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CORE Evangelism School

A God Worth Knowing

Dee Casper

01 The God Who Hears and Knows

02 The Problem of Evil: Does God Care?

03 The Faith of Jesus

04 Are We In This Thing Alone?

05 A New Covenant Experience

06 Bad Religion

07 The Reminder of Your Value

09 A Matter of Life or Death

10 Unquenchable Love

12 A God Who is Always on Time

13 The Gospel in Types and Symbols

15 Last Church Standing

16 An Abundant Life

18 Why God Won’t Leave

19 Jesus Understands

17 A Voice of Reason

14 The Coming Crisis

08 Building a House for My Wife

11 A New Birth

And so I would like to begin with a word of prayer, and then we'll kind of go into the introduction for this evening's message, which is entitled, Are We In This Thing Alone?

Oh, sweet Jesus, thank you for loving us so much, for being so faithful to us.

And Lord, we ask as Chingo is saying that you would fill our cups tonight, that you would speak to us, that you would bless us, and that we would hear your plan for our lives more clearly than we ever have.

So in our last meeting together, many of you made a decision to give your lives to Jesus or to recommit your lives to Jesus, and making that decision is literally the best decision you have ever made in your life.

But after making that decision, there can be this kind of anxiety and a bit of a wait because you recognize that it's expected of me to live a different life now than before I made that decision.

Anyone feeling that pressure in the last couple days?

Well, I want to speak into that space tonight.

There's a specific reason we're addressing this topic is to explain what happens after I say yes to Jesus and what is God going to do for me.

Like, how do I become who God wants me to be?

And through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, God literally has made provision for every single Christian to succeed in their experience, which is such good news for us.

So we're going to explain the ministry of the Holy Spirit and what his role is in our lives as believers.

So there are 3 primary roles of the Holy Spirit laid out in Scripture.

There are other aspects that are communicated, but we're gonna focus on the 3 primary roles of the Holy Spirit in the Bible.

We'll break down each 1 of those as we go.

OK, but this is what the Holy Spirit has been doing.

It is doing in our lives right now and is doing for God's people throughout salvation history.

So in John chapter 16, Yeah, John chapter 16, it says this, this is Jesus speaking, it'd be in red letters in your Bible, I'm sure.

John chapter 16, beginning of verse 6, it says, but because I have said these things to you, Jesus has told the disciples he's leaving, and he had the audacity to say that's a good thing and they said, no, try again.

But he says, because I've said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.

For if I do not go away, the Helper, capital H, will not come to you.

And when he comes, he will convict the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment.

Of sin, because of unbelief or because they do not believe in me, of righteousness because I go to my father and you see me no more, and of judgment because the ruler of this world is now judged." So Jesus is saying, if I don't leave, the comforter cannot come.

What the disciples didn't understand was Jesus had physical limitations, right?

We talked about this 2 nights ago or 2 messages ago.

We kind of talked about this the problem of evil that Jesus when he became a man there's certain aspects of his godness he had to lay aside.

He couldn't be everywhere all the time because he was in human flesh.

And so Jesus is saying, when I leave you'll actually gain a benefit because the Holy Spirit can do for you what I cannot.

So whenever Thomas goes to India and the eventual Apostle Paul goes to Rome or when Peter ends up being in prison somewhere else, the Spirit can actually minister to them and help them in every location at the same time whenever Jesus could not.

That's what he's alluding to, that it's to your advantage that I go away." So according to verse 8 then, who is the object of the Spirit's work?

On verse 8 here up on the board, who is the object of the Spirit's work?

So he says that the Holy Spirit's going to convict the world of sin, of righteousness, of judgment, which implies that the Holy Spirit is not just reserved for religious people.

He's actually doing a work of convicting people who are outside of a relationship with Jesus that they need Jesus, that they have not believed in Him, but He would love for them to.

As we talked about last meeting together, first of all, because He believes in them, and second of all, because of what He can do for them when they accept Him as His Lord and Savior.

So the Spirit of God is actively pursuing people who do not know Him.

And some who are in this room this evening are fruit of that very thing.

Some of us had young people showing up to our doors, or friends, or neighbors, or church members showing up to our door, giving us an invitation, right, to hear the teachings of Jesus that are changing your life.

That's evidence of the Spirit of God doing something for you, maybe before you even knew Him or were committed to Him.

Some of us made recommitments or commitments that we haven't been walking in or never knew to walk in for years.

And yet you are freshly in a brand new experience of the gospel transaction, not just of Jesus saving your life and your soul, but also doing a work of drawing you to himself and growing you and teaching you.

And we're gonna learn about that more this evening.

So he's convicting the world of their unbelief and that they need to believe in Jesus.

Some of us have responded to that even in recent days.

That's such a blessing, such a precious gift.

But now, according to verse, so that's verse 8, he's going to convict the world of sin and righteousness of judgment.

According to verse 9, why does he convict them of sin?

So that's the Holy Spirit pursuing and convicting people.

But then the second reason that's given, according to verse 10, right?

This is really good news because if the Spirit of God has convicted me that I have not believed in Jesus, it's pointing me to the very person who already believes in me and who's done whatever it takes to save me.

That's the first purpose of the Holy Spirit, to show us that we need to believe in Jesus.

The very 1 who died to forgive me of all my wrongdoing.

So that means then that when I'm convicted of sin, I shouldn't run away from conviction.

I should run to Jesus who's died for that sin.

But when we get convicted, sometimes we get scared and think, oh man, I need to run away, I need to tune that out, I need to go somewhere else.

And the point of conviction is not to discourage you or condemn you, it's to point you to Jesus who's on your side and who's willing to help.

Now according to verse 10, why does he convict the world of righteousness?

Why in verse 10 does he convict the world of righteousness?

Jesus, that perfect standard of righteousness in human flesh, is leaving.

And the Spirit of God will fill that role in his absence.

And then he convicts of judgment according to verse 11.

Why is he convicting the world of judgment?

Because the ruler of this world is judged.

Anyone have a guess on who the ruler of this world is that he's referring to?

In John 12, 31 and Luke 4, 6, he alludes to this very idea.

And so the point is, if God didn't let Satan off the hook whenever he sinned, what makes us think he's gonna let us off the hook if we're his friend and followers, right?

Right, he's letting us know that we need to believe in Jesus, who's died for the sins of the world.

We also need to trust in His righteousness, not in our own, and that there's a judgment coming where all of these things matter.

So the Holy Spirit, out of God's goodwill towards humanity, broken, fallen, and disobedient humanity, He's giving an appeal, hey, you are not in a place that's going to serve you, right, that's really going to benefit you right now.

I encourage you, I implore you, believe in my Son, trust in His righteousness, and he can prepare you for the judgment that's to come." This is what God is doing for people who are outside of Jesus.

He's not passive, and if you do all these things and maybe I'll consider accepting you.

He is tenaciously and anxiously searching for the lost.

He's leaving the 99 and searching for those who don't know him, letting them know there's a solution for your problems in Jesus.

That's the first role of the Holy Spirit.

But What does he do once we become a believer?

Back to Menu

Series

A God Worth Knowing

04 Are We In This Thing Alone?

Transcript

Parent Series

Sponsor

Recorded

Acts

Acts: Empowered by the Spirit

40m

Unlocking the Mysteries of the Sanctuary

05 The Golden Lampstand

46m

He Shall Lift You Up

45m

Lessons from the Life of Paul

Romans 7

34m

Faithful Stewards Serving with Purpose and Passion

1h 10m

The Holy Spirit Filling Our Greatest Need

58m

A God Worth Knowing

05 A New Covenant Experience

57m

Jesus: The Lord of the Sabbath

1h

Song of Songs

39m

Is God Enough?

1h 11m

High Time to Wake Up

55m

The Big Questions (Evening Meetings)

3. Dinner With Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed, and Krishna

1h 2m

Sound Doctrine