Desiring a clean heart and right spirit (Quality: Good)

[0:00] As the Lord may be pleased to grant his help this morning, I'll direct you to words you will find in Psalm 51, and we read the 10th verse.

[0:20] 1. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

[0:34] Psalm 55 and verse 10. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

[0:50] This is one of those petitions which sprang up in the heart of the psalmist at this time, being made very conscious of his sinfulness before a hole in a heart-searching God.

[1:11] He had been convinced of his sin. He had been laid low. He had been brought to humbly confess his sin.

[1:23] And the Lord was pleased in his mercy to deal with David, and it was great mercy.

[1:36] And we find that the psalmist here pleads upon the ground of God's mercy. The beginning of the psalm, we have this petition, Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness, according to the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.

[1:56] And as we have read the psalm together, we have been reminded how the psalmist pleads before the Lord upon the ground of that mercy. And when we come to consider this part of the petition in verse 10, it is upon the ground of God's mercy that he thus pleads before the Lord.

[2:19] He is asking for something which the Lord alone could bring about in his heart. He'd been made very conscious of his deep need of that mercy.

[2:33] And for the Lord to look in pity and compassion upon him, not according to what he deserved, but according to what flows through the mercy of God.

[2:49] And dear friends, what a wonderful thing it is that there is such a thing as the mercy of God. Where would you and I be were it not for the mercy of God?

[3:01] We have to acknowledge that it is through the tender mercy of God that we are spared and preserved and kept alive and granted many blessings, even in a providential way.

[3:14] It flows to the mercy of God. But when we think of what we are as sinners, where should we be without the mercy of God?

[3:28] Sin is against God and we are all sinners. We have all sinned against a holy God. None of us are exempt. We have to realise the truth of God's word which declares this, that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

[3:48] So that we are all on one level in that sense. But what a mercy if we are amongst those who, like David at this time, was blessed with a contrite and humble spirit.

[4:02] And he prays for this, doesn't he? You see, not all acknowledge their sin. All are sinners in God's sight.

[4:16] But as the hymn has put it, yet few who are so in their own. And those are the ones whom the Lord is pleased to deal with in his mercy and convince them of their sin.

[4:27] And while this may at times be a very painful business, it brings a sinner low. It brings him low in the dust as it were. It brings him to the place of the stopping of mouths.

[4:43] Yet, how needful this is. And it is in this way the Lord is pleased in his good time and way to reveal his mercy.

[4:55] It is mercy to sinners. Sinners whom he has pleased to deal with and bring them to know and to feel something of their guilty condition before a holy and a heart-searching God.

[5:09] The Lord had been very gracious to the psalmist. Even to bring him into this exercise of mind and spirit to implore God's mercy in forgiveness of sin and to implore God's mercy with regard to being cleansed from the defilement of sin.

[5:29] The Lord had been very gracious to him because he had sinned and he had sinned grievously. You can read the circumstance which was arising out of this.

[5:46] This psalm was written and it is solemn reading. David did sadly fall not only inwardly but outwardly.

[6:04] And it is very solemn to read and if you read the account in the word of God concerning David's sad fall you will find that in the first place he was even hardened in his sin.

[6:20] Yes he committed sin and then he tries to cover it up and to what lengths he went in this because he was guilty of murder.

[6:32] He instructed Joab to put Uriah into the hottest part of the battle that he might be killed and that he might cover up his own sin that this sin which he had committed was with Bathsheba and so we see how hardening sin was at that time.

[7:00] He was David a man after God's own heart, a man who had been raised up to reign on Israel's throne, a man who had known much of the mercy of God toward him, much of his goodness, much of his preserving care, yet alas he was left to fall as he did.

[7:23] And now it reminds us of that word in the scriptures, let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. Well David did fall. And as I said, for a time he seemed to be hardened in this sin.

[7:39] But oh the mercy of God that he was not left in that hardened condition. God dealt with him, God sent Nathan the prophet and sent Nathan with a word which went as an arrow to his conscience.

[7:57] Nathan spoke a parable to David. And in that David as it were passed judgment on the man who seized the poor man's eulam and in so doing he passed judgment on himself.

[8:23] Because David having immediately passed his judgment on the sin which is so evident in the parable which is spoken by Nathan, Nathan immediately declares this, thou art the man.

[8:41] And it was at that time that David was cut down. and the Lord in mercy dealt with him and as it were broke his spirit and broke his bones.

[8:57] And you notice that the psalmist refers to this, doesn't he? And how he was brought to realise that not only had he wronged Uriah and he had wronged Bathsheba, but the sin was against God and all sin is against God.

[9:18] Whatever the nature of that sin is, it is against God. Man may be wronged by others through his sin and yes, but it has to be traced to this, against God.

[9:33] And we find that David acknowledges this. And we see how the Lord was pleased to deal with him and grant him a spirit of contrition and repentance and godly sorrow for sin.

[9:48] And he has to acknowledge this, he says, for I acknowledge my transgression and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only have I sinned and done this even in thy sight that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest and be clear when thou judgest.

[10:06] And even though he makes reference to original sin and he says, behold, I was shaped in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me. He does not use this as an excuse.

[10:20] No. But he as it were, pours out his heart before God in humble confession confession.

[10:33] And he feels his need very much of God's mercy at this time. And we notice too that when Nathan gave that word to David, thou art the man how David fell under the truth of.

[10:52] He did not rise up against it. He realised what Nathan was aiming at in the parable and that he was bringing home to David the truth of God.

[11:04] Nathan was the Lord's messenger in the Lord's message in that respect to bring home to David his sin and the heinous nature of that sin which was against a holy God.

[11:18] And sinned against mercy, wasn't it? You see, David had been taught of God and it was a gross sin. But the Lord in mercy brought home to David that sin and he was given to humble himself under the mighty hand of God and to acknowledge his sin.

[11:42] It was brought home to him then. His conscience at last was made tender. The Lord dealt with him. He did not leave him to be hardened in his sin but he brought it home to him and made him to realise that he had sinned against God and that he couldn't cover up his sin before God.

[12:05] And there was that sentence that was given to David through Nathan which was full of grace and mercy. The Lord hath put away thy sin.

[12:19] The Lord hath put away thy sin. And now as the effect of this we have this psalm and psalm 32 these two psalms which we read together this morning as the effect of that which David was called to pass through with regard to being brought to realise his guilt before God.

[12:44] Now while through mercy you and I have been preserved from that outward sin we have to stand alongside David as sinners before a holy God.

[12:59] And it is a great mercy if we feel to need what David prayed for in this psalm and there are many fervent petitions in it and of course this one which I have read this morning by way of a text.

[13:15] Create in me a clean heart O God and renew a right spirit within me. It is a deep petition and it is one which you and I need the Lord to answer in our case and well it is if we find something in our heart akin to what David felt at this time.

[13:38] Our need to be cleansed and for the Lord to deal with us. You see no tears of repentance can wash away sin.

[13:53] That is not the means whereby sin is put away but the Lord will bring his people to shed as it were spiritually tears of repentance but it is not those tears that wash away sin.

[14:10] There is only one source of mercy with regard to being delivered from the guilt of our sin and that is in the Lord Jesus Christ himself and those things which you sung together in the hymn just now concerning the Lord Jesus Christ who the apostle said was made sin for us who knew no sin.

[14:36] He took upon himself our sins. If we have an interest in his great salvation the sins of the whole church were laid upon the Lord Jesus Christ.

[14:47] He stood in the sinner's place and then that forgiveness and that cleansing flows through the Lord Jesus Christ through his sufferings and death through the shedding of his precious blood.

[15:06] Well now let us try and look at this petition as we may be held and may it be a petition in your heart and mine. I mean something more than just repeating the words it is easy to remember this text but what a mercy if there's something that comes from our hearts and if it does then it means that we have known something of the nature of sin and the defiling nature of sin.

[15:38] Sin is set forth in the word of God in various ways and especially as being that which defiles the sinner. When we think of leprosy and there's much written in the word of God concerning leprosy and it sets forth the vile and defiling nature of sin and you see by nature we're leprous sinners and the leprosy lies deep within.

[16:10] Well now David felt it and he felt at this time the defilement of sin and he prays to be cleansed. He prays to be cleansed.

[16:23] Well now here's the language of the text then. Create in me a clean heart O God and renew a right spirit within me. It was a personal plea wasn't it?

[16:37] And well it is if you and I feel to need this same mercy to be made known to us. And you see the first word of this petition reminds us that the psalmist realised that he needed the Lord to do this for him.

[16:57] He couldn't cleanse his own heart. And he prays in this way create in me a clean heart O God. Creating belongs, creation belongs to the Lord alone.

[17:13] He created the heavens and the earth by the word of his mouth, by his almighty power. God created the heavens and the earth. He was the great creator of all things and the sustainer of all things.

[17:26] But then when we come to think of things pertaining to salvation and that new creation, this is God's work.

[17:37] And if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, a new creation. That is God's work. Man has no hand in that. No creation is altogether beyond man's ability in every sense of the word.

[17:57] And so here the psalmist acknowledges God in this. And he appeals to the Lord in his felt need.

[18:08] He says create, create in me a clean heart O God. He'd been made painfully conscious that he was defiled. God. And upon the ground of God's mercy, he pleads in this way, create in me a clean heart O God.

[18:30] And now you and I need this don't we? We need the Lord to work in our hearts. And mercy it is if we be made to know something of our uncleanness, our defilement through sin.

[18:47] And though as one has put it in the hymn, although the outside be kept clean, we mourn the filth within. And oh what uncleanness there is in our hearts by nature.

[19:05] We are indeed defiled. Yes, one has said that defiled I am indeed defiled throughout my sin. Thy purple fountain Lord, I need to wash the leper clean.

[19:22] Create in me a clean heart O God. Yes, the psalmist prays in a personal way here. That is where the Lord brings poor sinners, those whom he designs to bless.

[19:38] He brings them to realise that they need his mercy. They cannot consider things in a general sense as it were. No, we cannot think of mercy in a general sense.

[19:50] We cannot think of this cleansing in merely a general sense, but in a particular sense. And it comes right down to this, doesn't it? Create in me a clean heart, O God.

[20:07] And what a wonderful mercy it is that the Lord is able to do this. I thought of those words in Ezekiel. A new heart will I give you, a new spirit will I put within you.

[20:20] I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. Yes, and a clean heart. You see, we have not this by nature, have we?

[20:35] No man can produce this. sin is defiled, as I said earlier. But the Lord alone can perform this great work, yes, to create this cleanness of heart.

[20:54] I feel it does remind us to how the psalmist pray for God's sanctifying grace. Yes, he might be sanctified.

[21:05] that he might have that holy principle within, in gracious exercise. Creating me a clean heart, oh God.

[21:18] He earnestly desired to be delivered from all that brought about uncleanness. And he has to look alone to the Lord for this. And the Lord would remember him in mercy with respect to this need.

[21:33] and that according to his tender mercies and his wondrous loving kindness to sinners. And this, of course, has all been revealed in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

[21:49] And the other psalmist lived in those Old Testament times, how he was given faith. Yes, faith in God. Faith in the mercy of God.

[22:03] And he was given faith as it were to look forward to that time when the Lord would reveal his mercy in that fuller and clearer way. In David's day, it was in types and shadows.

[22:17] And in those things under the ceremonial law, there was everything to show the manner in which the Lord was pleased to accept poor sinners, and that was through sacrifice.

[22:30] that was through sacrifice. And they were all points to that one sacrifice, which was offered upon Calvary's cross, and the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified upon that cross.

[22:47] He was crucified there for sinners. Yes, and if we have an interest in the Lord Jesus Christ, it means your sins and my sins nailed him to the tree.

[22:57] Amen. But then the Lord Jesus Christ, suffering as he did for sinners, made a way of mercy.

[23:11] And you see, poor sinners can now plead the mercy of God. And have you thought of this? And in this petition here, created me a clean heart, O God.

[23:24] God, it would be in vain to pray like this, had not the Lord made a way of salvation, made a way of mercy, revealed in the Old Testament times to the dear saints, in types and shadows, but then in the fullness of time, when the Lord Jesus Christ died upon the cross.

[23:49] He died for sinners. sin and all uncleanness. Oh, what a provision that is. For poor sinners who have to mourn over their felt uncleanness, that there is that fountain open for sin and uncleanness, creating me a clean heart, O God.

[24:13] heart. And you see this is linked to what the psalmist refers to in later in the psalm as the broken and contrite heart.

[24:30] Yes, where there's been the gracious, convincing work of the Holy Spirit, whereby her poor sinner is, as it were, broken in heart and given a contrite heart, the opposite to hardness, and where deep repentance is wrought within.

[24:50] And we need the Lord to grant us this. Because where there is this clean heart created, there will be godly sorrow for sin, there will be contrition, there will be a God-given repentance.

[25:06] In one psalm, the psalmist expresses this, he says, I will be sorry for my sin. Now the Lord brought him there, didn't he? And made him truly sorry for his sin.

[25:20] And made him to feel the guilt of it, and his need of forgiveness, and his need of cleansing. And so he prays, create in me a clean heart, oh God.

[25:33] He was brought to a good point, wasn't he? A good place. God's love. I refer to David again, and you read the record, well, in the sin that David committed, everything which is so opposite to a clean heart, and there was everything so opposite to a broken and contrite spirit, he was left to be hardened in his sin for the time being.

[26:00] but oh the mercy of God, to think that he was restored. In Psalm 23, the psalmist acknowledges this, doesn't he?

[26:11] He says, he restoreth my soul. And that was exactly what the Lord did. Surely there's a humbling truth to realise, isn't it?

[26:23] If the Lord has been pleased to deal with us in mercy, and not to be left in our sin, not to be left to reap the consequences of our sin.

[26:36] And what are the consequences of sin? It is this, death, and eternal death, banishment from God, and all hope and mercy.

[26:49] That is the penalty for sin. But what a mercy it is that when the Lord is pleased to bring poor sinners to be humbled before him, that there is forgiveness.

[27:07] In Psalm 130, the psalmist acknowledges this, he says, if thou Lord shouldest mark iniquity, O Lord, who shall stand? And he felt himself that if the Lord was to mark his iniquity, he couldn't stand before a holy and heart-searching God, only to be condemned.

[27:29] But then there is the other part of the matter. And this is the mercy, this is the gospel. There is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared.

[27:41] Forgiveness. And all through this psalm, the psalmist is praying for forgiveness, for remission, for cleansing, for sanctification.

[27:55] Yes, and the Lord would deal with him, not according to what he deserved, but according to his great mercy. And in the anticipation of this, he says, and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.

[28:13] Well, he got no righteousness to sing about in himself, had he? No. But rather, he had to put his mouth in the dust. He had to be brought to that place of the stopping of mouths, as it were.

[28:25] But then, for the Lord to open his lips, yes, to show forth God's praise. Creating me a clean heart, O God.

[28:41] And then, he says, and renew a right spirit within me. Here again, we have this earnest, servant petition, this right spirit to be renewed within him.

[28:57] And it is very suggestive, isn't it? You see, we need the Lord to do these things for us, don't we? There is one hymn, isn't it, with a line like this, and new create the whole.

[29:13] And then, when we think of renewing, here again, it is the Lord's gracious work. And poor sinners, taught by the Spirit of God, and brought down and laid low with their felt guiltiness, realise how they do need from time to time this gracious renewing, which is of the Holy Spirit, to be renewed.

[29:40] You see, David in his own past, his own experience, had known a form of mercies. Yes, he had known something of what it was to be brought into a right spirit and blessed with a clean heart.

[29:59] But you see, he contracts guilt. He had sadly fallen. He had been brought in guilty before a holy God. but he'd had former mercies, former blessings.

[30:14] He had known former favours. And now he's brought to this point. He says, I'd renew a right spirit within me.

[30:26] He'd given evidence of something far different than this, a right spirit. Or he'd had a wrong spirit. He'd had a covetous spirit.

[30:39] Yes, even he'd been left to a murderous spirit. And it is solemn to think of and to speak about, but that is where he was.

[30:51] That's where he was found. That's how low he sank as a sinner. And in those things which he sought to manoeuvre, as it were, to cover up his sin, it was far from a right spirit.

[31:08] It was a wrong spirit. It was a guilty spirit. And a hardened spirit. But now he brought to repentance, laid low, made to feel his guilt before a holy God.

[31:28] He praised and renewed a right spirit within me. me. And now, or do we not you, you and I need this, to have this right spirit renewed within us.

[31:44] Yes, something to be renewed as it were. The Lord in mercy to deal with us and grant us this right spirit. And I think the marginal rendering of this is very instructive, a constant spirit.

[32:05] A constant spirit. You see, there had been much inconstancy hadn't there with the psalmist. He'd been very inconsistent in his life.

[32:16] He brought a reproach upon the cause of God and truth and his profession of religion, a solemn reproach. He'd been very inconsistent. He'd been left to walk an inconsistent way.

[32:30] But now, he's brought to realise where he stood before a holy God and the guilt of his sins, the defilement of it, he prays and renew a right spirit within me.

[32:46] Yes, a constant spirit. And surely if the Lord has shown us a little of our own sinfulness, we realise how we do need this to be renewed in us, a constant spirit.

[33:02] Oh, the inconstancy. As I said earlier, we may, through God's great mercy, be kept outwardly, but oh, the inconstancy of our spirit within.

[33:14] we need the Lord to deal with us, don't we? And to renew this in us by his good spirit and grant us this right spirit within us, this constant spirit.

[33:30] And this right spirit will be a humbled spirit. yes, to be humbled. How David must have felt humbled when his sin was brought home to him.

[33:43] When he had to confess from his heart, I have sinned. When the word went as an arrow to his heart, thou art the man, he was laid low then, he was as it were slain.

[33:58] Yes, he was laid very low, made her feel how guilty he was. What could he say? He was guilty. But I would have this right spirit.

[34:13] Well, David was given it, wasn't he? First, when he confessed his sin, that was the right spirit. And he said, and he said it from the heart, I have sinned.

[34:27] Now, it is a mercy, dear friends, to be brought there before a holy and heart-searching God, and to confess that we have sinned. And a right spirit renewed in us, will be a spirit to confess our sins, yes, before God.

[34:46] To acknowledge our transgressions, we read in the 32nd Psalm, didn't we, something of this? And there's a wonderful link between these two Psalms.

[34:58] Evidently, this psalmist wrote them at the same time. And he says this, when I kept silence, my bones waxed whole through my roaring all the day long.

[35:14] He was kept silent, you see. He came to the stubbing of mouths, as it were. And he felt the Lord's hand upon him.

[35:25] And he says, my moisture has turned into the drought of summer. He needed renewing, he needed refreshing, reviving. And then he says this, and I acknowledge my sin unto thee, and my iniquity have I not hid.

[35:39] He was brought into a good place here. You see, he'd been trying to hide his sin, and he went about it in a very wicked way to try and hide his guilt.

[35:51] but now he's brought to this. He says, I acknowledge my sin unto thee, and my iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord.

[36:06] And then the mercy. And thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Notice how he describes his sin. It seems as though he can scarcely express the guilt that he felt.

[36:22] And he uses these words. The iniquity of my sin. And he was brought into a wonderful sense of the mercy of God.

[36:37] To think that the Lord should forgive his sin. Such sin that he committed. This iniquity of his sin. And thou forgavest it.

[36:50] O the mercy of God to poor sinners. And so then in this petition here, take not thy Holy Spirit from me.

[37:01] He longed for this constant spirit to be renewed within him. He'd sadly fallen. Yes, he'd fell a prey to his natural corruptions.

[37:18] and the enemy, you see, had gained a victory over him for the time being. But the Lord in mercy dealt with him and delivered him.

[37:30] Convinced him of his sin. And made him feel the guilt of it and to confess it before God and to acknowledge it before God and to desire this blessing, this mercy.

[37:43] Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Yes, a humbled spirit, a spirit to confess sin, a right spirit.

[38:03] And we think of this right spirit, it's just a needful petition, isn't it? How we do need this right spirit to be renewed in us from time to time.

[38:14] you know, we may be left sometimes to a complaining spirit. Yes, a discontented spirit. Renew a right spirit within me.

[38:28] Maybe sometimes as the Lord lays his hand upon us in one way or another, we may as it were, question these things.

[38:41] But if we're given a right spirit, then we're given a right understanding in some little measure of the wisdom of God in these things. And how we need the Lord to deal with us and to keep us humble, to lay us low, to show us our need of his mercy.

[39:04] And so then we need to be delivered from a wrong spirit, a complaining spirit, even a a peevish spirit perhaps. And how we do need to be delivered from an unthankful spirit.

[39:17] Or if we're renewed with the right spirit, there'll be a spirit of thankfulness. And it is very noticeable how the psalmist, as it were, leads up to this in the psalm, doesn't he?

[39:31] And he does desire this right spirit and the evidence of it and the fruit of it as it were. And he says, O Lord, open thou my lips and my mouth shall show forth thy praise.

[39:47] And again, thou art the God of my salvation, my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. Or to be given a right spirit.

[40:01] Yes, to be delivered from an unthankful spirit. To be given a thankful spirit. not only with regard to temple blessings, but a thankful spirit for God's great mercy.

[40:16] Oh, how the psalmist must have felt to be a debtor to God's mercy. To think that the Lord did not leave him in his sin and leave him in his hardened condition, but to have mercy upon him and dealt with him.

[40:32] Oh, how he must have felt humbled before God. And it is something to pray for, isn't it? And renew a right spirit within me. A humbled spirit.

[40:47] Yes, and a childlike spirit. which means I feel a teachable spirit. How the psalmist prayed to be taught, didn't he?

[41:01] Yes, that the Lord would teach him and lead him in the truth. And we need that childlike spirit.

[41:12] A childlike spirit is a teachable spirit. A child is teachable. a child receives impressions. That is why it's so good for a child to be rightly taught and rightly disciplined.

[41:30] Because they're impressionable, you see. A child is impressionable. And in a spiritual sense, you and I need a childlike spirit.

[41:43] Yes, to be impressed with the truth of God. For the Lord's word to rightly affect us.

[41:55] For his laws, it were, to be written in our hearts and renew a right spirit within me. Yes, a humbled spirit, a thankful spirit.

[42:09] A spirit to render praise to the Lord. A spirit when there's a sense of one's deep indebtedness to the Lord. I was reminded earlier this morning in our reading of those lepers whom the Lord Jesus Christ was pleased to cleanse.

[42:30] Ten lepers there were. Well, we read how that one leper, when he saw he was cleansed, he returned to give thanks to God.

[42:41] He came back to the Lord Jesus Christ and to acknowledge the mercy and the Lord Jesus Christ said to him, were there not ten cleansed?

[42:52] Were there nine? He says, they're not found to give glory to God, save this stranger. But you see, there was a poor leper, he'd been cleansed.

[43:05] He realised the mercy that had come to him. He realised he'd been delivered from that dreadful disease. There was something wrought in his heart. He was given a right spirit, a spirit of thankfulness.

[43:19] He returned to the Lord Jesus Christ, who had blessed him so wonderfully and delivered him from that dreadful disease. And the Lord Jesus Christ said, they're not found that give glory to God, save this stranger.

[43:37] And how good it is when a right spirit is renewed within a thankful spirit. You know, we are debtors to God's mercy. We live on God's mercy, don't we?

[43:50] When we are made to realise what poor sinners we are, how indebted we are to him. We are indeed debtors to mercy and debtors to his grace.

[44:02] But I would have that spirit renewed. And how we do need it, don't we, from time to time, for that spirit to be renewed in us. You see, we're not always in that spirit, are we?

[44:16] Far from it. And when we look into the word of God and see the record of those who have gone before, and those who were the people of God, not always within the right spirit, no.

[44:30] God and it only shows to us how we do need to be renewed from time to time.

[44:42] Yeah, we need this prayer to be answered in our case, don't we? Create in me a clean heart. Oh God, there's something about a clean heart that was made so attractive, so desirable to the psalmist.

[44:56] He loathed the defilement, create in me a clean heart, oh God, and renew a right spirit within me.

[45:07] He had to acknowledge that those things he had been guilty of, he was in the wrong spirit. He was certainly not the spirit of God, but I would have this right spirit.

[45:20] And I feel we can perhaps in a sense sum up this right spirit in this way. Paul in one place said this, he said, we have the mind of Christ and there was the spirit of Christ.

[45:41] Well, now to see this right spirit in the perfection of it is to be seen in the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Well, there's no uncleanness in him. No, he was altogether completely without sin.

[45:55] although the sins of his people were laid upon him, but he himself was without sin. He was a holy, harmless, undefiled son of God.

[46:10] And in his manhood, he was undefiled, separate from sinners. sinners. And that right spirit, you follow the life of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Gospels.

[46:24] All that he did, the words that he spake, the works that he did, all springing from this right spirit. Now, dear friends, it is a mercy, a desire is created in our hearts to be followers of the meek and lowly Jesus.

[46:46] Well, here is this petition, or may it be found in your heart and mind, again and again, creating me a clean heart, O God, and real right spirit within me.

[47:01] And how the psalmist follows on, doesn't he? Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with thy free spirit.

[47:17] Amen.