September 27, 2018
Dear friends,
In recent weeks, I have looked at several factors involved in motivating us for missions. The first five items are to be converted, to be convinced that Jesus rose from the dead, to be confident that the Bible is the Word of God, to be committed to obey the Word of God, and to be clothed with the belt of truth. A sixth factor is to be controlled by the Holy Spirit. Many years ago, a comedian named Clerow “Flip” Wilson Jr. popularized the phrase “The devil made me do it.” As believers, we know that “greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). The apostle Paul exhorted the saints in Ephesus to “not get drunk with wine … but be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18)
The apostle John recorded the following three statements of the Lord Jesus, as He prepared His disciples for His departure: (1) “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you” (John 14:26); (2) “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness of Me, and you will bear witness also, because you have been with Me from the beginning” (John 15:26-27); and (3) “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth …” (John 16:13).
Pastor Frank Humphrey, former senior pastor of Peoples Church of Montreal, used to say that people who claimed that they didn’t believe in absolute truth would want to know the truth if they had questions regarding their financial investments and health. No one wants to hear his or her financial advisor say “We don’t know whether your retirement savings plans are secure” or his or her doctor say “We think you need an operation, but come back in a few months and we’ll examine you again.” We want to know the truth! Praise God that He gives His children the Holy Spirit to guide us into all the truth.
In Quebec, leaders of many political parties are promising lots of things to voters during the electoral campaign which will end next Monday. If history repeats itself (as I think it will), many of these promises will not be kept. We can be sure, however, that God keeps His promises. Dr. D. A. Carson looks at some of the promises in the Bible in the following article: https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/how-to-read-a-bible-full-of-promises.
Scripture for the weekend: “And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding, in order that we might know Him who is true, and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.” 1 John 5:20 (NASB)
Thought for the weekend: “God has never promised to solve our problems. He has promised to go with us.” – Elisabeth Elliot (from the August 2018 edition of “Turning Points” magazine)
By His grace,
Steve