Hello, everyone! I want to say good morning, and welcome you to join once again in sharing in the Word of the Lord. I am truly thankful that God has given us another day, another time to come into His Word, to begin to seek His face. I thank God today that as the world seems to be in an upheaval as so many things are happening, yet God solidifies His people. He calls us to be strong in His Word. He calls us to be strong in His Spirit, and like never before, come close to Him so that the world may see and know through His people— through those who love Him, those who follow Him— that God is God.

Today, I would like to talk about God's Advocate. God's Advocate. We’re in a time that, as I peek at the news and I listen to what’s happening, I see all the uprising and different types of people advocating for different things that they believe in. Some are advocating for rights. Some are advocating for what they think should be done in our society, whatever it may be. As Christians, what are we to do in such a time? What is God calling us to do? The answer is found in the Word of the Lord.

"He is advocating for one thing and one thing alone: Come back to the living God! "

God has given us an Advocate; He is the Spirit of God. He is the Holy Spirit, and He is advocating for one thing and one thing alone: Come back to the living God! Return to the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn from wickedness. Turn from evil. Turn from this world, and turn to the One who has called us to Himself, that has called us to love Him with all of our heart, our soul, our mind, and strength. Come back to the One who will one day judge the entire world and all of the nations according to whether they lived for God or not. He is advocating this day, “Come. Come.”

"God has given us an Advocate: the Holy Spirit. "

God has given us an Advocate: the Holy Spirit. Now, how do we know that we are walking with Him? How do we know that the Spirit is within us? How do we know that we are living in Him? It is so crucial that we look at this and examine this in our lives to know that the advocate that God has given is within us— so that in this time, in our nation, in the world we know that we are on God's side, that we are truly walking with Him.

We are going to look at John chapter 16 and, beginning at verse seven, we are going to be reading a few verses there. This is a perfect place to begin in learning of God’s Advocate, about the spirit of God. It is the very words of Jesus, who was about to leave this world to go to the cross. He was about to enter into His glory and do the work that God has called Him to do, but here He's leaving His disciples with very specific words about who the Advocate would be. Looking at verse seven, Jesus says, “But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.” We know that the mighty work that Jesus had done and all the plan that God had would be that He would now send the Advocate, The Spirit of God.

Back to the question of before: How do we know that we are in the Spirit? How do we know that we are filled with the Spirit of God and really walking with Him? Well, it says right here in the verse, and the first thing is that we are walking in conviction. We are walking in conviction. It says in verse eight, “When He comes, He will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because people do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.” As the Spirit of God is alive in our life, if He's truly within us, if we are truly walking in Christ, there is a conviction. He says that He will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment. When the Spirit of God enters into our lives, as we look to Christ, when we trust Him and the Spirit of God comes alive, the first markings is a walk of conviction.

Many believe that when the Spirit comes it's about all of a sudden that we’re dancing more, or jumping higher, or maybe we are just simply all of a sudden better people, and a lot of other things. And I'm not saying that God doesn’t bring joy. The Spirit of God is the Spirit of joy. He brings peace, and brings all sorts of wonderful things, but in order to really come into those things of God it begins with His work of conviction. He says that when He comes, He will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin. The Spirit of God, when He is alive and active in our lives, we are seeing our sin against the Lord. We, all of a sudden, are beginning to walk this walk of understanding the wickedness and the evil that we've lived apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the work of God.

"The Spirit of God brings a conviction that draws us back to the Father "

In the book of Acts, when Peter preached the first sermon, it says that the Spirit of God was with him and God began to speak through him. And what was the reaction of the 3,000 that were there? The Word of the Lord says that they were “cut to the heart.” And what is that picture of? What would you be seeing if you were there? These men and women that had received the Word of the Lord— that received the Word of the Lord Jesus— they were convicted. They were struck to the heart. Something happened in them. The Advocate began to advocate for God that we have sinned against Him, that we have lived our lives going our own way, that we have walked away from His laws, that we have become a lawless people, that we have become a rebellious people and He begins to call us back to the Father. The Spirit of God brings a conviction that draws us back to the Father, no longer to ourselves, no longer to the world, but it says: “Come. Return back to the Lord.”

He begins to prove us of the sin of our lives. He begins to prove our wrongs, not for condemnation, but simply for freedom. You cannot be free out of the chains until you realize that you have chains on. You cannot be free from rebellion until the Spirit of God awakens you to say, “You know, you have been rebellious here.” You cannot be free from hatred, or anger, or darkness, or any other sin until the Holy Spirit begins to awaken our eyes and really advocates on behalf of the law and the goodness of God to see how we have fallen short. And praise God today that, in that conviction, we can rise into true freedom.

What is this freedom? It's a freedom that conviction brings to be free from our sin. For us to walk in conviction when the spirit of God is really in us, there may be a circumstance or situation that where we’re about to maybe say something that's going hurt somebody, or we’re going to maybe speak to our spouse or our children in a certain way that is wrong, and all of a sudden, the Spirit of God is working in us. We’re not going to say whatever we just want to say, or we’re not going to do whatever we want to do, because no longer are we ruled by our darkness or by our own ways and our own thinking, but now the Spirit of God is working in you, working in me, with a conviction to stop and go, “Wait a minute. I can't say this. I can't say it that way. No. No. No. Even though my flesh is saying ‘Do it’, I know that the Spirit of God is saying not to.” What freedom! Praise God that we are now to be free from our sin and now free to walk in the conviction of God that sets us free from darkness, that will allow us to live a life of no longer living in sin, but a free life to serve God because the Spirit of God is leading us to do so. This is conviction.

Many preach messages today where people leave and they feel good about themselves. They feel a whole lot better. And again, I'm not saying that God doesn't do certain things in our life to bring about a joy, but none of those things are complete until the Spirit of God— just as he did in the book of Acts— begins to “cut to the heart.” Many may preach a message that only kind of touches the heart a little bit, but that is not what God is calling us to. He's calling us to receive the Spirit of God, to receive the Word of the Lord that will awaken us, that will “cut to the heart” so that we would now come alive to God. We cannot come alive to God, we cannot arise out of our deadness, until we see what has caused us to die, our very sin, and our very turning from God.

"that as we walk in that conviction...we would also find hope and life in the Lord Jesus Christ"

Today, have you been “cut to the heart”? Are you walking in the conviction of the Spirit? If you have called upon the name of the Lord Jesus, if He is working in you and you are walking in that conviction, praise God. But if you are stopping and wondering, “You know, I have never felt that conviction. I have never truly looked at my sin for what it is. I have not truly understood what I have done against God,” then I pray today that you would turn to the Lord Jesus; that you would call upon His name that He would come, and that the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ would touch your heart; that the Advocate would come in, the One who would advocate on behalf of God and His truth; that you may be set free this day and begin a new walk, a walk that begins in conviction, now seeing our error apart from God and never ever again willing to walk apart from His presence, never again willing to walk apart from calling upon Him and praying and seeking His face to examine our lives every single day, to examine our hearts; that He would prove about sin, but also about righteousness, because He was going to the Father, where, although we may need not see Him anymore, we would know His righteousness; that as we walk in that conviction we would also find hope and life in the Lord Jesus Christ— hope because His conviction convicts us of what is right.

Not only does it convict us of our wrongs and convict us of what not to do, but the Spirit of God also convicts us to do what is right, to follow God. It's the Spirit where we may make the plans for our day, we may be going about our jobs or our schooling and may be doing different things, but the Spirit of God, all of a sudden, is urging us to pray for someone. It’s urging us to make that phone call that we needed to make. He's urging us to begin to come into the Word and to come into a certain Scripture, or to be there for somebody or for something. But bottom line: this conviction is so hopeful because it leads us to doing the work and the will of God. If the Spirit of God be within us, there is a conviction that leads us to righteousness, helps us to understand what is right, and to do that which God has called us.

Are we walking in that conviction today?

In a time where everybody is looking to judge what is right or wrong, or everybody's looking to judge and advocate for what they believe should be brought forward, whatever laws they think should happen, or how society should be run, you see, the Holy Spirit teaches us. He advocates about judgment, knowing that God is the Almighty judge, that He will be the judge of those who walk with Him. Those covered in the Lord Jesus Christ are filled with His Spirit, walking in conviction, no longer in darkness— He will judge them accordingly. They find life. They find light. They find hope. But He is also the judge of the wicked, those who refuse to bow before Him, those who refuse to humble themselves before God who is King— they will also stand condemned with the prince of this world. He is the Mighty Judge, and God is calling us to Himself this day. He is calling us to walk in the Spirit by coming into Christ, by coming into Jesus.

"In His conviction we are brought to life"

How do you know that God’s Advocate is with you? How do you know that you are walking in the Spirit? When you are walking in conviction. When you're walking in the conviction and the truth and the Word of the Lord that the Spirit brings every single day. Will you step into that place with God? Will you call upon the Holy Spirit to say, “Spirit of God, work in me.” We can stop and say, “Lord, search my heart. Holy Spirit, search me and see if there is any offensive way in me.” And as we begin to draw near to Him and as we pray, He speaks. As that conviction hits in our life, at first it may not be so comfortable. Many times, it may not seem to be something that allows you to sit still and just kind of sit back; it will wake you up. But praise God! In His conviction we are brought to life and into light where we can now move for the work of the Lord. Now, we can begin to advocate just as the Spirit has done in our lives for the work and the Word of the Lord. What a call!

"The Spirit of God is alive within us when we are walking in His truth"

Secondly, how do we know that we are filled with the Spirit of God? That we are walking with God’s Advocate? We know because we are walking in the truth. Let's look at verse 13. It says, “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; He will speak only what He hears, and He will tell you what is yet to come.” And so, we know that the Spirit of God is alive within us when we are walking in His truth. Why? Because He is the Spirit of all truth and He will lead us into all truth.

That is so important because He's not speaking about a twisted truth. He doesn’t bring a contaminated truth, where it’s a little bit of my own thoughts and a little bit of my own desire with a little bit of what God says. No! This is a complete, pure truth of God in our lives that we are submitted to, that we are walking in. It's a truth that will tell us when we are wrong and it's a truth that we are to bow to at all times to say, “Father, yes, I submit to that truth.” It’s a truth that unites us to God. Jesus is the truth and when we are in the truth of God, we are also in Christ.

It's a truth that brings unity. You see, Church, the Church was meant not to just be a people that just go to church on Sunday mornings or meet here and there and just talk a little bit. The Church was meant to be those filled with the Spirit of God, each of us playing our part, being filled with the truth, walking in truth so that we would be united as one. Can you imagine if one person had this idea of truth, and that person had this idea, and everybody just kind of did their own thing? It would be chaotic and it would not work. But praise God! He has sent the Advocate. The one who would lead us into all truth, guide us into all truth because He doesn't speak on His own, but He will speak only what He hears and He will tell us what is to come. He will tell us about the Father. He will tell us about the Son.

And in turn, as we come to know God in such a way, as we come into truth, we really come to know Him. And we know that to know God is eternal life. It is life, the life of God, where we’re no longer living like the rest of the world. We’re no longer just doing our own thing, but we’re walking in the life and the light of God that is united. United with God, united with one another, united with our pastors, united with our families because the truth of God is just that: it is pure, it is uniting, and it is powerful.

"The beginning of really understanding the truth is that Christ alone is our hope"

We have a powerful advocate today. If we walk in the Spirit, then it means that we are walking in the truth. This truth is so powerful because it always reminds us of who we are without Christ. The beginning of really understanding the truth is that Christ alone is our hope, that apart from Him there is no good thing, that apart from Christ, we have no hope. To live in the truth is to, every moment of the day, be walking humbly with the Lord Jesus Christ, knowing that if I were to turn to the left, that if I were to turn to the right, I would perish apart from Him. But even this day, to walk in the truth. If for a moment I begin to sway, if for a moment I begin to go the wrong direction, I can come back to the truth and say, “Holy Spirit, lead me into truth. Lead me into the ways everlasting. Lead me into the walk that you have called me to walk. And praise God this day, yes, when I am weak, He is strong.” Because those who carry the Spirit? We carry the truth of God.

What is the truth? Jesus is the truth. And when Christ comes— when Christ is within us— we are able to stand strong. We are able no longer to be swayed left and right, no longer to be divided, but to be one with Him. The truth is: He is the living God. I think of when He spoke to Peter, and Peter looked at Him, and He said, “Who do you say I am, Peter?” He says, “You are Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus looked at him and said, “This is the rock, this is the truth. That revelation— knowing that I am all your all and all, I am the King— this will be what the Church stands on.”

"...the truth shall come and the truth shall set you free"

Church, today, we have something so precious: the truth of God. But today, if you are thinking: “You know what, I have not walked in the truth,” today, maybe you have realized that the truth in your life has been contaminated, it's been a little bit of God and a little bit of self, it's been a little bit of this and a little bit of that, then God says today: “Come to the Lord Jesus.” Let the Spirit of God begin to touch your life, and you will know it because the truth shall come and the truth shall set you free— set you free from the sinfulness of our flesh, set us free from doing our own thing, set us free from being in bondage to our rebelliousness and to our waywardness, and now free to follow God, free to love one another as Christ loved His Church, free to love God as Christ loved His Father. “And you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.”

"Are you standing in the truth today?"

We are those who walk in the truth. If we truly have the Spirit of God, then our life and our walk is shown by how much truth that we have. Are you standing in the truth today? Are you walking in the conviction of God? As the world is in an upheaval for so many— fighting for what's right or what they think is wrong, many people advocating for their beliefs and what they think should be happening in society or in the world, whatever it may be— today, we have an Advocate. He is the Spirit of God, and He's saying, “Come home.” He is saying, “People of God, if you be a Christian, if you be those who are calling upon the Lord Jesus Christ, then let me work in you. Walk in conviction. Let my conviction begin to touch you. Hear the Word of the Lord and let it move you. Let it call you from darkness into light. Let this conviction, let the Spirit of God, touch you every single day.”

May we be those saying, “Father examine my life this moment. Examine me, Father. See if there's anything offensive and not fit so that your Spirit will be able to come even deeper within me.” So that even though the world may be in a craze, Father, we would be those who can demonstrate that you are yet God, and you are alive; you are able to touch a man. You're able to touch a woman or a young child and bring them into light, and to be able to cause them to be those who live as though they are born of God, those who are born of heaven, born of the Lord Jesus Christ, that we would also be those who walk in the truth; that we wouldn’t go about what we think is “right or wrong”, but we are those who choose the truth.

Spirit of God, move within us this day. I'm asking, God, that you would also bring the power of the Gospel, the Gospel that turns us from evil and turns us to the living God, to the Lord Jesus Christ that we would bring Him glory; that we would be those that would be able to show and to demonstrate to the world that God is alive, that He is the King, that He is the judge of all, and that those who look to Him find hope and life, and those who turn from Him yet will perish.

Father, this day we thank you for your Word. Thank you, Jesus, that as you had gone away to go to the cross, to rise again, to step into the Kingdom of Heaven, you did it knowing that as you went away, Father, you would send the Advocate, that you would send such a blessing, the gift of God: the Spirit of God. Lord, thank you.

I pray today that we would not take for granted what God has offered this day: hope and life. But it comes as the Spirit of God is walking and convicting and moving within us, and bringing about His truth. Will we step into that today, Church? I praise God that He has made a way. I thank God that He has sent His Son, that we would not be on our own, we would not be left as orphans as He says, but we would be united with Him and we would be united with one another.

So bless each one of you guys, today. May we go deeper into this Word. I encourage you to read this entire chapter. And may we be those who rise, advocating for the name of the Lord Jesus Christ by walking in that conviction and walking in His truth. May the world see and know this day that He is alive and that He is the King.