God's Providence Over All

Life is not ruled by random chance. Providence is at work over all, because providence is the work of God. "For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever" (Romans 11:36). God's providence includes all things, bringing all glory to God.

God's providence works daily in our lives. Providence works in our lives according to a divine plan. Providence sees what is ahead and prepares the way. Providence works in the least details of your life, as well as the greatest things. God's providence works in all things.

God's providence proves that chance and luck are myths. Providence works according to God's eternal purpose, "the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will" (Ephesians 1:11). That's providence, not chance.

God's providence is the purpose of your life (Romans 8:28). Providence is always working for good in the lives of all who love God. When providence encounters evil, it works to bring good out of it (Genesis 50:20). 

God's providence uses circumstances in your life to bring you to faith in Jesus Christ. Providence is for you in Christ. Providence opens doors of opportunity for you to do God's will. Providence works over all, when you understand and when you don't.

Whom God Will Bless

God will bless every believer with the forgiveness of all sins and life everlasting, through Jesus Christ our Lord. This good news is offered freely to all. It comes as the gift of God. "For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God" (Ephesians 2:8).

God will bless every believer in the gospel. The death of Jesus Christ was for all our sins. Eternal life is through his resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Only the death of Jesus Christ at the cross can save us from the condemnation of our sins. The resurrection of Christ proves that eternal life is in Jesus the Son of God by the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 1:1-4). 

The gospel of Jesus Christ includes every blessing. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ" (Ephesians 1:3). God will bless believers through the gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord.

The word Gospel means good news. The good news is our Lord Jesus Christ offered to you and all people everywhere (Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:46-47). God sent his Son to die for our sins, and Christ was raised from the dead according to the Scripture (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Jesus Christ our Lord brings all of God's blessings to every believer.

God's Love and Wrath

"And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world" (1 John 2:2). Propitiation satisfies the wrath of God. In our salvation, propitiation satisfied the holiness of God's justice through the sacrifice of Christ at the cross.

God's justice was satisfied at the cross of Jesus. Propitiation (Greek: hilasmos) is a New Testament word which means satisfaction. Christ crucified satisfied the holiness and justice of God to save guilty sinners. In our place, Jesus died to take the punishment of our sins.

The propitiation of Christ was seen at the cross, because of God's love for sinners. "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). Christ crucified is love's crowning deed, satisfying God's justice. 

God's justice was paid in full for every believer in our Lord Jesus Christ. Justice paid the price for believers in the sacrifice of Christ at the cross. Believers in Christ our Lord receive God's love (John 3:16). Those who believe not in Christ face God's wrath abiding upon them. 

"He who believes in the Son has everlasting life, and he who does not believe in the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him" (John 3:36).

The Holy Spirit Resisted

The Holy Spirit is resisted by those who reject the gospel. They thereby have "insulted the Spirit of grace" (Hebrews 10:29). The Bible teaches that people resist the Holy Spirit, because their hearts have not been changed by the grace of God. The responsibility of man is his own just condemnation in rejecting the gospel  of Christ.

"You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you" (Acts 7:51). Only the Spirit of God can change the heart of man, which means our mind, will, and emotions. By resisting the Holy Spirit, people are insulting the only one who can apply the gospel of Christ to our hearts.

The Holy Spirit, who changes the corrupt heart of man, is the same Spirit who convicts the heart of man. Conviction is grace that precedes new birth (John 16:7-11). When conviction is resisted, grace is resisted. Conviction deals specifically with the sin of unbelief, in essence, rejecting the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Why would anyone reject the gospel of Christ? Jesus said, "And this is condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil" (John 3:19). Therefore, those who resist the Spirit, by rejecting the gospel of Christ, face their own just condemnation.

How to Hear God

"Today if you will hear his voice, do not harden your hearts" (Hebrews 3:15). God speaks to you through the Bible. It's God's love letter to you. The Holy Spirit inspired the words of Holy Scripture centuries ago, but He still speaks through them. Those who believe not, can only read printed words on paper. Believers read words that speak to their hearts. Hear God today through the Bible.

Hear God with your heart. The heart is your mind, will, and emotions. His word to you is through the Holy Spirit. God's voice has been seldom heard by the ears of men, even in Bible times. God's word in the Bible will speak daily to your heart. 

Hear God today. He has important things to say to you through the Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16). God speaks in a personal and intimate way to every believer. God communicates with you to experience his love in your heart, "because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us" (Romans 5:5).

God's Spirit, who inspired the Scripture, speaks to the hearts of all God's children. God shares His thoughts with you. They are eternal thoughts found in your Bible from the Father above. God's thoughts encourage, console and comfort you. His thoughts strengthen and assure you. "God is love" (1 John 4:8). God speaks to you today with love.

The Holy Spirit Seals Us

"In Him (Christ) you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise" (Ephesians 1:13). Scripture is clear, upon believing the gospel of Christ, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. 

In Bible days, important letters were written on scrolls of parchment. It was rolled together and sealed in such a way that the recipient of the letter knew that no one had changed the message. We could say, it was signed, sealed and delivered. This custom was used to illustrate our security in Christ. Believers are sealed by God's Spirit.

The Holy Spirit of promise comes to you through faith in Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:2, 5). The Holy Spirit is the covenant promise of God to you and every believer (Acts 2:38-39). God says, "I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them" (Ezekiel 36:27).

The Holy Spirit is your seal of promise, to be your Guide, Counselor, Helper and Comforter. The Holy Spirit was promised to you as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:13). Every believer is sealed with the promise of the Spirit, unto the day of redemption (Ephesians 4:30). That's the day Christ returns and believers are glorified into His likeness (1 John 3:2). 

The Power of Evangelism

In his book Joy Unspeakable, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones states, "Go through Acts and in every instance when we are told either that the Spirit came upon these men or that they were filled with the Spirit, you will find that it was in order to bear a witness and a testimony." He observed in the book of Acts, the anointing of the Holy Spirit to use men in evangelism.

The power of evangelism is through the Holy Spirit. He bears witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ. He uses us to share the gospel in power. Jesus said, "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit is come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth" (Acts 1:8). That's New Testament evangelism.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16). The gospel comes not in word only, but through the power of the Holy Spirit. "For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance" (1 Thessalonians 1:5). Anointed evangelism is in the Word and the Spirit.

Let us pray that God will use us to share the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. Let us also give the glory to God for those who are saved, recognizing our total dependence upon the Holy Spirit. God wants to use us in evangelism through the power of the Holy Spirit.