From John 16, Traditions (3)
First B Jackson
2013-03-10

Automatically transcribed. Where this and the recording disagree, the recording is the record.

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Good morning. Good morning. I I am genuinely glad to to be here this morning. And I'm glad to see you. Right?

Much of what I do is on Sunday nights and and on Monday nights here. And it's just it's good to be with you again. And I I appreciate the heart of worship in in in this place right now. Just the the enthusiastic singing. So I just want to tell you that before I start.

I have had some of the the funnest and and most memorable times on on weekend retreats. Snow machine retreats, youth retreats, guys nights. A couple of years ago on snow machine retreat, as we were coming back to Jackson, we got stuck in a in a snowstorm. And we couldn't get any further than than Idaho Falls. And so we had to find a hotel and and stay there for for the night.

I see Marvin smiling because he he made it home that night, but we didn't. But that night, Scott Eichen, Dave Hazen, I decided, you know, hey, if we're stuck in this hotel, we're we're gonna have fun. You know, we're gonna make this fun and we're gonna sit in a hot tub. The only problem was none of us had brought swimsuits. And so that night, the three of us decided we were gonna drive to Walmart, find the cheapest swimsuits that we could find and sit in that hot tub.

And we found them. We found them. We found three matching ones. The ugliest thing that you ever seen at far too tight and short, and they had flower print on them. And and so we get back to the hotel, we get on our ugly matching swimsuits, and we begin to stretch toward the hot tub.

All three of us. The only thing is that what we didn't know was there was a large group of men that were from this retreat that were already at the hotel, and many of them were already sitting in the hot tub. And so it's the three the three make me amigos come spreading up and they're matching flower print. Their faces just, you know, everybody just they cracked up and they laughed and we laughed at ourselves, and then all three of us did a synchronized swim. I may have embellished a little bit on that one.

You know what? I was thinking about these weekends and as fun as they can be is is just as much as they are a blast. There's there's sometimes a downside to these weekend retreats and and really the simple fact is just I'm away I'm away from home I'm away from my family, and I can't be with them and For those of you who have spent you know, maybe years traveling, being out of town, and things during the week, and you're away from your family, as much as you wanna be in two places at one time, we just can't be. But the reason I share that with you is to contrast our nature with God's nature. Unlike us, God can be everywhere at all times.

He was with Scott and Dave and I when we were ugly matching flower print swim trunks. He was with my family here in Jackson, why I couldn't be home that night. And in the scriptures, we see that when God the Son, Jesus left town, He ascended into heaven. He told his disciples that it was for their benefit as it is for our benefit because he would still be with us. And the disciples didn't understand at the time.

All they knew is that they were filled with grief. They were sad. But Jesus said, unless I go away, the Holy Spirit will not come to you. So today, we're in John 16 when Jesus teaches us about the Holy Spirit. And more specifically, what I want to show you from scriptures is the work of the Holy Spirit in us.

And I want you to see, more importantly, what I want you to see is that you can know that the Holy Spirit is present in your lives because of these convictions that the Holy Spirit gives, okay? These convictions right here, the conviction of our sin, the conviction of the righteousness of Christ, and the conviction of the judgment to come. Okay? Now I admit to you. You look at these at first glance, you're going, not very encouraging.

Okay? But as we read on, we're gonna see these convictions from the Holy Spirit are absolutely imperative. They're absolutely imperatives. So believers, these things ought to resonate with us this morning. In our conversion of experience, we should have experienced these things.

Okay? They should have been included in our conversion experience. So here it is. John sixteen five through 11. This will make sense as we begin to read.

It's on the screen. I'll read it through. You can read it through in your version as well, and we'll take a look at what the Holy Spirit is, what these convictions are, and why they're important. Okay? Starting at verse five, Jesus says, now I am going to him who sent me.

Yet none of you asked me, where are you going? Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. But I tell you the truth. It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the counselor will not come to you.

But if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment. In regard to sin because men do not believe in me. In regard to righteousness because I am going to the father where you can see me no longer. In regard to judgment because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

Let's pray together. We'll ask the Holy Spirit to give us understanding this morning. Lord, this is your word, and Isaiah tells us that the grass withers, the the flowers fall, but your word stands forever. May we take you at your word today and may your Holy Spirit do its work in us to convict us of our sin, your righteousness, and future judgment to come. I also thank you, Lord, that for many in this room, this has already happened.

I want to celebrate that, Lord, and pause to thank you for it. May we see the hope and encouragement that you're offering us today through your son, Jesus. We pray in his name. Amen. So as Ray has been preaching through John, we know that we are getting close to Jesus' death, his resurrection from the dead, and his ascension into heaven.

Ultimately, this is the finished work of Christ. So that through our faith in him, the world could be reconciled to God, okay? Jesus finished work. And what Jesus is doing here is preparing his disciples for his departure. Says I'm going away.

The thing is they don't they don't understand. They they don't get it. All they feel is great because they know that their friend, their teacher, their lord is not gonna be with them anymore physically. But Jesus says to them, and listen, he's saying this to us. In verse seven, I tell you the truth.

It's for your good that I am going away because unless I go away, the counselor will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. Holy Spirit, alright? Jesus is saying ultimately, hey, cheer up. This is going to be okay.

It's a good thing that I go. It's the best thing that I go because I'm going to be even closer to you than when I lived among you. Now I'm going to live inside of you. And this is the work of the Holy Spirit that we're reading in John sixteen five through 11. This is what the Holy Spirit does in us, has done in many of you.

Number one, conviction of sin. Conviction of sin. Verse eight, when he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin. Now when I first read this, I thought, okay. So Jesus has left so that I can feel guilty.

Yes. It's true. And I can say it with a smile. I you'll see why here. He did.

The answer is yes. Conviction is a good thing. Conviction is a good thing. Painful? Yes.

Yes, it is. But necessary because it shows us that the burden of our sin, the weight of our sin is too heavy for us to bear. Guilt is not something that we enjoy living with. But God the Holy Spirit has purposely placed that on us so that we can see the weight of our sin, the consequence of our sin. It prompts us to get out from under the weight of it by confessing and repenting, turning from our sin, turning to God.

Okay, This is good. Let me give you an example from scripture from a conviction of the Holy Spirit. Acts two thirty six and thirty seven. The scenario is this, after Jesus ascends to heaven, Peter is speaking to thousands of people from different nations gathered together for the Passover feast. And as Jesus promised, the Holy Spirit shows up.

It shows up big time and does its work. Listen to Peter as he's filled with the Holy Spirit. Here's what he says, and take note of what the people do. K? Therefore, let all Israel be assured of this.

God has made this Jesus. Whom you crucified, both lord and Christ and when the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, brothers, what do we do? Peter replied, repent, be baptized everyone in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sin. That's what the Holy Spirit does in us. He convicts us of our sin.

It it shows us how we have fallen short. We feel the heaviness. We feel the weight of it. It makes us want to get out from underneath of it. Yesterday morning I Put up my put in my skis and my and my My backpack and my boots in my backpack and I began to hike up Snow King here right behind us and about halfway up My my back was starting to feel sore from the way this backpack and and my legs were tired I was breathing heavy and I just thought to myself for a moment.

Why am I doing this? But as I as I kept as I kept hiking and I step by step, I got up to the top and I got out from under the weight of that backpack. I got to just take it off for a while and and take in this view, and the sun was rising over the Tetons. And in that mile in that moment, I thought, oh, that was worth it. Oh, it was worth it.

Absolutely. Every bit of it. Even the painful part. And in the same way, conviction of our sin can can feel like a painful trek up a mountain, like with a heavy backpack, a burden. But here's the deal.

When we confess our sins and we get out under the weights of our guilt and shame, it is so freeing. Oh, it is freeing. Last night, we got to sit as a as a youth team and just share our testimonies. And and the common thread for all of us is that this is this is one of the first things that we experience when we came to faith in Christ was the knowledge of our sin, the burden of our sin, and wanting to get out underneath underneath of it. It's more freeing than anything that we can ever experience.

And you know what? Afterwards, we can even look back and and we say, you know what? That was painful. It was painful when God the Holy Spirit exposed my sin. It was painful that it was just it it was such a burden.

But it was so worth it. Because I confessed that sin to Christ. And I knew that through the cross, he took it away. As far as the East is from the West, he put it to death. That's freedom.

That's true freedom. And I I wanna encourage. I know that many of you have experienced that in here. But I'm saying if you haven't, oh, how wonderful it is to get out from under the weights of it. The bottom line is this, there cannot be conversion without conviction of sin.

The Holy Spirit must do its work of conviction in our lives to bring about true freedom. Here's another conviction of the Holy Spirit right here. Jesus says, conviction of righteousness. Okay? Whose righteousness are we talking about here?

Ours? No. We're talking about the righteousness of Christ. Verse 10, in regard to righteousness because I am going to the father where you can see me no longer. This one requires us to back up, review a bit.

As Ray's been preaching through John, in John eight twenty three, Jesus says this, you're from below. I am from above. You are this world. I'm I'm not from this world. Okay?

Jesus was telling, I am from heaven. I'm going back to heaven because I've come from God. How many of us can say that? No. That's the righteousness of Christ right there.

John eight forty six shows us clearly Christ's righteousness. He flat out said, hey, listen. Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? Was anybody speaking up? Oh, I remember when you oh, this oh, that.

No. They couldn't do it. The teachers of the law, the religious of the religious couldn't even they couldn't do it Because he had no sin. The righteousness of Christ. First Peter three eighteen, for Christ died for our sins once for all.

The righteous, him, for the unrighteous, us to bring us to God. This was revealed to Peter, Matthew 16. He made this confession of faith. He said, Jesus, you're the Christ. You're the son of the living God.

And listen, not only does the word show us this this morning, okay? The spirit convicts us of this. He shows us this. He shows us the righteousness of Christ. He shows us how we've fallen short.

That's what the Holy Spirit does. Here's one last conviction of the Holy Spirit in John five through 11. The conviction of judgment. Conviction of judgment. Verse 11, in regard to judgment because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

The prince of this world, who's he talking about here? He's talking about the enemy. He's talking about Satan. And in John eight forty four, Jesus tells us the truth about the enemy. You want to know the truth about the enemy?

Is he out for your good? Is he out for my good? John 10, he's here to kill, steal, and destroy. John eight forty four. Here's the truth about the enemy.

He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there's no truth in him. And when he lies, he speaks his native language, for he's a liar. He's the father of lies. You know what the enemy would have us believe? The enemy would have us believe that you and I are not sinful by nature and choice.

He'd have us believe that Christ is not righteous. He would have us believe that there is no future judgment, and many people are convinced of that. You wanna know the Holy Spirit does? He tells us otherwise. He says, yes, these things are true about us.

Jesus said, Satan's a liar. He's already been judged. The verdict is guilty, and he stands condemned. But listen to this, and don't miss it this morning because this is huge. This is you.

This is me. If we have put our faith and trust in Christ, Romans eight one. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Condemnation for the enemy, but if we are in Christ Jesus, there is no condemnation for us. This is great news.

Like I I want to see some smiles around here because if this is you and you have put your faith and trust in Jesus, you've been I mean, I know many of you have been following for a long time. And you know this. You have been convicted of your sin. You know the righteousness of Christ. You know there is a future judgment.

And what I want you to hear today is a confirmation, a reaffirmation of what you've already done. What the Holy Spirit's work in you. What he's done already. The conviction of the Holy Spirit makes the truth of future judgment known to us, and we are assured that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Is that good news?

Again, here's the word of the Holy Spirit in our lives. He's given us a conviction of our sin. We feel the weight of it, the burden of it. Wanna get out from under the weight of it To the conviction of the righteousness of Christ. That we know it's not our righteousness that saves us.

But rather it's the righteousness of Christ. That he who had no sin became sin for us. So that in him, we might be the righteousness of Christ. And a conviction of the judgment to come. That Jesus is indeed coming back.

And I want to say something. This isn't something to be feared. This is something to be anticipated for the believer. That we know in Christ, we do not stand condemned. That in Christ, we are justified.

We're made right with God through him. We're reconciled to God. We're not enemies of God. We are friends of God through Jesus Christ. This is the the work of the Holy Spirit in us.

Many of us have unbelieving friends. We do. And I pray the Holy Spirit will continue to give us a burden for them, and we would pray for them often. You ask them the Holy Spirit to do its good work in them. They would recognize their sin, that they would recognize the righteousness of Christ, that they would know that there is a future judgment.

I'm gonna give you a homework assignment, and this is for me too. Let's pray for our unbelieving friends. Let's look for opportunities to talk about it. It's the Holy Spirit's work. It really is.

It it's Salvation doesn't rest in in in what we do. It's it's the work of the Holy Spirit. But make this let this be something that that wakes us up. It reminds us once again and how people come to know Christ. Okay?

This text today, it's a heavy one, isn't it? It it really is. I I felt the weight of this text this this week as I was studying it. Oh, this is heavy stuff, but it was such a good such a good reminder. It was such a a good reaffirmation of, Lord, I feel confident that I know you.

I feel confident that I am yours, that I am in your hands. And I'm praying that you can feel that confidence too. I hope that you do. I really do. I hope that you have that reaffirmation today as you hear this thing.

Oh, Lord, I know this. Oh, I know it because I I have felt the weight of my sin. I know it. I know that you are righteous. I know that you're coming back for me.

I hope that you feel this way as you hear this text. I hope the Holy Spirit is doing that in you. Now, want you to understand this is not a gloomy good message. Please don't walk away to go, oh, this is too heavy for me. This message really you know what this message does?

It gives us an opportunity to respond. It does. And I was really pleased that this is a communion Sunday today because this is a good way that we can respond. We can share together in communion. And so I'd like to invite the communion team to start making their way forward so they can serve you this morning.

But when we share in communion, here's what we're doing. We're acknowledging the Holy Spirit's conviction of our sin. We acknowledge the Holy Spirit's conviction of Christ's righteousness that saves us, not our own. We come to the table with the understanding that the bread that we eat represents Christ's body broken for us. We come to this table with the understanding that the cup that we drink represents his bloodshed for us and communion.

Listen, communion is a time of self examination too. And I wanna encourage you to truly examine your own life. Maybe it's a time just to celebrate again. Once again, that that Christ has saved you. And rest in his promise.

Maybe that's that that's you this morning. That's great. Maybe though for some, it's I haven't experienced this yet. I I don't know this yet. It's time to just get with God to make that confession of faith to him.

Right? Where where were you said? So I'd like to first ask the communion team to to distribute the bread, and they can begin doing that now. And and we'll wait until everyone is served, and then we'll eat together. But take these moments to pray.

Ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you. The apostle Paul said in first Corinthians 11, for I received from the Lord what I delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night he was betrayed, he took the bread. And when he had given thanks, he broke and he said, this is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. Let's do this in remembrance of him.

Lord, I thank you for for your your broken body. Now you died in our place for our sin. I thank you that you are righteousness and that through you, you've reconciled this to God so that we can stand before you confidently. Being justified, made right with you so we can be received in your kingdom. What a joy.

Thank you for your body. As our communion team distributes the cup, I want to share once again. First Peter three eighteen and rest in this this morning. Believers, longtime believers, rest in this truth this morning. For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous to bring us to God.

Rest in that truth this morning. Know it. Believe it. In the same way, after after supper, he took the cup saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.

For as often as you eat this bread and you drink this cup you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes Lord, I I give you thanks. How good are you? Do you have taken our sin upon yourself? And that you are the perfect sacrifice, spotless, blameless, so that you could reconcile us to God through your blood. Remind us, Holy Spirit, of this truth in Jesus' name.

Amen. I'd like to invite the it'd be Ray. Right? I was gonna say the worship team. He is the worship team.

And we can we can close in a song. And would you we would like to stand for this one or sit sound? Yes. Yes. Let's stand.

Sit together. Yeah. It's a stand song. Let's all stand together. We'll sing hymn number three ninety one.

Amen. Thank you lord for this great reminder of your work in our lives, lord. Let us follow our own conviction of your righteousness, lord, to do good works so that others may see you and glorify you through us. In Jesus name, amen. Amen.