The Truth! Pastor Jon Melander

It's it's recording Hello family, such an honor and a privilege and a blessing to be able to speak to all of you guys, all of you men and women through the Pando app on your tablets from right here at Life Fellowship Church in McKinney, Texas. Technology is amazing, isn't it? I'm just so blown away that that we can do this. My name is Logan Williams, my TDC number was 1490218, I have four numbers after that. And when I was incarcerated, they didn't have the tablets. And what a blessing it is, man, I just see revival. I just see the movement of God behind the wire. And I think that those tablets are one of the catalysts of that man in your downtime, you're able to pour into yourself. You can seek God, seek teaching, seek good teachers, man, and we're just honored that you would join us here at Life Fellowship Church. You're part of this church family. We love you. We pray for you. We want you to know that. And if you're ever in the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex, after you get out, man, no matter where you live, man, on a Sunday, man, come visit us, man, we want to meet you. We want to get you a coffee and pray with you. We really want to do that. It's such a blessing every time somebody comes to Life Fellowship, man, you can't miss me, I'm here. So anyway, I know that it's hot. If you're in Texas, you're burning up down there. I know that it's, I mean, being incarcerated is just not fun, right? It's not fun. There's so many things. Some of you are in okay places.

Some of you are in miserable places. Some of you have crazy people around you. Some of you are, maybe you're a trustee and you're in a good spot. I don't know, but I wanted to just let you all know, man, that when you say yes to God, when you give him your everything, man, he moves. He moves in your life and he wants to use you right there where you're at. You know, I used to hear volunteers say all the time, God has a plan for you, man. And I used to think in the back of my mind, yeah, that might be true, but that's sometime way far off. Like when I get out and I get my life together and I get a job and I can support myself and I get everything right, then maybe he'll use me. No, he wants to use you right now where you're at. Even if you have a life sentence, he wants to use you. You have the ability to pour into men or women, wherever you're at, that are going to get out and go and make disciples. Like that's going to be crowns in heaven. That's going to be treasure in heaven, man. Like he can use you, man. And when you finally are in the lane that God calls you to be in, when you're being the person that God calls you to be, even in the place that you're at, man, there's nothing better. That's where the joy, the fulfillment, the true joy, the true fulfillment comes, man. I want to encourage you guys, man, to pray into that. I want to encourage you guys, man, that no matter what your brain tells you or your feelings tell you is happening around you, man, who does God say you are? I want to read a scripture, man, that's just near and dear to me. It's gotten me through some really dark times. Psalm 139. I just want to read the first few verses over you. It says, Oh Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me.

You know, when I sit down or when I stand up, you know, my thoughts, even when I'm far away, you see me when I travel and when I rest at home, you know, everything. thing I do. You know what I'm going to say even before I say it, Lord, and you go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand. I can never escape from your spirit. I can never get away from your presence. If I go up to heaven, you are there. If I go down to the grave, you are there. If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me. If I'm in the penitentiary, even there you are there. It doesn't say that, but your strength will support me. I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night, but even in darkness I cannot hide from you. To you night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to you. You made all the delicate inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex. Your workmanship is marvelous. How well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me. Oh God, they cannot be numbered. I can't even count them. They outnumber the grains of sand of the earth, and when I wake up, you're still with me. Guys, I love that scripture. I love it because it shows the heart of the Lord and how he feels and what he thinks about me and what he thinks and what he feels about you. And that even though you might be in a place where you're like, man, I've done too much, I've gone too far, man, he's saying, no, no, no, you're fearfully and wonderfully made. You're fearfully and wonderfully made. That there's no accidents in the kingdom of God. That nothing takes him by surprise. It talks about our days, man, that were laid out before us. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. Man, that he's taken all that you've done, all this bad, all this seemingly bad, negative catastrophe-like things that have brought you to the penitentiary, and he's working it for the good, man. That he thinks of me and he thinks of you as often, so often that more than the grains of sand of the earth, that he just loves us, man. I love it, man, because I know that there are times when when we might think to ourselves, man, I'm a mistake. I shouldn't be here. I shouldn't,

there's no way I can do this thing that God's called me to do. And God's saying, no, no, no, before your day, before your life was even a thing, before you were even formed in your mother's womb, every day was laid out. Can you just imagine that, man, before you were even a thing in your mama's womb, the Lord was like, man, I got big plans for him. I got big plans for her. Guys, we need to just speak this out over our lives. When we're going down that toilet of despair, when we're thinking that there's no way God would use me, that there's no way God has a plan for me, I struggle with that. I struggle with it all the time. But man, this Psalm 139, this is like a weapon in my arsenal, like an Ephesians six, sword of the spirit, man, I pull this out. It's not some feeling good sermon or a worship song that pulls me out of the mud, man. It's God's word, his faithful word, and how he feels about me, man, what he thinks about me, what he says about me, man. We got to stand on that, guys, especially in the place that you're at. You can have joy in the place that you're at. You can have freedom. You can have more freedom than many people out here in the place that you're at. Believe that, man. And if you don't believe that, God, help my unbelief, the prayer that we see in one of the parables. I want to encourage you, man. There's a good message that we have here. We're going through some transition here at Life Fellowship Church, but God is still on the throne. Jesus still reigns. Amen. And so man, we just want to tell you we love you. We want to encourage you. I want to pray for you right now Heavenly Father Thank you for all the men and women that you're drawing to you. Thank you for being on the throne Thank you that there's nothing that we can do that would separate us from your love. No height nor depth No any created thing no angels nor demons. Nothing can separate us from your love God, I pray that would just be embedded in somebody's heart today That thinks that they're not good enough That thinks that God cannot possibly use them That thinks that because they're in the penitentiary their life is over and they're a mistake and that maybe they should just end it all God, I pray that you would just your love would fall on them man that love that changes things That love that is so strong that even on their darkest moment their darkest day when they're when they're so far away from you back Turn to you. You still look down from heaven and said that's my beloved and that they were worthy of dying for God let them know that they were worthy of dying for God and

That you love them With a love that we can't even fathom or imagine God. I pray that you would just that the loss would be saved But you would draw them God that that anyone that's watching that has not called on the name of the Lord Jesus That they would do that man and be saved And that you would put a put a vision in their heart man and a plan in their mind and God that you would just give Them everything that they need for for life and godliness God, we love you. We thank you. We praise you We'll give you all the praise and glory we can do nothing apart from you in Jesus name Amen Amen guys whose house God's house. Let's give him some praise Oh What no what I look old I was picking up that thing I I Man it was excited this last weekend. We did something really cool Brie our Young car our kids pastor. She went out and got this massive TV or not I guess it was a blow-up screen and we went out to our how location where we're building at right now and Hosted a movie night for the kids out there this on Friday and you want to talk about some cool stuff I mean, it was bringing a tear to my eyes watching all the kids run everywhere getting into everything and having David playing on the screen as people drive by on the street trying to check out what's going on is just seeing the vision of Her leadership with our kids is absolutely phenomenal getting them involved Before we get started I just want to look back here at the camera and say hello to everybody's gonna be watching us later online To all the men and women in the correctional facilities. You are part of this church family. You are not a project to us All right, we are in week number four of a series called unshakable And so we've been going through and we've been talking about the strong foundations for yourself and for churches And what you need to have in order to have that strong foundation where you're unshakable during trial are trying times and so Today the message is called the gift of conviction

I know a lot of you if this is your first time out here visiting all this is gonna be awesome You're gonna get some some a turn-and-burn message today It's gonna be good. So I some of you are listening to this and you say gift of conviction That sounds like an oxymoron, doesn't it? If you know what an oxymoron sentence is, it's like jumbo shrimp act naturally Or something like that. I don't know. I don't know. I don't even know what an oxymoron sentence is What do you do? And when they say, tell us your truth, right? There's only one truth. Or some of you guys, you might sit and remember this one. I distinctly remember forgetting that. I don't know, I use that excuse every once in a while. Or lately for about the last decade or so, it's been cowboys and winning. That's an oxymoron as well too. So it hurts my feelings big time. But conviction is a gift from God. So it's not an oxymoron statement. In fact, conviction is God not trying to shame us. Conviction is God lovingly confronting us so that he can change us. You know, when I thought about this, I immediately thought about my friend Brett. He's a physical therapist out here and he likes to torment people that are going through physical issues. You know, I had a big knot on my back and he liked to yank that thing all the way up to my shoulders, stick a needle in it and pop it around.

And he enjoys laughing at other people's pain for that. When I went to physical therapy, I had my shoulder replaced. And what happens is you have to keep your arm in a sling for a certain amount of weeks because you have to let everything heal. Well, while your arm is in that sling, you have all the fascia and everything in your arm that kind of seizes up and it locks everything up. So then you have to go to physical therapy and they put you through this torture device where you have to break all that fascia. You have to get it moving again. Now you could leave it like that, but you'd never be able to use your arm again. You have to break up all the gunk in there and you have to start moving it and you have to start using it. It's not a fun process to go through, but you need it in order to be able to use your arm. Conviction is essentially the same thing. It's not always fun to be convicted, but you need it in order to move forward and to live righteously and to love others the way God calls us to love them. So if you have your Bibles today, I'm gonna start off in John chapter 16. Go ahead and open up John chapter 16. I'd like everybody to stand up while I read this first portion of it.

John 16, seven through 11. It says, 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 his sin and 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 of the ruler of this world has already been judged. Thank you, Lord, for this amazing opportunity to fellowship in your name today, Lord. Thank you for the people that are here, for the revelation that you are gonna show to them, the revelation that you are showing to me, Lord, for revealing anything conviction-wise that you need as a transformation in our lives, Lord, that you would just make it abundantly clear today what our next step is for moving forward, what our next step is for living righteously, living for you, Lord. I just pray that as if any of these words today are of me, that they would fall to the ground and be null and void. But everything that is of you, Lord, I pray would take root in people's hearts, Lord. It would transform them. It would spur them to action. It would spur them to a unity,

a love like they never experienced before, Lord. And we pray this in your mighty name, the name of Jesus. Amen, amen. You can go ahead and be seated. Before we jump into this text, I just wanna remind y'all, act like the Jews of Berea. One of my favorite statements to mention to everybody. In Acts chapter 17, Paul praises the Jews of Berea over the Jews of Thessalonica, because not only do they stare intently at him and Silas when they're preaching, but it says that every single night they go home and they pull the scrolls and they fact check whatever Paul and Silas are teaching. That's a scripture that says don't believe me because I have the mic. Get your Bibles out, open them up, read for yourself. Let God reveal his word. Build your own relationship with him. You can't ride on anybody else's coattails. You need a relationship with Christ. So Acts 17, 11 says, act like the Jews of Berea, and that's what I'm gonna encourage you today to. Dive in and act like the Jews of Berea. You know, there are moments when God will not let a person stay comfortable. A sermon starts feeling personal, a scripture keeps coming back to mind, a conversation exposes something hidden, a moment of worship becomes a moment of honesty,

a sin, attitude, or habit, or a compromise begins to trouble the heart. That is conviction. Conviction is uncomfortable, but it's. not cruel. Conviction is painful, but it's not punishment. Conviction is God's mercy sounding the alarm of destruction before it takes deep root in us. In fact, conviction is like a smoke alarm. You could be asleep in your house and that alarm goes off and our dogs hate it. They go nuts and jump onto the bed and go berserk. And it's one, two o'clock in the morning, the smoke alarm goes off and it's extremely loud. It's annoying. You want to throw something at it right away and get it shut off trying to figure out. But if there is a fire in the walls, that smoke alarm is mercy. That smoke alarm is important. That's life saving. That's what conviction is. It may interrupt your sleep. It may disturb your peace, but it is mercy. Conviction is the Holy Spirit pressing truth into our conscious. Conviction is God saying, this is not right. This can't continue. This needs to come into the light. I love you too much to let you stay where you are. The most dangerous place is when you no longer feel conviction at all. It is dangerous when sin no longer bothers you. When compromise no longer grieves us. When rebellion no longer disturbs us. When we can hear God's word, but remain completely unmoved. See a gifted, a convicted heart is a gift. A heart that can still be corrected by God is a gift. And the heart that can be corrected by God means you're on the right track. It means your heart hasn't hardened yet. In John chapter 16, Jesus is preparing his disciples for his departure. So John chapter 13 through John chapter 17 is what's called the upper room discourse. And this is where Jesus is really talking to his intimate believers. And in chapter 14, you see Judas, I'll try and speak English out here. I was thinking and speaking at the same time. Doesn't work every time. But Judas is, he's, he's, he leaves the table and he runs off and goes and does his own thing. So he's only around for about a chapter and a half. And then Jesus is with his 11 at the end of chapter 14. It says in verse 31, that come on, let's go and get going. So Jesus is actually from 15 on through 17. Jesus has given them this talk while they're walking out to the olive garden, not the olive garden, but the olive garden out there.

I'll get these words correct today. I promise you. Stop the video. All right. So they're moving out to the olive grove during that time. And Jesus is having an intimate discussion while they're walking down the road. And in fact, in verse 14 or in chapter 14, verse 16, and it says, I will ask the father and he will give you another advocate who will never leave you. So this leads up to 16 because it's very important right here in the Greek. Greek is one of the most specific languages out there. It has two words for another. One is heteros. And the other one is allos heteros means I want another of a different kind. So it would be like saying, I have a black pen, but I want to write with a pencil instead. So I want another of a different kind, allos, which is the word that is used right here. I want another of a different which is the word that is used right here is I want another of the same kind. Okay. So he's telling them that he will go, but that his presence, which is the same as his physical presence on earth will reside in everyone else when he, when the advocate comes for him. So he's saying, you will have the same power. You will have the same presence here when I leave as when I, as when the advocate comes for you. So that's extremely important for that. The audience, I always, when I dissect scripture, I want to know who, what, where, when, and why, who is he speaking to? Why is he speaking? What's going on? So you can tell who is speaking in this because it's all red letters. And I don't want to knock anybody Bible knowledge. There's always people that don't fully understand it. So that's why I'm going to kind of dive in. If you see red letters in scripture, it's because Jesus is actually speaking those words. And those were recorded quotes from Jesus. So you see it's red letters. So it's Jesus speaking. Where is he speaking? He's in the upper room. Boom and then they're getting ready. They just finished their meal and they're getting ready and they're going to the olive grove Who is he speaking to he's speaking to his most beloved Disciples to the 11 that are left that I've been following him for three years and he's given them insight So this is like this is a personal discussion. So what that tells me is what Jesus is laying out here is for believers This is someone that's saying he's saying hey We've had a great ministry. We've been ministering for people we've been doing this But I want you guys to have a little something extra I want you guys to dive in and hear my heart

and so this upper room discourse from 13 to 17 is him talking to Believers and explaining his heart and explaining what's to come for those believers Jesus Tells his disciples something surprising in verse 7 in chapter 16 He says but in fact it is best for you that I go away because if I don't Advocate won't come if I do go away, then I will send him to you That statement must have been extremely shocking to them. How would you feel you're walking along with Jesus for three years? You're watching him heal people. You're watching him open up eyes of blind. You're watching demons being cast out you're watching miracle after miracle happening and Jesus tells you I need to go because it's gonna be better for you. What? Absolutely, not. This has been the best time of my life walking with Jesus That had to have been disheartening for them How Our minds can't even comprehend you're gonna leave us and it's gonna be better for us but Jesus says Why he has to go away in verse 7 because if I don't the advocate won't come if I go away Then I will send him to you So Jesus is speaking of the the Holy Spirit Which is also called the advocate the comforter the helper the one who comes alongside the one who dwells in believers I see Jesus and his human body could only believe in one place at one time But when he ascended to heaven and sent the Holy Spirit he could be in every place in every believer at all times And so that was the the point he was trying to show them right here He was trying to tell him how important it is for the Holy Spirit to be able to come There's a Holy Spirit is also going to help Prep the ground is going to help people be able to hear when the disciples are out there preaching When out when they're out there motivating people when they're out there speaking about Jesus because conviction is One of the ministries of the Holy Spirit John 16 8 says and when he comes he will convict the world of its sin and of God's righteousness And of the coming judgment

See Jesus says the Holy Spirit will convict the world Conviction is not merely emotional pressure human guilt Religious manipulation being a strict parent a friend making a making you feel bad. That's not conviction True conviction is the work of the Holy Spirit the word Jesus uses carries both conviction and convincing in this Greek word and Conviction means the Holy Spirit is kind of he's pricking your heart. He's exposing guilt He's revealing what's wrong and he brings hidden things into the light Convincing means that the Holy Spirit it presses the truth upon your heart Helps a person see reality Convinces a person that God's Word is true The Holy Spirit makes a person aware that they cannot keep ignoring what's going on See that means conviction is sacred a preacher can preach but only the Spirit can pierce a parent can teach but only the Spirit can awaken a friend can warn but only the Spirit can convince a Scripture can be read but only this only the Spirit can press that scripture into your conscious John 16 8 verse 9 says and when he comes he will convict the world of its sin The world sin is that it refuses to believe in me see the first area of conviction is sin He convinces humanity that we are sinful before God in fact Romans 3 23 says for all of sin fall short of the glory of God All of us are sinners. The only person that ever walked the face of this earth sin free was Jesus Christ The problem is is a lot of us don't understand the difference between conviction and condemnation Condemnation says we're not worthy. We're not good enough Conviction says you are worthy. I need you to get on track I need you to start living a life worthy of me See sin is not merely a mistake a weakness a bad habit a private issue or a harmless struggle sin is active rebellion It's wandering from the right path. It's coming up short of God's glory choosing self-rule over surrender See God created us for his glory, but sin causes us to live for ourselves In Verse 9 Jesus gets to the root of this issue. He said the world's sin is that it refuses to believe in me

See at the root of sin is always unbelief unbelief of where God's got us moving unbelief of Of our purpose in life unbelief of where we're moving of what's happening unbelief of where our finances are going How our kids are gonna grow up unbelief of our mental health at the root of sin is Always unbelief which causes us to jump in and to intercede and to try and change stuff instead of seeking the one that can See sin says I know better than God My desire matters more than his words. I can satisfy myself apart from him But conviction says call it what God calls it Stop covering it. Stop excusing it. Stop remaining in it. Stop managing it bring it into the light See we need to stop renaming sin Stop calling rebellion weakness Stop calling bitterness discernment. Stop calling lust love Stop calling pride confidence and greed ambition stop calling compromise wisdom or spiritual laziness busyness a Church that never experiences conviction may be entertained, but it will never be transformed And that's what the purpose of this church is Yes, we have some great worship some cool lights some amazing Musicians and people up here a great speaker that gets up here every single week. Yeah, you have to laugh that hard But the purpose of this church is transformation That's what we want if we have a thousand people sitting here and and nobody walks out of here transformed or do anything different Then we are missing the boat We want people coming out of here we want marriages that are flourishing we want kids that are growing up Godly that are serving the Lord We want we want relationships and we want we want people that are thriving In their walk with Christ in here and turn into him and leading others because that's what we need to be We need to be getting picked up in here searching the right way And then as soon as we walk out those doors, we need to start ministering. In fact, it's Something that I didn't even put in my notes or I was thinking about we got me and Jen got an email yesterday from someone If you don't know

Pastor Robert was on his Honeymoon this last weekend. They had to take a later honeymoon. So this last week they went on a honeymoon Well, he must have been at some type of a ride in Branson because I got a message from one of the people that was working on that ride in Branson and says Can you please put me in touch with pastor Robert? I want to continue my walk out with the Lord and it's just been transforming Yes So this man on his honeymoon is ministering to the to the guy working the ride in Branson that he's at that is love for God that is showing up and doing and being willing to jump in wherever That's what we need to be doing when we walk out of these doors. We need to be a mere reflection of Christ People need to see hope love forgiveness Surrender humility in us when we walk out of here See Romans 6 23 says for the wages of sin or death But the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. See sin will always pay a price It may pay slowly, but it pays It may look enjoyable for a season, but it pays It may promise freedom, but it pays in bondage It may promise pleasure, but it pays in pain it may promise control but it pays in slavery Conviction is God interrupting that payment before sin bankrupts our soul So it brings us to our first point today and that's conviction reveals our need for righteousness John 16 chapter 10 says Righteousness is available because I go to the Father and You will see me no more. The Holy Spirit convicts the world not only of sin, but of righteousness. Why does the world need conviction concerning righteousness? Because we have it so wrong all the time. We measure righteousness by reputation, by religious activity, by giving, by comparison.

Comparison is one of the biggest things you can screw up. In fact, when I was going through selection and when I was in the special operations community, I went through my selection process and one of the things that would get you nixed quicker than anybody else, it didn't matter how good you were out there, but when you would go sit in front of this board, this panel, and they would drill you on questions. And one of the things, if you ever said, well, I was better than 50% of the people, or I was at the front of the crowd, or if you ever compared yourself to anybody else that was at that selection, they said, boom, you're gone. You're not fit to be out here because we don't compare ourselves against other people. We have a standard and you need to rise above and you need to shoot for that standard. For us in our Christ walk, our standard is Jesus Christ. Our standard isn't any pastor standing on a stage. Our standard isn't small group leaders, isn't community group leaders. Our standard isn't our boss at work. Our standard is Jesus Christ. That is our only standard. And we need to focus on that standard and not earthly standards. Jesus says that righteousness is available because he goes to the father.

Jesus is the righteous one. He is the standard. He is the son of God. Self-righteousness says, I am good enough. I am better than most people. I go to church. I have done many good things. At least I'm better than them. But conviction says, you are not the standard. Jesus is the standard. Isaiah 64 says, we are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Ah man, you guys are so excited that you showed up today, right? We get to talk about how you're all filthy rags. Our righteousness is not enough. Our works cannot make us right with God. This is why religious people need conviction too. Some people need conviction because they are living in obvious rebellion. Others need conviction because they are hiding behind religious morality. But here's the good news. The Holy Spirit does not merely convince us that our righteousness is insufficient. In 2 Corinthians 5.21, he says, for God made Christ who sinned to be the offering for our sin so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

See, Jesus took the price of our sin. Jesus' blood covers all our sins, past, present, and future. He has already paid the price. In fact, I love the message version. I can't think of the scripture right now, but it says that while you were still enjoying your sin, God paid the price for it. See, we've already been forgiven. Condemnation tries to step in and say, no, you're not worthy. You're not good enough. Conviction steps in and says, I see you, you are worthy. I don't want you to live in that filth anymore. I want you to walk in freedom. I want you to enjoy the freedom that he paid for on the cross. Conviction of righteousness, it humbles us, but it also gives us hope. It humbles us because we realize we are not righteous in ourselves, but it gives us hope that Christ is righteous enough for us. A convicted person stops saying, Lord, look at what I've done, and a convicted person starts saying, Lord, I need what Christ has done. Number two is conviction warns us of coming judgment. John 16, 11, judgment will come because the ruler of this world has already been judged. The Holy Spirit convicts the world of judgment. This is not a popular subject, but this is a biblical one.

The Bible teaches that every person is accountable before God. Romans 14, 12 says, yes, each of us will give a personal account to God. Hebrews 9, 27 says, and just as each person is destined to die once, and after that comes judgment. See, there is an appointment that every single person in here, every single person across the world will keep. We may put off meetings, cancel plans, reschedule appointments, avoid hard conversations. But there is one appointment that no one is gonna be able to cancel and that's gonna be when you stand before God Conviction keeps that eternity in front of us And we need that because sin makes us short-sighted sin makes us live just for the moment Conviction says think beyond today Think beyond the feeling Think beyond the temptation Think beyond the applause Think beyond the hidden moment One day you will answer to God it keeps the crown in front of us a Warning about judgment is not hatred. It's like that smoke alarm. It's mercy for us In fact it could be like Someone if that there's a bridge that's out in front of you and someone was to jump in front of you and start waving their Hands to try and get you to stop and you're flying up on the bridge You might be a little ticked off that someone's staying in the road waving you down You might even say some choice words or tell them that they're number one but If they stop you before you run off the bridge That's mercy

That's what conviction is Showing up at her doctor's office and getting a bad diagnosis That's Not condemnation, that's that's that's not cruelty. It's truth You need to know how to react after you get that diagnosis If a parent warns a child about doing something that's not rejection. That's protection See conviction is so much different than condemnation Romans 8 1 says so now there is no condemnation for those who belong in Christ Did you hear that? There is no condemnation for those that believe in Christ If you turn and focus on Christ There's no condemnation. I hear people all the time. God just got his bony long finger shaming us So disappointed in me. No, he's not God loves you He wants a relationship with you he wants to do life with you He wants to hear from you each and every day Not just when it's mealtime He wants to hear through you for you Conviction comes from the Holy Spirit condemnation that comes from the accuser Conviction is specific this sin needs to be confessed. This attitude is wrong. This relationship needs correction Condemnation it's vague Says you are worthless. You are hopeless. You will never change God has finished with you. You might as well give up see conviction leads to repentance Whereas condemnation leads to despair? That's how you can tell the difference In Genesis chapter 3 you see a great story of this it starts right out of the gate Chapter 3 verse 8 So Adam and Eve have just taken the bite of the apple and now God steps into the area And it says when the cool evening breeze were blowing them the man and his wife heard the Lord walking about in the garden So they hid from the Lord among the trees right out of it right out of the gate shame right

Condemnation sets in this is not conviction. This is condemnation Then the Lord called to them called to the man, where are you he replied you think God didn't know where they are It's kind of like some of those good detectives watch ID Investigative discovery. They know the answers before they ask you almost time, right? So they're gonna they're gonna ask you to see if you're telling truth and to see where you are Are you going to step in and say? Okay, I'm going to admit this truth Are you still gonna hide? That's what God's doing right here. Where are you? I Heard you walking in the garden so I hid I was afraid because I was naked. Well who told you you were naked Again this is the enemy stepping in and condemning this couple for stepping out Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat and the man replied it was the woman's fault All right, he tries to pass the blame right away He's standing right next to her the scripture says and he didn't try and intercede and say hey stop We're not supposed to be doing that He was just as complicit as she was in the sin But what is what is condemnation try and do it tries and read? He directs your sin on someone else. Conviction says, yeah, I screwed up. I need to face this reality. Condemnation says, well, I had a little bit to do with it, but it was majority of this person over here that did it. So when conviction comes, don't mistake it for rejection. Don't say, God must be done with me. Don't say I have failed too badly. If God is convicting you, there is a way back. God asks you, where are you at? Not because he lacks information, but because he's drawing you out. That's conviction. First John 1.9 says, but if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins

and to cleanse us from all wickedness. See, on the other side of conviction is not shame. On the other side of conviction is forgiveness, cleansing, and restorations. James 5 tells us that this is how we become healed, is when we confess to one another, we lay hands on each other, we pray for each other, and we can walk through healing. See, healing and forgiveness are completely different. We've already been forgiven. The Lord's blood has covered us, past, present, and future, but we wanna receive healing, and we wanna walk in freedom in what we do. And in order to do that, confession is a big part of that, laying hands on each other, praying for each other. That's why this community is so important. That's why doing fellowship with people outside of Sundays. You know, I was looking at the numbers the other day. You know, we have more people that show up throughout the week at small groups than we do that show up on Sunday. To me, I'm like, man, that is phenomenal. I don't know if it's a knock on me, or if it's what it is, but I get excited about people doing life together. That is amazing that so many people are getting together throughout the week and doing life together. We had the kids out doing their movie night on Friday night. We had a barbecue on Saturday night. We had a 4th of July party where everybody rallied together.

We were shooting off fireworks and just having a blast. I mean, when I look at this stuff, when I show up to these different events, it excites me, that we are like a big family out here, and we're doing life together. And that's what God calls us to do, is be able to do life together. Because the enemy roams around like a lion seeking to kill, steal, and destroy, right? And they only pick off the weak ones that are off to the side. They don't jump into healthy herds. And so when we're rallying each other together, we lift each other up. We keep pointing each other towards God. Brings us to the third point, conviction requires a response. Conviction is not meant to be admired. Conviction is meant to be obeyed. Acts 2, verse 37. It says, Peter's words pierced their hearts. And they said to him and other apostles, brothers, what should we do? This is Peter preaching on Pentecost. And he's preaching about Jesus as the Lord, as the Messiah. He's preaching and hitting them because they are responsible for the death of Jesus Christ. And he's stepping in and said, you guys killed the Messiah. And they rejected him. And what happened?

The people's hearts were pierced. They did not say, hey, interesting sermon, Peter. We enjoyed that service, great worship. That gave us a lot to think about this week, Peter. You really preached well today. You know what they said? They said, Peter, what should we do? They were humbled right off the bat. Said, we need an action plan. We need to respond. We can't sit idly by right now. What should we do? That is conviction. Conviction moves us from evaluation to response. A convicted heart starts asking, what must change in me? Acts 2, 38 says, Peter replied, each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God. See, the first proper response of conviction is repentance. And repentance is not just feeling sorry, admitting I made a mistake, or regretting your consequences. Repentance is the actual change of your mind. You're moving in a completely different direction. You're turning towards Christ. Conviction without repentance becomes religious emotion. James 1, 22 says, but don't just listen to God's word. You must do what it says. See, if you look in a mirror and you see dirt, the mirror isn't gonna clean you. You have to do what it says.

actually have to get a rag out you have to put water on it and soap on it for some of you guys some of us we can just do regular water but you're gonna put and then you're gonna scrub the dirt that you see and you're gonna clean yourself that's what conviction is conviction is looking in that mirror and saying I'm not satisfied with having a nasty looking face like that with having that mud all over me with having that disgust and that filth on me I am not satisfied with that I want to be a mirror reflection of Jesus Christ and all I do I want to look in that mirror and I want to see his face I want to see forgiveness restoration healing humility love courage see a diagnosis is not even it's not enough if we refuse treatment the warning is not enough if we keep driving the sermon is not enough if we don't obey the question is whether we will respond fourth and last point conviction will lead to freedom 2nd Corinthians 7 10 says for the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation conviction may begin with sorrow but when received properly it leads to life worldly sorrow says I hate that I got caught I hate these consequences I hate that people know but godly sorrow says I hate that I've sinned against God I want to be clean I want to be restored I want to walk in obedience David gives us a picture of this in his sin with Bathsheba he it's in this adulterous relationship with Bathsheba she gets pregnant and what does he do he has his buddy Uriah who's her husband sent to the front lines and killed so now he's been he's caught up in adultery he's called up in line manipulation murder there's all this other stuff that's going on around the this incident and he keeps just digging himself a bigger hole in a bigger hole in a bigger hole finally Nathan shows up the Prophet and he tells him a story and it spurs up this righteous anger inside of David here in this story and then after he starts getting mad and fired up about this story Nathan says you're the man now David he's king at that time he could have easily had Nathan drug out and killed he could have blamed Bathsheba for the incident he could have swept this thing under the rug said I'm King I live to different standards but

you know what he did Psalm 51 one says have mercy on me O God because of your unfailing love 51 10 says Lord create in me a clean heart O God renew a loyal spirit within me David pray create a new heart in me this should be the the cry of everyone who's going through conviction or create a new heart in me let me see truth let me see your words let me see your love let me see your anointing Lord I don't want to live in this filthy more I'm sick of looking at that filth in the mirror I want to live like you I want to strive to be like you I want other people to see you through me Lord fill me each day with your spirit Lord make me like Moses radiating off the mountain Lord so that others are transformed when they come in contact I'd love to close off today which is having all of y'all bow your heads yes before I pray I just want to tell you that conviction is a gift it's not comfortable but it is good it is not easy but as necessary it is not meant to crush but to bring you to Christ some need to respond to conviction for salvation you have trusted yourself you have trusted your goodness your religion your excuses but the Spirit is showing you that you need Jesus today the answer is not to try harder the answers that come to Christ believe in him repent of your sins receive his grace. Some believers need to respond to conviction for repentance. You belong to Christ, but you have tolerated what he is calling you to surrender. You have excused what he has exposed. You have delayed what he has commanded. Today is the day to come back in alignment with him. Some need to respond to conviction for obedience. God has been calling you forward, but fear, pride, comfort, or distraction has held you back, and today is the day you say yes. See, the altar is not a place of shame. It's a place of surrender. Confession is not defeat. It is the doorway to freedom. Repentance is not punishment. It's the path back to joy. Let the Holy Spirit do his work in you. Let him search you. Let him expose what needs to be exposed. Let him correct what needs to be corrected. Cleanse what needs to be cleansed. Restore what is broken. Let him bring you home. Conviction is not God pushing you away.

Conviction is God saying, I love you too much to leave you where you are. Lord, we just pray over every single person in this place, Lord, for the conviction that is going through their heart right now, Lord. Thank you for what you have done in convicting me, Lord. Lord, I don't want to stay where I've been. Lord, I want to continue to push forward, Lord. Reveal to me. Reveal to each one of them, Lord, what the next step is. What are you convicting them of today, Lord, that needs to be addressed, where healing needs to step in, Lord, where they need to put their full faith and trust in you, Lord. Lord, we love you in this place. We are sick of looking at filth in the mirror, Lord. We want to look at your image. Lord, we call out to you today. Cleanse us. Make us new. Give us a new heart, Lord. Restore us. Give us purity where we need purity. Give us courage where we need courage. Let us love. Let us forgive. Let us seek out your will and wisdom in all we do, Lord. If you're here today and maybe you've never had the chance to give your life to the Lord, I just want to invite you to pray after me. Say, Lord, I'm wore out. I'm struggling. This burden has been extremely heavy on me, Lord. I'm sick of carrying what I was never designed to carry. Lord, I confess with my heart that you are Lord and Savior, King of the universe, and I believe in my heart, Lord, that you are saved, that we are saved through your blood, and your blood covers all of our sins, past, present, and future. Lord, come into my life and have your way. Holy Spirit, fill me today from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet. I need all of you and all of me right now. In Jesus' mighty name, and all God's people said, amen, amen. Let's celebrate all those that went from death to life.