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Working With God

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For we are labourers together with God . . . (1 Cor 3:9)

Surely we could agree that we would get the best results in the work of the Lord if we cooperated with God in all things. After all, it is HIS work, not ours, and He certainly knows how to accomplish it better than we do. God surely wants to see sinners converted more than we do and He would surely use the right methods and say the right things to a sinner to get the job done. Let’s consider God’s dealings with a sinner and then consider our dealings with sinners and we’ll see if we are working WITH God or AGAINST Him.

Every person who has been truly saved and born into God’s family can remember what the Holy Ghost was pressing upon his heart while he was under conviction. God is very consistent and He tells every sinner the same thing. The message that God is pressing into the heart of every sinner under conviction is: “REPENT!” and “do it NOW!” There has never been a sinner under conviction who felt any other direction from God that this simple message. The issue between a sinner under conviction and God is his sin and he knows it very well. No matter who says that you don’t have to repent of your sin to be saved, the Holy Ghost still tells sinners to repent, and He presses it into their hearts with urgency. They KNOW that they cannot have peace with God and continue in their sin. They feel they might not live another day if they don’t repent and turn to God, but still they linger. Why?

To answer the question let us look at the instructions that are given to lost sinners today. God is saying, “REPENT!” and the preacher says, “Raise your hand.” God is saying, “REPENT!” and the preacher says, “Come forward and someone will pray with you.” God is saying, “REPENT!” and their Christian friends will say, “Read your Bible,” or “pray and ask Jesus to come into your heart.” God is saying, “REPENT!” and the sinner will be given the “plan” in four or five points and THEN asked to repeat a sinner’s prayer. The sinner is convicted by the Holy Spirit that he is a sinner and when he does come forward someone takes a Bible and begins to try to show him that he is a sinner. If he is under real Holy Ghost conviction he already knows that and God is saying to him in his heart with great urgency, “REPENT!”

What do you suppose would be the result if we simply told the sinner the same thing that we KNOW God is telling him? If we simply took up the same argument that the Holy Spirit is making with this rebel against God and his throne, do you suppose the results might be different than what we are seeing in most of our churches? Too many are too sympathetic with the sinner and his struggle against God. We should not give him aid or COMFORT in his battle against God. What we should do is join up with God and hammer at the walls of his hard heart with all the strength we can muster, telling him the same things that the Holy Ghost is pressing upon his heart. We should not feel sorry for him while he continues in his rebellion against God. He is wanting to be comforted, but there is no real comfort for him until he surrenders to God and lays down his weapons and quits fighting. The Holy Ghost that is convicting him and pressing him so over his sin is the same Comforter that will soothe and heal him the moment he surrenders and gives up his battle against his Creator. Any effort we make at comforting him while he is still struggling against God will simply grieve the Holy Spirit and harden the sinner’s heart more.

Let’s junk our own “plans” and methods and let God lead the way. Then let’s follow hard behind Him and cooperate with Him in the work of salvation. Surely that is an idea worth considering. Let’s face it, God knows how to save the hardest sinner, but it is very evident that we DON’T. The work is the LORD’S, but the Lord uses people to carry the Gospel to other people. Surely more could be accomplished if we simply cooperated with God.
 


Mike Miller

8/27/2005

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