Convicting the World
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
The mafia hitman Baglione in An Innocent Millionaire. Baglione “didn’t see himself as a killer” because he had only killed nine. He had spared hundreds. So he considered himself “a man of extraordinary restraint.”
We’re like Baglione
We’re good at minimizing our sins
We’re good at maximizing our righteousness
And if we think we’re better than a mafia hitman
Chances are we’re minimizing the sins we are guilty of
And think we’re more righteous than we actually are
In John 16, Jesus is sending someone to help set us straight.
Jesus has been talking about the Spirit and how it will help his disciples:
What does the Spirit do?
How does it do it?
The Spirit Convicts
The Spirit Convicts
7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:
Convicts
Jesus is the light which means some uncomfortable things are going to be exposed (John 3:19-20)
It will expose the world’s definitions of sin, righteousness, and judgment as the shams that they are
Evangelism isn’t just saying “Jesus loves you”
We show the world why we need a savior
Another translation: Expose
The depravity of their sin
The inadequacy of their righteousness
The failure of their judgments
The goal is not just to pile on guilt
We’re pointing out a problem to so it can be fixed
In Sin
In Sin
9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me;
God has to reveal what sin is or we have no idea
Our guilt has to be revealed - which is a blessing.
Imagine your parents punishing you for rule you never knew existed
People are guilty of sin because they don’t believe Jesus
Problem in John and of sin - people don’t respond to that revelation John 3:19
Here’s the revelation of God but we don’t want it - we don’t believe it
As a result, we’re really bad at calling sin what it is
WLC example of homosexuality and child abuse
We find ways of justifying our sin too
White lies
They made me angry
It’s a victimless crime!
It was their mistake, I’m just benefiting from it
In Righteousness
In Righteousness
10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer;
Righteousness defined
It’s the way things ought to be - the right way
There was constant debate between Jesus and the Pharisees over who was righteous
Jesus says he did a good work by healing on the Sabbath - The Pharisees condemned it as wrong!
Who’s right? The one who hangs out with God
The Spirit testifies that their righteousness is far below the bar Jesus sets up in heaven
Comparing our righteousness
We want to believe ours amounts to something
Our righteousness can be a billionaire in Zimbabwe
The holy Spirit shows we don’t live up - but we don’t
We feel good about our righteousness because we compare it to other people
In Luke 18:11 we have the Pharisee praying “God I thank you I’m not like other men!” We pray “Lord, I thank you I’m not like that Pharisee!”
We need to compare to God’s standards - Jesus is with him
6 Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; your judgments are like the great deep; man and beast you save, O Lord.
It’s deep - not just surface level but true to his character. Integrity
19 Your righteousness, O God, reaches the high heavens. You who have done great things, O God, who is like you?
It’s high - authoritative and out of reach
17 The Lord is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works.
It’s wide - covering every aspect of life and everything we touch Proverbs 12:10
10 Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast, but the mercy of the wicked is cruel.
142 Your righteousness is righteous forever, and your law is true.
It’s forever - it never takes a break
Is that our standard of righteousness?
Or do we just put on a show of righteousness?
Thinking we’ve attained the standard of God
That ends as soon as nobody is looking?
In Judgment
In Judgment
11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
We’re really bad judges
In 2011, researchers analyzed over 1,100 parole decisions made by Israeli judges over 10 months. They found that the likelihood of a favorable ruling (granting parole) was about 65% at the start of a session, but dropped to nearly zero just before a meal break. After the judges returned from their break, the rate of favorable rulings jumped back up to 65%
We have so many things affecting our judgments - biases, bad thinking
It’s not just that we minimize our sin and maximize our righteousness - we have a hard time recognizing it at all!
This explains the second half of Jesus’ statement
The Jews thought they were doing the right thing by executing Jesus
They thought they could rightfully stand above him in judgment
Their views were so warped they were serving the devil
Judgment
Our standards are completely false
We can’t judge rightly without the standard of God
We think we’ve got it all figured out without God
What we’re really doing is following the ruler of this world
What the World Has To Offer
What the World Has To Offer
The world has some wild standards of right and wrong
Abortion is within their rights
They can’t call child abuse wrong because it’s happening somewhere else
The only ones they can judge are the people who do call it wrong
Because they don’t have God
There’s no authoritative source on good and evil - leaving them in a conundrum
We have not been able to show that reason requires the moral point of view, or that all really rational persons, unhoodwinked by myth or ideology, need not be individual egoists or classical amoralists. Reason doesn’t decide here. The picture I have painted for you is not a pleasant one. Reflection on it depresses me. . . . Pure practical reason, even with a good knowledge of the facts, will not take you to morality. - Kai Nielsen, “Why Should I Be Moral?” American Philosophical Quarterly 21
“To say that something is wrong because . . . it is forbidden by God, is perfectly understandable to anyone who believes in a law-giving God. But to say that something is wrong . . . even though no God exists to forbid it, is not understandable. . . .” “The concept of moral obligation [is] unintelligible apart from the idea of God. The words remain but their meaning is gone.” - Richard Taylor, Ethics, Faith, and Reason
There’s no standard of righteousness which means there’s no reason to reach higher - who can even say it’s higher?
What You Have
What You Have
12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15 All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
The Spirit is going to speak through the Apostles
They have the inspiration of the Spirit
It’s not like all of us are going to hear a still small voice convicting us of sin
That word has been passed on through their writings
We perceive the testimony of the Spirit through the word
Ephesians 3:4 “4 When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ,”
You have truth
You have an authoritative guide from the creator on how morality works
It is your job to expose those false standards
So have some conviction
If you enter a math competition “What’s 2+2?” you don’t need to feel nervous that everybody else is shouting 5!
Truth is not determined by mass consent or by how how many likes a post gets
Because You Have Truth
Because You Have Truth
You can expose evil for what it is
What is the Holocaust, oppression of the poor, rape, stealing, or anything else we call wrong?
Cultural contextualization, postmodern truth, might makes right, the continuation of evolutionary principles
Without any higher or standardized authority, those are just things we don’t like - social conventions determined by whatever society there happens to be
The Spirit of God exposes those acts as what they really are - wrong, evil, sin
You have hope
These atheist philosophers admit how depressing existence is without these standards
We don’t just name evil, we overcome it
South African Apartheid - Like America before the Civil Rights Movement.
- Lot’s of violence
- Oppression and segregation
- 1995, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to help heal from decades of abuse
- Perpetrators were given amnesty, forgiveness, if they confessed. They had to recognize the evil they had done.
- One Police officer who had murdered four men apologized to the families
“Thanks be to God that He has answered my prayers,” said one woman. “It is a relief.”
One of the male relatives shook hands with Eric Taylor. “Thank you,” he said. “I told God if He put you in front of me I would shake your hand. I appreciate what you have done here today.”
What would it have been like if none of the evil was recognized?
- How do you feel when someone hurts you and nobody cares?
- It wasn’t wrong that they hurt you - you just didn’t like it
- So there’s no need need for apologizing, no possibility for forgiveness, no right to demand justice
Jesus goes on throughout this chapter going on about his departure, the need of the spirit, all things we’ve mostly covered already.
He ends with this:
33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
Tribulation in the world
Because you’ll never be able to settle this unsettling questions
Because you’ll be at the mercy of evil people who will persecute you all the while insisting that they’re actually the good guys
Peace in Jesus
We have answers from above with authority
We have peace knowing the ruler of this world and his children will be judged
