“But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment. The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in me. Righteousness is available because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more. Judgment will come because the ruler of this world has already been judged.”
John 16:7-11 NLT
The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, was hovering in the wings, waiting for the time when Jesus left this world. He told His disciples that it was best for them if He went away, but I can just imagine them wondering about what all this means. You see, we pilgrims today have the benefit of hindsight, but the disciples were heading into, what was to them, unknown territory. They heard what Jesus said, but His words took them well outside their knowledge and comfort zones. Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would do something about sin, righteousness and judgement. He would “convict the world” on all three counts. In a court of law, a convicted person is then sentenced to some form of punishment. But the conviction that comes from the Holy Spirit is the exposure of the truth, showing unbelieving people that they are wrong and God is right.
This world is a sinful place, steeped in evil and wickedness. Sin first entered this world in the Garden of Eden and things have only worsened since. But I have met people who are convinced that they are not sinners because they claim to be “good people”. They say they don’t engage in what they perceive as sinful practices, like drinking excessively or taking drugs or going to places or doing things, they shouldn’t. In fact, they say, they do a lot of good work, befriending people, donating to the poor and charities, working in food banks, and so on. But none of this will mitigate their sin. Paul wrote in Romans 3:23, “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard”. Imagine that God’s pass mark, His “glorious standard”, was 100%. We then take a test that assess our sinlessness. And it may be that someone gets 50%. Another might even achieve 60%. Or another person, a bit of a rogue, might only get to 20%. But the results are the same – these three people are all defined as sinners because they didn’t reach the pass mark – 100%. And God has no time for a person’s excuse that he is better than another person – Paul said “everyone has sinned”.
We pilgrims know that we can preach the Gospel with passion and authority, but a sinful person will laugh at us, well, that is, until the Holy Spirit takes over, bringing conviction of sin. The gateway to repentance comes because the Holy Spirit will show a person that his or her lack of belief in God is sin. It is not the responsibility of us pilgrims to get people saved. The Holy Spirit will do that in a much more effective way. We deliver the message. The Holy Spirit brings conviction of sin. It may be that we have to persevere with our message, grasping every opportunity to present it, but the listeners have a choice, in the same way that we did before we became believers.
Father God. You have a plan for the salvation of mankind and we are Your willing messengers, sharing the Good News with the unbelieving people around us. Please lead us to the right people. In Jesus name. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 