Saturday, June 18, 2011
John 16:8, 14 "And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin … He will glorify Me ..."
CONVICTING AND COMFORTING
A friend once told me of a very telling conversation he once overheard at a luncheon after a funeral service. The pastor, he said, had preached a very good Law and Gospel sermon. A woman, however, felt just the opposite. In fact, she was livid with anger. "I didn't come to this church," she said, "to be told that I'm a sinner."
What that woman didn't realize was that the Holy Spirit had been working on her self-righteous heart through the Bible message preached by the pastor during the funeral service. Jesus teaches us that the Helper -- the Holy Spirit -- works in the world to convict people of their sin. Through the public preaching and private sharing of God's Holy Law, the Spirit strives with human hearts in order that we may see our desperate need for a Savior.
The Spirit's ultimate goal is to get us to despair of our own worthless attempts to merit salvation, so that he may then glorify Jesus in our hearts. He convicts us in order that He may comfort us with the sweet news of a free and full salvation won for all by God's own Son.
Psychiatrists and secular counselors are helpless to treat the root problem that affects most of their patients, namely guilt. The Holy Spirit, on the other hand, is a perfect counselor, with just the kind of therapy we need. He knows how to mend a guilt torn soul, as He lays on our hearts the love of a forgiving Savior-God.
Holy Ghost with pow'r divine
Cleanse this guilty heart of mine;
In Thy mercy pity me,
From sin's bondage set me free
(The Lutheran Hymnal, 234:3)
