Jesus has already mentioned that he is going to away. To help their concern he tells them about how the Holy Spirit will come to comfort them. This blessing only comes if Jesus leaves. Why is so important? The Holy Spirit will convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgment. See Acts 2:36-37. The Holy Spirit is the inside prosecutor. He comes to convict us of our sins. No person can get to heaven without being convicted. Heaven will be full of convicts! The Devil will try to give you advice on sin.

1 – He convicts of sin (vs. 8-9)

Not everyone knows they are a sinner. People make excuses for their sins. It is their social upbringing that is to blame or some other reason. The number one problem is sin. There is a great ignorance of our sin nature. The Holy Spirit deals with the root. The greatest sin of all is to not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. God cannot forgive this sin. You write your ticket to hell if you don’t believe. People don’t go to hell because of murder, suicide or theft. God can forgive these sins. You go to hell for rejecting Jesus Christ. See John 3:18.

The Holy Spirit works also in the world. He goes beyond the church to make sure people know they are sinners.

2 – He convinces us of the standard (vs. 10)

The Holy Spirit makes known to us God’s standard. The Holy Spirit does not speak of himself. He convinces us of righteousness. This is God’s standard. Righteousness is the standard to measure sin against. The Holy Spirit uses righteousness as a flashlight to expose violation. The prosecutor needs to shows that people have broken some law to get a conviction. We try to establish our righteousness. We have our own standards. Our standards will be ignored by God. We think that because we sing in the choir, go to church every Sunday, etc that God will be impressed. Your righteousness will not get you into Heaven. You need to submit yourself to the righteousness of God. See Isaiah 64:6. Your righteousness is filthy to God.

Jesus took off the robe of His own righteousness and put on the robe of our dirty righteousness. He became our substitute and had to die. He took it for us. He is now giving us his righteousness. It requires us to accept the shed blood of Jesus Christ. It is not about what we have done. It is about what He has done. The Holy Spirit will convict you of God’s standard. Will you accept it?

3 – He conveys to us the sentence (vs. 11)

When the trial is over it is time for the sentence. The Holy Spirit gives us the verdict. The verdict is always guilty. Judgment is coming. In your mind you know that judgment day is coming. It is the Holy Spirit that lets you know. The Devil doesn’t want you to know. The father of every sinner is the devil. If the father is judged then the children will be judged too. See John 12:31.

You can fool a lie detector but you can’t fool the Holy Spirit of God. There is a court day coming. You will not be able to post any bail. No insanity pleas will be allowed. There won’t be any plea bargain. You will not be released to do community work. You will be sentenced against the standard. You can have had a defence attorney free of charge. He has never lost a case. Jesus is our advocate. The Christian can settle the case out of court. The prosecutor becomes your friend. The Holy Spirit will give you power to live for Jesus each day.

Categories: John