"When He comes, He will convict the world about sin, righteousness, and judgment." John 16:8
Where the Holy Spirit is, there will always be deep conviction of sin--and true repentance for it. It is His special office to convict of sin.
He shows the exceeding holiness of God.
He teaches the exceeding corruption and infirmity of our nature.
He strips us of our blind self-righteousness.
He opens our eyes to our awful guilt, folly and danger.
He fills the heart with sorrow, contrition, and abhorrence for sin--as the abominable thing which God hates.
He who knows nothing of all this, and saunters carelessly through life, thoughtless about sin, and indifferent and unconcerned about his soul--is a dead man before God! He has not the Holy Spirit.
The presence of the Holy Spirit in a man's heart can only be known by the fruits and effects He produces. Mysterious and invisible to mortal eye as His operations are--they always lead to certain visible and tangible results.
Just as you know there is life in a tree by its sap, buds, leaves and fruits--just so you may know the Spirit to be in a man's heart by the influence He exercises over his thoughts, affections, opinions, habits, and life. I lay this down broadly and unhesitatingly; I see it clearly marked out in our Lord Jesus Christ's words, "Every tree is known by his own fruit." Luke 6:44
The Believer's Daily Remembrancer By James Smith (1845) "He will save." Zephaniah 3:17 WHOM? The lost, the wretched, the unworthy. Every applicant; for "whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." "Him that cometh to Me I...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
(George Everard, "Up High!" 1884) "Thus says the Lord: Let not a wise man glory in his wisdom, and let not the mighty man glory in his might, let not a rich man glory in his riches. But let him who glories, glory in this--that he understands...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
The Believer's Daily Remembrancer Devotional for March 28 "I am the Lord's." Isaiah 44:5 NOT only because He has chosen me from others, in Jesus His beloved Son; nor merely because I am redeemed from among men, by the precious blood of Immanuel;...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
(James Meikle, "Solitude Sweetened") "We also rejoice in our afflictions, because we know that . . . affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope." Romans 5:3-4Man is born to trouble as...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
A Man Who Hears Many Sermons by Charles Spurgeon "Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long!" Psalm 119:97It is well to meditate upon the things of God--because it is only by pondering the Scriptures, that we get the real nutriment...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
The Gates of Prayerby John MacDuff Anew I commend myself to Your gracious keeping this day.Guide me by Your counsel,guard me from temptation,lead me in the everlasting way. May every unloving thought, every unworthy aim andaspiration--give place...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
The Tender Solicitude By John MacDuff "The very hairs of your head are all numbered!" Matthew 10:30 What a promise is this! All that befalls you, to the very numbering of your hairs--is known to God! Nothing can happen byaccident or chance....[ abbreviated | read entire ]
Living Simply— Yet Focused Look at the birds of the air….Consider the lilies of the field… MATTHEW 6:26, 28 “Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin”— they simply are!...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
(James Smith, "Food for Hungry Souls")"I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear--but now my eye sees You! Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes!" Job 42:5, 6.Job now saw God in another manner than he had ever done before. He...[ abbreviated | read entire ]
