Take your Bibles with me to John chapter 16. I was telling the first service that we've been in John. I've been preaching on and off in the book of John for the last four years. We started this in 2021. Yeah, it's been a while. And so I'm hoping in 2025 we are able to wrap this thing up. But I don't know about you, I can't get enough of hearing Jesus. and learning from Him. This is like if we could sit at His feet and hear Him speak. This is what it is. I want you to understand this is not just another book that we're gonna open up right now. This is the mind of God. This is the Word of God. This is His revelation to man. And if And if you haven't gotten this into your soul, a hunger and a desire and a discipline to be in God's word, I wanna encourage you to do so, even in this season. You know, we're gonna get stuffed this week, we're gonna eat a lot in this season, but let me encourage you to make sure you have spiritual meat. Make sure that you're seeking God, okay, and His Word. So John chapter 16 and verse number one, if you're there in your Bible this morning, say amen. All right. The title of the message today is Hostility and the Holy Spirit, not a feel-good, Thanksgiving message this morning, but a very timely, very important message. I had a lady stop me in the hall, and you know, we're coming out of this political season, and it's been really hostile, right, on both ends. And she was telling me about, you know, a family who has, you know, blocked her, and, you know, I've seen it, you guys have seen it on social media, who, if you voted a certain way, your families are disowning you. I've heard of a few marriages that split. Couples that are broken. I mean, hostile times. The Bible says that in the end times that things will wax worse and worse. The hostility over things that shouldn't really cause this much dissension. Hostility would be the environment of our world, would be the atmosphere that we live in. And it was true in the first century. I think it's even more true in our century today but Jesus is going to deal with the topic of hostility that will come from the world and the work of the Holy Spirit in our text this morning and we're going to unpack it this day. Look at verse number one John 16. These things I have spoken to you that you should not be made to stumble They will put you out of the synagogues. Yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. Listen to that. We're not quite there yet in our culture, but that was the climate that these disciples would be ministering in. And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father, nor me. But these things I have told you that when the time comes you may remember that I told you of them. And these things I did not say to you at the beginning because I was with you. But now I go away to him who sent me. And none of you asks me, where are you going? But because I have 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 depart, I will send him to you. And when he has come, he will convict 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 ruler of this world is judged. As I mentioned a moment ago, maybe this Thanksgiving, you may be in a more hostile environment than usual. You may face some difficult situations as you gather with your family and those who maybe have a different worldview than you. And there's going to be that tension, no doubt, at some of our tables, right? Unless you're determined to just stay at home and not do anything special. But for some of you, there's hostility in your marriage. you're married to an unbeliever. Maybe, you know, they mock you, they make fun, they persecute you, the fact that you're even here on a Sunday morning. For some of us, that's a reality, that there would be that hostile environment, and I'm praying for some of you in this room who, you have a spouse who doesn't know the Lord yet, I'm praying that they come to know the Lord. But I'm telling you, Jesus here is once again preparing his disciples for the world in which they would be launched out into. This world would not be friendly to them. This world would not be accepting of their life and their following of the Lord Jesus Christ. The world, as we see all throughout scripture, is in opposition to God. You guys understand that? There are kingdoms that are always colliding in our world. There's the kingdom of darkness. The Bible refers to in our text today that the prince or the ruler of this world, he has a system, he has a hierarchy, he has people and spiritual entities set up in certain areas of rule. Y'all remember when the enemy tempted our Lord and he took him to the pinnacle? the world I believe and he said if you worship me I'll give you all the kingdoms of the world all the kingdoms of the world and I think that he was able to say that because he indeed through his manipulation through his control through his ability to cause corruption to come into the world that he did in fact have position of somewhat authority in the world and I want us to be reminded of that this world let me tell you this Christian this world We shouldn't be so comfortable here. I don't know about you, but the older I get, the less comfortable I am here on this earth, in this system that is completely, in a lot of senses, anti-Christ, against God. Anybody feel that? Anybody feel like you're a foreigner, you feel like an alien? Sometimes I feel that way, like, Lord Jesus, come quickly, but then I'm reminded that God has called us to be in the world. He's called us not to be of the world, but to be in the world. And so we are not to isolate these disciples. They were gonna be going to the world. And you and I, we have been called for such a time as this in history to live out our faith and to be lights in the darkness. And I want you to hear Jesus' words as they, I believe, are relevant to us even today as he talks to the disciples. I want you to notice with me, first of all, what the text lays out, that there would be the hostility of the world, that we, as followers of Jesus Christ, would be the subjects of hostility from the world. Jesus said it in verse number one, these things I have spoken to you that you should not be made to stumble. And these things he's referring to back in chapter 15 where he began to approach this topic of the hostility of the world, of the persecution that would come to believers. And he goes on and he says in verse number two, they will put you out of the synagogues. Yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God's service. Listen to me, we must be prepared. Jesus is preparing these men and we, you and I, need to be prepared for persecution. Now Jesus tells them beforehand so that they would not stumble or be offended is another way to say that. And the word there for stumble is the Greek word skandalizo, skandalizo, or where we get the word scandalized or scandalous or scandal, okay? Webster's 1828 dictionary, I want to encourage you, when you're reading the Bible, if you want to look up a word, a web search 1828 dictionary is a great resource for you to look up words. But anyways, the word scandalize in that dictionary is to, it means to offend by some action, supposed criminal. I want you to know when we as followers of Christ are persecuted, we should not be offended by it. we should wear it as a badge of honor. Do you know the early church, the early saints, they saw it as a privilege to suffer for Jesus' name. When Paul and Silas were beaten and placed inside the inner prison there in the book of Acts, at midnight, what did they do? Did they gripe and complain like you and I would've? When Stephen was being stoned, The Bible says that his countenance was as the face of an angel, that he prayed for those who were stoning him, lay not this charge to them. I want you to get this picture. Paul said that he wanted to know Jesus and the fellowship of his suffering. I want you to get this. If you and I are persecuted because of our faith, because we are following Christ, let's wear that as a badge of honor. Let's not run from it, okay? Sometimes we want to offend nobody. We want to lay below the radar. We don't want to speak against anything that would cause us to be under the microscope or be in the hot seat. Well, I'm here to tell you today, that if you're following Jesus, if you're filled with the Spirit of God, that there's going to be times in your life and in my life where because of the boldness that comes from that relationship, that you and I are going to be persecuted. People are going to hate us. They're going to come against us. There's gonna be that friction, and we must be prepared to face this. Jesus said, I'm telling you now so that you don't stumble, so that you aren't tripped up by this, that you aren't thinking this is something strange, the fiery trial, which is to try us. Hey, I'd rather be aligned with Christ. Listen to me. be persecuted by the world then celebrated by the world and and promoted by the world listen you may lose some deals you may not get promoted you may be under some type of obvious persecution because of your stance in Christ but let's let's embrace it let's not be a type of weak, shallow Christian where we live by the world's applause and we die by their criticism. Listen to me. I want to live my Christian life in such a way, privately and publicly, that the enemy has to take notice and that he will have to try to trip me up because I'm being used by God. I'm being effective in the kingdom. I'm pushing back darkness. Anybody have that desire? Anybody want to make an impact with their life? I want to just ask you this. Well, if you don't want any critics, if you don't want any persecution, do nothing, say nothing, be nothing, okay? For some of you, just keep doing what you're doing. I'mma love you, I love you, so I'm gonna say it. For some of you, the extent of your Christianity is to come to church once a week, turn on Christian music every now and then, read your Bible every two weeks or so, never witness, never take a stand publicly, your coworkers don't even know you're a believer. And so the enemy isn't persecuting you, you wanna know why? Because you're of no consequence to the kingdom. Listen to me, the moment that a person decides to follow Christ, to die to self, to follow Christ, listen to me, there's a target on your back if you do it. There's an enemy who's coming for you. I'll never forget when we moved to Los Angeles to Planet Church. The first night we moved into this apartment. I'll never forget it. 719 East Eucalyptus Avenue in Inglewood, California. I remember our address. And I remember moving into this apartment, 800 square feet, no AC. It was September. It was so hot. in LA and I remember just unpacking and anybody, are you like me? I hate moving, I hate unpacking, I hate packing. And I'm frustrated because it's hot too, but God called us. And so we're there and I'm unpacking. My wife, she takes the kids with her to Target or something to get some items for the house. And I remember I'm a home alone. And I remember as I'm unpacking, I hear literally across the street from us, I hear like five gunshots just go off midday. Pop, pop, pop, pop, pop. And it kind of startled me, right, for a moment. And in my mind, immediately I was like, oh, that's the devil welcoming us to the neighborhood. And you know, for a moment, it was getting under my skin. But then I just, I remember praying and said, God, I know that in the center of your will, Lord, is where we want to be. We are in the center of your will. I know you will protect us. I know that you will keep us. And I know that my enemy, he has to submit to you. And I'll never forget that. I didn't tell my wife when she came home what had happened, no. I didn't want her to be nervous. I didn't want her to sleep kind of. Funny that night, but I pray that, and I just want you to hear me out. We have this perception of Christianity. If I get saved, then my life is gonna be this easy street. It's gonna be, oh, God's gonna bless my finances. God's gonna keep me healthy. He's gonna bless my relationships. He's gonna do the things that I think will make my life great. But that isn't the case. What Jesus is saying to these men in that room is, hey, you're going to pay a price to be associated with me. It's going to cost us to follow Christ. And let me tell you, it's worth it. He is worth it. Because ultimately, he's the price. We've already won. If you're saved in here this morning, you've already won. Your eternity is secure. You have heaven waiting for you. Whatever happens in the interim, let it be. Let God's will be done. I don't know about you. I'm a Lakers fan, and it's hard to watch them these last few years. But the other day, I was watching a game, and I thought it was live. I thought it was a live game. But my son said, Dad, I'm going to spoil the score for you. And he told me the score. And the Lakers, surprisingly, they had won. So the way that I watched this game was a lot different. When they got down by 10 points or 12 points, did I get nervous? Did I get anxious? No, because I already knew the score. Let me tell some of you this morning this. I know the score of eternity. I know who wins in the end. Let me bring you in on something, guys. We're on the winning side. Hey, how about we live like we have authority in the now? How about we live like we're a son or a daughter of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords? How about we step out in faith and say, God, if this is what you're calling me to do, whatever comes, whatever opposition, whatever difficulty, God, I trust you because I know that in the end, you're going to finish what you started in me at the moment of my salvation. I believe you, like we say a moment ago, I believe in God the Father. I believe in Christ the Son. I believe the Holy Spirit. Listen, if you believe that God is God, hey, why not? serve him now? Why not live for him now? Why not sacrifice for him now? Why not bear the scars for him now? Paul said, I bear in my body the scars of Jesus. He was shipwrecked, snake-bitten, stoned. I can keep going. He knew what it was to be in poverty. He knew what it was to have access. He said, I've learned that whatever state that I'm in, therewith to be content. He'd learned, hey, whatever comes my way, I'm gonna keep my eye on my Savior. I know that He lives and I am persuaded that He is able to keep that which He's committed unto me against that day. Hey, are you living for that day when you stand before Jesus' balcony? Are you living for that day? Come on, somebody help me preach this morning. I need to hear it. I'm preaching to myself. It gets weary, doesn't it? It gets discouraging. But we gotta keep our eye on Him. And we've got to be willing to pay the price prepared for persecution. Let's not stumble when it comes. Now, persecution is a real thing. Jesus told these men that they would be excommunicated From the synagogues, this is a big deal for a Jew. What's your favorite place to be? Imagine not being allowed to be there, not having the community that comes with it. I talked about it earlier. Some of the ladies in here, target. If they said, you can never step foot in another target, you would feel like you're getting excommunicated. It would hurt, right? Every time you drive by, target. It would hurt you, right? Guys, what is it? I don't know, the gym or... I don't know. But these people, their lives were heavily involved with the synagogue and Jesus said, they're going to kick you out. You're going to be ostracized. You're going to be outcasts. Listen to me, we're going to be outcasts in this culture. We're going to be viewed as weird. We're going to be excommunicated from some gatherings. That's okay. because we are accepted in Christ, we're accepted in the Beloved. This is why this is so important, this gathering, our family. Listen to me, there shouldn't be anybody in this church who feels like they're alone in this life. And we've got to be intentional about that. For some, you've got to step outside of your comfort zone and show yourself friendly to have more friends here. But we all need to be reaching out to each other because you don't know what the environment is when they go home or what they're going through, how they've been maybe some ostracized because of their faith. But throughout history, there's been agents that the enemy uses to persecute us, to persecute his people. One being misguided religious people. You've known that? Hey, I've gone through a lot of stuff with people who call themselves church people. Have you? Jesus said they're gonna kick you out of synagogue and some of them are going to kill you and believe that they're doing God's work. The word there for service in verse number two is the same word used for priestly service. And of course, the greatest example of this in scripture would be Saul of Tarsus, right? Do you guys know that Saul was responsible for over 2,000 deaths and many, many, probably hundreds of imprisonments? He was zealous to pursue those who followed the way of Christ. He was misguided. He was obviously wrong. He did so in his ignorance and God showed him mercy, but a lot of the persecution that we may face will be from people who we think are close to us. I remember there was churches that turned us in when we were at Jet Hawks because we weren't social distancing. I remember people in this church telling me, hey, You know, my family called because we had people over for things. We had extra cars out front and we were gathering during the lockdown. Like their own family was turning them in. Like, could you believe it? I can believe it. But misguided religious folks will be an agent of persecution for the enemy, but also false religion. false religion. We don't intend to try to offend people here on purpose, but we talk about this stuff because it's important. If you do a quick study of the history of Catholicism, you will know that the Catholic Church has put to death and martyred many Christians. Many Christians. Bloody Mary and her Rules, I'm telling you we can go back to Rome. I took my daughter to see um gladiator 2 I told you guys my favorite movies gladiator, right? And you know what the Romans used to do to Christians They used to light them up They would first kill them, but then they would put them on steaks. It was just kabob them Sorry, I'm give you this visual and then they will light them up Something to light their garden they would throw them into the Coliseum and they'd let loose the lions and the gladiators, and they'd be sawed in half. I'm telling you, we have always been probably the most hated group of people throughout history, the most killed for no reason. Islam, we know that they view everyone who isn't a part of Islam as infidels. and they won't admit to this openly because it, you know, just like Catholicism, Islam, in different contexts, in different countries, it has a different expression. They try to clean it up for, you know, over here in the Western civilization. But if we go to Iran today, if I went to, and I was preaching Jesus publicly, you guys know what will happen to me? If I, let me give you other examples, communist countries, communist countries like North Korea, Christians are oftentimes caught and executed publicly by firing squad, put into work camps for 10 years because they have a copy of Scripture. The things that we take for granted here, people around the world pay a dire price to follow our Lord Jesus. And here we take it for granted. But these are all agents of persecution in the world today and In Jesus' day, there were those who the enemy would use to persecute the church. But I want you to know, these who are the persecutors, there's an indictment on them by doing so. Jesus says in verse number three, and these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor me. One of the signs of someone who does not know the Lord who does not have a relationship with God is that they persecute the people of God. They come against the people of God. Philippians 1.28 talks about it again. It says, and in not any way terrified by our adversaries. I love the apostle Paul. He's saying, I'm not terrified by these people. I'm not afraid of my adversaries. He said, which is to them because their adversaries of our God, of the gospel, which to them is proof of perdition. Proof that they are not saved, that they are under the judgment and the wrath of God. But it's also proof to your salvation, he said. It's proof that these people are after us because of who we belong to. Remember when the Pharisees said, we're the sons of Abraham. And Jesus said, no, you're not. If you were the son of Abraham, you would know me. You'd recognize me. You'd love me. You're the sons of Satan. Listen to me. One day, Kim Jong-un is going to stand before Jesus. The communist rulers of China is going to stand before Jesus because of the blood that they spilled This is no joke. But for us, like I said earlier, we should take it as honor that we suffer for Jesus' name, that we are the objects of the disdain of the devil and his followers. And so we've got to be prepared for persecution, but secondly, we must be, because we've been foretold, we must be fortified in our faith, fortified in our faith. Look at verse number four. But these things I have told you that when the time comes, you may remember, you may remember that I told you of them. And these things I did not say to you at the beginning because I was with you. So Jesus said, I'm telling you now, so when the time comes, when the persecution starts, you will remember that I told you that this would come. This will strengthen you in the moment. This will keep you. This is why Peter, when he was going to be crucified as Jesus was, he said, I am not worthy to die like my Savior did. Put the cross upside down. They crucified Peter upside down. and he was able by the grace of God to go through that. The martyrs over the ages have experienced the power of God in that moment. Because I believe, and we'll see in a moment, the Holy Spirit, listen to me, you wanna know what the Holy Spirit is capable of in our lives? It makes us bold, it makes us not even afraid of death. Listen to me. I've told the story many times of Rachel Joy Scott. I grew up in Denver, Colorado, and I'll never forget when Columbine, when that shooting took place. And the story is told of Rachel Joy Scott. And she was a freshman at Columbine High School. She was a bold Christian. She would share her faith at school. And so one of the shooters, I believe his name was Dylan, he went into the common area during lunchtime with a gun loaded and another gun on his back. And he went up to Rachel first. And he put the gun to her head and he said, do you believe in God now? Do you believe in God now? This little 14 year old, 90 pound girl looked death in the eye and said, you know, I do. Do you think for a moment, I think that was just Rachel alone. That was the courage. the boldness that comes from someone who walks with God, who has the feeling of the Spirit. Listen to me. Do we think that we're going to stand in the day of testing if we're not walking with God right now when there's no fear right now in us for death? I don't know. But I want you to hear this. She stood and she stood for Christ and he took her life. I remember in school, we watched her funeral. They brought in, back in the day, you remember they used to wheel in the TV on the cart? And we watched Rachel Joy Scott's funeral in public school. And the gospel was shared, and testimonies have come in of thousands and thousands of people who came to faith because of the boldness of a 14-year-old girl. Hear me out. I want to raise children like that. I want to be a man like that. And I hear you. You're probably thinking, oh, well, that's nice, but I'd rather retire with my 401k full Me too, okay? I'm not saying we're looking for this. I'd rather not have to face something like that. I want to get married and have a family. I want to do all, you know, I have all these plans. But the truth of the matter is, if we are surrendered to God, whatever He decides, we should be willing to sacrifice for Him. I imagine as Rachel made her way into heaven, there was a reception for her. I imagine the Lord Jesus welcomed her, and he said to her, well done. See, many start well, but few finish well. I want to finish well. Anybody else like that? I want to be faithful unto death, foretold so that we can be fortified, fortified. Listen to me. The righteous, we are bold as a lion, the righteous, the Bible says. And if we are vessels that God can work through, we are going to be agitators to the to the enemy, to the world. They're going to hate us, y'all. And I wanna just, I don't wanna beat this too much. I don't wanna repeat myself too much, but where is the boldness today? Where is the boldness in the church to speak the truth at whatever cost? At whatever cost to stand against oppression, to stand and be the voice for the voiceless, Listen to me. John the Baptist was killed. His head was detached from his neck because he was willing to speak the truth to Herod. He said, it's not lawful for you to have your brother's wife. And because of that boldness, he was placed in prison and would soon after be executed. Jesus, the ultimate example of a radical leader, a man who was filled, the Bible says, with the oil of gladness. He was filled with the Holy Spirit. And what did he do with that feeling? He was bold to call out the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. He was bold to stand up against oppression in his day. He fought against the injustice of that system that oppressed people, and they couldn't even move a bed on the Sabbath day. But Jesus purposefully would heal people on a Sabbath day. He would say, hey, this is a child of God, and I can't help. Oh, yes. He pushed back against the evils of his day. Listen to me. Slavery was abolished by the work of Christians. I can go down the line. The things that we enjoy in our society, the freedoms that we have are because men and women fought and died so that we could have the liberty for life and the pursuit of happiness, the freedom of expression in religion. And I don't know if we understand something today. We are living in a time when all of these things are under the assault of the enemy. And what it's gonna take to push back the darkness is bold Christians. I hope you guys know that we are the last, and in my opinion, the only line of defense when it comes to tyranny. Y'all hear me? Why is it that every communist regime snuffs out Christianity? They do what they can to try to snuff it out, which they're never successful. You know that the blood of the saints, it is what brings forth life in the world. The blood of the martyrs is the seedbed of the church. I want you to hear me. When the persecution came in the book of Acts, when the enemy came like a flood, all it did was scatter the gospel abroad. All it did was take the gospel all around the known world. It's kind of like when you try to snuff out a fire and you see the little embers go off Before you know it, there's a whole wildfire. I want you to hear me today. But are we willing to be crushed if it means that Jesus is glorified and the gospel is shared and the captives are set free? What did Jesus say? I've come to give sight to the blind, to set the captives free. And right now, There are people in this country who are spiritually enslaved. There's real slaves and there's sex slaves, there's human trafficking. And we as a church, we have to go to war for these. So I don't know, maybe that's just my rant, but when I see the Bible, I see I see people that God filled with His Spirit that would go in and would make a difference with their compassion, with their sacrifice. I see it all throughout Scripture. So, the hostility of the world, let's not be surprised by it. Let's be prepared for it, okay? Be prepared for it. Now, don't be a jerk. Don't be persecuted because you're a mean person. Don't be persecuted because you sin and you are fleshly in your work. But be prepared for persecution. Be fortified because we've been foretold that the battle is here. But I wanna see, secondly, this morning, we're almost done, the Holy Spirit's work, the Holy Spirit's work. Listen to me. I think too often, because the Holy Spirit is behind the scenes often, I don't think that we utilize the power that is available to us nearly enough. But I wanna see verse number seven. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. Now that word nevertheless is a powerful word in scripture. It means despite all this, despite the fact that I'm going to leave, despite the fact that you guys will be persecuted, despite the fact that some of you will be martyred, despite the fact of all of this, I want to tell you something. He says, 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 depart, I will send him to you. I want you to see the Holy Spirit's work. His work will be primarily, but not only, but primarily in the lives of the believers, in the lives of the church. And so, He said it is better for you, it is your advantage that the Holy Spirit comes. He said earlier we studied that greater works that we will do, now not in degree, but in scope. He said we'd be able to accomplish more. Why? Because Jesus' presence would be with every one of us. at the same time. As I'm here today preaching, there's preachers and Christian servants across the world, and the Holy Spirit is working in and through them. This is amazing. The Holy Spirit of God would dwell in earthly vessels, in human beings, and I want you to hear this. We have His power available in our life. Listen to me, is there anything supernatural about your experience with God? Is there anything in your life and ministry that you know, apart from God doing it, this would not be happening, this is supernatural? Is there anything like that? You're looking at, in my life, it's this thing right here. Morgan, you probably understand. In my life, it's this thing that I'm doing right now. I've told you guys many times, I was open and transparent with the earlier service. I feel ignorant. I feel unpolished. I feel unlearned. I am scared. Every single time I walk up these steps, never get over it. Listen, the whole week I carry the weight of the few hours that I'm going to stand up here and proclaim the word of God. And it's, God, I need you. If you don't show up, I'm gonna be a bumbling, stuttering fool up there. And I've experienced that. Sometimes God has had to humble me and bring me back to the beginning. But what is supernatural in your life? God has gifted you in some way. He's given gifts to his church. What is the supernatural? expression of the Holy Spirit in your life. Are you content to not have that? I worry for believers who are close to the working of the Holy Spirit. who don't believe that there's prophetic words, don't believe that there's healing, don't believe that there's supernatural things that God is wanting to do in the church today. They wanna keep God in their neat theological box. And if anything's outside that box, they scrutinize it, they criticize it, but they don't have the fullness of the spirit, they don't have anything supernatural in their life, all they know, listen to me, all they know is what they've studied, their religious teachers, whoever influenced them and the camp that they're a part of, they don't know the supernatural working of God. When God says, hey, talk to that person, and when God says, hey, when the Spirit downloads something in you in the moment where the supernatural dunamis power of God shows up in a way that is uncomfortable at times, I want you to hear me this morning. It's the Holy Spirit working in your life. Is there anything supernatural about your faith? If there's not, I want to encourage you, repent. Repent, because there's something clogging that river of living water in our life. If there's nothing supernatural, it could be your intellect, your pride. Take it from someone who's been there. What is it? But Jesus said, it's expedient, it's better for you. You have the advantages when I go away and the Holy Spirit comes. Another advantage of the Holy Spirit being with them and with us is we're able to understand Jesus better because His Spirit is indwelling us. The natural man can't even understand the things of God. The natural man can't correctly understand the Word of God. you know when Jesus left, if Jesus stayed on earth, we wouldn't have a, I don't think we'd have a Bible. One of the commentaries I read, it said, or New Testament for sure, it said if Jesus would have remained on the earth, he would have had like a, probably a team of people who followed him around and every word that he spoke, they would write it down. There would be volumes and volumes and volumes of his wisdom. And imagine trying to So study that, the mind of God. But because the Holy Spirit lives in us, we have the Spirit of God who will lead us into all truth. You guys get this? You have need that no one teach you. Now, don't get me wrong. God has called us as pastors to communicate the word of truth, and we all need discipling. Don't get me wrong. We all need mentorship. We need that. God, he built that into this beautiful thing, the organism of the church. But oftentimes, I tell people, go. Go to the word. Pray. Ask God to lead you. He will lead you into all truth. Anything that I say, I wanna challenge you. Go home, look at the scripture, compare it. If you can't find it in scripture, throw it out. If it's my opinion, ignore it. You hear me? The problem is today, we aren't really students of the word. We aren't really putting the word in so that we cannot be deceived. And you know, there's a lot of false teachers out there. There's a lot of faulty teaching on the internet. I know people who are, that YouTube is leading them straight to hell. You hear me? They found some teacher, some obscure teacher who tells them something other than this gospel. And let me tell you, How sad, how sad. The Holy Spirit's work, it is your advantage, our advantage that the Holy Spirit come to comforter. I want you to see that he is the comforter of the saints, comforter. It's one of my favorite ministries of the Holy Spirit. He comforts us. But that word isn't just, you know, in the King James version, it's called the comforter. In this verse, the new King James, we hear he's called the helper. So he will comfort us, but he also is the helper. He's the source. He's the, like I mentioned ago, the supernatural help. to serve God, to live out our faith. We cannot do this without the Holy Spirit. Y'all hear me? You cannot be the husband, the wife, the pastor, whatever God has called, you cannot be, and I cannot be who God has called us to be without the Holy Spirit. It's impossible, and I think that's why a lot of people are frustrated, because they're trying to be a better person, a better Christian. and they're not utilizing the power of the Holy Spirit to do so. He's the comforter of the saints. See, the Spirit, He witnesses to us so that we can witness to the world. He speaks to us so He can speak through us to the world. Apart from the Holy Spirit, we cannot be effective witnesses. What did Jesus say in Acts chapter 1? He told them to tarry there, do not come, until the Spirit comes. And then you will be witnesses unto me. And then you have the deuteronomy power upon your life to witness for me. that's what he's called us he's the comforter of the saints but i want to see he is the convictor he brings conviction to the world we're almost done look at verse number eight and when he has come he will convict the world of sin He will convict the world of sin. That word there, convict, it also could be translated reprove. It's a legal word, which means to bring to light, to expose, to refute, to convict and convince. It could be pronounced or translated in this way, to pronounce the verdict. Listen to me, the Holy Spirit is in the world and he brings conviction of sin to the world. You're saying, you know, for the believer, yes, he convicts us of sin in our lives. But you know, the Holy Spirit is in the world, convicting the world, the lost world of sin. He is working in the world. He is restraining wickedness. You know, if the Holy Spirit wasn't here, it'd be a lot worse than it is now. I promise you. I heard of a story this week. You know, oftentimes in amusement parks, there are predators, child predators who come and you hear of abductions at these parks. And there was a story this woman told about she had lost her daughter at Disneyland. And I mean, wow, it happened to my wife. I'm going to put this up. Costco yesterday or a few days ago, one of our kids was over by the snacks, right? Over by the samples, whatever. And my wife thought they were all there. And they're walking to the next aisle. And a few minutes pass. And she looks back. And we don't know where our child is. Luckily, she was found pretty shortly after. But I want you to hear this. So they're at Disneyland. She loses her daughter. The little girl, maybe six or seven at the time, is afraid. She can't find any workers. She didn't know what to do, but she starts to pray. This little girl told this to her mom, and she said, a person in white showed up and told me to stay right where I was at, and that help would be here soon. And as she's standing there, Sure enough, a security guard comes like, she says like 10 seconds later and looks at her and says, are you lost? And just in a moment, the girl was like, yes. And then long story short, she was reunited with her mama. Who do you think that person is? I think that was an angel. I think that's an angel protecting the world the Holy Spirit is working in the world a lot of bad things happen in the world but not as much that could happen and I believe it is the direct result of the Holy Spirit's work in the world listen to me he is the convictor of sin in the world listen I want us to understand something about about the Holy Spirit. He provides counsel and defense for us as believers, but to the unbelieving world, to those who reject the Lord Jesus Christ, He is the prosecuting attorney. You hear me? He is convicting them. He's convicting the world. They're under conviction. Now some, you know, their consciences are seared. But I'm telling you, before you and I were saved, the Holy Spirit was convicting us, convicting us, convicting us, coming back and saying, hey, hey, you're wrong. That's sin. That's wicked. He was convicting. Anybody can relate. I was only a nine-year-old boy, but I knew I was a sinner. I knew I was a liar. I knew I was a thief. I knew I didn't do what I was supposed to do. I knew. And the Holy Spirit would convict me and convict me and convict me until when I heard the gospel, I realized I was a sinner. Need of a Savior and I open my heart to the Lord Jesus Christ And so I want you to know today if you're in this church and you're under conviction The Holy Spirit is saying to you I need that relationship with the Lord Don't reject him That's the Holy Spirit Drawing you he's the convictor of sin. You see cuz sin is ultimately this sin is against God You guys know that? He's the law giver, and when we break his law, sin is against God. Sin is a serious matter. I don't think you and I quite understand the weight of sin. The Bible says in Romans 1 in verse 18, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth and unrighteousness. You wanna know why they try to suppress the truth, they try to stop the gospel, they try to stop the word of God? Because the word of God indicts them. the truth about sin indicts them. You want to know why most people I would say become atheists? Because they don't want to answer to the God of the Bible. They don't want to answer to the judge. They want to remove the judge so that they can become their own God, their own leader. But the Bible says that sin is against the lawgiver. Most people will admit that they are sinners. Most people will admit that they have fallen short. They have done wrong. But few people really understand the reality of the price of sin. The Bible says this, for the wages of sin is death. Hear me out, y'all. Listen. This is the most important part of this sermon, I would say. The wages of sin is death. What you and I deserve because we are sinners in rebellion to God, what we deserve is to be separated from God for all of eternity in a literal place called hell. That's what we deserve. The wages of sin, the payment, what we deserve. But the Bible says, Ways of sin is death. Ways of sin is death. But the gift of God, listen to me, the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. What we deserve is damnation. But Jesus has provided salvation. He's provided a way out of the condemnation of God. And all that we are required to do is to believe on his finished work. I'm so thankful it's that simple. Have you believed on Jesus? Now saving faith. I believe it's very clear in scripture, it's repentance, you're turning away from your sin, turning to Jesus, you change your mind about sin, you're turning to the Savior and saying, I know I'm a sinner, I know where that was gonna lead me to hell, but I'm turning to you, Jesus, I'm asking you to save me, I'm asking for you to give me eternal life, you are my Lord, you are my Savior, and saving faith, I promise you, it will show up in a person's life. If a person truly has repented, there will be fruit. It may not be overnight, it may be down the line, but if a person is in Christ, they will be a new creature. All things will be passed away. Behold, all things will be made new. Hear me out. You guys know the only sin that Jesus will not forgive is to reject Him. Ultimately, the only sin that leads to eternal judgment is rejection of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says this, he that believes, John 3 and verse 18, he who believes in Him is not condemned. If you're thankful you're not condemned, even though you're a sinner like me this morning, if you're thankful you're not condemned, say amen. Amen. And I want you to know conviction is not condemnation. If you're in a conviction, that is the Holy Spirit trying to draw you. He says, but he who does not believe is condemned already. He who does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. If you're not saved this morning, if you haven't come into a relationship with Jesus, if you have rejected I wanna give you God's heart today. His heart is for you to turn to Him today, to open your heart to Him, to receive Him today as your Savior, and He will give you eternal life. The Holy Spirit has come in the world to convict you of sin. In verse number nine it says, of sin because they do not believe in me. As I mentioned earlier, That's the only sin that God cannot look over. But I'm thankful that the moment that we come to Christ, he takes our sins as far as the east is from the west. Y'all know that? They're in the ocean of his forgetfulness. God doesn't forget anything, but he chooses to forget our sin. Aren't you thankful for that? Amen. He is to convict the world of sin, the Holy Spirit, but he also will convict the world of righteousness. Now, Jesus is the only righteous human to ever walk the planet, right? He is the only one. I looked it up. Any baseball fans in here? How many perfect games have been pitched in history? Anybody know? I looked it up, I'll tell you, 24. 24 out of the hundreds of thousands of baseball games that have been played only 24 perfect games have been pitched Let me tell you that's kind of mind-blowing But you know, what's even more mind-blowing? Jesus is the only human out of billions over the last I believe 6,000 plus years of humanity Who's lived a perfect life? Who was perfection who was righteous, and it was confirmed with his resurrection. Everything that he said, every claim that he made, every promise that he made were confirmed, were validated in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And then another point of confirmation is when he ascended up to heaven. ascended to heaven so everything he said was validated and so the world who crucified him the world who labeled him all types of things an imposter a demon possessed wicked glutton and drunk they said all these things about Jesus the world was shown to be not righteous and Jesus was shown as the only righteous one. The Holy Spirit will testify that Jesus is the only one who is right. This is why we preach only one name. This is why we don't apologize for saying that there's a narrow road to heaven and it's through the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, I can't wait to one day go to Israel. My prayer is that I get to go soon. And I want to go to that garden, too. I want to see it myself. I've heard many ministers after they get to the Holy Land, I know they come back different because they see what I've preached, what I've studied for the last 20 years of my life. I get to see that this is, and I know it is real. I get to see the place that Jesus walked. I get to see that empty tomb. I get to go to the Garden of Gethsemane. I get to experience what the Bible has shown me. And it does nothing but strengthen our faith when we experience that. So I want to encourage you. They remember the Holy Spirit is going to testify of Jesus. That's his ministry. He's going to testify that he is the one. But then lastly, the Holy Spirit will convict or convicts of judgment. He will speak of the judgment to come. The judgment of the ruler of this world is primarily what Jesus speaks about here. Satan, who I mentioned earlier, our defeated adversary, he has already been convicted. And all that he's waiting for is the execution of his sentence. He's he's on. He's on the road to being in that lake of fire, you guys understand that? The prince of this world will be destroyed. He will be forever banished. He will be. And I want you guys to just take hope in that, because I don't know about you, but I've seen the working of the enemy and how it's ravaged humanity. And I'm looking forward to the day when King Jesus executes his judgment on him. Anybody else looking forward to that day? I want you to know that this life, God has not promised us ease and that we won't have battles, but remember that we have already won, that we're on the winning side. that we are already seated in the heavenlings, we already have the inheritance of eternal life with Him. And let that be your strength. May the joy of the Lord fill you as you remember your salvation this week. Hey, if you don't have much to be thankful for on this side of eternity, which we all do if we're honest, I just want to encourage you to be thankful to God for what He's done. for his salvation. If you're here today and you do not have that relationship with Jesus, you're not sure that heaven is going to be your home. I want to encourage you today to open your heart to him. The Bible says it's really simple. How do you receive the Lord Jesus? It says in Romans 10 in verse 9, that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shall be saved.