"All is vain unless The Spirit..."
For
many years I have tried to set forth before my hearers the truth of
the gospel of the free grace of God in Christ crucified. I have
sought to tell the truth to eternity bound men and women about what
God in His word says that we are: sinners, lost, hopeless and
helpless in ourselves and void of any good or any righteousness. I
have endeavored to set forth the Lord Jesus Christ as the only Hope.
I have insisted upon His righteousness imputed to the sinner and
received by God-given faith as the only basis upon which a holy God
can accept such sinners as we are. I have shown how His cross death
was the full payment price of redemption, how His work in life and
death was the finished work of righteousness and salvation and how He
fully satisfied the law and justice of God on the behalf of every
believing sinner. I have insisted upon God’s willingness to receive
any sinner who comes to Him trusting Christ alone and repenting of
all others and all else. I have urged men and women not to trust in
their works present or past, to give up all connections to their
godless religions of the past and to expect every spiritual blessing
of God in Christ if He is their Lord and Savior.
As I have done this, I have found the scriptures to be true. The words of Christ and others that can be summed up in the words of the old hymn writer: “All is vain unless the Spirit of the Holy One come down.” How true those words are! Without a doubt, the preaching of Christ crucified is a sweet savor to God in those that are being saved and in those that perish. It can never be a vain thing in that sense. But as it pertains to the actual saving of a sinner and in bringing that sinner to believe the message of the gospel, preaching alone, even the preaching of the truth, cannot alone accomplish what is necessary. It is as our Lord has said, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). Again, “No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him” (John 6:44). All are so “dead in trespasses and sins” that unless there be this great awakening, life-giving work of God’s Spirit in us, none will live spiritually or believe. Faith does not produce this life, this life from above produces faith. From time to time, some have believed and continue to do so. For this we thank God and pray that He would keep us faithful to preach His gospel. Ours is to preach Christ, His is to give life and faith to believe on Him. We preach Christ crucified, knowing “all is vain unless the Spirit of the Holy One come down..”
As I have done this, I have found the scriptures to be true. The words of Christ and others that can be summed up in the words of the old hymn writer: “All is vain unless the Spirit of the Holy One come down.” How true those words are! Without a doubt, the preaching of Christ crucified is a sweet savor to God in those that are being saved and in those that perish. It can never be a vain thing in that sense. But as it pertains to the actual saving of a sinner and in bringing that sinner to believe the message of the gospel, preaching alone, even the preaching of the truth, cannot alone accomplish what is necessary. It is as our Lord has said, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). Again, “No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him” (John 6:44). All are so “dead in trespasses and sins” that unless there be this great awakening, life-giving work of God’s Spirit in us, none will live spiritually or believe. Faith does not produce this life, this life from above produces faith. From time to time, some have believed and continue to do so. For this we thank God and pray that He would keep us faithful to preach His gospel. Ours is to preach Christ, His is to give life and faith to believe on Him. We preach Christ crucified, knowing “all is vain unless the Spirit of the Holy One come down..”
-Gospel report by preacher Gary Shepard
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