“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 go, I will send him to you. And
when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:
concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness,
because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment,
because the ruler of this world is judged.” (John 16:7-11 ESV)
The Holy
Spirit, as revealed in John 14-16, enables
you to do greater things, helps you
live a victorious life; teaches you
to reflect Jesus, and testifies about
the Lord.
When
enlightened by the Spirit, led by the Spirit and empowered by the Spirit, you
see, hear and touch Jesus. You are better able to genuinely and completely
testify of Him to others.
Another
blessing of the Holy Spirit is conviction,
which is critical today. To convict means to
prove a person guilty, to bring a convincing realization of guilt. Heartfelt
conviction includes an element of shame.
In a court of law criminals are often proven guilty, yet does this always translate
into conviction and shame?
The Holy
Spirit has come to convict the world, yet shameful conviction is hardly
witnessed anymore. Society is growing increasingly calloused. Are those
following Jesus supposed to take the same shameless posture?
While
living in Chicago I was waiting at O’Hare Airport to pick up a passenger. Back
then a person could momentarily wait just outside the baggage claim area but
was never allowed to leave a vehicle unattended, under any circumstances. I
watched as someone decided to leave their car and go into the terminal. A few
moments later a tow truck came by, stopped, and the worker did his job. A young
mother was sitting with her baby in another car nearby. As the truck pulled
away with the vacated vehicle she laid on the horn and gave the finger, a disgusting action. Only women
without shame behave this way.
On another occasion
I was on a city street that was about to revert from four lanes to two. Sitting
at a stoplight, the vehicle in the left lane was driven by a woman. The car in
the right lane, about to end, was driven by a man. Both anxiously waited for
the light to change. When the signal turned green they quickly accelerated but
the car driven by the man took the lead. She angrily honked and the man
responded with the same crude hand gesture. Only men without shame behave this
way.
Years ago Hurricane
Katrina hit the southern coastal area. A sad aspect of the devastation was the area-wide
looting that followed. Hurricanes are external catastrophes, looting is inward
corruption. One newspaper commentator wrote, “…some people rationalize that it
is perfectly acceptable to steal, especially if others are doing it. A
corollary of this view is that the thieves have somehow even earned the right
to someone else’s property.”
Looting
comes from a culture without shame. Actions are decided by the crowd. Standards
of behavior are no longer established
but floating or fluctuating.
The Holy
Spirit has come to awaken those following Jesus when the mindset of a shameless
world creeps into the soul. The One who convicts arouses the conscience to
sense remorse when godly behavior is forsaken.
Conviction
addresses rebellion and defiance, and those following Jesus are not exempt of
slipping into this way of life. Shame should be sensed when the ways and will
of God are violated. Sadly, errant attitudes and conduct do not always stop at
church doors.
Jude while writing to believers
addresses poor actions: “Woe to them!
For they walked in the way of Cain
and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam's error and perished in Korah's
rebellion. These are hidden reefs at your love feasts, as they feast with
you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice
dead, uprooted; wild waves of the
sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been
reserved forever. It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam,
prophesied, saying, ‘Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy
ones, to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their
deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.’ These are grumblers,
malcontents, following their own sinful desires; they are loud-mouthed boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage.” (Jude 1:11-16 ESV)
The Living
Bible paraphrases these verses: “When these men join you at the love feasts of the church, they are evil smears
among you, laughing and carrying on, gorging and stuffing themselves without a
thought for others. They are like clouds blowing over dry land without giving
rain, promising much but producing nothing. They are like fruit
trees without any fruit at picking time…. All they leave behind them is shame and disgrace like the dirty form left along the beach by the wild
waves. They wander around looking as bright as stars, but ahead of them is the
everlasting gloom and darkness….”
Convincing
believers of shameful actions is an important blessing of the Holy Spirit. He
convicts concerning sin, righteousness and judgment. Jude demonstrates these
behaviors by exemplifying the conduct of three Older Testament people.
Concerning sin
– the way of Cain (Genesis 4:3-12)
Cain
and Abel are brothers, the children of Adam and Eve. Abel
becomes a keeper of flocks and Cain a tiller of ground.
Both decide to bring an offering to God.
Abel
brought the firstlings of the flock.
Cain brought some fruit of the
ground. Abel brought a life-ending sacrifice, seeking an end to a
rebellious nature. Cain brought a life-nourishing donation, wishing to maintain an unruly nature. The Lord recognized Abel’s sacrifice but took little
regard for Cain’s donation. Out of a sense of
rejection Cain kills his brother.
The
way of Cain defies God and destroys man, the highway of murderous envy and
hypocrisy. This roadway becomes easily offended by sacrifice and surrender.
Cain’s
behavior involved selfishness and hatred. His actions opposed a feeling of
brotherhood. His leanings were toward violence
and cruelty, lashing out with destruction.
Cain
was ruled by a grumbling attitude. He
chose to take measures into his own hands. He
impulsively craved control, master of
his own fate. How many today feel their
circumstances are out of their control and allow the situation to haunt them
with angry and evil thoughts?
The
issue of control is frequently seen on major expressways in metropolitan cities
everywhere, drivers racing to get in front of
others. A vehicle signals to change lanes and the car next to them accelerates,
refusing to let the other driver take the lead. They must be first, they must dominate.
Everything in their life is utter chaos. Having little control over homes and job,
they attempt to control the road.
The
issue sometimes raises its ugly head at church. Part
of my responsibilities in ministry involved helping congregations and church
leaders wrestle through various types of conflict.
A
very likeable man started attending a church and quickly got involved. In minimal time he was selected to become a church
leader. He considered the position a place of control more than service.
An
agenda item was being addressed by the Leadership Council. He had little
background information and other leaders attempted to give him a clearer
picture. It soon became apparent he did not care. He just wanted his own way. He
tried to control the discussion in the board room and attempted to achieve his
preferred outcome. With lots of distortion he blew the matter way out of
proportion. The other members lovingly corrected
him and also addressed his shameful behavior.
Unwilling
to accept the board decision he grew increasingly bitter and angry, and sought
another avenue of manipulation. The annual church
business meeting occurred shortly afterwards and he attempted to sway
the members. The congregation accurately saw his argumentative attitude and
refused to join him.
He
lost what little self-control was left and grew even bitterer. For the next
several weeks he came to church, sat in the last pew sulking.
Like
Cain he demonstrated envy, hypocrisy, selfishness, hatred and cruelty. With a
heart raging with scorn he attempted to kill the life out of the church, the
body of Christ. If he could not have his way he preferred that brothers and
sisters in the Lord not abide in one accord.
The
Holy Spirit convicts followers of Jesus about the way of Cain and exposes
inappropriate addictions of control. The right
posture is to submit all things to God.
Concerning
righteousness – Balaam’s error (Numbers 22-24)
After
forty years of wandering the Israelites were in the final stage of their
wilderness journey to the promise land. The
king of Moab, after seeing what happened to the Amorites, sought help from a
less than honorable cleric. He wanted Balaam to curse the people of God. The spiritualist was warned by the Lord not to be
hired by the Moabites. King Balak was unwilling to
take no for an answer and upped the
ante, increased the benefits. The curse-maker accepted!
The
error of Balaam is a life diverted from righteousness and truth, rushing headlong into wrongful behavior for the
sake of reward, motivated by revenue instead
of right. Void
of godly character he was driven by covetousness. Spirituality became perverted,
changing prophet to profit.
Balaam
lived by the impulse of gain. His actions
reveal he looked at situations with a mindset of “What’s in it for me!” The issue is connected to power, possessing influence and seeking favoritism.
How
many times has actions been determined by believing might is right? Tragically
many carelessly think someone is correct because they have an element of
notoriety. The take-charge person often gains a reputation of fame and ends up
assuming their ways are always right.
The Holy Spirit has come to convict
followers of Jesus about the error of Balaam and exposes the pride of power. The right posture is humility to the Lord and one
another.
Concerning
judgment – Korah’s rebellion (Numbers 16:1-35)
After
leaving Egypt an influential leader in the tribe of Levi, along with 250
additional members, questioned the organizational structure God had established
for the people. He claimed Moses had no basis
for being the only person rendering leadership. Where did he get the exclusive
right to establish rules of behavior for everyone? As
a Levite, in the same tribe as Moses, he wanted equal standings. He grew discontented.
The
rebellion of Korah is a life having contempt for divine order and appointment, resenting
the idea of someone being over them. They are
ungrateful with their existing blessings and demand more. They sometimes resort to a self-invented holiness
and adopt a form of worship foreign to God. Yet they expect the Lord to still
be pleased.
Korah
lived by the impulse of greed. His
actions revealed what he had would never be enough. The
issue involved authority. He wanted
greater influence, maybe even over God.
Isaiah
states God’s ways are normally different then your ways. If God is Lord of your life, He does not have to give an answer
to you. He does not have to explain Himself.
Thinking
you are ever worthy of more then what you already have is arrogant. Find
contentment in the things He has entrusted to your stewardship. Let God be God
of who you are and what you have.
The
Holy Spirit has come to convict followers of Jesus about the rebellion of
Korah, to expose a degenerate lust for
authority. The right position is serving the
Lord in every circumstance.
Remorse
The Holy
Spirit convicts whenever there is a misplaced emphasis on control, power and
authority, whenever motivated by grumbling, gain or greed. He brings a sense of
shame that restores submission, humility and servitude.
People manipulate for control, politic for power and demand for authority. The Holy Spirit
has come to convict followers of Jesus about such unsavory behavior.
While abiding in a world without shame the One who Convicts reminds the church whenever rebellion surfaces. He extends a beckoning call to sense remorse and experience renewal.
While abiding in a world without shame the One who Convicts reminds the church whenever rebellion surfaces. He extends a beckoning call to sense remorse and experience renewal.
