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Burdened By the Holy Spirit, by Jim Cymbala
Paul told Timothy, who was then a pastor in Ephesus: “Do the work of an evangelist” (2 Timothy 4:5). We have to remember that the main reason the church is on the earth—we could be in Heaven if the Lord wanted us—is to bear witness to Christ and the cross and the Gospel. We must come to grips with the fact that people are being born and are dying, and they don’t know about Jesus. That is the local church’s responsibility.
Not only did Paul teach that we’re to proclaim the Gospel, of which he wasn’t ashamed, he said that in order to do it effectively, we must preach it in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Just as Jesus wept over Jerusalem, we need to receive a burden from God that transcends our personality and our intellect. You can’t teach weeping over a city. Only the Holy Spirit can impart compassion.
When we present the Gospel, we must rely upon the Holy Spirit as we invite people to commit their lives to the Savior. That’s what happened with Peter. He was a fisherman who messed up and failed God. But the Lord chose him to be the preacher on the Day of Pentecost, and the Bible says when Peter got done, the people were pricked in their hearts. Why? Because the Holy Spirit led, both in presentation and in invitation.
