The Holy Spirit Fills Us With Love and Understanding of the Scriptures

A.W. Tozer, writing on the Holy Spirit in the book, The Counselor, published by Moody Publishers:

The "Word of God is sweet to the Spirit-filled person because the Spirit wrote the Scriptures. You cannot read the Scriptures with a spirit of Adam, for they were inspired by the Spirit of God. The spirit of the world does not appreciate the Scriptures--it is the Spirit of God who gives appreciation of the Scriptures. One little flash of the Holy Spirit will give you more inward, divine illumination on the meaning of the text than all the commentators that ever commented. Yes, I have commentaries--I am just trying to show you that if you have everything else and have not the fullness of the Spirit, you have nothing." A.W. Tozer



"I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you  know Him because He abides with you and will be in you." Jesus, speaking in John 14:16-17

We Don't Bow Down to Men

Much thinking and speaking today revolves around political leaders, or those who are the current darlings in sports, entertainment, books and music.

Christians can be tempted to cultivate--to allow to grow in dominance and importance--the actions, words, worldview and ideologies of people within our midst, or those we consistently--if not obsessively-- observe and monitor from afar. 

We, without perhaps even realizing it, absorb their mindsets and adopt their apparently accepted, if not successful, tactics and strategies. 

Whether these people are Christian or not, by choosing to follow them and desiring to become like them, we become worldly: following after men as those without Christ do.

The discipline of a Spirit-lived life is essential in countering this tendency. 

A Spirit-lived life looks on every person in the world with Godly discernment, through a Biblical grounding. Even within Christendom, we are to worship no other Christian:

"Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, 'I am of Paul,' and 'I of Apollos,' and 'I of Cephas,' and 'I of Christ'. Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?" 1 Corinthians 1:12-13.

A Spirit-lived life builds on the foundation of Christ alone:

"For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ." 1 Corinthians 3:11

A Spirit-filled life does not quench the Spirit but examines everything carefully (1 Thessalonians 5:19; 21).

A.W. Tozer addresses person-worship in The Counselor, published by Moody Publishers. He writes:

     "Jesus Christ stands alone, unique and supreme, self-validating, and the Holy Spirit declares Him to be God's eternal Son. Let all the presidents and all the kings and queens, the senators, and the lords and ladies of the world, along with the great athletes and great actors--let them kneel at His feet and cry, 'Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty!' (Revelation 4:8b). 
     Only the Holy Spirit can do this, my brethren. For that reason, I don't bow down to great men. I bow down to the Great Man, and if you have learned to worship the Son of Man, you won't worship other men. 
     You see, it is the Holy Spirit or darkness. The Holy Spirit is God's imperative of life. If your faith is to be New Testament faith, if Christ is to be the Christ of God rather than the Christ of intellect, then we must enter in beyond the veil. We have to push in past the veil until the illumination of the Holy Spirit fills our heart and we are learning at the feet of Jesus--not at the feet of men." A.W. Tozer

copyright Barb Harwood


"Fear the LORD your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name. Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you;" Deuteronomy 6:13

"Stop trusting in man,
who has but a breath in his nostrils. 
Of what account is he?" Isaiah 2:22

"Jesus answered him, 'It is written, 'YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD AND SERVE HIM ONLY.'" Luke 4:8

Conversion in a Nutshell

Isaiah 2:11

“The eyes of the arrogant man will be humbled

and the pride of men brought low;

the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.”

If I could sum up what happened at the point of my conversion in Christ, it would be these words from Isaiah.

On “that day” on which Christ was exalted, my arrogance was humbled and my pride brought low.

People fight so hard to maintain and defend their pride, not understanding that they are keeping themselves in a multi-faceted prison.

God in His mercy worked all things for my good in breaking me out of my own personal San Quentin.

“So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.” John 8:36

“The arrogance of man will be brought low

and the pride of men humbled;

the LORD alone will be exalted in that day,

and the idols will totally disappear.” Isaiah 2:17-18

A. W. Tozer on the Necessity of the Holy Spirit

A. W. Tozer, writing in The Counselor, published by Moody Publishers. The book is "an edited version of the Tozer classic formerly published under the titles When He is Come and The Tozer Pulpit, Vol. 2."

Tozer expounds fully on the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in a Christian's life, and its primacy:

     "Now, you can never piece Jesus together out of historic knowledge--it is impossible. It is possible to read your New Testament and still never find the living Christ in it. You may be convinced that He is the Son of God and still never find Him as the living Person He is. Jesus Christ must be revealed by the Holy Spirit--no man knows the things of God but by the Holy Spirit.
     I would like to make an emphasis here and make it clearly: A revelation of the Holy Spirit in one glorious flash of inward illumination would teach you more of Jesus than five years in a theological seminary--and I believe in the seminary! You can learn about Jesus in the seminary. You can learn a great deal about Him, and we ought to learn everything we can about Him. We ought to read everything we can read about Him, for reading about Him is legitimate and good--a part of Christianity. But the final flash that introduces your heart to Jesus must be by the illumination of the Holy Spirit Himself, or it isn't done at all.
     I am convinced that we only know Jesus Christ as well as the Holy spirit is pleased to reveal Him unto us, for He cannot be revealed in any other way. Even Paul said, 'Now know we Christ no longer after the flesh' (author paraphrase of 2 Corinthians 5:16)."

     "There are several evil consequences of believing that we can know God with our minds, with our intellectual capacity...
     The faith of our fathers has been identified with a number of questionable things. We must admit that one is philosophy, and I think that this modern neo-intellectual movement that is trying to resurrect the Church by means of learning is about as far off the track as it is possible to be, for you don't go to philosophy to find out about the Lord Jesus.
     Now, the apostle Paul did happen to be one of the most intellectual men who ever lived. He has been called by some to be one of the six greatest intellects who ever lived, but this man Paul said to the church in Corinth, 'And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom...but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power' (1 Corinthians 2:1, 4).
     If you have to be reasoned into Christianity, some wise fellow can reason you out of it! If you come to Christ by a flash of the Holy Spirit so that by intuition you know that you are God's child, you know it by the text but you also know it by the inner light, the inner illumination of the Spirit, and no one can ever reason you out of it." A.W. Tozer

"He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God." John 8:47

"And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God." 1 Corinthians 2:1-5

"Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. 
But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised." 1 Corinthians 2:12-14

"Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God..." 2 Corinthians 5:16-18a

Why is There So Much Calamity in the World?

The answer is found, in addition to other places in Scripture, in the following passages:

“An oracle is within my heart

concerning the sinfulness of the wicked;

There is no fear of God

before his eyes.

For in his own eyes he flatters himself

too much to detect or hate his sin.

The words of his mouth are wicked and deceitful;

he has ceased to be wise and to do good.

Even on his bed he plots evil;

he commits himself to a sinful course

and does not reject what is wrong.” Psalm 36:1-4

“He went on: ‘What comes out of a man is what makes him ‘unclean.’ For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean.’” Mark 7:20-23

“Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?”1 Corinthians 1:20

“The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.” 1 Corinthians 2:14

“For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: ‘He catches the wise in their craftiness’, and again, ‘The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.’” 1 Corinthians 2:19-20

What is a Christian to do in the Midst of Calamity?

“Do not fret because of evil men

or be envious of those who do wrong;

for like grass they will soon wither,

like green plants they will soon die away." Psalm 37:1-2

“Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;

do not fret when men succeed in their ways,

when they carry out their wicked schemes." Psalm 37:7

"Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;

Do not fret—it only leads to evil.

For evil men will be cut off...” Psalm 37:8-9a

"Better the little that the righteous have

than the wealth of many wicked;

for the power of the wicked will be broken,

but the LORD upholds the righteous.” Psalm 37:16-17

“The salvation of the righteous comes from the LORD;

he is their stronghold in time of trouble.

The LORD helps them and delivers them;

he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,

because they take refuge in him.” Psalm 37:39-40

“But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, ‘LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD.’” 1 Corinthians 1:30-31

.

“This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.” John 3:19-21

Pray—in a sincere desire to obey God, and in all courage and humility to fully accept His unwavering estimation of our heart condition:

“The fear of the LORD is pure,

enduring forever.

The ordinances of the LORD are sure

and altogether righteous.

They are more precious than gold,

than much pure gold;

they are sweeter than honey,

than honey from the comb.

By them is your servant warned;

in keeping them there is great reward.” Psalm 19: 9-11

"Who can discern his errors?

Forgive my hidden faults.

Keep your servant also from willful sins;

may they not rule over me.” Psalm 19:12-13a

“May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart

be pleasing in your sight,

O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” Psalm 19:14

“Create in me a pure heart, O God,

and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10

Warren Wiersbe on Salvation

The following quotes by Warren Wiersbe, author and pastor -- including former pastor of Moody Church, Chicago -- are taken from his book Be Joyful:


"We are not saved by our good works (Eph. 2:8-9). Salvation is the good work God does in us when we trust His Son. In Philippians 2:12-13 we are told that God continues to work in us through His Spirit. In other words, salvation includes a three-fold work:
     *the work God does for us - redemption;
     *the work God does in us - sanctification;
     *the work God does through us - service.
This work will continue until we see Christ, and then the work will be fulfilled." (pages 29 and 30)

"Ephesians 2:8-10 and Titus 3:3-7 make it clear that nobody can be saved by doing good works, even religious works. A Christian's good works are the results of his faith, not the basis for his salvation." (page 93)

"Circumcision, baptism, the Lord's Supper, tithing, or any other religious practice cannot save a person from his sins. Only faith in Jesus Christ can do that." (pages 93-94)

"There is only one 'good work' that takes the sinner to heaven: the finished work of Christ on the cross (John 17:1-4; 19-30; Heb. 10:11-14)." (page 95)


All quotes by Warren Wiersbe

So Quick to Criticize

Raise your hand if you have ever put your foot in your mouth.

Raise your hand if you were ever at a loss as to what to say to someone but felt you must say something and did the best you could, in utmost sincerity for the other person’s well being.

Raise your hand if you have ever insisted that you were right, and later, most likely when alone, realized that you were, indeed, incorrect.

Raise your hand if you have ever griped at your kids, made a sarcastic remark toward your spouse, evaded a neighbor in the grocery store, or made a judgment about a person or situation without having all the facts.

Raise your hand if you wish that every above instance committed by you was not only published on the front page of every major newspaper, but dissected, speculated upon and re-examined for days afterward.

My hand was raised for the first four scenarios. I kept it down for the last one.

It’s embarrassing enough to make a fool of one’s self, be it intentionally or unintentionally (and really, does anyone intentionally make a fool of themselves?), among co-workers, friends or family.

It’s tough, if not impossible, to always know the best way to navigate family and friendships in a way that pleases everyone.

But to have one’s every move magnified to the nth degree by people who weren’t even there, or who were there, but in schadenfreude and an appetite for gossip, or because they operate out of a habitual critical spirit or identity politics, interpret and relay the incident incorrectly.

Or, they simply did not approve of how someone did things, so, feeling jilted, they lash out in scornful commentary to anyone within earshot. (Notice, too, that the disgruntled will rarely, if ever, voice their attacks directly to the person they are at odds with).

It seems that no one is immune from poker-hot appraisals and sallying slams that ad-lib first, and never even get to the part about “think later.”

Scripture asks,

“What good is a man if he gains the whole world but forfeits his soul?"

I would also ask,

“What good is a man if he gains the whole world but forfeits the soul or reputation of another?”

The world gained by the hysterics of half-baked town-crierism is drama.

The theatrics of offense, microaggression, entitlement, us vs. them, and shouting down the other guy impart an intoxicating, but temporary, boost to one’s affirmation-obsessed psyche. Short-lived because it is built on sand, this mental state must be constantly fed with new grievances, affronts, rants and outrage.

Like I said, no one is immune from being the target of such venom.

This past weekend I had the privilege of hearing Pastor Tony Evans preach. His subject was grace.

“Grace,” he said, “does not mean taking license.”

But that is what we do: the world’s increasing sense of individual self-assurance has become our license to believe what we want to believe without any perusing of original sources or soberly asking fact-filling questions.

I don’t know who to cite for the quote, 

“You can be sincere: sincerely wrong,”

but it sums up the trouble with basing our worldview on how many likes our “what-if thinking” and strong-willed opinions rack up on Facebook, or the accordance one finds in a favorite television political pundit.

The tendency today is to mouth-off; very few are speaking credibly, with integrity (the latter, by the way, is grace).

The next generation will suffer for the lack of leadership in how to think, and thus, speak, well.

When it comes to social discourse, much has changed just in my life time. But the admonition for Christians to “be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger” (James 1:19) has not changed.

Only when we stand in the affirmation of Christ, taking seriously His Word to not bear false witness against our neighbor (Exodus 20:16) or bite and devour one another (Galatians 5:15), will we be able to stand before God, and others, with a clear conscience.

Jesus is the revealer of every heart’s condition when he states,

“For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart” (Matthew 12:34b).

Thus, our daily, sincerely-desired prayer to God, asking,

“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart

 Be acceptable in Your sight,

O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer.” Psalm 19:14

The sin of offense, the sin of thinking too highly of oneself, the sin of vengeance, the sin of wanting to be right (and the pride in sometimes actually being right) are encumbrances which so easily ensnare us—that take our eyes and our hearts off Jesus.

Instead, let us repudiate these sin reactions and instead “run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:1b-2).

Copyright Barb Harwood

“Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults.

Also keep back Your servant from presumptuous sins;

Let them not rule over me;

Then I will be blameless,

And I shall be acquitted of great transgression.” Psalm 19:13

“Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being,

And in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom.” 

Psalm 51:6

“Create in me a clean heart, O God,

And renew a steadfast spirit within me.” 

Psalm 51:10