8 When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; 10 in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11 and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.
In our verses for today, Jesus tells His guys upon his departure, the Holy Spirit will come down in full force – in vastly increased power – convicting and convincing the world of sin and righteousness and judgment. It is the Holy Spirit’s job to convict – silencing the adversaries of Christ and His cause. He first convicts and then He comforts – opening the wound and then applying the healing balm.
No one can deny that after the day of Pentecost the Comforter did and continues to do just that. The Holy Spirit sent forth and strengthened the unlearned and lowly ragamuffin band of disciples to preach the Gospel after our Lord’s ascension and, quite frankly, turned the world upside down through this handful of cracked clay pots. In a mere two to three centuries, the Spirit altered habits, practices and tastes of the entire civilized world leaving changed ways and lives and opinions in His wake. He accomplished this miracle by using vessels with no special graces or eloquence (there is hope for me yet!). How like God – His greatest miracles done in the most obscure vessels – the One who gives the power gets the glory! Still in this malignant world He continues to savingly convict many in every age and in every place. Miracles always point to His power, not mans. We find the following description of two of the most well know disciples of Christ in Acts which is certainly anything but glowing:
13 When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. Acts 4:13 (NIV)
Jesus had promised His guys they would not have to worry about what to say or how to say it because the Spirit would be speaking through them. We find His Word to them in Matthew:
17 “Be on your guard against men; they will hand you over to the local councils and flog you in their synagogues. 18 On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. 19 But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, 20 for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” Matt 10:17-20 (NIV)
“After the day of Pentecost the Holy Ghost, the great Advocate of Me and my people, shall come into this world with such mighty power that He shall silence, convince, and stop the mouths of your enemies, and oblige them, however unwillingly, to think of Me and My cause very differently from what they think now. In particular, He shall convince them of their own sin, of my righteousness, and of the victory which I have won over Satan. He shall, in short, be a crushing Advocate whom the world shall not be able to resist or gainsay.” J. C. Ryle
A cursory look at Acts proves this to be true. It is clear from the narrative of the earlier portion of Acts that after Pentecost there was an irresistible power accompanying the work of the Apostles which the unbelieving Jews and Gentiles were unable to withstand. Even though men may have remained unconverted, their opinions were completely transformed. The Spirit sufficiently provides for the silencing of the prejudices and objections of the world against the gospel.
Jesus tells us in these verses the Spirit was sent first to convict sinners of sin – the fact of sin, the fault of sin, the folly of sin and the fruit of sin – and that the end of all sin is death. He centers His conviction on their sin of unbelief – all sin begins there – it is the great reigning sin. When God speaks to us through His Son and we refuse Him Who speaks, it is the great ruining sin as every sin is against the remedy of Jesus Christ. The true reason why sin reigns is that man is not united to Christ by faith.
Secondly, the Spirit convicts the world of Christ’s personal righteousness. Having shown men their need for righteousness, He now shows them where it is to be found. Certainly, Jesus was as the centurion confessed at the crucifixion:
47 The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, "Surely this was a righteous man." 48 When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. Luke 23:47-48 (NIV)
Lastly, the Comforter convicts in regard to judgment - the devil was judged. He was revealed to be the great deceiver and destroyer. He is rid from the souls of men by the grace of God through the gospel of Christ. The prince of this world now stands condemned – his power disarmed by Jesus:
13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. Col 2:13-15 (NIV)