All right, let's bow in prayer and commit our evening to the Lord. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor my ways your ways, declares the Lord. for as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and snow come down from heaven and do not return, They are without water in the earth and making it bare and sprout and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater.
So will my word be that goes forth from my mouth. It will not return to me empty without accomplishing the purpose for which I desire. Father, we thank you so much. for the team that went to the Philippines. Thank you for the word that was taught and spread and sown.
And thank you for the promises of the power of your word. that you allow it to accomplish the purpose for which you set it. And even tonight as we open the truth of Scripture. Thank you that you've given us your mind to study. And we pray that you would help us to understand what we're going to read this evening, that we might not just be hearers of the word, but doers.
So help me tonight in all that is said and done. And may Jesus be honored in his holy name. Amen.
Now, if you're here for the first time, a special welcome. We are in a course on how to give away your faith. And we're actually on handout number four. They're all online. And let me just say that on this particular handout, we're dealing with the theology of the Holy Spirit in evangelism, along with some very practical how-tos on how to share the gospel.
So we're dealing first with the theology behind what we typically call the red booklet here. There's obviously many booklets and many things that you can do, but what we're studying tonight is really important. And so we've seen thus far that there is the ministry of the Spirit in us that is essential to effective evangelism, and I can't underscore that enough. That there's a part of us that we need to be prepared to be filled with the Spirit. We can't grieve Him, we can't quench Him.
And we grieve him when there's unconfessed sin in the heart. And so as parents, one of the things we want to train our children is when they have failed, assuming they've met Christ, to confess that sin at times to others. and to experience God's forgiveness by faith, not by feelings. And also, it's essential that we not quench the Spirit, and we quench Him when we are unavailable to do things in the positive realm that He's called us to. But then we need to keep on being filled with the Spirit.
And so the admonition is not just to be filled with the Spirit, but to walk by the Spirit. In fact, literally the New Testament reads, be being filled with the Spirit.
So it's not a matter that I was filled last week or last month or even yesterday. The question is: am I this moment filled with the Spirit? And it's not optional for the Christian who wants to obey the Lord because it's an imperative. In fact, the verse prior to Ephesians 5:18 says, Don't be foolish, but understand what the will of God is. Don't be drunk with wine, but be filled.
And so that's a command. And if I'm not filled with the Spirit right now, this moment, then I'm actually in disobedience. But if I'm not grieving him or quenching him by faith, I can trust he will fill me. And this is a confidence that we have before him that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
So is it God's will for us to be filled? Yes. He tells us it is. And so the confidence we have that when we pray anything according to his will, he hears us, and if we know that he hears us in whatever we have asked. then we know that we have the request from him.
And so there's that side of the Spirit's work, but there's also what we're examining in these last few weeks: the Spirit's work. through us when we're sharing the faith and in the person to whom we're sharing.
So turn to John chapter 16 for a moment, because we're kind of right in the middle of a section of the handout. And we're going to back up one page from last week so you kind of see the flow of thought. But again, this is like super, super important because I can tell you when I listen to people share the gospel whether or not they really understand these verses that are unfolded here. John 16 and verse 8. Jesus has just said, I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, The helper will not come to you, but if I go, I will send him to you.
And we've already gone through that verse and why that was important for Jesus to leave to be able to send the Spirit. And he, when he comes. What is he going to do? He'll convict the world concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment. Concerning sin, because they do not believe in me, concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father.
And you no longer see me concerning judgment because the ruler of this world has been judged. And so, a healthy presentation of the gospel. deals with sin, righteousness, and judgment. And it doesn't say that he convicts the world of sins, as we'll see tonight. Though he does.
But principally sin singular. And it's important we understand that because how we focus on the gospel, there's a lot of what I call gimmickery evangelism today, where you ask a series of questions and you try to get a person to feel guilty and they miss a whole point. of how evangelism is to be done.
So with that said, pick it up in verse number 54. 54 to 63 is review. The word convict that we just read, or in some translations convince or reprove, is a Greek verb that means to bring a guilty verdict. It's actually used in the courtroom, occurring some 18 times in the New Testament. With a view to bring about a change of mind, which is what the word repentance means.
The trembling and urgent plea of the Philippian jailer for salvation show conviction of his sin and need for Jesus, brought by the Spirit's conviction through Paul's testimony and the earthquake. And so he examined Acts 16, and he called for lights, the jailer, and rushed in. And trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas. And after he brought them out, he said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And we saw that miracle earthquake.
How God shook the prison doors where they were open, but the walls and the ceiling. remain totally intact. And God used what was happening that night. They're singing, they're praising God, and then this miracle that had taken place. Jude uses this word convict.
For when Jesus returns, bringing the same kind of sentence about sin. but at that time it will be too light.
So he's speaking about a prophecy that Enoch made. There's no inspired book called the Book of Enoch. There is pseudo-pigraphos. Pseudo, you know, means false graphé to write. It's part of the false writings.
So there are books that were written that were not inspired by God, but for whatever reason, the book of Enoch has gathered a lot of traction and press lately, I guess, because there's been some film on it. But it's folly, it's untrue, it's not part of the inspired canon of Scripture. And if you're not sure how we got our canon, we have. One of these Wednesday night series on canonicity. But he writes, Jude, it was about these people that Enoch, which Enoch, the one in the seventh generation from Adam.
Prophesied saying, Behold, the Lord has come with many thousands of his holy ones to execute judgment upon all and to convict all the ungodly. See that word convict. It's the same word. that Jesus uses in John 16. He is convicting.
Now this is at the return of Christ. Where it's too late to repent. All the ungodly, of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. We noted last time he uses what's called in Koine Greek a prophetic past tense. Hebrew has a similar tense, where sometimes when you want to write something that's so definitively true, something that will absolutely happen in the future, you use a prophetic past, like it's already happened.
In either case, when Jude writes the Lord has come, he uses a prophetic past tense describing a future event. To emphasize the certainty of its happening, many thousands of His Holy Ones. Refer not simply to his angels, but redeemed believers who will accompany Christ at his return. And so Jesus underscores that in Matthew 25 and the all of it discourse, Paul does in 2 Thessalonians, and John does in the Revelation.
So you see the Lord Jesus on his stallion and Who knows how many, but scores, millions. Of believers following Him. Where do they come from? They've been raptured. Those are church saints.
They've already been caught up. They're not Old Testament saints because Old Testament saints, if you remember from our series on end times, are resurrected at the second coming.
So that tells you that these are already raptured saints. There are so many ways to prove a pre-tribulational rapture. We're coming back with him. What I do not want us to miss is that when Jude says the Lord will convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds. He is referring to the just and final judgment of unbelievers at his coming.
Paul, when he references this day, He says, every mouth will be closed. The conviction will be so deep, no one will make an excuse and say, but. Every mouth will be shut, right? Romans 3, 20. The loss will be removed at Christ's second coming when he judges the living nations on earth.
And finally, after the millennium at the Great White Throne judgment.
So there are four future judgments. There's one in heaven. There's two on earth. And one between heaven and earth. And last year we did a series on those four future judgments.
The one in heaven is called the believer's judgment, the judgment of the just, when Christians give an account for their faithfulness. Heaven is marvelous for everyone who goes. It's not the same for everyone who goes. She says, Hell is terrible for anyone who goes, but it's not the same for everyone who goes.
somehow God in His perfect justice either rewards or punishes according to someone's service or their deeds.
So there's one in heaven, believers only, it's not a Christian purgatory, it's the reward seat of Christ. He's not reviewing your sins. That's already been dealt with at the cross. But he is looking at our service.
So it makes a difference, you know, if someone faithfully serves in the local assembly or not. How they serve when they're scattered throughout the week. It makes a difference. And someday we'll give an account for all we've done every day that we've lived to on earth, the judgment. of Jews separating believing Jews from unbelieving Jews.
And the judgment of the nations, most of you know the sheep and goat judgments, right? And there's two classes of people, and how they treated the least of these, my brethren. It's certainly not a salvation by works passage. but it's a salvation that is demonstrated by a changed life. And the epitome of anti-Semitism that is building and growing in our day.
And it's not simply a racial thing. And it's not even an envy thing. It's a satanic thing. Behind anti-Semitism is the Evil One himself. Whether he's trying to wipe the Jews out under the old covenant, and then he lost, and Jesus came, and he died, and was raised, just as God had prophesied, and now his goal is to wipe the Jews out.
So that he can't rule in a kingdom. And we're seeing this build, and it will come to a crescendo. The New Testament teaches in Revelation 19 and 20, Revelation 16 as well, when all the nations of the world go against Israel. And Zechariah the prophet, the 12th chapter and 14th chapter, Ezekiel covers it, Isaiah covers it, Jeremiah covers it. They all cover it almost.
This growing hatred, and you're witnessing Bible prophecy. Being fulfilled in our day. And so the crescendo side of this whole thing will be during the seven-year tribulation. Whether or not someone is a believer or not will be seen in the way they treat the Jewish people. Whatever you did to the least of these, my brethren.
Is going to determine whether you're a sheep, a believer, a tribulation saint, or a goat. We won't be here if we know Jesus. But tribulation saints who are converted during that time. And then there is one final judgment, the great white throne judgment at the end of the millennium.
So, my point is that when the Spirit brings conviction today, he produces a deep sense of guilt and urgency. which is an essential prerequisite for salvation. There can be no conversion without conviction, and there can be no conviction apart from the Spirit of God, which is why Jesus just previously said, If I go, I will send him. The Holy Spirit comes to indwell the church and not the world. And that is important to understand because he does not minister in a vacuum, but he ministers in and through the body of Christ.
All right, so that's kind of a running start so you don't walk in without any context. Number 64: Just as the Son of God needed a body to do his work when he was here on earth, even so the Spirit of God now works through the body of Christ, that is, believers who are indwelt by him.
So we're the vehicle, we're the temple of the Holy Spirit. And that description in 1 Corinthians 6 is used Individually, that each one of us are a temple. And then, like in 1 Corinthians 3, it's used corporately when Paul says, If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him. What's he talking about? He's talking about false teachers who come into the church, who try to tear down God's church, who try to tear down a congregation.
He's not talking about, you know, you eating too much, you're destroying the temple of the Spirit, though I think that might be a legitimate application if we abuse the body. But he's speaking about those who attack the local assembly, God will deal with them. The phrase body of Christ is a metaphor describing the church. You see it in Ephesians 1, Colossians 1, showing the spiritual unity of believers under Christ's headship. and the Spirit's indwelling work.
The saved Who are the body of Christ and individually members of it, as we're described in 1 Corinthians 12, comprise the Holy Spirit's temple. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, right? Peter said in Acts 5:32, and we are witnesses of these things. And so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him. Reminding us that he testifies to all obedient believers as a co-witness.
So he's talking here not in terms of Sealing and indwelling, but in the context, he is talking about God giving you the Holy Spirit in terms of his power. That's the whole. Section, the pericope that it's dealing with. It's God empowering you as He had just empowered these people. And as Peter is reminding the church, who has just gone through some real severe testing and persecution, so much so that they were really afraid.
And they met and they prayed and they recounted about the goodness of God and His power and His might and His sovereignty. And God filled them afresh with the Holy Spirit. And Peter is just reminding us that as believers, if we're obedient, we see this special power of the Spirit upon us. If we're not obedient, then we don't see that ministry of His. We typically call it the filling ministry.
But there is actually another word to describe the filling ministry of the Spirit.
Sometimes you'll hear a Christian speak about the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Why? Because, and it's a different word for fill. Though it's typically rendered fill in the New Testament.
So, like in that room in Acts 4, they're filled with the Holy Spirit when they go in. But they've just come through an awful time. They're praying, they're seeking the Lord. and they're anointed. And so sometimes you can be filled with the Spirit and you're challenging some, you're facing some special task.
And you just sense, God, you've got to help me in this moment. I need your, we could call an anointing or a fresh filling. It's not that you weren't filled. The fact that you were walking into that ministry opportunity is probably because you were filled. But you sense a deep sense of dependence for the Spirit to minister through you.
And that's really what's in view there. In John 15, 26 and 27. That promises that the Holy Spirit testifies about Christ. And when we are obedient to share the gospel, then God the Spirit gets behind us and works through us to join in that testimony. You're not there alone.
Never shall we walk alone. We sing a song or a hymn to that effect tonight.
Well, that's certainly true when we share our faith. In fact, that's the context in which Jesus says, I will be with you even to the end of the age. It's not that he's not otherwise, but he's reminding us in the midst of going and making disciples of all nations, and lo, I'm with you always, even to the end of the age. I'm there with you, I'm walking with you, and so is the Spirit. Jesus is promising that when we share the gospel, the Holy Spirit uses our words.
as his instrument. To convict the heroes and to reveal Jesus. We'll see that in a moment in greater depth. There are exceptional cases where the Spirit acts independently of his people, like in creation. God didn't consult you or I in creation, did He?
But who created the world?
Well, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Each member is credited with creation. And even in Genesis 1-2, you see the spirits role, and in other passages with the spirits involved. Or maybe in a direct revelation. Remember, Moses is in the tent of meeting and he comes out, and the Spirit who had fallen on him fell on all these other men, and they spoke and prophesied.
Did they ask God for it? No, he just decides to do it. doesn't consult anyone. or in direct testimony to us. The Spirit bears witness with our Spirit that we're children of God.
That's an experiential level of assurance that we begin to know as we grow. How does a new believer initially know he's saved? Because he believes in a finished work. Obviously, no one could have assurance of salvation if the work weren't finished, if it were incomplete. And so logically, Roman Catholicism can say you cannot have assurance because they don't believe in a finished work.
They say the work of Jesus is ongoing. And so the Mass, you have the unbloody sacrifice of our Lord Jesus. That's how they define it. But if the work is finished, we can have assurance. That's one level of assurance.
But there's another level as we grow. The Spirit bears witness with our Spirit that we're children of God. There's just a sense. God, I feel your presence. I see your presence.
I see you working in my life. And that, when you experience that as a new believer, as you start growing, it's like, wow. And God kind of reverberates the assurance of our salvation.
So there are times when he just works independently of his people. There's a few more examples, like in Acts 13, what are they doing? They're praying. They're fasting. And then, not because they asked for it, but the Spirit says: here's two guys I want you to support.
Barnabas and Paul.
Now they were already apostles. I take it if Barnabas was an apostle. Not everyone agrees with that, but he's called an apostle. Is it technical or non-technical? I think it's technical, but lay that aside.
It makes no difference. Paul was certainly an apostle, called of God to preach the gospel. But how did the Holy Spirit point out these two individuals?
Well, he spoke to the hearts of that multifaceted group that you read of. You talk about a diverse church, read Acts 13. They weren't expecting that. But God said, I want this church, the church at Antioch. as he spoke to the leadership there.
to support these two men financially in their mission. Certainly, the Holy Spirit's sovereignty allows for his direct testimony whenever it serves the purposes of the Godhead.
However, his normal pattern, especially after Pentecost. is to bear witness true believers. The Spirit's coming at Pentecost is taught by Jesus in Acts 1:8. was primarily to empower believers. not simply for personal blessing.
but to empower us to bear witness of Christ throughout the world.
So, you know, the occasion, they're on the Mount of Olives. Remember, the angel said as they're watching Jesus go up in the sky: this Jesus, whom you saw, leave. He's coming back in the exact same way. to the same place. the man of all us.
You either have to allegorize that statement and so embrace millennialism. And that's what the neo-Calvinist is doing. God's done with the Jew. It's all over. The church has replaced Israel.
Jesus is not going to come and reign on the earth.
So, how do you deal with this? Notice, so when they had come together, they were asking him, saying, Lord, Is it at this time you're restoring the kingdom to Israel? What a perfect time for Jesus to interrupt and say, actually, guys, the kingdom for Israel is all over. It's not going to happen. But he doesn't do that.
Because God is a promise-keeping God. And this is a logical question for them to ask because he just said, John's baptized you with water, but not many days from the Spirit of God is going to baptize you. And why would that create this question in their mind? Because the millennial reign of the Messiah, as it's described in a number of Old Testament passages, is characterized by this supernatural work of the Spirit of God across the planet.
So, if the Spirit's coming in this way, is this the time you're going to restore the kingdom of Israel? He said to them, It's not for you to know the times or epochs which the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and even in the remotest part of the earth.
So it's a prophecy, right? When we say, well, it's the outline of the book of Acts, it is, but it's a prophecy that Jesus is giving here. They're witnesses in Judea, in Jerusalem. Persecution comes, Acts 1:8. They're forced to go to Judea and Samaria, Acts 8 through 12.
and then to the remotest part of the earth. 13 through 28. Number 73. This should encourage us as we share Christ because Jesus is teaching us. That our proclamation is not merely a human effort, but rather it is a spirit-energized testimony.
that carries his power to persuade and save. You'll be my witnesses when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. The Bible repeatedly shows us that the Holy Spirit does not witness apart from people. but works through spirit-filled believers sharing Christ. That's not to say, as I mentioned, he can do whatever he wants to do.
He's God, he's omnipotent.
Sovereign. But the testimony throughout the New Testament Is the Spirit of God chooses to work through individuals? He doesn't write the gospel in the sky, He doesn't have the rocks shouted. Though Jesus said God could certainly have done that. The recurring theme and record in the New Testament is that the Spirit does not bear witness apart from human agency.
But through those who are indwelt and empowered by Him to declare the message of salvation. By the way, just parenthetically, that's why the Christian who doesn't share his faith. Doesn't, among other things, experience this special work of the Spirit of God through him. And what you discover is when you start sharing your faith is a way of life. You see a new sense of power and energy, he's God the Holy Spirit working through you in fresh ways.
When the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost, as recorded in Acts 2, he empowered the Apostle Peter to preach the word of God, which in turn brought deep conviction to those who heard. And so it says, now when they heard this, They were pierced to the heart. And said to Peter and to the rest of the apostles, brothers, What are we to do? I mean, you talk about conviction. We have emphasized in this lesson our need to be filled with the Spirit.
When we evangelize, because there's no conversion without conviction. And there can be no conviction apart from the Spirit of God. We just read that in John 16:8. When He, the Spirit of truth, convicts. The world.
So there's no conviction apart from the Spirit of God using the Word of God, that's what He uses, and the witness of the child of God. And so we've emphasized this many times about our need to use scripture. We covered this already in the first handout. Because not only are we born of the Spirit, we're born of the Word of God. You've not been born of perishable seed, but imperishable seed through the living and abiding Word of God.
So the Spirit of God uses the Word of God. And when you believe that, And you recognize that's how he operates. Then you see, well, my testimony, though it may be interesting, has no real power. The power is not in my life experience. It may get someone's attention.
The power is in God's word ministered through a spirit-filled believer. Witnessing is great privilege. But it is also a serious responsibility. We must be filled with the Holy Spirit, depending on Him to lead us to the right people. And to give us the right words.
Just as the Apostle Paul testifies to the church living in Corinth. This is an interesting passage. It says, Now we have received not the spirit of the world, But the spirit Who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak. Not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. And I underline that.
This phrase, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words, reminds us that the Holy Spirit. Not only does he gives the truths themselves, but he also guides our words. used to express his thoughts. Have you ever been sharing your faith and you say, man, things were rolling and coming to my mind, and God was bringing things together. He's combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.
Assuming, of course, you're using the scripture, you've hidden the scripture, or you're reading the scripture, and you're explaining the scripture. Because, again, we play a role. People can certainly read the Bible and be converted, but that's not typically how it happens. Most folks don't get saved. I found out Gideon's Bible, read it, and got saved.
Could happen. Doesn't typically happen. That's not to dismiss the Gideon's ministry. It's a good ministry, especially for the believer who's in the hotel room and he forgot his Bible. He can read it.
But if they were pre-evangelized, well maybe that Gideon's Bible would be of help. God could certainly use that, but most folks are like the Ethiopian eunuch. Who's he speaking about, himself or someone else? He said, How can I understand it? Unless someone explains it to me.
So you're sharing, you're explaining, and God is combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. Understand that the Apostle Paul was not simply speaking from his own human intellect. But he was also depending on the Holy Spirit to use spirit-guided language in order to communicate spirit-given truth.
So, number eighty three. When we share Christ, we are not simply to speak from human intellects. We are to be filled with Spirit depending on Him. And some people, sadly, they speak from human intellect. You hear them preach and it's There's no power there.
It was a dead sermon.
Now, God may work in spite of us, but He would prefer to work through us. What we find in Paul's testimony is a reference to the Spirit's dual role in both inspiring truth and illuminating the words we use to share it. This applies not simply to the verbal inspiration of Scripture, where the very words of the Bible are spirit-directed, and not merely the ideas, and that's an important distinction, because you have people like Cooperative Baptists. They're liberals. We have two cooperative Baptist churches in town.
And um They say, well, the ideas are inspired. But not each and every word. That's fundamental to the Cooperative Baptist movement that was started by Cecil Sherman. And so they deny what we call verbal plenary inspiration. No, the ideas are not simply inspired.
The very words are inspired. Jesus said the very letters are inspired, right down to the tenses and the smallest mark.
So the very words of the Bible are spirit-directed, not merely the ideas, but also his ongoing role in making those words speak to those who hear.
So, this is his ongoing ministry as he uses his word. In addition, the same spirit continues to apply and empower the word through believers as he enables us to proclaim the Bible with clarity. Conviction. and the transforming power to bring a new birth. I like what Dr.
John Waldron wrote in his book. This was required reading years ago at Dallas Seminary. And he writes in his book, The Holy Spirit. The edition I had was 1973, but it's one of those books that's been in continual print. Kind of like in staff, we just started a book by Dr.
Ryrie: You Could Not Graduate from Dallas Seminary without having read it. Sadly, today, most students haven't even heard of it. But he says, the Holy Spirit, who once taught spiritual truths with spiritual words and the giving of the scriptures, now illuminates the minds of believers to understand and communicate that same truth.
Now if you believe that, You'll go with a deep sense of dependence on the Spirit. When God opens a door for you to speak about His Son. For this reason, the Apostle Paul could say, in the immediate context, in my message and my preaching, We're not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest in the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. But in addition to his work by inspiring the biblical writers, the same spirit continues to apply and empower that word through believers. We just read that he combines spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.
Too many Christians today think that effectively sharing the gospel depends more on rhetorical skill. You know, is he a good speaker?
So these are good illustrations. It's just nonsense. Dead preaching. It's not based on rhetorical skill. That's not to say that God could use an illustration, but I'm telling you, if the Spirit of God is not behind it, it doesn't mean much.
Well they think, some rhetorical sky, I gotta take a preaching course. or a knowledge of apologetics. Oh, that's the key. Rather than on the Spirit's power working in us and in the here. We must never forget that the Spirit brings God's truth, already written in Scripture.
to life in the hearts of those who hear it. And we call that conviction. When we share the plan of salvation, keep in mind that the Spirit is the one who combines spiritual thoughts with spiritual words, enabling us to rightly express it while opening the heart of the lost. to grasp it.
So, God wants to express it through us. That's our side of it. And then He has to work in the heart of the lost person. For this reason, the Apostle Paul asks the Colossians to pray that God will open up for us a door for the word, and then when that door is opened, that he might make it clear. Wow, what a statement.
Listen to what he writes here in Colossians. Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving, praying at the same time for us as well that God will open up. to us a door for the word. That's a good thing to pray and ask others to pray for you.
So that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned. Remember, he is in Caesarea by the sea when he writes this letter. We went through that on Sunday, 1, 2, 3, 4, 2, 1, right? Remember the order of the books? that I may make it clear.
And the way that I ought to speak. Wow, Paul, the great theologian. Needed help in making it clear, yes, if he was going to combine spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. If his gospel presentation was not merely going to be in persuasive words, but in power and demonstration of the Holy Spirit.
So, the Spirit works through us, bringing conviction to the lost as we faithfully share. And so, like Paul, we must faithfully pray for help. We should note that Jesus says. Sin, not sins. When He, the Spirit of Truth, comes, He will convict the world of sin.
Not sins. Because unbelief is the root of all sin and is the basis of our condemnation. People are not sent to hell for being immoral, drunkards, murderers, or adulterers. But because they persisted in unbelief that drove such sins. Only the Spirit can teach that the greatest and most damning sin in this world is not believing in Jesus, God's Son.
who testifies to us that he is God's only provision for sin. He is our only way of escape.
So it's not like you play this little game. Have you ever told a lie? Have you ever lusted at a woman? Have you ever done it? The sin, and I'm not saying that you don't address those things, and very often what you will discover when you're in presentations of the gospel is a person will raise some issue that they're dealing with.
And then you address it in truth and in honesty. But the sin the believer is to focus on in his presentation of the gospel is the sin of unbelief. That's the heart of, that is the root of all sins, the sin of unbelief.
So, you know, asking diagnostic questions like Paul did in Acts 19. Or we do, why should God let you into heaven? When a guy says, I don't know, or good works, or Jesus placed good works, that's the sin of unbelief. And what replaces a sin of unbelief is a presentation. of what it is that God is asking us to believe concerning His Son.
Now the same is true when we come to righteousness and the judgment to come. And there's so there's like three major areas that Jesus is underscoring as the Spirit is using us to present the plan of salvation. Only the Spirit can teach us that the greatest, most damning sin. Is the sin of not believing Jesus? He is our only way of escape, Jesus.
The one. Who believes in the Son has the testimony in himself. The one who does not believe God has made him a liar. Because he has not believed in the testimony. that God has given concerning his Son.
Sometimes I'll talk to people in And you've done this, so this is not unique to me. Product. Did you call upon Christ to save you?
Well, yeah, I prayed the prayer. Were you certain you're going to heaven? I don't know. That's the sin of unbelief. That's saying, God, you won't do what you promised.
Now, because God did what he did, he can promise what he promises. Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord. It's a quotation from Joel. It's a messianic passage, and since Jesus fulfilled that passage, Paul applies it to Jesus.
So the Lord there is: whoever calls upon the name of Jesus will be saved. But if you don't believe that, what are you doing? You're making God a liar. That's really what someone is doing. You're saying, God, you won't do what you said.
That's unbelief. That's the opposite of faith. Because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning his Son. And the testimony is this: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has the life.
He who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. There's no in-between. You either have the Son or you don't. How do I know if I have him? These things I've written to you: believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you can know that you have eternal life.
If you believe, that's the crux of the issue. The person choosing not to believe is like a man who has a deadly but curable disease. He refuses to take his medicine and so he dies. Not just because of the disease, but because he rejected the cure.
So, you know, we deal sometimes with all these ancillary sins and I'm not saying you don't Deal with them. But a person can't change those things. The one who sins is a slave to sin. When I was talking to a gay man like three weeks ago, I said, you have absolutely no power to change your life. You, through choices you've made, have set yourself on a certain course.
But if you will come and believe on the Lord Jesus and trust Him to forgive you of your sins. And therein lies the problem, the sin of unbelief. Then he'll make you a new creature, and he will change you. If anyone is in Christ, he's a new creation. Number 99, all those who go into an eternity in hell will do so not simply because they're sinners.
But because they have refused God's remedy, which is why the Holy Spirit comes to convict the world of our unbelief. Again, and when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment. Concerning sin, why? Because they do not believe. That's the mother of all sins, unbelief.
As noted earlier, when Jesus speaks of the world, he means every person. For God made provision through Christ's death for everyone, since each of us is guilty of the sin of unbelief.
Now again, the neo-Calvinist underscores in our day, you know, the doctrine of limited atonement, that the world does not mean the world, and that Jesus didn't die for everyone, only for those who would believe. And of course, that's the opposite of what Scripture argues in Romans 3 or even Romans 5. Jesus' words in John 16, 8 stand in direct contrast to modern-day Reformed theology. That traces its teachings back primarily to John Calvin, not exclusively, but primarily. Let's do one more page.
Um 'cause I need to be sensitive to the I thought I'd forgotten the video. I didn't know if we were going to do it tonight or not. Calvin's doctrine of election asserts that from the moment of conception, some individuals are elected for salvation. while others are preordained to eternal condemnation without any possibility for salvation.
So I pulled out my institutes. And in Book 3, Section 23, Chapter 23, section 6, Calvin writes these words: Now, since the arrangement of all things is in the hand of God. since to him belongs the disposal of life and death. He arranges all things by his sovereign counsel in such a way that individuals are born. who are doomed from the womb to certain death.
and are to glorify him by their destruction.
So, Calvin Todd, I'll show you more quotes before we're done.
Some are created in his mind for damnation. They are doomed from the womb. The above quotation is given right before Calvin quotes Proverbs 16:4. And he says there, the Lord, Yahweh, has made everything for his own purpose, even the wicked for the day of evil. There it is, he says.
Therefore, since God is sovereign, some are doomed from the womb, since even the wicked are made for the day of evil. Proverbs 16:4 does not mean that God created people to be wicked, but rather that He permits human sin and He uses it to fulfill His purposes. Simply put, God without being the author of man's sin can bring good. Even out of human evil, by revealing his justice in the day of judgment. When God Judges the lost, it will be a just judgment because they have rejected in their unbelief the provision he made so that they could have a way of escape.
They either rejected it on the front end by suppressing the truth and unrighteousness, Romans 1, right, 18 to 20. Which is total unbelief. And so they turn away, they block God out, and they want to focus on their being their own God or worshiping false gods. or in their unbelief when they hear the message of salvation. Simply put, God, without being the author of man's evil, can bring good even out of human evil.
And we'll see that at the judgment. God uses even the wicked for his purposes, but he does not create anyone solely to be damned. And I'll show you four more texts from Calvin. That's what he teaches. That to me is absolute heresy.
That is an evil Teaching. But may I remind you, that's the neo-reformed theology of our day.
So, if you go into church and they say, we believe in the doctrines of grace, then they believe this that Calvin just stated. God uses even the wicked for his purposes, but he does not create anyone solely to be damned. The choice of unbelief is their own. Because they, verse 9, do not believe in me. In sharp contrast, Jesus speaks of the Spirit convicting the world concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment, indicating that the offer in the possibility of salvation is made available to all people.
Does world mean world? Yeah. You know, you have to be educated into this position to grasp it. It doesn't come from the plain reading of Scripture. And there's a certain arrogance in pride.
That, in my view, is wrapped up in a lot of Reformed theology today. You know, we're in the end. You're just stupid little people who really don't understand how God works, but we do. That's the spirit of neo-Calvinism in our day. And Satan, I think, is driving much of it.
Why? Because Calvinism has a whole system of theology. And in these last days, fundamental to that system of theology is a rejection of the Jewish people as God's. Future purpose. Oh, they'll admit.
Oh, there's a future for Israel. We can't escape that, Charles Hodge says in his systematic theology that I have in my study. There's a future, there's going to be a revival of Jews in the end. No, we're not saying there is a future, we are saying the Jewish nation is the future. And because they don't teach that.
They're creating a vacuum for the spirit of anti-Semitism. To fill it. The first step on the road to salvation, did I do 108? Yet, God's provision in Christ extends universally, giving every individual the opportunity to renounce their unbelief and to respond in faith. Again, when we come to the doctrine of total depravity, when we're in the Red Booklet and we're dealing with the doctrine of sin, we'll see they don't believe that statement in 108.
The first step on the road to salvation is to understand that the greatest sin is to neglect or reject Jesus. And this is a sin God cannot forgive, which is why. Jesus defi singularly defines sin is not believing. He convicts the world of sin. That is, and he defines what he means, because they do not believe in me.
So it's no mystery what he has in view when he says sin. A courtroom may convict me of crimes, and my conscience may convict me of my wrongdoing, but only the Spirit can convict me of unbelief. Only He can show me that I cannot save myself, that I need not believe in myself, but on the one who died and gave himself for me. We'll end it there. I went too long.
I mistimed the video, so I'll just close this in prayer. Let's bow our heads. Our Father, we're so thankful for the Spirit of God that you did not leave us as orphans. But through the promise of the prophets that Jesus affirmed in Nicodemus, you sent the Spirit to indwell us. To be the earnest, the down payment, the guarantee that the work that you began, you'll complete.
Thank you that he is ready. And wanting to fill the obedient Christian the one who is yielded to him And thank you that you would even give us the great privilege. To be able to tell lost people how they can be forgiven and saved. Our Father, we know that we're called to study and show ourselves approved. As workmen who are not ashamed.
We know we play a role in studying the scripture. But we also know that the Spirit of God must take that study and combine spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. Such that it would bring conviction on the hearts of those who do not believe. We know, Father, we live in a world where there is so much that can fill the heart of a Christian. Things that our heart should never ponder on.
But may this Spirit have freedom, total sway over us. We pray with the Apostle Paul that you would provide open doors. We know we can't share with everyone, but we know, Father, we can share with someone.
So, even tomorrow, if there's someone that you would like us to speak with, we're available, we're asking you for that open door. And we pray that it would come, so that we might have the grace and the power to make it clear. Thank you for the Harvest Festival and the many. Lost people who came on our campus. We pray that they might be reinvited in the days ahead.
Thank you for. A lady I met on Sunday. Who came because she was invited by three different CBC people. And because of that, she received Christ. May her tribe increase.
May you use us to the glory of the Lord Jesus. We lift up the church in Nigeria. Where we know every stripe, even those who are just Christianized, but we know that the born-again believers are intensely under attack. With thousands murdered. Help our President.
to intervene if That's what you would choose to do. There are many who are sick, too many that I can even mention tonight, but we lay them before you. Thank you that you are the God of all grace. That you care about everything that we face, that you told us to cast every care on you because you care for us. And we thank you for that in Jesus' name.
Amen.
