I am usually behind the guitar, and it's kind of a security blanket for me, so I hope that you'll be in prayer for me, even as I speak.
I appreciate Alex's encouragement, that song, words of power that can never fail. Let their truth prevail over unbelief.
My prayer is that that's exactly what would happen today prevail over my unbelief and yours.
Our text is Romans chapter 8, verses 9 through 11.
Now, a couple of weeks ago, John said he felt like the varsity was winning, so now the JV team was stepping in.
That was two weeks ago, so I don't know what that says about me exactly.
But I am really excited to get to talk with you about this text.
Even this morning, I was trying to find things that I could take out of my sermon, because I don't want to take all of your whole afternoon.
There's just, as we begin to talk about the Spirit, there's more than we could possibly cover in a morning or a week.
So I hope that this will be a foundation and a catalyst, and that you'll want to get more acquainted with the Spirit in your own personal studies as a result of this.
So let's read together Romans chapter 8, verses 9 through 11.
You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you.
Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
So there are three things that I want you to see, one from each verse.
Paul is making some pretty strong claims here, and he uses this big if a couple of times.
He's basically making logical assertions.
He says, if this is true, then this also is true.
And those three things, I'll go ahead and give them to you, and then I'm going to fill in the blanks.
In verse 9, he says, if the Spirit of God is within us, then we belong to Christ.
Verse 10, he says, if the Spirit is in you, then you have life because of righteousness.
So there's a spiritual life that's in us if the Spirit of God is in us.
And then finally, if the Spirit is in us, then we will be resurrected from the dead one day.
We're going to spend most of our time on that second point,
because Clay and John have done a great job of building us up into verse 9.
Paul certainly is not presenting a new idea here when he says that we belong to Christ,
if the Spirit of God is in us.
Verse 7, he said, the mind set on the flesh is hostile towards God.
But now he's made this case that our minds are not set on the flesh, they're set on the Spirit.
We're no longer enemies of God, but we're actually his children.
We belong to him because we're not in the flesh any longer.
Second Corinthians 6.16 says, we are the temple of the living God.
As God said, I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them,
and I will be their God and they shall be my people.
So did you catch that?
God said, I will make my dwelling among them.
I will be their God and they shall be my people.
So when the Spirit of God comes into us, we become his.
He then owns us.
Now the inverse, which is what Paul actually highlights in this verse,
certainly true, if we don't have the Spirit of Christ, we don't belong to Christ.
You see that?
You are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit.
In fact, the Spirit of God dwells in you.
Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
So let that resound with you.
If you fall into that category, then all of the good things I'm about to describe are not yours.
Not yet.
So the inverse is true.
And then the final way to look at this verse, okay, if the Spirit dwells in us, then we belong to Christ.
If we don't have the Spirit, we don't belong to Christ.
And then finally, if we belong to Christ, we have the Spirit of Christ.
It's inseparable from the idea.
You couldn't be his and not have the Spirit any more than you could have the Spirit and not be his.
And that's the foundation, kind of the springboard that we're moving into this next idea from,
is that if we are Christ, if we call ourselves Christians, and we are,
then we do have the Spirit of God dwelling within us.
Okay?
So the next verse, verse 10, if we read that together, it says,
But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
And that's an interesting word.
Is life.
It's not the Spirit brings life or gives you life, but is life.
Okay?
The Spirit is within us.
So what I want us to see, and we're going to spend a great deal of energy sort of wrapping our minds around it,
is that we have abundant spiritual life in Christ.
In spite of death, which is brought on by sin, when the Spirit of God comes into us, he brings abundant spiritual life.
2 Corinthians 5.17 says,
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.
The old has passed away.
Behold, the new has come.
A couple of verses later in 2 Corinthians 5.21,
Paul says,
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
So look what happens there.
There's an exchange.
Martin Luther is famous for saying, talking about this great exchange of our sin for Christ's righteousness in this exchange.
What Paul is here highlighting in verse 10 is that while we retain physical death, we retain our sinful desires,
we also receive spiritual life.
When we receive new righteous desires, there's not only an exchange of our sin for his righteousness,
but there's a turning over of desires, a displacement of desires.
So we gain his desires and we do away with our desires.
Now, the major difference is that when we receive his righteousness for our sin, that happens instantly.
But the process of gaining his desires happens over the course of our life as we're sanctified.
Our desires decrease and his increase within us.
And the key is that whereas we once were dead and we could do no righteous act whatsoever by nature of being dead,
we now are truly and fully alive and we can do what he wants.
And in fact, we will find the longer we spend time with God and we live according to the spirit,
we'll be able to do more and more works according to his desires.
We will want more and more what he wants as we as we walk with him.
So what I want to do then is to step back from this verse just a little bit and talk about the spirit,
kind of lay a foundation because we throw this phrase around the Holy Spirit a lot.
And I think that we all have a pretty decent theological understanding of it.
But our practical understanding of the Holy Spirit is very weak.
Mine is the same.
I've grown up in the same types of churches that you have.
Well-meaning churches that use the phrase Holy Spirit,
but don't get down to the meat of what that means and how it actually impacts our living.
So I want to ask the question first, what is spirit?
And then more specifically, what is the Holy Spirit?
So that we can get into a discussion of who the Holy Spirit is.
So what is spirit?
Just generally, it's a specific, identifiable substance, but it's non-material.
I think we all are like, okay, Wes, I'm there with you.
We can't define spirit in the sense that we can't box it into anything.
It's non-material.
It is, however, describable.
It's just as real as matter.
It just exists in another mode of being.
Does that make sense?
You can see me, touch me.
You can't see and touch spirit because it's in a different mode of existence altogether.
As such, it has the ability to penetrate.
It can penetrate matter and spirit.
Spirit can penetrate spirit.
Spirit can penetrate personality.
And so there are all types of spirits in the world, which we're sometimes aware of and sometimes not.
And they have the ability to penetrate things like our thoughts.
People who are lost, we've heard of spiritual demon possessions.
Demons are spirits.
And they have penetrated the minds and the bodies of people who are under their possession.
So spirit can penetrate.
And that's going to be really key as we move forward.
And we talked about the Holy Spirit because we're going to be talking about things that we can't quite touch.
But they're just as real.
The spirit is just as real as matter.
So what is the Holy Spirit?
How is that qualified from just spirit in general?
First, and it should be the most obvious, is that the Holy Spirit is God.
And Psalm 139.7 ascribes omnipresence to the Holy Spirit.
In Hebrews 9.14, it's said that the Holy Spirit is eternal.
Just like any other spirit, the Holy Spirit is a being which dwells in another mode of existence.
But he is a person, not a human person, but he has qualities and powers of personality.
He's not matter, but he's substance, is the way to think of that.
He has a will and intelligence.
He has feeling and knowledge and sympathy.
He can love and see and think.
He can hear and speak.
He can desire.
Okay?
So we have to start thinking about the Holy Spirit as a being with personality
and not as some vague, ghostly figure like you would see in a movie.
Everything that Jesus is, the Holy Spirit is.
Everything that the Father is, the Holy Spirit is.
They all are one in the Trinity.
The churches always believe that.
We just, I don't know, we just don't think about it, I guess.
If we look at the ancient creeds, the Nicene Creed from 381 A.D.
It says,
We believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and giver of life,
who proceedeth from the Father,
who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified.
And then the Athanasian Creed from the early 5th century
says,
But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit is all one.
The glory equal, the majesty co-eternal.
Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Ghost.
So when we talk about the characteristics of the Holy Spirit,
the characteristics of Christ are the characteristics of the Holy Spirit.
The personality of the Father is the personality of the Holy Spirit,
because they're one.
Okay?
And that's,
it's really foundational and maybe even a bit academic,
but it's essential to our understanding of what the Spirit does.
So, as we're thinking about what the Spirit does,
we have to remember that He's a person
who dwells within us,
because He's in another mode of existence.
Turn to Acts chapter 2.
I want to shift
to talking about
what the Spirit
has done,
and then to talk about what the Spirit does.
Okay?
Because when the Spirit
initially came
and
came into Christians,
was at Pentecost,
after Christ's resurrection
and His ascension,
the disciples are all basically
just hanging out together.
Jesus had told them,
be still,
don't do anything
until you receive power
from the Holy Spirit.
Okay?
So that's what they're doing,
and the Bible tells us
that they were all of one accord
or of one mind.
So there was unity
among the disciples,
and there was waiting
and expectation for the Spirit,
but other than that,
they're just kind of
hanging out and waiting.
All right?
And then the Spirit comes
and a bunch of
really crazy stuff happens,
which we're going to discuss,
but I want to read together
Acts 2,
starting in verse 1.
When the day of Pentecost
arrived,
they were all together
in one place,
and suddenly
there came from heaven
a sound like a mighty
rushing wind,
and it filled the entire house
where they were sitting,
and divided tongues
as a fire appeared to them
and rested on each one of them,
and they were all filled
with the Holy Spirit
and began to speak
in other tongues
as the Spirit gave the mutterings.
Now there were dwelling
in Jerusalem Jews,
devout men from every nation
under heaven,
and at this sound
the multitude came together,
and they were bewildered
because each one
was hearing them
speak in his own language.
And they were amazed
and astonished,
saying,
Are not all these
who are speaking Galileans?
And how is it
that we hear,
each of us
in his own native language,
Parthians and Medes
and Elamites
and residents
of Mesopotamia,
Judea,
Cappadocia,
Pontus in Asia,
Pergia and Pamphylia,
Egypt and the parts of Libya
beyond belonging to Cyrene,
and visitors from Rome,
both Jews and proselytes,
Cretans and Arabians,
we hear them telling
in our own tongues
the mighty works of God.
And all were amazed
and perplexed,
saying to one another,
What does this mean?
But others mocked,
saying,
They are filled with new wine.
So,
a few things
that I want to see,
three actually,
that the Spirit
brought at Pentecost.
The first
was a new kind of evidence.
A new kind of evidence
for the reality
of their faith.
See,
Christ's evidences,
these people already believed
that Christ was the Messiah,
but his evidences
were all external.
And he cites
four different types of
proof
that he is who he says he is.
Both the
witness of John the Baptist
and the testimony
of the Father.
Remember,
when Jesus was baptized,
a dove came down
from heaven
and there was a voice
that said,
This is my Son
in whom I am well pleased.
Jesus' works,
he cites his miracles
and his teaching
and says,
I am
who I say I am.
The Father has sent me.
The works that I do
are proof of that.
And then finally,
he references the Scriptures
and says,
Look,
they say
that I am
who I say that I am.
But these are all
external proofs.
They're external evidences.
The Spirit comes in
and we immediately
have an inner
evidence
which supersedes
logic even.
We know that we've
been made alive
by the Spirit
the same way
that we know
that we're physically
alive right now.
Nobody's sitting around
thinking,
Am I alive?
Am I not alive?
We just know it.
We take a breath.
That's external evidence.
You don't have to take a breath
to know that you're alive.
I can hold my breath
and still know that I'm alive
because it's an internal
proof.
It supersedes me
having to take in
observe my surroundings
and make an assessment
of whether I'm alive or not.
If I'm thinking,
Rene Descartes said,
I think,
therefore I am.
Okay?
So,
we know that we're
physically alive
and when the Spirit
comes into us,
we know that we're
spiritually alive.
We're instantly assured
that our Savior
is a real Savior
when the Spirit
enters us.
Just as we're
instantly aware
that we're alive
the moment we consider
the question of our own
existence.
And the important thing
here is that
that changed everything.
When,
I feel like Steve Jobs
on that.
More than the iPhone,
the Spirit
changed everything.
Christ
completely changed
the rules
of religion
altogether
when the Spirit
entered into the hearts
of his saints.
Okay?
Religion
used to be
almost entirely
external.
There were
internal facets
to religion,
but for the most part
the way that we
pleased God
was by our actions.
Now,
religion,
if you'll allow me
the term,
religion
is as basic
as life itself.
Don't miss that.
It is fundamental.
It's a part
of who we are.
What had been
about activity
became about identity.
God had said
under the Old Covenant,
live this way
and you'll be
my people,
but he says to us
in the New Covenant,
you are mine,
so you will
live this way.
Instead of
a certain type
of living
getting us
to God,
God got to us
and then he gets us
to a certain type
of living.
And the Holy Spirit
is his means
to that end.
So the Spirit
inaugurated a new
type of evidence
for the reality
of our faith.
New evidence.
The second thing
is that he
inaugurated a new
kind of excitement.
There's an emotion
that's associated
with what happens
to the apostles.
And you can see
that people
at the end
of our text,
people accuse
these folks
of being drunk.
Paul later
actually instructs
Christians,
don't be drunk
with wine,
but be filled
with the Holy Spirit.
Now,
I don't know
how many drunk
people you've
been around,
but usually
there's
either some
excitement
or fighting
and yelling.
Our neighbors,
our neighbor
just got a new
roommate
and they party
a lot now.
So when they're
not fighting
and yelling,
we can hear them
making a big
commotion,
like last night
about 1230,
right outside
of our bedroom.
But when
you're possessed
by a substance
such as alcohol,
one of the effects
can be
excitement,
albeit fading
and not satisfying.
It is exciting.
And people
were accusing
these early Christians
of being drunk
because they didn't
know how to explain
what was going on.
There was
a new emotion.
I mean,
there wasn't
fighting or yelling.
We don't see that
in the text.
So probably
they were having
a pretty good time
and that's why
people ascribe
drunkenness
to them
now they were
speaking in new
languages,
which had to have
been pretty,
pretty crazy,
pretty exciting.
It says that people
were all filled
with wonder.
And then after that,
Peter stands up
and gives the sermon
and 3000 people
are saved.
Now,
you could,
you could cite
Jonathan Edwards
and say,
look,
Jonathan Edwards
is the most boring
preacher.
And look,
you had the great
American awakening.
It is my firm
belief that God
acted in spite
of Jonathan Edwards'
personality,
not,
he didn't use
Jonathan Edwards'
personality to reach
those people.
He acted in spite
of it.
The spirit
produces a kind
of vibrant
new emotion
within us
and it's
contagious
and it's
exciting
and we see
that happening
at the time
of Pentecost.
We have got
to stop trying
as Baptists
to dampen
that vibrance.
At every turn
we do it,
both in our
gatherings
and in our
own lives
we want
to lead
these quiet
and boring
lives.
And that's
just not
what the spirit
does for us.
It's exciting
when the eternal
and all-powerful
God invades
our hearts
and starts
doing things.
God's not a
boring God,
is he?
And he dwells
within us.
So there's
a new evidence
within us
of the reality
of our faith
and there's
a new
excitement
within us
which was
just not
possible
before
the ever-present
self-existent
one
entered into
our hearts.
And then
finally there's
a new energy,
a new evidence,
a new excitement,
and a new energy.
What happens
is that
these disciples
gained a
direct
spiritual
authority.
Their fears,
their questions,
their doubts,
these things
go away
because now
they have
an authority
within them
which is
founded on
life itself.
I mentioned
just a second
ago that
God
is self-existent.
Life emanates
from him
and now that
life-emanating
power resides
within us.
Acts 1.8
Jesus makes
a promise
before Pentecost.
He says,
but you will
receive power
when the Holy
Spirit comes
upon you.
So there's
a new evidence,
a new excitement,
and a new
energy
which
were
completely
foreign,
at least
in this
degree.
We're
completely
foreign
to religion,
to the people
of God
until this
point.
And then
everything
changes.
Now if we
believe in
Christ,
then we
know that
we have
the Spirit
of God
within us.
That's a
whole other
discussion.
I think
that we've
covered
we've
covered
that pretty
well here
before.
That in
order for
you to
believe in
Christ and
to be
saved,
the Spirit
of God
has to do
something to
you,
has to
make you
alive and
come into
your heart.
But if we
believe in
Christ,
we already
have all
of the
Spirit.
And there's
not anything
more to be
gained as
far as the
Holy Spirit
is concerned.
He doesn't
parse out a
little part of
himself.
He's a
person.
If I said,
hey, I'm
going to come
give you a
hand doing
your lawn,
I'm not going to
cut my hand
off and
give it
to you.
I'm going
to come
help you
do your
lawn.
And the
Spirit is a
person.
He's not
matter, but
he's a
whole,
complete
package.
So if
there's no
more Spirit
to be
gained within
us, then
what's
lacking is
a realization
of his
fullness.
Some
pastors
have
cited
Ephesians
5.18,
which is
where Paul
says,
don't be
drunk with
wine,
but be
filled with
the Spirit.
They use
that phrase,
be filled
with the
Spirit,
to talk
about this
idea that
they've
called
leaking
the
Spirit,
which is
a really
ridiculous
idea,
but it's
the idea
that when
we're
saved,
we're
filled
with
the
Spirit,
but then
as we
live,
we get
less and
less of
the Spirit
within us,
so we
have to
do
things
to
fill
ourselves
back
up.
Well,
that's
only
true
in our
experience.
The
Spirit
of God
is not
literally
draining
out
of
Christians.
We
have
all
of
Him.
We
just
neglect
to
realize
that the
Spirit
is
within
us,
and we
neglect
to
live
according
to
it.
We
miss
a great
many
opportunities
for joy
and for
fullness
when we
fail to
see the
Spirit's
action
in us
and
through
us
and
around
us
and
even
for
us.
So
how is
it that
we
learn
to
see
Him?
It's
by
learning
what
He
is
like,
learning
what
He
desires,
what
He
does.
We're
going to
talk more
about that
in just
a second,
but just
as a
final,
covering
my
logical
basis
here,
the
fullness
of the
Spirit
in the
disciples
at
Pentecost
was
not
a
one-time
occurrence.
It
was the
first-time
occurrence.
He
filled
up those
Christians
the same
way that
He
fills
us.
We
have
the
same
Spirit
who
never
changes.
So
people
want to
make
the
argument
that
what
happened
at
Pentecost
was
a
special
event.
And that
doesn't
happen in
Christians
anymore.
But I
would
submit to
you that
if the
same
Spirit
resides in
us
and never
changes
who
resided
in them,
then those
same
types of
things will
still be
happening
because God
cannot
change.
So it's
not that
He's
failed us,
it's that
we have
failed to
recognize
His
presence.
Listen to
what A.W.
Tozer said
about that
point.
And by
the way,
A.W.
Tozer's
Life by the
Spirit is
an incredible
book.
I would
really
commend it
to you
if you
want to
learn more
about this
as well as
Henry Blackaby's
Experiencing God.
Great resources.
But listen to what
Tozer says.
Our Father
who is in
heaven raised
certain high
expectations of
what He was
going to do
for His
redeemed
people.
He's referring
to prophecies.
When His
Son came to
redeem those
people, He
heightened those
expectations,
raised them,
clarified them,
extended them,
enlarged them,
and emphasized
them.
He raised an
expectation that
was simply beyond
words, too
wonderful and
beautiful and
thrilling to
imagine.
I want to
ask you,
is this level of
Christianity which
we fundamentalists
in this city now
enjoy, what He
meant by what
He said?
So did you
catch that?
He said,
God, for all of
redemptive history,
has been raising
expectations of
what it would be
like when the
Spirit came.
And then Jesus
comes onto the
scene and He
raises those
expectations even
more.
And then Tozer
says, so is the
Christianity that
you're living out
today, does it
meet those
expectations?
He says, no,
there certainly
has been a
vast breakdown
somewhere between
promise and
fulfillment.
That breakdown
is not with
our Heavenly
Father.
So if we're
asking ourselves
then, okay,
Wes, I'll
concede that
there is a
deeper level of
spiritual living
that we're just
not reaching
to.
The question
should be,
how do I
get there?
How can I be
filled with the
Spirit?
And I want to
give you some
advice, but
please hear me
say this is not
a how-to guide.
If you do
everything that I'm
about to say,
you will have
just taken
half of your
first step
towards living
a Spirit-filled
abundant life.
It is going
to be for us
just as C.S.
Lewis wrote
in the last
battle, we
will be
continually drawn
higher up and
further in,
higher up and
further in.
There's an
infinite God
who wants to
know us for
eternity, and
we're going to
continually get to
know Him
better and
get to live
better according
to His
promises and
the fullness
that's in
Him.
So, with
that said
then, go
ahead and
turn to
Romans 12.
We're not
going to get
there just
yet, but
you can have
your finger
there.
A few
things that
we have to
accept before
we can begin
to do
anything.
Okay, so
we've got to
make some
mental ascent
to some
truths before
we can do
anything in
order to be
filled with
the Spirit.
The first, we
have to
accept or
believe that
there is
fullness in
the Spirit,
and we all
seem to
kind of
believe this,
but so few
of us
experience it
that I
throw it in
here because
I'm inclined
to wonder
whether we
really do
believe it
or not.
But we
have to
believe that
there is a
fullness of
the Spirit,
that there's
a level of
living according
to the power
of the Spirit
that we
haven't yet
reached.
And then we
have to
accept, and
this is the
one that
hurts, but
we have to
accept that
Spirit-filled
living as a
Christian is
normal Christian
living.
It's not the
deluxe edition
of Christianity,
but living by
the power of the
Spirit is
Christianity 1.0.
They're not
going to roll
out any
updates to
that app.
It's done.
It's the
original, it's
the one and
the only, if
we want to
follow that
analogy.
We have
been neglecting
some special
features, but
they were
already there.
In John
15.5, Jesus
says, if you
abide in me
and I in
you, you
will bear
much fruit.
So if we
want to bear
much fruit,
it's by
abiding in
Christ, it's
by dwelling
with, remaining
with the
Spirit.
and then
he's going
to produce
that fruit
through us,
just like
fruit grows
on the
branches, but
the energy
for that
fruit is
supplied by
the vine.
Before you
can be filled
with the
Spirit, you
have to
desire it.
So that's
a tough one.
If you've
thought about
desires and
actions,
any, you're
going to
go, well,
how can I
make myself
desire anything?
I would
just beg you
to not follow
me down that
path.
If you
are asking
yourself that
question, it's
proof that you
already desire
it at least a
little bit, so
act on that
desire.
But you do
have to desire
to be filled
with the
Spirit, and
you have to
let yourself
want that,
and then
acknowledge that
if the Spirit
possesses you,
he's going to
have all of
you.
He will be
Lord.
He's the
Lord of the
universe.
We cannot
expect him
to come into
our hearts
and not be
Lord of us
as well.
It's not his
nature to
share authority
or glory
furthermore, he's
not going to
tolerate our
sin, especially
those, what
toes are called
self-sins,
self-love or
self-pity.
God is not
concerned with
us in that
regard.
He's concerned
with him.
We should
love him.
We should
pity those
without him.
So if we're
going to have
the Spirit
fill us, we're
going to have
to get very
serious about
our sin.
extremely
serious.
How on
earth could
a holy
God indwell
with people
who want
both holiness
and sin?
They're
opposite.
You can't
be hot and
cold.
A cannot
be non-A.
So if we
want the
Spirit to
fill us
up, then
we're going
to have to
get really
serious about
our sin.
and if
we're
finding
ourselves
continually
in the
same
sins,
then it's
proof that
we're not
serious about
our sins.
Proof that
we're not
taking as
drastic a
measure as
we can
to root it
out.
And then
finally, we
have to
accept and
acknowledge that
if the
Spirit indwells
us, he's
also going to
bring us into
opposition with
the world.
The world
hates the
Spirit just
as much as
they ever
hated Jesus.
They're one
and the same.
I will
submit to
you, though,
that the
rewards of
being filled
with the
Spirit far
outweigh the
costs.
So if we
can accept
all those
things together,
then what are
we going to
do?
And the
first is
found in
Romans 12,
verses 1 and
2.
Paul writes,
I appeal to
you, therefore,
brothers, by the
mercies of God,
to present your
bodies as a
living sacrifice,
holy and
acceptable to
God, which
is your
spiritual
worship.
Do not be
conformed to
this world, but
be transformed
by the renewal
of your mind,
that by testing
you may discern
what is the
will of God,
what is good
and acceptable
and perfect.
Right?
So, we're
to present our
bodies as the
first step to
being filled
with the
Spirit.
And what
does that
mean?
Because I
don't believe
that Paul is
here saying
wherever your
body goes,
let that be
where God
wants you
to go,
because God
considers
ourselves to
be much more
than just our
flesh and our
blood, but
things are a
part of us,
such as our
thoughts, our
mind, our
personality.
Man, that's a
huge one,
personality.
We've got to
stop hiding
behind this
idea that our
personality can't
be changed,
that the Spirit
of God can't
invade our
personality.
It does and
probably is the
central facet of
who we are.
But listen,
apart from the
Spirit of God,
who we are is
sinful.
We're his
enemies apart
from him.
So we want him
to change who
we are.
We want to
give up our
personality for
the sake of
his personality
being infused
into ours.
We can't keep
using this
excuse of,
well, yeah,
I like to love
people from a
distance because
it's not my
personality to be
a people person.
Well, it's
baloney.
Because if the
Holy Spirit is
within us,
that's the
Spirit of
Christ.
And he got
to know
people.
And there's
so much more
we could say
about that
point.
But if you
ever find
yourselves
hiding behind
the lie
that your
personality
somehow hinders
you from
being obedient
to God,
strike it
as sin.
Other things
that are a
part of our
bodies are
ambitions.
our desires.
Everything
that makes
us who we
are will
have to be
literally
sacrificed,
killed,
in order
that we
might make
more of
him and
be made
more like
him.
So the
first thing
is to
present our
bodies to
him.
The second,
and I'd like
you to turn
here, is
Luke 11,
9-13.
we have
to present
our bodies
to the
spirit.
We also
have to
ask him.
Jesus says,
I tell you,
ask and it
will be given
to you.
Seek and you
will find.
Knock and it
will be open
to you.
For everyone
who asks
receives.
And the
one who
seeks finds.
And to
the one
who knocks
it will
be open.
What
father among
you, if
his son
asks for
a fish,
will instead
of a fish
give him
a serpent?
If he
asks for
an egg,
will give
him a
scorpion?
If you
then, who
are evil,
know how
to give
good gifts
to your
children,
how much
more will
the heavenly
father give
the Holy
Spirit to
those who
ask him?
So, it
just seems
that God
operates this
way, that
he invades
our hearts
with the
Holy Spirit
and we
believe in
him and
we're saved.
But if we
want to be
filled with
the Spirit
and we
want to
live according
to the
infinite power
of the
Holy Spirit
within us,
we have to
ask him
for it.
And we
can come
up with
all kinds
of theological
objections to
that point,
but it's
right there
in the
word.
If we
ask, we
receive it.
He even
goes so
far as
to say,
how much
more will
the heavenly
father give
the Holy
Spirit to
those who
ask him?
There's no
way to
wiggle around
that.
So, you
guys know
what I
believe
soteriologically
and I'm
not a very
good Calvinist
when I say
this, but
if you want
the Holy
Spirit to
fill you
up, you
have to
ask him
to do
it.
I'd
rather be
a good
Christian
than a
good
Calvinist
any day.
If we
want the
Spirit of
God to
fill us,
not just
be in
us, but
to fill
us up,
then we
have to
ask for
it.
And then
we can
thank God
afterward for
putting the
desire in
us to
ask if
that helps
us sleep
better.
So, we
have to
ask.
Next, in
Acts 5.32,
we read,
and we are
witnesses to
these things,
and so is
the Holy
Spirit whom
God has
given to
those who
obey him.
So, God
has given
the Holy
Spirit to
those who
obey him.
the next
point is,
if we want
the Holy
Spirit to
fill us,
we have to
be obedient
to him.
We have
to obey
God.
That's a
simple but
revolutionary
idea, that
we would
do what
God says.
We ask
God to
be filled
with the
Spirit, and
then we
get up,
and we
follow him.
We say,
God, give
me the
ability to
be obedient
to you,
and then
we get
up, and
we obey
him.
The Spirit
will find
the Spirit
enables us
to be
obedient, to
be successful
in following
God, in
new and
deeper ways,
but we
ask, and
we obey.
And there's
an idea that's
connected with
obedience, which
is found in
Galatians 3.2.
I'd love for you
to turn there.
And that's to
have faith.
Faith and
obedience always
work hand in
hand.
Paul strongly
here, writing to
the Galatians,
he says,
O foolish
Galatians,
who has
bewitched
you?
It was
before your
eyes that
Jesus Christ
was publicly
portrayed as
crucified.
Let me ask
you only
this.
Did you
receive the
Spirit by
works of
the law,
or by
hearing with
faith?
So you
see here,
he's establishing
where they
were saved,
and they
received the
Spirit by
faith.
And then
in verse
3, he
says,
Are you so
foolish,
having begun
by the
Spirit,
are you now
being perfected
by the
flesh?
Did you
suffer so
many things
in vain,
if indeed
it was
in vain?
Does he
who supplies
the Spirit
to you
and works
miracles
among you
do so
by works
of the
law,
or by
hearing
with
faith?
We
receive
salvation
and
fullness
of the
Spirit
by the
same
means,
and that's
by faith.
Paul highlights
that in
verses 2
and in
3.
In
verse 3,
he says,
having begun
by the
Spirit,
salvation,
are you now
being perfected
by the
flesh?
Sanctification,
the work
of the
Spirit,
as we live
out life.
So we
are saved
and sanctified
by faith.
Fullness,
the Spirit
of God,
the Holy
Spirit,
living in
us and
filling our
living,
is, in
this case,
an advance
on our
initial
rebirth,
because,
for whatever
reason,
we're able
to savingly
believe and
then sit on
our hands,
but living
according to
the Spirit
Spirit,
is getting
up and
doing
something
with that.
I'm so
glad that
Jerry Rainer
is here
this morning.
He has
a great
analogy
for this.
He says,
if a young
couple were
to get
married,
and we
as a
church
decided to
give them
a gift
and fill
their cupboards
!
with food,
so they
get married
and we
say,
hey,
when you
get home,
your cabinets
are full of
food,
it's yours,
it's a
gift,
and they
went home
and they
never opened
the cabinets,
!
So,
according to
the analogy,
then the
Spirit is
within us.
It's there,
we're full
of it,
but we're
not doing
anything with
it unless
we're living
according to
it.
We have to
open up the
cabinets and
partake of
the food.
So,
if we
have begun
on this
path of
living
according to
the Spirit,
we have
faith and
obedience
working together
and the
Spirit is
empowering us
to be
obedient,
then how
is it that
we're going
to cultivate
this relationship?
How are we
going to get
to know
Him?
We talk a
lot about
a personal
relationship
with Jesus
Christ,
and that's
all fine and
good because
the Spirit
and Christ
are one
in the
Trinity,
but really
we ought to
talk about
a personal
relationship
with the
Holy Spirit
because He's
the one
that's with
us.
Jesus is
in heaven
at the right
hand of the
Father,
interceding on
our behalf.
So,
how is it that
we're going to
cultivate this
relationship
with the
Holy Spirit?
Remember we
said He's a
living person?
So,
we want to
get to know
Him.
I really
like coffee,
okay?
But I didn't
always like
coffee.
In fact,
I liked a
girl who
liked coffee
before I
liked coffee.
coffee.
And now
she's my
wife.
the more
that I
experienced
of coffee
though,
the more
I began
to appreciate
the subtleties.
So,
now I
can drink
coffee black
and enjoy
it.
Now,
at first,
what I
drank was
very little
coffee and
very much
sugar.
But now,
I can drink a
black cup of
coffee and go,
oh yeah,
I can tell
that that was
dried by
people in
Africa throwing
it out in
the dirt
rather than
running it
through a
machine.
Because I've
tasted different
types of coffee
that have been
treated that
way and I
have learned
to realize
what those
subtleties are.
The same thing
is true of a
friend.
You want to
get to know
a friend,
you find out
what they
like and
what they
don't like
and what
types of
things they
do and
what types
of things
they never
do.
You hang
out with
them.
So,
how do we
get to know
then the
Holy Spirit,
the living
person of
the Holy
Spirit?
The first
is that we
seek to
get to
know him
in the
word.
Psalm 1
says,
Blessed is
the man
who does
not walk
in the
way of
the wicked
or sit
in the
way of
sinners
or stand
in the
way of
scoffers,
but his
delight is
on the
law of
the Lord
and on
his
law he
meditates
both day
and night.
He's like
a tree
planted by
streams
of water
and
everything
he
does
prospers.
So,
we seek
to immerse
ourselves,
to meditate
on the
word.
Joshua 1.8
says,
Do not
let this
book of
the law
depart from
your mouth,
but meditate
on it
both day
and night,
so that you
may be
careful to
do all
that's
written
within it.
So,
if we
want to
let the
word
affect us,
we have
to meditate
on it.
We have
to roll
it around
in our
minds
and let
it affect
our
living.
We have
to seek
to know
who God
is in
the book
that he's
given us
that tells
us all
about him.
Second,
we have
to spend
time paying
attention to
him.
What is he
doing?
Where is
he going?
Amos 3,
3 says,
Can two
walk together
except they
be agreed?
And that
seems like a
silly proverb
almost.
Of course,
I can't
walk with
you unless
I agree
to walk
beside you.
If I
decide not
to walk
with you,
I'll turn
and go
another
direction
and we're
no longer
walking
together.
But when
we begin
to apply
that to
the spirit,
we see
how fundamental
it is that
we walk
where he's
walking.
We go
towards the
same goal.
So we need
to spend
time paying
attention to
where he's
walking in
order that
we can
stay with
him.
The next
thing is that
we need to
be engrossed
with glorifying
Jesus Christ.
We need to
let Christ
take all of
our attention.
Let that
activity of
bringing him
glory consume
us.
Because the
chief end of
God is to
glorify himself.
God is to
glorify God
and enjoy
him forever.
So we have
to make that
our singular
goal.
John 7
39 says,
Now this
he said about
the spirit,
Jesus said
this about
the spirit,
whom those
who believed
in him were
to receive,
for as the
spirit had not
been given,
because Jesus
was not yet
glorified.
So when
Jesus is
glorified,
the spirit
comes.
This is a
concept that
is constant.
It doesn't
happen this one
time.
When we
glorify God,
that's what
the spirit
wants to do
as well.
So we find
that we're
walking with
him.
We have to
devote ourselves
to the glory
of Jesus,
and then the
Holy Spirit
will become
the aggressor
in the
relationship.
We want to
talk about
getting to
know him.
Well,
if we're
glorifying
God,
he'll get
to know
us.
He'll
raise us
and illuminate
us and
fill us
and bless
us,
because that's
what he
wants to
happen.
when we
walk with
the spirit
when we're
doing the
same things
that he's
doing,
which brings
me to my
next point,
which is to
walk in
righteousness.
Get to
know the
person of
the spirit,
be engrossed
with glorifying
Christ,
and walk
in righteousness.
We cannot
be spiritual
and not do
good.
The Holy
Spirit implies
holy living
coming out of
us.
Do you see
that?
The Holy
Spirit is
in me,
and holy
living is
coming out
of me.
It doesn't
work any
other way.
If you
want to
cultivate a
relationship
with the
spirit of
God,
then be
holy as
he is
holy.
Make your
thoughts a
clean living
space.
I'm going to
talk about
walking in
righteousness.
Well,
we've already
mentioned that
the body is
the temple
of God.
Our
thoughts,
then,
are his
living room.
what we
think pretty
much determines
the temperature,
the climate
of our
heart.
Furthermore,
God considers
our thoughts
as a part
of us,
just as much
a part of
us as
our
personality
or our
hands and
our feet.
If our
bodies are
his tabernacle
and our
thoughts are
certainly included
in that deal,
then we
need to
have
clean
thoughts.
And it
doesn't
matter what
type of
unclean
thoughts
we're
having.
I guarantee
you they
are hindering
us from
knowing the
spirit in a
more intimate
and deeper
way.
Because he's
not going to
exist in a
space that's
filled with
his opposite.
it.
So,
finally,
how to
cultivate
the spirit's
companionship.
We should
cultivate the
art of
recognizing
the presence
of the
spirit
everywhere.
He is
not confined
to things
that happen
in this
room.
He's not
confined to
things that
happen just
when you're
on mission
trips or
at campus
outreach.
He's
everywhere.
He's
working.
We just
have to
learn to
recognize
when he's
working.
Martin
Luther said
a dairymaid
can milk
cows to
the glory
of God.
Tozer
gives an
encouragement
on this
point.
He says
if you
will thus
see it
and thus
believe it
and thus
surrender
to it,
there won't
be a
secular stone
in the
pavement.
There won't
be a
common
profane
deed that
you will
ever do.
The most
menial
task can
become a
priestly
!
When the
Holy Ghost
takes over
and Christ
becomes your
all in
all.
So in
closing, I
want to look
back at
our text.
Romans
chapter 8
verse 11.
Paul writes
that the
spirit of
him who
raised
Jesus from
the dead
dwells in
you.
He who
raised
Christ
Jesus from
the dead
will also
give life
to your
mortal bodies
through his
spirit who
dwells in
you.
So my
final point,
if you've
lost track,
our three
points this
morning are
that we
belong to
Christ,
we have
fulfilled
spiritual
life,
and finally
we will
one day
be
resurrected
with
Christ.
Ephesians
2,
4-7
says,
But God
being rich
in mercy
because of
the great
love with
which he
loved us,
even when
we were
dead in
our
trespasses,
made us
alive together
with Christ.
By grace
you have
been saved
and raised
us up
with him
and seated
us with
him in
the heavenly
places in
Christ Jesus,
so that in
the coming
ages he
might show
the immeasurable
riches of
his grace
and kindness
toward us
in Christ
Jesus.
So I
ask the
question,
so what?
I mean,
we're going
to be
resurrected,
you know,
hooray.
Why does
that matter
to us
now?
What it
means is
that on
the last
day it
doesn't
matter what
state or
condition our
bodies are
in,
whether we're
physically
living or
physically
dead or
whether we
couldn't find
a bit of
our flesh,
he's going
to raise
us,
he's going
to give
us a
perfect
spiritual
body
which will
live eternally
with him
in a new
heaven and
a new
earth.
The
knowledge of
the
resurrection
gives us
strength to
live and
to love,
even when we
don't experience
immediate
earthly rewards.
The spirit
gives us a
faith that
supersedes
reason and
also a
hope that
surpasses time
because it's
an eternal
hope,
it's a
hope of
glory,
eternal
reward and
that motivates
us to
love.
So we're
God's
people.
We have
spiritual life
for now that
brings joy
and excitement
and it
convinces us
from within
of the truth
of our
faith.
It empowers
us to do
amazing things
and it gives
us a hope
for eternity.
Pray with
me.
Thank you.