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