Taken from the book of Romans,
we are looking at chapter 8. Romans chapter 8. There is therefore
now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk
not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the
Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law
of sin and death. For what the law could not do,
in that it was weak through the flesh, God, sending his own Son
in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in
the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled
in us who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
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 minded is death, but to be spiritually minded
is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity
against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed
can be. So then they that are in the
flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh,
but in the Spirit. If so be that the Spirit of God
dwell in you. 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
are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For
if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die. But if ye through
the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For
as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of
God. For ye have not received the
spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye 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,
and if children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs
with Christ. If so be that we suffer with
him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the
sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared
with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest
expectation of the creation waiteth for the manifestation of the
sons of God. For the creation, or creature,
was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him
who has subjected the same in hope. because the creation itself
also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into
the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the
whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And
not only they, but ourselves also which have the firstfruits
of the Spirit, even we ourselves grown within ourselves, waiting
for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. For we
are saved by hope, but hope that is seen is not hope. But what
a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But we hope for that
we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. Likewise the Spirit
also helpeth our infirmities, for we know not what we should
pray for as we ought, but the Spirit itself maketh intercession
for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth
the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he
maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
And we know that all things work together for the good to them
that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he
also did predestinate, to be conformed to the image of his
Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover,
whom he did predestinate, them he also called. And whom he called,
them he also justified. And whom he justified, them he
also glorified. What shall we then say to these
things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared
not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall
he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay
anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It
is Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even
at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for
us. Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress,
or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword,
As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long.
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these
things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For
I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height,
nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us
from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen. Romans chapter 8 and verse 1,
we'll memorize next week, there is therefore now no condemnation,
that word condemnation means judgment, to them which are in
Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit. I do hope that you'll be able
to memorize that verse of scripture. Now then, for our text this morning,
I want to read verse 9. Romans chapter 8, verse 9. But you're not in the flesh,
but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now, if any man have not the
Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. I want to speak this
morning on the subject, a fatal deficiency. A fatal deficiency. If any man have not the Spirit
of Christ, he is none of his. Let us pray. Father, we look
to your hand this morning for a blessing. We look to you, our
Father, for the ability and for the power of the Holy Spirit
to be given that we might be able to speak this morning to
the honor and praise and glory of our blessed Redeemer, the
Lord Jesus Christ. We praise you this morning for
that privilege that we have of having the word of God to open
before us, to read therefrom, to memorize the scripture, to
be able to hide the word of God away in our hearts, that we might
not sin against thee, but that we might walk in the light of
thy word. Thy word is a lamp unto our feet,
a light unto our path. Father, we ask that you might
be pleased today to give power to the message that it may, our
Father, meet the needs of these that have gathered here this
morning. Oh, Father, there are those in our midst who have not
the Spirit of Christ. I pray today that thou will,
our Father, move upon them and give today the gift of the Holy
Spirit to various ones that are under the sound of our voice,
those in whom thou hast been doing a work, be pleased to open
their hearts, and may the Spirit of God in regeneration come upon
them, they being quickened, they being brought to life, they being
brought out of their sin and out of sin's death, may rejoice
in full salvation today. We do thank you for the gift
of the Holy Spirit. They that are led by the Spirit
of God are the sons of God. The Spirit of God beareth witness
with our spirit that we're children of God. How we thank you for
thy spirit. We ask now this morning that
we shall all be made to drink anew and afresh from that spirit
of Christ today. Father, we ask for those who
are not able to be here. We pray thou will comfort them.
We pray thou will bless them. We pray thou will encourage them.
We pray thou will heal the sick and the afflicted and lift them
up and grant grace, much grace to their lives in this hour.
Father, we thank you for returning the last of the travelers home
safely. And many of us have traveled
many miles this summer and thou has been in thy mercy. brought
us back to this place, and we thank you this morning that you've
been so gracious and so kind and compassionate toward us all. Grant us now to be refreshed
and to be blessed in this service today. In Jesus' name, amen. We read the text to you, verse
9, Romans chapter 8. I hope that the Spirit of God
will give us enlightenment and understanding as we attempt to
bring to you those thoughts this morning that the Lord has laid
upon our hearts. I hope that you'll have hearing
ears, that you'll be able to listen carefully to the Word
of God, that you would be able this morning just to forget about
everything that you left at home and forget about what you're
facing in the coming week, forget about your trials and your tests,
forget about the obligations that are weighing heavily upon
you, and just listen carefully this morning for a short time
here to the Word of God. I want to speak, as I said, on
a fatal deficiency. Now, if any man have not the
Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. This is one of the most
solemn texts in the whole Bible. It is such a sweeping statement. It deals with us all. If any man have not the Spirit
of Christ, he is none of his. And it deals, I think, with the
most important point about us, For to belong to Christ, is that
not the most essential thing for time and eternity? For a
soul to belong to the Lord Jesus Christ? We all want to have a
sense of belonging. Well, beloved, to belong to Christ
is eternal life. It's to have Jesus Christ dwelling
in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Now we're not Christ unless we
have His Spirit abiding in us. But you're not in the flesh,
Paul said in this ninth verse. He says you're not in the flesh.
Well, we all are in the flesh as far as our state. But those
who are born of the Spirit of God, those who have been regenerated,
quickened by God's Holy Spirit, brought out of death into life,
They are said to be not in the flesh, but they're in the Spirit. They're in the Spirit in that
that's the Spirit of God. He says, if so be that the Spirit
of God dwell in you, then if God's Spirit dwells in us, then,
beloved, we are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. That is our
position in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now then, as we look at this
text, I believe this text cuts us to the bone. It pierces even
to the dividing asunder of the joints and the marrow, dealing
with the very thoughts and the intents of our hearts. It speaks to the soul, does it
not? And though it be the voice of
the gospel, yet it sounds as terrible as the thunder 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? Certainly all of
us here have that deep down in our hearts as the desire of our
soul is to belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. Do we not tremble
at the thought of it being said of us at the last? that we're
none of His? Do we not tremble at that thought?
Do we not tremble at the thought of it being said that there was
a living Savior? There was a Savior that was crucified. There was a Savior that was hung
on a gory tree. There was a Savior who poured
out His life's blood. There was a Savior put to death.
There was a Savior who was resurrected out of the grave and now is enthroned
on high. and we are none of his. Isn't
that a terrible thing? Does that not make us tremble
in our hearts? Well, beloved, there's about
four things that I wish to talk about this morning from this
text. I hope that the Lord will give
us clarity of mind and thought to be able to express these four
things to you. First of all, I want to talk
about the title that is given to the Holy Spirit or the Holy
Ghost here. That is the title of the Spirit
of Christ. Secondly, I want to talk about
the absolute necessity of having the Spirit. And then thirdly,
I want to talk about the evidences which will show us whether we
have the Spirit of God or not. And then fourthly, we'll talk
a little about the consequences of being found without the Spirit
of Christ in the day of judgment. First of all, then, the title,
the Spirit of Christ. Well, I believe that it signifies
that the Spirit of God, in a peculiar way and in a special way, rested
upon the Lord Jesus Christ. The manhood of Christ was begotten
of the Spirit of God when the power of the highest overshadowed
the Virgin Mary. We read in Matthew 1.18 that
she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Certainly, we see
that in that text, how that the Spirit of God is connected in
a very peculiar and special way with the Lord Jesus Christ. 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 Jordan
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
the heavens, this is my beloved son. Matthew 3 and verse 16. And then after the baptism of
our Lord Jesus Christ, when the Spirit of God descended upon
him like a dove, he was led, Matthew 4, 1 tells us, of the
Spirit of God into the wilderness, there to be tempted of the devil. Now we read after his temptation
there in the wilderness that he returned into Galilee in the
power of the Spirit. He returned into Galilee in the
power of the Spirit. Now when the Lord Jesus began
to preach, the very first chapter that he read in public was Isaiah
chapter 61. where it says in verse 1, the
Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because he hath anointed me
to preach the gospel to the poor. So we see where the Holy Spirit
is in a very special and peculiar way upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, he is called here
in our text the Spirit of Christ. The ministry of the Lord Jesus
was not a dead ministry of the letter, but it stood in the power
of the Spirit of God. He taught the people as one having
authority and not as the scribes. All through the life of the Lord
Jesus Christ, we see that the Spirit of God rested upon Him
in fullness of power. For the Bible says that the Spirit
was not given by measure to the Lord Jesus Christ. He was anointed
with the full blessing of the Holy Ghost. And now in a second
place, I want to say that He's called the Spirit of Christ because
our Lord Jesus gives us the Holy Spirit. He gives us the Holy
Spirit, so therefore he is called the Spirit of Christ. Now John
the Baptist said, I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance,
but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes
I'm not worthy to unloose. He shall baptize you with the
Holy Ghost and with fire. The Lord Jesus Christ is that
one that baptizes his people with the Holy Spirit. Paul said
in 1 Corinthians chapter 12 and verse 13 that we've all been
baptized by one spirit into one body and that we've all been
made to drink of one spirit. Jesus Christ is the giver of
the Holy Spirit. Jesus spoke of giving to men
living water. In John chapter 7 and verse 38
and 39 He said that I'll give to you living water. You'll have
living water dwelling in you. It'll be springing up in you. And this He spake. He spake of
the Spirit which was to be given when the Lord Jesus would be
glorified. Now after the resurrection of
the Lord Jesus, He breathed on His disciples and said, Receive
ye the Holy Ghost. I'm trying to show you why that
Jesus here has this title given to him by the Apostle Paul. He's
the giver of the Holy Spirit. In his ascension, the Holy Spirit
came down from heaven. It is expedient for you, Jesus
said, that I go away. For if I go not away, the Comforter
will not come unto you. The Lord Jesus arose and went
to the Father. And then we hear the rushing
of the mighty wind in Acts 2 verses 1 through 4 of the Spirit of
God coming down, baptizing the church. And from that moment
on, the church of the Lord Jesus Christ was baptized for service. It was baptized in order to go
forth and preach the amazing gospel of the grace of God throughout
the world. And may God grant that we may
never forget that day of days as the church let us walk in
the power bestowed at Pentecost on the church. We need the power
of God. Beloved, you cannot get out of
the church what is not in it. and we need the power of God
in our day. We need to recognize that God
has sent of his spirit and the spirit of Christ has been sent
into us in order that we might live and in order that we might
be able to minister unto those around us and minister the gospel
of God's grace. In the book of Joel, we read
the second chapter, verses 28 and 29, he said, I will pour
out of my spirit upon all flesh and
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy 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 the spirit of Christ If so, be that the Spirit of
God dwell in you. I set myself up as nobody from
no place. I suppose that I am like the
fig tree that our Lord Jesus spoke of. He said, it just cumbers the
ground. It brings forth no fruit. I picture myself as a well that's
dry. I picture myself as a cloud that
has no rain in it. I picture myself as a zero with
the sideboards knocked off of it. I don't claim to be anything. You folks know me. You've known
me for a number of years, most of you. I had an experience the
other night, and I had difficulty understanding
what had taken place. I had a couple of visitors early
in the morning that came and stood nearby. These two visitors, I never saw
their faces. I embraced those visitors, feeling
that they were brethren. I have later suspected that that
was not the case. These two visitors and I embraced,
we stood up and huddled together, and we had prayer together. The
Spirit of God melted my soul, And power came upon my heart. Confidence came to my soul. I
was able to pray. And then it seemed it lasted
just for a very, very short time. And it was over. And when I awoke,
I had such confidence in my heart and I had the feeling that probably
I had never prayed before that time. I had an overwhelming sense,
feeling that maybe they were the angels of God, maybe they
were brethren. I do not know, but I studied
and was very quiet, tried to be quiet for a couple of days,
trying to figure out what was going on, what it was that had
happened. And yesterday when I was reading
Joel chapter 2 verses 28 and 29, it came very forcibly to
me what had taken place. Your old men shall dream dreams,
and your young men shall see visions. The Lord said, I'll
pour out my spirit upon all flesh. So God is in the business a pouring
out of His Spirit. There's evidences of it. There's
the working of the Spirit of God. I make very little to do,
and you folks know me quite well, most of you, and you know that
I very seldom ever make any reference to my own situation. But I know
that the Lord has by the Holy Spirit done something this past
week in my own life. Jesus is the giver. of the Holy
Spirit. A whole sermon, I guess, could
be preached just on this subject of the title of the Holy Spirit,
the Spirit of Christ. But we must move on this morning.
The second thing I want to speak about is the necessity of having
the Spirit of Christ. The necessity of having the Spirit
of Christ. If any man we're told, if any
man. Now it may be argued that it
is not fair to lump all men together like this. After all, some have
a very kind nature and a disposition and they were never known to
speak a lie or to do anything unkind from their childhood up. Why would we want to lump all
men together and say, if any man have not the Spirit of Christ,
he is none of His? I want to talk to you about the
necessity of having the Spirit of God. How necessary it is that
the Spirit of Christ dwell in our hearts. In order, if we're
going to be His, for time or in time and eternity, the Spirit
of Christ must dwell in us. Well, I've told you before that
I'd rather tell you an unpleasant truth than to tell you a pleasant
lie. But if any man, and this is what
the Bible says, however amiable he may be, have not the Spirit
of Christ, we must say the same thing about him as we would about
the drunkard or the thief. He is none of Christ if he does
not have the Spirit of Christ dwelling in his heart. the fairest
flower, as surely as the foulest weed, are none apprised, if they
be not of the Holy Spirit's planning. What lack I yet? What lack I
yet? said the rich young ruler. This
one lack. That is, the lack of the Spirit
of Christ is fatal to the very noblest character. And the Lord
Jesus Christ disowns utterly every man who has not his Spirit
abiding in him. But can we not, somebody said,
by adding outward religiousness to moral excellencies, somehow
or other rise by our own efforts to be true Christians without
the Holy Spirit? Can we not be baptized? Can we
not kneel as God's people kneel and sing as they sing and take
the Lord's Supper? Yes, yes, we can do all of these
things, but the text is still true. and will read the same
to the very judgment, if any man have not the Spirit of Christ,
he is 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 true living family, and it is not
possible for you to do that, they certainly would not suffice. Say you could imitate a Christian,
and this is one of the plagues in America. We believe that we
can start acting like a Christian and be one. We believe that we
can begin to pray, we can begin to mimic others who are praying,
that we can begin to read the Bible and read religious books,
and that we can become a Christian by just acting like one. Well,
beloved, there's no truth in that. The text is absolute. There must be the incoming of
the Spirit of Christ. There must be regeneration. There must be a visit of the
Spirit of God upon our souls. And the difference between the
regenerate and the unregenerate is not one of degree, but it's
one of kind. A dead soul can never develop
into a living soul, nor can the carnal mind improve into a spiritual
mind. There's got to be a transaction
takes place where the Spirit of God comes into the life and
where the life is changed by the incoming Spirit. This ought
to lead every rational man or woman utterly to despair of saving
him or herself by any strength of their own. We must look away
from ourself to the divine agency. We must look away from ourself
unto God who is only able to save us and who is able to give
us of His Spirit. We must look away from ourself.
We're driven, beloved, to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit,
as we've said earlier, is the agent in the new birth. And until
we, by the Spirit, are quickened, until by the Spirit we're laid
hold of and arrested and brought out of sin's death, we're not
alive. Until the Spirit of God is in
us and breathes the breath of life there, the body is still
alive. But until the Spirit of God is
in us, and when it comes in us, the body is said to be dead because
of sin. But the Spirit is life because
of righteousness. We must look away from ourself
unto the Spirit of God. Without Him, whatever you do,
whatever you may do or be, this text, like that sword which prevents
you ever hoping by your own power and by your own doing and by
your own strength. Except, we read in John 3, 5,
a man be born of water and of the Spirit. He cannot enter into
the kingdom of God. The text makes no exception.
The oldest church members. Somebody said, surely, if you've
been a member of a church for 25, 30 years, surely you're a
child of God. Surely you're going to be saved
at last. Surely, there's no question about
you, you've been in the church for many years. Oh, somebody
said, the church officers, they're bound to be in. They're bound
to be all right. They're bound to be saved. Everything
must be all right with the church officers. And those that we hold
in high esteem, those that are praying people, those that we've
listened to a number of times pray and give their testimony,
surely they must be all right. Well, surely, beloved, they'll
be all right if they have the Spirit of Christ abiding in them. By no means shall any man be
alright if the Spirit of Christ is not in him. He will not be
alright. This is an absolute necessity.
Beloved, we are all on par here. The doorkeeper in the house of
God is on the same footing as the presiding elder of the church. He's on the same footing. If
a man have not the Spirit of Christ, he's none of his, whether
he be the preacher or whoever he be, and whatever be his position
in the church. He's not a Christian unless God's
Spirit abides in his heart. Now there are those who glory
in the name of Christian, as if the name were some great thing.
Somebody said, I'm a member of the Church of God. Somebody said,
in Paul's day, I'm of Apollos. Somebody said, I'm of Cephas.
And then others said, we're of Christ. But all of them were
sects, is what they were. Now, beloved, it's not wearing
the name of Christ, but having the Spirit of Christ, which will
prove us to be accepted of God. Do you have the Spirit of God
abiding in your heart? We shall fare ill at the last
day, if the Spirit of God be not in us. Now do not think that
I'm setting up some standard of my own. Somebody said it sounds
to me like the preacher's setting up a standard of his own. I'm
not. I'm just simply keeping to the
text. If any man, isn't that what it says, have not the Spirit
of Christ, he is none of his. That's the standard laid down
in the text. Now, the third thing we want
to talk about is the evidences of having the Spirit of Christ. Do I have the Holy Spirit? Well,
I think that is a fair question for each one of us to ask ourselves.
We can just point our finger at ourselves and ask ourselves,
do I have the Holy Spirit? Now, beloved, listen. You either
have or you don't have. You're either in Christ or you're
out of Christ. If you're in Christ, you have
the Spirit. If you're out of Christ, you
have not the Spirit of Christ. If you have the Spirit of Christ,
in the first place, and this is the first evidence that I
want to give you, is that the Spirit of Christ has led you
to Christ. If you have Christ, if you have
the Spirit of Christ, it has led you, the Spirit has, to the
Lord Jesus. It always, the Spirit of Christ
will lead a man to Christ for the salvation of his soul. Not
going to lead him to Sinai. It's not going to lead him off
somewhere to good works. It's not going to lead him to
the baptismal waters. Not for salvation. It will lead
him to Christ. The Holy Spirit leads men and
women to drink of the fountain, that fountain that is open for
cleansing. It brings sinners to the Lord
Jesus Christ in order that they might have life. John 6, 44 says
that no man can come to me except the Father which sent me draw
him and I'll raise him up to the last day. The Father draws
by the Holy Spirit. He draws men and women to Christ. He teaches everyone that has
heard and learned of the Father. Jesus said, cometh unto me. They get to me. They come to
me. And they must get to Christ.
And the only way they can is for the Holy Spirit to lead them
there. And if you have in you this morning
the Spirit of Christ, that Spirit has led you to Christ and led
you to make much. to make him not only much, but
your all in all, that Christ is everything to your soul. Let
me ask this question, have you been delivered from all confidence
in yourself, from all other confidence? In Philippians chapter 3, it
says that the true circumcision are those who worship God in
the spirit and they have no confidence in the flesh. Might I ask you
this morning, have you been delivered from all your confidence, everything,
except the Lord Jesus Christ? Have you been delivered from
the confidence that you had in your upbringing? Oh, my friend,
many people say, and the brother was talking about it last night,
people say, well, this is tradition with this family. We were raised
a certain way, and because of the way we were raised, we got
confidence in that, and we just believe. that we're all right
because of the way that we were raised. Well, we must be delivered
from all confidence in our religion and all confidence in anything
other than the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul said
we have no confidence in the flesh. Have you been brought
to the foot of the cross and have you been made to see that
there on that bloody cross hangs your only salvation? hangs the
only salvation that is available to sinners. Have you been brought
to the foot of the cross? Have you been brought to see
the Lord Jesus Christ hanging between heaven and earth on that
tree? And there as He poured out His
life's blood, He was pouring it out for poor sinners. Have
you been brought to see that? And that that death of the Lord
Jesus, that it was for you, that it was in your place, My friend,
if a man does not know that it is in the death of the Lord Jesus
Christ that he suffered his death to sin, then the Spirit of Christ
is not in him. The Spirit of Christ, he is none
of his. He does not belong to Christ.
Now then, are you trusting solely and entirely in the blood and
righteousness of God's crucified Son? entirely in the blood and
the righteousness of God's Son. Are you trusting that? What are
you relying upon? What are you depending upon?
If the Spirit of Christ is in you, you're going to be trusting
in the blood. You're going to believe that
the blood of the Lord Jesus makes atonement for your sin. You're
going to believe that it's through the blood that our sins are remitted
and canceled out. That it's through the blood that
God no longer will charge us. It's through that atonement that
Jesus made that we're at one with God. It's through the blood
and then the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe
that that righteousness, that it is ours when we're saved,
that the Lord has given us the garment of salvation, that He's
clothed us with the garments of righteousness, and that we're
as righteous as Christ before God as we stand in the Lord Jesus
Christ, and that all of the righteousness of Christ, it's been imputed
to our account on the books of God, and we stand perfect before
God, accepted of God, in the beloved one, in His righteousness. I believe that God demands righteousness. I don't think anybody can go
to heaven without being as righteous as Jesus Christ. Do you? If you
think so, then my friend, you do not understand. The Spirit
of God has not taught your heart. Nobody goes to heaven except
those that are as righteous as Jesus Christ. And we can only
be righteous as He is as we stand in Him by faith. If you read
carefully the fourth chapter of the Book of Romans, it clearly
spells it out. That we're justified as ungodly
men and women in this world. We're justified and made righteous
through the imputed righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. So
have you been brought to where you trust entirely and solely
in the blood and righteousness of Christ to give you acceptance
with God. If you have the Holy Spirit in
you, that's exactly where you've come. That's exactly where you've
come. That's exactly the way you feel.
Now if you are and you have the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit
of Christ leads a man to faith in Christ, and this is the Spirit
of Christ. But when a man says, I believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, I believe on Christ. Now, beloved, you
could have never come to Christ if you had not been drawn, and
none will draw you but the Heavenly Father by His Spirit. The flesh
is not going to bring you to Christ. The preacher cannot bring
you to Christ. The preacher can bring Christ
to you in his preaching, but he cannot bring your soul to
Christ. The Spirit of God must lead and
draw you to the Lord Jesus. You could have never come without
the Heavenly Father drawing by His Spirit. Now if you're resting
wholly upon Jesus, you're the whole weight of your soul upon
Him for time and eternity, then I believe you have the Spirit.
I believe you have the Spirit of Christ. I believe it can be
said of you that the Spirit of Christ dwells in you because
you believe on Christ, you trust Christ. Christ is your all in
all. He's your whole salvation and
you're depending upon Him. He's your rock and you're trusting
Him, relying upon Him, resting in Him. Now there's another question.
Do you feel in your soul the desire to honor the Lord Jesus? I'm trying to give you some evidences
of whether or not the Spirit of Christ dwells in us. Do you
have it in your heart to honor the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you
love to hear the Lord Jesus extol? Do you love to hear him preach?
Do you love to hear somebody preach up the Lord Jesus Christ? He can preach down the center,
but he must preach Christ up. Do you love to hear that? Is
that what is in your heart? Can you say that you hate everything
which robs him of his glory? Can you say that? Beloved, as
far as we're concerned here, we want Jesus Christ to receive
all the honor, all the glory, all the praise for our eternal
salvation. We believe that Jesus did the
work. He did all the doing and all the dying. We believe that
we're saved entirely. Our whole eternity hangs on a
life we did not live, on a death we did not die. We here at this
church want the Lord Jesus to be honored and we do not want
him robbed of his glory. We don't want anybody glorying
in anything else. but in the Lord Jesus Christ.
We want every hymn that's sang in this church to be to the glory
and praise and the honor of that one who loved us and died, that
one who loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood. We want him to receive glory.
We don't want anyone to rob him. We don't want to give a sinner
an inch of ground upon which to glory himself. We want him
to know that he's a bankrupt, that he's not able to make any
contribution to God for his salvation. He cannot make a payment on his
salvation. Some people believe that God
does the first work and then we've got to keep making installments
and payments on our salvation until we die. There isn't any
truth to that. That robs Jesus Christ of his
glory. That one who said, it is finished,
it is finished, I've done all. that the Father demands of my
people. I've done it in their stead.
I've done it in their place. I've done it as their substitute.
I answered to God for them. I lived out the law of God for
them, and now that law has been satisfied completely, and my
righteousness is a righteousness that God accepts, and that is
put to the account of my people. Can you say this morning that
you love that sermon best? which exalts the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, I believe there's some
of us here that can say that. I love that sermon best that
I read that exalts the Lord Jesus best. And I think that those
of you here this morning, that listening to me, if you have
the Spirit of Christ in you, you're saying amen. Amen, I want
Christ preached. I want him lifted up. I want
him exalted now if you've ever felt that Have you ever felt
really in your heart that if it could be proved that? Something
was for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ that you'd be willing
to do it Have you ever felt that? Anything, whatever it would be,
if it could just be proven that it was for his sake, for his
sake, for the gospel's sake, his gospel's sake, his truth's
sake, his person's sake, whatever it is, that you'd be willing
to do it. Whatever it costs you, you'd
be willing to do it for his sake. Now, beloved, we're getting down
to the nitty-gritty of this thing. Would you be willing to live?
Would you be willing to die to crown our Lord's most blessed
head? Would you be willing to do that?
Willing to live for Him? Willing to die for Him? Would
you be willing? Would you be willing to do that?
Well, now, beloved, if you could say a hearty amen, and if you
adore Him with your heart, and if your trust is fully in Him,
and you love Him supremely and entirely with all of your heart,
you love Him, then I believe it can be said of you this morning
that the Spirit of Christ has made you the kind of person you
are and given you these desires, given you these feelings toward
the Lord Jesus. It's the Spirit of Christ that
has given you these feelings. Now the next thing I'd like to
say that if you have the Spirit of Christ I think that it will
make you like Christ. You know the Bible says that
we've been predestinated to be conformed to the image of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now, in relation to God, do you
know that Christ lived for God? He did. He came, the Bible says,
and he said, I come not to do my own will, but I come to do
the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. He lived
for God in this world. He lived in order to provide
eternal salvation for God's people when he lived in this world.
And then, you know, when he was 12 years old, He said, wished
ye not that I must be about my father's business? He was living
for God when he was 12 years old. He was living for the glory
of his father. The scripture says the zeal of
God's house has eaten me up. It's eaten me up. The zeal for
God's house ate the Lord Jesus up. It consumed Him. He had a
desire toward God, the things of God, the will of God, the
purpose of God, the truth of God. He had a desire toward those
things. The zeal of God's house has eaten
me up. His meat and drink, the Bible
says, were to do the will of His Father who sent Him. You
know the Lord Jesus said on one occasion, The disciples said,
want to give you something to eat? They went into the city.
And Jesus said, I have meat to eat, you know not of. I have
meat to eat, you know not of. My meat is to do the will of
Him that sent me, and to finish His work. That's my meat. Beloved,
the Lord Jesus lived for God. And I believe if the Spirit of
God is in us, that we'll feel towards God like the Lord Jesus
did. I believe if we have the Spirit
of Christ, that we will feel this toward God. We will feel
that toward God, that Christ felt toward the Father. Next
thing I want to say is that the Spirit of Christ is a spirit
of prayer. If a man has the Spirit of Christ
in him, I believe that just as Jesus was in constant communion
with the Father, then I believe that we also will be in fellowship
with God in prayer. and that we'll be praying and
seeking the Lord, crying to God, and making intercession for our
brethren and sisters in Christ. We'll be in submission to God,
and we'll be praying. If you have the spirit of sonship,
you will be much in prayer unto the Lord. Again, Christ's worship,
I believe, was always spiritual. His worship was with his whole
heart and soul. He worshiped in truth and spirit.
The traditions of men, their different washings and observances
were nothing to the Lord Jesus Christ. He walked with God and
needed not these childish ordinances. His was a spiritual life. Was
yours or is your life a spiritual life? Do you have the Holy Spirit
dwelling in your life? Has the Spirit of God made you
different? Now he who is in the flesh is ruled by the flesh. If a man is yet in a state of
nature, he is ruled by the flesh. He trusts the flesh. He doesn't
trust God. He may say he does, but he does
not trust God, and he does not worship in the spirit. He worships
in the flesh. That's why there's so many people
that's got to have the relics and the idols. That's why there's
so many people that's got to have the ecclesiastic structures.
They've got to have the finery of material things in order to
feel themselves able to worship. Well, the Lord Jesus Christ,
he had nothing of the kind. He needed nothing of the kind.
The Lord Jesus worshipped the Father and He worshipped because
His was a spiritual life. And all those who worship truly
the God of the Bible are those who have the Holy Spirit. Nobody
can worship God who has not the Spirit of Christ. Nobody can
worship God. Make no difference how nice a
building you've got to attend. Make no difference how many idols
you've got to sit around you. You cannot worship God without
the Spirit. They that worship Him must worship
Him in spirit and in truth. You cannot worship God in the
flesh. He who is of the Spirit is ruled
by the Spirit. He prays in the Spirit, walks
in the Spirit. He trusts and he worships God. in the Spirit. Next then, we're
talking about evidences. The Spirit of Christ, I believe
when He lived in this world, was toward men a spirit of love. I believe that the Lord Jesus,
He was ready to do good to all. The Bible says He went about
doing good to all. He fed the hungry. He healed
the sick. He never considered Himself.
He spent His life for others, laying Himself out for them.
Do you feel in your soul any love to men for God's sake? Do you feel any? Are you pettish
and peevish and selfish? Do you have the Spirit of Christ
that would lay down your life? You know the Bible says He laid
down His life for His people. He laid it down here in His love,
not that we love God, but that God loved us and gave His Son
to be a satisfaction for our sins, greater love of no man
than this, that a man lay down his life. And the Lord Jesus
laid down His life. But the selfishness and the pettiness
that is in most churches today, my friend, reveals very little
of the Spirit of Christ. No love, no giving of self, no
giving up, not being willing to share, not being willing to
love in deed and in truth. evidence the Spirit of Christ
is not in very many. But those who are willing to
be used, those who are willing to lay down themselves, those
who are willing to help to share, those who are willing to in some
way or another try to do something for men around them, men and
women around them, and boys and girls, to help them and assist
them in coming to the knowledge of the truth, these are those
who have the Spirit of Christ. Again, let me say that if we
have the Spirit of Christ, it will show itself by its operations
in our hearts. We'll feel the movement of the
Spirit of God in our hearts. It'll make us hate evil. It'll
make us abhor that which is evil. It'll make us love that which
is good. It'll make us brave and courageous for God and truth. It will move us to joy in God,
to hope in God, to delight in the Lord. If we have the Spirit
of Christ in us, we'll feel the movement of the Spirit of God
in us. It'll move us to fellowship with
God. And fellowship with God will become absolutely necessary
to us if the Spirit of God is in us. You know, there are some
people and it just don't take much for them. They can get by
on a sermonette. They can get by on just a little
bit of nothing. And some people mistake inspiration,
or perspiration for inspiration. Some people just, they just don't
need much. But I want to tell you this,
that people that have the Spirit of Christ in them, fellowship
with Christ will be necessary for them. They'll have to spend
time in fellowship with Christ. And they cannot tolerate listening
to somebody preach who doesn't preach the gospel of Christ,
the truth of Christ. They'll not be able to tolerate
it. Prayer and praise will be in us. The Spirit of God will
be moving in us. And beloved, I've tried to tell
you before that we ought to pay particular attention to the motions
of the Holy Spirit in our life. You're visiting with somebody.
And the Spirit of God moves upon your heart. Pray with this person.
Have prayer with this person before you leave them. That's
the motions of the Spirit. That's the operation of God's
Spirit in the heart. Pray with them. The Spirit of
God will move you saying, go up and see such and such and
so and so and tell them this. Many, many times the Spirit of
God is directed an individual to go and to give a word in season. I can tell you stories that I've
read about people that were saved from suicide because somebody
obeyed the motions of the Spirit of God in their hearts and they
arrived just in time to give a word of encouragement, a word
to help, a word of support. They that are led by the Spirit
of God are the sons of God. The Spirit of God in a man will
move him. The Spirit within us will make
us spiritual. It will move us in spiritual directions after
spiritual things. And if we're not this, we're
none of Christ. We do not belong to Him if we're
not a spiritual person like Jesus was. Now the last point is this. It is the sad consequence of
not having the Holy Spirit. The sad consequence. Now, somebody
said, well, I suppose it's like this, that if any man have not
the Spirit of Christ, he'll not have a reward in heaven. I suppose
it's like this, that if any man have not the Spirit of Christ,
that he'll not have a real close position to Jesus in heaven. when he gets there. He'll have
to sit way off up in the balcony somewhere. I suppose that that's
the meaning of the text. No, that's not the meaning of
the text. No sir, it says that if any man
have not the Spirit of Christ, listen to it, he is none of his. The Lord does not own you at
all. Everything is gone, we are none
of his. We're none of his. You're no
disciple of mine, says Christ. You may be somebody else's disciple.
You may be Moses' disciple, but you're no disciple of mine, says
Christ, unless the Holy Spirit is in you. Whoever you may belong
to, you do not belong to Christ. That's what he's saying. Whatever
church you may belong to, you're no member of the body of Christ. You're no member of the church
of the Lord Jesus Christ because all the members of the body of
Christ, they've been baptized into the Holy Spirit and have
been made to drink of that one spirit. And you can be a member
of a church and go to hell when you die. You can stand in the
pulpit and preach and die and go to hell. You can drown in
the baptismal waters and go to hell. It's only if the Spirit
of Christ dwells in you that you belong to the Lord Jesus
Christ. Listen to these words. None of
his. None of his. The words are like
a dagger to the soul of a man. None of his. I'm none of his. Because I have not the Spirit
of God. And if I have not the Spirit of God, and if I'm none
of His, then whose am I anyway? Well, I asked you to look that
question in the eye. I asked you to look at it, to
examine it. Who are you if you're none of
His? Well, I'm here this morning to
tell you in the plain teaching of the Word of God that you are
the devils. that you're a child of the devil,
and the lust of your father you will to do. You're a child of
the devil. It must be so, because if you
have the spirit of Christ, you belong to Christ. If you don't
belong to Christ, then you must belong to the devil. He who died
upon the cross disowns you. Can you say that? Can you say
he who died upon the cross disowns me? He disowns me. He who is risen into His glory,
He disowns me. Oh, what misery! None of His. None of His. When He comes in
the glory of the Father and He calls His sheep to His right
hand that they may enjoy eternal blessedness in His company, He
will say, I never knew you. I never knew you. What are you
if you're not Christ? Well, you're a stray. You're
a goat, that's what you are, and you're a wreck that is drifted
out to sea, soon to sink forever. Where are you? Well, you're on
the way to the judgment, on the way to the road to eternal condemnation. If you're not His, you're going
as fast as you can this morning, just as fast as time can carry
you away, away, away to that place where not a ray of hope
will ever pierce and where despair will last for eternity. None
of His. None of His. Friend, it is a
dreadful thing to live a moment in an unforgiving state. to live,
to lie down, to go to sleep, unforgiven. None of His. And you're going on with life
and say, well, life's just normal for me. None of His. None of
His. You're unforgiven. Your sins
are upon you. Your guilt is upon you. Hell
is to be shunned. He that believeth not is condemned
already. John 3.18 says, because he hath
not believed on the name of the only begotten Son of God. Sinner,
you're standing over the mouth of hell upon a single board. One old Puritan said this. He
said the sinner is standing over hell on a single board, and that
board is rotten. It's rotten. You're hanging over
the jaws 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. How dreadful to die. None of
His. And to have this for your epitaph
forever. None of His. None of His. There's a Savior. There's a Savior,
but you're none of His. What will it be to see the pit
open? her mouth to devour you and descending forever to understand
what this preacher said to you this morning, none of his, none
of his.