If someone comes to God and does not repent and turn from pride, he is still walking in rebellion. He is really saying in his heart, “I will not give up pride because I love pride more than I love God.” In the next illustration, you will see a man who has a root of pride in his heart. Once established, this root becomes a mighty fortress for the powers of darkness. We will see later in this book how Satan uses pride to deceive the body of Christ. We can see in this illustration how Satan uses pride to build many strongholds of deceit. Pride is the root and symptom of countless other areas of sin. We are to know false teachers by their fruit. As you study this illustration, just picture this man as a spiritual leader. If a person has a root of pride, his motive will be to build an image for himself. As he builds a name for Jesus in the strength and works of the flesh, he will deceitfully take part of the glory which belongs to Jesus to fulfill his love for pride and reputation. He will show partiality and will exploit all his relationships in order to control others and advance his selfish ambition. He will flatter and deceive others in order to look good and receive the approval of man. Pride always wants to be the center of attention. Pride receives glory from men. Pride is always concerned with its own image. Pride always has to be right. Pride loves the approval of men more than the approval of God. Pride will welcome thoughts and suggestions from Satan to exploit and use people to build one’s own self-image.
Another fortress that is built by Satan in the lives of men is the root of greed. Like pride, greed gives strength to numerous other strongholds, which attach to this root. Greed does not love his neighbor. Greed loves the things of this world. Greed hoards and lives his whole life for himself as he builds a fleshly kingdom. Greed acts as though he is going to live forever. He is deceitful and manipulates his neighbor to fulfill his selfish ambition. When anyone loves greed, he is loving the nature of Satan rather than the giving and loving nature of God. In the next illustration, picture a man who loves the selfish ways of greed and tries to follow the Lord Jesus Christ at the same time.
Can God control the life of a man whose heart loves greed? Can anyone who loves greed truly love his neighbor? Picture a salesman in the world system whose heart loves greed. He will exaggerate, withhold information, apply pressure, manipulate, and intimidate his neighbor to make a sale to fulfill his lust and greed. He exploits and uses his neighbor because he loves greed and selfishness more than he loves his neighbor. This is why the judgment of God is on the world today. The god of this world, Satan, has trained the world to love greed and to make it to the top, regardless of who suffers. This is called success by the standards of this world.
When anyone does not turn from greed, he will use the things of God to build opportunities for himself and fulfill his lust and greed. Lust of the flesh is when one’s heart is drawn to love something else more than he loves God. This is idolatry. John warns us: “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever” (1 John 2:15-17).
The Psalmist described the ones who love pride and greed: “The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined. For the wicked boasteth of his heart’s desire, and blesseth the covetous whom the Lord abhorreth. The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts. His ways are always grievous; thy judgments are far above our sight: as for all his enemies, he puffeth at them. He hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved: for 1 shall never be in adversity. His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity. He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten: He hideth His face; He will never see it” (Ps. 10:1-7, 11).
When a worldly church still walks after the flesh and loves pride, greed and selfish ambition, there is no difference between them and the world. The Psalmist also said, “Help, Lord; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men. They speak vanity every one to his neighbor: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak. The Lord shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things: who have said, with our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own: who is lord over us? The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted” (Ps. 12:1-4, 8). Every man in the world walks in the image and likeness of Satan. He does not love nor honor God; neither does he love his neighbor. Each one in the world lives for himself. The strong deceive, manipulate and lord it over the weak. Everyone greedily gathers and hoards for himself, while all around him his neighbor hurts and suffers in need. “The whole world lieth in wickedness” (1 John 5:19). Their hearts agree with Satan.
Main Point: We will have peace when we understand that God is in control of everything.
Key Verse:
At the end of that time I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up toward heaven. My mind became clear again. - Daniel 4:34a
Props: A modern-day letter, signed at the bottom.
Background/Review
Say: Everyone open your Bibles to the book of Daniel. (You may want to say: It’s about 2/3 from the front of your Bible.) Keep your Bibles open there.
For the last several weeks, we have studied the Israelites as they were kidnapped and taken to Babylon. The Babylonians did not worship the one true God. They worshipped many false gods and idols. Their King, Nebuchadnezzar (Neh-byoo-kuhd-NEHZ-er), was a very powerful man who also worshipped false gods and idols. However, God had a plan to reveal Himself to King Nebuchadnezzar. God saw to it that Nebuchadnezzar’s path crossed with some of His few faithful followers, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego (Jeremiah 25:11, Daniel 1:2). By watching the relationship that these men had with the living God, King Nebuchadnezzar learned more and more about their God.
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In Daniel 1, Daniel and his friends decided ahead of time not to disobey God by eating the King’s food. Because they obeyed God and depended on Him, God gave them great wisdom. King Nebuchadnezzar found that these Israelites were ten times wiser than all of the His other wise men. So King Nebuchadnezzar honored God’s men.
Then, in Daniel 2, the Lord gave Nebuchadnezzar a dream that only Daniel could interpret. Daniel made it very clear that the dream and the interpretation had come for the one true God. Through this dream, King Nebuchadnezzar learned that only God’s Kingdom will last forever. The King learned that God is wise and He reveals truth. So King Nebuchadnezzar admitted that Daniel’s God was the best of all the “gods.”
Finally, last week we studied Daniel 3. In the fiery furnace, King Nebuchadnezzar saw that the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego was faithful; He could do what none of his “gods” could do - God could rescue His people. Nebuchadnezzar saw that the Lord would step into a blazing furnace to be with those who trust in Him. So King Nebuchadnezzar made a law that no one could speak against the God of Israel.
All of these were steps toward knowing God, but Nebuchadnezzar did not yet understand that God was the ONLY God and that He was in control of EVERYTHING. Nebuchadnezzar thought that he, himself, was almost like a god. He had one more very important lesson to learn.
Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream (Daniel 4:1-18)
Say: Everyone turn to Daniel 4. This chapter is actually a letter. When we write a letter, we sign it at the bottom. Teacher: Show your modern-day letter, and where it is signed. Back in Bible times, they did something interesting when they signed their letters. They signed them at the beginning of the letter. This actually makes a lot of sense. This way, when a person received a letter, he or she knew right away who sent it. So, look at the first couple words in Daniel 4. Ask: Who was this letter from? King Nebuchadnezzar. Say: And right after the letter writer’s name, he tells us who the letter is written to. Ask: Who would like to read verse 1 aloud so we can see whom this letter is written to? Choose a volunteer to read. Say: This letter is written to everyone in the whole world! Wow. This must contain some really cool stuff. Let’s see what this mighty King thought was so important that he should write a letter to the entire world. He begins:
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I am pleased to tell you what has happened. The Most High God has done miraculous signs and wonders for me. His miraculous signs are great. His wonders are mighty. His kingdom will last forever. His rule will never end. - Daniel 4:2-3
Say: Now this is much higher praise than Nebuchadnezzar had ever spoken about God. Something big has happened in the King’s life and he wants to tell everyone about it.
I was at home in my palace. I was content and very successful. But I had a dream that made me afraid. I was lying on my bed. Then dreams and visions passed through my mind. They terrified me. - Daniel 4:4-5
Say: Uh-oh. Another dream. Once again, King Nebuchadnezzar called on all of his wise men to explain the dream to him. And, of course, none of them could. Finally, he called on Daniel. Nebuchadnezzar called Daniel by a Babylonian name, Belteshazzar (bel-te-SHAZ-er). He told Daniel his dream:
“Here are the visions I saw while I was lying on my bed. I looked up and saw a tree standing in the middle of the land. It was very tall. It had grown to be large and strong. Its top touched the sky. It could be seen anywhere on earth. Its leaves were beautiful. It had a lot of fruit on it. It provided enough food for people and animals. Under the tree, the wild animals found shade. The birds of the air lived in its branches. Every creature was fed from that tree.
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“While I was still lying on my bed, I looked up. In my visions, I saw a holy messenger. He was coming down from heaven. He called out in a loud voice. He said, ‘Cut the tree down. Break off its branches. Strip its leaves off. Scatter its fruit. Let the animals that are under it run away. Let the birds that are in its branches fly off. But leave the stump with its roots in the ground. Let it stay in the field. Put a band of iron and bronze around it.
“ ‘Let King Nebuchadnezzar become wet with the dew of heaven. Let him live like the animals among the plants of the earth. Let him no longer have the mind of a man. Instead, let him be given the mind of an animal. Let him stay that way until seven periods of time pass by.
“ ‘The decision is announced by holy messengers. So all who are alive will know that the Most High God is King. He rules over all of the kingdoms of men. He gives them to anyone He wants. Sometimes He puts the least important men in charge of them.’ “- Daniel 4:10-17
Daniel Explains The Dream (Daniel 4:1-18)
Say: Daniel knew that this dream was all about King Nebuchadnezzar, and it was not all good news. He told Nebuchadnezzar that he wished the dream were about the King’s enemies instead of the King. He explained:
“My King, you are that tree! You have become great and strong. Your greatness has grown until it reaches the sky. Your rule has spread to all parts of the earth.” - Daniel 4:22
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That was the good news. But there was plenty of bad news too:
“My King and master, here is what your dream means. The Most High God has given an order against you. You will be driven away from people. You will live like the wild animals. You will eat grass just as cattle do. You will become wet with the dew of heaven. Seven periods of time will pass by for you. Then you will recognize that the Most High God rules over all of the kingdoms of men. He gives them to anyone he wants.
“But he gave a command to leave the stump of the tree along with its roots. That means your kingdom will be given back to you. It will happen when you recognize that the God of heaven rules.
“So, my king, I hope you will accept my advice. Stop being sinful. Do what is right. Give up your evil practices. Show kindness to those who are being treated badly. Then perhaps things will continue to go well with you.” - Daniel 4:24-27
God sent a clear warning to Nebuchadnezzar. Through Daniel, the Lord encouraged Nebuchadnezzar to repent of his sin before it was too late. However, the King did not take this warning to heart.
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Note to Teacher: Nebuchadnezzar’s sins were very much like those of Pharaoh in Egypt and the Pharisees in Jesus’ day. All of these men were puffed up with pride, and they mistreated the lowly (Exodus 1:11, 5:2; Matthew 23). Pride was the very sin of Satan (Ezekiel 28:15-17). C.S. Lewis writes, “The essential vice, the utmost evil, is pride. Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere fleabites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind.” It is no wonder that God detests pride and opposes the proud (James 4:6, Proverbs 6:16-17). It is pride that leads men to believe we can live without Him.
Application: God wants us to stay close to Him and far from sin. When we are in sin, or close to things that tempt us, God gives us correction in several ways. He instructs us in His word (2 Timothy 3:16), through Bible teaching, and preaching (Matthew 12:41). He speaks to us through prayer (Daniel 9:20-22). Often, He also uses those close to us - our parents, teachers, and friends - to let us know when we are making wrong decisions (Proverbs 13:1, 2 Samuel 12:9). It is so important for us to pay attention to God’s correction. God is patient, but when we choose to ignore His loving warnings, we will face the consequences of our sin (Proverbs 1:24-33).
The Dream Comes True (Daniel 4:28-33)
Say: Patiently, God gave Nebuchadnezzar an entire year in which to turn from his evil ways. Remember, this is the King’s own letter we are reading. He said:
All of that happened to me. It took place twelve months later. I was walking on the roof of my palace in Babylon. I said, “Isn’t this the great Babylon I have built as a place for my royal palace? I used my mighty power to build it. It shows how glorious my majesty is.” - Daniel 4:28-30
Say: Let’s take a closer look at Nebuchadnezzar’s attitude as he looked out over the kingdom.
I said, “Isn’t this the great Babylon I have built as a place for my royal palace? I used my mighty power to build it. It shows how glorious my majesty is.”
Say: There is a word that comes to mind. It is P-R-I-D-E. Pride is thinking too highly of oneself. Nebuchadnezzar thought that he had built the kingdom. In truth, God was the one who handed all of his prisoners over to him (Daniel 1:2). When Daniel interpreted his first dream, he said, “The God of heaven has given you authority and power. He has given you might and glory.” (Daniel 2:37) Pride makes us think that we do not need God. Pride separates us from God. Nebuchadnezzar did not give credit to his Creator, and His Creator had had enough. Listen to what happened next (in Nebuchadnezzar’s own words).
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I was still speaking when a voice was heard from heaven. It said, “King Nebuchadnezzar, here is what has been ordered concerning you. Your royal authority has been taken from you. You will be driven away from people. You will live like the wild animals. You will eat grass just as cattle do. Seven periods of time will pass by for you. Then you will recognize that the Most High God rules over all of the kingdoms of men. He gives them to anyone He wants.”
What had been said about me came true at once. I was driven away from people. I ate grass just as cattle do. My body became wet with the dew of heaven. I stayed that way until my hair grew like the feathers of an eagle. My nails became like the claws of a bird. - Daniel 4:31-33
Say: God had warned Nebuchadnezzar and had been very patient with him. But finally, the prediction came true. All of the things that he was so proud of were taken away. Remember the fine food at the King’s table that we read about in Daniel 1? That was taken from Nebuchadnezzar; he had to eat grass just like the goats and cows! He was used to living in a grand palace, but now he had no shelter over his head. For 7 years, the great King Nebuchadnezzar lived out in the wilderness like an animal. He lost his mind; he became crazy (Daniel 4:34). Without God, he was helpless.
Application: God’s word tells us that God stands against those who are proud (James 4:6). If we are proud of our own talents or abilities, looks or possessions, God may take those things away so we will see what is true - God is the One who gives every good thing that we have (James 1:17). Without God we are helpless. We should never brag about what we have accomplished (1 Corinthians 5:6). The only thing we should ever brag about is that we know the Lord! (Jeremiah 9:24)
Note to Teacher: King Nebuchadnezzar reigned from 605 BC–562 BC. There is a notable absence of any record of acts or decrees by King Nebuchadnezzar during 582 to 575 BC. - Gleason L. Archer, Vol 7 Expositor’s Bible Commentary.
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Nebuchadnezzar Is Restored (Daniel 4:34-37)
Say: Our story has a very happy ending though. Remember at the beginning of his letter, Nebuchadnezzar was bragging about the goodness of God. Here is why:
PPT KEY VERSE
At the end of that time I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up toward heaven. My mind became clear again. Then I praised the Most High God. I gave honor and glory to the One who lives forever. His rule will last forever. His kingdom will never end. He considers all of the nations on earth to be nothing. He does as He pleases with the powers of heaven. He does what He wants with the nations of the earth. No one can hold His hand back. No one can say to Him, “What have you done?”
My honor and glory were returned to me when my mind became clear again. The glory of my kingdom was given back to me. My advisers and nobles came to me. And I was put back on my throne. I became even greater than I had been before.
Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, give praise and honor and glory to the King of heaven. Everything he does is right. All of his ways are fair. He is able to bring down those who live proudly. - Daniel 4:34-37
Say: After seven years of living like an animal, Nebuchadnezzar finally looked to God. Nebuchadnezzar changed his focus from himself to the one true God who deserved to be worshipped and praised. He turned from his pride and became humble. Right away, his mind was made right. God forgave Nebuchadnezzar and returned all that he had lost, plus a lot more.
Proud people want to hide their mistakes so other people won’t know that they have faults. Humble people admit when they make mistakes. Nebuchadnezzar showed that he became humble when he admitted his sin of pride in this letter that he wrote for the entire world to read. He also used the letter to praise God and declare that God was in control of everything.
We should notice that God brought Nebuchadnezzar low for his GOOD, not for his destruction. It was far more important for Nebuchadnezzar to know the one true God, and enter into God’s eternal Kingdom, than for him to live a carefree life on earth and die without knowing God.
Application: Today, we can struggle with pride just as much as Nebuchadnezzar did. Our pride makes us focus on ourselves instead of on God. Notice that “I” is in the center of PRIDE. If you are focused on yourself, and you think that you can control the things in your life, your mind will be filled with fear and worry - just like Nebuchadnezzar in the wilderness. But when you understand the truth that God is in control of everything, your mind will be healthy and clear, and you will feel God’s peace (Galatians 5:22).
At times you will face difficult people or difficult situations in your life. When this happens, ask yourself this question: “Is God in control?” Of course, the answer is always YES! Knowing that God is in control, and that He always wants what’s best for you, will give you true peace.
Note to Teacher: “Our sanity is directly linked to God’s sovereignty.” (Pastor Buddy Hoffman, Grace Fellowship Church) Legally speaking, insanity is when a person cannot distinguish reality from fantasy. In other words, a person who is insane cannot tell what is true and what is not true. It is not until a person recognizes that God is sovereign (supreme or highest in power or authority; controlling; preeminent; indisputable; being above all others in character, importance, excellence; greatest, utmost, paramount) that the person recognizes the ultimate truth. Without this knowledge, a person’s thoughts are consumed with fear, worry, and stress. With this knowledge, a person’s mind is transformed and at peace.
Key Verse:
At the end of that time I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up toward heaven. My mind became clear again. - Daniel 4:34a
Main Point: We will have peace when we understand that God is in control of everything.
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Unless otherwise noted the Scriptures taken from: Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version, (NIrV®)
Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998 by International Bible Society / Used by permission of IBS-STL. All rights reserved worldwide.
Special thanks to John R. Cross, The Stranger on the Road to Emmaus, GoodSeed International.
Greed is an overwhelming urge to have more of something, usually more than you really need.
Greed is an excessive desire to acquire or possess more (especially more material wealth) than one needs or deserves. Greed is often connected with money, a desire to acquire as much of it as possible, but it can refer to that kind of urge toward anything, like food or material possessions.
Below are some bible verses on greed.
Luke 12:15
Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
Mark 7:21-23
For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean.’ ”
Proverbs 28:25
A greedy man stirs up dissension, but he who trusts in the LORD will prosper.
Matthew 23:25
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.
1 Corinthians 6:10
nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
1 Peter 5:2
Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers-not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve;
2 Peter 2:3
In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.
2 Peter 2:14
With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed-an accursed brood!
Ephesians 5:5
For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person-such a man is an idolater-has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
Psalm 119:36
Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain.
Mark 8:36
What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?
Isaiah 57:17
I was enraged by his sinful greed; I punished him, and hid my face in anger, yet he kept on in his willful ways.
Romans 1:29
They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips,
Luke 11:39
Then the Lord said to him, “Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.
Colossians 3:5
Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.
1 Corinthians 5:10
not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world.
1 Corinthians 5:11
But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.
Ephesians 5:3
But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people.
Proverbs 23:6
Do not eat the food of a stingy man, do not crave his delicacies;
Proverbs 29:4
By justice a king gives a country stability, but one who is greedy for bribes tears it down.
Ezekiel 33:31
My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before you to listen to your words, but they do not put them into practice. With their mouths they express devotion, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain.
Verse 2 shows that the proud person takes advantage of those who are weaker. In practical terms, it means that in pursuing personal desires, the proud person has no regard for the needs and comforts of others. He "runs over" people. He has no esteem for their interests and happiness, thinking them unworthy even to consider. Such an attitude will never bring people together.
Samuel 2:3 Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.
Psalms 12:3 The LORD shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things:
4 Who have said, With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own: who is lord over us?
Psalms 17:8 Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings,
9 From the wicked that oppress me, from my deadly enemies, who compass me about.
10 They are inclosed in their own fat: with their mouth they speak proudly [RSV: arrogantly].
Psalms 31:18 Let the lying lips be put to silence; which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously [NIV: arrogantly] against the righteous.
19 Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men!
20 Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.
Psalms 59:12 For the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips let them even be taken in their pride: and for cursing and lying which they speak.
Psalms 73:6 Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment.
7 Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish.
8 They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loftily.
9 They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth.
Psalms 94:1 O LORD God, to whom vengeance belongeth; O God, to whom vengeance belongeth, shew thyself.
2 Lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth: render a reward to the proud.
3 LORD, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph?
4 How long shall they utter and speak hard things [RSV, NIV: arrogant words]? and all the workers of iniquity boast themselves?
Psalms 119:69 The proud [NIV: arrogant] have forged a lie against me: but I will keep thy precepts with my whole heart.
Proverbs 6:16 These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:
17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
18 An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,
19 A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.
Proverbs 8:13 The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.
Proverbs 14:3 In the mouth of the foolish is a rod of pride: but the lips of the wise shall preserve them.
Romans 1:28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud [NIV: arrogant], boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
1 Corinthians 4:18 Now some are puffed up [RSV: arrogant], as though I would not come to you.
19 But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will, and will know, not the speech of them which are puffed up [RSV: the talk of these arrogant people], but the power.
1 Timothy 6:3 If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness;
4 He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings,
5 Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.
Lucifer
Say: Before God created the earth, He created angels (Job 38:7). The Hebrew word for angel is mal’ak, which means messenger. Angels are more powerful than people. (Hebrews 2:7). People do not become angels when they die, as some books and movies suggest. Angels are separate creatures from people. The Bible tells us that there are countless numbers of angels (Revelation 5:11). The angels served and obeyed God, and gave Him the worship He deserved (Psalm 103:20-21, Nehemiah 9:6). There are different types of angels, and they serve God in different ways. Angels are spirits, but at times they can be seen and heard (Genesis 19:1-2, Luke 1:11-13). Like man, God created angels with a mind, emotions, and a will; they are free to choose what they want to do (Isaiah 14:13-14, Revelation 12:7).
One of the angels was named Lucifer. Lucifer means light-bearer, shining one, or morning star. The Bible tells us Lucifer was a powerful angel. The Bible describes him this way:
“You were the model of perfection. You were full of wisdom. You were perfect and beautiful.” - Ezekiel 28:11b
God had given Lucifer an important job:
“I appointed you to be like a guardian cherub. I anointed you for that purpose. You were on My holy mountain. You walked among the gleaming jewels. Your conduct was without blame from the day you were created.” - Ezekiel 28:14-15a
The Bible tells us that Lucifer was a beautiful, smart, flawless creation of God. Again, we see that the creation is a reflection of the Creator.
Teacher: Call up a volunteer by asking for a student who feels he or she is artistic. Hand them a large piece of play-doh. Tell them they have 2 minutes to make a person out of the clay. Tell him or her to make it look as much like himself or herself as possible. When the volunteer is finished, show the group. Compliment the sculpture and point out any similarities to the student. (Example: “Wow, that’s great. It has two eyes, and short hair.”) Say: This sculpture is very nice, and I see that it is made in the image of (student’s name). But who is greater? (Susie) or the sculpture of her? (Susie) is! Ask:Why is (Susie) greater than her artwork? She created it. She has the power.
Say: Lucifer had wonderful qualities, but he did not even compare to the greatness of his Creator. God gave Lucifer a special job, and it would seem, even a place of honor. Because Lucifer was perfect and blameless, he could spend time in God’s presence. But, this beautiful cherub had the ability to think, feel, and choose what to do. Listen to what the prophets Ezekiel and Isaiah say about him:
You thought you were so handsome that it made your heart proud. You thought you were so glorious that it spoiled your wisdom. - Ezekiel 28:17a
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You said in your heart,
“I will ascend to heaven;
I will raise my throne above the stars of God;
I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain.
I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.” - Isaiah 14:13-14 NIV
Lucifer knew he was beautiful, powerful, and smart. His wonderful qualities caused him to become proud. He was no longer content with the gifts God had given him. He wanted more. He wanted a throne that would be higher than all the other angels. Being in God’s presence was no longer enough for him. Lucifer wanted to be as great as God! Five times, Lucifer said “I will” - “I will be lifted up; I will be like the Most High God.” Lucifer wanted to rob God of the praise that ONLY God deserves. There is a three-letter word for this heart attitude. Ask: Does anyone know the word? The word is SIN.
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Your conduct was without blame from the day you were created. But soon you began to sin. - Ezekiel 28:15
As far as we know, this is the first time any being ever chose to sin against God. Sin changed everything. The world was no longer perfect. Sin brought with it all the pain and suffering that we see around us today. (Next week we will look at man’s first sin.) Notice, the Bible says Lucifer said these things in his heart; they were his prideful thoughts. He didn’t even have to say them aloud for God to hear them. God is all-knowing (Psalm 147:5). He even knows the motive in every heart (1 Chronicles 28:9).
Listen to what the Bible says about those who want to be lifted up high:
Anyone who lifts himself up will be brought down. - Matthew 23:12a
God ALWAYS keeps His promises, and He will certainly bring Lucifer down.
Cast Out
Say: We have stated that God is perfect. Another way to describe God is holy (Leviticus 11:45). That means He is sacred, without any flaws, set apart, totally different. Because God is holy, He cannot tolerate sin in his presence. Because Lucifer chose to sin, God cast him out of heaven (Luke 10:18).
So I threw you down to the earth. - Ezekiel 28:17b
The Bible tells us that this prideful angel did not leave heaven quietly. In fact, many of the other angels sided with Lucifer and rebelled against God. About one-third of all the angels followed Lucifer. There was a battle between Lucifer’s angels and the rest of the angels. The archangel Michael led the fight against Lucifer. Of course, the rebellious angels were not strong enough, and they were thrown to the earth. (Revelation 12:3-9)
Ask: Who remembers what the name Lucifer means? Light-bearer, shining one, or morning star.
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Say: That name no longer described this fallen angel. Lucifer became known by other names. One name is the devil, which means slanderer or liar. The Bible says that the devil is the father of lies (John 8:44). Another name is Satan, which means adversary or enemy. Satan is God’s enemy. Since Satan could not become like God, he seeks to destroy everything that God loves (John 13:2, 1 Peter 5:8). Satan attempts to stop God’s plans (1 Thessalonians 2:18, Matthew 4). Satan lives to trap men in sin and darkness (Acts 26:18, Revelation 12:9). He does not want men to know God and have eternal life in heaven (Luke 8:12). This is the spiritual battle that Satan wages against mankind (Ephesians 6:12).
Satan and his angels, called demons, are on earth for a time. But God has a plan to destroy Satan, and God’s plans cannot be stopped (Hebrews 2:14, Job:42:2). Satan knows the time is coming when he and his demons will be cast into eternal punishment, called the lake of fire (Matthew 25:41, Revelation 12:12, 20:10). One day Satan will be forced to praise God’s Son, Jesus, and God WILL receive the glory He deserves (Philippians 2:10-11).
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Application: Hollywood loves to make scary, creepy movies about the devil and demons. We did not study this lesson today to scare anyone! God does not want His children to live in fear (Romans 8:15). God wants His children to live in truth (John 3:21). Hollywood movies are rarely based on what is TRUE. Movie makers would have us believe that Satan is as powerful as God and that Satan and God are constantly battling to gain ground on one another. That is NOT the case! Here is what is true: Satan is a powerful enemy. He is more powerful than man, but He is NO MATCH for God! Between God and Satan, there is no comparison. Ask: Who knows the opposite of hot? Cold. What is the opposite of large? Small. What is the opposite of God? (Kids will probably say Satan.) Say: That was a trick question! Satan is NOT the opposite of God. God has no opposite, because God is in a category ALL BY HIMSELF! God is on His own level which is FAR, FAR above Satan. Satan is more powerful than human beings on their own, but Christians are not left on their own! God’s Holy Spirit that lives inside of all Christians is greater than the devil (1 John 4:4), so believers do not to need live in fear.
Pride
Say: The Bible does tell Christians that we should be aware of Satan’s schemes (2 Corinthians 2:11), so we can recognize his work and stay far from it. Satan’s sin was pride. Throughout the Bible, we see that Satan tries to get as many people to follow in his pride as he can (Genesis 3:4, Luke 4:6-7). Pride changed the course of the world. Surely, it is worth our time to look into this thing called pride.
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Pride is thinking too highly of oneself. As was the case with Satan, pride always separates us from God. God hates pride (Proverbs 8:13) and He sets Himself against the proud (James 4:6). C. S. Lewis, author of the Narnia books, calls pride, “the complete anti-God state of mind.” This is a very accurate description. When we are prideful, we think we have all the answers and we cannot see our need for God. The Bible says, “In his pride the wicked does not seek Him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God.” - Psalm 10:4 NIV
Scripture tells us that pride deceives us (Obadiah 1:3). Pride is a lie. It makes us think we are more than we are. God created us, every good thing we have comes from Him, and every good quality of ours is merely a faint reflection of His perfection. How, then, can we boast in ourselves? When we take credit for any of the good things God has given us, we are robbing God of the praise and worship He deserves.
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The opposite of pride is humility, or being humble. Pride separates us from God, but God draws near to those who are humble (2 Kings 22:19). To be humble is to have a correct view of oneself, and a correct view of God. Being humble is NOT thinking we are terrible, lowly creatures. The Bible says we are wonderfully made because God knit us together (Psalm 139:13-14). The Bible also says that God delights in His people and even sings over us (Zephaniah 3:17).
Application: How do we have (and keep) the right perspective? How do we view ourselves as wonderfully made by God, yet remain humble and far from pride? The Bible gives us the answer by pointing us to Jesus.
You should think in the same way Christ Jesus does. In his very nature He was God. But He did not think that being equal with God was something He should hold on to. Instead, He made Himself nothing. He took on the very nature of a servant. He was made in human form. He appeared as a man. He came down to the lowest level. He obeyed God completely, even though it led to his death. In fact, he died on a cross. So God lifted Him up to the highest place. He gave Him the name that is above every name. - Philippians 2:5-9
Jesus is our perfect example. Even though He DESERVED all praise and honor, He chose to set those things aside. In obedience to the Father, Jesus left the adoration of the angels to come to earth to serve mankind.
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Jesus was the picture of humility. Jesus knew the Father and He completely trusted the Father’s plan. Jesus remained in His Father - He spent time with His Father (John 10:15, John 12:50, Mark 1:35). To believe in, trust and remain with is called ABIDING. When we ABIDE in the Lord, we will have the correct view of Him, and of ourselves. When we ABIDE in the Lord, it is impossible to be proud.
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Main Point: God hates pride. Pride separates us from Him.
Note to Teacher: The Bible gives us another wonderful example of humility in Moses. Humanly speaking, Moses could certainly have been proud. He was raised as Pharaoh’s grandson, well educated, powerful in speech and action, and then hand-selected by God to lead His chosen people (Acts 7:21-22). Yet Numbers 12:3 says, “Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.” (NIV) The key was ABIDING in God! The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. - Exodus 33:11 NIV
Additional Note to Teacher: On using Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 as texts to study Satan
Both texts are written about earthly kings, yet both describe Satan’s pride and rebellion.
(1) Both texts begin as a taunt against a king of a nation which opposes both God and Israel. Isaiah 14 is a taunt against the king of Babylon (14:4); Ezekiel 28 is against the ruler or prince of Tyre (28:2).
(2) The taunt in both texts takes us beyond and behind the earthly king Satan, who stands behind them and whose character and work they exemplify. Some would dispute the claim that Satan is addressed in these two texts, but the descriptions in both go beyond that of a man and fit no one other than Satan. Who but Satan:
- has fallen from heaven (Isaiah 14:12)?
- can be called the “star of the morning” and “son of the dawn” (Isaiah 14:12)?
- had the “seal of perfection” and was “full of wisdom and perfect in beauty,” in “Eden, the garden of God” (Ezekiel 28:12-13)?
- was “blameless” when created (Ezekiel 28:15)?
- was “the anointed cherub” (Ezekiel 28:14)?
(3) These texts indicate what we should already know--that Satan’s character and conduct are manifested in those over whom he has control. The Christian is to manifest the character and conduct of our Lord. The non-Christian likewise manifests the character and conduct of Satan (see John 8:39-44). The taunt therefore addresses the earthly king who opposes God and His people, and the “prince” who stands behind, prompting men to carry out his will.
A pair of bifocal glasses offers an analogy of these texts. Some bifocals have a very clear, distinct line between one lens and the other. Newer lenses often have no distinct line; one lens blends into the other. So it is with these texts in Isaiah and Ezekiel. One “lens” is the earthly king, who opposes God and His chosen people. The other is Satan, the ultimate enemy, the ultimate evil, standing behind, orchestrating opposition through his servants. The shift from one “lens” to the other is not a clear line but a blur. Looking through the center of the lens lets us see clearly who is intended. Isaiah 14:12-15 are addressed to Satan just as Ezekiel 28:12-15 are. The immediately surrounding verses are blurry, referring most likely to both men and Satan. We now can understand these two texts as referring to Satan’s creation, his fall, and his character.
Bob Deffinbaugh, Satan’s Part in God’s Perfect Plan ©1996-2006 Biblical Studies Press, reprinted with permission from
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Unless otherwise noted the Scriptures taken from: Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version, (NIrV®)
It is not proud 1 Corinthians 13:4
Love is not proud. Indeed, there is no room for pride in a heart of love. Pride is an anchor to love that restrains its rich offering. It prolongs the inability to love by short-circuiting the effect of agape love. Pride is a precursor to loveless living; it struggles with love because it requires a focus off self and on others. Pride is deceptive, as it always negotiates for its own benefit. There is a driving force behind pride that is unhealthy and unnecessary. Moreover, it is indiscriminate in its seduction of either gender. Men may be the most susceptible to pride’s illusion, but women can be deceived just as well. Eve fell into this trap in her encounter with the devil (1 Timothy 2:14).
Pride’s feeling of superiority slices into the soul like a surgeon’s scalpel. It inserts its influence deep and wide. You can be wired and controlled by pride and not even know it. Love longs to have the same status as power-hungry pride. Love seeks to defuse pride’s time bomb of terror and intimidation. Love outlasts pride if applied humbly and heavily. Love drives pride from a controlling heart and frees it to become trusting. Instead of demanding its own way, love seeks to make those around it successful.
Love listens; pride talks. Love forgives; pride resents. Love gives; pride takes. Love apologizes; pride blames. Love understands; pride assumes. Love accepts; pride rejects. Love trusts; pride doubts. Love asks; pride tells. Love leads; pride drives. Love frees up; pride binds up. Love builds up; pride tears down. Love encourages; pride discourages. Love confronts; pride is passive-aggressive. Love is peaceful; pride is fearful. Love clarifies with truth; pride confuses with lies. Love and pride are mutually exclusive. Love dies with pride but comes alive with humility.
Most important, humility is a hotbed of love. It has the opposite effect on love than does pride. Humility invites love to take up permanent residence in the human heart. Love covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8), and humility understands that love is reserved for everyone. Love forgives even the worst of sinners, as pride struggles in a life of bitterness and resentment, thinking somehow it is paying back the offender. This state of unresolved anger only eats up the one unable to love and forgive.
Furthermore, humility positions you to love and be loved. Humility knows it needs help in the arena of receiving agape love. Your humble heart yearns for love from your Lord Jesus Christ. Once you receive the love of your heavenly Father, you can’t help but dispense it to others hungry for a hug. As you receive love, you are capable of giving love. Therefore, let the Lord love you and allow others to love you, so you can, in turn, love. Proud hearts melt under the influence of intense and unconditional love. The calling of Christians is perpetual love; so be guilty of love. Your love is healing and inviting. Pride exits when humility enters, and then you are in a position to love.
surprised.
Pride: The Sin God Hates
The Bible speaks much about pride. Scripture is brimmed with stories and parables about pride. And it’s no wonder since the LORD hates pride (Proverbs 6:16-7) and looks at it from afar (Psalm 138:2).
The Bible refers to pride by several names: self-exaltation, haughtiness, puffed up, lofty, conceit, arrogance, and boastfulness. Prides has many faces, takes on different forms, and sometimes we are unaware of it in our hearts. But we all struggle with it in some way or another. Personally, I’ve struggled with pride my entire life and have lived through the consequences of it; I have learned to hate it because it has ruined many wonderful things. I have come to realize that pride destroys everything including my peace. I’m sure that you too have had your own battles with pride.
And while we may hate it, pride is not so easy to get rid of and we cannot do it on our own. Pride branches out to many other sins that cause us to become distant from God. So we need to take it very seriously. And we need to acknowledge our necessity of Christ to battle and kill the pride in our hearts. The only thing we accomplish by trying in our strength to overcome pride is behavior modification. And even that is pride. Pride is an internal problem with deep roots in our hearts. Only the Lord can uproot it.
Here is what Scripture has to say about pride.
Proverbs 16:5
“Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord”
Proverbs 16:18-19
“Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.”
Psalm 10:4
“The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.”
Psalm 73:6
“Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain”
Proverbs 8:13
“The fear of the Lord is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.”
It’s very clear that the Lord does not tolerate pride and neither, should we. It has many repercussions; many have even lost it all. Pride is like holding tightly unto a blade, it cuts but we don’t want to let it go.
Pride Destroys Your Spiritual Life
As I stated earlier, pride builds a chasm between the person and God. Take Adam and Eve for example. Satan knew how well pride would work in the human heart. That sense of autonomy, that sense of importance and carnal worth. “You can be as God,” he said to Eve. Her eyes were opened up before she even took of the fruit. What was the result? Eternal banishment from the Garden of Eden and separation from God’s Presence (Genesis 3:4-6).
YAH hates pride, He looks at a proud person from afar (Psalm 138:6). But humility brings us closer to Him.
Pride is very problematic but perhaps the worse problem it creates are the spiritual consequences it fosters. It prevents the person from growing spiritually, it separates him or her from communion with the Heavenly Father. Pride will not allow you to hear the voice of God which can turn out to be very hindering in the walk of faith. A spiritually prideful person will never accept his or her wrongs and will reject all rebukes and admonishments from those who mean only good. He will ignore the convictions of the Holy Spirit if it means that he needs to apologize or humble himself in some way. The prideful person does not like being preached at because he thinks he knows it all and does not need anyone telling him something he already knows (1 Corinthians 8:2). But in reality, he knows he’s wrong but pride does not allow him to make the necessary changes.
However, pride will lower you, it will humble you, it will put you to shame. The Lord allows this to happen to remind you that you are only dust. Now, I’m not saying that the LORD wants to make you feel worthless, let’s not go into extremes here. But everything and everyone who seeks to exalt himself shall be brought low.
Job 40:12
“ Look on every one that is proud, and bring him low; and tread down the wicked in their place.”
Proverbs 29:23
“A man’s pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit.”
Isaiah 26:5
“For he bringeth down them that dwell on high; the lofty city, he layeth it low; he layeth it low, even to the ground; he bringeth it even to the dust.”
Obadiah 4
“Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the Lord.”
Pride leads to destruction and ultimately to eternal death. Like all paths of sin lead to hell, pride takes the soul into the place where there is no return.
Malachi 4:1
“For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.”
Needless to say, destruction is the end of arrogance and brings shame in the process. There is a joke that highlights this perfectly.
A priest, a doctor, a politician, a scientist, and a boy were traveling in an airplane. When suddenly the plane’s engine started to fail. The pilot desperately tried to fix the problem without success. He told his passengers to each grab a parachute and jump off because the plane was going to crash. So the pilot grabbed a parachute and jumped. The problem was that there were only 4 parachutes left. The politician quickly grabbed a parachute and said, “I’m an important man, I work to make important laws, so the people need me,” and jumped off the plane. The doctor grabbed the 2nd parachute and said, “I have an important job, I save people’s lives, so the people need me,” and jumped off the plane. The scientist grabbed the 3rd parachute and said, “I’m among the world’s most intelligent men, the people need intelligent men like me,” and jumped off the plane. The priest then turned to the boy and said, “I’m old, I’ve lived a full life, but you’re young and still have a long life before you. You take the last parachute.” The boy looked at the priest and said, “No, don’t worry. The world’s most intelligent man took my backpack.
While we may chuckle at the joke, we realize that pride will not let you see clearly.
It is like the scientist who was blinded by his own arrogance and took the wrong parachute. His pride was his demise.
Pride Hinders Growth
Arrogance stagnates your Spiritual AND personal growth. Pride prevents a person from having a teachable attitude which is essential for growth. Humility is necessary for growth, you have to admit ignorance and be willing to be taught in order to grow. Both are absent from a person with a prideful disposition. Pride does not allow a person to admit and accept help when they’re struggling which keeps them from learning.
Pride in the Christian life impedes the Christian from learning from his mistakes, he will never admit when he’s wrong. This keeps him from becoming Christ-like and getting closer to God.
We all struggle with pride at different points and in different levels but until we get rid of it we will never grow. Your desire to be more like Christ has to be greater than your love of pride. And let me tell you that it will be hard sometimes. But we cannot remove the pride from our hearts on our own. That is something the Lord has to do and it will be a lifelong process. We need to repent of the pride in our hearts and depart from permanently.
In my 27 years of life, I have not met a single person who was completely clean of pride. But I have met many people who are less prideful than they were before.
Pride hinders growth but we grow in our process to be cleansed from it. Humility is the first step.
Pride Destroys Relationships
Pride not only affects the individual but those around him as well. And if left unchecked, it can cause considerable damage to relationships. In romantic relationships where both persons are too proud to admit their wrongs is like a powder keg, it’ll explode at the slightest provocation. Pride decays and kills love, it causes the affected person to grow cold. It makes the other person wonder whether they love their pride more than them.
The signature response of a proud person when they have committed mistakes is “Well, I’m human, no one’s perfect.” They’d rather say that than admit their mistake and apologize. To them, admitting they’re wrong is humiliating. Pride cannot distinguish between humility and humiliation. You can be humble without humiliating yourself. Apologizing does not take away your dignity, it reveals your honor.
Pride kills friendships. Countless are the number of friendships that have ended because of pride. No one likes to hang around, much less fellowship with someone who is too prideful. It’s unpleasant being around a person who never admits wrongs, never apologizes, is arrogant, brags, among other things.
Prideful people also tend to get offended very easily. They think that people are always out to attack them. Even a small innocent joke or comment will trigger an angry response. This too causes rifts in relationships.
A prideful person ends up alone and lonely.
Pride: The Sin That Pays Tribute to Self
Arrogance seems to be society’s best companion, especially in Western countries. We get started on it early in our lives. Remember when teachers used to applaud a job well done? I don’t know about other countries but here in America, teachers put a HUGE emphasis on compliments and rewards. Students get treated like fragile glass; adults are afraid of shattering their self-esteem. I can understand wanting to encourage students to do their best but there are other ways to do that.
People are obsessed with self-esteem. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t have any self-worth or dignity but people use it as a compass. And that’s very bad because too much of it breeds pride.
Arrogance makes a person think too highly of himself. It causes people torely on their talents, abilities, and intelligence. Independence is good but when it leads you to abandon God completely then it’s not so good. What’s more, arrogance reveals your foolishness and highlights it for the whole world to see.
Romans 1:22
“Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools”
Arrogance also displays itself through vanity. Look at how models depend on their appearance and beauty for a living. They have to be vain and there is some arrogance in that.
Then there’s the intellectual with several doctorates who prides in his accomplishments and intelligence.
The world-class athlete with 20 medals and trophies.
Or the atheist who thinks himself too smart to believe in God.
What about the self-assured politician who basically won the elections?
Success is good but when it gets to our heads and all the glory goes to the Creature and not the Creator then we have a problem. In a nutshell, pride is self-idolatry. When we are prideful we commit 2 offenses: pride and idolatry.
Galatians 6:3
“For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.”
Proverbs 3:7
“Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil.”
Isaiah 5:21
“Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!”
Proverbs 21:4
“An high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked, is sin.”
Pride looks down on others, makes assumptions to feel better of himself yet is still miserable.
Pride Reveals Your Insecurities
The surprising truth about pride is that it’s actually a response to insecurities. I know this sounds like an oxymoron but think about it. Pride is the auto defense against feeling insecure. I believe deep down, we all know our shortcomings so we have 2 options: 1. We can acknowledge them and do something about it (repent and depart from it), or 2. We can deceive ourselves and use pride to cover it up. Pride won’t let you admit your weaknesses.
Having pride is a lot of work. Pride tells God, ” Leave me alone, I can do this on my own. Give me my burden back, I want to carry it even if it’s too heavy.”
Humility says “God, here are my faults, here are my troubles. I give them to you. Take away this burden, I cannot do this on my own.”
Guess who has more peace and freedom?
In trying to be free and independent, the prideful person does the opposite and shackles himself as a slave to sin. There is much to lose with pride and much to gain from humility.
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Bible Stories About Pride
Pride is the world’s oldest sin. As I stated at the beginning of this post, Satan rebelled because of pride. But there are many stories in the Bible about proud individuals, here are only a few.
Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9)
The people who constructed the Babel Tower did so out of pride. Blinded like Eve, they thought they could reach the Heavens and be mighty like God. This is no small matter. Here are puny human beings who tried to place themselves at the same level as God! Well, the confounding of tongues was God’s good grace who instead of annihilating humanity simply dispersed them. God is VERY patient!
Pharaoh (Exodus 5:2)
Because of Pharoah’s pride and stubbornness who refused to let the Jews go, brought the 10 plagues upon Egypt and the death of his son. There’s much too lose with pride!
Naaman (2 Kings 5:1-14)
Naaman, captain of the king’s guard had leprosy. So God spoke through Elisha, that he would be healed if he dipped himself 7 times in the Jordan. But his pride told him that was humiliating, he deserved something better. Until he finally obeyed and was instantly healed. Naaman lost two things that day, his leprosy and his pride. Sometimes losing is not a bad thing.
King Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 4:30-35)
King Neb was a very arrogant man. One day he looked at his kingdom and admired all the work he had done. Well, the Lord wasn’t pleased with his self-glory so he made him go mad. For 7 years he lived in the wilderness like an animal. Eating wild grass like a beast and crawling on all fours. He learned his lesson and praised God at the end of it.
Reflection
I love reading about the Quakers. They shunned all pride, they dressed in simple clothes, their speech was unflattering, their graves were unmarked so as not to make idols of anyone. Their simplicity of everyday life promoted humility.
You don’t need to convert to Quakerism to be humble but we can learn much from their example in humility. Pride is an ugly sin that leeches unto you. It takes and takes, rewards you with loneliness, anxiety, discontentment, and steals eternal life from you. There are many good things in life we need to hold onto, pride is not one of them.
The first step in becoming humble is to acknowledge our problem with pride, the good news is that that’s also hardest to do. If you can accept the pride in your heart you will accept the Lord’s help. Next, you must repent AND depart from it completely (John 8:11).
With humility we have nothing to lose but pride itself. Click To Tweet
Look at Jesus as your example. Jesus being the SON OF GOD was born in a manger, made furniture for a living, carried nothing with him on his journeys, did not defend himself when falsely accused, and died in a very humiliating way. If He being God incarnate can humble Himself that way, how much more should we? How much less are we owed?
to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry.”
Walking in the Spirit:
When we walk in the Spirit; we do not fulfill the lust of the flesh (Galatians 5:16). Our hearts will know God’s will, and we will exude a lifestyle that is peaceful and dependent on our Savior. Walking in the Spirit produces much fruit…beautiful fruit. A person walking in the Spirit will have love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). They Will want to meet the needs of those around them. They Will be unselfish…giving. They Will follow Jesus and His commandments.
“And He said to them, ‘Take heed and beware of greed, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”
Greed begins with the inner self. It taints our spiritual connection with God putting a false idol in place of a true God. Greed can arise from selfish ambition, pride, covetousness, and fear. It can lead to a path of destruction and decay. How can we keep ourselves free from Greed? We have to be aware of the grip of Greed. It can taint our very soul, creating a lack of spiritual discernment and direction. Anybody can be greedy, the rich or the poor. Our greediness is not in our wealth but in our desire to want more and more and more, and the willingness to step on others to get it. This is an ethical problem, a moral issue, a spiritual tumor. If not removed from our lives, it can create many sinful acts and thoughts. We are in danger of spiritual ruin if we begin to trust in our wealth and not the Lord.
If we are walking in the Spirit, we will be content with what we have. We will be thankful for the many blessings that surround us no matter what others possess.
“For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.”
If we are walking in the Spirit; Greed will not have a grip on us. It will not be able to disguise itself in luxury that is luring to the eyes, it’s flashy gold and silver will not coerce us to become the enemy of individuals. The alluring, fascination with wanting more will be repulsive to our inner being. But if we fall prey to its tempting devices; We will soon find that our hearts are far from God.
Greed: Fulfilling the flesh
There’s a character in Tolkien’s book Lord of the Rings, his name is Smeagol, and he is a good representation of how Greed can affect us spiritually and physically. Smeagol, a hobbit, who lives in a small friendly village called the Shire, is good-natured and kind. Where he lives is beautiful and safe. The sun is bright and delicate flowers accent this peaceful village. Life is good at the Shire, but one day Smeagol discovers a ring. Unknown to the small little hobbit, the ring possesses an insidious power. A power so great that Smeagol fights and murders his friend. This small, round ring has taken over Smeagol’s mind, so much that He calls it, his “precious.” Obsessed with the ring, Smeagol soon withdraws from his community to live in the debts of the earth. He becomes a slimy, vindictive, jealous creature. All because of “his precious.” Greed had overtaken Smeagol, its power made him paranoid, and because of this, the ring becomes his undoing.
Greed can have a similar power over people as the ring had over Smeagol. Kind men and women spirits become tainted, hearts blackened, desires shifted all because they want more. Greed will make people unrecognizable. People have killed, lied, manipulated others all for the love of money.
“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”
The love of money takes you away from God. It creates in the human soul a response that is not loving toward others. Luxury becomes more important than family members. A business grows more important than employees. It stirs up strife, fear, pride, and covetousness. Greed keeps us from having a spirit-filled life.
“We can live a life that is Spirit-filled by obeying the commands of God. We can do this with our wealth, no matter how much you possess, by giving to others. We can give out of our abundance, being great stewards of what God has given. Our richness is to be in doing good deeds.”
How to flee from Greed?
“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But you, a man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness.”
How do we flee from Greed?:
By pursuing righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. Pursue the things of God. Walk in the Spirit and not the flesh.
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Don't love money, love God, and love people.
Ecclesiastes 5:10
Contentment and generosity can annihilate the Spirit of Greed. When power and positions become the main focus… run from these desires as Joseph ran from Potifer’s wife. | Hebrews 13:5
“Whosoever shall seek to gain his life shall lose it: but whosoever shall lose ‘his life shall preserve it.”
Greed deceives us to believe that the more we have, the happier we will be. It gives us a false sense of power and removes from us the real joy of living. Let us seek after the things of God and not the things of this world. Let us live a spirit-filled life, not a life of selfish-ambition and Greed.
Those who are determined to be rich fall into temptation and a snare.” —1 TIMOTHY 6:9.
1. Why should we be concerned about snares?
THE word “snare” may call to mind a hunter setting a camouflaged device to catch unsuspecting prey. However, God makes clear that for us the most dangerous snares are, not such literal devices, but what may ensnare us spiritually or morally. The Devil is an expert in setting such snares.—2 Corinthians 2:11; 2 Timothy 2:24-26.
2. (a) How does Jehovah help us to avoid dangerous snares? (b) What particular type of snare comes in for attention now?
2 Jehovah helps us by identifying some of Satan’s many and varied snares. For example, God warns that our lips, or mouth, can be a snare if we speak unwisely, rashly, or about what we ought not. (Proverbs 18:7; 20:25) Pride can be a snare, as can keeping company with people given to anger. (Proverbs 22:24, 25; 29:25) But let us turn to another snare: “Those who are determined to be rich fall into temptation and a snare and many senseless and hurtful desires, which plunge men into destruction and ruin.” (1 Timothy 6:9) What is behind that snare or the basis for it can be summed up in the word “greed.” Though greed is often evidenced by a determination to be rich, greed is really a snare with many facets.
Jehovah Warns Us of Danger
3, 4. Ancient human history contains what lesson about greed?
3 Basically, greed is an inordinate or excessive desire to have more, whether that be money, possessions, power, sex, or other things. We are not the first to be endangered by the snare of greed. Away back in the garden of Eden, greed ensnared Eve and then Adam. Eve’s mate, who was more experienced in life than she was, had been personally instructed by Jehovah. God had provided them with a paradise home. They could enjoy an abundance of good and varied food, raised on unpolluted land. They could expect to have perfect children, with whom they could live and serve God endlessly. (Genesis 1:27-31; 2:15) Would that not seem to be enough to satisfy any human?
4 Yet, someone’s having enough does not prevent greed from becoming a snare. Eve was ensnared by the prospect of being like God, having more independence and setting her own standards. It seems that Adam wanted an ongoing companionship with his beautiful mate, no matter what that cost. Since even these perfect humans were ensnared by greed, you can appreciate why greed can be a danger for us.
5. How important is it for us to avoid the snare of greed?
5 We must guard against being ensnared by greed because the apostle Paul warns us: “Do you not know that unrighteous persons will not inherit God’s kingdom? Do not be misled. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men kept for unnatural purposes, nor men who lie with men, nor thieves, nor greedy persons . . . will inherit God’s kingdom.” (1 Corinthians 6:9, 10) Paul also told us: “Let fornication and uncleanness of every sort or greediness not even be mentioned among you.” (Ephesians 5:3) So greediness is not even to be a topic of conversation for the purpose of gratifying our imperfect flesh.
6, 7. (a) What Bible examples underscore how powerful greed can be? (b) Why should those examples be a warning to us?
6 Jehovah has recorded many examples to alert us to the danger of greed. Recall Achan’s greed. God said that Jericho was to be destroyed, but its gold, silver, copper, and iron were for His treasury. Achan may initially have intended to follow that direction, but greed ensnared him. Once in Jericho, it was as if he were on a shopping trip where he saw unbelievable bargains, including a beautiful garment that seemed perfect for him. Picking up gold and silver worth thousands of dollars, he could have thought, ‘What a fortune! It’s almost a steal.’ Exactly! Coveting what should have been destroyed or turned in, he stole from God, and that cost Achan his life. (Joshua 6:17-19; 7:20-26) Consider, too, the examples of Gehazi and Judas Iscariot.—2 Kings 5:8-27; John 6:64; 12:2-6.
7 We should not overlook the fact that the three mentioned above were not pagans ignorant of Jehovah’s standards. Rather, they were in a dedicated relationship with God. All of them had witnessed miracles that should have impressed on them God’s power and the importance of retaining his favor. Still, the snare of greed was their downfall. We too can ruin our relationship with God if we let ourselves be ensnared by greed in any form. What types or forms of greed may be especially dangerous to us?
Ensnared by Greed for Wealth or Possessions
8. The Bible gives what warning regarding wealth?
8 Most Christians have heard clear warnings from the Bible against developing a love of riches, a craving for wealth. Why not review some of these, as found at Matthew 6:24-33;Luke 12:13-21; and 1 Timothy 6:9, 10? While you may feel that you accept and follow such counsel, is it not likely that Achan, Gehazi, and Judas would have said that they agreed with it too? Clearly, we must go beyond mere intellectual agreement. We have to take care that the snare of greed for wealth or possessions does not affect our everyday lives.
9. Why should we examine our attitude toward shopping?
9 In daily life, we often have to make purchases—food, clothing, and items for the home. (Genesis 42:1-3; 2 Kings 12:11, 12; Proverbs 31:14, 16; Luke 9:13;17:28; 22:36) But the commercial world stimulates a desire for more and newer things. Many advertisements filling newspapers, magazines, and TV screens are masked appeals to greed. Such appeals may also exist at stores with racks of blouses, coats, dresses, and sweaters, with shelves of new shoes, electronic gear, and cameras. Christians may want to ask themselves, ‘Has shopping become a highlight or chief pleasure in my life?’ ‘Do I truly need new items that I see, or is the commercial world just fertilizing seeds of greed in me?’—1 John 2:16.
10. What snare of greed is particularly a danger for men?
10 If shopping seems to be a common snare for women, getting more money is one for countless men. Jesus illustrated this snare with a rich man who had a good income yet was determined to ‘tear down his storehouses and build bigger ones to gather in all his grain and good things.’ Jesus left no doubt as to the danger: “Keep your eyes open and guard against every sort of covetousness” or greed. (Luke 12:15-21) Whether we are rich or not, we should heed that counsel.
11. How might a Christian be ensnared by greed for more money?
11 Greed for more money, or things that money can buy, is often fostered under camouflage. A scheme to get rich quickly may be presented—perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime chance for financial security through a risky investment. Or one may be tempted to make money by questionable or illegal business practices. This covetous desire may become overpowering, ensnaring. (Psalm 62:10; Proverbs 11:1; 20:10) Some within the Christian congregation have begun businesses with the expectation that their trusting brothers would be the main customers. If their objective was not simply to provide a needed product or service by ‘hard work, doing with their hands what is good work,’ but to make money hastily at the expense of fellow Christians, then they are acting out of greed. (Ephesians 4:28; Proverbs 20:21;31:17-19, 24; 2 Thessalonians 3:8-12) Greed for money has led some into gambling through raffles, sweepstakes, or lotteries. Others, ignoring empathy and reasonableness, have hastily started lawsuits in hopes of a large award or settlement.
12. Why do we know that greed for wealth can be overcome?
12 The preceding are areas in which a self-examination is in order so that we can see honestly whether greed may be at work in us. Even if it is, we can change. Remember that Zacchaeus changed. (Luke 19:1-10) If anyone finds greed for wealth or possessions to be a problem, he should be as determined as Zacchaeus was to escape the snare.—Jeremiah 17:9.
Greed in Other Aspects of Life
13. Psalm 10:18 calls to our attention what other snare of greed?
13 Some find it easier to see the danger of greed as respects money or possessions than other ways in which it appears. One dictionary of Greek says that the group of words rendered “greed” or “covetousness” has the sense of “‘wanting more,’ with a reference to power etc. as well as property.” Yes, we could be ensnared by greedily wanting to exert power over others, perhaps to have them tremble under our authority.—Psalm 10:18.
14. In what areas has a desire for power been harmful?
14 Since early days imperfect humans have enjoyed having power over others. God foresaw that a sad result of human sin would be that many husbands would “dominate” their wives. (Genesis 3:16) This failing, however, has extended beyond the marital scene. Thousands of years later, a Bible writer noted that “man has dominated man to his injury.” (Ecclesiastes 8:9) You likely know how true that has been in political and military matters, but could it be that in our own spheres, we strive for more personal power or control?
15, 16. In what respects might a Christian be ensnared by a desire for more power? (Philippians 2:3)
15 All of us relate to other humans—in our immediate or extended families, at our secular work or at school, among friends, and in the congregation. We may occasionally, or often, have some voice in what will be done, as well as how or when. That in itself is not wrong or bad. Do we, though, excessively enjoy using any authority that we might have? Could it be that we like having the final say and want it more and more? Worldly managers or bosses often show this attitude by surrounding themselves with yes-men, who offer no dissenting views and who do not challenge their superiors’ worldly quest (greed) for power.
16 This is a snare to avoid in dealing with fellow Christians. Jesus said: “You know that the rulers of the nations lord it over them and the great men wield authority over them. This is not the way among you; but whoever wants to become great among you must be your minister.” (Matthew 20:25, 26) Such humility should be evident as Christian elders deal with one another, with ministerial servants, and with the flock. Might a desire for power be reflected, for instance, by a presiding overseer who consults with fellow elders only on minor matters but makes all key decisions on his own? Is he truly willing to delegate tasks? Problems could result if a ministerial servant handling a meeting for field service was unreasonably demanding in his arrangements, even making rules.—1 Corinthians 4:21; 9:18; 2 Corinthians 10:8; 13:10; 1 Thessalonians 2:6, 7.
17. Why is it appropriate to consider food when discussing the snare of greed?
17 Food is another realm in which many are ensnared by greed. Of course, it is natural to find enjoyment in eating and drinking; the Bible speaks approvingly of that. (Ecclesiastes 5:18) Yet, it is not uncommon for a desire in this connection to grow over a period of time, extending far beyond what is reasonably enjoyable and sufficient. If this was not an appropriate area for concern by God’s servants, why would Jehovah’s Word say at Proverbs 23:20: “Do not come to be among heavy drinkers of wine, among those who are gluttonous eaters of flesh”? Yet, how do we avoid this snare?
18. What self-examination about food and drink might we make?
18 God does not suggest that his people subsist on some austere food regimen. (Ecclesiastes 2:24, 25) But neither does he approve of our making food and drink a dominant part of our conversation and planning. We might ask ourselves, ‘Do I often become excessively enthusiastic when I describe some meal I had or plan to have?’ ‘Am I always talking about food and drink?’ Another indicator may be how we react when we have a meal that we did not prepare or pay for, perhaps when we are a guest in another’s home or when food is available at a Christian assembly. Could it be that we are then inclined to eat far more than usual? We recall that Esau permitted food to become unduly important, to his lasting harm.—Hebrews 12:16.
19. How could greed be a problem as regards sexual pleasure?
19 Paul gives us insight into another snare: “Let fornication and uncleanness of every sort or greediness not even be mentioned among you, just as it befits holy people.” (Ephesians 4:17-19; 5:3) Indeed, greed for sexual pleasure can develop. This enjoyment, of course, has an appropriate expression within the bonds of marriage. The close affection associated with this pleasure plays a part in helping husband and wife stay devoted to each other over many years of marriage. Few people would deny, though, that today’s world has put extreme emphasis on sex, presenting as normal what is actually a reflection of the greediness that Paul mentioned. Especially is such a wrong view of sexual pleasure easily adopted by those who expose themselves to the immorality and nudity common today in many films, videos, and magazines, as well as at places of entertainment.
20. How can Christians show themselves alert to the danger of greediness in sexual matters?
20 The account of David’s sin with Bath-sheba shows that one of God’s servants can be trapped by the snare of sexual greed. Though free to enjoy pleasure within his own marriage, David let illicit sexual desire grow. Noting how attractive Uriah’s wife was, he gave free rein to the thought—and deed—of finding illicit pleasure with her. (2 Samuel 11:2-4; James 1:14, 15) Certainly we must shun this form of greed. Even within marriage it is fitting to shun greed. This would include the rejecting of extreme sex practices. A husband determined to avoid greed in this area would be genuinely interested in his mate, so that any choice the two of them made about family planning would not rate his pleasure as more important than his wife’s present or future health.—Philippians 2:4.
Continue to Be Determined to Avoid Greed
21. Why should our discussion of greediness not discourage us?
21 Jehovah does not provide cautions or warnings out of any distrust. He knows that his devoted servants want to serve him loyally, and he is confident that the great majority will continue to do that. About his people as a whole, he can make an expression similar to what he said of Job when speaking to Satan: “Have you set your heart upon my servant Job, that there is no one like him in the earth, a man blameless and upright, fearing God and turning aside from bad?” (Job 1:8) Our loving, trusting heavenly Father alerts us to dangerous snares, such as those connected with forms of greed, because he wants us to continue untainted and faithful to him.
22. What should we do if our study has revealed an area of personal danger or weakness?
22 Each of us has inherited a tendency toward greediness, and we may have developed this further under the influence of the wicked world. What if during our study of greediness—as respects wealth, possessions, power and authority, food, or sexual pleasure—you saw some area of weakness? Then take to heart Jesus’ advice: “If ever your hand makes you stumble, cut it off; it is finer for you to enter into life maimed than with two hands to go off into Gehenna.” (Mark 9:43) Make what changes are called for in attitude or interests. Avoid the deadly snare of greed. Thus with God’s help, you may “enter into life.”
The most comprehensive list of sins, which are utterly divergent to the holiness of God, is found in the sixthchapter of Proverbs, verses sixteen to nineteen.
These six things the LORD hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: (17) A proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, (18) a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, (19) a false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows discord among brethren. (Proverbs 6:16-19)
And the very first sin in the list mentioned by the Spirit of God is that of pride. But this should not be surprising to Christians, since it was the sin of pride that spurred Satan to oppose his Maker, the Living God of the Universe, as seen in the following passages of Scripture.
How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! (13) For you have said in your heart: “I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; (14) I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.” (Isaiah 14:12-14)
not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil. (1 Timothy 3:6)
Vanity (pride, narcissism, conceit, egotism, self-importance) continues as mankind’s most prevalent and foundational sin. Man is a creature consumed with pride, as seen in the following passage of Scripture.
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness andunrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; (19) Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. (20) For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: (21) Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. (Romans 1:18-21 [KJV])
Pride is the root of all sin. It percolates every conceivable evil within and throughout society today. No matter the level or the nature of man’s existence or involvement, it is pride that spawns that which corrupts all of man’s originally well-intended efforts. And one needs not be a keen observer to see the truth of this. Even a cursory examination of society today reveals that in all facets of its structure, e.g., politics, business, sports, religion, etc., the ample evidence of pride is apparent on every hand.
Indeed, it was pride that prompted Eve to disobey God’s instruction in the Garden of Eden as she, desiring to “be like God” (Genesis 3:5), took and ate of “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” in violation of God’s order regarding the matter. She then subsequently involved her husband in the action, which caused their spiritual death. From that time on man has stooped to the sin of pride, an attitude so abysmal and egregious to the Creator, that it occupies the supreme position on His list of most hated sins.
A Sampling of Passages of Scripture on Pride
Job 22:29
When they cast you down, and you say, “Exaltation will come!” Then He will save the humble person.
Psalm 10:2
The wicked in his pride persecutes the poor; let them be caught in the plots which they have devised.
Psalm 18:27
For You will save the humble people,but will bring down haughty looks.
Psalm 31:20a
You shall hide them in the secret place of Your presence from the pride of man . . . .
Psalm 101:5
Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him I will destroy; the one who has a haughty look and a proud heart, him I will not endure.
Proverbs 6:17 (See page 1)
Proverbs 8:13
The fear of the LORD is to hate evil;pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverse mouth I hate.
Proverbs 11:2
When pride comes, then comes shame; but with the humble is wisdom.
Proverbs 13:10
By pride comes nothing but strife, but with the well-advised is wisdom.
Proverbs 15:33
The fear of the LORD is the instruction of wisdom, and before honor is humility.
Proverbs 16:18
Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
Proverbs 17:19
He who loves transgression loves strife, and he who exalts his gate seeks destruction.
Proverbs 18:12
Before destruction the heart of a man is haughty, and before honor is humility.
Proverbs 29:23
A man’s pride will bring him low, but the humble in spirit will retain honor.
Isaiah 25:11
And He will spread out His hands in their midst as a swimmer reaches out to swim, and He will bring down their pride together with the trickery of their hands.
Daniel 4:30-32
The king spoke, saying, “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?” (31) While the word was still in the king’smouth, a voice fell from heaven: “King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: the kingdom has departed from you! (32) And they shall drive you from men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. They shall make you eat grass like oxen; and seven times shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses.”
Obadiah 3
The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; you who say in your heart, “Who will bring me down to the ground?”
Matthew 23:12 (Luke 14:11)
And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.
Mark 7:20-22
And He said, “What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. (21) For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, (22) thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.”
Luke 18:14b
. . . for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.
Romans 1:18-21 (See page 1)
1 Timothy 3:6 (See page 1)
James 4:6
But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
1 Peter 5:5, 6
Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. (6) Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.
1 John 2:16
For all that is in the world — the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life — is not of the Father but is of the world.
By means of symbolism, Satan's position is defined in terms of attitude. Pride is rightly considered to be "the father of all sin," and the word childrenis used in the sense "of showing the characteristics of" or "that which is descended from." The Bible uses "sons of Belial" in a similar way. They were not literally children of Satan, but they showed the same characteristics of Satan. Literally, "foolishness" would be a better definition of Belial. We can look at our own children and see that they definitely have our physical characteristics.
So children is used in this sense: Those who are the children of Satan show his characteristics. Jesus uses the same principle back in John 8:44, when He tells the Jews that they are of their father the Devil. Satan was not their literal father, but He alludes to the fact that they displayed the spiritual characteristics of their spiritual father, Satan the Devil. Specifically, He mentions lust: "and the desires of your father you will do."
So, God says here in Job that mankind's dominant sin, idolatry, has its roots in pride. It is usually self-worship.
being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful . . . Romans 1:29-31 (NASB)
Galatians 5:19-21 also gives us another long list of sins.
Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Galatians 5:19-21 (NASB)
But what is the cause of all sin? What follows is an explanation of the first sin and the root cause of that sin.
Origin of The First Sin
The first sin in the invisible world was the sin of Satan. Ezekiel 28:12 begins a description of the power behind the throne of the king of Tyre. In verse 13 we are told the power was in the garden of Eden. This reveals that the descriptions are not about the king of Tyre and the passage is not addressed to the king of Tyre since the Garden of Eden was destroyed in Noah’s flood. Verse 14 tells us the power behind the throne was a cherubim, an angel, and he was in heaven, “the holy mountain of God.” Verses 16-17 tell us that this angel sinned and describes its sin for us.
And you sinned;
Therefore I have cast you as profane
From the mountain of God.
And I have destroyed you, O covering cherub,
From the midst of the stones of fire.
Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty;
You corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor.
Ezekiel 28:16-17 (NASB)
What was the angel’s sin? If it is not clear, Isaiah 14:13-14 helps us by giving us another description of the sin.
But you said in your heart,
“I will ascend to heaven;
I will raise my throne above the stars of God,
And I will sit on the mount of assembly
In the recesses of the north.
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.”
Isaiah 14:13-14 (NASB)
Satan’s sin was pride! The angel was in love with itself and wanted to be like God. Ezekiel 28:17 says, “Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty” It was impressed with itself. and wanted to be a god. This angel was and is Satan, the devil or the serpent in Genesis 3 (Revelation 12:9).
The Sin of Eve
But both Ezekiel 28:16 and Isaiah 14:12 tell us that Satan was cast out of heaven. Genesis 3:1 tells us that this angel appears in the Garden of Eden as a snake (Revelation 12:9). The serpent tempts Eve to eat of the “Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.” It tempts Eve to eat by promising she would be like God if she did so. That was Satan’s great desire. He apparently hoped that the same desire that caused him to sin might work on her, and he was correct.
For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. Genesis 3:5-6 (NASB)
It worked! She sinned! What was her sin? Her sin was pride! It was her pride that turned her from believing and trusting God. She wanted to eat and so she did. She did not obey God!
The Root Problem
What was the common sin of Satan and Eve? The common sin was pride. Both were self-centered. What is the root cause of all sin? Pride or self-love is the root cause of all sin. Why is pride the root of all sin? Proverbs 13:10 says that strife or contention is rooted in pride. Isaiah 30:1 tells us that we sin by rejecting God’s will and doing our own will. We sin because we seek our desire. That is the ultimate definition of pride.
“Woe to the rebellious children,” declares the LORD,
“Who execute a plan, but not Mine,
And make an alliance, but not of My Spirit,
In order to add sin to sin . . .”
Isaiah 30:1 (NASB)
The list of sins in Romans 1:29-31 and Galatians 5:19-21 are motivated by pride or self-love. What our self wants is what we seek! What we want comes first. That is why we do not trust God. That is why we do not submit to God.
It is important to notice that faith in God is required for salvation. Faith in God is the opposite of faith in what we can accomplish. Pride believes it can do everything better and best. Pride does not trust God. We are saved by God’s grace through faith in God.
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. Ephesians 2:8-9 (NASB)
Romans 4:4-6 says that if we try to work for our salvation then God will owe us a reward, which means we will not be given the gift of salvation because salvation cannot be earned. Instead we must simply believe.
Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness . . . Romans 4:4-6 (NASB)
Also notice that the first and foremost commandment is that we must love God more than ourselves.
And He said to him, “‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ This is the great and foremost commandment.” Matthew 22:37-38 (NASB)
The root cause of all sin is our pride. God calls us to deny ourselves. It starts at salvation (Romans 10:9; Ephesians 2:8-9) and the true Christian will continue to deny self (Matthew 10:37; 16:24; Romans 8:13-14; 1 John 2:3-5).
Conclusion:
In summary, 1 Corinthians 16:22 gives us a serious warning that we must love Christ or we are cursed.
If anyone does not love the Lord, he is to be accursed. Maranatha. 1 Corinthians 16:22 (NASB)
If Christ has our hearts, He also has our obedience!
Pride was the first sin to destroy the calm of eternity. It was pride that cast Lucifer from heaven and it was pride that cost our first parents their place in Paradise. Pride is the first sin to enter a mans heart and the last to leave. No sin is more offensive to God than the sin of pride. Pride has been referred to as the “complete anti-God state of mind.” It militates against God’s authority, God’s law, and God’s rule. This is why the Bible equates rebellion with witchcraft (1 Sam.15:23). Pride assaults God’s throne and asserts its independence in an attempt to dislodge God as the Sovereign of the universe.
God and pride are like oil and water-they don’t mix! Pride is dogmatic in its antagonism to God and God is absolute in His opposition to pride. The creator never has and never will compromise with pride.
Humility is the foundation of all virtue, but pride is the essence of all sin. The world system operates on the basis of pride for all that is in the world is lust and pride (1 John 2:16). Pride and lust are the root sins from which all other sins spring. Pride is the mother of evil.
God detests pride. He even hates a proud look (Prov.6:16-17). God’s loathing of pride is unalterable, for “Everyone that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord” (Prov.16:5). But why does God hate pride so fiercely?
Pride is Satanic!
Never forget that God did not make the devil. Lucifer only became the devil when he arrogantly became infatuated with himself. Yes, Lucifer is a created being. God said,”Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day thou was created, till iniquity was found in thee” (Ezekiel.28:15). This beautiful, powerful, intelligent, and gifted cherub fell from his perfect estate when his heart was lifted up because of his beauty and brightness (vs.17). No longer was he willing to be subservient to the Creator. Staggering pride was to blame for the tragedy in heaven.
“How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of morning!…For thou has said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne…I will sit also upon the mount…I will ascend above the heights…I will be the most High” (Is.14:12-14).
Self-will displaces God’s will, and the devil emerges. I’ve heard it said, Man is never more like the devil than when he is full of self-will.” The Bible strictly forbids placing a novice in leadership, “lest being lifted up with pride he fall into condemnation of the devil” (1 Tim. 3:6) It was pride that caused Lucifer’s fall and subsequent condemnation. The snare of pride a deadly peril to which new converts to Christ should never be willfully subjected. Nothing does more to set a person out of the devil’s reach than humility.
Pride Spawns A prayer-less Life!
Once Solomon had completed the Temple, the Lord instructed Israel on the proper way to approach Him in times of judgment. If the heavens withheld rain on account of their sins, or disobedience caused God to send pestilence among His people, then they were to pray toward the Lord’s house. But even before they prayed, turned from their wicked ways, or sought the face of God they needed to first humble themselves (2 Chronicles.7:14). God required the people who were called by His name to humble themselves before they prayed or repented, So why does humility precede prayer? Why does humility come before turning from wicked ways?
The reason humility precedes prayer is because there can be no real prayer without humility. Proverbs speaks of the man who brazenly turns his ear from the law, “Even his prayer shall be an abomination” (28:9). The lack of truly humble prayer is the very first sign of pride. It has been said, “God’s power will never fall until we do.” Proud people don’t pray. In fact, the only people that do pray are those who need God, know they need God, and can’t go on without God. Humility is the altar on which God wishes us to offer Him sacrifices.
Pride Brings Conflict
Why are there so many splintered relationships, so many broken marriages, and so many church splits? The Scripture gives us the short answer, “Only by pride cometh contention” (Proverbs 13:10)
Just as surely as pride erects a barrier between us and God, it also builds a wall between us and others. Whereas love seeks to build a bridge, pride seeks to erect a wall.
Pride can keep you from apologizing when you’ve been wrong. Pride can cause you to defend yourself. Pride can cause you to look down on others. If you allow it, pride can rob you of the most treasured relationships in life. “He that is of a proud heart stirreth up strife” (Proverbs 28:25).
Humbling ourselves is the only way to get the roof off toward God and the walls down toward our fellow man. Once offenses have been committed, whether intentional or unintentional, they must be dealt with. “I was wrong, I am sorry, will you forgive me?” These are healing words that only a humble soul will use. Whenever you find a man willing to humble himself before God and man, you have found a man who will be exalted, because “humility comes before honor.”
Pride Results In Gossip!
“Thou shalt hide them…from the pride of man thou shalt keep them…from the strife of tongues” (Psalms 31:20). Evil speaking, slander, and gossip are the direct result of pride. This comes as no surprise since the word “devil” comes from the word diabolos which means slanderer. Thomas Watson one of the Puritans said, “He that receives a slander carries the devil in his ear and he that commits slander carries the devil on his tongue.” Where Satan doesn’t go personally, he sends a critic.
I heard a Sunday School teacher who gave the lesson on the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed with himself thanking God he was not like the other men: “adulterers, extortioners, and Publicans,” The Sunday School teacher really blasted the Pharisee because of his proud, condemning attitude. He was glorying in the fact that he was better than common sinners-”not as other men.” As the class ended the teacher said, “Students, lets bow our heads now and thank the Lord we’re not like that Pharisee!”
Before a man can look down on another he must first assume he is better than the person he is speaking against. A proud man is suspicious of everyone else. A humble man is more suspicious of his own heart than anyone one else. The proud heart will detect defects in others before himself. A humble soul sees the evil in his own heart before he sees evil in others.
Gossip is anything you would say about someone that you wouldn’t say if they were standing in front of you. The only reason character assassination, or making an unfavorable comparison, is to exalt one’s own self. Before speaking against a fellow human being one must first establish himself as a judge. This maligning character can only be explained in terms of pride. The connection between pride and slander is clearly seen in Psalm 101, “Whoso privily slandereth his neighbor, him will I cut off: him that hath a high look and a proud heart will I not suffer” (Vs.5)
Pride Is Deceptive!
A young man responded at the invitation and told his pastor that he had come to rededicate his life to the Lord. The pastor replied, “Wonderful! Just kneel here at the altar and confess all your sins to God.” To which the young man replied, “ Pastor, I can’t think of any sins to confess.” The pastor then said, “Brother just guess at it.” And you know what? The young man got it on the first try! Pride is not just thinking we are better than others, it is thinking we are better than we are and that we have no sin in our lives.
Pride is the disposition to exalt self, get above others. And conceal our defects. Ever since the fall, man has had the tendency to confess someone else’s sins instead of his own. This is hardly surprising since the heart of man is “deceitful above all things” (Jeremiah 17:9). And the reason man’s heart is so deceitful is because of inborn haughtiness. “Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, and the pride of thine heart” (Jeremiah 49:16). Contrary to popular thinking. We are not good people who happen to do bad things… we are sinners through and through. And it is the deceptive nature of pride which brings such reluctance to admit our sins. This is why we can’t admit we have a demon and need deliverance.
Pride Makes Us Boast Falsely!
Samson killed a lion with his bare hands and didn’t even tell his parents. Charles Spurgeon once stated that if a modern day Christian so much as killed a mouse he would publish it in the gospel gazette! Man may be reluctant to acknowledge his wrongs, but most are quick to publicize their accomplishments. “Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness” (Proverbs 20:6).
The Bible warns us about thinking more highly of ourselves than we ought. No man has a right to inflate a view of himself. Under the influence of pride a man puts on the air of a master. He is more likely to instruct others than inquire for himself. A humble Christian wants help from everybody, but the spiritually proud thinks everybody wants his help.
The proud man believes he has accomplished what God and others have accomplished only through his life or ministry. He seeks credit for things which he cannot rightly take the credit. Talent, intellect, abilities, health, and life itself are gifts from God, not from a proud prideful man!
The Bible says it is of God’s mercy that we are not consumed. It is God’s love that we have been drawn to Him. It is because of His everlasting arms being under us that we are kept. It is by His faith that we are saved. It is by His blood that we are cleansed. It is by His righteousness that we are clothed. It is by His power that we are kept. It is by His grace that we are sustained. It is by His intercession that we are delivered. It is by His goodness that we are led to repentance. It is by His indwelling Spirit that we are filled. All that God has for His people is from the Father, all through His Son, and all is by the Holy Spirit. Of what can we boast?
In Charles Spurgeons messages he tells of a powerful sermon that he preached that when he was finished the devil whispered to him, “That was a fine sermon. You preached magnificently!” For a moment he agreed with the devil. Leaving the pulpit, a deacon met him and said, “Pastor, that was a masterpiece.” Spurgeon interrupted and said, “You’re to late. The devil told me a few moments ago.”
Pride Brings Shame!
Culture is the externalization of religion. So when culture calls good evil and evil good it indicates corrupt religion dominates that society. Never doubt that men worship something, if not the true God, then they will worship something else, or themselves. One of our Presidents proclaimed June as gay pride month. I believe Biblically speaking it should have been name “gay shame month.” Our government and society glories in things of which it should be ashamed. Even some who claim to be servants of the Most High God acceptthis abomination.
The Bible tells us there was three factors that contributed to the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah. “This was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness’ (Ezekiel 16:49). I would have you note carefully that pride was the foundation from which homosexuality sprang. “When pride cometh, then cometh shame” (Proverbs 29:23”.
After his journey through the valley of humiliation Nebuchadnezzar realized, “Those that walk in pride he is able to abase” (Daniel 4:37). He surely learned the proverb, “A man’s pride shall bring him low” (Proverbs 29:23).
Pride Precedes a Fall!
Those who built the Titanic pronounced it the great unsinkable ship. With boldness and confidence they boasted of the great safety this vessel afforded. But on its maiden voyage the unsinkable ship sank. The Titanic mentality of invincibility sets the stage for collapse. “Before destruction the heart of man is haughty” (Proverbs 18:12).
Repeatedly, the Scripture warns of pride precipitating a fall. “Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18). “ The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted” (Isaiah 2:11”. Uzziah was greatly blessed and marvelously helped, “till he was strong. But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction” (2 Chronicles 26:15-16). He transgressed by entering the temple to offer incense on the altar. When confronted by the priests, Uzziah became furious. While he was holding the censer in his hand God smote him and leprosy rose upon his forehead. He lost the throne and was a leper the rest of his life.
God not only dwells in the High and Holy place. He also dwells with him “that is of a contrite and humble spirit” (Isaiah 57:15). The man who sits nearest the dust sits nearest to heaven. It is in the valley humiliation that leads to the mount of transfiguration. He that is low need fear no fall.
No wonder Andrew Murray said, “Welcome everything that helps you on toward humility.”
Toward Humility!
Listing the sins of pride could go on and on. Its pervasiveness cannot be overstated.
Haughtiness, arrogance, conceit, inordinate self-esteem, and vainglory are as common as the air we breathe. Pride is a sin to be hated, a sin to be confessed, a sin to mourn over, a sin to flee, a sin to fight against, a sin we cannot allow in our churches or our homes. Pride must die, or nothing of heaven can live in you. God resists the proud, but He gives grace to the humble.
Humility is the royal insignia that marks God’s true people even though it is the saint’s hardest conflict. The first step toward becoming humble is realizing we have a spirit of pride in us. And then we must take the witness stand against ourselves and plead,“GUILTY AS CHARGED.” Continually, we must bring pride to the foot of the Cross to be washed away by the blood of Jesus. Surveying the wondrous Cross surely makes it easier to pour contempt on all our pride. Even though pride is hated by God, the powerful blood and the name of Jesus can cleanse it away. If pride is the evil of evils, then humility is the virtue of virtues. Like the pearl of a great price, it is worth selling all we have to obtain. Humility is our responsibility. Humility is a choice, and so is pride.
If you plead guilty to being full of pride take the time, AND IN THE NAME OF JESUS CAST THAT “DEMON” OUT!
without His presence. The wicked generation of Noah’s day was opposed in its mad course by the striving of the Spirit (Gen 6:3). The degeneracy of the period of the Judges had its Samson who was empowered by the Holy Spirit. The prophets of the period of Israel’s decadence before the captivities were living examples of the power of the Holy Spirit to minister in the midst of sin and unbelief. We are reminded in the New Testament that God is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Pet 3:9). It should therefore be expected that the Holy Spirit should have a special ministry to the unsaved world in every age, particularly in the age of grace during which the Holy Spirit is resident in the world in the Church.
The ministry of the Holy Spirit in relation to the unsaved world falls into two categories which are not necessarily independent. The Holy Spirit is given the ministry of resisting evil and restraining the world in its manifestation. To the Holy Spirit, also, is committed the task of making known the way of salvation to a race which has no natural capacity to receive it with understanding. Most of the attention of theologians during the Christian centuries has been directed to the latter ministry, that of revealing the message of salvation to the lost and providing enablement for saving faith. The ministry of the Holy Spirit in restraining sin in the world is most important, however, though few direct references are found in Scripture.
The work of the Holy Spirit in relation to the unsaved world is most important for a number of reasons. In view of the power of Satan and his evident hatred of Christians and the truth, the work of the Holy Spirit in restraining sin is required to explain the relative freedom allowed the Christian in the world and the preservation of those conditions which make possible the preaching of the Gospel and the maintenance of some order in the sinful world. The work of the Holy Spirit in revealing the Gospel to the lost is essential to the whole program of completing the purpose of God to call out the Church in this age. It provides for the inability of man and makes possible the salvation of souls. The doctrine is, therefore, important in its significance and necessary to a full appreciation of proper Gospel preaching.
I. The Work of the Holy Spirit in Restraining Sin
1. The Restraining Work of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament.
The work of the Holy Spirit in restraining the world from sin is found in every age, except during the period of unprecedented sinfulness during the great tribulation, when it is God’s purpose to demonstrate for the first time what unrestrained sin is. The character of this work of restraining sin varies slightly in different ages, however. In the previous discussion of this work of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament,1 it was shown that the Holy Spirit undertook to restrain sin throughout the Old Testament period. The striving of the Holy Spirit against sin in Noah’s period is definitely stated (Gen 6:3). While Isaiah 59:19 is not as clear a reference, it infers a similar ministry of the Holy Spirit. The many other ministries of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament tended to restrain sin. His work in revealing truth through the prophets, particularly the warnings of judgment to come, and the work of inspiration of the Scriptures with their power helped to restrain sin. The judgments which followed rejection of His striving against sin (Isa 63:10-11) had their effect. The presence and power of the Holy Spirit by virtue of His holy character was conducive to restraint of sin. Throughout the Old Testament, then, the power of the Holy Spirit guided human events into the path of divine providence.
2. The Restraining Work of the Holy Spirit in the Present Age.
The work of the Holy Spirit in restraining sin as found in the Old Testament continues in the present age. Further confirmation of His ministry is found in 2 Thessalonians 2:7, “For the mystery of lawlessness doth already work: only there is one that restraineth now, until he be taken out of the way” (American Standard Version). The subject of the passage is the coming day of the Lord in which the man of sin will be revealed (2 Thess 2:3). According to the passage, the man of sin will not be revealed until the one who restrains is removed. The present age enjoys the ministry of this restrainer whose presence and ministry make impossible the manifestation of the man of sin. The question concerning the identity of this one who restrains sin, in the light of the Old Testament, is easily settled by referring it to the Holy Spirit.
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Interpreters of Scripture have not all agreed on the identity of the one restraining lawlessness. A popular view of this passage is that human government is this restraining force. Human government, however, continues during the period of tribulation in which the man of sin is revealed. While all forces of law and order tend to restrain sin, they are not such in their own character, but rather as they are used and empowered to accomplish this end by God. It would seem a preferable interpretation to view all restraint of sin, regardless of means, as proceeding from God as a ministry of the Holy Spirit. As Dr. Thiessen writes: “But who is the one that restraineth? Denney, Findlay, Alford, Moffatt, hold that this refers to law and order, especially as embodied in the Roman Empire. But while human governments may be agencies in the restraining work of the Spirit, we believe that they in turn are influenced by the Church. And again, back of human government is God Who instituted it (Gen 9:5, 6; Rom 13:1-7) and controls it (Ps 75:5-7). So it is God by His Spirit that restrains the development of lawlessness.”2
Some have advanced another view which contends that Satan himself is restraining sin lest it manifest its true character. This idea is hardly compatible with the revelation of Satan found in the Scriptures. Satan is nowhere given universal power over the world, though his influence is inestimable. A study of 2 Thessalonians 2:3-10 indicates that the one who restrains is removed from the scene before the man of sin is revealed. This could hardly be said of Satan. The period of tribulation on the contrary is one in which Satan’s work is most evident. The Scriptures represent him as being cast into the earth and venting his fury during those tragic days (Rev 12:9). The theory that Satan is the great restrainer of lawlessness is, accordingly, untenable.
If it be conceded that the Holy Spirit undertook to strive with men to restrain sin in the Old Testament, it is even more evident that a similar ministry will be found in the present age in which the Spirit is present in the Church. While it is not in the purpose of God to deal finally with the world while the Church is in the world, the sovereignty of God overrules the wickedness of men and the power of Satan to make possible the accomplishment of His purpose to call out a people to His name. While the restraining hand of the Holy Spirit is little realized by the church at large, His protection and power shield the Christian from the impossible task of living in a world in which sin is unrestrained.
3. Contributing Factors in the Work of Restraining Sin.
The Scriptures do not enlarge upon the ministry of the Holy Spirit in restraining sin. Reason would point, however, to a number of contributing factors all of which are used of God to check the course of sin. The presence of the individual Christian, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, constitutes a force to hinder the world in its sin. The church corporately has done much to influence the world, even though it has failed to measure up to Biblical standards itself. The Bible, wherever it has gone, has produced its attendant effect not only on those who believed it but also indirectly has influenced the thought and action of the unsaved world. Human governments, ordained of God, are a means to divine ends. While these many factors in themselves are not the work of the Holy Spirit in restraining, they are means used by the Holy Spirit in accomplishing His purpose. The work of the Holy Spirit in restraining sin is seen, therefore, to be an important work of God, essential to divine providence, and a part of the work of God for His own.
II. The Work of the Holy Spirit Revealing the Gospel to the Unsaved
Introduction.
The entire work of the Holy Spirit on behalf of the unsaved world is sometimes given the terminology common grace, including in its scope the restraining work of the Holy Spirit in addition to the work of revealing the Gospel. Charles Hodge, for instance, states in reference to common grace, “The Bible therefore teaches that the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of truth, of holiness, and of life in all its forms, is present with every human mind, enforcing truth, restraining from evil, exciting to good, and imparting wisdom or strength, when, where, and in what measure seemeth good.... This is what in theology is called common grace.”3The work of the Holy Spirit revealing the Gospel to the unsaved is, therefore, an important aspect of a larger program of God in dealing with the need of a lost world. It is founded on a desperate need for enablement to understand the Gospel. It is designed to articulate the preaching of the Gospel and the plan of God to give a universal call to faith in Christ. It is antecedent to the effectual call of God to the elect. The doctrine of the work of the Holy Spirit in revealing the Gospel to the world is most important not only in its relation to the plan of God but also in carrying out effectively the preaching of the Gospel. The Christian desiring to win souls for Christ should study this subject carefully, for in it lie the principles which God has revealed concerning His methods of dealing with the lost.
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1. Man’s Need of Grace.
The fall of Adam was full of tremendous consequences. Because of it, sin was imputed to the race; men are spiritually dead apart from Christ; men possess a fallen nature which issues in manifestation; and, important to our present study, men are unable to comprehend the truth of God. The Scriptures bear constant witness to the inability of man. It is stated flatly in 1 Corinthians 2:14, “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him.” Again in 1 Corinthians 1:18, the Gospel is declared to be foolishness to the lost, “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” The unsaved Gentiles are declared to walk in spiritual darkness, “Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart” (Eph 4:18). According to Romans 8:7, the natural mind is not capable of being subject to the law of God: “because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” Christ bore witness to the inability of natural man to come to God when He said, “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him” (John 6:44). In addition to natural inability is the work of Satan blinding the hearts of the lost to the light of the Gospel (2 Cor 4:4). The condition of man is hopeless apart from divine intervention.
Inability on the part of man has its rise in ignorance of God and His grace due to corruption of man’s whole being, perversion of his sensations, feelings, and tastes, and blinding of his understanding. In the fall, man did not lose his moral determination. He is still accountable and relatively remains a free agent. He retains ability to understand natural things and may rise in this realm to unusual heights. Even his aversion to the good and inclination to the evil, while springing from his fallen nature, has its origin in his utter inability to appreciate the Person of God and the inherent loveliness of righteousness. The real reason for man’s hatred of God is his ignorance of what God is. The will of man, however, in itself has no power to transcend its natural ability as found after the fall any more than it had power to transcend its natural ability before the fall. Man in himself is utterly unable to understand the truth of God. The answer to the problem, therefore, is not found in any development of the natural man or cultivation of latent abilities, but is disclosed in the power of God as manifested in the work of the Holy Spirit. Apart from this work of the Holy Spirit, God would continue to be unrevealed to a lost race; the death of Christ would be inapplicable to men; and the purpose of God to save the elect would be impossible of fulfillment. The importance of this doctrine, therefore, justifies a careful study. been overemphasized by the church, these sacraments do reveal in symbol the Gospel message, and the Lord’s Supper in particular is to be observed because it shows “the Lord’s death till he come” (1 Cor 11:26).
In relating the Word of God to the doctrine of common grace, two extremes in doctrine may be observed. Lutheran theologians have overemphasized the living character of the Word of God (Heb 4:12) to the point where it is claimed that the Bible has power in itself, and no attendant work of the Holy Spirit is necessary to make it effective. While the Lutheran church has fully supported the immanence and power of the Holy Spirit, they regard His work as being limited in some sense to the Word itself. As Charles Hodge summarizes the Lutheran position, “This divine efficacy is inherent in, and inseparable from the Word.”4 The chief difficulty with this view is the obvious fact that many unsaved men are completely unaffected by hearing or reading the Bible. Lutherans explain this by conditioning its power on their faith, but it is difficult to see how they can believe what they do not know and understand. If an unsaved man cannot understand before he believes, and is unable to believe what he does not understand, how can he ever be brought to saving faith? The fact remains that the Spirit of God brings conviction and understanding to many who never believe, who turn from the Gospel even after the way of salvation is made plain to them. The work of the Holy Spirit in revealing the Gospel to the unsaved is rather a sovereign operation of God, not conditioned upon the receptivity of man. The experience of many Christians bears witness to the possibility of understanding the issues of saving faith and at the same time being rebellious against God and unwilling to accept Christ for some time before the decision for Christ is finally made.
Another extreme in the doctrine of common grace is found in the viewpoint that the Word of God is unnecessary. While the Word of God is not necessarily related to the general works of God in restraining sin, in providence, and in acts of sovereignty, the revelation of the truth of the Gospel comes only through the Word of God. The extreme position which makes the Word of God unnecessary to common grace is supported by two opposite schools of theology, the rational and the mystic. Rationalism approaches the problem from many angles. The deists, of course, assume that God is not immanent in the world, and trace all spiritual experience to a normal process of human mind. To them the realm of common grace is purely a discovery of the human intelligence proceeding from natural causes. Less extreme than the deists is the Pelagian viewpoint, holding that man is inherently able to understand the truth and make his own decisions in relation to it. The rationalistic approach to the subject is diametrically opposed to the Scriptural revelation, and is not seriously considered by Reformed theologians.
The view of the mystics, of course, is quite the opposite of the rationalist. The mystic assumes that God gives direct revelation to all who will receive it, and that truth so given can be understood properly by the recipient. The view partakes of all the errors of false mysticism, going far beyond the relation of false mysticism to the Christian, and attributes even to the unsaved the power to receive special revelation and understand it. Genuine salvation is never found except among those who have heard the Word of God. Missionaries entering unevangelized fields never come upon a Christian community, or even an individual Christian. The view of the mystics is based on speculation rather than Scripture or experience, and must therefore be dismissed.
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The work of the Holy Spirit in revealing the Gospel to the unsaved is peculiarly a ministry of enablement to understand the way of salvation. As the Word is preached, the Holy Spirit attends with power to make it known to those who naturally are blind to the truth and unable to comprehend it. The importance of this ministry of the Spirit must be recognized before the necessity of prayer for the lost can be realized. comprehend very imperfectly the nature of this imputed righteousness. It is possible that many only understand vaguely that God through Christ cares for their unrighteousness without realizing all the wonders of justification. It is essential to intelligent faith, however, that the unsaved understand that through Christ it is possible for God to deal with them as those who are righteous. This revelation is inseparable from the Gospel.
A third revelation is given the unsaved by the Holy Spirit concerning the relation of the cross to judgment and Satan. Christ said the Holy Spirit would convict the world “Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged” (John 16:11). The Holy Spirit presses upon the heart of the unsaved the fact of God’s judgment. Everyone will stand before God in judgment. The unsaved need to know that sin was judged in the cross, and for those who trust in Christ there is deliverance from judgment upon sin and deliverance from condemnation. The unsaved must see Christ as judged and executed for them, and their judgment for sin as already past. As a token of this, Satan, as the “prince of this world,” is mentioned as already condemned. In the cross Satan met his defeat. The cross is the power of God over Satan. Satan stands already convicted, doomed, and waiting the execution of the sentence. While in the providence of God, Satan is allowed great freedom and power in this age, his end is sure, and those who reject Christ will share his destiny.
The ministry of the Holy Spirit to the unsaved follows three specific lines, then. First, the unsaved must understand that salvation depends upon faith in Christ. Second, the unsaved must understand the righteousness of God as belonging to the Person of God and as made available for the sinner through Christ. Third, the unsaved must face the fact of judgment and find in Christ One who was judged and executed as their substitute. While these elements may not be always seen clearly, they form the principles which combine to bring the unsaved into the knowledge necessary to place saving faith in Christ. Needless to say, the subjects included in the ministry of the Holy Spirit to the unsaved should constitute an important part of effective Gospel preaching.
3. The Limitations of Common Grace.
From preceding discussion it is evident that common grace falls far short of efficacious grace. While the unsaved may be led to understand the Gospel sufficiently to act intelligently upon it, common grace does not have any certain effect upon the will and does not issue certainly into salvation. Two unsaved men may understand the Gospel equally, and yet one never comes to the point of saving faith while the other trusts in Christ and is saved. Common grace must be sharply distinguished from any work of God which is efficacious in bringing the unsaved to salvation.
Common grace also falls far short of the Christian’s experience of illumination. The indwelling Holy Spirit opens to the yielded Christian the storehouses of truth in the Word of God. Common grace is related almost entirely to revelation on the one subject of salvation with a view to providing an intelligent basis for faith. The revelation of common grace can never rise higher than the plane of the natural man even in the realm of salvation truth. It is closely parallel to the idea of moral and intellectual persuasion, constituting an influence, but in itself not resulting in decision.
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Common grace provides none of the normal experiences of the Christian such as are produced by the unhindered indwelling Holy Spirit. The love, joy, peace, and other fruit of the Spirit are never found in those who have merely experienced common grace. While unsaved men may be able to imitate some of the outward manifestations of Christian conduct, there is never the reality of inward experience, though in some cases it may be difficult to determine whether some individuals are unsaved or saved.
While common grace is greatly limited in its character and its results, it cannot be said to be without certain phenomena. Religious instinct and fear of God are no doubt related to common grace, though they may not be connected definitely with the Scriptures. This phase of common grace is never sufficient to provide understanding of the issues of the Gospel. Common grace in its broader sense may have the effect of restraining sin, and it is often regarded as including this aspect. Outward profession of faith in Christ and conformity to moral standards without being saved may be a result of common grace. Charles Hodge writes, for instance, “Unrenewed men in the Bible are said to repent, to believe, to be partakers of the Holy Ghost, and to taste the good Word of God, and the powers of the world to come.”5 There are no doubt stages in the work of common grace from religious instinct and a fear of God which is almost universal to the experience of those who understand clearly the condition of salvation. In it all the Holy Spirit is working, striving to bring men to the knowledge of Christ. Without this preliminary ministry, the work of efficacious grace would be impossible.
The work of the Holy Spirit for the unsaved world constitutes another proof that God is a God of infinite grace and condescension, working in those who are the objects of His righteous judgment, striving to bring them to the knowledge of Christ as Savior. Without this ministry, the world would be an impossible situation for the Christian, and Gospel preaching would be fruitless. The trophies of the grace of God which some day will stand complete before God in glory will bear witness to the power of the Spirit in ettectively accomplishing the task given to Him by Christ.
Dallas, Texas
(Series to be continued in the July-September Number, 1941)
This article was taken from the Theological Journal Library CD and posted with permission of Galaxie Software.
1 Bibliotheca Sacra, 1940, pp. 430, 431.
2 Bibliotheca Sacra, 1935, p. 301.
3 Systematic Theology, Vol. II, p. 667.
4 Op. cit., p. 656.
5 Op. cit., p. 673.
And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.” John 16:8
After Jesus forewarned His disciples of the world’s coming hostility and persecution of them (15:18-16:4), He began to encourage them with the Holy Spirit’s ministry that would take place while He was gone. Last time we learned that we can overcome fear in evangelism when we GRASP THAT WE ARE NOT ALONE WHEN WE WITNESS (John 16:5-7) because God the Holy Spirit permanently indwells every believer in Jesus.
The second way for us to overcome fear in evangelism is to GIVE UNBELIEVERS THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL AND LET THE HOLY SPIRIT CONVINCE THEM IT IS TRUE (John 16:8-11). In John 15:27, Jesus told His disciples to “bear witness” about Him. However, He also told them it would not be easy. Some would put them out of the synagogues and even kill them (John 16:2). In the midst of this distressing news, He offers them encouragement by introducing them to the convicting work of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus says of the Holy Spirit, “And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.” (John 16:8). What does the word “convict” (elegchei) mean? It means to “convince someone of something.” 1 John is using this word in a legal sense here. When a prosecuting attorney presents his case in such a way that demonstrates that something is true, he convicts his listeners. However, this does not mean that the Holy Spirit forces someone to believe something is true. A person can hear compelling evidence that something is true and still reject it. 2
The Holy Spirit assists people in coming to faith in Christ. It is the responsibility of the Holy Spirit to convince non-Christians in three areas. What are they? “Of sin… righteousness and judgment.” Notice the implied tenses of these nouns: past “sin,” present “righteousness,” and future “judgment.” 3 When the gospel is preached, it is the Holy Spirit Who convicts people of their “sin,” and that they need God’s “righteousness”through faith in Jesus, because without it, they will face certain “judgment”without hope of anything but eternal condemnation.
Beginning in verse 9, Jesus explains why the Holy Spirit convicts the world in these three areas. “Of sin, because they do not believe in Me.” (John 16:9). The word “sin” (hamartias) means “to miss the mark or standard.”4 All people fall short of God’s perfect righteousness because “all have sinned” (Romans 3:23) against God through their thoughts, words, actions, and motives.
Yet the world tries to persuade people that they are not sinners.Many secular scientists and psychologists seem bent on destroying peoples’ awareness of sin. They may say that all people are inherently good. As a result, many people have a difficult time admitting they are guilty of sin. Oh, they may admit that they make mistakes or have failures and vices, but it is very difficult for them to admit that they have sinned against God. Even some churches say that people are not that bad and because God is love, He will accept everyone into heaven.
But the ultimate proof of the world’s sinfulness, Jesus says, is that “they do not believe in Me.” A court of law can convict someone of murder or theft, but only the Holy Spirit can convict someone of unbelief toward Christ. The Holy Spirit can convict people of their individual sins they have committed, but people can clean up their own lives and still go to hell. It is the sin of unbelief toward Jesus Christ that condemns people to an eternity in hell (John 3:18). 5 That is why the Bible says that “Anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast in to the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:15).Those who refuse to believe in Jesus will not have their names written in the Book of Life.
Unbelievers are judged according to their works to determine their degree of punishment in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:12-13; cf. Matthew 23:14; Mark 12:40), not their eternal destination. But their condemnation and placement in the lake of fire is because of their unbelief toward the Lord Jesus Christ (Revelation 20:15; cf. John 3:18).
So we see first, that the Holy Spirit wants to convict non-Christians of their sinfulness because they refuse to believe or trust in Jesus Christ alone as their only way to heaven. Because faith in Christ and His full payment for sin on the cross (John 19:30) is the only solution to our sin problem, the Holy Spirit wants to convict people of their sinful condition, so they can see their need to believe or trust in Jesus alone. The Holy Spirit is the prosecuting attorney who presents God’s case against sinful humanity. He creates an awareness of sin so that it cannot be dismissed or excused or evaded by taking refuge in the fact that “everybody is doing it.” When we are convicted of our sin, we admit to God that we have been wrong in our unbelief toward Jesus and then we believe or trust in Him alone, so we can approach God the Father in heaven.
The reason why the Holy Spirit convicts the world in the area of “righteousness” is explained in the next verse. “Of righteousness, because I go to the Father and you see Me no more.” (John 16:10). The Holy Spirit convicts the world “of righteousness,” because Jesus would suffer and die for our sins and rise from the dead and “go to” His “Father” in heaven, proving that He was the perfect Son of God. Had Jesus not been the perfect Son of God, the Father would not have received Him in heaven. Because God has no sin, Jesus could not enter into His presence in heaven if He were not righteous. For people to be accepted by God and able to enter into His heaven, they must measure up to Christ’s righteousness. No human being can accomplish this on their own. 6
This is why the Holy Spirit wants to convict the world that their righteousness before God depends not on their good works, but upon the finished work of Christ on the cross for them. Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and ascension to heaven prove that He was the perfect Son of God. Christ’s righteousness is what satisfied God’s holy demand to punish sin, not our own righteousness.
When sharing the gospel with the unsaved, they may respond by saying, “I’m not as bad as him or her” or “I have not murdered anyone or committed adultery like so and so…”But God is not measuring our righteousness based on what other people have done or not done. He is measuring our righteousness based on what His Son, Jesus Christ, has done, and all of us fall short of Jesus’ perfection (Romans 3:23). Jesus never, ever told a lie. But we lie to ourselves and others daily. Christ never had one unkind thought. But we average a minimum of five a day. God’s Son never hated His enemies. But sometimes we can’t even stand the person we are married to or live with. So when it comes to behavior, in God’s eyes, we do not measure up. All of us fall short of Jesus’ perfection. Christ is the only Person Who never sinned (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 4:15; I Peter 3:18). Therefore, we must trust in Christ alone to be declared totally righteous before God.
“But to him who does not work, but believe on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness.” (Romans 4:5). When you trust in Christ alone for His gift of righteousness, God looks at your sin as covered by Jesus’ shed blood on the Cross. He takes the righteousness of His Son and places it on you. Therefore, you can stand before a holy God with the perfect righteousness of Jesus.
Henry Ironside shares a helpful illustration about what it means to be justified before God. One morning on his way to a sheep ranch, he noticed a very peculiar sight. He saw an old ewe loping across the road followed by the strangest looking lamb he had ever seen. It seemed to have six legs, and the last two were hanging helplessly as though paralyzed. When one of the sheep ranchers caught the lamb and brought it over to Ironside, the rancher explained that the lamb did not really belong to that ewe. She had a lamb that was bitten by a rattlesnake and died. This lamb that Ironside saw was an orphan and needed a mother’s care. But at first the ewe refused to have anything to do with it. She sniffed at it when it was brought to her, then pushed it away, saying as plainly as a sheep could say it, “That is not my lamb!” So the ranchers skinned the lamb that had died and covered the living lamb with the dead lamb’s skin. When the covered lamb was brought again to the ewe (see above photo), she smelled it once more and accepted the lamb as her own as if to say, “That is Mine!”
Like that orphan lamb, all people are born as outcasts, separated from God because of their sin. But God’s only perfect Son, Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God (John 1:29), died in our place on the cross and rose from the dead, so that when we believe or trust in Him alone, we are clothed with His righteousness. God can accept us into His family now because He sees the righteousness of His Son instead of our sin. He can say, “That is Mine!”
“Of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.” (John 16:11).The reason the Holy Spirit convicts the world “of judgment” is “because the ruler of this world [Satan] is judged”already in heaven by God (Isaiah 14:12-15; Ezekiel 28:12-19), and will shortly be judged at the cross (cf. John 12:31; Colossians 2:15), and later confined to the lake of fire at the end of the Millennial Kingdom (Revelation 20:2, 7-10). The word “judged” (kekritai)is in the perfect tense and passive voice which means Satan was judged by God in the past and remains condemned today. Like a convicted criminal, Satan awaits his execution when he will be cast into the lake of fire to “be tormented day and night forever and ever” (Revelation 20:7-10).
The Holy Spirit wants to convince people that if they refuse to believe in Jesus for His gift of righteousness, then they will experience the same eternal “judgment” as the Devil. His judgment is fixed and permanent. Satan’s eternal judgment guarantees that all who are in his kingdom through unbelief will also be condemned. If a person dies without believing in Christ alone for His gift of everlasting life, their condemnation cannot be lifted. It is permanent (cf. Hebrews 9:27). There are no second chances after you die.
Many people today, including Christians, do not believe in hell or eternal punishment even though Jesus and the apostles taught about its reality (cf. Matthew 5:22, 29-30; 10:28; 13:40-42, 47-50; 18:9; 23:33; 25:46; Mark 3:29; 9:43, 45, 47; Luke 12:5; 16:19-31; John 3:18, 36b; James 3:6; 2 Peter 2:4, 17; Jude 1:7, 13; Revelation 14:9-11; 19:20; 20:10, 14-15; et al.). But it is not our responsibility to convince them of the reality of hell. The Holy Spirit will do this as we preach the gospel to a lost world.
It is the Holy Spirit Who can convince a typical non-Christian who has no sense of his own sinfulness, who sees no need for God’s righteousness, and who pays no attention to the warnings of coming judgment. It is not our responsibility to convince people of the truth of the gospel; that responsibility belongs to the Holy Spirit. Our job is to clearly and effectively communicate the truth of the gospel and let the Holy Spirit convince them that it is true.
In February 2017 when I was flying to Northern Samar for a mission trip in the Philippines, I sat next to a Filipino law school student who visited with me about President Trump. She made it clear to me she did not like President Trump and nor could she understand how I could like him. She was getting very angry as I shared my supporting views about the President and his policies. As our conversation progressed, I began praying for the Lord to give me wisdom on shifting the focus from politics to the gospel.
A few minutes later, I said to her, “I really would like to share with you about something far more important than politics.” “Really?!” She exclaimed. “What could that be?!” I said, “How you can know for sure from the Bible how you can go to heaven when you die.” “Oh,” she said quietly. Then I asked her, “May I share from the Bible how you can know for sure you will go to heaven when you die?” She said, “Yes.” I then shared the bad news (Romans 3:23; 6:23) good news (I Corinthians 15:1-6; John 3:16) approach with her. Afterward, she indicated she was now trusting in Christ alone as her only way to heaven. Her whole demeanor softened as the gospel was shared with her. I am convinced that the Holy Spirit convicted her of her sin and her need for the Savior, so she could escape the eternal judgment that awaits those who refuse to believe or trust in Christ alone for His gift of salvation.
When we realize that the Holy Spirit is already at work in the hearts and minds of unbelievers around us to persuade them of their own sinfulness and their need for Christ’s righteousness to escape the eternal judgment of God, we will have more confidence to share the gospel with the unsaved world. Knowing of the Holy Spirit’s convicting work among the unsaved can also give us a greater sense of expectancy as we proclaim the good news of Christ’s death and resurrection, inviting the unsaved to believe in Jesus alone as their only hope of heaven.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, it is with a heap of gratitude that I approach You right now. Without the convicting work of the Holy Spirit in the world, there would be no reason to expect a bountiful harvest when we share the gospel with the lost. But because the Spirit of God is already at work persuading non-Christians of their sin so they may see their need to believe in Jesus for His gift of righteousness to escape the same eternal judgment as Satan, we can boldly share Christ with them. Please enable us to clearly communicate the truth of the gospel to the lost as we rely on the Holy Spirit to convince them that it is true. In Your precious name we pray, Lord Jesus. Amen.
ENDNOTES:
1. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, compiled by Walter Bauer, trans. and adapted by William F. Arndt and F. Wilbur Gingrich, 2nd ed., rev. and augmented by F. Wilbur Gingrich and Frederick W. Danker (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1979), pg. 249.
2. Robert N. Wilkin, “The Gospel According to John,” The Grace New Testament Commentary, Vol. 1: Matthew – Acts (Denton, TX: Grace Evangelical Society, 2010), pg. 453.
3. Tom Constable, Notes on John, 2017 Edition, pg. 298-299.
4. Archibald Thomas Robertson, Word Pictures in The New Testament, Vol V:John and Hebrews (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1932), pg. 267.
5. Constable, pg. 300.
6. The Evangelism Study Bible (Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, copyright 2014 EvanTell, Inc.), pg. 1187.
But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper shall not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.”
Jesus could not physically be everywhere geographically at once; but the Holy Spirit can. Disciples were downcast at the prospect of the departure of Christ;
Jesus changes their perspective to see the advantage that lies ahead.
I. (:8-11) THE HOLY SPIRIT CONVICTS SINNERS OF THEIR NEED FOR A SAVIOR (PAVING THE WAY FOR THE GOOD NEWS OF THE GOSPEL)
A. (:8) Summary: Ministry of Conviction towards the World
“And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin, and righteousness, and judgment”
Scott Grant: We don’t need to convince people that they are sinners; we don’t need to convince people of the righteousness of Christ; we don’t need to convince them that they are being judged by God. Thankfully, we have no part in the conviction. We are neither prosecutors nor judges. But we are witnesses. We can tell people about sin, righteousness and judgment and leave the convicting up to the Helper.
Stedman: When I travel around the country I visit many different churches. And so many times I find that the thing most emphasized by the church in its attempts to reach out to the world is the church! The church presents the program of the church, and what the church will do, and offers the church to society. The early Christians never wasted their time in that. They never talked about the church; they talked about the Lord. The church doesn’t save anybody. The church doesn’t help anybody. It is the Lord who does it. He redeems, he changes, he revolutionizes, he forgives, he restores, he heals — not the church! When the church is Spirit-filled it talks about Jesus. And when the world hears that, then it is finally convinced that its most basic and fundamental sin is not the evil things it does but the fact that it does not believe in Jesus.
B. (:9) Conviction Regarding Failures – Rooted in Unbelief
“concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me”
Connection between sin and death and judgment
Different words for sin: missing the mark; rebellion; etc.
Fundamental root sin = failure to believe in the person and work of Jesus Christ.
C. (:10) Conviction Regarding Standards – Displayed in the Character of Christ
“and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you no longer behold Me”
Need for believers to display that righteousness that comes from Christ;
World does not believe in absolutes; but the Holy Spirit presents righteousness in absolute terms.
Stedman: The Old Testament has a wonderful term for that: “The beauty of holiness.” We are talking about inner beauty. One of my favorite psalms says, “Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us,” {Psa 90:17a KJV}. There is something beautiful about whole people. They attract us, they capture our attention. The truly beautiful people, therefore, says Jesus, will be those who, despite all the failure and the weakness and the stumbling folly of their lives, have, by faith in Jesus, been made whole inwardly, and that inner wholeness then begins to transform, in a process, all of the outer life until they gradually reflect it in their behavior. That is what the world will learn.
D. (:11) Conviction Regarding Accountability – Exemplified in the Judgment of Satan
“and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged”
There are consequences for rebellion against God
II. (:12-15) THE HOLY SPIRIT COMMUNICATES GOD’S TRUTH TO BELIEVERS (ESPECIALLY IN WAYS THAT GLORIFY CHRIST)
A. (:12) Progressive Revelation
“I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.”
B. (:13) Purposeful Revelation
“But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak”
Primarily a reference to direct prophetic revelation via the process of inspiration to complete the canon of NT Scripture; but by way of application speaks to the Holy Spirit illuminating all of us.
C. (:13b) Prophetic Revelation
“and He will disclose to you what is to come.”
cf. Book of Revelation
D. (:14-15) Particular Revelation – Focused on Person of Christ
“He shall glorify Me; for He shall take of Mine, and shall disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said, that He takes of Mine, and will disclose it to you.”
Christ-centered nature of the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
Pattern of receiving and disclosing.
And when he is come, he will reprove 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 prince of this world is judged. {Joh 16:8-11}
1. The apostles had a stern task before them. They were to go into all nations and proclaim the gospel to every creature, beginning at Jerusalem. Remember that only two or three years before they were simple fishermen engaged on the Galilean lake — men of little or no education, men of no rank or standing. At best they were only Jews, and that nation was despised everywhere, while these peasants were not even men of repute among their own nation. Yet these men were to turn the world upside down. They were told by their Lord that they would be brought before rulers and kings for his sake, and that they would be persecuted wherever they went. They were to proclaim the gospel in the teeth of the imperial power of Rome, the ancient wisdom of Greece, and the fierce cruelties of barbaric lands, and to set up the kingdom of peace and righteousness.
2. At the very time when they were about to receive their commission, they were also to lose the physical presence of their great Leader. While he was with them they had felt no fear. If they were puzzled at any time by the Scribes and Pharisees, they resorted to Jesus, and they were rescued from bewilderment. Never a man spoke like that man; never did such wisdom and prudence dwell in any mind as dwelt in the mind of Christ. His presence was their aegis, {a} the broad shield behind which they stood securely, whatever shafts might be shot at them by their adversaries. But now that he was to depart out of the world to the Father they would be deprived of their fortress and high tower; they would be as children bereft of their father, or, at best, as soldiers without a general. Here was a sad case. Work given, and power withdrawn: a battle beginning, and the conquering captain leaving.
3. How happy it was for these disciples that our blessed Lord could tell them that his going away would be for their gain rather than for their loss; for when he was gone the Spirit of God would come to be an advocate for them and with them, and by his power they would be able to silence all their enemies and achieve their mission. The Holy Spirit was to be their Comforter, so that they might not be afraid, and their Advocate, so that they might not be baffled. When they spoke, there would be a power within them suggesting their words, a power with those words convincing their hearers, and a power in their hearers causing the word spoken to remain in their memories: that power would be divine, the power of the Holy Spirit, who is one God with the Father and the Son. It is one thing for men to speak, and quite another thing for God to speak through men. The work of proclaiming the gospel to the world was far too great for the twelve; but it was by no means too great for the Spirit of God. Who can limit his power? Is anything too hard for the Lord? The Holy Spirit being their helper, these feeble men were equal to the task which God had committed to their trust. The presence of the Holy Spirit was better for them than the physical presence of the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus could only have been in one place as for his bodily presence, but the Holy Spirit could be everywhere; the sight of Jesus would only appeal to the senses, but the power or the Holy Spirit touched the heart and created spiritual life and saving faith; so, by his own withdrawal and the sending of the Spirit, our Lord furnished his servants for the conflict.
4. We will at this time observe what the Holy Spirit did as an Advocate. The passage cannot be fully understood unless we give it three renderings; and I do not pretend that even then we shall have pressed from this choice cluster all the generous wine of its meaning. To my mind, it is a compendium of all the work of the Spirit of God. By our three readings we shall see much: first, the Spirit of God goes with the preaching of the gospel to reprove men of sin, and so to humble them in the presence of the preacher of righteousness; secondly (and this is a much more blessed result), to convince men of sin, and so to lead them to repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ; and, thirdly, the ultimate result of the Holy Spirit’s work will be to convict men before all intelligent beings of having been guilty of the grossest sin, of having opposed the most perfect righteousness, and of having defied the most glorious judgment. We shall try to see the meaning of the passage through these three windows.
5. I. First, we believe that a promise is made here to the servants of Christ, that when they go out to preach the gospel the Holy Spirit will be with them TO REPROVE MEN. By this is meant, not so much to save them as to silence them. When the minister of Christ stands up to plead his Master’s cause, another advocate appears in court, whose pleadings would make it hard for men to resist the truth.
6. Observe how this reproof was given with regard to sin. On the day of Pentecost the disciples spoke with various languages, as the Spirit gave them utterance. Men from all countries under heaven heard themselves addressed in their native languages. This was a great marvel, and all Jerusalem rang with it; and when Peter stood up to preach to the assembled multitude, and told the Jews that they had crucified the Holy One and the Just, the signs and wonders performed by the Spirit in the name of Jesus were a witness which they could not refute. The very fact that the Spirit of God had given to these unlettered men the gift of languages was evidence that Jesusof Nazareth, of whom they spoke, was no impostor. It was laid down in the old Jewish law, that if a man prophesied and his prophecies did not come to pass, he was to be condemned as a false prophet; but if what he said came to pass, then he was a true prophet. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ had promised the outpouring of the Spirit, which had also been foretold in reference to the Messiah by the prophet Joel; when, therefore, that sign of the true Messiah was set upon Jesusof Nazareth by the coming of the Holy Spirit and the working of miracles, men were reproved for having refused to believe in Jesus. The evidence was brought home to them that they had with wicked hands crucified the Lord of glory: and so they stood reproved.
7. All the subsequent miracles went to prove the same thing; for when the apostles performed miracles the world was reproved of sin because it did not believe in Christ. It was not that a few disciples testified to the sin of the race, but the Holy Spirit himself made men tremble as by his deeds of power he bore witness to the Lord Jesus, and exhibited the fact that in crucifying him the world had put to death the incarnate Son of God. Do you not see the terrible power with which the first disciples were so armed? It was more to them than the rod in the hand of Moses with which he struck Pharaoh with so many plagues. It needed all the wilfulness of that stiff-necked generation to resist the Holy Spirit and refuse to bow before him whom they had pierced; they were full of malice and obstinacy, but in their secret hearts they were severely vexed, and felt that they were fighting against God.
8. Do you not see, too, dear friends, how the working of the Holy Spirit with the apostles and their immediate followers was a wonderful rebuke to the world concerning the matter of righteousness. Jesus was gone, and his divine example no longer stood out like clear light reproving their darkness, but the Holy Spirit attested to that righteousness, and compelled them to feel that Jesus was the Holy One, and that his cause was righteous. The teaching of the apostles, sealed by the Holy Spirit, made the world see what righteousness was as they had never seen it before. A fresh standard of morals was set up in the world, and it has never been taken down: it stands in its place to rebuke, if not to improve. The world was then sunken in the uttermost depths of vice, and even its good men were loathsome; but now another kind of righteousness was exhibited in the teachings of the Lord Jesus, and the Spirit came to set the seal of divine approval on it, so that if men continued in sin it might be against light and knowledge, for they now knew what was righteousness, and could no longer be mistaken on that point. Godwas with the preachers of a new righteousness, and by various signs and wonders he validated the cause of the gospel. Now, brethren, we also rejoice in this, since the witness of truth is for all time, and we know for certain that the kingdom which our Lord Jesushas set up among men is divinely sanctioned as the kingdom of righteousness, which in the end shall grind to powder the powers of evil. We are the covenanted servants of a Lord whose righteousness was declared among men by the personal witness of God the Holy Spirit. Are you not glad to be enlisted in such a service? Oh, world! are you not reproved for resisting such a kingdom?
9. These twelve fishermen could not by themselves have exhibited a new standard of righteousness among men; they could not on their own account have presented before all nations a higher ideal of moral excellence but when the eternal power and majesty of the Godhead vouched for the righteousness of the Lord Jesus, the course of the apostolic church became like that of the sun in the heavens. “Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.” No one could stand against them; for, just as when the morning breaks the darkness flies and the bats and the night-birds hurry away, so when the messengers of mercy proclaimed the righteousness of God, man’s hypocrisy and boasting fled away.
10. Then, too, they were made to feel that a judgment had come; that somehow the life and the death of Jesus of Nazareth had made a crisis in the world’s history, and condemned the way and manner of the ungodly. All historians must confess that the turning-point of the race is the cross of Christ. It would be impossible to fix any other hinge of history. From that moment the power of evil received its mortal wound. It dies hard, but from that hour it was doomed. At the death of our Lord the heathen oracles were struck dumb. There had been oracles all over the world, either the product of evil spirits or of crafty priests; but after the Christian era the world ceased to believe in these voices, and they were heard no more. Systems of false worship, so firmly rooted in prejudice and custom that it seemed impossible that they should ever be overthrown, were torn up by their roots by the breath of the Lord. The apostles might have said to all the systems of falsehood, “you shall be as a bowing wall, and as a tottering fence.” Men could not help perceiving that the prince of darkness had been cast down from his undivided power, and that he spoke henceforth with bated breath. The seed of the woman had met the old serpent, and in the duel between them he had gained such a victory that the cause of evil was henceforth hopeless.
11. Moreover, the thought flashed upon humanity more clearly than it had ever done before — that there would be a day of judgment. Men heard and felt the truth of the warning that God would judge the world at the last by the man Christ Jesus. The dim forms of Rhadamanthus {b} on a cloudy judgment seat, and of the assembly before his throne, and of the crowds divided according to their lives, now began to assume another and far more definite form. It was written on the heart of mankind that there is a judgment to come! Men will rise again; they shall stand before the judgment seat of Christ to give an account of the things done in the body, whether good or evil. The world heard this, and the news has never been forgotten. The Holy Spirit has reproved men, by the prospect of judgment.
12. The Holy Spirit attested to the life of Christ, the teaching of the apostles, and all the grand truths that were contained in it, by what he did in the way of miracles, and by what he did in the way of enlightening, impressing, and subduing human hearts. Henceforth man is accused and rebuked by the great Advocate; and all who remain in opposition to the Lord Jesus, remain so in defiance of the clearest proofs of his mission. He who rejects human testimony when it is true is foolish; but he who despises the witness of the Holy Spirit is profane, for he makes the Spirit of truth a liar. Let him beware lest he so sins against the Holy Spirit as to come under the most terrible of curses for it is written of him who speaks against the Holy Spirit, “he never has forgiveness.”
13. Brethren, does that not put the apostles in quite a different position from what they appeared to be in? If we judge according to sense and carnal reason, their adventure was exotic, their success was impossible. Everyone would have said to them, “Go back to your nets and to your boats. What can you do against the established system of Judaism in your own country? And if that is too hard for you, what will you be able to do in other lands? There are nations that have been tutored in their own learning for thousands of years, and have become adept in all the arts and sciences; they have brought all the charms of poetry, and music, and statuary, to support their idolatrous systems: you are fools to think that you unlearned and ignorant men can ever overturn all this.” Would not prudence agree with this? Indeed, but if God is in these men, if he who dwelt in the bush at Horeb, and made it burn, though it was not consumed, will dwell in them, and each one of them shall be gifted with a tongue of fire, this is a different business altogether. Surely, he who made the world, could make it anew. He who said, “Let there be light, and there was light,” could command light to shine upon the moral and spiritual night.
14. So much upon the first reading of the text. Let us advance to what will interest you more.
15. II. The Holy Spirit was to go with the preaching of the word TO CONVINCE MEN of three great prominent truths. This was to be a saving word: they are to be so convinced as to repent of sin, to accept righteousness, and yield themselves to the judgment of the Lord. Here we see as in a map the work of the Spirit upon the hearts of those who are ordained to eternal life. Those three effects are all necessary, and each one is in the highest degree important to true conversion.
16. First, the Holy Spirit is come to convince men of sin. It is absolutely necessary that men should be convinced of sin. The fashionable theology is — “Convince men of the goodness of God: show them the universal fatherhood and assure them of unlimited mercy. Win them by God’s love, but never mention his wrath against sin, or the need of an atonement, or the possibility of there being a place of punishment. Do not censure poor creatures for their failings. Do not judge and condemn. Do not search the heart or lead men to be low-spirited and sorrowful. Comfort and encourage, but never accuse and threaten.” Yes, that is the way of man; but the way of the Spirit of God is very different. He comes on purpose to convince men of sin, to make them feel that they are guilty, greatly guilty — so guilty that they are lost, and ruined, and undone. He comes to remind them not only of God’s loveliness, but also of their own unloveliness; of their own enmity and hatred towards this God of love, and, consequently, of their terrible sin in so badly using One so infinitely kind. The Holy Spirit does not come to make sinners comfortable in their sins, but to cause them to grieve over their sins. He does not help them to forget their sin, or think little of it, but he comes to convince them of the horrible enormity of their iniquity. It is no work of the Spirit to pipe to men’s dancing: he does not bring out flute, harp, dulcimer, and all kinds of music to charm the unbelieving into a good opinion of themselves; but he comes to make sin appear as sin, and to let us see its fearful consequences. He comes to wound so that no human balm can heal: to kill so that no earthly power can make us live. The flowers cover the meadows when the grass is green; but lo! a burning wind comes from the desert, and the grass withers, and its flower falls away. What is it that makes the beauty and excellence of human righteousness to wither as the green herb? Isaiah says it is “because the Spirit of the Lord blows on it.” There is a withering work of the Spirit of God which we must experience, or we shall never know his quickening and restoring power. This withering is a most necessary experience, and just now needs much to be insisted on. Today we have so many built up who were never pulled down; so many filled who were never emptied; so many exalted who were never humbled; that I all the more earnestly remind you that the Holy Spirit must convince us of sin, or we cannot be saved.
17. This work is most necessary, because without it there is no leading men to receive the gospel of the grace of God. We cannot make headway with certain people because they profess faith very readily, but they are not convinced of anything. “Oh, yes, we are sinners, no doubt, and Christ died for sinners”: that is the free-and-easy way with which they handle heavenly mysteries, as if they were the nonsense verses of a boy’s exercise, or the stories of Mother Goose. This is all mockery, and we are weary of it. But get near a real sinner, and you have found a man you can deal with: I mean the man who is a sinner, and no mistake, and mourns in his innermost soul that he is so. In such a man you find one who will welcome the gospel, welcome grace, and welcome a Saviour. To him the news of pardon will be as cold water to a thirsty soul, and the doctrine of grace will be as honey dropping from the comb. “A sinner,” one says of our songsters, “is a sacred thing: the Holy Spirit has made him so.” Your sham sinner is a horrible creature; but a man truly convinced of sin by the Spirit of God is a being to be sought after as a jewel that will adorn the crown of the Redeemer.
18. Notice here, that the Spirit of God comes to convince men of sin, because they never will be convinced of sin apart from his divine advocacy. A natural conscience touched by the Spirit of God may do a good deal in the way of showing a man his faults; it may make him uneasy, and may bring about a reformation of life; but it is only the Spirit of God who to the full extent convinces a man of sin in order to produce repentance, self-despair, and faith in Jesus. For what is the sin that you and I are guilty of? Ah, brethren, it would not be easy to tell; but this I know, that the extent of sin is never known until the Spirit of God reveals the secret chambers of the heart’s abominations. We do a thousand things that we do not know to be sin until the Spirit of God enlightens us and pleads the cause of holiness in us. What natural man, for example, ever laments over evil thoughts or desires, or the imaginations which flit across his mind? Yet all these are sins, and sins which cause a gracious heart the deepest distress. If we were never actually to commit evil, yet if we desire to do so, we have already sinned; and if we feel pleasure in thinking of evil, we have already sinned. This poison is in our nature, and shows itself in a thousand ways. The fact that we not only sin, but are by nature sinful, is one which our pride kicks against, and we will not learn it until the Spirit of God teaches it to us. Neither does any man know the extreme sinfulness of sin until the light falls upon the black mass from the Holy Spirit. Every sin is, as it were, an assault upon God’s throne, glory, and life. Sinwould dethrone the Most High, and destroy him if it could; but men do not see this. They talk most lightly about sin, and do not know that it scatters firebrands and death. I tell you, when the Spirit of God makes a man see sinin its naked deformity, he is horrified. When I saw, or thought I saw, the heinousness of sin, it was intolerable, and I had no rest in my spirit. We must all have some such a sight, or we shall never look to the Lord Jesus to take away our sin. No one except those whose wounds smart are likely to apply for the heavenly balm.
19. The Holy Spirit dwells upon one point in particular: “of sin, because they do not believe in me.” No one sees the sin of unbelief except by his light. For a man thinks, “Well, if I have not believed in Christ, that is a pity, perhaps; but still, I was never a thief, or a liar, or a drunkard, or unchaste. Unbelief is a matter of very little consequence; I can square that away any time.” But the Holy Spirit makes a man see that not to believe in Christ is a crowning, damningsin, since he who does not believe has made God a liar: and what can be more atrocious than that? He who does not believe in Christ has rejected God’s mercy, and has done despite to the grandest display of God’s love; he has despised God’s unspeakable gift, and trampled on the blood of Christ. In this he has dishonoured God on a very tender point; has insulted him concerning his only-begotten Son. How I wish that the Spirit of God would come upon unbelievers here, and make them see what they are and where they are with regard to the one and only Saviour. How shall they escape who neglect so great a salvation? It will not matter how feebly I speak this morning if the Spirit of God will only work by the truth, you will perceive the greatness of your crime, and you will never rest until you have believed in the Lord Jesus, and found forgiveness for your high offence against the bleeding Lamb. So far, then, upon the first operation of the Holy Spirit.
20. The next work of the Spirit is to convince men of righteousness; that is to say, in gospel terms, to show them that they have no righteousness of their own, and no means of working righteousness, and that apart from grace they are condemned. So he leads them to value the righteousness of Godwhich is upon all those who believe, even a righteousness which covers sin, and renders them acceptable with God.
21. Lend me your ears for a moment while I call your attention to a great wonder. Among men, if a person is convicted of wrong-doing, the next step is judgment. A young man, for example, has been in the service of an employer, and he has embezzled money: he is convicted of the theft by due process of law, and found guilty. What follows next? Why, judgment is pronounced, and he must suffer the penalty. But observe how our gracious God interpolates another process. Truly, his ways are not our ways! “He shall convince of sin —— ” The next step would be judgment; but no, the Lord inserts a so far unknown middle term, and convinces “of righteousness.” Be amazed at this. The Lord takes a man, even when he is sinful and conscious of that sin, and makes him righteous on the spot, by putting away his sin and justifying him by the righteousness of faith, a righteousness which comes to him by the worthiness of another who has worked out a righteousness for him. Can that be? Brethren, this seems to be a thing so impossible that it needs the Spirit of God to convince men of it. I may now present the great plan by which the Lord Jesus is made righteousness to us by God; I may show how the Son of God became man so that he might fully keep the law of God for us, and that having done so, and having added his passive obedience to his active service, he presented to his Father a complete vindication of his injured law, so that every man who believes in him shall be delivered from condemnation, and accepted in the Beloved. I might also tell how Christ’s righteousness is set to our account, so that faith is credited to us for righteousness, even as was the case with faithful Abraham. Yet all my labour will be in vain until the Spirit shall make it plain. Many hear the good news; but they do not receive the truth, for they are not convinced of it. They need to be persuaded of it before they will embrace it; and that persuasion is not in my power. Did I hear one remark, “I cannot see this way of righteousness?” I answer, “No, and you never will until the Spirit of Godconvinces you of it.”
22. Notice well the great point of the Spirit’s argument, — “Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and you see me no more.” Our Lord was sent into the world to work out a righteousness, and here he says “I go”; but he would not go until he had done his work. He also says, “I go to my Father”; but he would not go back to his Father until he had fulfilled his covenant engagements. “I go to my Father”; that is, I go to receive a reward and to sit upon my Father’s throne; and he could not have received this glory if he had not finished his appointed work. Behold then, Christ has finished a righteousness which is freely given to all those who believe, and all those who trust in Christ are for his sake rewarded as righteous before God, and are in fact righteous, so that Paul says, “Who is he who condemns?” His basis for asking that question is the same as what the Spirit uses in my text. He says, “It is Christ who died, yes rather, who is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.” He quotes, as the Holy Spirit does, the resurrection, ascension, and enthronement of the great Intercessor as the proof positive that there is a perfect righteousness for all believing sinners. I know that many will say, “This is making people righteous who are not righteous,” and hence they will raise many objections. Just so! This is the glory of God, that he justifies the ungodly, and saves sinners by Christ. “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity.” “I do not see it,” one cries. And our answer is, “We know you do not: we are not in the least surprised that you reject our testimony; we never expected you to receive it unless the arm of the Lord should be revealed, and the Holy Spirit should convince you of righteousness.” No man comes to Christ who is not drawn by the Father and enlightened by the Spirit but if the Spirit convinces you we shall soon hear you sing —
Jesus, thy blood and righteousness
My beauty are, my glorious dress;
Midst flaming worlds, in these arrayed,
With joy shall I lift up my head.
Dear people of God, pray hard that the Spirit of God may even now convince unbelievers that the only true righteousness for mortal men is what does not come by the works of the law, but by the hearing of faith.
23. But then comes a third point, the Spirit of God is to convince men of judgment. To whom is this judgment committed? “The Father has committed all judgment to the Son.” The true penitent feels that if he had all his sins forgiven him still it will be of little value as long as he lies wallowing in sin. He feels that the great enemy of his soul must be dethroned, or else forgiveness itself will afford him no rest of heart. He must be rescued from the power as well as from the guilt of sin, or else he remains in bondage. He must see the power of evil hewn in pieces before the Lord as Samuel hewed Agag of old. Listen, oh troubled one! You shall be set free, for “the prince of this world is judged.” Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil; and on the cross our Redeemer judged Satan, overcame him, and cast him down. He is now a condemned criminal, a vanquished rebel. His reigning power over all believers is broken. He has great wrath, knowing that his time is short, but that wrath is held in check by his conqueror. In his passion our Lord fought Satan foot to foot, and overcame him, spoiling principalities and powers, and making a show of them publicly, triumphing over them in it. Do you believe this? May the Spirit of God convince you of it! Oh tried believer, the Lord Jesus overthrew the devil for you. He crushed the powers of darkness for you; and believing in him you shall find evil dethroned in you, and all the forces of sin hurled from their high places. You shall overcome through the blood of the Lamb. Again I say, do you believe this? Christ is made sanctification for us by God; he saves his people from their sins; he makes them holy, and so breaks their enemy in pieces. Though it will cost you many a conflict, and the beaded sweat may in the hour of temptation stand upon your brow, as you fear that you will fall from holiness, yet the Lord shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly, for he has already bruised him under his own feet on your behalf. The Spirit of God is needed to convince our unbelieving hearts that it is even so. Most men dream that they must overcome sin by their own strength. Alas, the strong man armed still keeps the house against our feebleness. You have a very hard task before you if in your own strength you venture on this conflict. I can hear the devil laughing at you even now. This leviathan is not to be tamed by you. Job would say, “Will you play with him as with a bird?” Do you think the devil is as easily managed as a woman carries her pet bird on her finger, and puts it to her lip to peck a seed? Can you draw out leviathan with a hook? Will he speak soft words to you? Will you take him to be a servant for ever? Your arrows cannot come at him, nor your sword wound him. “Lay your hand upon him, remember the battle, do no more.” A divine power is needed, and that power is ready to display itself if it is humbly sought for.
24. Many who are convinced of the righteousness of Christ are not yet fully convinced that evil is judged, and condemned, and cast down. They are haunted with the dread that they may still perish by the hand of the enemy. Oh, my brother, see the need of the Holy Spirit to advocate in your heart the cause of God and truth, and make you believe that the Lord Jesus has supreme power over every enemy. I sometimes meet a Christian brother who tells me the world is all going to the dogs, the gospel is being utterly defeated, Christ is routed, the devil is waving the black flag and shouting victory. I knew how terrible the conflict is, but I believe that my Lord Jesus has judged the whole kingdom of evil, and in that fact I see Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Our Lord must reign. His enemies must lick the dust. We shall judge the fallen angels at the last great day, and meanwhile a believing life is a life of triumph over the arch-enemy. In the power of the Spirit it shall be proven that truth is mightier than error, love is stronger than hate, and holiness is higher than sin; for the Lord’s right hand and his holy arm have gained him the victory. Behold how the ascended Saviour leads captives captive. See how he comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah, for he has trodden sin and hell in the wine-press, and now he travels in the greatness of his strength, speaking in righteousness, mighty to save.
25. Let me go over this ground again, so that we may not overlook anything. Dear friends, those of us who are saved still need the Holy Spirit with us every day to convince us of sin. Good men do at this hour most complacently things which in a clearer light they will never think of doing. May the Holy Spirit continually show us layer after layer of sin, so that we may remove it; may he reveal to us rank after rank of sin, that we may conquer all its forces. May he especially reveal to us the sin of not believing in Christ, for even we have our doubts and fears. After a sermon concerning sin the poor child of God cries out, “I dare not believe. I am afraid I shall be lost after all.” This unbelief is another sin. Strange way of escaping from sin by plunging into it! To doubt the Lord is to add sin to sin. No sin is more pernicious than the sin of not believing. Whenever our heart doubts the Lord we grieve his Spirit; hence we always need the Holy Spirit to convince us of this evil and bitter thing, and to lead us to trust in a childlike way. Any doubt of God’s promise, any fear of failure on God’s part, any thought of his unfaithfulness, is a crime against the honour of the divine majesty. Oh, convincing Spirit, dwell with me from day to day convincing me of sin, and especially making me to feel that the worst of all evils is to question my faithful Friend.
26. So, also, may you always have the Spirit of God dwelling with you, convincing you of righteousness. May those of you who are indeed believers never question that you are righteous before God. We who believe are made the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus: are we assured of this? If so, do not think and talk as if you were still under the curse of the law, for you are no longer in any such condition. “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Oh, may the Spirit of God convince you of that every day; and convince you of it on the basis that Jesus is reigning up there at the Father’s right hand. The interest of each believer in his Lord is clear and sure. If Jesus is there, I am there. If the Father has accepted him, he has accepted me. Do you catch the logic of it? You are in Christ, you are one with him: as he is so you are in him. Hold firmly to the fact that you are not condemned. How can you be? You are at the right hand of God in Christ. You condemned! Why, you are “accepted in the Beloved,” for your representative is accepted by God and made to sit upon his throne. Jesus is exalted, not for himself alone, but for all those who believe in him. May the blessed Spirit fully convince you of this grand truth.
27. And, next, may he convince you of judgment — namely, that you have been judged, and your enemy has been judged, and condemned. The day of judgment is not a thing to be dreaded by a believer. We have stood our trial, and have been acquitted. Our representative has borne the penalty of our sin. Our chastisement is passed: for Jesus has borne it: he was numbered with transgressors. There is now no curse for us: there can be none: heaven, earth, hell cannot find a curse for those whom God has blessed, since the Lord Jesus “was made a curse for us.” May the Spirit of God come on you afresh, my dearly beloved, and make you confident and joyful in him who is the Lord our righteousness, by whom evil has been judged once and for all!
28. III. Last of all, let us read our text by rendering it “convict” — “The Spirit of God will CONVICT the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment.”
29. There is the world. It stands a prisoner at the judgment bar, and the charge is that it is and has been full of sin. In courts of law you are often surprised with what comes out. You look at the prisoner, and he seems to be a quiet, respectable person, and you say, “I should not think he is guilty.” But the advocate who has engaged to plead the cause of righteousness stands up and gives an outline of the case; and you speedily change your mind, until as the evidence proceeds you say to yourself, “That is a villain, if ever there was one.” Now hear the Spirit of God. The Spirit came into the world to make all men know that Jesusis the Christ, and he attested to that fact by miracles that could not be questioned, miracles without number: he has moreover attested to the truth of the gospel by the conversion of myriads, whose happy and holy lives have been a proof that Jesus Christ was indeed sent from God. But what did this wicked world do with Christ? They gave him a felon’s death: they nailed him to a cross. By this the world is condemned! We need no further evidence. The world is convicted: self-condemned by the slaughter of him who was incarnate goodness and unbounded love. The world is base enough to desire to kill its God even when he comes on an errand of love. Take the accused away! The world’s guilt is proven beyond question. The wrath of God resides on it.
30. What follows after this? The trial is viewed from another point. The world has declared that the gospel is not righteous, that the system which our Lord has come to establish is not true. Up to this day the world is continually raising objections, trying to confound believers, and, if possible, to defeat our most holy cause. But the Spirit of Godby his teaching proves that the gospelis full of righteousness; and by all his operations through the word he proves that the gospel is holy, and just, and good, and tends to make men pure, godly, peaceable, and holy. By sanctifying men through the gospel so that they lead gracious lives, the Holy Spirit proves that the gospel is righteous. This process grows more and more complete as time rolls on. If the world was not unrighteous it would long ago have yielded to the holy message and its holy Messenger. But it will be forced to acknowledge the truth one day. The Holy Spirit makes the world know that Christ is righteous by flashing into its face the fact that Christ has gone, — gone up to glory, at the right hand of God, — and this could not have been had he not been the righteous One.
31. When the world shall see Jesusenthroned at the last, and all mankind shall behold the Son of man on the clouds of heaven, what conviction will seize on every mind! There will be no agnostics then! Not a sceptic will be found in that day! Christ seen at the Father’s right hand will end all unbelief!
32. And then the Spirit of God shall make men see the judgment. Before the day actually comes, they shall perceive that since Christ has judged the devil, since Christ has cast him down from his high places, and his power over the world is already broken, assuredly he will strike all who are in the dominion of Satan, and will not allow one of them to escape. The cause of evil is judged, and its case is desperate. Oh, how the Spirit of Godwill convict men at that last day when they hear the Judge say, “Come, you blessed by my Father,” or “Depart, you cursed, into everlasting fire.”
33. Men and brethren, will you be convinced by the Holy Spirit now, or will you wait until then? Shall it be the convincing of grace or the conviction of wrath? The Spirit still bears witness with us who preach the gospel: will you yield to that gospel, and believe it now? or will you wait until the blaze of the last tremendous day? Which shall it be? I think I hear you say, “The gospel is true.” Why, then, do you not believe it? If you confess “sin,” why are you not washed from it? If there is “righteousness” why do you not seek it? If there is “judgment,” why do you not ask to be so cleansed that you need not be afraid of it? Oh, sirs, most men act as if they were born fools. If they were sick, and we had a sure medicine for them, they would rush to us for it. If they were poor, and we brought them gold, they would trample us down in their vehemence to snatch at wealth. But when there is Christ to be had, the divine remedy for sin, Christ to be had as a perfect righteousness, Christ to make them stand securely at the last dreadful day, they turn their backs upon the heavenly blessing. Oh, Spirit of God, win these madmen; bring back these fools and make them sane and wise, for Christ Jesus’ sake. Amen.
[Portion Of Scripture Read Before Sermon — Joh 16]
{See Spurgeon_Hymnal “Holy Spirit — Pentecost” 449}
{See Spurgeon_Hymnal “The Adorable Trinity in Unity, Doxology to the Trinity — Let There Be Light” 170}
{See Spurgeon_Hymnal “Gospel, Stated — Mercy For The Guilty” 544}
{a} Aegis: A shield, or defensive armour; applied in ancient mythology to that of Jupiter or Minerva. fig. A protection, or impregnable defence. OED.
{b} Rhadamanthus: In Greek mythology, a son of Zeus and Europa and one of the judges in the lower world. Hence used allusively for: An inflexible judge; a rigorous or severe master. OED.
Holy Spirit
449 — Pentecost
1 Great was the day, the joy was great,
When the divine disciples met;
Whilst on their heads the Spirit came,
And sat like tongues of cloven flame.
2 What gifts, what miracles he gave!
And power to kill, and power to save!
Furnish’d their tongues with wondrous words,
Instead of shields, and spears and swords.
3 Thus arm’d, he sent the champions forth,
From east to west, from south to north;
“Go, and assert your Saviour’s cause;
Go, spread the mystery of his cross.”
4 These weapons of the holy war,
Of what almighty force they are,
To make our stubborn passions bow,
And lay the proudest rebel low!
5 Nations, the learned and the rude,
Are by these heavenly arms subdued;
While Satan rages at his loss,
And hates the doctrine of the cross.
6 Great King of Grace, my heart subdue,
I would be led in triumph too,
A willing captive to my Lord,
And sing the victories of his word.
Isaac Watts, 1709.
The Adorable Trinity in Unity, Doxologies to the Trinity
170 — “Let There Be Light” <6.6.4>
1 Thou, whose almighty word,
Chaos and darkness heard,
And took their flight,
Hear us, we humbly pray,
And where the gospel’d day
Sheds not its glorious ray,
Let there be light.
2 Thou, who didst come to bring
On thy protecting wing,
Healing and sight,
Sight to the inly {a} blind,
Health to the sick in mind,
Oh! now, to all mankind,
Let there be light.
3 Spirit of truth and love,
Life giving, holy Dove,
Speed forth thy flight;
Move o’er the water’s face
By thine almighty grace,
And in earth’s darkest place,
Let there be light.
4 Blessed and holy three,
Glorious Trinity,
Wisdom, Love, Might,
Boundless as ocean’s tide,
Rolling in fullest pride,
O’er the world, far and wide,
Let there be light.
John Marriott, 1813
{a} Inly: inwardly
Gospel, Stated
544 — Mercy For The Guilty
1 Mercy is welcome news indeed
To those that guilty stand;
Wretches, that feel what help they need,
Will bless the helping hand.
2 Who rightly would his alms dispose
Must give them to the poor;
None but the wounded patient knows
The comforts of his cure.
3 We all have sinn’d against our God,
Exception none can boast;
But he that feels the heaviest load
Will prize forgiveness most.
4 No reckoning can we rightly keep,
For who the sums can know?
Some souls are fifty pieces deep,
And some five hundred owe.
5 But let our debts be what thy may,
However great or small,
As soon as we have nought to pay,
Our Lord forgives us all.
6 ‘Tis perfect poverty alone
That sets the soul at large;
While we can call one mite our own,
We have no full discharge.
Joseph Hart, 1759.
Spurgeon Sermons
These sermons from Charles Spurgeon are a series that is for reference and not necessarily a position of Answers in Genesis. Spurgeon did not entirely agree with six days of creation and dives into subjects that are beyond the AiG focus (e.g., Calvinism vs. Arminianism, modes of baptism, and so on).
Terms of Use
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There are so many benefits to the infilling of the Holy Spirit. Some of the main benefits are stated here in John 16. The Holy Spirit “will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment”. Let’s break those down to see its personal benefit in our lives.
Conviction of sin
Most believers struggle with sin because they lack the Spirit of God residing on the inside of them. When you get baptized with the Holy Spirit, He begins to expose the sin in your life. The Spirit will convict us of everything that offends God! The thing that offends Him the most is SIN! And sin at its root is caused by unbelief. Mark 16:16 says, “Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned.”
Sin in a Christian’s life is proof of unbelief. They don’t really believe what the Word says because if they did, they would not participate in anything that would pull them away from eternity with God!
Life without the Holy Spirit will be a frustrating one! Without His continual guidance and conviction of sin, we’ll continue to have “stumbling blocks”. We’ll continue to think that sin has power over us, when reality, with God’s Spirit, we have the power over sin!
The chances of you backsliding are eliminated once you make a habit of speaking in tongues on a daily basis. This wonderful force will keep you spiritually in tune to the things of God. His presence on the inside of you will cause you to steer clear of sin and chase down righteousness.
Alcohol or drugs won’t touch your lips without conviction. A nauseating feeling will come over you when you get that phone call or text message from that person who wants to hook up. He convicts us because He loves us and wants no harm to come upon us. Remember, Proverbs 3:12 says, “The LORD corrects those he loves”. The days of struggling to do what’s right are over once you get filled with the Holy Ghost! You were NEVER meant to do fight against sin alone. In fact, no one has the power to overcome sin except through the Spirit of God.
Romans 7:24- Romans 8-4
“Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin. So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.”
Is your mind blown? “And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.” Sin no longer has to have dominion over you because of this POWER given to you by the Holy Spirit! Hallelujah! “He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.” We must follow the Spirit! That our ticket out of unbelief!
When unbelief goes all of its counterparts go with it! Sin, depression, sickness, frustration, a stale Christian life, it FLEES! Are you beginning to see how INTEGRAL and NECESSARY this precious infilling is?!
JOHN 16:8-11 8 “And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 11 of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
What impact will the Holy Spirit have on the world?
"He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment" (John 16:8).
How will the Holy Spirit convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgment?
Through Christians whom He will indwell, empower and lead.
What did Jesus mean by convicting the world "of sin, because they do not believe in Me" (John 16:9)?
The Holy Spirit will lead Christians to preach Jesus' gift of salvation, which delivers people from their sins (plural). When people reject that, they will be convicted of the "sin" (singular) of not believing Jesus' sacrifice on the cross paid the death penalty due for their sins, and therefore remain guilty of them.
How about, "of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more" (John 16:10)?
When Jesus was on the earth, He was accused of being many things, including a deceiver: "And there was much murmuring among the people concerning Him. Some said, “He is good”; others said, “No, on the contrary, He deceives the people”(John 7:12); a blasphemer: "The Jews answered Him, saying, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God" (John 10:33); and even demon-possessed: "And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebub,” and, “By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons" (Mark 3:22). When His resurrection and return to the "Father" (John 16:10) in heaven is preached, the world will be convicted that His claim of being God was true and righteous.
And how about convicting the world "of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged" (John 16:11)?
You'd expect "the ruler of this world" to be the one passing judgment. But because Jesus crushed on the cross Satan's grip on humanity's sin, Satan is judged as having been defeated, and that news will also be preached by Christians led by the Holy Spirit.
JOHN 16:12 12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.
Why can't they "bear" the "many things" that Jesus still had "to say" (John 16:12) to them?
They were devastated by what Jesus had already told them, and their understanding won't be fully opened until the Holy Spirit comes upon them, which is recorded in Acts 2).
Acts 2:36-37) “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified both Lord and Christ.” When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers what shall we do?”
Introduction:
(John 16:8-11) “When He comes, He will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.”
It is only through the convicting and converting work of the Holy Spirit that people will turn to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the work of the Holy Spirit alone to convince people of their need to believe in Jesus, to live righteously and to flee from the wrath to come. There are four things that the Holy Spirit does in his convicting work.
1. The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin.
(Vs 9) “In regard to sin because men do not believe in Me.”
It is the work of the Holy Spirit to show people their wrong ideas about sin in such a way as to produce in them a deep sense of personal sinfulness and that the consequences of their sin is an eternal separation from God in the Lake of Fire. The average person has no real realization of the awful effects and consequences of sin. Unbelievers have no realization that they are great sinners and rebels in God’s sight. Notice in verse nine that the first and foremost sin that the Holy Spirit convicts people about is their sin of unbelief in Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord.
On the day of Pentecost people were convicted of this when Peter was preaching the good news about the Lord Jesus Christ. Peter’s sermon was scripture from beginning to end and as he was preaching God’s Word the Holy Spirit was doing His convicting and converting work. We read where the hearers were “cut to the heart and cried out, “men and brethren, what shall we do?” Peter told them to do three things. First, he told them to repent. They were to turn from their unbelief in Jesus Christ and from their rebellion towards Him. They were to change their attitudes from a Christ hating, Christ rejecting way of life to a Christ loving, Christ accepting way of life. Second, Peter told them to be baptised. This involved confessing Jesus Christ as saviour and Lord and receiving Him into their lives. On their confession of faith they were to be baptised in water. Third, he told them that they would receive the Holy Spirit upon repentance, faith and baptism. That day 3000 people were saved.
Peter was not producing the conviction of sin but it was the Holy Spirit working through Peter that did the work. As believers we are not responsible for the results in evangelism but only for giving people the seed of the word. Conviction of sin does not depend on us at all. It certainly does not depend on psychology, certain counselling strategies, or methods of evangelism, Purpose driven secular marketing strategies for Church growth or upon music and slick programs. It certainly does not depend on big name preachers, moving stories and testimonies or by whipping people up emotionally at meetings. Our human methods of persuasion cannot produce a deep sense and conviction of personal sinfulness. Only the Holy Spirit can do this. Today so much preaching and speaking is spiritual hype with very little content of the Word of God.
On the other hand there are those who preach the word today but they have no anointing on their words. It is only the anointing that breaks the yoke of sin and rebellion. Man himself cannot change the evil inclinations of his heart. Jeremiah the prophet said, “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). Paul tells us in Romans that the sinful mind is hostile to God and cannot submit to God’s Law and that those controlled by their sinful nature cannot please God. (Romans 8:7-8) Only the Holy Spirit can produce the new birth. It isn’t a matter of just being converted we must be born again. A person may be converted many times but you can only be born again once.
Now the instrument that the Holy Spirit uses in His convicting and converting work is God’s Word the Bible. The first century believers used the Word of God in their preaching and witnessing. (Acts 8:4) Jesus used the Word of God when he was speaking to Nicodemus about the new birth. Peter was using God’s Word on the day of Pentecost. Phillip used the Word of God with the Ethiopian Eunuch. Paul used the Word of God with the Jailor at Philippi when he led him to faith in Jesus. Paul did not just tell him to believe but gave him something to believe in. We read where, “Paul spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house” (Acts 16:32.) The Holy Spirit uses God’s Word to convict people of their need to believe in Jesus as their personal saviour and Lord. The Bible itself is the sword of the Spirit. (Ephesians 6:17) (James 1:18) (1 Peter 1:23) (2 Peter 1:4) Just preaching the Word itself will not produce conviction of sin unless that preaching is accompanied by the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit must take the seed of the Word and plant it into the receptive soil of the heart and then water the seed resulting in spiritual life and faith. (Luke 8:11) (Romans 10:17)
The Holy Spirit knows no barriers because he can reach people where we can’t. He can reach from the drunkard in the gutter to the highest man in the land because nothing is impossible to Him. He knows exactly what should be done and how it should be done. Our responsibility as believers is to be totally at His disposal and totally available to him to use us at anytime and in anyway He chooses. We must not only believe that the Holy Spirit can work through us but count on Him to work through us. If we do not depend entirely on the Holy Spirit in ministry and service then we will actually create barriers between God and the people to whom we are witnessing. So then the Holy Spirit alone must convict people of their unbelief in Jesus as saviour and Lord. He alone must produce in them such a deep sense of personal sinfulness that leads them to forsake their sin and unbelief with all of their hearts.
2. The Holy Spirit convicts the world of righteousness.
(Vs 10) “In regard to righteousness because I am going to the Father where you can see Me no longer.”
The Holy Spirit convicts people about the true nature and character of Jesus Christ. The Bible says, “No one can say,” Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:3).Unless the Holy Spirit reveals the Lord Jesus Christ to us we will not be able to see Him for who He is. If we want to be born again then we need to pray two things. “Lord show me myself” and then, “Lord show me yourself.”
First, we need to pray, “Lord show me myself.” “Lord show me what I am really like, let me see myself as you really see me.” When the Holy Spirit shows us the true nature of our heart and mind in God’s sight we will clearly see just how ungodly and rebellious we are and how much we love to do our own thing and to go our own way in life. Not only that the Holy Spirit will show us from God’s Law book the Bible just how far short we fall of His Divine and perfect standards of righteousness. In fact unless we are righteous as God is righteous we will not be able to go to heaven. When Isaiah the prophet really encountered the Lord in his life he cried out, “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty”(Isaiah 6:5). Isaiah also says, “All of us have become like one who is unclean (a leper) and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;”(Literally, like a woman’s discarded menstrual rag) (Isaiah 64:6a)
When the Holy Spirit really shows us from God’s Word what we are really like down on the inside we fully realize just how hopeless it is for us to even seek to be right with God through our own morality, good works or self effort. We see ourselves as condemned and under the sentence of an eternal separation from God. We see ourselves as God sees us. Isaiah puts it this way, “Your whole head is injured, your whole heart afflicted. From the sole of your foot to the top of your head there is no soundness-only wounds and welts and open sores, not cleansed or bandaged or soothed with oil”(Isaiah 1:6) When the Holy Spirit convicts us about the need for righteousness we discover that we have non-whatsoever. (Romans 3:10-18) So then we need to pray “Lord show me myself, show me what I’m really like in your sight.”
Second, we need to pray, “Lord, show me Yourself.” show me what you are really like.” The Holy Spirit not only shows us our destitution of righteousness but also the perfect righteous character and nature of the Lord Jesus Christ and our desperate need of that kind of righteousness. The apostle Paul said, “But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ-the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith” (Philippians 3:7-9). When we believe and trust in Jesus for our salvation two things occur. First, God declares us to be innocent in His sight even though we have sinned against Him. He credits to our account the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ.
God imparts to us the righteous life of the Lord Jesus Christ through the indwelling Spirit. The Holy Spirit reproduces the righteous nature of Jesus in us the moment we believe. (Galatians 5:22-25) God no longer sees us as sinners but sees the image of His Son Jesus in us consequently God declares us to be righteous in His sight. (Romans 4:5, 23-25) This righteousness makes us fit for heaven and acceptable to God. This righteousness enables us as God’s children to come boldly into His presence at anytime of the day or the night. (Hebrews 4:16)
Everything we need for holiness and happiness in this life and in the life to come is only found in the Lord Jesus Christ. As the apostle Paul says, “He is our life!” Paul also tells us, “It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God-that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:30-31). We may be troubled by Satan who is called, “the accuser of the brethren” and struggle at times with guilt and the memories of our past sins and failures but we are “accepted in the beloved” (Ephesians 1:6). Paul also tells us, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:1). Only through the power of the Holy Spirit can we live righteously. The Lord Jesus Christ is in us and He is always keeping the demands of the Law in us. His seed (life) remains in us enabling us to resist temptation and to walk uprightly before the Lord. (Galatians 5:24-24) (1 John 3:4-10 5:18)
3. The Holy Spirit convicts the world of judgment.
(Vs 11) “In regard to judgment because the prince of this world now stands condemned.”
The world needs to be convicted about the judgment to come. The average person does not really believe that there will be a future judgment. When the Holy Spirit convicts a person about their sin and their need of righteousness He also convicts them about the judgment to come. Often the truth people do not want to hear is the truth they need to hear the most. Unless people see that they are great rebels and sinners in the sight of a Holy and Just God they will never be driven to Him to seek mercy through the blood and merits of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now the prince of this world is Satan and the last thing he wants is for people to see that he has already been judged and condemned by the work of Jesus at the cross. The last thing Satan wants is for people to see the Lord Jesus Christ for who He really is and what he has done for them by His death and resurrection. (2 Corinthians 4:4)
The only reason Satan has any power at all is because people give him that control because of the sinfulness and rebellion of their hearts. However, Jesus has stripped Satan of his power. (Colossians 2:15) (Hebrews 2:14-15) (1 John 3:4-9) If a person really wants to be born again and seeks the Lord for the new birth there is nothing that Satan can do to stop it happening. Once we have been born again we no longer have to be slaves to sin because the Spirit of life that resides in Christ Jesus has set us free from the downward pull of sin. The Holy Spirit within us gives us the strength to overcome everything that Satan throws against us. The unbeliever has no choice where sin is concerned they will automatically sin because they are still controlled by the old sinful nature which is in itself under the control of Satan.
Multitudes of people do not believe in a future judgment because Satan has deceived them. He’s pulled the same trick on them as he did on Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. His constant lie is to make people believe that God does not mean what He says. When Satan confronted Adam and Eve he said, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” Satan got them to doubt what God had said. Then we read where he said to them, “You will not surely die.” Satan told them a lie and they fell for it and people have been falling for it ever since then.
The unsaved need to hear about the Love of God and the provision God has made for them through the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus but they will never turn to God until they see their desperate need to be saved from the coming judgment and the lake of fire. If we do not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour and Lord then we stand condemned already. Jesus himself said, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe in him stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son”(John 3:18).
4. The Holy Spirit convicts the world through believers.
God is a Sovereign God and if He wanted to He could save people by the direct action of the Holy Spirit upon their human spirits without any human intervention. However, He has chosen believers through which to reach people with the good news about Jesus. In every instance of conversion in the book of Acts human beings were involved in leading other human beings to faith in Christ. The only exception was in the case of the apostle Paul where he had a direct revelation of Jesus Christ yet even in his case he must have been influenced by the death of Stephen. Paul, before his conversion had been “kicking against the goads” implying that he had been under conviction for some time before he got saved.
As believers we are the channels through which the Holy Spirit reaches others. Jesus himself implied this when he said, “Whoever is believing in Me as the scripture has said streams of living water will flow from within him.” By this He meant the Spirit, whom those who are believing in Him were later to receive” (John 7:38-39). The Holy Spirit needs the total surrender of our time, our talents, our money and our selves. He needs the total surrender of our feet, our hands, our mouths, our minds and our hearts. Above all of these things He needs the total surrender of our wills to Him.
The Holy Spirit desperately wants to reach others through us but are we available to Him? We need to be unconditionally available to Him without reservation to use us according to His will and not ours. We need to be available to Him whenever he chooses to use us day or night. We need to be available to Him to use us wherever He chooses to use us whether at home or on the mission field. We need to be available to Him to use us however He chooses and in anyway that He chooses to use us. He will choose the avenue of service and the gifts we will need to complete the task. (1 Corinthians 12:11) We need to be ready for the Holy Spirit to use us at any moment of the hour of the day. So then, the Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, righteousness and judgment but also through believers. May we respond to the call of the Holy Spirit and say with Isaiah the prophet, “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me” (Isaiah 6:8).
If I go, I will send the Comforter unto you ; and He, when He is come, will convince the world in respect of sin. John 16: 7-8
The close connection between the two statements in these words of our Lord is not always noticed. Before the Holy Spirit was to convince the world of sin, He was first to come into the disciples. He was to make His home, to take His stand in them,, and then from out of them and through them to do His conviction work on the world. He shall bear witness of me, and ye shall also bear witness.' The disciples were to realize that the great work of the Holy Spirit, striving with man, convincing the world of sin, could only be done as He had a firm footing on earth in them. They were to be baptized with the Holy Ghost and with fire, to receive the Power from on high, with the one purpose of being the instruments through whom the Holy Spirit could reach the world. The mighty, sin convicting power of the Spirit to dwell in them and work through them: it was for this our blessed Lord sought to prepare them and us by these words. The lessons they teach are very solemn.
1. The Holy Spirit comes to us, that through us He may reach others. The Spirit is the Spirit of the Holy One, of the redeeming God: when He enters us, He does not change His nature or lose His Divine character. He is still the Spirit of God striving with man, and seeking his deliverance. Wherever He is not hindered by ignorance or selfishness, He looks out from the heart as His temple for the work He has to do on the world around, and makes it willing and bold to do that work; to testify against sin, and for Jesus the Saviour from sin, He does this very specially as being the Spirit of the crucified and exalted Christ. For what purpose was it that He received the Spirit without measure ? 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor. He hath sent me to proclaim release to the captives! It was this same Spirit--after Christ through Him had offered Himself unto God, and through Him as the Spirit of Holiness had been raised from the dead-whom He sent down on His Church, that now the Spirit might have a home in them, as He had had it in Himself. And no otherwise and no less than in Himself would the Divine Spirit in them pursue His Divine work, and as a Light shining in, and revealing, and condemning, and conquering the darkness, as ' the Spirit of burning and the Spirit of judgment,' be to the world the power of a Divine conviction and conversion. Not from heaven direct so much, as the Spirit of God, but as the Holy Spirit dwelling in the Church, would He convince the world. 'I will send Him to you, and when He is come, He will convince the world.' It is in and through us that the Spirit can reach the world.
2. The Spirit can only reach others through us by first bringing ourselves into perfect sympathy with Himself. He enters into us to become so one with us that He becomes as a disposition and a life within us; and His work in us, and through us in others, becomes identical with our work.
The application of this truth to the conviction of sin in the world is one of great solemnity. The words of our Lord are frequently applied to believers in reference to the continued conviction of sin which He will ever have to work within them. In this sense they are, indeed, most true. This first work of the Spirit remains to the end the undertone of all His Comforting and Sanctifying work. It is only as He keeps alive the tender sense of the danger and shame of again sinning, that the soul will be kept in its low place before God,-hiding in Jesus as alone its safety and its strength. As the Holy Ghost reveals and communicates the Holy Life of Christ within, the sure result will be a deeper sense of the sinfulness of sin. But the words mean more. If the Spirit through us, through our testimony, whether by word or walk, is to convince the world, He must first convince us, of its sin. He must give us personally such a sight and sense of the guilt of its unbelief and rejection of our Saviour, such a sight and sense of each of its sins, as being at once the cause, the proof, the fruit of that rejection, that we shall in some measure think and feel in regard to the sin as He does. There will be then that inner fitness in us for the Spirit to work through us, that inner unity between our witness and His witness against sin and for God, which will reach the conscience and carry conviction with a power that is from above.
Alas!how easy it is in the power of the flesh to judge others, in the spirit which sees not the beam in our own eye, or which, if we are indeed free from what we condemn, yet does it with a secret, 'Stand by, I am holier than thou.' We either testify and 'work in a wrong spirit and in our own strength, or have not the courage to work at all. It is because we see the sin and the sinfulness of others, but not in a conviction that comes from the Holy Spirit. When He convinces us of the sin of the world, His work bears two marks. The one is the sacrifice of self, in the jealousy for God and His honour, combined with the deep and tender grief for the guilty. The other is a deep, strong faith in the possibility and power of deliverance. We see each sin in its terrible relation to the whole; we see the whole in the double light of the cross. We see sin unspeakably hateful in its awful guilt against God and its fearful power over the poor soul: we see sin condemned, atoned, put away, and conquered in Jesus. We learn to look on the world as God looks upon it in His holiness: hating its sin with such an infinite hatred, and loving it with such a love, that He gives His Son, and the Son gives His life, to destroy it and set its captives free.
May God give His people a true and deep conviction of the sin of the world in its rejection of Christ, even in the midst of its profession of believing in Him and serving Him, as the fitting preparation for the Spirit's using them in convincing the world of sin.
3. To obtain this conviction of sin, the believer needs not only to pray for it, but to have his whole life under the leading of the Holy Spirit. We cannot too earnestly insist upon it, that the many different gifts of the Spirit all depend upon His personal indwelling and supremacy in the inner life, and the revelation in us of the Christ that gave His life to have sin destroyed. When our Lord spake that word of inexhaustible meaning, ' He shall be in you,' he opened up the secret of all the Spirit's teaching, and sanctifying, and strengthening. The Spirit is the Life of God; He enters in, and becomes our Life; it is as He can sway and inspire the life that He will be able to work in us all He wills. It is desirable and useful to direct the attention of the believer to the different operations of the Spirit, that he may neglect or lose nothing through ignorance. But it is still more needful, with each new insight into what the Spirit can work, to get firmer hold of the truth : Let the life be in the Spirit, and the special blessing will not be withheld. Would you have this deep spiritual conviction of the sin of the world such an affecting sense of its terrible reality and power, its exceeding sinfulness, as will fit you for being the man through whom the Spirit can convince sinners, just yield your whole life and being to the Holy Spirit. Let the thought of this wondrous mystery of the nearness, the Indwelling, of the Holy God in you quiet your mind and heart into lowly fear and worship. Surrender the great enemy that opposes Him--the flesh, the self-life--day by day to Him to mortify and keep dead. Be content to aim at nothing less than being filled with the Spirit of the Man whose glory it is that He gave Himself to death to take away sin, with the whole being and doing under His control and inspiration. As your life in the Spirit becomes healthy and strong, as your spiritual constitution gets invigorated, your eye will see more clearly, your heart feel more keenly, what the sin around you is. Your thoughts and feelings will be those of the Holy Spirit breathing in you; your deep horror of sin, your deep faith in the redemption from it, your deep love to the souls who are in it, your willingness like your Lord to die if men can be freed from sin, will make you the fit instrument for the Spirit to convince the world of its sin.
4. There is one more lesson. We are seeking in this little book to find the way by which we all can be filled with the Spirit. Here is one condition: He must dwell in us as the world's Convincer of sin, I will send Him unto you, and He will convince the world.' Offer yourself to Him to consider, and feel, and bear the sins of those around you. Let the sins of the world be your concern, as much as your own sin. Do they not dishonour God as much as yours ? Are they not equally provided for in the great redemption ? And does not the Spirit dwelling in you long to convince them too ? Just as the Holy Spirit dwelt in the body and nature of Jesus, and was the source of what He felt, and said, and did, and just as God through Him worked out the will of His holy love; so the Spirit now dwells in believers: they are His abode. The one purpose for which there has been a Christ in the world, for which there is now a Holy Spirit, was that sin may be conquered and made an end of. This is the great object for which the baptism of the Spirit and of fire was given, that in and through believers He might convince of sin, and deliver from it. Put yourself into contact with the world's sin. Meet it in the love and faith of Jesus Christ, as the servant and helper of the needy and the wretched. Give yourself to prove the reality of your faith in Christ by your likeness to Him: so will the Spirit convince the world of its unbelief. Seek the full experience of the indwelling Spirit, not for your own selfish enjoyment, but for this one end, that He can do the Father's work through you as He did through Christ. Live, in unity of love with other believers, to work and pray, that men may be saved out of sin: 'then will the world believe that God hath sent Him.' It is the life of believers in self-sacrificing love that will prove to the world that Christ is a reality, and so convince it of its sin of unbelief.
The comfort and success with which a man lives and carries on his business depends much upon his having a suitable building for it. When the Holy Spirit, in a believer, finds the whole heart free and given up to Him as His home, to fill it with God's thoughts of sin and God's power of redemption, He can through such a one do His work. Be assured that there is no surer way to receive a full measure of the Spirit than to be wholly yielded to Him, to let the very mind of Christ in regard to sin work in us. 'He took away sin by the sacrifice of Himself,' through the Eternal Spirit. What the Spirit was in Him, He seeks to be in us. What was true of Him, must in its measure be true of us.
Christians ! would you be filled with the Holy Spirit, seek to have a clear impression of this : the Holy Spirit is in you to convince the world of sin. If you sympathize thoroughly with Him in this, if He sees that He can use you for this, if you make His work in this matter your work too, you may be sure He will dwell in you richly, and work in you mightily. The one object for which Christ came was to put away sin; the one work for which the Holy Ghost comes to men is to persuade them to give up sin. The one object for which the believer lives is to join in the battle against sin ; to seek the will and the honour of his God. Do let us be at one with Christ and His Spirit in their testimony against sin. An exhibition of the life and Spirit of Christ will have its effect : the holiness, and the joy, and the love, and the obedience to Christ will convince the world of its sin of unbelief. The Presence of Christ in us through the Spirit will carry its own conviction. And just as Christ's death, as His sacrifice for sin, was the entrance to His glory in the power of the Spirit, so our experience of the Spirit's indwelling will become the fuller just as our whole life is more given up to Him for His holy work of convincing the world of sin.
Blessed Lord Jesus! it is by the Presence and Power of the Holy Spirit in Thy people that the world is to be convinced of its sin in rejecting Thee, and that sinners are to be brought out of the world to accept of Thee. It is in men and women full of the Holy Ghost, testifying in the power of a holy joy to what Thou hast done for them, that the proof is to be given that Thou art indeed at the right hand of God. It is in a body of living witnesses to what Thou hast done for them, that the world is to find the irresistible conviction of its folly and guilt.
Alas! Lord, how little the world has seen of this. We do call upon Thee, in deep humiliation, Lord Jesus, make haste and rouse Thy Church to the knowledge of its calling. Oh that every believer in his personal life, and all Thy believing people in their fellowship, might prove to the world what reality, what blessedness, what power there is in the faith of Thee ! May the world believe that the Father hath sent Thee, and has loved them as He loveth Thee.
Lord Jesus, lay the burden of the sin of the world so heavy on the hearts of Thy people, that it may become impossible for them to live for anything but this; to be the members of Thy body, in whom Thy Spirit dwells, and to prove Thy presence to the world. Take away everything that hinders Thee from manifesting Thy presence and saving power in us. Lord Jesus, Thy Spirit is come to us to convince the world: let Him come and work in ever-growing power. Amen.
He charged them to wait for the promise of the Father, which said he, ye heard from me.'-ACTS 1: 4.
In the life of the Old Testament saints ,waiting was one of the loved words in which they expressed the posture of their souls towards God. They waited for God, and waited upon God. Sometimes we find it in Holy Scripture as the language of an experience: 'Truly my soul waiteth upon God.' 'I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait.' At others it is a plea in prayer: 'Lead me, on Thee do I wait all the day.' ' Be gracious unto us; we have waited for Thee,' Frequently it is an injunction, encouraging to perseverance in a work that is not without its difficulty: 'Wait on the Lord; wait, I say, on the Lord.' 'Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.' And then again there is the testimony to the blessedness of the exercise: 'Blessed are they that wait upon Him.' ' They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.'
All this blessed teaching and experience of the saints who have gone before, our Lord gathers up and connects specially, in His use of the word, with the promise of the Father, the Holy Spirit. What had been so deeply woven into the very substance of the religious life and language of God's people was now to receive a new and a higher application. As they had waited for the manifestation of God, either in the light of His countenance on their own souls, or in special interposition for their deliverance, or in His coming to fulfil His promises to His people; so we too have to wait. But now that the Father has been revealed in the Son, and that the Son has perfected the great redemption, now the waiting is specially to be occupied with the fulfilment of the great Promise in which the love of the Father and the grace of the Son are revealed and made ours the Gift, the Indwelling, the Fulness of the Holy Spirit. We wait on the Father and the Son for ever-increasing inflowings and workings of the Blessed Spirit; we wait for the Blessed Spirit, His moving, and leading, and mighty strengthening, to reveal the Father and the Son within, and to work in us all the holiness and service to which the Father and the Son are calling us.
'He charged them to wait for the promise of the Father, which ye have heard of me.' It may be asked whether these words have not exclusive reference to the outpouring of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost, and whether, now that the Spirit has been given to the Church, the charge still holds good. It may be objected that, for the believer who has the Holy Spirit within him, waiting for the promise of the Father is hardly consistent with the faith and joy of the consciousness that the Spirit has been received and is dwelling within.
The question and the objection open the way to a lesson of the deepest importance. The Holy Spirit is not given to us as a possession of which we have the charge and mastery, and which we can use at our discretion. No. The Holy Spirit is given -to us to be our Master, and to have charge of us. It is not we who are to use Him; He must use us. He is indeed ours; but ours as God, and our position towards Him is that of deep and entire dependence on One who giveth to every one 'even as He will.' The Father has indeed given us the Spirit; but He is still, and only works as the Spirit of the Father. Our asking for His working, that the Father would grant unto us to be strengthened with might by His Spirit, and our waiting for this, must be as real and definite as if we had to ask for Him for the first time. When God gives His Spirit, He gives His inmost Self. He gives with a Divine giving, that is, in the power of the eternal life, continuous, uninterrupted, and never-ceasing. When Jesus gave to those who believe in Him the promise of an ever-springing fountain of ever-flowing streams, He spake not of a single act of faith that was once for all to make them the independent possessors of the blessing, but of a life of faith that, in neverceasing receptivity, would always and only possess His gifts in living union with Himself. And so this precious word wait,-'He charged them to wait,'-with all its blessed meaning from the experience of the past, is woven into the very web of the new Spirit dispensation. And all that the disciples did and felt during those ten days of waiting, and all that they got as its blessed fruit and reward, becomes to us the path and the pledge of the life of the Spirit in which we can live. The fulness of the Spirit, for such is the Father's Promise, and our waiting, are inseparably and for ever linked together.
And have we not here now an answer to the question why so many believers know so little of the joy and the power of the Holy Spirit ? They never knew to wait for it; they never listened ,carefully to the Master's parting words: 'He charged them to wait for the Promise of the Father, which ye have heard of me'. The Promise they have heard. For its fulfilment they have longed. In earnest prayer they have pleaded for it. They have gone burdened and mourning under the felt want. They have tried to believe, and tried to lay hold, and tried to be filled with the Spirit. But they have never known what it was with it all to wait. They have never here said,or even truly heard, 'Blessed are all they that wait for Him.' ' They that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength.'
But what is this waiting? And how are we to wait ? I look to God by His Holy Spirit to teach me to state in the simplest way possible what may help some child of His to obey this charge. And let me then first say that, as a believer, what you are to wait for is the fuller manifestation of the Power of the Spirit within you. On the resurrection morn Jesus had breathed on His disciples, and said, Receive the Holy Ghost : they had yet to wait for the full baptism of fire and of power. As God's child you have the Holy Ghost. Study the passages in the Epistles addressed to believers full of failings and sins (1 Cor. 3: 1 -3, 16, 6: 19, 2 0 ; Gal. 3: 2, 3, 4: 6). Begin in simple faith in God's word to cultivate the quiet assurance: The Holy Spirit is dwelling within me. If you are not faithful in the less, you cannot expect the greater. Acknowledge in faith and thanks that the Holy Spirit is in you. Each time you enter your closet to speak to God, sit first still to remember and believe that the Spirit is within you as the Spirit of prayer who cries Father! within you. Appear before God and confess to Him distinctly, until you become fully conscious of it yourself, that you are a temple of the Holy Ghost.
Now you are in the right posture for taking the second step, that is, asking God very simply and quietly, there and then, to grant you the workings of His Holy Spirit. The Spirit is in God and is in you. You ask the Father who is in heaven that His Almighty Spirit may come forth from Him in greater life and power, and as the indwelling Spirit may work more mightily in you. As you ask this on the ground of the promises, or of some special promise you lay before Him, you believe that He hears and that He does it. You have not to look at once whether you feel anything in your heart; all may be dark and cold there; you are to believe, that is, to rest in what God is going to do, yea, is doing, though you feel it not.
And then comes the waiting. Wait on the Lord; wait for the Spirit. In great quietness set your soul still, silent unto God, and give the Holy Spirit time to quicken and deepen in you the assurance that God will grant Him to work mightily. We are a 'holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifice.' The slaying of the sacrifice was an essential part of the service. In each sacrifice you bring there must be the slaying, the surrender and sacrifice of self and its power to the death, As you wait before God in holy silence, He sees in it the confession that you have nothing,-no wisdom to pray aright, no strength to work aright, Waiting is the expression of need, of emptiness. All along through the Christian life these go together , the sense of poverty and weakness, and the joy of all sufficient riches and strength. It is in waiting before God that the soul sinks down into its own nothingness, and is lifted up into the Divine assurance that God has accepted its sacrifice and will fulfil its desires.
When thus the soul, has waited upon God, it has to go forward to the daily walk or the special duty that waits it, in the faith that He will watch over the fulfilment of His Promise and His child's expectation. If it is to prayer you give yourself, after thus waiting for the Spirit, or to the reading of the word, do it in the trust that the Holy Spirit within guides your prayer and your thoughts. If your experience appears to prove that it is not so, be sure this is simply to lead you onwards to a simpler faith and a more entire surrender. You have become so accustomed to the worship in the power of the understanding and the carnal mind, that truly spiritual worship does not come at once. But wait on: 'He charged them to wait.' Keep up the waiting disposition in daily life and duty. 'On Thee do I wait all the day:' it is to the Three One God I thus speak; the Holy Spirit brings nigh and unites to Him. Renew each day and, as you are able to do it, also extend, your exercise of waiting upon God. The multitude of words and the fervency of feelings in prayer have often been more hindrance than help. God's work in you must become deeper, more spiritual, more directly wrought of God Himself. Wait for the promise in all its fulness. Count not the time lost you thus give to this blessed expression of ignorance and emptiness, of faith and expectation, of full and real surrender to the dominion of the Spirit. Pentecost is meant to be for all times the proof of what the exalted Jesus does for His Church from His Throne. The ten days' waiting is meant to be for all time the posture before the Throne, which secures in continuity the Pentecostal blessing, Brother ! the Promise of the Father is sure.It is from whom you have it. The Spirit is Himself already working in you. His full indwelling and guidance is your child's-portion. Oh, keep the charge of your Lord! Wait on God: wait for the Spirit. 'Wait, I say, on the Lord.' 'Blessed are all they that wait for Him.'
Blessed Father ! from Thy Beloved Son we have heard Thy Promise. In a streaming forth that is Divine and neverceasing, the river of the water of life flows from under the Throne of God and the Lamb; Thy Spirit flows down to quicken our thirsty souls. 'For we have not heard, neither hath the eye seen, 0 God, beside Thee, what He hath prepared for him that waiteth for Him.'
And we have beard His charge to wait for the Promise. We thank Thee for what has already been fulfilled to us of it. But our souls long for the full possession, the fulness of the blessing of Christ. Blessed Father! teach us to wait on Thee, daily watching at the posts of Thy doors.
Teach us each day, as we draw near to Thee, to wait for Him. In the sacrifice of our own wisdom and our will, in holy fear of the workings of our own nature, may we learn to lie in the dust before Thee, that Thy Spirit may work with power. Oh, teach us that as the life of self is laid low before Thee day by day, the Holy Life, that flows from under the Throne, will rise in power, and our worship be in Spirit and in Truth. Amen.
Ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. Ye shall receive power when the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be my witnesses.'--Acts 1: 5, 8.
'Tarry ye in the city, till ye be clothed with power from on high.'-LUKE 24: 49.
The disciples had heard from John of the Baptism of the Spirit. Jesus had spoken to them of the Father's giving of the Spirit to those that ask Him, and of the Spirit of their Father speaking in them. And on the last night he had spoken of the Spirit dwelling in them, witnessing with them, having come to them to convince the world. All these thoughts of what this coming of the Holy Spirit would be were thus connected in their mind with the work they would have to do and the power for it. When our Lord gathered up all His teaching in the promise, 'Ye shall receive the power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you, and shall be my witnesses,' it must have been to them the simple summing up of what they looked for: a new Divine power for the new Divine work of being the witnesses of a Crucified and Risen Jesus.
This was in perfect harmony with all they had seen in Holy Scripture of the Spirit's work. In the days before the flood He had been striving with men. In the ministry of Moses He fitted him, and the seventy who received of his Spirit, for the work of ruling and guiding Israel, and gave wisdom to those who built God's house. In the days of the Judges He gave the power to fight and conquer the enemies. In the times of Kings and Prophets He gave boldness to testify against sin, and power to proclaim a coming redemption. Every mention of the Spirit in the Old Testament is connected with the honour and Kingdom of God, and the fitting for service in it. In the great prophecy of the Messiah, with which the Son of God opened His ministry at Nazareth, His being anointed with the Spirit had the one object of bringing deliverance to the captives and gladness to the mourners. To the mind of the disciples, as students of the Old Testament and followers of Christ Jesus, the promise of the Spirit could have but one meaning--fitness for the great work they had to do for their Lord when He ascended the Throne. All that the Spirit would be to them personally in His work of comforting and teaching, sanctifying the soul and glorifying Jesus, were but as a means to an end--their induement with power for the service of their departed Lord.
Would God that the Church of Christ understood this in our days ! All prayer for the guiding and gladdening influence of the Holy Spirit in the children of God ought to have this as its aim: fitness to witness for Christ and do effective service in conquering the world for Him. Waste of power is always cause of regret to those who witness it. The economy of power is one of the great moving springs in all organization and industry. The Spirit is the great power of God; the Holy Spirit the great power of God's Redemption, as it comes down from the Throne of Him to whom all power has been given. And can we imagine that God would waste this power on those who seek it only for their own sake, with the desire of being beautifully holy, or wise, or good? Truly no. The Holy Spirit is the power from on high for carrying on the work for which Jesus sacrificed His Throne and His Life. The essential condition for receiving that power is that, we be found ready and fit for doing the work the Spirit has come to accomplish.
'My Witnesses:' these two words do indeed contain, in Divine and inexhaustible wealth of meaning, the most perfect description of the Spirit's Work and our work; the work for which nothing less than His Divine power is needed, the work for which our weakness is just fitted. There is nothing so effective as an honest witness. The learned eloquence of an advocate must give way to it. There is nothing so simple: just telling what we have seen and heard, or, perhaps in silence, witnessing to what has been done in us. It was the great work of Jesus Himself: 'To this end have I been born, and to this end am I come into the world, that I should bear witness unto the Truth.' And yet, simple and easy as it appears, to make us witnesses of Jesus is what the Almighty power of the Spirit is needed for, and what He was sent to work. If we are, in the power of the eternal life, the power of the world to come, in heavenly power, to witness of Jesus as He reigns in heaven, we need nothing less than the Divine power of the heavenly life to animate the testimony of our lips and life.
The Holy Spirit makes us witnesses because He Himself is a witness. 'He shall witness of me,' Jesus said. When Peter, on the day of Pentecost, preached that Christ, when He had ascended into heaven, had received from 'the Father the Holy Ghost, and had poured Him forth, he spake of what he knew: the Holy Ghost witnessed to him, and in him, of the glory of his exalted Lord. It was this witness of the Spirit to the reality of Christ's power and presence that made him so bold and strong to speak before the council: 'God did exalt Him to be a Prince and a Saviour; and we are witnesses of these things; and so is the Holy Ghost.' It is as the Holy Spirit becomes to us, in a Divine life and power, the witness to what Jesus is at the present moment in His glory, that our witness will be in His power. We may know all that the Gospels record and all that Scripture further teaches of the person and work of Jesus; we may even speak from past experience of what we once knew of the power of Jesus : this is not the witness of power that is promised here, and that will have effect in the world. It is the Presence of the Spirit at the present moment, witnessing to the Presence of the personal Jesus, that gives our witness that breath of life from heaven that makes it mighty through God to the casting down of strongholds. You can truly witness to just as much of Jesus as the Holy Spirit is witnessing to you in life and truth.
The baptism of power, the induement of power, is sometimes spoken of and sought after as a special gift. If Paul asked very distinctly for the Ephesians who had been sealed with the Holy Spirit, that the Father would still give them 'the Spirit of wisdom' (Eph. 1:17), we cannot be far wrong in praying as definitely for 'the Spirit of power.' He who searches the hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, and will give not according to the correctness of our words, but the Spiritbreathed desire of our hearts. Or let us take that other prayer of Paul (Eph.3:16), and plead that ' He would grant us to be mightily strengthened by His Spirit.' However we formulate our prayer, one thing is certain: it is in unceasing prayer, it is in bowing our knees, it is in waiting on God, that from Himself will come what we ask, be it the Spirit of Power or the Power of the Spirit. The Spirit is never anything separate from God; in all His going out and working He still ever is the inmost self of God; it is God Himself who, according to the riches of His glory, is mighty to do above what we ask or think who will in Christ give us to be clothed with the power of the Spirit.
In seeking for this Power of the Spirit, let us note the mode of His working. There is one mistake we must specially beware of.It is that of expecting always to feel the power when it works. Scripture links power and weakness in a wonderful way, not as succeeding each other, but as existing together. 'I was with you in weakness ;my preaching was in power.' 'When I am weak, then am I strong.' (See 1 Cor.2: 3-5 ; 2 Cor. 4:7, 16, 6: 10, 7:10, 13: 3, 4.) The power is the power of God, given to faith; and faith grows strong in the dark. The Holy Spirit hides Himself in the weak things that God hath chosen, that flesh may not glory in His presence. Spiritual power can only be known by the Spirit of faith.The more distinctly we feel and confess our weakness and believe in the power dwelling within us, ready to work as need arises, the more confidently may we expect its Divine operation even when nothing is felt. Christians lose much not only by not waiting for the power, but by waiting in the wrong way. Seek to combine the faithful and ready obedience to every call of duty, however little thy power appears to be, with a deep, dependent waiting and expectation of Power from on high. 'Let thy intervals of repose and communion be the exercise of prayer and faith in the Power of God dwelling in thee, and waiting to work through thee; thy time exertion and effort will bring the 'proof that by faith out of weakness we are made strong.
Let us also see and make no mistake about the condition of the working of this Divine Power. He that would command nature must first, and most absolutely obey her. It does not need much grace to long and ask for power, even the power of the Spirit. Who would not be glad to have power? Man pray earnestly for power in or with their work, and receive it not, because they do not accept the only posture in which the Power can work. We want to get possession of the Power and use it. God wants the Power to get possession of us, and use us. If we give up ourselves to the Power to rule in us, the Power will give itself to us, to rule through us. Unconditional submission and obedience to the Power in our inner life is the one condition of our being clothed with it. God gives the Spirit to the obedient. 'Power belongeth unto God' and remains His for ever. If thou wouldst have His power work in thee, bow very low in reverence before the Holy Presence that dwelleth in thee, that asks thy surrender to His guidance even in the least things. Walk very humbly in holy fear, lest in anything thou shouldest fail in knowing or doing His holy will. Live as one given up to a Power that has the entire mastery over thee, that has complete possession of thy inmost being. Let the Spirit and His Power have possession of thee: thou shalt know that His power worketh in thee.
Let us be clear, too, as to the object of this power, the work it is to do. Men are very careful to economize power, and to gather it there where it can do its work most effectually. God does not give this power for our own enjoyment,--as little to save us from trouble and effort. He gives it for one purpose, to glorify His Son. Those who in their weakness are faithful to this one object, who in obedience and testimony prove to God that they are ready at any cost to glorify God,-they will receive the power from on high. God seeks for men and women whom He can thus clothe with power. The Church is looking round for them on every side, wondering at the feebleness of so much of its ministry and worship. The world waits for it, to be convinced that God is indeed in the midst of His people. The perishing millions are crying for deliverance, and the Power of God is waiting to work it. Let us not be content with the prayer for God to visit and to bless them, or with the effort to do the best we can for them. Let us give up ourselves, each individual believer, wholly and undividedly, to live as witnesses for Jesus. Let us plead with God to show His people what it means that they are Christ's representatives just as He was the Father's. Let us live in the faith that the Spirit of power is within us, and that the Father will, as we wait on Him, fill us with the power of the Spirit.
Most Blessed Father! we thank Thee for the wonderful provision Thou hast made for Thy children,-that out of weakness they should be made strong, and that just in their feebleness Thy Might Power should be glorified . We thank Thee for the Holy Spirit, as the Spirit of Power, coming down to make Jesus, to whom all Power is given, present with His Church, and to make His disciples the witnesses of that Presence.
I ask Thee, 0 my Father, to teach me that I have the power, as I have the Living Jesus. May I not look for it to come with observation. May I consent that it shall ever be a Divine strength in human weakness, so that the glory may be Thine alone. May I learn to receive it in a faith that allows the Mighty Lord Jesus to hold the power and do the work in the midst of weakness. And may, by the Holy Spirit, He be so present with me, that my witness may be of Him alone.
0 my Father! I desire to submit my whole being to this Holy Power. I would bow before its rule every day and all the day. I would be its servant, and humble myself to do its meanest command. Father I let the Power rule in me, that I may be made meet for it to use. And may my one object in life be that Thy Blessed Son may receive the honour and the glory. Amen.
And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak, as the Spirit gave them utterance.'-Acts 1:1-4.
In the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the work of Christ culminates. The adorable mystery of the Incarnation in Bethlehem, the great Redemption accomplished on Calvary, the revelation of Christ as the Son of God in the power of the Eternal Life by the Resurrection, His entrance into glory in the Ascension--these are all preliminary stages; their goal and their crown was the coming down of the Holy Spirit. As Pentecost is the last, it is the greatest of the Christian feasts ; in it the others find their realization and their fulfilment. It is because the Church has hardly acknowledged this, and has not seen that the glory of Pentecost is the highest glory of the Father and the Son, that the Holy Spirit has not yet been able to reveal and glorify the Son in her as He fain would. Let us see if we can realize what Pentecost means.
God made man in His own image, and for His likeness, with the distinct object that he should become like Himself. Man was to be a temple for God to dwell in ; he was to become the home in which God could rest. The closest and most intimate union, the indwelling of Love in love : this was what the Holy One longed for, and looked forward to. What was very feebly set forth in type in the temple in Israel became a Divine reality in Jesus of Nazareth: God had found a man in whom He could rest, whose whole being was opened to the rule of His will and the fellowship of His love. In Him there was a human nature, possessed by the Divine Spirit; and such God would have had all men to be. And such all would be, who accepted of this Jesus and His Spirit as their life. His death was to remove the curse and power of sin, and make it possible for them to receive His Spirit. His resurrection was the entrance of human nature, free from all the weakness of the flesh, into the life of Deity, the Divine Spirit-life. His ascension was admittance as Man into the very glory of God; the participation by human nature of perfect fellowship with God in glory in the unity of the Spirit. And yet, with all this, the work was not yet complete. Something, the chief thing, was still wanting. How could the Father dwell in men even as He had dwelt in Christ ? This was the great question to which Pentecost gives the answer.
Out of the depths of Godhead, the Holy Spirit is sent forth in a new character and a new power, such as He never had before. In creation and nature He came forth from God as the Spirit of Life. In the creation of man specially He acted as the power in which his god-likeness was grounded, and which, even after his fall, still testified for God. In Israel He appeared as the Spirit of the theocracy, distinctly inspiring and fitting certain men for their work. In Jesus Christ He came as the Spirit of the Father,given to Him without measure, and abiding in Him. All these are manifestations, in different degrees, of one and the same Spirit. But now there comes the last, the long-promised, an entirely new manifestation of the Divine Spirit. The Spirit that has dwelt in Jesus Christ, and, in His life of obedience, has taken up His human spirit into perfect fellowship and unity with Himself, is now the Spirit of the exalted God-man. As the Man Christ Jesus enters the glory of God and the full fellowship of that Spirit-life in which God dwells, He receives from the Father the right to send forth this Spirit into His disciples, yea, in the Spirit to descend Himself, and dwell in them. In a new power, which hitherto had not been possible, because Jesus had not been crucified or glorified, as the very Spirit of the crucified and now glorified Jesus, the Spirit comes. The work of the Son, the longing of the Father, receives its fulfilment. Man's heart is now indeed the home of his God.
Said I not truly that Pentecost is the greatest of the Church's feasts ? The mystery of Bethlehem is indeed incomprehensible and glorious, but when once I believe it, there is nothing that does not appear possible and becoming. That a pure, holy body should be formed for the Son of God by the power of the Holy Spirit, and that in that body the Spirit should dwell, is indeed a miracle of Divine Power. But that the same Spirit should now come and dwell in the bodies of sinful men, that in them too the Father should take up His abode, this is a mystery of grace that passeth all understanding. But this, glory be to God! is the blessing Pentecost brings and secures. The entrance of the Son of God into our flesh in Bethlehem, His entrance into the curse and death of sin as our Surety, His entrance in human nature as First-begotten from the dead into the Power of the Eternal Life, His entrance into the very Glory of the Father--these were but the preparatory steps: here is the consummation for which all the rest was accomplished. The word now begins to be fulfilled: 'Behold! the tabernacle of God is with men, and He shall dwell with them."
It is only in the light of all that preceded Pentecost, of all the mighty sacrifice which God thought not too
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