Welcome to Reign of Grace. This
program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries,
an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany,
Georgia. It is our pleasure and privilege
to present to you the gospel message of the sovereign grace
and glory of God in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that today's program
will be a blessing to you. Thank you for listening. And
now for today's program. Welcome to our program today.
I'm glad you could join us. If you'd like to follow along
in your Bibles, I'm continuing a message that I began last week
entitled, Holy Spirit Conviction. This is part two, and I'm preaching
it from the book of John, the Gospel of John, chapter 16, beginning
at verse seven, and talking about the work of the Holy Spirit in
the salvation of sinners. And the Bible tells us that salvation,
by the sovereign grace of God is a work of all three persons
of the Godhead. We have the God the Father, who
represents the authority and sovereignty of the Godhead. He
chose a people before the foundation of the world and gave them to
Christ. And then you have God the Son, who agreed to be the
surety, the substitute, the redeemer, and preserver of the people of
God. And in order to do that, he had
to take into union with his deity, his deified nature, his godly
nature, a perfect sinless humanity made for him in the womb of the
Virgin Mary. That's the incarnation. Christ
is both God and man in one person. And then the third person of
the Trinity is the Holy Spirit who agreed to be the sovereign
invincible applier of the benefits and blessings of salvation, purposed
by the Father, procured by the Son, applied by the Spirit. And that's the new birth. So
what we're talking about is Holy Spirit conviction. The work of
the Spirit in the new birth is to bring, first of all, to bring
sinners under the preaching of the gospel. Let me show you a
verse in Romans chapter six. The Bible teaches us that the
new birth, you must be born again, Christ said. And the new birth
includes regeneration, which is the giving of life, or what
the Bible sometimes calls a quickening. You hath he quickened who were
dead in trespasses and sins. And that's the impartation, the
infusion of spiritual life by the knowledge applied by the
spirit through the gospel preached and so and when that knowledge
is applied into the heart the mind the affections the will
that sinner is convicted convinced that's what we're talking about
holy spirit convention conviction and brought to faith in christ
i believe i know paul said i know whom i have believed and i'm
persuaded i'm convicted that he's able to keep that which
I've committed. And what have I committed unto
Him? My whole salvation. And so, in the process of Christ
dying for His sheep and then calling them forth, both Old
Testament and New, He sends the Spirit to providentially bring
them first where the truth is. John chapter eight, Christ said,
the truth will make you free. God doesn't save people under
the preaching of a lie. He doesn't save sinners under
the preaching of a false gospel. No, sir. The Holy Spirit is the
spirit of truth and Holy Spirit conviction is accomplished by
Him within the hearts of God's people, Christ's sheep, under
the preaching of the truth. And if you look at Romans chapter
six, verse 17, Paul writes here, but God be
thanked that you were the servants or the slaves of sin. Now that
means you were an unbeliever. You see, even as a sinner, even
as a saved person, I'm still a sinner and I still cannot rise
above it. But when I was in unbelief, I
was a servant of sin. That's all I could do. And I'll
show you that in Holy Spirit conviction here when we go back
to John 16. He says, but you have obeyed from the heart. That's
the new heart. Ezekiel said it, Jeremiah said,
I'll give them a new heart, a new mind, a new affections, a new
will. Change their will because by
nature we're not willing. He says, you have obeyed from
the heart. That form of doctrine, teaching, preaching, And then
it says in the King James Version, which was delivered you. Now
the message of salvation is delivered to God's people by the preachers
of the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit. Now the preacher
doesn't have the power. I don't have the power to save
you. I preach the gospel. I'm just the signpost. I'm just
the instrument. John the Baptist said, I'm a
voice crying in the wilderness. But I can't give you faith to
believe. I can't bring you to repentance.
The Holy Spirit has to do that. And that's why Christ sends him
forth. So he says, the form of doctrine, which is the gospel,
wherein the righteousness of God is revealed, salvation by
the sovereign grace of God. And grace means what? Unearned
favor, unmerited favor, undeserved favor. There's not one blessing
of salvation, not one benefit that I can say that I've earned
it and deserve it. It's all earned and deserved
for me by Christ. So that form of doctrine, which
was delivered to you, now, you may have a concordance in your
Bible, as I do in mine, but literally, if you went back to the original
language, the original Greek, as it were here, it would read
this way. God be thanked that as you were
the servants of sin, but you have obeyed from the heart that
form of doctrine, where to you were delivered. You were delivered. Now again, it's true. The message
of God's gospel must be delivered to you. God's sending his servants
out. Go in all the world and preach
the gospel. Deliver that message. But what
this verse is actually saying is you have obeyed from the heart
that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. God delivered
you under the preaching of the gospel. And how does he do that?
Well, he either brings you in contact with people who believe
the gospel, witnesses. He brings you to a church where
the gospel is preached. He causes you to sit and watch
a TV program where a man is preaching the true gospel. Or you may read
it in a book or you hear it on tape or whatever. But God's gonna
get the message to you and he's gonna get you to the message.
And it says in verse 18 of Romans chapter six, being then made
free, liberated from sin, you became the servants of righteousness.
Now to be liberated from sin does not mean that now you're
perfect in your character and conduct. Because if that's what
it means, none of us are saved. There's only two types of people
in this world. Sinners lost in their sins and
sinners saved by grace. So what does it mean to be liberated
from sin? It means sin can no longer bring
me into bondage. Sin can no longer condemn me. Sin cannot be charged to me. Romans 8.33, who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? And when that comes to my mind
and my heart by the power of the Spirit under the preaching
of the gospel, then I'm liberated, I'm set free. Free indeed, the
truth shall set you free. That's what that means. That's
not talking about politics or society. That's talking about
the liberty of the gospel. Stand fast, Paul wrote in Galatians
5.1. Stand firm in the liberty wherewith
Christ hath made you free. And don't be entangled again
with the yoke of bondage, legalism. You understand that? Now go back
to John 16. So we're talking about Holy Spirit
conviction, the Holy Spirit doing His work in the new birth to
bring Christ's sheep, God's elect, to a saving knowledge of Christ.
And it says in verse eight, now the Holy Spirit, the work of
the Spirit in me is the fruit, the result of Christ's work for
me. Do you understand? Not the other
way around. And that's what Christ said in
verse seven. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is expedient
for you that I go away. Where was he going? He's going
to the cross. He's going to die, but he's going to be raised again
the third day. He established righteousness.
You see, righteousness demands life. Sin demands death, but
righteousness demands life for his people. Jew and Gentile all
over the world, not everybody without exception. That's why
I tell people, if Christ died for you, you're going to be saved.
You're going to enter heaven. He didn't die for everybody without
exception. So he died he was buried he arose again the third
day and ultimately he's going to the father as the as the Savior
of his people as the Lord our righteousness the intercessor
the mediator the advocate and he says if I go It's expedient
for you that I go away. It's necessary for you for if
I go not away the comforter the Holy Spirit will not come unto
you, but if I depart, I will send him unto you. So the Holy
Spirit's work within a sinner in the new birth is the fruit,
the result, the effect of Christ's work for the sinner. Now that's
important because it is Christ's work on the cross, the merits
of His obedience unto death, which is called the righteousness
of God that is imputed, charged to his people, that forms the
ground of their salvation, the ground of their justification,
the blood which is the ground of their forgiveness. And what
the Holy Spirit does in us is not the ground of salvation,
it's the effect, the fruit, the result of what Christ did. Don't get the two confused, many
people do. That's why people who believe
that, well, the new birth comes about because you make a right
decision. You accept Christ as your Savior
and then you're born again. That's not true. Oh no. You will not accept Christ and
believe in him until you're born again by the Spirit under the
preaching of the gospel. Let me show you one more verse
on that. John chapter one, in verse 11. Speaking of Christ
coming into the world. In John 1 11 it said, he came
unto his own and his own received him not. Now a lot of commentators
say he's talking about the Jewish nation in the majority, his own
nation. But he says in verse 12, but
as many as received him. Now there's some who didn't receive
him, there's some who did. Well what about those who did
receive him? How did they get there? How did
they come to that conclusion? Are they better people than those
that did not receive Him? No, no, because any, listen,
any and every sinner who's left to himself will not receive Him.
So how did these people receive Him? Look at verse 12. But as
many as received Him, to them gave He power. Now that word
power there is not ability. The word power there is the right
or the privilege. To them gave he the right or
the privilege to become or be called the sons of God. What
gives me, if I claim to be saved and to be a child of God, a son
of God, what gives me that right to make such a claim? Well, it
says here, even to them that believe on his name. Well, what
is it to believe on His name? Well, His name is that which
identifies and distinguishes Him from all counterfeits. It's the truth of His glorious
person and His finished work. Well, what brought me to believe
in His name? Whereas the others would not
receive Him. What made the difference? That's what we're talking about.
Well, look at verse 13. Even to them that believe on
His name, which were born. Oh, they were born into this.
Yes, sir. In what way? Well, not of blood. It wasn't your natural physical
birth that brought you into this kinship with Christ, faith in
Him, repentance. You weren't naturally born into
it, because we're all naturally born in sin and depravity, spiritual
death. All right, which we're born not
of blood, nor of the will of the flesh. That's the works of
the flesh. It wasn't your good works that
brought you into this kinship with Christ, that brought you
to faith in Christ. Salvation's not by works, it's
by grace. And then look at this, nor of
the will of man. It wasn't your so-called, quote,
free will decision, unquote, that brought you into this kinship
with Christ. How were you born? That's the
new birth. Born, look at it, verse 13, but of God. You see, sinners do not have,
by nature, a spark of goodness within us. And, you know, a lot
of people, they kind of imply, well, you've got a spark of goodness,
we just forgot to find an eloquent preacher to fan that flame and,
you know, have some music and get you feeling sorry for yourself
and coming up and, no, no. You must be born again or you
cannot even see the truth. Cannot see the kingdom of God,
cannot enter it. Well, back in John chapter 16
now, it says in verse eight, when he, the spirit of conviction,
the comforter, when he has come, he will reprove the world, convict
or convince the world, not everybody without exception now, The reason
John uses the word world is to show them that this is not just
for the Jews. God has a chosen people whom
he chose before the foundation of the world and gave to Christ
before the world began, and there are all kinds of people all over
this world. Jews and Gentiles, black, white,
yellow, whatever. All tribes, kindred, tongue,
and nation, the book of Revelation tells us. There's no physical,
social, linguistic, or racial barrier here. For in Christ Jesus,
all who believe in Him are equally saved, equally justified, equally
righteous, equally blessed. That's right. There's no June
or Greek. There's no June or Gentile. were
all equal in the eyes of God in Christ. Why? Because our salvation
was not conditioned on us. It did not come about by what
we did or what we decided or what we believed. It came about
because Christ died for our sins on the cross. Put away my sins. And that's all over the world.
People all over the world. How many are? I don't know. How
many are there? I don't know. Over in Revelation
chapter 7 it speaks of a multitude which no man can number, or Revelation
8 rather. In Revelation 7 it says 144,000.
That's a symbolic number. That's talking about all the
people of God on earth. The church militant. The multitude
which no man can number is the church at rest in glory. The
church at rest. He's gonna convince people all
over this world. And there's some who are not
gonna be convinced, why? Because the Holy Spirit did not
come to them in saving, invincible, irresistible grace. So what's
he gonna do? Verse eight now, John 16, when
he has come, he will reprove the world of sin, three things
he mentions here, of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. Now in what sense? Is he going
to convict God's people out of this world and all this world
of sin? Well, look at verse nine. Now
he gives us the specifics. He'll convict us of sin because
they believe, he said, he'll convict them of sin because they
believe not on me. Sin has to be measured by Christ. Sin cannot be measured on a sliding
scale. When it comes to salvation, when
it comes to a right relationship with God, sin, what's the word
here is the most common word for sin in the New Testament,
which means to miss the mark. And what he's going to do, the
Holy Spirit, in the preaching of the gospel, he's going to
show us that God requires perfection that we don't have and cannot
work into and that without Christ to put away our sins by the blood
of the cross it's all sin even our best that's
what he's teaching I'm a sinner we sing him only a sinner saved
by grace only a sinner saved by grace this is my story To
God be the glory. And no time, you know, David
said, he wrote in Psalm 130 verse three, he said, Lord, if thou
Lord shouldest mark iniquities, who would stand? None of us. I've often said on this program,
and I'll say it in our church all the time, that if God were
to judge me at any time, based upon my best efforts to serve
him, if he would judge me based on my works, it would be sin. And if I stand before God having
sin imputed to my charge, that I'll be doomed forever. That's
why the Bible says, blessed are, when it says, who shall anything
to the charge of God's elect. It's God that justifies. What
does it mean to be justified? It means to be free from sin. It means to have no sin imputed
to me, forgiven of all my sins, based on what? The blood of Jesus
Christ. And it means to be declared righteous,
and we'll get to that. But of sin. Without faith, it's
impossible to please God. And what is faith? Faith is believing
in and resting in Christ as my only Savior and my full Savior
from all my sin. His name shall be called Jesus,
for He shall save His people from their sin. And by one offering,
Hebrews 10, 14 says, by one offering, He hath perfected forever them
that are sanctified. By one offering. He's completed,
perfected forever, all whom God set apart. If the blood of bulls and goats,
if they symbolically and ceremonially put away sin, not eternally,
not spiritually, but only symbolically, if they did that, how much more
shall the blood of Jesus Christ, how much more save us from our
sins? remember Christ told the Pharisees,
he said, if you believe not that I am, you'll die in your sins.
The book of Daniel chapter 9 and verse 24 says that when the Messiah
would come, Christ, he would finish the transgression, make
an end of sin, and bring in everlasting righteousness. So the Holy Spirit,
in Holy Spirit conviction, under the preaching of the gospel,
convicts me, convinces me, that without Christ, I'm doomed forever. I'm nothing but sin, and all
I do is sin. Well, look at the second part.
This is verse 10. He will convince us of righteousness,
because he says, I go to my Father, and you see me no more. How did Christ go to the Father? Well, we've already talked about
it. He went by way of the cross. He went by way of the law. He
kept the law perfectly. He said, I didn't come to destroy
the law, I come to keep it. He came to do what we cannot
do. He kept the law in every jot
and tittle, and then he went to the cross, having the sins
of God's elect imputed, charged, accounted to him, went under
the wrath of God, the cup of God's wrath, and he finished
it by his death on the cross. It is finished. And he was buried,
he arose again the third day because in his death comes forth
righteousness. That's the righteousness of God
revealed in the gospel, Romans 1, 16 and 17. That's the righteousness
of God. the merits of Christ's obedience
unto death, which God has imputed, charged, accounted to His people,
by which we are justified. And He goes to the Father as
the One who finished the work and brought in everlasting righteousness
for His people, And he says, and you see me no more, talking
about in the flesh. Now they saw him after the resurrection,
but it was different. He was in a glorified body, even
though he still had the nail prints and the scars, but it
was still a glorified body. But he went into the fire. And
when he descended, they didn't see him physically after that. They saw him with the eye of
faith as we do today if we believe. So he's gonna convict the world,
not everybody in the world, but his elect in the world of sin
and of righteousness. Of sin because by nature we don't
believe in him. Without Christ, it's all sin.
Of righteousness because of the work that he accomplished on
Calvary in his death, burial, and resurrection. And then look
at verse 11. He will convict the world of
judgment. And he says, because the prince
of this world is judged. Now what's that talking about?
What he's talking about there is that the Holy Spirit will
convince God's people that their sins were judged in Christ on
that cross and Satan cannot charge them again. And I'll show you
a verse of Scripture. Look back at John chapter 12
and verse 31. John 12 and verse 31. You see, God's people, Christ's
sheep, His church, God's elect, have already been judged for
all their sins. When? When Christ died on the
cross for their sins. Christ was judged in my stead. And He, as I always say, drank
damnation dry. And I won't be judged for my
sins. God said, I will remember them no more. What does that
mean? That means God will not keep
a record of them. God will never bring them up
again. He charged them to Christ. Christ was made sin and he's
charged me with Christ's righteousness. I will stand before God at the
final judgment, not to be judged for my sins, but I will stand
before God washed in the blood of Christ and dressed in his
righteousness imputed alone. Well, look at John chapter 12
and verse 31. Christ speaking of his cross bearing, going to
the cross. He said, now is the judgment
of this world. All right. Now shall the prince
of this world be cast out, and if I be lifted up from the earth
will draw all unto me. And this, he said, signifying
what death he should die. When Satan accuses God's people
now, the accusations cannot stick. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who
can condemn us? It's Christ that died. Yea, he
rather is risen again and seated at the right hand of the Father.
That's the conviction of the Holy Spirit. I hope you'll join
us next week for another message from God's Word. We are glad you could join us
for another edition of Reign of Grace. This program is brought
to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry
of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. To receive
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today, and may the Lord be with you.