John 16:5-11

       Jesus calls His disciples to testify of Him to the unbelieving world that hates them.  They will be helped by the Holy Spirit whose aim in this world is to testify of Christ and to glorify Him (16:14).

            What help can we expect from the Holy Spirit as we testify to the world?  Jesus tells His disciples that Spirit will convict the world.  This word, sometimes translated reprove, means to bring someone to a conviction about something.  Jesus identifies 3 truths of which the Spirit will seek to convict the world.

·        The Holy Spirit will convict the world of sin (v9).

            For any person to have eternal life and an entrance into a relationship with God they must first acknowledge their sin.  They must be convinced that they acknowledge that they do not believe in Him.  Their drunkenness or hatred or pride or selfishness is simply evidence of the basic evil: they are separated from God because they have not trusted in Christ.  Man has always devised philosophies that speak of his innate goodness or fundamental worth as an individual.  The Holy Spirit seeks to convince men of their innate evil and the hopelessness of separation from their Crater.

·        The Holy Spirit will convict the world of righteousness (v10).

            Note carefully the words of Jesus.  Righteousness relates to Christ.  He alone is righteous, knowing no sin.  When He died He satisfied every righteous demand of God’s law.  By character and by conduct He is the Holy One and the Just (Acts 3:14).  When we receive Christ by faith we become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor. 5:21).  This is what it means to be justified:  God declares us righteous in Christ.

            Men resist being convicted of sin.  But if they do acknowledge their sin they will resist turning to Christ for righteousness.  They will educate themselves, turn over a new leaf, promise to do better, and so on.  The Holy Spirit seeks to convince them that the Lord Jesus is the only source of righteousness that satisfies the Creator.

·        The Holy Spirit will convict the world of judgment (v11).

            The ruler of this world is Satan (Eph. 2:2; 1 John 5:19).  He is the one who entices people to sin.  He is the one who opposed Jesus and sought to entice Him to sin (Matt. 4:1011).  Jesus has already made it clear that His death on the cross will not be a victory for Satan (John 14:30).

            The point is this:  men must be convinced that to deny sin or to reject the righteous One is to side with the loser, the one who has been condemned and will be punished.  To side with Satan is to accept his fate, which is eternal confinement in a lake of fire (Rev. 20:10, 14).

            Here then is a wonderful truth.  As the follower of Christ goes out to testify of Christ to the world he can count on the Spirit of God to be out ahead working on the conscience and mind and heart of the unbeliever.  When we use our prayer promise this is one thing to ask for as we pray for our unbelieving loved ones: pray that the Spirit will convince them!