Do We Have the Spirit?

[John]

Following on from last week’s message concerning the wise and foolish virgins entitled “Being Ready”, we need to ensure that the “oil in our lamps” is the genuine article, that it is able to last the course, and burn until the end. We should remind ourselves that the oil represents an abiding knowledge of His Word, both a knowledge of the Truth of the Scriptures, and an intimate knowledge that the Word dwells within us by His Spirit. (John 15:4-5)

2 Peter 3:1-18
1  Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder),
2  that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior,
3  knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts,
4  and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.”
5  For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water,
6  by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water.
7  But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
8  But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
9  The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
10  But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
11  Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,
12  looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?
13  Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
14  Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless;
15  and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you,
16  as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.
17  You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked;
18  but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.

If we are to be ready for His return, and stand until the end, there is one thing that must be true of us. The only thing that guarantees we will be safe when He returns is that His Spirit dwells within us. The Bible tells us that the indwelling Holy Spirit is:

” the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.” Ephesians 1:14

We are also told that:

“For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,” Romans 8:15-16

We are instructed that we must:

“Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.” 2 Corinthians 13:5

Only those with the indwelling Holy Spirit are those who are truly God’s children:

“But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.” Romans 8:9

No one shall enter the eternal Kingdom of Heaven who does not belong to Him, and who’s name is not written in the Book of Life:

“But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.” Rev 21:27

The Bible warns us repeatedly that there are many who claim to be Christians who actually are not, whether it be knowingly or unknowingly on their part. It also warns us many times that there are many amongst us whose teaching and ministry turns us away from the Lord, not to Him. That althought they masquerade as God’s people, and appear to have a form of godliness, in reality they are of the devil and must be avoided. If this is what is happening all around us, and we understand how crucial it is that we have the Holy Spirit within us, then it stands to reason we have to be extremely careful in the way we examine ourselves, and test that we are sincerely in the faith, and not simply being deceived into thinking we are.

If a person truly believes in Christ for salvation, from the moment they first believe, the Holy Spirit lives within them. When this happens to a person, the Spirit of God begins to manifest His character through them, known as the “fruit of the Spirit”. The fruit of the Spirit of God is described in Galatians 5:22-23 as “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” These aspects of the character of God will be visible to others, and will testify of the work that the Spirit of God is doing within you, but in reality, it is still difficult to identify these things by looking at ourselves, especially knowing intimately the darkness and sinfulness of our own natural desires too. So the question still stands; “How can we examine ourselves to know that the Spirit of God is within us?”

There is only one thing that we can identify in our own lives that testifies that the Spirit of God dwells within us, and that is a love of the truth. We cannot claim to be of the Lord and love Jesus, unless we have a love of His truth, for they are One and the Same. Jesus Christ is the living expression of the Truth of Scripture. He is the Word of God made flesh. We cannot have His Spirit if we do not love Him. And we do not love Him, if we do not love His Word.

In one of the most stark warnings in the New Testament, concerning end time events, and the way the course of history will draw to a close, we are reminded of this truth:

2 Thessalonians 2:1-17
1  Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you,
2  not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come.
3  Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first [apostasy, defection from the truth of God], and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition,
4  who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
5  Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?
6  And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time.
7  For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.
8  And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.
9  The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders,
10  and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11  And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie,
12  that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
13  But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth,
14  to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
15  Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle [refers to the teaching of the apostles, passed down from Christ through them.- The New Testament.].
16  Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace,
17  comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work.