O the Blessedness of Walking With The Holy Spirit
"But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law." -Galatians 5:18 [KJV]
If
we are led of the Spirit by walking in Him; if He be our Guide and
Teacher; if He be continually operating upon our heart, and bringing
near the influences of His grace; if He be in us and with us, guiding us
into all truth, making and keeping us believing, loving, prayerful,
tender, watchful, humble, contrite, and sincere; if we are thus led by
the Spirit, we are not then under the law.
Now whilst the
conflict is going on in your bosom, you are often in your feelings under
the law. The law's curse is ringing in your ears, the law's
condemnation piercing your conscience. The flesh in some unguarded
moment, it may be, prevails: you are entangled in some evil; you slip
and fall into something which brings guilt upon your conscience.
Now
the law thunders; inward condemnation re-echoes its peals; and the soul
falls into bondage, doubt, and fear. But if you are led by the Spirit;
if that blessed Guide is pleased to lead you out of yourself into
Christ's blood and righteousness; if you are experimentally favoured
with His blessed teachings and sweet influences, bringing with them
light, life, liberty, and love, the law has no more curse for you; it
cannot condemn you to hell, nor send your soul to lie for ever under the
curse of God.
For being led by the Spirit you are delivered from
the curse of the law into the blessing of the gospel; from the bondage
of the law into the liberty of truth; from law charges into gospel
mercies; from the accusations of a guilty conscience into the witness of
a good, because a purged and sprinkled conscience, and to sum it all up
in one sentence, are thus translated from the power of darkness into
the kingdom of God's dear Son. Oh the blessedness of walking in the
Spirit, and being led by the Spirit!
-preacher J.C. Philpot (1802-1869 A.D.)
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