"And when he (the Holy Spirit) is come, he will reprove the world of
sin and of righteousness and of judgment" John 16:8. There is one
desperate need in the church today and that is old fashioned heaven sent
conviction of sin. One of the most insipid things is to see
unconverted, lost sinners come forward in a church with a grin on their
face and say, "I want to join the church" or "I want to give my life to
Jesus" and there is not one sign of conviction or contrition or
conversion from sin and to God.
Where are the converted? No wonder. Pastors tell me, you cannot find,
in the average church, one half of the church members in church. There
are just too many unconverted, unsaved church members professing to be
Christians with absolutely no change in their lives. "If any man be in
Christ, he is a new creature, old things are passed away and all things
are become new" 2 Corinthians 5:17.
What we preachers need. We preachers need the conviction of the Holy
Spirit in our preaching. That doesn’t mean pounding the pulpit,
stomping your feet, screaming a little louder but having the power of
God flowing though you so people are cut to the heart for their sins of
what they do not do as well as for what they do. Make sense? Peter,
"filled with the Holy Spirit" preached with deep conviction. "Now when
they heard this they were pricked in their heart, (Oh, dear people, we
need this today) and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles,
Men and brethren, what shall we do" Acts 2:38. When have you seen that
kind of conviction. Believe me, I love the church and preachers. We ALL
need to see old time conviction and contrition of our sins of not
witnessing to EVERY person. Make sense?
"They were not able to resist the spirit by which Stephen spake" Acts
6:10. "When they heard these things they were cut to the heart and they
gnashed on him (Stephen) with their teeth. But he being full of the
Holy Ghost (and this is the key), looked up steadfastly into heaven and
saw the glory of God and Jesus standing on the right hand of God" Acts
7:54. Of course Stephen lost his life but he gained eternal rewards.
They were cut to the heart! "When they heard that, they were cut to
the heart, and took counsel to slay them" Acts 5:33. Yes, some died, but
3000 were saved on the day of Pentecost Acts 2:41, "and the Lord added
to the church DAILY such as should be saved" Acts 2:47. A little later
"many of them which heard the word believed and the number of the men
was about 5000" Acts 4:4, finally it is said they "turned the world
upside down" Acts 17:6. "Depart from me, I am a sinful man" Jesus was
convicting "I get convicted when I hear you preach." A number have said
to me. What a compliment!
“He who joyfully marches in rank and file with the world, (love not
the world) has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large
brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would suffice.” --
Albert Einstein,
MEMORIZE: “ But godliness with contentment is great gain” 1 Timothy 6:6
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