I. The commencement of salvation is the holy spirit’s work. Salvation is not begun by--
1. The means of grace alone.
2. The minister or priest.
3. Self-effort.
II. What the holy spirit does at the beginning. He--
1. Regenerates the soul.
2. Teaches the soul that it is incapable of saving itself.
3. Gives the grace of faith, and applies the cleansing blood of Christ.
4. Brings all precious things to the believer.
Apply--
1. To the sceptic.
2. To the self-righteous.
3. To the morally estimable. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
A good beginning and a sad ending
I. A good beginning.
1. In the faith given by the Spirit.
2. In the enjoyment of the Spirit through faith.
3. In the experience of spiritual privileges.
4. In the use of spiritual powers.
5. In the discharge of spiritual duties.
6. In the exercise of spiritual hopes of perfection and heaven.
II. A sad ending. Flesh may mean either
(1) the beggarly elements of Gal_4:9, or
(2) the works of the flesh, Gal_5:19.
1. The works of the law will not secure perfect holiness: as shown in the ease of Paul and Luther.
2. The works of the flesh will not give perfect happiness, as shown in the case of Augustine and John Newton.
3. Because both alike throw away the means by which both holiness and happiness are promoted here and consummated in heaven.
Learn:
1. To begin as you intend to continue.
2. To continue as you have begun.
Though the man of mean estate, whose own want instructs his heart to commiserate others, say to himself, “If I had more good, I would do more good”; yet experience justifieth the point that many have changed their minds with their means, and the state of their purse hath forespoken that of their conscience. So they have begun in “the charity of the spirit,” and ended in the “cares of the flesh.” (T. Adams.)
Changeable Christians
There are impetuous good people; fickle good people; unwise good people; let us say it out, foolish good people, who lack wisdom, and do not know they lack it. A certain sober judgment ought to mark Christians. They should be like the needle in the mariner’s compass, not like the pendulum which, within its limited range, is always going from oneextreme to another. They should not startle people with paradoxes, nor banish all confidence in them by the wildness with which they unfold their ideas to minds quite unprepared. (Dr. John Hall.)
Love of change
It will be found that they are the weakest-minded and the hardest-hearted men that most love variety and change; for the weakest-minded are those who both wonder most at things new, and digest worst things old; in so far that everything they have lies rusty, and loses lustre from want of use. Neither do they make any stir among their possessions, nor look over them to see what may be made of them, nor keep any great store, nor are householders with storehouses of things new and old; but they catch at the new-fashioned garments, and let the moth and thief look after the rest; and the hardest-hearted men are those that least feel the endearing and binding power of custom, and hold on by no cords of affection to any shore, but drive with the waves that cast up mire and dirt. (JohnRuskin.)
The work of the Spirit in the Church
I. The Church is the product of the Holy Ghost. This is the doctrine of the whole of this text; it is the cord by which all its parts are bound together. Throwing the minds of the Galatians back upon the beginning of their religious life, whether as Churches, or as individual believers, the apostle reminds them that then they received the Holy Ghost. They began in the Spirit. This truth admits of a twofold application. First, in relation to the Church as a whole; secondly, in relation to those who compose its members.
1. The Church of Christ had no existence before the Holy Spirit was given. In the Old Testament, and also in the New, an assembly or congregation of men received that name (Deu_18:16;: Neh_5:13; Psa_22:22; Act_7:38; Act_19:32-40). But the Church of Christ, which is His body, has been originated by the Holy Ghost (Act_2:38-41; 1Pe_1:2). Before the coming of Christ, and during His ministry on the earth, theHoly Spirit was in the world.
2. Believers enter upon the new life through the Holy Spirit. They are born of the Spirit.
II. All the attainments of the Church are reached through the help of the Spirit.
1. That the Spirit dwells in His people that they may make progress in the Divine life. Truth relating to salvation is revealed by Him (1Co_11:10). Guidance is given through Him (1Co_8:14). Liberty (2Co_3:18). His presence is the earnest of the future inheritance (Eph_1:18; Eph_1:14).
2. Through the Holy Ghost the conditions and circumstances of this present life are made subservient to spiritual ends.
III. The efficiency and power of the Church depend upon the Spirit.
1. It is possible for Churches, after having received the Holy Spirit, to lose His gracious presence and power.
2. The most fatal means to this end is renouncing faith in Christ as the all-sufficient Saviour.
3. Turning from Christ, and from the Spirit’s work, is conduct most foolish in its commencement, and most disastrous in its final results.
4. Avoiding the errors described in the text, all Christians should seek to profit by instruction and correction, and through the Spirit to become thoroughly furnished unto all good works. (R. Nicholls.)
