Sermon Tone Analysis

Announcements

Don’t forget that we have Bible Study & Prayer every Wednesday at 7pm.

We’d love to have you join us, we do provide dinner at 6pm for all that would like to join us.

This Saturday, January 29th at 10:30am, we need some help as we canvas the Chester Hill area.

Please talk to Natalie about it if you’re interested in helping.

Let me remind you to continue worshiping the LORD through your giving.

To help you give, we have three ways for you to do so: (1) in-person giving can be done through the offering box in the front of the building; debit, credit, and ACH transfers can be done by (2) texting 84321 with your $[amount] or by (3) visiting us online at www.gapb.church.

Of course, everything you give goes to the building up of our local church and the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Prayer of Adoration and Repentance

Call to Worship (Psalm 40:11-17)

Our Call to Worship this morning is from Psalm 40:11-17.

This is a continuation of our Call to Worship from last week with this week focussing more on giving thanks for God’s deliverance of the psalmist.

Please stand and read with me Psalm 40:11-17—I’ll read the odd-numbered verses, please join me in reading the even-numbered verses.

Congregational Worship

Come Praise and Glorify

O Great God

Speak, O LORD

Scripture Reading (Romans 8:18-30)

Our Scripture reading this morning is Romans 8:18-30, which has some verses that you’ll be familiar with.

I’ve asked Tara to read it and as she comes forward, let me just give a bit of background information about Romans 8:18-30.

Romans 8 focuses on the concept of suffering in this world, but Paul, who is the author, focuses his attention on the idea of suffering being utilized by God to make the believer more like Jesus Christ.

Or in other words, he argues that our present suffering isn’t really worth dwelling on because what we’ll see in the future is so much greater; instead, we should understand that our present suffering will be used by God to make us more like Jesus.

Tara please read Romans 8:18-30 for us:

Sermon

Introduction

I’m not going to give a formal introduction this morning, because it’s sort of interwoven with the sermon itself.

So, if you have a Bible with you please turn to John 16:4-15 and we’ll jump straight into Scripture.

John 16:4b–15 (ESV)

4b “I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. 5 But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.

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: 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; 11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

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.

As we study this passage together, we’re going to break it into two parts: (1) Jesus will Send the Helper (4b-11) is Jesus’ promise to send the Holy Spirit.

This isn’t the first time that Jesus mentions the Holy Spirit (in fact, this is the third time that he mentions the Spirit in the Gospel according to John), but this time, he provides more detail concerning the purpose and role of the Holy Spirit—he particularly emphasizes certain things that the Holy Spirit will do concerning all mankind in the first section.

(2) The Spirit will Help Them (12-15) then narrows the focus onto what the Spirit will do to help the disciples.

This passage will increase our knowledge of who the Holy Spirit is and will help us to see what the purpose of the Holy Spirit is.

It’ll also help us understand what we should be asking the Holy Spirit to do for us today as we seek to worship Jesus, equip believers, and make disciples.

Prayer for Illumination

Jesus will Send the Helper (4b-11)

Our text for this morning starts a little unusually in that it’s actually the middle of vs. 4 and not the beginning of vs. 4.

And really, this helps to remind us that this text is a continuation of the conversation that Jesus and the disciples were having (no part of Scripture stands in isolation).

Jesus tells the disciples in the latter half of vs. 4 that he didn’t say these things to them before because he was still with them.

This of course, refers to the whole conversation that we’ve been working through from John 13 and it includes everything that we’ll be talking about to the end of John 16.

And just logically thinking through what Jesus has said to them through these chapters leads us to an understanding of why Jesus waited until this moment to tell all of it to them—all of what he has been saying and what he’ll continue to say through this chapter are statements that they need to hear because he’s about to leave them.

He reiterates that point in vs. 4, that he didn’t say these things before this point because he hadn’t left yet and this reiteration emphasizes the fact that he knows that his departure is imminent.

Knowing that Jesus knows that his departure is imminent elevates the importance of all that he is saying—like I’ve said before, last words are meant to be lasting words.

Jesus says that he is about to leave them and that’s why he’s started telling them these things and he sort of confronts them because of their response to his initial statement that he’s about to leave.

In vs. 5, Jesus says, “Now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ but because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.”

The issue that Jesus has with their response is that Jesus’ initial statement concerning his imminent departure should have prompted them to question where he was going, but instead it caused them to be sorrowful.

And quite frankly, we can understand this confrontation from Jesus concerning his disciples’ lack of response.

It has been made clear through the text that Jesus’ departure is actually a good thing:

Even before this conversation, he had repeatedly told them that he wouldn’t always be with them—and no time when he made these statements did he make it sound like it was a negative thing for him to be away.

In the latter portion of John 13, he tells them that he’s about to leave and they can’t come with him yet, but they will eventually join him because in chapter 14, he tells them that he’s preparing a place for them—it’s good that he’s leaving.

John 14:16-17, Jesus promises a coming helper, because he is about it leave them, but he will not leave them as orphans—it is good that he’s leaving and it’s reiterated throughout John 14.

And he reiterates the point that the helper is coming in John 15:26-27, which was our text last week.

All said, Jesus has referred to the coming Holy Spirit twice and he has repeatedly assured them that the Holy Spirit’s coming is a good thing, but the Spirit won’t come until Jesus leaves.

What he’s pointing out in John 16:5-6 is that he keeps telling them that he’s leaving and it’s causing the disciples to be upset and sorrowful, but they’re missing the point and their sorrow reveals that they’re indeed missing the point.

So, the question here, is “what is the point that Jesus is driving at?” and he answers that question in Vss.

7-11.

Vs. 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.”

This is the third time that Jesus refers to the coming Holy Spirit that has repeatedly been promised to them by Jesus.

And Jesus is about to add to their knowledge of what this Spirit will do.

I think it would be beneficial for us just to briefly consider all that Jesus has already told them about the coming Spirit:

The Holy Spirit has been mentioned in three different verses prior to this point.

This is what Jesus has said about the Spirit so far:

John 14:16 “16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,”

John 14:26 “26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”

John 15:26 “26 “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.”

Thus far, we know that the Holy Spirit is referred to as the helper (and from the Greek word παρακλητος, which is where we get helper, we also know he can also be called the advocate and intercessor).

This word alone tells us that the Spirit helps us, he advocates on our behalf, and he intercedes for us.

From John 14:16, we know that the Helper will be with us forever; from John 14:26, we know that the helper will teach us and will help us to remember what Jesus has said; and from John 15:26, we see that the Spirit will bear witness about Jesus (and from John 15:27, we know that the Spirit helps us to bear witness; to proclaim Jesus as Messiah).

And again in John 16:7, the emphasis here is that Jesus cannot send the Spirit until he leaves them, but when he leaves, he will send the Holy Spirit, which is advantageous for the disciples—it is good for them for him to leave.

In John 16:8-11, Jesus then tells us of something that the Spirit will do in a general sense for all people—he gives us the action itself in vs. 8 and then he expounds on it in vss.

9-11.

Vs. 8 says, “When he comes, he [being the Holy Spirit] will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.”

It is important to differentiate between conviction and conversion.

The Bible no where tells us that all people will convert as a role of the Holy Spirit, but the Bible in John 16:8 tells us that the Holy Spirit will convict.

You might ask, “what’s the difference?”

Conviction doesn’t necessarily mean salvation because conviction doesn’t involve repentance.

You can be convicted and not actually repent from what you’re being convicted for.

Conversion requires both conviction and repentance—the Holy Spirit convicts all people, but the Holy Spirit doesn’t necessarily save all people, though all people who are saved are saved because the Holy Spirit works within them.

Conviction doesn’t necessarily lead to repentance, but repentance always includes conviction—you don’t repent from what you don’t feel convicted of.

The Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit will convict the world, which is the Bible’s way of saying that the Holy Spirit will convict all people:

To convict in this context means to expose or reprove.

The Holy Spirit has a specific role in revealing to all people something in particular and the Bible tells us what this something is—there’s actually three things that the Spirit will expose: sin, righteousness, and judgment.

And the idea that Jesus is coming with, concerning the Holy Spirit, is that the Spirit will show the world their sin and their lack of righteousness, and the impending judgment.

Put differently, the Holy Spirit will open their eyes.

And Jesus specifically tells us what about these three issues that the Spirit will expose in mankind in vss.

9-11.

Let’s look at each issue individually.

John 16:9 “9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me;”—the first area of conviction that Jesus mentions is conviction of sin.

We typically utilize the concept that sin is any action or thought that is displeasing to God—I like that definition, but I think it sometimes helps to hear a more comprehensive definition.

John Piper, years ago in a sermon defined sin like this: “sin is: the glory of God not honored.

The holiness of God not reverenced.

The greatness of God not admired.

The power of God not praised.

The truth of God not sought.

The wisdom of God not esteemed.