Let's look at John chapter 16.
As you know, I've been over the past few weeks dealing with this
passage concerning Holy Spirit conviction. And today I'm going
to conclude that with verse 11. But just to show you how this
has worked, Christ speaking to his disciples in the upper room.
This is the private time that he had with his disciples. This
is the time when he instituted the ordinance of the Lord's Supper. This is the time where he, talking
to them about what was about to happen, he was going to be
arrested, he was going to be tried, and ultimately he was
going to the cross of Calvary to say, to do exactly what he
came into the world to do, to save his people from their sins,
to establish righteousness before before God and this is what what
a I mean there's the crux of redemptive history right there
the most important event accomplishment in human history and I say human
because he our Savior was both God and man in one person and
he did it for his people so here he's telling them he's telling
his disciples that this this work that he would accomplish
as our substitute and surety is necessary. Verse seven, nevertheless,
I tell you the truth, it is expedient for you, he says, that I go away. This was necessary. This was
fitting to our need. I'm a sinner. And the only way
I can be saved from sin is for one whom God appointed, one who
is able and one who is willing to put away my sins and stand
in my place and put away my sins. And he said, it's necessary for
you that I do this. Go away. Going away. He's not
going on vacation. He's not going on some pleasure. He's going to the cross. And
ultimately, it didn't stop at the cross. Ultimately, he's going
to the grave. Doesn't stop at the grave. Ultimately,
he's going to be raised from the dead and go into the Father.
That's what he's doing. And he says, for if I go not
away, the Comforter will not come unto you, but if I depart,
I will send him unto you. And that's the work of the Holy
Spirit that he's speaking of. In other words, the Spirit, the
third person of the Trinity, is the great applicator of the
life, the spiritual life, that Christ accomplished, established,
and earned for his people. The Spirit comes and applies
that in the new birth. You see, it's like we were talking
about, you know, those three great events. You know, God chose
a people. Christ redeemed those people. The Holy Spirit regenerates those
people. And this is what he's talking
about here. When Christ does his great work in accomplishing
and establishing the ground of salvation, the fruit of that,
the result of that, is the Holy Spirit's work to bring his people
to a saving knowledge of Christ. And here's how he's gonna do
it. Verse eight, when he's come, he will reprove. Now that word
reprove means to convince or to convict. And he said, the
world, that's God's people all over the world. He is elect out
of every tribe, kindred, tongue and nation. And he's gonna do
the three things of sin and of righteousness and of judgment.
And then I preach the message as you recall in verse nine,
of sin because they believe not on me. The Holy Spirit convinces
God's people, not just that we've made some mistakes or that we're
not as good as we could be. No, he convinces us that without
Christ, that we're doomed because sin will be charged to our account
without Christ. We're sinners and only thing
we can expect is eternal damnation. Without Christ, without his blood
to wash away my sins, without his righteousness to imputed
to me, stand before God, I have no hope. What can wash away my
sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
That's what he's talking about. And without him, everything I
do is sin, even my best. And then verse 10 of righteousness,
he said, because I go to my father and you see me no more. That's
why he came, to establish righteousness and he ascends unto the father
as the representative of his people. That's why he went back
to the father, the God man who was raised from the dead because
he established righteousness and he goes back to the father
as the victor. And he sat down at the right
hand of God, and he ever lives to make intercession for us.
He's our advocate. He pleads the merits of his blood
and righteousness, and that's forever. And that's why we cannot
be lost. 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, rather
is risen again, and is seated at the right hand of the Father
to make intercession for us. So we have righteousness in him. Well, the third thing he says
here, verse 11, is of judgment. Judgment, the truth about judgment. That's what this message is entitled.
The truth about judgment. And he says of judgment because
the prince of this world is judged. Now there's Holy Spirit conviction. And so true Holy Spirit conviction. of sin, of righteousness, of
judgment. True Holy Spirit conviction will always lead sinners to seek
and find salvation, righteousness, forgiveness, eternal life and
glory in the Lord Jesus Christ and Him alone. And if a person
finds salvation, if he finds peace and forgiveness, relief
any other way, any other way, even in himself, even in what
he imagines the Holy Spirit enables him to do, it's not Holy Spirit
conviction. You can mark it down. For the
Holy Spirit will not speak of himself, but of Christ. He'll
lead you to Christ. Christ, Jesus, the author and
finisher of our faith. Now, in what way, here's the
question, in what way must a sinner be convinced of judgment in Holy
Spirit conviction? And let me give you several things
to think about. First of all, it's obvious that we must be
convinced of the reality of judgment. The fact of it, the scripture
tells us, Hebrews chapter nine and verse 27, as it is appointed
unto men once to die, but after this, the judgment. Now, I think
it's safe to say that most people believe there is a judgment. There's going to be a judgment.
There are some who deny that. But they're denying not only
the testimony of God's word, but they're really denying the
testimony of their own conscience. Paul spoke of those in Romans
chapter one, of a reprobate mind, a mind void of judgment, people
who deny the existence of God. I believe that the basis of that
denial is a basic self-righteous fear of coming to judgment where
we're going to be held accountable. Men just do not want to be held
accountable. And you can see that in our society
today, can't you? People don't want to be held
responsible. You just made some mistakes.
Your environment made you do it. It wasn't the fact that you're
a sinner falling an atom, born dead in trespasses and sins.
You just made the wrong choices or somebody enabled you not to
make the right choices. But most people will agree there
is a judgment. But we would have to start with
that. We'd have to say the Holy Spirit just simply has to convince
us there is a judgment. There is a judgment. We're going
to stand before God. You read it in 2 Corinthians
5. We'll look at that later on. But it says we must all appear
before the judgment seat of Christ. And you think about this. When
you appear before the judgment seat of Christ, what then is
going to be important to you or to me? You understand what
I'm saying? You know, people, we all have
things that are important to us. Our family, our children,
our jobs, and they should be important to us. Don't get me
wrong. But when we stand before judgment, what's going to be
the issue then? We're facing a holy and just
God who must judge righteously, who must punish all sin. Well,
here's the second thing now. The Holy Spirit, when he convinces
us of judgment, he convinces us of the right standard of judgment. Now, man by nature thinks he
knows the standard of judgment, But man's thoughts are always
too low. Too low. Not the same as God's
standard. Man's natural standard, his natural
thoughts in sin and unbelief, is always a standard that gives
him hope of salvation based on himself and or his works in some
way. Just like Mark and I were talking
about, say, well, my obedience, my efforts, my zeal, my religion,
my efforts to love, that ought to count for something. And what we were talking about,
it does count for something, but not as to salvation now,
not as to judgment, as far as the ground of judgment. Or man's
natural standard of judgment is one that leaves him without
hope of salvation based on his sins. In other words, leads him
to despair. You know, there are people who think there's no hope
for them. I've talked to them. There's
no hope for me. I told you the story about the
man who went to Gandhi, I told you last week, the man who thought
he'd committed a sin that just doomed him to hell and there
was no hope for him. How many people have you ever
run into who live in fear that they either have committed or
will commit what people call the unpardonable sin? A lot of them hadn't. Would you
be shocked if I told you there's no such thing as an unpardonable
sin? I'll let you chew on that one
a while. Tell me the sin that Christ cannot forgive. Somebody
says, well, unbelief. Well, what were you before you
were brought to faith? You were an unbeliever. You mean
he didn't forgive that one? Well, if he didn't, you're doomed
to hell. Am I right? That verse that they go to, Matthew
12, does not teach an unforgivable sin. It teaches that without
Christ, no sin will be forgiven. That's what it teaches. Christ
is the only way of forgiveness. Without Him, there's no forgiveness
for you, for anybody. Not because sin is unforgivable.
but because there's no Savior. There's no grounds of forgiveness
without Christ. For sin to be forgiven, righteousness
must be established. And we don't have it. So without
Christ, no sin is forgiven. No sin. But let's move on. You know,
to live in despair of doom and certain punishment is just as
self-righteous as those who say that they're going to pass judgment
based on their works. It's just as much a denial of
the glory of God in Christ as anything. God's standard, now
the Holy Spirit convinces us of the right standard. God's
standard of judgment, let me tell you, let's start here. God's
standard of judgment can be seen in the Lord Jesus Christ and
himself, his person, and the great work that he accomplished
on Calvary for his people. If you want to see God's standard
of judgment, the standard by which all people will be judged,
look to the cross of Calvary. And here's where we see the Holy
Spirit's work of conviction concerning three things. Number one, the
right standard of God's judgment. Number two, the only way for
sinners to stand at the judgment. And number three, the place of
our works at the judgment. Now look first at this, the true
and right standard of God's judgment. Turn over to Acts chapter 17.
I quote this verse all the time, but here I want you to look at
it. Just a few pages over. Here's the Apostle Paul preaching
the gospel on Mars Hill in Athens. And he starts off with the God
of creation, and then the God of providence, and then he brings
it down to the God of judgment. And in verse 30, He speaks of the Gentiles who
did not have the old covenant law and they were in ignorance.
And it says in verse 30, look at Acts 17, 30, it says, and
the times of this ignorance God winked at. What that means is
that God just, He forbore them. He looked over it for a time.
God's judgment upon the unbelieving, the wicked was not immediate.
That's what that means. You see, God is a God of long
suffering. And the scripture teaches that.
Somebody says, well, why didn't God just open up? You see somebody
who committed a great crime and you say, well, why didn't God
just open up the earth and just swallow that guy? Well, God has
his ways. He does things in his time. Vengeance
belongs to him. And God suffers long. Look how
long he suffered with Pharaoh, Romans chapter nine, the long-suffering
of God. And Peter said this to the church
in 2 Peter 3, he says, count that the long-suffering of God
is salvation. Now, what did he mean by that?
Well, let me put it this way. This world is still existing.
And I've heard people say, oh man, we're in such a bad state,
God's gonna just snuff this world out. Well, God's gonna snuff
this world out at the time that he's appointed, in his time and
in his way. But as long as this world is
existing, I can tell you this for sure, Christ still has some
lost sheep out there. And he's gonna bring them into
the fold. That's what we know. And we're just to keep preaching
the gospel. We're not to be sitting around
here trying to figure out the day that he's going to come back
and judge this world. We're to preach the gospel. Go
in all the world and preach the gospel. The gospel, Matthew 24
says, the gospel has to be preached all over this world and then
the end will come. That's what we're doing. And
so that's the long suffering of God. But listen to this, he
said in verse 30 of Acts 17, the times of this ignorance God
winked at, but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent.
The gospel's going out over the world, he says. It's not just
isolated to Israel, it's going out all over to the Gentiles,
and he says God's commanding all men everywhere to repent.
That's God's revealed will by way of commandment. Upon what
basis are sinners commanded to repent? Well, look at verse 31.
Here's why we're commanded to repent, change our minds. He
says, because God, he hath appointed a day in the which he will judge
the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained
in that he has given assurance unto all men and that he has
raised him from the dead. Right there it is. That's why
you're commanded to repent. That's why I'm commanded to repent.
God's appointed a day. And that day is the day of judgment.
He's going to judge the world. And by what standard is He going
to judge the world? He's going to judge the world
in righteousness. Well, how do I know what righteousness
is? How do I know what a foot is?
A ruler with 12 inches. I can get a ruler out and I can
measure what a foot is. How do I know what righteousness
is? Well, I'll look at the preacher. I gotta be as good as he. No,
no, no, no. I'm just an old sinner saved
by grace. That old song, only a sinner saved by grace. This
is my story, to God be the glory. I'm only a sinner saved by grace. Well, I'll look to grandma. Best
woman I ever knew. Treated me just perfect. No,
don't look to grandma. Who are you going to look to?
He said, God's going to judge the world in righteousness by
that man whom he hath ordained. This is a man whom God appointed.
And who is that man whom God hath ordained, and that he hath
given assurance unto all men that this is sure, and that he
hath raised him from the dead? That's Christ. Christ is the
standard. I think about over in the Old
Testament, Isaiah chapter 28, you remember where Isaiah prophesying
to the princes of Israel, that's the leaders, the civil magistrates.
the ones who were in control, and how they were leading the
people wrong to seek assurance of salvation in their works,
rather than looking to the promised Messiah. And he says, here's
what's going to happen in Isaiah 28, 17, listen to this. He says,
judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the
plummet. and the hail shall sweep away
the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place. Now what he's saying here is
this, you've got a refuge, you've got an assurance, you've got
a hiding place, and if that refuge and that assurance and that hiding
place is not Christ and him alone, if it's not his blood alone for
the forgiveness of all sin, if it's not his righteousness alone,
then God's gonna lay righteousness, judgment and righteousness to
the plumbing. He's going to measure you by that standard of righteousness
and if you don't measure up, He's going to sweep away your
refuge of lies. Think, look back at John 16,
11 here. Listen to this. Now listen to
what He says in verse 11. The Holy Spirit is going to convict
us of judgment, and notice the next line, because the prince
of this world is judged. Now what is he talking about?
The prince of this world. When was the prince of this world
judged? Well, go back to John chapter 12, just a few chapters. Look at John 12. In John 12, in verse 23, Christ
speaking, he says, Jesus answered them, what they say, they wanted
to see Jesus, and Andrew and Philip, they told Andrew about
it in verse 22, and it says in verse 22, Philip cometh and telleth
Andrew, and again, Andrew and Philip tell Jesus, and Jesus
answered them saying, the hour has come that the Son of Man
must be glorified, This is John 12, 24. Verily, verily, I say
unto you, except a corn of wheat or a seed of wheat fall into
the ground and die, it abideth alone. But if it die, it bringeth
forth much fruit. Now, what's he talking about?
He's talking about his death, just like a seed planted. If he dies,
much fruit is going to be produced. What's the fruit? Well, that's
the redemption of his people. If Christ dies, his people are
going to be saved. That's what he's saying. They're
not, listen, Christ didn't die for any who end up in hell. He
redeemed his people. He established righteousness
for them. And so if he falls into the ground, if he dies and
falls into the ground like a seed of wheat, fruit's gonna be produced,
all right? Now jump down to verse 31. of
John 12. Now listen, he says in verse
31, he says, now is the judgment of this world. Now shall the
prince of this world be cast out. That's Satan. That's talking
about Satan and his usurped authority over the unbelieving world. He's been granted that by God
for a period of time. And here's what Christ says,
look at verse 32. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will
draw all unto me. This he said, signifying what
death he should die. When he talks about the judgment
because the prince of this world is judged, he's talking about
his cross. He's talking about his death on the cross. Now is
the prince of this world cast out. Well, what does that mean? Well, I want you to turn to Revelation
chapter 12. I could go to other scriptures
on this, but this kind of says it all. Revelation chapter 12. What he's talking about in Revelations
chapter 12 is Satan, who is called the great dragon, and his war
upon Christ and the church. His warfare. Satan has been allowed
by God for a time to wage warfare against Christ and his church.
Now, there's no way Satan's gonna win that war. No way, because
we're victorious in Christ. Christ is already taken care
of. But things are working out according
to God's plans in this age, this new covenant age. But there's
going to come a time when it's all gonna be ended, it's gonna
be fulfilled. But I want you to notice in verse
nine, look at Revelation 12 in verse nine. And I want you to
notice this, look at verse nine. It says, and the great dragon,
now that's Satan, was cast out. Now when was he cast out? Well,
he was cast out when Christ died on the cross. That's when it
happened in time. What does that mean? Well, look at it. He says,
and the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent called
the devil and Satan, that's his names, adversary, which deceiveth
the whole world. Now we know he's talking about
the world of the non-elect. He was cast out into the earth
and his angels were cast out with him. Verse 10, and I heard
a loud voice saying in heaven, now is come salvation and strength
and the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ. Listen
to this, for the accuser of the brethren is cast down. Satan is called the accuser of
the brethren. And he said, which accused them
before our God day and night. Now think of yourself standing
at the judgment, being accused of sin by Satan. I accuse you. This man, Jim Casey,
standing before God, Satan says, Jim Casey's a sinner. He's a
sinner. Now what does that mean? That
means at judgment, that means Jim Casey deserves and has earned
eternal death. Am I right? But let me ask you
a question. What if the accusations do not
stick? What if for some reason, Jim
Casey cannot be charged with sin? What happens then? Well, God
has to say, go free. God has to say, enter in. Thou
good and faithful servant. That's what he has to say, that's
God's nature. Now, here's the key. Up on what? Now we know Jim Casey's a sinner.
I'm a sinner, you're a sinner. In what possible way could that
accusation not stick? Well, he gave his heart to Jesus
back when he was 12 years old and got baptized. Well, is that
what the Bible says? Oh, well, he's tried to live
a good life, Lord, you know. He tried to do this, he tried
to do that. He joined the church, he went
on missionary trips while he got baptized in the Jordan River. That ought to count for something.
Look at Revelation 12. Remember what it says, Satan,
the accuser of the brethren, he accused them before our God
day and night. Look at verse 11, and it says,
and they overcame him. What's the next line? By the
blood of the lamb. There it is. There's the ground
of it. There's the reason. There's why
Jim or me or anybody else who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ
cannot be accused by Satan. There's why his accusation, even
though I'm a sinner and deserve and have earned eternal death,
I cannot be justly accused. Why? Because Christ died for
my sins. because righteousness is established
for me. I have a righteousness charged
to me." Now, he goes on, he says, they overcame him by the blood
of the lamb and by the word of their testimony. What's the word
of our testimony? The gospel. of God's grace. God forbid that I should glory
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. We rejoice, we
have confidence in Christ and have no confidence in the flesh.
And they loved not their lives unto death. In other words, they
repented. I repent of ever thinking that
anything that I've done or can do or might do or try to do could
remove those accusations. 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 rather is risen again. Go back
to John 16. That's what he's talking about.
He convinces us of judgment, not just that there is a judgment,
but that we who are in Christ have already been judged completely
and fully by the death of our substitute in surety, the Lord
Jesus Christ. That's what he's talking about.
Bible says, so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many
and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time
without sin unto salvation. The only way for a sinner to
stand at judgment is to stand there in the Lord Jesus Christ,
clothed in his righteousness, washed in his blood. That's the
only way, there's no other way. That's what Paul was saying in
Philippians 3, that I may know him and be found in him, not
having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that
which is through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ, even the righteousness
of God, which is by faith. That's how we stand at judgment.
And then that also shows the place of our works at judgment.
Most believe that in some way or degree we'll be judged by
our works. Either to earn salvation or to
earn rewards in heaven, that is not what the Bible teaches. Look back at that passage that
Brother Mark read in 2 Corinthians 5 and listen to this. He's talking about death here. But after that death is the judgment. And he says in verse 10, He said,
we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that
everyone may receive the things done in his body according that
he hath done, whether it be good or bad. And then he says, knowing
the terror of the Lord, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. We're made manifest unto God,
and I trust also made manifest in your consciences. Now, if
we're truly witnesses for Christ, what are we trying to persuade
people to do? To straighten up their acts and
get right with God by being better people? Is that our message?
If it is, we're no better off than the Muslims, the Hindus,
and the Buddhists. I mean, what's different about
the Christian message? Are we trying to, yeah, you say,
well, I want people to act better and to do better and to think,
well, I do too, but I'm gonna tell them quick, if they think
that's salvation, if they think that's their righteousness before
God, they're sadly mistaken. What are we trying to persuade
men to do? Look to Christ. Rest in him, plead his righteousness. That's what we're trying. Why? Because we know the terror of
the Lord. What's the terror of the Lord? Think about the terror
of those false witnesses who stood before Christ and said,
Lord, haven't we preached in your name? Haven't we done many
wonderful works? Haven't we cast out demons? Only
to hear him say, depart from me, you that work iniquity. I
never knew. You say, well, they just weren't
sincere. Well, how do you know you're gonna be sincere enough?
How much sincerity does it take to please God? What's the measure
of sincerity? Did it say that God commands
all men everywhere to repent because he has appointed a day
in which he will judge the world in sincerity? Is that what that
verse said? Now don't get me wrong, I want
to be sincere in everything I do that's for the cause of the glory
of God. I want you to be sincere about it. I don't want you to
play church or play games or be a hypocrite. But the standard
of judgment is not your sincerity or my sincerity. If it is, then
you spend the rest of your life wondering if you fill the bill. It's righteousness. And here's
the bottom line, I don't have it. Now that's it. Whatever you think
you see in me is righteousness, I'm telling you, it doesn't meet
up to the standard. Now, how do I know that? Because
God said it. That's how I know it. I don't
have to wonder about that. I don't have to worry about it.
I should grieve over it. I should repent of it. But I
don't have to sit and fret over not whether I have made it my
best act of obedience. I don't have to sit and wonder
if that meets the standard that God requires because I'm telling
you right now, it does not. So where am I going to find it?
In Christ. He meets the standard. He met
the standard. He meets the standard. He is
my hope. He is my surety. He is my righteousness. My sins are washed away by the
blood. Well, where does that bring our
works to? Well, what he's talking about here is not judgment based
on our works, but what he's really talking about is the judgment
of our works, whether they be good or bad. How can they be
good? Do they meet up to the standard
of goodness? No. How can they be good? Let me
tell you. Only as they, as well as I, are
washed in the blood of the Lamb, and only as they redound as evidence
of the grace and glory of God in my life. That's it. It's not
what my works earn for me, it's what do they say about me. Do they evidence a sinner saved
by grace who has no righteousness in himself but looks to Christ?
Or do they evidence a sinner in self-righteousness and unbelief
trying to earn his own way? Which way are they? Now I'm gonna
preach a whole message on that, that issue. I'm gonna show you
some scripture on that too. But that's what he's talking
about. He's gonna convince us that the only way I can stand
before God at judgment and be declared not guilty, be declared
righteous, is as I stand in Christ Jesus and Him alone.