LEARNING DAILY

John 16:7-11, Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is for your good that I go away; For 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 righteousness because the ruler of this world is judged.  Jesus

“During Jesus’ earthly ministry, the Holy Spirit did not dwell in His followers but selectively empowered them for specific acts of ministry. At the moment of Christ’s ascension, the Father would send the Holy Spirit to serve as a constant presence, comforter, and counselor for His people.” (David Jeremiah). I wonder if the disciples understood this. I wonder if they believed that Jesus leaving would really be good or beneficial for them. So, what was the benefit? From my experience as a new and baby Christian, there were some men that I relied on to help me learn and grow (mature) as a Christian. After a time, these men were taken out of my life as each moved to different locations. Who did I lean on then? I had to be able to depend on my ability to read/study/meditate on God’s Word. But I also was able to lean on the Helper, the Holy Spirit to help me know the voice of God within my heart (John 14:17). Read this next statement carefully. That does not make me all-knowing or infallible. Paul wrote in Colossians 2:8, “Beware lest anyone cheat you (take you captive) through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ”. There is plenty of deception, “stuff” written by men who think God is leading them when He is not. The Holy Spirit prompts the Believer that something is not right as we read, or hear messages about God’s Word. We want to follow what is true and right and not be misled by false teachers.

The coming of the Helper, the Holy Spirit, has been mentioned before in the Upper Room teaching. Just how else does He help Believers as they walk the narrow way. He will “convict the world of sin”. There is no amount of teaching, preaching, pleading, or pointing out the wrongs of a person regarding sin that will change their minds unless the Holy Spirit is at work in their hearts. As I read and study God’s Word it is becoming clearer to me that a major sin in the world is the failure to recognize Jesus Christ as the Son of God who came to die, to take the place of every person on a cross who gives their life to Him. Unbelief, turning from God, ignoring Him, placing their own pleasure before pleasing God, and ignoring what He says in His Word are major problems. The Holy Spirit is at work in the world convicting people of their unbelief. When a person is saved by faith in Jesus, the Holy Spirit helps him/her grow and to walk the narrow way in order to become like Jesus and to be ready to enter the kingdom of God.

The Holy Spirit convicts the world “of righteousness” as well. Today, there are those in the world who want you to believe there is no standard of righteousness; they say truth is what one believes, and it might be different for each person. Look at the way people live today. Do you find it difficult to know who is telling the truth and who isn’t? Again, the Holy Spirit prompts a Believer when something spoken does not seem correct. It needs to be stressed at this point that there was only One perfect person to walk on this earth – that was Jesus Christ; He alone lived a sinless life. The Holy Spirit will lead the Believer to do what is right, even when it is very difficult. He will strengthen the Believer facing temptation, trials and whenever the narrow way becomes difficult. The Holy Spirit will always lead the Believer toward truth!

 The Holy Spirit also convicts the world “of judgment”. God’s Word shares about the Father’s love; it is not shy about judgment coming. That judgment is a day of reckoning when the Father will hand out His justice on sin and those who have chosen to ignore Him. Judgment began when Jesus defeated Satan at the cross. It will be finished when King Jesus returns to defeat the devil, establish His kingdom on earth and finally send the devil into eternal punishment. This will include all who follow him.

It is good that Jesus returned to the Father and sent to each Believer the Helper, the Holy Spirit!