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Do We Have the Spirit?

Townhill Christian Fellowship — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 14:08:06 +0000

Following on from last week’s message concerning the wise and foolish virgins entitled “Being Ready”, we need to ensure that the “oil in our lamps” is the genuine article, that it is able to last the course, and burn until the end. We should remind ourselves that the oil represents an abiding knowledge of His Word, both a knowledge of the Truth of the Scriptures, and an intimate knowledge that the Word dwells within us by His Spirit. (John 15:4-5)

2 Peter 3:1-18
1 Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder),
2 that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior,
3 knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts,
4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.”
5 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water,
6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water.
7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,
12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?
13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
14 Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless;
15 and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you,
16 as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.
17 You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked;
18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.

If we are to be ready for His return, and stand until the end, there is one thing that must be true of us. The only thing that guarantees we will be safe when He returns is that His Spirit dwells within us. The Bible tells us that the indwelling Holy Spirit is:

” the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.” Ephesians 1:14

We are also told that:

“For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,” Romans 8:15-16

We are instructed that we must:

“Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.” 2 Corinthians 13:5

Only those with the indwelling Holy Spirit are those who are truly God’s children:

“But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.” Romans 8:9

No one shall enter the eternal Kingdom of Heaven who does not belong to Him, and who’s name is not written in the Book of Life:

“But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.” Rev 21:27

The Bible warns us repeatedly that there are many who claim to be Christians who actually are not, whether it be knowingly or unknowingly on their part. It also warns us many times that there are many amongst us whose teaching and ministry turns us away from the Lord, not to Him. That althought they masquerade as God’s people, and appear to have a form of godliness, in reality they are of the devil and must be avoided. If this is what is happening all around us, and we understand how crucial it is that we have the Holy Spirit within us, then it stands to reason we have to be extremely careful in the way we examine ourselves, and test that we are sincerely in the faith, and not simply being deceived into thinking we are.

If a person truly believes in Christ for salvation, from the moment they first believe, the Holy Spirit lives within them. When this happens to a person, the Spirit of God begins to manifest His character through them, known as the “fruit of the Spirit”. The fruit of the Spirit of God is described in Galatians 5:22-23 as “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” These aspects of the character of God will be visible to others, and will testify of the work that the Spirit of God is doing within you, but in reality, it is still difficult to identify these things by looking at ourselves, especially knowing intimately the darkness and sinfulness of our own natural desires too. So the question still stands; “How can we examine ourselves to know that the Spirit of God is within us?”

There is only one thing that we can identify in our own lives that testifies that the Spirit of God dwells within us, and that is a love of the truth. We cannot claim to be of the Lord and love Jesus, unless we have a love of His truth, for they are One and the Same. Jesus Christ is the living expression of the Truth of Scripture. He is the Word of God made flesh. We cannot have His Spirit if we do not love Him. And we do not love Him, if we do not love His Word.

In one of the most stark warnings in the New Testament, concerning end time events, and the way the course of history will draw to a close, we are reminded of this truth:

2 Thessalonians 2:1-17
1 Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you,
2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come.
3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first [apostasy, defection from the truth of God], and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition,
4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?
6 And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time.
7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.
8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.
9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders,
10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie,
12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
13 But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth,
14 to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle [refers to the teaching of the apostles, passed down from Christ through them.- The New Testament.].
16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace,
17 comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work.

Sourced from: Townhill Christian Fellowship

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Fighting the Good Fight

Townhill Christian Fellowship Blog — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 22:50:48 +0000

Because Christianity has love as its very foundation, and has much to do with forgiveness and mercy, we can easily tend to think that it has nothing to do with fighting. We can forget quickly that Christ died to give us peace with God, not necessarily with our fellow man. For although we’re called to live at peace with all men where possible, the Gospel actually divides men as much as bring them together.

Matthew 10:34-38
34 “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword.
35 For I have come to ‘SET A MAN AGAINST HIS FATHER, A DAUGHTER AGAINST HER MOTHER, AND A DAUGHTER-IN-LAW AGAINST HER MOTHER-IN-LAW’;
36 and ‘A MAN’S ENEMIES WILL BE THOSE OF HIS OWN HOUSEHOLD.’
37 He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.
38 And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.

Although our weapons are spiritual, not carnal, and our fight is with principalities and powers, not flesh and blood. As Christians we will still experience the fight we have entered, as the powers of the enemy manifest through the evil desires of the flesh, both our own sinful desires, and sinful desires of other people. If we are truly in Christ, then we shall most definitely experience the reality of being in the midst of battle. Whereas if this is not our experience on a daily basis, at the very least this should cause alarm bells to sound in our spirit, for it is a clear indicator that all is not right in our walk with Christ.

Whilst in this battle, we will be face to face with all sorts of manifestations of the enemy principalities and powers, as they work their way out in the desires of our own flesh, and that of other people too. The enemy will attempt to drag us away by tempting us in our weaknesses and past addictions on a personal level, and will cause the manifestations of the flesh in others, such as jealousy, hatred, bitterness etc., to rise up against us. But the important thing we have to remember is, if we are truly dead to ourselves and alive in Christ, this battle is no longer our own, but the Lord’s. We simply become as soldiers who are subject to the orders of their Commander in Chief, and our orders are written clearly throughout the teaching of Scripture, and through the direction and leading of the Holy Spirit.

From the perspective of our own internal battle, we must learn to embrace the act of dying to ourself, for this is the command of Scripture. We must surrender fully to the prospect of putting away every desire of our flesh, every earthly need, and every selfish ambition, in favour of seeking to pick up those of the Lord. And in return we must learn to trust that, as we commit ourselves to this act of humble obedience, He will take care of those needs we once considered above all in our lives.

1 Timothy 6:10-14
10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
11 But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness.
12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
13 I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate,
14 that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing,

(The “love of money” mentioned in verse 10 above, could just as easily apply to any other worldly desire in our life that we put before our desire for the Lord.)

When the Lord revives us from our slumber, the internal fight is what we notice more than anything else. As we surrender to the Truth of His Word, and apply it obediently to our life, we begin to experience the Spirit of God cutting away the things of offense within us. We will find a growing awareness of our own weakness and failure, and our need for Him alone. We will grow in our understanding of the reality of sin, death, and the judgment of God against such things, and our dire need for Him to extend His great mercy towards us constantly. And a passion and hunger for His truth and righteousness will begin to grow within us, which will in turn drive us to His Word alone as the Truth, where we will begin to feast with all our might.

It is this process in our lives that, in the Lord’s timing, will bring us to a place of fighting, not just to work out the salvation in our own lives, but to stand and fight for the salvation of those around us too. As the truth of His Word renews our mind, we grow in confidence in Him, knowing in a deeper way that which He has secured on our behalf, and the power of the Holy Spirit within us to work out those purposes in our life, all for His glory. He will lead us to a place of fighting for the salvation of others, by standing upon and contending for the truth according to His Word, boldly proclaiming, exhorting and teaching others, including some who are already professing Christians, to embrace the Lord in the same manner.

This is the reality of “making disciples of all nations” that Jesus Christ commands us to carry out. It is not our own wisdom or power that will acheive anything, but it is the instruction of Christ Himself, passed on directly to the apostles for the edification of the Body of Christ, and through the proclamation of the instruction they passed down under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, we instruct and guide others by that same wisdom.

Contrary to what we may first think, we actually find that our battle in this arena lies not so much outside, but inside the boundaries of the visible church. As we grow in maturity and godly wisdom, purely by clinging to His Word as the Truth alone, the Lord begins to use those believers to come against the ungodly deceivers that are rampant within the confines of the church across the denominations, that those who are genuinely His are woken up from their slumber.

Jude 1:3-4
3 Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.
4 For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Matthew 7:15
15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.

Acts 20:29-31
29 For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.
30 Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves.
31 Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears.

As we enter more fully into this area of the battle, we will experience many painful times, for we are dealing with the true strongholds the Bible speaks of, and those that the devil will protect with great force. But providing we remember that the battle is the Lord’s and not our own, and we remember to fight in the power of His might, and not our own; then we will be victorious. Also we must remember that as we experience a growing sense of liberty in our own lives as we submit to God in this way, we must realise that it is for the specific purpose of serving Him here and now, by entering into the mission of Christ Himself to set the captives free by proclaiming this time of Grace that has been given to us, and exhorting every creature to repent and believe the Gospel.

Amongst other things, this external battle to further the Gospel and make disciples of all nations, must have at its heart a constant travailing prayer for one another, and for those around us. We must also truly begin to realise how precious is even one soul to God, and how greatly He desires all men to be saved.

James 5:16-20
16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months.
18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.
19 Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back,
20 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.

Finally we have to remind ourselves often that the battle we are in will not be forever. It may feel tiresome at times, we may feel tired and weary at times, and if we are faithful, we will most definitely enter the Kingdom of Heaven exhausted and battle scarred! But there we will be revived, and if we are faithful to the end, we will witness others at our side that are there because we fought for their salvation, just as Christ and other faithful believers fought for ours. And at that time, the long, hard battle we have been in during our life in this world will disappear like a puff of smoke in the wind!

If anyone reading this feels a heaviness of heart at the prospect of such a battle, it would serve you well to remember that the blessed hope we have is for a time to come, not necessarily now, and how great is the hope that we have! I will let the apostle Paul remind you in the same words He so reminded the church in Rome in his own day:

Romans 8:15-39
15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”
16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.
18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
19 For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.
20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope;
21 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
22 For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.
23 Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.
24 For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees?
25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.
26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?
33 Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.
34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36 As it is written: “FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE KILLED ALL DAY LONG; WE ARE ACCOUNTED AS SHEEP FOR THE SLAUGHTER.”
37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,
39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Sourced from: Townhill Christian Fellowship Blog

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