Living in the Spirit of God...

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The Spirit of God guides us in the two great works of redemption: release from all that is of Satan; and change into Christ’s image and rest in the center of God’s Person and will. We must live in the Spirit; think in the Spirit; behave in the Spirit; speak in the Spirit. Little by little we are to bring our entire personality under the control of the Spirit of God.

(7/11/2010) Those of us who speak in tongues refer to ourselves as "Pentecostal." This name is derived from the fourth of the seven Jewish celebrations. The Holy Spirit fell on the assembled disciples when the Jewish celebration of Pentecost had come. This is why so many Jews were assembled in Jerusalem to witness this event.

My wife and I have been "in Pentecost" for over sixty years, so we have had considerable experience with Pentecostal people. I will say that the Spirit of worship in a church in which speaking in tongues is exercised is more fluent than in other Christian churches, regardless of the level of righteousness and holiness of the other churches. This can be verified by experience.

God knows what He is doing. When He established speaking in tongues as the way of entering the rest of God, then that is the way we enter the rest of God. It is my firm belief, however, that many fine Christians have the Spirit of God although they never have pressed through to speaking in tongues.

I am of the opinion that most of us do not understand the role of the Spirit of God in our life. It may be noted that Jewish people, who often have a sense of God's workings, associate the celebration of Pentecost with the giving of the Law on Sinai. It is believed by some scholars that the law was given at the time of the feast of Pentecost, that is, fifty days after the first Passover.

So the Holy Spirit is more than the Comforter who guides us into all truth. He is our Law, the law of the new covenant. He is to be obeyed as He leads into deliverance from sin and also into the development of Christ in us.

The expression, "As many as are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God" (Romans 8:14), follows and explains the preceding verse, which warns us about living according to our sinful nature. The Spirit of God, if we are listening to Him, is always leading us to put to death the actions of our sinful nature and to press into the eternal life that results finally in the immortality of the body.

For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. (Romans 8:13,14)

The Law of Moses is the servant who brings us to Christ. This relationship between the Law of Moses and the new covenant is not always explained clearly.

Are we under any part of the Law of Moses? No, if we have "died with Christ" and are living by His Life, the Life of the Spirit of God.

When we are following the Spirit of God each day, we are without condemnation. The righteousness of the Law is fulfilled in us.

In order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:4)

But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. (Galatians 5:18)

What does the Apostle Paul mean when he states that the new covenant is not of the letter but of the Spirit? He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. (II Corinthians 3:6)

Now, precisely what does Paul mean by "the letter kills but the Spirit gives life"?

Paul means that attempting to obey the text of the New Testament, which consists of the words of Christ and His Apostles, without looking to the Lord, results in confusion and a religious spirit.

The reason there are so many divisions among the Christian denominations is that the ministers as well as the people are endeavoring to follow the text of the New Testament as though it were the same as the Law of Moses. Since one person interprets a passage one way, and another person interprets it in a different way, we have division.

The Scriptures did not come through the human mind. The Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, came through holy men who were moved by the Holy Spirit. The Scriptures can be rightly understood only as holy people are moved by the Holy Spirit.

Take the Book of Revelation, for example. How many devout teachers of the Bible have constructed timelines in connection with their explanation of the meaning of the Book of Revelation. It appears that every such teacher disagrees with the other teachers.

The only manner in which the words of Christ and His Apostles can be interpreted is by the Spirit of wisdom and revelation. They cannot possibly be understood or applied correctly by scholars using their intellectual processes.

In order to understand and apply the words of the New Testament we have to have apostles. Teachers learn from other teachers, and soon we have a hodgepodge of error. This is true today. Every once in a while God sends apostles to the Body of Christ. They are people whom Christ draws to Himself and explains what He has said, is saying, and yet will say to the Body of Christ.

If ever a generation needed an apostle it is the present generation. There are ministers today who claim to be apostles; but it is not evident that they are. And so error is heaped on error.

There are numerous errors in current Evangelical theology. Perhaps the most damaging of all is the current presentation of Divine grace as an alternative to growth in righteous behavior. The emphasis on an "any-moment rapture" of the believers also is damaging, because it is leaving the Christian people unprepared for the moral chaos we are entering.

The pattern of redemption that God has followed in the Protestant Reformation is revealed in the seven feasts of Israel. We have been at feast number four, Pentecost. Now the Spirit of God is moving us into the fulfillments of the last three celebrations: the blowing of Trumpets; the Day of Atonement; and the feast of Tabernacles.

The true apostles of Christ will be explaining to us the fulfillments of the final three observances, because this is what the Spirit of God is telling us about today. This does not mean they will necessarily refer to the seven feasts of Israel. But they will emphasize the fulfillments: the Lord coming to cleanse His people; the reconciliation of our whole personality to God; God making His Throne and settling down to rest in prepared saints. Those who are following the Spirit of God are finding themselves moving into these fulfillments, although they do not always understand what is happening to them.

In conclusion let us say that the new covenant is a covenant of the Spirit, not of the letter of the New Testament. The Spirit will never lead us contrary to what Christ and His Apostles have spoken and written. But the Spirit will, using both the Old Testament and the New Testament, tell us what Christ is saying today.

The Spirit will enable us to correctly understand and apply the Scriptures, both Old and New Testament, until the Morning Star arises in our heart and we think, speak, and act in the Spirit of God, just as our Lord Jesus always does.

And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. (II Peter 3:19)

You can hear the morning sermon at morning. http://www.wor.org/audio/audio.htm

You can hear the evening sermon at evening. http://www.wor.org/audio/audio.htm

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