And when these things begin to come to pass,
then look up, and lift up your heads;
for your redemption draweth nigh.
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March 20, 2008:Traditions | Just a few more weary days and then... I'll fly away... And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. |
| December 29, 2007:New Year's 2008 | ||
| November 3, 2007:How To Be Successful in Christian Ministry | ||
| October 23, 2007:Salmon |
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| Overcoming Darkness William H. Haller |
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There is the one thing that has to happen for church growth? I'm sure I will get a lot of good answers to that. Many of them will get half credit, but there is truly only one right answer.
The Holy Spirit moves in the hearts of man to achieve three purposes. First, the Holy Spirit convicts man of his sinful ways and thoughts. He is a true scale of justice, correctly dispensing judgment for right and wrong. Second, the Holy Spirit works to convince man that there is something greather than man at work in the universe. He seeks to convince man that man is not, in fact, the ultimate being in creation. There is a God. Third, He works to combine these two feelings into a common thread that a particular human heart is at odds with the supreme being because of that person's unrighteousness.
This work, and this work alone, is responsible for any church growth that occurs. So what is Satan doing while this is going on?
Satan is working to make the world look as alluring as possible. He wants to make the pleasures of this life seem so good to an individual, that even if they are being convicted by the Holy Ghost of their lifestyle, they will not want to give up their pleasures and change. The second work that Satan is doing is to crowd the scene with as many false roads to a false God as He can. He is making them look appealing. He is trying to make their way seem easy. That way, if the person feels the need to seek a higher power, Satan will have many paths to present that will seem easier or more convenient than the way that God wants the person to take.
Take a look at the clothes I have chosen to wear today. What strikes your eye? I suspect you will mention my heart shaped tie-tack, because I have elected to wear a black suit, dark blue shirt, and dark tie. The neat thing about this tie is that if you look at it from one direction, it appears to be solid black. If you look at it from another, a shiny blue interlocking pattern appears. That dark black suit represents the dark world of Satan. The dark blue shirt represents the people. The tie and the tie tack represent the religions of the world. Satan would prefer the people come strictly over to his side. If they want to get to the shining church, they have to sort through a large number of false religions to get there.
What can we do to help? Today's scripture is from John 8:12-20 and 12:44-46. Here Christ is declaring to be the light in the darkness. We covered that mostly in an earlier lesson. I don't want to repeat myself too much. So, since today was going to be short anyway, I'll just refer you to that and continue my summary.
The light that set Christ apart was the work of the Holy Spirit in His ministry and the ministry of the early church. Satan can counterfit many miracles that God does. If you remember the contests between Moses, Aaron, and the Egyptian sorcerors, the evil priests were able to duplicate many of the things that Moses and Aaron did. Of course, in some cases they did lose something in the process, but Satan can counterfit many works of God.
That doesn't mean we should stop trying. The Holy Spirit needs to be working in every Christian church and every Christian denomination to be a beacon or lighthouse to people, guiding them to where they can find the truth. No miracle, healing, or other work of the Spirit will save a single person. They won't keep them saved either. But it will get their attention. In today's society, that is more important than ever. We are a people today with nanosecond attention spans. It takes something big and real to get our attention focused.
The false religions of the world witness better than we do. They try to portray an atmosphere of love and peace that rivals the fruit of the Spirit we are supposed to have. There are other religions that may not go door to door, but are out there where people are at, being visible. Most churches today sit behind closed doors and let people come to them if they want to. The first command of the great commission was "Go", not "Sit".
Other attacks are more subtle. Satan is the master of that, you know. There is a TV show airing today that makes fun of the gifts of the Spirit. You might not think it to look at the subject, but if you really follow what the show is saying, listen to the dialog, and look at what each character can do, it is a direct slap at the gifts of the Spirit. The end result of the show is destruction. That should be a clue.
Today, the work of the Spirit is restrained at the highest levels in some denominations. In others, the service format pretty much guarantees that there is no chance for God to move. These things must change. Let the denominations today become more conformed to the early church, with leaders who have been baptized in the Holy Ghost, from the highest levels on down to anyone in authority in the local church. Having God moving in the church today, as it was in the early church, is the one thing that Satan fears. He doesn't fear preachers. He doesn't fear Sunday School teachers. He certainly doesn't fear the bureaucracy above that doesn't touch the people. What He fears is that the people will decide to let God move again. When God is on the move, Satan must get out of the way. He will give place. Let God move.
