The Work of the Spirit Is the Work of True Christianity
The work of the Holy Spirit is the mark of true Christianity, and His teaching is essential for believers to live a life pleasing to God.
Andrew Murray emphasizes that the work of the Holy Spirit is central to true Christianity and the New Testament church. He explains that the Holy Spirit serves as God's seal on believers, enabling them to understand divine truths. The effectiveness of a believer's life hinges on their relationship with the Holy Spirit, who must be recognized and allowed to lead. Murray argues that a revival in the church requires both ministers and members to acknowledge the Holy Spirit's role as the ultimate teacher. This understanding transforms a believer's life, allowing them to experience the Spirit as the very essence of their being.
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This work of the Spirit is now the great mark of the New Testament church, of true Christianity. The seal or heavenly stamp God has set up on every believer and upon his church is the Holy Spirit, who knows the things of God, given into the heart to make them know these. It is not enough that a child be born of healthy real parents, his future depends greatly upon the teacher to whom he is entrusted and the education he received. With the child of God everything depends upon his knowing, submitting to, waiting on, and carrying out the teaching of the Holy Spirit. The feebleness of the church stems from this being not known and believed and acted on. A revival in the church will mean nothing less than this, that ministers and members will together be led to give the Holy Spirit, the divine and only teacher, the place God wants him to take.
Let us just think what the faith and the experience of the blessing this truth brings us would mean in the Christian life. Just consider the influence a full appreciation of it would have on a believer who seeks to give God the whole tithe, his whole heart and life. He begins to know, not in thought, but in faith and power, that the Spirit of God is in him. Not as something alongside and additional to his own life, partly and occasionally influencing it, but as the inmost life of our very selves, not only controlling or helping but far more, as the moving spring and power of our being, inspiring and impelling us in all we are and do.
(Excerpted from The Coming Revival, by Andrew Murray , pg. 38)
Sermon Outline
- The Work of the Spirit in True Christianity
- The Church's Dependence on the Holy Spirit
- The Influence of the Holy Spirit in the Christian Life
- The Holy Spirit as the seal of God
- The importance of the Holy Spirit's teaching
- The feebleness of the church without the Holy Spirit
- The need for a revival in the church
- A full appreciation of the Holy Spirit's work
- The Holy Spirit as the inmost life of our being
Key Quotes
“With the child of God everything depends upon his knowing, submitting to, waiting on, and carrying out the teaching of the Holy Spirit.” — Andrew Murray
“The Holy Spirit is in us, not as something alongside and additional to our own life, partly and occasionally influencing it, but as the inmost life of our very selves,” — Andrew Murray
Application Points
- Believers must submit to and wait on the teaching of the Holy Spirit to live a life pleasing to God.
- A full appreciation of the Holy Spirit's work is essential for a vibrant and effective Christian life.
- A revival in the church requires giving the Holy Spirit the place He wants to take in our lives.