WEBVTT 00:00:00.430 --> 00:00:04.669 And so again today, I shall continue in this 00:00:04.669 --> 00:00:08.130 series of messages on the third person of the 00:00:08.130 --> 00:00:13.669 Trinity. You know, theoretically, literally tens 00:00:13.669 --> 00:00:17.690 of thousands of men and women worship the Holy 00:00:17.690 --> 00:00:23.089 Spirit every Lord's Day morning when they stand 00:00:23.089 --> 00:00:27.710 in their places of worship and sing the doxology. 00:00:28.589 --> 00:00:31.949 giving praise unto the Father, unto the Son, 00:00:32.130 --> 00:00:37.990 and unto the Holy Spirit. And yet, there are 00:00:37.990 --> 00:00:43.969 very few of these same people who recognize the 00:00:43.969 --> 00:00:50.590 Holy Spirit as a person. Let me take just one 00:00:50.590 --> 00:00:56.009 split second and just review some definite facts 00:00:56.009 --> 00:01:00.000 with you. The first is the fact that the work 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:05.079 of the Holy Spirit has existed from all eternity. 00:01:05.939 --> 00:01:09.739 For the Word of God tells us in the ninth chapter 00:01:09.739 --> 00:01:17.079 of Hebrews that Jesus offered himself to God 00:01:17.079 --> 00:01:23.540 the Father through the Holy Spirit. A way back 00:01:23.540 --> 00:01:30.799 there. From past eternity, when God the Father 00:01:30.799 --> 00:01:35.540 and Jesus were making plans for man's redemption, 00:01:35.939 --> 00:01:40.599 the Holy Spirit was also present. As much present 00:01:40.599 --> 00:01:45.780 as the Son and as the Father. As definitely a 00:01:45.780 --> 00:01:52.519 person as the Father and the Son. And before 00:01:52.519 --> 00:01:56.079 God the Father ever gave his only begotten Son 00:01:56.079 --> 00:01:59.920 for your redemption and my redemption, Jesus 00:01:59.920 --> 00:02:06.480 offered himself to be given. And he offered himself, 00:02:06.760 --> 00:02:11.099 the scripture says, through the Holy Spirit. 00:02:12.840 --> 00:02:18.319 Therefore, the Holy Spirit had a part when plans 00:02:18.319 --> 00:02:23.270 were made. in past eternity for man's redemption, 00:02:23.590 --> 00:02:30.289 man's salvation. We see in the Holy Scripture 00:02:30.289 --> 00:02:34.090 that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit. 00:02:34.550 --> 00:02:40.789 He was present at the baptism of Jesus. Jesus 00:02:40.789 --> 00:02:44.330 performed all his mighty works, his wonderful 00:02:44.330 --> 00:02:49.439 miracles. while here on earth by the power of 00:02:49.439 --> 00:02:55.199 the Holy Spirit. Jesus himself plainly stated 00:02:55.199 --> 00:02:58.819 that he was anointed to preach by the Holy Spirit. 00:02:59.560 --> 00:03:04.759 He was raised from the dead by the Holy Spirit. 00:03:05.199 --> 00:03:11.539 The Holy Spirit was and will be the glorious 00:03:11.539 --> 00:03:18.590 resurrection power. It was his power, he, the 00:03:18.590 --> 00:03:24.090 Holy Spirit, who raised Jesus from the dead. 00:03:25.590 --> 00:03:29.270 Now, here is something that to me is very thrilling 00:03:29.270 --> 00:03:34.629 and very marvelous. The Holy Spirit took up his 00:03:34.629 --> 00:03:40.009 residence on earth after Jesus went back to the 00:03:40.009 --> 00:03:45.740 Father. Jesus promised that he would. He said 00:03:45.740 --> 00:03:48.860 before he went away, it is expedient for you 00:03:48.860 --> 00:03:53.500 that I go away. In other words, it is necessary 00:03:53.500 --> 00:03:58.419 that I go away. For if I go not away, the comforter, 00:03:58.539 --> 00:04:01.659 referring to the Holy Spirit, will not come unto 00:04:01.659 --> 00:04:07.879 you. But if I depart, I will send him, a definite 00:04:07.879 --> 00:04:15.770 personality, unto you. Jesus made that fact very 00:04:15.770 --> 00:04:21.189 clear before he went away, that after he was 00:04:21.189 --> 00:04:26.509 gone, this marvelous third person would come 00:04:26.509 --> 00:04:31.230 and take up his residence here on the earth. 00:04:33.449 --> 00:04:41.069 But this is what we want to know. Why was the 00:04:41.069 --> 00:04:45.470 Holy Spirit to come? Why did the Holy Spirit 00:04:45.470 --> 00:04:50.250 take up residence here on earth at the day of 00:04:50.250 --> 00:04:56.250 Pentecost? Why? There had to be a reason. I'll 00:04:56.250 --> 00:05:02.149 tell you why. To continue the work of redemption. 00:05:02.970 --> 00:05:08.709 To protect that which was the inheritance and... 00:05:08.939 --> 00:05:12.939 is the inheritance and shall be the inheritance 00:05:12.939 --> 00:05:18.959 of Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son. Oh, this 00:05:18.959 --> 00:05:21.920 is marvelous. All right. Now, for a few minutes, 00:05:21.939 --> 00:05:26.959 we are going to discuss the work of the Holy 00:05:26.959 --> 00:05:30.279 Spirit doing this dispensation here on earth. 00:05:30.360 --> 00:05:37.879 And remember, He is here as a person on this 00:05:37.879 --> 00:05:43.889 earth. earth now and shall continue his work 00:05:43.889 --> 00:05:49.870 on this earth until the time of the great catching 00:05:49.870 --> 00:05:53.730 up, which will be the close of this dispensation, 00:05:53.910 --> 00:06:01.470 the end of the day of Pentecost. Now, when we 00:06:01.470 --> 00:06:05.550 usually speak of the day of Pentecost, We think 00:06:05.550 --> 00:06:10.149 of it in the terms of 24 hours as we think of 00:06:10.149 --> 00:06:15.850 any day. But it isn't. The day of Pentecost, 00:06:16.050 --> 00:06:19.529 the beginning and the end of the day of Pentecost, 00:06:19.649 --> 00:06:23.529 was not just for those few hours when the Holy 00:06:23.529 --> 00:06:26.769 Spirit descended upon the believers in the upper 00:06:26.769 --> 00:06:31.649 room. That was only the beginning of the day 00:06:31.649 --> 00:06:38.230 of Pentecost. The day of Pentecost will continue 00:06:38.230 --> 00:06:44.810 until the Holy Spirit leaves this earth and goes 00:06:44.810 --> 00:06:49.170 back again to the Father. The day of Pentecost 00:06:49.170 --> 00:06:52.129 began when the Holy Spirit took up residence 00:06:52.129 --> 00:06:57.850 here on this earth and will continue until He 00:06:57.850 --> 00:07:04.500 leaves. And when He leaves, He will not go alone 00:07:04.500 --> 00:07:07.920 as Jesus went alone, but he will take you, he 00:07:07.920 --> 00:07:12.300 will take me. He will take those who are members 00:07:12.300 --> 00:07:17.579 of his church along with him. Oh, isn't that 00:07:17.579 --> 00:07:23.379 thrilling? Call that great going away, the catching 00:07:23.379 --> 00:07:27.439 up. Call it the rapture of the church. Call it 00:07:27.439 --> 00:07:31.879 whatever you will. But in reality, it will be 00:07:31.879 --> 00:07:35.839 the leaving of the Holy Spirit and the closing 00:07:35.839 --> 00:07:42.459 of the day of Pentecost. All right? Now, the 00:07:42.459 --> 00:07:47.259 Scripture clearly tells us the work of the Holy 00:07:47.259 --> 00:07:51.300 Spirit during the day of Pentecost. Read it, 00:07:51.360 --> 00:07:53.860 if you will, please. Turn to the 16th chapter 00:07:53.860 --> 00:07:59.769 of John. It's outlined. in these several verses. 00:07:59.870 --> 00:08:03.829 Begin with the eighth verse. And he, when he 00:08:03.829 --> 00:08:08.029 has come, will convict the world in respect of 00:08:08.029 --> 00:08:13.250 sin and of righteousness and of judgment, of 00:08:13.250 --> 00:08:17.889 sin because they believe not on me, of righteousness 00:08:17.889 --> 00:08:22.230 because I go to the Father and ye behold me no 00:08:22.230 --> 00:08:26.230 more, of judgment because the prince of this 00:08:26.230 --> 00:08:31.250 world have been judged. Now we see from the Scripture 00:08:31.250 --> 00:08:35.870 that the Holy Spirit's work as to the world is 00:08:35.870 --> 00:08:39.950 threefold. First, to convict the world of sin. 00:08:40.009 --> 00:08:43.269 Second, to convict the world of righteousness. 00:08:43.610 --> 00:08:47.669 And third, to convict the world of judgment. 00:08:48.929 --> 00:08:53.529 Let's take the first, to convict the world of 00:08:53.529 --> 00:09:01.879 sin. We hear much about conviction. We hear much 00:09:01.879 --> 00:09:07.620 about conscience. A man says that he permits 00:09:07.620 --> 00:09:12.320 his conscience to be his guide. Do you want to 00:09:12.320 --> 00:09:17.039 know something? One can do almost anything with 00:09:17.039 --> 00:09:23.240 one's conscience. Never trust your conscience. 00:09:24.750 --> 00:09:30.789 It'll betray you as sure as can be. One's conscience 00:09:30.789 --> 00:09:36.450 can become very flexible, believe me. You can 00:09:36.450 --> 00:09:41.690 train your conscience to believe almost anything. 00:09:42.049 --> 00:09:47.230 No, huh? There is a difference between one's 00:09:47.230 --> 00:09:56.620 conscience and conviction. You know, some hold 00:09:56.620 --> 00:10:00.740 that conscience is all sufficient to convict 00:10:00.740 --> 00:10:05.740 men of sin. And they quote the 15th verse in 00:10:05.740 --> 00:10:07.940 the second chapter of Romans, where speaking 00:10:07.940 --> 00:10:12.639 of the Gentiles, Paul says, which show the work 00:10:12.639 --> 00:10:17.059 of the law written in their hearts, their conscience 00:10:17.059 --> 00:10:21.220 also bearing witness, and their thoughts, the 00:10:21.220 --> 00:10:28.960 meanwhile, accusing. or else excusing one another. 00:10:29.759 --> 00:10:33.879 But pause a minute. There's a vast difference 00:10:33.879 --> 00:10:41.039 between legal conviction and spiritual conviction. 00:10:42.899 --> 00:10:50.320 Conscience only begets legal conviction, while 00:10:50.320 --> 00:10:56.409 the Holy Spirit begets spiritual. Conscience 00:10:56.409 --> 00:11:02.230 may produce fear and remorse, and it often does, 00:11:02.490 --> 00:11:08.649 but it will not keep men from doing wrong. I 00:11:08.649 --> 00:11:16.470 mean that. Conscience may produce fear. Conscience 00:11:16.470 --> 00:11:26.980 always will produce remorse. Regret. But it will 00:11:26.980 --> 00:11:32.220 not keep men and women from doing wrong. For 00:11:32.220 --> 00:11:36.340 conscience imparts no power. None whatsoever. 00:11:37.139 --> 00:11:43.379 But the Holy Spirit imparts power. And it begets 00:11:43.379 --> 00:11:47.860 hope. All that conscience can do is to abuse. 00:11:48.679 --> 00:11:55.509 Or I would rather use the word. Excuse. For that's 00:11:55.509 --> 00:12:00.289 what conscience will do. Invariably. While the 00:12:00.289 --> 00:12:04.350 Holy Spirit condemns. Oh, you know what I'm talking 00:12:04.350 --> 00:12:06.870 about. Those of you who have experienced old 00:12:06.870 --> 00:12:11.250 -fashioned conviction, sure. The Holy Spirit 00:12:11.250 --> 00:12:16.629 condemns, conlicks. Conscience conlicks men of 00:12:16.629 --> 00:12:21.509 sin against the law. For the law says thou shalt 00:12:21.509 --> 00:12:27.809 not steal. A man's conscience knows that. There 00:12:27.809 --> 00:12:32.090 isn't a man living, but what knows it's wrong 00:12:32.090 --> 00:12:39.889 to steal. That's legal. Therefore, he says, I 00:12:39.889 --> 00:12:43.490 will permit my conscience to be my guide. I will 00:12:43.490 --> 00:12:47.529 not steal. His conscience tells him that it's 00:12:47.529 --> 00:12:52.409 wrong to steal. But remember something. Conscience 00:12:52.409 --> 00:12:56.090 convicts men of sin against the law. And the 00:12:56.090 --> 00:13:01.090 law says, thou shalt not steal. And if you steal, 00:13:01.269 --> 00:13:04.929 you're going to be punished. There's going to 00:13:04.929 --> 00:13:11.529 be legal punishment if you steal. And then if 00:13:11.529 --> 00:13:15.049 the man goes against his conscience and steals, 00:13:15.309 --> 00:13:23.289 his conscience suffers remorse. Remorse why? 00:13:24.049 --> 00:13:29.750 Because he's been caught. That's why. Oh, don't 00:13:29.750 --> 00:13:31.909 trust that conscience of yours to be your guide. 00:13:33.090 --> 00:13:36.049 It'll lead you into trouble just as sure as your 00:13:36.049 --> 00:13:40.210 barn. The law says thou shalt not steal. nor 00:13:40.210 --> 00:13:44.950 covet, nor commit adultery, nor kill. So when 00:13:44.950 --> 00:13:49.690 men steal, or covet, or commit adultery, or kill, 00:13:49.909 --> 00:13:55.250 conscience convicts them of those sins. But watch 00:13:55.250 --> 00:13:58.809 something. The sin that the Holy Spirit convicts 00:13:58.809 --> 00:14:02.429 the world of is none of these whatsoever, but 00:14:02.429 --> 00:14:08.960 of the special sin of unbelief. It's what the 00:14:08.960 --> 00:14:12.220 Master was talking about when he told us of the 00:14:12.220 --> 00:14:14.799 work of the Holy Spirit, when he would come to 00:14:14.799 --> 00:14:17.360 this earth and take up his residence. This is 00:14:17.360 --> 00:14:20.919 what he says of him. He will convince the world 00:14:20.919 --> 00:14:27.659 of sin. Why? Because they believe not on me. 00:14:29.340 --> 00:14:33.740 The entrance of Jesus into the world rendered 00:14:33.740 --> 00:14:40.210 possible a sin hitherto unknown. The sin of rejecting 00:14:40.210 --> 00:14:46.389 him as the world's savior. What was the sin that 00:14:46.389 --> 00:14:48.149 Peter charged his audience with on the day of 00:14:48.149 --> 00:14:52.889 Pentecost? Listen, I give it to you straight 00:14:52.889 --> 00:14:58.230 from the scripture. Ye men of Israel, hear these 00:14:58.230 --> 00:15:04.570 words. Jesus of Nazareth. A man approved of God 00:15:04.570 --> 00:15:07.149 among you by miracles and wonders and signs, 00:15:07.529 --> 00:15:14.529 which God did by him in the midst of you, as 00:15:14.529 --> 00:15:19.450 ye yourselves also know. Now here it comes. Ye 00:15:19.450 --> 00:15:24.889 have taken and by wicked hands have crucified 00:15:24.889 --> 00:15:31.389 and slain. It's in the second chapter of Acts. 00:15:32.039 --> 00:15:38.340 The 22nd, 23rd verses. What was their sin? This 00:15:38.340 --> 00:15:44.179 is it. Their sin then was the rejection and the 00:15:44.179 --> 00:15:49.879 crucifixion of Jesus because of their unbelief. 00:15:51.080 --> 00:15:54.179 Continue reading in the 37th verse of the same 00:15:54.179 --> 00:15:59.879 chapter. That they were pricked. What does that 00:15:59.879 --> 00:16:04.299 word prick mean? They were convicted. Conscience 00:16:04.299 --> 00:16:09.120 had nothing to do with it. It was Holy Ghost 00:16:09.120 --> 00:16:15.320 conviction. They were convicted in their hearts 00:16:15.320 --> 00:16:22.179 and cried out, men and women, what shall we do? 00:16:23.960 --> 00:16:28.279 Now, what produced that conviction for sin? the 00:16:28.279 --> 00:16:32.740 presence of the Holy Spirit who, using Peter 00:16:32.740 --> 00:16:39.220 as a mouthpiece, charged his hearers of the awful 00:16:39.220 --> 00:16:47.039 sin of unbelief in rejecting the claims of Jesus. 00:16:48.759 --> 00:16:54.700 Therefore, the sin, then, that is the work of 00:16:54.700 --> 00:17:02.179 the Holy Spirit, is to convict men in this dispensation 00:17:02.179 --> 00:17:13.480 of rejecting Jesus Christ. Conscience may convict 00:17:13.480 --> 00:17:21.000 men of legal sins, such as murder, theft, covetousness, 00:17:21.259 --> 00:17:29.150 adultery. Read your Ten Commandments. Sure. In 00:17:29.150 --> 00:17:36.490 the conscience of every human being, there is 00:17:36.490 --> 00:17:42.390 inborn the knowledge that these things are wrong. 00:17:43.529 --> 00:17:51.089 Every human being who lives and breathes knows 00:17:51.089 --> 00:18:00.289 instinctively that these Things are wrong. These 00:18:00.289 --> 00:18:06.670 legal sins are wrong. And your conscience will 00:18:06.670 --> 00:18:14.190 convict you of these legal sins. But remember 00:18:14.190 --> 00:18:21.490 something. Only the Holy Spirit can convict of 00:18:21.490 --> 00:18:28.289 the sin of unbelief. the most awful and damning 00:18:28.289 --> 00:18:33.529 sin of the world today. So you see, it's no longer 00:18:33.529 --> 00:18:40.609 the sins question, but the son question. What 00:18:40.609 --> 00:18:46.089 shall we do with Jesus? And I want to go one 00:18:46.089 --> 00:18:52.569 step further. After the Holy Spirit has convicted 00:18:52.569 --> 00:18:58.299 you of... The sin of unbelief. And you accept. 00:18:58.660 --> 00:19:02.099 The son of living God. As your personal savior. 00:19:02.960 --> 00:19:10.819 And he comes in. And you're born again. You automatically. 00:19:13.220 --> 00:19:21.599 Will not commit. These legal sins. That's why 00:19:21.599 --> 00:19:27.009 Jesus said. I come not. To destroy the law? No. 00:19:28.049 --> 00:19:34.890 I have not come to you to destroy the keeping 00:19:34.890 --> 00:19:43.190 of the law. But I come to you as a person with 00:19:43.190 --> 00:19:52.809 a living power within you that enables you automatically 00:19:53.900 --> 00:19:58.819 To keep the law. Oh, to me, that's very marvelous. 00:19:59.579 --> 00:20:03.279 Pause just now in the silence of this moment. 00:20:04.680 --> 00:20:11.420 Only one can convict you of the sin of unbelief. 00:20:12.420 --> 00:20:19.019 There's only one in this whole world who can 00:20:19.019 --> 00:20:25.829 show you your unbelief. who will reveal to you 00:20:25.829 --> 00:20:29.390 your need of Jesus Christ as a personal Savior. 00:20:30.529 --> 00:20:35.910 That's the Holy Spirit. All spiritual conviction 00:20:35.910 --> 00:20:45.309 comes from the Holy Ghost, the third person of 00:20:45.309 --> 00:20:50.880 the Trinity. This very minute, I pray that this 00:20:50.880 --> 00:20:54.539 wonderful third person shall speak to your heart. 00:20:56.700 --> 00:21:00.559 Oh, you would not steal. You would not commit 00:21:00.559 --> 00:21:04.220 adultery. You would not break one of the Ten 00:21:04.220 --> 00:21:08.359 Commandments. Your conscience, perhaps, would 00:21:08.359 --> 00:21:11.220 not permit you to do so. But, beloved, it takes 00:21:11.220 --> 00:21:16.880 more than that. It takes the convicting power 00:21:16.880 --> 00:21:24.119 of the Holy Spirit to reveal to your heart your 00:21:24.119 --> 00:21:31.140 unbelief and to give to you the knowledge that 00:21:31.140 --> 00:21:38.279 you need him as your personal savior. Father, 00:21:38.279 --> 00:21:46.480 just now, enderly, speak to that heart that one 00:21:46.480 --> 00:21:50.920 may not recognize that which they feel on the 00:21:50.920 --> 00:21:54.839 inside of them, as the Holy Spirit speaking. 00:21:57.299 --> 00:22:02.519 But your person is very real. Conviction is very 00:22:02.519 --> 00:22:07.500 real. And I pray that in this moment as conviction 00:22:07.500 --> 00:22:14.240 is felt in that heart, that that one shall look 00:22:14.240 --> 00:22:18.519 up and say, Dear Jesus, help thou my unbelief. 00:22:19.789 --> 00:22:25.309 Come into my heart. Forgive my every transgression. 00:22:25.809 --> 00:22:30.430 I accept you as my Savior now. Amen.