When He Is Come - Media Sabda Org

WHEN HE IS COME
by
Joshua Stauffer
Chapter 23
IN THE SPIRIT
"Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, the spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?" (James
4:5).
The Scriptures do not speak in vain. God says what He means and means what He says, and we
do well to believe all He says. This text seems a little difficult to understand. "The spirit that
dwelleth in us lusteth to envy" is the Holy Spirit. Another version of this text reads, "The Spirit that
dwelleth in us loveth us to jealousy." Still another translation reads, "The Spirit that dwelleth in us,
jealously desires us for His Own." The meaning is, the Holy Spirit jealously desires us for Christ.
The work of the Holy Spirit in the world in this dispensation is to gather out the church, even a
people for the name of Christ. The "people for his name" is the church which will be united in
marriage to the Lamb, to forever be one with Him and go by His name. The Holy Spirit came on the
day of Pentecost, which was the birthday of the church, and became incorporated in the church. He
is still in the world and will be until the church is completed, then He will take the church and go
to meet Christ in the air. His work now is to convict, woo, regenerate, sanctify, empower, lead,
gather out, and eventually rapture the church.
I. Convicted by the Spirit
Conviction is the work of the Holy Spirit. No preacher can convict sinners of their sins. A
preacher may convince people if he preaches the truth, but convincement is not conviction. The Holy
Spirit may be likened to a holy policeman who apprehends, arrests, and convicts the sinner. He is
faithful in convicting the sinner and His method of operation in conviction is to work in co-operation
with the preaching of the gospel. Conviction is not a pleasant feeling or experience, but it is the
greatest blessing that can come to any sinner. When the sinner surrenders and yields to the conviction
of the Spirit, he is led to salvation and great blessings. Before the Lord can bless sinners, He must
first, as it were, unbless them. When a sinner is convicted, the Spirit is seeking to lead him to
repentance and to Christ. Conviction is not a thing to trifle with, fight, resent, or to slough off; but
rather, the sinner should thank God for it, allow it to take hold of him, and lay hold on it, for that is
God's method of dealing with the sinner. Conviction will make the sinner feel lost, miserable,
undone, afraid to live, afraid to die, and brings a fear of God, hell, and the judgment. There is hope
and salvation when he surrenders to the Spirit. Conviction of the Spirit will lead to contrition for sin.
A godly sorrow is very essential in true repentance. A godly sorrow is more than being sorry because
of natural consequences of sin, or that one has been discovered to be a sinner. True repentance is a
sorrow produced by the Spirit, that we are sorry to God because we have sinned against Him and that
we are lost. The Hebrew word "repent" in the Old Testament means to pant, to sigh, to groan, to
lament, and to grieve about one's doing. It is a sorrow that brings an abhorrence of sin, a change of
mind and of purpose, so that he no longer will indulge in sinning.