lord Jesus Christ. It's all given in Him. Now there's six things regarding
sin that the Holy Ghost convicts His children of and we don't
always think of it in this way. We don't always see it or fully
understand it in this way, but we do understand it as we grow
in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ. First of all, of these six things,
the Lord shows us that sin is a fact. We are sinners. We are sinners, and the Holy
Spirit convicts us that we are sinners. We know that we all
sinned in Adam, that we were shapen in iniquity, and we come
forth sinners. Rebels against God, talking what
we want to talk about, doing what we want to do, and caring
for ourselves. We are sinners. And in Adam is
where that sin entered in, and death through sin. By one man,
sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed
upon all men, for that all have sinned. And we've sinned in Adam
in the garden, in rebellion against God, and we continue to sin in
our persons. Second, sin is man's attack on
God. man is coming after God he wants
to dethrone God he is a rebel against the true and living God
and he hates God and despises God and that scene back in the
garden and that scene right after the flood right when they built
that tower of Babel They're going after God. They were building
a tower up to the heavens that they would overthrow the true
and living God. And that's where man is today.
He's trying to demonstrate that he doesn't need God. And he's
trying to figure out a way to live forever and not need God.
He's always looking for the fountain of youth, so to speak. He wants
to make himself a God. and sit in the place of God and
be like God. He wants to rob God of everything
and take it all for himself. And so sin is an attack, it's
an affront against the true and living God. And the Holy Spirit
convicts his child of it. that what we're doing is an affront,
is an attack on God. And when we squirm and get angry
and bitter that we can't do what we would do because we can't
work out our sin as we would work it out. The Holy Spirit
shows us that sin, that vile, wretched sin. David said, Against
thee, thee only, have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight. So we see that our sin is an
attack on God. We're sinners and our sin is
an attack on God. Third, the Holy Spirit convinces
His child of the folly of sin. we're going to be made to know
what fools we are to think that we can sin with impunity against
God and not and not pay for that sin that there's not some punishment
or justice judgment by God for our sin and the sins that we
commit the Lord tells us don't be deceived God is not mocked
for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap and so When
we would pursue our sin and defiance against God, we're playing a
foolish game. What do they say these days now?
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes? That's what you're signing
up for. If you continue in your sin against
God, you're going to come into judgment. The judgment of God
is what the scriptures say. Now forth the Holy Spirit convinces
us of the filth of our sin. He makes us to know just how
vile, how gross, how ruinous, how destructive our sin is. Sin ruins people. It ruins relationships. It destroys that fellowship and
trust and happiness and joy and love and peace. Sin is a wrecker. It's a destroyer. It ruins us. It ruined our fellowship with
the true and living God. And the spirit makes his child
to know our sin. My sin is filthy. It's filthy. And not to be coddled and made
excuses for. It's filthy. Fifth, the Holy
Spirit convinces us that we are sin. In other words, we're not
the victims of sin. Everything's not happening to
me. Woe is me because everybody else is bad. I'm just as bad. Yes, sometimes. Sometimes bad
things happen to us. But there's a lot of times I'm
dishing it out too. I'm also a fountain of sin in
the fleshly heart of my nature. It's a fountain of sin. Six,
the Holy Spirit convinces us that the wages of my sin is death. The wages of my sin is death. Let no man deceive you with vain
words, for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon
the children of disobedience." And so the Spirit makes us to
know that we're sinners. He makes each child to know,
I am the sinner. I'm the problem. I'm the sinner. I'm the one who deserves the
judgment of God. And the more we understand about what we are,
the more we see, yep, like David said, I was shaping an iniquity.
And I came forth of corrupt vile seed in Adam, of my parents,
and my kids are sinners, and I'm a sinner. We're all sinners,
and we're dead in trespasses and sins by nature. And so we
see this. but there's a good purpose in
it. For you that are his children, there's a good purpose in showing
you, because the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that
the promise might be given to them that believe in the Lord
Jesus Christ. It's to shut us up, to stop us
from thinking that I can save myself, I can work this, just
give me a little more time, God, I got this, I'll figure it out.
No, you won't. No man ever did. They all perished
in their sin who tried to come to God in their own works. And
so the spirit brings us to see, I cannot save myself. I'm undone. How can a man be just with God? And so everything we do is defiled
with sin. Paul, even the apostle Paul,
cried out, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from
the body of this death? He was made to see. He didn't
skirt around it. Oh, you're a child of God now,
so I wink and pretend I didn't see that. It's okay for you.
No, it isn't. Sin is sin. Sin is vile. It's
vulgar. It's ruinous. It's destructive.
It's what I am by nature. And the Lord shows us what it
is, that we would cry out to the Lord Jesus Christ. And so,
every child of God is going to know that I'm a guilty sinner
worthy of the condemnation of God, and if he were to cast me
into hell, he would be just to do it. Because then my whole
life would have been a sham anyway, and therefore, he's just to do
it. He's just to do it. Based on
my sin, and my sin only. The only hope of any sinner is
the Lord Jesus Christ. And so the Holy Spirit convinces
us of sin so that we aren't fooled and deceived thinking that we're
something when we're nothing, but rather to show us that Christ
is all. And so that brings us to the
next point of righteousness in verse 10, John 16, 10. of righteousness because I go
to my Father and ye see me no more." So our God demands perfect righteousness
and the Holy Spirit convinces the lost sinner that God requires
perfect righteousness and he is going to get it. He is going
to have perfect righteousness for all whom he receives. It's
imperfect justice and holiness. It's just of God to forgive sinners
in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so the Spirit convinces us
of the precious effectual blood of the Lord Jesus Christ to see,
to behold, to believe that what He did on the cross was for my
salvation. He bore my sins. He bore my death. He took my place. He laid down
His life that I should go free from that condemnation and that
judgment of God and live with Him forever. The spirit convinces
us of that. So vile is our sin that God would
not spare his own son. That's another thing that the
spirit shows us that that that's how horrible our sin is. That's how deadly how wicked
our sin is that he put to death his own son as the Christ as
the mediator as the Lamb of God as the Savior because sin had
to be justly condemned and dealt with. The price had to be paid. And that's what he's showing
us. If there had been a law given, which could have given life,
verily, righteousness should have been by the law. It would
have been by the law. The Lord would have done it.
But the death of Christ shows us that there's nothing we can
do. And the only way for God to justly
justify us, to justify us imperfect righteousness is to justify us
in the Lord Jesus Christ, to send Him to lay down His life.
And God slew, the Father slew His own Son as the sacrifice
to make an atonement for our sins. Just like we saw in the
garden when God slew those cattle to picture that's what they deserved,
but these animals gave up their life for a clothing, a covering
of your nakedness, thereby picturing what Christ has done for us.
His life was slain and His blood shed to provide a covering of
righteousness of our nakedness and shame. That we would now
stand before God in a beautiful, white, righteous robe. Accepted,
smelling, sweet-smelling robe of Christ's savor unto the Father. So our God did that for us. So
any man coming to God in his own works is going to face a
holy God who will justly condemn him, who will justly judge him,
and that man will die in his sins because he despised God's
righteousness. He said, God, you're a liar,
and I don't believe your son. I don't believe that he's able
to do that or what you're doing here. and that man will meet
God, a holy angry God, in his own works and be cast into hell
forever. But you that come to God in Christ
will be received, will be accepted of the Father because you believe
the promise of God made unto you in Christ. you've been convicted
by the Holy Spirit and convinced by the Holy Spirit of what sinners
you are and what sinner I am and what sinners we are and to
behold the righteousness of God and the Lord Jesus Christ that
he's provided everything and that's how we come not because
we're good in ourselves and got it all figured out, it's because
the Spirit has convinced us of sin and of His righteousness
and has given us that faith to believe, to lay hold of Christ
our righteousness. He's done it all. He's given
us even the faith that lays hold of Him. And so that's what the
Spirit reproves us of. And now verse 11. of judgment,
because the prince of this world is judged. So the Spirit thoroughly
convinces the lost sheep of Christ that we are absolutely worthy
of God's judgment, and He shows us the sufficient all-glorious
merit of Christ's death for sinners, and He reveals Christ to our
heart in faith. And now this judgment is threefold
that he reproves us of. First, I know that sin is judged,
that all sin is judged by God. Either God judges the sinner
who committed it or God judges that sinner in Christ who bore
that sin for his child. They're either judged in their
own works, in their own selves, or they're judged in Christ,
whose righteous works are our works. whose righteousness is
our righteousness, and what he did is what we did in him. And second, I know that God's
judgment is just. It's deserved by men. Why? For their sin. Because sin is
a fact. Sin is an affront to God. It's
an attack on God. Sin is foolishness. It's not
going to last. You're not going to stand before
God. Sin is filthy. It flows from my heart. Sin flows
from my heart and God has promised the soul that sinneth it shall
die. It will die the second death.
And then third, I know that for the believer, judgment is over. Judgment is satisfied. All things have been fulfilled
by the Lord Jesus Christ. He's put away my sin forever. You that believe, He's put away
your sin. You believe that He is all your
righteousness because your sin is put away. you're not proving
nothing Christ has done it and the faith which he gives you
which continues to look to him is the the revelation of his
love and mercy and kindness and peace for you in the Lord Jesus
Christ and he'll keep you looking to Christ and so that sin that
you committed is put away forever, forever by the faithfulness of
Christ who redeems us with his own, who redeemed us with his
own blood. And so judgment is satisfied
for the people of God and he's wrought salvation in the heart
of every one of his children. which believes on Him, and we
see that and know that through the revelation of faith that
looks to Christ and hopes in Christ and believes Him and loves
Him for what He's done for us. And so, having looked at what
Christ did, what He accomplished when He departed, and what the
Holy Spirit accomplishes in His coming, do you see now why it
was expedient for Christ to go to the Father? It was expedient,
wasn't it? It was good. It's good for us. What he did there in accomplishing
that is very, very good, very profitable for the people of
God. And so he went, he accomplished
that salvation. So that faith in Christ is all
we need. And he gives that faith. That's
all that's required is faith. And in addition to that, the
Spirit comes to ensure that you are convinced. of sin, of righteousness,
and of judgment, that you are convinced that Christ is salvation,
because we always see those things together, and he came in order
to reveal that faith in your heart. Bless his holy name and
rejoice in him, that you are a child of God by the grace of
God and the Lord Jesus Christ, you that believe. Amen. All right, let's close in prayer
and sing a hymn. Our gracious Lord, we thank you,
Father, for this great salvation. Lord, truly, your departing was
indeed expedient for us. It was good for us. And we see,
Lord, how easily we look past those things, how neglectful,
how forgetful we are. And yet, you're so kind, so gracious,
You are the perfect and the good shepherd who cares for the sheep
and gathers us and provides everything. Even when we're thinking of ourselves
and living unto ourselves, Lord, you've done everything. And we
thank you for your grace and mercy. We thank you for the ever-present
Holy Spirit that dwells in our hearts, keeping us retrieving
us, delivering us from death, turning us back into the way
of Christ every time we would go away and depart. Lord, you
keep us and we're so thankful. We ask that you would continue
to keep us, forgive us of our sin, forgive us of our rebellion,
forgive us of our turning away. Lord, thank you for your mercy
and grace and patience with us. And we're so thankful for Christ
because we know that we won't be what we will be until Christ
returns. And we thank you that your grace
is sufficient. But keep us, Lord. Keep us ever
looking to Christ. Grow us in the grace and knowledge
of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It's in Christ's name
that we pray and give thanks. Amen. All right, we're going
to close with hymn number two. ? Love divine, all loves excelling
? ? Joy of heaven to earth come down ? ? Fix in us thy humble
dwelling ? ? All thy faithful mercies crown ? ? Jesus, thou
art all compassion ? ? Pure, unbounded love thou art ? Visit
us with thy salvation, enter every trembling heart. Breathe,
O breathe Thy loving Spirit into every troubled breast. Let us all in Thee inherit, let
us find that second rest. Take away our bent to sinning,
Alpha and Omega be End of faith as it's beginning Set our hearts
at liberty Come almighty to deliver, let us all thy life receive. Suddenly return and never, nevermore
thy temples leave. Thee we would be always blessing,
serve Thee as Thy hosts above, pray and praise Thee without
ceasing, glory in Thy perfect love. Finish then Thy new creation,
pure and spotless let us be. Let us see Thy great salvation
perfectly restored in Thee. Change from glory into glory
Till in heaven we take our place Till we cast our crowns before
thee Lost in wonder, love and praise Alright, you're dismissed.