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A while ago now I had the privilege of meeting up to read the Bible with someone who wasn’t a Christian. I find evangelism hard, and I don’t think I’m very good at it. It was a great opportunity, given by God, as these things always are. We met each week and read through a bit of the Bible. And I watched as my friend discovered Jesus. He was asking questions. He was understanding more. And then the next thing that happened was…well, nothing. And in the end, he just wasn’t interested anymore and, and as far as I can see, still isn’t. If Jesus is great, and my friend seemed so close to following Jesus, then why didn’t he?

Of course, none of us know what’s going on in other people’s hearts. But what we do know is that it takes God to transform people by his Holy Spirit to bring them to the point of trusting in him. And this morning we’re going to see what this transforming work is, and what knowing about that means for us. So, before, we go any further, let’s pray…

Let’s pick it up from John 16.7. Jesus is speaking to the twelve disciples (the original and closest witnesses to him) and he says:

Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper [the Holy Spirit] will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.

So Jesus tells the disciples he needed to go away for the Spirit to come to them. And, by go away, Jesus doesn’t just mean “go to heaven”. Jesus was talking about going to die on the cross, rise from the dead, and then rule over everything from heaven. It’s that whole, complete, work that Jesus has in mind. So if the disciples were going to have the Holy Spirit living within them, they needed Jesus to go to the cross for them because the Holy Spirit of God can’t dwell in an unforgiven, unholy person. And, without the Holy Spirit the disciple’s witness to Jesus would have been hopeless. That’s what we saw last week from John 15: That human hearts are by nature anti-Jesus, and unless the Holy Spirit changes that, no-one could believe and follow him. And that our job is to bear witness to the truth of Jesus, given in the Bible, and pray that the Spirit brings that home and changes the hearer’s heart. So, in our passage, Jesus is looking beyond his death, resurrection and ascension and he’s telling first his disciples, and then us today, exactly what it is that the Holy Spirit needs to do in people’s lives to bring them to the point of trusting in him. And, we see this from John 16.8 onwards (John 16.8-11):

And when he comes, he will convict the world [that’s John term for everyone who rejects God and lives as if he wasn’t there] concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

So:

The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, of Jesus’ righteousness and its judgement.

There you go – a one point sermon! It’s a courtroom image. The Holy Spirit takes the historical reality that Jesus really did die on the cross and rise again, and like a prosecutor he uses that to prove the world to be wrong about Jesus, and wrong about themselves. And the Holy Spirit does this regarding sin. John 16.9, Jesus says he will convict the world concerning sin, because they do not believe in me. Throughout John’s gospel, the classic or characteristic, sin is not believing Jesus. And in Jesus’ mind the sin of disbelief in him is the disease – and all the wrong things we do, and the good we don’t do, are symptoms that flow from that disease. The “root sin” is the sin of disbelief. Because disbelief isn’t neutral, is it? I don’t believe there are fairies at the bottom of my garden. So I don’t give fairies a second thought. They’re of no interest to me, they don’t affect my reality. I don’t believe in them, so I’ve rejected them. Not believing in Jesus = rejecting him. And we’ve got to try to show the world that, contrary to what it may think, believing in the Jesus of the Bible doesn’t mean leaving your brain at the door and trusting in something as unbelievable as fairies. And it’s infinitely more important than that because it actually affects life and reality. Because we’ve got a problem – and Jesus shows that up.

Look at Jesus and you’ll see how he lived the perfect life, and how far we fall short of that. Jesus didn’t say anything he shouldn’t. He didn’t bubble over with selfish anger. He didn’t ignore other people’s needs. He taught the truth. He served compassionately. He sought out the marginalised. And the pinnacle of it all: he loved sinners like you and me – and he went to the cross to save them. And when that perfect goodness of Jesus comes face to face with us, it proves sin, exposes sin, brings sin into the open. And it shows us that we have had no good excuse for not believing him, especially after all he’s done for us. And it’s the Holy Spirit that brings the reality of that home to us, to change our hearts. It’s the Holy Spirit that shows us that we have not believed in (and therefore rejected) the one person who really matters most in the entire world. And, through his work in us, we say to ourselves, “I thought I was ok! But on a very deep level – I now know I am not ok, because I’ve lived life not believing the one person really worth trusting in.” I wonder, is he saying that to you this morning?

I’ll never forget a friend of mine telling me how he came face to face with the Jesus of the Bible. In his words, he said he realised he was so “turned in on himself”, living his life his way. He came to see that he’d ignored the Jesus who was there all along. And, when he trusted in Jesus, he said the way he’d lived before began to be like ash in his mouth – and living God’s way was like tasting sweet honey. Everything began to change in his life.
Many of us here will remember that moment when we believed in our hearts “I am a sinner, and I need a saviour” and we gave our life to Jesus. And our life was transformed by the Holy Spirit. And when it comes to our job – to witness to Jesus, we need to work in line with the main job: the convicting work that only the Spirit can do.

So, I guess, lots of our friends and family if pushed would say “I just don’t see myself as a sinner.” Or even if they are prepared to admit they’re broken – they don’t understand, or accept, that the root of that is ignoring Jesus. So, we need to try to say to people “Look if Jesus is who he says he is, and you’ve rejected him, then that’s serious. And you’re not ok! Because the worst thing anyone can do is ignore the most important person in the world.” And then we pray for the Spirit to do what only he can do – bring that home and change the hearer’s heart, by showing them that they’ve got it wrong, and they’re sinners, but that Jesus can forgive them.

Next, the Holy Spirit brings conviction, Jesus says (John 16.10) concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer. This is a tricky verse, and truth be told I’ve been doing the hokey cokey with it all week! What I think it probably means is that when God raised Jesus from the dead, he reverses the world’s verdict on him. So, think about that for a minute…The world back then thought Jesus was a blasphemer. They thought he was a dangerous revolutionary. They thought he was unrighteous. That’s why they crucified him. And, of course, Jesus knows that’s exactly what they’ll do. But he also knows that he’ll rise from the dead, and rule over everything from heaven as the Risen King, by his Father’s side. In that sense, he will go to the Father and the disciples will see him no longer. And the victory of Jesus on the cross exposes the world’s verdict on him to be utter nonsense.

What does the world make of Jesus today? At best people think Jesus is irrelevant – not worth thinking about. At worst, people think that what Jesus stands for is dangerous. He stands for intolerance and bigotry. But if Jesus died and rose from the dead, then none of that can be true. Jesus must be right, and the world must be totally wrong about the most important person in history. So the Holy Spirit takes the truth that Jesus rose from the dead and presses the realities and implication of that home on the human heart…Jesus is righteous. The world is not. I am not.
Jesus is the authority on righteousness. And the world is not. I am not. And, by the Spirit’s work in us we say “I thought Jesus was at best irrelevant, but the Holy Spirit has made me realise Jesus is the only right person in human history. And I need him!” The disciples who first heard these words, would go on to be empowered by the Holy Spirit to preach of Jesus – the righteous one, hated, killed, but risen from the grave. In his great sermon in Acts 3, Peter said (Acts 3.14-15):

…You denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses.

And we too need to be witnesses to Jesus, in the world, helping show people that they’ve got it wrong about him! They’ve no idea who he really is, and all that means for them! Now, if you’re anything like me, even bringing Jesus up, and mentioning his name in conversation can feel hard at times. But isn’t the challenge here to ask people “What do you make of Jesus?” Or saying, “You know the Bible has some amazing things to say about Jesus. And I think they’re true. Do you know what it says about him? Can I show you in the Bible?” Or, maybe asking “Have you ever thought to yourself, ‘have I got it wrong when it comes to Jesus?’” Some of us will have opportunities to do this – and we need the boldness to take them. For some of us, having a conversation like this feel like a million miles away from where we are right now. After all, witnessing to Jesus is a Spirit-empowered process. And it’s only the Holy Spirit who can bring home to people the reality that true righteousness is found in Jesus, and not in themselves. Last of our trio then, John 16.11, the Holy Spirit convicts the world concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

So, the ruler of this world is Satan, the Devil, who stands at the pinnacle of this world and its values. And Satan and the world’s value systems are publicly exposed, shown up, and judged to be utterly evil at the cross. Because the world thought it was condemning Jesus by sending him to the cross. A hateful way of getting rid of the most hateful members of society. But the irony is that it’s the cross that condemns and judges the world. Because Satan, and therefore the world and its values, are exposed. They are hopeless. Because Jesus took the sins of the world and rose again from the dead. So the world got it really wrong in its judgement of the one person who matters most of all. Doesn’t that show us how far the world has gone wrong? And doesn’t it show us how foolish we are to keep listening to the world and its lies?

As I’ve become a Father, I’ve reflected with a fresh sense of perspective of the spiritual influences on me as a young person; the influence of Christian parents, teaching on the need for a personal commitment to Jesus Christ.
But I remember, even as a child, knowing that there’d be eternal consequences for not following Jesus. And, yes, you can tell I grew up in the 1990s in Northern Ireland – they socked it to us! But it was true.

About 10 years or so now, a guy sat up there in the north gallery during a morning service like this. And the sermon was from Amos 7-8 on the judgment of God. That classic evangelistic passage! And as he sat there listening to the sermon the Holy Spirit pressed home to him the reality of God’s judgement, and the certain hope of Jesus. And he gave his life to Christ. And so, as the Spirit convicts us, we say “I thought the world was a great place to find my values, but the Holy Spirit convicted me that the prince of this world and all who follow him stand judged.” So, I’m not saying we bang on about judgement all the time. But, when we can, we need to be bold enough to be straight with people – judgement is real. And we trust that the Spirit can use that to convict people, and drive them to their Saviour.

So think back to that friend I mentioned at the beginning or think of a friend or loved one you know. Maybe they don’t think they have a problem, maybe they don’t think Jesus is relevant to their lives, maybe they aren’t sure of the eternal realities at stake. Maybe now, or once, they seem interested. Maybe they’ve always seemed very far away. And it’s all very difficult. But the job God has given us is to be with them and, as we can, simply speak, propose, and lead them to the gospel of Jesus. And above all, it is to pray, pray, pray - asking God through his Holy Spirit to do the work that we can’t do and convict people of their deep need for him. We can’t do that; the Holy Spirit can! And the proof of that lies in you, and me, and the heart of every Christian. Why are we here today? Because we’re convicted and transformed by the gospel of Jesus, all through the power of the Holy Spirit. Simply put – let’s pray for more of the same.

Let’s pray…