Sin, Righteousness, and the Cross

Play Audio
MP3 Download (23 mb)

Fourth Sunday After Easter
Sin, Righteousness, and the Cross
May 2, 2010

TEXT:  (John 16:5-15 NKJ)  "But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me,`Where are You going?' 6 "But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. 7 "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. 8 "And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 "of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 "of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 11 "of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. 12 "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 14 "He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. 15 "All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.
 
Jesus’ disciples were thinking that Jesus would establish an earthly kingdom—and they would be part of that kingdom—however, they misunderstood these things from the beginning—now Jesus is telling them that He will leave—and He will send them the Holy Spirit—and that it will be a good thing that He leaves—He told Pilate that His kingdom was not of this world—it was in heaven
 
(John 18:36-37 NKJ)  Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here." 37 Pilate therefore said to Him, "Are You a king then?" Jesus answered, "You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice."
 
Jesus’ kingdom is an invisible kingdom—a spiritual kingdom—a kingdom not to be understood by the unbelievers
 
When Jesus was speaking to the disciples in our text—He knew their hearts were full of sorrow—and He knew that they left little or no room for joy—the joy of His resurrection—Jesus knew that they needed that joy—just as He knows we need that joy—and that sometimes we don’t allow room in our lives for the joy of Jesus—because we consume ourselves with the sorrows and worries of this world
 
Another issue Jesus deals is His departure and the sending of the Holy Spirit—Jesus would leave—the One who walked the earth in perfection and dwelt among us—would depart and send the One who dwells within us—who helps us understand all things—the Holy Spirit—all the disciples would allow themselves to hear—was that Jesus would depart—perhaps there is a lesson there—we sometimes listen to what we want to hear—then we quit listening
 
TEXT:  (John 16:8-11 NKJ) "And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 "of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 "of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 11 "of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
 
Jesus now tells us of how the Holy Spirit will convict the world because of its unbelief—unbelief because of their denial of Christ Jesus, our Savior—this denial is a sin—and no amount of good works can overcome that sin—it is a sin that separates men from the Son of God—it is a sin that sends men to hell
 
Jesus told us about believers and unbelievers—salvation and condemnation—He spoke this simply—beautifully—and concisely in one of the most beautiful statements in Scripture
 
(John 3:16-18 NKJ)  "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 18 "He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
 
We believers experience a strengthening of our faith due to the intervention of the Holy Spirit—but unbelievers experience conviction by the Holy Spirit for their sin of unbelief—let us listen to the inspired writings of Paul and Peter on the matter—first Peter as he addresses Jewish-Christian leaders in Jerusalem
 
 (Acts 15:8-9 NKJ) "So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them [the Gentiles who believed] by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us [the Jews who believed], 9 "and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.
 
Paul tells us that if we are in Christ—we are not condemned because we are in the Spirit
 
(Romans 8:1 NKJ)  There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
 
TEXT:  (John 16:10 NKJ) "of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more;
 
God has recognized several righteous men in the Old Testament—Noah—Enoch—Elijah—Job—because of one righteous man the world was saved
 
(Genesis 6:7-9 NKJ)  So the LORD said, "I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them." 8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. 9 This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God.
 
(Genesis 7:1 NKJ)  Then the LORD said to Noah, "Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation.
 
We know Enoch was a righteous man because God took him into heaven
 
(Genesis 5:23-24 NKJ)  So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. 24 And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.
 
We know Elijah was a righteous man because God took him
 
(2 Kings 2:11 NKJ)  Then it happened, as they continued on and talked, that suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two of them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
 
God chose Job from among all on earth because He knew Job was a righteous man
 
(Job 1:1 NKJ)  There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil.
 
When Christ came—lived His perfect life—died for our sins—was resurrected in victory over death—and now tells us that He must go to the Father—He did all these things to bring His righteousness to us
 
He tells us in the text that we would see Him no more—that is, He would be in heaven—Christians or those of this world could not see Him—nor the miraculous signs He performed during His ministry—He could only be seen through the spiritual eyes of faith
 
(Romans 8:23-25 NKJ)  Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. 24 For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.
 
TEXT:  (John 16:11 NKJ) "of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
 
And now the third point Jesus makes concerning the Holy Spirit—it judges the devil including all those who are unbelievers and all the evil of this world—there is a time for judgment—we know this from the Old Testament—and we know it from the New Testament
 
(Proverbs 11:31 NKJ) If the righteous will be recompensed on the earth, How much more the ungodly and the sinner.
 
Peter paraphrases this verse in his presentation of judgment
 
(1 Peter 4:17 NKJ) For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 Now "If the righteous one is scarcely saved, Where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?"
 
The judgment of Satan was made when Jesus took our sins upon the cross—when Jesus died—when He was resurrected in victory over death and the devil—but even though we are presented as righteous before our God—we suffer because of our sins—because we know we sin—we don’t want to sin—we regret our sins and we know we deserve judgment from God our Creator—Paul states this feeling of Christians in his letter to the Romans
 
(Romans 7:15 NKJ)  For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. 16 If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. 17 But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. 18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. 19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. 20 Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. 21 I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. 22 For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. 23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 I thank God -- through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.
 
God sent His Holy Spirit to dwell within us—to remind us of the things Jesus teaches us through the Word—that we would recognize the sin in our lives—repent—and live God-pleasing lives—Jesus closes His discussion in our text with the promise of how the Holy Spirit will help us
 
 
 
TEXT:  (John 16:12 NKJ)  "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 14 "He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. 15 "All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.
 
Jesus had to return to heaven to be our Intercessor—the Church on earth was now ready for the presence of God within us in the form of the Holy Spirit—the Church was now ready to spread in such a way that the man-God Jesus needed to send us our Helper to serve us
 
ALL GLORY BE TO GOD!