Jun. 9, 2008 - Baby Animals with their mothers

Permanent Link

Jun. 9, 2008 - Lovely Flowers

Friendship

Love

Fun

Joy

Beauty

Permanent Link

Jun. 8, 2008 - Using the Scriptures to Promote Relational Repentance

Using the Scriptures to Promote
Relational Repentance

by Bob Kellemen, Ph.D., www.rpmbooks.org

We often talk biblically about repentance. However, we seldom think about how to use specific biblical passages to help a parishioner, counselee, or spiritual friend to come to a point of specific relational repentance.

Such scriptural conversations are “trialogues” in which you, the person you are helping, and God through His Word join together in the process of breaking down idols of the heart (see Spiritual Friends, BMH Books, for a full development of these concepts). Consider the following sample scriptural conversations as examples of how to use the Scriptures in the relational repentance process.

• Jesus commanded the lukewarm Laodiceans to open the door of their
  hearts so they could return home to eat with Him. What would that look like for you?
  
• When the floundering Ephesians left their first love, Jesus told them to
  remember, repent, and return.
  
• Can you remember your first love for Christ?
  
• How does that first love motivate you to repent of your current love for
  false lovers?
  
• How does it compel you to return home?
  
• Desperate, despairing, and depressed, David repented and then pleaded
  for rest in the presence of his forgiving God (Psalms 32 and 51).
  What would your prayer of repentance and return sound like?
  
• Hosea 14 provides a classic biblical picture of relational return. Building upon
  the imagery of Gomer’s unfaithfulness to Hosea as a symbol of Israel’s spiritual
  unfaithfulness to Jehovah, Hosea concludes with the words, “Return, O Israel, to
  the LORD your God. Your sins have been your downfall” (14:1).
  Hosea uses this same word “return” sixteen times in fourteen chapters
  beginning with Hosea 2:7a, “She will chase after her lovers but not catch them;
  she will look for them but not find them.”
  
• How has your sin been like spiritual adultery? Like spiritual unfaithfulness?
  Like chasing after false lovers?
  
• What do you want to say to Jesus, the Lover of your soul, as you return home
  to His heart?
  
• What will renewed relational faithfulness look like for you?
  
• Something else in Hosea 2:7 and 14:1 may not be quite so obvious.
  Both passages present a recognition of our false lovers’ inability to satisfy.
  Our sinful lovers are our “downfall;” a word suggesting weakness, lack of strength,
  inability, and insufficiency. Gomer says it even more clearly when she realizes
  that she was better off with her true husband than with her false lovers.
  “I will go back to my husband as at first, for then I was better off than now”
  (Hosea 2:7b). Relational repentance is always relational return and relational
  dissatisfaction. The Prodigal came to his senses realizing that even his father’s
  hired servants were better fed than he. Jehovah urged Israel to recognize the futility
  of her false lovers and to acknowledge that they could neither save her nor fulfill her
  (Jeremiah 2).
  
• How has your false lover dissatisfied your soul?
  
• How has your false lover been your downfall?
  
• How has your false lover been as despicable as eating pig slop?
  
• Given the horrid nature of your false lover, what do you want to say to Christ,
  the true Lover of your soul?
  
• We mortify our false lovers through relational contentment in God. Returning to
  Jehovah, Hosea offers us words to say to Him, “Forgive all our sins and receive us
  graciously, that we may offer the fruit of our lips . . . For in you the fatherless find compassion” (Hosea 14:2a, 3b). We return content and amazed by Father’s grace and compassion.
  
• Have you asked God to forgive your sins of spiritual adultery?
  
• Have you asked God to receive you back home again graciously?
  
• How could you offer the fruit of your lips in praise to God?
  
• How could you offer the fruit of your lips in praise to your Father, in whom the
  fatherless find compassion?

These examples highlight the simple yet profound truth that the Bible is totally sufficient
and absolutely relevant for life and godliness. In the Scriptures, we have all we need to help
our spiritual friends to turn from sin and to return to God.

Permanent Link

Jun. 8, 2008 - Interpretation of Romans 12:2 R.C.H. Lenski

The textual evidence is in favor of the reading that has two imperatives rather than two infinitives. The sense, too, is against the latter, for this negative and this positive are not additions to the infinitive "to present," they elucidate what this spirit service really requires. The two imperatives are opposites not only in regard to their prepositional prefixes but also in the root words themselves. This difference is lost when we translate: "be not conformed but be transformed," for the English root word "form" is the same. [Greek] "Schema" outward conformation, fashion; but [Greek] morpha is, the essential form which fully expresses the essence or real, being. We have the latter in "metamorphosis." We can do no better in English than to follow Field (M.-M. 613): "be not outwardly conformed but be inwardly transformed."

The Greek "eon" = a great stretch of time but one that is marked and characterized and thus made a unit by what transpires in it, "world" in this sense, namely when "this eon" is referred to, dieser Zeitlaufj. This eon is "wicked," Gal. 1:4; its god is the devil, II Cor. 4:4; it is the eon of this cosmos. It is contrasted with "the eon about to come" which the Parousia ushers in, the -eon of eternal blessedness, of the new earth.

Not even outwardly are we to adopt the fashion of the eon in which we now live, the ways the of the world. The present imperative asks us to shun this conformity during the entire course of our lives. Even in outward fashion the Christian is to be different, separate from the world. Our visible conversation and life as men see us are to show that their ways are not our ways; our conversation (citizenship) is in heaven, Phil. 3:20. We are only pilgrims here and not citizens. Since we expect to go to heaven, our conduct here reflects that fact and is unlike that of men who seek their all in this eon. There is danger that the Christian may adopt at least some of the world's ways, run with worldly men (I Pet. 4:4), especially when they mock us if we do not. Christians sometimes imagine that they can do this without injury to themselves, can remain unspotted from the world amid worldly, unchristian associations, amid worldly and questionable pleasures. To howl a bit with the wolves, to do as the Romans do because we are in Rome, to avoid the abuse of the world and not to lose all this tainted pleasure and ad vantage while still holding fast to Christ, does not seem so wrong. The resultant casualties are many and exceedingly sad.

As is the case in so many instances in Holy Writ, the opposite is far more than an opposite: not even outward conformity - no less than constant inward transformation. This is what presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice and thus as our reasonable cultus means. What we do with our bodies and our whole bodily life is to be the evidence of a constant inner metamorphosis, one that is accomplished "by the renewing of the mind so that you test out what the will of God is," test out "the thing (really) good and well-pleasing and complete," making our mind conform to this divine newness and rejecting everything else as being spurious. Here there is the same concentrated richness of thought as in v. 1. The inner transformation begins at the moment of our justification and is to advance throughout life until God completes it in death.

The dative of means states that this transformation is effected "by the renewing of the mind." In 6 :4 we have "newness of life," the condition; here we have "the renewing," the process. The [Greek] chainos occurring in both terms is "new" as the opposite of "old" in our old man. And [Greek] noms is "mind" as "the organ of moral thinking and knowing" (C. K. 764) and thus matches [Greek] logukos used in v. 1. The Christian's inward transformation is effected when his moral mentality becomes renewed, the very mentality itself, so that it no longer thinks, understands, and judges as it once did but so that it cannot do so because it is in a process of renewal that advances steadily. The Christian minds the things of the spirit, a thing he never did before, and ceases minding the things of the flesh, a thing he always did before (8:5, 6); as a son of God he is led by the Spirit of God in his very mind (8:14). His use of the body shows it.

[Greek] Eis to with the infinitive, as so often (3:26; 4:11, twice; 4:18), states the result, namely what the mind does in consequence: "so that you keep testing out (durative) what the will of God is," as men test out coins or metal by accepting the genuine and rejecting and throwing out the spurious. The renewed mind is even bent and following God's will, what God wants of us; it has utterly ceased its old disregard of God's will, its old folly of contenting itself with its own will.

We do not regard the three following words as adjectives: "the good and acceptable and perfect will of God" (our versions). The second is "well-pleasing" and, as in v. 1, means "well-pleasing to God" and hence cannot modify "the will of God." The third means "complete," and the implication of an "incomplete" will of God is distressing. These adjectives are substantivized, are treated as a unit (one article), and form an apposition: test out the will of God, (namely test out) "the thing (really) good," etc. For God ever wills [Greek] to agathon, "the thing morally good and beneficial," and never anything that is not good. And this thing is the one "well-pleasing" to him; he says so in his Word which we use as our criterion in making our test. And thus also this good and well-pleasing thing is "complete," easily distinguished from, the reductions to which even Christians at times subject the will of God by claiming he does not will this or that. Worldly tendencies in the church excuse themselves in this way.

This threefold designation is an apposition: "what is the will, namely what is this thing that is at once good; pleasing to God, and complete." The renewed mind of the Christian ever seeks to prove this in life. We cannot, then, make "the good thing," etc., the criterion, the touchstone for our testing out what God's will is. We never say that only what is in our judgment good is God's will; -or what we think is well pleasing to him; or what we consider morally and spiritually complete. No; testing out what God wants is discovering the thing that is good for us, pleasing to him, complete in itself. And what God's will is, namely this thing which he wills, we discover from his Word and from that alone, and we subject all our own conceptions of what is good, etc., wholly to that Word. Every test made without the Word is deceptive and wrong.

Does v. 1 apply particularly to the Jewish Christians because it speaks of "living sacrifice"? No more than do 6:11, 13: "alive to God," "as alive from the dead." Does v. 2 apply particularly to Gentile Christians? No more than any other verse in this chapter. Just because they are now Christians, Jewish Christians are in just as great danger as are Gentile Christians of being conformed to worldly ways in a great city like Rome which offered so many temptations. It is well known that throughout the Gentile world Jews became loose and lax in their Judaism and fell into many evil, pagan ways. When Paul specifies in v. 3: "I say to everyone that is among you," the reason is not that, when he used "brethren" in v. 1, he had in mind two groups, v. 1 indicating the one, v. 2 the other; the reason lies in what Paul says in v. 3-8. Verses 1 and 2 befit the whole, in v. 3-8 individualization is necessary.

from Interpretations of Romans, by R. C. H. Lenski, Copyright 1945, Wartburg Press, Columbus, Ohio

Permanent Link

Apr. 25, 2008 - Not Slaves To The Carnal

Not Slaves To The Carnal

WATCH out for carnal dominance in meetings. You surely have noticed that words from one whose life is hidden in Christ are heart-rending—while the exact same words from a self-willed, uncrucified life are like fingernails on a chalkboard. Can you relate to that? The words aren't it. It has to do with "the spirit and the life."

It comes in various forms:

Mr. (or Ms.) Loud,

Mr. Opinionated,

Mr. Talkative,

Mr. Whine,

Mr. Criticize,

Mr. Control,

Mr. Know-it-all,

Mr. Scholar,

Mr. Experience,

Mr. Mega-Talent,

Mr. Insensitive,

Mr. Let's-Sing-My-Favorite-Song (I love to sing),

Mr. I-Can-Help-You-Poor-People-Out,

Mr. We've-Got-To-Be-Careful-Here,

… and a host of cousins and nephews.

Pray and fast. Be willing to speak about the difficulties, first (if at all possible) "to him and him alone." Then take it to him with two or three witnesses who can help to clarify the issue, and then tell it to the church (Mat. 18). Exercise caution here and don't "break the bruised reed" or "embitter the child."  The man who Jesus described in the parable of the talents as the "one-talent man" was very carnal in his reaction: "I know that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown… so I was afraid and went out and hid your talent." That was a carnal reaction. "I don't have to put up with this stuff. I knew you would cheat me and that you're a hard master. I just knew. Man, this stuff is no fun at all and pooey-pooey on you!" Obviously, that's a very carnal reaction.

When you take an immature and dominant brother or sister aside, the typical reaction will be:

"Who do you think you are? I don't talk anymore than anyone else! If that's the way everyone feels, I just won't talk anymore! Okay?!"

You know what I mean? (In other words, "I'll just bury my talent then!")

"I knew it; I just knew it. Forget it. I try so hard and nobody appreciates anything I do."

That's the "one-talent reaction." It's carnal and you can't win either way. What they do, they do out of carnality. When you correct them on it, they want to bury their talent. Jesus' response to talent bury-ers is "you wicked and lazy servant… Throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

Don't allow carnality, weakness and disorder to reign. It's a challenge because usually carnality, weakness and disorder want to usurp the throne. It's typically weaker brothers or weaker sisters in most religious groups who have the loudest voices, make the most waves, control things, and get their own way. Weakness, carnality and disorder can reign so easily, and we can't let that happen. Carnality, disorder and chaos cannot rule and reign over our meetings. It is neither loving nor compassionate to let carnality run God's Kingdom. On the other hand, do not let the one-talent (carnal) man bury his talent and thus kill himself (or herself), either.

Have fun and I wish you well.

NOTE: I found this on the web

Permanent Link

Mar. 19, 2008 - LIVING WITHOUT A CLEAN HEART (Pls. Read--this is LIFE Changing)!

LIVING WITHOUT A CLEAN HEART (Galatians 5)

Sermon Transcript by Rev. Ernest O'Neill

It's so easy to say casually, "Oh Stephanie" -- and I apologize to all Stephanies but, "Stephanie is all right, but she exaggerates a little." It's so easy to say that and you think, "Yeah, what's wrong with that?" But you really are stealing her reputation, aren't you? Because actually the person that you're speaking to doesn't know quite what you mean by "she does exaggerate a little" and you may mean she exaggerates 'that' little and they may mean she exaggerates 'that' little and actually it's stealing Stephanie's reputation, it is.

Because the other person from that moment on is looking out for Stephanie's exaggeration and actually doesn't listen to Stephanie, if you're honest - and ever after that remembers your comment. So when you steal somebody's reputation like that or if you steal from the IRS by fudging on the medical expenses or the business expenses or you do something in real resentment against an associate or an acquaintance and you find that the resentment is growing almost to a hatred. When you do those things loved ones, all of those things, all of those sins, even though they may occur in your head or in your emotions or in your words, they all come from your heart. They come from your heart. That's what Jesus said you remember. He said, "It's out of the heart of man that come the things that defile him, anger and hatred and fornication and murder and adultery and slander and false witness, these are the things that come from the heart of the man and these are the things that defile him."

You may say, "No, no, no, those are just chance events in my life that are provoked by the circumstances that I live in. They don't really come from my heart", but Jesus says, "Yes, they do, and they indicate what you really are like deep down", and you and I like to say, "No, no, they don't. We just flip them off. They're flippant. We don't really mean those things. Actually we're very very nice inside", but Jesus says, "No, no. A good tree bears good fruit and a bad tree bears bad fruit and fresh spring doesn't produce sweet water and sour water at the same time. No, what is in your outward life is an indication of what is in your heart because it all comes from your heart."

You may say, "Well, I mean what did He mean 'by the heart'?" Well, not the blood pump obviously, not the physical blood pump that we talk about in heart transplants today, but the same as what you and I mean when we say, "Look, let's get to the heart of the matter." You know what we mean when we say that, "let's get to the heart of the matter", we mean let's get to the very essence of this matter. Let's get to the inner issue in this situation, let's get to the very center of this situation, that's what the heart is loved ones, in the Bible.

Your heart is the very center of you, yourself. It's the very essence of you. It's the very inner core of your being and that's why Jesus wanted to make it so clear to us that the things we do outwardly are not just chance responses to circumstances. They're not just chance happenings, they actually do express what we are inside. Somebody has said, "When you squeeze an orange, the juice squirts out", you squeeze it and what is inside comes out, that's what happens. The circumstances and events of our lives push us into different situations, we're squeezed and what is really in our hearts, comes out and shows itself in our responses and our reactions that we did not have time to prepare beforehand.

Now the truth is of course, an out-and-out crook says, "Yeah, that's right. That's what my heart's like. I killed a guy because I hate him. I wanted rid of him", or, "I steal because it's the only way to get money. Nobody else will take care of me and it's the only way to survive in this place", so an out-and-out crook won't argue with that at all. He'll say, "That's right. What I do on the outside is what is in my heart."

It's very interesting but a respectable church-goer who hasn't necessarily dealt with Jesus will probably say the same kind of thing. He'll say, "Well yeah, I may not be perfect but I live in a dog-eat-dog world and the only way to survive is to stand up for yourself and that's what I do." So it's interesting that neither of those people will be too concerned about the problems they have with their unclean heart -- but any of you here this morning who believe Jesus is God's Son and who have confessed your sins to God and have repented of them and have some awareness of Jesus' Spirit, to you, an unclean heart within you will seem like a blatant contradiction of your claim to be borne of God.

And so an unclean heart isn't a trouble to anybody but a person who has started to be aware that God is real and has started to try to obey Him and I think many of us are in that situation. We have found that there is something inside us that doesn't seem to want to do what we know we should be doing and increasingly, as the years have passed, we found there has developed within us something that is unclean inside, something that actually does not want God and we've come to the point in our lives where we cry out a cry that wasn't spoken by a child of God at all but that was spoken by a Jew trying to live under the law and we find we're crying out, "I don't understand my own actions. I do not do the good that I want but I do the very thing I hate."

So, many of us who are born of God, who have received the Spirit of Jesus into us and who try to read the Bible and who try to pray day-by-day, many of us have found that there is still within us, an unclean heart. There's something within us that has started to make our life with God a kind of uphill struggle, that contrasts so clearly with our experience at the beginning because when we first sensed Jesus' Spirit, it seemed to be easy and natural to obey Him and we seem to just zoom along, it was so easy. What was inside seemed to be all sweet and fragrant but gradually as the years have passed, we have begun to find there's something inside, like a kind of weight inside. A kind of drag on us and we've begun to find, it's more like climbing up a steep hill to obey God. You know what you should do but you don't seem able to do it because your heart is not going the same way as your will wants to go.

For many of us it's like a kind of computer inside that has kind of a bug in the memory system and we're going along and we meet suddenly a person who is very blunt and very argumentative and we know we should be able to punch up the gentle, peaceful Spirit of Jesus from our hearts and we punch the right button but there's something wrong inside and the old memory storage seems to send up an attitude of 'Give him as good as you get' and you can't hold it back and it's as if your storage of feelings inside store different ones from the ones you used to experience. Or you're passing by a magazine stand and you see the magazine with the picture on it and you try to punch up the Spirit of Jesus' love for that dear person on the magazine cover but something goes wrong inside and that storage sends up on the screen of your imagination all kinds of lustful thoughts and actions that can't possibly co-exist with the Spirit of Jesus.

Loved ones, that's the key to the up and down life, that last sentence. That's why many of us who are Christians have an up and down, spirit and flesh, in and out Christian life because Jesus' Spirit cannot co-exist with evil. His Spirit cannot co-exist with evil. In other words, His Spirit cannot dwell in an unclean heart.

Now you may say to me, "But brother, I know that I have received the Spirit of Jesus. I know that I've sensed at times, Jesus' motivation and impulses within me. I know that. I know that I have done some things according to His will. Now, is that not real?" Yes, yes, it is real. God's Spirit did regenerate your spirit, that's why you're aware of God, that's why you can even understand the things I am talking about this morning.

God's Spirit regenerated your spirit, made it alive and made it aware of God and aware of Jesus and His Spirit made your spirit new but your spirit still separates itself from God's Holy Spirit when it chooses. That's it. Your spirit is alive to God but when it chooses, it resists God's Holy Spirit and while it has that attitude to God's Holy Spirit, God's own Holy Spirit is a guest in your heart that is driven out and brought in, driven out and brought in.

No, you're still born of God. Your own spirit is still alive. But the Holy Spirit is not able to dwell in your heart because your heart is not clean and you have not allowed it to be made clean. So there's an inconstant Christian life, up and down, up and down, not a constant Christian life that comes from the indwelling Spirit of God.

In other words, God's Holy Spirit has to act upon you from outside. Here's the way Andrew Murray puts the difference between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. Many of you have maybe wondered, "Well now, what was the difference between the working of the Holy Spirit in the Old Covenant and the working in the New Covenant?" Because that's something of the difference between a constant Christian life and an inconstant Christian life.

This book loved ones is just a good one called 'The Spirit of Christ' by Andrew Murray and I'll just read you two sentences, "In the Old Testament, we have the Spirit of God coming upon men and working on them in special times and ways, working from above without and within. In the New, we have the Holy Spirit entering them and dwelling with them" -- you see, not working upon them from without as He did on prophets and kings and priests at special times but the Holy Spirit in the New, coming and dwelling within them, working from within, without and upwards. "In the former, we have the Spirit of God as the almighty and holy one, in the latter we have the Spirit of the Father of Jesus Christ."

Now the fact is those of us with unclean hearts are somewhere between the Old Testament and the New, that's it. We've experienced the forgiveness of sins of the Old Testament and something of the regeneration of the New but not the full indwelling that God planned for us.

You remember it's what we said in that Ezekiel Chapter 36. You remember God gave the promise of the New Covenant and He said, "I will put a new spirit within you", that's, "I'll regenerate your spirit. I'll make it alive and new", and then He says, "And I will put a new heart within you because I will put My Spirit within you", that is the Holy Spirit.

Now loved ones if your heart is not clean, your spirit is renewed and you have periodic experiences of the Holy Spirit's action upon your spirit but you do not have a constant indwelling of the Holy Spirit within. He is not in fact at home in your heart. He is a guest and He cannot be at home until your spirit has finally given up the right ever to resist Him and until you have been prepared to make your heart absolutely what He wants it to be.

Now you may say to me, "Now, do you not think that in the first century, they experienced the whole ball of wax at one moment? Do you not think that? Do you not think that in the first century, the Holy Spirit came upon them, regenerated them, made them alive in their spirits, and cleansed their heart and came and dwelt with them permanently from then on?" Yes, that undoubtedly happened.

If you want to look at one of the times loved ones, it's that kind of anomaly in a way that took place in Cornelius's house, Acts 10:44. Cornelius was a centurion you remember, who certainly is talked about as a God-fearing man but there isn't clear evidence that he was a Christian though one can't be sure, but he invited you remember, Peter to speak at his house.

Acts 10:44, "While Peter was still saying this", that's while he was still preaching the Gospel, "The Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word and the believers from among the circumcised who came with Peter were amazed because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles for they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God", and so it all happened at once there. I mean it's strange but it seemed the first time they heard the Gospel, the Holy Spirit fell upon them and they were baptized with the Holy Spirit and they were baptized into Jesus' name and everything took place at once.

But as you saw in that preview you got in Acts 9:17, it didn't happen that way with Paul. Paul you remember, met Jesus first on the Damascus road and then three days later this happened in Acts 9:17, "So Ananias departed and entered the house and laying his hands on him he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came, has sent me that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit."

So it happened both ways in the New Testament. So if you're in the position where you believe you're a child of God and you're born of God and you're aware of Jesus and you regard Him as your Savior and you know your sins are forgiven and yet you still are aware you have an unclean heart, see that so were some people in the New Testament -- and yet obviously some other people entered into the whole thing at once because referring to the situation in Cornelius's household, you remember Peter said, "And God made no distinction between them and us but cleansed their hearts by faith."

So some people have experienced it all at once but many of us, and I suspect many here this morning, have not experienced the clean heart. But isn't the truth this, not how should it happen or how did it normally happen -- because that isn't going to give us any assurance anyway -- but examine your own heart. What is the state of your own heart? Does your heart immediately expel a thought or feeling of pride or jealousy or anger when it occurs, does it? Or does it welcome it and entertain it and relish it and nourish it?

Well, if it does, your heart isn't clean. That's simple, and you're walking with a heaviness inside you that you don't need to walk with and that you can't victoriously with. Do you find that your heart automatically sends Jesus' sentiments up to your will so that it is easy and natural to be like Jesus? Or do you find that your heart is sending up to your will, all kinds of things that your conscience is condemning and indeed, your will cannot handle these things and it's constantly trying to repress them and at times fails to repress them and they burst out into outward sin and stain your conscience.

Well, if that's the situation loved ones, you're living the Christian life the hard way and your heart is not clean and the truth is that the New Covenant is a message that God is able to cleanse our hearts and in fact why many of us here walk with unclean hearts for so many years is because we don't understand what the real New Covenant, New Testament Gospel is, and that's true loved ones.

I think many of us have had preached to us only the Old Covenant. Let me show you the Old Covenant and you'll know what I mean, it's the one preached by John the Baptist. Mark 1:4, and I think this will surprise you loved ones because this is the Old Covenant. This, don't forget was John the Baptist as a Jewish preacher preaching.

Mark 1:4, "John the Baptizer appeared in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins", that was it. That was the Old Covenant. Preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Now I wonder how many of us entered into that thinking that's the New Covenant. We repent to have our sins forgiven, that's it and the joy of being in Jesus is constantly thanking Him for forgiving us our sins. Well, the Jews knew that.

The people that were baptized by John the Baptist before Jesus ever died, they knew that. That's the Old Covenant. The New Covenant is a few verses down, Mark 1:8, John makes the distinction himself. He says, "I have baptized you with water but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit", that's the New Covenant. If you want to know what baptized is, it's 'immerse' -- not the water, we're not arguing about immersing in water or sprinkling -- the Greek word means 'Immersed in the Holy Spirit'. Immersed, totally immersed in the Holy Spirit -- with the result that took place you remember, in Cornelius's household where Peter says, "God gave the Holy Spirit to them as He did to us, made no distinction between them and us but cleansed their hearts by faith." By immersing completely in the Holy Spirit, the heart is cleansed by faith.

And yet you know that our society is full of all of us bleating away to each other that "your problem is guilt, your problem if guilt. You can have your sins forgiven." We know fine well this permissive society doesn't have a great guilt problem. This permissive society has one problem, "How do I do what I know I should do?" "How do I do what I know I should do, how can I live the way I know I should live?", and loved ones, the guilt problem was what the Old Covenant took care of. The New Covenant takes care of the clean heart. It cleanses your heart through the baptism of the Holy Spirit so that you have a center of motivations and attitudes that are pure like Jesus.

But the problem with so many of us is we don't realize that it's received by faith. We believe we receive our forgiveness of sins by faith and then you know what we do. You know what we do. We say, "All right, I received the forgiveness of sins by faith. I know I am on my way to heaven, now I've got to work on my unclean heart", isn't that right?

I mean how many of us believe that we can receive a clean heart by faith? We don't. We believe we work on an unclean heart by amateur psychology and group rationalization. That's it, and because we haven't experienced the miraculous deliverance from the unclean heart, the only way we can align ourselves with the Bible standards is by lowering those standards and so that's what we do. You know we fill each other's heads with the thoughts, "Anger is okay. You can't get over it. Let's face it. It's just human. Gossip is okay. Let's face it, you can't get over it, an odd unclean thought, it's human. You can't get over those things. A little slander, a little jealousy, you can't help it. Those are normal human feelings and you'll always have them." Isn't that the way we talk? So we excuse anger and we excuse gossip and we excuse sarcasm and we excuse slick asides to other people and gradually the whole life in Christ lowers and lowers and lowers.

Loved ones, you may say, "I believe what you say. I believe Acts 15:9. I believe that God can give the Holy Spirit to us and He can cleanse our hearts by faith. I believe that. I believe it's possible to live that way. Now, how am I going to move towards that? How am I going to move towards the full consecration that enables God to do this miracle in me?"

Loved ones, first of all call sin, sin. Call sin, sin. Stop looking at things that you do wrong or feelings that you have that are wrong and excusing them as shortcomings or as little weaknesses in your humanity or as little characteristics that occur because of your background. Stop that. Stop saying, "Oh well, I am a Swede you know and I am a bit incommunicative, not unloving, just incommunicative", stop saying that.

Stop saying, "Oh well, I have an artistic kind of temperament you know, and I am a little fiery, not angry, I am a little fiery at times", stop that. Say, "I am angry", that's sin. Unlovingness, that's sin. Stop saying, "Well, I am a student you know and I am a transient, not uncommitted. I am a transient, I am just transient", No, say you're uncommitted. Call it sin. Old marrieds, "Well, no, I am not ungenerous to God financially, I am just prudent at this time of my life." No, no, just call it sin.

Young marrieds, "I am not ungenerous but we just have to get the necessities you know, get ourselves together", no, no, call that sin. Call sin, sin. That's the first thing. Call sin, sin. You can afford to do it because there's a cure for it and a remedy for it. You only have to pretend if there's no remedy. If there's no remedy but the amateur psychology and the mutual reinforcement groups then you have to avoid calling it sin, but call sin, sin, that's the first thing. Be real about the things in your life that are sin. And see secondly that sin cannot be justified. You can't justify sin.

Some of us you know, take First John 1:8, "If we say we have no sin, we lie and the truth is not in us", that is, we have never sinned and we have no unconscious sin. All of us have unconscious sin, every one of us. So in that sense, none of us can say, "We have no sin." All of us have unconscious sin that we have not seen yet and we cannot deal with until it becomes conscious but see very clearly loved ones that the normal Christian life is defined in two verses in scripture, one is in James, "Whoever knows what is right to do and does not do it, for him it is sin." So if you know something is wrong and you don't do it, that's sin, conscious sin not unconscious sin, that's still sin but conscious sin is what God is concerned about. That's what you have control of and First John 3:9, "Whosoever is born of God does not commit sin." You don't commit sin if you're born of God.

Loved ones, hold to that, hold to that. Don't justify sin. Keep calling it sin. Why? Because the door to full consecration is continual repentance, that's it. That's why the Beattitude says, "Blessed are they that mourn," -- mourn for their sin -- "for they shall be comforted." The door to full consecration is continual repentance. In other words it's not, "Well, I am the way you said I am, I am in that situation and I know it'll be a miracle so I'll wait for the miracle", no, no, the way into the miracle, the way into the place of full consecration where the Holy Spirit can cleanse your heart by faith is by continual honest repentance day-by-day-by-day.

I'll read it to you because I thought it was important to put it as exactly as I could. "Impenitence", that is lack of penitence, Impenitence, un-repentance, "Impenitence is not due simply to repeated sinning", it isn't. See, you may say, "Well, from what you're saying if I am sinning all the time, there's no hope", no, "impenitence is not due simply to repeated sinning but to the growing tolerance of that sinning as a necessity," see that?

It's not just that you're sinning repeatedly -- but impenitence, the time when your conscience become seared and when you get to the point where you can no longer come to a place of full consecration -- is when you regard that sinning as a necessity in your life and you begin to tolerate it. "Impenitence is due not simply to repeated sinning but to the growing tolerance of that sinning as a necessity -- to the acceptance of the idea that we can't stop, to the regarding of sin as normal rather than abnormal, as natural rather than alien. However often we sin if we set our hearts against it with all our being and regard it as something that we must get rid of, not only will God forgive us until 70 times 7 but He will lead us to ask the all important question which is the key to deliverance, 'Why can I not stop?' "

That's it loved ones. There's no point you know in crying out this morning and saying, "Brother, by what you're saying, there's no hope for any of us because I sin", but loved ones, it isn't the sinning. It's what the old Saint says, "It's not the falling but it's the refusal to get up and go every time you fall and to believe that there comes a time when you do not need to fall", that's it. That's what repentance is.

Repentance is not never sinning at this point in your life, before your heart is cleansed -- but it is a refusal to accept sinning as normal in your life. It is a refusal to reject the word of God. It is a constant belief that the normal Christian life is one that is free from unclean hearts and free from unclean life and that is the way into the place of full consecration.

It is a desperate crying out to God, it isn't the crying out to man. "Why? Why can I not stop sinning?" While you're crying out to man, while you're having little counseling sessions, while you're reading the books, while you're talking to other people saying, "Why can I not stop sinning even though I am a Christian", while you're doing that, you're just pretending, you're just pretending. While you're trying to justify your situation, you're not even serious. But when you're desperate enough to cry out to the Holy Spirit, "Holy Spirit, why can I not stop this? Why?" Then you're coming into the place of full consecration where the dear Holy Spirit Himself can begin to deal with you and can explain to you in what ways your heart is not clean for Him to dwell and He will explain it to you loved ones because He wants to dwell in your heart. Your heart was made for His indwelling, that's why your heart is there.

You were made for the Holy Spirit of God to stay and dwell and live within you day after day, night after night, moment by moment and the Holy Spirit's dearest desire is to come there and make that His home. You remember, it was Judas -- not Iscariot but the other Judas -- that said to Jesus, "Lord, how are You going to show Yourself to us and not to the rest of the world", and Jesus said, "I'll tell you. If a man loves Me, he will keep My words and My Father will love him and We will come and make Our home in his heart", that's it. The Holy Spirit will come and dwell constantly in your heart and fill your heart with the fragrance and the beauty and the purity of Jesus, if you will ask Him to come in and cleanse your heart of all that is self and all that is ungodly and all that is other than Jesus. Loved ones, He will do it.

So I wanted to try you know, to help those of you who wondered, "Well, how do I live with an unclean heart?" Well, the truth is, you can't live too long that way loved ones, it eventually overcomes anything that's good in you at all but the way to live with an unclean heart until it becomes clean is by constant repentance that is an attitude. It is not simply an action, it is an attitude. It is an attitude of declared, relentless antagonism to sin, that's it. That's what repentance is. It's a declared, relentless antagonism and hostility to sin that will not accept sin as normal. "I won't accept it!" I don't want to blaspheme but a bit like the guy in the movie. "I am mad as hell and I won't put up with it anymore. I won't! This is Satan within me. I am not tolerating it. Lord, I know I can be free from this and I confess this sin to You but I know Lord it goes deeper than this. This came up from my unclean heart. This came with such a surge of power that my will could not control it. Lord I ask You, Holy Spirit, will You reveal to me why I can't stop this? Will You reveal what uncleanness in my heart has to go because I know the moment I am willing to let it go, that moment You take it away", and that's it.

But I'll tell you it's a different life. It's a different life. Instead of poison coming up from inside that you have to hold down with all your power, beauty and purity and love from Jesus' own heart comes up from inside. You can see why I said to you last Sunday, "It's your own fault then if you sin", it is, because the will is receiving thoughts that are loving and kind and pure and naturally, spontaneously Christ-like. So the will is dumb if it doesn't say, "Oh, go through, go through", and that's why such an effortless life when Jesus cleanses you through the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

So loved ones, will you walk on and next Sunday I'll try to talk a little more but it's not talk you know, it's you and the Holy Spirit, He will do it. He will be faithful with you as He has been with so many of us

Let us pray:

Dear Father, we thank You for the New Covenant, the New Testament. We thank You for the real Gospel. We thank You Lord that our sins were forgiven in Your name because of Your death, just as the Jewish sins were forgiven in Your name because of Your death, but Lord we thank You that since Your resurrection, there is also available to us the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. Lord that we do not need simply to experience Him from a far-off as the Old Testament people did, but that He comes and dwells within a cleansed heart.

So Lord, we want that. We want our hearts cleansed by faith so that You, Holy Spirit, can dwell constantly and uninterruptedly within us. So we ask You dear Holy Spirit to start explaining to us why there are certain things in our lives that we can't stop. Will You show us our hearts, reveal to us the uncleanness there, much of it we can't even see yet, and take us to the very bottom of our hearts until we yield it all to You and give up the right ever to resist You again. We ask this in the name of our Savior Jesus.

Now the grace of our Lord Jesus and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with each one of us, now and evermore. Amen.

Permanent Link

Mar. 13, 2008 - True Christians In The Workplace by Sanjay Poonen (HS moms...read this too :o)

Article starts below....

True Christians In The Workplace - Sanjay Poonen

First, some questions…

• Can one be on fire for God and still have a secular job? Or has the Lord called only full-time Christian workers?
• Can you have a career at a corporate job?
• What do you do when the Lord first gives you your first paycheck?
• Do you know that all Christians are called to be leaders and shepherds? Is your life a compartmentalized spiritual vs. professional life?
• Are you a friend of Christ on Sunday, and a friend of the world the rest of the week?

I. Leaders are Shepherds

• Matt 9:36: “Seeing the people Jesus felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd”
• Zech 10:2: They are seeking all kinds of impure advice, from psychologists or false preachers (modern day diviners)
• Zech 11:17: Or the Lord has given them a shepherd’s responsibility and they shun it
• John 10:12: “The Good Shepherd puts the sheep before himself, sacrifices himself if necessary. A hired man is not a real shepherd. The sheep mean nothing to him. He sees a wolf coming and he runs away, leaving the sheep to be ravaged by the wolf. The sheep don’t matter to him”

VALUES, GOALS, DECISIONS

Joseph’s Values


Daniel’s Three Friends’ Values                                       Daniel’s Values



Nehemiah’s Values


Nehemiah’s Values


Jesus’ Values


What Values did Jesus teach His disciples


Eric Liddell’s Values (1902-45)

VALUES, GOALS, DECISIONS

II. My Values

1. My life on earth is like vapor; I am a citizen of heaven
You do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and vanishes away (Jam 4:13-15)
For many walk… whose god is their appetite, whose glory is their same, whose end is destruction…But our citizenship is in heaven… (Phil 3:20)
You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation a people for God’s own possession…I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul… (1 Pet 2:9-12)

2. I will work hard in everything that I do. If the Lord grants me success, I will fall on my knees in humility, praying for grace to be faithful
Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men… (Col 3:23)
Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, attend to your own business and work with your hands… (1 Thes 4:11)
All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE… humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time… (1 Pet 5:5)

3. I will be a light on a hill, salt in the food, keeping my Christian behavior excellent, so others can glorify God
You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men… You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven… (Matt 5:13-16)
Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven… (Matt 5:20)

4. I will be open to the direction of the Holy Spirit wherever it might lead, whatever it leads me to speak and act
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you… (John 14:26)
Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort, with patience and instruction… (2 Tim 4:2)
Note: For some of these Values, see also the website of Pat Gelsinger where some of these values were inspired from

5. I will be generous with the seed the Lord has given me
Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness; you will be enriched in everything for all liberality, which through us is producing thanksgiving to God…(2 Cor 9:10-11)
The purpose of tithing: to always put God first (Duet 14:22,23)
Give cheerfully: God loves a cheerful giver… (2 Cor 9:7);
Give everything: none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions… (Luke 14:33)

6. I will do nothing out of selfish ambition
But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing… (James 3:14-16)
Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done… (2 Cor 5:9-10)
Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you… (1 Thes 4:11)

7. I will be a servant-leader. I will not seek my own glory, instead I will seek to honor God and praise / encourage / improve those around me, above me, beneath me.
Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross… (Phil 2:3-9)
We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone… (1 Thes 5:14)
Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus, so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ… (Rom 15:5-6)

8. I will be careful with all my words and actions.
If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, his religion is worthless…(James 1:26)
Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of judgment…(1 Pet 2:12)

9. I will seek the counsel of others frequently. I will make the godly my heroes
Refuse good advice and watch your plans fail; take good counsel and watch them succeed… (Prov 15:22)
I will make the godly my heroes and invite them to my home…(Psalm 101:6)

10. I will be on fire for God, seeking to be a change agent, not satisfied with the status quo
I aspired to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named, so that I would not build on another man's foundation… (Rom 15:20)
I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth… (Rev 3:15-16)

I enjoy being with such people, because I want to show them that there's a wonderful life in Christ that we can lead (amidst all these other interests), that can increase our usefulness and joy - because it would be a life of submission to our Creator. I want to show those around me that a life lived in submission to a loving heavenly Father, is a very wonderful life indeed.

III. What are your Values

• What top 5 values do you stand for?
• Can you live by godly Christian values at your workplace, whether you are successful by earthly standards or not?
• What do you want to pray before the Lord that He will help you change in 2008?

IV. Goals: What are they?

1 Cor 9 : 27
I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

2 Tim 4 : 8
In the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing

James 1 : 12
Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

1 Peter 1: 6-7
In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ

I believe that we were created to work hard on this earth ("to earn our bread by perspiring" Gen 3:19). As Christians, God doesn't give us an easy way out of this, where we can just sit around doing nothing. No. We have to work hard just like the others around us. But we are also to find fulfillment and satisfaction in our work - as we put our "work" in its proper place.

V. What are your Goals

What should a Christian’s goals be?

• Seek FIRST the kingdom of God
• Make Jesus LORD of our lives
• Carry me higher, Lord (NOT in the corporate world) Matt 16:26 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”

Should you have goals in your professional job?

• Subject to the Lord, knowing they may be changed
• Your bosses’ heart is in the Lord’s hands Proverbs 21:1 “The kings hearts is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord”

VI. My Goals

I personally believe that God has given me a whole lot of gifts. Here are some of the things that I see that God has given me (I am not proud of these. I am just looking at the facts as they are):

• Make Jesus Lord of my Life - absolutely, continuously
• Make my marriage an example of Scriptural marriages
• Spend quality & quantity time with my family. Train my children, praying they become disciples of Jesus
• Continually be in the Word of God; memorize Scripture as often as possible; be in tune with the Holy Spirit
• Fast and Pray regularly – Eat and Exercise regularly
• Provide generously and liberally to the people of God
• Pray that the Lord will bless our weekly Bible Study
• Always seeking to learn, teach others what I learn
• Do as well in my profession as the Lord allows me to
• Write a book exploring the things God has taught me through my Christian and professional life

VII. Decisions - We are constantly making them

1. Wisdom from above vs. folly of this earth (Jam 3:13-18)

• Pure, peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good deeds, unwavering, without guile

2. Sheep among wolves. Shrewd as serpents, yet gentle as doves (Matt 10:16)
3. Deeds of the flesh vs. Fruits of the Spirit (Gal 5:19-24)

• Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control

VIII. Financials matters

1. Those who love money go the way of Lot, Gehazi, Balaam, Demas

Matt 19:23, 24: “It is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

2. We cannot serve two masters: Luke 16:13

No worker can serve two bosses: He'll either hate the first and love the second. Or adore the first and despise the second. You can't serve both God and the Bank.

3. Voltaire said, “Christians of all denominations are the same when it comes to money”

4. Heaven has been prepared for those who have learnt to put money under their feet on earth.

5. Balance in how we treat money and all earthly assets

• Jesus provided abundance of wine, yet fasted for 40 days.
• Luke 9:58: “"The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."

6. If the Lord has given you much, use it to bless the others

7. Rom 16:11: Priscilla and Aquila opened their house IN ROME to Paul and the church. “Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who for my life risked their own necks, to whom not only do I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles; also greet the church that is in their house’

8. Luke 8:1-3: Even women supported Christ

• Mary (called Magdalene), 7 demons had been driven out of her
• Joanna the wife of Cuza, the manager of Herod's household;
• Susanna; and many others.

9. Matt 27: 57-60: Joseph of Arimathea, disciple of Jesus

• Isaiah 53:9: His grave was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death.

NOTE: Please also read Chap 3 of Practical Discipleship by Zac Poonen, for more details on this particular topic

IX. Time and Stress Management

1. What do we do with free-time : Learn from the ant: Prov 6:6-11
You lazy fool, look at an ant. Watch it closely; let it teach you a thing or two. Nobody has to tell it what to do. All summer it stores up food; at harvest it stockpiles provisions. So how long are you going to laze around doing nothing? How long before you get out of bed? A nap here, a nap there, a day off here, a day off there, sit back, take it easy—do you know what comes next? Just this: You can look forward to a dirt-poor life, poverty your permanent houseguest !

2. When under pressure:
We can pray to the God who helped Joseph, Daniel interpret dreams under intense time pressure

3. Matt 11:28-29:
Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life.
I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it.
Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you.
Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."

X. I’d Rather Have Jesus

I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold;
I’d rather be His than have riches untold;
I’d rather have Jesus than houses or lands;
I’d rather be led by His nail-pierced hand

         Refrain:
         Than to be the king of a vast domain,
         Or be held in sin’s dread sway;
         I’d rather have Jesus than anything
         This world affords today.

I’d rather have Jesus than men’s applause;
I’d rather be faithful to His dear cause;
I’d rather have Jesus than worldwide fame;
I’d rather be true to His holy name

He’s fairer than lilies of rarest bloom;
He’s sweeter than honey from out the comb;
He’s all that my hungering spirit needs;
I’d rather have Jesus and let Him lead

                                                  (Rhea F. Miller)

Note : To listen to the above message in MP3 format,  click here.

View Article list | Email This Page |

---

©Copyright - Sanjay Poonen
This article has been copyrighted to prevent misuse. It should not be reprinted or translated without written permission from the author. Permission is however given for this article to be downloaded and printed , provided it is for FREE distribution, provided NO ALTERATIONS are made, provided the AUTHOR'S NAME AND ADDRESS are mentioned and provided this COPYRIGHT notice ["Copyright by Sanjay Poonen"] is included in each printout.

For further details, please contact: CFC

Permanent Link

Mar. 9, 2008 - Lessons On Spiritual Decline

Lessons On Spiritual Decline (Series 1) - Zac Poonen

Permanent Link

Mar. 2, 2008 - The Work of the Holy Spirit D.L. Moody

I  suppose there is not a real Christian here, this afternoon, but that has a desire to be used of God. If you have no desire, no longing for usefulness, I should say there is something wrong in your life. It seems to me that the first impulse, the first aim of a new-born soul is service. "What shall I do? I want to do something." This desire is not of gratitude to Him who has saved you. I cannot conceive of a subject more important than the one before us. When Christ had finished his work, the last thing He did was to teach His disciples of the coming of the Holy Spirit, and what He would do when He came. When He handed over His work to them, then it was He told them that the Spirit was coming to help and to work with them. It was this that helped those very early Christians, and it will help us. There is not a man or woman today who may not be helped if he will. But first, there must be a willing mind and heart; we must know the mind of the Holy Spirit, give ourselves up wholly, to be led and guided and filled with the Spirit.

Now, in the first place, it is well for us to remember that the Holy Spirit is a person. I think I was a Christian for a number of years before I knew that. If I had ever heard it, it had slipped from me and left no impression. I remember, the first time I was awakened upon this subject while listening to an old minister talking about honoring the Holy Ghost. I had always up to that time looked upon Him in the light of one of the attributes, like justice, mercy, and love. But when this old divine talked about His personality, I really thought the old man had gone a little out of his mind. It seemed so strange that I had never heard of it before! I went home and read my Bible in order to find out everything that the book said about the Holy Spirit. I found that it always spoke of the spirit as "He," never as an influence. There is one verse in the fourteenth chapter of John, where the word "He" occurs four times. I only want you to understand that He is distinct from the Father and the Son. When Jesus came down to earth, the work that He did was distinct from the work of the Father.

But now let us come to what His work is. In the first place His work is to convict of sin. You often hear people say, "Why is it so few people are converted under our minister? He is cultured, refined, intellectual, eloquent, but yet there seem to be very few conversions." Well, now, my dear friends, if you are going to look to your ministers to convict and convert people, you are going to be disappointed. It is the work of the Holy Ghost to convict of sin. I have often said that I had rather do almost any manual work than that which I am doing, if I have got to convict the people of sin. It is God's work to carry home conviction to the heart, not man's work. When He shall come. He shall convict and convince men of sin. I have seen people who, when the spirit of God has been working mightily, would get up and go out, and slam the door after them in a bad passion. Not a bad sign. I would a good deal rather them do that than make no sign at all.

When I was preaching in Philadelphia, some time ago, a man and his wife attended my lecture one night. They went home, and the man went to bed without speaking to his wife. The next morning he got up, and ate his breakfast, and went off without saying a word to her. All day she moaned, that she had made a mistake in taking her husband to the meetings. He came home at noon and did not speak to her, and at night again. And he kept that up for a whole week. At the end of the week he said, "Wife, why did you tell Mr. Moody all about me?" His wife replied that she had not spoken a word to Mr. Moody about him. "Then you must have written him about me." "No, I haven't written him anything about you." "Well, then he must have heard it from someone else. That impudent wretch, held me up before thousands of people and told them all about me."

Well, then after a man has been convicted of his sins and is willing to give them up, the next thing the Spirit does is to shed aboard the love of God in our hearts. A great many people are always trying to make themselves love God. You cannot do it. Love must be spontaneous. You cannot love by trying to make yourself love. You have got to have power, and that power comes from the Spirit. When we have that love, then we have the spirit of Jesus Christ. Once I asked a lady who was mourning, because she didn't love God, if she loved her mother. She said, "Yes, I cannot help it." "Well," I said, "that is it exactly." When that heart has been filled with the spirit of God, you cannot help loving Him. But you cannot make yourself love. More love is just what we want today. If you should ask me what the church needs, I should say "love."

Then another thing that the spirit does is to impart hope. You never saw the spirit of God working in a church that wasn't hopeful. Another thing the spirit of God does, is to give liberty. In a good deal of our church work there is almost everything but liberty. A good deal of our work is forced work. Sometimes it takes a god deal of strength to get out a word. Why? Because the atmosphere isn't right. The Holy Spirit has got to have the right atmosphere to work in. You take the atmosphere out of this room, and my voice wouldn't be heard three feet away from me. You have got to have air to convey sound, and you have got to have the spirit prepare the ground in order to carry home the truth. If you get into a certain atmosphere where the spirit isn't working, you will not have liberty.

If a minister hasn't got liberty, it isn't always his fault. I want to emphasize that. The fault may be down there in the audience. I venture to say that an archangel couldn't have had liberty under such circumstances. Why? Because of the fault-finding, back-biting and criticism. Supposing Andrew and Philip had a row and were not on speaking terms, do you think there would have been any liberty? There is not the right atmosphere, and I do not care who you put in the pulpit, there will be no liberty. You want some new church members down there. You get them straight, and the minister will be all right. Supposing James had turned to John and said, "John, I really don't think Peter is preaching as well today as usual"; and John had replied, "Why, he has the most influential congregation I ever saw. The greatest men of the city are here." I will venture to say that you have had ten thousand better sermons preached than Peter ever preached. Suppose those people had gone on picking Peter to pieces. Do you think there would have been any power? But the one hundred and twenty held Peter right up to God, and, if you will allow me to use the expression, he swung loose that day. It takes neither brains nor heart to find fault. Anybody can do that. If you doubt what I say, just go into a crowd and hear a stranger talk. You will hear it said, "Well, what do you think of him?.. I must confess that I was greatly disappointed. He isn't as good as our own minister." Another comes along and says, "He wasn't logical. I have a logical turn of mind, and when I go to church I want to hear logic!" Another says, "He wasn't philosophical. Don't know what it means, but philosophy is what he wants." Another says, "It was all brain. Now, I am using my brain all day long, and when I go to church, I want some one to appeal to my heart."

I wish we could get this sort of criticism out of the church, and then there would be something done. But perhaps the fault is not with the man in the pulpit. When you go home and look in the looking-glass, perhaps you will see the guilty person. What he wants is to get out of the business of fault-finding. It is a poor business, my friend. Just get to praying. You need the spirit of God just as much as the minister. You business men need it; the Sunday-school teachers need it; there are men and women who confess God, who need it. You will have liberty to walk and talk with, and work for Christ, if you have His spirit.

His work is also to testify of Christ. What we want today is love of Christ. That's all. Let these ministers go into the pulpits and life up Christ, and let speculation go. The world can get on without speculation and theories, but this old world cannot go on without Jesus Christ. Therefore we want to preach Him and hold Him up. There is no class of men that Jesus Christ won't draw, if He is lifted up.

Then, another thing the spirit of God does is to teach you. "He shall teach you all things." He is a wonderful teacher. There is not a thing that I want to know about future life that God cannot teach me. Any spirit that does not want that book, you may know is a lying spirit. "He shall teach you all things." Now, if we have got a teacher sent down here from heaven, to teach us all things, are we not dishonoring Him if we run after other teachers? People often come to me and ask me to go to other teachers, call up some departed spirits, and have the chairs and tables turning around. I tell them, "No." When the Lord converted me, He took me out of darkness. In secret, my Master taught nothing. I don't want anything of these teachers that are going to teach us in the dark. I don't know what they are. They may come from hell.

And then He shall guide you into all truth. Wonderful guide, isn't He? That is what He is down here for, to guide us through the wilderness. He is here to look after us.

Now, I want to call your attention to a fact. You never in your life saw a man full of God who wasn't full of scripture.

You see a minister in the pulpit that is filled with the spirit of God, and he will talk scripture right along. Mary was filled with the Holy Ghost, and that Magnificent flowed from her lips. And any man full of the Holy Ghost will talk scripture.

I believe Christ never spoke of His death but what He said, "On the third day I will rise again." And yet, when the time came His disciples had forgotten all about those words. It has always been a mystery to me where the family of Bethany was. You would have thought they would have remembered and been at His grace. His enemies had better memories than His own disciples. They were at the door of the sepulcher; but they never did a better thing for Christianity than to roll that stone up against the door.

But when the Holy Ghost came, then we are told that they remembered the words of the Lord Jesus. Their memory was long enough then. I tell you, when you are filled with the spirit of God, Scripture will come rushing into your mind. One text upon another, comes rushing into our mind saying, "Use me, use me."

And then, "He shall comfort you." There is not a broken heart today that He cannot make whole. There is not a sorry one that He will not comfort. "If I go not away, the Comforter will not come."

I want to say to the singers, that there is great honor put upon music. When the Levites were praising God, then it was that the Shekinah came and filled the temple with glory. If the members of the choir had been at enmity with each other, and had not been on speaking terms, do you think there would have been any harmony? You want your singing in harmony with the preaching, and the singer wants to keep his heart as well tuned as the minister, if he is going to sing well. I don't know what angel it was that got down to the plains to tell the shepherds that Christ had come, but I have an idea that it was Gabriel. But they sung, "Glory to God in the Highest, Peace on earth, Good will toward men." And let me say to the singers that I believe they are doing as much as I am. You sing the gospel, and I will preach it. I believe John Wesley did as much as Charles. One preached and the other sung the gospel, halfway should be at my wits' ends if you asked me to quote anything that Charles Wesley ever said, but I think I could repeat several of John Wesley's hymns. Let us praise God as well as pray. Let us be thankful for what we have got.

Sometimes, when we get to praying, the Holy Ghost comes. I like to go into a meeting when you cannot sing or say anything, and when you feel as if you don't want any one to say a word. The Holy Ghost can do more in one day than you and I can in five years. I hope He will come and work in each of our hearts today.

And this is His dwelling-place, in these bodies that you and I inhabit. When we have been near the Son of God, then it is that these bodies become temples for the Holy Ghost to dwell in. Jesus says, "He shall be in you. He shall abide with you." And Paul says, "Know ye not that ye are the temples of God, and that the spirit of God dwelleth in you?" We have been bought, not by silver, but by the precious Son of God; and these bodies are the temples for the Holy Ghost to dwell in. Therefore, let us keep the temple pure and sweet. I want a baptism of the spirit for my own soul. I don't want to begin this year without a fresh anointing for the service. I should like to have all of you have the same desire." ~~~ D.L. Moody

Chapter 2 continues at D.L. Moody - #2

Permanent Link

Feb. 28, 2008 - This Week's Topic: SAY WHAT? Session I by Tamara L. Chilver (How to Talk to/Motivate your children)

Anyone reading this, PLEASE do yourself and your children a HUGE favor and after you read this...sign up for Tamara L. Chilver's newletter (info listed below)-it's FREE and Fabulous!  I got this in my e-mail the other day and just HAD to pass it along to you, as I know it will be of help to many of us here.

I discovered Tamara L. Chilver by reading her terrific book:

Teaching with TLC by Tamara L. Chilver--this book has blessed me and my family so much, and her website and newsletters are a Blessing from God!

okay...READ ON>>>>>>>>>

This Week's Topic: SAY WHAT? Session I

 

Help spread the word by sharing this newsletter with your friends and family and inviting them to subscribe.

 

 

Permanent Link

Feb. 27, 2008 - JESUS' TRAVAIL FOR YOU

JESUS' TRAVAIL FOR YOU (Isaiah 53:11)

If you have a Bible with you please turn to Isaiah 53:11. This is the real reason for taking communion and it's the basis of really taking it and not just eating bread and drinking wine. You remember it's the miraculous description of Jesus' experience on the cross, written eight centuries before Jesus was crucified. It's one of the greatest prophecies we have.

Read verse 11, "He, my righteous servant," originally Israel and really meaning Jesus, "He shall see the fruit of the travail of His soul and be satisfied. By His knowledge, shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous; and He shall bear their iniquities." Do you see the beginning of the verse, "He shall see the fruit of the travail of His soul," - and it's just "ma mal" in Hebrew. "Amal" is "trouble" or "travail," and the "min" is "from" or "after" or "in consequence of." So it means "in consequence of the travail of His soul, He shall see a sight that gives Him pleasure." He shall see and be satisfied or be pleased.

Do you know what the travail of Jesus' soul was? I think a lot of us when we first heard of Jesus' death thought, "Well it was the pain, the physical pain that He was bearing." Then we thought a little more about it and read a little more about it and heard a little more and we went a bit further and we said, "Well it was His own feeling of loneliness being away from His Father and being surrounded with all these people who hated Him." Then some of us went a little further and we said, "Well it's more than that; it's the pain that any of us would feel if somebody came in here and just started to swear in Christ's name. It would hurt us deep down because there's something in us that loves Jesus." We would say the travail of Jesus' soul was the pain of a pure clean loving heart being surrounded with so much hatred and so much dirt, and so much blasphemy against God.

Well loved ones, it was deeper than that. Do you know the moment when you have had real trouble speaking the truth to other people? You know those moments when you want to say what you really believe but you're afraid of what they will think of you? Inside you want to you want to say what you know is right, but you're afraid of what they'll think of you. And y