Living Water: The Transformative Power of the Spirit

I have been trying to say that in my understanding of these matters the greatest sin of Christian people at the present time and it applies to evangelic people as much as others is the sin of reducing this glorious gospel to the level and the measure of our own understanding and still more of our own experience. [00:01:24]

We must ever be comparing ourselves and judging ourselves by the standard of the scripture itself and by the most notable examples of Christian Life and living as they to be found to be found so abundantly in the Christian literature well now here it is and this is the thing by which we must examine ourselves. [00:02:11]

The Christian life is not primarily a life of our activity of course we have things to do but that's not the primary thing that's not the essential thing we're all along bearing in our minds I trust the contrast between religion any kind of religion and true Christianity and this is again one of the chief characteristics. [00:07:56]

The Christian acts because he is made to act his action his activity is the result of this other activity that is anterior to and comes before all his activity in other words we are dealing if you like with what may be called here the dynamic of the Holy Spirit. [00:09:23]

The Christian is always a man under Authority there is always this power this life working within him springing up now I I I want to make this point so clear that I'm going to put it like this and I have found this a most deliverable test and incidentally one of the excellent grounds of assurance of Salvation. [00:21:26]

The Christian is not a man who has to force himself to live the Christian Life he is being forced to live the Christian Life by the power that is within him and all you and I can do is this we can either yield to that power or else we can resist it we can quench it we can disobey. [00:32:16]

The kind of life which is lived by the Christian is of necessity therefore never mechanical and it's never legalistic is the terms that are used in the New Testament are so wonderful the word living the word Lively I would have if now would us have asked of me and our Lord to this woman of Samaria. [00:35:02]

Religion is always mechanical religion is always legalistic knows exactly got it defined knows how far he can go knows where to stop just lives in that sort of square mechanical sort of life watching his step just with in the law so nice so moral so clean so good ah what a contrast with Christianity. [00:36:36]

This is a power that varies from person to person another most important Point Christians are never identical if you show me a church of people in which they're all the same I say it's not a church it's a religious gathering any teaching or system that makes everybody the same do the same things in the same way. [00:38:55]

There are variations in the power in the the same person from time to time aren't you aware of that do you know what you're going to be like when you wake up tomorrow morning if you do you're not a Christian you see we don't control this as I've been emphasizing we don't control it what we do does affect it. [00:40:31]

The temptation to a preacher you see is to think that if he's prepared what he regards as a good sermon it's going to be a wonderful service it sometimes can be a very bad one on the other hand the poor men may have had a very difficult trying weak he may have been ill a thousand And1 things may have happened. [00:41:40]

The possibilities are glorious they're endless realize that secret and don't be satisfied until you know the mighty power of the life of God working in your life lifting you up above outside yourself and what you do will not be Works mechanical Works it'll be the fruit of the spirit amen we do hope that you've been helped. [00:47:37]