The Holy Spirit & You, Part 2 | Responding to the Holy Spirit

Today's episode of A New Beginning is brought to you by Harvest Partners, helping people everywhere know God.

Learn more at harvest.org. And while you're there, browse our library of free e-books designed to help you grow in your faith. The Holy Spirit of God. He says, You are bad. You are sinful.

There's the answer. It's Jesus. Coming up today, Pastor Greg Laurie explains how the Holy Spirit shows sinners where they can find forgiveness. Go to Jesus and your sins will be forgiven. Go to Jesus and that righteousness will be placed in your account. Go to Jesus and your questions will be answered. He shows you the sin that He brings you to the Savior.

That's it. The work of the Holy Spirit. In our natural bodies, there are many things inside that keep us alive, although we've never seen them.

Antibodies, clotting agents, intestinal flora, white blood cells. Now, spiritually speaking, there are invisible forces at work that want to help us and save us, although other forces want to destroy us. Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie points out the work of God's Spirit acquaints us with our sin and acquaints us with our Savior.

It's important we know how to respond. You know, when I turn on the television these days, man, there's just so much bad stuff, isn't there? Just tragedy layered on tragedy. I see so much sin on display. You see selfishness. You see violence. You see murder. You hear of all these horrible things happening. And I'm just talking about the cartoons on Saturday morning.

No, seriously though. It's just, it's sort of like sin is on display every day, every night for us all to see. So what is the worst sin a person could possibly commit? Is it stealing? Is it murder? Is it adultery? Those are bad sins for sure. But let me re-ask the question, what sin offends God more than any other?

I think you might be surprised by my answer. Here in John chapter 16 we are looking together at the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the non-believer. In our last message we focused primarily on the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Christian. Now we are looking at the work that he wants to do in the life of the person who is not yet a Christian.

We are in John 16 starting at verse 7. Jesus says, Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage I go away. For if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you.

But if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. Of sin 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 judged.

We will stop there. The Holy Spirit of God. Clearly the most misunderstood and misrepresented member of the Trinity. It seems whenever there is something weird going on it always gets blamed on the Holy Spirit.

Right? You flip the channels. You come to some Christian TV station.

I might put that in quotes in some cases. And you see people coming under the power of the Spirit. They are falling on the floor. They are shrieking. They are laughing uncontrollably.

They are barking like dogs. And the preacher says, This is the Holy Spirit. And they even make it sound more holy. So when you hear holy spiritual like I don't know if I want that you know. I want to just tell you all that crazy stuff. That is not the Holy Spirit.

That is just crazy stuff. Because the Bible tells us what the work of the Holy Spirit is. And Jesus makes an amazing statement to begin with here in John 16. He says, It is to your advantage I go away. For if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I depart, I will send him to you. Remember in our last message on the Holy Spirit we talked about the word that the word helper comes from. It is parakletos in Greek. One who is called alongside to help is the definition of it. It speaks of an advocate and a court of law among other things. So Jesus is actually saying, It is better for you that I go away. It is to your benefit or to your advantage that I go away. Otherwise the Holy Spirit would not come to you in this way.

Now that amazes me because it seems to me oh no. The best thing would be to have Jesus with us physically. I mean how amazing would that be. Imagine if Jesus was sitting in church with you.

Just next to you. Isn't Jesus. I mean you couldn't stop looking at him. He is God. What is God doing now. And you would find yourself just staring at him. Wanting to hear whatever he had to say.

Anything he would do. But Jesus is saying, It is actually better for you that I go away. Because then the Holy Spirit, the parakletos, the helper, the advocate, the counselor will come to you.

Notice He says in verse 8, when He has come. Remember we pointed out that the Holy Spirit is not a force. He is a personality. Because sometimes people think He is just some power out there. Like something out of Star Wars or something.

No. The Holy Spirit has a distinct personality. Though He is likened in Scripture to fire and a dove and other things. In reality He is always referred to as a He. And that is a capital He. Because He is part of the Trinity.

So here is a quick review of what we already saw. The Holy Spirit has come to convict us of our sin. You could also just interchange the word convinced with convict. He has come to convince us of our sin. Verse 8. John 16.

When He has come He will convict or convince the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. You see one's ignorance of sin, righteousness, and judgment can bring their destruction. So God has sent His Holy Spirit to make the non-believer aware of this.

Before we can appreciate the solution we have to see the real problem. So we need to be convicted by the Spirit. Because there is no conversion without conviction. Being a Christian is not just living a better life. Jesus is not just helpful. He is our only hope.

He has not come to improve our life. He comes to save our life. And so we need to realize that only the Holy Spirit can show us our real need.

You know it is interesting that the word convict means to cross examine. The Holy Spirit has come to cross examine us with the purpose of convicting or refuting an opponent. He doesn't come to just convict the world in general but to specifically show them they are lacking in the righteousness they need to get to heaven.

This is a very important distinction. It is not just sins in general. The Holy Spirit has come to show you the biggest sin of all. The sin of self-righteousness. And in its place God wants to give you His righteousness. I bring this up because every time you turn around people are thinking that they get to heaven by good works. You know I guess I don't expect nonbelievers to know much about this. But when I hear Christians or at least professed believers still subscribing to an idea like this it just seems insane to me.

But people do still think this. That well you know if you live a good life you will get to heaven. And if you live a bad life then you will go to hell.

Listen use flash. There are good people that are going to go to hell and there are bad people that are going to go to heaven. You say well that makes no sense at all. Well it is biblical.

Let me explain. Being a good person will not get you to heaven. You can be a good person but if you think you are so good you don't know Jesus you can end up in hell. And you can be a bad person.

A very bad person. But if you repent of your sin even if it is on your deathbed Christ will forgive you and let you into heaven. Because heaven is not for good people. It is for forgiven people.

Ok. So I raised a question earlier. What is the worst sin?

So what is it? Is it adultery? Is it stealing? Is it taking the Lord's name in vain? Well a recent survey was done among British Christians and they were asked to identify the most and least important of the Ten Commandments. Right away that is a bad premise.

Well I am going to rate the Ten Commandments. Houston we have a problem. Or should I say instead London we have a problem right. Ok so back to the Brits. 93 percent of them still felt thou shall not commit murder was valid. Good to know. So my next trip to England I guess I won't get killed hopefully. 93 percent still felt thou shall not steal was a valid commandment.

And then it starts to drop after that. 87 percent thought thou shall not bear false witness was still good. But only 23 percent felt thou shall not take the name of the Lord in vain was still valid today. 68 percent of British Christians. I fail to point that out.

Did I say that earlier? These are Christians in quote. They think it is ok to take the Lord's name in vain. 68 percent.

No. And then this one is the most amazing of all. Only 20 percent thought having other gods before them was wrong. In fact 68 percent thought it was just fine to have other gods before the Lord. Really.

How interesting. God doesn't see it that way. Because when He gives the Ten Commandments He doesn't start with thou shall not murder. He doesn't start with you shall not take the Lord's name in vain.

He starts by saying I am the Lord your God. Have no other gods before me. It is a big deal to God you see. And then a second commandment you shall have no graven images. Which is really an extension of what the first commandment says. You know where you are going to now worship something in the place of God.

Because it comes down to this. If I have another god before him it is all downhill from there. And then those other commandments will be broken as well.

Let me turn it around. If I put him first in my life the other commandments will fall into place. Jesus summed it up this way. He says if you will love the Lord your God with all of your heart all of your soul and all of your mind and love your neighbor as yourself you will fulfill the commandments.

How does that work? Well if I love God with all of my heart soul and mind I am not going to have another god before him. I am not going to worship a graven image. I am not going to take his name in vain. If I love my neighbor as myself I am not going to kill him because that is not very neighborly is it? I am not going to steal from him. I am not going to lie to her.

I am not going to covet what belongs to them. You see so these crazy so-called Christians can't just go to the commandments and decide what is valid and what isn't valid. God's Word does not change according to the mores or culture of our times.

The reality is we should be conforming culture to God rather than expecting God to conform to our culture. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of this important message in just a moment. So excited for the opportunity to show it to all my friends who aren't Christians yet and are still trying to find their way in the world. I would just like to thank you and all your team for all that you guys have done to spread the gospel around the world.

Every morning my brother and I listen to your podcast through a local radio station on the way to school. It's a great way to strengthen ourselves and to encourage us to spread the Lord's Word. I wait eagerly for the day I am able to be at one of your crusades in America or maybe even here in Australia. Thank you for obeying God all those years ago so that you bless all of us today through Christ. God bless you all. It's a blessing to know that listeners are hearing the message of the gospel through the radio, podcasts, and even through the film Jesus Revolution.

Do you have a story to tell? If so, would you email Pastor Greg and let him know? Send it to gregatharvest.org.

Again that's gregatharvest.org. Well Pastor Greg returns to his message now. It's a study called The Holy Spirit and You Part 2.

Okay so what is the worst sin that we can commit against the Lord? I'm going to answer that next week. No I'll answer it now. You probably already know the answer. Here it is. You're taking notes.

You're taking notes. The worst sin and then one of the most far-reaching consequences that you can commit is not believing in Jesus Christ. Say no Greg you're wrong. Murder is worse. Well no actually those are outgrowths of the sin inside of the person who does not know God. But saying no to Christ is a complete rejection of the work of the Holy Spirit.

The root of all of our problems. The worst sin you can commit is not believing and you will be judged for that. So the Holy Spirit number two now has come to bring us to Jesus. He says in verse 9, I've come to convince them of sin because they do not believe in me. You know it's interesting sin. Not sins. Sometimes we I think in the church major on minors. And by that I mean we sort of get the cart before the horse. We'll kind of focus on lifestyle choices that are sinful and we'll harp on those things.

Here's my objective. I want to establish a dialogue with a person regardless of what sinful choice they've made. So if they're living with their boyfriend or girlfriend out of wedlock or if they're gay or if they're a liar or a thief or all the above you know hey I want to first talk to them about their need for Jesus because this is the way I see it. If they'll come to Jesus everything else will get sorted out. But if I focus on those things and never get around to telling them about Jesus I can in effect drive them away.

And I think a lot of times people think of the church as being against everything. And we're going to speak out on what the Bible says and say what it says on whatever topic it is we're addressing. But our message is the gospel and we want people to believe.

And then their lives will change as a result. So the Holy Spirit has come to show us that. To bring us to Jesus. Verse 13. When he the spirit of truth has come he'll guide you into all truth. He will not speak in his own. He will speak only what he hears. And he'll tell you what is to come.

He'll bring glory to me by taking what is mine and making it known to you. See if you refuse to believe in Jesus you're effectively calling the Holy Spirit a liar. Because 1 John 5 10 says, He that believes in the name of the Son of God has this witness in himself. He that does not believe has made him a liar because he has not believed the record that God has given of his Son. That's called insulting the Spirit.

So the Holy Spirit comes and shows you you're a sinner and you need Jesus. And you say I do not. I'm a good person. I don't need Jesus. Oh so you're calling him a liar. No you're putting words in my mouth then.

Actually I'm not. Because if you're rejecting the work that the Holy Spirit has come to do to show you you're not righteous enough to get to heaven and show you that Jesus is the answer you're effectively saying he's a liar. Number three the Holy Spirit has come to show us our need for righteousness. Look at verse 10 he says, Of righteousness because I go to my Father and you see me no more.

Now here's the funny thing. Most people believe in heaven today 72 percent. But as I said earlier they think living a good life will get them there. But yet the Bible says all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. It says there is not good no not one.

And the Bible also says in James 2 10 if you offend in one point of the law you're guilty of all of it. Now the Bible is not saying that there are not good people. There are good people. Let me take it a step further. I've met people who are not Christians that are good people and in some cases better people than some Christians I know.

Does that make sense? When I say good I mean they're friendly. They're trustworthy. They're considerate.

So they're good people in that regard. This is not about if you're a good guy or a good girl. This is about if you're good enough to get to heaven and no one's that good. You say well I'm pretty good actually. You're not as good as you think you are. And you're much worse than you think you are.

That's the truth. Because one sin is enough to keep you out of heaven. And trust me you've committed a lot more than one sin. And so have I. So the Holy Spirit has come to show me this about myself.

Listen to this. Even on my best day my righteousness my goodness the benevolent kind considerate things that I do are pretty much throwaway. Because Isaiah 64 says my righteousness is as filthy rags. But then what about the bad days? And those are bad.

So think about all of that. Even on your best day you don't even get close. And on your bad days you're so so far away. So the Holy Spirit comes to show me that I need Jesus. He shows me I'm not righteous enough.

I'm not good enough. Not so I will be driven away in despair but so I will run to the cross. See that's what He does. He says you are bad. You are sinful.

There's the answer. And He lights the way. It's Jesus. Go to Jesus and your sins will be forgiven. Go to Jesus and that righteousness will be placed in your account. Go to Jesus and your questions will be answered. That's a very important distinction. He shows you the sin then He brings you to the Savior.

That's it. The work of the Holy Spirit. Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie with great insight on how the Spirit points to sin and then points to the Savior.

Such an important role. A life-saving role in the lives of believers. Pastor Greg if somebody wants to respond to that leading of God what's their next step? What I would say is He's only a prayer away.

Which means if you will call upon the name of the Lord right now through prayer He will hear your prayer and answer your prayer. Listen if you want Jesus Christ to come into your life. If you want Him to forgive you of your sin. If you want to know that you go to heaven when you die just pray this prayer right now after me. Just pray Lord Jesus I know that I'm a sinner but I know that you're the Savior who died on the cross for my sin and rose again from the dead. I turn from my sin now and I choose to follow you from this moment forward as my Savior and Lord as my God and my friend. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Amen. And listen if you have just prayed along with Pastor Greg and meant those words sincerely we want to welcome you into God's family and we want to help you get started in your new faith. Pastor Greg would like to send you his New Believers Bible.

It's free of charge along with some other helpful resources. Just let us know you prayed with Pastor Greg and that you want the New Believers Bible when you call 1-800-821-3300. We can take your call anytime at 1-800-821-3300 or go online to harvest.org and click the words know God. Well Pastor Greg we're so excited about your new movie called Fame. So many want to be rich and famous but so many rich and famous people have ruined their lives.

Yeah. Is fame sort of a drug you know people get a little taste of it and they want more and then they can get hooked on the attention and it drags them to unhealthy places. Yes a good example is Chris Farley. Chris Farley was a very successful comedian on Saturday Night Live. Actually Chris's idol was John Belushi and Belushi died of a drug overdose and tragically the same thing happened to Chris Farley. In fact at one point when he was in the throes of drug addiction one of his friends said to Chris, Chris you don't want to die like Belushi do you and Chris said in response oh yeah that'd be really cool and his friend said I started crying. I actually went for him and sadly Belushi and Farley both died from a lethal overdose of heroin and cocaine.

Neither one of them found the happiness they wanted and they both died at the age of 33. But wait Chris Farley was famous why did he live this way? Here's what Farley himself said quote, once I thought if I had enough in the bank if I had enough fame that it would be all right but I'm a human being and like everybody else I'm not exempt. And so this is the story and we've heard this story over and over and over again. A lot of them now can go out there and become famous instantly on social media platforms and even get monetized for doing it and and they're famous for what?

I don't know what do they even really do? But yet there they've managed to be known by people and that's the goal for many of them but is that what it's cracked up to be? The answer is no.

Let me save you the trouble. No the answer is in Christ. Really it's not fame that you want. It's meaning and it's knowing that your life matters.

It's not success as much as its significance and that's found in a relationship with God. So in this movie where I interview Alice Cooper and I interview Daryl Strawberry and I talk a little bit about some of these people I've touched on and about the emptiness of their lives. I show that what we're really looking for is Christ. Okay so let me describe the opening scene for you.

It's kind of fun. We shot it at a major movie studio in Hollywood. You know the camera's kind of following me and all this stuff is happening around me and then I tell everyone this is actually a sound stage and that's how I introduced the movie because I'm trying to show that look this appears one way but it's a facade.

It's not real and this is what fame is and this is what life without Christ is. Now you can't see the scene but here's the way it sounds. You get a picture of it. I'm walking down the street opening the film.

Check this out. I'm Greg Laurie and I'm in New York City but I hate traffic and there's always traffic here. People come to New York from all around the world looking for a lot of things. Some are looking for success. Maybe others are looking for significance or maybe if they come here they'll become rich and famous. Speaking of that USA Today did a poll among its young readers Generation Z Millennials and asked them the question what do you want more than anything else in life. Their answer they wanted to become rich and famous. I want you to join me on a journey as we look at the lives of some really famous people and what that fame led to. Is it really all that we think it is or is it a facade? Speaking of facades I'm actually not in New York City at all.

I'm on the back lot of Paramount Studios. These are not people walking down the street. This is my family. This is well fake. It looks good on the outside but on the inside or behind the facades there's really nothing and that's what it's like when you chase after fame and fortune and success and all those things that we're told will make us happy. Well that's a scene from the new movie called Fame and Pastor Greg we also have a book that goes along with the film that actually takes all of these matters and discusses them in more detail. Yes it's called Fame same title written with Marshall Terrell who I've done a number of books with. It's a fantastic book.

It's a pretty quick read. It would be a great book for you to read but I think it would be a fantastic resource to give to someone especially a non-believer. The premise of the book is fame is not the answer. I illustrate that with lots of current and contemporary stories from culture today.

Then I go back to scripture and show what the Bible says about these things and then give the answer in a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. So we'll be delighted to send you this brand new book called Fame for your gift of any size to help us continue on here at a new beginning and then remind you to go see our brand new film Fame. Dave tell them where they can see that. Yeah you can watch the movie Fame right now at our new Harvest media platform at harvest.org and also other streaming platforms such as Roku, Apple TV, Samsung, Amazon Fire, and Google Play.

And don't forget that important companion book also called Fame. We'll be glad to send a copy of the book your way to thank you for partnering with us so we can continue to bring the gospel through this radio program, through books and film, and through so many other forms of outreach. So get in touch with your donation today by calling 1-800-821-3300.

Call anytime 24 7 1-800-821-3300 or go online to harvest.org. You know there's nothing like hearing the word of God and worshiping the Lord together. I want to encourage you to join us for something we call Harvest at Home. It happens every Saturday and Sunday at harvest.org. You can join Christians from around the world as we worship and we study the word of God together. So join us for Harvest at Home at harvest.org. Well next time Pastor Gray comes back with more insight on the way the Holy Spirit works in our lives, convicting us of our sin and pointing us to our Savior. Join us here on A New Beginning with pastor and Bible teacher, Greg Laurie.