Person & Work of the Holy Spirit

I think I found the question 7 right? 6 was what does it mean to be in the body of Christ? It was page 53, paragraph 2. Right off it says into one body, we have already seen how this is characteristic, is the characteristic name of the church. Connect the body of Christ with the word church. There is one body and one spirit, even as you are called in one hope of your calling, Ephesians 4. Here the unity of the body and the church is associated on the one hand with the one spirit who has formed it. Are you getting up to speed? The Holy Spirit forms the body of Christ and it's one entity. and on the other with the one hope. What's the one hope? What's the hope of everybody in this room?

Go to heaven. To be glorified with Christ. That's a really cool thing. It's much different than just where am I going to end up in heaven. To think that you're going to be glorified with Christ. Have you ever thought about what Christ's glory is? What is it? Light. If we were walking down the street, people would recognize us. Glory can be defined, God's glory can be defined, the sum total of his intrinsic attributes manifested. Now do you think God would be foolish enough to put that same kind of glory in and through you? Yes. Not unless he's in us. See that's the thing.

We look towards the manifestation of the glory of Christ through every one of us. That is a huge leap from just going to heaven. Huge. So on the other with the hope of the heavenly glory to which we are destined. Oh, you mean none of us are going to miss it? You don't do your spiritual push-ups, you get a little dim? There's much glory.

So the twelfth of Corinthians should be read as showing the relationship of the spirit to the body. Next to its unity is the diversity of its members and the mutual dependence one upon another. So he quotes Acts 9 3 now. So the next question is, each member has a specific function. What do the more uncommonly members receive?

We did talk about that last time. What are they? You know what calmly means? Remember the word we used? Uncomely. Yes. I said ugly. Unattractive. I don't think it's comely. I think it's comely. Uncomely. Comely. Comely. Like the word come. Uncomely. Yes. And how would you define that? Means unattractive. Unattractive. Okay.

What do they receive? Greater care. They have greater care. And he also says that they are more essential. So when you're sitting around with the fact of the spiritual woe of me, because you don't think you have this, we're coming up in a couple of weeks we're going to talk about spiritual gifts, understand that you probably are more essential than somebody standing up and running his mouth in front of you.

And it's so similar to the way your human body is constructed. When you have conjunctivitis, you don't say my eyes hurt, you say I'm sick. Your whole body is sick, but your eyes are the thing that's suffering. If you have an internal problem with one of your organs or your nerves aren't functioning right, how essential, it's always not too essential until it doesn't work right. And then it's a big essential. And it's also when some of the organs are not functioning, then like all the pretty, parts of the body, they suffer too. It's like your skin is no longer, you know, nice or whatever or you look kind of, you just look sick. Yeah. So the Spirit of God has united us in Christ and He's the one that enables us so that we function healthily, spiritually healthy. Okay.

What's the body of Christ for then? Why is it? Why is there us? Why did he form us into a body? The vehicle for the spirit of the activities of Christ. The vehicle for the spirit of the activities of Christ. Everybody get that? We are so myopically focused on our own spiritual growth and our own individual importance. that we forget about the fact that we are a body of believers in which the spirit of God manifests the glory and the life of Christ not only through us individually but as a body. To do his work.

You know everybody talks about oh gee when the rapture happens that the spirit of God is going to leave the planet too. He personally isn't going to leave. He's still going to be here. What leaves? The body of Christ leaves. and the work that the spirit produces through that body is gone. Because the vehicle isn't here. See that? That's why the spirit's influence goes away. We have limited appreciation for the kind of influence that we have as a body of believers. We have a huge influence. What? I didn't understand.

Christ isn't going to be here? Well when the rapture happens, when the church is taken out, the body of Christ, us, is gone. Now does God leave the earth without his presence? No, the Holy Spirit will still be here. What is he doing? What is he doing when he's here? I think he's still doing the same work that he does now, which is convicting the world of sin.

And people will be coming to Christ at that point. We're recognizing that he's the Savior of the world and the Messiah of Israel. And people will be saved at that point. They won't be saved into the body of Christ, but they will be saved. He'll be convicting those that are saved of sin. And then there will be an involvement point when the tribulation happens.

It's almost like he takes a step back and he just lets it happen. So I think that's what he's going to do. But he's still working in the believers. Yeah, absolutely. And especially working within the nation of Israel because now the focus goes back to Israel. When the church is gone, God begins to deal with mankind through the Jews.

At that point? I don't think at that point. Although, you know, think about this. New believers have to have it. What's that? New believers have to have it. They have to have life. They have to have the Israeli Holy Spirit. Yeah, but not like we are. Not like we are.

Would you say that David... Old Testament, yeah. Do you think David was brought by the Holy Spirit? For some time he was, because when he sinned he went to him and said, don't take your spirit from me. Would that be an appropriate prayer for you? No, it wouldn't.

You know why? He can't get away. Because he can't never leave you. He can never leave you. Because you've been placed into Christ. Christ in you, and the spirit of Christ is in you. It would not be an appropriate prayer for us as a Christian. Because there's nothing you can do to cause the spirit to leave you. David could do it because he wasn't in Christ. You see that? So it's different. So I think a lot of the principles that prevailed before the body of Christ was inaugurated at Pentecost will be the prevailing way things go. Were there saints in the Old Testament? You know the thief on the cross?

What about that guy? He went to paradise. But he's not a member of the body of Christ because the body hadn't started yet. Is he a saint? Absolutely he is. But he's not a son. Is there a special place for that? Yeah, I think it's called paradise. Abraham is a saint, right? He's declared righteous by God, even though he was a real slug in most of his life. He's a saint. Where is he? According to the book of Hebrews, he's one of those described as the souls of just men made perfect.

They're in with God, in heaven. Where are you? I'm with God here. And I have a position there. How do I say this? You're in the one who is God. That's true. You're in Christ. That's different than being in heaven. Our position is totally different than any Old Testament saint and any person who becomes a saint after the church goes. The whole idea of the body of Christ gives you a radically different concept of what it means to be a believer now. It's totally different. There are different functions than the Israelis and those in paradise and those in Christ.

I don't think we appreciate the union with the Godhead that we share by being in the body of Christ. We are united to him. I mean we are not following him. When we talk about all the different stages that Christ went through. You know with his death and burial of Ezra. He said he was seated in Christ. So are we seated with Christ?

And that's why understanding the difference between position and condition is so important because that's your position. That's why Paul the Apostle never talks about Christians dying. Why would he? You already died. You already been buried. You already been resurrected. You already seated in the heavenly. So how does he turn it? Go to sleep. Just move from here to there. You have already gone through the death process in him on the cross.

That's really cool when you think about it. You're just going to go to sleep someday and wake up in your position that you already have in Christ. You know it's amazing what so many people fear death because if you're saved and you're already with Christ, I would think it would be such a wonderful leap from here to there. It shows you how ignorance creates fear. If you don't know who you are, you don't know where you are, and you don't know what you have, then you start settling for things that are less than what are yours.

There's another church that I went to, Episcopal Church. Episcopal? Yeah, I've tried them all. And that's too bad. That is sad. Okay, but anyway, the pastor's wife said, I don't fear death. I just fear the process. Now, if you have cancer, you have something really where you suffer for a long, long time. Okay. I've thought about that question. Actually, we laugh about it and say, I don't mind dying. It's just getting there that's going to be a problem.

Because we are members of the body of Christ and because Ephesians says that we have been ordained under good works that we should walk in them, maybe one of the good works is how we die. So I'm convinced that the Lord Jesus loves us so much that when the last thing that he ordained for us to do is done, we're gone. I mean, we're out of here, but the last thing we may do is in a bed some place dying of cancer for the benefit of somebody else.

So I think you have to look at all of the circumstances in your life as something that God ordained for you to go through and experience for his glory and for your edification. That way there is none of this oh well me business. Nothing is out of control.

God is using everything in his body, which we're all members of, to manifest to the world his love for them. And the way in which you die may be part of what he does. We watched the Lord take Sean home. It was a blessing to all the guys on the Tuesday. The way that he never wavered. So, it's kind of cool.

Some years ago, I was always picking things up in the mountains, and I ate a poisonous mushroom. Thank God, I was going to give some to my husband. Thank God I didn't. I ended up in a Swedish hospital. I went through forever. I'm not going to go into all that that I went through. But I woke up in the intensive care and they were shaking my hand, the nurse, and I bit the nurse, she had to go home, I tore the thing. I ended up in Hamlet, I want you to know that. She said, Helen, you're in Swedish hospital. I said, no, no, I'm in heaven. She said, you're in Swedish hospital. I said, no, I'm in heaven.

And I had to look at a clock on the wall, and the second hand was going around. And I thought, what's a clock doing in heaven? I thought time would be no more. Well, in reality, that certainly mustn't have disappointed. Well, you know, it was an interesting process. I mean, I was in forever. I was in eternity. I mean, it was really great and floating up in the room and everything, you know. I didn't suffer any pain, but... That's awesome. What were those things you were doing?

Anyway, a week later I'm out there picking well mushroom, because we live in a mountain, not well mushroom, but strawberry. And I go in the house and I My husband is reading a sport page and I said shut your eyes and open your mouth and he did and I popped the strawberry in and he popped it right back out and he said I don't need anything you pick. Question nine. What are the three ways of looking at the body of Christ? Kind of an interesting one.

Number one, he says that as linked with Christ, we are members of his body, Ephesians 5.30.

As linked with all other saints, we are members one of another, Romans 12.5. That's a really cool thought, that we are linked. We are family, more so than your physical family on the earth. We are linked together in Christ. And as individuals we are members in particular. We have three lines of truth, connection with Christ, with one another, an individual, and he uses the word responsibility. What's your individual responsibility as a member of the body of Christ? What is it?

To live for Christ. To grow in grace. Yeah, grow in the knowledge and grace of the Lord Jesus. To live by faith, I think. Because that's what he wants us to do. We were talking to somebody the other night about how important knowledge is because your faith has a lot to do with how much you know. So if you know things about being in Christ in the body and you have objects for your faith to believe in rather than just pie in the sky or what you think might be right.

Why does 1 Corinthians 12 reflect the unity of body and not individual gifts. It says that to each is given the manifestation of the spirit for the common good and all these are inspired by one and the same spirit to each one individual as he wills. Yeah, this unity of the body which Courtney is going to spend a lot of time on. Each member, each one of you has a function within the body of Christ. Every one of us does. And none of it, he says, and I really like this, is so insignificant as to be omitted. And each has his place in the body according to the sovereign will of the Spirit of God. Think about that. I know that You have met believers and you probably even thought to yourself, well gee, what am I doing in the body of Christ? Why does he have me there? I don't do nothing. You think so?

Have you ever thought about the idea that as a member of the body of Christ you just exist? And one of those hungry hearts one day said that if you were just a flower on the side of the road for people to walk by and admire the glory of God because of that flower, that's enough. That's enough. Don't you think by being a child of Christ, I think you show to people around that there's something different about you.

It seems to me that it's quite evident. That's true. And you know what's great about that? Most of the really good manifestations of Christ are non-verbal. That makes sense. They're non-verbal. And we're so eager to talk. It's more important being than it is doing. And so as the Spirit of God conforms us to the image of Christ, we begin to manifest His glory.

Now, you know the old John 15 about the vine and the branches? And the grapes, the fruits out here, this is the vine, and over here, the vine is over here, the end of the branch is here, and you're the branch. And you're supposed to keep your eyes on the vine while we keep doing this, seeing how the fruit's going? You're just the conduit through which the fruit is produced. Our responsibility is to focus in on the vine and let him take care of the fruit.

We were talking with somebody else the other night about how they were concerned about witnessing to another person and I said, I said I think that the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians said it right and that was that he planted and Apollos watered but it was God who gave the increase.

So if God's in charge of the outcome you're not going to be disappointed if it doesn't work out the way you want it or overjoyed because you thought you really had something to do with it. And then he said a really interesting thing that he and Apollos shared one thing in common is that they were both nothing. The great thing about being nothing is it lets Christ be everything. So being nothing is a cool thing to be. Now Russ Limbaugh wouldn't agree with me, but that's the way it is.

Yeah, should be less than 16. Everybody got less than 16. Alright, so lesson 16 on the Holy Spirit. Okay, lesson 16 on the unity of the Spirit. Alright, so... We will begin question 1, lesson 16. These are found in Rideout's book on page 53-56. What is the difference between the unity of the body and unity of the spirit? Let me read one set of verses and then I'll ask you a question here.

It's Ephesians 4, 1-6. Ephesians 4, 1-6. the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another and love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God, and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. So, my question, as I always ask, I think this is the engineer in me.

Terms, terms. So what does unity mean? Togetherness. Togetherness? See, it's like when we did the one on prayer and I asked you why you pray. Stunned silence. Unity. Unified? United? That's kind of using the same term and definition. I always get screamed at at school for doing that. Identity with one, be it a person, be it a group, be it an idea, like very general identity of a group of people. Identification with, okay. Others? Scripture says being in one accord. Being one accord, okay. So when it says in verse 3 there, unity of the spirit.

So unity, and of course, I start off with this trying to figure out what unity is. So I went to, of course, my favorite, Zodiates, to look up the word for unity there, what that means. And the Greek word is henotes, and it means oneness, unity, or that which unites a bond or joint. Then I went to the world famous Webster's Dictionary, which I always do to see what Webster has there. I was quite surprised. There are six definitions for unity there. And I'll just go through them.

See which one you think fits. The quality or state of being or being made one. A definite quantity or combination of quantities taken as one or for which one is made to stand in calculation. Accord or harmony. Continuity without change. Reference of all parts of a literary or artistic composition to a single main idea. Totality of related parts. Synonyms you have for solidarity, union, integrity. Any of those fit with our unity of spirit? Harmony? Accord or harmony?

I thought maybe in the first one, the quality or state of being or being made one. That's a good one. I think that's probably the best and that's the first definition. It's state or quality or state of being or being made one. Being made one with the spirit. Unity of the spirit. And so I think that was probably the best of all the definitions. So I guess we know what the unity of the spirit is. So what is the unity of the body? We just had a whole lesson.

The baptism spirit puts all believers into the company of all saints. By uniting us to Christ and giving us our individual place in that one body. Okay. Everybody hear that? Anybody have any additional? Unity of the body. It's a divine fact. A divine fact. Unity of the body.

Well, what Mike said about paying attention to the vine, so if every branch pays attention to the vine instead of the fruit, there is going to be unity. And if some branch pays attention more to the fruit, it's not going to be, it's going to be disturbing to the whole purpose of that plant. If I look at the fruit, I'm not in unity of the body? You are, as you said, it seems to me that you would be still in the unity of the spirit.

So I'm talking about unity of the body now. Yeah, you wouldn't be in the unity of the body. So you can be separated from the body? I don't know. Yeah. I think it's that if you're preoccupied with fruit, you're distracted from the source and the part that makes you in unity. You know, it keeps you together. So is that unity the body? So I'm a vine and I'm looking over here. Did I get separated from the vine if I'm just looking here? If I look at fruit over here, And I got a vine over here and I'm looking at this. Did I get separated from the body?

No. Well, possibly. If there were a lot of other people in the body that decided, well, I mean, since I've been to so many churches, I tell you, then you start thinking, well, I should be, where is my fruit? Why am I not? Why don't I have more fruit? That's going back to what we were just talking about. If you're worried about your fruit, you're on the wrong side. But do you get separated from the body because of that? The unity of the body. Like I said, if I'm a vine and I'm looking over here, and I'm still looking over here, but I'm attached over here and I'm looking here, do I get separated by doing that looking? I'm still on the vine. I'm still a vine. I'm still doing that.

I'm looking at my fruit and I lose the unity of the spirit. Because I'm checking this out. But the unity of the body. Can you be separated from the unity of the body? Apparently not. I'm leaving you sad. It says the unity of the body is a divine fact. Without the unity of the spirit, it would have no power in our lives. If the key is the divine fact, what does that mean?

I heard what? Permanent. Permanent. I heard the other word that I was looking for. Position. Thank you. Position. It's a positional truth. So we just look at it as being baptized in the body of Christ. This is an identification truth. We have been co-crucified, Romans 6.6, positionally separated from the Adamic life and placed, baptized, Romans 6.3, into Christ. So we are part of one body. the body of Christ.

Can you ever get out of that body? Hopefully the answer is no. If we got yes, we got problems. With that, where do you go if you're out of that body? You have been separated from Adam positionally, and you're placed into Christ. If you get out of that body, where are you then? Why are there so many other churches? I mean, why are there all these churches?

And maybe they got more, you know, they were more concerned about fruit. So, hey, you have to get out there and you do this and you go door to door. You know, I think the biggest thing, this is, you know, from all the teaching here, I still think the identification truths are the biggest problem that other churches aren't teaching. Because if you don't understand the separation, who is the one that you're always trying to fix up? You're going to go door to door and you're going to get 15 brownie points and you're going to be looking at that fruit. Who's the one worried about that?

The person in Christ? or Adam, the Adamic, the fleshly. Adam. Exactly. So a lot of people teach, they don't understand this separation. They think, fix up the old Adam. Now that I've received Christ into my heart, that now I can be a polished up Adam. That is totally wrong. And they spend lots and lots of time trying to make Adam better. What did God say about Adam? The Adamic life. We're done. Separated. Don't even mess with it. Reckon yourself dead.

That's why a lot of churches, even the old church I came out of, a lot of programs, a lot of programs. Program this, program that, program this. Well if it was really the program, why didn't it work all the time? Did you have to get to program B and program C? The purpose driven life? No. All the different things. The prayer of Jabez. Go through a bunch of the common things. If they all were so good, why did they end? Or why wasn't that the end all? It's always doing. It's works related.

If you don't understand the identification, you can't enter into the grace system which is unmerited. It's not anything that you do. Well, I know that now. I can't speak for all the way in terms of that's just what, you know, taken out of scriptures is plain as day to me. Sorry.

So it seems to me that like when a church is concerned about the fruit, like the individual people, it seems to me that they suffer loss. because of the rewards and crowns etc. etc. because if they do it from their own sort of power and there might even be visible fruit let's say I don't know some people get saved everything and everything but it's like the person who gets saved is saved because the Lord was gracious even to that selfish propaganda like in that church And that person who thinks, okay, I have done this work, you know, whatever, and I have done that because of that fruit, that person will not be eternally rewarded anyways. The rewards in that, you know, whether God uses all things, and it could be that you did it even out of a wrong motive, but God is using it.

So I don't question any of that. The thing is, I always look at it, most people who do that, are working and trying to fix Adam and doing it out of Adam don't have any rest. You have rest in Christ because it's not you doing it. All the things we're teaching here is who does the work? The Holy Spirit. Out of Adam it's a burden. And that's why you can never find rest in the world. You cannot find rest in the world. The only rest you find is in Christ. And this whole elective that we're talking about is the Holy Spirit and His function, what He does. It's a great thing, we had an old evangelist who was just a great guy, Sam Dalton, and he's with the Lord now.

He'd always carry around a straw and then he took a flexible hose and he'd pull it out and that's what you are. You're just a conduit. That's all you are. And think of yourself that way. You're just being used by the Lord. Like I said, you're mine. Passes through, creates root over here. You're just a conduit for Christ to use you now in whatever purposes he has. I think the focus shouldn't be that you're just a conduit. It's that you get to be a conduit. Yeah, that's right. It's a wonderful thing.

Yes, but when you're focusing on... You know, the thing is, as he said in the Corinthians, Paul and Apollos, think of Paul. Paul gave us all these epistles that tell us what the church is. And what did he say? I'm nothing. He didn't count it as, you know, a tremendous thing. He just counted it as I'm nothing. Because he's being used by the Lord in great and mighty ways. And the minute I focus on what I'm doing, it's off. I focus on him. Once I do that, I don't care what I am. It's nothing. That's what I said. Paul really put it as, I'm nothing. And you think of Paul, I mean, who of all the people to call himself nothing?

I think the world system goes by the philosophy that if I can change your behavior, I can change who you are. And that's totally a false concept because you can act like you're not a sinner, the problem is you're still a sinner. So what Christianity really teaches, Paul's epistles and grace really teaches that they don't teach behavior first in order to arrive at what you are. They teach what you are first, that you're a new creature in Christ, that you're totally recreated, that you have a new life. And that life, by the grace of God and the work of the Spirit, will manifest itself in behavior that is consistent with who you are. The world system and most churches work on behavior modification rather than telling you and teaching you who you are.

Exactly. Because once you know who you are, then you can manifest who you are. I mean, without, again, I go back to always, did Christ wake up every morning when I was here, and he went to the refrigerator, and he found the list that he wanted the Father to do, that this is what the Father wants me to do all day today? No. It's who he is. By living and breathing, that's who he is. Once we understand who we are in Christ, it manifests as, it's not an effort. It's just who we are. It's like the dog. A dog doesn't have to be told to bark. It's who he is. He or she is. It barks.

Once you know who you are in Christ, you begin to manifest that on a daily basis because that's who you are. Any others? When my son got saved, he said, you know mom, all I've got to do now is plant the seeds and let God do the rest. And I thought that was pretty neat. That's so much. We are so fast food, everything. We want it now. If I witness you, I want you right now. It may be 20 years from now. Who cares? It goes back to what we were talking about. Paul and Paulus, planted, watered. Who's the one who caused the growth? God. Don't worry about it.

I want to talk about these sovereign controlling. If you're in the end process, if you're dying of cancer, I still, is God still in control? Did he go, oh I missed it, you have cancer? How did I miss that? That's not what he's doing. And read in Romans 4, can you be separated from his love? So you have cancer. and you're going for a slow process. I will look at you. I'll look up at the clock. The other that I talk about too, which I always think about, and what's our normal reaction? I talk about if you get in this, well now it's back to you.

I can't say, I'll say on the Titanic, wasn't set up a plane. So, I was supposed to be on the Titanic, oops, I slept late, the alarm went off late, I missed getting on the Titanic, and the Titanic goes down. Did God love me more than the Christians who were, the believers who were on the Titanic? No, no, no, no, no. No, but wait, they died. They may have drowned. Terrible. They may have frozen in the water.

Did he love them any less than me? So, in any of these things, he still loves you. He still is in control. That's why I go back to this all the time. The James. Consider it all joy, my brother, when you encounter various trials. Even in trials, you can understand. I hate to say it, but Hal. I still go back to the witnessing that Hal had in the hospital. As Mike said, the things that he witnessed too, and the people I saw in the hospital that was in contact with Hal in his last days, unbelievable.

I mean his whole work in life was to get to, well that was his final work. And then the Lord took him home. But he was witnessing the whole time. And so, you know, if you understand that's how you can consider it all joy when you encounter Mary Strauss. He's solemn and controlled and he loves you. And he's already planned everything. He's in control? In everybody's life. Well, no, he's in control.

You're not at Auditron where he's... Well, yeah, that's something we were talking about yesterday. No, you still can... say no, you can turn your back on the spirit, you know, where we talk about the unity of the spirit, which we'll get into between unity of the body, which is a positional fact, and then we'll talk about the unity of the spirit. But he doesn't make you walk this way, walk this way, walk this way.

He allows you to do lots of things. You still are free to make these choices. He may create all the all the things to take you right to this spot in this person. But he's had the outward control to get you to that point. I was wondering sometimes, I'll tell you, this is another thing. Just the other night, I'm on the drill rig. And this goes back to some of those things. It's 2 in the morning. The affectionate term is the pusher. He's the guy who runs the rig to a pusher.

He said, you know, this is a nice thing about verbal versus non-verbal. I mean, there's something different about you, you know. And I got a really amazing time to witness this guy. Because, you know, I'm not cursing, I'm not doing all this stuff, I'm not doing all the lewd jokes or whatever, you know, and I don't respond to them. And there's something different. Great witnessing to him. And I always think there was a verse on a song I'd rather see a sermon than hear one any day.

I think that's so important, you know, your life having manifest. So, you know, but God had me at two in the morning on a drill rig witnessing with this guy. You know, two o'clock in the middle of Highlands Ranch, a kid on a drill rig. You know, I don't feel like I was pushed there. I just was there. So anyway, Other thoughts quickly? We'll maybe get through question one.

So, we said once in body you can never get out of the body of Christ, right? That's a positional truth. So, what is the unity of the spirit? Unity of the spirit, what is that? Well, he's dwelling in us that we may perform his work in the world. Okay. Other thoughts? Unity of the Spirit. Without it, we wouldn't have the power in our lives. Exactly. I'll get to that statement in my write-up. The biggest thing is the unity of the Spirit.

Is that positional or conditional? Conditional. We have one conditional. Any others? Chickens! The indwelling of the spirit is. Is that what you're talking about? The unity of the spirit. That must be positional. So we have a condition and a position. Where are the rest of you chickens? Come on. A few more. I want to hear. Mary says positional. Okay, Erica. What does Nick say? Come on. Without the unity of the spirit, the unity of the body is a divine fact. Without the unity of the spirit it would have no power in our lives and there would be no testimony to its truth.

Okay, so position or condition? Position. Is that a divine fact that never can be changed? That's position. Unity? Position. Oh, we have a whole table of position up here. Any other conditions? Come on. It was a condition on the back table. So we have a lot of gammon on here. So then these intermediates in here. So we have a full table of condition, a full table of position condition condition.

I'm I'm changing my. But seriously, it's like it says the verse says the verse three. Can please can you read it in English? Because I have an injury. Which is the second verse of Ephesians four verse three. Yeah, being diligent to preserve the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. Yeah, but be diligent to preserve. So I think the be diligent is the condition, but to preserve the unity.

Like if you preserve something, you're assuming it's already there. Ha. So it's a little confusing. Yeah. The indwelling of the spirit is position. Yeah, the unity of the spirit is conditional. We think that? Did you hear that back there? Yes. And what are you positional people thinking? Well, can you ever lose your position? Well, no. Did you hear? The indwelling is positional. It can never go away.

Right. But the unity of the spirit, he said, is conditional. And that's among people. Unity relates to fellowship. Yeah. Fellowship. Ah, OK. That sounds good. Thank you. Move the front table towards the conditional side of unity. We'll make a progress here. We'll all sit together next time. Intermingle so we can get that. Right up says it is by the spirit that the reality of divine thing is brought home to us without him. all the precious facts as to the church, the body of Christ and its various members and their function would be meaningless and inoperative.

I think inoperative is a key word here that the unity of the spirit is the work of the spirit to make the unity of the body operative. So are you a physician or a conditioner? Oh, I'm a conditioner. Let me just quickly, I'll blow through this really fast. I said the unity of the spirit is conditional. This means a walk is not always in unity with the spirit. From the Ephesians 4 passage it says Paul says that he implores you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling for which you have been called.

This is a conditional statement. That means as opposed to the unity of the body, positional, unchangeable. The unity of the spirit is conditional. It's changeable. So I said the main difference between the body, the unity of the body and the unity of the spirit is one is positional and one is conditional. So in that write out I think at the end it says, thus the unity of the body is a divine fact, that means position, but without the unity of spirit we have no power in our lives and there would be no testimony to its truth. So again these are positional and conditional entities, the unity or functions. Unity of the body, divine. never to change, can't get out of it, can't do anything.

As Alan said, the indwelling of the spirit is a positional fact. The unity of it, because we see, we'll go through some of the verses, are you walking the spirit or walking the flesh? There's conditional facts on the unity of the spirit. So again, just last thing, indwelling is a positional fact. You can never lose it, can't ever have the indwelling spirit leave you, but you can have the unity or the fellowship with the spirit messed up, changed.

Let's close in prayer real quick. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this time. We thank you for any time we can study your word. We just thank you for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, that positional fact that can never be removed. We thank you for the unity of the body, a divine fact, unchangeable. We are in Christ. There is no way we can get out of that. And what a rest that is, knowing that that is an unchangeable position.

And Father, we just pray as we study the Holy Spirit again, that we rightly divine your word. And we just thank you that you have left us your word and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to understand these truths. So Father, we just thank you for this time now. We thank you for all things in Jesus' name. Amen.