The Work of the Spirit

Introduction and Call to Self-Examination

0:04 The following message was delivered on Sunday morning, July 3, 1994, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. Now before we turn to the portion of God's Word that I shall read in your hearing, and from which the text upon which our attention will be focused is taken, I know that whenever possible you like to make preparations for the Lord's Supper, in terms of your meditations in the afternoon, and may I encourage you, those of you who are so disposed, to take Philippians chapter 3 and the first 11 verses. Again, the text that will be opened up as our communion meditation is found in that section, and I would just set that passage before you as a possible focus of your preparation for coming to the Lord's table. Philippians chapter 3. Philippians chapter 3, verses 1 through 11. And now turn with me, please, to Romans chapter 8.

1:12 Romans chapter 8, and I shall read in your hearing verses 1 through 9. Romans chapter 8, verses 1 through 9.

1:31 There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, for the law of the Son, the spirit of life in Christ Jesus, made me free from the law of sin and of death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh, that the ordinance of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk, not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh mind the things of the flesh, but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For the mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace. Because the mind of the flesh is enmity against God, for it is not sin, nor is it subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be.

2:47 And they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. If so, be that the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if any man has not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

3:13 Now let's look at Romans chapter 8, verses 1 through 9. Let us again pray and plead with God that the Spirit who gave us this very word may be present to apply it, to open it with power to each of our hearts. Let us pray. Our Father, as creatures of time who are very quickly making our way to our own graves, we pray that your Spirit would so come this morning, that we would hear your word as though we knew we were to stand in your presence in the next hour.

3:57 May we not trifle with holy things, but may we be given grace by the Spirit to attend to your word with all of the attention of mind and heart, and with the present and powerful assistance of the Holy Spirit, in the mind and heart and mouth of the one who preaches, and in the mind and heart and ears of those who listen. Come, we pray, and visit us through your word and by the Spirit we plead for the good of our souls and for the glory of your name. Hear us as we make our plea through the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. I believe it is accurate to say that sitting in this auditorium this morning, many, if not the majority of you, profess to be the sons and daughters of the living God by faith in Jesus Christ. Many of you would say that your only hope of life and salvation is resting upon Christ and Christ alone

5:21 as He is revealed in the Gospel. Many of you have openly identified yourself with Christ and the Gospel in the waters of baptism. Many of you also are formally identified with the visible community of Christ's disciples in this particular congregation. And to all of you who fit this description of professed disciples of the Lord Jesus, I ask once again the question that I've been asking for three Lord's Days.

6:01 Are you for real? In the contemporary idiom, are you real? What you profess, a reflection of what you really are. What you really are, as it will be revealed, in the day of judgment.

The Necessity and Standard of Self-Examination

6:29 And why have we come to the third Lord's Day to concentrate upon that question, a question that brings us into the realm of self-examination? Well, I sought to answer that question on the first Lord's Day of taking up the subject by setting before you four biblical reasons for the consideration of this issue. Because deception, according to the Scriptures, is a frightening possibility and a tragic reality. Secondly, because the agents of deception are constantly present and incessantly active.

7:13 Thirdly, because our present circumstances make us peculiarly vulnerable to deception. And fourthly, because self-examination on this issue is a clearly revealed duty. Now, in seeking to answer the question, it is of the utmost importance that we use in the theatre of our own consciences the same standard that God will use with us in the day of judgment. Jesus said in John 12, 48, The word that I have spoken unto you shall judge you in the last day.

7:57 The standard by which He will judge us is His word. Therefore the standard by which we judge ourselves must be that same objective word of Christ. It must not be our own subjective feelings, a standard concocted out of the stuff of our own imaginations, but in seeking to answer the question am I for real to the law, to the testimony. If our consciences speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. Isaiah 8 and verse 20 Therefore having established the duty of self-examination, the standard of that self-examination being the word of God, last Lord's day we examined closely John 10, 26 through 28 in which the Lord Jesus describes those whom He regards as His own sheep. And we saw from that passage that the distinguishing trait of the true sheep of Christ is that they believe in the Lord Jesus.

9:24 Jesus said to the Jews of His day, You do not believe because you are not of My sheep. The mark of His sheep is that they believe in Him. They begin and continue to believe the Gospel and manifest a lifestyle molded by the Gospel, molded by its promises, its provisions, its power and its obligations. And then we saw from that passage not only the distinguishing trait of the true sheep of Christ but the identifying actions of the true sheep of Christ.

10:09 And Christ said they are two. My sheep hear My voice and they are following Me. And we concluded from that passage and then the three supporting texts in the evening that if I am for real the proof will be that my life will evidence a fundamental pattern of eager reception of all the words of Christ, the commands and the promises, the sweet words, the words that cut and the words that wound. If I am a true sheep of Christ I will manifest that by hearing His voice. All of His voice, any of His voice, that will be the identifying action of my soul. But I will not only hear His voice, I will follow Him. I will render obedience out of attachment to His person.

11:19 I will not follow Him perfectly. I will not follow Him with a totally even measure of zeal in my obedience. But the pattern of my life will be one that can be described as that of a true sheep of Christ. I am following Him.

The Indwelling of the Spirit as a Test of Reality

11:41 Now this morning we take up another biblical test by which to determine the answer to the question am I for real? And that test is found in verse 9 of Romans chapter 8. If you are for real, if I am for real, it will be evidenced by this fact. If we are for real, we are indwelt by the Spirit of God and our lives will manifest that reality.

12:17 Look at the text. But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if any man has not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. On September 21st in 1873, Charles Haddon Spurgeon preached on the last part of this text, if any man has not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

12:55 When he stood to preach, he introduced his exposition with these words. This is one of the most solemn texts in the whole Bible. It is so sweeping, it deals with us all. If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

13:18 And it deals with the most important point about us. For to belong to Christ is the most essential thing for time and eternity. But we are not Christ's unless we have His Spirit. The text does not treat of external rites and ceremonies.

13:39 It does not discuss a vexed question in doctrine. It does not speak of rare attainments and unusual virtues. But it lays its axe at the root of the tree and points its sword at a vital part. The text probes to the quick.

13:59 It pierces to the dividing asunder of the joints and marrow, dealing with the thoughts and the intents of the heart. It speaks to the soul. And though it be the voice of the Gospel, yet its sound is as terrible as the thunderclaps of Sinai. If any man has not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

14:29 Since the subject leads us to think upon the Spirit of Christ, let us entreat Him to help us at this hour so that our thoughts shall be honest, hearts searching, and therefore profitable to us. The preacher has prayed that he may be helped to discourse upon the text. Let each hearer pray that he shall rightly speak to his own heart and conscience according to the teaching of this text. Do we not tremble at the bare idea of its being said of us that we are none of his?

The Spirit's Indwelling: A Blessed Spiritual Reality

15:14 With such desires and fears I trust we shall come with greater readiness under the influence of this heart-searching text before us. And with those sentiments in my own heart and I trust in yours, I want you to consider the teaching of this text as it relates to the question, Am I for real? Do I have more than a profession of faith in Christ and a respectable lifestyle that gains me enough credibility to be reckoned by others as a believer? The issue is not what others think me to be, but what does God know me to be. Am I for real? And we'll consider the text under three very obvious divisions. The first is this, that the indwelling of the Spirit of God in a justified sinner is a blessed spiritual reality.

16:23 The indwelling of the Spirit of God in a justified sinner is a blessed spiritual reality. Look at the text. You are not in the flesh but in the Spirit if so be you. That the Spirit of God is dwelling in you.

16:46 When Paul used the words the Spirit of God is dwelling in you, he clearly reflects his unqualified conviction that the Spirit of God was actually dwelling in the hearts, in the bodily temples of specific sinners redeemed by grace gathered there in the church at Rome. And when he says that the Spirit of God dwells in you, of whom is he saying this? Well, according to chapter 8 and verse 1, he is saying this of every justified sinner. There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. Every sinner justified by faith in Christ bound to Christ in the faith union established by God of such justified sinners Paul says that they are indwelt by the Spirit of God. And when he uses

18:11 the term Spirit of God to what or to whom is he referring? Well, he is not referring to some influence of God. We talk about I don't like his spirit. That is, I don't like his general demeanor.

18:27 I don't like the attitude that he is exuding. No, here the term Spirit of God is referring to the third to the third person of the blessed triune Godhead. The person of the Holy Spirit. The one spoken of in verse 14 of this chapter who leads the sons of God.

18:51 The one spoken of in verse 15 who enables the people of God to address God reconciled to them in Christ as their Father. The one who according to verse 16 bears a co-witness with the spirit of the believer to his sonship. The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirits. So he is referring not to some nebulous undefined influence from God but he is referring to none other than the person of the Holy Spirit.

19:33 And he establishes for us in these words that the notion that God the Holy Spirit actually dwells in a justified sinner is not a mystical fantasy. It is not a fanatical delusion. It is the baseline experience of every believing justified sinner. It is a fundamental spiritual reality.

20:04 In the life of everyone who is in Christ therefore in a justified state. So that is the first principle clearly established by the text. The indwelling of the Spirit of God in a justified sinner is a blessed spiritual reality. But a second truth is set before us in the text.

No Saving Relationship Without the Spirit's Indwelling

20:29 Without the indwelling of the Spirit of God there is no saving relationship to Jesus Christ. Without the indwelling of the Spirit of God there is no saving relationship to Jesus Christ. The latter part of the text. If any man has not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his.

21:00 Now the Spirit of Christ is not a different Spirit from the Spirit of God as some have irresponsibly tried to teach. In their efforts to try to justify some doctrine of a second work of the Holy Spirit. In conversion we receive the Spirit of Christ but then after carrying and other conditions are met then we get the baptism of the Spirit and we have the Spirit of God is sheer exegetical and theological nonsense. He is the Spirit of Christ because he is sent from the ascended Christ Acts 2.33 explaining the phenomena of Pentecost Peter says he that is Christ being exalted by the right hand of God and having received the promise of the Spirit has sent forth this which you now see and hear. Since Christ in his ascended glory and power imparts the Spirit the Spirit can be designated as the Spirit of Christ. Furthermore because the Spirit sustains the same relationship to Christ as he does to the Father he is called the Spirit of the Father the Spirit of God and likewise

22:27 the Spirit of Christ. In those rich chapters in the upper room discourse. Our Lord speaks words that are nonsense unless this is true. He says when I leave you I'll send another comforter even the Spirit of Truth.

22:46 He proceeds from the Father I will send him to you and then he says and he will come to you and then he goes on to say I will come to you and my Father will come to you. The Spirit of the Father is present for while we believe the Scripture teaches the distinct persons within the mystery of the being of the one God. He is truly the three in one and the one in three. There is an indivisibility within the Godhead where the Father is the Son and the Spirit are also present in Christ and in this latter part of the text we are told that without the indwelling of the Spirit of God there is no saving relationship to Jesus Christ. Look at the words of the text how universal they are in scope and how absolute they are in their assertion. If any religious patterns of behavior of any man

24:15 does not have the Spirit of Christ whatever else he may have of notions about Christ whatever he may have of external conformity to the norms established by Christ it does not matter if any man has not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his. He may have religious nature he may have exalted and exhilarating feelings he may engage in many activities and sustain many relationships that in some way or another have something to do with Christ his truth his gospel his word his church and his people but if he has not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his. So we have seen two things clearly established in the text the indwelling of the Spirit of God in a justified sinner is a blessed spiritual reality you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit if so be that the Spirit of God is dwelling in you his indwelling is a blessed spiritual reality but if any man have not

25:43 the Spirit of Christ he is none of his without the indwelling of the Spirit of God there is no saving relationship to Jesus Christ well if those things are true then the question that ought to be burning in your heart and mind is this how can I know for certain that I have the Spirit of Christ if I do not have him all my life in Christ I am in hell because my soul has no soul is in the death of Jesus who has no soul I am in the death of Jesus on the earth in the right place to be and he who is in Not him! It were better that you had never been born.

The Infallible Evidence: Radical Relocation of Life

26:52 So the question that ought to press in upon your conscience and mind is this. If the indwelling of the Spirit of God in a justified sinner is a blessed spiritual reality, and if without the Spirit of God indwelling me I have no saving relationship to Christ, then the great question should be, how can I know whether or not the Spirit does indeed indwell me? ...of a certainty that I possess the indwelling of the Spirit of God.

27:33 That brings us to the third division of our text. The infallible evidence of the Spirit's indwelling is the radical relocation of our fundamental pattern and sphere of life. Now I wish I could have reduced what the text says to a simpler head, but I simply was unable to. Look at the beginning of the text, verse 9.

28:00 You are not in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God is dwelling in you. What is the Apostle saying? He is saying the infallible evidence of the Spirit's indwelling is the radical...

28:22 ...radical relocation.

28:25 These are words of location. Look at them. In the flesh, in the Spirit, they speak of two distinct realms. We find in the context the phrase, walking after the Spirit, verse 4.

28:41 Walking after the flesh, verse 5. They that are after the flesh. That's not so much sphere as it is pattern. And so I've sought to combine the two notions in the one statement.

28:59 The infallible evidence of the Spirit's indwelling is the radical relocation of our fundamental pattern and sphere of life.

Defining 'In the Flesh' vs. 'In the Spirit'

29:11 You are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now what is Paul saying? Here I urge you. Do not to be lazy in your ears.

29:27 For those of you accustomed about this time each Lord's Day to nod off, God have mercy on you if you nod off to sleep on issues that may be the difference between heaven and hell for you. If you need to bite your lip or slap your face, it's a little enough price to pay to save your soul.

29:50 This terminology, in the flesh, in the Spirit, what does it mean? What's it talking about? Well, if you'll notice, it's introduced in verse 4. As he speaks of the ground of the sinner's redemption in the work of the Lord Jesus, he then says that the end for which sin was condemned in the flesh is this, in order that the ordinance or the requirement or the righteous standard of the law might be fulfilled in us.

30:21 And here's where we first meet the terminology, who walk, not, after the flesh, but after the Spirit. And having introduced that terminology from verse 5 through verse 9, the Apostle continually contrasts these two patterns and spheres. Notice the language. For they that are after the flesh, mind the things of the flesh.

30:50 But, they that are after the Spirit, the verb mind, think upon, dwell upon, understood. They that are after the Spirit, mind the things of the Spirit. Now we're back to the flesh. For the mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace.

31:11 Now we're back to the flesh. But the mind of the flesh is enmity against God. It is not subject to the law of God. Neither indeed can it be.

31:19 They that are in the flesh cannot please God, but, you are not, in the flesh, but, in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God is dwelling in you. Now then, what does this phrase, after the flesh, or in the flesh, mean? Well the word flesh means many things in Scripture. In this context, flesh refers to human nature as corrupted, directed, and controlled, by sin.

31:57 That's what flesh is in this context. Human nature as corrupted, directed, and controlled, by sin. And to be in the flesh is to be in the realm, in the sphere, where the controlling principle of life is corrupt, fallen human nature. With its appetites, and its passions, its values, its standards, its perceptions of reality, its perceptions of what is important, and what is unimportant.

32:41 The realm of the flesh is a complex, manifold, intricate web, of all that is foul, and unclean, and displeasing to God. Just take a passage like this, Galatians 5, 19-21. The works of the flesh are manifest. Which are these?

33:03 And he starts with the grosser sins of sexual impurity. And he does not call them the effusions of a society liberated from all of the bondage of puritanic morality. These things are the manifestation of human nature. Corrupted, directed, and controlled.

33:26 And controlled by sin. What are they? Fornication. Illicit sexual involvement among the unmarried.

33:38 All forms of illicit sexual intercourse, including lesbianism, homosexuality, pornographic involvement, fornication from God. Sexual purity is a manifestation of the flesh. Human nature. Corrupted, directed, and controlled by sin.

34:07 The works of the flesh are manifest. Which are these? Fornication. Uncleanness.

34:13 Lasciviousness. Idolatry. Moving into what we call religious sins. Sorcery.

34:21 Dabbling in the occult. Enmity. Sins of interpersonal relationships. Strife.

34:27 Jealousies. Sins of the passions. Wrath. Factions.

34:32 Divisions. Parties. That is, heresies. Splitting off from the truth and gathering a following to oneself.

34:43 Envyings. Drunkenness. Revelings. And such like of which I forewarn you as I did forewarn you that those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

34:59 And that's just one passage. That's the flesh. To be in the flesh is to be in the realm where the works of the flesh are the effusions of that sinful nature as corrupted, directed, and controlled by sin. To be after the flesh is to follow a pattern of life that is directed by human nature as fallen, corrupted, and controlled by sin.

35:33 And in the context, notice what the characteristics of such a pattern are. Romans 8 and verse 7. For the mind of the flesh is enmity against God. It is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be.

35:56 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. Please God. The mind of the flesh is enmity to God. It is insubordinate with respect to the law of God.

36:10 It is unable to change itself apart from the power of God. And it renders those that are in that realm incapable of pleasing God. Now that's not a pleasant description. But that's the description of reality.

The Spirit's Work: Warfare Against the Flesh and Love for God

36:26 That's to be after the flesh. To be in the flesh. But now what does it mean to be after the spirit and in the spirit? It means the realm in which human nature has been renewed and is directed and controlled by the Holy Spirit.

36:47 It is human nature no longer controlled, corrupted, and directed by sin. But it is human nature renewed, directed, and controlled by the Holy Spirit. And in the setting what does that mean? Among other things it will mean that we are waging an all-out war unto death with everything that is characterized the sphere of the flesh.

37:17 Verse 13 If you live after the flesh you must die. But if by the spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body you shall live. You see to be in the spirit to be after the spirit is to be in that realm where with a nature renewed directed and controlled by the spirit there is this warfare unto death with everything that characterized us when we were in the flesh and after the flesh. And you'll notice that in this passage there are only two realms two patterns no third no middle ground these are not described this is not descriptive of two levels of Christians no one is the realm of death the mind of the flesh verse 6 is death if we would be in the way of life we must be those who are minding the things of the spirit the disposition of those in the flesh is one that is enmity towards God himself insubordination to the law of God and they cannot please God. Now there's only one alternative to that condition and that's to be in the spirit

38:44 to be after the spirit that is to manifest a nature renewed and controlled by the Holy Spirit. We see then that the real evidence of the spirit's indwelling and this is what I've tried to establish in this brief consideration of the surrounding context and this is crucial the real evidence of the spirit's indwelling is not primarily notional what I packed in my head or emotional what I feel in my feelings but the real evidence is moral my relationship to God's law and theological my relationship to God himself as revealed in Christ. That's the real test. You see as Paul says in verse 9 you are not in the flesh but in the spirit if the spirit of God dwells in you he says the real evidence that the spirit of God dwells in me is what? I have experienced a radical relocation of my fundamental pattern and sphere of life from the realm of the flesh into the realm of the spirit.

40:04 You see that in the text? You are not in the flesh but in the spirit not if you've had the baptism of the spirit as some second work of grace not if you've spoken in tongues not if you've learned the secret of the higher life the deeper life No! He says if you are indwelt by the spirit as fundamental essential Christian experience the spirit who's come to indwell you has not been dormant he has not been inactive you have been transferred you have experienced a relocation of your fundamental pattern and sphere of life from the realm of flesh into the realm of spirit. You are no longer at enmity with God but you love him no longer insubordinate to his law but you love his law no longer are you among those who in the flesh cannot please God but in union with Christ your obedience and love though imperfect in themselves they flow out of evangelical motives and through the mediation of Christ they are well pleasing unto God you who are in the spirit do please God you who are in the spirit love the law of God you who are in the spirit love God love himself you who are in the flesh

41:29 you are in the state of enmity against God insubordination to the law of God and nothing you do in that state is well pleasing unto God. Now if that's the teaching of the text and I believe it is and I trust it carries your judgment then we come around full circle to this very sobering conclusion if I if I have not been radically transported from the realm of the flesh into the realm of the spirit I do not possess the spirit of God and if I do not possess the spirit of God I am none of Christ's that's the inescapable logic of the apostles text not mine you are not he doesn't say you ought not to be get your act together you Christians you're Christians but you're still living in the realm of the flesh that ought not to be get your act together no he's making an assertion not giving an exhortation the assertion is you are not in the flesh you are in the spirit and what's the one condition of that if the spirit of God is dwelling in you that's it

42:58 so if the spirit dwells in you you've been transported from the realm of flesh to the realm of spirit and if you've not been transported from that realm to this realm it's because the spirit doesn't dwell in you and if the spirit doesn't dwell in you Paul says you're none of his do you feel the pressure of that inescapable logic if so now we come back to where we started am I for real I say I am trusting in Christ alone for life and salvation that sitting here this morning I'm not trusting in what I do or ever hope to do to gain my acceptance with God I profess to believe that the Christ of scriptural revelation in the uniqueness of his person and the perfection of his work is the only ground of my hope for pardon and acceptance with God well and good my professed believing friend but I ask you this question what is the realm in which you've lived this past year and lastly is it in the flesh and after the flesh or is it in the spirit and after the spirit and you'll notice according to our text it's primarily in the realm of what goes on up here look at how often the terminology is used

44:26 for they that are after the flesh verse 5 mind and that Greek word difficult to translate into English focuses upon the function of this faculty of thought they that are after the flesh manifested primarily by shaping their lives according to thought patterns that have their cap roots in human nature under the dominion and power and pollution of sin whereas they that are after the spirit they are minding the things of the spirit that is their minds which shape their perspectives and their goals and their actions and reactions in life have their cap roots in the dynamics of the work of the Holy Spirit who dwells in them for the mind see the emphasis again of the flesh is death but the mind of the spirit is life and peace because the mind of the flesh is enmity against God God's put the emphasis there I didn't it bypasses you see just mere notions and bypasses what I think I may feel I get goosebumps when I hear the cross preached I get to flutters

45:56 when I hear passages about heaven read such as no that's not the issue the issue is this is your life characterized by living after the flesh and in the flesh or after the spirit and in the spirit that's the issue that's the issue the minding of the flesh is death it is an evidence of present spiritual death and it will lead to eternal death in that place that is called the second death even the lake of fire are you for real here's the answer if you're for real you have the Holy Spirit and if you have the Holy Spirit you are not in the flesh but in the spirit and just as surely as no man in the flesh lives out to the full all of the potential of his corrupt fallen human nature there are degrees to which men live out and abandon themselves to what they are in the realm of the flesh and living after the flesh yes there are degrees seen among believers and within the life history of the individual believer degrees to which he is controlled by and filled with the Holy Spirit there is a doctrine of grieving the spirit of quenching the spirit

47:24 I'm very much aware of that this apostle wrote the very words that I've quoted grieve not the spirit quench not the spirit but those degrees in the outworking of the measure to which we are controlled and led and governed by the spirit that is human nature renewed and controlled by the spirit yes there are degrees there are variations but there is no middle category you are either in the flesh and after the flesh or in the spirit and after the spirit and I want to press that issue to the point where some of you will begin I hope for the first time to get honest with yourself you don't like the fact that there is no third category because you are not prepared to say my life is a life lived in the flesh and after the flesh neither if you are honest are you prepared to say according to the standard of God's word my life is a life lived in the spirit and after the spirit that is a life that evidences that my mind is fundamentally and primarily preoccupied with the things that are implanted by the holy spirit love to Christ love for holiness desire for the advancement of the gospel

48:51 a desire for the honor and glory of God in the earth these things implanted by the holy spirit delight in fellowship with Christ the contemplation of Christ the honor of Christ speaking of Christ for the great work of the spirit is to testify of Christ to reveal the things of Christ to be in the spirit to be after the spirit is to be preoccupied with Christ it's to desire to please Christ to honor Christ to say at least faintly with the apostle for me to live is Christ you can't say that you've left some of the grosser forms of your lifestyle when it was evident to you and everyone that you were in the flesh and after the flesh oh yes you've left some of those and you've picked up some of the thoughts and some of the actions of those who are in the spirit and after the spirit but be honest that's really not the dominant pattern of your life and it's not the indisputable sphere in which you live now where are you there's no middle ground according to this passage if the spirit of God dwells in you you have been radically transported

50:18 radically relocated from the realm of the flesh to the realm of the spirit not perfectly but radically relocated not simply nudged out of a few of the grosser forms of those who live after the flesh you see the heartbreak for me standing before you is I fear perhaps more than I want to acknowledge you want just so much of the semblance of being in the spirit and after the spirit to salve your conscience that you're a Christian and convince others that you ought to be a member in good standing in this church and when you've got just that much and no more to tip the scales of your own judgment about yourself and the judgment of professing brothers and sisters you don't want one gram more of that which would be characterized by after the spirit you read your Bible just enough to salve your conscience that when you're told a real Christian reads his Bible you can sit there and say that's me and stay away from the grosser forms of sin just enough that when you read a list like Galatians 5 you can

51:46 say well that's not the pattern of my life but of a hunger to be as holy as a redeemed sinner can be this side of heaven you know nothing of a hunger to have of your heart of the dung of covetousness and lust known only to you and to God and of envy and of the sins of the heart of shock and grief and horror and pain about your thought life because you're not in the realm of the spirit those that are in the realm of the spirit because the Holy Spirit has marked them for perfect conformity to Christ in redemptive grace he's put within them a yearning to be now what they shall be then though they know they cannot be in this life with all of their heart they wish they could be and they pursue what they shall be with all of the vigor of their soul that's why he says in verse 13 if you by the spirit are putting to death the caves of the body you shall live that's the mark of a man indwelt

53:14 by the spirit he's in the realm of the spirit that's the sin killing realm not just the sins that others can see and others could pass judgment and question my profession but the sins that God sees and that my own conscience sees when you're as jealous to deal with that thought in the secrecy of the deepest chambers of your mind where only you and God can go as you would be to deal with the temptation to rob a bank then you can have some assurance the spirit of God dwells in you but if you've got a selective scale of well this sin is not so bad and this one is secret and this is only in the my friend if you're not waging war against sin because it grieves God and dishonors God and opened up the wounds of the Son of God and I ask you what Holy Spirit dwells in you what Holy Spirit dwells in you it can't be the spirit who came to apply the work of Christ because Christ's work intended to do what to make you a holy bride without spot and without wrinkle without the spirit of God dwelling in every true Christian gives him an insatiable longing and

54:42 yearning to be what one day by the grace of God he shall become do you know anything of that get honest get honest in God's name are you content to ask of profession distinctions well I can excuse this sin it's my background enough if you've been brought into one day will perfect you into the very moral image of Christ knows no barriers from background and training and upbringing and all the rest he doesn't recognize that he's dwelling in you brings you to the place where you stop all this copping out you say I ought to be roasting in hell God in grace sent his son to condemn sin in the flesh that the righteous ordinance of the law might be fulfilled in me as I no longer walk in the flesh but after the spirit the spirit of God himself indwells me what is my background before the might and power of the indwelling of God himself what is my lack of training before the mighty power

56:09 of God you feel something of the pressure of the text if the spirit of God dwells in you you're no longer there you're here if you're not here the spirit of God doesn't dwell in you and if he doesn't dwell in you you're none of Christ now friends I tell you my own remaining corruption doesn't like such sharp lines I'd like the sand blurred a little bit but the apostle by the Holy Ghost doesn't blur it there's the lie you're in that sphere and walking after that pattern or you're in this sphere walking after this pattern which is you which is you if the spirit of God dwells in you the question is answered in the theater of your conscience oh God I want to be more full of the spirit I want to walk more and more after the spirit and in the spirit but oh God I would be denying the work you wrought if I said anything of other than that I am indeed in the spirit and living after imperfectly not all that I want but oh God I would be denying your own work in me if I said anything else can you say that in the presence of the God

The True Test and How to Receive the Spirit

57:39 who in the last day will judge you by his word or must you if you're honest say wait a minute I've got a head full of notions now that I didn't have ten fifteen twenty years ago I know a lot about Christ and the work of Christ and justification and sanctification and adoption and regeneration I've learned much about the ways of God God's standard for husband wife relationship parent child relationships I've learned much about the church it's Christ institution he governs it he rules it who the officers ought to be what it's mission is what it's discipline ought to be well and good but you can still be in the flesh and have a head pack full of all those notions the test is not notional when you say but I get warm feelings when we come to the Lord's table no no my friends warm feelings ain't enough our passage says who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh they that are after the spirit mind the things of the spirit and if the spirit of God dwells in you that is no longer your pattern you have more than notions and more than feelings though notions there must be and feelings there will be but the notions the

59:08 feeling are not the great test by which you need to examine yourself with the question am I for real the test is moral and theological the test is what do I choose when crunch time comes and that which characterized me when I was done dominated by corrupt human nature and its influence when crunch time comes what do I choose to give into my sin in a more refined form and then say well I can always run to Christ and get forgiveness then to justify it because of my background or society or some other thing but when crunch time comes do I say oh God by the grace and power of the spirit help me to put this thing to death if you by the spirit are mortifying the deeds of the body you shall if you live after the flesh you'll die with all your notions with all your feelings if you're in the realm of the flesh refined yes some of the gross or manifestations restrained it doesn't matter if you're in the realm of the flesh you're going to die I don't know how to state it any plainer and yet some of you will go out of this place and spend your Lord's day in its same

60:37 fleshly way you've spent all the previous Lord's days in which by three o'clock in the afternoon all the impressions of the morning have been vaporized and you'll go back to patterns of life and thought and action throughout the week in terms of how you spend your time your words your thoughts no one would know except they saw you sit here on Sunday that you claimed to be indwelt by the living God himself what is there about you what is there about me and I've asked that question in preparation of this message what is there about me that defies any rational explanation but that God himself has come to take up his dwelling in this hell deserving sinner what is there about me that defies all rational explanation but that the spirit of God himself dwells in me enabling me to think patterns of thought and to choose patterns of life that are diametrically opposed to everything that I was by nature that's the question you can't answer it with enough evidence that you're ready to carry with you to the day of judgment you better have some dealings with God deep dealings

62:05 serious dealings gut wrenching dealings because you will stand before God and my Bible says that in that day we're not going to be judged according to our notions according to our profession or according to our feelings but everywhere the scripture says we'll be judged by what our deeds our thoughts and our words that's it they shall give account every man according to his deeds by thy words thou shall be justified by thy words thou shall be condemned in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men's hearts according to my gospel deeds words thoughts notions feelings won't count my friend they that are after the flesh mind the things of the flesh they that are after the spirit the things of the spirit you may say pastor that's the truth of God and certainly it seems plain in the Bible open on my lap as you've opened up the text what do I do if I don't have the spirit how can I receive the spirit well I close by turning you to the Galatians chapter 3 where God answers that question very clearly

63:32 it's not mystical it's not fanatical but in Galatians we are told how the spirit is received oh foolish Galatians before who did bewitch you before whose eyes Jesus Christ was openly set forth crucified this only would I learn from you receive did you receive the spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith he assumes that all of the Galatians have received the spirit if they are true believers and when did they receive the spirit when they believed when they believed what well turn over further in chapter 3 and let the text answer verse 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law having become a curse for us for it is written cursed is everyone that hangs on a tree that upon the Gentiles might come the blessing of Abraham in Christ Jesus that we might receive the promise of the spirit through faith my friend the spirit is received not by some direct dealing with the Holy Spirit in an experience subsequent to conversion is received when as a guilty hell deserving

65:00 fleshy sinner you stand in all the putrefying stench of your foul fleshiness and say oh God have mercy upon me and for Jesus Christ's sake take this sinner as he is and on the grounds of what Christ has done in his vicarious curse bearing upon which I throw the weight of my foul fleshy hell deserving soul have mercy upon me for Christ's sake I do embrace the offers of your mercy in a crucified and risen Christ and when the sinner embraces Christ by faith he receives in Christ the gift of the Holy Spirit and this is taught again so clearly in chapter 4 verse 6 because you are sons God has sent forth the spirit of his son into our hearts crying Abba Father so you are no longer a bondservant but a son and he has received him and to them gave he the right to become the children of God even to them that believe on his name and all who are given the status of sonship are given the spirit of sonship and we get the status of sonship when we embrace the son who is set before us in the gospel so you see though we have spoken of the spirit

66:29 for he is set before us in his transforming work in this passage it brings us back to the basic truth of the gospel and I urge you if you've had to conclude I'm not the real thing I don't even profess anything my friend I hope the words none of his will press you until you say I dare not go on in a state where Christ does not own me for if he does not own me now he'll not own me in death he'll not own me in judgment he'll not own me in eternity may God grant that we will be honest before the text of scripture and ask that question as in the light of the final day am I for real if I am then I have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and having the indwelling of the Holy Spirit I have known what it is to be transformed translated transported from the realm of flesh into the realm of the spirit let us pray our father we thank you for your holy word and we pray that the spirit himself would take that word

67:57 and apply it with power we plead especially oh Lord for those who sit among us encased in their own self deception will you not in mercy break through that horrible wall that separates them from you the wall of their present profession the wall of their own present delusion have mercy we pray oh God while the door of mercy is yet open and grant that they may face themselves in the light of your word and determine to give themselves no rest until they know that by your grace they are for real we pray for those who have been able to face this text and who would be less than honest if they did not acknowledge that indeed you have taken them out of the realm of the flesh and into the realm of the spirit we ask oh God that each of us who can by your grace affirm that this is true of us that we will determine more and more to live after the spirit to live in the spirit that we will determine more and more by the spirit's enablement to put to death the deeds of the flesh grant

69:27 oh God that we may not trifle with our privileges but may bring as much glory to our Lord Jesus and the power of his grace as it is possible for redeemed sinners to bring to him in this life seal then your word to our hearts we pray in Jesus name Amen