"Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost."
1Cor 12:3
The Holy Spirit has power to reveal Jesus Christ and His glory to man. When Jesus spoke of the Spirit's coming He said: "But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me" (Jn. 15:26), and it is only as He does testify of Christ that men will ever come to a true knowledge of Christ. You send men to the Word to get a knowledge of Christ; but it is only as the Holy Spirit takes the word and illuminates it, that men ever get a real living knowledge of Christ. "No man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost." 1Cor 12:3. If you wish men to get a true knowledge of Jesus Christ, such a view that they will believe on Him and be saved, you must seek for them the testimony of the Holy Spirit. Neither your testimony nor that of the Word alone, will suffice, though it is your testimony, or that of the Word, which the Spirit uses. But unless your testimony is taken up by the Holy Spirit, and He himself testifies, they will not believe.
It was not merely Peter's words about Christ that convinced the Jews at Pentecost. (Act 2:1-4,14-24) It was the Spirit himself bearing witness. If you wish men to see the truth about Jesus, do not depend upon your own powers of exposition and persuasion, but cast yourself upon the Holy Ghost and seek His testimony. If you wish yourself to know Jesus with a true and living knowledge, seek the witness of the Spirit through the Word.
Many a man has a correct doctrinal conception of Christ, through a study of the Word, long before he has a true personal knowledge of Christ through the testimony of the living Spirit.
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a sermon from Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones including the main messianic prophecies You will recall that last Friday evening, in finishing our consideration of the doctrine of the covenant, the Great Covenant of Grace, we ended by emphasizing the fact that the covenant in both its expressions or in both its dispensations always points to the person of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. And therefore, we have come to our consideration of this great biblical doctrine of or concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, while this is obviously and clearly not the starting point of biblical doctrine, it is certainly the core and the centre of biblical doctrine [the differentia of Christianity] ... We start with the great doctrine of God and how God has revealed himself and men and his need and so on. But obviously, we come to this which, as I say, is the core and the centre of biblical doctrine. Because the truth concerning the Lord Jesus Christ is at one and the same time the centra...
series: Our Living Word 2/4 Unveiling a surprising blind spot ..which is really important to Jesus. Hosea’s prophecy is an important key for Christianity, and we can confidently say the same for all of humanity, because the Lord Jesus Christ teaches this verse twice: Once for the sake of his disciples. Once for the sake of the whole world. I desire steadfast love (mercy) and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. Hos 6:6 As we saw in the first part of the "Living Word" series , our possibilities have fundamentally changed and they have become more extensive with the arrival of Jesus Christ. He knows that Hosea 6:6 holds a profound revelation, often overlooked yet crucial to us all. He spoke openly about the fact that Hosea 6:6 was not just for Israel at that time. Rather, He talks about His ultimate Peace Plan - giving us a fundamental prophecy about His messianic calling, identity and ministry. I'm going to...
I often meet and talk with people from different religious backgrounds. I found astonishingly large number of situations where various misconceptions about holiness and "being saint" were proclaimed. These misconceptions take many different forms, but they are almost always linked to a type of “humility” that is detached from reality and superficial, as well as to a view that one has no value as a person. People simply cannot be free from the "Roman Catholic" misconception that holiness is a human characteristic or quality of the human moral. Let me clarify that last sentence right away. According to Catholic teaching, holiness is not merely a human quality or moral trait, but primarily an essential attribute of God in which human beings share. Human moral perfection can only be called “holiness” in a secondary and derivative sense. Human holiness is indeed, in a moral sense, a quality of a person, but only as the fruit of God’s grace: “moral perfec...
