It is a great joy to be used as a means by God in evangelism in the conversion of a sinner. It is a joy that a hell-worthy sinner is used by God as a means to preach the gospel to another hell-worthy sinner.
We pray not because God needs our suggestions. God already knows what we need before we ask Him. We pray because He sees the bigger picture while we only see a sliver. We pray because we have limited perspectives, limited thoughts, & limited views. We pray because we need Him.
If you think it’s up to you to convert sinners and produce results, you will eventually burn out. Only the Holy Spirit has the power to convert.
We don’t need to try to find new methods, tricks, or gimmicks in our evangelism. We just need to preach the gospel. The Holy Spirit does the rest.
Our duty is to preach the gospel and sinners’ need for repentance of their sin, and then stand back, as it were, and watch the Holy Spirit do his work.
The Holy Spirit shows sinners the enormity of their sins in order to show them the enormity of God’s grace.
We too often try to usurp the role of the Holy Spirit in evangelism.
The basic American mentality is that God would never send me to hell.
It is not our duty to convert the unconverted. Our duty is not to convert our children. Only the Holy Spirit converts. Our duty is to publish the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Every unconverted person is a mission field.
"The surest criterion, by which to judge of the character of any school, is to observe the attainments and habits of those educated in it."
-Archibald Alexander.
Trust the past to the mercy of God, the present to His love, and the future to His providence. Augustine
I've read in Plato's sayings that are wise, but I've never read in one of them: Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavily laden. Augustine
Our heart is restless until it rests in You. Augustine
Hope has two beautiful daughters; their names are Anger and Courage. Anger at the way things are, and Courage to see that they do not remain as they are. Augustine
"If we are to be right reformers, we must begin with ourselves. For how can we be fit to teach others if we do not teach ourselves first?" -George Gifford.
For any to assert that Christ is not sufficient, but that something more is required besides Him, would be too gross a blasphemy; for hence it would follow that Christ was but half a Saviour. — The Belgic Confession, Article XXII
It is the duty of every believer to labor after assurance of a personal interest in forgiveness, and to be diligent in the cherishing and preservation of it when it is attained.
—John Owen (1616-1683), Exposition Upon Psalm CXXX, Works 6:413
A key measure of a Christian man or woman is the reality of Godly sorrow & repentance in their life. Too many Christians sin, damage other people in the process, then brush it under the carpet & ‘pretend’ it never happened. This is a sign of ‘self’, not Godliness.
"Anything attributed to God that is not of God is taking His name in vain."
-John MacArthur.
To say, therefore, that our faith saves us means that we do not save ourselves even in the slightest measure, but that God saves us.
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