I'm going to tell you how happy I
am to have this opportunity to fellowship with
you.
Brother J.L. Armstrong and I were commenting
this afternoon, in the Lord we know the
most wonderful people in the world, which we're
all sinners but saved by grace, and the
Lord's family is just wonderful, and it's a
great delight to be able to come here,
and to meet more of the Lord's wonderful
family.
Thank God for his saving grace, his cleansing
power, his keeping power, and the life of
the Lord Jesus, which has been given to
us by the Holy Spirit, now and forever,
so praise the Lord.
I would just like for one moment to
share something with you that then would help
to me something of what the Lord has
strengthened my own heart with, in fellowship with
God's people.
And that is the thing that ought to
really motivate us all the time, in fellowshiping
with the Lord's people.
There are a lot of scriptures we could
take to say these things, but I think
I'll just take the very familiar verse, 1
Corinthians 12.
For those of you who don't know this
verse, it's a very easy one to remember,
because it's 12-12.
So as the body is one and has
many members, and all the members being many
are one body, so also is Christ.
The truth that will give strength to us
as the Lord's people in fellowshiping together is
being deeply moved and deeply founded upon the
fact that we are one body in the
Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, there will be hard times to come
in many a fellowship.
Sometimes it will seem dry, and those who
were without this foundation will say, Well, I'm
not going there again.
I don't get anything.
Or the ministry isn't very moving over there.
So I'm not getting anything.
And so we drop out.
And there will be many temptations in life
as you fellowship with the Lord's people to
drop out because you aren't getting anything.
But if the Lord gives us an understanding,
not just here, but a real understanding, a
real view of the fact that whether we
like it or not, whether we are getting
something or not, I am a member of
the same body with these brothers and sisters
in Christ.
And every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ
is a fellow member of Christ, and I
must always interact with any other brother or
sister on the basis of being one body
in Christ.
And I cannot drop out because I am
one.
Now, I was in a fellowship where we
had some real testaments, and some dropped out.
There were difficulties.
There were misunderstandings.
And the meeting sometimes didn't have much to
offer.
And some did drop out.
But there were some who thought, I can't
drop out, no more than I could drop
out of the body of Christ.
I can't drop out.
And so they came, and they prayed together,
and they hung in there.
And God's blessing came because there were believers
who saw that they were one in Christ.
And they said, I can't drop out any
more than my hands and my fingers.
So that's the first thing I would underline.
We are one body in Christ.
We are members of Christ.
What a terrific thing it is to realize
that...
The verse doesn't say, as Brother Kong reminded
us last week, the verse doesn't say, as
the body has many members, and all the
members being many are one body, so also
is the church, is the assembly.
Now, that's what it's really referring to.
But it says, so also is Christ, meaning
that we, renewed in Christ, are the very
person, the body of Christ.
And the body is not different from the
head.
It's all the same person.
And when we are united with Christ, we
are his own life living out in the
world, his new life and his good life
living out in the world.
So what a blessing there is when we
see that.
And I'm sure we all long to go
on and see it more.
And we need this foundation because there comes
testing.
And if we are looking for something for
ourselves, we're going to drop out.
We all want blessings, and we all want
joy, but the Lord's going to have to
test that to see are we really founded
on Christ or on just something for me.
And the second thing is that it's not
just the theory of it, but there is
the life of Christ.
And as I used that illustration of the
fellowship a while ago, because there were those
that stayed because of Christ, the life of
Christ, Christ then flowed, and then there was
blessing.
And we mustn't be satisfied with just the
teaching of it, but we must have the
wellsprings of Christ rising up within us and
allowing Christ to make himself real through the
Holy Spirit, the rivers of living water which
the Lord Jesus Christ becomes to us and
in us.
And there will be in him a stream
of living water springing up unto everlasting life.
So we're not content with the knowledge.
Sometimes we have to say just, I will,
Lord, I will.
I will stay.
I will fellowship with your people.
Sometimes we meet our brother or sister, and
maybe we disagree, but we have to say
on the fellowship that we are one in
Christ.
And at the same time, we want not
only the head knowledge, but the springs of
water, the Lord Jesus Christ willing us, showing
himself to us, not only in the head,
but in the heart.
So I thank the Lord for the privilege
of fellowship with you all this evening.
I appreciate your prayer.
I come from Bowie, Maryland, where a couple
of families are there.
We are in close fellowship with Washington, too,
but we long to see what God will
do in our own suburban community of Washington.
So God bless you all.
Thank you.
When we begin, we'll come back to number
65.
Instead of saying, Oh, make us one, Lord,
say, We are one, Lord.
65.
We give you all our praise.
Oh, and we honor you by name.
We give you all our praise.
Oh, and crown you with mercy.
With a heavenly cry we join, Lord, in
thy presence divine.
Oh, we are one, Lord, in that one
true bond.
We give you all our praise.
Oh, and we honor you by name.
We give you all our praise.
Oh, and crown you with mercy.
With a heavenly cry we join, Lord, in
thy presence divine.
Oh, we are one, Lord, in that one
true bond.
We return to Galatians chapter 5.
Galatians chapter 5, we'll read from verse 16.
But I say, Walk in the Spirit, and
ye shall no way fulfill flesh lust.
For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and
the Spirit against the flesh.
And these things oppose one to the other,
that ye should not do those things which
ye desire.
But if ye are led by the Spirit,
ye are not under law.
Now the works of the flesh are manifest,
which are fornication, uncleanness, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred,
strife, jealousy, anger, contentions, disputes, schools of opinions,
envyings, murders, drunkennesses, revels, and things like these.
As to which I tell you beforehand, even
as I also have said before, that they
who do such things shall not inherit God's
kingdom.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy, peace, long-suffering kindness, goodness, fidelity, meekness,
self-control.
Against such things there is no law.
But they that are of the Christ have
crucified the flesh with a passion and a
lust.
If we live by the Spirit, let us
walk also by the Spirit.
Let us not become then glorious, provoking one
another, ending one another.
Chapter 6, we begin with verse 11.
See how long a letter I have written
to you with my own hands.
As many as desire to have a fair
appearance in the flesh, these compel you to
be circumcised, only that they may not be
persecuted because of the cross of Christ.
For neither do they that are circumcised themselves
keep the law, but they wish you to
be circumcised, that they may boast in your
flesh.
But far be it from me to boast,
say, in the cross of our Lord Jesus
Christ, through whom the world is crucified to
me and I to the world.
For in Christ Jesus neither is circumcision anything,
nor unto circumcision, but new creation.
And as many as are walked by this
rule, peace upon them and mercy, and upon
the Israel of God.
For the rest, let no one trouble me,
for I bear in my body the brain
of the Lord Jesus.
Let us pray.
Lord, we have read thy word, and now
we ask thy Holy Spirit to quicken thy
word to us, because thy words are life
and spirit to us.
O Lord, we just commit ourselves to thee
for thy word.
We want thy word to be magnified in
our life.
We want thee to be glorified.
We ask in thy precious name.
Amen.
Some times ago, the fellowship, something on the
letter to the Galatians.
We mentioned that this letter to the Galatians
has a very special message to us today.
Because in this letter to the Galatians, we
find the very basics of the gospel of
Jesus Christ.
As a matter of fact, if we do
not know this letter, our understanding of the
gospel of Jesus Christ will not be complete.
For this reason, Martin Luther considers this letter
as his letter.
It is on the basis of this letter
that we have the Reformation.
So brothers and sisters, we must, by the
grace of God, enter into the very message
of this letter to see the basics of
the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Sometimes we think that we are so far
advanced, we can forget about the basics.
But very often you'll find we are led
back to the very basics before we can
go on.
Now in this letter to the Galatians, there
are three basics of the gospel of Jesus
Christ being presented to us equally.
We have fellowship together in the past on
the two of the three basics.
The first, of course, is grace.
And the second is faith.
We are saved by grace through faith.
But without the third, it will not be
complete.
So I feel compelled to fellowship tonight on
the third basics of the gospel of Jesus
Christ.
Number one, it is grace.
We say grace is more than just receiving
something freely.
We say grace is inherent in that one
who is full of grace.
And he gave himself to us freely and
universally.
And when we receive of his grace, that
is, when we receive him, there springs out
from us not only thanks to his grace,
but a life that is as gracious as
he is.
Because it is he whom we have received.
Now that is grace.
In other words, grace is the substance of
the gospel of Jesus Christ.
If you take grace away, there is no
gospel.
There is no substance.
Because grace is none other but Christ himself.
And the gospel is Christ.
The gospel is more than what Christ has
done for us.
More than what Christ will give to us.
More than our experience of forgiveness of sin
or even eternal life.
Grace is Christ giving himself to us and
that becomes the gospel.
It is the substance.
And then our faith.
Faith is the substantiating of that substance.
In other words, faith makes that substance real.
It brings that substance to us, becoming a
living experience.
And as we mentioned before, faith is a
strong conviction of the revelation of grace.
And out of that conviction there is a
selfless total commitment.
And because of that total commitment there will
be a walk accordingly.
And that is faith.
So dear brothers and sisters, there is grace,
the substance.
There is faith, the substance needed.
But if the third element is missing it
will not work.
And what is the third element?
It is the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is the third basic of
the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Because the Holy Spirit is the agent, the
sole agent of the grace of God, which
is Christ Jesus.
And the Holy Spirit is the one who
convicts us and convinces us.
He is the one who regenerates us.
He is the one who quickens us.
He is the one who operates the Holy
Spirit.
So, in coming to the basics of the
gospel of Jesus Christ, there is the need
of knowing the Holy Spirit.
On the night of his betrayal, our Lord
Jesus was with his disciples in that upper
room.
As they were finishing the Passover feast.
And after they had what we call today
the Lord's Supper, which our Lord instituted that
night, the Lord began to talk to his
disciples.
You know, the disciples knew something was going
to happen then.
They might not be able to understand the
whole thing.
You remember our Lord Jesus time and again
tried to tell them that he was going
to Jerusalem and he will be crucified.
But on the third day he was raised
from the dead.
But the disciples didn't seem to be able
to grasp it.
And even that night they certainly knew they
said something was coming.
The Lord was going to lead them.
And they were very sorrowful.
They had been with the Lord for over
three years.
They left everything to follow the Lord.
They found great satisfaction in the Lord.
During those three difficult years with the Lord,
difficult.
You know, it is not very easy to
really be with the Lord for three years.
You may think that it will be the
most comforting and most pleasant life to live
with the Lord.
You wait and see.
If you really know how to live with
the Lord, humanly speaking, it is not easy.
But they stuck with the Lord.
And for three years they were with the
Lord.
They were being disciplined.
They were being trained.
But at the same time they were being
protected, provided, comforted, shepherded, supported.
They left nothing.
And suddenly the Lord was leading them.
They literally felt they will be left as
orphans.
If you try to enter into their feelings,
you know, they literally had the thought of
being left as orphans.
Why?
Because they couldn't go back to the world.
They too couldn't go back to where they
first began.
All these had been left behind.
And now suddenly a vacuum.
What will happen tomorrow?
How could they live for a day without
the Lord?
The Lord who knew human heart.
He knew what was going on.
So that night in that last conversation of
our Lord with his disciples, he promised them
that he would not leave them as orphans.
He said, I'm going.
But my very going is my coming.
He said, I go.
I will beg of my Father.
And he will give you another comforter.
Just as I am.
Not another of a different kind, but another
of the same kind.
You know, in Greek, the word another, in
Greek has two different words.
One word means another of a different kind.
But another word means another of the same
kind.
And what the Lord used there is another
of the same kind.
I will beg of the Father and he
will send you another comforter of the same
kind as I am.
Even the Spirit of truth.
The world does not know him.
But you know him.
Because he abides with you and he shall
be in you and he will never leave
you nor forsake you.
You know, when the Lord was talking about
these things, he was not just trying to
say something nice in order to comfort us.
Brothers and sisters, very often when we find
someone who needs comfort, we try to think
out of some sweet words to say, but
empty words cannot comfort.
Our Lord was not saying some empty words,
sweet words.
No.
He was promising them something very real, very
substantial, as real as he was.
Another.
And the Lord said, you know him.
The world does not know him, but you
know him.
I wonder why Peter didn't interrupt the Lord
and say, Lord, how do I know him?
That would be like Peter.
Probably he was too straight to say anything.
The world does not know him.
That's easy to understand.
But the Lord said, you know him.
He hasn't come yet.
And the Lord said, you know him.
Why?
Because he abides with you.
He is with you.
Now who is with us?
The Lord himself.
But when another comforter shall come, he will
be in.
In other words, the going of the Lord
is his coming back.
And this coming back does not refer to
the second coming of the Lord, which will
happen in the future.
This coming back speaks of the Lord's coming
back in death.
The Holy Spirit is the second self of
our Lord Jesus.
Not of a different kind, but of the
same kind.
The Lord said, yes, I have been with
you for over three years and you find
satisfaction with me.
Good.
And you feel sorrowful because I'm leaving you.
But I promise you something even better.
When I was with you, I could stand
by you, I could support you by your
side, that I couldn't be in you.
I was with you, but not all the
time.
Sometimes the Lord sent his disciples out to
buy tea.
And when they were sent out, the Lord
was not with them.
And if they had anything to report, they
had to come back to the Lord.
But the Lord said, if I go and
I come back, it will be different.
I will be in you.
When the Lord was on earth, he had
a flesh, a body, just like we have.
And because of that, he was not able
to enter into each one of us.
But when he came back in the Holy
Spirit, he can enter into every one of
us.
And not only that, but he will be
in us forever.
He will never leave us, nor...
You know, very often we have such...
we think wonderful thoughts.
Oh, if only I lived 2,000 years
ago.
If only I was born in Judea.
If only I could follow the Lord as
the disciples of his days.
Then I would be a much better Christian
than I am today.
If you really know your privilege today, you
will be a worse Christian than you are
today.
Why?
Because with the disciples of that time, the
Lord was with them outwardly.
But now, the Holy Spirit is in us
inwardly.
Dear brothers and sisters, the point is, do
you know the Holy Spirit?
Strictly speaking, this promise of the another comforter
is fulfilled on the day of the resurrection
of our Lord.
Because, you see, in that day you will
be in me as I am in my
Father.
In other words, there is an inwardness, an
inward relationship, and that inward relationship comes into
being through the coming of the Holy Spirit,
through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, through
the Spirit of God coming and dwelling in
us.
And you know, this happens on the day
of his resurrection.
He appeared to the disciples.
He breathed into them and said, Receive ye
the Holy Spirit.
Brothers and sisters, everyone who believes in the
Lord Jesus, everyone who is born again by
the Holy Spirit, everyone who has been given
a new spirit, at the same time, he
is given the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit
that we are children of God.
For everyone who is the Lord has the
Spirit of Christ in him.
None other but the Divine Person.
Dwelling in us forever.
Now this is the basic of the gospel.
In our English version we use the word
comforter.
Comforter.
You know, the Greek word parapleto is a
word that is very difficult to translate into
English because it is such a rich word.
Yes, it means someone who comes alongside you
to help.
To render aid.
It is like a counsellor who will represent
someone in the court.
An advisor.
A guardian.
This word is used in the gospel according
to John 14.
Chapter 14, twice.
Chapter 15, once.
And chapter 16, once.
And the same word is used in 1
John 2, once.
Thus, in the gospel according to John our
English translation is comforter.
In 1 John it is advocate.
But actually it is the same word.
Now when you see the word comforter, what
kind of impression do you get?
The impression is he is one who comes
to comfort us.
To console us.
Well, we have our sorrow.
We have our sorrow.
We have our need.
So he will come in and, as it
were, pat on your shoulder and say, don't
cry, it's alright.
Everything will be taken care of.
Now is that the kind of feeling you
think about the Holy Spirit?
The Holy Spirit, the divine person who dwells
in you, he is there as your comforter.
He is there to help you.
He is there to console you.
He is there to consulate you.
He is there to make you happy.
Unfortunately, this is not the meaning in the
Greek.
Why do we have the word comforter in
our English version?
Some people began to search and say, now
who used that English word for the first
time?
And it goes back to the 14th century.
When John Wycliffe translated the Bible, the English
Bible, he used the word comforter for paracetamol.
But do not blame him.
Why?
Because the 14th century English is very different
from the 20th century English.
Now today, when you see the word comforter,
you think more of consolation.
But in the 14th century, the word comfort
or comforter means he who strengthens.
Strengthens.
In other words, it carries more of the
sense of power in conflict than the sense
of consolation in sorrow.
It includes consolation, yes.
But the emphatic meaning of the word is
strengthening.
How do we know?
Because when John Wycliffe translated to Philippians chapter
4, that very, very famous verse, I can
do all things through him who comforts me.
That's what John Wycliffe means.
I can do all things through him who
comforts me.
And by comfort me there means who strengthens
me.
So you know, in the 14th century, the
word comfort or comforter means strengthens or strengthens.
And if you read the four places in
the gospel according to John, when this word
comforter is being used, you'll find every time
it is used with the same abstract.
Why?
Because the comforter is the spirit of truth.
Now, when you come to the matter of
truth, is it a matter of consolation or
is it a matter of faith?
Truth is not a weakness.
Truth is strong.
He is the one who leads us into
all truth.
And in leading us into all truth, what
conflict must be involved.
He is the one who bears witness for
Christ.
Bearing witness for Christ in this world.
That's conflict.
That's power.
And he is one who will bring demonstration
to this world to convict them, to convince
them of sin, of righteousness, of judgment.
Well, that's sin.
That's power.
So you'll find the basic thought here is
that he is the one who comes in
to strengthen, to empower that we may
enter into all truth.
That we may be witnesses of Christ.
That Christ may be glorified.
He is to bring Christ to us.
He is to bring us into Christ.
He is to make Christ real to us.
And he is to make Christ known to
this world.
Now this is the meaning of the word
brothers and sisters.
We have the comforter in us.
We have one in us who is here
to strengthen and to bring us into God's
purpose.
That is the Holy Spirit.
There is an English word.
But it is again an old English word.
Which comes to very close to the Greek
word palatita.
And that is the word barrister.
Now in this country you don't use the
word barrister.
It means lawyer.
Lawyer.
That's what we use.
But there is this English word barrister.
In the old English sense includes much more
than the modern sense of a lawyer.
Why?
Because according to the old English word barrister
a barrister does four things.
Not just one.
Four things.
A barrister represents his client.
A barrister defends the name of his client.
A barrister cleans the corpse of his client.
And a barrister manages the property of his
client.
Now that's a barrister in the old sense.
He not only represents his client.
He defends his name.
He cleans his corpse.
He also manages all his affairs.
That's a barrister.
And dear brothers and sisters, the comforter of
the Holy Spirit is that divine barrister.
He represents his client.
He defends his name.
He cleans his corpse.
And he manages his possessions.
But the point is, who is his client?
Brothers and sisters, who is his client?
Do you answer?
Hmm?
Well, we often think that we are his
client.
But you are wrong.
The Holy Spirit client is the Lord himself.
He comes to represent the Lord.
He does not represent you.
He comes to defend the name of the
Lord, not your name.
He comes to plead the cause of the
Lord, not your cause.
He comes to manage the Lord's property because
you are his property.
You know, brothers and sisters, here is the
great mistake.
We often think of the Holy Spirit who
dwells in us, you know, as the oh,
that good uncle.
You know?
Oh, he always thinks for us.
He always gives to us, you know.
He always protects us.
He always does everything for us.
Oh, he's good.
That's the way we always think the Holy
Spirit.
But your very experience tells you this is
not true.
How often you want one thing and the
Holy Spirit in you says no.
Now you got the wrong lawyer.
If you think the Holy Spirit represents you,
then you got the wrong lawyer.
You know, sometimes some people do.
They got a lawyer, they engage a lawyer
and the lawyer began to speak for the
opposite party.
Now you discard him, of course.
Dismiss him, I mean.
Brothers and sisters, the Holy Spirit is a
divine person.
He dwells in you.
No, he is not representing you.
He is representing the Lord.
No wonder.
Every time something happens, you'll find he is
on the wrong side.
But you are on the right side.
You are on the wrong side.
What is the work of the Holy Spirit
in us?
The work of the Holy Spirit is to
bring Christ to us and to bring us
into Christ.
All that Christ is is to be made
real and living in us.
Anything less than Christ, the Holy Spirit is
bringing.
He is managing the property of Christ.
Now who are we?
We are bought with a price.
We are his property.
His possession.
And because of that, the Holy Spirit is
in us to manage the possession of the
risen Lord.
Thank God.
He is in us.
Responsible.
Fully responsible for all that the gospel of
Jesus Christ means.
It is his work.
Of course, there is one who represents you,
but he represents you at the right hand
of the Father.
Therefore you'll find in 1 John chapter 2
we have an advocate.
We have a parapetal.
Even with the Father, Jesus, the right hand.
Oh, brothers and sisters, sometimes, you know, we
have faith.
And our Lord represents us before the Father
and says, Father, forgive us.
I shed my blood.
When we confess our sins, his faithful invite
us to forgive us of our sins and
to cleanse us from all our unrighteousness.
He is not only our advocate, also for
the whole world.
Brothers and sisters, so you see the truth
of it?
The Lord Jesus himself in heaven is our
representative.
He represents us before the Father.
But the Holy Spirit in us represents us.
If that is the case, what we said,
we should give to the Holy Spirit.
Do you know a divine person is in
you?
Do you know he is entrusted with the
most divine job?
There is no job, no task more divine,
more important than this job.
Even to conform you to Christ.
And he is intent on doing his job.
And brothers and sisters, you, my brothers, you
fight against him, you belay his word, you
grieve him, you quench him, you will not
allow him to have a free hand in
your life, even that foolishness.
And very quiet Paul said, oh you foolish
Galatians, you are foolish.
God has already made every provision for you.
Here is grace, there is faith, and in
between the Holy Spirit.
He is the one who gives us the
faith.
He is the one who brings grace to
us.
And yet, you don't know.
Paul said, have you received the Holy Spirit?
Because you have done something?
In chapter three.
In other words, these Galatian believers, they have
just received the Holy Spirit.
They received the Holy Spirit by grace through
faith.
Not because of what they have done.
It is because of grace.
It is just through faith.
And they received the Holy Spirit in them.
And yet, they begin with the Holy Spirit
and they are thinking of perfecting it.
So here when you come to the letter
to the Galatians, you find that the Holy
Spirit is the way to perfection.
Is THE way to perfection.
Well, by perfection, of course.
It doesn't mean in the Scripture seamless perfection.
There is no one who is seamless perfect
on this earth except our Lord Jesus.
But by perfection in the Scripture, it means
maturity.
Maturity.
Full growth.
How can we grow?
The gospel of Jesus Christ is not just
we may believe in the Lord Jesus and
go to heaven.
That is the initial part of the gospel
if we may put it that way.
The gospel of Jesus Christ is the full
Christ.
God gave Christ to us and He wants
us to receive Him in fullness.
And we who have received Him will be
conformed to His image.
Now that is the gospel of Jesus Christ.
How are we to grow in Christ?
How are we to be mature?
How can we be perfect?
All the Galatian believers after they have believed
in the Lord Jesus, they have received the
Holy Spirit.
So somehow they are being misled in their
anxiousness to speed up their growth as it
were.
You know, like we are today.
Everything is instant.
They want to be instant spiritual.
Instant perfection.
So they don't know how.
The work of the Holy Spirit is very
patient.
And they got very impatient.
So someone came in the Judea diary.
They came in and said, now if you
want to be perfect, very easy.
Very easy.
You just get circumcised, do something.
You keep some rules and laws and regulations.
And if you do them, keep some days
or seasons or weeks.
Now if you simply do this or don't
do that, well, if you are able to
just do these few things, you are perfect.
And you know, there in our flesh is
always that itching to do something.
If you don't do anything, well, that is
very humiliating.
Do you mean I cannot do anything?
Even though I'm not perfect yet, I still
can do something.
Instead of letting the Holy Spirit do His
work in there, they try to do something.
What do they do?
Circumcise?
Very easy.
What do they do?
Keep some laws?
Keep some days?
Not too hard.
And if you do these things, you are
perfect.
Well, you can go and say, now see
what I have done.
I have done it.
Now I am perfect.
But obviously, they
have the Holy Spirit in there.
But instead of listening to the Holy Spirit,
instead of letting the Holy Spirit perfect His
work in us, they completely set the Holy
Spirit aside as it were.
And they start to do something.
Good news.
They are not doing something sinful.
From all our appearance, they abstain from certain
things.
They don't do certain things.
They keep certain days.
In a sense, it is a kind of
inconvenience, you know.
So, they feel, well, we are doing all
these for God.
And it makes us perfect.
Very good.
But they do not know.
If they go back to the flesh, it
begins with the good flesh.
If there is any good, it will end
up in the bad flesh, because it is
the Holy Spirit.
You may begin with good intentions.
Well, I am doing it in order to
be perfect.
All right, you try to do it.
And as you begin to do it, you
find the whole flesh will follow.
And when you look back, you are done
and done.
That's the reason why you find Paul said,
the good of the flesh are many things.
And if you read the list, it is
not very pleasant.
Fornication.
Uncleanness.
Life anxiousness.
Idolatry.
Sorcery.
Hatred.
Strife.
Jealousy.
Anger.
Contempt.
Defeat.
Strings of opinions.
Envyings.
Murders.
Frankenesses.
Rambles.
And things like these.
As to which I tell you beforehand, even
as I also have said before, that they
who do such things shall not inherit God's
kingdom.
Who strives against the flesh?
You?
That will be flesh against the flesh.
The good flesh against the bad flesh.
You are against yourself.
You will never overcome.
It is the Holy Spirit strives against the
flesh.
It is the Holy Spirit in you that
strives against the flesh.
And the flesh against the spirit that you
should not do those things which you desire.
You see, there is a difference between here
and Romans 7.
Romans 7 is you cannot do what you
want to do.
And you do what you don't want to
do.
But here it is said you should not
do those things which you desire.
Quite.
The Holy Spirit restrains you from doing that.
Here you find a contrast.
On the one side is the Holy Spirit.
On the other side is the flesh.
On the one side is work, fruit.
On the other side is work.
On the one side is eternal life.
On the other side is corruption.
If we live by the Holy Spirit we
bear fruit.
And that is eternal life.
If we walk by the flesh even if
you think it is the good flesh it
is work.
Because flesh is always a work.
And the result is corruption.
So it is insisted there is a great
difference between work and fruit.
Work is something that you do yourself.
You apply yourself, you put effort in it,
and out of what you have done you
produce something that works.
But fruit is different.
Fruit is the overflow.
It is life matured.
When life is matured what is there?
Fruit.
It is not conscious.
It is effortless.
It comes from within.
Work is done from without.
But fruit is come from within.
Oh how awful it is work.
Oh we are keeping this rule, keeping that
law.
We think that by that we become perfect.
We can boast what achievement we have made.
And brothers and sisters this is the work.
The end result will be corruption.
But on the other hand we live by
the Holy Spirit.
How do you live by the Holy Spirit?
Well the Holy Spirit is in you.
The divine comforter.
The divine strengthener.
And as in 1 John chapter 2 verse
27 it says the anointing that is in
you he will teach you in all things.
You just follow the teaching of the anointing
and you abide in Christ.
He is here with you all the time.
He never leaves you nor forsakes you.
And he is teaching you in all things.
Big things and small things.
You don't go to the Lord.
You don't go to the Holy Spirit when
you come to a crisis.
But he walks with you every day.
When you are at home he is there.
When you are in the office he is
there.
He never leaves you nor forsakes you.
And in everything, in all things, big things
and small things, the anointing is there.
And his teaching is true.
Not a lie.
Follow the anointing.
And you abide in Christ.
As you walk in that way unconsciously fruit
comes out.
The fruit of the Spirit.
Love, joy, peace.
Long-suffering, kindness.
Neatness.
Fidelity.
Self-control.
Which really means spirit control.
That life.
That eternal life.
How are we going to deserve it?
Not by the work of the flesh.
But by the fruit of the Spirit.
How important it is that we know the
Holy Spirit as the divine barrister in our
daily life.
Do we know the Holy Spirit as such?
Or do you draw upon the Holy Spirit
only when you are having a problem?
And you just ask him, now come come
and comfort me.
He is in you all the time.
But are you listening to him all the
time?
To many believers, the Holy Spirit is a
healer.
To many believers, the Holy Spirit may be
an experience but five years ago.
But according to the Word of God, the
Holy Spirit is a bailiff.
How can we live a Christian life without
knowing the Holy Spirit?
Today.
Impossible.
How can we be conformed to Christ?
If we try to imitate Christ?
If we try to work?
You'll never get there.
So what is the Holy Spirit in you
for?
He is there to bring you there.
That is his job.
Brothers and sisters, knowing the Holy Spirit as
a divine person will transform our lives.
You are not alone.
Struggling along by yourself.
The Holy Spirit is there bringing you.
All the strain is gone.
You can rest.
Brothers and sisters, God has provided for us.
Not only grace but the Spirit of grace.
How do you know that you walk in
it?
How do you know that you live by
the Spirit?
How do you know?
There is a market.
There is a way.
The Holy Spirit of all leads us.
And the cross gives us more of His
Spirit.
You know, it is by the eternal Spirit
that our Lord Jesus offers Himself spotless to
God as an offering and is accepted.
And because Christ is glorified the Spirit.
You can never separate the Holy Spirit if
the Holy Spirit is really working in your
life.
He will lead you to the cross.
If there is not the mark of the
cross there, it is not the work of
the Holy Spirit.
You know, the Galatian believers they do not
want the cross.
They are offended by the cross.
The scandal of the cross.
They want to buy back the cross to
be perfect.
But Paul says, buy back in the cross
of our Lord.
Now what is your attitude?
Are there the brains of the Lord Jesus
in your life?
Is there any room?
If the Holy Spirit is really working in
your life, you will find there will be
room.
There will be a thank God.
Out of these rooms will flow out the
Spirit.
People who want to avoid the cross, as
in the letter to the Galatians.
Why do these Judaizers want the Galatian believers
to be circumcised?
They themselves knew they could not keep the
law.
So why they demanded that they should do
that?
Because they could point out to people, say,
now this one was circumcised for my persuasion.
A ghost.
But when the Holy Spirit is working, there
is a spirit of humiliation, humility of me.
The Spirit of Christ.
So girls and sisters, as a matter of
fact, it is not difficult to know if
the Holy Spirit is really working in your
life or not.
It is not really difficult to distinguish, to
know whether you are really walking in the
Spirit.
People sometimes think if you are walking in
the Spirit, then there is no cross.
It is all prosperity.
No cross.
But if you read the Word of God,
you will find it is different.
Our Lord Jesus throughout His life lived in
the Spirit by the power of the Holy
Spirit.
But it is the cross.
And out of the cross the livery of
living water.
The Spirit is given abundantly to us.
So dear brothers and sisters, in this letter
to the Galatians, Paul is trying to tell
these Galatian believers the basic of the gospel
of Jesus Christ is the Holy Spirit and
the cross.
Thank God.
Sometimes, you know, people talk about the cross.
I have heard people say, well, if you
talk about the cross it looks very gloomy,
you know.
It is dark.
Negative.
That is true.
If everything ends at the cross and nothing
beyond, then it is really a very sad
end.
But thank God.
Everything ends at the cross of all that
is natural.
That everything begins from the cross of all
that is There is a death sign of
the cross.
But there is a resurrection sign.
There is life out of death.
Out of the cross flows the Spirit.
And brothers and sisters, that is my deal.
My deal.
So we do look to the Lord that
we may know the Holy Spirit in our
daily life.
We respect him as a divine person.
Learn to listen to him.
Follow his anointing.
Let him finish the work that he is
entrusted with by the risen Lord.
Yes, the cross will be involved.
You cannot escape that.
But thank God it does not end there.
There is something beyond.
Something beyond.
And that something beyond is eternal.
Everything that goes to the cross and cannot
get through is better to be ended there.
Because it cannot be brought into eternity.
It will be burned anyway.
But beyond it there will be eternal life.
Life never ending.
So this is the letter to the commissioners.
And I do hope, brothers and sisters, we
hold on to these statements.
Let us pray.
Our Heavenly Father, we thank thee for giving
thee thy only begotten Son, our Lord Jesus
to us.
O marvelous grace, that Christ should be given
to us.
We praise and we thank thee, because thou
dost give us the Holy Spirit.
O the divine barrister, representing Christ in us,
bringing us into Christ.
O what a job it is!
What glory it is!
Lord, we want to know the Holy Spirit
in our daily life.
Know Him as the divine barrister.
And we want Him to finish His job
gloriously.
And Lord, to beneath the cross teach us
how to bear the cross and follow thee.
We praise and we thank thee, because there
is resurrection out of death.
There is the river of living water coming
under the threshold.
O Lord, we do desire that the gospel
of Jesus Christ may not only be lead,
but become very real in its fullness to
thy people.
O glorify thyself, O Lord.
Lord Jesus, we worship thee.
In the name of our Lord Jesus, Amen.