The World's Unwanted Conscience8/24/2016  Have you ever experienced the uncomfortable pricking of your conscience? Doesn’t it make you feel miserable and tie your insides up in knots after you’ve done something you shouldn’t have? It’s been said that the conscience is man’s internal moral compass pointing out the difference between right and wrong. Well, the world also has a conscience whether it knows and appreciates it or not. Its name is the Holy Spirit. Although the Holy Spirit was promised in John 14, Jesus goes back and continues to share its purpose in John 16, with one of them being to convict the world concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment. “And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.”
~John 16:8-10
Comments
The Reason Why8/9/2016  As we close out our time in John 15 and move on to chapter sixteen, Jesus gives us the perfect segue as He continues to impart life-giving teaching to His disciples. He gives us the reason why He’s investing so much time and energy into the teachings and doctrines of the Upper Room Discourse. So take a look at this verse: “I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away.”
~John 16:1 Without Excuse8/4/2016 As we come to the end of John 15, a few verses pop out at me as an important word for us.  “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father.” ~John 15:22-24 In this passage, Jesus is speaking of the world and more specifically the Pharisees who persecuted and hated Him despite the signs and wonders He had done among them. They were the descendants of Abraham, the treasurers of God’s promises, the academic elite, and the ones to whom the entire nation of Israel looked to for spiritual knowledge and guidance. The Pharisees knew all the promises about the coming Messiah, but when they finally saw Him they rejected Him and refused to believe that Jesus was the One. Amazing right?!
|