The Father loves you—it is at this point that multitudes of believers fail God. They are willing to be convicted of sin and failure, over and over again. But they will not allow the Holy Ghost to flood them with the love of the Father.
The legalist loves to live under conviction. He has never understood the love of God or allowed the Holy Spirit to minister that love to his soul.
We at Times Square Church have taught that the righteous person, the true lover of Jesus, loves reproof. He learns to welcome having the Holy Spirit expose all his hidden areas of sin and unbelief—because the more he deals with sin, the happier and freer he becomes.
Yet, the attitude I see in many Christians is: “Keep on judging me, Lord—convict me, rebuke me!” This is not the same thing as true conviction. For example, I see this in many responses to my newsletter messages. When I write a message that thunders with judgment, I get overwhelmingly approving responses.
When I share about the sweetness and love of Jesus, I receive letters saying, “You’re not preaching the truth anymore!” It is as though these people are saying, “If you’re not reproving, then what you’re saying can’t be the gospel.” Such believers have never entered into the great love-mission of the Holy Spirit.
This is an area where you must learn to walk in the Spirit—and not by feelings! Walking in the Spirit means allowing the Holy Ghost to do in us what he was sent to do. And that means allowing him to flood your heart right now with the love of God! “Because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us” (Romans 5:5).
Isaiah said, “As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem” (Isaiah 66:13). Isaiah was writing to a stubborn people of God who “went on frowardly [backsliding] in the way of [their] heart” (Isaiah 57:17).
Tell me—How long will a teacher stick by a stubborn, obstinate student who refuses to heed advice? Not very long! But the prophet Isaiah takes one of the highest images possible among men—that of a mother’s love for her child—and shows us something of the love that our Father has for us.
One mother in our church takes a whole day to visit her son in an upstate prison. She gets on a bus and rides for hours, just to see him for a short while. Such a mother will look across at her son in that drab uniform and see the agony in his eyes—and each trip she will die a little more inside. But she never quits on him. He is still her son!
This is the kind of love the Holy Spirit wants you to know God has for you! He comforts us by telling us, “You once said you gave your all to Jesus. You gave him your love, and he still loves you. And now, neither will I let you go. I’ve been sent by him to do a work—and I will keep doing it!”
There is no true comfort for anyone on this earth except that of the Holy Spirit. This is why you need the Holy Ghost abiding in you. He alone can lay you down at night, as in a warm bed, and fill your heart with perfect peace. He alone can truly comfort you in times of pain and sorrow. He is the one who will assure you, “This comfort is not just temporary—it is eternal!”
Be the first to react on this!
David Wilkerson (1931 – 2011)
Founder of Times Square Church in New York City with over 100 different languages spoken in the congregation. Wilkerson wrote many powerful books such as: The Vision and Cross and the Switchblade. His ministry was prophetic as God called him to be a watchman to the Church in North America. He gave clear messages on repentance to the Church.Wilkerson also founded Teen Challenge where there are hundreds of centres for Christ-centered drug recovery and addiction recovery. He also organized and spoke at pastors gatherings in many countries where he gave prophetic strong messages to encourage pastors and leaders.
Recommends these books by David Wilkerson:
The Vision and Beyond, Prophecies Fulfilled and Still to Come by David Wilkerson
Knowing God by Name: Names of God That Bring Hope and Healing by David Wilkerson
God's Plan to Protect His People in the Coming Depression by David Wilkerson
David Wilkerson is an American Christian evangelist, most well-known for his book The Cross and the Switchblade. He is also the founder of Times Square Church in New York, an interdenominational church.
Wilkerson is well-known for these early years of his ministry to young drug addicts and gang members in New York City in the 1950s and 1960s. He co-authored a book about his work with the New York drug addicts, The Cross and the Switchblade, which became a best-seller, selling over 50 million copies in over thirty languages since it was published in 1963. The book was included among the 100 most important Christian books of the 20th century.
For over four decades, Wilkerson's ministry has included preaching, teaching and writing. He has authored over 30 books.
David Wilkerson is the founder and president of World Challenge, Inc., a nonprofit organization incorporated on September 22, 1971. Reverend Wilkerson, the author of over thirty inspirational books, is perhaps best known for his early days of ministry to young drug addicts and gang members in Manhattan, the Bronx, and Brooklyn. His story is told in The Cross and the Switchblade, a book he co-authored which became a best-seller. (The story has been read by over 50 million people in some thirty languages and 150 countries since 1963. In 1969, a motion picture of the same title was released.)
For over four decades, Reverend Wilkerson's evangelistic ministry has included preaching, teaching and writing. Throughout that time a distinctive characteristic of his work has been his direct efforts to reach the neediest members of the population with help for both body and soul. Even now, the almost 70 year-old minister often goes out alone or sometimes with an assistant to walk through the streets of New York City, along Broadway and Eighth Avenue or down 42nd Street and nearby "Crack Alley" on 41st Street. His mission is always to seek out the lost, the disoriented, and the addicted , to tell them of the power of the risen Christ to set them free.
David Wilkerson, born in Hammond, Indiana on May 19, 1931, was married in 1953 to Gwen Carosso. The Wilkersons' two sons are ministers, and their two daughters are married to ministers. They have 11 grandchildren. The Wilkersons served small pastorates in Scottsdale and Philipsburg, Pennsylvania, until Reverend Wilkerson saw a photograph in Life magazine of several New York City teenagers charged with murder. Moved with compassion he was drawn to the city in February 1959. It was at that time he began his street ministry to what one writer called "desperate, bewildered, addicted, often violent youth.