Go back to John 16. I titled
this message, The Ministry of the Holy Spirit. Our Lord, in the beginning of this chapter,
which is just a continuation really of the chapter 15 there,
about persecution, what they were going to face. So he continued
to speak of the hatred, not just being disliked, but
the hatred that his disciples will endure for his sake and
for the gospel that they preach. And the Lord is preparing them
for the trials that lay ahead of them, especially from the
devout religious people there in town, the Jews. Forewarned, someone said, is
to be forearmed. Our Lord never, never flipped
up on anyone. He always, always spoke the truth. He always said that If you follow me, you're going
to have to deny yourself. And it's not going to be easy.
Following Christ is not easy. Not truly following Him in this
life is not easy. And He's saying these things
to them so they'll not be offended. You see, natural men are religious,
but lost. I told a man that, that I worked
for one time years ago. And he took me to task over it. He thought that if any man was
religious, that man was saved. Well, that's not so. That's not
so. The Jews were religious as a
whole. If you go and read Romans chapter
10, you'll find out that they had a zeal of God, but not according
to knowledge. They were ignorant of God's righteousness.
They were religious, but lost. They were religious, but without
Christ. And without Christ is to be lost. Look at how religious a man is.
And so our Lord said, these religious people, these devout religious
people, you are going to suffer much from them. Much. Because the natural man, no matter how religious he is,
is an enemy to the grace of God. salvation by grace alone, Christ
alone, His righteousness alone, His blood alone. He's an enemy
to that. And all you have to do is just
tell Him the truth. Just tell Him and that hatred
will come out. These things have I spoken to
you that you should not be offended or stumbled, made to stumble
when these things come upon you, when their hatred comes out against
you for the gospel that you preach. The gospel is offensive. The gospel is offensive to the
natural man. It offends everything about him. Now, you wouldn't think that
would be so, would you? The gospel is what? It's good
news. The gospel is how God can be
a just God and have anything to do with you and me by way
of salvation. Now that's good news. It's how
God can save a wretch, how God can save a sinner and still be
God. But when that gospel comes out,
it offends everything about a natural man. It offends his pride. It
offends his wisdom. The wisdom of this world is foolishness
with God. It offends his thoughts of himself.
It offends his thoughts of God. You thought I was altogether
like you. So it says over Psalm 50, you
thought I was altogether like you. And then when God sends
a man along preaching the gospel, he finds out that God is nothing
like me. God is holy. He's righteous. He's just. He's sovereign. God is light. I'm darkness. Big difference. Big difference. And that offends the natural
man. He says, well, that's not so. That's not so. Well, it is so.
That's what the Word of God teaches. It offends his thoughts of Christ.
When he hears that Christ is the sovereign Christ, he saves
one, he passes by one. That offends him. You mean he doesn't want to save
everybody? Well, you know he went up to that pool of Bethesda,
walked up to that one man, healed him and left. There was a whole
bunch of crippled folk there. He's the sovereign Christ of
God. The gospel's offensive to the
natural man. It says over in Matthew 13.21,
speaking of that parable there, that's a parable of the sower.
Let's go over there a minute. Matthew 13. Matthew 13, let me see, I think
it's verse 20. But he that received the seed
into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and
now with joy he receives it. He receives it. Yet hath he not
wrought in himself, but he doeth for a while. For when tribulation
or persecution arises because of the word, by and by, he is
offended. He is offended. Now, Matthew 11, 6, our Lord says this. I'll read
it to you. Remember John the Baptist sent his disciples and
said, Are you the Christ? And he said, you know, you go
back and tell John of the blind sea, the lame walk, and the poor
had the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he whosoever shall
not be offended in me. And so he says to these disciples,
I'm telling you this now that you're going to be hated of all
men for my name's sake, that when it happens, you'll not be
offended. I'm telling you the truth. This
is what's going to happen to you. It's not going to be an easy road. You
know, the army, the military sends out these commercials. Be all you can be. Travel the
world. Do all that. Then they go in and they're trying
to figure out, how can I get out of this? How in the world can
I get out of this? And within four years, they're
out. Most of them, most of them get
out. They want out. But our Lord tells before you
go in, He said, this is not going to be easy. It's going to be
rough. You're going to be hated by all men. He said, I'm telling
you this now, that before it comes to pass, or when it comes
to pass, you won't be offended. He said, they're going to put
you out of the synagogues. I'll tell you, that was serious
business back then. I mean, you get put out of the synagogue,
you lose your job, your family, you lose everything. Put you
out of the synagogues, yea, the time cometh that whosoever killeth
you will think that he's doing God a service. He does God service.
That's what they thought when they put Stephen to death. When
they stoned Stephen and the Apostle Paul was standing there consigned
to his death, they thought they were doing God's service. Doing
this in the name of God. That time is going to come. They'll put you out of the synagogue.
You remember that man when the Lord healed, gave him sight?
And the Pharisees were just attacking him, and then they brought his
parents in, and they asked his parents, was this man born blind?
And John 9, 22, it says, These words spake his parents, because
they feared the Jews, for the Jews had agreed already that
if any man did confess that he was Christ, that Jesus of Nazareth
was Christ, he'd be put out of the synagogue. They got together and whipped
up a law I said, now if any man confesses that this man is the
Christ, we'll put him out of the synagogue. And then they'll
go so far as thinking that they're doing God a service when they
kill you. And here's the reason for this
conduct in verse 3. Because they have not known the
Father nor me. Here's the reason for their conduct.
They don't know me. And they don't know the Father
whom they profess to know. They don't know Him. He said
to them, you're of your father the devil. Unbelief, willful
ignorance of the true and living God is their problem. They don't
know Him. But these things I told you,
I told you these things. When the time shall come, you
may remember I told you of them and reflect it back to this time. No doubt when Peter, when they
or crucify Him upside down and all the others, whatever they
did to them, martyrs, they remembered the Lord said this. The Lord
said this. You'll remember that I told you
of these things. And these things I said not of
you at the beginning because I was with you. But now listen.
I told you these things. That when they come to pass,
you'll know, you'll remember that I told you these things.
That they would hate you. They'll put you out of the synagogue
and they'll kill you. But he also told him a lot of other
things. I go to my father. I go to prepare a place for you.
If I go and prepare a place for you, I'll come again. And what
he's saying here, you'll remember these things that I've told you.
And no doubt when they remember these things, that the Lord said
they'll hate you. They remember those other things
also. He said He's coming back for us. He's going to prepare
a place for us. And He'll come again for us.
And He's going to take us to our Father's house. He's going
to fulfill all that He has said. All that He has said He will
do. And no doubt in the face of this suffering, and in the
face of all this hatred, they had comfort. They had some real
comfort. Because the Lord had given them
many words of comfort. I'm coming for you, I've prepared
a place for you, and I'm going to take you home with me. And
where I am there, you'll be also. So they found comfort in his
words. But now he says, now I go my
way to him that sent me. And none of you asked me, where
are you going? Where are you going? But because
I said these things to you, sorrow filled your heart." They were
so gripped with sorrow over him leaving that they were letting
these other things that he had said about going to his father
go over their heads. They were letting it go over
their heads. He had told them earlier that he was going to
the father there in chapter 14. He's going to go back to the
one who sent him. You know, there are no fillers
in the Word of God. Every word is important. full
of truth and meaning. And he said, you want to go back
to the one who sent him. And that alone, that alone should
have gave them reason to rejoice. To rejoice. But instead they
were sorrowful. He says sorrows killed your heart.
They did not yet understand or see the big picture of redemption. I used to work for a man years
ago. Ran a company for him. And one of the things that he
would say to me, now you need to see the big picture. He'd
say that to me time and time again. You need to see the big
picture. You see, I'm looking at the little
photographs. But what you need to see, John, is the big picture.
And what they did not see because of what they had heard about
him going away, sorrow filled their hearts and they couldn't
see the big picture. Oh, we need to see the big picture
of what God is doing and accomplishing and has accomplished in the Lord
Jesus Christ. He said, I've told you these things
and sorrow has filled your heart. All you've heard is that I'm
going away and it's filled your heart with sorrow. You've missed
the other things I've said. You've missed them. But nevertheless,
I tell you the truth, it is expedient for you that I go away. For if
I go not away, the Comforter," now this is the Holy Spirit,
and He's called here the Comforter, one who comforts God's people.
Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith the Lord, over in Isaiah.
And He's going to send the Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, and
He's going to come to you. But if I depart, I will send
him to you. Nevertheless, even though it
has caused you sorrow, I tell you the truth." We need to tell
the truth no matter how much it hurts. We need to hear the
truth no matter how much it hurts. He said, nevertheless, I tell
you the truth. It is expedient for you. It is
advantageous. It is advantageous for you. That
I go away. See, they didn't understand this yet.
Like I said, they were on that side of the cross. You and I
are on this side. It is advantageous for you that
I go away. At that point in time, they couldn't
see that. They couldn't see it. It's advantageous to you, expedient
for you, that I go to the cross. That I be despised and rejected
of men. That I suffer under the wrath
of God, it is expedient for you that I go to the cross and die. Because without this, satisfaction
can't be made. Atonement can't be made. It's advantageous to you that
I go to the grave and conquer it. Where's the sting of the
grave at now? It's advantageous that I go and
conquer the grave. It's advantageous to you that
I rise again and go back to the Father. For if I do not do so,
then the Comforter, if I don't do these things, the Comforter
cannot come. Why? Well, He has nothing to
comfort you with. Why send Him? He has nothing
to apply. He has nothing to reveal. If
Christ does not die, if He does not suffer for our sins, if He
does not satisfy God's law, if He does not go back to the right
hand of the Father and sit down, the Comforter has nothing to
comfort you with. Because all that He comforts
us with is Christ. He takes the things of mine and
shows them, reveals them to you. But if I finish the work that
I was sent to do, then I'll send him. Because he'll have something
to comfort you with. He'll have something to comfort
you with. And here's what he's going to
do when he comes. When he has come, he'll reprove
the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. Let me make
something clear here. I was thinking about this. The
last two or three days, the Holy Spirit of God has a work to do.
The Father chose us, the Son redeemed us, and the Holy Spirit
regenerates us. To diminish the work of any one
of the Trinity, to lessen the work of any one of the Trinity
shows that I do not understand the gospel, and that I have not
yet believed the gospel. If I lessen that, listen, there
is only one God, right? Scripture says there is only
one God. There are three distinct persons in the Godhead, the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And to lessen the work of any
one of them is to lessen the work of God. Because it is God
operating in three distinct persons. It's only one God. It's only
one God. God the Father, God the Son,
God the Holy Spirit, working our redemption, working our salvation. But there's only one God. And
to say that one is not as important as the other shows that I don't
understand the gospel. Now, he says here, and when he
comes, when he has come, Here's how you will know His presence.
And believe me, He will not come and you not know Him if you are
the one He came for. If He comes for you, I assure
you, you're going to know Him. And He's going to convict and
convince you of these three things. He says here that He will reprove
the world. That is, He will convince, He
will convict the world, the world that Christ died for. We know
that. We understand that. That He died
for. He's going to reprove the world
of sin, of righteousness, and judgment. Now, when He comes,
He's going to convict the sinner whom He comes for, one whom He
comes to save, to give life to and regenerate. He's going to
convict and convince this sinner of three things. First, He's
going to convict him of sin. Sin, because they believe not
on Me. It's what I am by nature. Until he convicts me of that,
and if you'll notice over in the margin, it means convince.
Until he convinces me of this, all I see is that I do some things
I ought not to do. Sins, plural. But I'm really
not that bad. I'm really not that sinful. that
wretched, that depraved. But when He comes, He convinces
me that I am sin. I was born in sin and shaped
in iniquity. Not that I just do some things
wrong, but that I am wrong. That I was born with a wretched,
depraved nature. Dead to God. Dead in trespasses
and sin. Spiritually dead. That's what
it convinces me of. You know, the law of God is written
on the heart. Every heart, every person coming
into this world, the law of God is written on the heart. And
we know that it's wrong to steal because of that. We know that
it's wrong to kill. We know that it's wrong to do
a lot of things because the law is written on the heart. on our
hearts. And our parents teach us things.
Do this, don't do that. Our parents teach us these things.
And when we violate these things, our conscience bothers us. Troubles
us. Now is that a conviction of sin?
No. No. That's my conscience bothering
me over things that I should do and should not do, which all
men have, and which is nothing but works. Because if I don't
do those things, then I feel pretty good about myself. And
that's the spirit of works. Let me show you over and turn
over to John chapter 8. This kind of illustrates what
I'm saying here. In John chapter 8, Jesus went unto the Mount of
Olives. And early in the morning he came again unto the temple,
and all the people came unto him. And he sat down and taught
them. And the scribes and the Pharisees
brought unto him a woman taken in adultery. And when they had
set her in the midst, they said unto him, Master, this woman
was taken in adultery in the very act. Now Moses in the law
commanded us that such should be stoned, but what sayest thou?
This they said, tempting him that they might have to accuse
him. But Jesus stooped down and with his finger wrote on the
ground, as though he heard them not. So when they continued asking
him, he lifted up himself and said unto them, He that is without
sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again
he stooped down and wrote on the ground. And they which heard
it being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning
at the eldest, even to the last, and Jesus was left alone and
the woman standing in the midst." Being convicted by their own
conscience. They knew what they were doing
was wrong. But that conviction is not a
conviction of the Holy Spirit to salvation. They're being convicted
by their own conscience. But let me show you what it is.
Turn over to 1 Corinthians. Here is an illustration in the Word
of God of what it is. It says in verse 23, If therefore
the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak
with tongues, There come in those that are unlearned or unbelievers,
will they not say that you're mad? But if all prophesy, preach,
and there come in one that believes not, or one unlearned, he is,
listen, he is convinced. That word means convicted. He's
convicted of all. He is judged of all. The Word
of God is having an effect in his heart. The work of the Spirit
of God is going on in his heart. And thus are the secrets of his
heart made manifest. He realizes what he is. I have just done some things wrong.
I am wrong. And so falling down on his face,
he will what? Worship God. No one believer
ever worshiped God. This is what happens when there
is a true conviction of sin. The secrets of his heart is manifest. And he falls down on his face
and he worships God and reports that God's in you. Of a truth. That's the gospel. What you're saying, that's the
truth. I'll never forget when I heard Henry preaching the first
time. What I was reading and what he said, the message
he preached, It matched. It was like a puzzle came together.
It matched. It matched. Of a truth. Of a truth. The Word of God's in this. God's
in this. This is of God. He will convict the world of
sin. Now listen. Also here, because
they believe not on me. You'll notice here that a true
conviction of sin has to do with unbelief. Unbelief. They believe not on me. Has God
the Holy Spirit convicted you of your unbelief? Unbelief. This is when you find
out that you are a sinner. This is when you find out you're
a sinner. Not that you've done something wrong, but you're a
sinner. And everything that you do is sin. is shot full of sin
because you do it. Because you do it. And at the
very root, at the very root of sin is unbelief. Because you believe not on me.
You did not believe me. Whitefield said this. He said
the work of the Holy Spirit, when He convicts of sin and enables
a man to repent, There's three things that happen. First, we
repent for what we are. Sin. Then we repent of what we
have done. David said, my sins are ever
before me. And then we repent of what we haven't done that
we ought to have done. To love God and to believe Him. And then secondly, he says, of
righteousness. This is the ministry of the Holy
Spirit. When he takes a sinner and he's going to save that sinner,
he's going to convict and convince him of these three things, of
sin, because they believe not on me, of righteousness, because
I go to my Father and you see me no more. First of all, you
are convicted and convinced that you don't have one. Well, the
first time in your life you realize that you do not have A righteousness
that God would accept. That He could have anything to
do with. And then, that you need one. You don't have one, and
you need one. Because without it, you'll not
see the Lord. But here's what I think it is,
mostly. You are convicted, you are convinced,
listen, that Jesus Christ is your righteousness. Are you convinced
of that? Are you totally, 100% convinced
that Jesus Christ is all your righteousness? Because that's
what he convinces you of. And that he has gone back to
the Father. You see, He says, of righteousness, because I go
to my Father and you see me no more. He convinces us that Christ
is our righteousness, that He has gone back to the Father,
and that our righteousness is seated at God's right hand. Our righteousness is seated at
God's right hand. That's what you're convinced,
convicted and convinced of. And then here's thirdly, judgment. First, that's what you deserve,
that's for sure. But there's two things here. First, we are
convinced. We're convinced of sin, what
we are. We're convinced of righteousness,
that Christ is our righteousness. We don't have any of our own.
And then of judgment, we are convinced that Christ, as our
substitute, took our judgment at the cross, and now there is
no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus. He took my judgment. The judgment of God against my
sins, against me, was taken out on Christ at Calvary. I'm convinced
of that. I'm convinced that in Christ
there is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Him, who walk
not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. I'm convinced of
that. But secondly, also here, that Satan is judged. Satan is
not running around out there like a loose cannon, out of control.
He's on a chain. He's under the control of the
Lord Jesus Christ, the second Adam from above, the Lord from
heaven. You remember when he came to
the first Adam in the garden? He whipped him. He whipped him. And I don't even see a struggle.
You go read Genesis. You don't see where a real struggle
is going on. He talks to Eve and Eve talks
to him. Takes the parochial, goes back to Adam. He takes it
and it's over. Dead. But then he comes through the
second Adam, the second man, which is the Lord from heaven.
And he gets whipped. He gets whipped. Satan has come
and found nothing in him. He gets whipped. He's cast out. His power is destroyed. And this we are convinced of. I'm not afraid. I don't want
to deal with Satan, but I'm not afraid of him. He's under the
control, the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. His head was
crushed at Calvary. His head was bruised. His power
destroyed. Let the accuser of the brethren
accuse on. None of it will stick. Listen to these scriptures one
more time. What shall we then say to these things? If God be
for us, who can be against us? He has spared not His own Son,
but delivered Him up for us all. How shall He not with Him also
freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. It's
God who justified them. He's the one who justified them,
so who can lay any charge against them? Who is he that condemneth? Christ died in their stead, so
who can condemn me? Christ was condemned in my place.
The law is satisfied. Justice is satisfied. It's happy.
Yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand
of God. My hope, my righteousness, my
satisfaction, my justification sits at God's right hand. It
sits right there. "...who also maketh intercession
for us." Now, he said, Father, I know
that You always hear me. And if He's making intercession
for me, He's heard. And He gets everything He intercedes
for. Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ? shall tribulation, distress,
persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, sword, as it is written,
for thy sake we are killed all the day long. That's what he
told his disciples. You're going to be hated for
my namesake, despised, cast out of the synagogue. We are accounted as sheep for
the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors
through him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither
death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers,
nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth,
nor any other creature shall separate us from the love of
God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Are you convinced
of that? Do you find some hope there? Do you find some real
joy in what I just read? Do you? I'm convinced that I, I tell
you this, I am convinced that I am sin. There's nothing good
about me by nature from head to toe. And I'm convinced that
I need his righteousness. He is my righteousness. And I'm
convinced that my judgment, the judgment that was against me
was taken out upon Christ. I'm convinced of that. And I'm
convinced there's nothing that can separate the love of Christ
for me from that. I can't do it. Our Lord said He'll take the
things of mine. Look in verse 13. Howbeit when
He, the Spirit of truth, is come, this is the comforter, He will
guide you skillfully, guide you into all truth. For He shall
not speak of Himself, For whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he
speak, and he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me." When Christ is preached, you
rejoice, I mean you do rejoice in Him. That is evidence that
the Spirit of God is in you. That's evidence of it. For he
shall receive of mine and show it unto you. And without the
work of the Holy Spirit, we would not know or enjoy any of this. None of it. We would still be
groping around in the dark. And I dare say we'd be religious.
Ninety-nine percent of us would still be religious, going somewhere,
taking some kind of profession. But I tell you what, when the
Holy Spirit of God takes a hold of a man, He convicts, he convinces
him of sin, of righteousness, the righteousness of Christ,
and of judgment, his substitutionary work, what was taken out on him
for his people. That's the ministry of the Holy
Spirit.