He Reproves the World John 16:1-11 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
Here Jesus Christ is trying to help the Disciples understand the beneficial aspects of some news that they are having a difficult time accepting. Essentially, He has told them that He is leaving, that they will be persecuted and that the Comforter is coming to reprove the world and to instruct believers. What Jesus Christ has just imparted to them involves an extremely beneficial outcome but is achieved through a challenging and painful process. The work of the Holy Spirit has a very negative aspect to it. That is why so many people don’t like the preaching of the Gospel. Real preaching of the Gospel that leads to real salvation deals with negative things. The Gospel is three parts negative and one part positive. Jesus died (part 1 is negative) for our sin (part 2 is negative) was buried (part 3 is negative) and rose from the dead on the third day (part 4 is positive).
The Holy Spirit came to reprove the world of sin because they don’t believe in Jesus Christ (John 16:9,3:18). The main sin of which he reproves them is the sin of unbelief (Acts 16:31, Deut. 6:9, Acts 8:37). The problem inAmerica is that many people believe in some vague idea of a good and morally upright man named Jesus, but when you actually talk to them about salvation you find that they don’t believe that He is actually God in flesh. The Holy Spirit is here to bring us to the understanding that salvation is only through Jesus Christ alone and nothing else (Eph. 2:8-9).
The Holy Spirit came to reprove the world of righteousness (John 16:10). Once Jesus Christ ascended, we could no longer behold righteousness because He was the only sinless man that ever lived on the earth (Rom. 10:3-4, 1 Cor.1:30, Rom. 3:10, Isaiah 64:6, 2 Cor. 5:21). The Holy Spirit shows us that we are unrighteous so that we will know to seek the righteousness of Jesus Christ which He confers on us through His shed blood if we accept Him as our Lord and Savior and believe on Him.
The Holy Spirit came to reprove the world of judgment (John 16:11). The prince of this world is the devil and he was judged when Jesus Christ died on the cross. Eventually the devil will receive the punishment of that judgment in theLake ofFire to burn for eternity (Rev. 20:10). Meanwhile, Jesus Christ sits at the right-hand of the Father in Heaven. That leaves men only two choices: Jesus Christ or the devil.
There are only two categories of people on this Earth:
- 1. Those who are the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ.
- 2. Those who are the devil’s children by natural birth.
John 8:44, Acts 13:10, 1 John 3:8-10, Matt. 13:38, Rev. 20:10, Matt. 25:41