Saturday night in the preacher's week. The countdown. The growing sense of 'we're nearly there'. The anticipation, with its joy and its heart-crushing responsibility, of ministering God's Word to others. And the deep, deep sense of our personal weakness, matched with the infinite possibilities of the Spirit of God to be at work on the Lord's Day. Patrick Fairbairn has choice words on matching our desire for blessing with the seeking of the Spirit:
"There is a close connection between the measure in which the Spirit is given, and the degree of desire and faithfulness with which He is sought. And it is the soul which has experienced much personally, that will ever be the best prepared for seeking much believingly for others. He who has himself known only the small drops of divine grace and power, will hardly be in a condition to expect, or even earnestly to pray for, the richer showers of blessing on the field of his labours. And if there are to be Pentecostal times for the church, we must look for Pentecostal experiences going before in the hearts of the ministry. And these, I may add, manifesting themselves in an engrossing eagerness of desire and intensity of effort for the salvation of men."
Patrick Fairbairn, Pastoral Theology, p.89
Ouch. A painful, necessary and stimulating reminder with which to end the day. Thank you, Lewis.
ReplyDeletewe desperatly need the help of the Holy Spirit as in Pentacost to reach Folks in our towns with the reality of God and His amazing love ,to demonstrate that Jesus is alive and very
ReplyDeletepowerfull!! Bless you and family,Linda in Germany (a friend of Katherine )