Responding to the Holy Spirit

John 16:7-11.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on October 24, 2021.

We have been talking about repentance the last two weeks.  Repentance always begins in the Holy Spirit working on the heart of a person.  He works upon believers and unbelievers for different purposes, but today we are going to focus on how the Holy Spirit works on unbelievers.

It is clear from Scripture that the Holy Spirit works in partnership with and through believers.  However, He is not limited to only working through us.  It is important for us to focus on how the Holy Spirit works in the unbeliever’s life so that we can better cooperate with Him. 

Let’s look at our passage.

The Holy Spirit works on unbelievers

The Bible doesn’t give us a detailed explanation of the ability and limitations that are work here.  We know that the Holy Spirit only resides within believers.  So, unbelievers do not have the Spirit of God inside of them.  In that sense, they are not spiritually alive to His presence and voice.  Thus, He works through the various inputs in their life, drawing their attention to some.  I will not pretend to understand its entirety, but is important for us to know that it is happening, and to learn how to cooperate with the Holy Spirit.  It should be noted that there is a spirit of this world that is also working on the unbeliever.  This spirit has far more leverage on the unbeliever because of the self-serving desires that the person has.

When we share the Word of God, and live the life of Jesus, we are giving the Holy Spirit more to work with in their life.  Yes, Jesus could personally visit every unbeliever on the planet with a vision of himself giving them the Gospel, but he wants us to partner with him and learn to speak into their lives.  The Holy Spirit works in tandem with us, or better, through us.  This is why it is so important to prayerfully ask the Spirit of God to lead us in the things we share with unbelievers.  The Holy Spirit knows them far better than I do.

Our passage mentions 3 things about which the Holy Spirit brings a conviction to the heart of the unbeliever.  Before we look at them, let’s take a second to mention what is meant by “to convict.”  This has to do with correcting, refuting, and bringing light to the truth of a person’s legal position before God.  So, we use this word in reference to an external thing that happens.  For example, in a courtroom, a criminal may be convicted by the court, but that tells us nothing about what is going on in his heart.  Did the moral and legal arguments of the prosecutor and the decision of the judge make it into their heart and cause them to sorrow over their criminality?  This is when the external work becomes internalized and the criminal agrees that they have done wrong and need to make things right.  Many people are convicted externally, but their hearts are hardened towards any inner conviction about their sins.

The unbeliever is guilty of not putting their faith in Jesus.  This is the first conviction the Holy Spirit attempts to bring to the unbeliever.  Jesus is the savior that God has given to the world, and He will not send another.  Yes, unbelievers are guilty of all manner of sins, but these can only be removed and forgiven when we deal with this foundational sin.  Unbelief towards God, and His Rescuing Son, is the reason we pursue all manner of sinful activities.  People need Jesus more than they need to quit getting drunk, aborting babies, and being hateful to others.  Without putting real trust in Jesus, we will be powerless to achieve real, lasting reform in the other areas of sin in our lives.  The believer must be careful not to lose sight of this.  We can focus so much on the problems of sin in their life, and forget to point them to their lack of trust in Jesus, that is what needs to change foremost.

The unbeliever is guilty of a woefully inadequate righteousness.  Everybody believes that they are pretty good and can always point to other people that are far worse than them to justify themselves.  Jesus is not currently on this earth, and thus people do not see how perfectly righteous he is.  They can only see his righteousness when believers share God’s Word with them, and by how believers live.  Those who put their faith in Jesus will listen to the Holy Spirit in order to do and to be the righteousness of Christ.  This is a righteousness that can only come from trusting Jesus and saying, “Yes!” to the Holy Spirit.  When confronted with the Word of God and the life of a believer who is crucifying the flesh, the unbeliever will be convicted that their “righteousness” does not stack up to the righteousness of Jesus.  Only the life of Jesus was perfect and acceptable to God.  Only the death of a perfect man could both pay the price for our sin, and allow for us to live.  Praise God that He not only desires that we live, but that we live in an eternal relationship with Him.  He invites us into His family, but we have to let go of the trust that we have in our own righteousness outside of a faith in Jesus.

The third thing the Holy Spirit brings is the reality of what that guilt means.  God’s judgment hangs over their head along with the ruler of this world.  Are you convinced that the judgment of God is even now looming over this world?  The only reason it hasn’t fallen yet is because God is merciful and is not willing for so many to perish.  This world is guilty of surrendering itself to the influence and control of the devil and his infernal cohorts.  The Holy Spirit is working to convince the unbeliever that they are in danger; but are also able to switch allegiances.  This is the good news of the Gospel.  God is calling you to switch sides before He lets the hammer fall.  In fact, the judgment will be meted out by Jesus himself.

Knowing that the Holy Spirit targets these three things: to convict them of their unbelief in Jesus, to convict them of their woefully inadequate righteousness, and therefore to convict them of their looming judgment, believers should pay particular attention to these areas in their life and speech to unbelievers.  Unbelievers need to see us living out faith in Jesus.  They need to see the righteousness of Christ in those of us who are rejecting the spirit of this world.  No one will ever be saved by us becoming more like the lost world around us.  They will only be saved by receiving a powerful revelation of just who Jesus is, who they are, and the judgment that he will save them from, if they will trust him.

The response to His work

Of course, there are different responses to the Holy Spirit’s work (and our partnership with it).  A person may respond one way, and then later change in their response.  No one is locked into any particular response, and this is the weakness of the devil’s hold on people, but more on that in a bit.

Some people are simply unmoved by the Holy Spirit’s convicting work, and basically pay it no attention, if they even see it at all.  This is probably the response of the majority of people.  Like a dead man who cannot respond no matter how hard you shake them, many continue on with life content to embrace the world system around them.  In a sense, we must “leave room” for the Holy Spirit to bring them to the place of repentance.  Having shared the Word of God, and continuing to be a picture of trusting Christ, we pray for them, and we pray for ourselves that we will be led by the Holy Spirit if there is anything more to do.  Jesus did not run after the rich young ruler as he walked away sadly.  You can only do so much, and the rest is up to God.  Yet, always open to his leading down the road to say or do more.

Some people are enraged by this convicting work and become hostile to it.  This hostility will often be focused upon Christians and the Church.  In fact, we must recognize that even those who are outwardly apathetic are internally hostile to the Gospel.  However, for some, that hostility easily bubbles to the surface and targets believers.  Hebrews 12:3 reminds us, “For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.”  The writer then speaks of that very hostility as a kind of discipline, or chastening, for believers.  When you run into hostile responses, do not be discouraged.  This will test your trust in Christ, and train you to fight the spiritual battle.  Such unbelievers do not understand that they are becoming the “tip of the spear” for our spiritual adversary the devil.  However, God will use this in your life to make you stronger if you persevere.  On top of this, continue to give room for the Holy Spirit to work in their life.  Pray for them, and don’t give up on them even when they tell you to go away and never bring it up again.

The third general response is that some go on to believe.  There is a mystery of salvation that we can never figure out and forecast.  Some will be interested and want to hear more, but then become like King Agrippa in Acts 26.  “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.”  Some believe quickly and embrace faith in Jesus.  Whereas, others believe after a long period of apathy, or hostility.  The Apostle Paul has ever stood as an example of one who was so hostile to the work of the Holy Spirit that most believers had a hard time believing that he really had changed.  It doesn’t matter how hard people are, some days the Holy Spirit just breaks through and their defenses fall like a house of cards.  God will never overpower a person’s free choice, but He does powerfully work in our lives.

Part of having faith in Jesus is knowing that no one is unreachable simply because of their apathy or hostility.  Our faith in him gives us the faith to keep looking for an open door in their life.  May God help us to embrace the work of the Holy Spirit in our life, and partner with His work among unbelievers.

Holy Spirit audio

The Things that God Hates 8: One Who Sows Discord among Brothers

Proverbs 6:16-19; 1 Corinthians 3:1-4; Matthew 5:9-12.

This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on October 3, 2021.

This morning, we will look at the last thing on the list of things that God hates in Proverbs 6.  It ends with describing a person who sows discord, or strife, among brothers.

God hates the sowing of discord among brothers

This image of sowing begs the question, “How does one sow discord, strife, and conflict among brothers?”  Or, we could also ask it this way.  “Just what does a discord seed look like?”

Perhaps it is simply a question about another person in their absence, perhaps about their motives, or a remark about them.  We might tell a story about them that we have heard, maybe even completely slandering them.  It might be less aggressive by stirring up the irritations that others already have against the absent person.  We really are only limited in this hated sin by our imagination, and people have honed this craft to an art.

Today, I want to look at the passage in 1 Corinthians 3 to bring out some things involved in this issue.  Paul is speaking to the conflicts and strife that were going on in the church at Corinth.  He puts his finger on their main problem: spiritual immaturity.  Though a person cannot become any more saved than they are, we may or may not become spiritually mature.

Paul pictures spiritual maturity as receiving nourishment from God’s Word.  Just like a newborn baby cannot digest complex foods and must drink milk, so a new Christian cannot immediately digest much of God’s Word.  They need to feed on the simple milk of the Gospel until they have grown enough to take in the deeper things of God.  The proper effect of God’s Word will be spiritual growth, as opposed to remaining carnal, or focused upon the flesh and its desires.  Thus, spiritual maturity involves putting off carnal motivations, carnal thinking, and the actions that come with them, and putting on the mind of Christ taught within God’s Word.  A spiritually mature person has motivations and thinking that come from God and His Word.  They do the actions that have good spiritual impact upon themselves and others.  Many in the Corinthian church were sowing seeds of conflict among the body of Christ, and Paul knew that this was breaking God’s heart, something that He hated.

Though spiritual immaturity is the main problem for the Corinthian church, there are other possible reasons why a person might sow discord.  A person may simply not be saved.  Jesus speaks in a parable (Matthew 13:24-40) about his enemy sowing “tares” in among the wheat.  These would be people who are carnal because they are not born again by God’s Spirit.  They have not been regenerated spiritually.

Of course, this is often the first accusation against others when you are carnal.  It is easy to always believe the other person must not be saved when there is conflict.  The spiritually mature person recognizes that even godly people can disagree on issues.  However, we would be asleep at the wheel if we didn’t recognize that the external Church has many tares that have been sown into it by the enemy, and some of them are leaders.

Sometimes the sowing originates within the group as we have described, and sometimes it comes from outside of the group.  Paul spoke of this in his farewell message to the elders of the Ephesian church.

“For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.  Also, from among yourselves, men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves.  Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears.”  -Acts 20:29-31 (NKJV)

The savage wolves can come in among you, but they can also be government leaders giving decrees that cause problems in the group.  It is easy to miss the true source of conflict and only see the surface reasons.  It is important for us to step into spiritual maturity by checking our own motives first.  Line them up against God’s Word so that they can be purified.  Then, look for any deeper causes for the conflict that are not readily obvious.  Conflict always pushes us to rush our judgments, but this is not the will of God, nor the character of Christ.

In the end, we must learn to see through the schemes of the devil.  Our true enemy is him and his evil spiritual forces.  They are arrayed against the Church, and they use all manner of people: power hungry secular leaders, spiritually immature believers, con-artists, false prophets, etc.  The devil has schemes and a mode of operating that become more evident as we spiritually mature.  Whether whispering into the ear of Cain about his brother Abel, or catching Ahab’s eye with Jezebel, his strategies are generally the same, but his tactics are manifold.

So, what does God love?  Let’s go to Matthew 5:9-12 for that.

God loves those who promote peace between others

Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the sons of God.  Jesus, the Unique Son of God, came to earth on a peace mission, and so we are sent forth as his ambassadors also offering peace.  We are to speak peace from God to those we meet.  It is when we have peace with God that peace with one another is possible.  Do not fool yourself.  True peace is not possible among those who reject God and His Anointed One, Jesus.

There is a kind of anti-peace that is promoted by the antichrist system of this world.  The anti-peace is not a peace at all, but it can result in a cessation of some strife.  The Pax Romana (peace of Rome) protected many nations from invasion by others.  However, they were always under the strife of Roman rule, and were conquered by them in the first place.  If this is your definition of peace, then you can keep it.

True peace is built upon the foundation of a healthy fear of God and His judgment.  It is not a fear that God will be capricious, but that God will not be mocked or fooled.  He is not swayed by our words to Him.  He judges in truth, reality.  Anti-peace is built upon the foundation of the fear of man, and the powers of this earth.

Jesus said that if you stand for true peace with Him, then the world will hate you.  The world offers a false gospel that delivers a false peace.  Look around you.  You see groups trying to build Utopia without God, without truth.  Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 5:3, “When they say, ‘Peace and safety!’ then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman.  And they shall not escape.  But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief!”

When Jesus says that we shall be called “sons of God,” he leaves off just who will call us sons of God.  In fact, the next two verses talk about persecution.  Who is the “they” who will revile and persecute the peacemakers?  It is the world and all those who are one spirit with the false peace.  Christians are makers of true peace, and thus God is not ashamed to call them His sons, but the world that loves false peace uses worse epithets for us.  This persecution will come from outside of the Church and from within it.  It has always been so.  The early Jewish believers in Jesus the Messiah were persecuted by other Jews who claimed to love God.  In the Middle Ages of Europe, Christians were often persecuted by other Christians who had power and authority, both religious and secular.

Don’t kid yourself.  A new morality is being raised up even today that is not of God.  Slowly, but surely, many denominations and Christians are moving from God’s Truth, to the anti-truth.  May God help us not to be caught up in our conflicts with one another and lose sight of the true enemy and his tricks.  The enemy is even now coming after believers that cling to the old ways of Jesus.  The heat is being turned up.

Ultimately, Jesus promises a reward for those who promote true peace and pay the price for it in persecution.  Not only will they be called the sons of God by him, but a day of manifesting just who are the sons of God is coming.  We will share in the glory of Christ as he returns to earth in order to set up the kingdom that God has given him. 

Now, your reward comes from the one you are serving.  If we serve ourselves, and thus the world, we will receive the world’s rewards.  The world will call us peacemakers and sons of God, but it will all be a lie.  For those who fear God and work for true peace, God has a reward that outweighs any difficulties, tears, and trials on this earth.

Yes, in some ways, we are already sons of God who are participating in his kingdom.  However, the terminology is “reward.”  Rewards are handed out after a contest, or project.  Jesus is pointing us to a point after the Resurrection in which we will stand beside him in his kingdom, a true utopia that will last for 1,000 years.  The world that has rejected God’s peace offer sees His peace emissaries as those who are obstructing the peace that they envision.  Christian, you must get used to being labeled by this world the opposite of what you truly are.  No, it is not fair, but it is part of the path ahead of us.  We can ignore their aspersions against us not in a sinful obstinacy, but in a steadfast, faithful determination to please our Lord Jesus!

Sowing Discord audio

Lessons from the Underground Church 13: True Identity

This is a 13 week series that will not be posted on our website.  If you would like an audio of the sermon or a written article on the sermon contents then please contact the church at AbundantLifeEverett@frontier.com.  You can also leave a message at 425.438.1500.  Thank you for your interest.

Lessons from the Underground Church 13: True Identity

This is a 13 week series that will not be posted on our website.  If you would like an audio of the sermon or a written article on the sermon contents then please contact the church at AbundantLifeEverett@frontier.com.  You can also leave a message at 425.438.1500.  Thank you for your interest.