In this provocative episode, we delve into the essential roles performed by the Holy Spirit as laid out in John chapter 16. As Jesus prepares his disciples for his imminent crucifixion, he instructs them on the coming of the Holy Spirit and its convicting power over sin, righteousness, and judgment. This insightful discussion conveys how conviction is indispensable to personal salvation and the ramifications of rejecting such divine guidance.
Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Tuesday, September 2nd. All people are born with a corrupt nature that is hostile toward God. Today you’ll hear about this desperate condition and how the Holy Spirit invites change by convicting the unbeliever.
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So John chapter 16, remember that Jesus is in the upper room and the atmosphere is one of instruction and encouragement to them because he’s going to be crucified the next day. And all through these chapters of 14, 15, 16, we find his continued references to the work of the Holy Spirit. And so he says in verse 7 of John 16, And he, when he comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment. concerning sin because they do not believe in me and concerning righteousness because i go to the father and you no longer behold me and concerning judgment because the ruler of this world has been judged i have many more things to say to you but you cannot bear them now in this passage jesus tells us the work of the holy spirit in the life of the unbeliever now Let’s look for just a moment because there are two things here I want us to see. And the first one is simply this. And that is the conviction of the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential to the salvation of anyone. The conviction of the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential to the salvation of anyone. Notice what Jesus said. He said… I tell you, it is necessary. It is expedient. It is absolutely to your advantage that I go away. That is His crucifixion, His resurrection, His ascension to the Father. He says, because if I don’t go, He won’t come. But if I go, then I will send Him. That is the Holy Spirit. And the reason He said that was, first of all, it was absolutely essential to fulfill God’s mission for Christ, which was to give Himself a sacrificial ransom for the sins of the world. And secondly, in His absence, He would send the Holy Spirit who would no longer be with them physically, one-on-one, but who would be able to indwell every single believer, which is what happened at Pentecost and what happens when you and I receive Christ as our Savior. So he says, “…it’s absolutely essential that I go away. For also he knew that before long he would be giving them what you and I call the great commission, that they were to go into all the world, preach the gospel to every creature. He knew that they would be absolutely incapable, inadequate, and total failures at doing that apart from the assistance of the Holy Spirit.” That is, that’s why he called him their helper. He says he was essential for the life that they were to live and he was essential to the work to which he had called them. So that’s why he says in this given particular time, it is necessary, it is to your benefit that I go away. Because when I go, I will send him, he’ll be in you, with you and upon you, equipping you to do the work that I’ve called you to do. Now, then he says… When this Holy Spirit comes, here’s what He will do. He, the Bible says, will convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. So He said to them, now when I send Him, and when He comes, here will be His ministry. This is the way He’s going to work in the world, that is, among those who are lost. The work of the Holy Spirit is to take the word of God, drive it home to the unbeliever, give him understanding, and listen, give him understanding, and in the process of giving him understanding, will draw him to Christ. When a person says, well, anybody can be saved any old time. No, anybody who wants to be saved can be saved. Does not Jesus say? He that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. The question is, what is it within us that makes us want to be saved? It is the working of the Holy Spirit of God. So when the Holy Spirit convicts someone of their sin, My friend, be wise enough to heed that. Be wise enough to listen. Be wise enough to respond because that’s God giving you a personal invitation through the Holy Spirit to receive Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. Now, if you’ll notice in this passage, He said when the Holy Spirit comes, He will convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. When he says world, he’s talking about unbelievers. He’s talking about those people whom we say are lost, unbelievers, and those who have yet to receive Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. What does he mean when he says convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment? Well, when he says convict, that word simply means not only to expose sin, not only to bring about a sense of guilt and therefore bring that person to saving knowledge of Christ, but to convict a person is to convince them. And the convincing work in the gospel is the work of the Holy Spirit. No preacher should attempt in his own strength, in his own skills, in his own wisdom, in his own experience or education ever to convince and persuade anybody of anything spiritual within himself. That is the work in the ministry of the Holy Spirit. The reason we fail oftentimes in sharing the gospel and witnessing to others is because we depend upon our formula. We depend upon our plan. We depend upon our past experiences and successes. And so we think if the last person I witnessed who was saved, surely this person’s going to be. When the ministry of the Spirit is the ministry of conviction, convicting, that is, exposing sin, that is, so stating the truth, of the gospel in such a fashion that men and women can make intelligent decisions about that truth and thereby are held accountable to God. To convict the world of sin is to convince the world. To convict the world of sin is to expose the world’s sin. To convict the world of its sin is to convince the world. To state the truth in such a fashion that a person understands the meaning of that truth. So that when you and I come to the Word of God… The reason Jesus said, I’m going to send you a helper. He says that help is going to guide you into all truth. He says in this passage, there’s some things you can’t understand now, but you will be able to understand later. Why? Because the spirit of God who is indwelling you will reveal that truth to you, expose the truth to you, and you will begin to understand things the way God would have you understand them. Then notice the next phrase. He says, verse 8, when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment. Concerning sin, because they do not believe in me. Concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer behold me. What does he mean by righteousness? We’re talking about the perfect sinless relationship he has with the Father. His perfect sinless character. His perfect sinless conduct. Listen, when he says lost men, that is the work of the Holy Spirit is to convict, to expose sin. This righteousness is in two directions. When we say that the Holy Spirit’s work is convicting and that is declaring a truth in such a fashion that a man is able to comprehend it, that’s the work in the ministry of the Holy Spirit. What does He do? When a person by the Holy Spirit is convicted, what God the Father does through the power of the Holy Spirit and His Word is He brings that unbeliever to begin to look at Christ in the light of Himself. And all of a sudden, the wickedness and the sin of the unbeliever’s life comes to reality against the background of a sinless Christ. And all of the good works that a person could possibly do can never merit salvation. You see, no person is ever saved as long as they believe, as long as they hold out the tiniest bit. Well, I’m not the best. I make my mistakes. Sometimes I lose it. Sometimes I blow it. Sometimes I disobey. So I know I don’t live up to your expectation. But after all, I’m as good as some other people. And I’ll just take my chances in the judgment when I stand before God. And surely God’s going to see at least a little bit of good in me. None. You say, you mean to tell me that after all the good things I’ve tried to do, that God’s not going to see any of that? The Bible says in Isaiah, he says that the righteousness of sinful men, of the unbeliever, is as filthy rags in the eyes of God. Listen to me. That’s why he convicts the world of sin and of righteousness. He convicts the unbeliever of the righteousness of Christ. And then, in light of that, he convicts what? He convicts the unbeliever of his unrighteousness. And the unrighteousness is this… that he could so live his life and reject the only begotten Son of God, who was an expression of God’s unconditional love to sinful, undeserving man. And for man to live in sin and disobedience to God and reject the Lord Jesus Christ, unbelief is the sin of all sins. When a person… puts their focus upon Christ. When a person begins to look at the Lord Jesus Christ, as he said in that sixth chapter, when men behold him and believe, then they’re saved. You can go to church. You can be baptized. You can do all of these things and still be lost. You can walk the church aisle and confess a lot of things and still be lost. Listen, when a person beholds the Lord Jesus Christ, when the Spirit of God convicts a lost person of who Jesus is, you don’t have to worry about what’s going on in their life. God the Spirit will begin then to reveal to that person what those things are in their life that ought not to be. And when men begin to see who Jesus Christ is, then what happens? The veil drops from their eyes and then they begin to see the error of their way in the light of the person of Jesus Christ. But friends, you can talk about sin in the life of a believer and talk about sin and talk about sin and because their minds are blinded to the truth, they have a very difficult time receiving Jesus Christ when all the time we talk about all these things they’ve got to straighten up. First of all, they feel powerless to straighten it up. You know why they feel powerless? They are. Absolutely powers. They can’t straighten it up. When a lost person says, well, am I going to be able to live a Christian life? Don’t tell them yes. They can’t. He said, what do you mean a Christian can’t live a Christian life? Nobody can live a Christian life apart from the release of that life of Christ within us. The work and the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer, releasing the indwelling presence of the life of Jesus Christ with us. That’s why Paul said, and when Christ who is our life shall appear. We have a brand new spirit. We’re a brand new creation. We’ve been born again. Everything about us is new. It is the Spirit of God working within us, living through us. It isn’t what we do. And all of our actions and all of our abilities and all of that, none of that works apart from the work and the ministry of the life of the Spirit within us. The unbeliever cannot do a lot of correcting that will last. He can’t correct all these things. Now, there are some folks who say, well, I’m going to stop smoking. I’m going to stop drinking. I’m going to stop this and stop that. There’s some things that people have the strength to do. But here’s the issue. The issue is not stopping any of that. Because listen, drinking won’t send you to hell. Immorality won’t put you in hell. Profanity won’t put you in hell. It is unbelief in Jesus. So what is the sin that has to be dealt with? Accepting Jesus Christ, the Son of God. And my friend, when we see Him upon the cross as He is, then we begin to see our awesome God. need of salvation by the grace of Almighty God that’s why he says he will convict the world of righteousness but then he says convict the world of judgment now what does he mean by that well in the 12th chapter look there if you will back just a few chapters the 12th chapter of John listen to what Jesus says In verse 31, he says, now judgment is upon this world. Listen to that. Now judgment is upon this world. Now the ruler of this world shall be cast out. The judgment, listen, the judgment of God fell upon this world at Calvary. And not only that, but Satan lost it all at Calvary. And if you recall back in the 10th chapter of Luke, that Jesus said, I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning. The devil has already been judged. You want to know what his judgment is? Turn to Revelation chapter 20. You say, well, what’s this got to do with the lost person? I’m going to show you in just a moment. Revelation chapter 20. That is, the verdict has already been issued on Satan. And here’s the verdict. Now, who’s the God of this age? The devil. Who’s the God of the unbeliever? The devil. Why does the Holy Spirit convict the world, the unbeliever? Listen, verse 10, chapter 20 of the book of the Revelation. And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are also. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. All the fallen angels are going to be there. All the demons are going to be there. And all the unbelievers are going to be in the same place. And we ask ourselves the question, what did Jesus say? And concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. He says the work of the Holy Spirit is to convict, listen, to convict the unbeliever. of the judgment to come. Satan has already been judged. Think about this. My friend, if you’ve never trusted Jesus Christ as your Savior, your God is the devil. You say, the devil is not my God. Yes, he is. He’s the God of this age. He’s the God of this world system. And if you’re a part of this world system, and if you’ve not trusted Christ, you are. Because you see, there are only two kingdoms, the kingdom of righteousness, the kingdom of God, and the kingdom of the devil. And those who rejected Jesus Christ as their Savior belong to the kingdom of darkness. Those of us who trusted Jesus as our Savior belong to the kingdom of light. The Bible says the kingdom of His dear Son. He translated us. And He has transported us from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. The judgment of God is upon the devil. And Satan’s verdict has already been pronounced. And he is hell bound. He’s going to spend eternity separated from God the Father, God the Son, God the Spirit, and everything that is good. And all those who follow him are going to follow him for eternity. Now, is it any wonder that a lost person does not want to hear any sermons about judgment? But not only does he mean that, but listen, he says, And concerning judgment, because the rule of this world has been judged. Not only has the rule of this world been judged, but every single lost person, every single lost person needs to heed these two warnings. It is important that the man wants to die. And after this, the judgment. How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? And there is no answer to that in the Bible because there is no escape. He says the Holy Spirit has come to convict us of the sin of unbelief and to convict us of the righteousness of Christ that atones for our sin and our unrighteousness. To convict us, listen, of the judgment upon Satan and the judgment that is upon all of us who refuse to acknowledge Jesus Christ as our Savior and our Lord. Here’s what I want you to see. You have two choices. You can either accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior or you can reject Him. But here’s what I want you to see. Rejecting Jesus Christ is a dangerous thing because the continuous rejection of Christ hardens man’s heart until finally, listen, until finally he comes to church and it doesn’t quite bother him as much as it used to. And then finally he comes and he just sits and looks around and he just sort of enjoys the crowd. That’s fine. Doesn’t feel anything. Or after a while, he says, I don’t want to hear it anymore. I don’t want to hear it anymore. And he will not let you witness to him. He will not let you share your faith. He will not let you talk about Jesus Christ. He does not want to hear it. She does not want to hear any more of it. And they may curse you out, profane you, and blaspheme you. They don’t want to hear it. You know what’s happened? Real tragedy has happened. Because in their walk away from God, they crossed the line. No God, no Christ, no desire, no interest. And the heart… is hardened against God. You say, well, you mean to tell me if those folks want to get saved, God won’t save them? No, that’s not the issue. The issue is they won’t want to. Here’s what I want you to understand. If you’re going to come to church, for God’s sake and for your sake, surrender your life to Christ. Don’t sit here, my friend, I pray in Jesus’ name, don’t sit here until you don’t feel it any longer and you get numb and and paralyzed, and unmoved, untouched, and like stone, you sit there with no desire for God. You say, what must I do? Simply this, if you pray this prayer to the Lord today, Lord Jesus, I have sinned against you. I’ve wanted my own way. I ask you to forgive me for rejecting you as my personal Savior. I do believe that your death at Calvary paid my sin debt in full. I do believe that you’re the Son of God and I receive you as my Savior. I yield my life to you. And my friend, the moment you’re willing to trust Him, the moment you’re willing to yield your life to Him, Lord Jesus, I receive you as my Savior, my Lord and my life. You’ll understand more about all of that later. But it’s receiving him for the forgiveness of your sin. Then the Spirit of God will begin his house cleaning in your life. Then he’ll show you what doesn’t fit and what does fit. Then he’ll begin his work of revealing how you can become everything God wants you to become. It’s that simple. But remember this, it costs the Son of God everything for that to happen.
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Thank you for listening to The Holy Spirit Convicting the Unbeliever. If you’d like to know more about Charles Stanley or InTouch Ministries, stop by InTouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of InTouch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.
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