Zechariah chapter 4, Zechariah chapter 4 and this is an insight of just how the
Spirit of God is working within the people of God and it's likened to a lamp
that is filled with oil and believers have a conduit to that source of
of oil and they are like the light of the world and the lamps that each
individual believer is that they have a constant supply of that oil keeping the
light burning and I suppose we are called to be witnesses of Christ aren't we and
that is how it happens. God's life, God's Spirit is constantly
conjuting through us so that we're able to be the witnesses to our Savior Jesus
Christ and this is exactly the imagery that we have in this prophecy
concerning the Spirit of the Lord amongst his people and the second one
will be from Galatians chapter 5 we will reread that again
Well as we open our Bibles to Galatians chapter 5 we've been looking at the
whole life of living in and living and walking in the Spirit and how we have
now the very life and Spirit of God that is coursing through our lives to
accomplish the purposes of God and it's not as though it is just the Spirit that
is in each believer there is also the old man the the flesh that we have
spoken of as well that lusteth against the Spirit and we have spoken of that
conflict that often arises and if not often it constantly arises within our
lives but the gratifying thing to learn from these pages is the flesh has been
crucified with Christ it's still alive but it's been nailed to the cross and
therefore it is now no longer has dominion in the believers life and now
the Spirit of God the Holy Spirit of God himself that eternal life has come
into the believer and now we are under new management we are under dominion of
the Spirit and we see coursing in our lives a new work of God that increases
day by day sometimes it ebbs and flows a little bit but nonetheless as you
look in the Christians life there is an upward movement of God in the graces of
God we are increasingly being made more like Christ who is the founder the the
the originator of salvation and redemption in our lives and so we have
been looking at at the manner of life that is characteristic now of the
Christian of every Christian not just the super Christians and not just the
pastor or the elder but every Christian normally knows the upward movement of
God and as we grow in the graces of of the Spirit we will be ever more
conformed to the image of our Savior Jesus Christ in other words we'll be
growing in love and patience and joy we'll be growing in the in long
suffering and the readiness to press on in great odds and we'll be able to
accomplish the very works of God that go beyond our natural flesh and our natural
abilities we will be able to do the very works of God because now the spirit that
lives within us is accomplishing the purposes of God that's what a Christian
is is one who is working a supernatural work and doing the the bidding of God
now we might not appear to be like that we still inhabit the flesh that we
inherited from Adam we still have have the outward appearance that is like all
flesh and we are those that may not be able to point to a dramatic change in
many ways from day to day but we can see that work of God maturing in our
lives and we can only look back in our lives and say this is the work of God it
could not have been from me when I look at my abilities and my my talents which
have been given from God anyway but when I look at the even these natural
abilities that I have they could not have accomplished the work of God as
that which has been accomplished within my life and so we're reading from verse
16 and and it says this and we saw this last week I say then walk in the spirit
and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh now here we have the new life
that is far superior to that of our life in the flesh for the spirit lusts against
sorry the flesh lusts against the spirit and a spirit against the flesh and these
are contrary one to another so that you do not do the things that you wish now
often we find ourselves frustrated and and this is not because we're not
Christians the very fact that we are concerned about not doing the righteous
and the good holy thing means that there is a dissatisfaction that exists within
our lives this is good this is very good because now you know the basis by which
you're going to change and as you look to the Lord and as you live in the
spirit you will find that gradually bit by bit there will be this work of God
that will accomplish a new lifestyle that will have new perspectives that
will be based on the Word of God a new basis by which you can live and and it
doesn't mean to say because the flesh is still existing and that we are not
completely have arrived I said to one of the boys during that in the
school and he came to me with a flaunt look on his face and said look sir I
just just when I saw him with a hacksaw he just went off the line I don't know
whatever happened it wasn't me and I said well I said nothing's perfect on
this side of heaven let's start again and do it again and he says oh okay
can I have another piece of material yeah can I mark it out again yeah and
and he he redid it and he accomplished what he wanted to accomplish the second
time around so this is good he says but if you are led by the spirit you are not
under the law we saw that also last Lord's Day no longer are we under the
law in that sense condemned by that law frowned upon by that law and under the
condemnation of that law now this is what I want to look at today now the
works of the flesh are evident which are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness
idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of anger, selfish
ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, violas and the like
for which I tell you beforehand just as I also told you in past time that those
who practice such things do not inherit the kingdom of God in other words you
can't go to heaven because constitutionally you haven't changed you
haven't been redeemed and the evidence in your life is clearly stating that but
the fruits of the spirit in other words a person who's walking by the spirit is
one that is showing forth the graces that come directly from him from Christ
through the spirit is love joy peace long-suffering kindness goodness
faithfulness gentleness self-control against such there is no law and those
who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires it's
not completely done away with is simply crucified it no longer has dominion it
no longer has for the overriding power in your life and if we live in the
spirit let us also walk in the spirit let us not become conceited provoking
one another envying one another that's where we come to see that there is two
ways that are open to mankind there's not a thousand ways there's not a there's
not at many ways to God there are two ways one is the way of the flesh and the
other is the way of the spirit and let's not talk about Christian or non-christian
at this point you either are of the spirit that can only come from being
redeemed by the blood of the Lamb and and seeing the work of God accomplished
within our lives or we are of the children of Adam we inherit our fallen
condition and we are under the master the flesh and he has the complete say in
your life in the end and his destiny is destruction his destiny is torment and
wailing and gnashing of teeth in eternal abyss and darkness and unspeakable agony
of soul and spirit
now those are the kind of things we've got here that's the only two ways we can go
let us mark it clearly in our hearts the way of the flesh which leads to
destruction and misery and eternal damnation and the way of the spirit
which leads to life joy and peace with God and even to be with Christ for
eternity in unspeakable joy and personal satisfaction and happiness
and this is to be understood by us I believe is something that is in our
society has been completely lost there is no accident to understand that this
is the manner and the way in which the devil works he blinds us from the total
reality of our eternal destinations
now we can therefore describe this in the terms of the Ephesians chapter 4
and verse 22 where it says that you put off concerning your former conduct the
old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts or we can take the
other other alternative and be renewed in the spirit of your mind that you put
on the new man that was created according to God in true righteousness
and holiness now that is what we have here the old man has been crucified or
put off and the new man has been put on if I could illustrate this way down the
road there is a factory that produces various pieces of of produce and it was
a loss making exercise it seemed to just teeter on on disaster all the time
it kept working but it was making a loss all the time it was not delivering its
produce it was not delivering its its
manufactured items on time it was not producing them satisfactorily people
begrudgingly bought the materials that came out of this factory but it got
along in a perfunctory sort of manner until one day it had to be had to either
face a liquidation or come under new management and still there was one very
bright-eyed manager that came on board and nothing much changed the outward
circumstances of that factory except when you went to the head office there
was a new man in charge he had wisdom beyond all wisdom he had a manner about
him that inspired the workers within the factory and even he made some changes to
the existing machinery that made them profitable again indeed the shares in
the in the stock market skyrocketed because this factory had come under new
management it was the most desirable of all factories apparently now there was
nothing very much different in the outward appearance except there was a
sign out the front saying under new management and when you went into the
factory and you climbed up the stairs to the head office if there was a very
bright-eyed new manager looking after all the existing machinery and he was
producing outstanding business results
now I know that illustration is inadequate but does illustrate that yes
we do possess the old body we still have the old mortal flesh we still have
the concerns and the passions that are still there but when we're under the new
management of the spirit rather than under the old management of the flesh we now are
able to bring produce that is acceptable but not only acceptable but most
desirable and the outcomes in our life is indeed God honouring so here we are
those who are new people if we are in Christ we are new creatures in Christ we
are no longer carnal sold under sin as Romans chapter 7 and verse 14 says we
are not under the hopeless downward spiral to destruction any longer we're
not sold under the slavery and and prison like life that we were once under
in the flesh we have been now set free and the Liberty we have now is that
Liberty that has been given to us from heaven itself the spirit that comes to
us and courses and conduits into our lives and that we might be lights upon
the lampstand of Zerubbabel's lampstand now here we find that this radical
change is from within sight and the all things are being put it being being put
in order all things are being renewed and this is not just in our religious
life it's in our entire life that's why the Christian life is life in every part
of our lives there must not be any discontinuity between your church life
and your work life there must be a consistency and a continuity and in your
family life as well as your church life it's very easy for us to be holy Joe's
at church when we've got a lot of nice people around us and then be behave like
like those in the world when you're at work ask your workmates ask your school
friends do they think that you are a Christian something very different do
they despise what you stand for but respect what you are this is a point
that we need to understand and we need to see that continuity going out into
the highways and the byways where we find ourselves living now the
characteristics of each of these the flesh and it says here the works of the
flesh the the erga are where we get the word ergonomics from those who are in
design is is the works the mechanics of the flesh if you like is evident is
predictable it's clearly seen by the the product that is produced in your life
and this life in the flesh this old man may be a secret disposition and
constitution that you have within you but it is visible in its works in what
you do and you might say it's symptomatic of what you really are
anything that you're doing is symptomatic of what's going on in your
heart whatever you believe whatever you are inside will eventually no matter how
disciplined you are come out in your life and and it says here that these
works and these words and these deeds will be evident here and which are which
erupts in our public and our that is evident in our personal lives that for
all to be seen and we need to be aware of self-righteousness because the flesh
is capable of many good things particularly those who are have great
measures of common grace because of their background and because of their
natural dispositions we can be capable of many good things and some human
beings are capable of incredible sacrifices and of incredibly good works
that arise out of the flesh and this is a thing that often finds us finds us
napping we can be those who are crowded around with many good works of the flesh
many of us are just naturally patient sort of people some of us are just
compassionate for those who are who are less well off than us and are capable of
giving much of our produce to them now these good works can be so deceptive and
they can cloud around us to saying well I do as well as or any other Christian
around the place you will say to them now I had a person this congregation
some years back none of you will know them and after over about a year this
man was so filled with good works he was such naturally a very fine-looking man
until it came down to some basic criteria when it came to loving
sacrificially he was incapable of doing it he could repeat all of the doctrines
of the faith he was one who held to the regular principle he was one who
held to the King James Version only and all the other things and he had an intellectual
he had tremendous intellectual ability to be able to to cope with all these things
but when it came down to the crunch I had a horrible feeling that he could live his life
in the flesh without being a Christian and it would appear that he'd be a Christian in every way
now it is very easy for us to get ourselves in that category because many of us have incredible gifts
but the thing we need to distinguish is that which is of the spirit and that which is of the flesh
and sometimes it's hard to do that we need not deceive ourselves because the things that will
deceive us is not our sins and our evil would that some of you were far more sinful and evil
so that you understand your great need for Christ's redemption
that's quite a radical statement I would rather you be like that and find that you have to
honestly face God than to encrust yourself with many good fleshly works that really a substitute
for what is spiritual and we need to be careful of it we need to understand that
that a Christian may struggle against one of these works and this is the other thing
I've seen people converted from prostitution from drug overdosing from all sorts of things
they'll be in the gutter and they may look as though they're still in the gutter after they converted
but the changes taken place in their souls by the Spirit of Christ have been so dramatic
that their movement from their original condition has been meteoric by comparison
although they will look an outward appearance to be very unchurch-like
it can happen that way in the fullness of time though there will be a reconstruction
that will be more and more like Christ and that your outward appearance even your dress
and your personal appearance will change not to conform to churchianity
but to conform to the graces of Christ
and so here we must understand that presumably many of you are in good fleshly condition
because there is the evil and there's the good within the flesh
but let us see that as we distinguish between these things
and many of you might become under much condemnation within yourself
because you are struggling with certain issues in your life
this is not to say that you're not a Christian
it's just to say that you are under reconstruction
and here the Apostle says to us that there are four major realms that he is addressing here
and the realm of the sex, if I may quietly take that
and very often we are found what we really are in our sexual relationships
and he addresses this straight and clearly he says the works of the flesh are evident
which are adultery, that is having sex with those who are married that is not your own
fornication is having sex with those who are not married
and he raises this question uncleanness
and this uncleanness is that improper conversation about sex if you like
it happens in my workplace all the time uncleanness
and it's just that smutty talk that goes on
now it's not only that it can go on outwardly, it can go on inwardly in our mind
this smutty conversation that goes on in our mind
and we might say that it's just a, you know, our minds like a tree full of monkeys chattering
all the smut, yeah chattering like smut and jumping around
and this is exactly what we are talking about here
and I say do a spiritual inventory of yourself in these areas
it's particularly difficult and we know just how much our mind is taken up
with matters sexually related, it is instinctive in our minds
instinctive within our hearts and it has brought me, I can tell you, low very often
and it's a very difficult thing, you take a young person, a young guy, a young girl
if you analyse how much they're doing, a lot of thinking about it
they're probably dreaming about this stuff all the time
and this is where we can assess just where we're at, okay, with the Lord
and I say it just quite clear because we've got quite a lot of young people with us today
so here that we've got to be very careful that the life of the flesh
which is a very base level, finds it very difficult in this area
also we find that these things openly, also we find the other word there that's important as well
uncleanness, lewdness, now lewdness is inappropriate manner of dress
you know, you can dress in a lewd sort of a way, particularly girls
and it's all there to switch the boys on or to impress your girlfriends
and it's easy to do it, it's very cheap, cheap mileage
and it's easy to dress according to the custom and the fashion of the day
which is all set to press forward the flesh
and this should be something we'd be concerned about if we are Christians
I don't ask you to dress like me, I'm an old guy
and it would be inappropriate for you to dress young people like me
in fact you'd look a bit an oddity, wouldn't you?
as I would look a bit of oddity like dressing like you, it would be inappropriate for me
but whatever is going on in your heart, if you are lewd, if you are inappropriately dressed
so that you are setting forth sexual connotations
and being lewd in what you're doing, it comes directly from the flesh
and don't be kid yourself about it, it does
and I want to say that it comes from the flesh
but strange enough, whatever happens at this level happens in our religious life as well
and you'll find that idolatry, that is worshipping things other than the true and living God
how is it that when you open up magazines and the advertising of these things
are directly linked to explicitly sexual sort of images?
this is the idol you want to have in your life, this Harley Davison motorbike
and you're living for that culture
and with it, to sell that stuff, comes sexually explicit images
now there's a clear delineation between the thing there
how is it that sport is sold on the basis of sexually explicit images?
because sport has become the idol of our age, we live for that
and we almost worship it in a dogmatic way
and we find ourselves manufacturing our religion on the basis of the flesh
now sorcery is simply the secret tampering of powers, the powers of evil
and when we really are getting into the depths of false religion
eventually we come to the pagan tampering of spirits
now we're finding within the church, for the first time in history
that the church is becoming more and more pagan in its worship practices
and the dictates of the flesh and the world and the devil
is entering into the very heart of Christianity at worship
and so we have all sorts of practices that are regarded as good for the inner flesh
and yet is nowhere near what we might call biblical in worship practices
it's because there are so many people within the church that are not actually converted
they are simply assimilated to the church and they use the church as a lucky charm
or as social as their social place of contact so they have support in their lives
and as a result they are using rather than forming the church into the manner in which it should be
not only that but we find that there are eight examples of our social interaction
societal interaction that is also displayed in the life of the flesh
or the works of the flesh
and we find that it gets to the point of idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies
and outbursts of wrath or of anger, selfish ambition, dissensions and heresies
it goes on and says envy, murders, now none of us will ever accuse ourselves of being murderers
but we can get involved in character assassination
very easily can't we with our words
drunkenness, now why is it our society is consuming more alcohol than it ever has in its history?
it's because it is further and further away from the restraints of Christian ethics
and revelries and we're not given a full list here and it says the like
in other words this is just characteristic of our social declension that we are seeing in our society today
it's because that the establishment of general propriety has slipped badly
because the testimony of God within our society has slipped badly
if you think the church is going through a revival these days
you don't look at the church where it's going through a revival, you look at society
and see if there is a restraint of evil in our society
and you'll see that there is something other than that happening in our society
and the direct reason of that is the church has lost ground in a terrible way
so we find that this is what it is
this is the kind of life that is found in the flesh
and just as I also told you in past time
those who practice such things
that is those who are under the dominion of these things
those who really, when you see the long and the short of it
their lives are under the dominion of these things
they shall not inherit the kingdom of God, don't be kidding yourselves
and it's interesting, this was a verse that I used with a young girl
who was living in an unmarried relationship
who was the daughter of an elder in a PCAEA church in Newcastle
I went to visit her and I said to her
and I just discussed with her where was she going, what she was doing and so on
and we talked at length about these things
and she came out and said Richard do you think I'm a Christian?
and I pointed to this very same verse
look at these things here
and then look me in the eye and tell me you're a Christian
and she looked down and she says
then you're saying I'm not a Christian
I'm saying you're saying that you're not a Christian
the word of God says
if you evaluate yourselves you're not a Christian
she said no one's had the guts to tell me that before Richard
and she quietly sobbed to herself
and she became a Christian that evening
and the incredible change that took over in the church
because the session clerk was his daughter
and she went to dad and said
look I want to tell you what's happened
she got right with her dad
she got right with the church
and her husband now who she was living with then
she immediately stopped relationships with him
he came to know the Lord six months later
and because I told her
that doing such things will not inherit the kingdom of God
don't tell me how much time you go to church
don't tell me what pedigree you have in spiritual terms
don't talk to me about that
tell me whether you can say
that you are going to be living in the kingdom of God
and still doing these things
and she looked at me and says I can't be a Christian
thank you for that
it was lovely to receive a letter from that couple just a few months back
thanking me for that ministry that she received on that day
that's eight years ago now
and the last thing I did
now here to live like this
simply is not a life of the spirit at all
but the fruits of the spirit are clustered in these nine Christian graces
he says and the first is to deal with our attitude with God
and our relationship with God
love, joy and peace
our love for God and our love for our neighbour
is the first and foremost grace
do we do things out of duty
or do we do it because we love God
do we refuse to sin
because my love for God must come first
do we do things for God because
the love of God has been shed abroad in our lives
and we just cannot do anything else
I want to serve my God
joy
the Christian life is a life
it might be a life of many sacrifices
it might be a life of many disappointments
but the overriding thing is that there is an expressible joy in my heart
even in the midst of great trials
that arises and constantly keeps hope alive
and faith is pressing forward
to serve God
and peace, we are at peace with ourselves
we do not need tranquilisers any longer
God is our tranquiliser
we do not need psychologists anymore
the theology of the scriptures instructs us
and our hearts at rest with the things of God
I'm not saying don't have these things
but realise that we have more than enough
for us to satisfy our hearts
and to settle our hearts in a settled position with God
patience
ok there is a lot of things in our life that are not fulfilled
and we patiently press on day after day
and rest with the things that God is sufficiently for us
that's the sufficiency we need
kindness
this is a grace that does not look for justice all the time
it's ready to express itself in kindness and goodnesses
these social virtues
these man-ward attitudes that we have with one another
faith, faithfulness and gentleness and self-control
this kind of faith of reliability
our faith is reliably set on these things
and we do not have to prove ourselves
now how do you walk in this way?
there's no ought here
there's nothing that says we ought to do these things
it's not even hinted or implied that we ought to be doing these things
the only question implied here
how do you walk in these things?
we are just measuring ourselves do we walk in one way or the other way?
that's the point
and it's really a spiritual inventory of ourselves
don't castigate yourself because I can't achieve spiritual things
rest in the fact that I can't do it
you must be therefore of the flesh
and you are in a very advantaged position
because you have now got your eyes open to your real condition
you are like my friend in Newcastle that came to that conclusion
I said don't castigate yourself, don't try and do it better
just accept the fact that you are of the flesh
you are not a Christian
and because you've come to that realisation you now know where to go
you now know to go to Christ
who is the one who is able to say to you
who is the one who fill you with the genuine article of the Spirit
you might say
yes I know that I now walk in the Spirit because there's no
there can be no other explanation for it
now if we come to this conclusion
then there is hope for us
we can now look to Christ
and you'll realise that the first thing we must do at this point
is not try and polish our flesh up
and reform our flesh
that will just be a self-help gospel
what we are to come to is to realise that we've got to bury the flesh
we've got to put it in the grave
and the only way to Christian life is to die before you can live
and as you die
and as the grain falls to the ground
then it can be buried
and if it's buried it will transform and resurrect
into new life
so therefore we are called upon to take up our cross
and die daily
surrender to Christ daily
and that we will find that the new man will then resurrect
from ourselves
and that we will find that God will enable us to do the things that God wants us to do
and the graces of Christ will become
ever increasingly part of our lives
now that is something that we must learn
I remember coming to that point myself
and for about three months I realised that I must surrender all
and to do that I needed to die before I could live
and I realised the cost that I had to count at that point
no man goes to war without counting the cost
and you must resolve in your heart
it is going to be complete surrender for yourself
and acceptance of Christ alone
shall we be set free
in other words those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh
and I know that it is not easy for us to do that
crucifixion is the necessary part of our putting off of the old man
and leave him there
and it will take a pitiless rejection of the old man
we will have to reject it and consciously do it
sometimes it is painful to do so
sometimes we have to be decisive in that process
and that is what we must do as we come to faith in Christ
so let us now, enabling us to do that
we will then walk in the Spirit
and walking in the Spirit is the same thing as saying
taking up your cross daily and following Jesus
it is the same thing as saying putting the new man on
and the old man will be crucified with Christ
and therefore as we do so
we will be those that will grow in true righteousness and holiness
so let us look to the Lord in these things
notice if we are in the position where we are really under the dominion of the flesh
take the Word to heart
realise that there is a way for you
the way of surrender
the way of taking up your cross daily
looking to the Lord Jesus
and in looking to the Lord Jesus you will see the wisdom of his Word
and finding the wisdom of his Word
you will find day by day the way you should go
and as you go that way
the Spirit of God will enable you to do that
Amen