For the Common Good Pt. 2

For the Common Good  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented
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Intro:

When I was a child—probably somewhere between five and eight years old—Christmas was one of my favorite times of the year. I still remember living in Puerto Rico, at that time we lived in a one bedroom apartment that was attached to my grandparents’ house, my brother and I would sleep on a pull-out couch in the living room. I still remember this one night when my brother woke me up, shaking me and whispering, “Javi, Javi, wake up—Santa’s here!” Half asleep, I jumped up and ran straight to the garage where my parents kept the Christmas tree. But when I got there, my brother just burst out laughing— What was so funny you might ask? it was June. Church that’s what I had to grow up with.
But Christmas really did hold a special place in my heart. I’ll never forget on one December night I couldn’t sleep, so I wandered into the living room, and suddenly I saw my parents as they were wrapping the christmas presents. That moment marked a shift for me. Until that moment, I thought gifts came from some distant figure who was making a list and checking it twice in order to find out who’s naughty and who’s nice. But that night I found out the truth: the gifts I received weren’t random or conditional—they came through the love, sacrifice, and effort of my parents. They weren’t coming from a stranger; they were coming from the people who loved me most. Not because I was naughty or nice but because I was their son.
And in many ways, that’s how we need to think about the Holy Spirit. Jesus says in (Luke 11:13), “If you then, though you are evil, (earthly parents) know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”
Last week, when we gathered, we began looking at the person of the Holy Spirit. We saw that He is not a force or an impersonal power—He is God Himself, the third Person of the Trinity. And here’s the beautiful truth: the gift of the Spirit is not given by some distant figure dividing us between “naughty” and “nice.” Titus 3:5 “He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we did in righteousness, but in accordance with His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,”
Luke reminds us that the giver of the Holy Spirit is our Heavenly Father. And that means something profound: through the sacrifice of His Son, we have been adopted into God’s family, and now as beloved children we receive the Spirit from our Father’s own hand. As a matter of fact according to Romans 8:15–16 “For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons and daughters by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,”
And here’s what we must understand: #1 When God gives us His Spirit, He is giving us Himself.
His presence dwells within us. So before we move into the gifts of the Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12, we continue to look at the Giver. Today we’re going to pause and look at the work and ministry of the Holy Spirit. And in order to do so, let’s turn together to John 16:5–11.

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There will never be any mighty work come from us unless there is first a mighty work in us—no man truly labors for souls unless the Holy Spirit has first worked mightily in him. - Charles Spurgeon
Today we’re going to look at the works of the Spirit as Jesus describes them in John 16:5–11. In this passage, Jesus shows us not only who the Spirit is, but also how He works first in our lives and then in the world. And there are two key works we can see here. #1 we can see how the Spirit works by indwelling the believer.

I. The Spirit Indwells the Believer (V5-7)

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We talked a bit about this last week. As we reach V5 we can see that Jesus begins with a time stamp with the use of the word Now. “But now.” This connect V5 to the previous chapters. As we turn to John’s Gospel, beginning in chapters 14 through 16, we see Jesus preparing His disciples for the greatest transition they would ever face.
#2 Jesus prepares His disciples for His Departure.
For three years they walked with Him, ate with Him, listened to His teaching, and witnessed His miracles. But now the hour had come. The cross was before Him, and He was preparing them for a future where everything would change.
Naturally, this filled the disciples with grief. How could it not? The One they had left everything to follow was telling them He was about to depart. Their hearts were heavy, their minds confused, because they could not imagine life without His physical presence. And yet, in the middle of this farewell conversation,
Jesus makes a statement so astonishing, so radical, that it almost sounds unbelievable.

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Beloved look at how Jesus qualifies his statement. “But I tell you the truth.” Now this brings to mind the question. Why would Jesus feel the need to qualify His statement? Jesus never sinned, which means that Jesus never lied. Then why would he feel the need to qualify His statement? (te lo juro por mi madre)
Well, Imagine a doctor and he’s sitting across from a patient who’s anxious and fearful. Dr. looks at the patient in the eyes and he says, “I know you’re scared, but I need you to hear me—this is the truth. This treatment will save your life.”
The patient might not want to hear it, but the doctor qualifies his words not because of his lack of integrity but because of their weight and necessity. As a matter of fact the Dr.’s statement is also based on his expertise. He knows what he is talking about. In the same way, Jesus says, “But I tell you the truth” to His disciples because what He’s about to tell them will be hard to receive. And knowing this Jesus is looking to affirm them by calling on them to trust in Him.
Church, this is where Christ meets us. Some of you walked in here today carrying heavy burdens—questions about your future, anxieties about your family, fears about your health, struggles with sin. And when you look at your situation, it feels overwhelming, But hear Jesus speaking into your heart: ‘I tell you the truth. Trust Me. I know what I am doing. Even if you cannot see it right now, I work all things for your good.’
What the disciples needed in that moment is exactly what we need in ours—an anchor we can hold onto when life feels unsteady. We don’t need empty promises—we need truth. And Jesus says, ‘I tell you the truth… as a mater of fact He actually had done more than that in CH14 when he told them I am the truth. You can trust Me.
So when you’re making that decision and you don’t know which way to go, when you’re praying for your spouse and you feel like nothing is changing, when you’re sitting in the doctor’s office waiting for news you don’t want to hear—remember this:
#3 Jesus qualifies His words, not because He lacks Integrity, but because He wants you to lean in and take Him at His word.
His truth will keep us when nothing else does.
And in the case of the disciples Jesus actually had better news. Yes, I know you’re scared, yes, I know your anxious about what’s about to take place, but hear me. “it is to your advantage that I am leaving; for if I do not leave, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.”
Beloved, notice this word advantage.
#4 In the Greek the word used for advantage here carries the idea of Profit, Benefit, Gain.
Jesus is saying, ‘My leaving is not your loss, it is your gain. My departure is not subtraction, it is addition. But how can this be?
#5 Why would it be Profitable for Jesus to leave?
Why couldn’t He just stay and send the Spirit at the same time? Jesus tells us: ‘If I do not go, He cannot come.’ This is where the mystery of the work of the Trinity’s comes in:
Beloved, how was Jesus going to go? (Difference between us and him) By way of the cross. And here is the point if Jesus doesn’t go to Calvary, then the Father’s wrath would not be satisfied. If the wrath of God is not satisfied, then sin is not forgiven. If sin is not forgiven, the people of God are not cleansed. And if the people of God are not cleansed, then the Holy Spirit cannot indwell them.
1 Peter 1:3 NASB 2020
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
But praise God!
#6 Because Jesus did go. He bore the wrath, Satisfied the justice of the Father, rose from the grave, ascended to the right hand of God and from there He poured out the Spirit to dwell in every believer.
What once was impossible is now a reality—God Himself makes His home in us through His Spirit. Work #1 The Spirit indwells the believer. And work #2:

II. The Spirit Convicts the World (V8-11)

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#7 The second work of the Holy Spirit that Jesus introduces here has to do with Conviction.
Jesus says, “And He, (meaning the Holy Spirit) when He comes, will convict…” The word convict here carries a rich range of meaning. It means to bring to light, to expose what is hidden. It means to convince or persuade someone of the truth. It also means to reprove or correct, which implies confronting false beliefs. In other words, the Spirit shines the spotlight of God’s truth into the darkness of human hearts. He lays bare what people would rather keep hidden. Like a prosecuting attorney who lays out the evidence so that guilt is undeniable, the Spirit presents the truth so clearly that no one can plead ignorance. (all are guilty)
Now this brings us to the target of the Spirit. And according to John who is the target of the Spirit? The World. Here Jesus says that the Spirit convicts the world. John doesn’t mean the cosmos— he is not referring to the physical universe, to planet earth. John means humanity in rebellion against God—unregenerate, unbelieving humanity. These are the very people who, left to themselves, want nothing to do with Christ. And at the same time beloved these are precisely the people that the Spirit of God is pursuing.
#8 And this brings us to three areas of conviction: Conviction of Sin, Conviction of Righteousness and Conviction of Judgement.

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a. Conviction of Sin (V9)

Beloved #9 the Word of God couldn’t be clearer about the Sinfulness of man.
Romans 3:10–12 NASB 2020
as it is written: “There is no righteous person, not even one; There is no one who understands, There is no one who seeks out God; 12 they have All turned aside, together they have become Corrupt; There is no one who does good, There is not even one.”
Romans 3:23 NASB 2020
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
The point is simple: humanity is guilty.
#10 We have all Inherited a sinful nature from our forefather Adam.
As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:22a “In Adam all die,” David confesses the same reality in Psalms 51:5, when he writes “In sin my mother conceived me.”
Now, I know what some of you may be thinking: “But that doesn’t feel fair. How can Adam’s sin be imputed to me?” Yet, beloved, this principle of shared identity is woven throughout life. We actually see it all around us.
In the doctor’s office: one of the first questions you’ll be asked is, “What’s your family history?” Why? Because what runs in your family line—heart disease, diabetes, cancer—often shapes your condition. (baldness grandpa) We inherit more than the color of our eyes; we inherit tendencies and weaknesses.
In culture and sports: when the World Cup or the World Baseball Classic comes, some of you might not have touched a ball in all your life. Some don’t even follow the sport. But if your country wins, what do you say? “We won!” You share in both the victory and the identity of your people.
This is the same principle in Scripture: in Adam, all die. Humanity is guilty because we share in Adam’s sin. There is no one righteous, not even one. And here is where the Spirit comes in. The Spirit convicts the world of this reality. He convinces the unbeliever that sin is not just “mistakes” or “bad habits,” but a nature inherited, a rebellion against God.
#11 We are not Sinners because we sin, but we Sin because we are sinners.
And apart from the work of the Spirit, people will never see themselves as truly guilty before a holy God.
However Jesus adds a crucial detail in verse 9: he says“regarding sin, because they do not believe in Me.” Beloved, do you see it? The Spirit convicts the world not merely of lying, stealing, or immorality—though those are sins—but of the greatest sin: unbelief in Christ. Why?
Because #12 Jesus is the only One who can Deliver man from sin.
#13 He alone Satisfies the payment for our guilt through His death and resurrection. (To reject Him is to reject the only cure.)
The Spirit presses this reality upon unbelieving hearts—that their ultimate offense is not just what they have done, but whom they have refused. The world needs to see that unbelief is not neutrality—it is rebellion. And only the Spirit can open blind eyes to see Jesus as Savior and Lord. For this reason Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:22 “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.” Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
1 Thessalonians 1:5 NASB 2020
for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.
And this brings us to the Second Conviction, the Spirit convicts of sin and the Spirit convicts the world of righteousness.

b. Conviction of Righteousness (V10)

#14 The word righteousness here in John 16:10 points to an attribute of God that man does not Possess, yet is absolutely necessary for life with God.
Righteousness here means absolute perfection—measuring up to God’s holy standard. Left to ourselves, none of us can meet that requirement. So why does the world need to be convicted of righteousness? Jesus explains this in V10.

John 16:10

And how would Jesus go to the Father? The answer is clear: through the way of the cross. Which means that by His obedience and by His death on the cross, Jesus would become the embodiment of righteousness. As Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:21,
2 Corinthians 5:21 NASB 2020
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin in our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
#15 Christ lived the life of perfect obedience that we could never live. He Paid the price we could never pay. And now He stands before the Father as the true standard of Righteousness.
Again, why does the world need to be convicted of righteousness? Because apart from the work of the Spirit, people believe they can be saved by their own righteous deeds. We see this vividly in the story of the rich young ruler. He comes to Jesus asking, “Good teacher, What must I do to inherit eternal life?”—looking for salvation through his own means rather than trusting in the work of Christ. So, Jesus questions him, exposing the heart behind his self-confidence. Finally, He tells him sell everything you have give it to the poor and follow me. And when faced with the call to follow Jesus his idolatry was exposed, the man walks away sad—with all his wealth and morality, he still lacked the one thing he truly needed: Christ Himself.
#16 This is the Spirit’s work. He Convicts the world of the reality that true righteousness cannot be earned, bought, or achieved. It is found in Christ alone.
And it is only by the Spirit’s conviction that blind eyes are opened to see Him as the Righteous One.

c. Conviction of Judgement (V11)

John 16:11 NASB 2020
and regarding judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.
#17 Finally, Jesus says that the Spirit Convicts the world of judgment:
(Why?) “because the ruler of this world has been judged.” In other words, the Spirit exposes that Satan—the one who has deceived humanity and opposed God from the beginning—has already been defeated through Jesus’ triumph of the cross. His doom is certain. And if the ruler of this world now stands condemned, then all who follow his ways are exposed as standing under the same judgment.
#18 The problem is that the world Makes wrong judgments.
James says in James 1:20 “for a man’s anger does not bring about the righteousness of God.” Humanity consistently judges wrongly—rejecting Christ, calling evil good and good evil, embracing lies while ignoring truth. All of this false judgment reflects the values of Satan, who is, as Jesus said, a liar from the beginning.
This is why the Spirit’s work of conviction is so urgent. He opens the eyes of the world to see that Satan’s judgment is sealed, and that apart from Christ, they too are already under condemnation.
Illustration: Imagine a courtroom where the verdict has already been announced: the judge has declared the defendant guilty, and the sentence is final. Yet others in the gallery are still acting as if the trial is undecided, as if there’s still time to change the outcome. The Spirit’s role is to step in and say, “Don’t you see? The verdict is in. The ruler of this world has been condemned. If you continue to follow him, you share in his judgment. But in Christ, there is pardon and life.”

1. Beloved, the Verdict Is Already In:

The cross wasn’t just about forgiveness — it was about victory. Satan has already been condemned. That means evil doesn’t get the last word. When you look around and it feels like wickedness is winning, remember the Spirit convicts the world that judgment has already fallen on the enemy. You don’t fight for victory, you fight from victory.

2. There’s no Such Thing as Neutral Ground:

If the ruler of this world is condemned, then following him means sharing his judgment. The Spirit presses that truth home — there is no middle ground. People may think they can stay “neutral” about Jesus, but the Spirit shows us neutrality is just another word for rebellion. The only place for safety will be under the Lordship of Christ.

3. This Provides Confidence in the Face of Opposition:

Christian, you don’t need to be intimidated by the world’s judgment. The world may call us foolish, narrow-minded, or even hateful for following Christ. But the Spirit convicts the world of its false judgment, reminding us that only Christ’s verdict will stand in the end. You can live boldly and joyfully because the Judge of all the earth has already declared that Satan guilty and that you a I are righteous in Christ.

4. And Finally This Provides Urgency for the Mission:

this truth fuels our witness. The Spirit shows us that the world is already condemned apart from Christ. That means our neighbors, co-workers, and friends desperately need the gospel. The Spirit convicts, but He uses our words to do it. So we speak, trusting that the Spirit will press the reality of sin, righteousness, and judgment into hearts.
In summary: #19 The Spirit Convicts us that the verdict is in: Satan is condemned, the world is guilty, and Christ alone sets us free.
Beloved, do you see how vital the work of the Holy Spirit is? He convicts the world of sin—showing us that our greatest problem is not just bad behavior but unbelief in Christ. He convicts the world of righteousness—exposing the lie of self-sufficiency and pointing us to the perfect righteousness of Jesus, the only One who can stand before the Father. And He convicts the world of judgment—declaring that the verdict is already in, Satan is condemned, and all who follow him share in his doom.
So what does this mean for us? It means we cannot save ourselves. We cannot trust in our own goodness. We cannot afford to remain neutral about Christ. The Spirit presses this truth into our hearts so that we might run to Jesus, rest in His righteousness, and live with boldness knowing that the enemy has already been defeated. And as we go into the world, we go with urgency and confidence, trusting that the Spirit is the One who convicts, the Spirit is the One who opens the eyes, and the Spirit is the One who glorifies Christ. Acts 17:30–31 says it plainly:
Acts 17:30–31 NASB 2020
So having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now proclaiming to mankind that all people everywhere are to repent, (V31) because He has set a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all people by raising Him from the dead.”
The verdict is already in. #20 The Spirit convicts so that you will not ignore the truth, but repent, believe in Christ, and be found in His righteousness on that Day.
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