Pentecost

Pentecost Sunday

May 19, 2002

John 16:5-11

When the Counselor comes

“Now I am going to Him who sent me”

Introduction:  Today is Pentecost.  It is the celebration of the coming of the Holy Spirit promised by the Savior. In our text for today Jesus refers to the Spirit as the Comforter. Other words that could be inserted here is an advocate, a helper, a counselor a supporter and a sponsor.   What does Jesus mean when He says that He will send the comforter?   The comforter is often called an advocate. An advocate is a defense attorney; one who speaks for a defendant before the judge in a court of law. As Jesus promises us that the comforter will come this can only be good news for us; for it is the Spirit Himself which will plead our case before the mercy seat of God.

Jesus speaking these words reminds us: “it is a good thing that I go (back to the Father) for unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.”   Jesus has ascended back to the Father and the Spirit has come. So what will the Spirit do now that He has come? Jesus answers this question in the words of our text for this morning.

When the good counselor comes…He will convict the world of guilt.

In regards to sin

Because men in and of themselves do not believe in Jesus. There is a line drawn in the sand as far as the Christian and the world is concerned. That line is the line marked by Christ. Two weeks ago the members of our confirmation class confirmed their faithfulness to the Savior. In the same service we re-affirmed our loyalty to Christ. They renounced the devil and all of his works and all of his ways. They declared that they would remain faithful to Christ and even suffer death rather then fall away from the true of the Christian gospel. Such is the line drawn in the sand by the Christian.  

He’ll talk about sin and the fact that natural men do not believe in Christ.  In and of himself natural man cannot come to Christ by Himself. His sin blinds him to God. This is what Paul explains to us in 1 Corinthians 2:14 when he says: “But the natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.”  It will take the Holy Spirit to bring man to the knowledge of salvation. Natural man can know naturally that there is a God, namely that God exists through creation and the conscience. 

Creation tells us that there is a God who has established this world. The conscience tells us that there is a system of justice and natural law common to all men.  It is only by the Holy Spirit working through His Word that man comes to the knowledge of God. This is what we call Spirit directed supernatural or revealed knowledge of God.        

Transition:   When the Spirit comes He will convict the world concerning sin and concerning righteousness.

The Spirit will convict the world in regards to righteousness

Jesus said: “Because I am going back to the Father, where you can not see me no longer.” For a period of 40 days Jesus walked and talked and conversed with His disciples to convince them that He was truly alive and risen from the dead. On the 40th day He Ascended into heaven. That was His coronation day. He now lives and reigns with the Father forever and ever. We cannot see the Savior any more. The Spirit has appeared to convict and convince us that Jesus continues to rule and reign throughout all eternity. Because of the Holy Spirit’s activity we are convinced that our sins truly are forgiven.  The Holy Spirit assures us that though our sins rise up to condemn us that in Jesus Christ all sin is forgiven - period!  It is the Holy Spirit that converts and persuades us that we truly are forgiven.

He speaks to this world about what is right in God’s sight.  In this natural world, which is shrouded by sin, it is often hard to discern what exactly is the will of God our Father. It is the Holy Spirit, the helper that enables us to see the will of God for our lives. How can we discern the will of God for our lives? We find God’s will being perfected in us as He turns us back to His Word. It is there, in the Word, that we see clearly what God would want us to know. It is only in and through the Word that we know God’s perfect will. Peter reminds us in his second epistle: “no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”  2 Peter 1:21 or as David reminds us in Psalm 119:105 “Thy Word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path” 

Transition:   When the Spirit comes He will convict the world concerning sin, concerning righteousness and concerning judgment.

In regards to judgment

Because the prince of this world now stands condemned. Jesus entered time and space to defeat the works of the world, the devil and the flesh. On the cross sin, and Satan fell; their power was swallowed up in defeat. The Holy Spirit convinces us that this is in fact a reality. Because of the empty tomb this thing we commonly call death has also been defeated.  Our common enemies have all been defeated.

The old evil foe – the devil - he is already sentenced to death. The devil stands convicted. He is already defeated. He cannot harm you: “for greater is he that is in you then he that is in this world.” Our advocate the Spirit reminds us of this reality – in Christ we stand victorious for all of our enemies have been trampled under the Savior’s feet.

Conclusion: The Spirit has been sent to convict the world and convince the Christian that Jesus is in charge of our life and our future. The Savior rules upon His throne and the Spirit stands as our advocate to defend and sustain us. The Advocate, the Spirit of truth, convicts the world with respect to sin, righteousness and judgment. He stands for you to intercede and plead your case before the Father. All is well as the Spirit has come as promised by the Savior.