morning turn to the book of Romans
chapter 8. The book of Romans chapter 8. I want to begin reading this
morning with verse 5 and read down through verse 16. Verse
5 through verse 16 of Romans chapter 8. The Apostle Paul writing to the
church at Rome says, For they that are after the flesh do mind
the things of the flesh, but they that are after the Spirit
the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally or fleshly
minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal or fleshly
mind is enmity against God. Never ever will be anything else
but that. Make no difference how many blessings
you receive from the Lord, the carnal mind, fleshly mind, is
always enmity toward God. It is not reconciled to the ways
of God, not reconciled to the truth of God. It is always in
rebellion against God's ways and God's word and God's heart. Because the carnal or fleshly
mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law
of God, neither indeed can be." That's what that means. Neither
indeed can be. So then, they that are in the
flesh cannot please God. Now that means that If you're
in the flesh, it means that you've not been regenerated by the Spirit
of God. It means you're unconverted.
It means that God's Spirit is not in you. It does not dwell
in you. And if that be the case, then you cannot please God. You
say, Preacher, I intend to turn over a new leaf. I want you to
know that I'm going to reform. I want you to know I have every
intention of ending up different than what I am now. I want you
to know that. Well, that may be the case, but
I want you to understand that the Bible says in the flesh you
cannot please God. Making a difference how dedicated
you are, you cannot do anything in this body of flesh that is
going to please God Almighty to the point where that he's
going to have mercy on you and where he's going to forgive you
and receive you into everlasting glory. We must be in the Spirit. But listen to this in verse 9.
But you're not in the flesh. That's speaking to God's people.
Speaking to converted people, saved people. But you're not
in the flesh, but in the Spirit. Now it is true we're still dwelling
in this body of flesh. but the Bible says that we're
in the spirit, that God sees us, if his spirit be in us, he
sees us as being in the spirit. If so, be that the spirit of
God dwell in you. Now does the spirit of God dwell
in you? Then if it does, then you are not in the flesh, looked
upon as being in the flesh, but you're looked upon as being in
the spirit by God. Now, if any man have not, the
Spirit of Christ, He is none of His. And if Christ be in you,
the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because
of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him that
raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you. He that raised
up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies
by his spirit that dwelleth in you. Therefore, brethren, we're
debtors not to the flesh to live after the flesh. For if you live
after the flesh, you shall die. But if you through the spirit
do kill the deeds of the body, you shall live. For as many as
are led by the Spirit of God They are the sons of God. For
you have received not the spirit of bondage again to fear, but
you have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry,
Abba, Father. The spirit itself beareth witness
with our spirit that we are the children of God. Then if you
have your Bibles open, I'd like for us to look at verse nine,
primarily here this morning, and we're gonna speak on the
last part of verse nine, where it says, now, now if any man
have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his. One of the
things that I believe that I have been faithful to do in my ministry,
that has lasted about 48 years now is that I have been earnest. I think it can be said of me
that I have been earnest in the preaching of the gospel and that
there has been no foolishness that went on when I was in the
pulpit. That my business was to have
a word from God and to preach that word as faithfully and as
earnestly and zealously as I knew how to do so. And by the Spirit
of God, we hope to do the same this morning. This indeed, there's
so many things in this world that happens day after day in
this world that makes us solemn. and that makes us to feel greatly
that we need, if we do not feel that we are afflicted, that we
need to afflict ourselves and get ourselves right with God
in our hearts. And that we need to humble ourselves
before the Lord and to cry earnestly to God in our day. We have so
many, many people around us that are absolutely full of foolishness
and wickedness and sin that we absolutely know hardly how to
address this generation of people. But I want this morning, by the
grace of God, and I felt a holy impulse, a motion of the Spirit
of God in my heart to speak to you on this verse of Scripture
today, and I trust that God will use it. I heard this week about
a family that my daughter Sarah, when she was teaching school
in Texas, became familiar with. And there were three boys, David
and John and Michael. And Michael was the youngest,
and he was 18 years old. He graduated from high school
this past spring. And this last week, he went in
his pickup truck to obtain hog feed for his dad and he rolled
the pickup truck and he was thrown out the truck rolled over him
and killed him and they had his funeral on Friday and yesterday
brother Roy and I was talking with a gentleman here in town
and he was telling us about his son that had rolled a pickup
this last week and the boy came out of it just scratched and
with a few bruises. And I thought to myself, Lord,
only you know whether the people that I'm preaching to this morning,
whether they're gonna be here next week or whether they're
gonna be alive, whether they're gonna be in this world, whether they're
gonna have changed worlds, where they're gonna be next week. Lord,
help me to be honest with their souls and help me. Lord, to preach
to them as a dying man to dying people that they might understand
the seriousness of what it means to be living in God's world and
living off of God's bounty and enjoying the blessings of God
under the sun and not having any faith and heart trust toward
the Son of God. Now you say, well, you sound
like an evangelist. Well, let me say that Paul said,
do the work of an evangelist. And so I believe that is my responsibility
and obligation. So with all seriousness this
morning, we approach this text of scripture. Now if any man
have not, the spirit of Christ he is none of his and I call
this message a fatal deficiency a fatal deficiency now this is
indeed one of the most solemn text in the whole Bible it is
so sweeping it deals with every one of us if any man have not
the spirit of Christ he is none of his and it deals with the
most important point about us for to belong to Christ To belong
to the Lord Jesus Christ is the most essential thing for time
and eternity. We are not Christ unless we have
His Spirit dwelling in our hearts. Now this text cuts to the bone. It pierces to the dividing asunder
of the soul and spirit and the joints and the marrow. It's dealing
with the thoughts, if you please, and the very intents of our heart.
It speaks to the soul, and though it be the voice of the gospel,
yet its sound is as terrible as the thunders of Sinai. If any man have not the Spirit
of Christ, he is none of his. Well, do we not all earnestly
desire to belong to the Lord Jesus Christ? Maybe not when
you're around your wicked friends, but when you get along by yourself.
I mean when the darkness closes in upon your soul, and when you're
by yourself, do you not earnestly desire to belong to another? Do you not desire to belong to
a savior, a redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ? Do we not tremble
at the thought of being said of us that we're none of His?
Think of it. It shall be said of us, if we
have not the Spirit of Christ, that we're none of His. Now,
beloved, there are four things that I'd like to talk about here
briefly this morning. First of all, the title that's
here given to the Holy Spirit. He is called the Spirit of Christ. Secondly, the absolute necessity
of having the Spirit of God. Thirdly, the evidences which
will show us whether we have the Spirit or not. And fourthly,
the consequences of being found without the Spirit of the Lord
Jesus. So first of all, the title, the
Spirit of Christ, what does it signify? Well, I believe it signifies
that the Spirit of God in a very peculiar and special way rested
upon our Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, while he was in this
world. The manhood of Christ was begotten
of the Spirit of God. When the power of the highest
overshadowed the Virgin Mary, she was found with child of the
Holy Ghost, Matthew 1 and verse 18. And then when our Lord first
appeared in public, to be recognized as the Son of God when he went
down into the waters of the Jordan River and came up there from,
the Spirit descended upon him like a dove and rested upon him
while the voice of God proclaimed out of heaven, this is my beloved
Son in whom I am well pleased. Matthew 3 and verse 16. Then Matthew chapter 4 and verse
1, did it not say that he was led of the Spirit into the wilderness
to be tempted of the devil? and we read that he returned
after his temptation, he returned into Galilee in the power of
the Holy Spirit. Now when we began to preach the
first chapter that he read, when he began to preach, and the very
first chapter that he read in public was Isaiah chapter 61
and verse 1, it says, the Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because
he hath anointed me to preach the gospel unto the poor. His
ministry was not a dead ministry of the letter, but it stood in
the power of the Spirit of God. His ministry was a ministry of
power. He taught the people as one having
authority and not as the scribes. All through the life of Christ,
you see that the Spirit of God rested upon him in the fullness
of power, for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. Second of all I believe that
he's called the Spirit of Christ because our Lord Jesus gives
us the Holy Spirit John the Baptist said I indeed baptize you with
water unto repentance and but he that cometh after me is mightier
than I, whose shoes I'm not worthy to bear. He shall baptize you
with the Holy Ghost and with fire. And our brother read to
us out of 1 Corinthians chapter 12 this morning, verse 13, says
that we were all baptized by the Spirit of God into one body
of Christ, baptized by the Holy Ghost. And so we've been baptized
by the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ. The body of Christ
has many members, but we are members in a particular way in
that body, having been put there by the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Now, Jesus spoke of giving to
men the living water, which should be in them as a springing well,
and this spake he, the Bible says, of the Spirit, which was
given when Jesus was glorified. That's in John 7, verse 38 and
39. And after His resurrection, the Lord Jesus breathed on His
disciples and said, Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Note again in
His ascension, the Holy Spirit came down. It is expedient for
you that I go away, John said, but if I go not away, the Comforter,
which is the Holy Ghost, will not come unto you. So the Lord
Jesus arose to the Father, and then the rushing of the mighty
wind of the Spirit was heard. And from that moment, the Church
of God, in the book of Acts there, chapter 2, was baptized in the
Holy Ghost. And God grant that we may never
forget that day of days as the Church let us walk in the power
bestowed at Pentecost. Joel the prophet said in Joel
2, verse 28 and 29, I will pour out of my spirit upon all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your old
men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions,
and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids. In those
days will I pour out my spirit. Well, I suppose that a whole
sermon could be preached on each one of these points, but we must
move on. The Spirit of Christ, the Holy
Ghost was upon Christ, and the Holy Spirit is called the Spirit
of Christ because every movement of our Master in this world,
it was by and through the power of the Holy Spirit, and the Holy
Spirit anointed Him for His work. and blessed him in his work,
enabling him to accomplish the work that he accomplished while
he was here in the world. That's the Spirit of God, the
Spirit of Christ. Well, the second thing we're
to speak about is the necessity of having the Spirit of Christ
dwelling in us. If any man, Romans here verse
9 of chapter 8 says, if any man, it may be argued that it's not
fair to lump all men together like this. After all, some have
a very kind nature and disposition and were never known to speak
a lie or do an unkind thing from their childhood up. from their
very childhood up. And so you see, they say, well,
we should not lump all men together and say that all men of necessity
must have the Holy Spirit because we do differ. Well, my friend,
there may be some differences, but there's so many similarities
that Paul said, if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he's
none of his. And some of those similarities is we're all sinners.
Every one of us born in sin. We were born in sin. The Bible
says we fell in the first man Adam. And we're lost and undone
without the Lord Jesus Christ. And make no difference what you've
done in your lifetime. You are in need of the Spirit
of God and you cannot belong to God except as his spirit comes
and dwells in your heart. I've told you before, I'd rather
tell an unpleasant truth than a pleasant lie. And the truth
is, if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he's not his. If any
man, whoever, however amiable that man may be, if he have not
the Spirit of Christ, we must say the same thing as we would
to a drunkard and to a thief. He is none of Christ. Make no
difference how religious he is. Make no difference how many religious
denominations he's a member of. He's none of Christ if he does
not have the Holy Spirit. The fairest flowers, as surely
as the foulest weeds, are none of Christ if they be not of the
Spirit's planting. What lack I yet? said the rich
young ruler. This one lack, the lack of the
Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, is fatal to the noblest
character, and Christ disowns utterly every man who has not
his Spirit in him. But can we not, by adding outward
religiousness to moral excellency, somehow or other, rise by our
own efforts to be true Christians without the Holy Ghost? Can we
not become a Christian without the Spirit of God? I mean, is
it of necessity? Must you pin us down, preacher,
and tell us that we must, that it's an absolute imperative that
we have the Holy Spirit I'm telling you this morning that it doesn't
make any difference about how we would conduct ourselves in
this world. We cannot make ourselves Christians
by our own strength and by our own power. Can we not be baptized? Can we not kneel as God's people
kneel and sing as they sang and take the Lord's Supper? Yes,
yes, you can do all of that, but this test is still true and
we'll read the same to the judgment. If any man have not the Spirit
of Christ, he's none of his. Now if it were possible for you
to produce the same virtues in yourself which are produced by
the Holy Spirit in God's people, and it is not possible, they
would not suffice to test my friend is absolute. you must
have the Holy Spirit dwelling in your heart. Now the difference
between the regenerate and the unregenerate is not one of degree,
but one of kind. A dead soul cannot develop into
a living one, nor can the carnal mind improve into a spiritual
mind. It's not possible, it cannot
be done. This ought to lead every rational
man or woman utterly to despair of saving him or herself by any
strength of their own. You cannot become a Christian
by any other means than by the Holy Spirit of God coming, regenerating
your heart, baptizing you by the Holy Ghost into the family
of God. And that is the only way to become
a Christian. Now you must look to the divine
agency. You cannot look to helpless preachers
and helpless social workers and the people of God. They're helpless.
They cannot do anything for you. You must look to the divine agency. We're driven to the Holy Spirit
because without Him, whatever you may do or be, this text,
like the cherubic sword which kept the entrance to the Garden
of Eden, prevents your hoping to obtain eternal life. by your
own power. Except a man be born, in John
3 and 5 it says, of the water and of the spirit, he cannot
enter into the kingdom of God. The text makes no exception. The oldest church member, and
maybe that's me, no i suppose it's not it's probably miss ledford
the oldest church member they make a difference who they are
uh... whether it be one of the church officers those held in
highest esteem by the church surely they'll be saved somebody
said without all of this that you're talking about surely they'll
be saved without the holy spirit well my friend they will not
my mother was a you say my mother was a very virtuous woman preacher
Well, she might have been a very virtuous woman, and she might
have been, like the proverb says, her virtues might have excelled
the virtues of all women. But she still is not in heaven
unless she died with the Spirit of God in her soul. Make any
difference whose mother she was. You don't go to heaven unless
God's touched you, unless the hand of God has touched you,
unless the Spirit of God has come upon you and the Spirit
of God has entered into your heart and made you a new creature
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Does it make any difference how
virtuous you are? My friend, I'm saying that by
no means if they have not the Spirit of Christ. Friends, we're
all on a par here. The ground is level here. Every
one of us must have the Spirit of Christ. The doorkeeper is
on the same footing as the presiding elder in the church when it comes
to this text. On the same footing. No difference. No difference. No difference.
We must be born again. We must have the Spirit of Christ. Now there are those who glory
in the name of Christian. as if the name itself was some
great thing. It is not wearing the name of
Christ, but having the spirit of Christ, which will prove us
to be accepted of God. Don't forget it. Somebody said,
well, I've been called a Christian all my life. Well, that won't
cut any ice with God. Just because you've been called
a Christian doesn't mean you are one. But if the Spirit of
God is in you and dwells in you, then that, my friend, will be
a sign and evidence that we're accepted of God in Christ. We shall fare ill at the last
great day if the Spirit of God be not in us. Do not think that
I'm setting up some standard here of my own. I'm not. This
is not my word. We're keeping to the text. If
any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. Well,
thirdly then, we're to talk about the evidences of having the Spirit. Do I have the Spirit? Do I have
the Holy Spirit dwelling in me? Well, you know, a long time after
I was converted, I wondered about whether or not the Holy Spirit
was in me or not. But then the Spirit of God began
to bear witness with my spirit. The Spirit of God began to lead
me. The Spirit of God began to direct me in my life. And I discovered
that, bless God, hallelujah, praise His name, the Holy Spirit
had come and took up residence in my life. And so if the question
is asked, do I have the Spirit? I must humbly answer the question. I must humbly answer the question. But I must say in all honesty,
yes. Bless God, thank God the Holy
Spirit has come in to this poor trembling sinner. And I do have
the Spirit. Well, you either have it or you
don't have it. the Spirit of God dwelling in your heart. If
you have the Spirit in the first place, and I'm to give you some
evidences as to whether you have the Spirit in you or not. In
the first place, as it is the Spirit of Christ, I believe it
has led you to Christ. If you have been led to Christ,
I mean, if you've been led away from Moses, if you've been led
to Christ, if you've been led away from yourself, if you've
been taught enough about yourself that you leave yourself and go
to Jesus, if you've come to Christ, if you've been enabled to come
to Him, then, my friend, that's an evidence that the Spirit of
God is dwelling in your heart because the Spirit of God teaches
men and women, boys and girls, to Christ. the spirit of god
would teach you that you're unable in and of yourself to help yourself
that you absolutely have not the ability to save yourself
you have no ability to atone for your sin you have no ability
to put away your guilt you have no ability to prepare yourself
and to make yourself meet for the inheritance of the saints
in life you have no ability to stand before god the spirit of
god will teach you that you must come and be clothed upon with
the garment of salvation. That garment is woven from the
top to the bottom by the doing and dying of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the Spirit of God will teach
you that and draw you unto the Lord Jesus. John 6 and 63 says,
it is the spirit that quickeneth. It's the spirit that makes alive.
The flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I speak, their
spirit and their life. But it's the Spirit that does
the quickening, makes men live. And you're dead. You're dead
in sin, lifeless. God does not look upon you as
a live soul. You're a dead soul before God.
And only the Spirit of God can make you alive. Have you been
delivered from all fleshly confidence? Paul said in Philippians chapter
3, we're of the true circumcision, which worship God in the spirit
and have no confidence in the flesh. Our trust is in Christ. Come to where you have no confidence
in the flesh. If you come to that place, surely
that's the working of God's spirit. Surely the spirit of God has
withered. You know the scripture says all
flesh is as grass. And all the glory of man is the
flower of the grass, and the grass withereth, and the flower
thereof falleth away, but the word of the Lord endureth forever.
This flesh is as grass, and it must be withered by the Spirit
until a man has no further confidence in it, until he'll turn to Christ
with all of his heart, and Christ will become to him his all in
all. Have you been brought to the
foot of the cross and been made to see that there on that bloody
cross hangs all of your salvation? There on that bloody, bloody
cross outside the city of Jerusalem, there on that cross, have you
been brought to see one withering Savior hanging there on that
tree? Have you been made to see Him
any suffering and agony? How that he died in order to
spare your soul? Have you been unable to believe
on him and trust in him? Have you come to that place?
Are you trusting solely and entirely the blood and righteousness of
the crucified Son of God? If you are, you have the Spirit
of Christ. You have the Spirit of Christ. For the Spirit that
leads a man to faith in Christ is the Spirit of Christ. Now,
you could have never come to Christ if you'd not been drawn.
None will draw you but the Heavenly Father by the Spirit. No man
can come except to be drawn. It's the Spirit that does the
drawing, draws us to the Lord Jesus Christ. Are you resting
wholly upon Jesus? If so, then you have His Spirit. There's another question. Do
you feel in your soul a desire to honor the Lord Jesus Christ?
I mean, would you be willing to be a fool for Christ's sake?
Would you be willing? You say, Preacher, I don't know
whether I'd be willing to be a fool for Christ's sake or not. Well,
let me ask you this. Do you love to hear Him, Christ
Jesus, extolled? I mean, does it do your old heart
good? Make no difference how feeble the preacher is if he
gets up and extols your merciful Savior. If he preaches Christ,
if he exalts Christ, if he lifts Him up, I mean, if he declares
Him to be the Son of God with power, I mean, does that rejoice
your heart? Does that make you glad inside?
Does that make you say, well, I just, I mean, you know, we've
had a good service because Christ has been extolled. We didn't
have the biggest crowd, but we had a good meeting because the
Lord Jesus was lifted up. I mean, is it in your heart?
Can you say that you hate everything which robs him of his glory?
Can you say that? Well, if you can say that, then
you have His Spirit dwelling in your heart. Everything that
robs Him of His glory. My friend, I do hate everything
that would take the crown off the head of our Lord Jesus Christ. Work mongering, to me, I hate
work mongering. To me, I am against, absolutely
against these antichrists that's always preaching up something
else besides the Lamb of God for the Savior. Trying to teach
men and women that there's some efficacy in something else besides
the Lamb of God. I hate that kind of preaching. I like one kind of preaching,
and that's the kind of preaching that gives Him the glory, that
strips away every inch of ground of glorying on the part of the
sinner and puts the crown upon the head of King Jesus. That's
the only kind of preaching I got any time for. I wouldn't waste
my time listening to anybody preach that didn't put the crown
on the head of my Redeemer. I'm going to heaven and the reason
I'm going is because of Him. and all glory be unto his name. Glory, glory be unto his name. And that thrills my heart. Do
you love to hear him extol? Is that all right? I mean, does
that do you good? Or somehow or other you say, well, I think
that preacher's heaping a little bit of praise here upon him that
maybe I ought to have. My friend, you are not deserving
of any praise. And you're not going to heaven
if you feel you are. Because you'd turn heaven into
hell by your boasting if you got there. And I'm telling you,
there he's going to have all the honor. There he's going to
have all the glory. And there he'll be exalted and
lifted up. I mean not like you ever heard
him on earth. Because no preacher has the ability,
no preacher has the vocabulary, no preacher has the spirit so
that he might be able to exalt him like he'll be exalted in
glory. Don't you look forward to that
day? Hallelujah! We look forward to that day when
our Lord will be exalted. Can you say, then, that you hate
everything which robs Him of His glory? Do you love that sermon
best, which most exalts Jesus? You say, well, I like to hear
a good sermon. But the best one is that one
that exalts the Son of God and lifts Him up. Have you ever felt
that you would do anything if it could be for His sake? Have
you ever felt that way? That you'd do anything. If it
could be proven that it was for His sake, the sake of the Redeemer,
that you were doing it, would you do it? Would you do it for
his sake? Would you do it? I mean, if the
Lord was to lay hold of you and said, I want you to preach, young
man, would you do it for his sake? Say, well, I've got other
plans. I've got other plans. I'm going
to get an education, and I mean to go out and make a name for
myself in this world. Well, God can shut your breath
off just like that. I mean, he's got it in his hands.
You see? That's in His hands. You say,
well, I'm kind of self-willed preacher. We all are self-willed.
But I'm talking about redeemed people. I'm talking about people
that have the Spirit of Christ in their heart. I'm talking about
people who have crucified the flesh with the affections and
lusts thereof. I'm talking about people who
mortified the deeds of the body that they might live. I'm talking
about People that's been baptized by the Holy Spirit and the Pentecostals,
let them go on with what they believe. But I'm telling you
what we believe. We believe that a man who has
the Spirit of Christ dwelling in him is an individual to lay
down his life. for Christ, that he'd do anything
he could do if it could be proven it was for Christ's sake. He
would deny himself and say, I don't even know that man. That man
there wants to do this, he wants to do that. I don't know that
man. That's what it means in the Bible when it says that you
take up your cross, you deny yourself. You deny yourself means
you don't know the man that wants to live contrary to the Lord
Jesus Christ, that wants to walk in a way that would defame the
name of the Son of God. So would you be willing to do
it for Christ's sake, whatever it is? I mean, if you've got
to get a hold of yourself of a nap of the neck and say, now
wait a minute, mister, we cannot do this. We cannot do it. We
must not do it. For the glory of His name, for
the honor of His name, we will walk the way that our Lord would
have us to, for the glory of His name. He can change things
in an instant if He wants to, but right now, I'm going to do
it for his sake. I'm going to walk as God would
have me to do. Would you be willing to live
or die to crown our Lord's most blessed head? Would you be willing
to do it? Then, my friend, I can say that
if you do adore Him with all of your heart, And if you do
want Him to be honored and magnified and glorified, and if you believe
He's worthy of all praise and honor and worship, then I believe
I can say of you that you have the Spirit of Christ dwelling
in your heart. That's what a Christian is. And
you may believe it down the road one of these days, you may be
able to say, with judgment day honesty, I remember hearing that
old preacher talk about what it meant to have the Holy Spirit
dwelling in your heart. And I was able to answer that
day, yes, I believe that the Spirit of God dwells in me. Well, next, if you have the Spirit
of Christ, it'll make you like Christ. That's right. You say,
Preacher, you're setting an awful high standard. Well, my friend,
first in relation to God. Christ lived for God, did he
not? He lived for God. Twelve years old. Scripture said,
Wist ye not? Jesus said that I must be about
my Father's business. Does not the word of God say
that zeal of God's house hath eaten him up? His meat and drink
were to do the will of his Father who had sent him. Brother, sister,
is that the way you feel towards God? Then you have the Spirit
of Christ, because that's the way Christ felt. My meat and
my drink is to do the will of my Heavenly Father. We do it
imperfectly. But that's our desire, that's
our ambition, is to do His will and to do it from our hearts. And if we would then, bless God,
we can lay claim to having the Spirit of Christ. Next, the Spirit
of Christ is the spirit of prayer. It kept the Son of God in constant
communion with the Father. If you have the spirit of sonship,
you will be much in prayer unto the Lord. Again, Christ's worship
was always the spiritual worship. He worshiped with his whole heart
and soul in truth and spirit. The traditions of men, their
different worship and observances were nothing to him. He walked
with God and he needed not their childish ordinances. His was
a spiritual life, is yours. Is yours a spiritual life. He who is in the flesh is ruled
by the flesh. Flesh is king in his heart. Flesh, what the flesh wants,
what the flesh desires, what the flesh would incline you toward. Humanism is the curse of the
hour. and humanism are in what we might say they're compatible
and the flesh is your curse, my friend. And if flesh is king,
then you're not a Christian. Trust, you trust flesh. I mean,
you listen to the ungodly, won't you? You listen to their music.
You listen to the ungodly. I'm going to tell you that's
an evidence that you're without God. That's what that's an evidence
of. And you listen to the advice of the wicked and walk in the
ways of the men of this world. I'm telling you That's an indication
that you don't have anything spiritual about you. Because
those that have the Spirit, the Spirit of God is King. And they
pray and walk and trust and worship. And this is in the Spirit. I
told you that I'd tell you the truth. And I'll tell you as earnestly
as I know how. Next, the Spirit of Christ was
towards men a Spirit of love. He was ready to do good to all
those around Him. He fed the hunger, you know.
He healed the sick, he never considered himself. but spend
his life for others, laying himself out for them. That's what he
did. Talking about the Lord Jesus.
Now, I'm not preaching myself. Paul said, I don't preach myself.
I preach Christ Jesus, the Lord. I'm telling you that this man,
Jesus, he laid himself out for others. And that's why you got
the blessed hope that you have today. He laid down his life
for you. Laid it down. Do you feel in
your soul a love? to those around you? For God's
sake? For Christ's sake? For the truth's
sake? Do you feel something in your
soul for somebody else besides your own selfish self? Is there
anything in you that reaches out to those that are in need
around you. Anything! I mean, is there some
good small thing in you that would want to do something for
the glory of God and for the assistance of those around you? Souls are desperately in need
of salvation and life. Just something! Could you have
time to mention their name in prayer before the throne of grace?
Would you have time to do that? Maybe their name has never been
heard in heaven. Would you have time to do that?
Would you have time to say a word to them? You say, you know, I
hesitate to say anything. Hesitate to say something! My
friend, let me tell you something. If that individual ends up dead
before another Lord's day, You'll be running around here whining
and crying around because you hesitated to say something. Speak
up! If there's somebody in need of
a word, say something to them and speak to them about their
soul and their need of spiritual life. Be pleased. Oh may God
help us to be pleased in our hearts with such work as that.
Now we'll be about the Father's business and this will be an
evidence that we have the Spirit of the Living Christ. Again,
if we have the Spirit of Christ, it would show itself by its operation
in our hearts. We'll feel it moving within us. Somebody said, that just sounds
like Holy Roller religion to me. Well, let the Holy Rollers
have what they can get. But I'm telling you what is true,
that they that are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of
God. And I'm here to tell you the
Spirit of God does move. in the hearts of God's living
family. And I can tell you story after
story that I've read and some that I've experienced of my own
of how the Spirit of God moves upon the heart and in the soul
of the Lord's people and how that the Spirit of God brings
them to fruitfulness and brings them to meet people and come
in contact with people that God is going to save. motions of
the Spirit. We feel the Spirit of God moving
upon our soul. It will make us hate evil. It'll
love that which is good. It'll make us brave and courageous
for God and truth. It'll move us to joy in God,
to hope in God, to delight in God. It'll move us to get up.
Get up on Sunday morning and to do what we ought to do. It'll
move us to come out. And I've been thinking for some
time that, you know, we get awful lazy and dilatory. And I'll tell
you what, the Spirit of God in us, oh, I'm praying for revival. I'm praying if you're not afflicted,
God will afflict you. I'm praying that the Lord will
stir you up. I'm praying that you'll come into this place with
a burden and broken heart. I pray that you'll come in here.
with a desire to see God move and affect somebody under the
preaching of the gospel. I'm praying that God will revive
this church and the people that now that can take it or leave
it, that they'll only be able to take it. Oh, what a blessed
day that would be if everybody would be strengthened and be
strong in the Lord, brave and courageous, and would stand fast. And I'm looking for that young
person, that young man that will stand up and say, Preacher, I
just want to be here every service. I want to hear every gospel message.
I want to be in the Spirit on the Lord's day. And I want to
be an instrument. I want to be a servant of God.
That's what I want to be. That's what I want to be. Let
everybody else be what they want to be. I want to be a servant
of God. That's what I want to be. Alright, that brings me to
the very last thing. The last point is the sad consequences
of not having the Spirit. Now it does not say that if you
have not the Spirit you won't get a reward. Some people looking
for that reward, the pie in the sky, by and by. But that's not
what this is talking about. No, it doesn't mean that. It
says that if you have not the Spirit, he's none of his. The
Lord does not own him at all. It means that everything is gone
if we're none of his. He's no disciple of mine, says
Christ. Whoever he may belong to, he
does not belong to me, says Christ. Whatever church body he may belong
to, they can have him. Old preacher, he's worth a whole
lot. Well, he won't be worth a dime when he's dead. Not only
that, but it's gonna cost money to put him away. He ain't no
good. If he don't belong to Christ,
he's none of his. Whatever church, you can have
him. He's no member of the body of Christ, for the Spirit dwells
in all the members of his body, the church. None of his, none
of his. These words are like a dagger
to the soul. If I'm none of his because I
have not the Spirit, then whose am I anyway? I ask you to look
at that question in the face with judgment day honesty. Whose
am I anyway? Well, you're the devil's. It
must be so that you're a child of the devil. He who died upon
the cross will have nothing to do with you. He disowns you.
He who is risen into his glory, he disowns you. Oh, what a misery. When he comes in the glory of
the Father and calls his sheep to his right hand, that they
may enjoy eternal blessedness in his company, he'll say, I
never knew you. I never knew you. What are you
if you're not Christ? Well, you're a stray, that's
what you are, and you're a wreck that's drifted out to sea, soon
to sink forever and ever. Where are you? Well, you're on
your way to the judgment, on the road to eternal condemnation. If you're not here, you're going
as fast as time can carry you away, away, away to that place
where not a ray of hope will ever pierce the midnight darkness,
where despair will last for all eternity. Friend, it is a dreadful
thing to live a moment in an unforgiving state. Dreadful thing
for you to get in your automobile and start down the highway in
an unforgiving state. It's a dreadful thing. You see,
there's a gate that opens out into eternity where every one
of you is sitting this morning. And every time you get in the
automobile, get on an airplane, wherever, there's a gate that
opens up into eternity. And if you die outside of Christ
without the Spirit of God, my friend, it's curtains. He that
believeth not is condemned already because he hath not believed
on the name of the only begotten Son of God. Condemned already. Already condemned before the
plane goes down or before the car turns over. Condemned already. Go into hell when you die. Sinner,
you're standing over the mouth of hell upon a single board,
and that board is rotten. Absolutely rotten. You're hanging
over the joys of perdition by a thread, and the angel of justice
is ready to cut the thread. None of his, none of his. Oh, how dreadful to live. None
of his. And to die, none of his. and
to have this for your epitaph on your tombstone, none of his,
none of his. There's a Savior, but you're
none of his. Oh, what will it be to see that bottomless pit
open her mouth to devour you and you descending down, down,
down, down, forever descending down to understand as you're
on your way down in that bottomless pit, none of his. Those words
will echo in your heart and your brain throughout eternity. None of his. None of his. None of his. You sinner, the
poet said, seek his face, whose wrath you cannot bear. bow to
the scepter of His grace and find salvation there. Trust Him. Trust Him. Trust Him. That's
the word. Look to the Lord Jesus Christ
and trust Him. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shall be saved. May the Spirit of God come down
and indwell someone here this morning. Somebody's heart be
indwelled by the Holy Spirit because if any man have not the
Spirit of Christ. He's none of his. Father, in
the name of Jesus, bless the preaching of the Word and encourage
those that are believers with this message, and those that
are not, O Lord, give them no rest, give them no peace. Deliver
their soul from a crashless eternity, in Jesus' name. Amen.