How Can I Get Into His Plan? First, you must be saved. I mean, genuinely saved (Acts 16:30, 31). I’m going to be perfectly honest with you when I say that God makes plans only for His children. You know how it would be in your own case. Parents who have children carefully and lovingly plan for their future, and while they may be mildly interested in the neighbor’s children, they would never think of planning their lives. The person who is outside of Christ has scorned the thing which God holds dearest, which is the death of His wellbeloved Son. So, before he can come into the plan of God and know His will, he must deal with the Son question which also includes the sin question (Matt. 27:22). And how can one do that? Ah, my dear friend, this is the oldest story in the world. It started way back in the Garden o f Eden when the Adamses chose to sin and disobey a lov ing God (Gen. 3 :6 ). The result was that all the world became sinners before God (Rom. 5:12). Of humanity’s millions both then and now, there is none righteous, no, not one (Rom. 3:10). They have all sinned and come short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). And it is not a question of being con demned at the end of time, for sinners are condemned already (John 3:18). But here’s where the good news of the gospel comes in. Centuries ago, our loving God sent into the world His only Son. Born as a little Babe of a virgin mother, Jesus of Naz areth for thirty-three wonderful years lived a beautiful and sinless life before all the world. His words were incomparably excellent, His deeds were absolutely unique. Never was there any sin in Him. He was the spotless Lamb of God (John 1:29). But He had not come to live. Rather, He had come, to be a slain Lamb . . . the offering for sin . . . the Saviour of the world. And one tragic day He allowed Himself to be nailed to a cross o f shame between Heaven and earth, and gave His life willingly for the sins of an entire world . . . and for your sins. This is God’s way of salvation (Acts 4:12). This is the answer to your soul’s need. This is the most important thing in life . . . your life. Nor does the story stop there. For after three days in the tomb, He arose, a glorious, victorious Conqueror over sin, death, and the grave (Matt. 28:6). Today He sits at God’s right hand interceding for all who are His, and awaiting the day of His return to earth to be crowned King of kings (Heb. 12:2; Rev. 19:11-16). Have you understood this love story? It’s the greatest story of the ages. It’s the story for you, individually, personally. I know that Christ died for the sins of an entire world. But please understand that He died for you, too. And when you, realizing your utter helplessness and hopelessness, look into the face of God and by faith receive His Son, God will bring to pass the miracle of the new birth in your heart (John 3 :3 ). You will become a new creature. Old things will pass away . . . your old desires, your old habits, your old ambi tions . . . all things will become new (2 Cor. 5:17). You’ll receive new life, new aims, new power, new enemies, new friends, and a new heavenly Father. Some have wrongly thought and falsely taught that salva tion is by the way of good works or a righteous life. The Bible solemnly warns against this (Tit. 3 :5 ). No amount of good works will ever open Heaven’s gates. And a good life, even the very best, falls far short of God’s absolute standard of perfection. The truth is that salvation is just simply not obtained that way. Nor does salvation come by attempts at denying evil or closing one’s eyes to manifest unrighteousness. These bv- paths are the devil’s traps, pure and simple. Or, if you are tempted to put your trust in baptisms, church attendance, burning of candles, prayers to saints, contributions to worthy causes, be assured that God simply does not save anyone by this means. Salvation is by grace through faith in Christ alone (Eph. 2:8, 9). Have you ever received Christ . . . this way? Have you known the miracle of redemption . . . God’s way? If not, will you pause right now, slip to your knees, look up into God’s Page Twelve
face and tell Him that you are here and now taking Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, as your own personal Saviour (John 1:29 )? If you’ll do that, and mean it, you’ll find true everything I have said. Then, my dear friend, God will have a plan for you. For now, you’re His child. And He’s your heavenly Father. You’re the object of His great, efficacious, eternal love (Rom. 8:32). And His heart of love earnestly desires the very best . . . in the light of eternity’s ages . . . for you. Our New Heart Guest Do you know the moment you received the Lord Jesus Christ as your own personal Saviour, your heart received a new Guest? Yes, that’s right. In the temple of the heart of every truly born-again Christian lives One who is none other than the Holy Spirit of God, the blessed Third Person of the Trinity (1 Cor. 6:19, 20). More than that, He has come to abide forever, and will never leave the Christian’s breast until we stand in God’s presence (John 14:16). The last night before the Lord’s crucifixion was a very sorrowful one. The heart of Christ was exceedingly heavy, and the disciples seemed to have sensed the impending trag edy of the morrow. What could the Lord say to them that would comfort their sorrowing hearts? They were to be as sheep without a shepherd. They were to be at the mercy of the evil one. Yes, but there was some precious news, even in the midst of their sorrow. For there was Someone coming who was to live in their hearts and be to their lives a Com panion exactly like the Lord Jesus himself had been (John 16 :7 )! Christ told them that this Person was to be another Com forter, that is, another One just like Him. And when you understand the exact word which the Lord used for “ com forter” you’ll know that the Holy Spirit of Gcd is not Some one merely to help in times of sorrow. Rather He is to be a constant Companion, a loving Friend, a faithful Guide. His ministry will be to take of the things o f Christ and make them real and precious to the born-again heart of every believer (John 16:14). Please, I beg o f you, do not think of the Holy Spirit as an “ it.” This is a sorry translation which inadvertently crept into the King James version. You’re quite right in correctly translating the passage the “ Holy Spirit Himself” (Rom. 8:16). The Lord Jesus seemed to particularly emphasize the Spirit’s personality as He speaks of Him (John 16:13). Now on the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit did come to dwell as Christ had promised and from that day to this He has been present and ministering in the world (Acts 2 :4 ). There are seven great ministries which the Holy Spirit per forms. Two of these ministries are to the world at large. He restrains evil and convicts of sin (2 Thess. 2:7; John 16:8). No one ever comes to Christ but by Him. Four other ministries of the Spirit are accomplished in the. /believer the exact instant he believes and is born again. They are, first, the regeneration or the new birth by which we’re born again, this time into God’s great family (John 3:5, 6). Then the baptism o f the Spirit which is a heavenly operation and by which Christians are united vitally to Christ and to one another in one body (1 Cor. 12:13). The third ministry is the sealing by the Spirit, He, Him self being the sovereign mark of God’s ownership (Eph. 4:30). And the fourth is the indwelling of the Spirit in the heart of the blood-washed sinner, now made a saint (John 16:17). None o f these ministries need be asked for. None need be implored. God graciously and freely bestows all upon His newly born child. Moreover, this is the unmistakable sign of salvation. If any have not the Spirit of Christ, he is not of God (Rom. 8 :9 ). Now the foregoing four ministries are what we might call “ once for all” operations of the Spirit. They occur only one time and that at the beginning of the Christian life. But there is another ministry which may and ought to occur many times, yes, constantly in the Christian’s life. It is this ministry which is inseparably bound up with the ability to know and do the will of God. (Continued Next Month) T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
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