Monday, September 15, 2014

These Things I Have Spoken

John 16:1-11

These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble. They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father or Me. But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them. And these things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you. But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, "Where are You going?"

But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless 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 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; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.


And these thing Jesus speaks to us today. Yesterday in church the message was about how we need the Holy Spirit in our lives, how we need to walk in the Spirit, that in and through the Spirit is how God works through us. If it had not been for Jesus and His death the Holy Spirit would not be accessible to us...through our acceptance of Jesus in our lives.

First, I see in these verses how Jesus is telling of things His disciples will experience; I see today how these words can be for any Christian who will face persecution...especially with the way things are happening in this world, how Christians are being treated...how God is being treated...even in our country...because they have not known the Father or MeWe see it in the news almost daily now. Who would ever have imagined it would come to this...and yet the Bible has warned about the last days (Matthew 24:7-17).

Second, the job of the Holy Spirit is explained. When the Holy Spirit would come to them, He would convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. No one wants to be shown their sin. The righteousness is Christ's; proof of His righteousness, that because He was falsely accused, He would choose to die for those sins we have but would rise again and be with His Father. Judgment is what Christ would, and has, placed upon our enemy the devil.

We do have an enemy. He lives among us every day trying to bollux up all lives. He wants all people to join his ranks and he's doing a good job. The Holy Spirit is truth. He shows us truths. He will show us the enemy's plan vs. Jesus' plan. The enemy's plan is death and destruction; Jesus' plan is salvation and eternal life. The Holy Spirit of God shows us our sin that can only be taken away through Jesus and His righteousness, nothing we do on our own...and through Jesus alone the enemy is defeated in our life. There's a big bunch of truth right there.

It all starts with Jesus. It starts with believing in Him, receiving Him, being born again...spiritually, I might add...being filled with the Holy Spirit of truth. We don't need to be healthy, wealthy, wise or all cleaned up and good. We just need to be willing to submit to Christ. We need to be serious about Him. We need to follow and obey Him. Then, and only then, we become children of God. As soon as we make that commitment, we are filled with the Holy Spirit and He leads us into all truth. The truth of God's Word becomes alive and exciting...and convicting.

That's why Jesus told us, Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. ...unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Do not marvel that I said to you, "You must be born again." (John 3:3,5,7) It means making a decision, choosing to receive Christ. You can only be led to Christ, but the decision is yours to make. It's an important, life changing one.

Ephesians‬ ‭1‬:‭13-14‬ - In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.



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