The work of the Holy Spirit in the heart of one who is being saved is not something we can control in any way. It would be as if we could observe and control the wind if we could control what the Holy Spirit does. However, just as we can see the affects of the wind, the work of the Holy Spirit produces clear, undeniable, unmistakable evidence that regeneration has taken place. This is so much more than some religious assent on one’s part that they believe. Our Lord is describing a work of God Himself that must take place before a believer can enter the Kingdom of God.

1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; 2 this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:1-3 (NASB)

I shared the following on Facebook today:

After church yesterday I came home and ate a small lunch and rested. I taught our Bible Study class. We went through Acts 4. As usual I was exhausted when I was done. I think “drained” is a better word. I actually don’t remember Brian’s sermon in great detail, but it was pretty good because he emphasized much of the same things that we talked about in our lesson, like Peter and John boldly proclaiming the Gospel as the most important thing that we do while also continually remaining together as a church body because we need each other. After lunch I tried to rest, but couldn’t so I got on my walking/hiking gear and went to the park to do a fast 4 miles. That should relax me, right? At the end I was hot and sweaty. I got my water out of my pickup and went to the pavilion that is near the parking lot. There were two women in there talking. They had bicycles, but I didn’t pay any attention to them. I just enjoyed the shade and how fast I cooled off as I drank my ice cold water as the cool breeze swept over me as I sat at that picnic table. However, that’s not how it went. The older of the two women kept trying to get my attention. It was then that I noticed that they had name tags on their shirts. My brain immediately threw up a caution flag and it was correct. They were Mormon missionaries. She asked me if I knew what a missionary was. I took a long drink of water then said, “Yes, I know what a missionary is, and I am one.” That startled them. I got up and went over there and we talked awhile. She asked me if I had any questions about their religion. I told her no. She asked me what religion I was part of. I told her I was a Christian, born again, regenerated from the dead, saved by grace through faith. Both of them just stared at me. I asked if they had Bibles with them. They did. I asked them to read Ephesians 2:1-10. They tried, but they couldn’t understand it. I looked at the version they were reading. It must have been the 1611 version of the KJV. I mean, that was harder to read than my 1569 Geneva Bible. In any case, I realized that the only way I could give them the truth was through my testimony so I gave it to them. They simply could not comprehend how the Holy Spirit works in conjunction with the will of the Father to draw sinners to Christ. They just could not see it. When I finished my water I said goodbye and left. I was never abrupt with them. I did not get arrogant with them. I simply conversed with them and gave them the Gospel. Please pray for Brittany and Sarah who are Mormon missionaries currently working in Yukon, OK. May God use my poor effort yesterday in some way to reach them for Christ.

What bothered me about that was how ineffective my effort seemed to be in getting those two women to see the truth. I felt helpless. I did not have my Bible. My phone has the same Bible software on it that I use to write these posts, but the library had not been loaded and I needed to be on my wifi to do that. In any case, I quoted scripture to them and gave them the Gospel the best I could, but it was like skipping a rock off of frozen pond. It just did not seem to sink in at all. Why?

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