Ghost, and his church the
mediator between the Spirit and the world. "And when he is come (to you)
he will reprove the world." And to complete the exposition, we may
connect this promise with the Great Commission, "Go ye into _all the
world_ and preach the gospel to every creature," and conclude that when
the {188} Lord sends his messengers into the world, the Spirit of truth
goes with them, witnessing to the message which they bear, convincing of
the sin which they reprove, and revealing the righteousness which they
proclaim. We are not clear to affirm that the conviction of the Spirit
here promised goes beyond the church's evangelizing, though there is
every reason to believe that it invariably accompanies the faithful
preaching of the word.

It will help us then to a clear conception of the subject, if we consider
the Spirit of truth as sent _unto the Church_, testifying _of Christ_,
and bringing conviction _to the world_.

As there is a threefold work of Christ, as prophet, priest, and king, so
there is a threefold conviction of the Spirit answering thereto: "And he,
when he is come, will convict the world in respect of sin and of
righteousness and of judgment; of sin, because they believe not on me; of
righteousness, because I go to the Father and ye behold me no more; of
judgment, because the prince of this world hath been judged" (John 16:
8-12, R. V.). It is concerning the testimony of Christ as he spake to
men in the days of his flesh; and concerning the work of Christ now
carried on in his intercession at God's right hand; and concerning the
sentence of Christ when he shall come again to be our judge, that this
witness of the Spirit has to do.

"_He shall convince the world of sin._" Why is he {189} needed for this
conviction since conscience is present in every human breast, and is
doing his work so faithfully? We reply: Conscience is the witness to the
law; the Spirit is the witness to grace. Conscience brings legal
conviction; the Spirit brings evangelical conviction; the one begets a
conviction unto despair, the other a conviction unto hope.

"_Of sin, because they believe not on me,_" describes the ground of the
Holy Spirit's conviction. The entrance of Christ into the world rendered
possible a sin hitherto unknown: "If I had not come and spoken unto them,
they had not had sin; but now they have no cloak for their sin" (John 15:
22). Evil seems to have required the presence of incarnate goodne