And so again today, I shall continue in this
series of messages on the third person of the
Trinity. You know, theoretically, literally tens
of thousands of men and women worship the Holy
Spirit every Lord's Day morning when they stand
in their places of worship and sing the doxology.
giving praise unto the Father, unto the Son,
and unto the Holy Spirit. And yet, there are
very few of these same people who recognize the
Holy Spirit as a person. Let me take just one
split second and just review some definite facts
with you. The first is the fact that the work
of the Holy Spirit has existed from all eternity.
For the Word of God tells us in the ninth chapter
of Hebrews that Jesus offered himself to God
the Father through the Holy Spirit. A way back
there. From past eternity, when God the Father
and Jesus were making plans for man's redemption,
the Holy Spirit was also present. As much present
as the Son and as the Father. As definitely a
person as the Father and the Son. And before
God the Father ever gave his only begotten Son
for your redemption and my redemption, Jesus
offered himself to be given. And he offered himself,
the scripture says, through the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, the Holy Spirit had a part when plans
were made. in past eternity for man's redemption,
man's salvation. We see in the Holy Scripture
that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit.
He was present at the baptism of Jesus. Jesus
performed all his mighty works, his wonderful
miracles. while here on earth by the power of
the Holy Spirit. Jesus himself plainly stated
that he was anointed to preach by the Holy Spirit.
He was raised from the dead by the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit was and will be the glorious
resurrection power. It was his power, he, the
Holy Spirit, who raised Jesus from the dead.
Now, here is something that to me is very thrilling
and very marvelous. The Holy Spirit took up his
residence on earth after Jesus went back to the
Father. Jesus promised that he would. He said
before he went away, it is expedient for you
that I go away. In other words, it is necessary
that I go away. For if I go not away, the comforter,
referring to the Holy Spirit, will not come unto
you. But if I depart, I will send him, a definite
personality, unto you. Jesus made that fact very
clear before he went away, that after he was
gone, this marvelous third person would come
and take up his residence here on the earth.
But this is what we want to know. Why was the
Holy Spirit to come? Why did the Holy Spirit
take up residence here on earth at the day of
Pentecost? Why? There had to be a reason. I'll
tell you why. To continue the work of redemption.
To protect that which was the inheritance and...
is the inheritance and shall be the inheritance
of Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son. Oh, this
is marvelous. All right. Now, for a few minutes,
we are going to discuss the work of the Holy
Spirit doing this dispensation here on earth.
And remember, He is here as a person on this
earth. earth now and shall continue his work
on this earth until the time of the great catching
up, which will be the close of this dispensation,
the end of the day of Pentecost. Now, when we
usually speak of the day of Pentecost, We think
of it in the terms of 24 hours as we think of
any day. But it isn't. The day of Pentecost,
the beginning and the end of the day of Pentecost,
was not just for those few hours when the Holy
Spirit descended upon the believers in the upper
room. That was only the beginning of the day
of Pentecost. The day of Pentecost will continue
until the Holy Spirit leaves this earth and goes
back again to the Father. The day of Pentecost
began when the Holy Spirit took up residence
here on this earth and will continue until He
leaves. And when He leaves, He will not go alone
as Jesus went alone, but he will take you, he
will take me. He will take those who are members
of his church along with him. Oh, isn't that
thrilling? Call that great going away, the catching
up. Call it the rapture of the church. Call it
whatever you will. But in reality, it will be
the leaving of the Holy Spirit and the closing
of the day of Pentecost. All right? Now, the
Scripture clearly tells us the work of the Holy
Spirit during the day of Pentecost. Read it,
if you will, please. Turn to the 16th chapter
of John. It's outlined. in these several verses.
Begin with the eighth verse. And he, when he
has come, will convict the world in respect of
sin and of righteousness and of judgment, of
sin because they believe not on me, of righteousness
because I go to the Father and ye behold me no
more, of judgment because the prince of this
world have been judged. Now we see from the Scripture
that the Holy Spirit's work as to the world is
threefold. First, to convict the world of sin.
Second, to convict the world of righteousness.
And third, to convict the world of judgment.
Let's take the first, to convict the world of
sin. We hear much about conviction. We hear much
about conscience. A man says that he permits
his conscience to be his guide. Do you want to
know something? One can do almost anything with
one's conscience. Never trust your conscience.
It'll betray you as sure as can be. One's conscience
can become very flexible, believe me. You can
train your conscience to believe almost anything.
No, huh? There is a difference between one's
conscience and conviction. You know, some hold
that conscience is all sufficient to convict
men of sin. And they quote the 15th verse in
the second chapter of Romans, where speaking
of the Gentiles, Paul says, which show the work
of the law written in their hearts, their conscience
also bearing witness, and their thoughts, the
meanwhile, accusing. or else excusing one another.
But pause a minute. There's a vast difference
between legal conviction and spiritual conviction.
Conscience only begets legal conviction, while
the Holy Spirit begets spiritual. Conscience
may produce fear and remorse, and it often does,
but it will not keep men from doing wrong. I
mean that. Conscience may produce fear. Conscience
always will produce remorse. Regret. But it will
not keep men and women from doing wrong. For
conscience imparts no power. None whatsoever.
But the Holy Spirit imparts power. And it begets
hope. All that conscience can do is to abuse.
Or I would rather use the word. Excuse. For that's
what conscience will do. Invariably. While the
Holy Spirit condemns. Oh, you know what I'm talking
about. Those of you who have experienced old
-fashioned conviction, sure. The Holy Spirit
condemns, conlicks. Conscience conlicks men of
sin against the law. For the law says thou shalt
not steal. A man's conscience knows that. There
isn't a man living, but what knows it's wrong
to steal. That's legal. Therefore, he says, I
will permit my conscience to be my guide. I will
not steal. His conscience tells him that it's
wrong to steal. But remember something. Conscience
convicts men of sin against the law. And the
law says, thou shalt not steal. And if you steal,
you're going to be punished. There's going to
be legal punishment if you steal. And then if
the man goes against his conscience and steals,
his conscience suffers remorse. Remorse why?
Because he's been caught. That's why. Oh, don't
trust that conscience of yours to be your guide.
It'll lead you into trouble just as sure as your
barn. The law says thou shalt not steal. nor
covet, nor commit adultery, nor kill. So when
men steal, or covet, or commit adultery, or kill,
conscience convicts them of those sins. But watch
something. The sin that the Holy Spirit convicts
the world of is none of these whatsoever, but
of the special sin of unbelief. It's what the
Master was talking about when he told us of the
work of the Holy Spirit, when he would come to
this earth and take up his residence. This is
what he says of him. He will convince the world
of sin. Why? Because they believe not on me.
The entrance of Jesus into the world rendered
possible a sin hitherto unknown. The sin of rejecting
him as the world's savior. What was the sin that
Peter charged his audience with on the day of
Pentecost? Listen, I give it to you straight
from the scripture. Ye men of Israel, hear these
words. Jesus of Nazareth. A man approved of God
among you by miracles and wonders and signs,
which God did by him in the midst of you, as
ye yourselves also know. Now here it comes. Ye
have taken and by wicked hands have crucified
and slain. It's in the second chapter of Acts.
The 22nd, 23rd verses. What was their sin? This
is it. Their sin then was the rejection and the
crucifixion of Jesus because of their unbelief.
Continue reading in the 37th verse of the same
chapter. That they were pricked. What does that
word prick mean? They were convicted. Conscience
had nothing to do with it. It was Holy Ghost
conviction. They were convicted in their hearts
and cried out, men and women, what shall we do?
Now, what produced that conviction for sin? the
presence of the Holy Spirit who, using Peter
as a mouthpiece, charged his hearers of the awful
sin of unbelief in rejecting the claims of Jesus.
Therefore, the sin, then, that is the work of
the Holy Spirit, is to convict men in this dispensation
of rejecting Jesus Christ. Conscience may convict
men of legal sins, such as murder, theft, covetousness,
adultery. Read your Ten Commandments. Sure. In
the conscience of every human being, there is
inborn the knowledge that these things are wrong.
Every human being who lives and breathes knows
instinctively that these Things are wrong. These
legal sins are wrong. And your conscience will
convict you of these legal sins. But remember
something. Only the Holy Spirit can convict of
the sin of unbelief. the most awful and damning
sin of the world today. So you see, it's no longer
the sins question, but the son question. What
shall we do with Jesus? And I want to go one
step further. After the Holy Spirit has convicted
you of... The sin of unbelief. And you accept.
The son of living God. As your personal savior.
And he comes in. And you're born again. You automatically.
Will not commit. These legal sins. That's why
Jesus said. I come not. To destroy the law? No.
I have not come to you to destroy the keeping
of the law. But I come to you as a person with
a living power within you that enables you automatically
To keep the law. Oh, to me, that's very marvelous.
Pause just now in the silence of this moment.
Only one can convict you of the sin of unbelief.
There's only one in this whole world who can
show you your unbelief. who will reveal to you
your need of Jesus Christ as a personal Savior.
That's the Holy Spirit. All spiritual conviction
comes from the Holy Ghost, the third person of
the Trinity. This very minute, I pray that this
wonderful third person shall speak to your heart.
Oh, you would not steal. You would not commit
adultery. You would not break one of the Ten
Commandments. Your conscience, perhaps, would
not permit you to do so. But, beloved, it takes
more than that. It takes the convicting power
of the Holy Spirit to reveal to your heart your
unbelief and to give to you the knowledge that
you need him as your personal savior. Father,
just now, enderly, speak to that heart that one
may not recognize that which they feel on the
inside of them, as the Holy Spirit speaking.
But your person is very real. Conviction is very
real. And I pray that in this moment as conviction
is felt in that heart, that that one shall look
up and say, Dear Jesus, help thou my unbelief.
Come into my heart. Forgive my every transgression.
I accept you as my Savior now. Amen.