The Power of the Wind
The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” John 3:8 (NKJV)
Today is a windy day in Iowa. Frankly, I do not like windy days. I would rather have a summer day with a nice cool breeze while enjoying a walk in the park. We often fear the wind because of hurricanes and tornadoes and derechos (a term I never heard when I was growing up). The wind has power and yet a person cannot see it. One can only see what it does. Where does wind come from? Where does it go? Meteorologists can predict it and can explain it in terms of high and low pressure but wind to me is somewhat of a mystery.
We Must be born of the Spirit
When we speak to people about the new birth, most are somewhat like Nicodemus in John 3 who couldn’t understand how a person could enter the second time into his mother’s womb and be born. And of course that cannot happen. But to enter heaven (or to enter the Kingdom of God), one MUST be born again. The context deals with two births, the natural birth and the spiritual birth. When the Lord says we must be born of water He is referring to the natural birth. When He says we must be born of the Spirit, He is referring to the new birth.
The new birth, then, is a work of the Holy Spirit. We sometimes make it a mechanical formality. John 16 tells us that the Holy Spirit must convict a person of his/her need and then using the Word of God, the Holy Spirit teaches us the things concerning Christ and guides us into all truth. Since the Holy Spirit and the Word of God work together in the Bible. For example in Genesis 1, the Spirit of God was hovering over the water and then God SAID. In Ephesians 6 verse 17, Paul says the sword of the Spirit is the word of God.
The Power of the Holy Spirit
As an evangelist, I have seen the power of the Holy Spirit using the Word of God in convicting and converting the unsaved. I can see the Word of God but I cannot see the Holy Spirit. But I can see the results of the Holy Spirit. It convicts, it converts, it then teaches us the things we need to know to please God.
Watching in Awe as the Spirit Convicts and Converts
Let us remember that as preachers, we are to be plain and simple in preaching the Word of God. Then we need to step aside and let the Holy Spirit do His work. It is a wonderful thing to see, when a person who comes to you in darkness, leaves in the light. They come lost and leave saved and they are sure of it. And to a great extent, we as preachers have to stand back and watch in awe as the Holy Spirit uses the Word of God to bring people into the Kingdom.
We should never lose sight of the responsibility that we have in preaching the Word clearly, but we should never try to do the work of the Holy Spirit and tell people that they are saved. We let the Holy Spirit do that. When a person asks a preacher if he or she is saved, we always need to say, “Let’s see what the Scripture says!” If the person is honestly seeking the truth, we as preachers will be able to stand in awe as the wind (Spirit) does His work.
Bruce Collins
Meditation for the week of December 11, 2022