Sermons - 2008 Week 10 - Mar Wk 2
The Messages of Christ Crucified (Part 6)
Various Texts
The sermon began with an exhortation to live the spirit-filled life.
To begin with, some people fake being spirit-filled by looking holy, but
there is no joy in their lives. Do we not claim the promises in
Ephesians 5:18-19 which states, “but be filled with the Spirit,
speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord,”. When spirit-
filled, there should be joy and there should be the fruit of the Spirit,
as shown in Galatians 5:22-23.
The question is: how thirsty are we for the Spirit?
John 7:37-39 reviews this issue.
Are you thirsty? Do you want to be filled with the Spirit?
One must come clean with the Lord to be filled with he Spirit.
If you are filled with sin, how is the spirit going to fill you?
Isaiah 59:1-3 reflects this. One cannot bargain with God. The Lord does not hear
when there are iniquities.
How clean is clean?
When one has sinned, confess and move on. Confession must come with repentance. Be careful in discerning
spiritual truths.
How to trust God for His promises?
It is not a matter of random opening of the Bible. It must be upon the Word of God and must be discerning.
Otherwise, when things don’t work out – one question that is asked is: where is God?
Christ has been crucified for us, for the unregenerate man. Christ has
been crucified as us, for our sanctification as a continuous process.
If there is no sanctification, any superficial “discipline” is just to
improve the old man.
Sanctification takes away sin and there is cleansing.
What kind of daily life should we live?
The new man also needs to bear the cross. He needs daily sacrifice and daily brokenness. Luke 9:23 tells us to take up the cross daily and follow Christ. Unless the new man bears the daily cross, he will still be the old man.
The body is the servant, not the master. The reason why so many of us
have no victory in our life is because our body is in control. Look at
1Th 5:23. The emphasis is on “spirit, soul and body”, not “body, soul and
spirit”. It is the de-emphasis placed upon the body in this verse.
There is nothing wrong with the flesh except when it lives for itself.
This dominion is ended when given in to the Spirit. Gal 5:24,” Those who
are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passion and desires.”
The flesh is not dead. God does not kill the flesh. When the Spirit
rules, the flesh is pure and right. On the other hand, if the flesh
rules, it accumulates a lot of garment and must be discarded. If flesh
is controlling habits, let God take control. Put off many old habits;
they may not be sinful but are not good, nevertheless.
Be soldiers of Jesus Christ. Have the desire to be spirit-filled. Ask
God to move us to new heights!
Mr and Mrs ET Chua
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