eChurch Blog

What a wonderful God we have

Here is a picture taken by my good friend yesterday of a farmers field near his home…Just to cheer us all up!

Oh this is just an absolute classic from the Telegraph today:-

A group of witches is claiming religious discrimination after church leaders banned them from using its social club.

Sandra Davis – High Priestess at the Crystal Cauldron – had reserved Our Lady’s Social Club in Shaw Heath, Stockport for her Pagan group’s Annual Witches’ Ball.

But when she rang to make payment arrangements she was told the event could not be held there and – despite already having printed tickets – another venue must be found.

The Diocese of Shrewsbury have since confirmed witches are not ‘compatible with the Catholic ethos’.

Sandra, 61, said: “I’m appalled.

“My congregation is shocked that in this day and age there can be such religious discrimination.

“We’re normal people who follow an earth-based religion and want to enjoy ourselves.

“We thought we were bridging the gap with other religions but misconceptions still exist, like we sacrifice animals.

“Does the church check everyone’s beliefs before allowing them in the club?

“Now we need another venue for at least 100 people with a stage for entertainment.

“At this point that’s going to be very difficult.”

Sandra, of Bridge Hall, set up the Crystal Cauldron as a pagan meeting place and hopes to turn it into a temple.

This year’s ball was planned for October and Sandra agreed to hire the social club for £175.

But the Reverend John Joyce, from the Diocese of Shrewsbury, said there was no way the event could go ahead.

“Parish centres under our auspices let their premises on the understanding users and their organisations are compatible with the ethos and teachings of the Catholic church,” he said.

“In this instance, we aren’t satisfied such requirements are met.”

Don’t mess with the mighty Insurance companies bottom line Harriet Harman.

Article from The Christian Institute

“The power of the Holy Ghost” Romans 15:13

POWER is the special and peculiar prerogative of God, and God alone.
Twice have I have heard this: that power belongeth unto God.” God is
God: and power belongeth to him. If he delegates a portion of it to his
creatures, yet still it is his power. The sun, although he is “like a
bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to
run his race,” yet has no power to perform his motions except as God
directs him. The stars, although they travel in their orbits and none could
stay them, yet have neither might nor force except that which God daily
infuses into them. The tall archangel, near his throne, who outshines a
comet in its blaze, though he is one of those who excel in strength and
hearken to the voice of the commands of God, yet has no might except that
which his Maker gives to him. As for Leviathan, who so maketh the sea to
boil like a pot that one would think the deep were hoary: as for Behemoth,
who drinketh up Jordan at a draught, and boasteth that he can snuff up
rivers; as for those majestic creatures that are found on earth, they owe
their strength to him who fashioned their bones of steel and made their
sinews of brass. And when we think of man if he has might or power, it is
so small and insignificant, that we can scarcely call it such; yea, when it is
at its greatest-when he sways his scepter, when he commands hosts, when
he rules nations-still the power belongeth unto God; and it is true, “Twice
have I heard this, that power belongeth unto God.” This exclusive
prerogative of God, is to be found in each of the three persons of the
glorious Trinity. The Father hath power: for by his word were the heavens
made, and all the host of them, by his strength all things stand, and through
him they fulfill their destiny. The Son hath power: for like his Father, he is
the Creator of all things; “Without him was not anything made that was
made,” and “by him all things consist.” And the Holy Spirit hath power. It
is concerning the power of the Holy Ghost that I shall speak this morning;
and may you have a practical exemplification of that attribute in your own
hearts, when you shall feel that the influence of the Holy Ghost is being
poured out upon me, so that I am speaking the words of the living God to
your souls, and bestowed upon you when you are feeling the effects of it in
your own spirits.

We shall look at the power of the Holy Ghost in three ways this morning.
First, the outward and visible displays of it, second, the inward and
spiritual manifestations of it, and third, the future and expected works
thereof. The power of the Spirit will thus, I trust, be made clearly present
to your souls.

I. First, then, we are to view the power of the Spirit in the OUTWARD AND
VISIBLE DISPLAYS OF IT. The power of the Spirit has not been dormant; it
has exerted itself. Much has been done by the Spirit of God already; more
than could have been accomplished by any being except the Infinite,
Eternal, Almighty Jehovah, of whom the holy Spirit is one person. There
are four works which are the outward and manifest signs of the power of
the Spirit: creation works; resurrection works: works of attestation, or of
witness; and works of grace. Of each of the works I shall speak very
briefly.

1. First, the Spirit has manifested the omnipotence of his power in creation
works; for though not very frequently in Scripture, yet sometimes creation
is ascribed to the Holy Ghost, as well as to the Father and the Son. The
creation of the heavens above us is said to be the work of God’s Spirit.
This you will see at once by referring to the sacred Scriptures, Job 26:13th
verse, “By his Spirit he hath garnished the heavens, his hand hath formed
the crooked serpent.” All the stars of heaven are said to have been placed
aloft by the Spirit, and one particular constellation called the “crooked
serpent” is specially pointed out as his handiwork. He looseth the bands of
Orion; he bindeth the sweet influences of the Pleiades, and guides Aeturus
with his sons. He made all those stars that shine in heaven. The heavens
were garnished by his hands, and he formed the crooked serpent by his
might. So also in those continued acts of creation which are still performed
in the world; as the bringing forth of man and animals, their birth and
generation. These are ascribed also to the-Holy Ghost. If you look at the
104th Psalm, at the 29th verse, you will read, “thou hidest thy face, they
are troubled: thou takest away their breath they die, and return to their
dust. Thou sendest forth thy Spirit, they are created and thou renewest the
face of the earth.” So that the creation of every man is the work of the
Spirit: and the creation of all life and all flesh-existence in this world is as
much to be ascribed to the power of the Spirit as the first garnishing of the
heavens, or the fashioning of the crooked serpent. But if you will look in
the 1st chapter of Genesis, you will there see more particularly set forth
that peculiar operation of power upon the universe which was put forth by
the Holy Spirit; you will then discover what was his special work. In the
2nd verse of the 1st chapter of Genesis, we read, “And the earth was
without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And
the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” We know not how
remote the period of the creation of this globe may be-certainly many
millions of years before the time of Adam. Our planet has passed through
various stages of existence, and different kinds of creatures have lived on
its surface, all of which have been fashioned by God. But before that era
came, wherein man should be its principal tenant and monarch, the Creator
gave up the world to confusion. He allowed the inward fires to burst up
from beneath and melt all the solid matter, so that all kinds of substances
were commingled in one vast mass of disorder; the only name you could
give to the world then was, that it was a chaotic mass of matter; what it
should be, you could not guess or define. It was entirely without form, and
void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. The Spirit came, and
stretching his broad wings, bade the darkness disperse, and as he moved
over it, all the different portions of matter came into their places, and it
was no longer “without form, and void; “but became round like its sister
planets, and moved, singing the high praises of God-not discordantly as it
had done before, but as one great note in the vast scale of creation. Milton
very beautifully describes this work of the Spirit in thus bringing order out
confusion, when the King of Glory, in his powerful Word and Spirit, came
to create new worlds:-

“On heavenly ground they stood; and from the shore
They view’d the vast immeasurable abyss
Outrageous as a sea, dark, wasteful, wild,
Up from the bottom turn’d by furious winds
And surging waves, as mountains, to assault
Heaven’s height, and with the center mix the pole.
“Silence ye troubled waves, and thou deep, peace,
Said then the Omnific Word; your discord end.
Then on the watery calm
His brooding wings the Spirit of God outspread
And vital virtue infused, and vital warmth
Throughout the fluid mass.”

This you see then is the power of the Spirit. Could we have seen that earth
all in confusion, we should have said, “Who can make a world out of this?”
The answer would have been, “The power of the Spirit can do it. By the
simple spreading of his dove-like wings he can make all the things come
together. Upon that there shall be order where there was nought but
confusion.” Nor is this all the power of the Spirit. We have seen some of
his works in creation. But there was one particular instance of creation in
which the Holy Spirit was more especially concerned, viz., the formation of
the body of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though our Lord Jesus Christ was born
of a woman and made in the likeness of sinful flesh, yet the power that
begat him was entirely in God the Holy Spirit-as the Scriptures express it,
“The power of the Highest shall overshadow thee.” He was begotten as the
Apostles’ Creed says, begotten of the Holy Ghost. “That holy thing which
is born of thee shall be called the Son of the Highest.” The corporeal frame
of the Lord Jesus Christ was a masterpiece of the Holy Spirit. I suppose his
body to have excelled all others in beauty; to have been like that of the first
man, the very pattern of what the body is to be in heaven, when it shall
shine forth in all its glory. That fabric, in all its beauty and perfection, was
modelled by the Spirit. In his book were all the members written when as
yet there were none of them. He fashioned and formed him; and here again
we have another instance of the creative energy of the Spirit.

2. A second manifestation of the Holy Spirit’s power is to be found in the
resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. If ye have ever studied this subject,
ye have perhaps been rather perplexed to find that sometimes the
resurrection of Christ is ascribed to himself. By his own power and
Godhead he could not be held by the bond of death, but as he willingly
gave up his life he had power to take it again. In another portion of
Scripture you find it ascribed to God the Father: “He raised him up from
the dead:” “Him hath God the Father exalted.” And many other passages
of similar import. But, again, it is said in Scripture that Jesus Christ was
raised by the Holy Spirit. Now all these things were true. He was raised by
the Father because the Father said, “loose the prisoner-let him go. Justice is
satisfied. My law requires no more satisfaction-vengeance has had its duelet
him go.” Here he gave an official message which delivered Jesus from
the grave. He was raised by his own majesty and power because he had a
right to come out and he felt he had, and therefore “burst the bonds of
death: he could be no longer holden of them.” But, he was raised by the
Spirit as to that energy which his mortal frame received, by the which it
rose again from the grave after having lain there for three days and nights.
If you want proofs of this you must open your Bibles again, 1 Peter, 3:18.
“For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he
might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but quickened by the
Spirit.” And a further proof you may find in Romans, 8:11.-(I love
sometimes to be textual, for I believe the great fault of Christians is that
they do not search the Scriptures enough, and I will make them search
them when they are here if they do not do so anywhere else.)-”But if the
Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised
up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit
that dwelleth in you.”

The resurrection of Christ, then, was effected by the agency of the Spirit,
and here we have a noble illustration of his omnipotence. Could you have
stepped, as angels did, into the grave of Jesus, and seen his sleeping body,
you would have found it cold as any other corpse. Lift up the hand, it falls
by the side. Look at the eye: it is glazed. And there is a death-thrust which
must have annihilated life. See his hands; the blood distils not from them,
They are cold and motionless. Can that body live? Can it start up? Yes; and
be and illustration of the might of the Spirit. For when the power of the
Spirit came on him, as it was when it fell upon the dry bones of the valley:
“he arose in the majesty of his divinity, and bright and shining, astonished
the watchmen so that they fled away, yea, he arose no more to die, but to
live for ever, King of kings and Prince of the kings of the earth.”

3. The third of the works of the Holy Spirit which have so wonderfully
demonstrated his power, are attestation works. I mean by this,-works of
witnessing. When Jesus Christ went into the stream of baptism in the river
Jordan, the Holy Spirit descended upon him like a dove, and proclaimed
him God’s beloved son. That was what I style an attestation work. And
when afterwards Jesus Christ raised the dead, when he healed the leper,
when he spoke to diseases and they fled apace, when demons rushed in
thousands from those who were possessed of them, it was done by the
power of the Spirit. The Spirit dwelt in Jesus without measure, and by that
power all those miracles were worked. These were attestation works. And
when Jesus Christ was gone, you will remember that master attestation of
the Spirit when he came like a rushing mighty wind upon the assembled
apostles, and cloven tongues sat upon them; and you will remember how
he attested their ministry by giving them to speak with tongues as he gave
them utterance; and how, also, miraculous deed’s were wrought by them,
how they taught, how Peter raised Dorcas how he breathed life into
Eutycus, how great deeds were wrought by the apostles as well as their
Master-so that “mighty signs and wonders were done by the Holy Ghost,
and many believed thereby.” Who will doubt the power of the Holy Spirit
after that? Ah! those Socinians who deny the existence of the Holy Ghost
and his absolute personality, what will they do when we get them on
creation, resurrection, and attestation? They must rush in the very teeth of
Scripture. But mark! it is a stone upon which if any man fall he shall be
bruised; but if it fall upon him as it will do if he resists it, it shall grind him
to powder. The Holy Spirit has power omnipotent, even the power of God.

4. Once more, if we want another outward and visible sign of the power of
the Spirit, we may look at the works of grace. Behold a city where a
soothsayer hath the power-who has given out himself to be some great
one, a Philip enters it and preaches the Word of God, straightway a Simon
Magus loses his power and himself seeks for the power of the Spirit to be
given to him, fancying it might be purchased with money. See, in modern
times, a country where the inhabitants live in miserable wigwams, feeding
on reptiles and the meanest creatures; observe them bowing down before
their idols and worshipping their false gods, and so plunged in superstition,
so degraded and debased, that it became a question whether they had souls
or not; behold a Moffat go with the Word of God in his hand, hear him
preach as the Spirit gives him utterance, and accompanies that Word with
power. They cast aside their idols-they hate and abhor their former lusts;
they build houses, wherein they dwell; they become clothed, and in their
right mind. They break the bow, and cut the spear in sunder; the uncivilized
become civilized; the savage becomes polite; he who knew nothing begins
to read the Scriptures, thus out of the mouths of Hottentots God attests
the power of his mighty Spirit. Take a household in this city-and we could
guide you to many such-the father is a drunkard; he has been the most
desperate of characters; see him in his madness, and you might just as well
meet an unchained tiger as meet such a man. He seems as if he could rend a
man to pieces who should offend him. Mark his wife. She, too, has a spirit
in her, and when he treats her ill she can resist him; many broils have been
seen in that house, and often has the neighborhood been disturbed by the
noise created there. As for the poor little children-see them in their rags
and nakedness, poor untaught things. Untaught, did I say? They are taught
and well taught in the devil’s school and are growing up to be the heirs of
damnation. But some one whom God has blessed by his Spirit is guided to
the house. He may be but a humble city missionary perhaps but he speaks
to such a one: O, says he, come and listen to the voice of God. Whether it
is by his own agency, or a minister’s preaching, the Word, which is quick
and powerful, cuts to the sinner’s heart. The tears run down his cheekssuch
as had never been seen before. He shakes and quivers. The strong
man bows down-the mighty man trembles-and those knees that never
shook begin to knock together. That heart which never quailed before,
now begins to shake before the power of the Spirit. He sits down on a
humble bench by the penitent; he lets hie knees bend, whilst his lips utter a
child’s prayer, but, whilst a child’s prayer, a prayer of a child of God. He
becomes a changed character. Mark the reformation in his house! That
wife of his becomes the decent matron. Those children are the credit of the
house, and in due time they grow up like olive branches round his table,
adorning his house like polished stones. Pass by the house-no noise or
broils, but songs of Zion. See him-no drunken revelry; he has drained his
last cup; and, now forswearing it, he comes to God and is his servant.
Now, you will not hear at midnight the bacchanalian shout; but should
there be a noise, it will be the sound of the solemn hymn of praise to God.
And, now, is there not, such a thing as the power of the Spirit? Yes! and
these must have witnessed it and seen it. I know a village, once, perhaps,
the most profane in England-a village inundated by drunkenness and
debauchery of the worst kind, where it was impossible almost for an honest
traveler to stop in the public house without being annoyed by blasphemy; a
place noted for incendiaries and robbers. One man, the ringleader of all
listened to the voice of God. That man’s heart was broken. The whole
gang came to hear the gospel preached, and they sat and seemed to
reverence the preacher as if he were a God, and not a man. These men
became changed and reformed; and every one who knows the place affirms
that such a change had never been wrought but by the power of the Holy
Ghost. Let the gospel be preached and the Spirit poured out, and you will
see that it has such power to change the conscience, to ameliorate the
conduct, to raise the debased, to chastise and to curb the wickedness of the
race, that you must glory in it. I say, there is nought like the power of the
Spirit. Only let that come, and, indeed, everything can be accomplished.

II. Now, for the second point, THE INWARD AND SPIRITUAL POWER OF
THE HOLY SPIRIT. What I have already spoken of may be seen; what I am
about to speak of must be felt, and no man will apprehend what I say with
truth unless he has felt it. The other, even the infidel must confess; the
other, the greatest blasphemer cannot deny it he speaks the truth; but this is
what the one will laugh at as enthusiasm and what the other will say is but
the invention of our fevered fancies. However, we have a more sure word
of testimony than all that they may say. We have a witness within. We
know it is the truth, and we are not afraid to speak of the inward spiritual
power of the Holy Ghost. Let us notice two or three things wherein the
inward and spiritual power of the Holy Ghost is very greatly to be seen and
extolled.

1. First, in that the Holy Ghost has a power over men’s hearts. Now,
men’s hearts are very hard to affect. If you want to get at them for any
worldly object you can do it. A cheating world can win man’s heart, a little
gold can win man’s heart, a trump of fame and a little clamor of applause
can win man’s heart. But there is not a minister breathing that can win
man’s heart himself. He can win his ears and make them listen; he can win
his eyes, and fix those eyes upon him; he can win the attention, but the
heart is very slippery. Yes, the heart is a fish that troubles all gospel
fishermen to hold. You may sometimes pull it almost all out of the water;
but slimy as an eel, it slippeth between your fingers, and you have not
captured it after all. Many a man has fancied that he has caught the heart
but has been disappointed. It would need a strong hunter to overtake the
hart on the mountains. It is too fleet for human foot to approach. The
Spirit alone has power over man’s heart. Do you ever try your power on a
heart? If any man thinks that a minister can convert the soul, I wish he
would try. Let him go and be a Sabbath-school teacher. He shall take his
class, he shall have the best books that can be obtained, he shall have the
best rules, he shall draw his lines of circumvallation about his spiritual
Sebastopol, he shall take the best boy in his class, and if he is not tired in a
week I shall be very much mistaken. Let him spend four or five Sabbaths in
trying, but he will say, “The young fellow is incorrigible.” Let him try
another. And he will have to try another, and another, and another, before
he will manage to convert one. He will soon find “It is not by might nor by
power, but by my Spirit, satisfy the Lord. Can a minister convert? Can he
touch the heart? David said, “Your hearts are as fat as grease.” Ay, that is
quite true; and we cannot get through so much grease at all. Our sword
cannot get at the heart, it is encased in so much fatness, it is harder than a
nether millstone. Many a good old Jerusalem blade has been blunted
against the hard heart. Man, a piece of the true steel that God has put into
the hands of his servants has had the edge turned by being set up against
the sinner’s heart. We cannot reach the soul; but the Holy Spirit can. “My
beloved can put in his hand by the hole in the door and my bowels will
move for sin.” He can give a sense of blood-bought pardon that shall
dissolve a heart of stone. He can

“Speak with that voice which wakes the dead,
And bids the sinner rise:
And makes the guilty conscience dread
The death that never dies.”

He can make Sinai’s thunders audible; yea, and he can make the sweet
whisperings of Calvary enter into the soul. He has power over the heart of
man. And here is a glorious proof of the omnipotence of the Spirit that he
has rule over the heart.

2. But if there is one thing more stubborn than the heart it is the will. “My
lord; Will-be-will,” as Bunyan calls him in his “Holy War,” is a fellow who
will not easily be bent. The will, especially in some men, is a very stubborn
thing, and in all men, if the will is once stirred up to opposition, there is
nothing can be done with them. Freewill somebody believes in. Freewill
many dream of. Freewill! wherever is that to be found? Once there was
free will in Paradise, and a terrible mess free will made there, for it all
spoiled all Paradise and turned Adam out of the garden. Free will was once
in heaven, but it turned the glorious archangel out and a third part of the
stars of heaven fell into the abyss. I want nothing to do with free will, but I
will try to see whether I have got a free will within. And I find I have. Very
free will to evil, but very poor will to that which is good. Free will enough
when I sin, but when I would do good evil is present with me, and how to
do that which I would I find not. Yet some boast of free will. I wonder
whether those who believe in it have any more power over persons wills
than I have. I know I have not any. I find the old proverb very true, “One
man can bring a horse to the water, but a hundred cannot make him drink.”
I find that I can bring you all to the water, and a great many more than can
get into this chapel; but I cannot make you drink; and I don’t think a
hundred ministers could make you drink. I have read old Rowland Hill, and
Whitfield, and several others to see what they did; but I cannot discover a
plan of turning your wills. I cannot coax you; and you will not yield by any
manner of means. I do not think any man has power over his fellowcreature’s
will, but the Spirit of God has. “I will make them willing in the
day of my power.” He maketh the unwilling sinner so willing that he is
impetuous after the gospel; he who was obstinate, now hurries to the cross.
He who laughed at Jesus, now hangs on his mercy; and he who would not
believe, is now made by the Holy Spirit to do it, not only willingly, but
eagerly; he is happy, is glad to do it, rejoices in the sound of Jesus’ name,
and delights to run in the way of God’s commandments. The Holy Spirit
has power over the will.

3. And yet there is one thing more which I think is rather worse than the
will. You will guess what I mean. The will is somewhat worse than the
heart to bend but there is one thing that excels the will in its naughtiness,
and that is the imagination. I hope that my will is managed by Divine
Grace. But I am afraid my imagination is not at times. Those who have a
fair share of imagination know what a difficult thing it is to control. You
cannot restrain it. It will break the reins. You will never be able to manage
it. The imagination will sometimes fly up to God with such a power that
eagles’ wings cannot match it. It sometimes has such might that it can
almost see the King in his beauty, and the land which is very far off. With
regard to myself, my imagination will sometimes take me over the gates of
iron, across that infinite unknown, to the very gates of pearl, and discovers
the blessed glorified. But if it is potent one way it is another; for my
imagination has taken me down to the vilest kennels and sewers of earth. It
has given me thoughts so dreadful, that while I could not avoid them, yet I
was thoroughly horrified at them. These thoughts will come, and when I
feel in the holiest frame, the most devoted to God, and the most earnest in
prayer, it often happens that that is the very time when the plagues breaks
out the worst. But I rejoice and think of one thing, that I can cry out when
this imagination comes upon me. I know it is said in the Book of Leviticus,
when an act of evil was committed, if the maiden cried out against it, then
her life was to be spared. So it is with the Christian. If he cries out there is
hope. Can you chain your imagination? No; but the power of the Holy
Ghost can. Ah, it shall do it, and it does do it at last; it does it even on
earth.

III. But the last thing was, THE FUTURE AND DESIRED EFFECTS-for after
all though the Holy Spirit has done so much he cannot say, “It is finished.”
Jesus Christ could exclaim concerning his own labor-”It is finished.” But
the Holy Spirit cannot say that. He has more to do yet: and until the
consummation of all things, when the Son himself becomes subject to the
Father, it shall not be said by the Holy Spirit, “It is finished.” What, then,
has the Holy Spirit to do?

1. First, he has to perfect us in holiness. There are two kinds of perfection
which a Christian needs-one is the perfection of justification in the person
of Jesus; and the other is, the perfection of sanctification worked in him by
the Holy Spirit. At present corruption still rests even in the breasts of the
regenerate. At present the heart is partially impure. At present there are
still lusts and evil imaginations. But, Oh! my soul rejoices to know that the
day is coming when God shall finish the work which he has begun; and he
shall present my soul, not only perfect in Christ, but, perfect in the Spirit,
without spot or blemish, or any such thing. And is it true that this poor
depraved heart is to become as holy as that of God? And is it true that this
poor spirit, which often cries, “O wretched man that I am, who shall
deliver me from the body of this sin and death!” shall get rid of sin and
death-I shall have no evil things to vex my ears, and no unholy thoughts to
disturb my peace? Oh! happy hour! may it be hastened! Just before I die,
sanctification will be finished; but not till that moment shall I ever claim
perfection in myself. But at that moment when I depart, my spirit shall have
its last baptism in the Holy Spirit’s fire. It shall be put in the crucible for its
last trying in the furnace; and then, free from all dross, and fine like a
wedge of pure gold, it shall be presented at the feet of God without the
least degree of dross or mixture. O glorious hour! O blessed moment!
Methinks I long to die if there were no heaven, if I might but have that last
purification, and come up from Jordan’s stream most white from the
washing. Oh! to be washed white, clean, pure, perfect! Not an angel more
pure than I shall be-yea, not God himself more holy! And I shall be able to
say, in a double sense, “Great God, I am clean-through Jesus’s blood I am
clean, through the Spirit’s work I am clean too! “Must we not extol the
power of the Holy Ghost in thus making us fit to stand before our Father in
heaven?

2. Another great work of the Holy Spirit which is not accomplished is the
bringing on of the latter-day glory. In a few more years-I know not when,
I know not how-the Holy Spirit will be poured out in a far different style
from the present. There are diversities of operations; and during the last
few years it has been the case that the diversified operations have consisted
in very little pouring out of the Spirit. Ministers have gone on in dull
routine, continually preaching-preaching-preaching, and little good has
been done. I do hope that perhaps a fresh era has dawned upon us, and that
there is a better pouring out of the Spirit even now. For the hour is
coming, and it may be even now is, when the Holy Ghost shall be poured
out again in such a wonderful manner that many shall run to and fro, and
knowledge shall be increased-the knowledge of the Lord shall cover the
earth as the waters cover the surface of the great deep, when his kingdom
shall come, and his will shall be done on earth even as it is in heaven. We
are not going to be dragging on for ever like Pharoah with the wheels off
his chariot. My heart exults and my eyes flash with the thought that very
likely I shall live to see the out-pouring of the Spirit when “the sons and
the daughters of God again shall prophecy, and the young men shall see
visions, and the old men shall dream dreams.” Perhaps there shall be no
miraculous gifts-for they will not be required; but yet there shall be such a
miraculous amount of holiness, such an extraordinary fervor of prayer,
such a real communion with God and so much vital religion, and such a
spread of the doctrines of the cross, that every one will see that verily the
Spirit is poured out like water and the rains are descending from above.
For that let us pray: let us continually labor for it, and seek it of God.

3. One more work of the Spirit which will especially manifest his powerthe
general resurrection. We have reason to believe from Scripture that
the resurrection of the dead, whilst it will be effected by the voice of God
and of his Word, (the Son) shall also be brought about by the Spirit. That
same power which raised Jesus Christ from the dead, shall also quicken
your mortal bodies. The power of the resurrection is perhaps one of the
finest proofs of the works of the Spirit. Ah! my friends, if this earth could
but have its mantle torn away for a little while, if the green sod could be
cut from it, and we could look about six feet deep into its bowels, what a
world it would seem! What should we see? Bones, carcasses, rottenness,
worms corruption. And you would say, “Can these dry bones live? Can
they start up?” “Yes! in a moment! in the twinkling of an eye, at the last
trump, the dead shall be raised.” He speaks: they are alive! See them
scattered: bone comes to his bone! See them naked: flesh comes upon
them! See them still lifeless: “Come from the four winds, O breath, and
breathe upon these slain!” When the wind of the Holy Spirit comes, they
live, and they stand upon their feet an exceeding great army.
I have thus attempted to speak of the power of the Spirit, and I trust I have
shown it to you. We must now have a moment or two for practical
inference. The Spirit is very powerful, Christian! What do you infer from
that fact? Why, that you never need distrust the power of God to carry you
to heaven. O how that sweet verse was laid to my soul yesterday

“His tried Almighty arm
Is raised for your defense;
Where is the power can reach you there
Or what can pluck you thence?”

The power of the Holy Spirit is your bulwark, and all his omnipotence
defends you. Can your enemies overcome omnipotence? then they can
conquer you. Can they wrestle with Diety, and hurl him to the ground?
then they might conquer you. For the power of the Spirit is our power; the
power of the Spirit is our might.

Once again, Christians, if this is the power of the Spirit, why should you
doubt anything? There is your son. There is that wife of yours for whom
you have supplicated so frequently: do not doubt the Spirit’s power.
“Though he tarry, wait for him.” There is thy husband, O holy woman! and
thou hast wrestled for his soul. And though he is ever so hardened and
desperate a wretch, and treats thee ill there is power in the Spirit. And, O
ye who have come from barren churches with scarcely a leaf upon the tree.
Do not doubt the power of the Spirit to raise you up. For it shall be a
“pasture for flocks, a den of wild asses,” open, but deserted, until the Spirit
is poured out from on high. And then the parched ground shall be made a
pool, and the thirsty land springs of water, and in the habitations of
dragons, where each lay shall be grass with reeds and rushes. And, O ye
members of Park Street! ye who remember what your God has done for
you especially never distrust the power of the Spirit. Ye have seen the
wilderness blossom like Carmel, ye have seen the desert blossom like the
rose; trust him for the future. Then go out and labor with this conviction,
that the power of the Holy Ghost is able to do anything. Go to your
Sunday-school; go to your tract distribution; go to your missionary
enterprise! go to your preaching in your rooms, with the conviction that
the power of the Spirit is our great help.

And now, lastly, to you sinners:-What is there to be said to you about this
power of the Spirit? Why, to me, there is some hope for some of you. I
cannot save you: I cannot get at you. I make you cry sometimes-you wipe
your eyes, and it is all over. But I know my Master can. That is my
consolation. Chief of sinners, there is hope for thee! This power can save
you as well as anybody else. It is able to break your heart, though it is an
iron one; to make your eyes run with tears though they have been like
rocks before. His power is able this morning, if he will, to change your
heart, to turn the current of all your ideas, to make you at once a child of
God, to justify you in Christ. There is power enough in the Holy Spirit. Ye
are not straightened in him, but in your own bowels. He is able to bring
sinners to Jesus: he is able to make you willing in the day of his power. Are
you willing this morning? Has he gone so far as to make you desire his
name, to make you wish for Jesus? Then, O sinner! whilst he draws you,
say, “Draw me, I am wretched without thee.” Follow him, follow him, and,
while he leads, tread you in his footsteps, and rejoice that he has begun a
good work in you, for there is an evidence that he will continue it even
unto the end. And, O desponding one! put thy trust in the power of the
Spirit. Rest on the blood of Jesus, and thy soul is safe, not only now, but
throughout eternity. God bless you, my hearers. Amen.

The following news article has just been published by Christian Today:-

Christian conference to address euthanasia

The Christian Medical Fellowship is to host a one day conference discussing end of life care and euthanasia.

The Life and Death Matters conference is set against the background of renewed attempts by Dignity in Dying and their supporters to legalise voluntary euthanasia as part of the Coroners and Justice Bill.

The conference will examine a wide range of issue including the question of when the right to die becomes a duty to die and whether euthanasia eliminates suffering or simply eliminate sufferers.

Speakers include Baroness Jane Campbell, former Disability Rights Commissioner,
Lord Alex Carlile QC, Baroness Mary Warnock, and Dr Philip Howard, gastroenterologist at St George’s Hospital.

They will address the issue of whether euthanasia enhances respect for vulnerable people or erodes respect for the disabled by stating that there are some lives that are “not worth living”.

The Life and Death Matters conference takes place at the London Metropolitan University on 2 July.

I went for a little trip down memory lane yesterday and travelled to Worcestershire, specifically to visit Royal Worcester Pottery.

I knew that Royal Worcester were in financial trouble some time ago…but wasn’t expecting to be greeted with a tatty old piece of A4 paper that simply said:-

‘Thank you for your valued custom for the last 258 years’

Royal Worcester was in ‘administrative lock-down’ and I felt quite sad watching everything being dismantled and carted away for the vultures.

I began my Internet career many years ago building an ecommerce website selling Royal Worcester tableware and I stuck with them as a supplier for many years and watched them decline!

I wanted to support ‘British manufacturing’ and so tried to source British manufacturers, which became more and more difficult as the years went by…and they fell one by one.

British manufacturing simply doesn’t know how to respond to the glut of Far Eastern cheap imports…and so I watched as many ancient British manufacturers died in industries like; wooden furniture, clock making, cutlery, kitchen knives etc and of course fine bone china and porcelain.

I remember Royal Worcester partnering with Jamie Oliver to become more ‘hip’ and then allegedly Jamie Oliver discovered that his porcelain was being manufactured in the Czech Republic and wanted to sue them!!

This is the truth nowadays, even our so called prestigious British manufacturers, even with their Royal Warrants, are having to scuttle off abroad to manufacture, whilst trying to maintain the impression that they are predominantly manufacturing in the UK. Some of them maintain tiny production units to foster that belief and give the ‘punters’ something to look around….! The punters don’t realise that they are in fact walking around a museum!

When I witnessed British Steel (Corus) being bought by an Indian company….that was the day I fully realised the extent to which we had seen a shift in wealth…away from the western world….

Here’s a toast to Royal Worcester, she will be missed and thank you for serving Britain for the last 258 years…Rest In Peace!

Tony Blair’s faith foundation fails to inspire Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor

Tony Blair made much of becoming a Roman Catholic six months after he left 10 Downing Street, but senior figures in the Church appear reluctant to sign up to his fan club. Mandrake learns that Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor, who recently retired as Archbishop of Westminster, has turned down an invitation to become a member of the advisory board of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation.

“He does not envisage joining the board at this stage,” confirms the Cardinal’s spokesman. The organisation, which was established by the former prime minister last year, had announced on its website that the Cardinal would be joining.

His decision comes after Blair used an interview with Attitude, a magazine for homosexuals, to criticise the approach of the Pope towards gay rights. He argued that religious leaders must start “rethinking” the issue, but the new Archbishop of Westminster, the Most Rev Vincent Nichols, said Catholic thinking was “rather different” from the kind promoted by Blair.

In a further indication of strains between Blair and the Vatican, he and his wife, Cherie, were not invited to the installation of the new Archbishop of Westminster last month.

“The number of individual invitations to the installation was necessarily restricted so that the vast majority could be made available to parish communities, religious orders and clergy,” says a spokesman for the diocese.

The Cardinal’s announcement comes after Mandrake reported that a leading figure in the Church had claimed that the charity threatened human rights and religious freedom. At a conference in the Vatican, Prof Michel Schooyans, an expert on bioethics and demography, said Blair wanted to remake the world’s major religions and use them to expand “new rights”.

Click below to see Prof Michel Schooyans insightful article:-

Tony Blair and Barack Obama Demons or Angels

Last month, Mandrake disclosed that William Chapman, the foundation’s director of policy, had stepped down. Chapman denied that he did so because of a dispute over Blair’s “lecturing” of the Pope on homosexuality. He said he could not turn down a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to work for the Lord Mayor of London.

A spokesman for the foundation says: “While they support the broad aims of the foundation, we do not expect the advisory council members to agree with Tony Blair on every aspect of policy, past or present. Their role is to provide advice and guidance.”

Previous post on Tony Blair’s faith foundation

An important email alert from our friends at Christian Concern for our Nation

Petition to Queen and Prime Minister, Prayer Meeting Monday 22^nd June

We’re writing to ask if you will please stand with us at this crucial time to unite, pray and act, and to encourage all those in your churches to do the same, against the grave and immediate danger represented by the pernicious Coroners and Justice Bill being discussed even as we write.

If we do not, then who will? Unless we act now, we will not have a chance to act later.

Please do two things today, if you possibly can.

Firstly, please sign our urgent Life & Liberty petition which we will deliver to the Queen, the Prime Minister and the Leader of the House of Lords. You can sign it online or download a printable form by visiting www.ccfon.org/petition.php.

The petition says:

Preserving the sanctity of life and freedom of speech are vitally important to the preservation of liberty and good governance under the rule of law in the United Kingdom. These are under immediate threat by measures in the Coroners and Justice Bill. We the undersigned, therefore, petition HM the Queen, the Prime Minister and the Leader of the House of Lords to:
1) Protect the value of human life in the UK by opposing proposed amendments authorizing state-sanctioned assisted suicide; and 2) Protect freedom of speech by abandoning its opposition to the free speech protection clause currently within the sexual orientation hatred offence which preserves the right to, discuss, criticise and urge to refrain from certain forms of sexual conduct or practices.

Secondly, please join us at a Prayer Meeting – Monday 22^nd June 2009, 6.30 -9pm at Emmanuel Centre, 9 -23 Marsham Street, Westminster, London SW1P 3DW, and bring your friends and fellow churchgoers if you can. We must unite in strength to petition the Lord to stop this terrible legislation going through and prayer is fundamental. It is very likely that this Bill will be further debated and may go to a vote the following day (23^rd June).

We attach a flyer for you to hand out to fellow Christians, your Churches and Christian groups everywhere.

Flyer

Please let us know if you can come by e-mailing admin@ccfon.org.

With our very best regards, as always, and thanks for your support,

Andrea Minichiello Williams and Ade Omooba

Christian Concern for our Nation

http://www.ccfon.org

020 7467 5427

Another interesting post today from the Christian Institute