Sermon from Pastor Brian Peart
The Work of The Holy Spirit Part Two
Message overview
About this message
This video continues the discussion on the work of the Holy Spirit, focusing on the Holy Spirit's ministry to believers as described in John 16. The speaker explains that while the Holy Spirit convicts unbelievers of their need for Jesus, for believers, His role is to convict us of righteousness rather than judgment.
Using an everyday example, the speaker illustrates how the Holy Spirit prompts believers to do what is right, helping them grow spiritually when they obey these convictions. He emphasizes that believers are not judged or condemned because of Jesus’ finished work, referencing Romans 8.
The message underlines that Christians do not need to clean themselves up or earn God's favor but are to maintain a relationship with Jesus and follow the Holy Spirit’s guidance. By consistently responding to these convictions, believers become more like Jesus, bear more fruit, and experience greater joy.
Scripture in this message
Key takeaways
- The Holy Spirit convicts unbelievers of their need for Jesus and believers of righteousness.
- Believers are not judged or condemned due to Jesus' work, as stated in Romans 8.
- Conviction from the Holy Spirit is meant to guide believers to do what is right, not to induce guilt.
- Spiritual growth comes as believers respond to and obey the Holy Spirit’s promptings.
- Christians are already pleasing to God and should focus on relationship, not self-cleaning or earning acceptance.
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Sermon transcript
Okay. Hey guys, yesterday we were talking about the ministry of the Holy Spirit as described by Jesus in John 16. And we were talking about the Holy Spirit's ministry to the unbelievers yesterday, which is to convict them of their need for Jesus and to point them to Jesus and to to help the unsaved. Um today we're going to talk about the Holy Spirit's ministry to the believer.
Okay. In John 16, Jesus said um that when he has come, the Holy Spirit, he will convict the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. Of sin because they don't believe in me. That's the Holy Spirit's ministry to the unbeliever.
Okay? Of righteousness because um I go to the father and you'll see me no more. Leaving us with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit's work is convicting us to righteousness.
for believers. It's to convict us to righteousness, not judgment. It's very important to understand that what Jesus did on the cross, okay, settled it. We're not judged as believers.
Romans 8 says, "There is now therefore no condemnation for those who believe in Christ Jesus." Okay? We're not judged by the Holy Spirit. Okay?
We'll talk tomorrow about the one thing the Holy Spirit does judge, but he doesn't judge the believer. He convicts us to righteousness. So, what does that mean? Uh, let me give you an example.
Say a waitress gives you too much money and you notice it and now there's this maybe there's a battle. Okay, hopefully as you grow there's not one. You just immediately give it back. But what if you're really tight on money?
What if you start, you know, thinking, gosh, I really could use this money or what if you you start uh I can use it more than the than the restaurant or you start saying maybe God's blessing me, which he's not going to bless you by allowing you to steal. Okay. Um but ultimately, there's this feeling you have this almost feeling. It's not guilt.
It can feel a little bit like it, but it's not. It's actually conviction of righteousness. He is holding up the standard of Jesus Christ. You know what the right thing is to do.
What would Jesus do? Right? You know what the right thing is to do. And that's the conviction of the Holy Spirit.
The more you say yes and obey that prompting, the more you uh reject that temptation, the more you turn away from that, the more you're going to grow your spiritual muscle, the more your faith will grow. If you don't clean yourself up, okay, this is very important. Christians will get saved and then they start trying to do all this stuff as if they still have to earn it or or or they try to mortify their sin and try to try to do all these things to to to please the father. God's already pleased with you, man.
You don't clean yourself up. You accept Jesus into your heart and you keep that relationship good. And then you allow the Holy Spirit to begin to convict you of righteousness. And and when that temptation comes, you you because you're going to get tempted still.
Just because you're saved doesn't mean there's no temptation, but the Holy Spirit will convict you on it and you'll have that opportunity to obey the spirit's prompting and to um do the right thing. And as you do that more and more, okay, the more you reject those temptations, the more you're going to grow like Jesus. Okay? So that's how it works.
You accept them and you work on that relationship, okay, with Jesus. You accept him. You allow the Holy Spirit to come in, okay? And you obey those convictions of righteousness.
You obey those prompings of the Holy Spirit. And as you do that more and more, you're going to grow more and more like Jesus. And guess what? The more you grow like Jesus, the more fruit you're going to have.
And the more fruit you have, the more joy you're going to have. And then your joy will be complete. So that's the work of the Holy Spirit towards unbelievers and believers. Tomorrow we're going to talk about the one thing the Holy Spirit does judge, which is the rule of this world.
But until then, remember that Jesus loves you and there's nothing you can do about