Oswald Chambers Insight

I was taking part in my own daily reading assignment and came across this great nugget of truth from Oswald Chambers "My Utmost for His Highest."

"When He Has Come" - November 19

"Very few of us know anything about conviction of sin. We know the experience of being disturbed because we have done wrong things. But conviction of sin by the Holy Spirit blots out every relationship on earth and makes us aware of only one - 'Against You, You only, have I sinned...' (Psalm 51:4). When a person is convicted of sin in this way, he knows with every bit of his conscience that God would not dare to forgive him...God does forgive, but it cost the breaking of His heart with grief in the death of Christ to enable Him to do so. The great miracle of the grace of God is that He forgives sin, and it is the death of Jesus Christ alone that enables the divine nature to forgive and to remain true to itself in doing so. It is shallow nonsense to say that God forgives us because He is love. Once we have been convicted of sin, we will never say this again. The love of God means Calvary - nothing less! The love of God is spelled out on the Cross and nowhere else. The only basis for which God can forgive me is the Cross of Christ. It is there that His conscience is satisfied."

I don't know about you, but I think we need more preachers like Brother Chambers today. When was the last time you heard one of these famous TV preachers put it out on the line. You know...the mega-church types who only want to fill their sanctuary more than they want to affect the population of heaven. Oh, how we need to return to the preaching of the cross.

I'm thinking of doing a sermon series entitled "God's Word for the Average Joe". Of course, this was initially inspired by the arrival of "Joe the Plumber" during the presidential campaign. It's an attempt to preach the message of God's Word to the everyday individual who comes to visit (which I try to do anyway - but this time with special interest).

It bothers me to think that there are so many people who visit churches on Sundays but come away with a cloudy understanding about how this whole faith thing works. What Chambers reminded me of this morning was "Grass Roots" preaching. Getting back to the basics of sharing to be understood. This is what is needed in our pulpits and our every day lives.

I was talking to a church member this morning whose 1st visit to our church came on a Sunday that I sat down in a chair in front of the congregation with another member of the church to present a simple Gospel presentation like I would in a home/personal visit. This was a clincher for him and his wife in deciding to become members because he had been frustrated for years in not getting what he thought he should be getting from former pastors...a clear understanding of how to share the Gospel. He had had enough of hearing "you need to share" without ever receiving the goods to share.

So, before closing out I want to share with you the remainder of Chambers remarks: "The miracle of redemption is that God turns me, the unholy one, into the standard of Himself, the Holy One. He does this by putting into me a new nature, the nature of Jesus Christ."

Amen!