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It is the ministry of the Holy Spirit to reprove sin, righteousness, and judgment. It is not our ministry. We are simply witnesses. A witness is not the judge or the jury. A witness simply relates what he has experienced, thereby providing evidence to the truth of something. We are to witness in word and deed, to the truth of Jesus being alive in us and let God be the one who convicts. We are simply to testify to what we have seen or to what has happened to us.
Some people in their zeal, have gone beyond the witness stage and have tried to bring people under conviction themselves. This is assuming the job that belongs to the Holy Spirit alone. This not only frustrates the witness but it drives many people away from God. We make a very poor Holy Spirit; therefore, we should...
· MY "WINTER SONG"
The Greek word translated "expedient" means "to be an advantage; profitable."
How could any situation be more advantageous or profitable than having Jesus physically with you?
When Jesus walked on this earth in His physical body, He was subject to many physical limitations. For instance, He could not always be with every one of His disciples all the time. Through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, He could. Instead of Satan getting rid of Jesus, 120 "little Christs" (that is literally what the word "Christian" means) came out of the upper room on the day of Pentecost.
Jesus taught His disciples as no teacher ever had, yet they had very little understanding because they were not...
We should not think it is strange to be persecuted. "All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution" (2 Tim. 3:12). We can actually rejoice because we are being persecuted for Jesus' sake, and the Lord will be with us in the midst of the persecution. When we stand before Him, there will be more than ample reward.
Persecution is a token that those persecuting you are under conviction. They realize that they are not living what your words or actions are advocating and in self defense, they attack you, who they perceive is the source of their conviction. If you understand this, it makes persecution much easier to take. They aren't just mad at you; they are convicted. When the gospel is...
This is a profound truth, that is the key to bearing fruit, but it is so easy to forget. Because the fruit is borne on the branch, it is easy to credit the branch with the fruit, when it is the vine that drew the life from the earth and channeled it through the branch.
Likewise, since we are the branch through which the life of God flows, we sometimes think that it is our own holiness that produces the fruit. The moment we think that way, we are no longer abiding (trusting in; clinging to) in the vine and we will become fruitless if we persist in this mind set.
This is actually a great relief if the believer understands this and applies it properly. It puts all the responsibility on Jesus. Our only responsibility is to...
This purging has been interpreted in many ways. The illustration that Jesus is using is one of pruning; therefore, some have said this purging is a very painful process where the Lord cuts and slashes us through things like sickness, death, poverty, and other forms of tragedy so that eventually we will bear more fruit. This teaching not only promotes problems as being good, but necessary, if we want to bear more fruit.
That thinking is not consistent with the rest of God's Word or even the context of this verse. The text makes it very clear that the purging that Jesus speaks of is done through the Word that He has spoken unto us.
Paul said in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 that God's Word was given to us "for doctrine, for...
Jesus stated His union with the Father so clearly that He was accused of blasphemy more than once. This statement about the Father being greater than Jesus must harmonize, not contradict other claims.
A key to understanding this is given in Philippians 2:6-8, where Paul states that Jesus didn't think it was robbery to be equal with God, but humbled Himself, taking on the form of a servant (speaking of His humanity). Jesus was equal to God in His divine nature but He made Himself inferior to the Father in regard to His humanity. Jesus didn't lose any of His deity when He became a man, but He did clothe it in flesh and submit it to the consequent limitations. In this sense, the Father was...