Convince Me

I am so glad for the presence and the ministry of the Holy Spirit!

John 14:15-17 are the words of Jesus… and they are words concerning the the Spirit He sends to us from the Father. And I want you to see these verses in full as the video omits a couple of important things.

John 14:15–17 NIV

15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

First off… Jesus says that if we love Him, we are to do what? Keep His commands.

Secondly, the world is unable to ACCEPT Him, because it does not see Him or know Him.

Third, the believer knows Him… why? Because He LIVES or DWELLS in us and will be IN us.

I want to quickly break these three truths down as they help establish the main point to our message today. So right from the beginning I want to ask this question: how many in the room believes and understands that God LOVES you?

I mean He really, really, REALLY loves you! His love has been proven more than any other love. For me, there is no greater verse that proves His love than Romans 5:8

Romans 5:8 NIV

8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

This book, this story - which is God’s story - is a book regarding the love of the Father. There is nothing you can do that would cause God to love you more… or less. His love for you is constant and continuous.

But… what about our love for Him?

Do we consistently and continuously “demonstrate” a love for God that is unfailing? Our “demonstration” of our love for the Father comes not through mere words… but through committed action - specifically keeping the commands of Jesus.

Some days are easier than others but Jesus made it clear, those who love Him will keep His commands.

Now, let’s speak of our ability to ACCEPT the Spirit Jesus was speaking of. Jesus said the world CANNOT accept Him… notice He didn’t say chooses not to or will not. Jesus is speaking of a limitation… He is pointing out something the world simply cannot do.

In the text… the root word for cannot in the original Greek means denying the reality of an alleged fact. In other words, the Spirit of God is not REAL to the world. That is why it cannot see Him or know Him.

Lastly, the world may not be able to know God’s Spirit but this is NOT the case for believers! The Spirit dwells in and will be in the life and heart of the believer.

We can KNOW Him. We can hear from Him. We can be led by Him. He is in our hearts for a reason… to serve a purpose.

The Holy Spirit does not dwell in our heart just to take up space. He is not idle or motionless within our lives. And this is super important for us to understand: The Holy Spirit is ACTIVE in our lives.

He is not indifferent, He is not apathetic, He is not a nuisance. He is SENT by Jesus meaning He comes with purpose. He is SOURCED by God meaning He comes with power.

And this morning, we are going to look at yet another characteristic of the Spirit that ties these three truths together.

We know Who send Him and we know is the source. But are we truly aware of what He has come to do?

John 16:8-11 gives us further insight as to what the Spirit does for those who receive Him.

John 16:8–11 NLT

8 And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment. 9 The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in me. 10 Righteousness is available because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more. 11 Judgment will come because the ruler of this world has already been judged.

The Holy Spirit comes to do what? To CONVICT. And someone might say, “Well pastor, that doesn’t sound like much fun! You mean to tell me the Spirit comes to tell me what I am doing wrong?”

This word convict is one that I fear is often misunderstood. Holy Spirit CONVICTION is something every believer ought to welcome in his or her life! DO NOT CONFUSE CONVICTION WITH CONDEMNATION.

Remember, Jesus didn’t come to condemn the world but to save it (John 3:17).

The Spirit does not come to the world to condemn the world but to CONVICT it.

So what is conviction and how does it benefit us today?

Defined it really is quite simple. To convict… is to prove. To convict is to correct. To convict… is to convince, to win over.

Have you ever had to be convinced of something? Have you ever been presented a story or a report that required additional… convincing?

Maybe you heard a story that just didn’t add up. Maybe you watched a video that didn’t seem possible. Maybe what you heard or saw did not match your sense of reality or possibility.

We’ve been there and done that.

One of the key things I look at regarding the authenticity of the information is the source… who is it that is trying to convince me of this data?

I can tell you that I struggle to receive anything that comes out of our modern day media as true. Why? Because personal bias and agenda have polluted the story. Details are left out. Facts are watered down or even twisted. I don’t trust what the media is selling.

But the “news” the Holy Spirit works to convince us of is not of this world… but comes straight from the Word of God.

The Holy Spirit works to move us beyond… us!

He moves us beyond our personal bias or agenda.

He moves us beyond our sense of what we understand to be real.

He moves us beyond our sense of what is possible.

And He does ALL of this for good reason! Jesus says the first thing the Spirit comes to convict the world of… is its sin.

The Conviction of Sin

Sin is a bit of a tricky thing. You don’t have to believe in it to be living in it. And those who are living in it will face the consequence that comes with it.

Sin is a very real problem with a very real consequence. The world struggles to see sin for what it is and to understand the reality that all sinners will face.

Sin is disobedience to God. It is spiritual rebellion. It is the very thing that separates us from having fellowship with God. IT CANNOT SEPARATE US FROM HIS LOVE, but God cannot be in fellowship with sin.

And right now, we have a very real spiritual battle taking place - our world is trying to redefine what sin is… and what sin is not. AND… I believe this is in direct REJECTION of the Holy Spirit’s ministry of conviction.

Earlier we read a passage that said the world CANNOT SEE OR KNOW the Spirit. So how is it that the Spirit convicts a world that cannot see Him or know Him?

One major avenue is through the love and ministry of God’s church. WE ARE THE BODY OF CHRIST meaning we are the extension of His ministry until He returns. But what happens to this ministry when the “church” begins to look and sound more like the world… and less like Jesus?

Jesus was loving to all. ALL PEOPLE MATTER TO GOD. But Jesus NEVER condoned sin. He ministered to sinners and instructed them to do what? LEAVE… walk away from… have nothing to do with sin!

He did this because He knows what sin will do to us should we continue living in it. Sin will destroy you. Sin will lead you to death. And that is NOT what God wants for you today!

And yet we have a very real problem in our world today. Believers are caving in to the pressure of the world instead of standing on the promises of the Word. Believers are more afraid of being cancelled then they are concerned with being convicted of what sin is.

This does not mean that the Holy Spirit is any less convincing… it simply means people are choosing not to listen.

Jesus identifies the world’s sin in our main passage… the world refuses to believe in Him.

This means that in the world’s eyes, the reality of Jesus’ love, ministry, commands, etc. have not yet been accepted as truth.

Now hear me clearly - believe in Him or not - there is coming a day when ALL people will have a confrontation with truth.

Take your car, for example. You may not believe that your gas gauge is telling you the truth. Go ahead, keep driving on empty. I mean, the car started right up and is moving down the road just fine… I don’t believe I need to put any more gas in it!

Well, okay… go with that belief! If it makes you happy then run with it! You go boy/girl! You hold on to that belief and don’t let anyone else ever… wait… what? What do you mean your car is stuck on the side of the road? What do you mean it won’t start?

It’s true… you can “believe” in what you want. You can go with makes you happy. You can ignore what God’s Word says. But at some point… you will encounter a confrontation with truth. At some point, your perception of what is real and believable will crumble under what God declared to be true and righteous.

The Holy Spirit is working to convince you of His truth BEFORE you have a confrontation with His truth!

If He were a mechanic… He’d be the guy saying, “if you don’t put gas in your tank you will end up on the broke down on the side of the road.”

What He is saying to us today is IF YOU DO NOT TURN AWAY FROM YOUR LIFE OF SIN YOU WILL FIND YOURSELF IN HELL FOR ETERNITY. AND YOU WILL MISS OUT ON THE AMAZING BLESSINGS GOD HAS FOR YOU HERE AND NOW. Believe in Jesus. Believe in your need for a Savior. Believe in the severity of your sin… and call on His name for salvation.

And this moves us to the second area of conviction we need to consider...

The Conviction of Righteousness.

The Holy Spirit moves to convince the world of God’s righteousness. How many understand that our God is a righteous God? There is NO SIN in Him!

And in this line of convincing, the Holy Spirit speaks to us in a very specific way. Yes… He convinces us of our sin. He convicts us of our rebellion and disobedience. But He convinces us of something else too… WE CAN BE MADE RIGHTEOUS AGAIN THROUGH CHRIST JESUS.

This is called… Justification. And it is something that can ONLY happen through Jesus.

Justification is the process in which we are made righteous in the eyes of God. It is the process by which sinful people are made acceptable to a holy God.

First, let me clarify.

God does NOT reject you… however He cannot accept your sin. Remember… GOD LOVES YOU no matter what. And His love compelled Him to do the work that was needed to move us from a place of unacceptable to acceptable.

Jesus did the work that was needed. Justification is NOT a process we can do or experience without Jesus.

For instance, a person might believe they can be “good enough” to be in right standing with God.

A person might believe they can “work hard enough” to be in right standing with God.

A person might believe they can be “religious enough” to be in right standing with God.

None of these things are enough. None of these things can cleanse us from our sin.

However… the blood of Christ… IS ENOUGH. In fact, there is no other source by which we can be made right in the eyes of the Lord.

When Jesus took our place on the cross. He took our sins with Him, paid the price we could not pay, and conquered them once and for all.

In place of our sins, as the blood is applied to our lives, we take on His righteousness. God no longer sees our sin-filled passed but sees our Jesus redeemed present and future! He sees the righteousness of His Son!

Now, as believers, we must strive to live righteous lives… to be holy as God is holy. But our righteousness comes not from what we do, but rather through the One we serve.

Jesus told His disciples that the Spirit comes to convict regarding God’s righteousness and to convince that righteousness is now available through the Son.

This conviction works to highlight who God is and our pathway back to Him. It closes the gate on ANY OTHER PATH.

There is only one way back to the Father and it has nothing to do with how good you are, how hard you work, or how many religious motions you can squeeze into a day! It has everything to do with what Christ has done for us on the cross!

The Spirit comes to show us the way to this path.

God’s way is not like the world’s way where we earn and we work and we schedule and perform and we go through the motions. The ONLY thing we must go through in order to be saved… is the blood!

Which brings us to our closing point this morning…

The Conviction of VICTORY.

The third thing Jesus says the Spirit will convince the world of is this: Satan has been defeated. He has been judged. Look at how the NIV says it.

John 16:11 NIV

11 and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

All that the enemy is and his ways now stand condemned. The battle has already been won. And the victory that all people need - the victory over sin, death, and the grave - is found in our Savior who is Jesus Christ.

The battle over sin was won when Jesus said, “It is finished.” The battle over death and the grave was won the moment the stone was rolled away and Jesus walked out of the tomb! There was nothing the enemy could do in this moment except STAND IN DEFEAT! The powers of darkness have truly been overcome by the light of Jesus Christ!

The Spirit works to convince the world of this reality and… I believe He is working to convince some of us as well. It can be easy to not “feel” victorious. It can be easy to become overwhelmed by the weight of your circumstances.

The enemy is defeated… but He still aims to steal and to kill and to destroy. And his attacks are strategic. He knows where and how to hit us. But that’s okay… because he has already been defeated!

I believe the number one thing Satan wants to convince you to do… is walk away from the commands of Jesus. Why? Because His commands lead us from sin and all that will bring destruction to our souls.

So he tries to get us to compromise. He tries to get us to overlook. He tries to get us to forget. He tries to get us… to sin. He plays with our minds, with our hearts, and with our emotions. And sometimes he can be very persuasive.

But let’s bring this thing full circle. Remember what the verse from the video said… The Holy Spirit dwells in you and will be in you.

He does not sit there silent, He does not sit there indifferent, He does not sit there apathetic to what the enemy is trying to do. He is there in ACTIVE ministry. He is keeping you in line with the commands of Jesus. He is speaking… and one of the things He is trying to convince you of is that the enemy has been defeated!

And that defeat… came through this: the body and the blood of the Lamb.

Jesus body was broken… that we might be made whole again.

Jesus blood was poured out… so that new life could be poured into our lives.

And with our acknowledgement of sin and acceptance of our Savior comes the FOREVER DEFEAT of the enemy in our lives. ARE YOU HEARING THE WORDS THAT THE SPIRIT IS SAYING!?!

This morning we close by remembering the price that was paid for our salvation. In that salvation, we receive the Holy Spirit in our lives. His convicting power becomes real in our lives because of the relationship we have with the Lord.

Do you have a relationship with Him today? You do not have to be a member of this church to receive communion, but you need to be a part of the family of God… you must be a believer!

Jesus did it all… that you might be forgiven and set free.

Are you convinced of your sin? Are you convinced of your need for a Savior? Do you desire to give your life to Him? PRAYER - Salvation

Communion

1 Corinthians 11:23–26 NIV

23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.