I don't post this to pick a fight or be defensive. I post this for the young Christian who:
~~wants everything God has for him
~~desires to be thoroughly biblical
Tongues Today? by O. Palmer Robertson helped me tremendously when i was first walking through my understanding of what it means to experience the fullness of the Holy Spirit. This article is one of those rare pieces that i can still visualize where i was when i read it for the 1st time. Hope it helps.
Thursday, April 07, 2005
Understanding the "Weird" Stuff in Acts
The New Testament itself divides the last days (which began at Pentecost Joel 2, cf. Acts 2) into apostolic and post-apostolic dimensions or periods. There is a foundation-laying period, marked by the ministry of the apostles and prophets, and there is a post-foundational, post-apostolic period in view (as Ephesians 2:20 implies). It should not surprise us that phenomena occur in the former period which are not designed to continue beyond it, any more than the miracles of Moses, Elijah, or Elijah continued to be performed by their gifted successors. --Sinclair Ferguson
Saturday, April 02, 2005
THE GOSPEL AND THE “SEEKER”
THE GOSPEL AND THE “SEEKER”
In I Corinthians 14:24 Paul describes a person who comes to a worship service
“who does not understand”--literally a “seeker”. We have seen Cornelius is a
“seeker” who God acknowledges and sincere (Acts 10:1-4). Though they may be
very good persons, they still need to be brought to “repentance unto life” (Acts
11:14). How can we help a person who is “on the verge”--who seems to want to
come to Christ. Here are some helps on helping such persons:
Principles for applying the gospel to seekers
The following is a paraphrase of a lecture in an out of print book by a
Presbyterian minister of the early 19th century. William Sprague, Lectures on
Revival, Lecture 6
1. Determine the amount of knowledge and the amount of feeling.
--if he is long on feeling and short on knowledge, your course of action is fairly
simple. He may be ripe for conversion. Present the truths of the gospel in a
balanced, full way. You may be bold to press for a commitment. If he will not,
discover at what point he has trouble. Review the outline briefly, asking, "Do
you understand and agree that first,___________, and second,_________..."
--if he is long on knowledge and short on feeling, you may need to elaborate the
gospel presentation with vivid illustrations and pointed applications.. Show
him that Christianity is not an academic matter, not a matter of weaving a
web of intricate thought-forms. Say, as Whitefield, "It is one thing to assent
with your mouth, and another thing to believe from the heart. If you have really
done that, a truth affects you mind, will, and emotions. Have you ever been
saddened by your sins? Have you cried out to God that you need a savior? Has
the mercy of God in Christ seemed precious to you?" [Caution: Keep in mind the
words of Thomas Watson - "But wouldest thou know when thou hast been
humbled enough for sin? When thou are willing to let go thy sins. The gold
has lain long enough in the furnace when the dross is purged out; so, when the
love of sin is purged out, a soul is humbled enough, what needs more? If a
needle has let out the abscess, what needs a lance? Be no more cruel to thyself
than God would have thee." --from A Body of Divinity, p. 451
2. Impress on the awakened sinner the need to come to God on gospel
terms immediately.
--God owns you. Every day you rule your own life you become more and more
guilty.
--The concern you have now is the gracious influence of the spirit of God. If you
decide to come to God at your own convenience, you are mocking God. He is too
great for you to snap your fingers when you are ready. Who is King around
here? You are in great danger of losing the openness of heart you have now. Doyou think you can repent any time you wish? No! Repentance is a gift from
God, which he is offering you now. You must take it or risk becoming too hard
to care. Then you will be lost forever. Don't delay. Even a passing conversation
with a friend can drive away your convictions. Act now.
3. Beware of a spirit of self-righteousness.
--When a man is first awakened to his need, he usually sets out on a furious
effort to please God through his efforts (church attendance, prayer, obeying
the law). Warn him of this.
--Say, "Don't stop striving to please God, but do it in the spirit of the new
covenant, not the covenant of works. There is no actual saving value in your
strivings, only gratitude value (saying "thank you" for a full salvation). Until
you accept this and fall down helpless at the feet of Christ's mercy and are
willing to accept the free gift of eternal life, you cannot be saved."
--Warn him that he can assent to justification by faith in the abstract and still
try to catch God's eye with his efforts, so he must examine his heart.
4. Beware of making comfort your ultimate end instead of giving God
his due.
--If you see yourself as a sufferer looking for relief primarily, you will never
find peace. God is no sugar daddy to be used by you to secure your own
happiness. Say to him: "Blessed are they which hunger and thirst after--what?
Blessedness? No! Righteousness! Happy are they which don't seek happiness,
but rather to give God his due. Happiness never comes to those who seek it
directly. You are a sinner, in need of pardon. Give God what you owe:
repentance, faith, obedience. Your troubles will take care of themselves. Until
you have grasped this in your heart, you’ll not have peace."
5. If, after sharing the gospel, the person is not ready to repent and
believe, yet is still awakened, advise this:
--Spend a lot of time reading good books, the Bible, and in prayer. Coming to
church meetings and so on is good, but no substitute. It is too easy to derive
your spirituality from the environment. Also, many well-meaning counselors
may be confusing. Talk often with one or two spiritual advisors and with the
Lord
--Read the intriguing sermon by Lloyd-Jones on Mark 8:22,26- "Men as Trees,
Walking" in Spiritual Depression: Causes and Cures. He tells about people who
are in a similar condition to the blind man. They seemed to have been touched
by Jesus--they see things they couldn't see before, yet things are still not in
focus. What did the blind man do? He was honest. He did not say, "I see fine!"
He admitted his condition and Jesus touched him again. So tell Jesus what
you see and what you don't see. Ask him to touch you some more until you see
clearly.
--But above all, stress that these means of study and prayer are only means to
the end. They cannot merit anything from God. They are only ways to enable
God to work in you.
Common objections or problems posed by seekers
1. "I just can't believe" What you are describing is simply the settled
distaste every natural heart has to God. Don't make an excuse for it. In
yourself, you are unable to believe, but the Holy Spirit has already come to
your aid. If you see what you have to do and wish that you could do it, then
that is evidence of the Holy Spirit's work. (You give yourself too much credit!
You couldn't see all these things unless the Spirit was already at work! Don't
despair.) Now, as long as this divine aid is offered to you, you must act. Don't
wait for some kind of psychological sense of certainty; faith is acting on what
you know to be true.
Paul says: "We walk by faith, not by sight". See? He doesn't pit faith against
reason, he pits faith against feelings and appearances. Do you see what you
must do? Then repent, trust, obey Christ. How can you stand on this plea of
inability? That is an abstract question, and it is a sinful refusal.
2. "I've tried all you've said to do, but it hasn't worked" [Evaluate:
Either he hasn't `tried' properly, or he has a false understanding of what
`worked' means.] What do you mean by `worked'? Did you expect a certain
feeling? Did you expect your problems to go away. Faith is acting on what you
know to be true, despite how things feel or appear ("We walk by faith, not by
sight".) Imagine that a doctor tells you, "You are dying because of all the fat
and starch you are eating; if you stop eating steak and potatoes, your body will
begin to strengthen". The first time someone beside you eats a big steak
dinner, won't it smell great? It doesn't smell dangerous and deadly. Now if you
exercise faith, you follow what you know to be true (this food is poison to me), or
you can follow your appetites, senses, and feelings. What if you exercise faith?
Will it immediately feel wonderful? NO! Your stomach will growl and you will
feel unsatisfied. It is only as you practice faith over time that the healing and
health (that is, the good feeling and visible effects) will come. So it is with
saving faith. You may not at first experience anything remarkable. Nor will all
your problems be solved. But your standing with God is changed, and
eventually, the effects will flow out into your whole life. Phil. 2:12-14 tells us
that the strength and life of God comes as you obey him. He works as we work.
How have you been trying? Perhaps you have been striving in a spirit of selfrighteousness
(see above). Perhaps you have been striving in a spirit of
bargaining with God, instead of approaching him as a sovereign king (see
above). ("I'll do this and that if God will do this and that". Instead say, "I owe
God everything, and he owes me nothing; I'll gladly do whatever he bids me
WITHOUT CONDITIONS". If you have put conditions on your seeking him,
he will not meet you.) [Bottom line.] I'm sorry you have been frustrated in your
seeking God, and I cannot know your heart or God's heart enough to tell you
why you haven't felt that you've connected with him. But I do know this. You
haven't got the option of giving up. His disciples said to Jesus, "Lord, to whom
shall we go? You [alone] have the words of eternal life" (John 6:68). What is
your alternative? You have none. If you keep seeking, Jesus says that no one
who comes to him will he cast out (John 6:37). On the other hand, if you stop
seeking him, you will certainly perish.
3. "I just don't have any sorrow for sin or desire for God" [He may be the
victim of having heard long, lurid testimonies which convinced him that he too
must have an extended period of self-loathing and weeping over his sin.] It is
not Biblical to require everyone to have equally long, vivid, and horrible
sorrow over sin. Look at Matthew, Zaccheus, the Phillipian jailer, and Lydia
(Luke 19:9; Acts 16:14, etc.). There is no indication that they spent time in
terror and horror. They were called abruptly and they came. Look at Jesus
invitation to the Laodiceans (Rev. 3:15-20). He invites the lukewarm, selfdeluded
people to open to him so he can fellowship with him. They were not put
through some long time of conviction.
Listen! If your house had caught on fire, how alarmed would you have
to feel about it in order to be saved? Just enough to get out! It doesn't matter
whether you leave crying `Oh! My house, my house’ or not. It doesn't matter if
you are in a panic or just a bit upset. THE ONLY GOOD YOUR EMOTIONS
AND FEAR ARE IS TO GET YOU TO LEAVE. The only good conviction of
sin is to get you to repent and humble yourself under the mighty hand of your
king. So submit! Don't wait to feel a certain way. [Ultimately, anyone who is
concerned about lack of sorrow and feeling is caught in a self-righteous spirit.
He hopes to please God with his pious feelings. Don't allow this. Confront him.]
4. "I'm too bad/depressed" Look how far Jesus came to save sinners! Are
you worse than Paul? (I Tim. 1:15) Jesus loves to save sinners; he delights to
do it. (Luke 15:7; Is. 53:11; Zeph.3:16-17). The Bible says God is "mighty to
save"; are you saying that He is not strong enough to deal with your sins? Are
you mightier than God? [Again, remember that this complaint is often a subtle
form of self-righteousness. The man thinks he is unworthy. Then he is
assuming his worthiness is the necessary basis for coming to Christ.]
In I Corinthians 14:24 Paul describes a person who comes to a worship service
“who does not understand”--literally a “seeker”. We have seen Cornelius is a
“seeker” who God acknowledges and sincere (Acts 10:1-4). Though they may be
very good persons, they still need to be brought to “repentance unto life” (Acts
11:14). How can we help a person who is “on the verge”--who seems to want to
come to Christ. Here are some helps on helping such persons:
Principles for applying the gospel to seekers
The following is a paraphrase of a lecture in an out of print book by a
Presbyterian minister of the early 19th century. William Sprague, Lectures on
Revival, Lecture 6
1. Determine the amount of knowledge and the amount of feeling.
--if he is long on feeling and short on knowledge, your course of action is fairly
simple. He may be ripe for conversion. Present the truths of the gospel in a
balanced, full way. You may be bold to press for a commitment. If he will not,
discover at what point he has trouble. Review the outline briefly, asking, "Do
you understand and agree that first,___________, and second,_________..."
--if he is long on knowledge and short on feeling, you may need to elaborate the
gospel presentation with vivid illustrations and pointed applications.. Show
him that Christianity is not an academic matter, not a matter of weaving a
web of intricate thought-forms. Say, as Whitefield, "It is one thing to assent
with your mouth, and another thing to believe from the heart. If you have really
done that, a truth affects you mind, will, and emotions. Have you ever been
saddened by your sins? Have you cried out to God that you need a savior? Has
the mercy of God in Christ seemed precious to you?" [Caution: Keep in mind the
words of Thomas Watson - "But wouldest thou know when thou hast been
humbled enough for sin? When thou are willing to let go thy sins. The gold
has lain long enough in the furnace when the dross is purged out; so, when the
love of sin is purged out, a soul is humbled enough, what needs more? If a
needle has let out the abscess, what needs a lance? Be no more cruel to thyself
than God would have thee." --from A Body of Divinity, p. 451
2. Impress on the awakened sinner the need to come to God on gospel
terms immediately.
--God owns you. Every day you rule your own life you become more and more
guilty.
--The concern you have now is the gracious influence of the spirit of God. If you
decide to come to God at your own convenience, you are mocking God. He is too
great for you to snap your fingers when you are ready. Who is King around
here? You are in great danger of losing the openness of heart you have now. Doyou think you can repent any time you wish? No! Repentance is a gift from
God, which he is offering you now. You must take it or risk becoming too hard
to care. Then you will be lost forever. Don't delay. Even a passing conversation
with a friend can drive away your convictions. Act now.
3. Beware of a spirit of self-righteousness.
--When a man is first awakened to his need, he usually sets out on a furious
effort to please God through his efforts (church attendance, prayer, obeying
the law). Warn him of this.
--Say, "Don't stop striving to please God, but do it in the spirit of the new
covenant, not the covenant of works. There is no actual saving value in your
strivings, only gratitude value (saying "thank you" for a full salvation). Until
you accept this and fall down helpless at the feet of Christ's mercy and are
willing to accept the free gift of eternal life, you cannot be saved."
--Warn him that he can assent to justification by faith in the abstract and still
try to catch God's eye with his efforts, so he must examine his heart.
4. Beware of making comfort your ultimate end instead of giving God
his due.
--If you see yourself as a sufferer looking for relief primarily, you will never
find peace. God is no sugar daddy to be used by you to secure your own
happiness. Say to him: "Blessed are they which hunger and thirst after--what?
Blessedness? No! Righteousness! Happy are they which don't seek happiness,
but rather to give God his due. Happiness never comes to those who seek it
directly. You are a sinner, in need of pardon. Give God what you owe:
repentance, faith, obedience. Your troubles will take care of themselves. Until
you have grasped this in your heart, you’ll not have peace."
5. If, after sharing the gospel, the person is not ready to repent and
believe, yet is still awakened, advise this:
--Spend a lot of time reading good books, the Bible, and in prayer. Coming to
church meetings and so on is good, but no substitute. It is too easy to derive
your spirituality from the environment. Also, many well-meaning counselors
may be confusing. Talk often with one or two spiritual advisors and with the
Lord
--Read the intriguing sermon by Lloyd-Jones on Mark 8:22,26- "Men as Trees,
Walking" in Spiritual Depression: Causes and Cures. He tells about people who
are in a similar condition to the blind man. They seemed to have been touched
by Jesus--they see things they couldn't see before, yet things are still not in
focus. What did the blind man do? He was honest. He did not say, "I see fine!"
He admitted his condition and Jesus touched him again. So tell Jesus what
you see and what you don't see. Ask him to touch you some more until you see
clearly.
--But above all, stress that these means of study and prayer are only means to
the end. They cannot merit anything from God. They are only ways to enable
God to work in you.
Common objections or problems posed by seekers
1. "I just can't believe" What you are describing is simply the settled
distaste every natural heart has to God. Don't make an excuse for it. In
yourself, you are unable to believe, but the Holy Spirit has already come to
your aid. If you see what you have to do and wish that you could do it, then
that is evidence of the Holy Spirit's work. (You give yourself too much credit!
You couldn't see all these things unless the Spirit was already at work! Don't
despair.) Now, as long as this divine aid is offered to you, you must act. Don't
wait for some kind of psychological sense of certainty; faith is acting on what
you know to be true.
Paul says: "We walk by faith, not by sight". See? He doesn't pit faith against
reason, he pits faith against feelings and appearances. Do you see what you
must do? Then repent, trust, obey Christ. How can you stand on this plea of
inability? That is an abstract question, and it is a sinful refusal.
2. "I've tried all you've said to do, but it hasn't worked" [Evaluate:
Either he hasn't `tried' properly, or he has a false understanding of what
`worked' means.] What do you mean by `worked'? Did you expect a certain
feeling? Did you expect your problems to go away. Faith is acting on what you
know to be true, despite how things feel or appear ("We walk by faith, not by
sight".) Imagine that a doctor tells you, "You are dying because of all the fat
and starch you are eating; if you stop eating steak and potatoes, your body will
begin to strengthen". The first time someone beside you eats a big steak
dinner, won't it smell great? It doesn't smell dangerous and deadly. Now if you
exercise faith, you follow what you know to be true (this food is poison to me), or
you can follow your appetites, senses, and feelings. What if you exercise faith?
Will it immediately feel wonderful? NO! Your stomach will growl and you will
feel unsatisfied. It is only as you practice faith over time that the healing and
health (that is, the good feeling and visible effects) will come. So it is with
saving faith. You may not at first experience anything remarkable. Nor will all
your problems be solved. But your standing with God is changed, and
eventually, the effects will flow out into your whole life. Phil. 2:12-14 tells us
that the strength and life of God comes as you obey him. He works as we work.
How have you been trying? Perhaps you have been striving in a spirit of selfrighteousness
(see above). Perhaps you have been striving in a spirit of
bargaining with God, instead of approaching him as a sovereign king (see
above). ("I'll do this and that if God will do this and that". Instead say, "I owe
God everything, and he owes me nothing; I'll gladly do whatever he bids me
WITHOUT CONDITIONS". If you have put conditions on your seeking him,
he will not meet you.) [Bottom line.] I'm sorry you have been frustrated in your
seeking God, and I cannot know your heart or God's heart enough to tell you
why you haven't felt that you've connected with him. But I do know this. You
haven't got the option of giving up. His disciples said to Jesus, "Lord, to whom
shall we go? You [alone] have the words of eternal life" (John 6:68). What is
your alternative? You have none. If you keep seeking, Jesus says that no one
who comes to him will he cast out (John 6:37). On the other hand, if you stop
seeking him, you will certainly perish.
3. "I just don't have any sorrow for sin or desire for God" [He may be the
victim of having heard long, lurid testimonies which convinced him that he too
must have an extended period of self-loathing and weeping over his sin.] It is
not Biblical to require everyone to have equally long, vivid, and horrible
sorrow over sin. Look at Matthew, Zaccheus, the Phillipian jailer, and Lydia
(Luke 19:9; Acts 16:14, etc.). There is no indication that they spent time in
terror and horror. They were called abruptly and they came. Look at Jesus
invitation to the Laodiceans (Rev. 3:15-20). He invites the lukewarm, selfdeluded
people to open to him so he can fellowship with him. They were not put
through some long time of conviction.
Listen! If your house had caught on fire, how alarmed would you have
to feel about it in order to be saved? Just enough to get out! It doesn't matter
whether you leave crying `Oh! My house, my house’ or not. It doesn't matter if
you are in a panic or just a bit upset. THE ONLY GOOD YOUR EMOTIONS
AND FEAR ARE IS TO GET YOU TO LEAVE. The only good conviction of
sin is to get you to repent and humble yourself under the mighty hand of your
king. So submit! Don't wait to feel a certain way. [Ultimately, anyone who is
concerned about lack of sorrow and feeling is caught in a self-righteous spirit.
He hopes to please God with his pious feelings. Don't allow this. Confront him.]
4. "I'm too bad/depressed" Look how far Jesus came to save sinners! Are
you worse than Paul? (I Tim. 1:15) Jesus loves to save sinners; he delights to
do it. (Luke 15:7; Is. 53:11; Zeph.3:16-17). The Bible says God is "mighty to
save"; are you saying that He is not strong enough to deal with your sins? Are
you mightier than God? [Again, remember that this complaint is often a subtle
form of self-righteousness. The man thinks he is unworthy. Then he is
assuming his worthiness is the necessary basis for coming to Christ.]
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