John 15:5 "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing."Jesus is letting His disciples know the true relationship between He and them.
They are completely dependant on Him for everything spiritual, and He emphatically stresses, "Without Me you can do NOTHING"....
Now, before leaving this world to return to His Father, He knew that they had no real concept of what was actually happening in terms of His death and resurrection, so He lovingly prepares them- "...I tell you the truth,
it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you, but if I depart, I will send Him to you (John 16:7)"....
He shows them the intimate relationship within the Godhead- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit- "But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me".
Never lose sight of this truth, Christian- The Holy Spirit always bears witness to the truth of the pure Gospel of Jesus Christ, always testifies of Him, and always leads people to Him.
On earth, Jesus pointed people back to the Father, and since His death and resurrection, the Holy Spirit leads lost humanity to the risen Lord of all of creation, Jesus Christ, the Messiah, as the only Divinely accepted sacrifice for the sin of the whole world.
Any teaching that would take you away from these truths must be identified and rejected, for the Holy Ghost will support only God's truth.
Praise His Holy Name, He made the way so clear to mankind, and so simple that any fool or wayward man could understand it!.....
Ever since Jesus' resurrection, believers were and are to be totally dependent on the Holy Spirit in our walk with Christ- This is God's will and design.
Yet today we see believers doing many other things, don't we?
So many Christians are getting involved in 'seeker-friendly' classes, in 'church-growth' programs, in various method teaching- all designed to reach today's unbeliever, as if TODAY'S unbeliever was somehow lost in a different way than the rest of lost humanity throughout history, or that they now must be reached through other avenues than their spirit, and the Holy Spirit can no longer reach them through the anointed presenting of the Gospel of Christ! .....
When did we cease depending on the Spirit whom our Savior sent as promised, and who He said would lead us into all truth (John 16:13)?
When did the Body of Christ decide that there was perhaps a more sophisticated or clever way to share the Savior with the unsaved?
How can we honestly expect to be successful in reaching the lost with our silly programs and methods, when only the Spirit of God can bring a soul to Christ, and yet we're so unwilling to depend and lean on Him in the process? ......
Christian, do you want to see the lost truly be brought to Christ?
Do you want to be involved in bringing them in?
Then cease with all of your self-confidence, your fleshly methods, your arrogance, and begin to seek to be lead of the Spirit of the Lord.
He can do what we can't.
Trust Him.
Beloved, there is no other way.
En Agape,
Jim Ewing
No comments:
Post a Comment