The Fine Touch of The Spirit

"And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye ... may abound to every good work" (2 Corinthians 9:8)

The Holy Spirit never differs from Himself, and wherever He touches a human mind His sure marks are always present so plainly that there can be no mistaking them.

Anyone familiar with the work of the French artist Millet will notice a similarity in everything he painted, as if the very breathing personality of the man had somehow gotten into the paint and onto the canvas.

So the Holy Spirit teaches the same thing to everyone; however different the subjects may be from each other, the fine touch of the Spirit's hand may be detected on each one.

O fire of God, begin in me;
Burn out the dross of self and sin,
Burn off my fetters, set me free,
And make my heart a heaven within.

Baptize with fire this soul of mine;
Endue me with Thy Spirit's might
And make me by Thy power divine
A burning and a shining light.

~A. W. Tozer~

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Insist on Sainthood

"Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience" (1 Timothy 3:9)

The fact is that we are not today producing saints. We are making converts to an effete type of Christianity that bears little resemblance to that of the New Testament. The average so-called Bible Christian in our times is but a wretched parody of true sainthood. Yet we put millions of dollars behind movements to perpetuate this degenerate form of religion and attack the man who dares to challenge the wisdom of it.

Clearly we must begin to produce better Christians. We must insist on New Testament sainthood for our converts, nothing less; and we must lead them into a state of heart purity, fiery love, separation from the world and poured-out devotion to the Person of Christ. Only in this way  can the low level of spirituality be raised again to where it should be in the light of the Scriptures and of eternal values.

It is well to remember that a new heart is one thing, and a pure heart is another. They are not synonymous. Any man can have a new heart which loves God and yet not possess a pure heart from which self, man-fear, love of praise and other like things are banished.

~A. W. Tozer~