We began a series of messages last week on the general theme: THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT in bringing sinners to Christ and savingly joining them to Him by faith.
We desire to continue this theme today and show you why this work is of a necessity if any soul is to be saved. We read in Eph. 2:1-3 these words: “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.”
Therefore, since God’s salvation has been planned for His people who are dead in trespasses and sins, then the Third Person of the blessed Trinity must come, and willl come, to quicken (make alive) these dead souls and draw them unto Christ. This is exactly the work ascribed to Him in John 16:8-14 in these words: “When he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they believe not on me; of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speck of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speck: and he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you.”
We hear our Lord saying here that “When he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will reprove [convince] of sin, because they believe not in me. We learn from this Scripture then that the Holy Spirit convinces the sinner of the state of sin, which is a state of UNBELIEF. Every man is in a state of unbelief by nature therefore, every man must be convinced of this state, convicted of this state, and given power by the Holy Spirit to turn to God in true saving faith with a reliance upon the truthfulness of God’s Word and the truthfulness of God Himself Who cannot lie. Now my friend, if you have never been convicted by the Holy Spirit of the sin of unbelief, then you do not know what true saving faith is, for true saving faith is a gift of God; we cannot work it up for it is a grace, and grace is of love.
You will ask then, “Wherein does sinfulness of unbelief lie? of what does it consist? Listen? If, as Rom. 4:20 tells us, faith gives glory to God, then unbelief casts reproach and scorn upon Him and calls Him a liar. Remember, now as we go into this second message on THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN OUR SALVATION, we are going to show you the necessity of this work by bringing before you the state of sin in which every soul lies outside of Christ and that is A STATE OF UNBELIEF.
This then is the first work of the Holy Spirit in the soul: to reprove or convince us of this awful state in which we dwell, with our backs as it were toward God, and our minds and affections alienated from Him and set on the things of sense and time. It is because the Holy Spirit has never convicted sinners of the awfulness of unbelief that has led to this wholesale “easy- believism” today which leaves the soul without true life and conversion.
Again the question is asked: “Wherein does sinfulness of unbelief lie? of what does it consist? First I would say its sinfulness lies in the fact IT ROBS GOD OF THE HONOR OF ALL HIS ATTRIBUTES. If the only way God can be revealed unto us is in His attributes, then robbing God of the honor of His attributes is the sinfulness of unbelief. Therefore, unbelief strikes at the sovereignty and authority of God. As His subjects, as His creatures, we owe Him the right of believing His Word, obeying what He has commanded, and following Him with all our hearts. But unbelief tells us we do not owe God so much; therefore, our wills and hearts are against Him in unbelief. Being ignorant of God’s righteousness and going about to establish your own righteousness, you have not submitted unto the righteousness of God (Rom. 10:1-3). Therein lies the sinfulness of unbelief. IT ROBS GOD OF HIS SOVEREIGNTY. My friend, this does not mean that God is not sovereign, but it does mean that as a reprobate creature you will be punished for setting aside His claims over your life through your unbelief.
The sinfulness of this state of sin, this state of unbelief, strikes at the HOLINESS AND RIGHTEOUSNESS of God. “How can this be done?” you ask. Listen! Rom. 3:25 sets before us the Lord Jesus Christ as a propitiation for sin, to declare the righteousness of God, and to declare that His holiness was not set aside in the work of Christ for sinners. Therefore, unbelief casts this gracious and merciful act of God back in His face, saying that this act was unrighteous because such a sacrifice was not necessary seeing the sinner is not in such a awful state of sin. Oh what an awful state unbelief is then when it casts back in God’s face His salvation in Christ!
The sinfulness of this state of sin, this state of unbelief, strikes at the POWER OF GOD. We say in our hearts, “The all powerful God Who made heaven and earth is not sufficient for me. I must have another god or many other gods like Israel in the wilderness when they bowed down to the golden calf and were told: “These, O Israel, are the gods which brought you out of Egypt.” Oh how this sin of unbelief strikes at the POWER OF GOD, when it says God is not powerful enough to save us, take care of us, feed us, defend us, hold us, and keep us from all sin; yea, even to break its power over us so that we need never again to bow at its altar! Again, I say this sin of unbelief strikes at the power of God by saying He cannot keep us from harm, take care of the weather, provide that which is needful, and keep us to the end when we have cast ourselves into His everlasting arms.
My friend, are you beginning to see the reason the Holy Spirit must convince us of this sin of unbelief? It is because it robs God of His HONOR and GLORY.
The sinfulness of this state of sin-this state of unbelief-strikes at the WISDOM of God. You see, unbelief charges God with being stupid, senseless, and foolish for making His Son a sacrifice for man’s salvation. It tells God that this work was a needless work, for surely there was some other way that a sinner could have been saved, that man really was not this sinful and destitute to require God to come down Himself in the Person of His Son to offer Himself without spot to God for the salvation of sinful man. Oh, my friend, do you see what a state of sin unbelief is, when IT CHARGES THE ALL- WISE GOD WITH FOLLY IN THE DEATH OF HIS SON?
The sinfulness of this state of sin, this state of unbelief, shows itself in striking at God’s TRUTHFULNESS. The Scripture says that he who believes sets to his seal that God is true, but unbelief makes God guilty of perjury; it calls Him a liar. What saith the Scripture? “If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son. He that believeth not the record that God gave of his Son” (I John 5:9-10).
What a charge against every soul outside of Christ under the sound on my voice today, a charge of slander against God-calling God a liar! If you have not believed in Christ to the saving of your soul, O that the Holy Spirit will convince of this awful state of sin that you are in today!
Listen on this point further, and let God, as it were, defend Himself against such a charge of being a liar. In Heb. 6:17-20, not only does God give of His Word, His promise, but He swears by Himself that He is not a liar, that He is trustworthy: “Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: that by two immutable things (by His Word and by His oath) in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, booth sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus.” What shall we say then to this? “Let God be true, but every man a liar” (Rom. 3:4). God is trustworthy; He cannot lie; He will not lie; He shall bring to pass all that He promised He would do.
The sinfulness of this state of sin, this state of unbelief, shows itself in striking at God’s GOODNESS. How? My friend, no greater act of love could spring from eternity than that of our living God’s parting with His only Delight in heaven by sending forth from His very bosom His only Son to become the Sin-Offering for His people. No greater love could be shown than this: that God would empty heaven to save one soul from his sins and punishment in hell. And I praise Him that that soul was mine. I know there are many others, but I praise Him that He saved my soul.
In the SECOND PLACE, the sinfulness of this state of unbelief not only strikes at the attributes of God, but IT STRIKES AT THE PERSON WHOM HE SENT TO WORK THE WORK OF REDEMPTION, CHRIST HIMSELF.
Unbelief strikes at the GLORY OF HIS CONDESCENSION, because it says that it was not necessary that He come.
Unbelief strikes at the HUMBLENESS OF HIS SPIRIT in becoming a servant, a bondslave, so that He could, by His death, deliver those who through fear of death were in bondage to sin and Satan.
Unbelief strikes at the GLORY OF CHRIST IN HIS OBEDIENCE UNTO DEATH, even the death of the cross, because it makes that obedience of none effect to your never-dying soul.
Unbelief strikes at the GLORY OF CHRIST IN HIS DYING LOVE FOR SINNERS, for it turns this love into a sentimental thing instead of the outpouring of the heart of Christ in true love. Surely Christ died with a broken heart over the sins of His people.
Unbelief strikes at the GLORY OF THE LORDSHIP OF CHRIST, because it says, “I will not bow to His authority; this Man shall not rule over me!” But, my friend, you are wrong; for God’s Word says that “God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:9-11).
Yes, unbelief might deny Him here and not bow to His authority, but there is coming a day when the blindness of unbelief shall be taken away and to that same Jesus, Whom you have despised and rejected here, you shall bow as Lord, to the glory of God the Father. But my dear friend, there will be no mercy then; for only in this life can you be saved.
Unbelief also strikes at the SUFFICIENCY OF CHRIST: the greatness of His priesthood, the fulness of His satisfaction, His prevailing intercession. Yes, it rejects Him in all of His offices as Prophet, Priest and King. Unbelief says, “I can have no benefit from Him, therefore I will leave Him alone.” Unbelief says, “No Prophet for me! I do not need a teacher; I have wisdom within myself for my needs. No Priest for me! I need no perfect Sacrifice for my sins. My good deeds will outweigh my bad deeds. I need no one to intercede for me.” Unbelief says, “No King for me! I will bow to no other authority but my own.” Yes, you say that in your heart: “No Prophet for me! No Priest for me! No King for me!” But if the Holy Spirit ever convinces you of sin, of this awful state of unbelief you are in, you will cry unto Him for mercy. No one will have to tell you to pray the publican’s prayer, for you will go about like Job Crying, “O that I knew where I might find him!” or like Ephraim, “Turn me, Lord, and I shall be turned from my awful sin of unbelief;” or like Paul, “Who art thou, Lord? What do you want me to do?” or like Simon, the sorcerer, “Someone pray unto the Lord for me.”
My prayer has been all week, “Blessed Holy Spirit, do Thy work of convincing among these who hear today, that they may look to Christ and live!”
Sermon Source: L. R. Shelton, Jr.
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