(The Sermon on the Mount and Prayer - Session 1) - Part 11 — Gerhard Du Toit

Christian Character Expressed in Christian Conduct

And when that aspect of Christian character becomes part of your life, it needs to reveal and to manifest itself. That's why I said, blessed are those that mourn. And you look upon the brokenness in the life of Christ, and you discover the submissiveness to the life of His Father, and it becomes part of your life.

From Imputed to Imparted Righteousness

And the rest of the sermon and amount, it works itself out into the smallest, minutest details of our relationship. You say, what is it? It's Christian character that leads to Christian conduct. Ah, you say, is that all that it is?

Ah, no. You say, what is it? It's the imputed righteousness of God that brings us to the imparted righteousness of God. You say, what is the imputed righteousness of God? It's very, very simple. All our sin was put upon His account.

The Cross, Propitiation, and Union With Christ

He bore our sin on the cross so that we might receive the righteousness of God. Now, let me tell you something this Thursday night, brother and sister. You will never be able to understand the imputed righteousness of God if you can't come to grips with the price that He has paid.

That's why the Apostle John said, here in his love, not that we love God, but that He loved us. Why did He love us? He gave His Son as a propitiation for our sins. That's why the Apostle Paul said, I'm crucified with Christ, never will this I live.

Yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And he said, the life which I now live in the flesh, I live it by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. You see, my love for God is the response of my understanding of what He has done for me.

Poverty of Spirit and Dependence on God

Ah, you say, what happened? It's the imputed righteousness of God. And now the imputed righteousness of God becomes the imparted righteousness of God. And it flows in my relationship. Let me bring this little first session to a close.

And let me ask you a number of questions. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Do we know poverty of spirit? I don't know if I should say this to you this evening. You know, the longer I'm a Christian, the more difficult it becomes.

You say, isn't it sweet to be a Christian? Absolutely, it's wonderful. Isn't it great to serve God? Oh, it's precious. Why is it so difficult? Because you realize that if God is not going to do it, nothing is going to happen, you see.

The Meaning of Blessedness in Salvation

Poverty in spirit. Poverty in spirit. Poor in spirit. Brethren and sisters, you know the word blessed? This word blessedness is the Greek word makarios. It speaks of that blessed island. The apostle Paul takes a statement and he speaks of the blessed God.

And so when you study the word blessed, it has to do with our standing Christ. In other words, our salvation. And we talk about a clear-cut conversion. The reality that I know Christ as my personal Savior.

The Indwelling Spirit and the Spirit-Filled Life

But now it goes further. It speaks of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. It speaks of the witness of the Spirit of God. And when it is speaking to us about the witness of the Spirit of God, it takes us a little step further.

And it's saying unto us, the Holy Spirit of God who's in your life as a person, not as an experience or an influence or a manifestation, but He's in your life as a person. The Holy Spirit of God, He just don't want to be resident there.

The Holy Spirit of God wants to become present in your relationship with God. And so I said, Brother Gerard, what happens? When the Lord Jesus said, bless it, you know what He was speaking about? He was speaking about the Spirit-filled life.

That's what He was speaking about. May I ask you this evening, I want to ask myself this question. Now you're coming to the end of the year, and my precious family asked me this afternoon, because they were praying for me and said, how are you?

And I said, you know, I'm really tired. Been to many different countries this year, 40 conferences, spent about 80 to 100 days on these simple things called planes, all over the world, and you get to the place.

Finishing the Year Filled With the Spirit

But oh, can I ask you, brother and sister, are we finishing the year well? Filled with the Spirit of God? Duncan Campbell used to say, if you're filled with the Holy Ghost, you can't be filled with anything else.

And so Jesus said, bless it, bless it. And I wonder these young people tonight with us, ah, the sons of our fathers, the leaders of the future, these precious young women among us, my dear young friends, can I ask you tonight, is your life at God's disposal?