ALL LABOR WITHOUT THE HOLY SPIRIT IS IN VAIN There is a psychological effect often seen in religious meetings which may seem similar in appearance to the Spirits work, but they are as far apart as the poles. Powerful emotional effects are produced by fine music and skillful acting. But this is simply a psychological appeal to the emotions. Let there be no confusion here. Tears in a church service are not inherently holier than tears in an opera performance. Even the religious orators scintillating phrases and logical presentation of divine things, that delights the hearers and impresses the imagination and the understanding, may be utterly destitute of the Holy Spirits power. It is not mere abstract truth as such, but the power of the Holy Spirit witnessing to the truth, that produces spiritual results. The Spirit-filled soul winner is often supplanted by the religious orator, who comes in to fill all with himself. Not until all confidence in enticing speech has been put away, can God use the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. Often it is the plainest speech uttered by the humblest instruments that is most markedly used. Rhetoricians can never teach us the secret of the Holy Spirits power. Immersion in the Divine Word, and utter abandonment into the hands of God, to be subject solely to His will and swayed by His Spirit, are the one true pathway to spiritual power. Paul learned this lesson. In his masterful oration at Athens he met logic with logic and philosophy with philosophy. But he left no church there, and there is no epistle to the Athenians, whereas there are two addressed to the Corinthian converts. Coming to them, Paul said significantly, I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. [1 Cor. 2:2] When human ambition achieves success, it is precisely the same as if one founded and developed a worldly financial enterprise. Then is the church like the ship of death drifting across the ocean, manned by lifeless forms. Dead men in the rigging, dead men at the helm, dead men in the bunks, drifting in silence across the dismal sea of death. There is many a formal church with a dead man in the pulpit and dead souls in the pews, so far as the vibrant life of the Holy Spirit is concerned. And the finger from heaven writes, ...thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead [Revelation 3:1b]. THE HOLY SPIRIT CONVICTS AND WINS TO CHRIST What then is the nature of the power of the Holy Spirit, and how does it operate? The power of the Holy Spirit convicts of sin. It makes the hearers see themselves as God sees them. It sends the people home not admiring the preacher, but agitated, troubled, often vowing never to hear him again. Yet they know in their souls that he is right and they are wrong. It is the power of conviction that says to the heart, Thou art the man. Such preachers are often not popular, but they are powerful. Beware of flattery. The personal power of God arraigns the sinner before the bar of justice, and wrongs are righted and confessions made. The Coming of the Comforter ~ Leroy Froom
Posted on: Fri, 07 Mar 2014 06:43:39 +0000
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