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| ��A threefold cord is not quickly broken.� Ecclesiastes 4: 12 MATTHEW 3: 11 � I indeed baptise you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I�He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.� So JESUS is the one who baptises us with the Holy Spirit � and with fire! JOHN 15: 26 Note where the Holy Spirit is sent � to YOU � the Holy Spirit is always sent to / upon the church. He always comes to the �world� through the church � the Body of Christ. JOHN 16: 5 � 11 The threefold ministry of the Holy Spirit is to CONVICT the world of SIN, and of RIGHTEOUSNESS, and of JUDGEMENT. ACTS 2: 1 � 17(a) When the Holy Spirit came on the Day of Pentecost He came CORPORATELY � the manifestation of the Spirit filled the whole house (verse 2), and INDIVIDUALLY � tongues, as of fire, sat upon each of them. And they were all FILLED with the Holy Spirit � with an immediate manifestation of speaking in tongues. He who had come upon them and filled them was now overflowing from them and was having an immediate effect upon the world. What were they speaking? The WONDERFUL WORKS OF GOD! A Spirit-filled believer and a Spirit-filled church will always be proclaiming and declaring the wonderful works of God! This is the FIRST part of the threefold ministry of the Holy Spirit. 1. To CONVICT the world of SIN Jesus said, ��of sin, because they do not believe in Me� Simply put � SIN is UNBELIEF! Sin first entered man�s experience when he failed to believe what God said concerning the consequences of eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And so, when a Spirit-filled believer or church begins to declare the WONDERFUL WORKS OF GOD, to EXALT and to GLORIFY GOD, it produces CONVICTION OF SIN � it exposes the extent of man�s LOSTNESS, HOW FAR man has FALLEN SHORT of the GLORY of GOD! How far they have fallen short because they have not believed in the GOODNESS and MERCY of GOD! |
| It is �the GOODNESS of God (that) leads you to REPENTANCE� (Romans 2: 4) You have to BELIEVE in the GOODNESS of God before you will ever want to change direction, and turn to Him. When people hear of the GOODNESS of God they are faced with how much they have �missed it�! RELIGION has stolen from people the knowledge of God�s GOODNESS and His WILLINGNESS to help people! Instead of proclaiming the WONDERFUL WORKS OF GOD which are the ANSWER, the church too often proclaims the PROBLEM � the extent of man�s sinfulness, which produces condemnation and hopelessness, not conviction! |
| Jesus said, �He who has seen Me has seen the Father� (John 14: 9) � Jesus didn�t go around preaching against sin, He preached the KINGDOM OF GOD and demonstrated the GOODNESS of GOD � which exposed sin and the futility of man-made religion! He came to BRIDGE THE GAP, not WIDEN IT! When Jesus reached out and healed someone He exposed the sin that had caused the sickness, by forgiving the sin and so cancelling sin�s effects. |