At the end of the program last week about what really happens in a real conversion to Christ, I expressed regret that we were unable to discuss the work of the Holy Spirit in a real conversion. Don't go away, that is our study today.
Thank you, my friend, for inviting us into your home to study the Bible IN SEARCH OF THE LORD'S WAY, to become and to be a Christian. We are so glad you did tune us in, and we pray that we will both be blessed by our study. If you are new to our program, you might need to know that we are closed captioned for the hearing impaired people in your family also if you have any. And, we are here always, as today, because of the love and generosity of members of locally autonomous churches of Christ in the area of this television station or radio station. And they are the reason you never hear us begging for money. And, they would love to have you pay them a visit at their Bible studies or worship sometime. I hope you will do that.
Last week we studied about "What Happens in Real Conversion." First, we learned that "conversion" just means the process of "change." And in a person's conversion to Christ there must be a change of heart to begin with-- from unbelief to belief. There must be a change in behavior or lifestyle which is accomplished in what the Bible calls "repentance." There must also be likewise a change in loyalties-- from Satan to Christ. And that is accomplished when the believer stands up for Christ in a world of opposition. And a person, and then the fourth one is that a person must pass from the unsaved state to the saved state-- or to being reconciled to God. Second Corinthians 5:18 says "...God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself." So, we must pass from out-of Christ to into Christ. And that change is achieved in the act of obeying Christ in baptism. Remember? We learned that as many as were baptized into Christ, have put on Christ. That is in Galatians 3:27. That puts a person into the saved state. B-u-t, we didn't get to saying anything about the work of the Holy Spirit in the conversion of the sinner. And, that is so important I felt that I just had to digress from the announced schedule and discuss that today. I don't want anyone to think, if they are not already doing so, that we are neglecting or ignoring the Holy Spirit's role in the process of conversion to Christ. Yes, the Holy Spirit is active in the conversion of every person to the Lord. So, that is our message for today.
If you think you might want a free printed copy or an audio cassette tape or a CD of it, please address your request to In Search of the Lord's Way, P.O. Box 371, Edmond, OK 73083. Or, our e-mail address is searchtv@aol.com. Or you may access it on our web-page at wwwsearchtv.org. Ken Helterbrand is going to lead us now as we sing, and after the hymn I will be back for Scripture reading and prayer.
Jesus has announced that He is going to be departing from the apostles and He is going to leave them, but He would not leave them without a comforter or helper. We are reading in John16 and beginning at verse 5. “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. I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 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. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.” And that is reading through verse 15. Let us pray now. Holy Father, we pause a moment to hear the thank you for the Holy Spirit that You gave to the apostles to guide them into all the truth as You proceeded to produce Your word for us. And we thank You, Father, for His part in the conversion, our conversion and the conversion of all others, and for His indwelling Your children just as He does, just as You and Your Son do indwell us, too. And that is our study and opens our hearts to what You define in His word to be the conversion of all who will come to Jesus, Your Son, in whose name we pray. Amen.
"Change" is a very fashionable and acceptable word nowadays. The one sure thing of our present society is change. All our institutions are reeling under the stresses of change, even the church. Changes in forms of worship, changes in women's role in the church, changes in theology. Some change is good, of course. "Conversion" is another word for change. And conversion to Christ and His way is always good and welcomed news. Some of us have been urging that for many years. And "The law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul (or changing the soul)..." (Psalm 19, verse 7). A good dictionary defines "conversion" as "an act of converting or being converted in any sense." "Convert" is a verb meaning "to change into another state, form or substance; to transform." When it is applied to man's salvation, conversion is usually a major change for good. An important thing about a person's conversion to Christ is that since man was created with a free will, he is not passive in the process of his conversion.
Well, the question before us today is what is the role of the Holy Spirit in all this? There has never been any controversy over the fact that the Holy Spirit is a powerful influence in bringing about conversions to Christ. There has never been a true conversion to Christ since the events of the Day of Pentecost ushered in the Christian era in which the Holy Spirit was not active. But, how He accomplishes these changes in a person's life hasn't always been clear with many people. Let us see what we can learn from the Scriptures about it. Ok?
No single passage so nearly perfectly describes this ministry of the Holy Spirit as that which we just read awhile ago. Here the Savior was preparing his twelve for his departure from among them, and He promised not to leave them without a Helper, but he would send the Holy Spirit. There are four things that the Holy Spirit would do when He came: He would abide with and be a divine Helper (the King James Version says "comforter to them"). Number 2: He would guide them into all truth; number 3: He would glorify the Son; and number 4: He would convict the people or reprove the people, the unconverted world of sin. This is the phase of the Holy Spirit's work that we are particularly interested in today. The Holy Spirit is going to convict the world, the unconverted world of sin, of righteousness and of judgment.
He will "convict the world of sin (or, in respect of sin American Standard Version) . . . because they believe not on me." The idea is not that unbelief is sin. It is, of course, but this is not the idea of this passage. Man is convicted as a sinner because of his rejection of Christ as the holy and just and pure one, and to reject him is to oppose the righteousness that He is. Furthermore, every institution, civil, religious or other, is founded upon some fundamental fact held as truth. Christianity, the Church of our Lord, is founded upon the truth that Jesus is the Son of God. When Jesus asked the apostles who they perceived Him to be, Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus pronounced a blessing on him, and then promised, ". . . upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” That is Matthew 16:18.
Centuries before this, Isaiah had prophesied, "Therefore thus says the Lord God: "Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation..." (Isaiah 28:16). Both Paul in Romans 9:33 and Peter in 1 Peter 2:5 through 8 reach back over the centuries, and lift this passage from Isaiah's prophecy and apply it to Christ Jesus. He is the "tried stone; He is the precious cornerstone; He is the sure foundation." He was tried in His death and resurrection. Had He died and revived not, "the gates of Hades" would have prevailed and Jesus would have been tried and found wanting. But now is he "declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead." That is Romans 1:4. As Isaiah's foundation stone, He stood the test. But the world rejected Him. And in rejecting Him, it has rejected God. In the process of conversion, the Spirit operates on the heart of the sinner convicting him of sin in the rejection of the Savior.
He will "convict the world in respect . . . of righteousness," said Jesus, "because I go to My Father and you see Me no more." As the Son of God, Jesus Christ existed in the beginning with God (John 1:1). While our Lord did not consider equality with God a prize to be grasped (Philippians 2: 5 to10), He repeatedly affirmed His Deity. And because of those claims the Jewish leaders demanded His crucifixion. But upon His ascension to the right hand of the majesty in the heavens, His claims were vindicated. His righteousness was established forever and He reigns as King of kings and Lord of lords, because He was received of the Father. His throne is forever and ever: His scepter is a scepter of righteousness (Hebrews 1:8). In the process of conversion in the Holy Spirit’s work on the heart of the person convicting him of righteousness because He sits at the Father’s right hand now.
He will "convict the world in respect . . . of judgment because the prince of judgment, the prince of this world is judged." After a life of "doing good" (Acts 10:38) Jesus was betrayed into the hands of sinful men, condemned and crucified. His friends removed his body from the cross and tenderly placed it in the tomb hewn out of a rock in a nearby garden. Disappointment and sorrow filled their hearts as they wearily turned and walked away. And their fondest hopes had faded and tears and gloom when the Savior dropped His head and said, "It is finished." The world had rejected its Savior.
Wicked men believing that the "gates of Hades" had prevailed. Satan had his field day. But early in the morning on the first day of the week, an angel descended from heaven and rolled away the stone from before the door of the sepulcher. The earth trembled. The soldiers became as dead men. Death yielded up her prey. The "gates of Hades" were overcome. And Satan was vanquished! Conquered! Overcome! Defeated! At the cross Satan had marshaled all his forces. In our Lord's resurrection Satan suffered his eternal defeat. In conversion the Holy Spirit yields an influence upon the heart of man to convict him of judgment because the prince of the world has been judged.
Thus the work of the Holy Spirit in conversion is defined: "He . . . will convict the world of sin, of righteousness and of judgment."
The question remains now: how does he do it? The question is not one of power but of fact. It isn't what the Holy Spirit can do, but what He actually does do. Confusion always enters when we try to define the power of deity. Definitions always have their exclusions. There is no good purpose to be served by limiting His power by which He influences people in conversion, nor in ascribing to him operations upon the heart of man which he plainly does not exercise.
As far I am concerned I am able to determine that there are only two possible avenues through which the Holy Spirit may operate upon the heart of a man in order to convict him of sin, of righteousness and now judgment. First, He may employ argumentation and persuasion-- teaching the sinner and persuading him as Paul said, "Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men" (2 Corinthians 5:10). He may convict the lost world by the presentation of evidence of the deity, the death of Christ for our sins, His burial in Joseph's tomb, and His glorious and triumphant resurrection as the Scriptures tell us in 1 Corinthians 15:1 to 3. In this case He would employ the word of truth to convict or convince the sinner.
Or, He might employ physical power or force. And in this case He would employ miracles, separate and apart from the word of God. But miracles cannot convert. They can only obtain a favorable hearing of the word. And, it is as we said earlier, "The law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul..." (Psalm 19 and 7). Miracles were used to capture an audience or obtain a hearing of the gospel in New Testament days, but no one was ever converted to Christ without first hearing, believing and obeying the word of God. For example, in Acts chapter 8, verses 5 and 6 the Bible says, "Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ to them. And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which they did."
The miraculous appearance of our Lord to Saul of Tarsus on the Damascus Road did not save him. It caught his attention, but Jesus told him to "Arise and go into the city, and it will be told you what you must do" (Acts 9:6). Now, Saul may not have given any attention to what Ananias told him to do, had it not been for the Lord's appearance and His conversation with him.
The appearance of the angel to Cornelius didn't convert him either, but it prepared him for a receptive hearing of the gospel and he was told to send to Joppa and get Peter who would tell him and his household "words" by which he would be saved and his house (Acts chapter 10, verse 5; Acts chapter 11, verse 14).
And the miracle of the appearance of the earthquake in Philippi set the stage for a receptive hearing in the jailor’s case, so that he heard the word of God as spoken by Paul and Silas (Acts chapter 16, verses 16 to 40).
The idea of a direct operation of the Holy Spirit on the heart of the sinner to convert him can't be sustained by the scriptures, my friend. I am sorry, but it just can't. We must remember that Jesus had earlier said in the same passage that we are studying today in John 16, that the world (meaning the unconverted part of the world) cannot receive the Holy Spirit, because they do not see Him and they do not know Him (John 14:17). Therefore, according to Jesus' own words, the Holy Spirit does not come upon the sinner and by force convert or change him. It is significant that of all the conversions recorded for us in the word of God, none was ever achieved without the instrument of the word of God. No one since that time has ever been known to be converted to Christ without hearing and learning as the Bible says of him. And it is just as the Bible says, "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God (not the baptism of the Holy Spirit; not a direct operation of the Holy Spirit, but the gospel), is the power of God to salvation, to the Jew first and also to the Greek" (Romans 1:16). Let us pray. Father, we are thankful to You for your word, for the work of the Holy Spirit in revealing your will to us in the word. And we are thankful, Father, that You guided them through the Holy Spirit into all truth. We pray that we will open our hearts to that truth and be led by it. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Well, we have seen what the Lord said the work of the Holy Spirit is in changing the lives of the unconverted and bringing them to salvation. According to Jesus' statement to the apostles, it is a work of convicting them of sin, of righteousness and of judgment. And, we have seen that since the world cannot receive the Holy Spirit because they neither see Him nor know Him, then He performs His converting ministry by teaching and persuading. The conversion of the three thousand on the Day of Pentecost is another good example. Peter preached the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus and then He said, "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made that Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said to them, Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:36 through 38). And verses 40 and 41 tell us that "With many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, Be saved from this perverse generation. Then those that gladly received his word, were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them."
The idea of a miraculous, mysterious operation of the Holy Spirit in conversion, separate and apart from the word of God is a dangerous one, friend. It declares the word of God a dead letter. It makes God a respecter of persons by dispensing such power to some and withholding it from others. And it places the responsibility of the lost upon the Holy Spirit. It deprives man of the free exercise of his will in his salvation. It encourages people to wait for, and pray for, and anticipate a power to their salvation which God hasn't promised. And in their delusion and disappointment, they may turn forever from God in disgust and anger.
The Holy Spirit is active alright, very active, in changing lives and bringing them to Christ in this twentieth century. I hope you will yield to his power and his message today and become a child of God.
If you think you could use a free printed copy or cassette tape or CD of this message simply write us In Search Of The Lord’s Way, P.O. Box 371, Edmond, OK 73083. By e-mail, it is searchtv@aol.com. If you prefer, you may use our toll free telephone number and call in your request. That number is 1-800-321-8633. Well we are grateful that you are with us today. We pray that you have been blessed. We pray that if you are not a Christian you will become so today. God bless you. We love you. |