When Christ was raised from the dead and seated on the throne of God, His work was also completed. The dispensation of the Spirit had begun. (Google image, Seeking God's Voice)
The Spirit's job is to reveal all that the work of God and Christ had prepared. The work of the Holy Spirit has not yet been fully accomplished. For this reason, Christ sits upon the throne, waiting for all his enemies to be made his footstool.
The work of the Father and the Son was finished when salvation was prepared for man's acceptance. The office of the Holy Spirit is to impart the grace which enables men to live out what the Father and the Son have provided.
In this dispensation, the Spirit's work and man's work are linked together. The Spirit does His work through man, and whatever is to be done in the kingdom of God is done by man.
The Holy Spirit can manifest Himself in no other way than in the spirit of Man. In this dispensation we are to fulfill man's part in carrying out God's plan.
God's glorious Plan
When Paul spoke of God in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, he immediately adds, "And hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation" (2 Corinthians 5:19). The responsibility of making the reconciliation known was entrusted to the Church.
The Power that reconciliation works in the world depends on the faithfulness or failure of God's people. These thoughts suggest the glory of the ministry of the Spirit, the terrible failure on the part of the Church, and the great need of restoration.
God's reason for sending the Spirit of Christ to take possession of the hearts of men was to restore their fellowship with Himself. All the work of God and Christ in redemption culminated in this one thing—the Holy Spirit was to communicate the salvation that had been provided and maintain unbroken fellowship in the heart of God's children.
He was to be the Spirit of life, leading them in the path of holiness and perfect conformity to Jesus Christ. He was to be the Spirit of power, preparing them for service as Christ's witnesses to the ends of the earth.
The Holy Spirit was to be the perfect bond of union between the Father in heaven and the children on earth and between Christ and the perishing world.
In the power of the Spirit, every believer would be able to give his testimony of the love that had come to him. God's great purpose was that man should be saved by the witness of the men in whom He lived. The gift of the Spirit made this possible for everyone who yielded himself to God.
The Church has failed in its high calling. How few there have been who, with Paul, have proved that absolute dependence on the Spirit secures the continual presence and working of God in a Christian's life.
Long prayers are offered for the power of the Holy Spirit, but few are ready to yield to His control. They do not know the secret of coming under His full power—the faith that dies to self and counts on God to do His perfect work.
When the Church and the believer begin to understand this, there will be hope for the true revival of the Spirit in divine power.
(Chapter 3, pp. 15-17)
by Andrew Murray
Copyright © 1984
Copyright © 1984
by Whitaker House
Used by permission
Today's prayer-
Father, when You revealed Your Love for us in the gift of Your Son, Christ Jesus, Your great work was completed! When You raised Him from the dead and seated Him on Your throne, His work was completed. It was then, that the dispensation of the Holy Spirit began.
His work was to reveal all that You and Christ had prepared for us. The work of the Holy Spirit has not yet been accomplished, so Christ sits upon the throne waiting for all of His enemies to be made His footstool.
The office of the Holy Spirit is to impart the grace which enables us to live out what You and Christ have provided for us. His work and man's work are linked together, as He works through us to do Your will on earth.
In the power of the Spirit of Christ, every believer was to be able to give his testimony of the Love that had come to him. Your purpose was that man should be saved by the witness of the folks in whom He lived, and would make it possible for those of us who yield ourselves to You, to do so too.
May we be among those who are ready to yield to Your control. Help us learn the secret of coming under Christ's Spirit, to find that as we die to ourselves and count on You, You will be able to do Your perfect work in and through us.
We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen
Today's Scriptures-
John 4:33, 34 (NKJV) "Therefore the disciples
said to one another, 'Has anyone brought Him
anything to eat?' (v. 34) Jesus said to them, 'My
food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and
to finish His work."
Lam. 3:22-26 (NKJV) "Through the LORD's mercies
we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not.
(v 23) They are new every morning; Great is Your
faithfulness. (v. 24) The LORD is my portion, says my
soul, therefore I hope in him! (v. 25) The LORD is good
to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him.
(v. 26) It is good that one should hope and wait quietly
for the salvation of the LORD."
Today's marriage link-
"Mark and Jill 1.0 had become more like business partners or roommates. We did many right things like regular date nights, knowing and speaking each other’s love languages, and even going away just the two of us on occasion, but underneath it all our hearts were miles apart. This eventually led to a creeping separateness in our relationship, infidelity on Mark’s part, one very dark year, and a four-month separation.
As we began to put the broken pieces of our relationship back together, we began to have different kinds of conversations. We dug deeper, listened better, and learned more about fine-tuning the inside rather than symptom-treating the outside of our relationship. We also became life-long learners, committed to pursuing continuing education for our marriage."
Today's quote-
~ James A. Stewart- "It is not easy to define the true spiritual condition of the Lord's people in every part of the world. There are many encouraging signs; yet no leader would disagree with me what I say that we are not living the robust, radiant, powerful life of dynamic Christianity . . . The glory of Pentecost was its spontaneity. The Revival at Pentecost was a spontaneous, evangelistic effort. There was no advertising of Peter and the apostles as special speakers. There was no planned method of evangelism. The supreme fact of that first and purest revival was the reception of the Holy Spirit by a waiting church."
[Taken from HERALD OF HIS COMING, news paper, 9/2019, Vol. 78 no. 9 (933), p. 1]
Words of wisdom-
~ We are invited to ask for help of God's Holy Spirit. As He dwells within believers, He is ever present to guide them each step of their way.
~ The Savior knows us intimately. He's aware of our every need.
We don't have to work at trying to reveal them to Him, for He knows and loves us. Let's allow Him to be available at all times to guide us.
Today's question-
Why are some folks offended by our witness?
It is our responsibility to refresh others, not load condemnation on them. We're to give a good report of God's faithfulness to us, realizing that we are in a spiritual war (See Eph. 6) for the souls around us. We're to let the Holy Spirit deal with them.
To be different from those who are offensive in their witnessing, we're to love and honor others and live lives that are exemplary.
Book I'm reading:
"My Journey into the Heart of Scriptural Faith and the Land Where It All Began" [Great reading. Informative and interesting. Have you wondered why Jesus stooped to write in the dirt? Rabbi Jason tells us why. He gives us many other explanations to help us understand why things were done]
List of recent sermons of CFC ministers. CFC Potsdam NY church has a live service at 10 am Sunday's for shut-ins. If for some reason you can't make it to the church you usually attend, click on the above link, and still get fed!
Jean's blog (Click to see snippets of the 7 recent posts)
Helpful ways the Lord helped me in my marriage
Upcoming posts-
#6 Temples of the Spirit
17th- Thursday's post by Andrew Murray
Real-Time Relationship Restoration
19th- Saturday's post by Elisa Pulliam
#7 Experiencing Life in Him
22nd- Tuesday's post by Andrew Murray
#8 Begin with Praise
24th- Thursday's post by Andrew Murray
#6 Temples of the Spirit
17th- Thursday's post by Andrew Murray
Real-Time Relationship Restoration
19th- Saturday's post by Elisa Pulliam
#7 Experiencing Life in Him
22nd- Tuesday's post by Andrew Murray
#8 Begin with Praise
24th- Thursday's post by Andrew Murray
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| Nan's beautiful bouquet |
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