Niklaus Baughn: Thank you. It's good to be back. And you guys, I I just want to say this. This is not anywhere in my notes, but I just feel like led by the Spirit to say this in this moment, you guys are an extremely great church to be able to come and preach to. Like there's one thing, I don't remember who the pastor is who said it. He said, A mark of a healthy church is crying babies and singing men. And every time I come here, I hear those two things. Amen. I love it. I was sitting here beside Blake and I looked at Blake, I said, I told you they sing loud. And he's like, Yeah, I don't even know what they're singing because I can't hear myself singing as loud as they are. Man, I am so thankful to be back here with you guys. I did want to give you all an update 'cause I had a couple of people ask. I told you guys last time I was here about sharing the gospel with my grandmother and her placing faith in Jesus. She passed just a couple of weeks ago. And so two weeks ago, I was able to do her funeral. And many of my family are not believers. Most of the people they are honestly weren't believers. And I was able to stand up, share the gospel with them. And since then, man, there's been so much fruit of just gospel conversations happening. I just want to thank you guys for your prayers and the encouragement many of you guys have given just over the past couple of weeks as we've been walking through a really rough situation with the passing of my grandma. And she was really close to me. And so I really do want to thank you guys. But you know, over the last couple of weeks, having some time at home. and some time, you know, to do what we all do when we're sitting at the house doom scroll on social media. I don't know if you guys have ever gotten into a rabbit hole on your social media or TikTok or Instagram reels where next thing you know your life is completely wrapped up in something. So my TikTok and Instagram and Twitter or ex algorithm is really jacked up if I'm gonna be honest with you guys. It's like politics Disney. It's like church world An ESPN. it makes no sense. but a couple of weeks ago, actually probably a couple of months ago, I started getting this financial analyst start popping up on my feed. And I'm not gonna say his name, but if you've seen this guy, you would get him. he's like a younger version of Dave Ramsey, but mean with more hair. And so I started watching him and I'm like, okay, man, I'm I'm learning how I should invest better. I'm learning, you know, what I should do with my World 1K, all these great things. I'm like, okay, I'm learning a ton. But over the past couple of months, he's just gotten completely unhinged. It's become like Dave Ramsey meets Jerry Springer, and all these people are like fighting with each other. And it is my guilty pleasure. You know exactly who I'm talking about. And I mean these guys are finding themselves in the craziest of situations. And so my wife, her algorithm is nowhere like that. So one night I'm sitting there with her and I just start showing her these videos on her phone because, when you have a date night, what do you do other than sit there and watch people who are complete strangers argue about their financial situation? That's romance right there, okay? And so we're sitting there, and so she gets into the rabbit hole with me. And next thing her know, her for you page is just covered with this guy's stuff, and she's sending it to me and she texts me and she's like, Hate you so much right now. I'm sitting here at work and all of a sudden hear his his face and his voice, and it's very annoying. And so our algorithms just kind of get us in these rabbit holes where we start saying, okay, this is what we need for life. Most of the time it's not just entertainment stuff, it's like, what do you need to make your life better? What are some things that could happen to make you live better, do better, look better? All of those things. Apparently, for me. My life would be better if I bought a new mattress that the Jonas brothers have, apparently. eat AG1, I mean take AG1, which they had samples of at Costco, it's disgusting. or if I just move, sell all my possessions and move to a hut in the Maldives. Like apparently my life would be better for that. But all of the things with our algorithms is that most of the time it's giving us something that we really just want anyways. Like it's not learning any it's not Teaching us anything new. It's having who we are, what we're looking at, and it's just giving us the things that we want. And the more we look at this, the more it begins to shape our lives. It begins to shape how we think, what we speak, how we live. And the thing I wonder so much is how much more, if our algorithms know us, does the one who created us know us? And how much more does he know what we actually need for life? And in John 16, what we're going to see is a picture that Jesus gives the disciples before his departure on what they actually need for life. And what Jesus tells them, what you actually need in this life is not for me to stay here with you. What you need is for me to leave. And the question and the reason for that is because he's going to send the Holy Spirit. And today, what the big idea of this message is, is that the Holy Spirit reveals the truth about Jesus. And leads us to follow him. So if you've got your Bibles, and I hope you do, we're going to be in Matt in John chapter 16, beginning in verse 4. And so, this is where we've been the past couple of weeks. We know, for the past couple of weeks, we've been in some of the last discourse. It's the night before Jesus is going to die, and he's talking to the disciples about their life. He's telling them about the crucifixion coming, and they know that Jesus is about to die, and they're becoming very famous. Fearful of that. Fearful of him leaving. And what he says to them in verse one through four, which you guys talked about a little bit last week, also affects them. But let's just read, beginning in verse one, what Jesus says. He says this I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. For they will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he's offering service to God. And they will do these things because they have not known the Father nor me. But I have said these things to you that when their hour comes, you may remember that I told them to you. I did not say these things to you from the beginning because I was with you. Jesus tells the disciples, Hey, here in just a couple of days, in a couple of months, they are going to kick you out of the synagogue. And that was a big deal to them in the first century. Back then, life was wrapped around the synagogue. It was wrapped around like the Sunday church experience. It was where they had their friends, their community, and there was no church online at the time. when you were kicked out of the synagogue, it was a big deal. And he also tells them that people that they are going to kill them because of their faith. And that they're going to do it thinking that they are worshiping God by killing them. In reality, it's doing the exact opposite. But persecution. happens to them and persecution still happens today. many of we all live in the Southeast and it's very easy for us to sit here and say, okay, persecution happens other places in the world, but it doesn't happen here. But it doesn't take long for you to look on the news or look on social media to see levels of persecution happening even here in Kerry and the Raleigh area. I mean persecution will happen. there's a pastor, I think his name is Josh Howerton, who says the birthmark of a Of a believer is a bullseye. Persecution is normal because the enemy is coming after those who have placed faith in Christ. But it's easy for us as believers to think that any form of opposition in this world means that God is opposing us. But what Jesus emphasizes is that no, it's a normal part of the Christian walk to face levels of persecution, not just from the world, but also even from your own family. But now imagine that you're these disciples and you've left everything you have to follow after Jesus, and he's telling you, hey, I am leaving, and many of you are going to be killed because of me. How do you think they're feeling? Let's look at verse five. But now I am going to him who sent me. This is Jesus talking. And none of you even ask me where are you going? Because I've said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. And none of the disciples at this time are concerned about Jesus going to the Father. What they are concerned about is the pain that they are about to have to face. And their biggest concern here should have been Jesus leaving them and what's happening with him, but instead of that being the concern, they are concerned about themselves. How many times do we put ourselves in the same situation? Where we become so focused on ourselves that we don't even see what God is doing. And that's what the disciples are doing. They're fearful about what's to come. But Jesus says something to them that probably makes no sense to them. And that's what the scripture reading was today. It says this. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away. For if I did not go away, the helper would not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. if you ask most people, is it better to have Jesus physically standing beside you or the Holy Spirit in you? I think 90% of us would probably say it's better to have Jesus beside us. And think about how life would be different if Jesus was beside us. Like we go out from Mexican after church and we're low on the chips. Boom, more chips. And Jesus probably even gives queso for free. Okay? You're at the insane blowout of State versus Duke yesterday with your friends and you're running out of drinks. Boom. More drinks. Jesus brings them. He doesn't even have to get up and go get you a diet coke. He just makes it appear. You're at home and your dog Sparky dies. Man, Jesus comes over, pets Sparky on the head. Boom, Sparky's up, run around. Your cat dies. Jesus goes and grabs the shovel to help you bury it. we think that if Jesus was with us, it would be better. But what Jesus says is that I'm going away to the Holy Spirit, the Parakletos, the one who, the comforter, will be with you. Because according to Jesus, the spirit beside you is the spirit inside you is better than having Jesus beside you. according to John 14, 12, Jesus says that. Because of us having the Holy Spirit, we're able to do greater works than He did, because the Spirit goes all across the world in the believers. And God has a plan to do more in and through your life, through having the Holy Spirit in you than you could ever imagine. One of my favorite verses in all of Scripture is Ephesians 3.20, which says this, now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than we could ever ask or imagine, according to the power that is at work. Within us. Man, the power that is at work within every single one of us is the Holy Spirit. That God has a plan for your life and wants to do amazing things in and through you by having the Holy Spirit as the gas and the engine of your life empowering you to live. That He's the one who wants to do more in and through you than you could ever imagine. That's why it's so good to have the Holy Spirit in us. Because he is the power that leads us to do what he has called us to do. And the Holy Spirit comes into this world because Jesus has sent him. The same way Jesus has sent every single one of you to go with the gospel from the neighborhoods to the nations, to take the gospel into your work, to take the gospel into your family, into your friends, into those who are closest to you. In Matthew chapter 28 at the Great Commission, Jesus sends us into the world the same way He sent the Holy Spirit into us. And the way he sent the Holy Spirit into us is what empowers us and equips us to live out the calling that God has for every single one of us in this life. Now I know what you might be thinking: if you're these guys and you're living in this right now. we know how the story ends. We know that in the end Jesus wins. We know that he's going to die, but he's going to be resurrected. But these disciples are in the middle of this, and they they know what he said, but they're living in the pain of the of life. And they're probably sitting there thinking, like, man, how is it better for me to have the Holy Spirit than it is to have you? And what could the Holy Spirit actually do that's going to make me le you leaving good? And that's what Jesus says in verse eight. It says When he comes, this being the Holy Spirit, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment. So all of a sudden the image turns, and the Holy Spirit is depicted like a judge with a gavel and a verdict. And some of you might have grown up in churches where you've heard about conviction and sin, and heard even this verse, and it be used to break you down and think that, man, I I'm just a broken, wretched person far away from God. And maybe people have used this verse in your life to make you feel guilty or condemned. And maybe you walked away thinking Christianity is just a list of rules that you're supposed to follow. But that is not what Jesus is describing here. What Jesus is saying is the Spirit isn't simply coming to try to make you feel bad about yourselves, but the Spirit is coming to reveal the truth about Jesus. To give the right judgment. All throughout the book of John, we see all of these different times where someone makes a judgment about Jesus and then Jesus turns it around and says, actually, no, that's not how it is. So many times where there's been rulings made about him, and what the Holy Spirit is doing is that he's coming saying, slamming the gavel down, saying, all the judgments you have made are completely wrong. But what did the world get wrong about Jesus? That's what we see in these next few verses. In verse nine, it says, Concerning sin, they did not believe in me. What Jesus says is that the fundamental problem of the world is not lack of faith. It is not lack of money. It is not lack of experience. The fundamental problem in this world and the fundamental problem with many of us is one word unbelief. The very God, the very Savior God sent to rescue us is the one who we have rejected and not believed in. And maybe many of you, and you place faith in Jesus and that He is the Lord of your life, but right now you're saying, Man, I feel like there's a level of unbelief in me. And I feel like I'm still sinning, I'm still struggling with this thing. I've been a believer for 15, 20 years, and I'm still dealing with the same stuff. That I was dealing with back then. Shouldn't I be over that by now? How can I even be a believer if I'm still struggling with this sin? And many of us we ask the question of, can I be a Christian and still sin? And the answer to that is yes, with a caveat. first John 1:8 says, if we say we have no sin, we deceives our deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. Christians still struggle with sin. But the difference is when you place your faith in Jesus, your relationship with sin begins to change. It no longer rules your heart. The Holy Spirit changes our heart, and we begin to hate the sin that we once loved and desire to live in obedience to Jesus. And following Jesus doesn't mean you will never sin. It means you will never want to stay where sin is leading you. But the world. Lives in unbelief. It has rejected Jesus. If you look on your phone on a given day, what you see is so many levels of just people living in complete and utter sin and chaos because they have not believed in him. They're living in unbelief. The world has rejected Jesus, the very one that God has sent to save us, but it gets worse. They didn't just reject him. They condemned him. And that's where Jesus goes next. Look at verse ten with me. Verse 10 says, concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you will see me no longer. Man, the world had judged Jesus as guilty. And they had given him they had crucified him the same way they crucified the worst of the worst prisoners. And since he's going to the Father, it's his way of saying, Hey, your judgment about me as being guilty and full of sin is completely wrong because the Father has justified me. But that also plays out because when Jesus was walking with the disciples on the earth, he was living a life of righteousness and showing them what a life of righteousness looked like. And now that he is going, the Holy Spirit is the one who's coming to convict us about righteousness. And he'll be the one to show us what it looks like to live a righteous life, but also what it looks like to live an unrighteous life. If you look throughout the New Testament, There are so many different verses that talk about what righteous living looks like. The majority of the book of James is actually focused just on this. And the Holy Spirit in us is leading us to live righteous life. But he also speaks to us and convicts us when there's areas of unrighteousness in our life. How many times have you ever done something and immediately your conscience goes, hmm, man, I really shouldn't have done that? Probably shouldn't have said that. I probably should have kept my hands on the steering wheel when that car cut me off. there's so many times where the spirit can lead us through our conscience and convict us of areas of unrighteousness that we're living. But also, there's also times where the church can call us out when we're living in disobedience. How many times have you been there where someone has called you out when you're living unrighteousness? I'm dealing with that right now. I've got a three-year-old. Love him. His name is Emmett. But Emmett has a great friend, and I love his good friend. But his friend's favorite word is the word stupid. And so right now we're teaching my three-year-old son that stupid is a mean word. And so I don't know if you've ever watched the game plan with the rock, but every time I look at Emmett and say, Hey buddy, stupid is a mean word. I think of that scene from the movie. If you've not seen it, it's an old Disney movie. And it's not too good, but that scene's funny, and none of you get it, but it's okay. So I think of that every time. So Emmett, me and Ashland are talking to Emmett and be Hey buddy, We don't call people stupid. Stupid is a mean word. Everybody, let's say that together. Stupid is a mean word. Okay, so I admit that to you guys corporately and to the camera that stupid is a mean word. Well a couple of weeks ago I'm driving down I forty, also known as the bane of my existence, and I fail to remember that my son is in the back seat, and I get cut off. And I go, that person is so stupid. underneath my breath. And as quick as a bolt of lightning, my son goes, Daddy, stupid is a mean word. Okay? We get home, I open up the door, and as quick as he can, he runs into my wife and looks at her and said, Mommy, guess what daddy says? And I go, a little snitch. And but man, he's right. How often do we have people speaking into our life like And it's a good thing to have people speaking into our life when we're living unrighteousness. And it's part of discipleship in our life. And that's what the Holy Spirit does. He calls us out when we're living unrighteous lives. But the Holy Spirit is also the one who empowers us to live a life following Jesus because we cannot do it on our own. So many times we try to substitute our good works for the righteousness of Jesus. a forum of spiritual accounting where we believe that our good deeds outweigh our bad deeds. I don't know if you ever watch the TV show The Good Place, but it's like that, where you believe like your good deeds, if they outweigh your bad, you're good. And when we start doing that, we think about our good deeds of man, I paid for the car behind me in McDonald's. I I gave a little bit of money to the church. when that family in the church had a kid, I brought a meal to them. And we compare that to our bad deeds. And even when we start talking about our bad deeds, we don't even say all of them. we go with the super low ones, I didn't wash my hands after I used the bathroom. Or I only drove seven miles over the speed limit. Or I put up my Christmas tree before Thanksgiving. those are the kind of things that we say are our bad deeds. But when in reality what we're being weighed against is the righteousness of Jesus versus the simplest sin that we have ever done. Because in our lives we are sinners in desperate need of our Savior, and we act like our good deeds are good enough to get us into heaven. But according to Scripture, our good deeds without Jesus are filthy rags. And if you don't know what that means, look it up. Because it means used feminine products. That's essentially what Jesus is saying is that anything we try to do for God, apart from Jesus, apart from a relationship with Him. Is nothing and it will never get us to God. There is only one person who was good enough and truly righteous, and that was Jesus, and he lived the life you could not live and died the death that you deserve, so that you can have life. And on the cross the judgment was final. And that's what it says in verse eleven. Verse eleven says this concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. Jesus says that the Holy Spirit is going to convict the world because the ruler of this world has been judged. And who is the ruler of this world? It is Satan. And what Jesus is saying is that Satan has been judged. In the Greek, that verb is a in the perfect tense, meaning that the judgment has already been taken has already taken place and the effects of that are already in action. That the verdict and the judgment has already been decided. Now remember where we're at. Jesus has not been crucified yet. Jesus has not gone to the cross. We are just hours away from him being beaten, crucified, and dying on the cross. And from the world's perspective, it is going to look like Satan has won. Think about it. He's being betrayed by his best friends, abandoned by his disciples. He's being stripped, beaten, mocked, and crucified. And it looks like Satan has finally defeated the Son of God. But what looks like Satan's greatest victory is actually his greatest defeat. Because when Jesus died on the cross, he was not losing the battle, he was actually winning the war. And what Jesus says already in John 12 31 is that the ruler of this world has been cast out. And here we are, just hours before, where Jesus is saying, Hey, the judgment on him is final. he has been judged, and he does not win in the end. And for the church, that is good news. Because the enemy who wants to destroy you has already been defeated by the Savior who came to rescue you. But don't get this wrong. Satan is still active. The scripture says he is like roll roar roaming around like a roaring lion seeking who he can devour. And and scripture in John 10 10 says the thief comes only. To steal, to kill, and destroy. And he wants to take as many people down with him as he can. But what the Holy Spirit reveals to us is that although the enemy is doing that, he has already lost. The world thought that Jesus was being judged on the cross, but Jesus reveals that Satan is the one who is actually being condemned. And here's why that matters to us in our lives. Because when the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin, He is not trying to make us feel terrible about ourselves. Conviction isn't meant to leave you in condemnation, it is meant to bring you to Christ. That's what conviction does. It reveals the seriousness of our sin so that we can recognize how desperately we need a savior. Because the truth is every single one of us has sinned, and none of us are righteous on our own, and none of us can do anything to erase the penalty for sin that we have. The judgment's already been declared over our lives that we are sinners. Separated from God and need a work of God to bring us to Him. I heard a story this week. I don't know. Raise your hand if you've ever heard of Billy Graham. Okay. Wow. More people than I thought might. because y'all are young. so Billy Graham was driving through this town, probably in North Carolina, and he, you know, Billy apparently was a notorious speeder. Very slow speeder, but still a speeder. And he comes through this town. And he gets pulled over and gets a ticket for going over the speed limit. And he comes to court and the judge, Billy Graham, known by everybody, walks in and the judge looks at him and goes, Dr. Graham is here. He gets up before the judge, and the judge goes, Dr. Graham, you are accused of going 10 miles over the speed limit. and for you guys driving in in this county, that's slow to all of you. so he gets up. And he says, hey, you've been accused of going 10 miles over the speed limit. You can either plead one of two ways. You can plead not guilty, or you can plead no contest and guilty. And doesn't really even get the words out of his mouth. And Billy Graham goes, guilty. And the judge is like, Dr. Graham, you can plead not guilty, or you can plead guilty. I think the judge is probably sitting there thinking, I'm gonna let Billy Graham off the hook on this one. And Billy goes, guilty. And the judge goes, Dr. Graham, I find you guilty of trust of speeding, and slams the gavel down and says, Your fine is ten dollars. One dollar for every mile you go or you went over the speed limit. But what the judge does in his robe and everything after just slamming the gavel down and saying guilty is he gets up and he walks down, opens his bill fold out because at this time you paid the penalty, you paid the fine in the courtroom. He goes over to the bailiff or the magistrate, opens up his bill fold, and hands the bailiff ten dollars and says, Dr. Graham, your punishment, you are been judged guilty, but I have paid your price. Let's go get a steak lunch. But how much of that is the image of the gospel? That the God who should have declared us guilty does not just leave us that way. He comes and he pays the penalty for our sin. He pays the debt that we owe and then invites us to a table with him. And that's the picture of the gospel. You cannot walk your way to God. You cannot walk your way out of your sin. And you cannot do any enough good things to bring yourselves to God. But according to Romans five, eight, but God showed his love for us that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Not when we cleaned ourselves up, not when we started attending church more seriously, not when we got serious about our sins, but while we were sinners, Christ died for us. God didn't just ignore the penalty for our sins. Jesus bore it on the cross. And through faith in him, we don't just receive forgiveness, but we receive an invitation to become part of the family of God. Man, the judge paid our debt and the Father welcomed us into the family, and that's what the Spirit reveals. But if Jesus is leaving and He's done all of this, then how are the disciples still supposed to understand what He has to say to them? How are they supposed to take this message and And go into the world with the gospel. Let's look at verse twelve through thirteen. It says this. But I have said these things to you, many things to you, but you still cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you in all truth, and he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears, he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. Jesus calls the Holy Spirit the Spirit of truth. And I love that because we live in a world right now where we hear everybody's opinions. you see it on social media, you see it on the news, you see it on podcast, or you listen to it on podcasts, and we hear all of these things people say about how we should live our lives, what we should behave, what we should do with our money. But the problem is sometimes the loudest voice isn't the most truthful one. But the Holy Spirit. Is truth. And we've gotten really good at listening to everybody else's opinions while ignoring what the author of life has said about how to live life. And Jesus tells the disciples that the Holy Spirit, who is truth, is going to guide them into truth. And that's something important that we need to understand is that the Holy Spirit is the one who leads us into truth and guides us into it. And for the apostles, what he did is he led them. To carry the message of the gospel into the world and to reveal everything that they needed to proclaim. John 14, 26, a couple of t chapters ago, Jesus has already told them the Spirit will bring to their remembrance everything that He has said. And that's important because how do we have the New Testament today? We have the New Testament today because the Holy Spirit worked through the apostles and the biblical biblical authors to give us the scriptures. 2 Peter 1.21 says that tells us that men spoke from God as they were carried about by the Holy Spirit. And 2 Timothy 3.16 says that all scripture has been breathed out by God. And so when we're reading the Bible, when we're looking at the New Testament, we're not just reading someone's religious opinions, we're reading the very word from God. And as a church, this is why it gets very practical for us. Because if you want to hear from God, start by reading what God has already said. I think so many of us have made following the Holy Spirit and following God way more complicated than it needs to be. Like we keep asking God for a sign, we keep looking for a feeling, waiting for some like miraculous confirmation, like God is going to spell it out in our Cheerios. Like we keep waiting for God to say something to us about what do I need to do with my life? What should I do with this relationship? What do I need to do about this decision or that decision? And look. I absolutely believe that the Holy Spirit speaks to us. I absolutely believe that the Holy Spirit works in our life through wisdom. He can help us discern what is right, convicts us, and directs us. But whatever you believe the Holy Spirit is leading you to do, he will never lead you to disobey the world that he inspired. And sometimes we if you're like me, we can be so busy looking for God to tell us something new that we're ignoring what he's already actually said. And some of us keep asking God to say something new when we haven't already obeyed what he said so far. And you want to know what God's will for your life is? Start by what you actually already know through his word. God's already told you to forgive, but you are holding on to a whole lot of bitterness. God's told you to flee sexual immorality, but yet you're still sleeping around on the college campus. God's already told you to go and make disciples, but you've not invited your one more to church. Nevertheless, even have a gospel conversation with them. And you keep asking God to show you what your next step is when you haven't taken the one He's already made clear yet. Church, the question is not is God speaking? The question is are we willing to listen to And the more we know God's word, the better we equipped we are to recognize what is true and then respond in obedience. But why does the Holy Spirit do this? Why does he do all of these things? What's the goal? Jesus tells us that in verse 14 and 15. It says, He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. Therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you. Jesus says that the Holy Spirit will glorify him. The Holy Spirit is part of the Godhead. He's part of the Trinity. He is fully God, but his focus is on making Jesus known and glorifying him. And I think many of us, we get the work of the Holy Spirit backwards. We see the Holy Spirit more as, hey, what can I get out of the Holy Spirit? What are the gifts I can get? What are the experiences? What's the things I can feel during worship? And look, the Spirit gives gifts. He he works powerfully in our lives. But the Holy Spirit doesn't work to make much of us. He exists to make much of Jesus. In high school, I was a theater kid and played varsity sports, so I was like the Troy and high school musical, except with golf. and so I was directing a musical in high school, really fun, you know. And our lighting director got sick. I guess he got the flu or something. And guess who got ball and told that they were gonna run lights that night? That was me. And so I don't know if you've ever seen a production, a theater production, like the guys who are behind the scenes are wearing all black and they are not supposed to be seen at all. And so I'm supposed to be directing this thing and now I'm wearing all black, standing behind the curtain, and then the next thing you know, my The the theater teacher looks at me and says, Hey, I need you to run spotlight. And so for the next two hours, my job is to stand in a booth with this big light. And the only thing I'm supposed to do is focus it on the person singing. And that's all I'm supposed to do is keep that light focused on the one singing. Wherever he goes, I move. And I'm not supposed to be the one to turn it around and shine it on me. That's the exact opposite of what I'm supposed to do. No one cares about me. No one gives a rip about the guy in the booth wearing all black unless I'm doing something wrong. What I'm supposed to do is keep the light shined on the guy singing. And if I start swinging it around or getting on somebody else, I'm doing the wrong thing. I've completely missed the point of my job. And that's the picture that Jesus is describing here, that the Holy Spirit shines the spotlight on Jesus. And that's what he's doing. He doesn't want the attention on himself. He wants to put all of our attention directly on Jesus. He reveals who Jesus is. He reminds us of what Jesus had said. And he opens our eyes to the truth of his word and leads us to follow him. Because the goal of the Holy Spirit's ministry isn't that people would walk away impressed by spiritual experiences. The goal is that they would walk away making much of Jesus. And in your life, if the Holy Spirit's working, the spotlight should not be getting bigger on yourself. It should be getting bigger on Jesus. And church, that brings us back to verse 7. It is better that I go away because the Holy Spirit will come to you. And the same spirit that has worked. That raised Jesus from the dead is working in us to point others to Jesus. And if the Holy Spirit reveals these truths and leads us to follow him, the question I have is are we actually listening to him? Are we actually following the direction of the Holy Spirit? Many of us are led more by algorithms than we are by God's word. And here's two challenges this week that I have for you. First, is make room for God's word. Not just when you're here on Sunday, although you should be. You should absolutely be here. There's some research that came out just a couple of weeks ago that says the average churchgoer who says they even attend church on a regular basis comes 1.6 times per month. That means you are here two out of every five Sundays. Man, you should make being here, the ordinary means of grace, a priority in your life, to hear God's word preach, to experience community with other believers, to worship God. To be able to be called out when you're living a life of unrighteousness, but also to just hear God's word preached over you, to make room for God's word, yes, on Sundays, but also during the week. Open your Bibles this week. Don't just go to God when you need direction. Go to Him every single moment of your life and ask the Holy Spirit to help you understand what you're reading. And if you have more questions, come here. Talk to the pastors on staff, talk to your community group. Get involved in the life of this church and get into God's word. And the second thing is don't just listen to God's word, obey it. Because some of us, we don't need God to give us another answer. We need to respond to the answer He has already given us. Maybe that looks like forgiving somebody you're holding a grudge against. Maybe it looks like ending the relationship you shouldn't have been in. Maybe it's inviting your friend to come to church with you. Or maybe today it's taking the next step of following Jesus for the very first time. Whatever it looks like, what has God made clear to you that you still have not obeyed? Because following Jesus isn't about knowing the truth, it's about living it out. And the good news is that we don't do it on our own. We do it with having the Holy Spirit in us. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to empower us to follow him. Because the Holy Spirit Reveals the truth about Jesus and leads us to follow him. So, how can you follow Jesus more deeply this week? Let's pray. God, we thank you for your word. God, we thank you for the gospel. God, we thank you that in the middle of our sin you came to us. God, while we were still sinners, you died for us. Now, God, I pray that you allow us to live lives wholly devoted to you, putting the spotlight on your son to grow deeper in our faith and to lead other people deeper in their relationship with you. Lord, we love you, we praise you, we thank you. And the church says, Amen.