Pentecost 10a The LIght Within and the Lion Without

[HKHaugan]

Jesus tells us what the Holy Spirit will do, “When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned (Jn.16:8-11).”

Now is when Jesus really gets personal. He knows exactly what the heart needs to be set right. Jeremiah tells us “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? (Jer.17:9).” It needs recovery, correction, rehabilitation and motivation. Here Jesus gives us four remedial steps to put our hearts back on track with God and then be filled with inspired confidence to reach those who don’t know Him.

First, conviction of guilt. Whether we like to face it or not we are all born guilty, born separated from God with a need to be right, a need that can never be satisfied without God. Guilt is realizing we are not right in our heart. Self-deceit is our methodology apart from God. The devil manipulates guilt by getting us to act impetuously apart from God.
When we received Jesus we became aware what the ache in the heart was all about. The emptiness and wandering were always accompanied by the need to get life right. Remorse, regret, resentment, fear, pride, shifting blame and jealousy fed the pangs of guilt. Did you ever have the sense that no matter what you did you never got it right?
One thing guilt does is to arouse anger. It may be self directed and lead to feelings of depression because you can't control it. But it can also be directed at others as though that would solve the issue. Trying to justify one's self never works and only causes separation unless dealt with personally before it happens. Guilt is real and has to be dealt with. The task of the Holy Spirit is to make us aware that we are guilty at the very core of our heart and we need Jesus' forgiveness to correct it. Then we can be honest with others. That's called humility, honest humility before God in the presence of others.

Second, belief in Jesus. Jesus is the only One who can remove that guilt. His death on the Cross for our sin was the perfect right neutralizing and removing our guilt for the inability to get anything right. He alone is the Right One who can bring right back to us through faith. Faith in and for Jesus is being right. “Salvation [growing into being right with God] is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12)." The Holy Spirit convicts us when we do not put Jesus first.

Third, righteousness. Jesus reclaimed what Abraham was blessed for and that was faith as righteousness. Faith righteousness (being right by faith in Jesus) as opposed to legalistic righteousness (being right by getting the Law right) was proven by Jesus’ Cross and Resurrection. His way to and on the Cross was by faith in His Father. What He enabled through His sacrifice on the Cross was giving us direct access to God the Father by taking up the cross of faith in Jesus, the new way of being right. The Holy Spirit convicts us when we compromise with the world and its standards instead of trusting Jesus in every circumstance.

Fourth, judgment. The real problem of sin and evil is the devil. Jesus exposed the devil and drove him out of his hiding place. He was named the enemy of God and every person. He has been revealed as the father of lies, the deceiver of the faithful, the evil one, the tempter and the source of evil. The devil has been judged. The Holy Spirit convicts us to be aware of the devil’s work around us and keep our focus on Jesus since the devil and his strategies have already been exposed and condemned. Conviction is not condemnation. It is the Holy Spirit getting our attention, to watch for the curve sign, to focus on Jesus and discern, that is, getting the feel of what He is leading us through.

The Holy Spirit does us a service convicting us when we sense we are moving out of God’s atmosphere because in the spiritual dimension there are only two parts, God's and the devil’s. The Spirit of grace, truth and love won’t let that happen. It is our hearts that are at stake and God cares too much about each one of us to let us slide into oblivion. This is why I said in the beginning the Holy Spirit is the ministry of Jesus to our hearts on a deep personal level. And the Lord Jesus really knows how to get personal.
One more thing, guilt without God is destructive. Guilt is shaped in the caves of our fears and the heart builds its walls on the sands of its uncertainty. 'Convicted of guilt' means the Holy Spirit is making us aware of this insecure condition of our hearts. He is showing us the perfection of Jesus' mind and heart, offering them to replace the straw walls fear and guilt have built in our hearts. He is exposing the 'weakholds' (2Cor.10:4-5) sin gave us to live by and the choice of one stronghold, a living relational experience with the Lord Jesus, to replace them (Psalm 62:6). Belief (Jn,21:31), trust (Jn.14:1) and faith (1Jn.5:4) as Jesus demonstrated, are the beams of strength that hold our minds, hearts and spirits together forming the structure upon which the Holy Spirit rebuilds an image of God to fit in His eternal home (Jn.14:2-3). That foundation was the faith of Jesus that took Him to the Cross and was sealed by His Resurrection.

So in Ch.16 conviction brings us to sin, righteousness and judgment in that order. Sin, because we don't believe in Jesus. Righteousness, because Jesus is going to the Father where you can't see Him. Judgment, because the prince of this world, the devil, now stands condemned.

Sin involves not using our mind to believe in Jesus. That involves denying our being an image of God as Jesus has illustrated by His life and denying that same reality in others. We are designed for belief in Him, to trust Him and to act faithfully for Him. Belief in Him is a mental exercise in accepting him first as the Son of God, secondly as being God and thirdly, understanding and planning to be like Him. He is truth and His Word is truth and His Word is how we are motivated by His Holy Spirit to think.
Righteousness is being right from one moment to the next which means to to trust Him in our heart that what we believe about Him we can trust with security, peace and stability. He is right in all He does. The way He was right was to do everything He could to please His Father from one moment to the next. The way He was right was being obedient to the Word which is His authority. That's makes the authority of the Word our authority for believing, trusting and acting in faith.

Judgment is making the right decision at the right time in the right place. That's exactly what Jesus did from moment to moment. Everything that the devil did to derail humanity is detailed in Genesis 3 and multiplied in succeeding generations. He is the polar opposite of Jesus who wants to be seen, believed, trusted and followed. He is open with everyone with whom He comes in contact. With Jesus it is complete determination to let God be revealed as loivng, caring, truthful and graceful.
The devil on the other hand does everything he can to remain in the shadows of the world's standards of human pride and fear. His strategy is to work subtly to conform us to the world he runs. He knows the weaknesses in each of us. He's had a lot of experience with sinners. Following are 16 of his favorite pastimes.

1.He sends messages through the voice of temptation that echoes through the valleys of our hidden desires, striving in quiet tones only we hear, getting us to think we can handle anything even if it means deceit of self and others. We are individually in control but therein lies the darkness and no one can see in the dark except the prince of darkness who wanders in it “like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour (1Peter 5:8).”
2.He plays on our fears of rejection, aloneness and the need for personal recognition.
3.His goal is to separate us from God by separating us from each other through instant gratification.
4.Think of self first.
5.Get what you can to satisfy the moment.
6.Let the satisfaction of your body be the goal.
7.Do the thinking, deciding and acting according to what pleases it.
8.And do it at the expense of others. They are stepping stones to my success.
9.Trust no one but self.
10.You are better than anyone else and your job is to prove that.
11.If you fail at something you want, blame it on someone else or something else because you are not the problem.
12.Society, the 'in crowd', the 'theys' (whoever 'they' happen to be), Wall Street, politicians, 'the establishment' and all the impersonal structures of the world out there are responsible for not letting you get what you want.
13.Get emotional about how 'they' are the oppressors and the enemy.
14.Just because you are a human being you deserve better and the best.
15.Unless you are totally consumed with your rights you are not being given what you deserve.
16.Make excuses. All of these and many more are excuses the devil enjoys helping us to form

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The main trigger in the devil's multifaceted strategy is paranoia. Get everyone he can to feel the world is against him through the attitude of feeling offended. We live in the age of offense. Look at how everyone is offending me because of what I feel like, look like, think like and act like. He gets groups to think in paranoid terms and once that spirit takes hold of people they look for a leader that will agitate, prove and exploit their need for him to feed their paranoia and lead them to fight the spiritual principalities and powers that are the real enemy. The devil is the conspirator in chief, the master of exploitation and the hidden dynamo behind those who lust for the power it brings.

But the good news is this: Jesus exposed the devil, his strategies, his forces and overcame his power of death through the Cross and Resurrection of Christ Jesus. The devil stands eternally condemned as well as his strategies and the sin that formally consumed us. If my judgment is God's judgment, how I believe, trust and act depends on God's presence and His Word, then, my justification about everything I choose is based on my faith in Jesus, His Son, dwelling in me. I can discern the evil that lies before me in every next moment. Will I choose Jesus or what I think best? Choosing Jesus as Lord I become the victor, the devil loses and the part of the world I live in has a chance because Jesus is Lord of the part I live in. The proof?

“Since then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory (Col.3:1-4).”