31 DAYS TO PENTECOST

TEXT: JOHN 16:7-14

⁷Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

 ⁸And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:

 ⁹Of sin, because they believe not on me;

¹⁰Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;

¹¹Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.

¹²I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.

¹³Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

¹⁴He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

KEY TEXT: John 14:9  …And when He is come, He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment…

REFLECTION:  What was Jesus thinking? He promised the “Paracleton”—the Comforter—and then explained, “He will reprove the world…” That’s no way to market a new church!  Someone needed to explain that you have to be “seeker sensitive” to be a successful Church planter.

Conviction for sin is the Spirit’s first tack. He reproves sin.  He exalts righteousness.  And He warns of certain judgment. 

Modern preachers hawk the blessings of “the HOLY Ghost” like carnies promising prizes to players walking the midway of a low budget carnival.  How tragic.

To be sure, there are blessings promised to the Spirit-filled, but these come only to those who are first convicted of sin, convinced that they are sinners, and converted—born of the Spirit. It is this reproof, or conviction, that is notable for its absence in the contemporary Church world.

If there is no conviction for sin—no awareness of the displeasure of God for specific disobediences—there can be no conversion.  On the first Christian Pentecost Peter preached specifically.  Filled with the unction of a Spirit-Filled preacher, Peter charged his audience with murder, rebelliousness, and wickedness, “Save yourselves from this untoward generation.”

It was then that the people were pierced in their hearts and they cried out, “Men and brethren what must we do?”  (Acts 2:37).

So-called “Holy Ghost Revivals” or “Holy Ghost Services” that have no conviction for sin are charades at best.  Church services that claim to be “Spirit-driven” though no one seems even slightly concerned about their sin—their adulterous relationships, their deceptions and disobediences, their impure motivations, or their self-centeredness—are not inspired by the Holy Spirit.  And Christians who profess to be “filled with the Spirit,” while they “walk after the flesh” are deceived.

When the Spirit comes He will reprove.  Has He come to you?

PRAYER: Our Heavenly Father, we bow before your Throne humbly acknowledging our need of Thy Spirit.  We thank Thee for the day that thy Spirit convicted our hell-bound souls.  We thank Thee for the day that thy Spirit invited us to know Christ. We thank Thee for the moment when the Spirit answered to the blood, and told us we had been born of God.  We thank Thee for all those times when Thy Holy Spirit has checked us, reproved us, reminded us, and led us.  We pray that today we would walk in the Spirit.  We pray that today we would be filled with Thy Spirit.  We pray that today we might be used by Thy Spirit. All the Glory belongs to Jesus! In His name we pray. Amen. “Our Father, &c.”