Andrew Fountain - Living Right 2: A Spirit Filled People

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  • Second of a new series on “Doing what’s right without being legalistic”

Review from Last Time

  1. God did an amazing thing by chosing a nation to be his special people
  2. In a remarkable way, we inherit this relationship
    • so our self-identity can be defined as “the People of God”
  3. Looking as how God and the nation of Israel related to each other can be a real help for us
    Three things in particular relating to holiness:
    1. We are pure and united because: God’s special dwelling place is with/in us
    2. We are pure and united because: We represent God to the nations
    3. We are pure and united because: God’s presence actually makes us pure

An immediate application to our lives:

  • It is God’s Presence that makes us holy and requires us to be holy
  • Two facts, flowing in opposite directions:
    1. It is because God is present with us and has put his name on us (as in a marriage), that we need to be faithful to him
    2. It is his presence that actually produces the holiness
  • Two conclusions
    1. If we want more of his presence, then give attention to being faithful to him
    2. Spending time in his presence will actually have the effect of purifying us, so spend time worshipping, praying, and enjoying his presence

1. The New is Really New

  • Jeremiah 31:32 says the New Covenant is “not like the covenant that I made with their fathers”
  The Nation of Israel Us, the New People
Law of God Written on stone tablets
and stored in the temple
at Jerusalem 		Written on our hearts
by God himself
by means of the Holy Spirit
Holy Presence of God
which makes us holy 		In the Temple at Jerusalem
They were to go there 3 times a year
to encounter God’s presence 		God presence is within us
and among his people
through the Spirit

2. New Testament Passages

  • 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12
  • It is important to note that in v.8 God’s activity is continuous (present tense)
    • the Christian is not simply sanctified and then left alone with a now transformed personality
    • they remains in constant union with God’s a source of activity
  • So how does this sometimes go wrong?
    • v.8 “disregard”
  • Exactly the same idea can be seen in Phil 2:12-13
    1. Therefore, my beloved… work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,
    2. for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
  • Now have a look a final passage with the same teaching:

3. Conclusion

  • “Be what you Are?”
    • instead: ‘let God be what he is’
      • i.e. the one ‘who works in you’ (Phil 2:13)
      • the one ‘who gives his Holy Spirit to you’
  • Response
    • Maybe you do not belong to Jesus?
    • Maybe you have blockages to the flow of the Spirit?

Updated on 2009-08-30 (r.45) by Andrew Fountain