SATURDAY, JULY 29
Romans 8:12-17
Romans 8:16

"The Spirit itself beareth witness…
that we are the children of God."

HAVE THE WITNESS AND GUIDANCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

The ninth sign of born-again believers is they have the witness and guidance of the Holy Spirit. "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God,they are the sons of God… ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God" (Rom 8:14-16). Many charismatic "Christians" and leaders think that they are filled with the Holy Spirit with their speaking in tongues, prophesying, having dreams and visions, healing, casting out demons, performing miracles, etc, whereas their life and worship are worldly and ungodly! They assume that they are revived to worship God with all their zeal – clapping or waving their hands, jumping and dancing, singing unbiblical lyrics according to the rhythm and the beats of worldly music! However, true revivals in Church history did not have such things! True revivals always have reverence in biblical worship with a broken heart and contrite spirit, with humble confession of sins in deep repentance, with separation from sins, ungodliness and worldliness, with more thirst for God and His Word, with more consecration and sanctification, with more zeal to share the pure Gospel to others, and so forth. What about you?

The Holy Spirit is God the Creator and the Divine Author of the Holy Scripture. The Holy Spirit controls and leads God’s children to live, worship and serve God according to God’s Word, and never contrary to God’s Word! When the Lord Jesus comes again, He will not care about what church or what denomination we belong to, but whether we have the seal of the Holy Spirit (Eph 4:30), and "if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his" (Rom 8:9). It is a great blessing to enjoy the Holy Spirit’s guidance through God’s Word with His sovereignty and providence. It is a great blessing when the Holy Spirit "beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God" and "our spirit" can cry to God, "Abba, Father" meaningfully although others may condemn us as heretics!

THOUGHT: Without the seal of the Holy Spirit, I am not the Lord’s.
PRAYER: My God, how I thank Thee for being my holy Father!