16 verses 1 through 11 a couple of notes here that you have sermon notes in your Order of worship and you can follow along and there's some even some blanks that actually helps you to recall things When you write down some things and there's also room there for you to write down on to take notice several scriptures that I'll make reference to but I want to see before we even begin I want to just pull out the green sheet and follow with me on this It's the Advent season we like to do a I'd like to do a series of Advent messages, and it's kind of a strange Advent messages that we're talking about the glory of the Lord. And I want to talk about the glory of the Lord. Two weeks from today, we'll look at the glory of the Lord in eternity before Christ came to Earth. That is a wonderful study in scripture. I can't wait for that one. And then the second one is in his life and ministry, in his birth. And the third one on the 17th will be his death and resurrection. And then on the 24th, we're actually going to have two services. In the morning, it'll be our Sunday morning service. We'll consider there his glory in the church. And then Sunday evening, we'll have a Christmas Eve service traditionally here. And that will be at 5 o'clock. And it'll just be a short service. But we'll look at the glory that is expected when Christ returns. That will be a good one. So stand by for that. And what Heath was making reference to, we kind of confused him with saying, this is hymn sing Sunday. We normally have one hymn sing a quarter, and it just so happens when it falls on the December hymn sing, it's Christmas carol sing. So that will be on the 5th of December, or 6th of December, and that is on the little sheet here. And it is an opportunity, it does have a map on the back, so it is your opportunity to use as a reference. When I say those things, We also encourage you to mark down the people that you give those to, and then keep that on what we call a breastplate of remembrance, that as you pray for them, that you'll remember them. And secondly, as you do that, let us know about it so we can add it to a list of people that we pray for regularly. Before I go forward, I want to say thank you for all of your kind remarks, your cards, and your comments. Actually, today is the day that is night or excuse me, 1919. I'm really, really far ahead. It was, today is 11 years since Jan and I first came to this church. It's interesting that I was in between churches and I was just filling in and I was filling into this church down in Fort Pierce. And every Sunday I'd go there, they would beg me to be their pastor. And I would say, I don't feel God is leading me here. This is not where I belong. We don't know where God is showing, but he'll show us the way. And we came here to fill in 11 years ago today. And when we left here, We said, we prayed that God would lead us to this church. We just had a burden. We couldn't explain it better than that. And we got home and had all these messages on email from people from Christ's communities saying, you need to be at this church. And so that's how God worked it out. And here we are 11 years later. So thank you all for the cards and the comments. And really nice Sunday morning little time of get together after the service. And I was surprised. Y'all did a good job of keeping it from me, and so did my wife. So thank you very much. Before I pray, I just want to bring up this one word. Conviction. What do you think of? What do you think of when I say conviction? And many times people say, well, I'm convicted I shouldn't eat so much chocolate. I'm convicted I maybe Shouldn't go so fast on US 19 You ever think about how conviction is a vital part of salvation Conviction does make us feel the weight and the burden of our guilt And that's what we want to get to today because we want to talk about where does that come from? Let's pray Father, we thank you for your holy word, and as we open up John 16, we need the power of your Holy Spirit just as you promised you would send. Convict us, Lord, of our shortcomings, truly convict us, but also put the salve of the gospel on those open wounds. Make us to know the joy of salvation in our Lord Jesus Christ, Redemption that is ours not because of works that we have done Because of your purpose and grace that is fulfilled in Christ Jesus our Lord in whose name we pray. Amen We want to set the scene before I read it here. The disciples are meeting with Jesus Jesus has been meeting with them in the upper room. First of all, he'll start talking in John chapter 13 They celebrate the Lord's Supper. He washed their feet and He tells them that there's going to be one of them that's going to betray him, Judas Iscariot. Judas leaves. Peter is told he's going to deny him. Then he continues in John 14 about how he's going to send the Holy Spirit and empower them. And he continues to teach them and instruct them. In John 15, he closes out the book and says, by the way, you're going to be hated. People are going to hate you, but you're going to receive the power of the Holy Spirit, who's going to witness about me through you. All right. Now he picks it up in John chapter 16, and he's going to say, here's a demonstration of what they're going to do. Here's what the Holy Spirit is doing in your life. And by the way, here's how the Holy Spirit works on people without. So as you look at this today, it's going to be a help for them when they're going to share the gospel and be rejected. And so I'm going to give you something today that if you've ever shared the gospel with people and been totally shut out, okay, you're going to step back and say, here's why. Here's what's going on. And this is exactly what is needed for them to come to Christ. So here's what we're going to see. First of all, in verses 1 through 4, we're going to see trouble from the world. We're going to see encouragement for the disciples in verses 5 through 7, and then conviction by the Holy Spirit. And that's where our focus is today. But let me read John chapter 16. Follow along in your copy of God's Word from verses 1 through 11 in John 16. I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. And they will do these things because they have not known the Father nor me. But I have said these things to you that when their hour comes, you may remember that I told them to you. I did not say these things to you from the beginning because I was with you. But now I am going to him who sent me. And none of you asked me, where are you going? But because I said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away. For if I do not go away, the helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment. Concerning sin, because they do not believe in me. Concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you will see me no longer. Concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged." All right, let's pick it up, the first point here, because this is an important point that they get trouble from the world in verses 1 through 4. Notice he gives a forewarning in verses and verse and the purpose of this forewarning in verse 1 and verse 4 When he says I want to keep you from falling away In other words, I don't want you to be caught off guard that people not are going to hate you But it's going to be worse than just hating you if you've ever shared the gospel with somebody that did not want to receive it many times they express it in in in ways that makes you think they don't like me and Sometimes it's in a way that this even says they may hate my guts and sometimes they may even say that And it's even worse. Jesus says not only that, but they're going to throw you out of the synagogue. These are Jewish believers and they're thrown out of the synagogue. We'll talk about that in a moment. But also he says that some of them are going to think that they do God a favor when they kill you. And so when he says in verse four, he says, when this happens, you'll remember that I told you. Now let's understand Jesus has never painted a rosy picture about being a follower of his. He said in Luke chapter 9, if you're going to come after me, he says, you must take up your cross. It's a place of denial. It's a place of pain and suffering. Take up your cross and deny yourself and follow me. And then he goes on to say, he says, whoever would save his life will lose it. In other words, all you're focused on in life is just getting your stuff and being comfortable. You're going to lose out. But he says, whoever will lose all these things, whatever his life for my sake, the same will save it. I love the follow-up. In Mark chapter 10, I put on your outline, Peter began to say to him, Lord, see what we have left? We've left everything and followed you. Isn't that like Peter? You know, I love Peter's, yeah, we've done it. Yep, yep, check that one off. We've left all to follow you, Lord. And here's what the Lord says. He says, truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left houses or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the gospel who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time. houses, and brothers, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands. And notice the next word, with persecutions. Oh, wait a minute. I didn't want that. That doesn't sound too nice. This is not a good selling point, is it? Jesus says, you're going to leave all those things, and you're going to get back a hundredfold. You know, I can say that over 30 years of ministry, and that is exactly true. I mean, I think about sometimes left a career in broadcasting to go and serve God and be his minister of the gospel. And sometimes I look back on those glory days, if they were such a thing, you know, all that I have left. But God has repaid us. God has blessed us with people and have people that have taken us and feel like we're part of their families. And even though we don't have children, we feel like we have many children in the church and have known many people. God has supplied our needs. Notice what he says that God will take care of you a hundredfold. He will not be outgiven But don't be surprised with persecution as it says in the book of 2nd Timothy all that will live godly in Christ Jesus Not maybe not might be it says will suffer persecution Okay, that's what it says So Jesus has never painted the picture that, you know, just follow me and it's going to be all health, wealth, and prosperity. In other words, there's going to be some trials along the way. Isn't it a good promise when he says in Hebrews chapter 13, I will never leave you, never forsake you, that we may say boldly, the Lord is my help. I always like reading that sermon by C.H. Spurgeon. I have to say that I've used it quite a bit. when he says, I will never leave you. That's like God saying, I will never, never, never, never leave you. And I will never, never, never forsake you. Well, what would you say if God said that to you? Well, he has. And so the response is, well, I'm not afraid of what man shall do unto me. I'll go forward. And that's what exactly he's looking for here from the disciples. Now, notice I want you to notice in verse 4, There's a section there where he says, I did not say these things to you from the beginning. because I was with you." He didn't say these things to them when they first came to follow Jesus Christ because he was there with them. And quite frankly, he took the brunt of everything. When people criticized, he took the brunt, not the disciples. Even when they came to get Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, what's Jesus even doing when they came with swords and knives and all kinds of armor to take Jesus? What did Jesus say? Let these go free. You can take me, but let these go free. So they were never in danger as long as he was there. Remember that time they were on the Sea of Galilee, and the ship was being tossed to and fro, and Jesus is sleeping, and they thought they were in danger, didn't they? Lord, don't you care that we're perishing? He says, peace be still. Whoa, the waters and the winds, they obey him. That's right. So now he's preparing for his own death and prepares them for a rough life to come. By the way, what is the problem that they're having with this? The disciples believed in the premillennial kingdom of Jesus Christ and the return of Christ. They believed in, not his return, his, that Messiah would come and set up an earthly kingdom. And so anything that they suffered, I mean, what they also saw was Jesus multiply the food. You know, stop the storm in the sea. This is a pretty good leader here. Let's follow this one. And so they, all the time, they're thinking in the back of their mind, huh, he's the Messiah. He's going to set up this kingdom on earth, and we're going to be there right with him. And now he's talking about, we're going to be hated. And he's going away. So they're a little upset. And so Jesus multiplies that with a little bit by talking about, they're going to be throwing you out of the disciples in the world versus the disciples here in verses 2 through 3. Out of the synagogue, they're going to be thrown out of the synagogue. That was that important? Well, let's understand, in the Jewish culture, the synagogue was everything. If you were thrown out of the synagogue, you didn't have any friends. If you were thrown out of the synagogue, you didn't work. You didn't get a job. You're thrown out of the synagogue, you might not be able to do business in town because you're an excommunicated person. Because there was one place to worship, and that was the synagogue. And if you're thrown out of there, you're gone. So they're going to throw you out of the synagogue. Remember in John chapter 9, the man who was born blind and Jesus healed him, and they brought his parents and said, tell us, was this son of yours born blind? And he said, yes. Tell us how he was healed. And they said, well, you don't have to ask him. He's of age. Why did they say that? A little footnote there says, because the Jewish leaders had said, anybody that says that Jesus is the Christ, out they go, they're going to be kicked out of the synagogue. And eventually, that man was kicked out of the synagogue, the man who was born blind, who was healed by Jesus. Also, you find that in John 12, when the authorities Many authorities believed in Jesus, but they wouldn't come out of the closet, so to speak, and say that they believed in Jesus, because the word was, anybody that called Jesus Christ the Christ, the Messiah, and recognized him, out they go, out of the synagogue. So it says they loved the praise of men more than God. Well, they think they're doing God's service. when they kill you, that's exactly what the Apostle Paul, when he was Saul of Tarsus, he said he was zealous for God for many years and persecuted people in the way, binding them and delivering them to prison, both men and women. John, the Apostle, writes of this in 1 John, he says that Cain, who was the evil one, murdered his brothers, and he murdered him because his own deeds were evil and his brothers righteous. And that's what Jesus is saying. As a follower of me, you display righteousness before the unbelievers. And because their deeds are evil, they can't stand you, and they will mock you, and they will kill you, they will throw you out of the synagogue, and they will think they did God a favor. There's a book of Proverbs, chapter 29, verse Verse 27 says, one whose way is straight is an abomination to the wicked. All right. Let's notice the last part of verse 3, and this tells you exactly why Christians are persecuted and why people hate you for sharing with them the gospel. If anybody shows you dislike, it says in the last part of verse 3, they will do these things because they have not known the Father nor me. Keep that in mind, okay? It's exactly what you say to an unbeliever when they say, I'm not getting this, I don't want to get it. Well, 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 14 says, the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God, neither, look at this, can he know them because they're spiritually discerned. OK, so you can talk to your blue in the face and a person just not going to get it until God does the work. And you may as well tell them, by the way, you can't understand this until God does the work in your life. I'm sorry, you're not getting this, are you? No. Well, you can't. It's a secret. And it's only open to people whose eyes have been opened and whose hearts are open because naturally you can't understand it. So sorry. Maybe God will open your eyes someday. But until then, it's a secret between me and God. And I've tried to share it with you, but it's obvious you don't get it. I'm not trying to be a smart aleck. That's what God says. And maybe we would not be so frustrated if we understood that. But we say we believe that God has to do a work before understanding and before a change is made. Next point. Encouragement for the disciples in verses 5 through 7. And the first thing I want to pick up is kind of chasing this rabbit of a description of a sorrowing heart in verse 5 when Jesus says this. He says, but now I'm going to him who sent me. And none of you asked me, where are you going? Is that a sad thing? I think it is. Now, two places before, two occasions, they asked him, but basically out of selfish reasons. Peter in chapter 13 and verse 36, Peter said, Lord, where are you going? Jesus answered, where I'm going, you cannot follow me now, but you will follow me afterwards. Peter wanted to know because he wanted to go. He didn't want to leave Jesus. He said, where are you going? I'll go with you. So it's kind of a selfish thing. He really wasn't really interested. In chapter 14, verse 5, Thomas said, Lord, we don't even know where you're going. How can we know the way? Okay, those two things happen. What I'm getting at is this. The disciples were so focused on their loss. Okay, they're focused on their loss because they thought he would set up this earthly kingdom and he's talking about going away now. They can't go with him right at this point. And he's talking about the world hating them. And so they're very upset and they're sorrowful. And he understands that. And he looks at them and says, you know, you never even asked me where I'm going. You're not even interested in what I'm going to do. You're interested in yourselves. But isn't that how it is? Have you ever noticed when you've had a sorrow in your life, how other people's needs don't matter? That's kind of a natural thing that happens. Now, Jesus didn't scold them, but he was bringing it up to them. Now, he's the epitome of someone who's about to face a... I mean, can you imagine? Jesus knew what he was going to be facing at the cross, right? And yet he's concerned about them, about their spiritual state, about them knowing what's going to happen after he leaves, and to prepare them for that. He's the epitome of, as it says in the book of Philippians, let this mind be in you, which is also in Christ Jesus. Or let me back up. He says, at least you look not on your own things, on your own matters, but on the needs of others or the interests of others. Have this mind in you, which is also in Christ Jesus. So it's a contrast here. The disciples are not concerned about Jesus. They're concerned about themselves. OK. And Jesus, is the one who is facing the utmost of difficulty ahead of him, and yet he's more concerned about them than himself. Next point is the promise from help. Isn't this a beautiful thing when he says this in verse 7? He says, nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away. For if I do not go away, the helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. I was reading a commentator who we always have to remember is just a common I learned what taters are when I lived in Arkansas. I tried to grow taters one time. I was a terrible gardener and I ruined every potato in the ground. Every single one. I stuck a pitchfork in to pull them out. I guess you're looking at me like none of you have done that. Maybe if you were in my shoes, you would have done the same thing. My friend at the church said, Bob, it's time to get your taters out of the ground. I said, how do you do that? He said, well, you stick a pitchfork in and then you just break up the ground and there's your potato. That sounded easy enough. So I stuck the pitchfork in. What did I get? I got the potato itself. Not good. That one's ruined. Stick the pitchfork in again. I got two of them that time. That's not how you're supposed to do it. I guess you're supposed to go down How did I get off on taters? Come to the Christ Community Presbyterian Church. You never know what that preacher is going to talk on. Today he talked on taters. All right. Well, a common tater told me that this has a double meaning. I like just thinking about the double meaning. If Jesus didn't go away, he says the Holy Spirit wouldn't come. I've got that. I'm going to talk about that in a moment. Okay, why is it important for Him to go away? His going away is going to the cross, to the grave, to the resurrection, to the ascension, correct? So it's important for Him to go away because He's going to secure atonement when He goes away. Because we don't have atonement outside of Christ atoning for our sins. So it's imperative for Him to go away. And so that's the fulfillment of John 6. He says that, I came down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of Him who sent me. And this is the Father's will which He has sent me, all which He has given me I should lose nothing." He's going to secure the atonement. He will lose nothing but raising up again at the last day. He's going to secure that by going away. Well, John chapter 10, it says, I'm the good shepherd. The good shepherd does what? Lays his life down for the sheep. So it's important for me to go away. But he says it's important for me to go away because if I go away, I will send the helper. In John chapter 7, there's these verses I put on your outline. The last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried with a loud voice. If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the scripture says, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. And then this little footnote by John, and he said this He said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, as of yet the Spirit had not been given. Or as he closes out John 15, when the helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth that proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness to me, and then you will bear witness, because you've been with me from the beginning. All right. So they're going to hate you, told the disciples. They're going to throw you out of the synagogue. and they're even going to kill you, and they think they're doing God a favor. But it is important for me to go away, because I'm not here to protect you. It's important for me to go away, because if I go away, he says, well, he's implying he'll perform the atonement, secure their salvation, right? But also the fact he's going to give them the Holy Spirit. Now, what does the Holy Spirit do? Here we go. Here's the big part now. The Holy Spirit, verses 8 through 11, well, notice verse 8, I call this Holy Spirit conviction, and I put equal sign, and what is it equal to? Prosecution, but more. Again, to convict today is to make me feel bad. It could make me feel bad over sins. I might preach on a sin or preach on what the Bible says about a sin, and you might be convicted by the Holy Spirit to say, ooh, that's in my life. I need to change that. And we understand. Proverbs 28, verse 13 says, he that covers his sin will never prosper. Gloria thinks that's really good. She says, you tell him, Bob. Thank you. I like that. Right from the back row, it's just an amen. I love these children. They pipe in at just the right time, you know? I really believe that God has the children say amen, because people won't. The little children shall guide them, as it says in the book of Zechariah. So, thank you. All right. Today we get convicted by a lot of things. Makes us feel kind of bad. I'll talk more about that in a moment. But this is not just making people feel bad. This is prosecution. Matter of fact, a good definition is this. It's to bring in a person as guilty, point to them as guilty, to put them to shame by proving one to be wrong, to convict with a view of condemnation and judgment. Whoa, wait a minute. That's what God is, the Holy Spirit is doing. The Holy Spirit is convicting by prosecuting. He's pointing the finger at them, and He's saying, you are guilty. Now, a couple of interesting comparisons here. In John 3, it says, everyone who does wicked hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his work should be exposed. Why? Because light exposes. Problems. You remember those times in high school, biology and you looked at microscopes and you looked at, some of you are that's really far way back. I know it is for me. Okay. So when you look through a microscope and then you picked out something that looked like perfect and then you would see it in the microscope or when something is in a bright light and you start to see it, you know, like if you wanted to see all the, all the, Problems we have in a wall just shine a bright light and whoa Okay, God the Holy Spirit speaking to us in John chapter 3 when Jesus says Light exposes what's going on in darkness. So the darkness hates the light Because the light convicts the darkness the light exposes the darkness and exposes it as wrong See the gospel says that all of us have been created by an almighty God who is holy. And God is so holy that you put the light on God and God says, yeah, He is light. And you'll never find anything wrong. He is perfect in all of His ways. That's the God of the Bible. He doesn't make mistakes. He doesn't wake up on the wrong side of the bed. He doesn't go to sleep, number one. Number two, He doesn't get off the wrong side. He never turns from His ways. His ways are perfect. All of us have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And all of us are going to have to stand before our Maker one day and give account for every word, every thought, and every action that we've done against Him. And believe you me, all of us have spit in His face a number of times. And if not for the fact that the gospel says God in his mercy sent his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to be the mediator between God and man, to connect us, that we might pass over from death into life to the living God and have fellowship with the living God because Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. Now, light exposes darkness. Jesus says light convicts or exposes darkness. At one time, they tried to convict Jesus, and he said, which of you convicts me of sin, charges me, prosecutes me? Come on. They're the ones with sin. But this is exactly what the Old Testament prophets did. Now, Sharon was telling me about reading the book of Ezekiel. Ezekiel is a great prophet. I can't wait to meet Ezekiel and get to heaven. That dude is really, I mean, he is really a strong man. Preached on things, and the Old Testament prophet, it's just like Elijah the prophet goes marching in right there to Ahab and says, you are guilty and it's not going to rain anymore until I say, I'm out of here. Okay, what did he do? He pronounced the judgment of God. Okay, that's what the Old Testament prophet, if you saw an Old Testament prophet, you might not want to be around him because he might point out your sin. Just, you are guilty. One of Ezekiel's messages was, the soul that sins, it shall die. Wow, that's... Wow. John the Baptist was the last of the Old Testament prophets, and here's what he did. It says in Luke 3, it says, the crowds came to him, including a bunch of religious leaders, and he looked at them and says, you brood of vipers, you bunch of snakes, who warned you from the wrath to come? Wow. That's John the Baptist. John the Baptist said to Herod, who took his brother's wife, he pronounced him, he reproved him. That means he prosecuted him. Wow. In 2 Timothy, when the preached words, one of the things it does is reprove, it convicts us. 1 Thessalonians, it says, you know that you're elect of God because God has chosen you because the gospel came to you in power in the Holy Spirit and with full, listen to this, with full conviction. When does it, when the gospel comes to us, the preacher may not preach on any given sin that you've committed, but he's just preaching the word of God and the Holy Spirit takes that and says, you're guilty. You will stand before God and you're guilty. You say and you and you can tell a person that it feels that guilt and weight of sin And jesus says blessed are they who mourn for they shall be comforted when you're mourning over your sin The gospel now is ripe when it says jesus christ died for our sins Call upon the name of the lord and be saved and understand that he is your righteousness. Oh But if not a person has been convicted of their sins They're not interested I love reading Martin Lloyd-Jones and it's what he said. So many times we tell people they need to be saved and they're saying, saved from what? I got a good life. Sometimes you ask people, you can pray for them. I don't need anything. I'm good. I love hearing that. You are? Well, let's see. It says in Jude that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, Behold, the Lord comes with 10,000 of his holy ones to execute judgment on all and convict, prosecute all the ungodly and their deeds. We read from Isaiah chapter 6 this morning. That's how Isaiah felt just in the presence of God. He was convicted. He was prosecuted. He was guilty. Now, that's when the gospel comes to us and shows us what we need. How do we get, then, the Holy Spirit's power to prosecute those we share the gospel with? All we have is the Word of God. That's all it takes. The Word of God, a godly life, and being light to your neighbors. Okay? And the Holy Spirit does the rest. Now, one of their reactions may be, pfft, on you. I don't want any part of this. That may be, but that's an evidence that God the Holy Spirit pricked their heart, isn't it? And you pray that that wall would come down, that God would continue to break their heart. You understand that needs to happen before they ever come to the gospel and come to Christ. They need to be broken. Wait a minute. Doesn't the Scripture say in 2 Timothy, all Scripture is breathed out by God and is profitable for teaching for reproof? Yeah, that's conviction. Can a Christian need to...do they need to be convicted? Not the same way, but yes, we do. Okay, the prosecution of a non-believer is, you're going to hell and you deserve it. That's the Holy Spirit there saying, you have messed up before a holy God and you're going to have to give account. Now, to a believer, the Holy Spirit points out sin in your life because God's chastening you. You understand God does not punish believers. Please understand there's a difference. Chastisement is not punishment and punishment is not chastisement. What's punishment look like? Hell. You understand that? Okay, to a believer, they have received just punishment for their sins. Where? In Jesus Christ. When he was on the cross, he suffered in our place. Do you understand that? So he bore the punishment. You'll never get that punishment if you're a believer. But that doesn't mean we go out and live any old way. That means when we start to go off track, then the Holy Spirit nudges us and God gets our attention through chastisement. That's the love of a father to a son and our daughter. Sometimes people are being chastised and say, I think God's punishing me. No, he's not punishing you, he may be chastising you. And they'll say, I don't know why he's doing that. Yes, you do. You know, you're just covering it up. I know it all the time. Sometimes my wife has to point it out. Have you ever considered this? Were the words of the guy that married Jan and me, there's a problem between you and your wife, Bob, always remember, it's your fault. because your walk is not with God. Ouch. Boy, I'm getting off track and so I need to hurry up. Let me just point out one thing. To a non-believer, they could hear this message and they'll say, you mean to tell me you're going to judge me? No, I'm not. He is. And it's just like in the book of Daniel. Remember in Daniel, wouldn't you have liked to have been in that room? Somehow I picture myself in that room. When the king is there having that party, the drunken binge and everything else, all of a sudden there's a hand writing on the wall. A hand. Huh. And they sought out Daniel. What's that mean? God is saying, he's going to judge you. And you've come up wanting. You're in desperation. And so when somebody says, that sounds like judgment to me, oh, it is, but it's not me judging, it's God. But God calls us to repent of our sins, to come to him. So the details of the prosecution look like this, sin because they do not believe in me. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, it says in John chapter three, but whoever does not believe is condemned already. Righteousness because I go to the father the righteousness that we have is because Jesus Christ died for our sins And he went to the father him when he by himself purged our sins. He sat down at the right hand of the Magist down high and then a judgment Judgment because Jesus Christ has destroyed the power of death. That is the devil So if the ruler of this world Satan cannot escape judgment, neither will anyone else unless they repent So the conclusion is don't be surprised if you're hated when you share the gospel but look for Jesus Christ through his Holy Spirit to do the convicting. And be ready to bring the good news when a person shows an attitude of repentance. Show them the way to Jesus Christ because he is the hope that we have. Meanwhile, understand God the Holy Spirit is working in you and through you to bring conviction to the world. We have a purpose.