In verse 11 the Lord said that the Spirit will convince the world “concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.” We have seen that judgment is related to the devil. Satan, the devil, is the author of sin, the origin of death, the father of all sinners, and the ruler of the world. As such, judgment has been prepared for him. We must recognize that judgment is not for man but for Satan. It is not God’s intention to judge man, because His judgment is for Satan. The lake of fire has been prepared as God’s judgment upon Satan; it was never intended for man. What verses prove that the lake of fire has been prepared for Satan? The book of Revelation does not clearly tell us this, but the book of Matthew does. In Matthew 25:41 the Lord said that the King will say to some people, “Go from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” Was the everlasting fire prepared for human beings? No, it has been prepared for Satan, the devil, and his angels, his followers. But if you refuse to come out of Adam into Christ, you will share the judgment that is for Satan, because you prefer to remain as one of his followers.
Satan, the ruler of the world, has been judged in the flesh of Christ on the cross (12:31-33; 3:14). On the cross the Lord as the Son of Man (12:23) was lifted up in the form of the serpent (3:14), that is, “in the likeness of the flesh of sin” (Rom. 8:3). Satan as the old serpent (Rev. 12:9; 20:2), the ruler of this world, had injected himself into man’s flesh. Through His death on the cross in the likeness of the flesh of sin, the Lord destroyed Satan, who is in man’s flesh (Heb. 2:14). By judging Satan (16:11) in this way, the Lord also judged the world, which is hanging on Satan. Hence, the Lord’s being lifted up caused the world to be judged and its ruler, Satan, to be cast out.
We have seen that the lake of fire is not for human beings but for Satan. Any sinner who does not believe in the Son will remain with the devil and bear his judgment. If you go along with Satan and remain one of his companions, you will be with him in the lake of fire. God loves the world and has no intention that any human being be cast into the lake of fire. That judgment is intended for the devil. However, if anyone remains a companion of Satan, God has no choice but to allow him to suffer Satan’s judgment.
The three items of sin, righteousness, and judgment are a sketch of the gospel. The gospel is that we are sinners in Adam, but that we can be righteous and justified in Christ. If we are unwilling to be translated from Adam into Christ, we must be warned that we shall share the judgment with Satan. In other words, you were born in Adam, but God’s intention is to take you out of Adam and translate you into Christ. If you disagree with God’s intention, you must remain in Adam and share the judgment with Satan. Sin is of Adam, righteousness is of Christ, and judgment is for Satan. If you are willing to be translated from Adam into Christ, you will be saved, having nothing to do with the judgment. The work of the Holy Spirit involves these three items, and every time we preach the gospel we must tell people about them. This is the gospel whereby the Holy Spirit convinces sinners to repent and to believe in the Lord Jesus in order to be saved.
In 1933 I was asked to stay in Shanghai with Brother Nee and the leading co-workers. One day, in my reading of John 16, I saw that sin, righteousness, and judgment are related to the three persons of Adam, Christ, and Satan. Some time later the church in Shanghai had a gospel-preaching meeting, and I was asked to give the message. I learned later that that invitation was a little test from Brother Nee to see where I would stand in the matter of gospel preaching. During that meeting I was burdened to give a message on the three items related to these three persons. As I looked around the meeting hall, I did not see Brother Nee. Quite a while later I learned that he stood behind the meeting hall door listening to the message. As I preached, I was very excited with these points, telling the people, “As human beings you were born in Adam. Today your name is Adam. In Adam you have sinned and you have been condemned. But there is another person—Christ. There is a way for you to get out of Adam and into Christ that you may be justified by God. If you believe in Christ, you will get into Him. You will be translated from the first person into the second. But if you do not believe in Christ, you will still remain in the first person, and eventually your destiny will be the destiny of the third person, Satan. Judgment has been prepared for Satan. Are you going to help him? Are you going to have pity on him? Are you going to help him suffer judgment for eternity?” This was the message I gave shortly after I had seen the light on these matters in John 16. As I delivered that message, I myself was fully nourished. Some time later, Brother Nee had a talk with me about that message, saying, “Witness, that message was really good.” When I asked him what message, he said the message on Adam, Christ, and Satan. Then Brother Nee told me, “Witness, hardly anyone has seen that in John 16:8-11 sin is related to Adam, righteousness to Christ, and judgment to Satan.” This is the gospel. I hope that this will be preached wherever the churches go.