 So here we are, John chapter 15. Let me read to you verses 26 and 27 and we'll get into our study. John beginning at chapter 15 verse 26, reading verses 26 and 27. And Jesus says, when the helper comes whom I shall send to you from the Father, the spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will testify of me. And you also will bear witness because you have been with me from the beginning. So when you look at John's gospel, the chapters that we're going through, especially as we're moving into chapter 16 from chapter 15, but this portion of scripture beginning in chapter 13 and going up to verse 17, these chapters contain a tremendous amount of information found in the gospel of John as pertains to the work of the Holy Spirit and the person of the spirit. And Jesus here is teaching his disciples concerning the work of the Holy Spirit. And he begins, and let me show you this as we lay a foundation, he begins by revealing what we would call an intimate connection. He's revealing the intimate connection that he has with his father. And he does this by saying that the sending of the spirit concerns both the father and the son. He made this clear by referring to both himself and his father in verse 26. So the sending of the Holy Spirit concerns both father and son. And Jesus is saying, I will send the Holy Spirit, but the Holy Spirit proceeds from the father. This is called the procession, the procession of the spirit. The father sent the son who sends the spirit. The spirit brings us to the son who presents us to the father. And so he's speaking concerning the procession of the spirit from the father and the son, the Holy Spirit will be sent. Now what is it that the Holy Spirit will do? He will testify, Jesus said. He will testify of me. The word testify in the original language means to bear record. It speaks of giving evidence or being a witness. You see, when Jesus is taken from the earth the Holy Spirit will continue to bear witness of him. We're gonna see that in a moment when we look in chapter 16 verses eight through 11 and I'll show you how that takes place and what Jesus is saying. But we'll look closely at that in just a moment, but when Jesus is taken from the earth the Holy Spirit will continue to bear witness of him. That's what he's saying in verse 27. Not only will the Holy Spirit bear witness but notice in verse 27 and you also will bear witness. Why? Because you have been with me from the beginning. So not only does the Holy Spirit give testimony of Jesus Christ but by his power so will his disciples. His disciples will bear witness. He's speaking to them but by way of application he's speaking also to us. It's the power of the Holy Spirit working within us that gives us the ability to bear witness of Jesus Christ. The Gospel of Luke in chapter 24 verse 49. Jesus said, behold I send the promise of my Father upon you but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high. Tarry until you be endued with power from on high. And that is the promise of Pentecost and that promise took place on Pentecost. Jesus in the book of Acts in chapter one verse eight made that promise also again. He said, you shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit has come upon you. And so you will be witnesses. He said to me in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and unto the uttermost parts of the earth. So in order to be in, we'll see this more clearly in a moment but in order to be witnesses we need the power of the Holy Spirit. And that's what Jesus is speaking about here. He's speaking about the advocate, the perikletos the helper whom he refers to in verse 26 whom Jesus is going to send who's going to empower so that we might bear witness of him because we need the power of the Holy Spirit to do this. And of course that occurs as mentioned at Pentecost. They were empowered. And in Pentecost, I should point this out on the day of Pentecost, ultimately what happens is they receive the power of the Holy Spirit in the baptism of the Spirit. But in Acts one eight again, Jesus said, you shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be witnesses to me. And I wanna just point something out very quickly. You shall be witnesses, not just do witnessing. There are people who like to witness they like to go out and talk about God. They witness. He didn't say you're gonna be just going out. You will go out of course it takes the Holy Spirit to send us out missions and evangelism of course. My wife and I were just speaking about this just today though. There's more to witnessing than talking. I've talked to more than one person who likes to go out and share and tell people about Jesus but they're very aggressive. And sometimes they're just a bit obnoxious and a little arrogant and a little pushy. And they think they're witnessing but in fact Jesus said you shall be my witness. The witness is your life. It's the way you live. And in your way of life very often that gives you opportunity to do the witnessing. In other words, you live for Christ and you gain the opportunity because you've established credibility to tell somebody as to how you came to be what you are. Because remember when people are talking to you and you may not know them very well or at all the only witness they have is not your words so much as how you're acting towards them. And so as they watch the way you're acting what you are is speaking so loudly very often they don't hear a word you're saying. And so we need to understand that all witnessing needs to be done with humility and it needs to be an evidence of the work of the Holy Spirit in your life. And so you will be witnesses not just do witnessing. And I think the church has sometimes forgotten that particular aspect of being a witness for Jesus Christ. He said you're gonna be a witness and notice how he says because you've been with me from the beginning. So these men had been thoroughly mentored by Jesus Christ they had been prepared by him. They'd been with Jesus from the beginning of his teachings and they'd been witnesses of his works and so he has been with them. They've been ably mentored and you will take what I have trained you in and you will go out and be my witness. Continuing into verse one of chapter 16 he says these things I've 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 and these things they will do to you because they haven't 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. And so he begins by speaking and saying in verse one these things I've spoken to you that you should not be made to stumble. In the face of the opposition and persecution you will feel pressure to give up. And you need to know that it's the power of the Holy Spirit who enables you to be witnesses in the face of and in spite of the persecution that you will endure. You will if you decide to live godly in Christ Jesus Paul said you will suffer persecution. That's one of those divine promises that many people don't wanna claim for themselves. But it's in scripture and Jesus prepared them for this you will suffer persecution. And so Jesus in verse one is making it clear that he spoke to them of these things that you should not be made to stumble that you would not be offended. So you need to know that the Holy Spirit is going to enable you to be witnesses and will give you the power to remain strong in the face of persecution. In Matthew 10 verses 34 through 36 Jesus said do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword for I've come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother and a daughter in law against her mother in law. See that's where the problem started. A man's enemies will be those of his own household. That's an interesting thing. I didn't come to bring peace on earth. Isn't it the Christmas hymn that we sing that we're supposed to have peace on earth? Well in fact Jesus said I didn't come to bring peace on earth. Why? Because faith in Christ is going to contrast with those who don't have faith in Christ and then there will be an inevitable conflict between light and darkness. And so you need to be prepared for that. You see the world hated Jesus and persecuted him and the world hates and persecutes those who love him. Remember that the people of his day refused to hear him when he spoke and they will reject us also. What are they gonna do? Well notice verse two. He said they will put you out of the synagogues. Yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. They're gonna kick you out of the synagogues. In other words, you're going to suffer. They will suffer what we used to refer to and some still are familiar with this word. They will suffer what is called excommunication. You're gonna be regarded as heretics. Now this is something that they were aware of already. They already knew that following Christ they would exact a penalty. In chapter 12 we saw at verse 42 how it read nevertheless many of the leaders believed in him but notice but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him for fear that they would be put out of the synagogues. So they were aware of that already. That was already taking place. They were afraid to be excommunicated. So some of you he said are going to be put out of the synagogues but he goes on to say in verse two to say the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. Now that's interesting. Whoever kills you will think that you are being a sacrifice made unto him. Others are gonna be martyred for their faith. In Luke 21 verses 12 and 13, before all these things they will lay their hands on you and persecute you delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons. You will be brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake but it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony. They'll persecute you, they'll deliver you to prisons. You're gonna be persecuted intensely. Remember the apostle Paul? The apostle Paul was guilty of this kind of persecution and he did this persecution actually as service to God. When he was given his testimony, you see him give his testimony several times in the book of Acts. When he was given his testimony as is recorded in Acts chapter 22 verses four and five. Listen to what he said. Paul said, I persecuted this way to the death, binding and delivering into prison both men and women as also the high priest bears me witness and all the counsel of the elders from whom I also received letters to the brethren and went to Damascus to bring in chains even those who were there to Jerusalem to be punished. Notice how he said that I persecuted this way, was how Christianity was once referred to. It was the way. So I persecuted this way to the death. In Galatians chapter one verse 13, he speaks to them and he says, you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it. Now obviously persecution continues to this day from minor irritations to major incidents. In the United States persecution exists but overt physical persecution is still at this time occasional. According to Dr. Kent Engel who was writing for Fox News in February 27th in 2019, according to Dr. Kent Engel at campuses throughout the country outspoken Christians are regularly demeaned, debased and targeted for their beliefs. Academics, social groups and college organizations regularly ridicule Christians by calling them hateful, bigoted and privileged among other labels. They conveniently forget that Christians have historically been among the most persecuted religious groups in the world and are still persecuted at ever increasing levels throughout countries in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Worldwide persecution of Christians has been intense. In Iran 10 years ago there were nearly one million believers, ISIS drove out most of them. In Yemen Christian converts from Islam are persecuted and treated as outcasts. According to the 2019 World Watch List, listen to this, North Korea is the number one persecutor in the world. Kim Jong-un has outlawed any practice of the Christian faith with violators either being put in camps or executed. In Nigeria, Poko Haram wants to wipe out all Western influence especially Christianity. They kidnapped over 200 girls and sold many into slavery and have conducted raids, bombings and assassinations against churches and schools. Radical Islam has spread in the Philippines, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Egypt, Nigeria and Somalia with the intent of wiping out believers all in the name of service to God. And that's what Jesus said would take place. They will put you out of synagogues. Yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God's service. That's taking place right now, even as we're seated here in this sanctuary. Why will they do that? Verse three, these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor me. These things occur because they don't know God. These things occur because of ignorance of the Father and ignorance of your son. Because if you know the Son, you love those whom the Son loves. They don't know the Son, they don't know the Father. Even these who are radically stating that they are believers in God and they do these works as service to God, Jesus said they do this, not because they know God, because the God that they know is not the God of Scripture. It's because they don't know him. And so he's pointing that out. These things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor me. To know the Father is to know the Son. And to know the Father is to know the God of love. Because he who loves not knows not God, for God is love. And so when someone comes into a relationship with God, they're gonna love, they're gonna be loving. And so if you know the God of love, and if you're his child, then love is gonna come flowing from your heart towards others. So Jesus makes it very clear. Persecution is gonna rise, they're gonna excommunicate you and some of them they're gonna kill. Some of you will be killed. This will take place and this will happen because they don't know the Father nor the Son. In verse four of 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. My words are to be listened to carefully because they surely will come to pass. And when these things occur, remember my words because this will give you strength to endure. Remember in chapter 14 verse 29, how Jesus said, Now I've told you before it comes that when it does come to pass, you may believe. So listen carefully, this will come to pass and these words will give you strength. Now in verse four again, these things I did not say to you at the beginning because I was with you. So while I was with you, I had no need to prepare you in this fashion, but I'm about to leave. And you need to know this because you will now be the one who is hated. And by the way, that took place in a very short time. In first John chapter three, in first John, first John was written around 90, the year 90 AD. In first John chapter three verse 13, John said, Do not marvel my brethren if the world hates you. So that was already taking place within a short time, relatively short time after Jesus Christ died and was very resurrected and sent the spirit within a relatively short amount of time, the world had already turned against the believers in Christ. In verse five, now I go away to him who sent me and none of you asks me, where are you going? Remember in chapter 13 verse 36, how Peter had asked Lord, where are you going? And in chapter 14 verse five, Thomas actually also said something like that. He echoed that. We don't know where you're going. They were more concerned with themselves without Jesus and not about Jesus's destination. And that's why he's saying, now I go away to him who sent me and none of you is asking me, where are you going? But verse six, because I've said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Sorrow has filled your heart. Sorrow clouds our sight. Here's the danger guys right now that we're dealing with. We can be overcome with the moment and take our eyes off the future. We can get caught up with what's going on right now and begin to, without even realizing it, deny that God is moving in the now. We get caught up with the things that we're not able to do or the things that are taking from us, what we want to do, that's taking place right now. Sorrow and grief and depression, all of these things have a way of clouding our sight. As believers, we need to trust God for the future and we need to live with a confident expectation. This word is to me as well as to anybody else. I'm not preaching to just those who are watching or listening or in this room right now. I'm speaking to myself as I'm reminding myself of the things that the Spirit had led me to write down to share with us all. I need to trust God for the future and I need to live with confident expectation because if you look at the way things appear at the moment, it could appear that there's just, like Christianity is just being thrown under the bus. I mean, when we're regarded in this nation, that was built on Christian principles, when we're regarded as useless, when we're regarded as non-essential, when we're regarded as having no value, when you have a place that clips the hair of your poodle open but the church is closed, that tells you something. When you have liquor stores that are called essential and prayer meetings are forbidden, when you have people who regard pastors like myself as non-essential, whenever you look at lists of the most trusted people in the United States, nurses almost always top that list almost always and pastors are like 10th, 11th, 12th on the list because we are not essential. That's how it works. And so that's taking place right now and when you see things the way they are where we're being forbidden to gather together, to have fellowship, the reason part of that is taking place not every single reason but the reason, part of the reason that is taking place is simply because the church is not valued and those who are making decisions about when we can meet and how we're gonna meet and where we're gonna meet are usually people who do not value going to church themselves. And so they look at church as just something you do once in a while, maybe for a wedding, maybe for a funeral or some religious activity of some sort, maybe you go there on Christmas or you'll go there on Easter or something of that, maybe someone's being baptized and you go to church but they don't go regularly. They don't see that every time the church gathers, it's a family gathering, they don't see that. They don't see the value. They don't see how people like we have seen when people have seen their brothers or sisters that they haven't seen and they've come here on a Sunday when I'm here during the Second Service and they see somebody that they haven't seen and they cry, we see that, you guys see that, they start to cry. They cry because they miss us, they miss each other because that's what church is and we value those things but they're more concerned so many with other things and they're not concerned with the things of the Lord. And so their lack of faith can actually taint our faith. Their despair can actually draw us into despair. Their fear can cause us to lose our faith or at least they have it sublimated to fear and there are a lot of Christians and we all know this right now, don't we? There are a lot of Christians right now who are living in fear, a lot of fear, a lot of fear because they've been listening to the news and people in the news are keeping us for whatever reason, many of them keeping us afraid. That's a fact. There's so much going on that nobody knows. I mean, somebody says, so we're confused, somebody says, well, you can go to the beach, it's a good thing but you have to walk but you can't go on the dry sand, you have to walk on the wet sand or you go to a store and the person or a bank, you go to a bank and the person there is wearing their mask as they're handing you money that has been touched by all kinds of people and it doesn't make any sense. All of this makes no sense to us and so we're living in a state of confusion. We're wondering what is right, what is wrong? You can wear a mask, they say, no, don't wear a mask, they say. You shouldn't get sick, some say, oh no, you need to get sick. I don't wonder everybody's so messed up and so afraid because the information is so convoluted, it's just difficult for us to know what is truth and what isn't and so what do you end up doing? A lot of the Christians have done this, they end up living in fear. They end up living in fear and it's kind of an amazing thing how quickly we give up our freedoms because of fear and it's amazing to me and I'm not saying this is condemnation, it sounds like it is, it's not. It's an observation that I've been making and thinking about. It's amazing to me that we who have died to live are still afraid to get sick and die. It's kind of difficult to grasp. We're the ones who believe in the resurrection and the life. Jesus said, if you believe these things, you will never die. He said, do you believe these things? For us as believers, we know that to pass from this mortal frame is into eternity in a building in a house not made with human hands that we're gonna be in glory with Christ. It's not that we should run out and jump in front of a car so that can happen right now. I'm not saying that. I'm not saying we tempt God. What I'm saying is we should be living with confident expectation that no matter what, we're still in the hands of the Lord. And no matter what, all things do work together for the good of those who love God to those who are the call according to his purpose. No matter what, I'm not saying tempt the Lord, I'm saying trust the Lord. We need to walk in faith. We walk by faith and not by sight. If you're listening to everything that's being pumped into you, you're gonna live in fear. But you know what, my God, my God is able and I can do all things that are necessary through his power. And so I live with a confident expectation and that's what we're supposed to do. You see, sorrow clouds sight, grief causes unbelief. It can lead to that. In Romans 8, 24 and 25, Paul said, hope that is seen as no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. Verse seven, 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. To them, Jesus is leaving, is viewed as disastrous. But actually, he's saying, it's for your good. Why is that? Well, because the comforter will come when Jesus leaves. And that makes his death necessary. You see, atonement for sin must occur before the spirit can descend and dwell and empower them. And so he continues speaking of this when he says in verse eight through 11. And when he's 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. Now, earlier in chapter 15, remember at verse 27, Jesus had said that the spirit will testify of him. Well here, Jesus is teaching his men that this is the spirit's work in the world. Notice he brings conviction. The word conviction speaks of exposing, revealing a fault or correcting. He is gonna bring this, he's gonna bring conviction. He convicts the world, he exposes three things. He will convict the world, he says, of sin. What is the unforgivable sin? There are so many people who ask that question. What is the unpardonable sin? Is there a sin that's unforgivable? And the answer to that is the unforgivable sin is rejection of Jesus Christ and the salvation that has been offered by him. That is the unpardonable sin. It's the sin of rejecting. It's the sin of unbelief. You see, man's basic sin is self-righteousness and it takes the Holy Spirit to awaken us to our moral imperfection, to our need for Jesus Christ. Whenever you share the gospel with people, very often, not always, but very often, their response to the gospel is a shrug of the shoulders and that, so what? I mean, right now there may be some watching, even as I'm sharing this and you're thinking, oh, come on, that's what I'm talking about. It's that shrug of the shoulders, so what? What do you say? That's what you believe. People's response to the gospel, very often, is simple, unbelief. You see, the problem is, is they're unaware of his great love and they're unaware of his immense sacrifice. Those things don't matter. God loves you and God sent his son. It's an amazing love and an immense sacrifice and they just don't care. In 1 John chapter four, verses nine and 10, in this, the love of God was manifested, revealed openly, was manifested toward us, that God has sent his only begotten son into the world that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. I didn't love him first. He loved me. There are those that say, oh, look at all I've done for God. No. It's look at all that God has done for you. And when we begin to think that we somehow can work our ways into his graces, then we're making a big mistake. We're rejecting the only way to get to him and that is through the son Jesus Christ. And it takes the Holy Spirit. It takes the Holy Spirit to convict the world of sin. It takes the Holy Spirit to cause me to bow my knee before him and say, God, be merciful to me. I'm a sinner. Forgive me. It took the Holy Spirit through the word of God, working in conjunction to the preaching of the gospel that caused me to be able to have my eyes opened up to be revealed as to who I was. And there I was at this particular Christian concert called a Maranatha concert. And I'm watching the people around me. I'm 20 years old and I'm watching the people around me as they have their arms around one another, they're swaying to a song. The song said, love, love, love, love, Christians, this is your call. Love your neighbor as yourself. For God loves all. And I'm 20 years old and I was an alcoholic already. I was a drug abuser and everything that went along with that. And there I am at a Christian concert and hearing the preaching of the gospel and their singing and their swaying and the spirit of the Lord begins to minister to me and brings conviction of sin. And he says to me, you're uncomfortable and I still remember responding to this inner voice and saying to this voice that was within me, yes, I'm uncomfortable. And then the question is asked, why? What is making you uncomfortable? And I said, because I'm not like these people. And then the question came again and what is it that is different between you and them? And that's first time. And that was a conviction of the Holy Spirit. The first time I ever admitted, I'm not a Christian. I had believed that I was a Christian to the moment of the conviction of the Holy Spirit and the voice of the Lord within my soul speaking to my heart through the preaching of the word and the singing of the songs where I finally was able to be brought to an awareness that didn't come through the arguments of my friends. So I had friends who were constantly trying to tell me about God. And because I'd been raised in a religious faith, I felt they were wrong and I was right. And there was no way they could get to me. There was no way they could argue me into the kingdom. You see, if I can argue you into the kingdom, someone will argue you out of it. But when the Holy Spirit convicts you of sin and the Holy Spirit says, you are the man, you are that person, you have lied, you have stolen, you have cheated, you have done these things. And when you finally get to that point we used to call it in a mea culpa, it's my fault, my fault, my most grievous fault. When you finally are made aware it is your fault because you are a sinner in need of salvation. Well, that takes the preaching of the word of God and it takes the conviction of the Holy Spirit because you may have heard the word of God preached to you many times and you've never responded to it. When I was a little boy, my mom used to say, I could go out and play and I'd say, where can I, how far can I go down the block? And she'd say, you can go as far as it takes for you to still be able to hear me when I whistle for you because my mom could really whistle loudly. And so I could go several houses down the block and then if I turned and looked, I could see my mom standing at the street because we lived on the corner. I see her standing on the corner and I know her hands on her lips like this and but I'd hear her whistle and every time I would hear her whistle I knew that it was her calling me home. And my dad told me the same thing but my dad couldn't whistle so I could only play in the front yard but when my mom said you can go as far as you can hear me whistle that meant I could go all the way down to almost the end of the block because mama could really whistle. Well, guess what? I could hear my mom's whistle and I knew I was being called home. I wonder if any of you right now are hearing the voice of the Lord, that whistle saying come home. That comes from the spirit. That comes from the work of God. And that spirit is saying to you, it's time to come home. And that's the spirit of God. That's how God works today. It comes through the proclamation of the message of grace. The salvation, the working of the spirit. It's the spirit's work to bring us to salvation. The spirit works to awaken a sinner to the fact that you're lost. You're lost without God. It's the Holy Spirit who convinces you that you need to come to God through Christ. And He does that through the preaching of what is called the gospel. It doesn't come through just the singing. It doesn't come through someone giving a pep talk from a pulpit. It doesn't come just because somebody gives their testimony. It doesn't even come because a miracle might have happened. It comes through the proclamation of the message of the gospel. And Paul said that in 1 Corinthians in chapter 117 and 18 where he said Christ didn't send me to baptize but to preach the gospel. Not with wisdom of words, lest a cross of Christ should be made of no effect. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. But to us who are being saved, it's the power of God. In Romans 1.16, he said, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. It is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes to the Jew first and also for the Greek. You see, the Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin. The Holy Spirit convicts the world of righteousness. Righteousness is God's standard for entrance into heaven and his standard is perfection. In heaven, there is no sin. God will not allow sin filled people to enter in. The Bible in the Old Testament book of Habakkuk in chapter one, verse 13, speaking of God says you are of pure eyes than to behold evil and cannot look on wickedness. The Spirit awakens people to God's standard and convicts them of sin. It requires the Holy Spirit to do this because people do not admit their own evil willingly. In Proverbs 20, verse six, most men will proclaim each his own goodness. But who can find a faithful man? If something is wrong or going bad, a lot of times people won't admit to it. It's always somebody else's fault. So the Holy Spirit awakens us to his standard of righteousness and then convicts us of our own sin. Again, it requires the Spirit because men will proclaim their own goodness. We need to remember that sin has created a gulf between a holy God and a sinful man. In Isaiah 59, one and two, the prophet wrote, behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot save nor is here heavy that it cannot hear. Your iniquities have separated you from your God. Your sins have hidden his face from you so that he will not hear. We are by nature sinful. We do not meet the standard that God requires, but Jesus did. And the Holy Spirit convinces us that we need his righteousness. In Romans chapter four, verses four and five, it says to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace, but as debt. But to him who does not work, but believes on him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness. You don't work your way into heaven. You believe your way into heaven through Jesus Christ. Jesus illustrated this in a parable he gave concerning a king who had arranged a marriage for his son. And the Bible tells us how the king sent his servants out to call those who were invited to the wedding. But the invited guests refused to come. Everything he said is prepared. So the king sent the servants to encourage guests to come, come to the feast. But the scripture says they made light of it and they went about their regular business. Some even went so far as to take his servants, injuring some and killing others. Well at this the king moved swiftly, he destroyed the murderers, destroyed their city. He then invited everybody to come. Any that they were to come across. He sent his servants out and said, compel them to come. Well one man came, but he didn't have on what is called a wedding garment. And the Bible tells us Jesus illustrates it by saying the king saw him and asked him how he had dared to enter without proper attire. And the result was that the man was taken and cast out into outer darkness. He tried to enter in by his own clothing. His own clothing of righteousness. You see, if I didn't have proper attire at that time to enter in, the attire would be provided by the host. I don't have the proper clothing for a wedding I would say, but I had to humble myself to receive what they had prepared for me to wear. This guy just came in. And that's why the king said, how'd you get in here without the proper attire? And the point Jesus is making is very simple. You cannot enter in with your own righteousness. We need a righteousness that's provided for us and it's greater than our own. There's nobody listening to this study right now whose righteousness is sufficient in and of itself. We need Jesus's righteousness. In the book of Titus in the New Testament, chapter three, verse five, we read not by works of righteousness, which we've done, but according to his mercy, he saved us to the washing of regeneration, the renewing of the Holy Spirit. And so when you come to faith in Christ, you receive his righteousness. It's called imputed. It's given to you. It's something you didn't have. Paul says it like this in 2 Corinthians 521. He made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him. So you receive Christ through the conviction of the Holy Spirit. You're awakened to your own unrighteousness and your need for righteousness. And then finally, the Spirit is gonna convict the world of judgment. Jesus defeated Satan on the cross and the Spirit helps people to judge who Jesus is. The defeat of Satan wasn't just a show of power. It was an act of justice, evil was defeated. And even as Satan was judged, those who reject the free gift of salvation will also be judged. The Spirit convinces us that judgment awaits us and draws us to receive forgiveness. But if we reject the conviction, we're left to reap the results of our own decision. Revelation 20 verse 15 says, anyone not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. When we share the gospel, we do so with the knowledge that the Spirit works within us. We teach and we preach God's word with the certainty that he honors it. We teach with the understanding that he convicts those who are listening. So we must teach with this knowledge if we're gonna see results that last, which is why we teach the whole counsel of God. God, it's not our personality. It's not our testimony. It's not our intelligence. It's not a boasting of our own eloquence. It's simply teaching God's word simply and not quenching the Holy Spirit. He convinces the world of sin, of righteousness and judgment. And these words that Jesus is speaking are intended to strengthen his disciples because the days that are before them are gonna be very difficult. So you need to rest in the promises and presence of God that you might be able to go out to the work of ministry and see the fruit that comes. Now there may be some right now the Holy Spirit is speaking to and he has said to you, you're under conviction and he has said to you, you're not righteous and you're awaiting judgment. That's the work of the Spirit. And if you wanna give your heart to Christ and you need to right now, and you can do so, you can say, God be merciful to me. I'm a sinner, forgive me if my sins cleansed me. I'm dirty, I'm unrighteous, God help me. Maybe you're religious. Maybe you're thinking within yourself right now, I'm a religious person, I'm watching a Bible study on TV. It doesn't matter. If you haven't given your heart to Christ, you're still lost, you're just a religious sinner. What you need is Jesus Christ's righteousness. And your heart is telling you right now, the Holy Spirit's convicting you right now and you're aware. Well, it's time to give your heart to Christ. I wanna invite you to do that. So would you bow your head with me right now? We're gonna pray and I'm gonna ask you to open your heart to Jesus Christ right now. Father, I lift up those who are listening to this study and I pray in your name that you by your Holy Spirit would speak to them. And Father, there are some right now in some other country, perhaps some other state or maybe someplace local. But there's somebody listening right now who needs to get right with you, maybe several. And I'm asking in Jesus' name that you would reach down now and you would touch them. As they open their hearts to you Lord and they say, God be merciful to me. Lord, may your Holy Spirit fill them as your blood washes them and may they be new. May they become your temple right now. As they say, God come into my life, forgive me my sins. I turn from them and I open my heart to you. For Lord, you have said if we confess our sin that you are faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness I can take place right now. And if any man is in Christ, he's a new creation all things become new. And so Lord, I ask that you would work right now in people's lives. And if you have a heart to receive Christ I'm gonna say a simple prayer. And if you from your heart can repeat this and ask Christ to come into your life, you can be saved. I would just ask you to pray with me. And to say, Father forgive me, I'm a sinner. Jesus died on the cross to save sinners. Jesus died to save me. Forgive me of my sins, cleanse me, give me a new life. I will follow you every day from this day forward in Jesus' name, amen. And if you prayed with me just now, please give us a call. Let us know, we wanna send you a Bible. We wanna have connection with you because that's what happens when you get saved. You become part of the family of God and we wanna be part of that with you. Please call us. And also I'll just close by saying, Father in Jesus' name may your word continue going forth reaching people bringing hope to those who are hopeless, awakening faith in those who are losing it. Lord, I pray that you would be with all of us now. Bring comfort to us. And Lord for those who are ill, Lord in Jesus' name touch, heal. And we thank you Lord for these things now. We look forward to being able to rejoin our brothers and sisters throughout the world. We all are looking forward to that but until that moment may we be faithful and serve you and we give you all thanks in Jesus' name, amen.