Contending for the Faith: Entire consecration.

Contending for the Faith: Entire consecration.:      I would like to share an excerpt from the book Sanctification, by B. Carridine D.D. written in 1890. He is writing to Christians, encou...

Humility, Essential For the Presence of God.

                 For thus says the high and exalted One
                 Who lives forever, whose name is Holy,
                  I dwell on a high and holy place,
                  And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit
                  In order to revive the spirit of the lowly
                  And to revive the heart of the contrite.
                                        Isaiah 57:15 NASB
   
     God is present everywhere (Psalm 139:7-10), but He only dwells in two places. As the Holy God, He dwells in the high and holy place. He also desires to dwell with man, but cannot dwell where sin reigns. It is in the place of brokenness, the humble heart submitted to the Savior, where Christ desires to dwell.

Clean Hands, and A Pure Heart.

     It has been said that if you desire revival, draw a circle on the ground, step inside, and ask God to send revival and begin with me. It is a fact that God must first work in the hearts of His chosen vessels before He can use them for greater purposes. He must first cleanse His church before He will use it to bring souls into His Kingdom. Judgment begins in the house of God (1 Peter 4:17).
     The Scriptures are filled with examples of this truth. Before Moses could lead Israel out of Egypt He first had to circumcise his son. This was a sign of his covenant relationship with God, and was something he had neglected to do (Exodus 4:24-26).
     Joshua could not proceed into the promised land until all of the males born during the forty years Israel wandered in the wilderness, were also circumcised (Joshua 5:2-9). This physical act is symbolic of the removal of the sin nature in our hearts (Romans 2:29) (Deut 10:16) (Jer 4:4).
     Years ago a group of seven men were moved by the plight of the backslidden churches around them. They made a covenant before God to seek Him on a regular basis until He sent revival. They faithfully met three nights a week to seek God, praying until four or five in the morning. They met like this for weeks until early one morning one of them arose from prayer and opened his bible and began to read from Psalm Twenty Four. "who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? And who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood (Psalm 24:3-4NASB).
     The men were cut to the heart and all began to confess their sin and rededicate themselves to Christ anew. this was the beginning of a mighty revival that swept the Hebrides in 1949.
     We must be clean to approach A holy God. We must put away sin and surrender ourselves to Him. He must have us before He will use us, but once cleansed and filled with His Spirit there is no end to the great things He can accomplish through us!

A Voice of Thunder.

     Few men have spoken for God with the power and conviction of Charles G. Finney. In an age where the church had grown cold and formal, he labored to bring them back to a life of holiness for the glory of God. He refused to compromise, calling sin sin. He understood many of the "refuges of lies" (excuses) that sinners hid behind. With a powerful voice, full of the Holy Spirit, he preached with conviction. Men would fall to their knees trembling before the holy God they had rebelled against. Thousands were saved from lives of sin, thousands were brought back from backsliding. God used him mightily to bring revival to the church of his day.
     He had no power in and of himself. What was his secret? He was yielded to God, full of the Holy Spirit. He walked in total obedience to God and His word. He was a man of prayer. He understood that without the power of the Holy Spirit in his life, he could do nothing.
     His writings exist today, and have been a source of growth and encouragement to many. Many individuals have read them and God has used them to bring revival as well.
     Why not let God use you? We need a voice of thunder today. Let God fill you and use you. Oh how the church needs revival today.

An Interview With Leonard Ravenhill.

     Here is a link to an interview with Leonard Ravenhill. It is convicting, as well as inspiring. We need to see revival as he describes it, once again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwtiw7UTj4o
    

Grieving the Spirit.

     Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
                          Ephesians 4:30 NASB

     As Christians, we are called to maturity. We are not to be like children, falling for everything that we hear, but we are to grow up in all aspects of our lives, into Christ, who is our head (Eph 4:14,15). We are to live our lives according to the truth, the truth that is revealed to us in the word of God. It is one thing to know and study the truth, but unless we allow it to shape and mold our lives, unless we become Christlike in our behavior, it is useless knowledge.
     It is the job of the Holy Spirit to take the truth and reveal it to us. The Holy Spirit will take the word of God and illuminate it to our hearts and minds so that we can understand it and know how we need to apply it to our lives. It is His job to sanctify us, or to make us holy, set apart in every aspect of our lives. To be holy, is to be separated from sin, selfishness, and all the ungodly ways of this world, and be devoted to the service of God. The Holy Spirit will convict us, promt us, lead and guide us, and empower us, to the end that Christ is formed in us.
     Those who follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, exhibit lives filled with the fruit of the Spirit. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, are all marks of the Spirit filled life (Galatians 5:22,23).
     Paul exhorted the Believers in Ephesus to put off the old man, the corrupt way of life that they once lived, and to put on the new man who in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness, and holiness of the truth (Eph 4:22-24). This involves a renewal of mind, a looking at life through the lens of scripture with a determined willingness to obey God in everything at all times. We must cooperate with the Holy Spirit, or we will grieve Him. The Spirit is filled with sorrow when we go against Him. It grieves Him when we are dishonest with one another. He is grieved by anger, theft, vain and foolish conversation, bitterness, wrath, clamor, and slander (vss. 25-31). All of these sinful behaviors are the fruit of yielding to our fleshly, selfish desires. These are the results of failing to follow the Spirit, and this grieves Him. A loss of the fear of the Lord, a lack of respect for Him and His presence grieves the Spirit. This only shows that we are living for ourselves, and not for Him.
     To grieve the Spirit is to lose communion with Him. It is to lose that peace that comes from a right standing with God. It is to lose the inner witness that the Holy Spirit bears with our spirit. If persisted in, it leads to spiritual death (Gal 5:21, 6:8).
     The only remedy is found at the cross of Christ. True confession of sin, confession to God, and confession to those we have offended, and a honest repentance, are needed. When sin is dealt with, and dug out from the root, when the blood of Christ has been applied by faith, we will once again enjoy the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

The Narrow Way.

     Jesus makes a sobering statement in Mattthew 7:13,14

    " Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.
     "For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it."

     Hear what Jesus is saying! The broad way to destruction is full of people! The narrow way to life is only found by a few!
     We live in an age where salvation is "easy". Just say this prayer, come as you are, you do not need to give up anything, God loves you just as you are. People are looking for a Jesus who will give them a wonderful life. They want a Jesus who will make them happy without making them holy.
     The Jesus of the Bible demands a total commitment of all we are. He demands we deny ourselves, and take up our cross, not just once but DAILY, as we follow Him. There is no coming into the kingdom without a thorough repentance. Repentance was the cry of John the Baptist, of Jesus, Paul, Peter. They did not say "Repeat this prayer after me, while every head is bowed, and every eye is closed" They called for repentance, a turning from sin and self, and by faith, surrendering to Christ as Lord.
     There are few who make this commitment. Most want heaven, but have no real desire to live a life sold out to Christ, a life lived for His will, His glory, His kingdom. Most are content to look back at a moment when they said a prayer, exercised some faith, but never exchanged self for Christ. They were never truly regenerated, born again, and made into a new creation.
     What road are you on? Are you satisfied to live a life of sin, never getting victory over temptation, never really changed from how you have always lived? You might have "accepted Christ" but where is the fruit? Or have you been transformed, truly set free, living for the will of God?
     What road are you on?
    

Coming out of the world.

     By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.
     Hebrews 11:8-10 ESV.

     We need to understand that Abraham left a country that was filled with wealth and knowledge. He left the world that he knew, and was comfortable in. He did this at the command of God. He left on a promise. He was to receive the land of Canaan, as an inheritance. In his lifetime he only owned a burial plot in this land, dwelling in it as a stranger. He had his eyes on God, looking forward to what was to come.
     What about us? Do we fix our eyes on Christ and eternal things, or are we absorbed by this world? We must live in this world as strangers, foreigners. There can be no compromise with worldly ways, we must leave it all behind. No conformity, we are called to be pure, children of light in a perverse generation.