In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:1-5, ESV)

What IS the Word?

First, I’ll ask a different, but related question: what is a book?

I was recently skyping with my mother, and encouraging her that she could save a lot by buying a Kindle (only an initial investment of buying the device) and then the ease of which taking your library with you everywhere you go would let her see that this is beneficial. At the time of writing this, I’ve currently got six free Bible translations I’ve been able to obtain for The Kindle. Anyway, she responded as I expected, and as I did when first told about e-readers:

“I like the feel of a real book in my hands.”

Lest you think this is a promotion for the Kindle, which I assure you it’s not, I have a direction I’m going with in my thinking for you. But, what is a “real” book? It wasn’t until the printing press was invented that it helped revolutionize the way information was spread. Historians even differ on if it was invented to help propagate the Bible and get it into the hands of the common man, or to help spread Catholic propaganda, like indulgences. But at any rate, for most of Church history, after the first century, the believer was not able to turn to a book and read the words of Christ. Only the elite few clergy and rich people had access to these types of materials. Is a book only a book if it’s on paper, or on an electronic device?

The Truth That Exposes Deception

Recently, at an English outreach/teaching ministry I’ve been volunteering with on a weekly basis now, I went out to eat with some of the Peruvian brothers who frequently come out. Because I’ve only been doing this for about six weeks, I don’t yet know which of them are believers, and which ones are benefiting from the English lessons, centered on and oriented around the Bible, but who have yet to make a life commitment to become followers of Jesus Christ. I got talking to one brother in particular as we ate, and talked in and out of English and Spanish. He can wax eloquent about the Bible and gives lots of ‘correct’ answers to questions, but the two ladies who run this ministry assured me is not a Christian (yet). So in this discussion I tried gauging where he was at by using the Word of God since the Bible states:

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. (Hebrews 4:12-13, ESV)

You see, the Word of God is NOT a leather bound book. It is not ink on paper. It is the words and life of Jesus Christ through us. We manifest the Word of Christ, but it is not limited to being a book in our traditional physical formats. It’s not limited to digital methods of reading like on an iPhone or Kindle e-reader, either.

As I got talking to this Peruvian brother, who is a little bit older than me, I could locate where he was at by the outward reaction that he had to hearing these truths communicated to him. Does the sword cut, or bring life when I share it with him? I also let him read some of these passages for himself. Because he had shared with mm that my pocket Bible’s font was too small for his eyesight, I used my Kindle and zoomed in to a suitable font size he could read with ease, and shared with him the first 18 verses of the Gospel of John. It was in this moment I was having an epiphany for this post in particular, as I’m using a digital technology that didn’t even exist decades ago, to share with him the words written before even the printing press technology had been invented.

The Light That Exposes Darkness

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:5)

The Word of God is living and active, and dwelt amongst us. To piece together statements from both Hebrews and John; the Word of God is a man. It is God. He judges the motives of the hearts and when He sets foot back on the earth again, the imagery used in The Revelation, also written by this Gospel’s author, it says that he had a sharp two-edged sword coming out of his mouth (Rev 1:16). This Man John looked at in all His glory was NOT some limp-wristed effeminate bloodied hippee nailed to a cross like some of the popular paintings and art work have portrayed Him to be.

The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. (Rev 1:14-17a)

THIS man, mentioned in all his glory in this passage at the end of John’s life, is the Word became flesh. And in His presence, the “disciple whom Jesus loved” fell as though dead at His feet.

As I stated in a post of mine called The Recovery of Sharpened Proclamation,

The passage (Heb 4:12-13) used at the outset states how when our thoughts and intentions are held to the standard of the Word of God–a living sword, we are as though naked and exposed. We are stripped of any defense we can hide behind when our darkness is exposed by the light of the ultimate standard–God’s standard–His Word.

And also in my post, Jesus’ Eyes of Fire,

King Jesus doesn’t merely examine our hearts, but He tests and evaluates our true spiritual condition, and then brings His fire to effect a greater purity and usefulness in our lives…

…Jesus desires intimacy with us; He longs for a people who intimately know Him face to face, but in order to get closer to Him, those eyes of fire are going to test the pure motives of our heart and let us know that He is committed to burning up the chaff in our lives. He will remove the dross, for it’s impossible to get closer and closer to the heat source without things getting brought to the surface in our lives and removed.

The Word of God does this in our lives. Seek greater intimacy, dear saints, with the Word became Flesh. Study the Bible, yes, and develop intimacy with the Son of Man. But, remember, whether it’s something you’re reading on an electronic device, or on paper and ink, it doesn’t matter. Get it in you!

Back to the Peruvian brother. The reason I found myself thinking off the top of my head to show him this passage, was he had told me he considers himself to be a Christian. He told me that he has a relationship with Jesus (a very works-oriented understanding, by the sounds of it listening to him share with my why he felt he was one). And when I suggested to him one surefire way to know what God was like, was to read His will and testament (the Bible), I showed him this passage and watched it give him watery eyes. I am not sure what seed was planted, or how much closer this brother is, but when you read this pray for him that the scale would be tipped all the way and in the near future I’ll post a positive story of a commitment to Christ.

Fellowship With God is NOT Studying a Book

But for the meantime, remember: The promise of the Father was the Holy Spirit, not a Bible. The written Word, the Bible has replaced the Holy Spirit in most Christians’ lives. The promise of the Father was the Holy Spirit, not a book, and the book as it has been printed and gotten into the hands of the multitudes over the centuries has replaced intimacy with the promise of the Father, the Holy Spirit.

The Spirit and the Word are one. Don’t exclude one (the Spirit) at the expense of only adhering to and studying the book.

Steve Bremner is a missionary to Peru, called to raise up disciples who flow in the power of the Holy Spirit. He is general editor of Fire Press, and also produces & co-hosts its podcast called Fire On Your Head. Visit his personal site at http://stevebremner.com 

by Charles Finney

The design of this article is to propound several rules by a steady conformity to any one of which a man may preach so as not to convert anybody. It is generally conceded at the present day that the Holy Spirit converts souls to Christ by means of truth adapted to that end. It follows that a selfish preacher will not skillfully adapt means to convert souls to Christ, for this is not his end.

Rule 1st. Let your supreme motive be to secure your own popularity; then, of course, your preaching will be adapted to that end, and not to convert souls to Christ.

2d. Aim at pleasing, rather than at converting your hearers.

3d. Aim at securing for yourself the reputation of a beautiful writer.

4th. Let your sermons be written with a high degree of literary finish.

5th. Let them be short, occupying in the reading not to exceed from twenty to thirty minutes.

6th. Let your style be flowery, ornate, and quite above the comprehension of the common people.

7th. Be sparing of thought, lest your* sermon contain truth enough to convert a soul.

8th. Lest your sermon should make a saving impression, announce no distinct propositions or heads, that will be remembered, to disturb the consciences of your hearers.

9th. Make no distinct points, and take no disturbing issues with the consciences of your hearers, lest they remember these issues, and become alarmed about their souls.

10th. Avoid a logical division and subdivision of your subject, lest you should too thoroughly instruct your people.

11th. Give your sermon the form and substance of a flowing, beautifully written, but never-to-be-remembered essay; so that your hearers will say “it was a beautiful sermon,” but can give no further account of it.

12th. Avoid preaching doctrines that are offensive to the carnal mind, lest they should say of you, as they did of Christ, “This is a hard saying. Who can hear it?” and that you are injuring your influence.

13th. Denounce sin in the abstract, but make no allusion to the sins of your present audience.

14th. Keep the spirituality of God’s holy law, by which is the knowledge of sin, out of sight, lest the sinner should see his lost condition and flee from the wrath to come.

15th. Preach the Gospel as a remedy, but conceal or ignore the fatal disease of the sinner.

16th. Preach salvation by grace; but ignore the condemned and lost condition of the sinner, lest he should understand what you mean by grace, and feel his need of it.

17th. Preach Christ as an infinitely amiable and good-natured being; but ignore those scathing rebukes of sinners and hypocrites which so often made his hearers tremble.

18th. Avoid especially preaching to those who are present. Preach about sinners, and not to them. Say they, and not you, lest any one should make a personal and saving application of your subject.

19th. Aim to make your hearers pleased with themselves and pleased with you, and be careful not to wound the feelings of any one.

20th. Preach no searching sermons, lest you convict and convert the worldly members of your church.

21st. Avoid awakening uncomfortable memories by reminding your hearers of their past sins.

22d. Do not make the impression that God commands your hearers now and here to obey the truth.

23d. Do not make the impression that you expect your hearers to commit themselves upon the spot and give their hearts to God.

24th. Leave the impression that they are expected to go away in their sins, and to consider the matter at their convenience.

25th. Dwell much upon their inability to obey, and leave the impression that they must wait for God to change their natures.

26th. Make no appeals to the fears of sinners; but leave the impression that they have no reason to fear.

27th. Say so little of Hell that your people will infer that you do not believe in its existence.

28th. Make the impression that, if God is as good as you are, He will send no one to Hell.

29th. Preach the love of God, but ignore the holiness of His love, that will by no means clear the impenitent sinner.

30th. Often present God in his parental love and relations; but ignore His governmental and legal relations to His subjects, lest the sinner should find himself condemned already and the wrath of God abiding on him.

31st. Preach God as all mercy, lest a fuller representation of His character should alarm the consciences of your hearers.

32d. Try to convert sinners to Christ without producing any uncomfortable convictions of sin.

33d. Flatter the rich, so as to repel the poor, and you will convert none of either class.

34th. Make no disagreeable allusions to the doctrines of self-denial, cross-bearing, and crucifixion to the world, lest you should convict and convert some of your churchmembers.

35th. Admit, either expressly or impliedly, that all men have some moral goodness in them; lest sinners should understand that they need a radical change of heart, from sin to holiness.

36th. Avoid pressing the doctrine of total moral depravity; lest you should offend, or even convict and convert, the moralist.

37th. Do not rebuke the worldly tendencies of the church, lest you should hurt their feelings, and finally convert some of them.

38th. Should any express anxiety about their souls, do not probe them by any uncomfortable allusion to their sin and ill-desert; but encourage them to join the church at once, and exhort them to assume their perfect safety within the fold.

39th. Preach the love of Christ not as enlightened benevolence, that is holy, just, and sin-hating; but as a sentiment, an involuntary and undiscriminating fondness.

40th. Be sure not to represent religion as a state of loving self-sacrifice for God and souls; but rather as a free and easy state of self-indulgence. By thus doing you will prevent sound conversions to Christ, and convert your hearers to yourself.

41st. So select your themes and so present them as to attract and flatter the wealthy, aristocratic, self-indulgent extravagant, pleasure-seeking classes, and you will not convert any of them to the cross-bearing religion of Christ.

42d. Be time-serving, or you will endanger your salary; and, besides, if you speak out and are faithful, you may convert somebody.

43d. Do not preach with a divine unction, lest your preaching make a saving impression.

44th. To avoid this, do not maintain a close walk with God, but rely upon your learning and study.

45th. Lest you should pray too much, engage in light reading and worldly amusements.

46th. That your people may not think you in earnest to save their souls, and, as a consequence, heed your preaching, encourage church-fairs, lotteries, and other gambling and worldly expedients to raise money for church purposes.

47th. If you do not approve of such things, make no public mention of your disapprobation, lest your church should give them up, and turn their attention to saving souls and be saved themselves.

48th. Do not rebuke extravagance in dress, lest you should uncomfortably impress your vain and worldly churchmembers.

49th. Lest you should be troubled with revival scenes and labors, encourage parties, pic-nics, excursions, and worldly amusements, so as to divert attention from the serious work of saving souls.

50th. Ridicule solemn earnestness in pulling sinners out of the fire, and recommend, by precept and example, it jovial, fun-loving religion, and sinners will have little respect for your serious preaching.

51st. Cultivate a fastidious taste in your people, by avoiding all disagreeable allusions to the last judgment and final retribution.

52d. Treat such uncomfortable doctrines as obsolete and out of place in these days of Christian refinement.

53d. Do not commit yourself to much-needed reforms, lest you should compromise your popularity and injure your influence. Or you may make some branch of outward reform a hobby, and dwell so much upon it as to divert attention from the great work of converting souls to Christ.

54th. So exhibit religion as to encourage the selfish pursuit of it. Make the impression upon sinners that their own safety and happiness is the supreme motive for being religious.

55th. Do not lay much stress upon the efficacy and necessity of prayer, lest the Holy Spirit should be poured out upon you and the congregation, and sinners should be converted.

56th. Make little or no impression upon your hearers, so that you can repeat your old sermons often without its being noticed.

57th. If your text suggest any alarming thought, pass lightly over it, and by no means dwell upon and enforce it.

58th. Avoid all illustrations, repetitions, and emphatic sentences, that may compel your people to remember what you say.

59th. Avoid all heat and earnestness in your delivery, lest you make the impression that you really believe what you say.

60th. Address the imagination, and not the conscience, of your hearers.

61st. Make it your great aim to be personally popular with all classes of your hearers.

62d. Be tame and timid in presenting the claims of God, as would become you in presenting your own claims,

63d. Be careful not to testify from your own personal experience of the power of the Gospel, lest you should produce the conviction upon your hearers that you have something which they need.

64th. See that you say nothing that will appear to any of your hearers to mean him or her, unless it be something flattering.

65th. Encourage church sociables, and attend them yourself, because they tend so strongly to levity as to compromise Christian dignity and sobriety, and thus paralyze the power of your preaching.

66th. Encourage the cultivation of the social in so many ways as to divert the attention of yourself and your churchmembers from the infinite guilt and danger of the unconverted among you.

67th. In those sociables talk a little about religion, but avoid any serious appeal to the heart and conscience of those who attend, lest you should discourage their attendance, always remembering that they do not go to socials to be earnestly dealt with in regard to their relations to God. In this way you will effectually so employ yourself and churchmembers as that your preaching will not convert anybody.

The experience of ministers who have steadily adhered to any of the above rules will attest the soul-destroying efficacy of such a course, and churches whose ministers have steadily conformed to any of these rules can testify that such preaching does not convert souls to Christ.

Obtained from Gospeltruth.net at this link.  Nothing has been changed or edited.

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. (Hebrews 4:12-13, ESV)

I want to do everything I can to encourage believers everywhere to not water down the message of the Cross!  Don’t soften the blow of the sword of the word of God so as to not offend anybody or hurt their feelings. That’s the whole point of the Word of God–the living sword–it separates soul from spirit. Knives hurt when used to cut! Don’t change the message in order to make it more acceptable to the culture, because they will never accept it, especially if they’re left to determine the terms on which they will accept it. As long as the crowds didn’t understand the Gospel, they loved Jesus, but as soon as they understood the implications of the radical claims, they killed Him. Why do we skirt around the narrow path Jesus took? Why do we think that if they did it to the master, we, the pupils are going to be able to escape it and do a better job with the Gospel? We sometimes act like Jesus had a PR problem and we could help Him with His image.

The passage used at the outset states how when our thoughts and intentions are held to the standard of the Word of God–a living sword, we are as though naked and exposed. We are stripped of any defense we can hide behind when our darkness is exposed by the light of the ultimate standard–God’s standard–His Word. Sadly, most in the Church don’t even realize this aspect of the Gospel, because we’ve worked so hard to make it all into something nice and inoffensive. We don’t want people feeling pressured, pushed away or excluded in some way. After living in a few cultures, I’ve seen the mega-church seeker-sensitive method of church growth (and I’m not implying that large churches are all guilty of watering the Gospel down, for that is not so). I’ve also grown fond of the lives of various revivalists and evangelists throughout church history who preached Christ and Him crucified, and frankly I’d rather take the tried and true method of using the law when showing sinners we are sinners before God. It’s much better to have people offended with me now but have the clear Gospel presented to them, than to have them like me now but be offended when they’re spending eternity in torment, when I could have told them but didn’t out of fear of saving face.

Jesus said things like “I am the way, the truth and the life, NO ONE comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Pretty politically incorrect and exclusive if you ask me! But yet, that’s what the message is. “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.” (Matthew 7:13)

I was recently sharing the Gospel with someone and using passages like Romans 3:23 stating “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God“, and 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” I was able to persuade the person that by God’s standard, she would not be spending eternity with Her loving Creator unless she repented of sin and accepted His free gift of salvation. She agreed that this was so and was expressing gratitude for the way I made things clear to her, but as of yet, didn’t want to make any kind of commitment to Christ until she could process it some more. Oddly enough, my approach offended the Christian friend who had introduced us! I wasn’t showing “enough love”, and was “pressuring her” to make a decision. I was being “too direct”. Of course I was—you don’t perform heart surgery with a dull blade and certainly don’t want to fail to be direct when it comes to the very thing you’re working on–the person’s heart. When I see someone crossing the street without looking, not realizing a mack truck is fast approaching them, I’m direct then also and don’t use gentleness! The hour is urgent and none of us are given any indication of when our lives could come to an end. If someone is made aware of the condition of their soul, I’m compelled to do whatever I can to persuade them to accept the gift of eternal life Christ purchased for them on the cross. The Bible gives such mandates:

I CHARGE [you] in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, Who is to judge the living and the dead, and by (in the light of) His coming and His kingdom:

Herald and preach the Word! Keep your sense of urgency [stand by, be at hand and ready], whether the opportunity seems to be favorable or unfavorable. [Whether it is convenient or inconvenient, whether it is welcome or unwelcome, you as preacher of the Word are to show people in what way their lives are wrong.] And convince them, rebuking and correcting, warning and urging and encouraging them, being unflagging and inexhaustible in patience and teaching.

For the time is coming when [people] will not tolerate (endure) sound and wholesome instruction, but, having ears itching [for something pleasing and gratifying], they will gather to themselves one teacher after another to a considerable number, chosen to satisfy their own liking and to foster the errors they hold,

And will turn aside from hearing the truth and wander off into myths and man-made fictions. (1 Timothy 4:1-4, AMP)

Sadly, enough people in the Church spend so much time ‘loving’ they leave out the harsh reality and don’t do any of what the first couple verses state, and fall into the category Paul refers to here as ones providing the Gospel message that soothes those with itchy ears. I am motivated by love for people to do whatever I can to stop them in their tracks and prevent them if possible from continuing in their determined journey towards hell. I’ve heard Dave Roberson say that his definition of an intercessor is someone who gets in the way of people trying to go to hell.

The Holy Spirit isn’t just about goosebumps and “liquid honey glory clouds”. The Word says that He is the agent who draws all men to Christ, but simultaneous to that is His role in convicting the world of sin (John 16:8). Sadly, I think much of the contemporary Church leaves this part out because of how messy it might be. We’ve created such a watered down message, that we’re not used to the convicting presence of God. We want the miracles, but we don’t want the repentance that the fire of His presence brings.

On the one hand I am coming up against the idea of being so pre-occupied with not offending someone or starting an argument over their soul or eternal destiny that we never actually do it. I’m talking about when we fear man’s reaction more than we fear a loving God who deserves to have His Bride in eternity. But I’m also not condoning or endorsing being an obnoxious and insensitive jerk either. There’s two ditches to avoid falling into. I heard a quote by Paul Washer once that a knife in the hands of a fool will kill, but used skillfully in the hands of a trained surgeon it will bring life. But the problem is, many of us have dulled the blade so as to make sure it doesn’t cut or hurt anybody! The knife or sword of the Word cuts so deeply that it divides soul from spirit. You can’t perform ANY surgery with a plastic butter knife! When a dentist is drilling your teeth, he knows he’s hitting the right nerve BECAUSE it gets an uncomfortable reaction out of you, and if he’s skilled at his job, he won’t stop doing what he’s doing just because you’re in a little bit of pain.

As for worrying about our presentation, remember the Apostle Paul said “woe is me if I do not preach the Gospel” (1 Cor 9:16). Woe to us if we were more concerned with building numbers of people under our roof, but who will perish in eternity because we had tried changing peoples’ hearts using a pillow rather than the blade of the Word of God. What are you building, oh preacher? Your own big church with lots of people and a steady stream of income from offerings, or are you presenting the penetrating heart-convicting Gospel that no matter how few or many people enter eternity because of you, at least they are going to be entering eternity?

Woe to us if we continue to portray Jesus to the world as some limp-wristed effeminate hippie who just wanted to spread love and get everybody to get along, and forget that He’s coming back as Judge and King to rule. I believe that in Revelation 1:16 where it mentions Jesus having out of his mouth a sharp two-edged sword, is not about a literal sword, but the words and pronouncements of truth and justice. In fact, for those who view Jesus as just loving and would never would hurt a fly, I wonder what spectacles they read the book of Revelation in–which depicts His coming back in fury for His Bride (the Church)…what do you see happening for those who are not apart of His Bride? I’ll give you a hint, it ain’t that pretty.

Friends, eternity is a long time, and God is not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. (2 Peter 3:9b) So why don’t we obtain His heart and view the lost and dying around us with a renewed sense of urgency, and do everything we can about it?

“Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man….” -Is. 6.5a

There is a place of crisis to which every saint must come, for there is an inherent humanism in all men and women, and even after conversion to Christ there lingers a dualistic nature. We have tasted of the Divine nature, but we have yet to come into the fullness of Jesus Christ, and unless we see the Lord high and lifted up, and come into a conscious awareness of our own “dustness” in light of God’s own “Godness,” we will lack the ultimate kind of surrender that alone makes the Christian a voice in his generation.

Oswald Chambers reached a great crisis in his mid to late 20′s, after having followed the Lord since his childhood. It was the same brand as Isaiah’s experience, and as excruciating as it was, it pressed him into an encounter with God that refined and authenticated his life. It is the nature of prophetic refinement, and a man comes out transfigured on the other end. But without passing through like seasons with the Lord, there will be something plastic about our profession and living. Listen to Chambers’ experience, and ask yourself, “Have I passed through these kinds of seasons with my Lord?”

“After I was born again as a lad I enjoyed the presence of Jesus Christ wonderfully, but years passed before I gave myself up thoroughly to His work. I was in Dunoon College as tutor of Philosophy when Dr. F.B. Meyer came and spoke about the Holy Spirit. I determined to have all that was going, and went to my room and asked God simply and definitely for the baptism of the Holy Spirit, whatever that meant.

From that day on for four years, nothing but the overruling grace of God and the kindness of friends kept me out of an asylum. God used me during those years for the conversion of souls, but I had no conscious communion with Him. The Bible was the dullest, most uninteresting book in existence, and the sense of depravity, the vileness and bad-motiveness of my nature was terrific.”

…. He became aware of an abhorrent dualism in his personality. The sham and hypocrisy he detested in others had a foothold in his own heart. He could proclaim that God must be given glory for all his good works, but he enjoyed the praise of men. While many people in Dunoon thought he was a near-perfect saint, he knew the truth about himself. Within him lurked a frightening pride that was beyond his power to conquer.

…. He realized as he had never believed possible what the disposition of sin in him could do.

…. A poem written in September (1901) concluded with this stanza:

O Lord Jesus, hear my crying
For a consecrated life,
For I bite the dust in trying
For release from this dark strife.

Oswald was living dangerously close to the edge of a complete breakdown.

Here he was, a tutor and respected gentleman among students and professors. He was considered a remarkable young man of God, head and shoulders above his pupils in maturity and depth. Yet his heart was crying out for a union with God that transcended all the external good that he was being commended for. He had come to realize that there was a terrible duplicity in his nature, that his propensity for sin, though no one would have expected it of him, was as despicable as that of any man. His soul was crying out in a great and prolonged ache, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man….”

Have we been brought to this place?

All of a sudden, though he had not fallen in gross obvious sin, though virtually nothing had changed in terms of his own moral standing, he felt that though men were impressed with him, his overall life was a sham and a contradiction. He was not entirely surrendered to the Lord in all the nooks and crannies of thought and life, and he came to a place of despair in yearning for the reality of God. He was not convinced that he had been baptized in the Holy Spirit, and all the good deeds and Biblical thoughts had taken him as far as they could. His soul was aching for a greater union with God, one that would make his life true in public places and in secret places; a union that would mark him out as a man of love and joy and reverence and humility in all settings, not merely when the eyes of men were on him. His religious reputation was at stake, but the praises of men had turned to ashes in his mouth. He desperately needed the Spirit of God, and he wasn’t willing to play the game any longer. He goes on to tell the story, and what transpired is awesome to consider:

I see now that God was taking me by the light of the Holy Spirit and His Word through every ramification of my being. The last three months of those years things reached a climax, I was getting very desperate. I knew no one who had what I wanted; in fact I did not know what I did want. But I knew that if what I had was all the Christianity there was, the thing was a fraud.

…. those of you who know the experience, know very well how God brings one to the point of utter despair, and I got to the place where I did not care whether everyone knew how bad I was, I cared for nothing on earth, saving to get out of my present condition.

At a little meeting held during a League of Prayer mission in Dunoon, a well-known lady was asked to take the after meeting. She did not speak, but set us to prayer, and then sang, ‘Touch me again, Lord.’ I felt nothing, but I knew emphatically my time had come, and I rose to my feet.

I had no vision of God, only a sheer dogged determination to take God at His word and to prove this thing for myself, and I stood up and said so. That was bad enough but what followed was ten times worse. After I had sat down the lady worker, who knew me well, said: ‘That is very good of our brother, he has spoken like that as an example to the rest of you.’

I got up again and said: ‘I got up for no one’s sake, I got up for my own sake; either Christianity is a downright fraud, or I have not got hold of the right end of the stick.’ And then and there I claimed the gift of the Holy Spirit in dogged committal to Luke 11.13.

And what was Oswald’s testimony when he broke out of this season and was immersed in the Holy Spirit?

“Glory be to God, the last aching abyss of the human heart is filled to overflowing with the love of God. Love is the beginning, love is the middle and love is the end. After He comes in, all you see is ‘Jesus only, Jesus ever.’ When you know what God has done for you, the power and the tyranny of sin is gone and the radiant, unspeakable emancipation of the indwelling Christ has come.”

Finally (after 4 years of inward agony), the long night was over and peace had come. The citadel of his heart had fallen, not to a conquering Christ, but to the gentle knocking of a wounded hand. In a new and powerful way, at the age of twenty-seven, the story of Oswald Chambers’ life had just begun.

(Oswald Chambers: Abandoned to God, David McCasland; OCPA, Grand Rapids; pp. 73-86)

All of this transpired many years after Chambers first came to the Lord, and just as Isaiah cried out and was cleansed with fire and commissioned, Oswald would spend the rest of his days living a newly charged life. At the time of his death, his life was called by friends “the greatest demonstration we had ever seen of the Sermon on the Mount fleshed out.” To this day, his devotional can be found in the homes of believers all over the world, and the prophetic nature of his words are reaping the fruits of Christ in thousands of hearts, day after day.

What if he had settled for a decent Christian reputation? What if he had been content with the secret mixture? What if he had ignored his duplicity, and failed to cry out for the Holy Spirit? Would any of us even know of Oswald Chambers? And what about you, dear saint? Have you seen the Lord high and lifted up? Have you cried out from that place of desperation? Are you keeping entire segments of your life away from the reach of consecration and faith? One of my mentors used to say, “Unless you’ve cried out about being a man, you’ve not cried out.” In other words, it’s one thing to know conviction in a moment of failure. It’s another thing to cry out, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man….”

It’s from that dark night of revelation that Oswald emerged as a true servant, immersed in the life and power of God. And the verse that initially provoked his soul applies to each of us as well:

“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?” -Lk. 11.13

No man can bring you to this place, friend. You must face the Lord in the secret place. What men have thought of your personality and spirituality matters not. God Himself is on the Throne, and He waits in kind seriousness for you to come. He will uncover and reveal your soul, purge and refine your motives, stretch and test your heart, and from that place of wrestling with God alone, He will fill you with His own Spirit, and cause you to arise, a son or daughter of the Mighty One. You will declare His great love and holiness, “Jesus only, Jesus ever,” and you will lead many sons to glory.

In this article, we revisit an often overlooked and forgotten fundamental of gospel preaching; the convicting power of God, an essential component in the experience of conversion. Conviction is that divine power that convinces and draws the sinner to Jesus. Thus, unless men are convicted and convinced of their awful sinfulness before a holy God they will never come to the Lord Jesus Christ.

“No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.”
-John 6:44

Jesus presents us with an absolute, the theological implications thereof, are often overlooked/neglected in this hour of seeker-sensitive, easy-believism. Sadly, the tendency today is to overlook, redefine, or ignore altogether the necessity of conviction in the new birth experience. If we fail to understand the dynamics of the gospel, and conviction in particular, we are ill prepared to be a witness for Jesus. Now, if conviction is absolutely essential in the conversion of souls, then we must desire to see lost sinners come under conviction, yes? This being true, let us consider what the Bible tells us about true Holy Ghost conviction.

I. FIRST, HOW MIGHT WE DEFINE CONVICTION?

John 6:44a No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him…

Now, we’ve heard this term “conviction” many times before, but what does it actually mean? According to Webster’s 1828 Dictionary, “conviction” can be described as…

The act of compelling one to admit the truth of a charge; the act of convincing of sinfulness; the state of being convinced; the state of being sensible or aware of guilt. By conviction, a sinner is brought to repentance.

Thus, conviction is the experience of the sinner being awakened to the sinfulness, the penalty, and the only remedy of his sin. There is perhaps nothing in the human experience more disturbing, unsettling, and gut wrenching than Holy Ghost conviction. If it were not for its glorious end, it would be accurate to call conviction awful and terrible torment of the mind and soul. And remember, we, above all, must desire/have this happen to those we hope to win to Jesus.

II. AS I MENTIONED, CONVICTION IS AN ABSOLUTE NECESSITY FOR CONVERSION.

John 6:44a No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him…

Our text irrefutably teaches the absolute: no man will come to Jesus apart from God’s convicting power. Now, contrary to popular thought, fallen humanity has no innate interest in God, but rather, is predisposed to evade and hate Him. And thus, there has never been even one man who sought God of his own accord: not because we can’t, but we won’t.

Psalm 10:4 The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.

I heard a preacher say, “the increased popularity of the occult proves men are spiritually hungry, searching for a God they don’t know.” Such a statement presupposes three unscriptural and illogical concepts:

a. Sinners can seek God apart from God.

Romans 3:11 …there is none that seeketh after God.

b. Sinners can sincerely seek God and not find Him.

Jeremiah 29:13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

c. Sinners are completely oblivious to God, His nature, and His law.

Romans 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse…

Such unscriptural notions reveal how little we understand about the gospel and the new birth. No, men infatuated with the devil may mean many things, but certainly not that they are hungry for God. The Bible teaches that sinners, by their sins, are utterly alienated from God. This separation is not merely a difference of opinion, or a philosophical misunderstanding. No, the sinner has willfully set himself against God: his ultimate enemy. The sinner is a rebel against God, His authority, His law, His gospel, and His Son. Sinners are willfully separated from God and have chosen to remain in a hostile position of opposition toward Him.

Romans 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

We no longer believe this, the sinner is somehow, unconsciously seen as some kind of victim. And this one truth alone necessitates the utter need for the prevenient grace of conviction: they will never come, except the Father draw. Thus, as our text teaches, without conviction, no sinner will ever seek God.

III. THERE ARE THREE ESSENTIALS IN HOLY GHOST CONVICTION.

John 16:8 And when he is come, he will reprove (convict) the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment…

There can be no Holy Ghost conviction apart from the reproof regarding sin, righteousness, and judgment. And perhaps there are no three topics more rejected in the professing church, and more hated in the world. Should we wonder why there is so little Holy Ghost conviction? Yes, the gospel preacher’s message, if anointed and led by the Spirit of God, will emphasize reproof. And his rebuke will concentrate on the sinner’s sin, his lack of righteousness, and the judgment he will soon face. Now, the world and religious hypocrites hate such preaching, accusing it to be, “judgmental/offensive/counterproductive.” Over the years, the professing church, carnal, backslid, and seeking the approval of man, has been seduced by such reasoning. Above all, they seek to avoid the preachy image, bending over backwards to be non-offensive and make the sinner feel comfortable. There is an obvious denial of Biblical conviction. That leads me to our next point…

IV. THE CATALYSTS FOR CONVICTION.

Romans 10:14 …how shall they hear without a preacher?

Without a true Gospel preacher there can be no Holy Ghost conviction to draw the sinner. Gospel preaching is God’s ordained means to communicate the gospel. And as we pointed out, his message, for the most part, will be a message of reproof: declaring the law to expose sin, lifting up Jesus to define righteousness, and boldly warning of the great and terrible day of God’s judgment. If we don’t get back to preaching the fundamental gospel message, men will never truly be drawn to Jesus. There can never be Holy Ghost conviction without Holy Ghost preaching (not Holy Ghost singing, not even Holy Ghost living alone). No, the human vessel, consecrated wholly to God, filled with God’s Spirit, declaring God’s Word is essential to God’s method of drawing.

John 12:32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.

Yet, the modern church, Biblically illiterate and carnally motivated, has thought to promote the gospel like a bargain rummage sale. They say, “if we are prosperous, joyful, blessed, folks will come to get what we have.” Indeed, they may, but this is not the right motivation (see John 6). Or, they reason, “if they see miracles, they will believe the gospel.” They apparently forget that Jesus, in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, renounced such thinking…

Luke 16:31 …if they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.

Others say, “If they just see Jesus in us they’ll come knocking at our door.” But the Bible says…

Isaiah 53:3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

In light of the absolute stated in Isaiah 53 how can this be? No, as the Bible teaches, we must first GO, before they will ever be under conviction and then COME.

VI. THE NATURE OF THE CONVICTION EXPERIENCE.

John 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him…

As we’ve mentioned, conviction is synonymous with reproof for sin, which produces a crisis. Holy confrontation always draws a line, gives an ultimatum, and forces a moral choice.

Hebrews 12:11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous…

Conviction literally compels lost sinners to do what they would never do themselves. To consider what they would never consider otherwise: look at the Greek word translated draw in John 6:44…

Draw: {Greek} hel-koo’-o, Literally or figuratively to drag.

It is a crisis, not a circus: serious, grave, and sober. A man diagnosed with cancer has some hard decisions to make, nevertheless, they are necessary. Likewise, the man under the eternal sentence of divine conviction realizes his latter end. It is no laughing matter. Conviction is, above all, loving, compassionate, and merciful beyond human comprehension: but to the unregenerate it seems tormenting. It is an affront to the sensibilities, a slap in the face of fallen human pride, and an offensive and brutal attack on sinful self-worth. And it will only lift when the sinner either repents or resists to the point of grieving God’s Spirit.

VI. FINALLY, THE DIFFERENT RESPONSES TO CONVICTION.

John 7:12, 41, 43 And there was much murmuring among the people concerning him: for some said, He is a good man: others said, Nay; but he deceiveth the people…Others said, This is the Christ. But some said, Shall Christ come out of Galilee? So there was a division among the people because of him.

Conviction brings men face to face with the Biblical Jesus, and then they must make a gut-wrenching choice. They must either believe the gospel and therefore forfeit their own life to gain Christ, or reject Christ, so as to justify their sin. There is no middle ground, conviction either breaks a man or hardens him. For those who resist conviction reactions can run from insanity to violent persecution, but react, all men do.

May God help us to get out of the way and allow God’s Spirit to drag sinners to Jesus.