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e e e e e e e e e e e e e good morning to everyone it's a good Lord's day to be in the house of of God we welcome you to free Grace Baptist Church any visitors out there this morning that's it's a joy to have you with us for uh the worship of our trying God just a few announcements before we begin worship uh just a reminder we have the the PM service tonight at 5:00 p.m. uh we do have Wednesday night bible study this upcoming uh Wednesday which is a good day to have Wednesday night bible study that's at 7:30 uh we do have a luncheon next Lord's day uh on the 24th so um just to prepare your minds for that and uh um and your ovens um there will be an email that'll come out uh this week that will remind you of that and give any instructions for that uh and then lastly we have an application for baptism and membership uh from shann and Mal jars which is uh uh which is wonderful news we'll have a great day of sacraments a great day of ordinances on December 1st uh where we'll have the baptism uh of Shannon uh and then the Lord's Supper in the evening so uh uh we we rejoice in in welcoming uh another one to the Waters of baptism and into church membership well let's begin our worship by turning in our body ibles to Psalm 28 Psalm 28 a reading of it will be our call to worship Psalm 28 this is the word of God a Psalm of David to you I will cry oh Lord my rock do not be silent to me lest if you are silent to me I become like those who go down to the pit hear the voice of my supplications when I cry to you when I lift up my hand toward your holy Sanctuary do not take me away with the wicked and with the workers of iniquity who speak peace to their neighbors but evil is in their hearts give them according to their deeds and according to the wickedness of their Endeavors give them according to the work of their hands render to them what they deserve because they do not regard The Works of the Lord nor the operation of his hands he shall destroy them and not build them up blessed BL be the Lord because he has heard the voice of my supplications the Lord is my strength and my shield my heart trusted in him and I am helped therefore my heart greatly rejoices and with my song I will praise him the Lord is their strength and he is the saving Refuge of his anointed save your people and bless your inheritance Shepherd them also and bear them up forever amen well let's stand together at as a church and sing our first hymn it's going to be Psalm 11b Psalm 11b let's stand and sing together is my you say oh like a bird to your [Music] mountain and their in [Music] heart we oh what right do the [Applause] heaven over his Lords on with his all [Music] and right to in his his soul aw through teror and PR the Lord will send Jud and for of for all the uning wind the Lord ever rightous for by gra on his face well let's go to our great God In Prayer thanking him that we can gather together uh as the Saints of Christ on this blessed Lord's day let's go to God Heavenly Father we thank you for this day you've given us this Lord's day one out of seven where in a special way we can gather in this place for the worship of the one and only living and true God Father Son and Holy Spirit we do pray that you would help us by your spirit to lift up proper and high praises to our God we pray that your name would this day be hallowed that uh Lord God not only in this church but throughout your churches your name uh would be lifted high that multitudes of men and women boys and girls would sing the Praises of their God that they would rejoice in Christ Jesus and rejoice in the blessings of Amazing Grace for truly that is Lord God what you have exercised towards us and making us alive when we were dead in our trespasses and sins uh bringing us to the light when we were in that kingdom of darkness and we do know that this is not because of our Good Deeds not because of the works of righteousness rendered by our own hands but that we're saved solely and alone by virtue of the perfect life and death of our savior the Lord Jesus Christ that he was uh perfect in that act of obedience unto the whole law that he was perfect in his passive obedience in his death and that this is our whole and soul right righteousness and we lean upon the perfect work of Jesus Christ we lean upon your graciousness your mercy and your Eternal loving kindness and we pray that you would help us once again to worship you in spirit and in truth that you would receive all honor and praise in this place we thank you for the Forgiveness of sins knowing as Christians we have that remaining corruption where we do not do what we ought and we do what we ought not to do and we do thank you though that we have that reigning reality of the Spirit uh in our hearts given to us and more and more we pray Lord God that you would sanctify us that you would cause us to walk in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Saving Grace we do pray Lord God for those unable to join us whether uh unwell due to sickness uh disease and injury uh or traveling we pray that you attend to each and every one of these that those who are ailing physically would be strengthened by you um that Lord God knowing that all healing All Good Things Come From The One and Only God we pray that you would condescend to bless with strength and uh to bless with reprieves from Pain and discomfort those who are currently struggling with these things we pray for those struggling spiritually that you would lift them up by your grace uh that you would cause them uh to not look inwardly at themselves but to look upon the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world and find their comfort and their joy and their their Eternal happiness in in the king of kings and Lord of lords we do pray God for those uh who are persecuted throughout the world for their belief in the Lord Jesus Christ Our precious brothers and sisters in Nations where there is such hot persecution anger and violent opposition to the Church of Christ we pray that you would be with our brothers and sisters uh those in Chains those persecuted that you would strengthen them in the midst of their uh confession of the great Christ we pray that you would cause them to know curse to know strength that they would lay hold of the the hope of their confession without wavering as they trust upon the Lord God Almighty who is faithful to his Saints we do pray for those who persecute your people Lord God that you would restrain them that you would take them out of the way that you would by gospel and spirit even bring many forth that they would cast off the idols of their Madness and their opposition and that they would own the living Christ as their Savior and Lord we do pray for those who govern over us that they would govern Over Us in righteousness and not in um iniquity we pray that wickedness would not be the mark of governance but that righteousness and Justice would be and unto this end Lord God we pray that you would even save uh men and women in positions of power that they would own righteousness and cast off wickedness and we do pray that you would restrain the wicked in in those places of rule and Lord God we would pray that you would even take many out that you would cause princes to be cast down and that they would stumble as drunken men and no longer bringing violence and wickedness and and sanctioning evil in our lands we do pray then Lord God that you'd be with us continued in worship as Pastor Butler comes up here to preach your word in that Central act of worship the preaching of the word of God we pray that you would help him that he would know the aid of God in this place and as he opens up his Bible he would be able to preach with with much confidence and accuracy the things of your word that we might that we might hear the precious things that the spirit would have for us this day concerning Christ and truth and and that your Saints in this place would be C encouraged that we would be strengthened that we would be uh rally around those precious truths of your Revelation to us and we pray Lord God that those who entered in these two doors outside of the Lord Jesus Christ in unbelief as children of Wrath we pray that by your grace that by the pre preing of the word they would leave as children's uh as children of God those saved by Amazing Grace singing the Praises of their redeemer the Lord Jesus Christ and it's in his name that we pray amen amen let's stand and sing again together this time we will sing hymn number 284 let's stand and sing 284 together of God your master and his wonderful name name all Victorious of Jes his kingom his glor and rules over all God live Al Mighty to and still he is his presence we have the great conre his Tri shall singing Sal Jesus our King Sal to God who sits on the throne and all and Son the prises of Jesus the angelsim all down all their faces and worship the lore and give him his right all glory and power and wisdom and might all and blessing with angels of love and than never ceas [Music] GL can turn in your Bibles again with me to Mark chapter 10 that's our New Testament scripture reading any visitors who are with us this morning every Lord's Day morning we read consecutively through the New Testament and in the evening through the old it's a good way of taking in the word of the living and true God uh to honor him in Reflections upon his Revelation this is Mark 10 I'm going to read from verse 1 to verse 22 Mark 10 beginning at verse 1 once again the word of God then he arose from there and came to the region of Judea by the other side of the Jordan and multitudes gathered to him again and as he was accustomed he accustomed he taught them again the Pharisees came and asked him is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife testing him and he answered and said to them what did Moses command you they said Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and to dismiss her and Jesus answered and said to them because of the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept but from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female for this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh so then they are no longer two but one flesh therefore what God has joined together let not man separate in the house his disciples also asked him again about the same matter so he said to them whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her and if a woman divorces her husband and marries another she commits adultery then they brought little children to him that he might touch them but the disciples rebuked those who brought them but when Jesus saw it he was greatly displeased and said to them let the little children come to me and do not forbid them for of such is the kingdom of God assuredly I say to you whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it and he took them up in his arms laid his hands on them and blessed them now as he was going out on the road one came running knelt before him and asked him good teacher what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life so Jesus said to him why do you call me good no one is good but one that is God you know the Commandments do not commit adultery do not murder do not steal do not bear false witness do not defraud honor your father and your mother and he answered and said to him teacher all these things I have kept from my youth then Jesus looking at him loved him and said to him one thing you lack go your way sell whatever you have and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven and come take up the cross and follow me but he was sad at this word and went away sorrowful for he had great possessions amen well just a few things and a few significant things uh first off with regards to this first section versus 1-2 we have the the testing of Christ by the Pharisees or we could say the besting of the Pharisees by Christ they try to pit Jesus against Moses and and Jesus answers wonderfully um alluding their their their wicked testing of the Incarnate Son of God but the thing I want to draw out is not not those things concerning marriage divorce and remarriage but Christ's affirmation of the creation account and the exclusive binary nature of humanity as male and female the Lord Jesus Christ brings out Genesis 1 and 2 and he he says in verse 6 but from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female the Blessed Simplicity of divine creation of humanity in our day we have gender ideology and gender religion and gender Madness the proliferation and the multi ication of genders within a a wicked enforcement of this gender ideology the Simplicity of God's creation and the Simplicity of humanity is brought forth from the Lord but from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female Jesus establishing the the veracity the historicity the the certain truthfulness of the creation account that God made man and God made female it is not a true love is not seen in the acceptance and in the enabling and in the facilitation of the sexually perverse true love is seen in speaking and preaching the truth so that the sexually perverse might like all of us come to a knowledge of the living and true God and confess Christ as their lord and savior we have this this secondly we have in verses 13- 16 we see the character of saving faith we see the kindness of the Lord Jesus Christ in receiving children it's a wonderful scene his disciples are are trying to reject these who were bringing the children who could have been parents who could have been older relations who could have been nurses or doctors bringing the unwell that the Lord might bless them and Jesus disappointed in his disciples receive receives them he says let the little children come to me and do not forbid them for of such is the kingdom of God and now this is not a text that the infant Baptists our infant Baptist Brothers ought to go to to defend pedobaptism I believe in the first place because Christ is setting these little children who come to him in opposition to those who were disputing to those who were opposing and to those who were rejecting in other words these little children could hear they could intellectually process and they could respond in a manner that's marked by by humility and that's marked by meekness because of such are or is the kingdom of God there's a there's an account I don't know if it's apocryphal or legendary but we'll we'll take it as true that the Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary uh released an article or wrote an article on this particular point the point of infant baptism and they recount a a a a debate between Charles Spurgeon and AED Baptist and it's on this text the P Baptist wrongly using this text to argue for infant baptism and the article wrote it is said that Mr Spurgeon was on one occasion invited to debate the issue of infant baptism his opponent suggested that they each in turn quote a verse supporting their own position to this Mr Spurgeon agreed his opponent the pedal Baptist stood first and quoted Matthew 19:14 which is the same account of Mark uh Mark 10 13-6 quoted Matthew 19:14 suffer the little children and forbid them not to come unto me for such is the kingdom of heaven when his opponent sat down Mr Spurgeon the Cradle Baptist Rose and quoted his first text job 1:1 there was a man in the land of us whose name was job Mr Spurgeon his opponent said I fail to see what your verse has to do with infant baptism to which Mr Spurgeon replied so too I fail to see what your verse has to do with with and baptism so this this particular passage here uh is really arguing for the manner by which faith is marked that it's marked by meekness it's Mar marked by humility it is not marked by these FES who come and who oppose who dispute who with with impudence of heart and with with uh unregenerate opposition to truth seek to despoil and to twist the truth it Christ says I say to you whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it and then lastly and quickly here we see the law as a as a killing letter and a mirror Jesus Christ isn't saying that this Rich Young Ruler can inherit eternal life by the Perfection of the Law's obedience he's honing in on the 10th commandment with regards to covetousness and he's showing that he showing the the selfishness and the greed and the worldly mindset of this one who seeks to enter eternal life by his own self-righteousness Christ is not saying that the man cannot um uh cannot do good by the spirit but is speaking to Absolute goodness when he says why do you call me good no one is good but one that is God he's not denying his deity there but rather pressing his unbelief to show show that in fact he is God absolute goodness and to show forth man as that who does no good but the Blessed reality here is captured in what Augustine wrote concerning this the law was given that Grace may be sought that's the instruction here Christ is giving him a lesson in the law not as a letter that grants life but a letter that grants death seeking to be justified by The Obedience to the law it is to Christ he is pointing to himself he is pointing we could say the law was given that Christ might be sought and rather than seeking Christ verse 22 this man was sad at the word of Christ because he loved his possessions he loved his worldliness he did not want to take up a cross and follow Christ he went away sorrowful for he get for he had great possessions the the the law uh comes to us not as a letter that grants life but as a letter that points us to the Lord Jesus Christ the one obedient son who really was good who obeyed the law to Perfection and died for those who disobeyed the law um uh reply and repeatedly and so the answer is or the the pointing of the preacher goes to Christ and says the law was given that Christ may be sought if you're outside of Christ today seek Christ believe on him and you will have everlasting life let's pray Heavenly Father we thank you for your word we thank you for your blessed truth we pray that you would help us as we continue in worship to rejoice in Our Savior Jesus Christ that you would help us God by your spirit to worship you a right that you would edify saints that you would save Sinners and that all of this would be to the praise and to the honor of our Triune God and we pray in Christ's name amen our final hymn then before the preaching will be 570 570 let's stand and sing together together uh it won't be 570 it will be 389 let's stand and sing together as a [Music] church to I see and the end of cre the judge of of the of glor [Music] SE the gra theare my soul to the last [Music] tround to meet him in the joy surrounding me fears their souls his presence sh etal on those to be s f with guil behold his for they shall rise and find their te and are the day of Grace is pass tring the allare to be God might I see and the end of things a judge of of Glory SE his cross I the day when and shall pass away [Music] and you can turn with me in your Bibles to the Gospel of John John chap 16 as we continue to work our way through John's gospel our Focus this morning will be verses 8 to 11 but I want to read beginning in verse 1 to verse 11 so John 16 beginning in verse one these things I have spoken to you that you should not be made to stumble they will put you out of the synagogues yes the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God's service and these things they will do to you because they have not known the father nor me but these things I have told you that when the time comes you may remember that I told you of them and these things I did not say to you at the beginning because I was with you 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 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 and or 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 uh take of mine and declare it to you amen well let us pray Our Father in Heaven thank you for your written word we thank you for the ministry of the Holy Spirit whom Jesus speaks of and the this wonderful passage we pray that you would send him forth even now to guide and to lead and to instruct us as we consider this this wonderful section of your word forgive us now for all of our sins and unrighteousness cleanse Us in that precious blood of the Lamb cause us to receive with Thanksgiving your word may it be unto edification and and and sanctification and the strengthening of of the Saints and for any and all who are here dead in their trespasses and sins we pray that the spirit would work work that conviction showing forth that sin showing forth that righteousness that comes through faith in Jesus Christ and highlighting the reality of a judgment to come Lord God be merciful we pray here and elsewhere and wherever your gospel is preached we pray that you would save effectually call out of Darkness into Marvelous Light those dead in trespasses and sins do this for your glory for your praise and for your honor and we ask in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ amen well as we move through this particular section remember that we're in what's called The Upper Room discourse others call it the farewell discourse it's the last time that Jesus is with his disciples prior to his death and then Ascension on high not the last time he's with them but for a concentrated period of instruction and teaching remember he's preparing that he is going to ascend on high he's going to be enthroned at the right hand of the father and these men are going to go out and turn the world upside down for the Lord Jesus passes along to them that information that is going to be necessary and crucial and one of the repeat uh repeated emphasis is on who God is Father Son and Holy Spirit but also he alerts them to the fact the world's not going to necessarily receive their message in 1518 he says to them that the world is going to hate you he invokes that Parable or that concept that if the world hates and opposes the master well of course they're going to hate and oppose the servant and then Jesus Jesus applies that very specifically to his contemporaries unbelieving Jews those who had resisted and rejected Jesus as being the promised Messiah are those who reject God himself Jesus makes that clear in 15:21 and then again in 15:23 he carries that theme into chapter 16 and specifically in verses 1 to 4 he indicates that there will be a time when the the the the Jews will put you out of their synagogues and they will even kill you thinking they are doing service to God again Jesus is not doing this simply for shock value but he wants to make sure that they don't stumble he wants to make sure that they themselves are prepared and that they will always be dependent upon the holy spirit for their mission in the world so having then concluded that subsection he speaks concerning the ministry of the spirit it's already told us about the spirit in chapter 14 and then again in chapter 15: 26 and 7 and here specifically he's going to mention the spirits conviction of the world in verses 8 to1 and then he'll pick up on the spirit's Ministry to the disciples specifically in verses 12 to 15 and I would suggest that verses 8 to 11 a cursory reading it seems pretty straightforward it's one of those passages I kind of thought I knew what it meant until I started looking at it in more detail and I'm really convinced I really didn't know what it meant and I'm not sure I fully understand what it means now but we're going to try to navigate verses 8 to 11 so remember last week we saw the departure of Christ in verses 5 to 7 Jesus says but now I go away to him who sent me obviously he's referring to his death on the cross his resurrection and then his Ascension to the to the right hand of the father he goes on to verse 7 saying nevertheless I tell you the truth it is to your advantage that I go away that's an interesting statement because these men love Jesus they've been with Jesus for three years they're devoted to him they're his servants he is the master and he says I'm going away and not only am I going away but it's actually to your advantage that would be a bit of a surprise how will it Advantage us how will it benefit us in the absence of one that we love well obviously the benefit would come through his life his death his resurrection gospel blessings are are the result of what Christ has accomplished on behalf of his people but specifically Jesus is highlighting the ministry of the Holy Spirit when Jesus ascends on high he leads captivity captive and he gives gifts to men and one of the specific gifts that he gives is the holy spirit in fact if you look at John chap 20 as we Trace through this particular theme we see a wonderful link between John 20 and Acts 2 notice in John 20 at verse 21 so Jesus said to them again peace to you as the father has sent me I also send you and when he had said this he breathed on them and said to them receive the Holy Spirit if you forgive the sins of any they are forgiven them if you retain the sins of any they are retained not that the spirit had never been present the spirit is present at the creation of the universe the spirit spake by the prophets the spirit can be uh grieved and the prophet Isaiah David prays in Psalm 51 take not thine Holy Spirit from me but the giving of the spirit is consistent with the prophecy of Joel in Joel 2 that comes to pass on the day of Pentecost in the book of Acts so notice in John 20:22 Jesus breathes on them to receive the spirit Acts 2 at verse one when the day of Pentecost had fully come they were all with one Accord in one place and suddenly there came a sound from Heaven of a rushing Mighty wind the wind of God the Breath of God Christ breathes forth this blessed spirit to come in power to empower the church for her testimony concerning Jesus and him crucified and resurrected so that's what Jesus means in 16:7 when he says 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 then he goes on now to speak concerning the work of the spirit in the world notice in verse 8 it's a general statement it's going to be Amplified in verses 9 to1 11 but in verse 8 it says and when he has come he will convict the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment as I said this will be taken apart by Jesus and applied in a bit more uh uh uh uh specific ways in verses 9 to 11 but what does that mean to convict the word simply means to bring a person to the point of recognizing wrongdoing to convict them to convince someone of something so that's sort of the semantic range I don't think that Jesus is teaching in verses 8 to 11 that every single person in the world is going to be saved I don't think that's the emphasis when the spirit comes to convince the world of sin because they don't believe in Jesus of righteousness because Jesus goes away to the father and of judgment because the uh the Lord God is going to judge the ruler of this world I don't think the object here the me uh the meaning is that every single person all over the world is going to be saved so I think it's a bit of a difficult sort of a a statement the spirit has this work and he's going to convince of sin and of righteousness and judgment but not necessarily to the Salvation of everybody who hears that so what do you think or how do we proceed I think the emphasis is not on the salvation of the world but the confirmation of who Jesus Christ is objectively and I think the primary reference is to the apostolic preaching that we find in the book of Acts again it extends beyond the book of Acts it happens today when the gospel is preached the spirit Works to convince concerning the the the the idea of sin and of righteousness and judgment it does mean personal salvation to the elect of God but I think it's the confirmation of all that Jesus is and that is confirmed by the spirit himself one man says the paraclete or the helper will confront the world with its failures and prove its guilt whether or not the world recognizes it the mission of the paraclet in this Cosmic trial is to convict the world of its guilt before God in other words the spirit's primary emphasis on the day of Pentecost is not to Dazzle people with tongues that is not the main point in the book of Acts at chapter 2 it is to display that Christ whom you crucified Peter says to Jerusalem Sinners that God has made this Christ whom you crucified both Lord and Christ he's stationed at the right hand of the father so again when the spirit does what the spirit does According To Jesus here it doesn't mean the salvation of everyone who ever hears about Sin righteousness and judgment and I think that Gil is on to something as well when it says the world notice in verse 8 and when he has come he will convict the world of sin the world is often times used in different ways in fact look at John chap 1 to see three ways that the word world is used John CH 1 specifically at verse 10 he was in the world that means Jesus was on planet Earth he wasn't on Pluto even before it was declined classified as a planet he wasn't on Neptune he wasn't on Jupiter he wasn't on Mars he was in the world that obviously means the Earth but then notice and the world was made through him that means the entirety of the created order that means Pluto that means Neptune that means Jupiter that means Mars that means all the galaxies that means everything the world was made through him but then notice and the world did not know him we often use it the the word word world that way he's he's worldly that means he's not godly the world did not know him he came to his own his own received him not now go back to John 15 specifically at Verse 18 which I think is the broader context for what we're looking at in 16 notice if the world hates you you know that it hated me before it hated you now there's a sense obviously generally where that's the case everybody outside of the church everybody not the elect of God everybody not believing on the Gospel of Jesus Christ is considered to be part of the world but look at the particular context notice in verse 21 but all these things they will do to you for my name's sake because they do not know him who sent me verse 23 who hates me hates my father also notice in verse 25 but this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written note in their law they hated me without a cause and then 162 they'll put you out of the synagogues 162 they will kill you thinking they offer service to God I don't think Gil is wrong here he says by the world is principally meant the Jews the world among whom Christ personally was who knew him not disbelieved him rejected him as the Messiah hated and persecuted him even unto death though not to the exclusion of the Gentiles the whole world world that lies in wickedness since both joined and were concerned in these things and reproved of them so it does involve necessarily everybody outside of Saving Grace but a specific reference here and again I think the application is in the apostolic Ministry in the book of Acts the spirit is going to confirm to the world of the Jews who Jesus came to his own and his own received him not they crucified the Lord Of Glory that Spirit would convict them of sin because they did not believe in Jesus Christ of righteousness because Jesus went to the father and of judgment because the ruler of this world is being judged now let's look at these particulars note the conviction of sin he says that in verse 9 of sin because they do not believe in me turn to the book of Acts acts chap 2 Acts chapter 2 notice the subject matter that the Apostle Peter assumes after the outpouring of the spirit that we read there in Chapter 2 veres 1 to 4 well we only read verses 1 to2 verse four tells us that there was tongue speaking tongue speaking broke out not gibberish not mindless Babble but the communication of the one wondrous works of God in other languages so then they are basically mocked by the the crowd and saying oh that they're just full of new wine they're they're drunk so Peter gets up and he says these are not drunk as you say it's still too early in the day I don't think he meant it quite like that but he says this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel Joel chapter 2 to show that in this age in the age of Messiah the spirit's going to come powerfully it's going to come upon All Flesh and your menservants and your maid servants are going to prophesy there's going to be this absolute blessed reversal of what we see at the Tower of Babel it is a glorious thing that is happening so after applying Joel 2 notice what he does in verse 22 men of Israel hear these words Jesus of Nazareth a man attested by God to you by Miracles wonders and signs which God did through him in your midst as you yourselves also know he preaches Jesus he preaches Christ why do you think that is because that was the issue without the saving knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ we are dead we are damned we go to hell forever well in this particular context the world of the Jews by and large had resisted the very Messiah that was promised in their scriptures so Peter gets up filled with the spirit to interpret the phenomena and he doesn't say wow look at all the tongu speaking no he says you need to think about this Jesus you need to think about this one who was attested by God through these signs and these Miracles notice in verse 23 he makes sure to remind them that they crucified him and then he highlights that he didn't stay in the grave but he was raised Again by God he was exalted to the right hand of God and according to 233 it is Jesus at the right hand of God that has sent this spirit that is now Pro uh uh moving in our midst and notice the the the Blessed effect that it has upon these men they're convicted they cry out men and Brethren what must we do and Peter gives that great response repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins so you see there is good conviction of sin in that group of the world yielding salvation but it's not always the the case throughout the rest of the book of of the Apostles or actually the apostles they preach Christ Sometimes some believe but but not always but that does not mean the spirit isn't doing his work I think we fail in that way we we we judge uh evangelism by a numbers game well you know 100 people came forward that's a that was a good night you know another night only 40 people came forward not so good Brethren that Christ is preached glorifies God that Christ is preached glorifies God what's Paul say Paul says he kind of uses an anthropomorphic way to describe this that the proclamation of the Gospel is like a fragrance to God Almighty he he sniffs it as it were as that gospel is preached whether it be unto the salvation of those blessed to believe or to the damnation of those who continue to resist resist and reject God's glorified in his son the task of the church is not to make converts the task of the church is to preach Christ and him crucified as the alone remedy for sin to preach his righteous uh righteousness as the alone righteousness that will enter into the presence of God and to highlight the coming Judgment of God if you were following the Liturgy this morning singing Psalm 11 talking God burning up his enemies with coals boy that's a great way to greet the Sunday isn't it and then that great God of Wonders and in uh the hymn before the preaching Brethren it's to emphasize the reality if the spirit's Ministry relative to the world is to convict the world of sin because they don't believe in Jesus to convict the world of righteousness because Jesus is now exalted at the right hand of the father and to convict the world of the judgment to come then what ought the church to be doing ought we to be you know as as cam mentioned you know not insisting on binary categories opening up our arms to all the godlessness in this age being woke being social Warriors or social justice Warriors funny how social justice only ever Works towards Marxism it's never toward God and those things that please God Brethren sin righteousness and judgment are to be the things propagated by the church of the Lord Jesus Christ if that's what the spirit's mission is relative to this Godless world then shouldn't we follow the spirit shouldn't we about be about that preaching about Sin about righteousness and about the judgment to come so the spirit comes to confirm that Christ is in fact the one whom God had promised then the the apostles come to further prosecute that case and the ministry of the spirit is to convince the world here in Acts two to good effect many came forth many believed many were added to the church you can see that as the the chapter continues but wherever else they went it didn't always yield those same sorts of results and again the marketing mindset is well they weren't so successful in those particular cities do you know Brethren that success is simply to preach the truth well you know I preached and I preached and nothing ever happened you preached the truth the The Happening part is God's right are are we really reformed or you know do we actually believe in the sovereignty of God our task is to Proclaim Christ and him crucified resurrected and if we say well you know there's not any results again Brethren I think that's a human way to think I'm not you know gonna lie to you and say well you know I've never thought that way before but it's not the way we should be thinking it's the Declaration of the truth of God's holy word that's success Church numbers Church you know programs church this and church that I'm not saying none of that matters but what ultimately matters is the proclamation of the truth it's the Apostle Paul when he says for I determin and know nothing among you save Jesus Christ and and him Crucified My My preaching was not according to the wisdom of men but according to the uh uh demonstration of the the the spirit and power that's what Christ is promising here Visa the sending of the Holy Spirit notice as well the conviction concerning righteousness I get the connection between of sin because they do not believe in me I I understand that he's going to go to the the world of the Jews and say look you crucified him he's the one that Moses and the prophets wrote about he's the one you've sung of and prayed of in the alter and you crucified the Lord Of Glory I can see why sin and not believing in Jesus go hand in hand this next Clause is a little bit more difficult of righteousness because I go to the father and you see me no more okay what does that mean again not sure I've got it but here's what I'm sort of thinking of righteousness because I go to the father and you see me no more so he's talking to the apostles he's in the upper room you see me no more of course they're going to see him after he is raised from the dead right that's part of the old John 20 thing when they the apostles appear and Thomas is absent and they go Hey Thomas you should have been with us little guilt manipulation there huh how would you have felt if these men come to you and they say oh man Jesus showed up are you used to use the illustration of Nursery you know mother some is down there watching your child happens to be that way and you go downstairs to pick up Junior and say you should have been in that service man the pastor was just blessed and the Word was great not at this church of course but but it was just fantastic we have seen the Lord and you're there probably hopefully with all the patience and Grace you can muster and well I was watching your child that's why I didn't see the Lord imagine that the apostles are the one to whom he speaks at this point at this time they're going to see him again I think when he says but I go to my father he's talking about the Ascension he's talking about the exaltation to the right hand of the Father Again Simon Peter makes much of that from 230 to 236 in Acts 2 he speaks about David prophesying that that that the Christ would sit upon David's Throne at the resurrection of Christ so they would see him thus but Jesus goes to his father so how does righteousness and Ascension connect again the world or the spirit convinces the world of righteousness because I go to my father there's two texts that at least suggest themselves to me that I Think Jesus might be alluding to in in terms of his righteousness his his personal righteousness which they they disregarded the Jews thought he was a malifa the Jews thought he was a wine Biber the Jews thought he was a glutton Matthew 11 uh the Jews rejected him and resisted him they castigated him they thought he was a fraud they thought he was a fake they picked up stones on several occasions to throw at him because he being a man made himself equal with God so it's his personal righteousness but I think he's talking about again could be wrong his imputed righteousness the the spirit is going to convince the world of sin because they do not believe in me but he's also going to convince them of righteousness because I go to my father what does that mean it means that our righteousness is never good enough because it's mingled with sin it means that it can't be a little bit of our righteousness and a little bit of jesus' righteousness to sort of get us there it's got to be Christ's righteousness alone and I think it's connected to the exaltation Vis Romans 1 4 and Romans 3 or 4:25 Romans 1 talks about the resurrection of Christ where he's declared to be the Son of God with power not that he becomes the Son of God with power at the resurrection but he's declared to be thus in other words at the resurrection all the promises of God are demonstrated yay and amen in him he goes to the Cross he goes into that tomb if he were a fraud if he were a fake he wouldn't come out of the Tomb but he comes out of the Tomb that vindicates or demonstrates or validates or highlights or confirms that he is who Moses and the prophets and the Psalms uh uh psalmist uh prophesied concerning and then Romans 4:25 he was delivered up because of our offenses and was raised for what our are justification so the spirit comes to convince the world of sin why because they do not believe in me he comes also to convince the world of righteousness why because I go to my father in other words that was the big it is finished declaration and from here on out not that it was different before but from here on out the only righteousness that avails with God most high is the right rightousness of Jesus Christ the lord so the spirit convinces of sin he convinces of the remedy for sin namely the righteousness of Jesus but then notice he brings that to to bear on judgment he convinces the world of judgment as well why because the ruler of this world is judged what does that mean means at the death of Christ the death blow is rendered to the Devil Himself you've got that in Colossians 1 you've got that in Colossians 2 you've got that in Hebrews uh 2 you've got that in first John we're not waiting for the devil to be crushed we are living in the wake of the devil's having been crushed yes he roams about like a roaring lion yes he seeks whom he may devour but he doesn't have the power to keep the gospel from going to All Nations The Binding of the devil in Revelation 20 whatever your particular eschatological bent is it is very conspicuous that The Binding of the devil is so that the Nations should be deceived no more at that first coming of Jesus Jesus crushes the head of the serpent Genesis 3:15 is realized at the cross and in the resurrection of Our Lord the ruler of this world is judged Jesus announces that Jesus fulfills that and now the spirit comes to convince the world of sin of the remedy for sin and of the impending judgment for those who do not go to Christ for that remedy I think that's what he's saying I think that's the emphasis not on the Salvation everyone in the world that will hear these things certainly the salvation of those in the world that God has picked out of the world to believe the gospel and to be saved but the ministry of the spirit turns on this particular hinge it is to make much of Jesus Christ that's what these disciples need to know before Jesus ascends on high and sits en throned at the right hand of the father I am going to give you the spirit of truth I am going to help you navigate in this present evil age I am going to be there with you via the spirit when you go into the synagogues and again the apostolic Ministry of the apost ostle Paul where did he go when he would go to a city he'd go to the synagogues and do you think when he's in the synagogues he says you know uh fellow Jews we've we've got a lot in common we believe that Yahweh created the Earth we believe that Yahweh spoke through Moses we believe that Yahweh spoke through the prophets we we sing the same Psalms we we pray the same Psalms we we recite is that what they did no you know what Paul did when he went to the Jewish synagogue he reasoned from the scriptures that Jesus is the Christ he doesn't say let's just agree with the the 80% that we agree upon no he takes the message that they desperately needed to hear why because they were in sin for having rejected the savior they needed the righteousness of Jesus imputed to them and receiv received by faith alone and they needed to be reminded there's a judgment to come and if you don't come to this savior if you don't believe on this one if you don't receive him by God's grace you are going to suffer the same Faith as your father the devil language of Jesus John 8:44 you are of your father the devil solidarity with the devil brings judgment along with the devil so you see the ministry of the spirit isn't first and foremost in the churches so that we can all Babble in tongues that's not what's going on what is the Ministry of the spirit on the day of Pentecost throughout the Book of Acts and in subsequent church history and should continue unabated now is the proclamation of sin of righteousness and of the judgment to come Christ prepares the disciples with that that they need when they go into these other places so that's what I think is happening there in this sort of enigmatic statement 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 now of course he's going to speak concerning the disciples particularly in the spirit's Ministry to them in terms of guiding them in terms of teaching and helping and assisting them because that's not going to be an easy task right when when Jesus says that the spirit is going to convince the world of these things the spirit doesn't show up but the synagogue in lisra the the spirit I mean get my meaning here the spirit is present with the Apostle who has to go into enemy territory and say look it's going to be open with you guys Jesus is the man that is spoken of in Genesis 3 Jesus is the antiy of Genesis 22 he is the Lord the one that the Lord has provided he is the prophet of Deuteronomy 18 He is Isaiah's suffering servant of Isaiah 53 he is the one that comes from the Ancient of Days according to Micah 52 he is the Lord our righteousness according to Jeremiah 23 for Paul or a Peter to stand in enemy territory and declare those things which are most offensive to the hearers again Brethren it's easier to preach if I was dropped into a Jewish synagogue this morning I I'd like to think I've had I'd had the same earnestness in preaching this text but it is easier to preach to people that already believe or at least aren't openly hostile to it these guys did that so when Jesus says the spirit is going to do this he means through you guys okay I I'm not leaving you as orphans John 14 I'm not leaving you devoid of the helper I'm not leaving you to farare on your own in a hostile antagonistic Godless world that's going to put you out of their synagogues and is going to kill you and think that they're doing service to God Jesus promises that which is most help F this is why he can say in verse 7 it's to your advantage that I go away I got to say Brethren if I was there and I heard that my jaw would have dropped how could it be to your advantage that's like the father of a of a five kids and a wife saying you know what it's it's to your advantage that I'm I'm leaving you now huh what is that Poss how could it be advantageous for me for us for you to leave us that's kind of akin to what it was here but when he comes on the heels of that and saysi giving you the spirit of Truth he's going to guide you and lead you he's going to enable Empower you so that when you go into those enemy territories when you are in and amongst the world those who crucified the Lord Of Glory the spirit is going to be there the spirit is going to be testifying the spirit is going to convince them of sin of righteousness and of the judgment to come Brethren I think that Jesus is speaking specifically to these men in their needs and by extension to the church and that brings me to a couple of thoughts and then we'll close first with reference to the ministry of the holy spirit let us never forget that's one of the emphases throughout this section it's on the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit as Augustine says we have frequently said however that the operations of the Trinity are inseparable but the persons needed to be set forth one by one that not only without separating them but also without confounding them together we may have a right understanding both of their unity and Trinity that is perceptive why is Jesus teaching the way that Jesus is with reference to the doctrine of God so that we will see the Trinity of persons that we will see the the the unity of the Divine Essence that we'll appreciate statements like John 1:1 john4 John 1:18 that will appreciate statements like like John 1526 and 27 s that will get it perhaps not to the level of an Augustine perhaps not to the level of a of an aquinus or a vanm or a Turan but we'll understand there is but one only the living and true God who exists eternally as Father Son and Holy Spirit these three persons equal in power and glory of the same substance or Essence again we may not be able to fully explain that to the Jehovah's Witness on Yale Road but Breen we see it all over scripture one living and true God who exists as Father Son and Holy Spirit not by way of gradation Big G God little G God little G God that's tritheism and that's heresy we have no subordination in God there's no subordination on the part of the son to the father in the relations of the Trinity that is simply a category that doesn't exist with reference to relations in the Trinity we need to get this we need to understand it in so far as we can and if we ask the question well why well in John 17 when Jesus comes to pray in this Upper Room discourse he says that they may Know Thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou has sent and that is the description of what is eternal life do you realize that so much of what we spend our efforts on in this present age doesn't matter at all it just doesn't all the sourdough you can bake all the engines you can fix all the scores you can rattle off all of the statist I'm not saying don't do that bake more sourdough fix more engines great but Brethren this is eternal life that they may Know Thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou has sent if that's what eternal life is in the in the age to come you'd like to think it has a bit bit of an impact in this present age on us such that yeah we should look at John 13-6 and think about our Triune God and see the relations that are established there or or revealed to us rather there and and and stand in awe and and worship and glorify so the holy spirit is the disciples Advantage the holy spirit is the disciples power and the disciples protection see when Paul goes into these various synagogues when remember when Peter preaches in uh on the day of Pentecost where is he he's in Jerusalem with the mob that just a little while ago shouted away with him away with with him crucify him that actually crucified him again Brethren I don't know that feeling not that I'm into feelings but going into that openly hostile territory and say therefore let it be known to you that this Jesus whom you crucify God has made both Lord and Christ and we looked at Stephen a few weeks ago think about Stephen he's he's filled with the Holy Spirit he gazes up into heaven and there he sees the glory of God and Jesus standing at his right hand that in and of itself is great the vision that he has to encourage to strengthen to build and stabilize him in the midst of the brutal death that he's about to undergo but he actually tells them what he's seeing these men are going to Stone Steven to death for being pro- Jesus and G uh stepen says I see Jesus standing at the right hand of the father I I would imagine that when those men went to pick up Stones they didn't do it haphazardly they didn't do it kind of into it a little bit they hated him they despised him they wanted to dispatch him as soon as they possibly could that takes guts Brethren it takes guts to stand up in the midst of hostility and Proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior so the spirit is their advantage the spirit is their power the spirit is their protection as well if the ministry of the holy spirit is revealed to us in this way then the ministry of the church ought to be carefully patterned after that now brethren we preach the whole Council of God and in preaching the whole Council of God we will speak of sin we will speak of righteousness we will speak of judgment to come there's an intriguing situation where Paul stands before Felix and in Acts 24: 24 and 25 it says after some days when Felix came with his wife Drusilla who was Jewish Felix was a nasty piece of work he's just a rat that's not nice he was it's like Nero the were not you know friendly happy dudes they just wanted to govern for the Bene beneficence of all that that were under their charge Felix is a wretch so what's Paul going to do when he stands before a Felix who's a wretch Felix came with his wife Drilla who was Jewish he sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith in Christ right the faith in Christ so whatever Paul says next has to be the faith in Christ I mean for whatever Felix was and for whatever Drilla was they were still the lawful Authority and if they say tell us about the faith in Christ you tell them about the faith in Christ because you're Paul you want to do that anyway thanks for just cutting to the chase but because you're a Roman citizen and you have a degree of of consistency with reference to that you do what you're told now as he reasoned about righteousness which Felix had none so I got to suppose that the righteousness that Paul is reasoning about is the righteousness that comes to guilty Sinners Like Felix through faith in Jesus as well self-control again notoriously wretched guy sexual sin so what does Paul say you got a problem with self-control don't you what's he doing he's doing what the spirit was intended to do convince the world of sin of righteousness and this is continuing in Acts 24 the judgment to come Felix was afraid and answered there's no indication that Felix got saved no indication that Felix got saved but that he was afraid underscores that that the spirit did his work he convinced the world in this case Felix of sin of righteousness and of the judgment to come so Felix engages in what I've always called damning procrastination he says go away for now when I have a convenient time I will call for you if you have come here this morning and you're not a believer in Jesus I don't have a crystal ball no you know list of names that gets emailed to me you see the news sometimes you hear all these same reports coming on you got to think memos are sent out and they're all saying the same thing they we don't have that in church there's no Holy Spirit generated memo you know there's going to be a guy fourth row that whatever row I don't want you to start thinking he's looking at me here fourth row what you know I don't know but this much I do know all of us have sinned against God I think it's pretty pretty much the case when you come into a church we we try to clean up well we shave we put on you know decent clothes we we do the things that that are expected in Civil Society it it's hard to know where we've come from if you'd have gone back a few years for some of us the last place you would have thought we'd be is here we've all sinned against God every single one of us we have transgressed his law how do you know your sin and misery the catechism asks the law of God God tells me so I'm supposed to have no other gods before God or besides God yet that's all I do I'm not supposed to blaspheme but that's all I do I'm not supposed to be a Sabbath breaker but that's all I do I'm not supposed to be in insubordinate to governing authorities that's what I still do we're not supposed to murder commit adultery theft lies covetousness we broke the law one of the ministries of the spirit is to convince of sin to hide highlight the sin is to reject or resist the Lord Jesus Christ the righteousness of Jesus Christ is glorious you might hear some of this and say what does all this mean it's simple Jesus comes to do or came to do what we can't do we're supposed to be righteous we're supposed to be obedient we're supposed to keep the law we're supposed to do that which is pleasing to God but we don't do that so in Jesus 33 years of Life on this Earth he never sinned he always obeyed he kept the law perfectly every jot and every tit not just as an example for us but actually for us it's not just a look at Jesus and see how he lived and go thou and do likewise no it's look at Jesus in faith when you look at Jesus in faith you not only get his righteous it's it's imputed to you it's given to you it's constituted yours but you're forgiven of all your sins this is why we call it gospel it's good news it's not good advice try harder be better that's a butchering killing message but looking unto the Lord Jesus Christ that's lifegiving that is blessed so sin you're sinful right ious it's to be had through the exalted Savior and the reality that there is a judgment to come we will all stand before the Judgment Throne of Jesus Christ to give an account of Deeds Done in the body whether good or ill Matthew 25 acts 17 2 Corinthians CH 5 the great white throne in Revelation 20 that much you can be sure of the Apostle says it in Hebrews 9 there we know it's appointed unto men to die and then comes the Judgment this age-old sort of a statement two things are inevitable in life death and taxes you cannot pay your taxes that's not advice by the way that's not counsel that's not exhortation but you cannot pay your taxes if you're content to live a life in jail you can't avade judgment you will die and you will stand before the Lord God Almighty the only way to stand for before him is to be cleansed in his precious blood and clothed in his glorious righteousness that by faith Look to Him receive him and rest upon him for salvation well let us pray Our God and our father we thank you for your word we thank you for the spirit's Ministry with reference to the to the world to convince them of sin and of righteousness and judgment we thank you for our Lord Jesus Christ and for the Salvation that you have freely given to us and we trust you're more than able powerful to the uttermost to save all those who draw nigh to you through the Lord Jesus Christ so do this for your glory for your honor and for the benefit of Sinners here and wherever your gospel is preached and we pray this through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen well you can turn to 570 As we sing a pra a hym of praise to our great God 570 [Music] Alles hallelu hallelu PR PR Father Son and Holy Ghost hallelu hallelu hallelu hallelu hallelu the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all amen please be seated for a time of meditation e e e e