THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
TEXT: John 16: 6-16
Sunday, May 26, 2002
Last week being Pentecost, we started teaching on the Holy Spirit. Scripture says that we can quench the spirit, that we can hold its outflowing in our lives. As part of salvation, God has promised the inflowing of the spirit into our lives.
Why do we need to talk about the work of the Holy Spirit? I think this is best illustrated through what happened recently in my home. For my daughter’s birthday, we bought a Furby. I have a rule in my family that we never buy faddish toys. We wait until the fad passes, and then we purchase them. At one time they were $30, and we bought this one for under $6 (but don’t tell my daughter that). We have this wonderful toy, and we read the directions very quickly. It does all kinds of things and it did exactly what the directions said it should do, at least the part of the directions that we read. It was funny to have this thing react to you. When you scratched his belly, he would make cute little noises. Then we wanted to go to bed, but it wouldn’t shut up. We couldn’t figure out how to get the thing to stop talking! At midnight our daughter comes into our room crying, “Mom, I can’t get to sleep. It won’t be quiet. What do I do?” If you follow the directions, there is a certain procedure to use and the Furby will go to sleep so that you can sleep yourself. Finally, about 1 a.m. we actually got to sleep ourselves.
What was the problem? Was there any problem with the Furby? No. The problem was that we just didn’t know what it could do and what it couldn’t do. In the process of re-reading the directions, we discovered there are a lot of other things that we didn’t know it could do that it would do if you do certain things with it. So, we were able to get a lot more enjoyment out of it, and it’s even cuter than I first thought.
The same thing is true of the Holy Spirit. There are a lot of things that the Holy Spirit will do for us, but we have to know what those things are so that we can recognize them and get all that we can out of the work of the Spirit in our lives. There are some things that the Holy Spirit will not do for us, and we need to know that too so that we are not frustrated in our lives. If we follow the directions, we can have a wonderful experience. It is good to have realistic expectations as well because if your expectations are not realistic, you can get angry and frustrated. By knowing that there are certain things that the Holy Spirit will do, you will know that your experience is normal and that it is the Spirit of God working and not other spirits because there are other spirits out there working as well. It’s like the experience with the Furby. If it did what the directions said it would do, we knew it was normal and that it wasn’t broken. Therefore, by knowing what the Holy Spirit will do, we are assured that it is God’s spirit working in our lives and not something else.
What will the Holy Spirit do for us? Let’s look at John 16:5-15. This tells us about three works of the Holy Spirit–two are obvious and one is hidden in the text:
TEXT
The first work of the Holy Spirit is in regard to salvation. While we tend to think of the Holy Spirit working in the lives of believers, the first work of the Holy Spirit was actually in the lives of unbelievers or people who have not yet under-stood what Jesus is all about. Jesus mentions these things in verses 8-11. The Holy Spirit will convict the world of sin and convince people of Christ’s righteousness and God’s judgment.
What does this mean? To convict the world of sin simply means that God will be our conscience. His spirit will work in our hearts and minds to convince us of our sinful we are. Why do we need to know that? Well, apart from God’s grace, all of us are convinced of our absolute goodness. Just ask the average American, “Are you a good person?” Ninety percent will say that they are very good people. If you ask your children who is responsible for the ink spilled on the downstairs rug, they will say, “Not me.” That means I have a villain running around my house called “Not me.” If you ask a woman how she stubbed her toe, she will say that she walked into a chair. If you ask a man the same question, he will say that some idiot put a chair in his way. All of us are convinced of our own inherent goodness. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to show us that we are not that good.
If your standard for comparison is Al Capone or Madonna or some famous rapper, we are good. But what if the comparison is Mother Theresa or Jesus Christ himself. Are we good?
For those who golf, what if you have to shoot an eagle on every hole on God’s golf course to win. What if shooting the perfect game is the standard? Is that possible? To have one bogey or one par would mean that you would lose all of heaven. Could you do it? Well, that’s the standard. The standard is a perfect life.
Are we that good? Have you lived the perfect life? Romans 3:23 reminds us all “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” The first work of the Holy Spirit is to teach us this fundamental truth. Has God revealed that you are hopelessly sinful? What about works? Can’t we be good enough? How would you ever know that you were good enough? Do you want to be surprised that you weren’t?
The second work of the Holy Spirit in a person’s heart and mind is to convince people of righteousness. What does that mean–that Jesus is a righteous man? We already know that. This phrase means that the only way we can be right with God as a result of our sinfulness is that God has to provide the way for us. It is probably good that we are talking about this on Memorial Day because on this day we celebrate the freedoms that we have. The reason that we have these freedoms is because people put their lives on the line and gave their lives for us. In every war, people gave their lives for us. In a sense, they became our substitute. They took our places and offered themselves for us. As a result, we can live in this free nation and enjoy our freedoms.
It is hard to connect with this because you didn’t see the person doing this for you and it happened a long time ago, yet it is still very real. Just go out to the cemetery today and see the grave markers with the flags on them. You will then realize the cost of our freedom was very real.
The same thing is true spiritually. We can enjoy the fruit of the Holy Spirit and God’s spiritual indwelling in us. We can know that we are forgiven and that when we die today we can know that we will be in God’s presence because of a battle that happened a long time ago. God on the cross took our sins upon himself through Jesus Christ. He first came and lived that perfect life that we needed to live and then sacrificed his own life for us. He substituted himself on our behalf. On the cross, God did a wonderful thing. He took the perfect righteousness of Jesus and to all who believe, he gave it to them. He took our sinfulness and placed it on Jesus so that by his one sacrifice, he paid the penalty for all our sins and enabled us to live a free life, a life knowing God and having his presence in our lives.
Romans 3:20-25 tells us “Therefore, no one will be declared good or righteous in God’s sight by doing good works. But now a righteousness from God apart from works has been made known, and this righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.” God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement through faith in his blood. I know that sometimes it’s hard to connect with that because it happened so long ago, yet it is so very real. If you want to see the reality of what God has done for us, all you have to do is look at the cross and look in the face of Jesus and see his nail-pierced hands and feet and see the wound in his side. The Bible says that “one day they will look on the one whom they had pierced.” It is then we realize the cost of our spiritual freedom. Has God communicated that to you? Do you realize what God has done for you in Jesus Christ?
Just as the blood of servicemen and women paid for our freedom, so the blood of Christ paid for our spiritual salvation. Do you know that, and have you received that gift that God has provided for you?
The third thing God will do in our hearts is that he will convince us of judgment. It is very true that there will be a judgment day when all men will be judged. The death of Jesus was not just a tragic event of some deluded person who thought he was God. The death of Christ and the cross of Christ was a spiritual victory, a triumph over death, a triumph over hell and the grave. The Holy Spirit tells us that death has been swallowed up in victory, that grace overcomes our sin, and that the grave is not the last word. Good has defeated evil, and we are on the winning side. The Holy Spirit tells us that we are not at the mercy of the Prince of Darkness or our own principles for living or our own human ability. The Holy Spirit tells us that we don’t have anything to fear in this life and that although the odds may be against us, we can have victory through Christ our Lord.
One of the greatest movie scenes ever was in the movie “Glory.” Morgan Freeman is preparing his men for a battle in which most of them will lose their lives. In order to prepare themselves mentally and spiritually, they are singing around a campfire. Morgan Freemen tells the men why he is going into battle. He wants his loved ones to know that he wasn’t afraid to face the enemy, that he went down standing up. That same type of victory is provided for us by Christ through the cross. No matter what we face, we can have that same sense of determined passion and conviction that during the battle we stood up for what was good and of God. Philippians 4:13 tells us “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Romans 8:37 says “Are we lambs to the slaughter? No, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”
Nothing depresses me more than seeing what I call “Christian defeatism.” It’s that “Ain’t it awful” type of feeling. “Ain’t it awful what we see on TV today.” “Ain’t it awful what’s happening in our communities?” “Ain’t it awful what’s going on in this person’s life?” “Ain’t it awful all the terrible things happening in our world?”
We talk about all these things, and yet we don’t do anything about them. Its as though there’s nothing that can be done. Yet Christ reminds us that we have victory through him and we can do all things through him who strengthens us. The only way that evil can win is if good people do nothing. We don’t have to have that sense of defeatism.
Even in our Presbytery where they are all ministers, they still have that sense of “Ain’t it awful...” “Ain’t it awful what happened at Presbytery?” Well, do something about it. Christ has already given us the victory. All we have to do is engage the battle, be part of it, do something for good and for God.
I see the same attitude in Christians as they struggle with the different sins in their lives. They say, “Well, we’re all saved by grace, Pastor. We’re just going to have to struggle until the Lord returns. I’m trying my best.” It’s as though we have no power to overcome the sins in our lives. It’s as though we are shackled to the sinful nature in our lives, and that’s not the truth. It was harder for God to work Egypt out his people than it was to get his people out of Egypt. Perhaps this is true in our lives.
Christ came to accept us and he did by grace. However, he accepted us to change us, to make us into a better people. Galatians 5:16 tells us “If we live by the spirit, we will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.” I John 4:4: “Greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world.” We can live a victorious Christian life. We don’t have to accept some sins in our lives as the normal state of being. We can overcome them because of the power of Christ who works in us. Simply stated, this is to work God’s salvation into our lives.
Has God done that in your life? Has he convinced you of your sinfulness? Have you grasped and understood what Christ has done for you, and have you accepted that in your life? Do you have the hope of Christ’s victory in your life, and do you walk in a sense of victory? If not, I invite you to receive Christ into your life. Simply tell him that you are sorry for your sin and that you receive his gift of salvation provided through Christ. Tell him that you will walk in that victorious life. If you haven’t already done that, I pray that you will do so today.
After we come to faith, the Holy Spirit will guide us into all truth. What truth is he talking about? Is it a new revelation? Is it going beyond what Jesus said? No, that’s not it at all. Referring to the Holy Spirit he will not speak on his own. He will only say what Jesus tells him to say. He will bring glory to Jesus. He will point to Jesus. John 14:26 says “The Holy Spirit will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have said to you.”
Everything that Jesus said to his disciples has been written down in this book, and it is an amazing book. When you realize that the entire gospel is written from memory, you know that it had to be a work of the Holy Spirit because no one can remember that much stuff.
Once we receive salvation, the Holy Spirit will point us back to this book. He will want us to read this book and study this book and memorize this book, and he will help us recall some of the words in this book during our times of need. When you read this book, the Holy Spirit will interpret it to you. Since it is inspired by the spirit, it is important to pray before you read it and ask God to speak to you. Through this book, God will speak to you and confirm things in your life. He will teach you new things. Sometimes it may be a word of correction. I never knew how bad I was until I started reading this book. Then I realized how much I needed God’s grace. As you read this book, God will help make sense of the world and give you answers to the difficult questions in your life.
Are you in this book? If not, I challenge you to spend 10-15 minutes a day reading the words of Jesus and studying them and thinking about them. If you have difficulty doing that, I encourage you to join a group. There are pastor’s Bible studies going on all the time, there are covenant groups and other small groups, and there’s Sunday school. Join a group and learn and study. We will offering a course called “Alpha” pretty soon. This helps teach the basic principles that you need to know at the beginning of your spiritual walk.
The Holy Spirit will guide you. Note the perfect tense meaning that he will guide and continue to guide. It is not just a one-time thing, but it is a lifetime experience. Growing in God’s grace is a slow process. It takes time. It happens one day at a time. It gives us great humility to realize this because we know that we don’t know it all. Sometimes there are blind spots in our lives and it takes time for God to help reveal those to us. We need to keep going back and back and back and asking hard questions. We need to take a look at the Bible again and not conclude that we know everything. We say we know what predestination means–well, look at it again. We say we know God’s view on war–well, look at it again. We say we know when Jesus will return–well, go and read it again.
The last thing that I will say about the Holy Spirit guiding us in all truth is that because it is called truth, it is important for us to accept the word of God over our own human intellect. It does not concern me at all that people disagree with what the Bible says because if it is indeed the thought and mind of God, then it would fit that sometimes the mind of God blows the human mind away. This just testifies that the Bible is the mind of God. If we can’t figure it out sometimes, then we need to just accept God’s word above our own until we can come to a human understanding.
In John 16:7 Jesus says, “It is good that I go away.” If you are the disciples, you are not thinking that this is a good thing. Jesus is going away. It’s like experiencing the sudden loss of a spouse. How lost would you be? That’s how the disciples felt. Yet Jesus said to them, “It’s better for you that I go away. It’s for your good.” They couldn’t believe that. They were so dependent upon the physical Jesus being present, that they couldn’t fathom that they could possibly do the things that he called them to do. In John 14:12, he says “Greater things will you do.” Looking back, however, we see that’s exactly what took place. In 33 years, Jesus created only eleven shaky believers–the disciples–and a lot of people who kind of liked him but didn’t hang around when times got difficult. After his death through the work of the Holy Spirit, in the next 33 years over 100,000 people came to know Christ through the work of the disciples. The gospel went not only to the towns of Israel but to Spain, Ethiopia, Rome and India. Over the last 2,000 years, it has gone to every tribe, nation and tongue upon the earth without Jesus being here to do it.
This tells me that we can do a lot more than we think. We don’t need a human being to do it for us. All we need is what God supplies through the work of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes we are so dependent upon God’s human resources, particularly pastors. It’s as though pastors are the only ones who can do certain things. They are the only ones who can pray at mealtimes at church. You know, you didn’t have to wait until I got there to have that meal. Someone, anyone in that room could have prayed. You don’t have to have the pastor at your beck and call as if God isn’t going to heal you by your own prayers. You don’t need a pastor to do all the teaching to help you understand every word in the Bible. You can do that through the work of the Holy Spirit yourself. There are many things that you can do better than your pastors, because we are just two people. There is no possible way that Patti and I can do all the caring and serving for 531 people. There are many things which you can do. You are probably thinking like the disciples did–“I can’t possibly do that.” Well, you can. The disciples felt that way, and they were wrong. So trust yourself, trust God and trust the spirit. You will be amazed at what you can do under his influence.
I would like to conclude by saying that as you look at the work of the Holy Spirit, you realize that it is the spirit who does all the saving, all the guiding and all the strengthening. It makes you wonder what you pay your pastors for if the Holy Spirit does all that. There is a role and function that we have, but it is God who does the work. Patti and I plant and water, but it is God who produces the harvest. There is great humility in pastoral ministry because you know that you could speak all the words you want but unless the Holy Spirit speaks, everything falls flat. You can do the best service but unless the Holy Spirit is there working in people’s hearts and minds, it is just human effort and it all falls flat.
Praise be to God for his Holy Spirit. Let’s pray
