John chapter 16. Let's read verse
8 again. John 16, verse 8. The Lord Jesus
Christ is talking about the Holy Spirit, and He says, When He
has come, He will reprove, or the word
is convince, he will reprove or convince the
world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. The Lord Jesus Christ is talking
about the Holy Spirit here. He said some things back in chapter
14 about him. He says several things here in
chapter 16 about the Holy Spirit. And he sums it up by saying this,
that God sends the Holy Spirit, and when it comes, he'll do these
three things, or he'll convince of these three things. He'll teach. You remember reading
over there where it says he's the Spirit of truth, he'll lead
and guide into all truth? He's the teacher. The Holy Spirit,
when he comes, He will convince men and women and young people
of three things. Three things. All right? Now, how does the Holy Spirit
speak to people? I want you to turn over to 2
Thessalonians chapter 2. Okay? 2 Thessalonians 2. Our
Lord says the Holy Spirit convinces. convinces or approves, instructs
people. How does he do this? How does
the Holy Spirit speak, convince? How does he deal with human beings? How does the Holy Spirit deal
with human beings? Signs and wonders, miracles,
visions, is that it? Calamities, disasters? Does he
get their attention by those things? Is that it? No. No. The Holy Spirit uses one
means to deal with people. The Holy Spirit convinces people
one way. He uses one thing. Let's look
at it here. And that one thing is God's word,
the word of God. This is what the Holy Spirit
uses to speak to people and to convince, to teach, not signs
and wonder, the word of God. Look at 2 Thessalonians 2, verses
13 and 14. Paul says to these people here who knew and loved
the gospel, he says, we're bound to give thanks always to God
for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from
the beginning chosen you. Yes, he elected a people. He chose certain people to salvation,
to save them. How did he do it? Read on. Through
sanctification, that word means set apart. set apart of the spirit
and belief of the truth, whereunto the truth he called you by our
gospel." Now let me just explain what he just said. He said God
chose certain people. Scripture said before the world
began, before they were ever born, God chose people, elected He elected to save them. He chose
to save them. And in time, the way that he
saves them is through the preaching of the gospel. The Holy Spirit
moves. This is what Christ talked about
in John 3 when he was talking to that Pharisee. He said, The
Spirit, the wind blows where it listseth. That means the Spirit
lands on whoever he decides. And this is how he does it. Sanctification
of the Spirit through belief of the truth. That means two
people can come in to the service and sit under the sound of the
preaching of the gospel, the word of God. Two people. And
if God has chosen one of those people and God sends his Holy
Spirit to that one person, they'll hear the gospel and they'll believe
and they'll be saved. And the other one won't. They'll
go out unmoved, unaffected. And that's the way it is in here
this morning. Same way, if the Holy Spirit moves, if the Holy
Spirit speaks, he's going to do it through what I'm doing
right now. That's right. 1 Corinthians 1.21 says, It pleased
God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. Now,
I know that preachers today mostly are a bunch of fools, and what
they're doing is a bunch of foolishness. But what I'm doing this morning
is not foolishness. What I'm saying to you is not
what I think, and I'm not carrying on a bunch of nonsense. I'm trying to tell you what the
Lord Jesus Christ said. OK? Now, if the Holy Spirit takes
this and moves on your heart, my heart, He'll cause you, he'll
cause me to believe what is preached here, to the salvation of my
soul, your soul. This is serious business, people.
I'm not playing games. I'm not just giving a Sunday
morning sermon. Paul one time, who was killed
for preaching, he said, Thanks be unto God who always causes
us to triumph in Christ. He always makes savor the manifest
of his knowledge by us in every place. To one it is the savor
of life unto life, to another from death to death. Paul wasn't just preaching sermons,
and neither is this one. This is a matter of life and
death, and I hope the Holy Spirit It will work on you and me. Through
this word, this is how the Holy Spirit speaks through the preaching
of the word. OK, this ain't just Sunday morning
and another sermon. All right, God's written word,
that's how he speaks, that's how he speaks. And the Holy Spirit
operates, he convinces. Scripture says he convinces,
he reproves. Look at verse 8 again. The Holy
Spirit will reprove the world of three things. The world, Is that what Christ meant? Every
single person that ever lived, the Holy Spirit is going to convince
them of these three things. Is that what that means? Is that
what he's saying there? That's what people say about John 3.16,
that God so loved the world. This means the exact same thing
that Christ meant there in John 3.16. You remember when Christ said,
I have a people, God has a people out of every tribe, kindred,
nation, and tongue, and people under heaven. What's that? That's
the Word. But God has a people out of. All people are not his
people. That's what Romans 8 says, that
the children of the flesh are not the children of God. Everybody's
not child of God. Christ looked at some Pharisees
one time and said, You're of your father, the devil. So, everybody's
not a child of God. You will not hear this preacher
tell you, God loves you. Because I can't say that. I don't know if you're one of
his own or not. But I can tell you this, if you're in Christ,
God loves you. If you believe Jesus Christ,
God loves you. with the world here. He's going
to convince the world. Who's he going to convince? Everybody?
No. A people out of every tribe,
kindred, nation, and tongue under heaven. Mexicans, Africans, France,
England, Italy, Ireland, Russia, China, Japan, United States. You name the country, the people,
place, the tongue, the gospel has been preached in it, and
God has called out some people. That's what he's saying here,
the world. OK? Don't let that word throw
you there. John, if Christ convinced the
world, everybody, of sin, righteousness, and judgment, everybody would
be saved, wouldn't they? All right. Let's look at these
three things very quickly. The world will be convinced,
a people out of the world. of sin. Look at verse 9. Of sin. The
Holy Spirit, the first thing he does to a human being, the
first thing he convinces a human being is of sin. This is why I know the Holy Spirit
is not present in all this preaching going on today. Very little talk
of sin. Now listen, I didn't say sins,
did I? The extent of preaching today
about sins is drinking and smoking and so forth, isn't it? That's about it. Adultery and homosexuality and
all that. That's their idea of preaching
against sins. And I'm not condoning those things,
all right? I'm not condoning them. Look
over at Romans 7. Romans chapter 7. I hope you
have a Bible with you. If not, you'll just have to take
it. You'll just have to believe that
I'm reading from it, won't you? I am. I don't want to tell you
anything but what this book says. Romans chapter 7, all right?
Turn over there. Now, Christ said when the Holy
Spirit has come, he'll convince of sin. Singular, didn't he? Sin? I want to know that you're
with me this morning. He said sin, didn't he? Singular. He didn't say sins. He said sin,
didn't he? All right. The whole of Romans
7 talks about this thing. Sin. Look at Romans 7, verse
13, and read with me. Paul said, but sin, look down
in the middle, but sin, that it might appear sin. working
death in me by that which is good, that sin," singular, "...by
the commandment of the law might become exceeding sinful." Read
on. Now, we know that the law is
spiritual. That means it looks on the heart
and the mind. I'm carnal, or flesh sold under
sin. Read on. That which I do, I allow
not. For what I would, that do I not.
What I hate, that's what I do. If then I do that which I don't
want to do, or would not, I consent under the law that it's right. But now then, verse 17, it's
no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. Look at
verse 23. I see another law in my members,
against the law of my mind, bringing me into captivity to the law
of sin." Now, everybody will admit to sins. Everybody on the earth If you
ask them, are you a sinner? Do you commit sins? They will
say yes. Everyone will say, I have my
faults. That's about what they call sin.
Faults. Like white lies. Not I'm a liar. White lies. Sins. Faults. But the Holy Spirit,
when he convinces someone, he convinces them of In other words,
that they are a sinner. Not what they do, what they are. That what they do is because
of what they are. This is what the Holy Spirit
does. This is the first thing. Isn't this what Christ said?
If someone has ever been saved, this is the first thing God's
Holy Spirit does. He speaks to that person and
says, You are a sinner. And look at verse 24 there. Paul,
this is what the Holy Spirit did to Paul there in Romans 7.
The Holy Spirit came to Paul. Paul thought he was a good fellow,
didn't he? Huh? Paul was a Pharisee. He said,
concerning the law, John, he said, I was blameless, like that
rich young ruler. That's who I believe that was.
He said, what lack I? I've done all these things my
youth of. I don't kill, I don't steal,
I don't commit adultery. I've gone to church all my life. What lack I yet? blameless. Paul said, when God showed me
that he looks on the heart, he said, I died. He said, sin revived. I saw that it's not that though
I don't do these things outwardly, these things are in me. And this
is what I am. And look at what he says. This
is the conclusion he came to, and this is the conclusion everybody
comes to whom the Holy Spirit operates on. This is what Christ said, that
everyone whom the Holy Spirit moves on to save, this is the
conclusion they reach. Verse 24, Not, oh, I did this, or oh, I
did that, I'm sorry I got caught, like Esau. I got caught, I lost
this, I lost that, I should not have done that. It's like Paul
said, I am no good. It's like Isaiah said, I am undone. Look at verse 18. Paul says,
I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. This is what the Holy Spirit
convinces everyone he saves of. Now what Christ said? Sin. Sin. Sin. Law warring in my memory. David said it. He said, Is in
my loins a loathsome disease? That's what Paul meant when he
said, in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. That's what Isaiah
meant when he said, from the sole of our feet to the top of
our head, there's no soundness in me. There's no goodness in
me. This is what the Holy Spirit
convinces people of. David said, my sin is ever before
me. And look at what our Lord said
here in John 16. Look at what he said is the principal
cause of it all. Look at it. Verse 9, of sin,
this is the essence of it, because they believe not on me. Now, I hope you're still with
me, but you know, if the Holy Spirit's not moving, you're not.
It's just what we said. If the Holy Spirit's not speaking
to you, it doesn't matter how much liberty I have or what I
say this morning. Forget it. If he doesn't convince
you and me of your own sinfulness, full of sin, it doesn't matter
what I say. It says he'll convince of sin
because they believe not on me. When I was a preacher, I believed
in Jesus. He didn't say that, did he? He didn't say sin, because they
believed not in me, Jesus. He didn't say that. He said on.
They believed not on me. Unbelief. Not in Jesus, but on
me. Who's this me? Oh, my. This is the Lord of Glory. This
ain't just Jesus. It's not just believing in Jesus. If God, listen to me, if God's
Spirit works on you, works on me, he'll convince us through
preaching, the first thing he'll convince us of is we haven't
believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. One of two things. He'll convince
us that we either were not at all interested in this Jesus
Christ and this gospel. Didn't it like me? I wasn't interested. Or, secondly, that you did believe
in a Jesus, but it's the wrong one. In other words, if you were
out in the gutter like me, he'll convince you that you're in the
gutter. and you weren't interested in
God. Or if you're in the church, or
not in the church, but in religion, he'll convince you that though
you believe in Jesus, wrong. Because they believe not on me. What happened at Pentecost? When
Peter stood up to preach at Pentecost, did he preach Jesus. Did he stand up and say like
these pitiful pinhead preachers today? Did he say, now, God loves
you people. And Christ died for you. And
God wants to save you because he loves you. But he's done all
he can do. Why, he gave his son Jesus for
you. He's like Hallmark Cards, he carried the nuts to send it
to everybody. And now he wants you so badly to let him into
your heart. He's knocking at your door. Don't
you hear him? Please, now, don't anybody move!
Spirit might operate. Now, you want to be saved, don't
you? Come on down front. Dedicate, consecrate yourself
to Jesus. That ain't what he did. When Peter preached at Pentecost,
what he preached was a sovereign Lord, seated on a throne, and
all those people in his hands to do with as he pleased. That
the one they nailed to that cross, they did it because God determined
to do it. They did exactly what God said
they would do, according to God's purpose, to slay the lamb. And he said, now he's seated
on a throne, he ain't Jesus at your heart's door. He's seated
on a throne and you're in his hands, the one you've despised,
he said. The one you've rejected, the
one you've killed, is now your Lord and Master. You're judged
with the keys of hell and death and despised. He can save you
or cast your soul into hell. What you gonna do? They said,
oh yeah, oh yeah. Ah, he's Lord, isn't he? And
they came bowing and begging for mercy. Don't let him damn
me, kill me. Help me, save me, mercy, grace. He's Lord. None of this except
that Jesus has your person. The Holy Spirit was present at
Pentecost. And the people didn't go home
talking about the jibber-jabber of the preachers. They didn't
jibber-jabber. They preached what I just preached
to you. A person on a throne wearing his hands bowed. And they went home saying, God's
God, Christ is Lord. we're going to be saved, he's
going to decide to save us. Oh, I hope he wants to have mercy
on me. Now this accepting Jesus. That brings me to the next point
here. Christ said, because they believe not on me, who am I? Who is he? Lord of the dead and
the living. Not who makes him Lord. Who God
made Lord! What are you getting mad about,
preacher? I hope the zeal of God's glory, I hope this is all
about me just... I tell you, these preachers God. Hell is full of more preachers
than anybody. Everybody believes what they're
preaching is right there with them, saying, you lied to me. He ain't pitiful Jesus like you
say if I look at him. Why didn't you tell me to bow
to him, preacher? Why don't you tell me to accept him? He wasn't
up for acceptation. Why don't you tell me that, preacher?"
He's going to say, because I didn't know him either. That brings me to the next point
here. Of righteousness, look at verse 10. Of righteousness. He'll convince the world of righteousness
because I go to my Father. And you see me no more. You will
see me no more. The next time you do, you will
see me as I am. You see me no more. I saw Jesus. Oral said, I saw Jesus the other
night in a dream. He's 900 feet tall. You hadn't
seen him. You see me no more. Next time
you see me, it'll be a lot bigger than 900 feet. All you'll see
is 100 feet of foot, and you'll be under it. Isn't that right? That's what this
book says. Oral who? Righteousness. Look at that.
Righteousness. Because I go to my Father. Who's
His Father? The Holy Father. Who? The thrice-holy God whom
the angels, who have never sinned, Darnell, the angels have never
sinned, cover their faces, cover their bodies, and all they cry
day and night is, which no man can approach unto.
God had a mountain years ago called Sinai, and He said, if
a man or a beast gets on it, I'll consume him. That's just
a mountain. How much more the throne of the
Christ holy God. And Christ said, I'm going to
Him. How are you going to get there? Well, I'll just go up to God
and say, hey, Christ said, no man cometh unto the Father but
by me. How's that? What do you mean? Righteousness. Let's look at this, all right?
This is the gospel. It's the most important message
you'll ever hear. Romans chapter 10. It may be the only message
you'll ever hear. Romans chapter 10. And people,
it may be, if you've never heard this before, I know for a fact
it is the only gospel message you've ever heard. Righteousness! What is it? What is this righteousness,
Christ said? Of righteousness he'll convince
the world of righteousness, because I go to the Holy Father. You're
not going to see me anymore. Well, look at Romans chapter
10. Paul says here, brethren, verse 1, my heart's desire and
prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. And why
am I getting so excited this morning? Why am I getting like
this? Well, I hope, really, the zeal
of God's glory in God's house has eaten me up. I hope that I'm so taken and consumed
with this truth that it ought to make me excited. If it doesn't,
I'm not much of a... I'm a... But another thing is,
I want you to believe this so bad. Because I know this is the
only gospel there is, and I know they're not preaching out there
in average place, that this is the gospel. This is what Christ
said when the Holy Spirit comes, he'll convince of sin, what you
are. And this is the next thing he
convinces of then, of righteousness. Look at verse 2. He says, I bear
them record, they have a zeal of God, but not according to
knowledge. I have, I know people all over
this town who are some nice people, church-going people. They're
moral. They're outwardly righteous. They don't do all these, they
don't commit open sins, you know. Sins. They're outwardly right,
they're good people as far as men go. They're sweet people, they're
kind people, they do things for you. But like Paul, and this
is what Paul said, they have a zeal for God. They go to church,
they worship God, but he said it's not according to knowledge.
What are you talking about, Paul? Verse 3, look at it. They being
ignorant of God's righteousness. God's righteousness. They're ignorant of it. They're going about, read it,
verse 3, to establish their own righteousness and have not submitted
unto the, here it is again, righteousness of God. What is he saying? What's he
saying, Preacher? What is this righteousness of God? explain it a while ago, God is
infinitely pure and holy. We can't come to God. God is righteous. And we're here. God loves righteousness,
Henry. Righteous things, righteous people. Now, you're like Paul in Romans
7, aren't you? You say, in me dwelleth no good
thing, no righteousness. Oh, you look good on the outside,
Henry, right? Right? I mean, you're as righteous outwardly
as anybody else, but that's not the righteousness of God. He demands perfection in thought,
motive, as well as being. God doesn't
see as man see. God looks on the heart. There'll be a lot of good, moral,
upstanding women who went to church all their lives in hell. Why? They had their righteousness. They thought, I've lived all
this time, and now God's got to accept me. Well, I've never
done this, I've never done that. I've gone to church all my life,
and I dedicate, reconsecrate. God's got to accept me. You know,
Christ came, he said, the harlots will enter heaven before you
do. He said that to those religious people. He said, the harlot,
a whore, a whore in our language, a whore will get into heaven
before you self-righteous moral woman there, who boasts of all
their goodness all their life. A whore! Christ said that. And that woman hustled. A harlot? Yes. There's one named Mary Magdalene
right now, right beside the Lord Jesus Christ. This is what he's saying here,
going about to establish their own righteousness. Look at verse
4. Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone
that works and does the best they can. to everyone that lives
the good life, the victorious Christian life, to everyone that
quits this and quits that and doesn't do it anymore for the
rest of their lives, that's not what he says. He says, Christ
is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth on
him. On him. Well, you've got to believe
on something. Now, if there is a I believe
in that chair. I believe in that chair. That is a chair. And it's a good
chair. Why, it's a strong chair. Yup,
that's a chair. Now, do I believe on that chair? No. I believe in that chair. The fact that that's a chair.
What does it mean to believe on that chair? I'll tell you. I'll show you. You tell me your
faith, I'll show you. Chair? Good chair. Chair! I believe on that chair. Christ, Jesus, Lord, Master,
Righteous, Holy. I believe that. But I better,
I better know buts about it. But I, if you believe on him,
is to cast your sinful soul on him. Here I am, in my flesh dwelleth
no good thing, just as I am. Will you have me? I need you. Here I am, sin and all. He'll
bear you up on his shoulder, because God
hath laid on him, on him, the iniquity of the soul. Oh my, Christ is into the law. Look at verse 10. With the heart
man believeth unto righteousness. With the heart man believeth
unto righteousness. It doesn't say with the life
man worketh out of righteousness. He says with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness. Abraham was counted righteous
when? Paul dealt with this. That's
what the whole book of Romans is about. Justification. How? By work. Faith. Abraham was counted righteous
when? When he believed. Huh? Before he took one step. before
he left Ur of the Chaldeans, before he took one step, before
he took Isaac up on that mountain. Now, that showed that he did
believe, didn't it? His works did prove that he did believe.
And without them, nobody would have known that he was a believer
without those works. But that's not what saved him.
God saved him. God justified him. Right? What does that mean, justified?
I was going to have you turn to Romans 3, but don't, I don't
have time. God said, there's Abraham, 75 years old, an idolater,
that's what it said, an idolater, an idolater, a sinner, a no good
idolater, a sinner, but I've chose him and I say he's mine. I'm going to save that fellow.
Yeah, he is saved. But he's got to go through a
lot, and I'm going to bring him through it. I'm going to keep
him by my power. I'm going to show him the lamb.
I'm going to preach the gospel to him. I'm going to bring him
up on Mount Moriah one day, and as he starts to plunge that knife
in his son's breast, I'm going to show him how I did indeed
plunge my knife into my son's breast, his substitute, his lamb,
his blood atonement. And that's the reason he's saved,
because I did all that, because I chose him, I called him, I
kept him all the days of his life, and I'm going to bring
him to me. and present him thoughtless, holy, and unblameable, and unreprovable."
Abraham didn't do anything. God did it all. It is God which
worketh in us both the will and due of his good pleasure. Righteousness,
the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Back to the text,
and I quit. You see, that's why Christ came.
He came to live for us, not as an example He came to be a righteous substitute. Righteousness because I go to
my Father and you see me no more, but you will see me and you'll
be with me if I'm your righteousness. Verse 11, lastly, of judgment
because the prince of this world is judged. The prince of this world is judged,
he said. There's no condemnation to them
that are in Christ. You know that? None. If you're trusting on Christ,
believing on Christ, there's no condemnation. You say, but
I'm a sinner. Who's he that condemns? No condemnation
to them that are in Christ. All charges, but I saw him the
other day. You don't... I heard him. He was doing something and I
heard... All charges, all accusations,
all penalties have been met. Paid in full. Answered. Paid full. Christ has the keys of hell and
death at his side, he said here, because the prince of this world
is judged. Satan is called the accuser of
who? The brethren. He doesn't accuse
his own. Does he? Oh no, he's got them
right where he wants them. Either in the gutter of sin or
in the gutter of religion. Self-righteous. Good. Too good not to be saved. He's
got them right where he wants them, so he doesn't accuse them
of anything. Was that where you were, Darnell?
Too good not to be saved. I'm too good. Satan's not going
to accuse you of anything. He's going to leave you alone.
The boy, he'll take an old sinner who's trusting Christ, looking
to Christ and wanting to be like Christ and trying to be like
Christ, and he'll just bombard him. You ain't nothing but a
sinner. Throw temptations his way. Here, look at this. Here,
you like this, don't you? You want this, don't you? And
he'll go to the center and say, Help! And what will Christ say? I'm a very present help in times
of trouble. He'll come stronger than he and
say, Who is he that condemns? There is therefore no condemnation
to him. I am at the charge. If you want
to deal with somebody, deal with me. If you seek him, let him go. Deal with me." Now, that's the
Savior I want, don't you? The Savior of sinners. That's the gospel I need, the
gospel for sinners. A righteousness I need, not mine,
not my filthy rags." How many times have I used this
illustration? Old brother William Hodges, when
he was in the hospital recently, he said, ever since I got here
I keep thinking of that illustration that you used about our righteousness. And I said, well good, somebody,
somebody heard it. Scripture says our righteousness
is a filthy rag. The goodness of man fadeth like a leaf, the Scripture
says. Our righteousness is like those
hospital gowns. You ever worn one? You ever been
in a hospital and they gave you a gown? No, they did not give
you a robe. They did not give you a seamless,
thick flannel or terrycloth robe with
something to bind it around you, cover up all your parts. No,
they gave you a part of a sheet. And now if you put it on, somebody
comes to visit you, you might look, if you face them up front,
You look pretty good, don't you? Hey, you're looking good, Joe.
Thank you. Aw, yeah. Never looked better.
Well, thank you. I feel pretty good. How you doing?
Pretty good. Well, I'm not bad. Joe! Why, Joe, you're naked! That's man's righteousness. Looks
good to man. Oh, it doesn't cover the all-seeing
eye of God. He says, you're naked, and I
look at your heart. You need a righteous robe to
cover you. You need something I can't see
through. There's only one thing God can't
see through, the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. the robe that
Christ worked out. He worked out a robe, Jerry. A righteousness, the Scripture
says, is a robe. That's what they did to that
prodigal son who came. Bring the best robe! The best one! That old boy was naked and torn
and bleeding and coming home, you know, just had nothing left
but rags on him and said, Cover him! Oh, and then he looked like
a king. King's son. Covered all the way. No nakedness. No faults. No blemish. Your backside got
a blemish, doesn't it, Joe? The heart does too, but when
the blood of Christ covers it, when the righteousness of Christ
is your own, God says, justify. Now, I can't preach the gospel
any better than that. I just can't do it. And that's
the only gospel there is. And this is what the Holy Spirit
convinces everybody he's going to say about these three things.
Righteousness, or you need one, and not any will do. You've got
to be the best. Christ's judgment. Unless you're in Christ, you're
under the judgment of God. But if you're in Christ, no condemnation. And that's good news. All right,
Joe, come lead us in singing the closing hymn. 285? Him number 35, Jerry.