The Comforter

In todays church circles there isn't alot of preaching of the Holy Spirit, unless you attend a Pentecostal church. Alot of this is probably due to the fact of the issue of speaking in tongues and healings that occured at the times of the 1st century church, that most denominations don't want to address today. This post is not to speak on those matters either, although I have no problems discussing them. I do however want to speak of the Holy Spirit's mission.

When Jesus left the disciples He told them He must go so that the Comforter would come. He did come and what a miraculous work He did at Pentecost, but it didn't stop there. As with my other posts it is pretty evident that I don't give alot of credence to man's "will", it is all about God and for His Glory; hence the title of the blog.

We often fail to teach that the Holy Spirit is the One that convicts of sin, that revives the dead man to hear the Gospel and believe. The Spirit is there from the beginning, opening the eyes of the blind. He is the supernatural and sovereign agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the body of Christ. The Holy Spirit indwells, instructs, sanctifies, instructs and empowers believers. When we pray for the salvation of our lost love ones, we should be praying that the Holy Spirit convicts and revives the dead man; for dead men can't make any decisions. You must be quickened by the Spirit to see who God the Father is and to see and accept Jesus as Savior. Without the work of the Spirit in a sinner's life he will never be saved.

Quote for the Day

You must first deny the authenticity and full inspiration of the Holy Scripture before you can legitimately and truly deny election. --Charles H. Spurgeon

Paul Washer asked about Election

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRGMp0md5CE

Sideshow Evangelism

In today's churches we have gotten so far away from the true Gospel, that what we need is to return to the old paths. In our arrogance though, many churches think they need to change more; become more like the world to reach the lost. We have pastors that must really think that it is up to them to save all the lost souls out there. Where is God's Sovereignty? It's still there, always has been and always will be. Jesus told us to go forth preach the Gospel, tell men of their need of a Savior, to repent and turn from their wicked ways. Only God can bring about this change in a man, we are only told to tell them and disciple them. Of course we are to be a sounding board and to help them in their walk, but we mustn't deviate from the Gospel just to increase our numbers because a Barna poll said baptism numbers are down, and membership numbers are down.

I am not against change, but it must be done in the proper context. We mustn't allow a circus atmosphere to take the place of our true, heartfelt worship. He is worthy of our worship and praise, we don't have to put on a sideshow for people to be saved. We can't give sight to the blind, He can; we can't raise the dead, only He can. We must be careful of the backdoor evangelism approach that seems to be permeating the pulpits around the world today. We should pay close attention to Paul's words. "And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God."--1 Cor. 2:1-5

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."--Hebrews 13:8

Defining Election

"God has made a choice, for election signifies selection and appointment. God has exercised His own sovereign will and singled out from the mass of His creatures those upon whom He determined to bestow His special favors. There cannot be an election without a singling out without a passing by. The doctrine of election means that from all eternity God made a choice of those who were to be His special treasure, His dear children, the co-heirs of Christ. The doctrine of election means that before His Son became incarnate God marked out the ones who should be saved by Him. The doctrine of election means that God has left nothing to chance: the accomplishment of His purpose, the success of Christ's undertaking, the peopling of heaven, is not contingent upon the fickle caprice of the creature. God's will, and not man's will, fixes destiny." -- A.W. Pink

Dawg on the Lawn: Ten reasons NOT to ask Jesus into your heart.

Dawg on the Lawn: Ten reasons NOT to ask Jesus into your heart.