Truth Matters From Pastor Dean Brdlik, July 3rd 2023

Jesus told His disciples that He was leaving them physically, but would send God the Spirit for several specific purposes.  One of the most important would be to convict of sin (John 16:8).  The word “convict” (elegcho Gk) means “to find or prove to be guilty; to convince of error or sinfulness.”  Most of us readily admit we are sinners.  We have little problem with that general admission.  But the Spirit will not generalize with you.  He reveals to you specific sin.  Once He does, God tells you not to disregard or “grieve” (Ephesians 4:30) the Spirit but do something about it.  You must confess it, remove it, forsake it.  This might require strategy on your part.  It will require you to humble yourself and deal with your self-will and independent spirit and cry out for the Spirit’s help and power...but deal with it you must.   God is telling you “Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? (Matthew 7:3)  It’s the “log” you are responsible for.  It’s the “log” that the Spirit will convict you of.  This is the point of today’s My Utmost for His Highest:

“A person will easily say, “Oh yes, I know I am a sinner,” but when he comes into the presence of God he cannot get away with such a broad and indefinite statement. Our conviction is focused on our specific sin, and we realize, as Isaiah did, what we really are. This is always the sign that a person is in the presence of God. There is never any vague sense of sin, but a focusing on the concentration of sin in some specific, personal area of life. God begins by convicting us of the very thing to which His Spirit has directed our mind’s attention. If we will surrender, submitting to His conviction of that particular sin, He will lead us down to where He can reveal the vast underlying nature of sin. That is the way God always deals with us when we are consciously aware of His presence.

This experience of our attention being directed to our concentration of personal sin is true in everyone’s life, from the greatest of saints to the worst of sinners. When a person first begins climbing the ladder of experience, he might say, “I don’t know where I’ve gone wrong,” but the Spirit of God will point out some definite and specific thing to him. The effect of Isaiah’s vision of the holiness of the Lord was the directing of his attention to the fact that he was “a man of unclean lips.” “He touched my mouth with it, and said: ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged’ ” (Isaiah 6:7). The cleansing fire had to be applied where the sin had been concentrated.”

Here’s what I have discovered in my 60 yr journey with the Lord:  This kind of “conviction” occurs as a result of reading or studying God’s word  FOR ME.  We are prone to use Bible study to gain information or doctrinal clarity or applying it to some other’s life.  When we study God’s word we must ask the question:  “How does this passage apply TO ME?”  “Spirit of God, is there a “log” that I NEED TO DEAL WITH?”  My prayer for you and me this morning is that we pray along with David:

 “Investigate my life, O God; find out everything about me; Cross-examine and test me; get a clear picture of what I’m about; See for Yourself where I have sin—then guide me on the road to eternal life.  (Psalm 139:23-24 The Message Paraphrase). 

Walk with the King today and be a blessing.