Is God's Holy Spirit Dwelling in You?

Can you see God's Holy Spirit working with you or in you if you're baptized? How can you be sure? How can you be sure that you are doing God's work? How can you be sure that God is actually guiding you in your different actions?

How can you be sure that you are in the true Church of God?

Oh, well, it's because we keep the Sabbath. Oh, well, it's because we keep the Holy Days. Oh, well, it's because we eat only clean food. Is that a proof that this is the true Church of God? Is that a proof that you are a true Christian?

There's many people that do that in the Jewish community and did that, and they were killing the early Christians, and they killed Christ.

So how do you know that God is definitely in you and working in you? How do you know that God's Spirit dwells in you? And so today, brethren, I want to give you a few points that will help you, that will encourage you to look at yourself and see how God is working with you and in you, and that you are therefore a member of the body of Christ. And so let's start by looking at first in Romans chapter 8 verse 9. In Romans chapter 8 verse 9, a very telling Scripture, so let's go there. Romans chapter 8 verse 9.

It says, but you, Paul is writing to the Romans, but you are not in the flesh, but by extension is writing to us. We are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. If, if indeed, the Spirit of God dwells in you.

The real indicator that you are indeed of God is that God's Holy Spirit is dwelling in you. Now granted, it starts dwelling with us initially and it will dwell in us because even Christ said to the apostles, the Spirit is with you, but it will be in you. So, so the apostles were working with Christ and they were learning and God's Holy Spirit was with them, but after the Pentecost, their Holy Spirit was in them. So, so is God's Holy Spirit dwelling with you and even more dwelling in you? Now, if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, look how it's changed. It was just in the phrase before, the Spirit of God. It's now the Spirit of Christ, which obviously is the same Spirit. There's only one Spirit. So, the Spirit of God is the Spirit of Christ. So, if anyone does not have the Spirit of God, which is also the Spirit of Christ, which hopefully is also ours, that working with our Spirit to be part of our Spirit, but if we don't have, in other words, if it's not dwelling in us, that person is not his, does not belong to God, does not belong to Christ, is not a true Christian. So, the true indicator of whether you and I are a true Christian, whether you or I are indeed in through the Church of God is whether you are being led by God's Holy Spirit and you are working and allowing God's Holy Spirit to dwell in you. Look a little bit further in verse 11. But if the Spirit of him, that in other words, God's Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, which is also the Spirit of Christ, who raised Jesus from the dead, God's Holy Spirit raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Does that mean, therefore, God's Holy Spirit is a person? No! But it's the power through which the Father raised up Jesus from the dead, because Jesus was dead. But it's that power, which is God's power, which is also the same power that Jesus Christ has. So that Spirit of God, which proceeds from the Father, which raised Jesus from the dead, dwells in you. If that Spirit dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead, and was the Father who raised Christ from the dead through the power of God's Holy Spirit, will also give life to you and I, to our mortal bodies, through the same Spirit, who dwells in you. In other words, God the Father, obviously working through Christ, so Christ is the one that is going to resurrect us, because Christ is doing all the work, right? Because it says, I will resurrect me, and when I come, I'll resurrect you, and I'll send the angels to reap the harvest, so Christ will do, but it's all under the authority of the Father. And it says, He will give life to our mortal bodies through His Spirit, and it was through that power of His Spirit which dwells in us. We got God's Holy Spirit, so it is absolutely critical for us to be people in which God's Holy Spirit is dwelling in us. Brethren, we need to have God's Holy Spirit. That is basically what it says. We need to be here in God's Word, and we need to be applying it and putting it in our lives, and changing ourselves.

The problem today in society today, or one of the problems in society today, many problems, but one of the problems is people don't want to hear God's words.

Or they'll have their own opinions, but they don't want to hear God's words. Now, because they don't want to hear God's words, God says there will be a day that you will get what you want.

In other words, there will be a day that you will not hear it. You don't want to hear God's words. You and I have nothing to do with what God says. Well, then there will be a day that you will not hear it. Turn to Amos chapter 8. Daniel Joel, Daniel Isaiah Joel, Amos. Amos chapter 8. Amos chapter 8 verse 11.

Be all the days that are coming, says the Lord, that I'll send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread and steaks and eggs, you know, of food, nor a famine of thirst, of water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Eternal.

Now, it is interesting that it says a famine of hearing the words of the Eternal. Now, there's a lot of Bibles out there. There's Bibles and Bible versions all over the world. So, it does not say a famine of not being able to read a Bible.

But it says a famine that you will not hear God's ministers preaching God's Word. Because there will be a day that will come that the power of the holy people will be shattered.

That means there'll be a day that this work will be shattered.

Look at Daniel chapter 12 verse 7. Daniel chapter 12 verse 7. And it says, you know, and I heard the man clothing linen was above the waters of the river, and he held his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and swore by him who lives forever that it shall be for the time, times, and at times. So, it'll be like three and a half years, and when the power of the holy people is being completely shattered, brethren, when the power of the holy people will be completely shattered, there will be three and a half years to go before Christ comes.

And then all these things should be finished. It'll be understanding, and then there is, in a sense, like a clock ticking down.

The power of the holy people has been completely shattered. Now, who's the holy people? Physical Israel? And I mean greater than just the nation of Israel today. I mean, physical Israel, that means all to our tribes. Or, spiritual Israel. Or, both, because maybe it's the duality. And to me, it makes sense that it'll be a duality, because when the power of God's people, Israel, will be completely shattered, we will not be able to do a work. And so, the spiritual work will also be completely shattered. So, going back to Amos, where he says, there will be a famine. And from Daniel, we can see, he gives an idea of some sort of, that will happen. And then, it's the end. Like he says, "'And this gospel of the kingdom of God shall be preached unto the whole world as a witness.' And then, the end will come. Then it's finished. Then it's the end." Therefore, today, we have to preach the Word. Look at 2 Timothy 4. 2 Timothy 4. 2 Timothy 4.

And we're reading verse 2 and 3. Preach the Word. It does not say, preach my Word or my ideas. Preach God's Word. Preach the Word. Be ready in season and out of season. Converse, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering, patience and teaching. For the time will come, and brethren, the time is yon now, when people do not endure sound doctrine, sound teaching.

I think you and I just have to watch the news and see people don't endure any more than sound logic. There's no logic in some of the statements that people are putting out there in the news. It's not just pure sound doctrine or crushed doctrine, but just overall it's just not sound.

But according to their own desires, according to their own lusts, their desires, they pronounce things that are so ridiculous because they have itching ears.

They want to hear things that are not sound.

So, brethren, we have to be able to discern the right from the wrong. We have to be able to separate this junk from the truth and be able to stand up for the truth. When Christ preached the truth, that was hard for some people because once the truth gets really sharp, people don't want to listen to it. And they walked away from Christ. And so Christ turned to them and says, are you also going to go?

You can read that in John chapter 10. And he said, no, because you have the words of life. If you and I have God's Holy Spirit in us, we're going to be able to discern, or at least God's Holy Spirit, working with us, and therefore we need to discern the junk from the truth.

And so the very first thing we need to do, the very first thing we need to do, is we need to understand the good news of the kingdom of God. If we have God's Holy Spirit dwelling in us, we are going to start to comprehend the good news of the kingdom of God.

Now, what is that? The world today thinks, well, the kingdom of God is in your heart. But what is the good news of the kingdom of God? We've gone through a few parables in Matthew 13, covering the parables that Christ gave in the lecture there in Matthew about the kingdom of God. And he starts with the parable of the seller as an introduction to those seven parables he gives in Matthew 13.

So let's briefly give a quick synopsis of Matthew 13 and that parable. So let's turn to Matthew 13. And there it starts with the parable and in this parable of the seller gives four specific examples. And when he explains the parable starting in verse 18 through verse 23 of Matthew 13, the first example is about those that received the seed by the wayside. In other words, the seed is by the wayside.

It never germinates. They don't give any attention to it. And Satan goes and takes it away. Then in verse 20 and 21, he's got the second example, which are those that received the seed in stony places.

Which means it does germinate to some degree. But instead of the energy of that seed as it grows, instead of going into the root so that it takes nourishment from the soil and further grows, because it's in a stony place, that growing energy of that seed goes on to the above, to the top, and it does not therefore is not able to receive nutrition. And even though they received it with joy initially, when there's a little trouble or little difficulties, and as Christians, difficulties will come, it says, immediately stubbles.

The third example is that the seed falls amongst the thorns. And the things of the world concern about which a lot of these things you should be concerned and make sure you look after, like, should I get an education, not get education, how do I work, how do I make ends meet? Yes, all these things we need to pay attention to. But they become greater than what they should be, and therefore they become like the main goal, the deceitfulness of these riches becomes like the main goal, and therefore they choke.

They choke the word, the word of God, the word which is the word of the kingdom. And so it does not pay fruit. It did germinate as well, but it didn't pay fruit. It allowed all these things to choke it. It could take years in the church for that to occur. And lastly, the fourth example is the one that the seed falls in good ground, and then depending on how much effort you put into it, you might produce more or less fruit. And so we can see from verse 10 and 11 that not everybody would understand, because Christ was giving an analogy of the kingdom.

And as we see in verse 11 of Matthew 13, it says, it is a blessing for us as God wells and His Spirit wells in us and He helps us. It's a blessing for us to understand, to grasp, the meaning, these mysteries of the kingdom.

So my question is, do we believe and understand these mysteries of the kingdom of God? Because the kingdom of God, yes, is God sending His Beloved Son to come to earth and reign on earth and solve the problems we have in the world today. True. But the kingdom of God, a great mystery of the kingdom of God, is going to be resolved when the seventh trumpet blows.

I think it's Revelation 10 verse 7. Let's just have a look. Revelation 10 verse 7.

I don't have to have seen my notes, but let me just check. Yeah, Revelation 10. But today is of the sounding of the seventh angel. That's the seventh trumpet. That's when Christ is going to come. When He is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished, as He declared to His servants the prophets. And what is the mystery of God? What are these mysteries of the kingdom? The greatest mystery of God that mankind does not understand is that you and I are going to be children of God in the kingdom of God. Oh yeah, people do pray. Our Father art in heaven, but they don't really comprehend that you and I are going to be children of God.

This is a great mystery. It's a blessing. That's why Christ in Matthew 13, in verse 16 and 17 says, But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears for they hear. Do we see it? Do we understand it? But surely I say to you that many prophets and righteousness and desires men desired to see what you see and did not see it, and to hear what you hear and did not hear it.

Men in the past did not fully get it because Christ had not come and revealed it. Christ come and reveal this. The great hope that you have, and you and I have, and that's why when Christ was resurrected and the apostles touched and felt and saw Christ resurrected, that motivated them so much to the point of being prepared to die for it. Even Paul, which was Saul. Saul. So the kingdom of God must be our primary goal in our lives.

Primary goal in ours. Making that prayer, our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come. Let thy will be done on earth as it is in in heaven. That is real that God is going to come by sending his Son as King of kings and Lord of lords to bring peace to this world, which has got no peace.

And not a part of that, an important part of that, is that the sons of the kingdom want God to rule over them. Of course. But here is the point. Do you want God to rule over us in the world tomorrow?

Yes. But only in the world tomorrow? What about today? Do we want God to rule over us today? And therefore, as we understand, if God's Spirit dwells in us, we fully grasp, understand what it means to be sons of God, which the majority of people in the world don't get.

We have to desire today, today, to be children of God, to die in our actions, to be connected to Him, to die. Let's look at that in Romans, in Romans chapter 8, Romans chapter 8, verse 12. Romans chapter 8, verse 12. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. We are nothing to the flesh, to live the ways of the flesh.

But if you live according to the flesh, you will die. If you and I live according to the desires of the flesh, the wages of sin is death.

But if the Spirit, if by the Spirit, it was by God's Holy Spirit, if you put to death the deeds of the body. So if you and I, with the help of God's Holy Spirit, stop sinning. We make an effort to obey God. With the help of God's Holy Spirit, you and I will have life, in other words, eternal life, obviously at the resurrection, because in this life we don't have yet eternal life. Verse 14, for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are today the sons of God, not will be, are the children of God. So you and I need to be led by God's Holy Spirit. God's Holy Spirit does not force you, does not possess you, it leads you, shows you this is the way. As you and I, as we are in the sermon, as we pray and meditate, pray and meditate, those thoughts kind of break our conscience to do things better. That means we're being led by the Spirit of God. We are the sons of God. Verse 15, for you did not receive the Spirit of bondage. You did not receive a spirit of slavery to fear. So of God's Holy Spirit we have no fear, but we receive the Spirit of sonship, as it should have been translated. We receive the Spirit, as in Greek is used, which is sonship, which is being the sons of God, by whom we cry, Dadi, Dada, or in Aramaic, Abba, which means daddy, father. That represents a very intimate and close relationship between a child and his dad, between us and our Heavenly Father. Verse 16, the Spirit, God's Holy Spirit itself, God's Holy Spirit, as it should be itself. It's not a being, it's not a person. Bears witness with our spirit. Our spirit is not a being, not a person. It's our spirit. So we have God's Holy Spirit, and we've got our spirit, the Spirit of man in man.

So the two get together and become one. The best analogy we have, or a good analogy we have, which is publically, is that God's Holy Spirit is a seed. You can see that in Peter, and it says God's Holy Spirit is a divine seed. It's the Holy seed. And there it also uses a Greek word, which is sperma, which is similar to where we get the English word sperm, which is a divine word. And what we have, we are begotten. And often in the Bible it says, ganal, which means begotten, often translated as born, but it means begotten. So when you and I are begotten by our physical parent, that seed from the physical parent has a certain, by analogy, a certain DNA, and the egg in the mother's womb has a certain DNA, the two merge and a new fetus grows in the baby, which now is formed into a separate, private, individual DNA code, which is a combination of DNA of the mother and the DNA of the father. And that's the moment of conception, when that seed merges with the oven and a baby is conceived in a mother's womb.

And from that moment it starts multiplying and growing, and it's got its own DNA code. It's now, from that moment, the son of that physical father, even though he's unborn yet.

The father has nothing else to do. Now the mother has a lot to do, morning sickness, and all the other things that go with it. There's a wonderful analogy of the baby being in the mother's womb, and the mother is the church, and we are growing in the church until we are born again, finally, as spirit beings, as mature adult spirit beings, into the kingdom of God. But we are now, already, once we've received that seed, we are now begotten sons of God. And that's why it says the spirit bears witness with our spirit, because it is a witness that we are indeed the children of God. And if children then is, is of God and joint is of Christ.

This is such a powerful statement. What are we going to inherit with Christ? Is of God. We're going to be sons of God. It says we're going to be glorified if we suffer with Him, we'll be glorified with Him as it is. If indeed we suffer with Him, we may also be glorified together with the same glory that Christ has as the Son of God, obviously inferior, but of the same kind.

You know, when God says, I'll never leave you or forsake you.

How many of you, as parents, say to your children, I'm always young to back you up. And you know, your child may do the most terrible things. And yes, there are consequences.

But you have unconditional life for your children. And it says, I'll always be there and I'll help you through it. Our Heavenly Father will always be there and will help us through it. But you and I need to stop having the works of the flesh. That's why Paul in Galatians 5 says, you know, we've got to put to death these works of the flesh. But we've got to put on the fruit of God's Holy Spirit, which is love, which is joy, which is peace, which is long suffering. All these attributes, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control. We've got to put on all these attributes, which are part of the Holy Spirit, which are elements or components of the fruit of the Holy Spirit. And us, if we have God's Holy Spirit in us, dwelling in us, we need to exemplify that. We need to work on that. And so, are we doing that? And therein it helps us if we really understand that the Kingdom of God is God making us His children. And that we need to now be working in our life and condition to be like that. That is very important. It's important for us to understand. And therefore, our way of thinking will be different. Our way of thinking will be different. We will have the mind of Christ. We will start thinking differently. God's Holy Spirit is going to work with us and change our way of thinking. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 2. 1 Corinthians chapter 2.

1 Corinthians chapter 2. 1 Corinthians chapter 2.

And here is Paul describing another mystery, which is a mystery of wisdom. He says, However we speak wisdom amongst those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, of this world, nor of the rulers of this world, who are coming to nothing. The rulers of this age, with their all great ideas, they'll come to nothing. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory. God predetermined before the creation of the world to do what? To give us a different mind so that you and I can think and understand things differently. You see, for this interpretation in verse 9, Verse 10.

You know, brethren, you do not understand spiritual things unless God's only Spirit helps you to see them.

Let me give you a simple example. Some of us have wonderful pets.

Could be a lovely dog. We walk down the street. We used to have dogs when we lived in South Africa. We don't have now. It's just our budget does not allow because there's a lot of expenses with it. So anyway, we would... but there's some lovely dogs, lovely cats. I mean, there's just some nature of them. It's just so beautiful and such a joy.

And in fact, in other words, some people say, well, I'll adopt this dog or this cat as my child.

But you know what? You and I can train these animals in many wonderful ways. We can't. God's given a certain capability to those animals to be trained in certain ways. But you'll never be able to take your dog to school and teach him the theory of relativity. But you probably don't even understand it anyway. I don't. But anyway, you will not be able to teach him mathematics or how to drive a car or whatever. There's a lot of things of man that a dog or a cat will not be able to get. I mean, certain things they can. God has given them certain animal capabilities. Yes, God's given them certain things. But God has given us an additional set of things that animals don't have.

Now, you can sit and read Shakespeare with your dog, and I don't think you'll understand it. Now, I probably don't understand a lot of it either. But anyway, but you know, if somebody comes and explains, well, this means that it says, oh, okay, I get it. But those animals will not get it. Why? Because God has not given them a spirit of man to those animals. The spirit of a dog? Is it a spirit of a dog? Is it a spirit of a cat? Is it a spirit of a cat? In other words, he's got that pre-programmed capability with limited capabilities of learning as God has designed. But for man, God has given us a spirit of man which is in us that enables us to make our brain so far superior in capability that it becomes a human mind. That is the difference between the human brain and an animal brain. It's the spirit of man in man that makes man to be able to understand the things of man.

Therefore, you and I can really spend a lot of time trying to teach certain things of man to an animal and they will not understand the other. You can teach them certain tricks, but you will not be able to get them to the juice and come to certain things of man that only man can understand. And you can try hard, but you will not succeed. Likewise, you can try hard and teach the things of God to a person and that person will not get them if they don't have the spirit of God. It's the same analogy. And that's what Paul is getting to when he's talking about the spiritual wisdom. Let's read in verse 11. For what man knows the things of man except the spirit of man which is in him? How can you grasp the things of man unless it is through the spirit of man which is in us? Even so, no one knows the things of God except the spirit of God, which obviously then would dwell in us. You see, unless we have God's Holy Spirit or God is merciful to put his spirit around us and to help us to guide us, we don't get it. We don't understand. We don't have the spiritual wisdom or the spiritual understanding. Now, you have received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit who is from God, which is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches, but of the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the spirit of God, for they are foolish to him. If you try and explain things of God, and if God's spirit is not working with those people, people say, oh well, you're fool. I don't get it. Come on, Galvin. You're just talking rubbish. Foolish to him, nor can he know them, nor can he or she get them, because they are spiritually discerned. In other words, they don't have God's Holy Spirit. But he who is spiritual, judges all things, yet himself is rightly judged by no one. For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

God's Holy Spirit in us. It's God's mind in us. It's the mind of Christ in us. It helps us to understand things which are spiritual. Therefore, as I said at the beginning, the natural man, in other words, without God's Holy Spirit, can keep the Sabbath, can keep the Holy Days, can understand what it means to eat only clean food, can understand about time, can understand about tithing, can understand who are these realites.

But if they don't grasp the spiritual things of God, they don't have the mind of Christ. You see, it's a completely different thing. And so, you and I need to have the mind of Christ. You and I need to have the same mentality, the same way of thinking. Now, when I mentioned the mind of Christ, I've had some people come to me and say, Oh, are you talking that there'll be a transplant and the brain of Christ gets injected into your brain? I said, No! I'm talking about that way of thinking, that mentality as it is described in Philippians chapter 2 verse 5. Turn with me to Philippians chapter 2 verse 5.

Philippians chapter 2 verse 5. He says, Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.

And what mind was it? Look at it in the context. Look in verse 2, Fulfilling my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, being of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than themselves. Let each one of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. This is the mind of Christ. And that's why then in verse 12 it says, Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. We have to do our part. Yes, you and I are justified and ultimately will be saved by God's grace and by the faith of Jesus Christ. But you and I have to do our part. We need to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, with the fear of God and respect for him. And so it's God's mind with God's mind, of God's Spirit that says in verse 13, For it is God who works in you. How? Through the power of his Holy Spirit, which is his mind in us, which is the DNA of God in us. In an analogy, and forgive me, just it's an analogy just to help us to understand, is this way of thinking of God in us that works in you both to will and to do, both to desire and to actually do for God's good pleasure.

We need to have the mind of Christ. And then God's Holy Spirit. It's like something that cleanses and cleans and purifies our mind. You know, it's something that is changing our mind. It's cleaning, purifying, it's cleaning, it's purifying. It's a process of time. And that's what the Bible calls it as the sanctification of the Spirit. The sanctification is the process of our mind being changed. It's our process of us with God's mind to be able to discern a truth from a lie. It's be able to discern what is good and what is dirty, clean and unclean. So, Yah is the example of clean and unclean foods. And one big lesson from clean and unclean foods is the following. Oh, yeah, you can say it's health. But to me, even more important is that wherever you go, it's always in your mind and you think and you made it tight about it and says, can I eat this or can't I eat that?

The analogy, spiritually speaking, is as you and I engage in conversation with other people, spiritually speaking like food in conversation with other people, we discern, is this true or false? Is this good or not? Is this clean or unclean? Do I engage in it or don't engage with it? We're continuously thinking about it. There is a great lesson of clean and unclean foods, not only the physical, but it's teaching us to be always keeping in mind, to make sure that we only get clean food into our brain continuously, all the time. So, the physical gives us a spiritual lesson there as well. Turn with me to 2 Timothy 2 Timothy 2 Timothy 2.

We're looking at chapter 2. 2 Timothy 2. We'll start in verse 15. Be diligent, therefore, to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the world of truth. So, as people tell us things and people speak things to us, we're going to say, no, that's junk. We've got to be able to rightly divide. We've got to be able to discern of God's Spirit. You and I will be able to discern. We've got to shun the unclean food in words, quote-unquote. Verse 16, But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more and more ungodliness, in other words, uncleanliness. And their message will spread like cancer. You know, that food of words, of things that people say, spreads like an illness and spreads like cancer.

And look at verse 19. Nevertheless, the solid foundation of God stands. The solid foundation of God stands. And it mentions two things in the solid foundation of God. Number one, which has the seal. Number one, the Lord knows those who are His. God knows who is He working with and His Spirit. He knows where His Spirit is and who He stands at and who He's working with. And second, let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity. You and I need to stop sinning. God's Holy Spirit will guide us to do that. That's why Christ said, you know, on the Sermon on the Mount, said, you know, there'll be many false prophets, but you'll know a bit about their fruits. And then later on, He says, many will come and will say, hear my name, I've done this and I've crossed out demons and I've done that and other than that. And it says, Lord, don't you know me? And Christ says, depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.

So that's why it says, let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity. And so if you and I have God's Holy Spirit dwelling in us, we're going to understand what it means to be a Son of God in the kingdom of God. We're going to understand we need to be now. We don't understand that we're going to have a different mind and we're going to understand that we've got to put away sin. We're going to do our part. And therefore, God's Holy Spirit is going to guide us. It's going to give us all the tools that you and I need to grow in grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. God's Holy Spirit will give us all the tools that you and I need to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. And that, in a sense, is the context of 2 Peter. Let's look at 2 Peter, starting chapter 1, verse 1. 2 Peter chapter 1, verse 1. 2 Peter chapter 2, verse 1. Simon Peter, a bond servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained like precious faith with us. So yes, it starts with faith and obtain this faith by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. Wow! Our God and Savior Jesus Christ. Powerful statement. Verse 2. Grace and peace be multiplied. You know, when grace multiplies, that is growth. That is growing grace and peace. And as we heard in the sermon, the peace through meditation, there is another example. You know, grace and peace we multiplied in you in the knowledge. So we ought to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, of God and Jesus Christ our Lord. We ought to grow in the grace and knowledge. Right then, chapter 1, verse 2. Verse 3. As His divine power. What is God's divine power? It's God's Holy Spirit. As given to us all things that pertain to eternal life, to life and Godness. You know what? God's Holy Spirit gives us all the tools, all the attributes, all the capabilities you and I need to have eternal life and Godness. You know what? The fruit of God's Holy Spirit. All those things that you and I need, love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control, all these things.

You know what? Through life and Godness. Through the knowledge of Him who called us who called us by glory and virtue, by which we have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises. To be the very children of God, hairs of God, is an exceedingly great promise. In other words, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature. To be children of God, it means we're going to partake the very nature of divinity.

Having escaped the corruption that is in the wall through lust. You see, so God's Holy Spirit gives us all the tools for us to overcome, starting in faith, but gives us all the tools to overcome and what it is. Starts in faith and what is the end result. End result. God is love. That's what it is. It's all the tools from faith all the way to love. So this therefore explains in verse 5. So for this reason, give all diligence, make all effort to add your faith virtue. To virtue, knowledge. To the knowledge, self-control. Self-control, perseverance, tinctuativeness. To perseverance, godliness. To godness, broadly love, broadly kindness. To broadly kindness, godly love. So from faith, you grow and having all these attributes and grow by becoming more knowledgeable, understanding more what God wants to do, by putting more virtue, by having the self-control and overcoming the passions of the flesh, and sticking to it and working on it, and being more broadly kind towards one another. So that ultimately we actually have godly love. That means we have the divine nature.

For if these things, verse 8, are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor fruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if you relax these things, it's short-sighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his old sins. Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call in election sure, for if you do these things, you will never stumble. If you do these things, you will never leave God's church. Think about it. This is a life insurance policy, but eternal life insurance policy, because it guarantees eternal life if you do these things. And that means that you are diligent in growing in grace and knowledge. You are diligent with God, the help of God's Holy Spirit. It gives you all these things to grow from faith to love. And that's why the book ends right at the end on the last chapter in verse 17 and 18. You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand that all these things are going to pass away, beware lest you fall from your steadfastness. You know, remain diligent. Don't be led away with the error of the wicked, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, to Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen. That's what we got to do. That's what we're going to do, brethren. Therefore, how do you know that you have God's Holy Spirit dwelling in you? First, you're going to understand what is the good news of the kingdom of God. You're going to really grasp that you're going to be truly sons of God, that you're truly going to have the divine nature. Secondly, you're going to understand that we are being connected to the Father through His spiritual DNA, let's call it that, through God's Holy Spirit. We're going to be connected. We're going to be really His children. We're going to have the mind of Christ, the way of thinking that Christ has. We're going to use God's Holy Spirit to cleanse us from all unclean words and thoughts and process. God's Holy Spirit was going to guide us in grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, so that ultimately you and I will be citizens in the kingdom of God, so that we are ambassadors to be citizens in the kingdom of God. This world is not our citizenship. Our true heavenly citizenship is the kingdom of God. So, brethren, think on these things and be encouraged that if you are having this war and overcoming and working on it, that God is working with you through His Holy Spirit, and therefore, don't ever be discouraged. Keep it up!