Let's look to the Lord in prayer.
Father, we just come before you as we
turn to your word.
We pray for the illumination of the Holy
Spirit of God.
We thank you that he inspired the scriptures,
and we thank you that it is through
him that we understand the scriptures.
And so we pray that you will open
our hearts to receive your word and to
obey what we find in it.
We ask in Jesus' name.
Amen.
First of all, I'd like to review what
we went over last night.
We were talking about the person and work
of the Holy Spirit.
And we mentioned, first of all, his personality.
The Holy Spirit is a person.
The Holy Spirit is not an influence, not
a thing, but a person.
And we mentioned last night that the Spirit
of God has intellect, emotions, and will.
The Spirit of God has intellect.
He's called the Spirit of knowledge and of
wisdom.
The Spirit of God has emotions.
We mentioned how he can be grieved and
how he can be quenched.
And the Spirit of God has will.
That's found in many different places in the
Bible, but especially in connection with the gifts
which he gives.
He gives them according to his own will.
Then we mentioned that the Spirit of God
is God, the deity of the Spirit of
God.
He's called God categorically in Acts 5, verses
3 and 4.
Ananias and Sapphira didn't lie to man, they
lied to God.
They lied to the Holy Spirit in the
same context.
And not only is he called God, but
he has the attributes of God.
The Holy Spirit of God is spoken of
as omnipotent.
He's seen in the work of creation.
The Spirit of God is omniscient.
He has all knowledge.
And the Spirit of God is omnipresent, Psalm
139.
There's nowhere where you can go where the
Spirit of God is not, in all places
at one and the same time.
In Hebrews 9, verse 14, he's spoken of
as the eternal spirit, one of the attributes
of God.
God is the eternal one.
And then, of course, finally, the Spirit of
God is sovereign, and that means that he
can do what he wishes.
But what he wishes is always fair, just,
righteous, good, etc.
Now, we just said that the Spirit of
God is in all places at one and
the same time, and always has been.
And yet, the Lord Jesus promised that the
Spirit of God would come.
And this raises a problem.
How can he come if he's always been
here?
And we mentioned last night that he came
in a very specific way.
On the day of Pentecost, he came as
the permanent indweller of the believer and of
the Church.
He had never come like that before.
In other words, although he had always been
in the world, there was a special way
in which he came at Pentecost.
And that had to do, of course, with
the formation of the Church, didn't it?
Pentecost was the birthday of the Church.
And this is the way in which the
Spirit of God will be taken out at
the time of the rapture.
When we say that the Spirit of God
is going to go at the time of
the rapture, it doesn't mean that he won't
be in the world anymore.
He will.
People will get saved through the tribulation period,
and it will be by the Spirit of
God that they get saved.
But he will be taken out as the
one who indwells the Church, naturally, because the
Church is going to be gone.
And he will be taken out as the
one who permanently indwells the individual believer, naturally,
because the individual believers are going to be
gone as well.
And so that's what we've tried to point
out here.
Then we mentioned some types of the Holy
Spirit last night.
And we found out that all of these
types of the Holy Spirit are fluid, wind,
water, fire, oil, cloud.
Hard to hold in your hand, aren't they?
Hard for man to control.
Can't control some of them at all.
And this is very good for us to
see because, and I say this reverently, we
tend to put the Holy Spirit in a
straitjacket.
We tend to say he always has to
work in this way all the time.
Now, he never will work contrary to the
Word of God, that's true.
But he is absolutely infinite in the number
of different ways in which he can work.
Some people think that because he performed certain
miracles in the early days of the Church,
he has to perform these same miracles today.
He doesn't have to do that.
He can do what he wishes.
Just because he raised the dead back there
doesn't mean he has to raise the dead
here.
He's sovereign.
He can do what he wishes.
But what he wishes is always best.
And then we also mentioned last night that
unbelievers can resist the Holy Spirit of God.
Acts 7.51. You do always resist the
Holy Spirit.
And really, I think any unsaved person today
is doing that, isn't he?
Maybe there's some unsaved person in our midst
today.
If so, you're resisting the Holy Spirit.
He's trying to woo and win you to
Christ, and you're resisting.
And it's so foolish.
It's like a flea resisting a furnace, isn't
it?
Imagine a man pitting his will against the
will of God.
Ridiculous.
And then we also mentioned that apostates blaspheme
against the Holy Spirit.
The unpardonable sin found in Matthew 12.
And they also insult the Spirit of grace,
Hebrews 10.
Verses 28 and 29.
That brings us to the ministries of the
Holy Spirit.
And that's where we want to begin today.
Incidentally, some of you have mentioned that you
didn't get all of these down.
We go pretty fast.
If you didn't get some of these down
and want to copy them, please see me
afterwards, and I will get them to you.
I mean, I don't have anything that I
can give you, but you can copy.
The ministries of the Holy Spirit.
The first ministry of the Holy Spirit, he
convicts the unsaved of sin.
And I just want to slow down a
little now.
That was by way of review.
And now I just want to go over
this carefully.
John chapter 16, verses 7 through 11.
Nevertheless, I tell you the truth.
It is expedient for you that I go
away.
For if I go not away, the comforter
will not come unto you.
But if I depart, I will send him
unto you.
And when he has come, he will reprove.
Some of the modern versions might have the
word convict there.
He will convict the world of sin and
of righteousness and of judgment.
Of sin, because they believe not on me.
Of righteousness, because I go to my Father,
and ye see me no more.
Of judgment, because the prince of this world
is judged.
Now when we come to verse 8, he
will convict the world of sin.
We generally understand that to mean the convicting
work of the Holy Spirit in the life
of a sinner.
How he plows us up because of our
sin.
And makes us in a hurry to trust
Christ.
Not exactly what it means.
It's the way I'm going to use it
today, but it's not really what it means.
In other words, every passage of Scripture has
an interpretation, but it has many applications.
And first of all, I'd like to explain
what I believe the interpretation of this passage
of Scripture is.
And then I'm going to use it as
an application.
But I like to explain that, I don't
like to do things without explaining to people
what I'm doing.
Verses 7 through 11 say this to me.
The Holy Spirit shouldn't be in the world
today.
Does that shock you?
Jesus is in heaven today.
He shouldn't be in heaven today, he should
be down in the world, reigning on the
throne.
He came to the world 1900 years ago,
and he was rejected.
They said, we will not have this man
to reign over us.
To crucify them, he was buried, he rose
again, he ascended back to heaven.
And when he ascended back to heaven and
was glorified, the Holy Spirit was sent back
into the world as Christ's representative.
The presence of the Holy Spirit in the
world today is witness to a rejected Christ.
Think of that.
It's really true.
The presence of the Holy Spirit today in
the work that he does is witness to
a rejected Christ.
His very presence in the world today condemns
the world.
That's what this means when it says, Nevertheless
I tell you the truth, it is expedient
for you that I go away.
If I go not away, the Comforter will
not come unto you.
But if I depart, I will send him
unto you.
When he has come, he will condemn the
world in respect of sin and of righteousness
and of judgment.
Let me say that.
The very presence of the Holy Spirit in
the world today, doing the work that he's
doing today as the vicar of Christ on
earth, condemns the world.
Why does it condemn the world?
Because the Spirit of God here is witness
to the fact that the Lord Jesus came
and he was rejected and crucified.
In respect of sin.
The sin of the world in nailing the
Son of God to the cross.
The Spirit of God testifies that.
Of righteousness.
Of sin, because they believe not on me.
See that?
Of sin, because they believe not on me.
That's it.
Of righteousness, because I go to the Father
and ye see me no more.
The presence of the Holy Spirit of God
in the world today witnesses to the fact
that Christ was right.
God took him back to heaven and glorified
him at his own right hand.
Of judgment, because the Prince of this world
is judged.
In other words, the devil met his Waterloo
at the cross of Calvary.
And the Spirit of God in the world
today is witness to that fact.
He's still operating on a long leash, I
grant that.
The devil is still operating, but his doom
is assured.
And all of this is testified to by
the Spirit of God in the world today.
Now read it in that connection.
Verse 8, And he, when he is come,
will condemn, convict the world in respect of
sin and of righteousness and of judgment.
Of sin, because they believe not on me.
Of righteousness, because I go to the Father
and ye shall see me no more.
Of judgment, because the Prince of this world
is judged.
I believe that's the interpretation of this passage.
But I'm going to use it in a
different way today.
And that is that the Spirit of God
also comes and convicts the individual sinner of
this.
Of the sin of not believing on the
Lord Jesus Christ.
He that believeth not is condemned already.
Let me just say that apart from conviction
of sin, there's no conversion.
Apart from conviction of sin, there's no salvation.
What do we mean when we speak about
conviction of sin?
We speak about that ministry of the Holy
Spirit where he starts to work in a
person's life.
Shows him that he's sinful, ungodly, at enmity
with the Lord, helpless, hopeless, deserving of nothing
better than hell.
That's the convicting work of the Spirit of
God.
I think it's good to just pause here
and remind ourselves that the Spirit of God
works in a man's life long before he's
saved, doesn't he?
People have trouble with that expression in Hebrews
chapter 6.
And we're made partakers of the Holy Spirit.
Unsaved people made partakers of the Holy Spirit.
Absolutely.
Unsaved people made partakers of the Holy Spirit.
What?
In his convicting ministry.
Even in matters like this it says the
unbelieving husband is sanctified by the believing wife.
Else were your children unclean but now are
they holy.
An unbeliever can be sanctified?
Yes.
An unbeliever can be sanctified.
What does that mean?
It means he's set apart in a position
of external privilege before God.
That's what it means.
It means a great privilege for an unsaved
husband to have a believing wife who bows
the knee and prays for him.
He's sanctified.
Does that assure his salvation?
By no means.
But he's sanctified.
So the Spirit of God works in our
lives long before we're saved.
And he convicts us of sin.
Did you know conviction of sin before you
were saved?
Did you know the Spirit of God plowing
you up?
Showing you that if you died it would
be an eternal hell?
Well I'd like to suggest to you if
you never knew that you've never been genuinely
saved.
I was brought up in a Christian home.
I can't remember a time in my life
when I didn't believe that Jesus was God.
That he died on the cross for our
sins.
That he was buried.
That he rose again.
In fact the whole thing I believe.
I used to tell kids in the neighborhood
how to be saved.
And I wasn't saved myself.
And I had a strict Presbyterian mother who
made us really walk the straight and narrow.
I'm telling you, we really lived separated lives.
In our unsaved days we lived more separated
lives than most priests do today.
My mother ruled us with a rod of
iron.
We never went to the theater.
All the rest of the kids in the
neighborhood Saturday afternoon brushing off the things.
Not the McDonald kids.
The oddballs of the neighborhood weren't allowed to
go to the show.
We never even bought things in the store
on Sunday.
Sunday was the Lord's day.
And if you loved the Lord you loved
his day too.
This was the reasoning.
How does somebody like that get convicted of
sin?
Never danced.
Never smoked.
Never swore.
Never went to a show.
How did he get convicted of sin?
Never committed adultery, murder, any of the grosser
sins?
I want to tell you something.
When I was about 18 years of age
the Spirit of God began to work in
my life.
And he exposed my life to me.
He exposed my inward life to me.
And he showed me that what I am
is a lot worse than anything I've ever
done.
Think about that for a minute.
And I say this for the benefit of
some young people brought up in Christian homes.
What you are inside is a lot worse
than anything you've ever done.
You don't believe it.
Think of your thought life this last week.
And the Spirit of God got a hold
of me and convicted me of that.
And I'd lie in my pillow at night.
A person like that can't go to heaven.
I never felt this before.
But I felt it then.
Wow.
I can remember going into a Baptist church
one time for a gospel crusade.
And I was up in the balcony.
It's still so real to me.
I had to get up and get out.
Afraid the place was going to fall in
on me and I'd be perishing forever.
And I had to get out to the
fresh air.
What was it?
The convicting power of the Holy Spirit of
God in my life.
Not very comfortable, but very necessary.
Now.
We can't say that everybody must have the
same degree of conviction of sin.
You can't say that.
Some of the old preachers that, you know,
were saved from the gutter most to the
uttermost.
And they would really create the impression that
if you weren't convicted as deeply as they
were, then you weren't saved at all.
Well, you can't say that.
There are different degrees of conviction of sin,
but everybody must have it in order to
be saved.
And this is one of the curses of
modern evangelism.
That people are pressured into a profession of
faith in Christ when they've never really been
deeply convicted of sin.
Think about that.
We have our neat formulas for salvation.
Yes, you believe this?
Yes.
You believe this?
Yes.
You believe this?
Nothing.
You're saved.
Nonsense.
Saved.
You mean just an intellectual ascent to certain
facts where there has been no convicting work
by the Holy Spirit of God?
You're not saved at all.
Did you know that nobody in the Book
of Acts was ever told to believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ except convicted sinners?
I hope you don't think I'm a real
radical, but I think it would be ridiculous
to go into Freiburg today and walk down
the street and walk up to a man
and say, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and I'll help you be saved.
It's ridiculous.
He'd say, Saved?
I don't even know I'm lost.
He'd probably say something like that.
And he's right, too.
What does he want to be saved for?
He doesn't know he's lost.
I'm going to tell you, when the Holy
Spirit gets you where he wants you, there's
only one thing you can do.
Reach out in faith to Jesus.
It's the only thing you can do.
Simple faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
And we have an awful lot of evangelism
going on today, but a lot of it
is ill-founded.
We don't let the Spirit of God have
his perfect work, and we pick fruit before
it's ripe.
But I want to tell you, the more
thorough the work of conviction of sin, the
better the salvation that follows.
That might not be theologically quite the way
to say it, but I think you know
what I mean.
To whom much is forgiven, the same loveth
much.
Think about it.
Conviction of sin.
This is one of the great ministries of
the Holy Spirit of God, convicting the sinner
of sin.
To the point where he not only knows
he's not good enough for heaven, but he
feels he's not good enough for hell.
I'll tell you, if you give me a
person like that, who's desperate about his soul,
it's an easy thing to lead a person
like that to the Lord.
In one of the parables in Matthew 13,
the parable of the four soils, it speaks
about the man who received the word with
joy.
I should have just checked this before I
started, but in one of those parables, the
interpretation of the parable, the four soils, it
says he received the word with joy.
Where is that?
Oh, yes, verse 20, Matthew 13, 20.
It says, but he that received the seed
into stony places, the same as he that
heareth the word and straightway with joy receiveth
it.
You say, oh, wonderful.
Not wonderful at all.
There was nothing there at all.
It's not a good way to receive the
word with joy when you're a sinner.
Better to receive it with tears, better to
receive it with contrition, better to receive it
with brokenness.
He didn't last.
You say, how do you know?
Well, read on.
With joy receiveth it, yet hath he not
root in himself, but endureth for a while,
and when tribulation or persecution arises because of
the word, straightway he stumbles.
Doesn't last.
Have you ever been to a gospel crusade,
a popular gospel crusade, and the invitation is
given, and you see people jauntily going down
the aisle, chewing gum and laughing to receive
Jesus?
Nothing there.
There's absolutely nothing there.
They're receiving it with joy.
But I'll tell you, some trouble comes in
life, and pretty soon they abandon it all.
So I think this is an encouragement to
us in dealing with souls.
Don't pressure them.
Don't push them into a profession of faith.
Don't be afraid to tell them, look, go
home and read the gospel of John.
And before you read it, pray and say,
oh God, if this is your word, and
if I'm a sinner, if I need a
Savior, and Jesus is the Savior, show it
to me as I read the gospel of
John.
And it works.
It works.
I've often told about a friend of mine
at MIT years ago, Harry Dixon, and he
had an unsaved roommate.
And the roommate was quibbling about the Bible.
He used to come to Harry with alleged
difficulties and contradictions in the Bible, and Harry
would patiently answer them.
But Harry got a bit fed up after
a while, and one day he said to
his roommate, look, have you read the Bible?
And he said, well, no, I haven't.
He said, well, look, don't come to me
with any more difficulties or alleged discrepancies in
the Bible until you've had the intestinal fortitude
to read Paul's letter to the Romans.
But the guy accepted the challenge.
He read Paul's letter to the Romans.
He got some answers to his questions, but
he got a lot more questions.
So he read it again.
And again, he got some more questions, and
he got some more answers.
And he never did come back to Harry
until he was born again to faith in
the Lord Jesus Christ.
A solid case.
Why?
Because Harry didn't rush him.
Harry didn't pick the fruit before it was
ripe.
Harry let the Spirit of God do his
convicting work in the life of that fellow.
When he trusted Christ, he knew what he
was trusting.
He had a doctrinal foundation for what he
was doing.
So I'd like to emphasize that to you
this morning, the convicting work of the Spirit
of God in the believer's life.
Watch for that.
Watch for tears.
One of the old preachers used to say,
I like to see a wet birth.
And I knew just what he meant.
A wet birth.
Good to see.
And yet I don't want to create the
impression that you have to have had the
same extent of conviction that I had.
I don't think it's right.
There are different degrees of conviction, but there
has to be conviction if there's going to
be conversion.
A second ministry of the Holy Spirit is,
and this is as far as we'll get
today, he regenerates.
He regenerates.
John chapter 3, very familiar passage of scripture.
John chapter 3 and verse 5, Jesus answered,
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a
man be born of water and of the
Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of
God.
John chapter 3, verse 5.
That which is born of the flesh is
flesh, and that which is born of the
Spirit is spirit.
Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye
must be born again.
And then Titus chapter 3, verse 5.
Titus chapter 3, verse 5.
Not by works of righteousness which we have
done, but according to his mercy he saved
us by the washing of regeneration, notice, and
renewing of the Holy Spirit, which he shed
on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
that being justified by his grace we should
be made heirs according to the hope of
eternal life.
Regeneration, the new birth, is a work of
the Holy Spirit of God.
He first of all convicts us of our
sins, that he points us to the Lord
Jesus, and when we trust the sinner's Savior,
he regenerates us.
Very important to see.
Now what does that mean, except a man
be born of water and the Spirit, he
cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Well, you know, there are different interpretations of
this, I'm going to give you some and
then tell you the one that I prefer.
Some people believe that that expression, born of
water, refers to our natural birth, and the
Spirit refers to the new birth.
Two births.
Except a man be born of water, that's
the natural birth, there is water in connection
with the natural birth.
And of the Spirit, that's the new birth.
Do you like that explanation?
I don't.
Glad to see Milo shaking his head.
I don't like that explanation.
It's kind of unnecessary to say he has
to be born the first time, doesn't it?
You know, he's talking about it.
He didn't have a natural birth.
I don't think it means that.
Some people believe it means baptism, born of
water and the Spirit.
Do you like that one?
I'll tell you, whatever it means, it doesn't
mean baptism.
If it did, it would make baptism, not
Jesus, the Savior.
To add baptism to salvation denies the finished
work of Christ, doesn't it?
What he did on the cross was not
sufficient.
Now you have to add baptism to it.
It's a strange thing that if baptism was
necessary for salvation, that Jesus didn't baptize anyone.
That's strange.
Yet it specifically says that.
Jesus didn't baptize, but his disciples.
If baptism were necessary for salvation, it's a
strange thing that Paul rejoiced that he had
baptized so few of them.
It doesn't add up, does it?
Certainly the thief on the cross wasn't baptized,
and yet Jesus said to him, Today thou
shalt be with me in paradise.
In Acts chapter 10, Cornelius and his household
believed they received the Holy Spirit, and then
they were baptized after they were saved.
They believed they received the Holy Spirit because
they were saved.
And then after that they were baptized as
a testimony of their salvation.
Baptism is always linked to death in the
scriptures.
Did you notice that?
Not with the origin of life.
Baptism is always buried with him by baptism
into death.
Romans chapter 6.
But I think the great point here is
that there are 150 verses in the New
Testament that say that salvation is by faith.
And even two or three that seem to
indicate baptism can't contradict 150 verses.
And add to that the fact that it
doesn't work.
A lot of people have been baptized by
water, but it just doesn't produce salvation.
Some people think that water here refers to
the word of God.
And it might.
That's possible.
Because in Ephesians 5, 25 and 26, you
have that simile.
Ephesians 5, 25 and 26.
Let's just turn to that.
It says, Husbands, love your wives, even as
Christ also loved the church and gave himself
for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse
it with the washing of water by the
word.
Their water is linked with the word of
God.
And 1 Peter chapter 1, 23, which is
really quite strong in this direction.
1 Peter chapter 1, verse 23.
It says, Seeing ye have...
No.
Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but
of incorruptible by the word of God, which
liveth and abideth forever.
In other words, the word of God is
linked there with born again.
And it is true.
Nobody is saved apart from the word of
God.
If it weren't for the word of God,
you wouldn't even know about the plan of
salvation.
But I really believe that in John 3,
5, water refers to the spirit of God.
And in that verse, the word and in
that verse can be translated even.
Same word that is translated and in some
places can also be translated even.
So I believe what it really means is,
except a man be born of water, even
the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom
of God.
I don't discount the word of God there.
It could mean that.
Maybe when we get to heaven, we'll find
it means that.
But in the meantime, I think water refers.
What?
Well, let's ask John.
John, when you use the word water, what
do you mean?
And he'll say, well, turn over to John
7, 38 and 39.
John 7, verses 38 and 39.
He that believeth in me, as the scripture
has said, out of his belly shall flow
rivers of living water.
But this spake he of the spirit, the
spirit, water, this spake he of the spirit.
In other words, in John's gospel, water seems
to refer primarily to the Holy Spirit.
So the verse can mean.
Except a man be born of water, even
the spirit.
And, you know, it goes on to emphasize
that verse six, that which is born of
the spirit is spirit.
The whole emphasis in the passage seems to
be it's a spiritual birth.
It's a birth by the Holy Spirit of
God.
Now, I think we're just going to stop
there because our time is up.
I was told to go to this time,
so I hope you're not fretful about it.
But we'll go on with further ministries of
the Holy Spirit next time.
If anybody wants to see the prior outlines,
just let me know.
Let's pray.
Father, we do thank you for your wonderful
word.
We thank you for the ministry of the
Holy Spirit.
Those of us who have been saved by
the grace of God, who've known that convicting
power in our lives and the regenerating power
as well.
Help us always, Lord, to walk worthy of
the vocation wherewith we are called.
And Lord, if there should be those in
our meeting who are not sure, who might
have a false profession, who might lack assurance
of salvation, or truly need to rededicate their
lives to you, we just pray that this
might be a time when we do business
with God in great waters.
We ask in Jesus' name.
Amen.